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. :)
 

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

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.

BzzAgent Kashi Hummus Crisps Campaign

Recently, I received an invite on BzzAgent to try Kashi Hummus Crisps for free. We eat a lot of hummus so I was excited to try out this product. When my bzzkit arrived I couldn't wait to try them. I was sent a bag of the sea salt and olive oil flavor as well as coupons to share with friends and family. They also have caramelized onion and sundried tomato, basil, and feta flavors. I was able to sample both of these flavors too-I got a bag of the sundried tomato, basil, and feta in my October Goodies Company box and we picked up a bag of the caramelized onion at the Christmas Tree shops.

These chips are great because they contain no partially hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup. They also contain 6g of whole grains, 4g fiber, and 4g of protein. These crisps have a nice crisp and texture to them. The amount of flavoring on them is just right and not to over powering. I found the texture to be a bit different than other crisps but pleasant. I also found them to be highly addictive and all 3 flavors were enjoyable. They don't really taste like hummus but they have similar ingredients except for the tahini. Overall I really enjoyed these and can see myself picking up another bag soon.

Lifeway Frozen Strawberry Kefir-Influenster Campaign

*I was given the opportunity to try out the following product to test for free from Influenster and the company mentioned below. The following opinions are my own honest ones and I was not compensated for them in any way.

This summer I was given the opportunity to try Kefir for the first time. A website called Influenster sent me a free coupon to try any Lifeway Kefir product. I was excited to try this product. So, I took my coupon to Wegmans and decided to try the Frozen Strawberry Kefir. If you are not familiar with kefir it is fermented milk product that has more probiotics than yogurt.

Here's an explanation from Lifeway's website-"A fermented milk product, Lifeway Kefir is similar to drinkable yogurt but far more probiotic. While yogurt contains only two to three strains of “live and active” cultures, Lifeway is packed with a unique blend of 12 probiotic cultures."

They also sell some Greek versions of their products. I enjoyed being given the opportunity to be able to try a new product that I hadn't heard of before. The Frozen Strawberry Kefir I tried was a bit tart and slightly tangy. It was also a very refreshing and creamy Summer time treat. A half a cup serving is only 90 calories and it is 99% lactose free. Which is great since I have a slight dairy sensitivity. The probiotics rev-up your immunity and aid your digestion.

Long time no blog/Nail Kit

Hello everyone! I am so sorry that it has been so long since I have blogged and I am going to change that right now. I suppose it is harder than it may seem sometimes to keep with a blog and to keep posting new and interesting content. After a long hiatus though I am willing to give this another go.

I wanted to start off my showing you a neat idea my mom and I found while browsing Pinterest around the holidays last December. We decided to make a nail kit to give a cousin for Christmas. The first jar we bought was to small since we got carried away with all of the items we purchase to include in her gift. It turned out really cute and she loved it!

We added some rub ons to decorate the outside and made a rosette for the top.

Flavors of The Season (Sponsored by Torani and SheSpeaks)

Recently I was sent two bottles of Torani syrup to test through the SheSpeaks panel blogger society. *Note: While this is a sponsored post the following oppinions are my own completely honest thoughts and I didn't recieve any compensation for them.* I recieved two bottles of syrup towards the end of last month and I was excited to see which seasonal flavors I would be sent. I decided to have Torani send me one sugar free and one regular. They sent me a bottle of sugar free salted caramel and a bottle of gingerbread syrup.

We decided to try them first in Italian sodas. I am not usually a fan of sugar free syrups but since my mom drinks them and so does my diabetic brother who was home for Thanksgiving I requested one sugar free bottle. After trying them in Italian soda we quickly decided these flavors are not well suited for this type of beverage.

After that we mulled over some more ideas in our head for a while and finally got the opportunity today to try out a couple of our ideas. We decided to try making a salted caramel whipped cream to top hot cocoa and other seasonal drinks. And we also added some gingerbread syrup to our sugar cookie batter. The hot cocoa with whipped cream as well as the gingerbread sugar cookies are quite tasty! I think if I was a coffee drinker I would enjoy these two syrup in lattes. I really enjoyed this program and can't wait to try out more recipes using the great syrup Torani sent us.