The Blog

Making Smart Choices & Easy Breakfast Sandwiches with Brownberry Bread!

It seems like forever ago when I switched from white bread to wheat. At the time I thought it was a form of torture. I had a serious dislike of wheat bread, but I wanted my son to make healthier choices which meant I had to also make healthier choices. My husband liked wheat bread and I had liked white bread and no one wanted to buy two breads.

My husband was the one who introduced me to Brownberry breads, also called Arnold & Oroweat depending on where you live. I figured bread was bread and always got the generic cheapo stuff, but everything changed once I had succumbed to the fate of turning into a wheat bread person. The slices from Brownberry were larger and more moist than anything I had previously tried. Although it took me a little while to get used to wheat bread, I already had loved the brand. So for the past 6+ years it is all my family has purchased.

Brownberry (the company) was created from the love of baking breads and the passion in creating it. For nearly 60 years Brownberry has been bringing their delicious old fashioned breads to market and sharing that love with families all over America. With over 30 products, 17 of them being different breads, there are so many choices for everyone’s perferences! And yes, they even have Country White bread. However, their white bread has no added colors or flavors, 0 trans fat and is actually a good source of Folic Acid.

My family prefers the 100% Whole Wheat and the Whole Grain 12 Grain.

There are a multitude of sandwiches you can make with Brownberry Breads! Just yesterday I made Hot Ham & Cheese with salads made from home-town vegetables and Tempera Onion Rings! It’s one of our favorite light summer meals.

Here are a few sandwich recipes from Brownberry for Breakfast! You can also check out many other different recipes for all their products on their Recipe Page.

At Home: Egg and Prosciutto Sandwich

What You Need:

1 Arnold/Brownberry/Oroweat Sandwich Thins Rolls 100% Whole Wheat Roll

1 oz. low-fat Swiss sliced cheese

1 oz. prosciutto

3 fresh basil leaves

? red onion, thinly sliced

1 egg, fried

On the bottom half of the Sandwich Thins roll, place ingredients in the following order – Swiss cheese, prosciutto, basil, red onions and egg. Place the top half of the roll on top and enjoy!

On-the-Go at Work:

The Classic Egg with Canadian Bacon

What You Need:

1 Arnold/Brownberry/Oroweat Sandwich Thins Rolls 100% Whole Wheat Roll

1 large egg

1 slice Canadian bacon

1 slice reduced fat American cheese

Beat egg in a small bowl. Coat a microwave-safe 5-inch ramekin or small bowl with non-stick spray. Add egg to prepared dish and microwave for 1 minute at 60% power (actual times may vary slightly due to appliance wattage). Wrap Canadian bacon in a paper towel and place on a small microwave-safe plate. Cook for 1 minute at 50% power. Toast Arnold/Brownberry/Oroweat Sandwich Thins roll. Layer bacon, egg and cheese on bagel and enjoy!

You don’t have to go strict wheat bread crazy like my family did, but making healthier choices with your bread is a good start. Many of Brownberry / Arnold / Oroweat breads are packed with Vitamin A & D and you can tell a difference the moment you open the package and smell the scent of homemade goodness, feel the texture and taste the wholesome sweet flavor.

Connect: You can find more information about Brownberry Breads on their Facebook Page.

Purchase: Brownberry / Arnold / Oroweat breads can be found at most supermarkets!

Gluten Free Tortilla Chips made by RW Garcia (Review)

Blog· Review

Healthy Snacking from RW Garcia
RW Garcia makes delicious, all-natural tortilla chips and gluten free crackers. Great for dipping or eating right out of the bag, our chips and crackers are made from the finest ingredients and come in a wide variety of gourmet flavors. From the unique and flavorful Dippers to our MixtBag, RW Garcia chips are the hit of any get together. Snack healthy.

We are a chip family! Every night before bed my husband has his, “beverage of choice,” and whatever chip we have in the house. He of course reaches for the unhealthy brand, while I try and grab a healthy choice.

I have never heard of RW Garcia so I had no idea what to expect. When my package came to the door it was very light, so right away I knew it was my chips! I quickly opened the box up and pleasantly saw 5 bags! Two bags of their MixtBag which consisted of their Yellow and Blue Corn Tortilla Chips and their Sweet and Spicy Salsa. Three bags of their Dippers…Veggie Dipping Chips, Sweet Potato Dipping Chips, and English Cheddar Dipping Chips.

First we wanted to try the MixtBag:

RW Garcia MixtBag Family Value Pack combines two of our quality all-natural tortilla chip selections into one bag for a snack the whole family will love. Available in three varieties, Yellow/Blue corn tortilla chips, Yellow/Red corn tortilla chips, and NEW! Salsa Yellow/Blue corn tortilla chips, the MixtBag offers a great snack that is completely wheat and gluten free, contains no Trans Fats and is made with all non-GMO ingredients.

My kids love blue tortilla chips, so for lunch we dove right in! We opened up both bags and nibbled, and munched, nibbled, and munched! These were very tasty, I just wished I had fresh salsa on hand instead of jarred.

One word to describe MixtBag would be,”hearty!” Yes, you heard that right, hearty! Every bite is enhanced with stone ground corn, and a variety of spices.

Then the Dippers were up to try:

Dip into something delicious with RW Garcia Dippers. They?re delicious right out of the bag, but they are also long and thin enough to dip into jars of gourmet salsa, bean dip or tapenade. And sturdy enough to hold up to thick guacamole. Available in six varieties, Dippers are made with all natural ingredients, trans fat free and gluten free certified.

We also received the Dippers. I absolutely love these! I am chowing down on the English Cheddar as I type this. Each of the bags have gobs of seeds embedded in the chip themselves. So nutritious, which is a big must for our late night snack!

The one thing I love about RW Garcia Chips is the fact that they are Gluten Free and GMO Free! Wouldn’t you agree we have so much junk in our snack food these days? It’s great finding a chip that avoids the excess chemicals, that add no benefit.

Connect:

You can connect with RW Garcia on Facebook! While your visiting their facebook page go ahead and enter their photo contest. Fans can enter their favorite chips and dip recipe combos for a chance to win prizes.

Buy It! RW Garcia products are available nationwide and from online retailers.

I received a sample product for this review. All opinions are my own and/or my family’s, take it or leave it. Click here to view my whole disclosure policy.

Back to School With Little Learners from Parragon Books

Blog· Review

HEAD BACK-TO-SCHOOL WITH ?LITTLE LEARNERS?
Parragon Books Provides A Collection of Top Shelf Reads Perfect For The Entire Family

There’s no better way for children to get excited to go back to school than with ?Little Learners? from Parragon Books. The sweet and entertaining characters from the Muddypaws and ?Bunny Loves? series take children on an educational journey! I have been reading as many educational yet age appropriate books to Big Sis that I can find since she is starting preschool this year. I want her to be excited about learning and so I fully believe reading these books to her is just one of the ways I can help built up the fun of what is in store for her this school year.

Just look at how adorable Muddypaws is! He totally makes me want a puppy but my 8 year old poochie does not feel the same way! I have to get my cute dog fix from reading from the Muddypaws series!

Muddypaws Goes To School – It’s the first day of school, and Ben is all set to go. So is his lovable dog, Muddypaws! This beautifully illustrated and heartwarming tale of a boy and his sidekick is a great story for children in their own early school days. Kids will love engaging with the lively text and learning to read along with the story. Ideal for ages 3-8, this book makes a great read-along book for the whole family.

I like the old school feel of the Muddypaws series and as you can see from the picture below it is still adorable!

Muddypaws? New Friends – Ben is MuddyPaws? best friend, but when Ben goes to school, Muddypaws has to stay at home. Then one day, Ben takes Muddypaws to school too ? puppy school! There he meets two funny friends. Can the three pups work together to impress Ben, Muddypaws? very best friend of all? This beautifully illustrated and sweet tale teaches children about making new friends and holding on to old ones. A picture book ideal for all ages!

Bunny Loves To Read – Children can learn to read along with Bunny and friends in this charming picture book ideal for beginning readers. With simple, easy-to-read text and engaging illustrations, this book is sure to become a family favorite for reading aloud or for children to practice on their own.

The Bunny Loves series is pretty amazing too and the illustrations in this series are top notch! Just check out the bold and colorful illustrations that are found throughout the books!

Bunny Loves To Write – Buster Bunny loves to read, and when he’s given a notebook and pencil, he discovers that he loves to write, too! Children are encouraged to use their imagination and creativity in this exciting picture book by Peter Bently with a story and doodles by Buster himself.

These quick yet fun and engaging reads are perfect for bedtime reading. Big Sis could not be more excited about school starting and she keeps asking if certain things in the book will happen to her at school. I have to explain that each kid’s experience will be different.

As a librarian I have seen thousands of books and these Parragon books are definitely high quality. They are a nice big size as you can sort of tell from the picture above of Big Sis reading it. The pages are very nice and glossy and the book is super sturdy. These are worth every penny!

Connect:

You can connect with Parragon Books on Facebook and @ParragonBooks on twitter.

Buy It! You can purchase these for a list price of $9.99 each but many are found on Amazon Muddypaws Goes to School for $5.38, Muddypaws’ New Friends for $7.19, Bunny Loves to Read for $7.19 and Bunny Loves to Write for $7.19.

I received a sample product for this review. All opinions are my own and/or my family’s, take it or leave it. Click here to view my whole disclosure policy.

Back to School with Post-it

Blog· Review

My absolute favorite thing about back to school shopping would have to be getting new school supplies. I have always been this way from elementary school all the way through college. Something about a fresh binder and pencils that gets me in the mood for school. Post-it Brand offers more supplies that you probably even realized! They are not just a pop up post-it sticky on your desk anymore. Their wide assortment of goodies can help anyone get ready for school!

I work from home as a part-time blogger so to speak so I am constantly organizing and arranging everything and Post-it really does make things so much easier! I was sent a variety of their products to try out and it felt like Christmas morning going through all the fun stuff!

If you are like me and sometimes you have can’t get a post-it stay up they now have Post-it Full Adhesive Notes ones with adhesive across the whole back. Definitely my new favorite kind of Post-it when I am sticking something to my computer or on the wall since the others tend to fall down over time.

I am also a huge fan of the Post-it Full Adhesive Rolls. I just break off how much I need and it easily sticks to the item for labeling. I could use this all over my house!

I definitely could have used a dozen Post-it Attach and Go 3-in-1 Pens when I was in college. It has a pen, highlighter and those little flip tabs that I use to tab in my textbook. They should be required supplies for any college student.

You can never go wrong with a giant set of Post-it Notes. Big Sis snuck these out of my office for her personal coloring pleasure. They would also be great for school projects.

Post-it also has such cute and functional Post-it Pop-up Notes Dispensers. Check out the Post-it Pop-up Note Karate Dispenser!

The Post-it Mobile Collection is perfect for on the go. Stick them to your laptop, folder, binder, backpack or whatever you are toting around and you can be organized everywhere you go.

Make sure to stock up on your Post-it supplies this Back to School shopping season!

Connect:

You can connect with Post-it on Facebook and @postitproducts on twitter.

Buy It! You can purchase Post-It products in a store near you.

Giveaway Winner: Entry #755Jessie C.

I received a sample product for this review. All opinions are my own and/or my family’s, take it or leave it. Click here to view my whole disclosure policy.

New Kitchen Look with a Pasadena 1-Handle, Pull-Down Kitchen Faucet

Blog· Review

When we got our house two years ago, it needed a lot of TLC. It really was in disrepair and we gutted a lot of the house. With so much work to be done and a budget to stick to, we didn’t go for many of the high end things that we wanted – such as a kitchen faucet. I wanted one with a pull down hose, but since they’re quite costly we chose a cheaper version. Cheap is what we got all right because after just two years, the hose didn’t fully click into the faucet anymore. It was workable, but I’ve been wanting a new one.

Lucky for me, I’m a Friends of Pfister Blogger and had the chance to check out the Pasadena 1-Handle, Pull-Down Kitchen Faucet! It’s similar to the one that I wanted two years ago and I was so excited to check it out! I was so giddy the day that my package arrived. I couldn’t wait to get it out of the box and see the Smudge Free Slate Finish.

It’s really such an attractive faucet. Shown below is the Stainless Steel faucet, but I wanted you to see a clear image of how tall this faucet it. It’s wonderful!

Believe it or not ladies {and gents}, you do not need to be a plumber to install a kitchen faucet. You don’t even need to hire one, so you can save some big bucks by installing a faucet yourself. My husband installed ours last night and it went in rather quickly. Our only hang up had nothing to do with the faucet, but with the on/off hot water valve on our pipes. It was plastic and broke off the second he tried to mess with it.

You can watch our installation process in the video below.

I’m really loving our new faucet. I adore the finish and the fact that it’s smudge free. With so many people in our house, I’m sure that you can imagine the fingerprints that appear everywhere.

My favorite feature has to be how tall it is. It’s much taller than our old faucet and will come in handy when washing large bowls and pans. The hose is nice and long, stretching pretty far.

You’ll notice that we are still renovating our kitchen a bit so we don’t have trim around the windows and I still need to choose my paint color. I’m doing reds and blues though, so this will look nice once the kitchen is finally finished!

Connect:

You can connect with Pfister on Facebook, Pinterest and/or @PfisterFaucets on Twitter!

Buy It!

You can buy the Pasadena 1-Handle, Pull-Down Kitchen Faucet for $265.40.

I received a sample product for this review. All opinions are my own and/or my family’s, take it or leave it. Click here to view my whole disclosure policy.

« Previous Page