Thursday, April 4, 2013

Kicking Horse Coffee review and giveaway

Hello coffee drinkers! I have a review you might be interested in. Kicking Horse Coffee sent me a can of their Kick Ass brew (that's literally the name!) to try out and report about here.

Some things about Kicking Horse coffee that makes them cool: they use only Fair Trade Arabica beans. Each batch is sampled before it can be bagged and sold. It’s grown in the shade to provide richer flavor as well as support a healthy planet. What else is there to like?
I love the fact it comes in a metal can. It's recycled steel and as they point out, it takes 75% less energy to reproduce. On top of that it can be recycled an infinite amount of times. Secondly, this can was made in North America. Way to boost our economy and jobs at home! So when we are done with this can, it will be recycled; either in the bin that goes to the curb or possibly through my mom saving it for another purpose.
Now about the coffee itself! Kick Ass is a Dark brew. It mixes Indonesian and Central American roasts. It comes in whole bean form. It smells so wonderful when you grind it fresh. I had my dad and husband both drink it and give me their opinions about it. My dad likes his coffee strong and black – nothing added. He said this flavor wasn’t that strong for him. My husband on the other hand likes adding sugar and milk. He said he liked the taste. It was just strong enough for him.
Be sure to check them out on their website, Facebook, Twitter, or sign up for their newsletter to keep up with what's going on. You can buy from them online or through Amazon.
Now for the giveaway information! Its open to residents of the United States as well as Canada (where the coffee comes from). Retail price is valued at $13.99 (can of Kick Ass, KHC gift bag and brochure). The coffee is available in whole bean only, so make sure you have access to a grinder.
 
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Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Where have our virtuous values vanished to?

Once upon a time...
We have all heard stories that start with those words. Nowadays it's the title of a hit TV show depicting classic fairy tales with a modernistic twist.
They are also typically the beginning of tales concerning bravery, honor, dignity, honesty and chivalry. Whatever happened to those virtues?
A man who would brave the monsters or stand before an army showing no fear, only courage, to his enemies. Women with honor worth fighting and dying for. Anyone ever heard of the old common law - You touch her, you marry her? Shot gun wedding? Even if you don't like musicals, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is where I first learned the terms. I'm not a big musical fan, but that was one I could watch over and over. Historically, if you "touched" her, your choices were to marry her with her dad standing ready with his shotgun or he would hang you from the nearest tree.
Dignity is a word that most people these days probably don't even know the meaning of. "Dignity - the quality of being worthy of esteem or respect." Once upon a time, you earned high esteem and respect by the way you acted towards and treated others. Just as the Golden Rule says: do unto others as you would have done unto you.
How many people these days feel guilty when they tell a lie? When I was growing up, there was no such thing as a white lie. You either tell the truth or you don't. And yes, sometimes the truth hurt. Sometimes people get their feelings hurt because they can't handle the truth. Or they just don't want to accept it. Does that mean we should just baby their feelings? I think not. It's raising a generation of pansy-hearted fools who want to live in a day dream of over-inflated egos.
Chivalry, according to the dictionary means courtesy towards women. It was more than opening a door and letting a woman pass through first. A gentleman would lay down his cloak or coat over a mud puddle so that a lady wouldn't soil her petticoat. He would go that extra mile just to put her mind at ease or to see her smile. Don't get me wrong, I don't think women should be as weak as they once were. Fainting at the sight of blood? No, thanks. Nor would I want two guys to duel over my affections and have the winner (whoever was still alive) calling claim over me afterwards. It's the passion and honor though that has been truly lost. And to be honest, women may have been the ones who pushed it all away. Women fought for equality, which is fine in some areas. But we keep pushing. If a man holds the door open for the wrong woman, the response might be something along the lines of, "What? I can't open my own door?" when it should have been, "Thank you."
Today we have STD's running rampant, young girls becoming single mothers, guys chasing what's considered "easy tail", lying about anything and everything as easy as if they were telling the truth, stealing as though everything in the world belongs to them...
What happened? Will we ever truly see the once upon a time moments return? Or will they only appear in the handful of people who are still holding fast to the beauty of an age long past? They seem to be prominent in movies, television and books but the response to them is, "It's just a work of fiction. None of that is true. That doesn't happen in real life."
I hope everyone that reads this, takes a good look around them. I hope you pay more attention to others. Be a little more mindful of how you act and treat those you come in contact with. Who knows? Maybe we can revive old virtues once again.

Monday, April 1, 2013

My cheesy pasta and beef casserole recipe

The other night I found myself standing in front the pantry surveying what groceries I had left. In the refrigerator, I had a pound of ground beef thawed out. So I was now trying to decide what to cook with it. I came up with the following and it pleased even my pickiest of eaters. Enjoy!

What you will need:
1 package of pasta (I used penne)
2 cans cream of celery
1 lb ground beef
Chopped onion (however much your family likes)
Garlic salt and herbs of your choice
About a half of a block of cheese shredded
1 can of mixed vegetables
Cook and drain the pasta as well as the ground beef. Spray 13 x 9 inch pan. Combine pasta, ground beef, cream of celery, chopped onion, vegetables, and some of the cheese in the pan. Sprinkle the garlic salt and herbs on top. Spread remaining cheese over all. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the oven on 400 for about 20 minutes or so until the cheese is completely melted and everything is hot.

I’d normally add bell peppers and chopped tomato as well, but I didn’t have any on hand.
Leave me a comment if you try it and how your family liked it!

Journey Bar new flavors review

Journey Bars are amazing! I did a review on them quite a while back. After that initial tasting I've since kept in touch with Marguarette, the co-founder of Journey Bar. She recently contacted me about the new flavors they have added to the collection as well as some great changes they made to a favorite. The new flavors are Sea Salt and Sesame Ginger.
I thought the Sea Salt one was pretty good. Its chewy, tastes lightly of sea salt with the grainy flavor of the quinoa and amaranth.The Rosemary still tastes wonderful but now comes in chewy goodness.
I shared the latest ones with my mom to get some variety in the opinions, though, we often enjoy the same things. Here's what she had to say about them:
The Rosemary was good. I like it soft. It allows us old folks to chew it. I like the taste just as I did before. It is nice that it isn't full of sugar. When I eat a lot of sweet things it makes me wanna keep eating which is bad for my weight. I tried the Sea Salt one. Not bad. I still like the Rosemary one best. The Sesame Ginger has a much milder flavor than the Rosemary. It is good. Not too sweet and doesn't taste like cardboard. I could eat it. I am going to eat them as a meal replacement bar. Thanks for sharing them.
All of the bars are chewy, gluten-free, vegan, with added protein. I plan to get more and use them as my work meals. It saves money (even more so than normal brown bag lunches would). One of these bars and my reusable water cup keeps me energized and satisfied. And it would amount to about $2 for my lunch!
You can buy the Journey Bars online by checking their website here. Or search for a store near you that has them. I checked online and did some pricing: A sample pack that consists of 1 of each flavor is $10 or you could get the 12 variety pack for $22. There's another website (Drugstore.com) that sells them 12 for $18. That's a real deal on a healthy meal for someone on the go!
If you are out and about, you don't neccessarily want something sweet, sticky and messy. Sweets can make you hungry for more which adds pounds, sticky messes get everywhere and require wipes or a stop to wash hands. That's where savory, flavorful bars have their competitors beat. Check them out and let me know what you think! They have a Facebook Page as well as a Twitter account. Follow them and watch to see where they will be going next since they do events.