Cascade Platinum pacs

A couple weeks ago I got a sample in the mail ( I can't remember from where, maybe P&G?) of Cascade Platinum Pacs. There were two in the package. Now, I'm not a fan of using my dishwasher because I have OCD when it comes to my dishes being clean, and my dishwasher just doesn't cut it, so I hand wash my dishes. I have tried Finish gel pacs in the past, and they just didn't get anything clean, so I've got a lot of them left, just sitting under my kitchen sink. What an idiot I am to buy them in bulk without even trying them first.

Anyway!

I figured I'd give the Cascade pacs a chance, so I used one of the samples I got.

MAN!

They're awesome. On the underside is powdered soap, but on the top of the pac there are little swirls of liquid soap. They made my dishes sparkle, with no spots! I love 'em.

So I sent the BF out to buy me some, and he came home with some that were slightly different than my sample, but I think the only difference was that they were lemon scented. Not a big deal. They still work.

However, they're a little pricey. So some days, I still hand wash my dishes. And I use Dawn for that.

So eat up, y'all! And get them dishes dirty! Lol.

Sheila G's Brownie Brittle

So a while back I signed up for Swaggable, and it's similar to Influenster because you get to try products for free, and write reviews about them. It took a little while before they sent me anything, but I have recieved my first product from them. Sheila G's Brownie Brittle in chocolate chip flavor.

I gotta say, it was pretty good. Even the kids loved it. It's like eating JUST the edges of a brownie, but it's more uniform in size and shape. They're like little crispy cookies packed with the chocolatey goodness of a brownie. They're very light and airy, like a cracker, only way better. I recieved two bags of these to sample and review. I don't know how they were able to fit so many chocolate chips in such a thin, crispy cookie, but they did. I love 'em!! 

If you're interested in trying them for yourself, you may want to order them from BrownieBrittle.com because I haven't seen them in any stores yet, and trust me, I've looked. 

Eat up, y'all!

Let me explain..

I feel like the worst blogger ever. I'm so sorry y'all. I been tied up with some heavy stuff. I wont go into detail, but I will say that the local media can't seem to keep my dirty laundry out of their newspaper. Also, I'm having issues with someone from my past trying to kick me when I'm down with threats of court dates (even though there aren't any). But I'm dealing with it. What's done is done, and can't be undone. Gotta move on.

With that being said, I'm gonna try to get some stuff posted today. I HAVE to do a review of my Rimmel #StayMatte voxbox from Influenster. I'm putting some other stuff first, but I will get to it. I promise. 

Halloween is almost here! Y'all ready?! hehehe!! I've been ready since September. Lol. 

Anyway, here goes. 

Eat up, y'all!

Forced Hiatus.

I should really be ashamed of myself. We haven't had internet for about a week, so I haven't been able to post ANYTHING online at all. However, there's a lady that lives a street over from me whose wifi is unsecured so I'm connected to her right now.

I apologize for not posting. I've missed blogging! But I've got some pretty good stuff coming. Product reviews, recipes I plan to try, and of course photos. I'm thinking about including all the freebies I get in the mail on here too. Just a thought.

Speaking of freebies, is anyone else out there taking advantage of Kroger's freebie friday digital coupon downloads? I do this EVERY friday. I have two kroger cards for my personal use, plus my mom's kroger card. Last Friday the coupon was for free bold lunchmeat from Hillshire Farms. So with all the kroger cards, I got two packages for myself, and one for my mom. This coming Friday, they've got some kind of bottled juice drink for kids. If you aren't already taking advantage of this, YOU NEED TO!! I've gotten some really amazing products from Freebie Friday.

That's all for now. I will have normal internet back on Friday.

Eat up, y'all!

Dean's Tru Moo Vanilla Milk

Hey everybody! Sorry it's been so long since my last post. I've been a busy, busy lady.

I recently signed up at a website called BzzAgent. It's similar to Influenster because they send you products or coupons to test, and then you give feedback and review those products. So far, I'm really liking it. 

I was chosen for the TruMoo Halloween BzzCampaign.




Upon checking my mail today, I received ten (10) 75 cents off coupons for TruMoo products, and another coupon for a free TruMoo product. They recommended the TruMoo Vanilla Halloween milk, which is vanilla-flavored milk but it's Orange (because it's for Halloween, duh). I was soooo excited when I got my package in the mail. I love free stuff!! 

So I went to Kroger tonight, used my coupon, and got my half gallon of Halloween TruMoo. As soon as I got home, my daughter and I tried it. 

It's pretty good. It is a little bit watered down, similar to skim milk but not quite that watery. The vanilla flavor is good, but isn't strong enough. My daughter liked it, and had no complaints. I really like the color because it makes it more fun to drink. I had a couple glasses of the milk, paired with my favorite Oreos (the Halloween ones, of course!), and the combination tasted amazing! 

Overall, I'd probably buy the milk again. Especially because my daughter enjoyed it so much. The only thing I'd change about it is the strength of the flavor. Just needs to be a little more concentrated. Other than that, it tastes just like a vanilla milkshake.

Eat up, y'all!

Betty Crocker Hershey's S'mores Cupcakes.

As you all know, I got my baking kit from International Delight yesterday. I wanted to use my mixer immediately, so I went out to the store last night to find something to 'christen' it. I went to the baking aisle, searching through muffin mixes, cookie mixes, cake mixes. Couldn't find anything I really wanted. Then something amazing caught my eye. Had to do a double take, and pull my cart backwards with me.

It was Betty Crocker Hershey S'mores Cupcakes. I picked it up, decided I NEEDED to try it, and put it in my cart. There was also a matching frosting to put on them, so I got that too.

After dinner, I got the box out and started prepping everything. It came with three separate packages: The graham cracker base, the cake mix, and the marshmallow filling. You're supposed to melt 2 tbsp of butter, and add the graham cracker crumbs to that, then press it into your baking cups/cupcake liners, then pour in the batter 1/3 of the way up. Then, you open the marshmallow filling, and squeeze a drop in the center of the batter of each cupcake. I had some leftover, but didn't really need it for anything so I tossed it. Then, you pour the remaining batter on top of the marshmallow dollop, and bake.

That's not what I did. I have a problem with directions, obviously, and did not properly execute the recipe.

I poured the batter in FIRST. Then realized, "Hey, you're supposed to put the goddamn crust down first." SO. I continued to pour the batter, then do the marshmallow drop in the center. Then I went ahead and sprinkled the graham cracker crumbs on TOP of that, then topped it with the remaining batter. I figured even if they turned out ugly, they'd still be edible. Plus, you can fix pretty much anything with frosting.

I baked them accordingly, and let them cool when they were done. They weren't ugly. They looked like normal cupcakes. Not to mention my apartment smelled like a chocolatey wonderland. After they cooled, I proceeded with frosting them. The frosting lid had graham cracker crumbs in it (you guys know what I'm talking about. Sometimes the lid has sprinkles, colored sugar, etc.) to sprinkle on when you've frosted them. So, I frosted the cupcakes using a butter knife (my boyfriend later said that it looked EXTREMELY professional and did not understand how I did it with just a butter knife), and sprinkled the graham cracker crumbs on top when I was done. This is what they looked like.

First off, I just wanna say that I've never taken ecstasy, but I imagine the effects of it would be similar to eating one of these cupcakes. 

They were AMAZING. The cake part itself was super moist. The marshmallowy center was still warm and gooey. It didn't have the stretchy, instantly stiff texture of an actual s'more marshmallow, which I liked. The frosting was the best part. It was really creamy, and indeed tasted like a hershey bar. The graham cracker topping was really crunchy, not really like a traditional graham cracker. It was not quite pop-rocks texture, but close. 

I savored each toe-curling bite with my eyes closed, and followed up with a glass of milk. 

They are simply sinful. I've never eaten a cupcake that tasted THIS good. AND I botched them since I failed to put the graham crackers down first. I've only had two of these scrumptious gems, and am trying my hardest not to have any more than that. I've been trying to pawn them off on the kids and the boyfriend because if I don't, I'll eat the whole damn batch by myself.

Someone, please come eat these. Lol. 

Eat up, y'all!

My stainless steel cup runneth over.

Back in May, International Delight had a sweepstakes and an instant win game going on at the same time. It was the "Hey America! What's your I.D.?" promotion. At the time, all I saw was an opportunity to get a coupon for a completely free bottle of creamer. All you had to do was visit the app thingy on their facebook page, post your city and your favorite creamer flavor, and you got a coupon. I JUMPED on that shit! I signed up, posted my favorite creamer flavor to their map, and anxiously awaited my creamer coupon.

It came via snail mail, and I was 'delighted' to redeem my coupon at Walmart for a free Cinnabon coffee creamer. Little did I know, by pinning my favorite flavor to the map, I also entered into the sweepstakes.

On May 13th, I got an email saying that I was a potential winner of a Baking Kit in their sweepstakes, and to respond ASAP to confirm my email address and fill out a form. I honestly thought it was a scam at first. But, said baking kit included an International Delight Iced Coffee Apron, 5 coupons for free coffee creamer, and a Kitchen-Aid mixer. Yes, I said that right. A Kitchen-Aid mixer.

I went ahead and clicked the link in the email, and filled out the form because I figured, what the hell do I have to lose by doing this? Within 5 minutes, I got another email from them. Here..I'll just let you guys read it.

My stomach started to flutter, my heart started beating fast. It was like I was falling in love. Did this just happen to me? Am I reading this right? Please lord tell me this is for real.

Oh, it was real alright.

I was picked as a winner, winner, chicken mothatfuckin' dinner! I laughed, I cried, I screamed. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before. I have been lusting over a Kitchen-Aid mixer since I was 19 years old, which was when I started Culinary school, and I was FINALLY going to get one. For free! 

So here I've waited for 8 LONG weeks (in addition to the 10 years), counting them down, checking in every so often with International Delight, waiting for the winners list to be posted (which still hasn't been), and drinkin' the hell out of some coffee. Could time GO any slower?!

This past Saturday (the 7th), I got an email saying that my package had been shipped and would be at my apartment by the end of the day Tuesday (today, the 10th). So you KNOW I've been tracking the damn thing since then. Lol. 

Well, here it is. It is all in my possession. The mixer is on my kitchen counter, sparkling. And for some reason there's ethereal music coming from that direction. Ok, I'm kidding. There's no music from the heavens. But I do have my 'Good Beats' playlist BLASTING on shuffle on my iPod to celebrate. It is a joyous occasion for sure. I plan to use my apron while I'm making Brinner later, and will be using a coupon to get myself some more Cinnabon, because I used the last bit in this mornings coffee. 

Happy tears, y'all. I'm gonna leave you fine folks with some photos of my winnings. Enjoy! 

I am one happy lady right now! That being said, I'm OUT!

Eat up, y'all!