Tag Archives: product review

Goats In The Grass

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So that turtle sundae was about as amazing as an afternoon snack gets.  My finger scooped several more tastes of the coffee caramel throughout the afternoon!

Thankfully I was looking forward to dinner, in large part due to my most recent co-op discoveries.

First, a maple yogurt from Maple Hill Creamery, made with organic milk from 100% grass-fed cows.

I so wanted to love this.  This was my first time trying any dairy product sourced from 100% grass-fed cows.  To give you some short background info, grass-feed cows provide different nutrient content (via meat and milk) than their “traditionally” fed counterparts.  Eating polyunsaturated fatty acids (such as omega-3 and omega-6) is essential for a healthy diet, but the ratio of those PUFAs is important as well.  The typical Western diet has a greater ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s and does not fall within the healthy range of the 1:1 – 1:4 ratios.  Milk from grass-fed cows provides a healthier 1:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids.  Plus, Maple Hills Creamery is a NY company with great business practices that I’d love to support. 

However, I just didn’t enjoy this!  I want to try MHC again and I definitely want to try 100% grass-fed dairy again, but I just don’t enjoy flavored non-Greek yogurt that much.  The flavor of this was way to sour for me, no sweetness or maple flavor at all.

Once I realized that I couldn’t eat more than a bite of my yogurt – and more than a bite of 50% of my dinner calories – I ended up stealing from Adam’s packed lunches.

I know that doesn’t look very fancy but I promise it was good.  The husband threw chicken breast, carrots, and sweet potatoes into the crock pot and cooked until delicious.  Then topped the final dish with a healthy dose of A-1 Steak Sauce.

I ended up going back after a few bites for a dollop of sour cream to balance out the A-1, but overall I loved this.  The melded flavors of the sweet potato and chicken were amazing.

The second half of dinner was the real winner though.  Cue my new favorite salad.

A romaine base, topped with 1 Tbsp of Catalina dressing, craisins, groats, and goat cheese.

Can we talk about the goat cheese?  This was the co-op purchase that panned out.

A Double Cream Chevre from First Light Farm and Creamery.  A local business with sustainable business practices, and the producers of the best flipping goat cheese I’ve ever eaten!  I was dying eating my salad.

This was so creamy and rich!  Locals – buy some asap!

Godiva Mocha Pecan Turtle Sundaes

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As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program I was sent the latest seasonal flavors of Godiva Coffee.  These products were enjoyed free of charge.

As soon as I saw (smelled!) the Godiva Caramel Pecan Bark Coffee I knew I wanted to make something sweet.  Like really sweet.  Like turtle sundaes.

These sundaes came together perfectly!  The salt in the toasted nuts helps to balance the sweetness of the rest of the ingredients.  The coffee in the caramel comes through clearly without throwing off the other flavors.  This is a delicious twist on the standard turtle.

Godiva Mocha Pecan Turtle Sundaes, serves 4

  • 1/2 cup shelled pecans
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp canola oil
  • 2 cups vanilla ice cream
  • 1/4 cup fudge sauce, heated
  • 1/4 cup Java Pecan Bark Caramel Sauce, heated  (see below for recipe)
  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Roughly chop pecans, running knife through 3-5 times.
  3. In a small bowl, toss together chopped pecans, salt, brown sugar, and canola oil. 
  4. Spread nut mixture on a prepared baking sheet and bake 6 minutes.  Set aside to cool.
  5. Divide ice cream equally among 4 bowls.  Top each bowl with an equal amount of fudge sauce, caramel sauce, and toasted nuts. 
  6. Swoon.

Java Pecan Bark Caramel Sauce

  • 4 Tbsp brewed Godiva Caramel Pecan Bark Coffee
  • 1 cup light cream
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  1. Stir 1 Tbsp of prepared coffee into the light cream.  Set aside.
  2. Place a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat.
  3. Pour sugar and remaining 3 Tbsp prepared coffee into the saucepan and bring to a boil; do not stir!  Boil for 5-6 minutes, until the sugar has begun to caramelize.  The boiling caramel will look like the froth on top of a root beer float when it is finished.
  4. While beginning to whisk, carefully stream coffee/cream mixture into the boiling caramel.  Boil 10 more minutes, whisking constantly.
  5. Remove from heat and immediately transfer to a heat-proof storage container.
  6. Let cool at least 20 minutes (to allow to thicken) before serving.

The finished caramel sauce will keep up to two weeks when stored, tightly sealed, in the fridge.  Sauce is delicious on top of sundaes or used as dip for fall fruits.

Sharing is Caring

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***Bad blogger alert!  Bad blogger alert!***  I haven’t done a full-day post since Tuesday!  I got a new (final?!) set of retainers that made solids a no-go for two days and Thursday and Friday we did lots of food sampling in class that I couldn’t photograph.  I realize my life’s not at all that interesting but there is something almost lonely about skipping posts.  Plus, my mom has called me twice this week to check that I’m not dead.

I plan on getting back the posting everything I eat as of tomorrow, 3 tests next week be damned.  For now I’ll just share the important things that you missed.

#1 – Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte Larabars are awesome.

Larabar sent me a fun package the other day to celebrate their newest flavor.

Chocolate Cherry Torte is my new favorite; it even edges out the other dessert flavors!

The date flavor was nice and mild which allowed this to taste more like dessert than a snack (sometimes I find the overwhelming datiness of Larabars to be a little gaggy).  The chunks of cherry were nice and big and they gave this a great, tart flavor.  Plus there were TONS of chocolate chips!

#2 – Biscoff x Biscoff = Heaven.

Do you remember when my friend Janessa made Oreo balls with Biscoff spread in them?  Well that gave me a terribly wonderful idea.  Her birthday was coming up (it was today actually!) so somehow I managed to patiently wait.  Biscoff Balls!

I food processed one package of Biscoff cookies, mixed the crumbs with 6 ounces of reduced fat cream cheese and ~1/3 cup Biscoff spread, and rolled the dough into balls.  They were amazing!

#3 – Time with friends makes me happy.

<– That’s Holly, my new friend from The Frozen Pineapple with whom I shared dinner last night.  She is another future RD who recently moved to the area and I’m looking forward to spending more time with her.

I also went to a comedy show with the husband and several other couples last night, and to a birthday breakfast with school friends this morning!  I didn’t snap a single picture and I’m so sad about it.  My school friends and I actually decided today that I needed to start blogging group shots when we go out so we actually have some pictures with each other!

What’s new with you?

Must. Have. Chocolate.

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Just go ahead and call me Sleeping Beauty (though Rip Van Winkle is probably more apt), I stayed in bed 90% of Sunday and I still had a hard time getting up this morning!  A few of my friends are sick and I think I must have caught a touch of something.

I didn’t have it together in the way of food but I did manage to make myself a black tea with skim milk to drink in class #1.

I also grabbed a Revolution Foods Berry Mash Up, which was eaten in class #2,

and a mini box of Quaker Oatmeal Squares (HLS Swag), which were eaten in class #3.

Of course, when your morning gets off to a rough start the rest of your day always follows.  In addition to being hungry and sleepy all day, my professor changed the directions on an assignment I had already completed, when my group met to work on a project we found a major glitch in the software we are required to use, and I arrived home to an office full of Webster-shredded papers.  I felt like I was holding back tears all afternoon.  <– pathetic

Enter chocolate.

I received a free box of Ghirardelli Intense Dark chocolates to sample via the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program and today was clearly the perfect afternoon to try them out.  I nibbled and sampled my way to a much better mood.

I know nothing about chocolate, other than the fact that it’s amazing and delicious and we learned about it from the Mayans, so I (loosely) followed the pairing guide included from Ghirardelli.

First up, 86% Cacao Midnight Reverie.

I paired this with a handful of roasted almonds.  They recommend trying it with macadamia nuts, fig spread on a baguette, gourmet marshmallows, or fruit jellies.

You could tell that this was good quality because I didn’t find it to be bitter at all.  The high cacao percentage meant that, to me, this tasted a lot like unsweetened baking chocolate.  I liked the pairing with roasted almonds because the saltiness helped to bring out the sweetness.

Next up was 72% Cacao Twilight Delight.

I paired this with some dried cranberries.  They also recommended roasted almonds, a baguette, or other dried fruits such as raisins or figs.

I like dark chocolate but apparently I’m not all that intense because I definitely prefered the 72% to the 86%.  This had a milder, sweeter taste.  I would eat the 86% in small bits but this I could probably eat a whole bar of.

Finally I tried a new flavor, Sea Salt Soiree.

I paired this with a few bbq chips.  They also recommend trying it with sweet dried cherries, candied orange peel, or stout beer.

Unsurprisingly, this flavor was my favorite.  Dark chocolate with sea salt and roasted almonds?  Forget being able to eat a whole bar in one sitting, I had a hard time not eating the whole darn thing in one bite.  The chocolate here is a little more mellow and the sea salt brings out its sweetness even more.  The texture of this was nice and crunchy and the almond pieces had a good uniformity of size.  I think even a milk chocolate fan would find this to be very enjoyable.

Thanks for the fun, Ghirardelli and Foodbuzz!

While I blogged I finished the rest of the chips.

I also thought about what I have to do this evening:

  • making our planned dinner is necessary; the recipe involves mashing, chopping, and anchovies so I need to cook it tonight when the husband is home to help!
  • finishing all of my notecards from last week is nonnegotiable
  • walking the dog can wait until I’m not so mad at him for peeing under the couch, but it has to happen this evening
  • and getting in a run is my wishful dreaming

Full Court Press

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Yikes!  The semester is starting to get real and today was just a bit stressful.  I’ll keep this post quick because I have to get in the shower by 9 pm to have any chance of getting in bed in time to workout in the morning.

We finally got some info on due dates in class today (we still have several assignments that are unknown though frustratingly) and as of right now here is what I have on tap of this semester –

  • 15 exams
  • 4 personal papers (2 of which include presentations)
  • 4 group papers/presentations

That’s in addition to quizzes and homework assignments.  Fun.  I originally said I was going to aim to finish all assignments by October but clearly that goal is shot!

During class 1 I ate this Nature’s Path Peanut Choco bar from my HLS Swag bag.

A bit sticky for my liking but it was packing a great amount of chocolate and peanut butter, especially for 150 calories.  I actually enjoyed it so much that I tried to buy more at Wegmans this afternoon.

After class 2 and I headed to the gym for a quick (quick!) workout.  1 mile run and 10 minutes of strength/stretch moves.

During class 3 I ate this mini pack of dried cranberries and pineapples.

After school I drove a friend to work, went to the tailors, and did a grocery run with Adam.  Thank goodness we had a free coupon for hot bar because getting to 4pm on 200 calories made me just a bit cranky.

Garlic eggplant, garlic broccoli, roasted veg, and some sesame chicken.

Plus h2o-melon, pineapple, and a few berries.

I was freezing this afternoon so I made a mug of hot chocolate to sip while I worked.

I wish I could say I had gotten more done but it’s hard to study when this is your scenery –

I love my boys!  Actually, I told Adam the other day that sometimes I think about leaving him so I can get away from the dog but that’s a fleeting thought when I’m cleaning up after 1 or both of them and in general I think I’m the luckiest lady on earth.

Dinner was a Panini masterpiece.

A sandwich idea was sparked by my desire for this combination –

Trader Joe’s mango butter with brie.  Plus Applegate Farms Organic Sliced Turkey on rye bread.

The sweet brie pairing is always a winner (see baked brie with dried cranberries) but turning this into a sandwich took it over the top.

Yum!

Plus a side of roasted green beans which sadly seem to have gone bad and were mostly left uneaten.

Rotton beans can’t put a damper on that sandwich though, dinner was still considered a success.

Do you like brie?  What’s your favorite way to pair it?

Window Shopping Wednesdays

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I am not much of a shopper, much to my mother’s chagrin.  The woman can spend days at the mall, while I start to feel itchy after just a few hours.  It’s not that I’m not materialistic, I totally am, it’s just that the thought of adding more stuff to my life makes it hard to breathe.  But I like the idea of things.  So I’m an avid window shopper.  I browse catalogs I’ll never buy from and hold my breathe when I pass the window at J.Crew.  So while I’m stuck at school all day Wednesdays, I thought we could have some fun via blog.  Let’s window shop!

Here’s what I’m coveting this week –

1. The Cooperative Lace Shift Dress from Urban Outfitters.

Shift dress, check.  Pockets, check.  Lace but not see through, check.  Yep, this dress is adorable.

2. The Harness boot from Urban Outfitters.

I know it’s an itsy bit early in the year for boots but these are just so cute.  I rode horses for years as a kid but I think I overlooked the amazing outfit potential.

3. The Technicolor Tweed Jacket from J.Crew.

At $595 I will clearly never purchase this, but that doesn’t quell my obsessive love of blazers any.  I love that there are only three buttons on this one too.

4. The tuxedo tank from Gap.

How cute would this look under a blazer??

5. The cascading ruffle tank from Banana Republic.

Have I mentioned that I like ruffles?  I like how this top feels girly yet casual all at once.

Coupon Chief

I want to always be completely upfront with my readers so I am letting you know that I was compensated for this review.  Please know that I always (compensated or not) will give a fair and honest assessment of any product I review.  Also, know that if Coupon Chief hadn’t contacted me directly, I probably would have blogged about this site anyway as soon as I found it on my own.

Part of the reason I don’t actually buy the items I covet in Window Shopping Wednesdays is a lack of funds.  Actually, let’s be honest, when Adam’s making doctor money I’ll probably get over my fear of too much stuff in a hurry and start shopping a lot more.  But as a student I don’t do a lot of purchasing and when I do I scour the internet for coupons first.

Googling “store name + coupon code” isn’t exactly difficult, but you do have to wade through a lot of crap once you get your search results.  One of the most frustrating things is finding a coupon code, filling up your online shopping cart, getting excited about your purchase, and then realizing at the last minute that your code is a bust.  When I did our grocery shopping online in New York City I spent more time looking for current coupon codes than I did looking at the items I was actually buying.  It would be much easier if there was a single site to search through, one that gives you only (mostly) codes that are up-to-date.  Enter Coupon Chief.

Coupon Chief (http://www.couponchief.com/) is one of the fastest growing coupon sites, with over 250 thousand visitors a month.  They have over 50 thousand coupons for over 15,000 stores, making them one of the largest databases of online coupons on the net.  The database is easy to navigate and they keep up to date by constantly gathering information from their users about the usability of the codes listed (when you use a code a small screen pops up for you to click the coupon worked yes/no).

I mock-shopped for each item listed in today’s post to test out Coupon Chief myself.  I was able to easily find at least one coupon that would save me money on each purchase (or at least on shipping).  From my experience, here are the pros and cons –

great things about Coupon Chief

  • You can browse by popular tag, an alphabetized list of stores, or through the search bar.
  • Every fashion store that I could think to look for (J. Crew, Banana, Sephora, etc) was listed, as well as several grocery and drug stores.
  • The coupons are clearly marked with, and ranked by, success percentages.
  • One click copies the coupon code and opens a new window for the store’s website.
  • After you use the coupon an easy pop-up system opens for you to label the coupon as successful or not in order to help them rank the coupons correctly.

not-so great things about Coupon Chief

  • Wegmans was not listed (though Publix, Whole Foods, etc were so this may be a more regional complaint).
  • Some coupons with a 0% success rating are still listed.
  • Only coupons for online shopping are available, no printables for in store use.

Overall, I highly recommend using Coupon Chief when you pick up some of the fabulous finds from my window shopping post 😀

English Toffee and Cream Soda

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I drove to campus this morning which was exciting because it meant that my iced coffee was actually still iced when I reached class.

Adam brewed me coffee last night and I stashed it in the fridge in a glass jar; all I’ll have to do in the mornings is add ice and skim milk.  This cup was extra exciting because I also added 1 Tbsp of English Toffee syrup.

I’m going to go ahead and deem this best purchase ever.  I don’t drink coffee all that regularly but whenever I’m in the mood I’m tempted to purchase it out because it seems more exciting.  Now that I’ve got my favorite flavor of syrup at home I can stick to only “buying” coffee from home.  <– minus the obligatory seasonal stops at Starbucks for pumpkin spice and gingerbread, of course!

I ate my breakfast during my first class.  My final new class by the way, it’s Medical Terminology and I’m pretty jazzed about it.  I think everything dealing with Greek and Latin roots is fun.

An Orange Creamy Crawler Lifeway Probugs Organic Kefir.

Mmmmmn!  I bought these before when I was living in the city but it took me a while to find them in Buffalo.  This flavor was creamy and almost fizzy; it tasted like an orange cream soda!

I also tried the lemon meringue crunch Balance Bar.  Whenever I rave over the cookie dough BB people always recommend this flavor so I wanted to try it out.

Good, but sorry, not even close to cookie dough.

My second (and last) class on Fridays is a food lab which means Friday’s lunch will often be supplemented by class assignments, weee.  We let out early today which means I had time to do some work in the computer lab and go to the post office before I had to go home and get Webster.

He is such a good walker!  If he would just stop ripping up the pee pads we’d be in business.  The two of us made a .66 mile loop around Elmwood.  I’m not sure I’ll take him on many more mid-day walks, he was hot, hot, hot.  I walked barefoot for a bit to make sure his feet were ok but when I picked him up to carry the last few blocks he was like a little oven!

Midday walks aren’t great for me either because they mean I have to wait for lunch.

Since it was 2pm and I was starving I tried out the new Asian Entrée line from Dr. McDougall that I bought on sale at Wegmans last night.

I loved that the container only had one serving size because similar products have two 500 calorie servings stuffed inside and it drives me crazy (and this was a ton of noodles for 200 calories).

I also loved that I could recognize every last ingredient.

But it didn’t taste like Pad Thai.

The dish wasn’t bad (6.5/10) but it wasn’t quite the flavor I was hoping for.

I also had baby carrots on the side,

and a sliced yellow plucot.

The noodles may not have been Pad Thai but the plucot was exactly the flavor I was looking for.  If you haven’t tried a plucot (or pluot) yet this summer be sure to get your hands on one.

I’m hoping to make it to the gym this afternoon but I’ve got some studying to do first that takes priority.  Hopefully I won’t take a cue from Webster and I’ll be able to keep my eyes open!

You Want S’more Puppy Pictures

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What a beeee-U-tea-full day for a walk!

I met blog reader/friend Katy for a walk down Bird Island Pier.  We walked for an hour and a half and covered somewhere around 4 miles.  We even got to go under the Peace Bridge!

So fun; I highly recommend heading out there if you’re in Buffalo.

Afterwards I came home for a quick walk with my boys; my tootsies are a little tired now!  Before I met up with Katy this afternoon I opened up this bag of Lays Garden Tomato and Basil chips from my HLS swag bag.

I love the Caroline BBQ variety that is part of the same line but I wasn’t really a fan of this flavor, too much tomato.  I knew I could get something better later so I abandoned the bag 5 chips in.  I’m glad I waited because my stomach started growling after my walks, but too early for dinner, and I split a slice of buffalo chicken pizza with Adam.

The picture is just of my half a slice, by the way; Zetti’s gives you a sort of ridiculous good deal with their ginormous slices.

I did have a swag bag win this afternoon too though, I drank this Lavender Mint Water during our walk.

Yum!  I couldn’t really taste the lavender but there was the slightest hint of mint (not overwhelming at all)  and it was amazing.

Insert several hours of blog browsing (me) and napping (husband) and then it was time for dinner.

Kielbasa, sautéed cabbage, hash browned potatoes; it’s like my Polish ancestors were right at the table with us!

First I cooked sliced Tofurkey Kielbasa Polish-Style Meatless Sausage in a skillet until it was nice and toasty,

then I used the same skillet to saute some cole slaw mix with a little bit of butter and apple cider vinegar,

then finally I sautéed some sliced potatoes (which I precooked a bit in the microwave first) with garlic, onions, and a lotta bit of butter.

This meal was so hearty and satisfying. 

The combo was maybe a little strange for a summer night, but I will have to bookmark this post for the long winter. 

more puppy pictures

I think Webster is a great name for a little brown dachshund – particularly when we get him a Frenchie friend named Miriam in the future – but lately Adam’s been saying we should have called Webs S’more.  He has a chocolate-brown back, a graham cracker tan belly, and this spot on his chest that we call his marshmallow.

Adorable!