Best Ever Easy Peasy Flourless Peanut Butter (or nut-free!) Heathbar Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

 

I love this easy recipe.  It is fast and easy for kids learning how to cook too since there are minimal things to measure but just enough that it seems adventurous. I made them two different ways above and below so choose your favorite!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup creamy peanut butter (or soy nut or almond butter is fine

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar (you can sub white sugar instead too!)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon baking soda  
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional) 

1/2 cup milk (or white) chocolate chips   
1/4 cup Heath bar pieces (optional-you can chop up a Heath bar if you can find the bags of chopped Heath)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Mix all ingredients except chocolate/white/Heath chips.
• When blended, mix in the chocolate chips/white/Heath chips. 
• Dough will be kind of sticky and wet  
• Oil up your hand with a few drops of cooking oil to prevent dough from sticking then use your fingers to form 1 1/2 inch balls  and place onto parchment lined cookie sheet. Trust me, don't make them too big because they spread. One time the babysitter made them with my little one and they ended up the size of dinner plates!
• Bake for about 8-9 minutes. Let the cookies sit on the cookies sheet for about 30 seconds to 1 minute before letting cool on a wire rack.
• Makes about one dozen small and yummy cookies.

Urthbox is a fun way to discover some healthy snacks for you and your family

Disclosure: I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample of the products for review purposes. The opinions are my own, based on my personal experience with the product.

Urthbox offers healthy snack options for almost everyone on your list including you!  2014 is a new year and you can make a fresh and healthy start every day.
Urthbox makes healthy options easy to choose.  Every single Urthbox product is carefully curated and checked for ingredient, source, calorie, nutrition and manufacturing reviews. You can feel confident you are choosing something good for you and fun!

Select from Classic, Gluten-Free, Vegan, Diet or Snacker Box Options. They offer one month, three month, or six month subscriptions. Think about how excited you will be each month when you open your carefully selected yummy and fresh new snacks, drinks, food & more tucked into your Urthbox.  Don't worry if you find a new favorite either....it is super easy to purchase it easily through the Urthbox online shop. It's January...start right now to make healthy foods a priority in your life. Let Urthbox help you do it every month.

Prices are reasonable as well. You can get one month subscriptions for $25, 3 months for $22 per month and a 6 month subscription for $19 per month.  Clearly the best value is the 6 month subscription and that makes your life easier.  Set it up and no worries. Shipping including in all the plans. Just wait for the mailman to enjoy your goods.  See what is inside and decide for yourself.

I just received the January Classic Urthbox.  I like that each box has a card with a summary of the products in the box and where you can buy them at stores near you.   I was interested to see that you can get credits for future purchases by sharing Urthbox with friends and colleagues through social networks...up to $12 per post! If you don't want to leave the comfort of your home you can log into the Urthbox site and just buy extras of what you like from each month's box.  Be friendly and share and you can get lots of extras too!

There was an interesting variety of healthy items in this box including NEO Organic Energy, Dangs Coconut Chips, Annie Chun's White Sticky Rice, Inka's Giant Corn, Wow Oregon Oatmeal Cookie, Annie's Organic Horseradish Mustar, Justin's Almond Butter, Next by Nature Chocolate Cashews and Tasty Bite Natural Indian Cuisine.  Keep going to get the details.

Have you ever tried toasted coconut chips?  So yummy. Good by themselves or sprinkle them on your granola or on Greek yogurt. Excellent. Love that they are non-GMO, gluten-free and tasty.

Dark chocolate, nuts, what in the world could NOT be perfect about this combination?  Add all natural, gluten free, no artificial colors or flavors and it is totally perfect. Seriously, these are super delicious.

I am funny with Indian....sometimes I am in the mood for it and other times it does not appeal to me so much. My husband was excited about this one.  I liked that it was a fast meal that has no MSG, is gluten free, vegetarian and non-GMO.  You can even microwave it so on those busy days if you enjoy Indian you can have a fast, healthy meal. The ingredient list was very clean looked too. You can't beat the convenience either.

This looked so amazing to me right out of the box!  I kind of remember something like this when I was a kid but I don't think it was all natural and GMO free.  If you have gluten issues there is no problem with this Inka Corn because it is gluten free. They are tasty and have some serious crunch. A good departure from the usual chips and they are available at Costco and Trader Joes.

Have you seen Jason's products before? These are so convenient. I have been buying them for a while now and I was happy to see this in the box. Easy to throw in a lunchbox or bag or keep in the car for when you are having a hunger crash. Squeezes right out and tastes great. All natural and gluten free, vegan too!

Oooh, I love Annie's Natural's but I had never come across their Horseradish Mustard.  We love horseradish and mustard and I had sometimes mixed them on sandwiches in the past to give them some zip. This is much easier. I enjoy Annie's products and like that they are all organic too. Get ready for some serious zip but this tastes so good you will come back for more.

Awww, they had to throw in one of my favorites.  We were duking it out over this Oregon Oatmeal wheat and gluten free cookie. Non-GMO and tasty. It was the perfect texture too just soft enough with a bit of chewiness. A good cookie.

One of my friends who is originally from Taiwan always laughs at me because she thinks I am such a nut because I love sticky rice. I always order it in restaurants. I could eat gallons of it but I limit myself. I can only get to the gym 4 or 5 times a week so I leave it as a treat. I like that the Annie Chun's Rice Express White Sticky Rice can be steamed up fast in a minute. You can beat that fast anywhere so at least when I really want the sticky rice I can make it fast and it is in a reasonable portion. All natural, vegan and gluten free too.

I had never seen NEO organic energy plus electrolytes before and I was interested. No artificial ingredients or amplifiers. USDA organic, gluten free and vegan. I am going to try this one before the gym on Monday and I will let you know. Definitely looks like a reasonable option. *

 

The final little extra in the Urthbox was two Reed's Ginger Candies. I love Reed's Ginger Soda which I keep in the house in the event that someone is sick.  I love that these, like Reed's Ginger Ale are all natural, gluten free and vegan. Tasty and good to keep with you especially if you are flying or going on a cruise.  They can relieve some nausea at least it works for me!*

Urthbox has a nice blend of items and looks like a fun subscription box I am such a savvy shopper I was surprised that they even found a bunch of items that I had not seen before.  Urthbox does the work for you so you can enjoy interesting new healthy options every single month.

Flower Duet Team Teaches You the Art of Flower Arranging from A to Z via their DVD {Giveaway}

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample of the product for review purposes. The opinions are my own, based on my personal experience with the product.

Have you ever tried flower arranging?  I have and sometimes it has worked and sometimes it has flopped.  It is a challenge when you don't have all the inside tips and tricks that the pros have, right?  What about if you are trying to plan a wedding or another festive event and really want to make it beautiful but not spend thousands on a floral designer?  Is that even possible?  Even if you just want to create beautiful arrangements in your own home or for friends, you really can learn to do it with the inside secrets from the pros at Flower Duet. 

I was pretty impressed.  The DVD was the perfect length, not too long because I am one busy mama and my time is limited. On the other hand, I really need help with flower arranging because I always feel like I can do more but never really know what to do. So I used to just buy a bunch of flowers and stick them in a vase...at least my kitchen or dining room would look a little brighter. But it never really looked professional. I was excited because Casey and Kit showed me that I can take those simple flowers from ShopRite, Whole Foods or Trader Joes and take it to the next level. Easily too.  Trust me, I am no crafty wizard. These two ladies are good at what they do.  

Casey and Kit are two sisters who are the brains behind Flower Duet and they spill their secrets for you!  They even have an amazing monthly newsletter that has some crafty and elegant tricks you can incorporate into your own arrangements and bouquets. You can sign up right on their website.  Take a peek at their past newsletters too...so many amazing ideas these ladies have to share!

The Flower Duet ladies created an easy-to-follow instructional DVD series that is just perfect for beginners like me (and maybe you!) and will give you the confidence to be creative with flowers available daily at your local grocery or farmers' market. 

• Perfect as a gift anytime! 

• Life-saver for brides on a budget who want to create their own wedding flowers . 

• The solution for what to do with those flowers you buy every week at the grocery store - but don't know how to make them look "cool."

Format: DVD 

 

Running Time: 29 minutes 

 

The flower arranging How-to DVD includes: 

First, the sister team of Flower Duet, Casey and Kit, take you on location to their favorite wholesale flower vendor and show you how to choose only the freshest flowers – just like they do for all their clients in person! 

After, you head over  to their design studio where they show you how you can mimic how professional florists prepare flowers to optimize their vase life. They give you easy to follow tips on choosing great colors and long-lasting flowers.  They also teach you the easiest and most adaptable way to create a hand-tied European wrap bouquet using three different sets of flowers.  Sounds fun, right? 

You can follow these crafty floral designing sisters on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. Flower Duet is a full service event and wedding design studio based in Los Angeles, California.  They also teach workshops which you can take a peek at on their site. They created this easy to follow DVD for those who could not attend their workshops locally. If you live in the Torrance, CA area you should really check out their classes.  It sounds like so much fun I wish I lived closer!!

Meanwhile, don't forget to enter my Rafflecopter giveaway to win your own copy of the Flower Duet DVD.a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Naturally Flavored Eggnog Matcha Review + Holiday Giveaway

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial. Disclosure: I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample of the product for review purposes. The opinions are my own, based on my personal experience with the product.

Are you familiar with Matcha? It’s a special green tea powder and the healthiest green tea on earth. Think about it. Normally you steep green tea only to drink the water and throw away the leaves that carry the most nutrients.  Matcha powder lets you drink the water AND the powdered green tea leaves.

Christmas time makes you think of eggnog...at least it makes ME think of eggnog. Yummy and decadent! Eggnog (as you probably know) is a sweet and super delicious drink.  What you may not know is that it easily blends with other beverages too.  Eggnog Matcha can easily become a holiday favorite since it has that delicious flavor of eggnog.   It is right in the middle of the season of holiday parties and open houses.  Now is the perfect time to set a new trend and show everyone how cosmopolitan you are when you are hosting.  Eggnog Matcha has a light and sweet vanilla flavor that definitely will appeal to your younger and older friends and colleagues.  It is a fun drink to serve for brunch or as part of an evening party.  Luscious and indulgent...I pretty much guarantee will be a huge hit.  We had friends over this weekend and everyone wanted my recipe for the Eggnog Matcha!  When I showed them how easy it was they couldn't believe it.

Eggnog Matcha contains no eggs and tastes more like vanilla or even vanilla custard. The taste is refined by the balancing effect of Matcha to create a truly mellow treat. It tastes thick and creamy and very indulgent. Think about how yummy it will be with a small treat like a cookie or other sweet snack. Eggnog Matcha is a heavenly beverage for any occasion at all.

Enter my Rafflecopter giveaway below to win your own Naturally Flavored Eggnog Matcha and see for yourself!a Rafflecopter giveaway
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.