Private Selections Kentucky Bourbon BBQ

MyMagazine Sharing Network is at it again! This time they so graciously sent me a free bottle of the new Private Selection Kentucky Bourbon BBQ sauce available at your local Kroger affiliate. I'm sory to have to admit that for this trial I was basic. Yes I am some times basic (so when do they start offering Pumpkin spice lattes again?) I really wanted to taste the sauce so I basted the sauce on a few Simple Truth organic chicken breasts, steamed off some corn and called it dinner.
Before I go any further I wasn't to share just how much I love that there are so many store brand organic products now! It used to be that anything organic was brand name now Kroger has their Simple Truth brand, Aldi has Simply Nature and I believe Target's brand is Simply Balanced. I have a sneaking suspicion that they are all made by the same company, only the offerings and price point are different.
Now on to the review, both Ben, my husband, and I really liked the Private Selection Kentucky Bourbon BBQ sauce. It was sweet enough to satisfy us without being overly sweet. It had a little bit of spice but no real kick. The bourbon gave the sauce a nice depth of flavor and we both liked the bottle. It was bottled in a flask like liquor shaped bottle, nice touch!

Just so as you don't think I really am basic, the leftovers became a BBQ chicken pizza with corn and fresh mozzarella. Sorry no pictures on that one, we were too hungry and it got eaten before I thought to capture an image. The pizza was amazing. The thing I love about pizza is you can pretty much throw any leftover on a crust and make it work. There are just some foods like that. They are great leftover users. Soup, stir fry, and omelets come to mind. It is always good to have a way to use up leftovers. We often just eat them for lunches but sometimes the amounts are too small for a full portion or they just don't work as a meal alone, then I start planning some other food around what I need to use. Using up your leftovers is one of many frugal food strategies that we employ to keep our food budget under control.  #PrivateSelectionBBQ #FreeSamp #MyMagazineSharing #gotitfree

Breakfast pizza

I was offered the chance to sample Hormel Natural choice bacon by My Magazine Sharing Network. They asked that I give it a try in a breakfast dish.

I opted to make a breakfast pizza. I started with a pre-made pizza crust. I topped it with a thin layer of cheese to make the eggs stick. I then took 9 eggs whipped them up, seasoned them and scrambled foe just a minute. I made sure to transfer the eggs to the pizza before they were all the way set. I arranged the cooked Hormel Natural choice bacon on top and sprinkled more cheese over that. I only needed to bake it for a few minutes to crisp the crust, melt the cheese and set the eggs. The Hormel Natural choice bacon was a great addition to this breakfast entree. I like that it is a healthier choice in bacon without sacrificing taste. Thanks to Hormel and My Magazine Sharing Network for the opportunity to try Hormel Natural choice bacon for free. I would definitely purchase it again. #LoveForBacon #FreeSamp #MyMagazineSharing 

My air freshener hack

Today I am hacking my BBW scent portable. For a (much) cheaper, not to mention healthier, air freshener. I took out the disc and replaced it with a couple cotton balls. I closed it up then added about 10 drops of essential oil. Smells great. To "recharge" it I can always add more oil and to change scents I  will just replace the cotton balls and start over. #lifehacks

Ripple, great song not so great yogurt.

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a Grateful dead fan, and Ripple is an awesome song. Ripple non-dairy yogurt however, not so awesome. I was given the opportunity to sample Ripple non-dairy yogurt for free through MyMagazine Sharing Network, and while I appreciate the sample I can't  say I enjoyed it. I wanted to but the flavor was unpleasant to me. It has a strong, slightly bitter, pea aftertaste. The texture was ok, but I couldn't get past the flavor. I even tried adding strawberry jam but still couldn't get past the pea aftertaste. In my opinion there are much better tasting non-dairy yogurt products on the market. Unfortunately Ripple non-dairy yogurt gets a big thumbs down from me. Try at your own risk.

#RippleYogurt #MyMagazineSharing #FreeSamp

MyMagazine Sharing Network frozen food challenge

My Magazine Sharing Network offered a challenge. The challenge was to "Oneup" frozen foods by making them your own by adding ingredients. I was given free products coupons for the original frozen foods: Marie Callender's delights, Smart Made, Devour, and a Farm Rich snack. I respectively turned them into a chicken and root vegetable flat bread with feta, a cashew chicken salad,grilled burrito with chicken and black beans, and a three cheese cheese curd salad. I was amazed how good frozen foods could be and inspired to create quick, delicious meals. #freshideasfromthefreezer#mymagazinesharing #freesamp #oneupped

 

Cancer update and a few goodies

Hi everybody, sorry it has been so long since I posted. As some of you may know I was diagnosed with breast cancer. In December I had a double mastectomy. This spring I have been going through chemotherapy. Honestly it is rough, some days I can't even type, Heck some days I can't even think! I still have one more chemo treatment so I will be honest I'm not quite ready to promise regular posts.
 Until then I will leave you with a bit of what I have been up to.

Me at chemo with my space alien shower cap on (it covers the cold cap that will hopefully help me keep my hair) I'm so afraid of catching the killer flu that is going around that every time I go out in public I wear a mask and gloves. I may look weird but so far it has kept me healthy.

Today I tried a Starbucks crystal ball frap. I think the purple sprinkles mean that my fortune is "magic" whatever that is supposed to mean I not sure but that's what the frap said.

And last but not least Green Chef, through the Ford cares (breast cancer) program was kind enough to send us two free boxes with three meals in each. I will eventually get around to doing a full review but let me just say that their customer service was amazing. We chose the carnivore box but neither Ben nor I eat fish so they were kind enough to substitute vegetarian option for those meals. 

If anyone is interested in trying Green Chef I have three coupons for a free first box to give away.

You gotta be in it to win it
Polaroid digital camera and printer
Hershey's flavors of America

They are giving the world away
Charlotte magazine
Fish for free
Cat litter

Things to do for free
Hatchimal scavenger hunt for kids at Target

Good deals and rebates
Savings star is offering $4 cash back when you buy one Pop Chips nutter puffs 4oz or larger when bought at Kroger. This should make it free or close to it.

Mountain Dew Ice review.

I received a free sample of new Mountain Dew Ice  from My Magazine Sharing Network. If you have a Kroger or affiliated store near you you shoud definitely sign up. They have great samples of new products.
Sign up here.

This is a photo of the free sample kit I received. The kits always come packaged in such a cute way. They always have tissue paper almost like a gift!

Ben and I both sampled the new Mountain Dew Ice. Ben is a regular Mountain Dew drinker, I occasionally drink diet soda but usually drink unsweetened flavored seltzer water. We both agreed that Mountain Dew Ice tastes like lemon lime soda. I thought it was a bit sweeter than regular lemon lime soda but that could just be because I don't usually drink regular soda. The one advantage, at least in our opinions, over lemon lime soda is that Mountain Dew Ice has caffeine. I do feel that Mountain Dew Ice is a bit more refreshing than regular Mountain Dew. I probably won't drink it regularly, but I don't drink regular soda. Ben however does drink regular soda daily. He does seem to like the new Mountain Dew Ice.  So yeah, Mountain Dew Ice is lemon lime soda with caffeine. Please don't give it to my kids! Lol

#gotitfree MTNDEWICE #AD #MyMagazineSharing