Peanut Buster Shake

So you're probably thinking... "ok-this girl has serious issues! I mean she is OBSESSED with peanut butter to the point of needing help... and she already has posted a recipe for a Peanut Butter Smoothie. She NEEDS to get a new love!" 

And yes-you would be completely right-I do have a recipe for a Peanut Butter Smoothie, and yes-I am utterly fascinated with all things peanut butter-just check out how many recipes contain peanut butter! But please don't leave this post just yet! This isn't the same ole' same ole' peanut butter smoothie-in fact there isn't ANY peanut butter in the drink at all! I promise! So you'll stay? 

Good :) Cause you you're tastebuds won't want to miss this!

Maybe you've already seen my review for Peanut Flour, or my newest review for PB2-either way, you know I am a huge fan of peanut flour! It's so versatile and with a little work can taste very similar to peanut butter, but with a better protein bang for your buck! 

*Sidenote: Since I have slightly more love for PB2 than regular peanut flour, that is what I am using in this recipe-however, if you want to use peanut flour just add a little (about 1/2 tsp. each) of salt and sugar-alright, back to me rambling the recipe!

This shake is taking full advantage of PB2's nutritional stats and lip smacking taste!

This recipe tastes very very very very similar to a Butterfinger in my humble (but always correct :P ) opinion! 

Ingredients: 

-1 cup of frozen substances*

-2 TBSP PB2 mixed with 1/4 cup water (yes, this will be very runny but that is what you want to get a good consistency without having to water (or milk) down your shake!)

-possibly: another 2-3 TBSP milk? <-This will all depend on your personal preferences, blender power and the weather (ok-maybe not the weather-I just think things need to come in odd numbers to sound good! But then again-if you're making this outside in 100+ heat your shake will be melting so fast you won't need as much extra liquid!)

Directions: 

1. Mix up PB2 with water

2. Add your frozen substances to blender and pulse a few times to get things started

3. Add PB2 and mix again

4. If necessary, add that milk

*Frozen substances: There are many different options. My favorite way is to freeze yogurt in ice cubes and use those for this drink. You can also use ice cream, frozen Greek yogurt, or frozen milk cubes.

Don't you just wanna jump through your computer screen and eat this thing up!? ...I wouldn't recommend it though.... it'd be worth it!

Delicious topped with whipped cream and another sprinkling of PB2!

Krema Peanut Butter Giveaway Results!!!

Hello wonderful people! I am excited to announce the winner of my first ever giveaway! (this makes you extra special!)

And the winner of their very own Krema Peanut Butter is....

drum roll please....

Linda! Congratulations :)

Please email me at bakingblissful@gmail.com with your address to claim your winnings! Thank you so much for all who entered! Be sure to check out my latest giveaway here! It's a pretty good one-it's for coconut oil! YUM!

Have a great night all! :)

YouBar

I don't know about you, but I'm one of those people that like to be unique! I think everyone was made by Our Awesome Creator in a special way and we should embrace our uniqueness. Just look at this Bible verse: "For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. ..." -Roman's 12:4-5. I think it proves my point quite nicely don't you? :) 


I'm so big on individuality-I actually get a little peeved when someone has the same shoes, or hobbies as me sometimes! ...I know, something I need to work on :P But don't get me wrong-I love when I find something in common with another human being! 


Alright, you're probably wondering what any of this has to do with a product review aren't you? Well, I was lucky enough to find a couple wonderful people that have the same passion for individuality as I do-meet Ava Bise and her son Anthony Flynn. In 2006, this mother-son duo launched their company "YouBar".


ABC News said it perfectly, "You Bars offer made-to-order goodness." Can I get an AMEN?!


Ava and Anthony started out creating custom protein bars at home to meet their taste, healthy and allergy needs. They figured there would be a HUGE market for customized protein bars made fresh for each consumer-and boy were they right! It's such a wonderful idea! I'm a little jealous I didn't think of it to be honest :) As stated on their website, "You are what you eat-so choose!"

I was nervous to try my first You Bar-I wanted soooo badly for it to taste good, because it is such a great idea! Don't worry-I wasn't let down :) Phew! It was DELISH!

p.s. -Please don't think I'm bald! This was taken immediately from getting home for work at the pool, I just couldn't wait to open my package and dig in!

With You Bar:
-You choose the ingredients and bar size (want a meal replacement? Go for it! Want a little snack? Do it!)
-You view the nutrition facts of your customized bar as you are making it! (Need some extra carbs? Extra protein? BOTH?!)
-You box is hand made fresh-to-order and shipped to your door step with a satisfaction guarantee-they say, "If you don't love your custom protein bars, you'll get a new box free of charge" (But let's just get some things straight: 1. As you are creating your bar they give you hints to create a delectable bar, 2. Since they advise you and you are creating it-are you really going to admit you created something crappy? 3. I've tried A BUNCH of bars and loved them all-pretty sure it isn't possible to come out with something under par!)

See those bars up there? Yes-I loved them all!!!

-Your customized nutrition facts and your chosen protein bar name are printed on each individual protein bar package. (Oh My Goodness! I've always wanted to create the "Kristen is the coolest person in the world and deserves her own protein bar" bar!)
-Friendly telephone customer support is available to answer questions and provide helpful recommendations (and here we are back to the fact that it is pretty hard to screw up your bar!)

Alright-so this wouldn't be a Blissful review with my fast 3-Taste, Texture, Nutrition.... but the thing is-since every bar is custom made they will all have a completely different taste, texture and nutritional value...

Goji Macadamia-yum! My mom (who usually HATES granola/protein bars loved this! In fact, she kept sneaking off chunks of mine...child abuse? I think so!)

That being said-after sampling many of their bars, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that every bar will have AMAZING taste and texture. In addition, they use all good, wholesome foods with amazing nutritional qualities to make your bars with - so each bar has to be pretty high on the nutritional totem pole!

So what are you waiting for?! Go build yourself some snack-age! ...if you are still nervous, check out this how it works page. You can also just buy the already created bars and such if you don't want to make your own just yet-I strongly recommend the 'Cookie Dough' or 'Goji Macadamia' bars. They also keep your custom bar's recipe on file so if you become addicted (which I'm guessing you will!) you can reorder at any time and not have to worry about the remembering the exact recipe-this is very nice for those of us...alright, for me who seems to have problems remembering anything!

I almost forgot! The people at You Bar are sooo amazingly kind and loving-they have agreed to let my wonderful readers (aka-you guys!) receive a coupon code for 10% off your order of You Bars! All you have to do is use the code, "blissful" when checking out and you'll get 10% off! How awesome is that?! All I ask, is that you become a follower of my site if you haven't already- Thanks You Bar!

Food Should Taste Good Chips

Just the name of this company: "Food Should Taste Good" says it all-food SHOULD and DOES taste good when that food is in the form of their chips! I'm not a huge chip person... I would much rather have a creamy smoothie or bowl of froyo before picking up a bag of chips-but even I was addicted to these chips!!!

I consulted my mother (the self proclaimed QUEEN of all things salty and snacks-especially chips!) to help me with this product review... Let's just say it was 'love at first bite' (oh so cheesy but oh so true!) She loved them just as much as I did-and that was A LOT!

Food Should Taste Good was gracious enough to send us 5 full sized packages to sample! I loved them all!!! :) The chips -both the kettle cooked and the regular varieties were crispy, crunchy and full of flavor.

We tried the original Sweet Potato Kettle Cooked, Sweet Potato (regular), BBQ Sweet Potato Kettle Cooked, Kettle Corn, and Chocolate (yes, chocolate!)

You can read all about their varieties and order some for yourself (I strongly urge it!) here 

All packaged up! So cute :)

Mmm Mmm Mmm!!! My favorite kind-Kettle Cooked Sweet Potato

HUGE! no dinky little chips for us!

Every chip is unique-you can tell they are all natural!

This was taken directly from their website:

 All chip varieties are gluten free, cholesterol free, have no trans fats and do not use genetically modified ingredients (GMOs). They are also certified Kosher, low in sodium, are a good source of dietary fiber and many varieties are certified vegan.

Chips that taste good AND good for you?! Get. Out.

This company also sells Brown Rice Crackers... just sayin'

Oh! And get a load of this:

We believe food can do good, so we created Food Should Do GoodTM  to funnel all our “good” efforts to give back to our communities, our employees, and the environment.  Since 2007, we’ve donated over $250,000 in monetary donations to various organizations fighting breast cancer and hunger, as well as the equivalent of over $500,000 in our all-natural chips. So in just two years, we’re proud to have donated a total of over $750,000 to various charities!

Yikes! This company is the BombDiggidy! (spelling??)

I love these chips-I mean obviously by my over-use of '!' in this post :) ...But nonetheless-this wouldn't be a Blissful review with my fast 3! You know what I'm talking about-taste, texture, nutrition!

Taste: Alright, let's not waste time here people... 5/5 

Texture: Again, crispy, crunchy, a perfect 5/5 (haha-I kinda feel like I'm at the Olympics!)

Nutrition: Well let's just pick a random chip (since the nutritional stats are all pretty similar) 

Umm-NICE! Look at all those healthy fats! And extremely low sodium, no cholesterol, fiber AND protein?! I think I know what's for dinner tonight... CHIPS!

So obviously nutrition is getting a full 5/5 as well. Just so you know-this is the first time EVER that I've given 5/5 in every area! :O Yes people...these chips are just. that. good.

So tell me: How do you spell BombDiggidy?! :)

Lori's Primo Granola

So it's no secret I love granola-let's face it, I'm obsessed...even with the granola that is full of crazy little lies and secretly posing as healthy food, but is really no better than a candy bar! I still love them! <3

But...the amazing thing is-I've recently received some amazing granola that tastes great AND isn't as unhealthy as a candy bar! WIN :)

I'm going to tell you a little bit about Lori's Primo Granola. It is some truly tasty stuff, let me tell you! I was lucky enough to receive two flavors: Diesel (funny name, delicious flavor!) and Almond & Dark Chocolate... you can see all the flavors here. 

This little blurb was taken from Lori's site:

Primo Granola originated from my desire to create a granola for my family that would be superior in quality and taste to anything I could buy. Drawing on my passions for fitness, healthy eating, and baking, I created a line of natural, wholesome and nutritious granola that is high in protein and fiber, low in sugar and sodium, contains no refined sugar or trans-fats, and is the best tasting granola you will ever eat! Because the texture is moist and chewy, with large chucks bursting with flavor, my Primo Granola is “not your typical granola!”

Lori is not lying when she says it is not your typical granola! This granola had HUGE chunks! (Don't believe me? Check out my picture! :P ) It was full of flavor, crunchy but still chewy in the middle of those big chunks. It was kinda like a GINORMOUS cookie that was crumbled up... mmm mmm mmm!

See? HUGE chunks! :)

So-let's get down to the big 3! Taste, Texture and Nutrition

Taste: Ahhhhmazing! Both flavors were superb! I'm gonna go into detail about the Diesel though... it was an amazing mixture of many different nuts, had big chunks of dark chocolate AND a peanut butter taste throughout which as you all know, touches my heart <3 The only thing is that it wasn't a very strong peanut butter taste-but some people don't want that strong flavor so I understand :) I give a 4/5

Texture: Not at all what I was expecting with the granola... I was waiting for a crispy crunch with the looks of the chunks, but it was chewy too... interesting I thought... interesting but good! I give another 4/5

Nutrition: Alright, alright let's take a look see shall we?

This was from the Diesel with Extra protein-Not too bad... more calories than I'd like to see in a 1/2 cup (but that's just granola for ya!) A little high in saturated fat...but it is very high in protein, and has some fiber too boot! I like that it has both calcium and iron. Another thing I love is that it only contains ingredients I can pronounce! And I even know what they are to top it off! (Big bonus points! :P ) It is also extremely low in sugar compared to most granola! Overall - 3/5  I LOVE IT! Oh-I almost forgot to mention-Lori's granola has gluten free varieties as well! And, with all this amazingness you're probably thinking it's super expensive... WRONG! It's only $7 a bag! And that's a 10 ounce bag...not some little dinky bag! So darn accessible! :)  This is what a serving size looks like...not bad! Overall: a 4/5 for this granola! It tastes great, is unique-but in a GREAT way, and pretty darn good nutritional stats... While I'd love to go on and on about Lori's great products, I'm getting a little hungry...I think I'm gonna go make a smoothie and top it with this granola! Toodooloo!

This was a 'small' piece! :O

Almost gone :( But I know where to get more! 

So tell me-what your newest favorite granola? Mine is definitely Lori's Primo!

It's A Keeper Thursday!

This week I have the AMAZING opportunity to co-host "It's A Keeper Thursday!" 

"It's a Keeper Thursday" is a great blog party hosted by Christiana, a wonderful woman on her adventure to test recipes to see if they're a keeper! And boy does she do an amazing job! Her blog parties are the place to be! They are filled with amazing ideas and recipes for every day of the week.

Here is the code to her button! http://www.everydaytastes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/IAK-Thursdays-Button1.jpg.


Be sure to check out this great party!!! :)

Newman's Own Organics

"Great tasting products that happen to be organic" 

If you've never heard this motto-then you've probably never had/heard of Newman's Own Organics... if you've never heard or tasted Newman's Own Organics then you've probably lived a very sad, sad life! But don't worry-I'm here to stop that sad, sad life and put you on the fast track to happiness! (especially for your taste buds and tummies!)

According to Newman's Own Organics Website, "Newman’s Own Organics was established as a division of Newman’s Own in 1993, and became a separate company in late 2001. Paul Newman has given over $200 million to thousands of charities worldwide since 1982." Great food that also gives back!? These guys are too good to be true! 

So let's get down to the nitty gritty and see just what I think about Newman's Own Organics...

NOO (What I'm going to use for Newman's Own Organics, because, frankly my dears...I'm just too lazy to write it all out today!) Anyways-NOO was generous enough to send me a box full of some of their most popular products-I'm just going to get it out there right away and ruin the surprise for all y'all - I LOVE NOO! All their products were amazing. You could tell by the first bite that their products are made from the finest ingredients! ...by the way-you can read more about the organic ingredients they use here. There is just such a fresh taste that is hard to find in any store-bought snack! 

For the sake of your time, I'm going to only go into detail on a few of my favorite products (although, let's me honest-they were pretty much all my favorite!) 

Since there were so many delicious things I wanted to try, I decided I'd enlist the help of my dad and brother (I took some arm twisting let me tell you... :P )

My brother jumped at the chance to help me same the Newman O's Coookies. These are reminiscent of Oreo's (but only like 10 million times better!) The thing that took them over the top was the Ode to Newman O's that is on every package!

Ode to Newman-O's
You might, m'lady tweak my nose.
You could, m'lord step on my toes.
But Heaven help those poor bozos,
who try to filch my Newman-O's

Isn't that great?! I thought so! :) In continuation... these are delicious! There are 6 different flavors: 

Original • Peanut Butter • Chocolate • Hint O' Mint 

Ginger 'n' Cream • Wheat Free Dairy Free

My brother was in LOVE with the Hint O' Mint-which I thought were great... they delivered just what they said they would, a chocolate creme filled cookie with just a touch of mint. Any guesses what my favorite was? If you don't know-you have not read enough of my posts! Peanut Butter of course!!! NOO did a great job of incorporating peanut butter into a cookie! Delicious!

My father didn't even ask which he could help with-he went straight for the Black Licorice! He loves that stuff-but can be pretty picky...some too chewy, some too hard... I was nervous for NOO's licorice...

He loved it! He said the taste was 'spot on'. While I'm not one for Black Licorice- I certainly had fun tasting the other fun flavors-like Pomegranate & Sour Mango (yes-they make sour flavors! 4 different sour flavors to be exact!)

Mmmm! That Hint O' Mint Newman O's smelled DIVINE! :)

In my 'Box O-Fun' from NOO I also receive some dried fruit! I used this to make a couple different recipes-one with Newman's Own Organic Dried Fruit- Chewy Oat Bars- Check them out! They are delicious thanks to NOO's amazing dried fruit!

For more information on NOO check out their FaceBook Page or website

Let's wrap this up-I LOVE NOO! They make great products, with great ingredients! So the food not only makes my taste buds happy-it also makes my mind happy knowing I'm filling my body with wholesome, real ingredients! 

So tell me-are there some products you will only buy if they are organic? Do you eat all organic? I'm curious! I think buying organic is great-but I'm definitely not someone who has to only eat organic...