Product Review |annie’s, rudis, honest, and applegate

The girls eat really healthy for the most part. We try to keep what they eat unprocessed, low in sugar, and include lots of fruits and vegetables. It may not be the “fun” way to eat, but have you seen America lately? You can’t really blame me, right? And they do get to have special treats and desserts… they’re just limited and they’re so much more excited when they do get to have them. Anyways, I got the chance to try a bunch of different food products from kid-friendly brands a few weeks ago and here’s what I thought.

Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies and Pizza Poppers

I’ve said before that I really like the Annie’s brand so when I do buy these kinds of snacks they’re one of my go to brands. They’re kid-friendly and they stay away from the yoga mats and pink slime so… winning. We love the cheddar bunnies at our house and every time I buy them David eats almost the whole box. Poor kids. All the bunnies for you David… you go David. And none for Kennedy and Reese.{did you pick up the movie reference because that line is my favorite}

The pizza rolls were also really good and it brought me back to elementary school days when I ate a different brand of these and melted all the skin off my tongue every time I bit into one because they were filled with molten lava… er pizza sauce. Somehow, these didn’t do that so that was nice.

Honest Brand juice boxes

Long story short, but we don’t do juice at our house. We don’t really do flavored anything… we have water or we have water. And coffee. Lots of coffee. Or we didn’t I should say. Somehow Kennedy got her hands on some juice and life has never been the same. So, I let her have “juice”, but it’s really just water with a splash of apple juice in it. Anyways, I think I’m probably a tough critic when it comes to juice, but I was excited to try these because juice boxes are fun and really convenient sometimes.

These have 9 grams of sugar in them. A can of coke has about 30 grams so its far less. I didn’t check, but they market these as having half the sugar of a regular juice box. I tried one and it isn’t really sweet like your typical juice box. I had that experience where you’re expecting to drink say a sprite because it’s clear and you end up with water. I like that it’s not so over the top sweet that your kids won’t ever want to drink something other than juice again if they drink these.

I’ve been letting Kennedy have one of these in her lunch when she goes to Mom’s Morning Out on Thursday and she loves them. The novelty and the drink itself.

Rudis Organic Bakery Multigrain Oat Bread

Kennedy loves toast. Loooooves it. Just plain old toast with butter. Finding a decent bread that doesn’t have a really long, ingredient list that includes all. the. chemicals is hard though. A lot of the brands I’ve tried that are organic and/or free of preservatives end up being hard. And really, there is nothing better than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on really soft, fresh bread. So, when I picked up this package at the store and squished it, and it actually squished, I was excited.

It was really good. Toasted or not.

Applegate Halftime

Applegate is cool. Kind of like Annie’s. They take a fun food like chicken nuggets, and use real meat instead of the fillers, byproducts and whatever else other companies use. Their newest product is a healthier take on lunchables. Just compare the ingredient lists and I can probably stop talking. Here is a link to the nutritional information on the Halftime and a picture of the lunchables ingredient list below.

Source

I love that they sourced other companies that are dedicated to better quality foods and it was really good. I’m going to be a little bit of a buzz kill though because there’s 21 grams of sugar in this meal and a good amount of it is just plain added sugar.

If you made it through this whole post, congratulations I know it was kind of a novel. Really, I think these are all great products… some to be used in moderation and not a replacement for truly healthy snacks and meals. I was able to find all of these products at Whole Foods, Target and Publix (for those of you in the south). Hopefully this was helpful!

*I was provided these items complimentary for reviewing purposes from Influenster, but as always it my honest to goodness opinion.

Pinterest Food Challenge – Peanut Butter Lava Cookies

Peanut butter lava cookies. If there’s peanut butter in it I’m in, but melty, gooey peanut butter sounded even better. There’s only 3 ingredients: pie crust, peanut butter, and sugar so that made me question this whole recipe, but the picture made me go ahead and make them.

The source on Pinterest didn’t match the
watermark on the picture so I didn’t embed the link.

Anyways, they were really easy to make, but I label these a fail.

There was no melty, gooey peanut butter {reviews of this recipes seem to say that more than just me had this problem}

and the sugar added a little sweetness, but it just wasn’t what I was hoping for.

I’m going to go ahead and label these a fail. Not terrible, but not great and I wouldn’t make them again.

David’s Birthday Pie

When I asked David what he wanted me to make for his birthday he asked for the Chocolate Bourbon Pecan pie that I make.

I figured I’d throw the recipe on here because it’s kind of awesome {just ask my sister… she may have eaten the first one by herself}

The original recipe is here, but I’ve adapted it to what you see below.

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup butter
4 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp bourbon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or so of milk chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Aside from the change in ingredients, I follow the recipe, except I layer the chocolate chips into the bottom of the pie pan before I add the filling instead of mixing them into the filling.

I’m no food photographer and we all know my house has zero natural light, but here’s what it looked like.

Really, you should make this.

Pinterest Food Challenge: Chipolte Chicken Lettuce Wraps

My latest Pinterest recipe experiment was these Lettuce Wraps.

Source: bevcooks.com via Melissa on Pinterest

 

I didn’t change the recipe at all other than using a different lettuce because I couldn’t find the butter lettuce at the store. Sad story because that lettuce actually holds the chicken and keeps it from falling out everywhere.

Anyways… here’s the makings of the sauce (lime juice, chipolte peppers, adobo sauce, and cilantro.

Mix that with the chicken and the corn and I ended up with these.

I only used 2 of the chipolte peppers and it was pretty spicy… we like spicy around here so it was good. Maybe next time I’ll try a third, but I don’t think it needed it.

So, would I make it again. Yep. David also said he thought it would be good with rice… I think that may have been the lettuce wrap failure talking, but I do think it would be good that way.

Anyways… go pin it and then make it!

Pinterest Food Challenge: Old Fashioned Ultra Chewy Brownies with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Source: cookingclassy.com via Melissa on Pinterest

 

I made these brownies last week to bring over to our friends house.  I won’t be making them again.  I much prefer cooking from scratch over using a box of anything, but these just weren’t that great.

Pros:

The frosting was actually pretty good, the best part of the whole deal.

Cons:

They were boring.  The recipe actually suggested a way to include more cocoa… I should have done that.  There wasn’t enough flavor.

They were a little dry.  If I ever made them again, I’d probably cook them about 5 minutes less than the suggested time.

So, I guess this is my first Pinterest Challenge flop.  That’s the whole point of these posts anyways!  Find the winners and weed out the losers.

What She’s Eating

For the first 6 months, we did all breast milk, all the time. I did this for several reasons, but mainly because the AAP, WHO, and other health organizations recommend no solids {cereal, juice, or other foods} until 6 months. Ok, we started a week before her 6 month birthday {close enough}.

Now though, she’s eating solids and we’re doing it a little differently.

Her go to is still breast milk. WHO recommends it for at least 2 years and the AAP says 1. No, you won’t see me on the cover of Time magazine breast-feeding my preschooler, but I 100% believe in the benefits of breast-feeding and I’m in no hurry to cut her off.

So, before she eats, she drinks. She fills up on breast milk and then we offer food.

As far as solid food goes… we’re doing Baby Led Weaning {BLW}.

BLW {short version} is this – letting your baby feed his or her self… with real food… with little or no intervention from you. It’s about as simple as that. You don’t spoon feed or give purees… you sit back and watch, and if you’re my husband you get a little freaked out by the mess.

You can read the full list of benefits here, but these are at the top of my list:

Because with BLW there’s no rush. She’s still getting the nutrients she needs from the breast milk so there’s no reason to just start shoving food in her mouth. Kennedy can “play” with her food… figure out food… LEARN by watching us eat the same food and make the connections. She already puts EVERYTHING in her mouth, so that’s where the food ends up. This way though, she can see what a particular food really looks like, feels like, and tastes like. From there, she can decide if she wants to eat it and how much… on her own. BLW babies end up being less picky eaters and I’m all for that.

Because it’s a hands off approach… you don’t put food in their mouth… they do. This helps develop hand-eye coordination and other motor skills. {Selfish moment} I get to eat while my food is still hot.

Because I don’t have to spend hours making baby food. Because I would do just that… because baby food from the store weirds me out. This way, what she’s eating is fresh and I know exactly what’s in it.

Because only I know how hungry I am, and only she knows how hungry she is. I’ve seen too many moms worried that their kid didn’t eat the whole jar of baby food and that doesn’t make sense to me. Why force feed them? With BLW, there’s no fighting and no “games” to try to get her to open her mouth. If she wants it, she eats it, and if she doesn’t… no big deal.

OK, but what about choking, right?

Here’s the cool thing. Babies have a very short gag reflex so they start gagging {not choking} long before an adult would. She can’t put something too far in her mouth or she gags {not chokes}. I’m trying to differentiate because they really are 2 different things. I’m not saying it’s not possible to choke, but it’s actually not as likely as you may think and she’s already got it figured out. There is also a decent amount of research out there that shows that babies who eat based on the BLW approach are LESS likely to choke than a baby who was spoon fed with purees.

Overall, it’s going really well and she actually eats more than I thought she would. So far, she’s had plain organic yogurnt, avocado, zucchini, bananas, broccoli, yellow squash, green beans, apples, pears, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, lettuce, pizza crust, and our Christmas Eve turkey dinner complete with stuffing, asparagus, and Brussel sprouts in a cranberry sauce.

SO… That’s what she’s eating and I think… I hope, this completes my BLW novel.

Cosmo Voxbox – Part 2

Part 1 of my Cosmo Voxbox post is here.

This is part 2. The part where I sprayed perfume and shaved my legs.

I’ll start with the perfume. It’s called Forever Red and it’s a part of Bath and Body Works signature collection. I’m not really great about being able to decipher what scents a certain perfume smells like. I either like it or I don’t. Same with wine… you want to tell me there’s a citrus flavor in there, that’s great, I just taste wine. So, with that being said, I like this perfume.

BB&W says that there are the following “notes” in it…
Top Notes: Fiery Pomegranate, Rare French Peach, Luminous Apple
Mid Notes: Red Peony, Night Marigold, Red Osmanthus
Dry Notes: Rich Vanilla Rum, Velvety Marshmallow, Oak Wood

I can’t pull a single one of those out of there. BUT, I can tell you that it smells sweet to me. Maybe I’m smelling the marshmellow. It’s not a clean smell. If this makes any sense it smells a little thicker {heavier}. When I smell it, I think of night time… date nights, perhaps. It’s not something I’d wear to the office, but I don’t think that’s what they were going for with this perfume. So, if you’re looking to smell sweet, sexy… marshmellowy, in the near future, Forever Red, it’s got you covered.

Next up, the Venus razor. I may be a bit bias here because this has always been one of my go-to razors. Yes, I said one of. I have the boy razor, the Venus, and other girl razor that shall remain nameless for purposes of focusing on the Venus. Since I used it before I got one to try out for free… I obviously like it. I can shave quickly without feeling like I’m going to slice myself into a million pieces and all the blades make for nice, smooth skin {until the next time I get goosebumps, but that is no fault of the razor}.

Also noteworthy
I don’t have to press hard when I shave with the Venus.
I don’t have to go over the same spot 10 times so my skin isn’t irritated afterwards.
The handle is long enough for my freakishly long fingers so I thank them for that.

My only wish would be that the actual blade covered more surface area. I’ve got long legs and shaving is not my friend because it takes a LOONNNGGGG time. So bigger razor blade means less time spent for me. But, Venus is bigger than MOST out there so I can’t complain too much. All in all, it gets the job done… really well. I used it before… I’ll continue to use it after.

Well… That’s, that. All 4 products reviewed. So I’ve got nothing left to say except, Happy Thursday!

I wasn’t paid to write these reviews. I was given the products to try out and these are my own, honest to goodness, thoughts.

Cosmo Voxbox – Part 1

Are you wondering what the heck Cosmo Voxbox is? Well, it’s a box that Influenster sent me in the mail, filled with products to review.

I’ve been eating chocolate, writing with pens, spraying perfume, and shaving my legs… a good time all around.

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Let's talk chocolate for a second. Ghirardelli. They sent me a bar of their new Sea Salt Escape {milk chocolate with sea salt and roasted almonds} and you know I grabbed that out of the box before I even looked at the rest of the products because HELLO, it's chocolate, and I have an inner fat kid that controls what I eat. The box gives you "tasting notes" and says there are "peaks of saltiness." I'd agree with that. I didn't taste salt in every bite, but I'd randomly be like, "oh, hey salt" and it was nice, though I think it could stand to be a bit saltier for a salty-sweet lover like myself. I shared it with David because I'm the best. wife. ever. and he liked it, but he couldn't taste any salt {that may also be because he doesn't chew food he just inhales it}. Overall… Chocolate, good. Almonds, good. Salt, good. Try it, you'll like it!

Ok, moving on to my other love, office products. Not kidding, I could stand in that isle of Target staring at patterned binder clips and push pins ALL. DAY. LONG. They just scream organization and that makes me happy. I’m also one of the pickiest “pen people” you’ll ever meet. Don’t give me a watery pen, a scratchy pen {worse than nails on a chalkboard}, or a random-globs-of-ink pen. That said, I’ve been trying out the FriXion by Pilot Pens {black and red} for the last few days. The best part, they’re erasable and write pretty darn smooth {gel ink}. The part I don’t like… the location of the eraser. It’s on the end of the pen, like a pencil, but if you put the cap on the end {like normal} you have to take the cap off to erase. I’d prefer the eraser be on the cap. I’m also not a huge fan of the graphic on the pens. It’s too much for me and I think I’d rather it just be plain. Still though, much better than the erasable pens I had to use in middle school and while I wouldn’t write a check with it {its erasable}, I’ll use it.

And that my friends, is part 1. Part 2 will be all about smelling good and being hair free. Get excited.

I wasn’t paid to write these reviews. I was given the products to try out and these are my own, honest to goodness, thoughts.

Pinterest Food Challenge: Baked Zucchini Sticks and Sweet Onion Dip

I made this recipe as one of our appetizers on Thanksgiving and it was a fan favorite…

Source: kingarthurflour.com via Melissa on Pinterest

 

Pros
– They’re easy to make
– Finger food
– Pretty heathy {until you use the dip}
– The dip has great flavor, but doesn’t have big chunks of onions in it.

Cons
– Dipping and rolling the Zucchini Sticks is somewhat tedious and pretty time-consuming
– We ran out of Zucchini Sticks way too soon!

Would I make them again? I plan on it this weekend!

Here’s the finished product

Now go pin it and then make it!

Kennedy’s First Thanksgiving

Kennedy started solids on Monday so she had it figured out and she was ready to go by Thanksgiving. We’re doing Baby Led Weaning {more on that later} so she ate zucchini and mashed potatoes (potatoes with breast milk).

She made a mess.

She had too much fun playing with her food.

She’s officially our dogs’ new best friend.

Best part…

Last Thanksgiving, she was Guppy. This year, she was sitting next to me at the table. Thankful.