Review: Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer

I bought my stand mixer with a gift card from our wedding. I wasn't sure I needed it, but there was nothing else in the store that I wanted. By the time I bought it, I had been trying to spend that gift car for two years! I wanted to be done carrying around a gift car with that value so I bought the mixer.

It was such an awesome purchase! I'm happy to report that I didn't research the product to death before buying it. I assumed its reputation was worthy and bought it. To this day, I haven't looked at any other mixers. I'm very happy with the one I bought.

It came with three different mixing attachments (all of which I use) and a flour pour shield (to keep it from spraying into your face). Knock on wood, I've not had any problems with it. It's powerful enough to mix heavy bread and cookie doughs. It's never seized up on me.

If you choose to buy one, make sure you pay attention to which model you're getting. They sell some cheaper versions that have smaller motors and only 4.5 quart bowls. This might be fine for the occasional cook, but if you're going to use it a lot, I'd go for the bigger motor and bowl. Obviously, there are more powerful and bigger models to choose from. If you're going to be using it a ton, I'd say save your money for one of those. It used to be (as of 2003 when I sold these at WS), that the Professional series was made completely of metal. This meant that they were significantly less likely to seize up and they would probably still be working when you died.

Review: Trader Joe's Fruit Leathers

I wish I had a link for you, but TJ's doesn't sell anything online! They have four flavors of fruit leathers: apricot, strawberry, raspberry, and boysenberry. They are all very tasty.

I like them because they're just the right thickness. They have a nice tart flavor that's refreshing. They are completely fruit without fillers. They are fun to eat (we make circles in them and eyeglasses).

Pick some up - you'll like them!

Review: Bliss Ice Cream (Boulder, CO)

When we recently traveled to CO, our first stop after the airport was at Whole Foods. There was a very nice lady giving out samples of a new organic ice cream. Turns out she was the owner! Since I love me my small businesses, I was happy to meet her.

The samples were delicious! The flavors were intense and the texture was creamy and smooth! When I read the ingredient list, I was impressed - pure ingredients. All the stuff you'd find listed in you grandma's cookbooks. I highly recommend picking up a pint the next time you run across Bliss ice cream. It's well worth the calories and the cost (I promise!): how could you go wrong with great flavor, great texture, and great ingredients!

Review: Yogi Cherry Almond Crunch

I love this cereal! I'm a big believer in layering cereals together. Every morning, I eat Grapenuts, Barbara's Shredded Wheats, and Yogi's Cherry Almond Crunch. Then I add on some flax seed and frozen blueberries before pouring on some milk. Obviously, each ingredient is a small amount so that together my bowl of cereal isn't gigantic!

This cereal has a good mix of wholesome ingredients: Oats, Barley, Spelt, Amaranth, Quinoa, Evaporated Cane, Juice, Brown Rice Flour, Brown Rice, Whole Wheat Flour, Vegetable Oil, Almonds, Salt, Natural Flavors. Since the other cereals I'm eating with it aren't sweet at all, this cereal adds a perfect amount of sweetness.


It is pricey. I wait for Whole Foods to put it on sale every few months and pick up several boxes at a time. I believe it's normally over $4 a box. On sale, I get it for $3 a box. To me, it's worth the price since it adds more grains in my morning cereal, gives me an added sweetness, and is the right texture compliment to my other cereals! 

Review: Annie's Cheddar Bunnies

We switched from Goldfish to Cheddar bunnies when our daughter was diagnosed with food allergies.

I had first tried them at a friend's house, and I admit, I wasn't sure about them then. I think they weren't as salty maybe? Don't know for sure.

Anyway, we're big believers in bunnies now! They are a great snack in the afternoon. We like to mix them with Trader Joe's Frosted Miniature Wheats.

The regular cheddar bunnies don't leave your fingers messy. I honestly don't know about fat and calories. I don't really look at that stuff anymore since I'm more focused on moderation and "real" ingredients.

Review: Athletic Socks

You know the bags of socks you can find at the store. I'd been buying those for years. For whatever reason, I assumed that they were just as good as any other sock. Being the penny pincher that I am, I didn't even want to try a different type of sock since they were soooooo expensive.

Then came the best shoe sale of my life! Our DSW had an extra 50% clearance sale at Thanksgiving time. It. was. amazing. AMAZING!!! And they had some socks on sale. I picked up a packet for me and one for my husband. We won't be going back.

My husband just needed some new socks before a trip. I'd been throwing out old ones as they came out of the drier with holes. Suddenly, on packing day, I discovered I'd thrown all of them away! Ooops. Where we live, we have limited shopping that's super close. I ran to Target. They had the bags of socks, but I walked right on by to the premium socks they sold.

My husband likes them. They're a go! Don't buy any more bags of socks. I promise you your feet will be happy.

Review: Hulu

I love Hulu! We've been watchers for a while now. We still don't have cable so we supplement by watching Netflix and Hulu. Our computer connects to the tv so that we can watch the internet on our tv from our computer.

Hulu is the best application for that since they have the "pop out" feature. Basically, it allows you to choose how big you want the picture so that you don't have to watch it small or full screen. Full screen keeps you from watching and doing on your computer. "Pop out" lets you do both!

I just recently saw an add for Hulu Plus. Have you tried it? Heard anything good about it? I have to admit that I'm tempted to try it. My monthly subscription to it and Netflix would still be considerably less than cable/dish.

Review: Graters

Years and years ago, I received three graters from Williams Sonoma. I wouldn't have spent the money on them myself....but I sure am glad someone else did!

Now that I cook constantly, I find I need a zester/grater at least once a week. I checked out Williams Sonoma's webpage, and it appears they sell the Microplane brand. I hands down recommend their graters!

If you're not familiar with Williams Sonoma, they are a high end cooks' supply store for the home. While I haven't shopped there in the past few years (I have a well-stocked kitchen after working there and getting married), they were historically known for their exceptional customer service and product guarantees. My hope is that's still the case, but I can't attest to it since I haven't need to buy anything recently.

I'm certain you'd be just as happy with their new graters as I am with my old one, but I don't receive any Amazon Associates credits if you buy from them :) So I have posted a highly rated grater to the left made by Microplane. It's a fine grater which will let you zest and grate. That's my favorite type since it's so multi-purpose. When you have a small kitchen, each tool needs to do more than one thing!

Happy zesting!

Review: Haagen Dazs Coffee Ice Cream

What has Cream, Skim Milk, Sugar, Egg Yolks, and Coffee?? Haagen Dazs Coffee Ice Cream!

If you want to avoid stabilizers, soy, corn syrup, or the like, you should look at the back of your ice cream label. I promise you'll be surprise at all the crap in it! If you're traveling with an allergy child and you need ice cream, Haagen Dazs is widely available! My daughter LOVES coffee ice cream. She loves Haagen Dazs. It's creamy. It's natural. It's what ice cream is supposed to be.

It's also one of my three favorite coffee ice creams! The other two are local brands: the green label Harris Teeters and Bliss.

I know it's more expensive than other brands, but I promise it's worth it. And, yes, it is full fat and calories. My theory: if you're going to have ice cream, have ice cream...not some lab created, chemical based frozen diary product.

Review: Garden of Eatin' White Corn Chips

I first had these when we were visiting my parents in Colorado. They met the allergy requirements so my mom picked them up for us. Man, were they good! Crispy. Salty. Not at all stale tasting.

My dad might have summed it up best: "What's in these things? Did they put cocaine in these things? I can't stop eating them." He's not a huge chip man. Cookies. Yes. Chips, give or take.

We all liked dipping them in salsa! They'd be great for nachos, too.

Pick some up in bulk for your next party at Amazon!

Review: Dark Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans

I'm so sorry for those of you that don't have a Trader Joe's. Really. I am. You probably don't know what you're missing, which is good, but you are missing a fantastic shopping experience!

One wonderful thing they sell is dark chocolate coffee beans. They are awesome! A perfect combination of crunch and flavor. They hit you hard with both flavors!

I warn you, though: they are chocolate covered coffee beans which means they have a ton of caffeine! Stop popping them in your mouth around three or else you won't sleep. I didn't realize this obviousness, and I couldn't sleep one night since I had been eating them all day and up until bed.

Review: NaSoya egg roll and wonton wrappers

My family loves these! Our favorite recipe is a Goat Cheese Ravioli I found in Clean Eating Magazine that uses these wrappers.

Despite the brand name, they do not contain soy! Yippee for our allergy house! 

I've only tried baking these (v. frying), and they crisp up nicely. They have little flavor so any filling or sauce comes through the shell without being masked. They don't crack when rolled or folded. 

Minoura Bike Trainer Review

About a year and a half ago, we bought a bike trainer to go with our bikes. We love the trails out here and had been really good about riding them a few times a week. The winters can be cold here, though, so we wanted a way to use our bikes during the cold months.

After some research, we decided on a bike trainer. We purchased our Minoura from LL Bean due to their exceptional product guarantee and customer service. We decided to get one that had a remote on it for easier resistance adjustment.

It's been a good buy! It does exactly what it says it would: let us ride our bikes inside with adjustable resistance. The only negative with it is the noise. It is a little loud since the rear wheel is riding on the resistance controller. If you're plugged into headphones, though, I don't think it would be any big deal.

If you're trying to watch tv, you will need to turn up the volume. If you're reading, you stop noticing it pretty fast.

My only other word of caution: make sure you don't move the unit around or it can cause the remote feature to break off. Set it up in a place you like and leave it there.

There bikes are easy to take in and out of the trainer so it makes it easy to train inside and outside quickly. Try one! You might really like it like us!

Kick-off!

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