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Nancy’s Appetizers + Giveaway
Every year, my husband and I host a cocktail party for our friends at Christmas time. It's the one time each year that we get all of our friends together from all parts of our lives. This year it will be even bigger as social networking with the past has become much easier. When it started, we hosted around 50 people-now? We're looking at close to 100. In the past I have always supplied all of the food, but this year, with everyone scrimping, I have elicited some help…from Nancy.
Nancy who? The Nancy of Nancy's Appetizers. Nancy's has just about everything you would need to host a nice cocktail party without the fuss of phyllo pastry sheets and long hours of standing in the kitchen. I tried the Three Cheese Spinach Stars. They are a fabulous blend of Neufchatel, Feta, and Asiago cheeses. YUM! They will be perfect to pass around at our party! I also plan on purchasing the Petite Quiches, the Seafood Crab Cakes, and the Cheese Souffles. I'm a huge appetizer girl, so I can't wait to try them all!
I'm so glad to have found Nancy's Appetizers to make my holiday party so stress-free! YOU can have the chance to try Nancy's, too. Leave a comment between now and December 4th to have your name entered into a drawing for one coupon for a Nancy's appetizer.
For making the holidays so much easier for me, TKDDaughter gives Nancy's a
I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Nancy’s Appetizers and received 2 coupons to facilitate my review and a $20 thank-you gift certificate.
Kellogg’s Fruit Loops and Apple Jacks
Some days, every meal consists of a dry cereal. It's not that I don't provide well-balanced meals, because I do (well, most of the time), but some days my son just wants cereal. Sometimes it's because he hates whatever I am providing , sometimes it's because he doesn't want to take the time to sit down and eat, and sometimes it's just because he loves cereal. What's a mom to do?
Well, cereal has just gotten a bit more nutritious! Kellogg's has taken two of their staple children's cereals (for the record, there is nothing "kid" about these two-I'm a huge fan of them both!) and added in something that is void in so many people's diets-fiber. Did you know that nearly 9 out of 10 children and adults do not have enough fiber in their diet? Wow! By adding fiber to the whole grains of the cereal, you can feel a lot better about letting cereal be a go-to snack or meal!
I was initially concerned about flavor-not so much for my son, but for me. I tried both varieties, and I have to be honest that the fiber tastes almost exactly the same as the regular. If I wasn't doing an actual taste test, I doubt I would have noticed there was a difference.
I plan on making a Christmas snack mix with the Apple Jacks with fiber for my son's preschool class. It's below if you'd like to try it out…it makes a ton (5 quarts) and kids love it. What a great way to re energize the preschool troops than with a favorite cereal in healthier form?
TKDDaughter gives Kellogg's Fruit Loops and Apple Jacks a big thumbs up for providing moms another healthier snack option:
"I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Kellogg’s and received boxes of Froot Loops and Apple Jacks and a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate."
7 cups popped popcorn
4 cups Crispix
4 cups Apple Jacks cereal
2 cups salted peanuts
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
In a large greased roasting pan, combine the popcorn, cereals and peanuts; set aside. In a large saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter and corn syrup; bring to a rolling boil over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Cook, without stirring, until mixture turns a medium amber color, about 8 minutes.
Remove from the heat; quickly stir in vanilla and baking soda until mixture is light and foamy. Immediately pour over cereal mixture; stir until evenly coated.
Bake at 250° for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread mixture onto waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Cool completely. Store in airtight containers.
Yield: 5 quarts.
Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime Seasoning Blend
A little over seven months, my father suffered two massive strokes. By the grace of God, he received medical help within the needed time frame, and we are blessed to have him with us today, with very little long-term damage. DUring the recovery, diet became a huge concern. Low-fat, low sugar, low cholesterol, low sodium-ugh! If you do low-fat, the sodium is high. If you do all of the above, there's not taste. I spent hours in the grocery store, reading labels, hoping I wasn't adding to my father's health issues.
That's when I checked out Mrs. Dash. We always had Mrs. Dash growing up, but what I didn't know was that many varieties of Mrs. Dash that were out there (over fifteen!!!). Mrs. Dash is introducing two new seasoning blends, Fiesta Lime and Caribbean Citrus, and Mom Central asked me to play around with one of the seasonings and let you know what I thought. They sent me the FIesta Lime blend and yum! It popped with flavor and I wasn't dying of thirst afterward.
There are recipes at Mrs. Dash, but I decided to make something up. My friend's garden is plentiful, so I steamed up some yellow zucchini and some fresh green beans, mixed it with a little olive oil, sprinkled on the Fiesta Lime seasoning blend and served over a bed of brown rice, black beans and a touch of salsa. Fresh and yummy! The husband even enjoyed it!
I can't wait to try the Caribbean Citrus blend soon. Both new flavors would be great on fish or in a salsa…hmmmm, now I know what I'm having for dinner tonight!
TKDDaughter gives the new Fiesta Lime seasoning blend by Mrs. Dash a
Chex Mix Snack Bars
I am not the "bar" kind of girl. I guess this is probably because I'm one of those people who has always preferred it when my foods don't touch. I don't like the mixing of ingredients in most cases. This has always baffled my children, seeing as how they practically live on breakfast bars, yogurt bars, fruit bars. . . I could go on. In fact, if I could have found meat bars at the points in their lives where they were protesting protein, I'm pretty sure they would have eaten them.
Chex Mix Snack Bars are obviously a bit hit in this family. My husband and the girls have devoured them, pretty much without chewing, since they arrived on our doorstep.
We tried the Chex Mix Bars in the "Turtle" variety. They include Caramel-Covered Corn Chex pieces, Wheat Chex pieces, Chocolate, Peanuts, and Pretzels. Maybe my whole aversion to anything "bar-related" had to do with the fact that there was never any chocolate involved, because these bars are definitely worth a try if you have snackers in the family.
Despite the fact that there's also this messy stuff in them, the bars stay together very nicely when eaten and I think they'll probably remain a staple snack in our household from now on. When something with chocolate in it says "Good Source of Whole Grain!" on the box, I'm in.
If you'd like to try them in your house, all you need to do is leave a comment below telling me how you like to unwind at the end of the day. What's your favorite comfort food? Three readers will be chosen to receive two boxes each of the Chex Mix Bars.
BBM gives the Chex Mix Bars. . .
Thanks to MyBlogSpark for letting us try them!
Making Life Better
Filed under: Food and Drink, General Information, Household
The title of this post alone should be your "narrative hook" (sorry, geeky English teacher here…). We all strive in this tough economy to make the most of what we have and stretch our resources. Along the way, we don't want to scrimp on the health and well being of our families. Dinner is a constant struggle to do this…Mom Central showed me a website that is quickly becoming a new favorite place for me when I do my meal planning.
Making Life Better features great recipes and cooking tips. I'm planning on putting the Grilled Chicken with Peaches meal (at only 320 calories!!) on my meal plan for next week. There is a quick search where you can quickly search by different criteria, making it easy to find what you need. They even have their own YouTube channel where you can find Cooking Coach videos to learn new tips and ideas.
I like that this website focuses on making dinner fast and easy and affordable. There is an entire section on Budget meals…I like that! You can sign up for a newsletter, enter a monthly sweepstakes, and more! Check out this helpful website and start gaining some sanity into your life at mealtime!
TKDDaughter gives Making Life Better a :
Getting Rave Reviews
BlogHer Review
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