I wrote about Mike the Gardener in the Spring and his great deal for a year worth of seeds. Well, I was just on Facebook and Mike the Gardener is having a sweepstakes to Win 5 Years worth of Vegetable Seeds! Go now and sign up!
Editor’s Note: I signed up too! 
Happy Health and Garden Tuesday!
I’m sure you’ve heard of the expression “Gimme my coffee and no one get hurt!” Well, International Delight Iced Coffee is perfect for that afternoon pick me up!
International Delight Iced Coffee comes in 4 flavors – Original, Vanilla, Mocha and Carmel. With 150 calories International Delight Iced Coffee is made with 100% Arabica coffee. Then blended with cocoa, milk and cream, giving you a very smooth and creamy drink.
Here’s some trivia too – “Arabica plants grow for up to 7 years before they begin yielding coffee beans.” Boy am I glad I don’t have to wait that long for coffee!
Head over to the International Delight Iced Coffee Facebook Page to check them out.
International Delight Iced Coffee Review
This was perfect timing as we had my daughter’s birthday party the same day! So, we decided on the Mocha International Delights Iced Coffee. I’ll be honest, I had some skeptics in the crowd. One of my party goers put his foot down that he wasn’t going to drink cold coffee. Well, I’m happy to report that his mood changed when everyone else had at least a sip and they enjoyed the taste. I myself LOVE coffee and really enjoyed the Mocha favoring as did my husband who is not a chocolate/mocha fan.
Stop going out to those expensive coffee shops for iced coffee. Get it at your local supermarket! It’s on our shopping list!
Some of my family members asked that I not post a picture of them and I am respecting their wishes. But, I wish I could have shared them. Some were really good!
“I wrote this review while participating in an In Home Party campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of International Delight and received product samples to facilitate my party and review, and a promotional item to thank me for participating.”
Photo courtesy of Kim at Brandfluential
Brandcation Blog Cabin not only brought us awesome accommodations and views but also awesome treats too! Cabin Fever Vacations worked with Gigi’s Cupcakes Pigeon Forge to surprise us shortly after arriving with a lovely array of yummy cupcakes! Flavors included, blackberry, red velvet, carrot cake, banana nut, chocolate, white wedding cake, mint chocolate, strawberry. These cupcakes were topped with delectable cream cheese frosting. They were so tasty that the ladies bought more for our 80’s party on Saturday night! Seriously these were so moist and delicious it was nearly impossible to stop at one! I definitely plan to treat my family to some of these yummy treats when we visit on our family vacation next year or have some shipped here for the next birthday we celebrate since there are no Gigi’s Cupcakes here in Illinois.
Photo courtesy of Candace from Serendipity Mom
Put that blender back in the closet! Whole Fruit Smoothies are here! Whole Fruit Smoothies is a frozen treat that require a microwave and a spoon. However, in my daughter’s case she liked a straw too. Whole Fruit Smoothies come in 3 flavors – Mixed Berry, Strawberry Banana and Pineapple Mango. Plus, only 100 calories per serving. Each package contains 4 – 4 ounce cups of one flavor. I’ve seen them in my grocery store in the frozen foods section by the frozen fruits in bags.
Take one of these 4 ounces cups, pop it in the microwave for 20 second. The following pictures are of the Pineapple Mango.
When you remove the Whole Fruit Smoothie cup from the microwave, the center will still be frozen. Of course, you can eat it right from the cup.
I did stir my daughter’s briefly to get the bigger chunks melted a little. BUT, it does continue to stay cold as a smoothie should.
Then Enjoy!
My Whole Fruit Smoothies Review
Whole Fruit Smoothies are a BIG hit in my house, with our favorite being mixed berry. Here is the nutritional information of the mixed berry:
My daughter gets very excited to have a smoothie she loves her new “ice cream smoothie” as she calls it. Two thumbs up from us!
You can find out more information about Whole Fruit Smoothies here.
Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.
Eating out is a treat for our family, as it was for me growing up. My husband’s family ate out a lot and still do. We do not frequent most major fast food places just because they do not serve healthy food. Unhealthy food is never filling and when our children have had it, it leaves them feeling hungry an hour later. We’d rather they fill up on nutritious, healthy foods instead.
Genghis Grill
Genghis Grill is a growing restaurant featuring a unique build your own bowl experience using the Asian stir-fry. According to their website, the experience offers a fun way of cooking similar to what may have been used by 12th century Mongol warriors, led by GENGHIS KHAN, according to an ancient legend. The legend also indicates they used fires to heat their shields so they could grill their food. Now, my boys would love that fact!
Definitely an inspiring little history behind Genghis Grill.
We have never been to Genghis Grill, as a matter a fact, there’s only one in the state of Illinois, but it is only about an hour drive from us.
The Food
If the photos are any indicator, the food at Genghis Grill looks yummy! They serve a variety of protein, including ham, chicken, turkey, beef and fish. Their seasonings range from hot cayenne to garlic and lemon pepper. They also give a wonderful choice of yummy veggies. Their sauces are free of MSG…bonus…and sound delicious. Lastly they serve pasta, rice, tortillas and noodles. If you go to their website you can follow the steps and create your own bowl.
When I built my bowl, the calories weren’t bad for turkey, lemon pepper sauce, veggies, sweet and sour sauce with some fried rice. However, the sodium measured 1500mg! So those watching their sodium intake should watch the nutritional calculator carefully.
Khans Klub
Genghis has a birthday club called, Khans Klub, which enables those who sign up to receive a FREE bowl of your choice. Happy Birthday to you!
Be sure to visit Genghis Grill’s Facebook page and Khans Klub Facebook page as well.
When is the last time you ate out? Where’d you go?
Disclaimer: I received a promotional item for my participation.
Well, I did it! I accomplished canning and freezing veggies! My first canning season in the new place with most of my own veggies! The other veggies that we didn’t grow I bought from a local stand. The kitchen heats up awful fast in the middle of August, but it will be so nice in those cold months to make my family meals with vegetables from our own garden! Here’s what I canned: pickles, crushed tomatoes, 3 pickled beans, pickled grape tomatoes, salsa, BBQ sauce, pickled hot peppers, white peaches, and bruschetta! In all that makes exactly 50 jars of wonderfulness!
I also blanched and froze bags of corn, cut peppers, whole red peppers, peas, beans, cucumbers, and zucchini!
I looked up most of the recipes on the internet with a few out of an old Ball Canning Book I found. I received and email from Grit Magazine awhile ago with the “Ultimate Guide to Food Preservation”, that would have been VERY handy a few weeks back! There is a wealth of information on their site, including sweepstakes! Go and check them out!
~ Brande
I bought my first Farmers Almanac the other day and I can’t believe I didn’t buy it sooner!
I always thought the Farmers Almanac was all about the weather. Boy was I surprised when I found tons of fantastic information!
Yes, it does have weather information, BUT, on page 8 I found out how to get rid of weeds with out pulling or chemicals and it’s easy! You pour boiling water on them or use a mixture of dish washing liquid (5 tablespoons) and water (4 cups) in a spray bottle! I also learned how to make a “Homemade Jar Opener”, “No-Mess Baking”, ways to cut energy costs, how to save on gas, even a section on comfort foods (my favorite).
I plan on buying one every year! They are really a wealth of information!
Well, not just the potatoes are ready, we also have butternut squash, pumpkins, heirloom tomatoes, basil and mint ready too. The zucchini and summer squash have slowed down a lot and we still get an occasional cucumber if the children don’t eat it first.
Potatoes.
Pumpkins, butternut squash and zucchini.
Fresh, locally grown heirloom tomatoes.
Fresh, locally grown basil.
Mint.
The children set up a farm stand on Saturday and sold some fresh, local produce, along with organic lemonade (yep, we made it with organic cane sugar and organic lemon oil – from Costco…kind of defeats the purpose of buying local, eh?) While we may not have grown as much produce as we wanted, what we do have is yummy in our tummies! We even made pumpkin pie for Sunday’s potluck!
Lemonade stand.
GoPicnic is a company that sells all natural, mostly gluten free, pre-packeged meals for the whole family. They sent us out their Super Best Selling Meal Variety Pack to review.
Sunbutter + Crackers- This meal contains creamy sunflower spread, multi-grain crackers, seed and fruit trail mix, tropical fruit bites, and a double chocolate chip cookie. My kids loved everything inside this box. The butter was yummy and the sides were delicious.
Peanut Butter + Crackers- This meal was a huge hit with my little guys. They loved the peanut butter and crackers, the apple sauce, the cheddar bunny crackers, and the gummy airplanes.
Salami + Cheese- My older girls loved this box. It was the perfect size for them and they loved that everything was natural. It included beef salami slices, olive oil & sea salt cracker, Asiago cheese spread, fruit + nuts, and a chocolate cookie cruncher. They weren’t expecting the cheese to taste as creamy as it did. Everything in this box was a nice balance.
Tuna + Crackers- I was surprised that my kids actually really liked this box, usually they don’t like tuna, but they enjoyed the mix of applesauce, chocolate, seed crackers, taun spread, and the fruit & nut mix.
Turkey Stick & Crunch- Another huge hit was this box. It was sweet and spicy. A perfect mix of turkey sticks, Popchips, a double chocolate cookie, fruit & nuts, as well as tropical fruit bites.
A quick note- Not all of GoPicnic’s meals are gluten free. Therefore it is important to read the product packaging and labels because several meals contain gluten.
GoPicnic wanted to create affordable, yet healthy solutions for families or individuals who need to eat and run. We love the concept and will be purchasing their products in the future. They are great for traveling, school lunches, or even for work. With a variety of flavors and packs there is sure to be something that everyone in the family will love.
GoPicnic’s food receives a thumbs up from us! I love that everything is all natural and balanced. Everyone in the family loved the products and the idea is genius.
Want to win two meals from GoPicnic? Enter below!!
It’s back to school time and that not only means school supplies and school clothing, but also packing school lunches! I can’t imagine the morning school routine we’d have if I had to get 6-7 school lunches, school bags and children ready to get out the door! Hats off to you ladies with multiple children! What do you do to make sure their school lunches don’t get boring? After all you are packing lunches for at least 180 days in most states.
Growing up I always seem to have a sandwich, apple, granola bar or sweet for my bagged lunches. My mom wasn’t heavy into convenience foods back then and made nearly everything from scratch. Nowadays, there are so many packaged snacks to choose from, healthy and unhealthy. Our family prefers to eat organic (as much as possible), all natural foods and snacks without artificial flavors etc.
One snack we have enjoyed is Pirate’s Booty Corn Puffs. They are made from aged white cheddar so they are similar to other brands of cheese puffs, only better because they have half the fat! They taste very good and are gobbled up in no time at all by our children. Love the little bags, perfect for little hands and great for travel treats too!
Consider adding Pirate’s Booty snacks to your child’s lunchbox. Their products make a wonderful “Snack Swap!” (we all know kids do this, right?) Pirate’s Booty is a deliciously baked, all-natural snack we can give our children guilt-free. Pirate’s Booty is less fattening and has fewer calories than regular fried potato chips. Pirate’s Booty is safe for kids with allergies as it is gluten, peanut and tree-nut free. Pirate’s Booty contains easy to pronounce ingredients and are made without trans-fats. Pirate’s Booty Aged White Cheddar half-ounce size multi-packs have only 65-calories per pack! A convenient lunchbox treat! You can find Pirate’s Booty Aged White Cheddar half-ounce 12-packs at retailers nationwide. They retail for about $6.99.
Back to School Giveaway With Pirate’s Booty!
You can enter to win the Pirate’s Booty Treasure Box in the above photo. It includes 2 12-packs of corn puffs, a chip clip as seen clipped to the box, 3 Pirate’s Booty tatoos, 2 pirates eye patches and two foam pirates swords. For some reason YouTube doesn’t like videos from my iPhone. 
And I cannot even get QuickTime to work today. Boo, I had wanted to share a video of my boys with their eye patches and swords.
Enter the giveaway!
Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.
