A Treat To Eat

This is a compensated review from BlogHer and Pepperidge Farm.

Imagine that you’re having the kind of day where you feel like you’re coming down with a cold. You’re feeling run down. Sitting around in sweats. So far, your excitement for the day has been twitter.

Then unexpectedly, you get a delivery! A whole box filled with wonderful sweet treats! That’s what happened to me. Instantly I felt better!

Giddily, I started trying them. I don’t remember the order. There was such an assortment to taste. The Petite Pirouette® is a delicate, crispy rolled wafer with creamy, chocolaty filling on the inside. Try either the chocolate hazelnut or chocolate crème flavor - or both! I tried them both and cannot even convey to you how much I like them.

You know what? Actually, I can. I had planned to share a lot of these with other people. After all, I had so many. Well, I shared a few, but over several days kept eating them myself and decided not to share most of them. I know. That’s kind of wrong.

My absolute favorite of all of these are the Petite Pirouette chocolate crème. And if not sharing these is wrong, well I don’t want to be right. These are incredible! And three Petite Pirouette rolled wafers add up to only 90 calories!

The Petite Twists® puffed pastries have layers of delicate, crisp pastry swirled with sweet cinnamon or raspberry. Another nice treat with just 90 calories in two of the twists! These are quite good too. Very crispy, so they are good for dunking. If you’re a dunking kind of a person. Not all of us are.

However, all of us do deserve some luxury in our lives. Even if only for a few minutes. Petite Pirouette and Petite Twists are a great way to indulge yourself. Now the ultimate way to lavish ourselves in comfort is to go to a spa. In this economy, not many of us get to go to one. So how would you like the chance to win a $150 Spa Gift Card?

I know that I would! Well, BlogHer and Pepperidge Farm are giving you the opportunity to win. All you have to do is leave a comment stating what you’d like in a fantasy spa getaway. Would you like to go to a tropical seaside resort? Maybe a combination spa and ski resort in the mountains? Even a day at home with no housework and a masseuse comes to you. Just tell me in the comments.

The contest will begin at 9:00 a.m. (PST) November 2, 2009 and will end 5:00 p.m. (PST) November 30, 2009. Make sure that the e-mail address you leave is correct.

RULES:

• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
• This giveaway is open to US-residents, aged 18 and older.
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
• You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
• Please see the official rules here: Official rules

And remember to check out all the other reviews too. You have 7 chances to win!


Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2009. All rights reserved.

This Post's Link

Buckwheat Banana Bread Recipe

A couple of months ago, I was contacted by POM Wonderful about trying another new product of theirs. They have a new line of drinks, POMx Iced Coffees.

I was assured that the iced coffees did not taste like pomegranate. Thankfully. Because that would just be weird. Much like the rather odd music and sheep on the website.

Well, I love coffee, so I was happy to receive the free POMx Iced Coffees that they sent me to try out. However, by the time that I received them, it was getting colder here in Massachusetts. For the most part, I only drink iced coffee when it's hot out, so it's taken me a bit of time to try them out. I received two flavors, Chocolate and Café au Lait. The third flavor is Vanilla, but I didn't get to try that one.

All the POMx Iced Coffees contain a blend of antioxidants, caffeine, and rich coffee. I loved the Chocolate! I drank it straight from the bottle and used it in the Buckwheat Banana Bread recipe below.

I didn't like the the Café au Lait too much. The texture was nice, but I found it bitter. I have a super sweet tooth, so I poured it into a glass and added some sugar. I'm sure most people would like the flavor just fine though.

Well here's the recipe below. I used my mother's banana bread recipe as a start and adapted from there. It's really good! The buckwheat adds a fuller flavor to the bananas and the Chocolate POMx Iced Coffee adds a bit more sweetness, texture, and antioxidants. I hope you give it a try. Enjoy!

Buckwheat Banana Bread

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cups buckwheat flour
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup Smart Balance
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup Chocolate POMx Iced Coffee
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas (about 3)
1 tsp. vanilla

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients well. Oil and flour a loaf pan. Bake at 350degrees for about 65 minutes. Let cool before removing from pan.


Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2009. All rights reserved.


This Post's Link

N.E.D. = No Evidence of Disease

The email stated that one of the ways that money was being raised was through the sale of a CD with styles ranging from indie to folk-rock. Below is more from the email.

"The music and lyrics are original, written by members of the band who collaborated primarily through video conferencing. If you listen closely to the lyrics, you will hear a fresh and sympathetic approach to issues women with cancer and their families face. The CD is slated for release on September 8th to coincide with Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month. Both the physical and digital EP include an informational booklet about gynecologic cancers entitled, “What Every Woman Should Know.” Net proceeds from the sale of the CD will be donated to the N.E.D. Cancer Foundation in association with the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation (GCF) to educate the public about gynecologic cancers and support promising research.

Also worth noting – N.E.D.’s drummer, Dr. Nimesh Nagarsheth, will be releasing a book, Music and Cancer: A Prescription for Healing, in mid-September, 2009. The book opens with a moving foreword by Fran Drescher, President and Visionary of the Cancer Schmancer Movement."

The weekend of November 6-8, 2009 is the inaugural Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Movement Weekend and GCF’s half marathon/5K race.

There is a N.E.D. widget that you can grab here, that you can put on your blog or website. It gives more information and will keep you up to date. I have the widget on the left sidebar of my main blog.

Cancer has impacted my family and friends and I'd like to suppport all the causes that I can to fight this horrible disease. I think the work being done here is amazing and a wonderful step in the right direction.

Hopefully some of you will consider making a donation, purchasing the CD, or book.

And for those of you who would like the CD for free, I have a copy that was given to me at no cost by N.E.D. and Drew who is doing their marketing at Two Sheps That Pass.

Yes, we are giving away a CD! If you'd like to win, please let me know in a comment below. Thank you!

*Updated 9/1/09* - I just realized that I did not give a deadline for the contest. You have until midnight Friday, September 11th to leave a comment. The winner will be chosen at random and notified by email. The contest is open to U.S. Residents only who are 18 years of age and older. Good luck everyone!

Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2009. All rights reserved.

This Post's Link

A Very Friendly Giveaway

*Updated 7/22/09* Congratulations to the winner Stephanie Reed! She said, "My favorite flavor is Cookies 'n' Cream. Fribbles at Friendly's are so good!"


Remember when I wrote about enjoying some free ice cream at Friendly's?

Recently, I heard from one of their representatives offering me a $10.00 gift card to try one of their new $9.99 Meals.

So today G and I went to Friendly's for lunch.

They actually offered more choices than we originally thought. I don't eat beef, so the promotions that I had seen only mentioned the Buffalo Bleu Burger, Cheeseburger Club, and the Apple Walnut Chicken Salad.

It was a pleasant surprise to see on the menu, that the $9.99 Friendly's Meal has several more options, including the Tuna Salad SuperMelt™ Sandwich, Grilled Chicken Wrap , and Crispy Chicken Salad. The $9.99 Meal includes a drink of your choice, plus you can create your own sundae!

Money is tight, so if you're out and about, maybe with some kids (or not) and want to grab a full meal and dessert, Friendly's $9.99 Meal is a good option. So would you like to win a $10.00 Friendly's gift card to try it yourself? I thought you would!

July is National Ice Cream Month, so it's the perfect month to think about ice cream. Below, I read this interesting little bit of ice cream trivia.

Based on ice cream consumption figures, the top five individual flavors in terms of share of segment in the United States are: vanilla (30%), chocolate (10%), butter pecan (4%), strawberry (3.7%) and chocolate chip mint (3.2%).

Quite surprising. Butter pecan? Who would have thought? Today, I had butter crunch ice cream, and G had vanilla and coffee. If you'd like to win the $10.00 Friendly's Gift Card, please leave me a comment below stating your favorite ice cream flavor, real or imagined. There are probably a few fantasy ice cream flavors that haven't made it to the market yet.

The contest runs from Monday, July 13th through Monday, July 20th at 5:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time. The winner will be picked at random.

You can also follow Friendly's on twitter, become a fan on facebook, and check out some cool Friendly's related pictures on flickr. I need to add some of my pictures on there!

If you tweet about this contest, facebook it, blog it, or find a way to flickr it, then come back here and add another comment(s) with the link(s) and you will receive another entry for each of these. Open to US residents only aged 18 years and older.

Best of luck to you all! The winner will be announced here by July 24th.

*Updated 7/23/09* Thank you again Steve at Iced Media and Friendly's for the Gift Cards!


Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2009. All rights reserved.

This Post's Link

Fig & Whiskey Whole Wheat Shortbread

This shortbread recipe was inspired by none other than our own beautiful First Lady Michelle Obama. As a quick aside, if you haven't looked at the fashion and style blog Mrs. O, I highly recommend it.

Back to how I developed this recipe. Marian Burros who writes blog posts for The Caucus, wrote a post about the high cost of hotels during the Inauguration. In the article, she included a wonderful recipe. I halved the recipe. Replaced the egg with yogurt, made a few other changes and voilà! My new shortbread recipe was born.



In case there is any confusion, I do want to make it clear that I received the OIKOS Organic Greek Yogurt found in this recipe free from Stonyfield Farm, which I mentioned in my last related post.

Something new that I noticed since this last post is that their website has a store locator. I found it difficult to find this yogurt, so this should make it easier for people to find stores that sell OIKOS Organic Greek Yogurt.

Fig & Whiskey Whole Wheat Shortbread
(Adapted from Michelle Obama's Shortbread Cookies)
Makes 6 large pieces

1 T OIKOS Vanilla Organic Greek Yogurt
1/2 cup Smart Balance (softened)
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 T honey whiskey
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 diced figs (approximately 2 T)

Combine ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir well. This is a very small amount of dough.



Place the dough in an ungreased round cake pan. Bake at 300 degrees for about 30 minutes. Let cool slightly, then cut into pieces while still warm. Enjoy!

Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2009. All rights reserved.

This Post's Link

OIKOS Organic Greek Yogurt Cake

I hope you're all enjoying your Memorial Day as we remember those who've served our country. I finished baking a cake and it's cooling in the fridge. After I make a pasta salad, I'll be getting ready to pick up my brother, then we'll be headed to my parents' house for a visit and a nice meal.

Even though I moved out of my parents' house decades ago, it's still says "home" to me. And it's nice to be able to go home again. I'm sure that those who are serving in the military abroad are eagerly anticipating their return home too.

The concept of home and what makes someplace home is something that I've pondered often since I was a child. I've always loved The Wizard of Oz and remember Dorothy's magical words "There's no place like home."

The people at Stonyfield Farm understand that there's a powerful tie between food and home. OIKOS is Greek for house, household, or family. And OIKOS is the name of their new Organic Greek Yogurt.

I was contacted by Stonyfield Farms and asked if I'd like to try their new Greek style yogurt. I had never tried this type of yogurt before, so I eagerly awaited the overnight yogurt shipment. They gave me a large variety of their Greek yogurts, which I happily ate straight from the container and used in baking. Greek yogurt is smooth and creamy. Click here for a coupon and try it yourself. The only bad thing that I can say about this yogurt was that I had a problem finding it in the grocery store. Hopefully you won't have that problem!

Over the next week or two, I'll be sharing more recipes and information with you. For now here's the cake recipe. I have to head out of the house!

OIKOS Organic Greek Yogurt Cake
(Adapted from Chocolate & Zucchini's Yogurt Cake)

1 cup plain OIKOS Organic Greek Yogurt
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 T honey whiskey
a pinch of salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 2/3 cups flour

Oil and flour a round cake pan. Set oven to 350 degrees.

Combine ingredients in a medium bowl. You may want to use a large whisk to make sure the eggs are well incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 35 minutes.

The cake will be well browned. Cool and serve. I'm assuming this is really good, but I haven't tasted the cake yet. Only the batter. Which was quite tasty. You may want to top the cake with a bit of whipped cream, some fruit, or a simple vanilla glaze. I think this will taste just fine plain though. Enjoy!

Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2009. All rights reserved.

This Post's Link

I Feel Pretty!

{Updated 6/23/09} Congratulations to the winner of the Max Factor goodie bag - Deanna!

This is a compensated review from BlogHer and Max Factor.

Each BlogHer reviewer will be giving away a Max Factor goodie bag, plus BlogHer is giving away 10 more, for a total of 17 chances to win. So please check out all of our reviews!

More information about how you can win a Max Factor goodie bag is at the end of the review.

Free stuff is good. Free make-up is great! Getting paid to try free make-up is awesome!!

Now I was very excited to try the new Max Factor products. I received Pin-Up Pink Vivid Impact Lip Color, which is a very pretty shade. It’s actually more of a sophisticated mauve and not overly pink.

The packaging was easy to open and I like the look of the container. Shiny black and you can see the lipstick color peaking out of the bottom. It’s comfortable to hold and feels nice as you apply it.

When I first tried it on, I had on some clear gloss. When I applied the lipstick over it, the color did not go on very smoothly, so I took the gloss off and started with fresh lips. The color went on smoothly after that and I put the clear gloss over it. I ate something a few hours after applying it and most of the lipstick was gone after the meal. But that is no different than most lipsticks.

The mascara that I tried was the 2000 Calorie Extreme Lash Plumper in Extreme Blackout. It’s just the type of mascara that I buy, so I was happy to use it. Again, I liked the design of the mascara container. Sleek and black with a band of silver. I like the Caution:Causes Extreme Lash Plumping warning on the package. Very cute!

There were a few tiny clumps when I applied it, but I find that happens with many mascaras and I use an eyelash comb to eliminate them. My eyelashes were noticeably longer and thicker after applying the mascara.

I liked the mascara and lipstick and would purchase both of them. Now I’m not a huge make-up person. At home, I don’t wear much. I use powder, a clear gloss, maybe some eyebrow pencil, lipstick and mascara most days. I use eyeliner and a bit of eye shadow a few times a week, but not everyday. It’s extremely rare that I wear foundation. I’m probably in a make-up rut and could stand to learn a few tricks.

On Max Factor’s website, they have a few different places to find some hints. I have a lot to learn!

One parting note, I noticed that Gisele is one of the beautiful faces of Max Factor. Interesting. Now both Gisele and I are wearing Max Factor. If you remember a post from early last year, you can see that now Gisele and I have two things in common!

Now I’m sure you’re wondering about the prize. Yes, the goodie bag! You can win a selection of Max Factor products valued at $50.00.

In order to enter the contest, just leave a comment below. Easy as pie!

The contest begins Friday, May 15, 2009 at 9:00 p.m. (Pacific Time) and ends Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. (Pacific Time). Please make sure that the e-mail address you leave is correct. The rules are below.

No duplicate comments.

You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.

You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.

This giveaway is open to US residents, aged 18 and over.

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.

You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

Please see the Official Rules. Best of luck!


Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2009. All rights reserved.

This Post's Link