My Review - Kashi GOLEAN Crisp Toasted Berry Crumble

A while ago I signed up for a FREE sample of Kashi GOLEAN® Crisp!™ from Vocalpoint. My reasoning for requesting the sample was 2 fold: 1) I've made a commitment to myself and my family to make healthier choices, even healthier than I have already made, when it comes to food. And 2) I was skeptical about whether or not this would taste good and I wanted to be able to give it an honest review for all of you.

When my sample of Kashi GOLEAN® Crisp!™ Toasted Berry Crumble arrived, I set it on the counter with the rest of our cereal and pretty much forgot about it for a few days. I am serious when I say that I was seriously skeptical about whether or not this cereal would taste good, which is why I tried to forget about it. I was afraid that it would have that same cardboard-like flavor that so many other "good for you" cereals have. 

Then one night I needed to put something in my stomach so I could take a pain pill. My eyes immediately went to the tiny box of Kashi on the counter. Just the right size for a small meal and combined with milk it would make that pill sit easier in my system. So, what the hell, I poured the cereal in a bowl, topped it off with skim milk and thought, "Here goes nothing."

This was my very first thought after my first spoonful: "WOW!!!" Then I looked at my Honey and said, "We need to get a bigger box." He laughed! But in all seriousness this cereal was beyond the best cereal I have ever tasted! I had to look at the box to make sure it really was good for me. The subtle sweetness of the granola mixed with the berries was super yummy. It didn't even have the strange texture that I anticipated it would have.

The best part about this is in the tiny little box that was my sample, Kashi included coupons! To me this said, "We are confident enough that you will love our product and will want to run right out and buy a bigger box." Heck ya, I wanted to buy a bigger box of Kashi GOLEAN® Crisp!™ Toasted Berry Crumble cereal! Even better, one of the coupons included was a $3/1 coupon. There were 3 more $1/1 coupons, which is good, because I bought all 4 boxes that were sitting on the shelf at my Hannaford store. 

In case you are wondering, I went through my first big box of this cereal in 3 days. I ate it for breakfast and for lunch for 3 days in a row. That is how much I love this cereal. If you made a New Year's resolution to make healthy choices regarding the food that you eat, this cereal has got to be added to your grocery list. And if you are a Hannaford shopper like me, Kashi GOLEAN® Crisp!™ Cereals are only $2.99 (I found it in the Organic section).

And before I end this review I would be a horrible reviewer if I didn't tell you what makes this super yummy cereal so good for you. Here it is, straight from Kashi's website:

• 9g Protein (that's more protein than one large egg)
• 8g fiber
• 18g of whole grains

So there you have it. Kashi GOLEAN® Crisp!™ Toasted Berry Crumble cereal is yummy. I wish that I could give all of you a box to try because I am absolutely confident you will love it. If you haven't tried it yet, run out and buy Kashi GOLEAN® Crisp!™ Toasted Berry Crumble - I promise, your taste-buds won't regret it!

Review: Chocolate Dipped Coconut Luna Bar

A while back LUNA was giving away samples of their new Chocolate Dipped Coconut flavored bar on their facebook page and I jumped on this. I was lucky to get it before they were all gone.

I am very selective about the LUNA flavors I eat and my most favorite flavor is Nutz Over Chocolate. Well that is until I tried the new Chocolate Dipped Coconut flavor. This new flavor is by far the most scrumptious of the LUNA flavors.

The best way I can describe it is like eating an Almond Joy or Mounds candy bar without all the guilt. This thing has 190 calories, 7 grams of fat, 3 grams of fiber and 9 grams of protein. Exactly what I want after a nice long run or a butt-kicking workout.

I know that coconut doesn't appeal to a lot of people, including me, but there have been so many people who have commented that they detest coconut and yet find this new flavor from LUNA to be absolutely delicious.

If you get a chance, pick up this new flavor and try it for yourself. I promise you won't be sorry.

Review: Guilt Free Comfort - Eating Healthy Never Tasted this Yummy!

A while back I was watching The Biggest Loser and Tweeting about it like I always do. This was the episode with the cupcake reward challenge. I was starting to tweet about how incredibly yummy all of those cupcakes looked when a post from @GuiltFreeComfor caught my eye. She claimed that she could make a cupcake for around 60 calories that tasted just as good as the high calorie real thing. There was no way I was going to believe this until I tried one for myself.

I had the pleasure of sampling these absolutely amazing cupcakes a few weeks ago. The cupcakes from Guilt Free Comfort are exactly as the name sounds, guilt free comfort. And trust me when I tell you that eating healthy never tasted this yummy!

The idea behind Guilt Free Comfort is  that being healthy, shouldn't mean giving up the comfort foods you love so much. All food prepared by Guilt Free Comfort, either has the fat, calories, or sugar reduced for the benefit of your waistline. They also provide Gluten-Free and Vegan options.

Guilt Free Comfort shipped me 2 red velvet cupcakes and my mother and I both sampled them. Now let me tell you, I am a cupcake connoisseur. I love cupcakes and I love baking cupcakes even more. But when I sampled my red velvet cupcake from Guilt Free Comfort, I could not believe that it actually had only 60 calories. I immediately wrote and asked how it was possible for them to make a cupcake that tasted so yummy and claim that it was only 60 calories.

The answer, according to them, was simple: the recipe is followed like a typical 260 calorie red velvet cupcake only with half the sugar, and half stevia. Then the chefs stretch it so the same mix rather than make a dozen cupcakes can make 5 or 6 dozen. That can be done by replacing the eggs in the recipe, with egg whites only, but folded in like a meringue. That makes them super fluffy and stretches out the mix. There are other secrets, but if everyone knew them then Guilt Free Comfort wouldn't be the only bakery who could do this! The cupcakes themselves are only 45 - 50 calories each, however the chefs, like me, believe that you can't make a cupcake without frosting. So they add a spread made from concentrated flavors that tacks on another 10 - 15 calories resulting in an amazing 60 calorie cupcake.

I would encourage all of you to check out Guilt Free Comfort. If not just for the cupcakes for so many other delicious goodies that they offer, such as cookies, cakes, pies, cobblers, pastries, brownies, pizza and other non-dessert items. Plus, they ship and make beautiful gift baskets.

I am hoping that I can talk them into partnering with me for a giveaway so that one or two of you can try out their amazing products! Trust me, you won't want to miss anything that comes from Guilt Free Comfort!

My One Kings Lane Review

I know that I have told you all about One King's Lane and the fabulous deals that come up on the site.

A few weeks ago I told you about the Turkey Platter available for $12. Well, I just received mine today. If you think that I'm going to complain about receiving my Turkey Platter after Thanksgiving you're wrong. I didn't host Thanksgiving this year so it wasn't a huge deal if it arrived on time or not. 

I wanted to write this review to let you all know how absolutely beautiful this platter is. And for $12! You totally couldn't go wrong. I also loved the amount of packaging that OKL used to make sure that the platter arrived safely and in one piece. It was also beautifully wrapped in gold tissue - presentation is definitely important to this company. 

What is even better is that OKL threw in a little gift, a beautiful silver frame! I was not expecting a gift on top of my already fabulous deal. 

I have 2 bottles of wine coming from them over the next week and I absolutely cannot wait for them to arrive.

Honestly, if you have not checked out OKL yet, please be sure to do so. The deals are amazing! If you have checked out and purchased from OKL I would love to hear about your experience.