Oh How I Indulge!

What is your favorite indulgence?  That just perfect lil bite that makes you smile all the way down to your toes.  Can you get it at anytime or is it seasonal?  Well I thought mine was only a holiday one.  But I found out today it is not.

Normally every year at Christmas I stock up on Liberty Orchard fruit and nut candies.  These are lil bite size morsels of fruit gels with nuts in six orchard-fresh varieties: slow-simmered Strawberry-Walnut, marmalade style Orange-Walnut, cool mountain Blueberry-Pecan, sweet island Pineapple-Macadamia, tangy ripe Raspberry-Pecan, and summer-fresh Peach-Walnut.  I adore them.  Stack the boxes on my nightstand and have one every evening as my own special treat.  So much so that I hate to even share.  I know how stingy.  But once they are gone I have to wait a whole year to get them again.

But today I tried out a brand new box of Liberty Orchard fruits.  And I can share them too.  Why?  Well because these are also sugar free.  Yes they are delicious too.  I was wondering if they could hold up to my favorites and they did.  Our Gentleman here is diabetic.  He too can indulge in a lil treat now too.  Top it off that the box has 48 pieces in it.  So I do not feel like I will lose out when I share them.

Now for me can this get any better?  Yes, it can.  I found I don't have to wait to get them in our lil store at the holidays.  No I can order them online.  Wow, why did I not think to look for this before?  So we all know where my few extra dollars are going to be going soon.  Okay, we have a happy woman.  Almost......because they had to do me one better even.  How?  How about a all natural fruit bar that is:

• A Good Source of Protein!
• Made with Heart-Healthy Nuts!
• Rich in Antioxidants, High in Omega 3*
• All-Natural, Non-GMO, and 60% Organic!
• No Preservatives, Trans-Fats, or Cholesterol!
• Vegan & Kosher, Low in Sodium!
• Gluten-Free! & Dairy-Free

  Sounds like it is healthy.  But that translates into flavorless, right?

Orchard Bar blew me away.  Oh the flavors were amazing with fruit, nuts and seeds.  Moist and just the right amount of natural sweetness.  I could throw over a chocolate candy bar for one of these any day.  Of course I will also have to fight off College Girl and Dear Hubby for them too.  Why?  Because when we tried the 3 flavors I had we were fighting for each morsel.  Yeah really!  I cut each up into thirds and did a blind taste test with them.  Not telling them what they were or anything.  Scoffed them right up....all of them.  So now I need to order some of them too.  For just $2.50, they will send you two 1.6 bars… Blueberry Pomegranate & Almond and Strawberry Raspberry & Walnut.  And they will pay the shipping and handling too!  Limit: This special offer is for "First-Timers" only, and is limited to one sample shipment per customer. Sorry, U.S. Shipments only.
They will also send you a "Samplet" of their two most popular brands...a 4 piece package of famous Aplets & Cotlets, and a 4 piece package of popular Fruit Delights for just $2.95 plus FREE SHIPPING!  Limit: This special offer is for "First-Timers" only, and is limited to one sample shipment per customer. Sorry, U.S. shipments only.

I have to say this was a red letter day for me.  Yummy goodness that is all good for me too.  YIPPPPEEEE!  You can get a catalog with coupons in it too.  Thanks so to Liberty Orchard for sending me my treats.  I am a thrilled to know I do not have to ration out these gels one a night to have them.  And more so that they are just a click away.  Yeah as always, non paid.  But did get to eat them.  Well not all of them....some habits are just too hard to break.  Want to have one with me tonight?

Funky Monkey

Image via Wikipedia

Since I help care for children for other moms, I am always looking for healthy snacks the kids will like. And we all know that healthy and fun do not normally end up in the same sentence. But I have been lucky to find Funky Monkey, the fruit that crunches!
Funky Monkey sent me some samples to review. For this I say thank you!

Now let me tell you a little about this great snack. It is freeze dried fruit that does not have any sugar added. YEAH! And it is 100% real fruit and 100% fat free. And for those with allergies it is also gluten free. Top that off with each package is 3 servings of fruit. Now all of this is great to us moms, but the kids just see that it is healthy when they hear these words.

That is where the name comes in. What kid does not like a good funny word. And Funky Monkey is a fun name. So we have a great name and healthy snack, but how does it taste?

I tried it out with my lil ones here and it went over well with one and not so well with the other.
The lil one ate a piece of Applemon (that is apple with cinnamon) and then went for it by the handful. The older one would not even taste it. She is the picky eater by the way. I could not get her to tell me why she would not eat it either. So no taste testing there. But of course her sister was so much happier that she could have the whole bag for herself.

I tried the Pink Pineapple (that is pineapple with guava) and really loved the crunch it had. Think fruit chips. You get the sweetness of fruit but the crunch of a chip. Being on a forever diet this was great to me. As I crave the crunch. The flavor was good but I did come across a few pieces that where a lil too close to the core so they were tough.

We also have MangOJ (yes, mango and orange juice) that I am saving for College Girl. She is currently sleeping and will have it with her breakfast.

Now you can also try out your own Funky Monkey. I love that name, it sounds like a dance and I adore dancing. Funky Monkey is hosting a giveaway of a CASE of their snacks for one lucky reader. Just visit Funky Monkey and come back and tell me something you liked. (This is mandatory to enter.) You can also join them on their Facebook page. You can also have extra entries too. Additional entries can all be done with a separate comment for each for following, having my button, twittering, links on face book, sending others to the giveaway (they have to credit you) and blogging about this great giveaway. Make sure that I can contact you some how in order to let you know if your the winner.

Doesn't Get Much Better

Whew! Our Saturday evening was wonderful.
With friends, family and neighbors who could ask for better people around them

Image via Wikipedia

Today after DH was through with work he fired up the grill and started cooking all the meat. Steaks, chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages and. . .I think there is an and there?
Nessa had organized all while I was manning the store at Mary's.
She had made pasta salad, tea and helped get all the fixings thawed and ready.
My mom did up her fantastic bean dip that seems to be her staple.
And then the people started rolling in.

College Girl came home for the weekend with her dorm roommate. Following was a couple of the guys from college too! One of our good friends in town popped on in to join in the meal and merriment. CG's Poppa, Other Mom and lil Sissy arrived for a feast. And of course we had to have Nessa's cheerful foursome to keep things going. (She is a lifesaver.) Top it off my dad was here all day. That is uncommon as can be!

Threw in a all the fixings for the hamburgers and hot dogs, chicken garden salad, pea salad, chips, fresh fruit of watermelon, grapes and plums. It was a three table feast for all.
I sure wish y'all could have joined us for all the food, great conversations and relaxing times. I know that it was a great day for me!

Duh Recipe

Granny M is going through some of the old recipes she has collected over the years. In doing this (to make up a home made cookbook) she has come across some humdingers. Well here is this mornings.

Fruit Flavored Fruit

Image by wizan via Flickr

Ok, she asked me...."just what would fruit be flavored with other that fruit flavor???"

So I had to see this lil jewel of the obvious.

Fruit Flavored Fruit

4 cups fresh fruit*** (try fresh fruit). Hummm I would have had a hard time figuring that one.
4 squares of Heavy Duty Reynolds Wrap (this is the sponsor)
Juice on 1 orange (1/2 cup) I wonder if 1 orange always equals 1/2 a cup???
Juice of 1 lime Well we are still on the fruit so guess it is going to be fruit flavored
1 cup brown sugar always like a lil extra sweet
1/4 tsp Tabasco Pepper Sauce (other sponsor) Now this is not on the fruit flavoring list I have!
1/8 tsp salt Hummm, for flavor
2 tblsp dark rum (0ptional) Not in my book this is a must have!
2 tblsp butter So the fruit slides down so much better?

Pare, section or slice and seed fruit. This of course helps you eat fruit in my house. Divide onto foil squares. Hummm, combine or keep flavors separate? In a saucepan combine remaining ingredients and simmer for 3 minutes. Now we have a hot fruit flavored sauce. Spoon sauce over fruit servings and seal packets. Still don't know if fruit was to be mixed up??? Cook in preheated 350 oven for 15 min or until tender. Guess you would have to open packets often to see when tender starts? 4 servings. Well that makes sense since 4 packets.

Now I can't try this gem of a recipe so you will have to tell me how fruit taste any more like fruit when you add hot sauce. I am allergic to aluminum foil so I can not cook with it.

Dang sure missed out on the dessert here----NOT!

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