Sample share: splenda granulated

splenda kit

Next up this month: splenda no calorie sweetener, granulated from crowdtap! I am not a huge fan of sweeteners. I've tried, I really have. While I can appreciate some recipes (I made some amazing not-so-naughty egg nog one year that came out amazing!) I have found that mostly, unless you get lucky or prepare something just right, they leave a funky taste. This box said right on it "tastes like sugar" so I decided to test the theory. I had a taste right from the box! And while I wouldn't say the taste is exactly the same, it wasn't bad! No gross after taste (which I thoroughly expected after a straight up taste!), it actually tasted good, melted in my mouth, and the texture was fun (think of fluffy snow candy). One of the fun optional parts of the challenge was to make some recipes using granulated splenda. I opted to do two of the three, with some minor adjustments:

Baby Spinach 'n bacon salad

The first one I did was the baby spinach 'n bacon salad (recipe here). We skipped the croutons and red onion and added in some cheese. I was nervous about the dressing at first because it smelled very mustardy when I was preparing it. However, it ended up being a nice vinaigrette with just a touch of mustard. It was a pleasant dressing with a nice taste. I just had to bring some over to my mom and step dad, who raved about it when they tried it. It was my first time making my own dressing and was very pleased with both the recipe and how it turned out (scroll down for more images!)

peppermint-mocha delight

The second recipe I tackled was the peppermint-mocha delight (here). Since we are a keriug household and my husband had already got a coffee when I did this, I prepared it a bit different. I put the splenda/milk/extract/chocolate mixture in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time as if I was melting chocolate for my molds or dipping. When it was a nice smooth mixture, I put the cup under the keriug and brewed a cup. I skipped the whipped topping. It was smooth with just the right bit of sweetness. As a mocha fiend, I've always bought my mocha coffees since I feel the flavor add ins never are good enough. This recipe was pretty much perfect! I'm excited that I can now make my own mocha coffees at home. It was also quick and easy to do.

Overall, granulated splenda is by far my favorite sweetener. I can't wait to explore more recipes. Scroll on down for more photos! ;)

handy pour spout and a glimpse of the fun texture

ready to make salad!

making dressing

sampling!

"I love it!!!"

someone isnt too sure ;)

bowl o' salad

working on my chocolate mixture for my peppermint-mocha delight

sample share: cottonelle clean care #MoreIsBetter

Welcome back :) November by far has been my most active sampling month! This time, I got to sample Cottonelle's clean care toilet paper from crowdtap. Cottonelle is promoting the fact that Clean Care Double Roll now has 35% more sheets than Charmin's Ultra Strong Double Roll. As someone who tries to save wherever I can, 35% more sounds great to me. I loved Cottonelle before this announcement, I buy it whenever I can get it for a good price (which actually happened to be last week on amazon...check out my stock up photo below ;)) as the quality is really good and I love how the rippled texture makes everything feel cleaner (check out their youtube page here to see some of their #GoCommando ads!). One of the fun photo challenges for this sample was to unroll one of the rolls (208 sheets, if you were wondering!) to see how much 35% more looks like. So with the help of an eager two year old (read: I bribed him with candy to let me photograph him!) we discovered a roll can completely cover a toddler, as well as fill up an underwear bin (check out those photos below!). Overall, this is one of my family's top toilet paper brands. Keep scrolling to check out the photos!

PS: As a side note, if you're not a savvy Amazon shopper, the Ibotta rebate website has a $1 rebate when you buy Cottonelle at target this week :)

we may have stocked up a little...

"get it off me, mom!!"

candy?? well, sure, now I'll allow a photo!

I'm done now!

fills up our underwear bin in the bathroom :)

sample share: Kleenex cool touch tissues

Frozen inspired Kleenex tissues!

When I got word that crowdtap was sampling out Kleenex cool touch tissues inspired by Frozen, I knew I had to apply right away! My four boys are OBSESSED with all things Frozen. In fact, when I opened up the box the Kleenex came in, they were immediately grabbed out of my hands by my two youngest (the older two were watching a Patriots game with Poppi). I was rather excited when I saw the were cool touch Kleenex, as I normally buy the cheap kind (or if we have lasting cold, I'll grab the lotion kind). What a difference the cool touch makes! They are enriched with coconut oil and aloe. They felt thicker & higher quality when I pulled them out of the box, however the real difference came when I put one over my face. They literally feel cool to the touch! I can imagine how helpful that is when your nose is red and rubbed raw from a lasting cold. After I had my younger ones pose for some photos, my five year old put a tissue on his face and said 'oh! Comfy!" I've had to put these up on the shelf in the bathroom so that they are used for real nose issues (cold season IS coming, after all!) and not for playing. Overall, regular Kleenex can do the job-but grab the cool touch version to help out your nose! It's well worth the extra price. ;) As always, scroll down to see some cute photos of my sampling helpers!

bottom view

Elsa on our shelf ;)

sharing a tissue with daddy!

handing the box over to Logan

Sample share: Johnson's baby bedtime

Johnson's three step routine ;)

Hi folks! Next up on the list of November sample share's is Johnson's baby bedtime products (moisture wash, bubble bath, and lotion), part of their three step routine, courtesy of crowdtap! My product tester was my two year old who was really excited about a bubble bath until I went to wash his hair ;) Here's a break down of what we we thought:

Johnson's baby bedtime bubble bath: Joshua was exited about the purple bottles (scroll down for an adorable photo of him hugging the bottle!). He is just learning his colors and purple seems to be his favorite so far. I like that it created more bubbles than our usual bubble bath-yet disappeared before it was time to get out, so we didn't have to rinse them off. It smelled nice, as the whole set does. It smells similar to regular Johnson's products, but I like it a bit more. It was gentle on his skin and made for a fun bath.

Johnson's baby bedtime moisture wash: Superficially, I loved the purple color and sheen.It lathered and rinsed well. It can be used on both hair and body, so that's how we used it. Joshua freaked when it was time to rinse his hair-but it rinsed well, which is always a plus when dealing with a child who does not like water over his head! Nothing is worse then rinsing out hair and finding more suds when you're done! Like I previously mentioned, I love how these product smell!

Johnson's baby bedtime lotion: Joshua wasn't too into the lotion (I'm pretty sure he was still mad at me for rinsing his hair out!), but he had fun when I dabbed it on him. It has a nice feel and smell. I would actually use it on myself. It left our skin feeling soft and pretty.

Overall our experiences with Johnson's baby bedtime products was positive. We enjoyed it and will continue to use the products. Scroll down for some adorable photos of our testing!

Sample share: welch's refreshingly simple juice

bzzkit! Juice sample, fun sandwich container, and coupons to share!

Welcome to November! There seems to be more sample shares this month than there has been lately, so look forward to hearing from me more this month! :) My first sample share for November is from bzzagent: Welch's refreshingly simple juice. We got the strawberry raspberry flavor, which was the one I was most excited to try when I checked out their site. The fun thing (for parents, anyway!) about this juice is that there are no artificial sweeteners, flavors, or preservatives and no high fructose corn syrup. My kids would argue that the real fun part is the taste, as they guzzled down glasses before school this morning and just tried to steal my glass as I was trying to drink some.  The taste is sweet like you would expect from a fruit juice yet not overbearingly so. The blend of strawberry and raspberry is very pleasant. My only complaint is that it doesn't come in a fun juice box size for the kids to bring to school (currently available in 8 oz cans and 59oz bottles). Overall, we were very pleased with Welch's juice and will be adding it to our shopping lists! Keep scrolling for some fun photos of my kids sampling!

I even had a welch's cup :D

sample share: kozy shack indulgent recipe

Anyone who knows me will tell you the way to my heart is through food. Especially if it caters to my sweet tooth. When I got notice that bzzagent was doing a sampling for Kozy Shack indulgent recipe, I got super excited and crossed all my fingers and toes that I would be selected. I LOVE pudding and I love Kozy Shack. I was so stoked when my coupons came in:

bzzkit: two free pudding coupons and a handful of $1.50 off

The only downside of this sampling was since this pudding is new (it came out this year) is was a little difficult to find. The closest place that carried it was 25 minutes away (but luckily close to my work, so I went on my way home!). I used the product locator on the Kozy shack website to find it. This pudding a a bit pricier than generic pudding I normal buy my kids-but it is worth every penny! I ended up picking up three packages-two for my sampling, and one for my kids to enjoy, while the rest of the coupons went out to family and co-workers. I feel the need to talk about each of the three flavors, they were THAT good.

sampling flavors

check out the vanilla beans! :)

Vanilla bean: The really neat thing about this flavor is that there are real vanilla beans in it! You can clearly see them when you open it up. The pudding is creamy and the vanilla flavor was nice.

Salted caramel: one of my beefs with caramel flavored foods is that they often taste fake. Not this. The flavor of the pudding tasted like it should be on top of ice cream! Again, a nice creamy texture.

Chocolate truffle: this is the flavor I purchased for my kids. Of course, I had to try it regardless. Four kids and four puddings in a pack means I had to trade to get one (I did have to agree to giving L a bite of the chocolate). It tasted like you would expect a chocolate pudding to taste. The chocolate flavor was a bit richer, and, like the other two, the texture was really nice.

I enjoyed all the flavors, it is really hard to pick out a favorite. It's like asking my which kid is my favorite! ;) Overall, I definitely recommend Kozy shack indulgence recipe pudding. You need to try it at least once (eating is believing, my friend)! While the price point and location availability makes it a fun treat instead of an everyday snack, it is one that you will often find in our house. Now, keep scrolling for some fun Kozy shack photos!

my "artistic" shot!

selfie!!

dont take my photo!

i can't believe you took my photo!

this is how good it is!!

Baby #4 stealing my last bite of salted caramel

sample share: Apple & eve organics & quenchers

I got to participate in a fun sample share that I got to involve my kids in: Apple & Eve organics & quenchers! Influenster hooked me up with these samples, and I couldn't have been more excited!

included: one full size organics & three quenchers juice boxes :)

First up: I opened up the box with my oldest. He got wicked excited when he saw the juice on the box!

next up: let the kids go wild ;)

The quenchers we sampled were three different kinds: razzberry apple splash, berrylicious lemonade, & fruit punch burst. My eight year old was not a fan of the lemonade kind (the lemonade was more prominent than the berry), but my two year old finished that up quickly. The other two were huge hits! I may have sampled the first sip from each box--I deem razzbery apple splash my favorite. My kiddos will be wicked excited to see these in their lunch boxes! Now that the kids are taken care of...

I got the 33.8 oz orange pineapple kid to try. It's a blend of 6 organic juices and made with 100% juice (and vitamin C!). It was a sweet yet tangy blend of orange and pineapple. It was very tasty-it may be one of my favorite juices! It even included a $1 off coupon on the package. ;) If you are looking for a yummy juice to fit into your kids lunches or your own-definitely try apple & eve organics out! (and scroll down for some artistic sampling shots ;))

first sample in a kiddie cup!

this is much more artistic ;)