Reduce & Re-Use that's also Good for you!

For several months now I have been getting my milk from our local dairy delivered once a week, fresh to my door step.
Then right before Thanksgiving my best friend bought me the Soda Stream.


With both I get HUGE health benefits as well as amazing amounts of green/eco saving numbers.

Heathwise
For the cola ~ I can make my syrup with Stevia & a slight bit of Agave which is MUCH MUCH better for you and MUCH lower glycemic levels.
For the milk ~ its cold processed instead of pasteurized. The bonus is the FDA and state laws require so many levels of testing and health procedures for "Raw" milk. Safety laws that are NOT applied to pasteurized milk. One article I read called it the difference between live clean milk and the sterilization of dirty milk.
Now not all raw milk is equal. If you have a local trusted reputable dairy I say look into it!
Also with cold processed milk you get the live healthy bacteria that helps your intestine track vs. pasteurized which has been boiled til every bit of bacteria good and bad is dead.

Eco/Green wise
For the Cola ~ I save plastic by not buying it in bottles and cans but reusing the same 3 BPS free bottles over and over and over.
It save's all the gas and electricity to make & transport the bottles and soda.
For the Milk ~ Since they re-use the bottles that save a ton of plastic. Also since its local it saves all the gas and packaging of transporting long distances.
Not to mention supports local business as well as organic & green products.

See - Good for you - Good for the Earth!

Soup & Cherry Cola w/ Stevia

 This time I ordered from Prairie Moon I ordered the following flavors

• Root Beer
• Lemon Lime
• Cola
• Cherry 

Now I am brand new to this having only made the Root Beer & Orange Pineapple from P.M Co.

So this was to be a time of trial and error

My first idea was to make a full syrup of Cola and a full syrup of Cherry 

(following the made with stevia instructions w/agave)

mixing them together.

Oh MY GOODNESS!!!

New favorite, new love! 5 stars!

As for the soup

many people don't know how to use food storage food as every day food

Which is a waste - why buy food to store and then have to throw it away every so many years?

Instead every now and then pull it out make a few dinners and then replace

This way you know how to use your food storage plus your not wasting it!

I started with the power base soup flavored "Broccoli & Cheese soup"

Followed the water to powder guidelines

then added in leftover cubed cooked chicken

and about 1-2 cups of mixed frozen veggies (corn, peas, & carrots)

1 cup frozen broccoli

1-2 tsp crushed garlic

a dash of pepper

topped with grated cheese

Yummy!

Orange Pinapple Syrup

So far from the two syrups I have made from Prairie Moon beverage concentrate. The Root Beer has a 4 star rating and the Orange Pineapple a 3 star.
For those not familiar with my rating system each member of my family gets a vote - making the highest rating a 4 star. The orange pineapple was too sweet for me, its good, but really gets over powering after a few sips.
Both syrups I made following the Stevia and Agave directions. Something I highly recommend!
You need 1 oz. of Syrup per 1 Lit. of carbonated water. If you make it following sugar or other sweeteners you need 2 oz. of syrup per 1 lit.

We love Prairie Moon, flavorings, pricing and how quickly they shipped!
I highly recommend this to anyone who loves soda but wants to control quality and sugar not to mention help the environment!

Soda Stream - My new toy!

 My BFF got me an early Christmas present!

I have wanted a Soda Stream maker for a very long time!

This model is called Jet!

The flavors for the water are not like the over sweet carbonated waters you can buy at the store,

instead its a light taste that is refreshing with no bad artificial sweeteners!

So far we have only made the Lemon-Lime, as it stands in my home it has a 3 of 4 rating! Meaning 3 of the 4 of us like it! My son as always is the picky on - I will try their natural flavors on him later. They are made with all natural ingredients (the ones marked natural or pure) and no dyes!

Something we need! As LittleMan can not handle dye!

Christmas comes early and I am playing!

I will continue to post reviews not only on the machine but on the various flavors and types.

As always this review is 100% my own and was not endorsed by anyone.

Perfect Brownies - Product Review

9 months ago I bought my BFF one of those 'as seen on tv' perfect brownie sets

today we finally pulled it from its box to try it out!

First we had to find the best brownies ever *Betty Crockers Triple Chunk Chocolate

After bathing the teflon nonstick surface in spray per instructions

it still pulled the tops off and left parts behind.

Also it was not a simple pull the get your brownies either 

I had to use a spatula to keep the bottoms from ripping.

Good part - bottom did not leak

Bad part - not as non stick as they want you to believe

Now if we had cooked the brownies to where they were completely dry

and allowed them to cool completely I am sure they would have been fine.

Lets face it though - I DON'T LIKE THEM THAT WAY!

I like a warm soft brownie!

The end result buy at your own risk 

I give it 3 stars

Apple Dressing & New Blender

Immersion Blenders are all the rage

so how do you choose?

For me when trying out a new item

I start out at the bottom

This is my new 21.00 dollar 

and I LOVE it.

When I need to replace it, it will be replaced according to its USE.

The more its used the higher value I will spend  and the more research I will do

yes  I read product reviews!

equal parts Apple cider vinegar & olive oil

half of the chopped apple bits

a few cubes of pineapple & mango ( I used frozen)

and enough sugar to take the bite from it.

Yummy!

Coffee Maker Review

I have waited two months before committing to a product review

but my new Hamilton Beach Brew Station

is Amazing!

Honestly I love getting rid of the carafe!

Make and pour! 

Keeps the coffee warm and nice!

Addicted to Tea

Yes I know another product review, but hey I don't have a kitchen right now so cooking is a little hard.

Arizona green tea with ginseng and honey, even my BFF has the cover of this bottle memorized.
Why? Because if this one isn't in the store I don't buy.

Normally... which is where, of course the story starts.

This week my BFF saw my disappointment for my store being out of stock again and helped me decide to try the store knock off brand.

YEW! YUCK! GROSS!!!

Alright the Arizona Tea group has created a delicate blend of the three flavors, its smooth, sweet, light and best of all the tea is tasty.
I can say this with all sincerity as I am a tea connoisseur, re ally I even have my favorite tea shipped to me as its only made one place in the world.

The big blue store chain that will remain nameless, although, most people can guess who, must not drink the item before selling it. They sell a Green tea with honey and ginseng, the tea tastes between old and burnt, and the ginseng is too heavy so it leaves a sharp after taste that they try to cover by adding to much honey.

Seriously?

I dumped the offending product down the drain and replaced it with two bottles of Arizona. Reaffirming that some things can be duplicated (mac and cheese, cleaners, and cheap frozen pizza), but not everything. Some products can not be replaced and are not worth the thirty cents you might save.