Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Cooking with Blue Diamond -New Honey Roasted Flavors (Sponsored)

*We received 2 free cans of Blue Diamond Almonds because I am a Blue Diamond Taste Maker. The following thoughts and opinions are my own honest ones.*

 Recently we had the opportunity to sample some more Blue Diamond almonds from their honey roasted line-honey roasted vanilla almonds and honey roasted chipotle almonds.  I was most excited to try the honey roasted vanilla ones because I don't generally care for spicy flavored nuts. That being said all 4 of us enjoyed both the honey roasted vanilla flavor and the  roasted chipotle flavor. They aren't nearly as spicy as I thought they would be. I think adding honey to these flavors really gives them a great overall flavor. They are definitely quite tasty on there own for snacking.


Next we decided to get creative with them and try them in some recipes. For the honey roasted chipotle flavor we decided to use them as part of a coating for chicken tenders. So we took panko breadcrumbs, flour, salt and almonds and then coated chicken tenders with it. It was pretty good but it would have worked out better if we used an egg wash. I also think it needed a bit more salt. One other thing we would have done different ones used half seasoned bread crumbs and half plain breadcrumbs.


For the honey roasted vanilla flavor we decided to make a peach crisp and add the nuts in with the crisp part. I think the nuts added a nice crunch to the topping. The peach turned out pretty tasty. Here's the recipe that we used.

Mom's Peach Crisp from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
4 cups slice fresh peaches
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of cold butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup rolled oats

Edited:
2 tablespoons of bourbon
1/4 cup of almonds

Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. Arrange peaches evenly in an 8x8-inch baking dish.
  3. Mix flour, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl using a pastry cutter until evenly crumbled. Fold oats into flour mixture; sprinkle and press topping into peaches.
  4. Bake in the preheated oven until topping is lightly browned, about 30 minutes.  
 Hope everyone had a great summer. There will be more great sponsored content and regular content soon. :)
 

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Summer Fun with Blue Diamond

Recently I had the opportunity to join the Blue Diamond Taste Makers. While I received a can of almonds and a bag of almonds for free for testing and review purposes the following opinions are my own honest ones. Almonds are a great on the go snack and Blue Diamond offers a wide variety of flavor options.

I had a chance to try the toasted coconut almonds and the blueberry ones. We decided to try the toasted coconut almonds in an ambrosia salad. We have made ambrosia many times but never with an nuts in it. And I decided to add the blueberry almonds to some homemade granola and ate it on top of some strawberry yogurt. I really like the crunchy texture that the coconut almonds added to the ambrosia. I liked the coconut almonds more than the blueberry ones. The blueberry almonds did taste nice in my yogurt. I would definitely purchase the toasted coconut almonds but probably not the blueberry ones. Here our version of ambrosia salad with blue diamond toasted coconut almonds-You should definitely give it a try.

Ambrosia Fruit Salad with Blue Diamond Toasted Coconut Almonds

1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
2 T sugar
1 C sour cream
1 20oz can of pineapple tidbits - drained
1 10oz can of mandarin oranges - drained
1 10oz jar of maraschino cherries - drained and chopped
3/4 C shredded coconut
1 cup mini marshmallows
1/2 C chopped Blue Diamond Toasted Coconut Almonds

Whip the heavy cream and sugar until it forms stiff peaks - whisk in the sour cream.  Add the rest of the ingredients and stir together.  Put in the refrigerator and chill for a couple hours before serving.

Ambrosia with Blue Diamond Toasted Coconut Almonds

Strawberry Yogurt with Granola and Blue Diamond Blueberry Almonds


Friday, June 20, 2014

Crowdtap Litter Genie Sampling Program


Hello again blog readers! It has been a while since my last post. I am going to try my best to start posting on a regular basis again.  Recently I was accepted into a sample and share on Crowdtap for the Litter Genie Cat Litter Disposable System. I was definitely interested in trying this product as we have 7 cats. Yes you read that correctly.  Even though I am sent this product to test for free these are my own honest thoughts on the product.

When it arrived of course the cats had to check out the box it came in and then the Litter Genie itself. I tried getting a photo but of course they moved when I went to get the camera. I was skeptical of the product at first and wondered if it would really help to reduce litter odors. It was pretty easy to assemble and the instructions were very clear. It took a couple tried to attach the scoop and its basket to the side of the container.

Ok I am going to try and explain how it works-I think it would be best to go the website and watch the video. It is very helpful and informative. After you scoop the clumps out of the litter you drop them into the pail and then pull the grey tray thing outward and then it seals the clumps into the bottom compartment. When you have a full bag you use the built in cutter and then tie off the bag.

This product was easy to use. I was really surprised at how much better our hallway smells. The instructions were well written and I liked the pictures that went along with each step. The only downside I see is the price of the bag refills. Overall I am happy I could take part in this sample and share.