Product Reviews

New Chocolate Mix Skittles
My first thought was one of pure joy that my two favorite candies could now be combined, but the reality pales in comparison to both. If you have ever had chocolate-flavored jelly beans or hard candies, then perhaps you know the same disappointment. In the bag are the traditional five varieties: S'mores, Vanilla, Chocolate Caramel, Chocolate Pudding, and Brownie Batter. Of the five, Brownie Batter has the most chocolate flavor, but the others are quite tasty too. The Chocolate Caramel has a nice caramel-y flavor while the Chocolate Pudding is very realistic. The S'mores variety has a nice Graham cracker-y taste, but needs more chocolate or marshmallow, in my opinion. Vanilla, well, is pretty vanilla.

Nutrition Information
Serving Size: 1 pack (2 oz./56.7g)
Calories: 230
- Fat Cal.: 20
Total Fat: 2.5g
- Sat. Fat: 2.5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 10mg
Total Carb.: 51g
- Fiber: 0g
- Sugars: 42g
Protein: 0g

Definitely not for those on a low calorie or low carb diet. Sorry to say I couldn't taste the rainbow with this mix...

Rating: Two ears down.

Kellogg's Crunchy Nut Sweet & Salty Chocolatey Almond Granola Bars
I was very happy to find this, since most granola bars are actually very high in carbs and not good for those on a low carb diet. I mean honestly, a Snickers bar is better in some cases; at least then there would be some protein from the nuts! Usually the only granola-type bars I can have are Pria Complete NutritionBars, Pria CarbSELECT, LUNA, Kashi GOLEAN Crunchy Bar, or Kashi GOLEAN Rolls, and of those the only ones I like are the LUNA bars. Before I knew I was diabetic and should be eating a low carb diet, I liked to have Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Nut Almond Granola Bars (they've since come out with a cashew variety I am sure I would LOVE), but the carbs were over 20g and of the variety that's quite high on the glycemic index. The Kellogg Crunchy Nut Sweet & Salty Chocolatey Almond Granola Bars are just as good as the Nature Valley kind, maybe even better! They are still made of similar carbs, but there are fewer of them. The bars are slightly smaller than the others, but that's not necessarily bad. They have a rice crispy treat-type of base, hidden under a layer of chocolate, topped with big chunks of almonds. The chocolate is superficial, but lends the bar just enough flavor that with the almonds makes you feel like you're practically eating a candy bar.

Nutrition Information
Serving Size: 1 bar (32g)
Calories: 150
- Fat Cal.: 70
Total Fat: 8g
- Sat. Fat: 3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 160mg
Total Carb.: 18g
- Fiber: 2g
- Sugars: 10g
Protein: 3g

Also contains 10% or the Recommended Daily Value of Vitamin A, Calcium, Thiamin, Niacin, Folic Acid, Iron, Riboflavin, and Vitamin B6.

Rating: One ear up (for taste), one ear down (for not so healthy).

I won! What's in *your* heart?

I entered an Artists Trading Card contest at Caryl's Realm and won!  The only requirement was to "carry on the spirit of giving" and give away 3 What's in Your Heart? art-related pieces of my own in a contest. 

So if you'd like the chance to win, please leave a comment and you will be entered in the drawing!  On the 31st, I will draw 3 names from everyone that leaves a comment either here or at my other journal.

If your name is chosen, I ask that you also carry on this wonderful give-away and share 3 art-related pieces of your own in a contest.

Crock Pot Recipe Swap

Your mission:  Create an 8 1/2 x 11 scrapbook page for each member of the swap of your favorite crock pot recipe.

 

Sign ups for this swap will be open for one week until February 2nd.  Final details will be sent at that time, including total pages to make and address to mail your pages to.

 

You will have until Tuesday, February 19th to pop them in the mail to me.  I will send them back out as soon as I have everyone's package.

 

Please remember to include a return address label and at least the same amount of postage as you needed to send your package out.  For example, if you spend $1.60 to mail your pages, drop stamps, well hidden cash, or a money order equal to or greater than $1.60 in your envie (or you can paypal it to me).  If you want your package returned priority, include enough for that.  I will of course return any unneeded postage.  I plan on using the envie you send your pages in to return your pages to you.

 

If you'd like to sign up, email me (bunnykissd (at) gmail (dot) com) with what your contribution will be; if there are several people wanting to do the same thing, I may request that you chose something else, but there are so many ideas floating around, I bet that won't happen!  I can't wait to see what you all create!  ^_^

Cross-posted to a few different groups...  Hope you don't mind!

Ooo! Contest!

A Cowboy’s Wife is having a contest on her food blog! You can win a Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer and she’ll ship anywhere so everyone is eligible!

The Prize:

The winner will receive a brand new
Hamilton Beach 4.5-qt. Eclectrics Stand Mixer, Pineapple Yellow!!

My Girlfriend, the Writer

Jacqueline has been writing lots of articles at Associated Content lately! Check them out!

http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/100864/jacqueline_parks.html

Good news!

My girlfriend has been published! YAY! Everyone go read!

Fibromyalgia: 10 Tips for the Newly Diagnosed

Meme

I haven't done these in a while, but since Abby's doing it, so am I...

1. Dream big :: Hey, you never know...
2. Competition :: Beauty
3. Torn :: Natalie Imbruglia
4. Modeling :: Agency
5. Coaster :: on the table please
6. Slut :: Penis Breath
7. Spread :: Legs
8. Amanda :: was so lazy
9. Romance :: Rose petals
10. Paradise :: Lost

You know, I see a story in all this... about a man...

He dreamed big and won the state lottery and was set for life. (That's our state lottery's slogan that first came to mind up there. No, I don't play.) And there was this girl (there always is), and she had won a beauty competition. They met at a bar where Natalie Imbruglia's Torn was playing and got married. She quit the modeling agency and let him take care of her. The money started to dwindle. He started nagging her about the little things, like using a coaster on the table. They started arguing more, she took a lover on the side, and her husband found out. He called her a slut, she called him a penis breath (a jab at his bisexuality which she never could get used to). He said she was lazy, just like his first wife, Amanda. She cried that it never would have gotten so bad if the romance hadn't gone out of their marriage; he used to spread rose petals on the bed when they made love! He comforted her, but both realized their paradise had been lost forever...

Ooo... tragic... *sniff*

Walk

Today we went walking at Rice Creek. It was only a little over a half mile and I was disappointed on the way home that the sun had decided to go inside and didn't join us for our walk, but we still had a nice time without her. I'm still trying to warm up from it, but it was over an hour and a half walk, and it certainly wouldn't have been if the temps had been colder or there had been snow on the ground! We've been lucky this past week and had a few days of 50+°F and most of the snow has melted, which of course made for a nice muddy trail. Hehehe...

Follow the purple trail to see where we went!


When we got there, the gates were closed, although they should have been open for another hour and 15 mins according to the sign on the gate, but we decided to park at the little lot (X) there and walk down. But not on the road like we usually do! We opted for a VERY muddy trail that left from the little parking lot. When we first got out of the car, all I could smell was mud and damp mucky things, the smells of early spring. ^_^ The trail was quite squishy in places, covered in a nice thick layer of wood chips in other places, and some... well some were quite wet indeed (A)!

See what we had to pick our way across!


We turned the wrong way at the first intersection after the power lines and ended up back at the road, but that's ok; we didn't have a map with us. We just headed on down the road and into what they call the Wildflower Trail (which is part of the green trail (B)). I took a picture of the main building from across the water and we heard, and then saw, lots of chickadees, and some geese and mallards too! Then we saw a cool nest hanging in a tree, probably from a Baltimore oriole.

Here's Jacqueline watching me watch the chickadees...


Eventually we wandered over to the main building to see if they had a map, but there were none, although we did sign in. Then we (ok, me) got distracted by some mallards doing weird things in the water (C). I still have no idea what they were doing... So we headed over to the herb garden (D) to see all the herbs tucked in for winter, then back up the road to the boardwalk part of the green trail (E).

The first part of the boardwalk from the road...


We saw evidence of some beavers (chewed up wood in the middle of the creek) and I was surprised by all the mushrooms that were growing! Not just the big polypores, although we saw those too, but lots of small delicate-looking white ones and little reddish-brown ones on the wood chips in the trail. There were lots of dead and downed trees along the 2nd part of the boardwalk (F) where we saw them growing.

We decided to keep going when we got to our usual turn around spot, and I am so glad we did! The trail wound along the edge of the swap a bit, then headed back up and over a ridge, at the of which was an old stone wall that had fallen down (G). So pretty! And eventually we came out by the road but the trail shadowed it (only a few steps away) for a ways longer, so we followed a shortcut someone had made (or several someones) and headed back up the road to the car. Right at the entrance they have some little snowdrop bulbs planted and look! They're already poking up!

OMG in a month this could be under 12 feet of snow!!!


So we had a loverly walk this afternoon, even without the mean old sun. No bugs, no heat, no bitter cold, no biting wind.... and spring was in the air! ^_^

Oh, and I handed Jacqueline the camera when I got in the car, and this is what happens... She takes my picture! :P You can see more by going to my flickr (um, apparently they're having a massage now...) or my LJ scrapbook.

It's me!