Food

Munchkin Fresh Feeding

March 12, 2013 By Virginia 4 Comments

When Mister and Sister were babies, I made all of their baby food. I liked the idea that I knew, and was in control of, what was going into their food and into their tummies. Plus, I could try yummy combinations with them that aren’t typically sold in the jar.

Munchkin recently sent me their Fresh Food Baby System, designed to help you make fresh baby food faster and more easily.

The Fresh Food Baby System includes a Fresh Food Chopper & Steamer, a Fresh Food Grinder, Click Lock Fresh Food Freezer Trays, and a Click Lock Fresh Food Freezer Pops Tray.

To make fresh baby food, start with the chopper & steamer. It has a convertible lid which is convenient for microwaving, and the chopping lid (with stainless steel cutting blade) removes easily. Once your food is ready, simply use the grinder to mash food into safe to swallow consistency. Finally, add the mashed food to the stackable trays and lock the lid in place or add them to the freezer pop tray. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

Since it is a bit too early to be making fresh baby food for Little Miss (most freshly prepared baby foods can be stored in the freezer for 3-6 months), I used my system to make green bean mash, which I will later sneak into Mister and Sister’s foods. I love sneaking healthy stuff in on them, since Mister is staging a boycott on all things green. LOL.

Munchkin products are available in the Munchkin Store, on Amazon, Babies R Us, Target, Walmart, diapers.com, and Buy Buy Baby.

Check out Munchkin on Facebook and Munchkin on Twitter for fun updates, coupons, and giveaways.

Many thanks to Munchkin for providing the above product for inclusion in the Baby Shower Gift Guide!

Baby Shower Bonanza

Posts May Contain Compensated or Affiliate Links All Opinions are My Own

An Udi-ful Thanksgiving

November 18, 2012 By Virginia 3 Comments

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is four days away? Seriously? Where did the month of November go? Nevermind that, where has the year of 2012 vanished to? Our Thanksgiving will be spent surrounded by family and friends. And yes, food. Yummy food.

Fortunately, I am not required to make all of the tasty treats that we will be having in the week to come. Nope. I’ve had a little help from Udi’s Gluten Free. When we go shopping for our Udi’s, it can sometimes be quite the experience. This time around, I was in search of two of Udi’s newer products – the Classic French & Seeded Whole Grain Dinner Rolls and French baguettes! I wanted to pick some up to take to our family gathering. Yummy dinner rolls that I don’t have to make? Yes, please.

Trouble was, our local grocery doesn’t have them in yet. We went to four different stores in search of them. Two stores only had Udi’s bagels. While those are yummy in and of themselves, it isn’t what I wanted. The third store didn’t have any Udi’s. At the fourth, and final, store I found an impressive assortment of Udi’s, including bread, muffins, cinnamon rolls, and even pizza crusts. But no baguettes. I spoke with that store manager. He promised to call me and let me know if they will have them in time for Christmas, since they don’t expect to stock them before Thanksgiving. Did you know that most store managers welcome your product requests, if they aren’t carrying them already, and will accommodate those requests if they can? I’ve always been one of those, “Don’t bother them, they have work to do” types. Then one day, I realized that keeping me (the customer) happy is part of their job and they are usually happy to hear from me.

Since there were no baguettes to be had, I picked up some Udi’s hot dog buns (I like to use them to make garlic cheese bread), chocolate cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, and cinnamon raisin bread. The cinnamon rolls come with a yummy topping, but they taste great without it, too. Now I’ve got sweet breads covered for a while. Yum.

Now I can concentrate of all those things I am thankful for!

What do you do when your grocery doesn’t carry the products you want?

***Product coupons received to facilitate this post.All opinions are my own.***

Filed Under: Food, Reviews Tagged With: Food, glutenfree, Review, udis

Posts May Contain Compensated or Affiliate Links All Opinions are My Own

Kashi Chocolate Soft-Baked Squares

October 15, 2012 By Virginia Leave a Comment

We recently had the opportunity, courtesy of MomsMeet, to review Kashi’s new Chocolate Soft-Baked Squares.

If there is anything that my family loves, it is chocolate baked into just about anything. Chocolate cookies, chocolate cakes, chocolate brownies… you get the picture.

With that in mind, I thought the Chocolate Soft-Baked Squares would be a good-for-you alternative, since it s made with seven whole grains, sweet potatoes, and black beans. I thought it would be a sure hit.

Turns out, I was the only one that would eat them. The kids took one bite and left the chocolate square on their plate. Hubs said that they tasted too “good for you” to be “good.”

Hmmm.

I daresay this is the first chocolate snack that none of them wanted seconds of. I had to enjoy the rest of the box by myself.

While I thought they were good, I don’t think I will be buying them again. There are just too many other Kashi products that all of us like to bring these home and not be able to enjoy them with the rest of the family.

***Product sample received to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.***

Filed Under: Food Tagged With: chocolate, Food, kashi, Review

Posts May Contain Compensated or Affiliate Links All Opinions are My Own

Kitchen-less Cooking

September 9, 2012 By Virginia Leave a Comment

Since we are elbow deep in this remodel, we currently have no stove, no sink, no dishwasher, and no garbage disposal in the kitchen. We are kitchen-less. Of course, we could eat out every night and blow our budget (not to mention our waist lines), but that just isn’t our style. Instead, we are having an adventure in kitchen-less cooking, making do with a griddle, a slow cooker, and a microwave.

We started out in the kitchen area… transitional dining

and have moved the table all over the kitchen, dining, living room areas as needed. It has served as a cook surface, as well as meal surface.

griddle cakes

Meals have been simple. Nacho chicken from the slow cooker one night, then sandwiches with the leftovers the next night. Eggs. Griddle cakes. Sandwiches. The kids don’t seem to mind, and I am happy to say that I have only resorted to cereal for dinner once… which absolutely made the kids day.

griddle cakes for dinner

I will be glad to cook on the stove again, though. One can only think of so many slow cooker and microwave meals. LOL.

Have any suggestions for quick and easy meals that can be made WITHOUT a kitchen?

Filed Under: Food, Remodel Tagged With: dining, Food, kitchen, remodel

Posts May Contain Compensated or Affiliate Links All Opinions are My Own

Superfood Snack Review plus Giveaway (8/25)

August 10, 2012 By Virginia 100 Comments

I recently received an opportunity to review a Raw Chocolate Sampler from Superfood Snack, via Tomoson.

Chocolate?

Sign me up please!!

The Superfood Snack company creates Raw Chocolate Energy Snacks with organic superfoods that are loaded with health benefits.

The Raw Chocolate Sampler that I received included a pack each of the following blends: Brazilian Chocolate Ecstasy, Chocolate Goji Treats, Green Chocolate Dream, and Chocolate Cherry Qi.

I will say that I have never tried raw chocolate before. I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve eaten a certain raw fruit bar sold in the supermarkets, but not raw chocolate.

Anyway.

Each Superfood Snack pack contained six raw chocolate energy nuggets. One nugget is roughly the diameter of a quarter. Two nuggets are about 110 calories. Of the four varieties, my favorite was the Brazilian Chocolate Ecstasy. They were delish. The other energy nuggets were tasty. They staved off hunger for a bit while I was busy and what not, but it wasn’t like the energy you get from say, a can of energy drink. I was able to keep going without stopping to eat, but I wasn’t all hyped and ready to dance a jig, KWIM?

Hubs tried a few of the nuggets as well. His reaction, “They’re okay.” He doesn’t like foods that are really chewy or sticky (i.e. caramels, etc) because they tend to get stuck in his teeth. While he didn’t dislike the Superfood Snacks, he probably wouldn’t pick them up in the health food store and buy them. I would… if they were cheap enough. They run $8.99 a bag on the website (you can get a $9 coupon by signing up for their newsletter). I wouldn’t pay that. I might pay $2 for a bag if I were shopping while hungry. Otherwise, they better be about as cheap as a certain peanut candy bar that is guaranteed to give you energy.

Now you can win the sampler pack I received, and see for yourself how good raw chocolate is…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.