Jeopardy

Content by Kyle Lowe

Sometimes, while we’re eating dinner in front of the TV (uh, not that we do that all the time or anything), my husband and I will watch Jeopardy. This is a really bad idea, for a multitude of reasons. Reason one—my husband and I are fiercely competitive. And by 'fiercely competitive,' I mean that a game of Jenga is likely to turn into a full-on divorce discussion. It is bad. Our friends won’t come over for Game Night anymore, and I don’t blame them. Reason two—Jeopardy makes me feel really, really dumb. Alex Trebeck doesn’t help matters any. He’s so smug. Yeah, Alex, it is really difficult to know the correct answer when you are holding a card with the correct answer on it. Sorry, I digress. Anyway. Back to Jeopardy making me feel dumb. Have you seen the week where they will showcase college students? And you assume the questions will be easier? I can’t answer half of them. The other day I was checking out the Guide on my expertsatellite.com and I saw that the Jeopardy that week was a High School edition. Finally! I most definitely know more than kids in high school! Right? No. Friends, it was ugly. I mean really ugly. I had a good handle on most of the $100-$200 questions. Once we got past that, I felt like I lacked basic brain fuction. I’ve since banned Jeopardy in my house. I feel dumb enough as it is.

NEW ORGANIC CEREAL REPORT EXPOSES BEAR NAKED AND OTHER BIG BRANDS FOR UNETHICAL MARKETING OF ORGANIC & “NATURAL”

GrandyOats is Highlighted as an Organic Integrity Leader

Brownfield, Maine (October 25, 2011) – A shocking new report by the Cornucopia Institute, entitled Cereal Crimes: How “Natural” Claims Deceive Consumers and Undermine the Organic Label, exposes Bear Naked, Barbara's, Back to Nature, Annie's Homegrown and many other popular cereal brands that intentionally blur the lines between organic and natural. To most consumers, petrochemical solvents, toxic pesticides, sewage sludge, genetically engineered ingredients and fumigants are never considered “natural.” Yet many cereal companies use these ingredients and routinely label their foods as “natural.”

“Support for healthy organic food and sustainable farming is at the core of our mission at GrandyOats,” says Aaron Anker, Chief Granola Officer. “We are shocked at the extent to which many cereal companies are misleading consumers with false and distorted ‘natural’ claims.” Anker also noted that not only does this unscrupulous behavior hurt the integrity of the entire organic foods movement, it creates an unfair playing field for upstanding organic brands recognized as such in the report, including GrandyOats. Below are examples in the report, for more visit: http://www.cornucopia.org/2011/10/natural-vs-organic-cereal/.

• Most companies do not share detailed standards for “natural” foods with the public. Kashi® and Bear Naked®, for example, both owned by Kellogg Company, would likely be uncomfortable sharing with their customers that their “natural” foods may contain hexane-extracted and genetically engineered soy ingredients. On August 31, 2011, a class action lawsuit was filed against Kellogg/Kashi® for allegedly misleading consumers with its “natural” claims.

• Some companies that started out organic, and built consumer loyalty as organic brands, have switched to non-organic “natural” ingredients and labeling. Peace Cereal® is an example of “bait-and switch.” In 2008, Peace Cereal®, switched from organic to cheaper conventional ingredients, without lowering its prices accordingly.

• A Boston-area Whole Foods store carried 18 brands of packaged granola in the spring of 2011. While one would expect that the least expensive granola products would be conventional and the most expensive would be organic, that was not the case. The least expensive is the Whole Foods private label (365 Organic) organic granola, at $0.26 per ounce.

• GrandyOats, a relatively small, 100% organic, independent company in Maine, offers its organic granola at lower prices than agribusiness giant Kellogg Company’s Bear Naked® conventional granola.

• After extensive testing, numerous “natural” products were indeed contaminated with high levels of GE ingredients, sometimes as high as 100%, such as: Kashi® GoLean®, Mother’s® Bumpers®, Nutritious Living® Hi-Lo®, and General Mills Kix®.

This is only part of a report, for the full report please visit http://cornucopia.org/cereal-scorecard/docs/Cornucopia_Cereal_Report.pdf

This report was compiled by The Cornucopia Institue

Find the Cheapest Prices on Toys!

Its almost time for Christmas Shopping

(sorry)

And since I tend to stay in the Christmas spirit till ohh about December, I have decided this year to get all my Christmas shopping out of the way early this year! 

For the most part I try to shop local but I have to say that because in past years I have been disappointed with a few local toy stores and their return policies on toys with slight tears in the boxes,and because Toys-R-Us is hardly what I consider local... I have decided to do a portion of it online.

Shopping online however can be time consuming and frustrating especially if you are looking for the best deals, nothing sucks worse then finding a better deal a few minutes after you already purchased the item!

So for Kids Games this year I'm trying out Comparison Shopper,  the site has everything from Melissa and Doug toys to Stuffed animals, to action figures!

Simply click on the toy that you're looking at and then see prices for the toy! It even lets you know which sites charge shipping and handling, which sites have return policies and more information that you want to know, without having to open up six separate tabs in your browser!

So save time, money, and frustrations by giving Comparison Shopper a try!

This is a paid advertisemsent  for Comparison Shopper. All opinions are 100% mine 

Holiday Cookies like a Pro!

Do you see those cookies?

I know what you're thinking, you're thinking that I spent a bunch of my hard earned money on some fancy bakery cookies.

Well if you think that you would be incorrect (sorry I got ya)

In The Biscuiteers Book of Iced cookies you'll learn how to not only decorate beautiful cookies, but how to bake them and make icing that actually dries hard! 

I have been trying for years to make cookies that were worthy of going on a plate for display, and now I've finally figured out how to do it! I was so happy with the way these cookies turned out and not only do they look beautiful but they taste amazing!

The Biscuiteers Book of Iced Cookies also features some delicous cookies to roll, cut and decorate.  Most of them quite creative and types of cookies I had never thought of, I had no idea that people decorated cookies besides sugar and gingerbread!

I made the Almond cookies, which are made with almond meal. They were surprisingly easy to roll out and cut. The dough didn't seem to stick as much! I will note that I did get some amazing tips from the authors Harriet Hastings and Sarah Moore, the book has chapters on preparing, and rolling out dough as well as chapters on how to prepare the perfect royal icing!

The rest of the book is amazing ideas for cookies to make, as well as templates so that you can make them yourself! Then follow the step-by-step icing instructions to create cookies that are fit to be sent for gifts or just out on display! 

If you want to impress the family, or just yourself grab this book and you'll be icing perfect cookies in no time!

I received a free copy of  The Biscuiteers Book of Iced Cookies for this review. I did not receive any cash payments for my review. All opinions are 100% mine.

Classic song turned children's book

If you're a fan of Bob Dylan (or just music in general) You have no doubt heard his song Blowin' In the Wind. 

Now the words to the song come to life in a beautifully illustrated children's book. 

The book Blowin' In the Wind  was illustrated by Jon J Muth. 

Jon brings the story to life the way in the way that he though about it as a child. Follow a paper airplane through the story, as a child Jon imagined that the 'answer' was written on this airplane, blowing in the wind. 

The illustrations are whimsical, and the book is timeless. It even comes with a copy of Bob Dylan's original recording of Blowin' In the Wind which everyone in the family has enjoyed listening too.

This book also makes a great coffee table book. I have been leaving it out on the coffee table and everyone seems to really enjoy Jon J Muth's depiction of the song!

The book is wonderful, and Annabella has loved looking at all the pictures and following along to the cd. I'm glad to be able to introduce her to such a wonderful artist at such a young age!

Bake Sale Success

Does the thought of baking for a bake sale seem a bit intimidating? Do you just not have the time or the creativity to produce much more the chocolate chip or snicker doodles? 

Well now there is a way to impress them all!

"The Ultimate Cake Mix Cookie Book' by the Camilla V . Saulsbury, who also happens to be the winner of The Food Network's Ultimate Recipe Showdown is a collection of over 375 cookie recipes made with good old cake mix!

I'll admit that at first I was a bit weary about this book, I thought that it would be repetitive. But as usual with cookie books I was amazed at all the options I had! Not only were there your basic drop cookies but Rolled cookies and even filled cookies, many sounding good enough to be found in a fancy bakery!

Here are a few examples

Bittersweet Chocolate Blackout Cookies

Pineapple Softies

Fresh Raspberry Blondies

Maple Pecan Gooey Bars

Cranberry Streusel Bars

Mocha-Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies!

The best part about all these cookies is that they are so simple to make. You don't have to worry about weighing the perfect amount of flour because its already weighed for you!  All that's necessary is a few extra ingredients and steps and that box of devils food cake is now a delicious batch of cookies!

The next thing I worried about as I looked at the recipes, was how I was going to make all these without using a hydrogenated cake mix? I had steered away from them in the past because they are almost always high-fructose or hydrogenated.

That was till I looked in the baking section of my local Whole Foods!  They had a whole array of cake mixes and just my luck they were on sale!! I bought up a few boxes because I have a feeling that in the next few weeks I'll be cooking up more batches of these cookies! With so may to try I could make a cookie every day of the year and still not finish the book.. 

I received a free copy of The Ultimate Cake Mix Cookie Book for this review. I did not receive any cash payments for this review. All opinions are 100% mine.

Real Mom's LOVE to eat!

Are you a foodie mom? 

Do you think that grocery shopping is just about the best thing ever? 

Does the local Italian Restaurant see you often for appetizers and a glass of Chianti when you get out of work early?

Well then let me introduce you to the book  'Real Mom's Love to Eat'  Its a practical approcach to learning how to gradually eat whole foods, and get into a healthier diet rather then forcing yourself to stick to harsh diets that just don't fit into your lifestyle, or diets where the food is just plain awful!

The book has a plan for healthy eating, that allows you to learn about food and how it effects your body.  It helps you lose weight in a healthy and sustainable maner rather then just being another fad diet where we max out on protein or eliminate carbohydrates (I mean seriously how long can someone go without a baguette?

You can also sign up to be a food affairiate where you'll have the opportunity to tell other people about this wonderful book,  and a chance to win great prizes! 

For more information about 'Real Moms Love to Eat' you can visit the website at 

http://www.realmomslovetoeat.com

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Beth Aldrich - Real Moms Love to Eat blogging program, for a chance to get 3,000 My SocialMoms Rewards points. For more information on how you can participate,click here

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