Plated Review: 16th May 2014 - Soy Glazed Pollock with Pea Shoots and Miso Mashed Potatoes + Pan Roasted Steak with Onion Marmalade and Spring Farro

After our First Plated Box was such a hit, I just had to order again. 

To everyone who hasnt heard about them, they offer 7 chef-designed recipes each week. 

The weekly dishes always include 4 healthy meat & fish options and 3 unique vegetarian dishes. After you decide which recipes you would like to receive you type in your ZIP code and they offer you certain delivery dates for your region. The items will arrive that day in special packaging, so it all will be fresh and ready for your dinner. 

The fresh ingredients will be delivered with a step-to-step recipe card, so that you can surprise your family with a special meal.

What I really like about this service is that they use locally sourced ingredients, like for example they always try to use local, seasonal produce and meats from local sellers.

This time I ordered: Soy Glazed Pollock with Pea Shoots and Miso Mashed Potatoes 

and also
Pan Roasted Steak with Onion Marmalade and Spring Farro

First I cooked The Pan Roasted Steak with Onion Marmalade and Spring Farro, here are the ingredients:

 The Flat Iron Steak looked great and I just needed to season it.

Farro, looks like the Cereal Honey Smacks to me, is a type of wheat. You just cook it like rice. It is perfect for salads and soups.

 Then I cut the red onion and sauteed it until it turned soft, then I added the red wine and sugar.

They turned out beautifully.

I added cucumbers, raddish, onions and lemon juice to the Farro. It turned it into a great salad.

 Here is the steak, after cooking it in the pan.

Here is my final dinner plate. It was delicious.  My whole family loved it.
The steak was medium rare and the marmalade onions gave it a great taste. My personal favorite was the salad though. Great balance between crunchy and soft and a hint of lemon.

 

Here is dinner # 2

Soy Glazed Pollock with Pea Shoots and Miso Mashed Potatoes

At first I boiled the red potatoes and then added them to the milk, butter, miso paste and Sriracha Hot Sauce.

 Then I just added the shallots.

 I cooked the Pea shoots, the young top leaves and tips of vines on a pea plant, and shrunk down like when you cook spinach.

At first I broiled the Pollock in the oven and then baked it until the fish was cooked through.

This dinner was okay, I think the Poollock could use more flavor and the Pea Shoots had a lot of hard stems. Other then that it was a good new flavor experience for us. 

I never had spicy mashed potatoes before, that was quiet interesting.

Here is my final plating.

 

If you are interested in checking out Plated follow this link. 

Thank you

Disclaimer: Post contains referral/affiliate links.

 

 

Hefty® Ultimate™ with Arm & Hammer™ Odor Control Trash Bag Sample Review

I recently received a great Trash Bag Sample, the NEW Hefty® Ultimate™ with Arm & Hammer™ Odor Control Trash Bag. 

Some people think it doesnt matter what kind you buy as long as they are cheap. 

Our family is very picky about trash bags though. We have been using the Hefty® Odor Block^® Scented Trash Bags for a while now, because they smell great and they hold A LOT.

The only thing that always bothers me is the fact that they don't grip to the trash can. Its just terrible when you are trying to dump in left over food and they trash bags falls right down. 

So I was very excited to try these new ones out. 

 Here are all the great new features the Hefty® Ultimate™ Trash Bag has:

I also compared my normal Hefty® Odor Block^® Scented Trash Bags and the NEW Hefty® Ultimate™ with Arm & Hammer™ Odor Control Trash Bag. 

Here is the direct comparison:

I love the gripping drawstring, because the bag stays up and grips right to the trash can.

 

Another great feature is that it is tear and puncture resistant.

Here you can see the special structure of the bag.

 All in all, I was very impressed. 

I think I will get these trash bags when its time for me to buy new ones. 

I just love the clean smell, that they grip to the trash can and stay on and that they hold so much. 

Thank you Hefty®.

Graze Box Review May 2014

As I mentioned before here, since a couple weeks we are subscribing to Graze boxes. We got our first box free and loved it so much, we continued their service. If you are interested in getting your first and fifth box for free also, follow this link. 

Here is the review for our First Box , Second Box and Third Box. 

Now just yesterday we received our Fourth and Fifth Box.
I cant tell you all how excited we were. My husband and I have a hard time sharing the Graze Boxes, so we each get one. ;)

Here is what I received:

 I got Boston Baguettes with a BBQ Relish, Scrumptious Blueberry Swirl, Chocolate Pecan Pie and my all time favorite apple and cinnamon Flapjacks.
I already tried the Scrumptious Blueberry Swirl and just for my taste is was a little too sweet. My toddler on the other side loved it.
I also ate all of my 3 Flapjacks, but that was predictable.
Any of their flapjacks are just so good. Moist, crunchy and just a little bit sweet. Its the perfect combination.
I tried the Chocolate Pecan Pie too and I like the chocolate fudge and pecans but the dates not so much.


Here is what my husband got:

He got several that we havent had yet so that was exciting.
Garden of England (mini strawberries, apples and blackcurrants), Fruit and Seed flapjacks, Born in the USA (pecans, cranberries and almonds and Brooklyn Bites (poppy seed pretzels, cheese cashews and roasted pumpkin seeds)

My husband has a busy schedule this week and hasn't had time to try any of his treats.
But I promised him to save them and not to touch them.
:)

Again if you are interested in trying out a free box ( and also receiving your fifth box for free) follow this link, you wont regret it. 

Thank you.

PinchMe Gevalia Mocha Latte Sample Review

I recently discovered this great webiste, where you can request samples. 

It is called PINCHme, it is very easy to use. As soon as they have samples available you just go on their website real quick and put them in your cart. 

The good thing is as soon as you load them up in your cart, the samples are reserved for you. 

They then ship them to you and after trying the samples out, you will be able to leave your feedback.

Here is what I received a little while back:

 

Gevalia Mocha Latte 

Coffee is always on our grocery list, since there is a high demand for it in my house. 

I was very excited to try out this sample, because I love any kind of 'Latte'.

We usually get the Gevalia coffee because it tastes great and it is strong enough for my husband.

I really like this product, because it is strong but also creamy and chocolaty.

I will definitely buy this one again for my next chocolate coffee craving.

Thank you PINCHme

Bluum Box - May 2014

  This post contains affiliate links, which save you and me both money. I'm very appreciative if you decide to sign up and use my link. You'll save 50% off your first box if you do!

This is our third Bluum Box, so far our experiences with their boxes and also Customer Service were great. Here are our 2 previous month,  April 2014 and March 2014.

 But now lets get back to this Months Box:

This Months Box has a great value, the items all together are more then what you pay monthly. Currently their Monthly Box price is 24.95$.

- Melissa and Doug Chunky Puzzle Scene

Sells for 9.99$ on their website. 

We like Puzzles, so this will be a great addition to our puzzle collection. 

- First Concepts Colors Board Book

Retails for 8.99$ but sells on Amazon for 8.11$.

This one is cute, but might be a little too young for our daughter since its 1+ older and she already knows all her colors. 

I think I will put this one in the gift closet.

- Kidz Banz Sunglasses

These are 12.75$ on Amazon, which is a great price for kids sunglasses. I think you can never have enough of these since you need some in the car, some in the diaper bag, some to play dress up and some for the back yard. 

I also like that they come in various colors.

- Green Sprouts Placemats

These cost 7.79$ on Amazon, but for 6.00$ on their website.

These are perfects for babies and toddlers. I like them because the kiddos can color on them. They help because they keep the table clean and the kiddos busy.

Such a great invention and perfect for families who like to eat out. 

-Bitsy Brainfood Sweet Potato Oatmeal Raisin Smart Cookies.

Very interesting cookie, sounds delicious and healthy. But I only like it if the taste is also kid approved. I will show them to my daughter later after nap time and lets see what she says. ;)

These sell at a couple different online stores, on Amazon for example for 3.91$ plus shipping. 

So now you see what I mean when I say, the box has alot of value. These items are great. I like that they put a variety of different items in the box. They will all become very handy and I bet my daughter will enjoy them. 

UPDATE: 

The cookies were a huge hit, they are not too sweet, crunchy and have a great raisin flavor that is not too strong. I tried them and was very impressed. 

I am thinking about buying some, that's how good they were and how they were devoured.

My daughter also instantly grabbed the sunnies and wanted to wear them. The strap in the back is still a little big for her head, even though I tried to tighten it.

 But she seemed fine outside and loved them.

Other parents gave us lots of compliments for them. 

Yay for Bluum, healthy delicious cookies and the sunnies were already a great hit.

I you are interested in a Bluum Box subscription please follow this link and you will get 50% off your first box.

Disclaimer: Post contains referral/affiliate links.

Citrus Lane May 2014 Box Review - 2 year old Girl

This post contains affiliate links, which save you and me both money. I'm very appreciative if you decide to sign up and use my link. 

You'll save 50% off your first box if you do!

 Also special code for the month of MAY, 20% off your next purchase from the Citrus Lane shop.
Use code MOMMY20



I got the 6 month subscription from Citrus Lane a while back and already received April 2014 and  March 2014.
And today we received our May Box and I have to say after the 2 last month 'weak boxes', this one is terrific.

Here is what we got:

 - Melissa and Doug, Paint with Water Garden
Retails for 4.99$ on their website but also sells on Amazon for 6.32$
I think this is very cute, it contains of 20 pages with paints on each page and paintbrush.
The garden theme is also very matching for the season right now and perfect for our daughter who loves exploring the garden, especially the bugs.

- Jasmine Seven Fresh Feet Wipes for Kids
Grapefruit 3 Packs of 10 Wipes sell for 9.99$ on their website and 1 pack sells for 6.76$ on Amazon.
I think these will be perfect for our beach vacation. Who else hates sticky sandy feet?? 

- Hape Sand Toys, one is the Pathenon and the other one is the Mayan Sand Mold.

Mayan Pyramid sells for 2.99$ on their website, but for 7.75$ on Amazon.

The Pathenon sells for 2.99$ on their website also but for 5.63$ on Amazon.

These Sand Molds are awesome and so unique. Now we can build ancient buildings right in our sand box. 

- Back To Nature, Mini Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

These look great and I heard a lot of positive comments about this brand. 

I have not tried them yet and I am not sure how much these run for at the store. 

I would guess between 3-5$.

After my daughter woke up from her nap she looked through her Citrus Lane Box and spotted these cookies, lets just say they were gone faster then I expected. I tried one and they are very good. I will definitely buy them again!

- Hero food container from Goodbyn.

This just launched an runs for 21.95$ on several different websites.

I am very impressed with that because it is a perfect lunch size and comes with 2 dippers.

Because everybody knows toddler love to dip, no matter if it is guacamole, hummus, ketchup, honey, caramel or fudge.

I will definately use this on small hiking trips or when we are out and about on weekends.

 So all in all, I am very impressed. The value is way over what the normal box costs, which is 29.99$.

I love this months box and I know our daughter will too. 

Especially since she loves to paint, play in the sand, has dirty feet and can't say no to cookies. :)

Thank you.

Disclaimer: Post contains referral/affiliate links.

SampleSource Sample Box Review April 2014

I recently discovered a great website, that offers samples every season. 

Its called SampleSource. I just singed up last month and already received my first Box filled with great samples.

What is very nice about this website is that you don't need to fill out any surveys. You just need to register and go online when they have samples available. You can pick the ones you want and they ship them for free to your door. How easy is that. 

Something else that is also great is that you can track your sample. I signed up for so many samples and never received them. So tracking them is a nice perk.

Here is what we received last week.

- Tums Chewy Delights and Tums Freshers - My husband uses Tums all the time, so he will be happy about new Tums products. He has a lot of heartburn.

- Breathe Right Extra Clear For Sensitive Skin - We use the Breathe Right Original Nasal Strips regularly since my husband snores a lot when he gets congested. We like them, they are just super sticky. Which is good over night, but sometimes they hurt when you take them off.

- Garnier Fructis Damage Eraser - I love Garnier Fructis Products and always buy them, so these will be great for my next trip. I received a shampoo, conditioner and hair butter sample. I just love the smell of their products and they seem to work great for my long, dry hair. 

- Colgate^® Slim Soft Toothbrush with Gliding Tips - This looks like a very interesting toothbrush and I will definitely try it out soon, since I have a hard time flossing. The toothbrush has floss-top bristles to clean in between tight spaces and along the gum line. Perfect for me since I have a glued wire Retainer.

I cant wait to try out all these products. What is also great is that some of the samples came with coupons. So, if my husband likes the new Tums Chewy Delights or Freshers, I can head out to the store and get them a bit cheaper. Yay for Coupons.

Thank you SampleSource.