Hi I'm Skinny sticks review and giveaway!

I don't tend to follow the "suggested" serving size that bags have. I'm not the type who counts and when I have counted out chips in particular... My eyes tell my stomach that is surely not enough! The average serving size is about 14 chips. Hi I'm Skinny are so much healthier, you could eat double that amount to match the calories! There are six delicious flavors to choose from. These are also multi-grain snacks, which are becoming a favorite for me especially since they are high in fiber. I'll go through each one and let you know what my family thought.

The multi-grain Cheddar sticks are light and crispy. My 1 year old daughter went to town with a double-fisted snack attack. Definitely a noticeable cheesy-ness but not with the yellowed fingertips most cheese snacks bring. This bag didn’t stand a chance against my family or my mom and siblings who had some on a visit.

The Sweet Potato sticks are indeed sweet. I'm not a fan of sweet potatoes though and my kids didn't get past the second one before they were also done. My mother and siblings enjoyed the sweetness. My mom thought they had an almost cinnamon taste to them.

The multi-grain Sweet Onion ones were among my favorites. Like my mom put it, "The onion ones tasted just like Funyuns . Very good and onioney." (See where I get my made up words from?)

(Can you tell what my husband was snacking on when we opened this bag?)

Next we have the Veggie Tortilla Sticks. They are made of spinach, carrots, and tomato flavors, but aren't very strong on the taste buds. They still made a great grab and go snack. I think they might be better with ranch dip…

On top of the list for favorites - the multi-grain Tangy BBQ were amazing! So full of flavor and ooohh soo good! They are indeed tangy. Reminds me a bit of a hickory flavoring. All of my children dug in too. I was sad to see this bag vanish so quickly and can’t wait to get more.

The last flavor was the multi-grain Sea Salt. Definitely able to taste the grains. Not so much the salt. So if you can't or don't like the salty flavor on your chips, these are perfect. I’m more of a flavor seeker, so I’d prefer these with a dip as well.

For the Veggie and Sea Salt flavors, my PR contact at Hi I'm Skinny offered up a suggestion for the dips that she liked most with these: "With the Veggie Tortilla and the Sea Salt, my favorite dips to pair with are Hummus, Jalapeño Greek Yogurt Dip and a good Pico de Gallo! The Jalapeño Greek Yogurt dip that I love is at Costco." Just a suggestion!

Over all they are all natural, vegan, and non-GMO. They are made with whole grains, have no trans-fat and no cholesterol. You can eat more of these than regular chips with the same nutrition facts percentages. I love the "stick" texture and shape better than chips because they are easier to eat with less mess. I think they are more on the kid-friendly side as well. You can find out which local stores are carrying them in your area here. Like them on Facebook so you can keep up with any new flavors or news they might have. They are also on Twitter and Pinterest. Leave me comment about what your thoughts are and if you have tried them too!

Now its time for some fun! Hi I'm Skinny has been gracious enough to offer up two sampler boxes to 2 winners! Each box will contain 6 full sized bags of the various flavors they have. It is open to all 50 States and US territories, as well as to Canada. So be sure and enter and let me know what you think. I look forward to sharing something so tasty with you!

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Kashi Sea Salt and Olive Oil Hummus Crisps review

Being a BzzAgent, I recently received a bag of Kashi's new Hummus Crisps. They were Sea Salt and Olive Oil. The taste was great. Though they are a little better with hummus or dip. Light in texture and weight, they are a great snack to take on the go or share with family and friends.

The olive oil taste was surprisingly good, though light. And they aren't very salty. I brought them to work and shared with a coworker who's immediate joy was evident. Try some, or their other flavors and let me know what you think! Kashi does stand for wholesome and tasty.

Mediterranean Snacks review and information on promotions

My love for Mediterranean Snacks has not diminished since the first tasting! It still grows as I recently received a package containing their newest flavor; Fiery Tomato Baked Lentil Chips.. These are gluten-free, natural, a good source of fiber, and have 70% less fat than most chips. They make the perfect snack for my family. These especially are great as you can dip them, top them or just snack right out the bag.

First of all, they weren't really hot. They do have a kick to them but its tangy. Just a slightly spicy taste amongst the tomato flavoring. I also love they are not drenched with flavorings and salt but have just enough to make them delicious. Its a crispy, crunchy appeal when you need an on-the-go snack.
Now I have some bonus information to share for you... They are always looking for Ambassadors. You fill out a form, if they accept you, you will be notified of upcoming events in your area that could earn you some sweet swag!

Another reason to check them out would be their sweepstakes that is going on now. Check out their Facebook page and read up. Its so easy! Grab any bag of Mediterranean Snacks, snap a picture of you muching down, and upload it to their media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram). Remember to tag them in your pictures and/or email them via the social website you upload to and let them know. You could win over $300 in awesome prizes! Each picture uploaded to each media outlet gets you an entry.

The prize package includes: TimBuk2 Messenger Bag, A NikeFuel Band, Snacks, and more!

Rules and Guidelines:
Our Snack & Snap Sweepstakes runs until December 20, 2013 with three (3) lucky winners selected at random. You only need to enter once for all three drawings.

First winner will be announced on: June 3, 2013, second winner on September 3, 2013, and third winner on December 20, 2013!
What MUST be included in your post:

• 1. Use hashtag: #LiveSnactive™
• 2. Name the store (or event) and location (city,state) of where you purchased/received our snacks.
• 3. Be sure to TAG us in your posts! NOTE: In order for us to see your post, you must be connected to us on the social platforms and the tag is active.

Twitter: @Medsnax
Pinterest: @MedsnacksFaceBook: @MediterraneanSnacks
Instagram: @Medsnax

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.

Runa tea

I like trying teas of different kinds. Especially a potentially healthier type. I was allowed the chance to sample some Guayusa tea from Runa. Guayusa plants are grown in the rain forest under the shade of other trees. I enjoyed reading about the process on the Runa.org website. If you want to learn more, check out this link. I like that Runa has tea in various forms: bottled, bagged as well as loose leaf. The benefit to Guayusa tea that most interested me was how one cup of it has an equal amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee, however, it has twice the amount of antioxidants. Get the vitamins with the energy kick!

Runa sent me samples of 4 flavors: Traditional, Mint, Ginger-citrus, and Cinnamon-lemongrass.
I drank the Mint flavored one in the morning before breakfast. You can definitely taste the mintyness in it. It was strong, but not overpowering.
The Traditional one was sweeter (though since I flavor my teas with honey instead of sugar... could've been the honey?) than most teas I've had. I found I enjoyed this one the best.
In the Citrus-lemongrass I could taste the citrus. It wasn't a strong taste but it was good and on the sweet side as well.

I'm sorry I didn't try the Cinnamon-lemongrass one. Most cinnamon-flavored things makes me feel sick. My husband said he'd be up to try it and if not my mother might. Once they do, I'll add their comments about it.

As far as being energizing, I had them mostly early in the morning as a wake up kick-start or late in the evening when I felt ready to keel over. It gave me just enough boost to get back on track but I wasn't wired for hours on end. Runa has put together plenty of information concerning the health benefits they offer in their Guayusa teas. You can read about those here.

They are looking to push boundaries and expand a world of clean energy. In doing this, they have an ambassador program for "movers and shakers". If you go above and beyond in your own way, maybe you should check them out! http://www.runa.org/community/ambassador/
Right now it seems they mostly sell in New York. But you can also order from them online. Check them out and leave me a comment about what you think.

Journey Bar review

Lately I’ve been on the hunt for healthier living - for me and my family. Especially for travel snacks that are not going to clog our arteries, make a huge mess (especially in this Texas heat) or sweeten my kids up to the bounce-off-the-walls point. Nutrition bars happen to be something I prefer, but most of them out there are sweet. Drizzled with chocolate, chocolate chips mixed in… If I wanted chocolate, I’d just carry cookies and a case of diaper wipes with me. So, to the internet I went – in search of other options. And I found the Journey Bar. These are savory bars ready to go wherever you go! Their ingredients are organic whole grains and authentic spices from around the world. Such a different experience than what most people are using these days. Journey Bar offers these great flavors: Coconut Curry, Pizza Marinara, Rosemary (crunchy), Hickory Barbecue, and Parmesan Romano (crunchy).



Journey Bar sent me a sample bar of each flavor to try so I could review it for you all. I even brought a couple of them to the manager’s office here at our apartment complex to try with me. She first tried the Coconut Curry (I’m not a big fan of coconut). She said the sweetness of the coconut offset the tangy curry flavor in a good but hard to describe way. Then we had some of the Parmesan Romano bar. It was definitely crunchy and tasted a bit like pizza. She says that bar for sure would be perfect to have on hand for days when you are tempted to have pizza but know you shouldn’t! We even shared these two flavors with the office worker and some residents to get a more rounded opinion. By far the vote leaned to favoring the Parmesan Romano. A tangy “pizza” flavor that was satisfying. These are definitely a great and tasty alternative to the widely used, sweet nutrition bars that you sometimes wonder - are they really that healthy for you…



Then came the ultimate test – my kids! I decided to let them try the Pizza Marinara bar with me. And to my pleasant surprise, my 3 ½ year old was smiling and begging for more after the first bite!!! He’s a really picky eater who hardly ever wants anything healthy besides fresh bananas or strawberries. My 2 year old son was too busy watching a movie at first to give me his opinion, but after a while he came running in asking for more “pizza”. 8-) So now I know they are also something that my family can enjoy together! I count this as another win for healthy living in my home.



I also enjoyed reading about how they got the idea and started up this business. Two friends doing lots of traveling around the world - looking for something better than the widespread sweetened nutrition bars to grab on the go. They use herbs and spices from places they have travelled to, to season these bars with. And believe me – you can definitely taste the wholesome flavors. The grain in these is mostly amaranth. It’s seedy, but chewy and dissolves in your mouth. It’s not like most bars that have oatmeal (that’s so chewy you look like a cow trying to get it down).
They have these bars in stores all around the United States. Just check their website to see if they have a store that carries them near you. If not, order online! Another great thing about them – FAST SHIPPING! I spoke with them Friday and received the samples Monday morning. Not many companies out there can boast such fast service.
100% natural ingredients, flavors that give your taste buds a pleasant change in pace, and satisfy you while out and about without the mess. I look forward to carrying these around with me. Want to know more about them? Check out the links I’ve included below.
You can check out their website here: http://www.journeybar.com/
Follow them on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/journeybar.france
Follow them via Twitter here: http://twitter.com/journeybar