Showing posts with label giveaway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label giveaway. Show all posts

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Lazy Sunday + A Brutally Honest Review - POM

Hola Bloggies:

How was your weekend loves? We spent our Saturday largely doing wedding stuff and other random chores, which of course meant that we felt fully entitled to relax on Sunday. Woohoo for lazy Sundays!

It was crazy hot here in the Rocky Mountains combine that with the intense sun and it was blistering up in the casa. To seek some relief we decided to back some cherries and blueberries, water, a massive sub for sharing (bought at our local Safeway on the way out of town) and head out to a local lake. This was the first time we attempted to do anything like this since getting Daisy. Little did we know how difficult it would be for us to find a lake that would allow us to bring our puppy to the shore. smile_sad

We tried multiple parks and no luck. So eventually we ended up heading down a forest service road and finding a remote lake in the mountains. A pristine mountain lake with no rules? Bonus!

kayaks on the shore

The weather up at the lake turned out to be much cooler than down in the city, mostly by virtue of a subtle but continuous breeze.

cherries and blueberries

I purchased the cherries at the local farmer’s market on Saturday. While it would be cheaper to purchase them at a grocery store (where they would likely come from Washington State) I chose to buy produce grown in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley.

morsel

The sandwich was something we had to purchase since I never keep the necessary ingredients at home. I know most people consider bread a stable but I seldom keep any around; mostly because if it’s there I’ll eat it all a lot.

the long shot

It wasn’t the healthiest option but it did the job. I picked off the salami and had two small pieces. Plenty to keep me full. I don’t know about you but I just don’t get very hungry in the crazy hot weather.

Once we finished our meal we walked around the lake and went for a dip in the water. It was so refreshing and perfect for a lazy Sunday!

A little bit later in the evening we headed out to see Inception. It was kind of trippy and a bit of the Matrix meets James Bond. Overall it was really good and made you question reality. That’s basically my measure of a good movie – does it leave you thinking afterwards? This one sure did!

 

A POM Review and GIVEAWAY

POM Coupons 

Some time ago I received coupons for free bottles of POM from their very gracious manufacturers. I kind of heart me some POM so I was thrilled at the opportunity to officially review the product for the blog.

The Deets 

I still remember the first time I heard about pomegranate juice, it was while I was talking to some Persian friends in High School. I was told Iranians swore by the health benefits of pomegranates. I couldn’t even begin to fathom what would be so great about those small little seeds. And how in the world did they manage to get juice out of those things anyways!?!?

Back then I wasn’t really interested in healthy living so it wasn’t until some years had passed that I learned the Persians had a good thing going! POM juice is made up of 100% pomegranate juice; which means it’s absolutely jammed pack with antioxidants. Current research seems to indicate that antioxidants help to prevent oxidization in our bodies and as such may help protect us from diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes (amongst others).

Many people turn to red wine for its antioxidant content. Indeed, there’s this whole school of thought that attributes the health of the French, despite their diets high in indulgences, to their red wine consumption; this is known as the French Paradox. Well it turns out that POM contains a higher antioxidant count then even red wine!

POM kiwi

For my review I took two of the coupons I was sent and used them to purchase two flavours I had never tried.

First up was POM Kiwi. I wasn’t sure how the kiwi would stand up against the pomegranates. Overall I would say that the kiwi gave the POM a slightly increased tanginess which was distinctly different from the usual POM taste. The flavour of the kiwi was distinctly prominent.

POM mango

The next flavour I tried was the POM with mango. Also a first for me. This flavour seemed to lessen the usual tartness of the POM juice but overall it seemed to get lost in the juice. I would recommend this flavour to those that find POM juice a little too tart in its original flavour.

the ingredients

Now I’m not going to pretend that POM juice is cheap – that it is not. But like organic produce or free-range products, I consider POM an investment in my health. Whenever possible I keep a bottled on hand. And I figure since it’s so jammed pack with antioxidants, a little can go a long way. While I know a lot of people drink their POM juice in shot glass portions I tend to make mocktails out of POM Wonderful.

Start out with your POM flavour of choice and a bit of club soda. Don’t forget a lovely glass.

the pour

Pour a bit of POM juice into the bottom of your glass. I was generous with my pour.

POM  cocktail

Top the rest off with club soda and enjoy your delicious drink. If you’re feeling particularly fancy pants, feel free to add a slice of lime to your glass or maybe some raspberries. And if you’re having a party, don’t forget to add a splash of vodka.

Overall Review? I absolutely LOVE POM juice! It’s one of my go-to healthy food splurges and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to my readers. If you don’t do it for the taste then at least do it for your health.

And here’s the GIVEAWAY part – I have two coupons for free POM juice to give away to one lucky reader. To enter all you have to do is comment on this entry. Contest closes on Friday, July 30th 2010 at 8AM PST. Best of luck bloggies!


Question: Have you ever tried POM juice? Did you like it?

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

GIVEAWAY (and a Newman's Own Organics Review)

Hola peeps!

Have I got a post for you today! :o)

An embarrassingly long time ago  A while ago I received a ridiculously generous package from Newman's Own Organics to review for the blog. And when I say ridiculously generous I mean RIDICULOUSLY! Check out the stash (oh and please excuse the ghetto iPhone pics - I was having laptop problems back then and was blogging from my phone):



Never in a million years did I expect so many items to review. Which is probably (in part) why it's taken me so long to write this post. I even enlisted my mother (in Toronto), my sister (in Montreal), my co-workers and the Fiance to help in the process.

The items for review included chocolate chip cookies (including an orange flavoured ones), Newman-O's (regular and minty), dried fruits, a variety of mints, Soy Crisps, chocolates, Hermits, Fig Newmans, and Ginger-O's.

First the background - Newman's Own Organics is the second generation of Newman's Own. In fact, it was started in late 2001 by Paul Newman's daughter. The principles behind Newman's Own Organics "Great Tasting Food that Happens to be Organic." You can't argue with that.

Now I have to be perfectly honest bloggies and confess that I didn't love all the products. Sure there were some I LOVED (!!!!) but there were others that I thought were yucky. Overall, however, I was still impressed with the line. It uses whole ingredients, is organic, and a much better option than your average supermarket brand.

First up were the chocolates - which the Fiance, my mom, and my sister helped to sample.




I have to give Newman's Own Organics kudos for the vast selection of chocolates. We're talking mocha, orange infused, milk, dark, and even super dark bars! I was excited to try the chocolates and was suitably impressed with the fact that all the chocolates were Rainforest Alliance Certified, and thus sustainably farmed.



Unfortunately, none of us were very impressed with the taste of the chocolate. In fact I would almost dare to say that they were lacking in a perceivable chocolate flavour. Rather, I found them to be overwhelmingly waxy. Sorry - but I have to be honest. :o(

Next up were the pretzels: Stars of the show - by far! LOVED them!!!!!



I love pretzels but more often than not they aren't so good for you, not dense enough, too high in salt (in fact I crumble all the salt off of pretzels before I eat them), and missing a certain je ne sais quoi! lol These pretzels were basically the pretzels of my dreams.



The ingredient list was fairly impressive.



The nutritional information not too scary.



And the serving sizes surprisingly generous and filling (must be the high protein count).



Basically I can't wait until my next cross-border trip (unfortunately these products are not available in Canada) to stock up on these babies!



And my favourite? The Spelt Pretzels. Perfect texture and taste. But the same can be said for all the Newman's Own Organics pretzels. I highly recommend all of these babies!!!

Next up: Soy Crisps



Sure, like the other products the ingredients list and nutritional info was good. But the taste . . . please don't hate me Newman's Own Organics peeps but I didn't like them. At all. I found the taste to be powdery and artifical. In fact I ate one and quickly drank some water to get rid of the taste. It didn't work. So I possed one of the mints instead . . .

Next up: The Mints. No pictures of these babies (you'll have to look at the Giveaway section for those) but needless to say they were very good. Super cute packaging and organic to boot. WIN.

Next up: The Cookies. I'm kind of low on pictures of cookies. Mostly because they were inhaled (!) by the Fiance before I got to take many but also because I had to replace my iPhone mid-review and lost some pics.

Nonetheless, the Fiance raved about the Hermits, the Fig Newtons, Ginger-O's, and the Mint Newman-O's. But seemed considerably less convinced by the chocolate chip cookies and the regular Newman-O's. My co-workers sampled both the regular chocolate chip cookies and the orange infused chocolate chip cookies and she liked neither. She described the texture as powdery and the flavour generally lacking. I tend to agree.

My Overall view on Newman's Own Organics products would be that their heart is in the right place. They give a ton of money to charity (like Father, like Daughter) and make ethically produced goodies. Unfortunately, their products are of varying degrees of yuminess. I most highly recommend their mints, pretzels, and most of their cookies. But I can't say the same thing for the Soy Crisps or their chocolates.


GIVEAWAY

But enough of me talking - taste is after all subjective. Which is why I saved some Newman's Own Organic products for you to try!!!

That's right - it's GIVEAWAY TIME!!! :o)









That's right, you could win this selection of Newmans' Own Organics products. And here's how to enter:

1) For one entry, comment on this post

2) For another entry, link back to this post and comment again leaving a link to your post

It's that EASY! :o) The giveaway is open to both U.S. and Canadian residents and closes Monday, January 25th at 8AM Pacific Standard Time.

Now get commenting!!!!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Baby it's Cold Outside!

Hey there peeps!

Look who went totally AWOL for the weekend and Monday. What can I say - it's getting to be that super busy but oh so fun time of year! :o) There's lots of running around, gift buying, gift wrapping, baking, cavorting and merry-making to be had!! And in less than two weeks I'll be back in Toronto celebrating Christmas with mi familia!

Love it!!!

So let's check out what I was up to this weekend . . . . :o)


Cans4Comments - the Donation

This was pretty well priority numero uno this weekend. As soon as Saturday rolled around I tallied my Cans4Comments . . . you peeps commented 39 times in the time period!!! YAAAAAAAYYY!!! 39 cans to feed the hungry homeless.

The fiance and I headed off to the grocery store armed with money for the cans and a camera to document it all! lol When we got there we headed to the bulk can area and chose items we thought would be filling and yummy. We ended up buying cream of mushroom, cream of tomato, and veggie soups, plus a bunch of baked beans. Given the way the cans were packaged we ended up donating 45 cans! :o)



By the time we were finished taking pictures with our cans there were more than a few security guys stalking our aisle. I think it looked like we were stealing. Or were overall sketchy. You know - 'cause all thieves take pictures before they walk off with their shoplifted goodies. lol :oP

I have to say, donating those cans felt GREAT!!!! Thank-you everyone for participating. And thank-you Chris+Lynn (my brilliant wedding photographers) for cooking up the idea in the first place. Here's hoping next year is even bigger!


Get Your Move On - A Fit of Lunacy

While chilling on Sunday I happened to look outside and realized it was a ridiculously clear and beautiful day. Of course I somehow managed to forget that it was ridiculously clear 'cause it was -21C (-6F). Brrrrrr!!!! In a total fit of lunacy I suggested we take a hike in that weather. Silly moi! :oP So off we went. I bundled up in furry boots, ski jacket, ski gloves, and a toque. It wasn't the cutest look but I was warm (or something like warm). We headed to a local trail that leads up a small mountain and straight to a scenic overview of the Rockies.

Since it was so cold, Daisy had to wear her sweater.



She usually fights us when we try to put it on but once she gets outside she's happy to have it on. The poor puppy would probably freeze without it!!!

Oh what's that - you can't see her face? Here she is!



Look! It's a cute puppy and yours truly (bundled up in about 20lbs of layers). I think her sweater matches my toque. We're cute like that! :oP

The hike offered some beautiful Rocky Mountain views. This place may not have great restaurants (huge understatement) or great shopping (even bigger understatement) but it has spectacular mountain views!



 
 


For most of the hike, Daisy got to hang out off leash. She loved it!!! Of course I threw the leash back on her when the eagles started circling. If need be I was going to fight them for my puppy.

Thankfully we made it down off the hike with our puppy still in tow (no "Oregon Trail" type incidents here :oP) and only moderately frost bitten. No joke - we couldn't feel our chins by the end of the hike. Next time I'll bring a scarf . . . or wait for Spring! lol


The Eats - Nom nom nom!

The Chic Life suggested that food bloggers participate in the Holiday Cookie Challenge 2009. The idea is that for every weekend in December you bake cookies. And then you give them away - an awesome way to spread the cheer!

For my first cookie recipe I made a wonderful Martha Stewart recipe - using my massive Martha Baking book gifted to me by my mom! :o)


 


 
 
 

They turned out FABULOUS!!! Perfectly spicy and chewy with just the right amount of sweetness. Thank God I was giving them away because I would have devoured them all - Cookie Monster style! :oP

Since I was already baking I decided to keep on going and made some cranberry pound cakes.



I've been making this recipe for years and it never fails. It's a total standby that freezes beautifully and seems to make everyone go "Nom nom nom!" LOL

Given that it was SO cold outside I also downed some noodle soups this weekend. Honestly, I don't know how I'd make it through the winter without them. Homemade pho is the way to go!




In fact I think I'll hook myself up with some more pho at lunch today! Have you ever had pho? It's a meal in a bowl - fresh tasting, filling, but not overly heavy! Highly recommend it!



A Shout Out - BQ Baby!!!!

Now you're all caught up on my weekend which means I should head off to work. But I didn't want to end things without telling you about my girl Aron.

Aron blogs over at Runner's Rambles. In the last couple of years she managed to turn herself into a marathoner. And a REALLY good one at that!!! So good, this past weekend she got her BQ!!!! Which means she qualified to run the Boston Marathon!!! YAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!

She's worked really hard for this and I know how much it means to her. Congrats Aron!!!! :o)

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Imminent Frostbite

Hola Amigos!!!

It is FREEZING up here in my corner of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Brrrr!!!!! In fact it's so cold this entry could have very well started "Well hello Danica, I was freezing this morning when it was -16 degrees here in Canada . . ." :oP

Ahahah - you'll have to read Chic Runner's post (and her awesome giveaway) to understand the reference. But seriously it's frigid. And it actually is -16. It seems were in for a cold snap for a week. I much preferred the unseasonably warm weather we had until recently. And by unseasonably warm I meant 0 degrees. lol Yeah I have different standards of what's cold (at least compared to all of you California and Florida bloggers).

Instead of dwelling on the fact that my fingers feel like they're going to fall off (mental note - buy new gloves) I've decided to remember some of my favourite warm moments of this past summer. A flight of fancy if you will! :o)

Cue the warm summer pictures.




Taken by yours truly in June while visiting Tulum. A beach so stunning it's basically the beach of my dreams! everyone's dreams!!!



Le sigh. Days so hot they called for a bbq on the deck while wearing pimpin' new sunglasses.



In Merida. At the risk of being a little gross, I'm pretty sure that's not just water in my hair! lol :oP



Hanging out on a patio in Yoho National Park. Because even in the Rockies it can get blistering hot. And stunningly beautiful to boot!





Poolside at our wedding resort San Jose del Cabo. What a life!



And rocking the cocoon lounger at the same resort. Plus a tan and bikini. Awesome.


Okay I think I feel warmer now! :oP Time to head off to work. Enjoy your day bloggies and remember all current comments help contribute to Cans4Comments!!


Hasta Luego!

Monday, November 23, 2009

'Tis the Season - Cans 4 Comments!!!



With American Thanksgiving this week and Christmas season just around the corner it's definitely the season for giving!!!

Enter Cans 4 Comments!

I first heard about Cans 4 Comments through my Rockstar wedding photographers Chris+Lynn. They've been running this deal for several years and last year alone they donated 221 cans based on a week's worth of comments!!!!

This year I decided to join in the game and play along. So here are the rules:

1) Comments on any of my blog posts between now and the 7th of December (that's two full weeks) will all count for Cans 4 Comments

2) For each comment made I will donate one can of food to my local food bank


Sounds simple right!? That's 'cause it is!!! :o) I know I have so much to be thankful for and this is my way of giving back!

Looking for more blogs that are participating in Cans 4 Comments? You can find them at Twitter by searching #cans4comments .

Fellow Bloggies - won't you consider participating!? What more awesome way for a food blogger to give back this Christmas season!?

So now you know the deal - now go comment!!!!!!

EDIT: If you want to participate please don't feel you have to do it for the same two-week period. That's just the time frame I chose for myself! Truth is every bit helps!!! Two weeks, one, or even one post! It's all good!!!