Three weeks of mail freebies, just a quick overview!!!

 This is just a quick list and some pictures of my last three weeks of mail freebies.

   A 16 count of Snapple Ice tea K- cups, Maybelline FITME foundation sample card, From Fiora a pumpkin carving kit with many templates and a cloth trick or treat bag, Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition sample in the shampoo, conditioner, and deep conditioner, yogi tea samples, lever 2000 body wash sample, a free coupon for a Beneful tub of soft dog food, urgent Rx sample in allergy attack, Similac $5 dollar checks, three piece Biore samples and CVS coupons. I know it is not much, but I only spend a little time when I can to see what is out there. If you have more time to spend looking around and such there are tons of things that you could find out there. I will add some pages that you can check out that can help you find some freebies.

  I have also been thinking, and when I get 100 likes on Facebook and at least 50 people to follow me on my blog, I will do a giveaway. As I get closer I will give more information on what I am going to give out and the rules and such. Do not forget to follow me on my blog or like me on Facebook, thanks

https://www.facebook.com/CasandrasGiveaways?ref=hl

https://www.facebook.com/FreebiesSamplesDeals

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Coupon-cousins/163675207028951?ref=br_tf

Giveaways :)

Don't forget to enter the Newman's Own Organics give away. Tomorrow I will have another review up and if I can get to 150 likes I have have a beatuy give away to do, so share away please and thank you :).
http://www.facebook.com/CasandrasGiveaways?ref=hl

Passage Foods Review, Super Yummy!!!

I got a package from Passage Foods; to review and give you guys my honest thoughts on. This is a company based in Connecticut that makes authentic, all natural, gluten free, cooking sauces. I got four different ones to try from four different areas around the world. Every package tells you what you need and how to make it. They take simple things like meats and veggies and are simple and easy to cook. The first one I tried was Butter Chicken which is in their Indian line. It was wonderful. It was super easy to make. There was no spice and a great mild taste. The next one and I think my favorite one is the Thai Basil and Sweet chili. It was easy to make, just follow the directions and you have a great meal in no time. This one had light spice and a nice sweet after note. I could eat this over and over and use it for so many different things. These sauces are great when you use them for what it says, but you could also use different meats or veggies, or whatever you would like. The last two I got to try where the Moroccan Spiced Lemon Tagine and Honey, Soy, Ginger. The honey, soy, ginger is from their Chinese line. You can taste a hint of all the flavors, and they make such a wonderful mix. I am not a fan of ginger, but it was nice in here and gave it something special. The spiced lemon tagine was great too. Nice mild flavor and the lemon made it so bright and refreshing.  These again were simple to make and wonderful taste. I cannot say enough about them. They smell wonderful when cooking them and they give an everyday meal a different twist. Trying these four makes me want to try them all. I would love to have a stock pile of these around, so when I wanted something different I could just pull that package open and add them to my meal. I have added their links so you can head over and check them out. If you are looking for a wonderful, new twist on dinner you should be heading their way, right away. While you are checking out their Facebook page take a second to like mine too. You can stay up to date and check out all of my giveaways.

http://www.facebook.com/casandra.dore#!/pages/Passage-Foods-USA/295443943853256

http://www.passagefoods.com.au/

http://www.facebook.com/CasandrasGiveaways

Newman's Own Organics Review and Giveaway

I received a box of goodies to test and give you guys my honest though on. Everyone in my household helped me and gave their thoughts on the items Newman’s Own Organics is its own company. They were started in 1993 as a division of Newman’s Own and in 2001 became its own company. The Newman’s Own Organics was started my Nell Newman and her business partner Peter Meehan. They have their own full line of products.

  One of the first things we tried was their licorice. They sent so many flavors for us to try. They sent strawberry, black licorice, sour apple, sour mange, sour strawberry, sour cherry, and pomegranate. The only one that was not really a hit was pomegranate. It had a perfume type taste. The best was their sour apple and sour cherry. The taste of those two were amazing. All of them had a great texture, easy to chew and true to their flavors.

    The next things we got were four tins of their mints in peppermint, wintermint, ginger, and cinnamon. These were amazing. First the tins are super cute and great to carry with you. I am not a fan of ginger, but my sister went crazy for them. She said they taste just like crystalized ginger. She had the tin gone in two days. I loved the other three, matter of fact I am sucking on one while I write this. The flavor is not is not to strong, it’s perfect. They have a texture unlike any mint I have had before. They are not hard like the starlight mints or soft and chew like Mentos. They are all their own. I have already gotten more and carry them with me everywhere.

   We got so many yummy cookies to try out. We got the Newman O’s in ginger, chocolate, and peanut butter. Now I am not a fan of ginger, but I LOVE the Ginger O’s. They by far are the best ones in the O’s group I tried.  They are two hard ginger cookies filled with cream. I do not know how to explain the flavor, it is one of its own and out of this world. The chocolate and peanut were very good too. The chocolate is two chocolate cookies filled with chocolate cream and the peanut butter is two chocolate cookies filled with peanut butter cream. They have a great crunch to them and the perfect amount of cream. I think I enjoyed them better than another brand that we shall leave nameless.

  Next we had ginger snaps, chocolate chip, and orange chocolate chip. These are little crunchy cookies that come in bags. My personal favorite was the orange chocolate chip cookies. I love orange and chocolate together and this was the first time I have ever seen it in cookies. They were so good; I took most of the bag for myself. The other two were great too. None of them were two sweet, and they had great crunch to them. They are perfect two bite little cookies, perfect size for a young child’s hands.

   We also got to try the Alphabet cookies in vanilla and chocolate. These were really yummy. Very much like shortbread cookie. They were also bite size crunchy little cookies.  I took some to my aunts when I baby set for her and her little ones and I used them to spell words before we got to eat them. They had so much fun playing with their food.

 The last cookies were their Fig Newman’s. I did not get to try these because I am unable to eat fig, but everyone else loved them. They were the first cookies to be gone. They were soft and moist and just melted in your mouth is how my father put it. They all said there was such a great taste to them.

  The next thing was there pretzels, in the thin sticks and mighty mini. Now I never thought that these two products would be different, but boy where they. The sticks were my favorite. They had a nice crunch to them, but not overly hard and not too much salt. They had just a naturel pure pretzel flavor, which was super yummy. The mighty mini ones were also very good. These ones were a little bit harder and had a little bit more salt on them. I am not a huge pretzel person but their thin sticks changed me into one. I like snacking on them more than potato chips now.

  We also had a variety of chocolate bars. Every one of them was great. The chocolate was smooth and creamy and had such a pure chocolate flavor.  It was nothing like eating a Hersey’s bar at all.  I cannot give you enough words to describe the chocolate, super yummy, made me happy, everyone that tried them loved them, great….. haha I could keep going. I was very impressed with the chocolate. We got to try it in Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, Super Dark Chocolate 70% cocoa, Mocha Milk Chocolate, Espresso Dark Chocolate, and Orange Dark chocolate. My personal favorite one was the mocha milk chocolate, super yummy.

  Along the chocolate line where, chocolate cups. We had them in milk and dark filled with caramel, milk and dark filled with peanut butter and dark chocolate mint. These cups are out of this world. The caramel is the best, but they are all sooooooooooo good. Smooth, creamy, flavorful are great words for them. They have become my favorite cup type candy by far. I will not go back to the other brands.

   To sum it all up, everything we had was wonderful. The only product that did not go over well was the pomegranate licorice. This is a brand I had never looked twice at before and I am sad that I did that. I think everyone should pick at least one thing and give it a try. I could not be more pleased with how good everything was.

     Here is the best part!!! It is give away time. This give away will be for four full size products. They will be the Ginger O’s, Peppermint mints, Pretzel thin rods, and the mocha milk chocolate bar. To enter to win you have to go over and like Newman’s Own Organics on Facebook, like my Facebook page, comment on my Facebook page under this review. That’s it, easy as pie. I would also love for you to like my blog, but not required. This give away will end Aug’s 1^st and I am sorry only open to the US.  Thank you all for reading.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Newmans-Own-Organics/219994593191

http://www.facebook.com/CasandrasGiveaways

Forbiddensweets Review :D

Do you have a wedding, birthday party, baby shower, or any other get together that you want to add a huge touch of summer time cuteness too? Well I found a great site you should check out. It is Forbiddensweets.com. They make chocolate covered rice crispy treats, and they are SOOOOOOO cute. They sent me five different ones to check out and review and give my honest thoughts about them for you guys. First off I cannot get over just how cute these things are. I took them out and showed them too many people before we tried them and everyone could not get over how cute they are. Right now I have a gumball machine one left and its home has become on my vanity in with my make-up brushes and it adds such a touch of cuteness to them. As for taste, I think they were really good. You taste the chocolate first then the rice crispy treat sneaks its way in there.  They use sheets of Kellogg's Rice Krispy Treat to make sure the quality and consistency is always top notch, than they cut them and paint them with a huge variety of colored chocolate. They have hundreds of ones to pick from, but they can also work with you to make something special just for your event.

   This company was started in 2002 by two moms that wanted and needed to be there for their children. It started as a little thing and they sold at local craft shows and fairs. When they first started they had toffee and chocolates as well, but when trying to grow their business they started to make treats for kids and it took off from there. The first one they ever made was there Sponge Dude and he is still their best seller. They have moved out of the kitchen into their own building with many employees. Now they are in many retailers, and also online. You can buy them wholesale or a few at a time online and if you are ordering 25 or more they have special pricing. The products also have a six month shelf life so you can get them before your party, just so you know they are ready to go.

   I really enjoy these treats. They taste great and are super cute. Bring them to any party will give it a touch of cuteness and everyone will be talking about them. They have ones for every season and every type of party you can think of, so it will be very easy to find the ones that you need. Please take a minute check them out and order some, you will be pretty happy. While you are checking them out, take a minute to like my Facebook page and I will keep you updated on their new products.

http://www.forbiddensweets.com/

http://www.facebook.com/CasandrasGiveaways

Wholesome Sweeteners Review and GAVEAWAY

I got a package of great goodies from Wholesome Sweeteners to review and give my honest thoughts on to all of you guys. This will be a few part review, but I wanted to get some up right away because they are also helping me do my first give away for you guys and I am so excited.

 First a little bit about the company, they are a Fair Trade company, which I had no clue what that was until this company and I think it is such a great thing. What they do is pay prices at or above the product price to their farmers and bee keeps. This money is then used by the farmers and bee keepers to help their community and their family’s to make a better life for them. They have farms all over the world and have paid their farmers and beekeepers over 6 million dollars. This money has helped them bring fresh water, farming equipment, safe working environments, and even helping them send their children to school. It has also helped the farmers practice environmentally sustainable farming methods and not use harmful chemicals on their products. Everything that comes from this company is organic because of all of these things. It is such a great thing that they are doing, and I will make sure I support them from now on. Now on to the yummy stuff, raw honey, regular honey, blue agave with maple flavoring. This stuff is so yummy. The raw honey was the first thing everyone wanted to try. We ripped right in to that stuff, there is nothing left already. We tried it just straight from the jar still hard, and on different foods melted. It is the best honey I have ever had. I did not care for it hard in the jar, but my brother loved it that way. Every time I turned around he was eating a little bit of it. I loved it once it was melted on something. We put in on waffles, banana and honey sandwiches, in hot tea, and over ice cream. It was perfect on everything. It smells so good and the taste is perfect. It is not too sweet like some honey tends to be. Most honey I can only have a little bit because it is so sweet and hurts my teeth, but this one did not do that at all. It was just right. My mother was in heaven because she said this honey taste just like honey candy that her father would bring her as a little girl. It brought her back to those great memories of waiting for him to get home with her few pieces of candy. Every time she had a little bit her eyes would light up. I just cannot say enough about how good their raw honey is. I will be stocking up on this product! The next thing was the regular squeeze bottle type honey. This is organic just like everything else and it was also very yummy. It is not super sweet either and I have enjoyed it at night on crackers for a sweet fast snack. I cannot put my finger on it, but it is so different than the honey you get in the store in like the little bear jars.  I do not eat organic products usually and I wonder if that is what is making such a difference. I know that I will from now on only get organic honey from this company because it is the best that I have ever had. It is amazing. The next product is their organic blue agave in maple. I had no clue what blue agave was or even heard of it before. I will say I am now a fan. I went back and did some looking around on their site to find out really what agave syrup is. What I found out is that it is a low-glycemic sweetener that is slowly absorbed by the body, preventing blood sugar spikes. I used this on my pancakes and waffles and it was so good. It is not overly sweet and has a great taste of maple. All of these products are great and would tell anyone to give them a try.

   Now that I have said that, one lucky person is going to get a chance to try the products. The company is allowing me to do my first and a great giveaway for all of you. This giveaway will end on June 7^th. What you have to do to enter, is like Wholesome Sweeteners on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, or follow their blog. Than you have to head over to my Facebook page, like it and comment under the post for this review. In the comment put in if you followed their blog, Facebook page or followed them on Twitter. There is one comment per person. The winner will be chosen at random. The prize is a gift basket with tons of great products from the company. I have added a picture of a sample of the basket so you can check it out. I hope everyone takes the time to check them out, and join the giveaway. These are such great products and I cannot wait to try more of the stuff and bring you the next review.

Here are all the links you will need.

http://www.facebook.com/Wholesomesweeteners

https://twitter.com/#!/wholesomesweet

http://wholesomesweeteners.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/CasandrasGiveaways

Baked Classics

I received some interesting new crisps to try and review last week. They are from Baked Classic and they are in the flavor Vanilla Frosting. It is a 1oz bag with 120 calories. They are gluten free, have no Trans fats or cholesterol. They are a multigrain crisp, which is very new to me. I will admit when I saw the flavor I felt a little odd about it. Who would think of vanilla frosting as a flavor for crisps? I had everyone in my house try them and they went over well.  They kind of feel like a super thin rice cake, but much more of a chip crunch to them. I really like the texture of them, very different than anything else I have tried out in the market. The taste does remind me of vanilla frosting; they hit the nail on the head there. It is a nice light flavor though. They are not overly sweet or strong, I think it is just right. It gives me just that little bit of sweetness that I am looking for. I think they are kind of addicting, you eat one than you just keep going back for more. They are a great snack to have a night when my craving for something sweet hits, so I do not munch down a piece of cake or something. They do not leave an after taste in your mouth, which I sometimes find with food in this line. I think overall this is a great bag of crisps. I would most definitely recommend them to anyone. If you are looking for new snack foods I say give them a try ASAP. Here is their site so you can check them out and find out what other great products they carry. I personally cannot wait to try the other products that they have.

http://www.classicfoods.com/http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm280586.htmhttp://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm280586.htmhttp://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm280586.htm

   I got a few samples from BIGELOW tea the other day and I wanted to talk about the ones that I have been able to try. First this is a family run company from Fairfield CT. They sent me so much information about the benefits of tea and all about their company. They talk about their 300 employees, so it is a pretty small company. Small companies seem to always put such care into their products; I personally like to get things from smaller companies or mom and pop brand just for that reason. Since starting this blog I like to also go to the company’s web page to find out what I can about them and their products, so here is their site if you would like to check them out. http://www.bigelowtea.com/. It is a great site with recipes, information about the tea and tells you about some of the projects they do with the community.

  Now to the tea, the first one I tried was their Earl Grey. When I opened it, it had such a nice spiced type smell. I heated my water poured it over the bag and steeped for two minutes. It released much more of the smell, filled the whole dining room. After adding my sugar and relaxing, I got my first sip. It was so good. Nice and smooth with that nice spiced flavor.  It was my first time having Earl Grey tea and I really enjoyed it. It is a tea that I could pick up and drink again and again. I am wondering how it would be made into ice tea, I will have to try that next and fill you all in.

   The next one I tried was their Vanilla Chai tea. I LOVED it. I love chai tea and I usually get it from coffee shops because I did not think I could get a good one at home. Boy, was I wrong. Drinking it was just like getting one from the coffee house but WAY cheaper. I loved the smell of the vanilla and all the spices. It made my house smell so good, I wish I could make it last. I heated the water then poured it over; I found steeping it for 3 minutes worked great. All I had to do was add a little sugar and I was all set. I went out the next day and got a box of these, and have had one every morning with breakfast. I am in love with it.

    I have a few more of the samples to get through and I will try to have them all done by the end of the week so I can tell you about how they are. If they are as good as these two, they will all be great. I am really really happy I found this tea. I got my box at Target just because that was where I was headed and it cost me 2.34, so not a bad price either. I hope everyone gives them a try. If you do or if you have drank them before let me know. I would love to know what other people think about the product too. http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm280586.htmhttp://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm280586.htmhttp://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm280586.htm

I got to try the BEST beef and turkey jerk this week. It comes from a company called Perky Jerky. I had never heard about them until I came across the company while web searching and now I want to help get their name out there. It was started by two guys at a ski lodge after a long night having fun. I have to say thank you for that night and coming up with this jerky. First off where can you get it you ask? Well it can be found online at http://www.perkyjerky.com/ or 7-11, GNC, Target, Best Buy, and Home Depot. I am going to Target tomorrow to stock up on it. What it is? It is jerky that they have infused in some magical way with energy drinks. It has made it such a great texture and so tender and easy to chew. Out of the two flavors, I loved them both but the Turkey was my favorite. The turkey was just a little thinner, because of the meat and I just personally like that. They both start out sweet like a teriyaki type flavor but as you chew it ends in peppercorn. It is the perfect mix of sweet and heat. After eating a bag of it, I could feel that perk of energy that they talked about as well. It was not like an energy drink either, that I was crashing from a few hours later. I used it as a snack in the afternoon after missing lunch and it cured my hunger and made my tummy and mouth super happy. Each bite made me want more. I am sad I am all out and I cannot wait to get out tomorrow to get some more. If you like jerky you HAVE to try this jerky; you can't go wrong with it. Check out their website too, I really enjoyed that and had fun looking at it and reading about the company and how they got started. I love the packing for it as well. They picked great colors and pictures. It is simple, easy to read and understand and straight to the point. I will say it again; this is the BEST jerky that I have ever eaten. I will not go back to the other brands now that I have found Perky Jerky and I hope that everyone who reads this will at least give it a try.

http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm280586.htmhttp://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm280586.htmhttp://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm280586.htm

I got a bottle of Zoye Premium Vegetable Oil, made from 100% Soybean to try the other day, and I am super pleased with it. I always use olive oil and never thought to change, but I think I will. This oil has 10 more calories than olive oil, BUT half the saturated fats. It also has Omega 3 and 6. I tried the product three ways; I baked a cake, made baked beans and made a stir fry. This oil worked in all three things no problems at all. I did not find a flavor difference in anything I made. It worked great in the stir fry, no burning and no heavy oily feeling to the food. It smells just like my olive oil, but is lighter in color. It also only took a little bit to coat the pan for my stir fry. This is great new oil that I have found and for having half the saturated fats I will keep using it. Right now you can find Zoye Premium Vegetable Oil at Meijer’s and Spartan. These stores are in MI, IL, IN, OH, and KY, but if you do not live there do not fret…. In a month or so the Zoye Premium Vegetable Oil will be on Amazon with FREE shipping. I cannot wait for that so I can get my hands on some more of it. I think this is a great multiuse use product that will help you save money. There will be no more buying different oils for different things because this one works great for all of my needs.  I really like Zoye’s Premium Vegetable Oil and I think everyone should try it at least once to see how great it really is. If anyone has tried it, leave me a comment and let me know. If you have any more questions about it let me know too.http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm280586.htmhttp://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm280586.htmhttp://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm280586.htm

I tried my first USDA Organic product this week. It was Nature’s Path Peanut Choco granola bars. The bars have 9 grams of whole grains, 22 carbs, and 150 calories per bar. The bars are the normal size of most of the other granola bars out on the market. The smell of them was pretty good, they smelled like the oats that they use. The texture was nice and chewy, which I enjoy. You did not taste the Choco, maybe a hint of it here or there. I tasted mostly the peanuts and it was not overly sweet. I did not honestly care for it, neither did the rest of my family. I only think that is because of the flavor though. We are not a big peanut family. I think if it would not have peanut, more like an oats and honey bar it would have been great. I really liked that it was not overly sweet. Many of the other granola bars are so sweet I cannot eat them. So would I eat this bar again? I would not eat this flavor because of personal preference, but I will get a box of a different flavor and give them a try. I believe that if you like peanuts you will really enjoy this bar.http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm280586.htmhttp://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm280586.htmhttp://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm280586.htm