Hidden Valley Ranchers

I received another awesome sampling opportunity from crowd tap--Hidden Valley "Ranch Feast." Here's the kit I got in the mail:

team ranch shirt & chip clips to give out, hidden valley ranch samples, farm house originals dressing, coupons & recipes for my guests, and some items for me!

We did a small dinner with a few kids who loved to dip their chicken nuggets (and green beans!) into the ranch sauce! Some of the adults enjoyed a few packets of dressing on a salad (it very well may be the best Italian dressing I've ever tasted!). I sent my 14 year old sister home with the ranch shirt--she got bonus points for enthusiasm! My mom got a clip, as well as my boys (mostly because they already had decided to play with it!). The results were clear: hidden valley has the best ranch sauce! (and the popcorn recipe was a huge hit!!!).

Hidden Valley Farm house originals: Italian with herbs is my new favorite dressing!

Adam decided to go for the green bean dip!

One of the kids went for it with a spoon! yum?

Topher testing out his nuggets with ranch

"Check it out!!"

Puma Gear!

One of the coolest sample shares I've gotten to take part of to date is the "Keep Running — PUMA Mobium Athletic Shoes and ACTV Apparel Sampling." Puma sent me a shirt, jacket, running tights, and shoes to try out. I have to say, I'm a tad bit in love!! Here's the specifics:

Shoes: Mobium Elite in fluo peach (I'd call it bright orange, lol). retail $110. These shoes are designed to move how you move. The design of the shoes expands and contracts with your foot as you run. I definitely saw this as I tried them out! They are hands down the most comfortable shoes I've ever tried on! As I walked and ran, I could feel them moving with my feet. I love the color, also! The only down size was that although they fit perfectly, I had to fight a bit to get them on. I had the same issue with the last pair of running shoes I bought, so it's probably just me!!

Tights: Puma Performance Bodywear Tech ACTV Long Tights in blackberry cordial. retail $100. I was skeptical of these at first. As I pulled them on, my husband giggled as I struggled to make them go on. The went on like stubborn dress tights. Of course the tag had instructions on how to easy put them on....I just didn't read them until after--D'OH! These tights include athletic tape on the inside--the tag reads "engineered to micro-massage the skin via strategic compression in the right place at the right time which can help maximize your work out and energy supply." I do have to say that once I got them on, I didn't want to take them off! Despite them showing off my "mommy pouch" until I covered it with my shirt, these are the single most comfortable article of clothing in my dresser.

shirt: V-neck training tee in grape-limeade. retails $25. the shirt is comfy. It's not overly clingy. I can breathe in it. I love the color. And best of all, it's affordable! 

jacket: Pure NightCat Reflective Running Jacket in black. Retails $100. When I opened up the jacket, I was surprised by how thin it was. However, it's performance was not lacking! It was a cool 43 degrees (and dark!) when I headed out to try out my gear, and the jacket held out. I like how it was comfortable (I know, I keep using that word!!) and that the pockets zip (The current running jacket I use does not have zipping pockets!). I love how reflective it is. There is almost no traffic on my street (we are one of maybe 15 houses on a dead-end), but if I took a right and went on the main road, I would have almost no fear of getting hit. I just had to take a photo with the flash on to illustrate!

Over all, after trying on the gear, I would highly recommend Puma gear! It's cute, comfy, and, most importantly, highly functional. Check out my photos below, and let me know what you think!

"flex challenge." :)

flash on! check out the reflective-ness of the jacket and shoes!!

love this shirt!!

my "peach" shoes

showing the flash

bottom of the shoes, showing the mobium band!

Starkist Tuna creations!

October was a good month for me for crowdtap samples! (check out the blog I posted earlier today about truvia sweetener!) The second one to arrive at my door was for Starkist Tuna creations.

I won't lie, I was a tad nervous when I found out I was getting a ranch sample, as I'm the girl whose addicted to the ranch McWraps at mcds....and orders them with out ranch sauce! The thought of ranch and tuna together also made me nervous as I usually take my tuna plain with a pinch of relish on some white bread. However, I love tuna and was more than willing to give it a go--and I was pleasantly surprised!! The ranch flavor was not the over-ly creamy mess that popped into my head when I read the word "ranch." It was a pleasantly seasoned taste, I could have taken a spoon and eaten it straight from the pouch it was so good! However, I was really craving a wrap...

I made a 8-inch tortilla with some shredded lettuce, cheddar jack cheese, and a slice of tomato. The pouch made two of these (and I did spoil myself with a spoonful of relish on the second one!). The taste was amazing and everything went well together. The pouch was the perfect size to make the two snack sized wraps, and the amount left me full and satisfied after I was done. I would absolutely purchase this product in the future (are there coupons for this?? lol), I love tuna and it was a nice change to the plain sandwiches I usually make when the craving hits!

Truvia Sweetener

Last week I received a sample of truvia sweetener. The goal was to use it instead of traditional sugar in Tea/Coffee. So my husband and I sat down to try it!!

I added two packets to my tea, while my husband added it to his coffee from Mcds. He tried his first. He said it was okay, but not sweet enough. I imagine most of that is because he usually has at least 8 sugars in his medium coffee! ;) I tried mine next, as I like to let me drinks cool a bit before I drink them. I enjoyed the taste. It was the right amount of sweetness I'd expect, and I felt good drinking it knowing that I had a natural product made from Stevia leaves! As a side note, my mom has bought this product before when she changed her diet to eliminate unnecessary chemicals. I drink my teas mostly at home, so until now I never did get the chance to try it, but she seemed to enjoy it with her morning coffee! Just recently I saw this on the shelves at our newly expanded walmart, so it is also becoming easier to find and buy! For more info, check out their facebook page!

Green Mountain Naturals and some of the best lemonade I've ever tried...

Who doesn't love samples? I'm on of "those" folks that will hunt down all the samples possible. I refresh links like a champ. And while some samples are lame (after all, what do you really expect for nothing?) I've scored quite a few awesome ones. For instance, last month, Green Mountain gave away 4-packs of k-cups, via the Vitamin burst facebook page, promoting their fruit line up: apple cider, lemonade, strawberry pomegranate vitamin burst, and Acai berry. As a big apple cider fan, I had bought a box of that last season. I had also tried the strawberry pomegranate vitamin bursts through a previous sample. When the box came in, I immediately opened it and brewed the Acai berry vitamin burst. it was every bit as yummy as I thought it would be! I used up the other two over the course of the next few days, but saved the lemonade for last. I'm not a huge fan of lemonade (unless it's the strawberry lemonade from mcds!), but figured I might as well give it a shot. I was excited to find it was delicious! It lacked the strong artificially sweet taste. It was a bit tart, which is what I would expect from real lemonade. It's one of my favorite lemonades I've tasted! I drank every drop. ;)

just brewed :)

sample box--don't them look good?!?

no sample is complete without coupons!

my lemonade cup :) so yummy!!

Facebook recipe: easy Peanut butter fudge

I tested another facebook recipe today! Here's the post:

EASY PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE

2 sticks butter
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 lb. powdered sugar

Melt the butter and peanut butter (you may use microwave). Stir in vanilla. Beat in powdered sugar. Quickly spread into a buttered 8x8-inch square buttered dish. Chill to set. Cut into 64 squares.

 

I happened to have all the ingredients on hand and I had some time to kill before Under the Dome started....so I figured why not! So glad I did! This was not only the easiest fudge I've ever made--it's freaking delicious! This one def. goes in my "approved" file! 

my fudge before I put it in the fridge to set :)

Lunchable jr.

Last month I got selected to sample and share new lunchable jr. snacks! They arrived today--my kids were so excited!! They made a great treat for before Topher went into preschool at noon. We were sent ants on a log (peanut butter, raisins, gramcracker sticks), and very beary crunch (teddy grahams, cheese crackers, and dried strawberries). The kids had fun eating them (Topher lined up his bears while Adam dipped the sticks in peanut butter and put the raisins on top). For a once in a while snack (esp. if we are in a hurry or going on a trip!) lunchable jr. is a perfect choice! It is yummy and fun and my boys (ages 3 & 4) absolutely loved them! I took some photos to enjoy--scroll down and check them out. You can see how much fun they had eating. :)

"okay boys...want a lunchable snack??"

wow, cool!!