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You are here: Home / Archives for Reviews / Health Food Reviews

Health Food Reviews

CedarLane Quinoa & Vegetable Enchiladas Review

March 9, 2016 By Joi Sigers

CedarLane Quinoa and Vegetable Enchiladas

CedarLane Quinoa & Vegetable Enchiladas (Gluten Free!)

I was recently sent a few boxes of CedarLane’s Quinoa & Vegetable Enchiladas with Poblano Crema Sauce to review on Get Cooking. I get extra excited when I’m given the opportunity to do Gluten Free Food Reviews because not only does it feel like an extra special treat for me (as well as my oldest daughter who also has to eat gluten free) – I love telling you about the best gluten free food options on the market.

I also LOVE seeing so many companies dedicating themselves to coming up with delicious, healthy, and safe gluten free food. I hope you’ll support these companies as much as we do. They’re showing us love, so let’s show it right back!  It’s especially easy when the food is uncommonly delicious, which is the case with CedarLane foods.  A while back, I reviewed one of my favorite “go to” gluten free meals (CedarLane Sweet Corn Tamales Review), which is also from CedarLane.

Take it from me, these people redefine delicious. Everything I’ve tasted from CedarLane is extraordinary – as in every single bite blows my mind.

The CedarLane Quinoa & Vegetable Enchiladas are as delicious as their Sweet Corn Tamales, which is REALLY saying something. My husband and I enjoyed them a few nights ago with a great  salad. One bite in, we found ourselves raving about all of the fresh flavors and the crema on top was ridiculously good.

{Review continued below…}

CedarLane Quinoa and Vegetable Enchiladas

CedarLane Enchiladas: So much flavor!

These enchiladas are fantastic, as is, but I also enjoy them with a little chopped salad right on top – lettuce, tomato, and avocado play extra well with the delicious flavors.  Look for CedarLane’s Quinoa & Vegetable Enchiladas, Sweet Corn Tamales, and other foods in the frozen section of your grocery store. In the Kroger stores near me, they’re in the frozen section of the gluten free department.

Read more about CedarLane Foods on their website…. but, most importantly, buy these gluten free foods on your next trip to the store. They are beyond wonderful.

See Also:

  • CedarLane Sweet Corn Tamales Review
  • More Gluten Free Food Reviews

Filed Under: Food Reviews, Gluten Free, Gluten Free Food Reviews, Health Food Reviews Tagged With: CedarLane Quinoa & Vegetable Enchiladas Review, gluten free food reviews

Gluten Free Bars: Skinny Girl on the Go Dark Chocolate Pretzel (Review)

February 17, 2016 By Joi Sigers

Skinny Girl Nutrition Bar
Skinny Girl Nutrition Bars are Absolutely Perfect
I’m an absolute fanatic when it comes to delicious snack bars. I almost have at least one with me in my purse, in case of emergencies – whether it’s a “low blood sugar” emergency or “I need chocolate before I snap” emergency, a bar is the answer.

Some of my favorites are the Skinny Girl on the Go bars. Naturally, as someone who has to eat gluten free, my options are kind of limited. The Skinny Girl bars are so freaking delicious, I’d buy them even if I could eat all the gluten in the world.  They are simply amazing.

My favorite at the moment is the one pictured here, the Skinny Girl Dark Chocolate Pretzel – DELICIOUS!

Click through to find these alarmingly delicious bars on Amazon. These are so darn good that buying in bulk is the only way to go. I’ve also found them at Target.


Filed Under: Gluten Free, Gluten Free Food Reviews, Health Food Reviews Tagged With: gluten free bar reviews, gluten free snack reviews, Skinny Girl on the Go Nutrition Bars

Gluten Free Snack Review: Delicious Wyld Strips

January 11, 2016 By Joi Sigers

Wyld Strips: Coconut Date

One of my favorite things under the sun is potatoes – white potatoes, Yukon Gold potatoes, sweet potatoes… you say “potatoes” and you have my undivided attention.  Sweet potatoes are kind of the dessert of the potato world, which means they have a very special place in my sweet-tooth-inclined heart.  So when I got a chance to review gluten free snacks made from sweet potatoes, I jumped at the chance.

The fact that I am a Kentuckian made it even sweeter for me since these strips are made right here in the bluegrass.

These are Wyld Strips (“The Simple Sweet Potato Snack“) and I’m excited to say that they taste as good as I’d hoped they would.

Wyld Strips

Wyld Strips are available in two equally delicious varieties:

  • Coconut Date
  • Sweet Potato Pie

Each is made from simple ingredients, beginning with the sweetest of spuds, sweet potatoes. I couldn’t say which of these strips is my favorite if I had to – because the delicious flavor of sweet potato comes through brilliantly in each. Coconut, another personal favorite, is a beautiful addition in the Coconut Date strips.

Wyld Kitchen has more planned in the way of healthy snacks and I can’t wait to see where their creativeness takes them. If future endeavors are as tasty as this one, my taste buds are going to enjoy every step of the journey!

Click through to read more about Wyld Strips and to try some for yourself. This would be a great gluten free and healthy snack to throw in lunch boxes and to keep on hand for healthier snacking. They’re the perfect size to stick in your pocket or purse or to even keep in your desk.

Let’s face it, we’re all going to snack… we should at least snack smart. Thanks to Wyld Strips, we can do that without compromising the deliciousness we expect from our snacks.

I’ll let you in on a little secret too – they’re fun to eat!

Wyld Strips

Wyld Strips – gluten free, healthy, and delicious.

Filed Under: Gluten Free, Gluten Free Food Reviews, Health Food Reviews Tagged With: gluten free snack review, gluten free snacks, healthy snack review, healthy snacks

Delicious Free for All Kitchen Brownie Thins

June 22, 2015 By Joi Sigers

Free for All Kitchen Brownie Thins

Free for All Brownie Thins: Crunchy and Delicious

Before I get to my review of my newest favorite gluten free snack, Free For All Brownie Thins, I just want to give a huge shout out and thank you to all companies like Partners (the makers of these delicious Brownie Thins) who are making eating gluten free totally painless, beautifully easy, and completely delicious.

Now for the review…

I was sent a couple of bags of the Free for All Brownie Thins to review on Get Cooking. Like all of  the gluten free food reviews I do on the food blog, the opinions and images are my own. No one even suggests what I should or should not say. So, when I say that this chocoholic’s world has been rocked and rocked but good, know this – these are my own words, straight from my own lips and my own feelings, straight from my own heart.

Free for All Kitchen Brownie Thins

 Brownie Thins – a New Favorite Gluten Free Snack

These delicious Brownie Thins do not taste like some gluten free snacks – you know the ones, the snacks that taste as gluten free as their name.  Free for All Kitchen’s Brownie Thins do not have one single ounce of flavor that even whispers gluten free.  The flavor screams CHOCOLATE with echoes of DELICIOUS!

The crunchiness of these brownie thins makes them as fun to eat as they are yummy – it also makes them a dream come true with a glass of milk or a cup of hot chocolate or coffee.

Free for All Kitchen Brownie Thins with Milk

 Brownie Thins with Milk (Perfect!)

The light dusting of sea salt just adds to the addictive mojo of these little beauties. When you think about the most prominent ingredients – Dutch Cocoa, Buttermilk, and Sea Salt.. is it any wonder these Gluten Free Brownie Thins are so uncommonly delicious?

Free for All Kitchen Brownie Thins

One of My Ceramic Pigs is Getting Ideas…

In addition to eating these brownie thins with coffee and milk, I’ve also put peanut butter on them, which is outstanding.  Another favorite spread is good old fashioned, always delicious cream cheese.

Fantastic!

I have also made tiny little ice cream sandwiches with them by placing a spoonful of vanilla ice cream between two – out of this world good on a warm afternoon. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed ice cream sandwiches until I took a bite. Amazing, amazing, amazing.

I can also see using the Free for All Brownie Thins to build a great truffle with layers of brownie thins, whipped topping, and vanilla pudding. Throw raspberries on top and you have a dessert fit for any get together or party!

 

Free for All Kitchen Gluten Free Brownie Thins with Peanut Butter

 

Free for All Brownie Thins with Peanut Butter – YUM!

Basically, the options and ideas are limitless because these little guys are so delicious. I was going to experiment with them by crunching them up in my food processor and making a pie crust with them, but, alas, I could not stay out of them and have eaten them all.

Hey, don’t blame me… they’re the ones that taste so addictive and delicious!

They’re delicious, crunchy, and perfect and there’s no wrong way to enjoy them, but when all’s said and done, my favorite way to eat these brownie thins is right out of the bag. One after the other after the other…

Which is why they are gone.

No problem, though..  I can order more any time I want to. So there’s hope for that chocolate pie crust after all.

I 110 percent urge you to check these brownie thins out for yourself. You will be blown away – they are just do darn good!  Click HERE for all the information you need and to order your own sweet new chocolate addiction.

Free for All Brownie Thins
Free for All Brownie Thins
Free for All Brownie Thins

 

 

Filed Under: Chocolate!, Gluten Free, Gluten Free Food Reviews, Health Food Reviews Tagged With: gluten free brownie thins, gluten free food reviews, gluten free snack review, gluten free snacks

CedarLane Gluten Free Sweet Corn Tamales (Review from a Raving Fan)

June 17, 2015 By Joi Sigers

CedarLane Sweet Corn Tamales

Naturally Gluten Free: CedarLane Sweet Corn Tamales! 

Granted, when it comes to my food reviews on Get Cooking, I tend to get carried away. The more I like something, the more apt I am to turn into a raving, adjective hurling foodie right before your eyes.

You might want to duck because the flying adjectives are about to take flight.

A few nights ago, I was recovering from a NASTY respiratory infection and just didn’t want to cook. Believe me, I have to be feeling miserable to not want to cook.. and I was.

I also didn’t want to get gussied up and go out to eat and I couldn’t think of anything that sounded particularly good for my husband to pick up and bring home. Besides, when you have to eat gluten free, those options are grossly limited.

He stopped by Kroger and picked up a few frozen meals in the Gluten free section. I’d made up a huge salad and we figured we just needed a little something to go along with them.

One of the boxes he grabbed is shown here: CedarLane Sweet Corn Tamales, which are naturally gluten free. I had’t’ been this intrigued by anything in a long time, so I pulled myself together enough to fix them. These guys can be cooked in the microwave or steamed and I chose to nuke them because it was faster and easier.

CedarLane Sweet Corn Tamales

CedarLane Sweet Corn Tamales

Fortunately for this weakling dosed up on antibiotics, the process was painless and simple.

  1. You take the tamales out of their plastic wrappers.
  2. Wrap the tamales in damp paper towels.
  3. Microwave for the specified time.
  4. Remove the paper towels and take the tamales out of their corn shucks.
  5. Plate them and add some salsa verde (optional, but it’s ridiculously delicious).
  6. Eat them and wonder how you ever lived without them.

I topped ours with Herdez Salsa Verde, but any good Salsa Verde will suffice. There’s just something extra magical about the combination of these sweet corn tamales and the Salsa Verde.  Can you say match made in Heaven?

CedarLane Sweet Corn Tamales

CedarLane Sweet Corn Tamale with Salsa Verde

One of my favorite restaurants, years ago, was Chi Chi’s. They had these insanely delicious little corn cakes. The flavor from these tamales remind me a LOT of Chi Chi’s corn cakes… except they’re even better.

CedarLane Sweet Corn Tamales

CedarLane Sweet Corn Tamale 

I 100 percent suggest you head on out and see if your favorite grocery store has these beauties. They’ll be in the freezer section, probably near the other gluten free meals.  Case the entire store until you find them…. then, whatever you do… do not buy just one box!

CedarLane Sweet Corn Tamales

CedarLane Sweet Corn Tamale with Salsa Verde

For more gluten free food reviews I’ve written, click the link. Just watch out for flying adjectives…

Filed Under: Food Reviews, Gluten Free, Gluten Free Food Reviews, Health Food Reviews Tagged With: best frozen gluten free meals, CedarLane Sweet Corn Tamales Review, frozen gluten free meals, gluten free food reviews

Delicious Frozen Gluten Free Waffles from Simple Truth (Review)

June 5, 2015 By Joi Sigers

Simple Truth Frozen Gluten Free Blueberry Waffles
 

You’re looking at something I’m completely obsessed with here – well, a couple of things, actually, if you count my flowers. Simple Truth’s frozen Gluten Free Waffles (Homestyle or Blueberry) have become a favorite snack as well as a perfect “go to” fast breakfast or lunch.

Let’s face it, we don’t always have time to make homemade Gluten Free Belgian Waffles.

My personal favorite variety of the Simple Truth frozen gluten free waffles is the blueberry – but I buy both on a weekly basis. If I’m going to have meat or eggs with the waffle(s), I go with Homestyle – but if the waffles are going to be the star of the show, I usually go with blueberry and save Homestyle for co-stars.

Either way, they are excellent.

{Review Continued Below}
Simple Truth Gluten Free Waffles

Not only are they quick and delicious, they’re… are you sitting down??… cheap. Now there’s a word you don’t often see when you’re dealing with gluten free food, is it? They’re ridiculously inexpensive – so much so that each time I buy a couple of boxes, I’m tempted to fill my freezer. The skeptic in me keeps thinking they’re going to catch on to how much higher other gluten free food is and raise their prices.

So far that hasn’t happened, but I’m going to ask the husband to buy a special freezer for the garage to fill just in case.

Yep. They’re that good.

{Review Continued Below}

Simple Truth Gluten Free Waffles
 

I can’t think of a quicker, easier, or yummier way to get your whole grains (something we in the gluten free crowd sorely lack).  They’re also cholesterol free, have no artificial flavors or FD&C coloring, and are just 110 calories each.

When dealing with gluten free food, especially if I’m going to be writing one of my gluten free food reviews, I love to ask my “glutenites” (family members who eat gluten) what they think about it. I want to make sure it passes the “tastes like its gluten-y counterpart.”  After all, I’ve forgotten at this point what “they” taste like, so I like to pull in my experts. I also want to see if they can detect anything “off.”

My ‘ites all give very high praise to Simple Truth’s Gluten Free Frozen Waffles. They say they taste just like “regular” frozen waffles and think they’re just as delicious as I do.

True Story: This has now happened twice, actually.  When I first toasted up a few of the Homestyle waffles, buttered them,  poured a respectable (by my calculations) amount of syrup on them, and took a bite – I immediately went to the freezer to re-examine the box to make sure they said Gluten Free on them!  With each step to the refrigerator, my paranoid brain chanted, “You blew it.. you’re going to be sooo sick… these are NOT gluten free..”

Fortunately, my paranoid brain was wrong – these just taste like they’re NOT gluten free. They’re fantastic.

Simple Truth is the “store brand” at Kroger grocery stores (my favorite grocery store chain). If you don’t have a Kroger near you, move. Kidding. You don’t have to move.

Just drive all night and day until you find one. Then fill your freezer with these guys.

Filed Under: Breakfast and Brunch, Gluten Free Food Reviews, Health Food Reviews Tagged With: best gluten free frozen waffles, gluten free food review, gluten free frozen waffles

Pasolivo Extra Virgin Olive Oils (Raving Review!)

May 27, 2015 By Joi Sigers

Pasolivo Olive Oils

I was recently sent a set of Pasolivo Olive Oils to try and it was love at first sight and life-long commitment at first bite. There’s a saying young people have  when they’re completely blown away by something – they say that particular thing is “everything right now.”  I’m going to go ahead and borrow that phrase because in my kitchen, Pasolivo Oils are everything right now. Read the review along with ways I’ve used these beautiful oils below. Be sure to keep reading after each picture, because the raving will continue.

Grilled Chicken with Pasolivo Lime Olive Oil

When it comes to not only being the best cook you possibly can be, but also keeping your cooking exciting and fun, my number one tip is this: set yourself up for success by filling your pantry with the best ingredients you can get your oven mitts on.  Not just your favorite staples that you swear by, but also exciting, refreshing new ingredients and food that’ll take the ordinary to the extraordinary.

The concept… the very words, in fact… of taking  the ordinary to the extraordinary came to me recently when I made something I make probably 20 times a month – fried eggs.

Fried Eggs with Pasolivo Citrus Olive Oil

Pasolivo’s Citrus Olive Oil

Typically, I use a combination of olive oil and butter in the pan when frying eggs. Butter, of course, brings a wonderful flavor to the egg game, as does olive oil. Olive oil also keeps butter from getting too dark and ruining everything.   However, a few weeks ago, as I was about to make a couple of eggs over easy, I reached for my Pasolivo Citrus Olive Oil instead of my regular olive oil. I told the butter he could sit this one out – so I simply added a little of the beautiful smelling Citrus Olive Oil to the pan and cooked my eggs as I normally do

Holy. Cats. It was out of this world. The citrus flavor combined with the eggs in a way that is almost impossible to describe. Basically, it took something that I’ve made a million times and made it seem like it was something brand new.

It took ordinary to extraordinary.

Roasted Asparagus

The Pasolivo Citrus Olive Oil is also fantastic for grilled asparagus. Asparagus is a frequent guest in our kitchen, and I love the fresh new flavor the Citrus Oil gives to this longtime friend.  I would imagine Pasolivo’s Lemon Oil would also be fantastic with grilled vegetables. I look forward to finding out!

Roasted New Potatoes with Pasolivo Rosemary Olive Oil

Pasolivo’s Rosemary Olive Oil

Pasolivo’s beautifully fragrant and delicious Rosemary Olive Oil has the exact same effect on chicken, roasted new potatoes (pictured above), pork, and (of course) pasta. It woke up a pasta salad recently by infusing such a wonderful rosemary flavor that you’d swear you were eating in an herb garden.

I love using the Rosemary Olive Oil in my skillet for cooking chicken strips. The Rosemary Oil brings a fresh, authentically Italian flavor to anything you pair it with. Drizzled over new potatoes, it made possibly the best roasted potatoes I’ve ever had.

Roasted Tomatoes with Pasolivo Rosemary Olive Oil

The Rosemary Olive Oil makes the best roasted tomatoes I’ve ever had and I have no intention of ever roasting tomatoes without it again. Sometimes I drizzle the Rosemary Olive Oil over the tomatoes and roast them in the oven, but my favorite way to “roast” the tomatoes is simply to drizzle the pan with the Rosemary Oil, then (after the skillet has gotten hot), simply place the tomatoes – right on the vine – in the skillet.

They sit and “roast” while I’m getting everything else ready.  Finish off with a little sea salt or Kosher salt and you have a side that’s as delicious as it is nutritious.

I’d expect that Pasolivo’s Basil Olive Oil is a Heavenly combo with tomatoes, too.

You can, of course, simply slice tomatoes (or halve cherry tomatoes) and arrange them on a platter with mozzarella slices or balls… then drizzle with Olive Oil or Rosemary Olive Oil, a little salt, and BOOM! A quick, easy, and oh so good appetizer or side.

Black Bean and Rice Bowl

Pasolivo’s Lime Olive Oil

I’ve also completely loved the Lime Olive Oil. I have used it with fish and chicken – so good! I haven’t tried the Lemon Olive Oil yet, but I have a feeling it is every bit as memorable as the Lime. Seriously, the lime olive oil brings out a fresh, new flavor in fish and chicken dishes.

The Lime Olive Oil pairs beautifully with chicken (grilled chicken with the lime oil is pictured toward the top of the post).  The subtle flavor it adds somehow compliments chicken’s natural flavor and kicks it up to a whole new level.

I’ve also used the Pasolivo Lime Olive Oil when making tacos and other southwestern dishes. Pictured above is a Black Bean Rice Bowl I made for supper one night not long ago. I steamed the rice, sauteed onion, jalapeno peppers, and chopped green pepper in the Lime Olive Oil, then added canned black beans (drained and rinsed), a little more lime olive oil, and salt.

When it came time to assemble the bowls, I put the steamed rice on the bottom, followed by the black bean mixture, chopped tomatoes, shredded leaf lettuce, white cheese, crumbled Queso Fresco, and cilantro.

The flavor the lime olive oil brought to the party made the entire dish fresh, flavorful, and flat out delicious.

There is absolutely NO artificial or “off” flavor with Pasolivo’s Rosemary, Lime or Citrus Olive Oils – they simply taste perfect. You’d swear the flavor came from real citrus and rosemary. They’re mind-bogglingly delicious.

Pasolivo Rosemary Olive Oil and Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Pasolivo’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Pasolivo’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil is also excellent.   To be honest, it’s in a league of its own. When you specialize in making the best Olive Oils you possibly can, you tend to become something of an expert in the field. You can taste Pasolivo’s expertise each and every time. I also LOVE the adorable tins these oils come in. They’re fun, unique, and make me smile every time I see them on my counter.

They’re far too good looking to put into a pantry or cabinet. Mine sit out right beside my Rachael Ray gadgets – an honor afforded to precious few.

Pasolivo’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil is also a delicious and healthy alternative for buttery garlic bread. Pour a little into a beautiful dish, add a little cracked black pepper – then dip your bread into the deliciousness – healthier than butter and uncommonly delicious.  As you’d imagine, the Rosemary Olive Oil is PERFECT for this approach.  PERFECT.

Pasolivo has a beautiful assortment of olive oils (click here to view all of them):

  • Rosemary Olive Oil
  • Citrus Olive Oil
  • Basil Olive Oil
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Tangerine Olive Oil
  • California Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Lemon Olive Oil
  • Lime Olive Oil
  • Kitchen Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil

I often love the food products and kitchen gadgets I’m sent to review on Get Cooking. Every now and then something will come along and I honestly wonder how I ever lived without it. I’ll go on to become their biggest fan and most loyal customer. This is definitely the case with Pasolivo Oils. I have no intention of ever running out of the Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Rosemary Olive Oil, Citrus Olive Oil, or Lime Olive Oil.

What’s more, I fully intend to buy and use each of the others. I’ll let you know how wonderful they are.

Visit Pasolivo’s Website for more information about the company, tips, recipes, and ideas for using their award winning olive oils. Be sure to order some for yourself today.

You’ll be incredibly glad you did so.

Roasted Tomatoes with Pasolivo Rosemary Olive Oil

Filed Under: Cooking Tips, Food Reviews, Gluten Free Food Reviews, Health Food Reviews, Heart Healthy Foods and Recipes Tagged With: best olive oil, healthy cooking, healthy food reviews, olive oil review, Pasolivo Olive Oil Review

Garden Lites Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

April 14, 2015 By Joi Sigers

Garden Lites Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Before I get to the review of Garden Lites Gluten Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, I just have to sing Garden Lites praises for a minute. I did so recently in a raving review of Garden Lites Carrot Berry Muffins. I’m certain I mentioned in the review that you’d be hearing about more Garden Lites foods, simply because I’ve become obsessed with the line.

Seriously, everything I’ve had has elicited the exact same response:

  • This is too delicious to be frozen..
  • This is too delicious to be gluten free…
  • This tastes homemade!
  • I have to have another…

I also, inevitably, think the one I’m enjoying at the moment is the best and is “my favorite.”  Problem is, that changes as soon as I take a bite of the next one.

Oh well, suffice to say Garden Lites makes exceptional foods and you’d better act fast before your’s truly buys them all up.

Months ago, I was sent a few boxes of Garden Lites Muffins to review and my freezer has never seen a day without at least one box since. I’m hooked.

The Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (Gluten Free and Dairy Free) are one of my absolute favorites – as in one of the ones I buy again and again and again… They honestly taste homemade and not even remotely frozen OR gluten free OR dairy free.

They simply taste extraordinary.

Garden Lites Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Zucchini
 

I mean… these muffins taste so good you could bake them and give them as a gift to someone. They don’t have to know you didn’t bake them from scratch… because, trust me, they’ll taste like you did just that.

Garden Lites Gluten Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
 Eating gluten free or dairy free, and even gluten free AND dairy free isn’t just possible these days, it’s deliciously and easily possible – thanks to companies like Garden Lites that have made it their mission to keep us smiling ear to ear.

Visit Garden Lites Locations page for retailers near you who carry this deliciousness.  Here in Kentucky, I’ve found them at both Target and Kroger. Garden Lites is also available on Amazon! Click the link to see the many choices… and, yes, I have probably tried them all – and those I haven’t? It’s just a matter of time.

Garden Lites Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Garden Lites Gluten Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Garden Lites Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Filed Under: Gluten Free Food Reviews, Health Food Reviews Tagged With: Garden Lites Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins Review, Garden Lites muffins review, gluten free food reviews

Truvia Baking Blends (Review and Recipe Contest)

October 9, 2014 By Joi Sigers

Brown Sugar and Nut Butter Dip or Parfait made with Truvia Brown Sugar Blend

I’ve been a HUGE fan of Truvia since it first hit my grocery shelves. As a true Southerner, I don’t just drink Sweet Tea, I drink it by the gallons. Unfortunately, the calories in sweet tea are otherworldly, so I looked for a better option – one that wouldn’t lead to “scale shock.”

I tried those artificial sweeteners but, guess what? They taste artificial.

Go figure.

Then I tried Truvia and BAM! I fell in love with the first sip and have never looked back.  Truvia in tea and coffee tastes JUST like sugar but without the calories. Win, win, win.

Since I’m such a Truvia groupie in every conceivable way when I was contacted about reviewing Truvia’s new baking blends I was over the moon excited.  I even read the e-mail twice.. “Baking blends? I had no idea they were now making baking blends?  God it just too good to me..”

And He is, but that’s beside the point.

Truvia Baking Blends

Truvia Brown Sugar Blend and Baking Blend

Truvia just launched its new Truvia Brown Sugar Blend, a mixture of Truvia and Brown Sugar that offers a brown-sugar-like taste, texture, and volume, with 75 percent fewer calories than regular brown sugar.  I’ve used this Brown Sugar Blend in gluten free chocolate chip cookies, fried apples, baby carrots, sweet potatoes, and in a delicious Brown Sugar Nut Butter Fruit Dip or Parfait – (Recipe Below).

I’ve also sprinkled it on oatmeal, which is an experience all in itself.  If you’re as familiar with Truvia as I am, you won’t be surprised when I tell you that this brown sugar blend produces the exact same taste you get with traditional brown sugar.

The. Exact. Same.

It tastes just as sweet and leaves absolutely no aftertaste or unpleasantness.

Truvia also has another wonderful calorie saver, their Baking Blend.  What have I used this particular blend in? Only everything. Like the Brown Sugar Blend, it performs exactly like its calorie-rich counterpart.
To celebrate their delicious new baking blends,  Truvia® is giving all cooking and baking enthusiasts the chance to share their talents in the Truvia Baking Star contest. Bakers can submit videos that feature their own original Truvia Brown Sugar Blend recipe, to win a trip to New York and an all-expense paid professionally-filmed baking video that will be promoted by the brand.  3 Finalists will be sent to NYC for a bake-off, where they’ll meet Truvia brand reps, reporters and editors of top media publications, and four YouTube bloggers (named below).

For recipes with Truvia Brown Sugar Blend and more info on the contest, check out videos from four of YouTube’s top food vloggers: Gaby Dalkin, Byron Talbott, April Moore and Joanne Ozug, all who created recipe videos to kick-off the contest.

Contest Deadlines:

Baking Star Video Entry Period ends—10/14
Public Voting – 10/21-10/30
Semi Finalist Notified – 10/30 – 11/17
Baking Star Bake-Off NYC event – 11/19

Brown Sugar and Nut Butter Dip or Parfait 6

Brown Sugar and Nut Butter Fruit Dip (or Parfaits)

Three Ice Cream Scoops of Yogurt (I usually use The Greek God’s Honey Yogurt)
1 TBS Black Chia Seeds (or Sunflower seeds)
1-1/2 TBS Truvia Brown Sugar Baking Blend
1 tsp Justin’s All Natural Almond Butter or Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Blend

Simply combine the first four ingredients  in a bowl or parfait-type glass. As you can see from the picture above, it looks so pretty you won’t want to stir the ingredients into one another – but stir you must (or at least should – after all, you want the flavors to mingle and get to know one another).

Optional for Dip: Fruit or Animal Crackers to serve as “dippers’

Optional for Parfaits: Add fruit, granola. or nuts on the bottom or on the top.

Yield: The recipe above makes one serving

Brown Sugar and Nut Butter Dip or Parfait
This is one of those recipes you can totally make your own. Choose your favorite yogurt and add any fruit and/or nuts you like.  Because of the fact that I’m obsessed with “super foods” and healthy ingredients, I DO recommend adding Chia Seeds or, at the very least, sunflower seeds. Chia Seeds are uncommonly good for you and the flavor they bring to the party is wonderful.

I also highly, highly recommend using either Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Blend or Justin’s Maple Almond Butter – both are AMAZING in this dip/parfait.  These deliciously addictive blends are usually found in the health food section of supermarkets.

Finally, using Truvia Brown Sugar Blend is a must here. What’s the point of making a healthy fruit dip or parfait if it’s going to be packed with extra calories, right?!

Grab these wonderful Truvia Baking Blends as soon as you can. I’m already using them to test out different Thanksgiving and Christmas recipes.  Thanks to Truvia, maybe we won’t all gain 5 pounds this holiday season!

Brown Sugar and Nut Butter Dip
You’re going to LOVE using Truvia Baking Blends in your favorite recipes!
Brown Sugar and Nut Butter Dip

Filed Under: Appetizers, Christmas Baking, Dips and Sauces, Food Reviews, Health Food Reviews, Quick and Easy Recipes Tagged With: counting calories, Food Reviews, fruit dip, yogurt fruit dip

Cascade Ice: Deliciously Brilliant Way to Wean Your Kids (and Yourself!) Off Soft Drinks

August 18, 2014 By Joi Sigers

Cascade Ice

I was recently sent a bright, colorful, beautiful quintet of Cascade Ice beverages to review on Get Cooking. You can see the beauties above.

I honestly… legitimately… positively cannot tell you which one is my favorite.  Each time I thought I had a winner, I’d try the next one and… BOOM! We’d have a tie. It wasn’t long before the “two way tie” grew to a “five way tie.”

They are each absolutely perfect, absolutely delicious, and absolutely calorie free.

One of my daughters, Brittany, has been trying to give up soft drinks and diet soft drinks. The great taste and convenience of Cascade Ice is actually help to make the goal a reality.

These refreshing, zero calorie drinks can help your own kids (as well as you!) either cut back on or give up soft drinks and other calorie-heavy drinks.  They’re perfect for school lunches, taking to the office, and after school snacks.

Below are a favorite recipes for whipping up fast, extra-special after school treats.

Cascade Ice Recipes

  • Back-to-School Berry Blast: To create, mix 1 cup of apple slices, ¾ cup of Greek yogurt, ½ cup of soy or almond milk, a handful of fresh berries and 4oz of Cascade Ice Huckleberry Blackberry in a blender. Blend until smooth and top with a few more fresh berries.
  • Apple Fizzies: So delicious and fun to make! Just pour 6oz of Cascade Ice McIntosh Apple over ice, add in sliced apples and sprinkle in some cinnamon. For the perfect after-school combo, serve the extra apple slices with a tablespoon of peanut butter!
  • Watermelon Slushie: Watermelon is oh-so-delicious, and ripe for the pickin’ this fall. In a blender, combine a few handfuls of ice, several seedless watermelon chunks and 8oz of Cascade Ice Blueberry Watermelon.Then, pour in 6oz of club soda. Blend to desired consistency and enjoy!

Cascade Ice drinks are available in stores across the country.

Find more information and recipes at Cascade Ice.

Filed Under: Beverages, Health Food Reviews, Reviews, Smoothie Recipes Tagged With: bottled water reviews, Cascade Ice review

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My name is Joi (“Joy”) and Get Cooking is where I celebrate some of my greatest passions: Recipes, kitchen gadgets, gluten free food reviews, gluten free recipes, pig collectibles, chocolate, cookbooks, and coffee.

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