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... 

Chewy Oat Bars

I recently received some Newman's Own Organic product to sample and review. One product I absolutely loved was their dried fruit! - Newman's Own Organic Dried Fruit I decided I would use this amazing product to make a new recipe! Chewy Oat Bars

If you've ever had an 'Oatmeal to Go Bar' from Quaker, you will be extremely pleased with these chewy bars! They taste very similar, but without all the nasty preservatives and other fillers that Quaker decided would be fun to through into my breakfast bar! While they aren't an exact match (but have no fear..I'm still working and will be until I get a perfect match because I am in LOVE with those Oatmeal to Go Bars... :( but my bank account isn't!) anyways-while they aren't identical, they certainly fit the bill for a soft, chewy, wholesome breakfast bar that is quick and simple to prepare and perfect for rushed mornings!

Let's get it started!

I use 'raisins' very loosely! As you can see from my first picture I used NOO's dried berry blend and craisins, until recently I've basically only used raisins so that is just what I have a tendency to call all dried fruit!

Ingredients:

Wet

-1 TBSP. butter/margarine

-2 TBSP of each:

-honey

-sugar (or sugar substitute)

-maple syrup (can be sugar free)

-applesauce

-1/4 cup raisins~soaked in 1 cup water

Dry

-2 cups oats (or any dry, rolled grain-i.e. barley, rye)

-1/4 cup flour

-1/4 cup coconut

-1/4 cup add-in's (i.e. flax, chia, wheat germ)

-1 tsp. baking powder

-pinch of salt

Directions: 

1. Mix wet ingredients and microwave to melt butter

2. Heat raisins in 1 cup water for about 1 minute in microwave

3. Let raisins sit 10 minutes in water

4. Mix dry ingredients together

5. Drain raisins, reserving water and chop finely

6. Mix raisins with wet ingredients, add in raisin-water

7. Slowly add in dry ingredients 

8. Spread into greased pan

9. Bake at 350* for about 35 minutes (until edges are browned)

10. Cut into bars and allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes

11. Remove bars from pan and cool on rack for another 10 minutes

12. Grab and enjoy a healthy-quick snack, breakfast, treat!

Tropical Chocolate Chip Cookies

As I was saying in my Tropical Traditions Product Review post that can be seen here... Everyone loves chocolate chip cookies-but sometimes they can get a little boring! (shh... don't tell my mother - aka the queen of chocolate chip cookies that I said that!) I decided to jazz up my mother's famous chocolate chip cookie recipe but giving it a little hint of the islands :) 

I don't know about you but I love summer-and everything that goes along with it! Sun, sand, surf (ok...I live in the Midwest and don't see much sand or surf-but it's still fun to dream!) I especially love summery foods... grilling, cold drinks, and sweet treats! This cookie recipe is what happens when Mr. Chocolate Chip Cookie decides to take a vacation to Honolulu!

Ingredients (Makes over 7 dozen cookies) :

-2 cups coconut oil

-1 cup white sugar

-2 cups brown sugar

-4 eggs

-2 tsp. baking soda

-1 1/2 tsp. salt

-2 tsp. vanilla

-1 cup chocolate chips

-1 cup coconut flakes (optional-but very delicious!)

-6 cups flour (can use whole wheat pastry flour)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350* 

2. Mix all ingredients (except flour and chocolate chips) in a large mixer

3. Slowly add flour and chips

4. Place teaspoon size dough balls onto a greased cookie sheet

5. Bake around 10 minutes (cookies should not be browned at all!)

Soft, chewy, moist, sun-kissed goodness!

Mmm! Just when I thought nothing could beat a chocolate chip cookie this little tropical treat comes along!

Be sure to sign up for my contest to win some Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil here!

Coconut Oil-Product Review & GIVEAWAY!!!

http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/

Who loves chocolate chip cookies? That's what I thought-everyone! Chocolate chip cookies are by far the most popular cookie in America... but don't we sometimes need a little bit of excitement to our chocolate chip cookie? Not to mention a health boost? 

Coconut Oil

I was given a sample jar of Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil to try and review so I teamed up with coconut oil to jazz up my chocolate chip cookies and used their health benefits to my benefit! What health benefits you ask? Well- I can't make any healthy claims (FDA/FTC guidelines) I'll give you a few minutes to check it out yourself...done? Ok good! Now back to your regular programmed blog! Woah! With all those benefits I didn't feel one stitch of guilt devouring the cookies I made with my coconut oil (or the sweet potato hash I also made using coconut oil)

Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil is amazing! As soon as I opened the jar I was overcome with a delicious, strong coconut aroma... The oil melted amazingly well, but was nice and stiff before it hit the microwave (perfect if you're going to use it in its solid state). It had a great flavor both in the cookies and hash-a subtle, yet noticeable coconut accent. If you're looking for coconut oil-Tropical Traditions is the way to go! For more information-check out these links:

•       Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil page (http://www.

tropicaltraditions.com/virgin_
coconut_oil.htm)

•      Video on Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil: http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=4h6eycjf29M

•       Tropical Traditions Home Page (http://www.

tropicaltraditions.com/)

So I bet you're a little jealous right now that you don't have your own Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil aren't you? Well have no fear! I'm here to help! Tropical Traditions is generous enough to sponsor a product giveaway right here on my site! There are just two steps you must take to be entered for this giveaway!

1. Subscribe to Tropical Traditions newsletter right here -> Newsletter 

2. Become a follower of bakingblissful.blogspot.com

~If you'd additional entries to increase your odds of winning:

3. Leave a comment telling me what you'd make with your coconut oil

4. Pin one of my recipes to pinterest 

5. Become a follower of my twitter account ( @bakingblissful ) and/or pinterest account

-Just let me know in the comment box which of these you did!-

Contest ends August 7th! Good luck! *Be sure to subscribe to email under the comments section so I can notify you if you win!*

 Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

If you'd like to buy some of this amazing coconut oil for yourself check this out: 

Virgin Coconut Oil, Gold Label - 1 pint

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Win 1 quart of Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil!

Tropical Traditions is America’s source for coconut oil. Their Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil is hand crafted in small batches by family producers, and it is the highest quality coconut oil they offer. You can read more about how virgin coconut oil is different from other coconut oils on their website: What is Virgin Coconut Oil?

You can also watch the video they produced about Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil:

Tropical Traditions also carries other varieties of affordable high quality coconut oil. Visit their website to check on current sales, to learn about the many uses ofcoconut oil, and to read about all the advantages of buying coconut oil online. Since the FDA does not want us to discuss the health benefits of coconut oil on a page where it is being sold or given away, here is the best website to read about the health benefits of coconut oil.

UPDATE* -the winner was post #57-AB Smith! Congrats-please email me your info so we can get you your prize!

Golden Peanut Company Peanut Flour Review

Oh peanut butter... how I love you, let me count the ways... Ok-maybe I shouldn't count the ways-we would be here FOREVER! But honestly-peanut butter is so great in anything everything! But sometimes I want the peanut butter flavor, but not the texture... what's a girl to do? Every once in a while I get the itch to have some peanut butter flavor in something, but I know in my baking heart that if I add dense, sticky, heavy (oh so delicious) peanut butter it will completely ruin the product I'm trying to create. :( So what's a girl to do?! 

Cry... Get depressed... Throw a temper tantrum like a 2 year old... Well-those were my first few ideas-but then it hit me like a tennis ball hitting a uncoordinated girl trying to play with one of those automatic tennis ball launchers (yes-this did happen!) anyways-it hit me! Peanut Flour! PERFECT! With peanut flour you can get the taste of peanut flour without the sticky-heavy mess... GENIUS! 

So I began my search for peanut flour... there are a lot of different brands out there-I didn't know where to begin! Luckily for me, one great company The Golden Peanut Company was generous enough to send me a sample of both their 12% Fat, Dark Roast & their 28& Fat, Light Roast Peanut Flour. I was ecstatic! 

As soon as I got my package - I went to work!

I began researching what peanut flour was all about and how to use it. I found a lot of stuff that said you could make it into real 'peanut butter' by adding a little bit of water (about a 1:2 water:peanut flour ratio). I tried this.... umm-I'm going to be honest-not a fan. I didn't know what it was-it was just missing...something... So I thought a little bit, well, a lot of peanut butter companies add a little sugar and salt to their peanut butter for flavor enhancement, so I tried that! Little pinch of salt here, bigger pinch of sugar there... MUCH better :) It really did taste like peanut butter! Not quite as sticky but that was alright!

After I realized how amazing the peanut flour could taste I was overcome with all these crazy GREAT ideas! If I have the power of adding peanut flavor to something and not have to worry about the texture and density ruining the product I could make anything RULE THE WORLD!  Alright, alright...maybe a tad extreme but you never know :)

So let's get down to the review here (although you can probably tell by the previous few paragraphs of crazy rambling that I'm in love!)

First off-texture... Well it is flour by trade, so uh, the texture was flour like? :P In all seriousness, it really did have a flour texture just like any other white, wheat, etc. flour. Once I mixed it with water it had a smooth-not sticky texture. Depending on what you wanted it for, you can basically make it as thick or thin as you want...just change the water amount! So texture = 5/5!

Now taste! I couldn't believe how close it actually tasted to real peanut butter. Since the fat has to be removed for it to become 'flour like' I figured it would be really missing the taste of peanut butter-I was wrong (one of the few times I was actually happy I was wrong about something!) I have to admit, the 28% fat light roast had a much sweeter flavor, while the 12% fat dark roast had a deeper, more bitter taste to it. Both were great-don't get me wrong! But, I think I have to give the dark roast a 3/5 on taste and the light roast a 4/5. In my opinion both needed a little sugar & salt if you're going to eat them like regular peanut butter-but I understand why they leave those out, because in many of the recipes I created with these flours I didn't want the sugar/salt. It was also great because I could adjust these to my personal preference- (I liked mine extra salty, and some people may want theirs more sweet). 

Finally-nutritional info! Generally speaking, peanut flour's nutritional stats look like this:

Nutrition Facts:

Serving Size: 1/4 cup

Amount per Serving

Calories 110

Calories from Fat 36.0

Total Fat 4g

Saturated Fat 0g

Cholesterol 0mg

Sodium 0mg

Total Carbohydrate 8g

Dietary Fiber 0g

Sugars 2g

Protein 16g

Not too shabby! Since, most peanut butter has about 200 calories & 16 grams of fat per 2 TBSP. you can see that peanut flour is a great alternative for those wishing to save a few calories or grams of fat. However-remember that  once you mix with water some will dissolve. I've found that 1/4 cup of peanut flour + 2 TBSP. of water will create 2 TBSP. of 'peanut butter'-but that's still about 1/2 the calories of regular peanut butter! You can also see that peanut flour is FULL of protein-it has more than 2 times the amount as most regular peanut butter! It also has no saturated fat (regular peanut butter usually has about 3 grams), no sodium (until I add salt :P ), and less sugar (again-until I add my sugar). So... for scoring (you can probably guess!) I'm giving Golden Peanut Company's Peanut Flour a 5/5 on nutrition!

Overall: 4/5

I'm in love! There are so many things you can do with this product! ...recipes to come! :) Be sure to check out Golden Peanut Co's website here, at that website they sell in bulk 50lb. packages. They also sell in retail sizes at http://www.byrdmill.com/. Here is a little flyer about their peanut flour: 

So tell me-have you tried peanut flour? Did you like it? Did you create anything spectacular with it that you'd like to share?