Torani Syrups

 
So I was lucky enough to be sent some bottles of Torani syrup for the holidays.  And since coffee is a staple in this household, it was the perfect thing.  :)  As you can see they sent 2 huge bottles of hazelnut and gingerbread.  Everyone here is in drink heaven.  They also sent me a cute little recipe book and some free product coupons.  Torani syrups are a great way to add more flavor to your favorite drinks.

We actually love coffee, tea and all things like that at my house so much that we have a Bodum hot water kettle.  It boils water in no time flat.  Which sure comes in handy.  And we always make coffee using a Bodum french press.  This allows us to get all the great tasting oils in the coffee into our cups instead of being stuck in a silly paper filter.  This is actually going to be a pot of Choffy.  Choffy is organic roasted cocoa beans that you brew like coffee.  It has none of the side effects of coffee and has a fantastic chocolate taste.

There truly isn't anything better than a hot cup of Choffy with some hazelnut syrup.  Torani flavored syrups are available in over 122 flavors, which include regular and sugar free varieties. Please go to www.Torani.com to see all the flavors.  As a special offer you can use the code "shespeaks" to get 10% off your order. 

*Shespeaks sent me these products for review.  All opinions are my own.

Vitacost

Vitacost has this great offer going right now, that if you sign up through my referral link here you'll get a $10 credit to spend on all kinds of great organic things.  You'll end up paying $4.95 on shipping when you order less than $49.  But it's still a great deal. 

I just signed up and I'm planning on using mine to get some Bob's Red Mill products for a fraction of what it would cost me in the store.  :)

Black Box wines

Recently I got the opportunity to host a party to see if friends could tell the difference between Black Box wines and wine out of a bottle.  I'm happy to say that no one could tell a difference.  And they actually preferred the Black box wines to others.  I used Rieslings as those are my favorite type of wines and go best with spicy foods.  You should definitely try these out.

They're also a great deal price wise.  When I bought mine it was $16.99 for a Black Box wine (which has 4 bottles of wine inside).  Even being a devoted coupon user I can't find a better deal than that on a good wine.


*Bzzagent sent me the samples for this review (rebates).  All opinions are my own.

Honey Sesame Pork Strips

If you're looking for a great easy go to dinner, this is definitely it.  I always have everything for this on hand at home as its ingredients we use all the time.  I got this recipe from kayotic.nl.  I actually altered this recipe from the start because some of the ingredients weren't things I typically have in the fridge.

Honey Sesame Pork Strips

• 1 lb meat (pork cutlets, chicken breast, chicken thighs, pork chops) pretty much anything you have on hand
• 3 T apricot preserves (I love the chunks of apricots this adds to the dish)
• 2 T honey
• 1 T low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 t olive oil
• 1 t grated fresh ginger (eyeball it probably grating at least an inch of ginger)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes (again I just shake some in...add more to make it hotter)
• 1/2 red bell pepper sliced in to thin strips (I buy red peppers when they're cheap and clean and slice them this way and then put them in a ziploc bag to freeze.  That makes this recipe super easy.  I just pull out what looks good to me and toss it in the pan)
• rice to serve

In a medium bowl, add everything but the pork and red pepper.  Whisk together.

Slice meat into thin strips.  Add meat to marinade, toss and let sit 15 minutes.

In a non-stick skillet add 1 T oil to the pan.  Wait till oil smokes, add meat and all of marinade.  Cook without stirring till meat turns opaque.  Then add the bell pepper.  Cook till done.  Serve over rice.

It takes less than half an hour to get this recipe on the table.  Which in my opinion totally rocks.  I'm all for having something that tastes great but also doesn't always require a lot of work.  :)

Brand New Pam!

So if you love to cook and bake, have I got something to tell you about.  I was really lucky to be chosen by smiley360 to try out the new Pam.  It's 70% better at making things not stick to your pans.  To help me try it out they sent me a free product coupon for both Pam and some tomatoes.  They also sent me a new Pyrex baking dish, spatula and a Pam recipe booklet.  I chose not to make a recipe out of the booklet, but our fave baked mac n cheese recipe with added cubed ham and spinach.

The recipe was good and gooey, which was great to test out the Pam on.  The cheese also bakes on.  Normally, we have to leave the pan to soak in some water before washing it to make it easier.  Here's a pic of the pan with all the mac n cheese gone.

Amazingly, the pan instantly came clean when washed.  This is amazing.  I'd never have thought it would make that big of a difference with the new Pam.  I've since used it with baking other things and the same great non stick results.  This is something I'd definitely recommend to anyone who bakes and cooks.  I'm actually tempted to give away my stash of old Pam so I can replace it with this new great easy clean up version.

There is also a coupon for Pam.  This will give you a reason to go pick some up and try it out yourself.  Also if you have a Dominick's or Safeway in your area....this week's ad 11/3-11/9 has a stack able store coupon for Pam you can use with this printable.  I'm holding on to both till they go on sale.  :)

*Smiley360 sent me these products to try.  All opinions are my own.

Windy City Live Beauty Bag

So sometime last week a Windy City Live show gave away all of Val's favorite beauty products.  While I wasn't in the show audience, they stated on facebook that they had a few extra bags to giveaway.  They said they would email the winners....well I never got an email, but this really big box showed up this afternoon in the mail. 

There was a huge selection of opal makeup (which I'd never heard of before), an Iman compact, a walgreens pedometer, walgreens walk diary, a walgreens bag (not pictured), Opi lincoln park after dark enamel, loreal mascara, black eye liner, pantene shampoo and conditioner for women of color, a bigelow co mentha lip gloss, 3 bars of neutrogena soap and 20% off a bigelow co.





So while I don't have a use for the opal makeup or the shampoo/conditioner the rest of it was a really great surprise.  Thanks Windy City Live.  :)