Wholesome Sweeteners Review, Part 2

It is time for another part of my Wholesome Sweeteners review. It took so long because I really want to put their sugar to the test in many things. My sister used them in many different baked goods for us; we used them in meals that call for sugar, and of course sweet tea, ice coffee, and hot coffee. Every one that we have used we have loved. I honestly have…. Wait ok I have one con of the products. The bags can be a little hard to seal back up again. Besides that I have nothing bad to say at all. The ones that my family and I have used are their; natural cane sugar, organic coconut palm sugar, organic dark brown sugar, organic light brown sugar, organic powdered sugar, organic sugar, and Zero.

   I used the whole bag of everyone so I could really check them out. They work just like your normal sugar would. They mix in and blend well and melt great in all your drinks. They taste a little sweeter than normal sugar, which made everything we used it for taste better. We did not think sugar could really be that different, but boy where we wrong. Their Zero is a zero calorie sweetener and it   did not have that nasty after taste that many other zero calorie sugars have. I think this one made me the happiest. I love ice coffee and sweet tea but I try to stay away because I like lots of sugar in them and the other zero calorie sugars would not work with my drinks.  This one works fine did not change the flavor much and did not leave that horrible after taste.  I am super happy with them and everything that we have used from this company. I have become a huge Wholesome Sweeteners fan and I want to tell anyone and everyone about them. Here are all of their pages, take a second to check them out. While you are at it please remember to like my page.

http://www.facebook.com/Wholesomesweeteners

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

http://wholesomesweeteners.wordpress.com/

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

Sweet Sunshine Review

I received a package from Sweet Sunshine last week to review and tell all of you about. I had never heard of this company before and feel a little in the dark now. This company bottles all natural sauces and has won around 58 awards for the sauces. I feel like I have been living under a rock, because I had not heard of them. They sent six sauces to try. My family and I have enjoyed every one of them. I am not sure if we have a favorite they are all great. The sauces are atomic, warm, sweet, hot, Jamaican jerk, roasted shallot & garlic. All of the sauces have some warmth to them. The sweet one, though is very very mild, but still is able to keep that nice kick. Even though there is heat to all of them and some more than others, the flavor is great. You can taste it over the heat. I personally do not like hot sauces and things like that, because they usually just add heat and no flavor and I can usually make my own heat and flavor mix to use. Well this is a whole new world for me. The flavor and heat are great. I also like how there is different levels of heat so I can play with them when I am in different moods. I used all of these sauces in many different ways. I used them to put on my potatoes before roasting them, marinated many different kinds of meat, used them as a base for stir fry, and used them as just a dip for chicken nuggets and such, and I am yet to find a way that I do not like it. They have a great texture and come out of their glass bottles easy. I am not sure what more to say about them but try them. They are a great way to pick up any meal and make it different.

http://www.sweetsunshine.com/    That is their website address, take a little time and check them out. It is such a good product, I have had many family and friends try it and I am yet to find one, that did not enjoy at least one to the products.

   Also do not forget about my giveaway. It is ending soon so make sure you enter. Even if you do not use the product it would make a great gift for someone in your life. http://casandrasreview.blogspot.com/2012/05/wholesome-sweeteners-review-and.html

http://skybluesilly.tumblr.com/post/23201090894/wholesome-sweetners-review-and-giveaway

That is the links you need to find my giveaway. Also take a second to like my Facebook page that keeps you updated on my reviews and more giveaways to come soon. Thank you

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

Box's I have gotten

So I have been a little slow at writing lately. Sorry about that, my comp crashed and my phone died. I am a little more together now, but I may not have pics for my posting for a little bit.  This post is just a quick update on some of the boxes I have gotten. First box I got was my Teen Vogue Birch box, which I LOVE!! I am so happy that I picked the teen vogue box; I am not even sure what was in the normal box. Everyone I follow got the teen vogue box as-well. Well this is just a quick list of what came in mine:

1)      Essie’s luxeffects in as gold as it gets. I love the color, and it looks great alone or over color. I have been trying all kinds of things with it to see how I like it best. So far I love it over Sally Hansen’s No Hard Feelings.

2)      Kate Spade New York perfume in Twirl. This is a great fruity, florally type mix. I think it will be such a great scent for the spring. I love the perfume samples we get in our boxes, such a great way to always change your scent to your mood.

3)      Kerastase’s Elixir Ultime.  This works so well in my hair. It makes it super soft, shiny and straight. I was so happy with this I went and got a full size one and I never get hair products.

4)      Tarte’s Lipsurgence lip tint in Lucky. My sister and I are in love with this. It is so fun to use, love the crayon style of it. The color is great for spring and it has become my go to lip color.

5)      Twistband, hair tie in a super light pink. I am not sure what I think about this being in the box, but whatever, everything else was SUPER GREAT and I will use and have been using the hair tie. I just wish it was something different.

All together this was a great box and so happy that I got it. I hope they do more boxes like this in the future.

    The next thing I got was a Cravebox that I won from a giveaway by a1nettie on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/user/a1nettie). Thank you again, I enjoyed this box greatly. Everyone should check out her Youtube and from there her blog, she is super great and has great freebees and box openings. I do not have pictures of this box because of my phone, but I will link a picture that I found online for it.

 So in this box I got:

1)      Amore Pacific treatment cleansing foam and moisture bound. I have never seen anything like the moisture bound before, it is a spray for your face you can use whenever to help keep your face moisturized.  They both smell super great and I really like how the moisture bound makes my face feel.

2)      ThinkThin bars. One was creamy peanut butter and the other was a mixed nut bar. I got to try the mix nut bar and it was AMAZING. My sister took the other bar on me and I have not gotten to ask her what she thought of that one.

3)      Three packs of Eboost. I have to say that this one is not for me. I tried it and could only stand to take one sip. To me it tasted like salt water with a slight orange taste to it.  So glad I got to try them before buying them for myself.

4)      Downy Wrinkle Releaser. I have not used this yet nor have I ever before. I will say that I love the idea of it and so glad to have it. I am going to skip ironing something next time I have to wash them to see how well it works. If it works well it would save me so much time. I however do love the scent of it. Once I got it I sprayed it I could not wait to at least smell it, lol.

5)      Bic Mark It. We got 6 of them in great pinks and purples. They are a fine point permanent marker. I can never have enough craft type stuff. I love color, crafting and pink so I will find many uses for these markers.

This was another great box. I have been on the waiting list for a few months, but it is always full so I was super excited to get one box while I wait for the member ship to reopen.  I will post all the links again so you can check them out if you would like.

http://www.youtube.com/user/a1nettie     check her out, she is great

http://www.birchbox.com?raf=mnwps  Birchbox

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

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