Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Garden update....

I think I might have to start planting something in the garden this week!! I might be jumping the gun on this but, I am a beginner and I am supposed to make mistakes right???
Matt cleaned it out since we got some nice rain here and the weeds started in with a vengeance. I have to get in there and finish what he started, but that's fine by me.

My brother is interested in getting a worm compost pile going and I might join in the wormy fun. It's really amazing what those worms can do. I had no idea that they hatch from cocoons. Kind of creepy , but neat at the same time. He is reading more on that so I will let him teach me the ways once he is an expert.

Please follow the rules of the giveaway!

I just want to make sure everyone is follwoing the first rule of the giveaway....
You must include the name of your granola mix...if you fail to do so, your entry will not count!!!!

Monday, April 20, 2009

MixMyGranola Reivew and Giveaway....


I had the great opportunity to –MixMyGranola—the way I like it! I was very excited to get the chance to use this awesome service. MixMy Granola makes it possible for it’s customers to customize their very own granola. What a novel idea! The website is very easy to navigate and the instructions are so easy to follow. You first choose your granola base (there are 2 organic options), then it’s on to all the yummy ingredients (ranging from dried papaya, organic banana chips, hemp seeds and candy corn!) there are so many options to choose from. That would be my only complaint—choosing what to include in my mix! That’s a good problem to have if you ask me! They also have a few Pre-Mixed granola’s that make my mouth water just reading about them. I honestly do plan on using this site in the near future to make some more fun and healthy granola concoctions.
Our Story: Andreas, Matt and Raoul founded MixMyGranola in 2008. The idea of MixMyGranola was born when the three of us were sitting together at breakfast one morning discussing what the perfect granola would be like. Each one of us had different ideas and none of the ready-made granolas that we could find in supermarkets and grocery stores really fulfilled all of our granola dreams. So we started looking for the best granolas and the best ingredients and started creating our own granola mixes. While trying new combinations and new ingredients, we thought: hey- other people might want to do the same. So we created MixMyGranola.com: The website where YOU can custom-make your own granola. The way YOU like it!
My daughter and I had fun making our mix. It included: 100% organic Muesli, Goji berries, Dried blueberries, organic soy beans, organic raisins and lots of love (that’s really an ingredient!). It only took a few days and it was delivered to our house. I really like that the nutrition information is included and you even get to name your granola. We called ours- Healthy Family Mix. It is delicious. The portion size is perfect. One serving is a really generous amount too. 2 ounces of
granola is more than I thought it would be. I had a bowl with almond milk and it was luscious. Amara likes to eat it right out of the canister or mixed with some gold fish crackers. She also liked to be a part of the whole process of helping me to choose the ingredients. I am sure she would have loved to make a granola with gummy bears and candy corn though. I think I might save that mix for her birthday. I wonder how a 5 year old might respond to receiving a canister of granola as a present…..I am sure she will love it! I think this product would be a good one to give (as well as receive) to anybody that loves good, healthy food made from quality ingredients. And they have gift certificates too!
The Container: Each container holds 16 ounces of delicious granola and has an individual label on the back stating the exact nutrition facts of your custom-made granola mix and its ingredients. Each label also includes an individual Mix-ID that allows you (or anyone else) to re-order your favorite mix by entering the Mix-ID at MixMyGranola.com. The inside of the container is aluminum coated to keep your granola fresh and dry. It is sealed with a white plastic plug which is locked by "Freshness Guaranteed" stickers to maintain the highest quality that you can expect from MixMyGranola.We treat the environment with respect and all of our packaging is 100% recyclable. A soy-based ink is used to print our labels, which means less chemicals are leaking into the environment.
I really love what this company stands for in terms of the environment. I am so glad I found out about it as I am in the process of becoming more eco-conscious. This is another company to add to my list.
I am so happy to announce that Raoul from MixMyGranola has offered a $15 gift certificate to one lucky winner! Please follow the rules or you will not be included in the giveaway….Thanks!
~MAIN RULE (this must be followed or no other entries will count!) Log onto the
http://www.mixmygranola.com/ website and click on Mix-It! Tell me 4 ingredients you would add to your very own granola mix and tell me what you would name it!
~1 extra entry- subscribe to my RSS feed (or let me know that you already have) in a separate comment.
~Sign up to follow my blog.
~1 extra entry- Write a post in your blog linking to my blog
~1 extra entry- Write a post in your blog linking to the MixMyGranola site.
http://www.mixmygranola.com/
~1 extra entry-Follow me on Twitter. (Fitcrazedmomma)
~1 extra entry-Tweet about this giveaway (be sure to include the link in your comment so I can check!)
*you have 7 chances to enter……. Please be sure to separate your entries in the comment box.*This giveaway will run through 11:59pm of May 4th and the winner will be announced by the afternoon of May 5th. The winner will be chosen by using Random.org from all valid entries and will be contacted via email. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me before they forfeit their prize. Giveaway is open to US residents only.

What a week...

Last week was a mess. I had some crazy stomach virus for 24 hours and still felt kind of cruddy for a few days past the worst part. Now Amara is on the mend and I am pretty sure Miles is next in line and then Matt. She is such a tough kid! We were up together from 10pm-3am watching The Food Network while her stomach did it's business.
The good part is that the garden is on it's way to being cleaned up and ready to plant the vegetables! We ( well Matt did most of the work) spent most of Saturday out in the yard getting it ready. I hope to plant something in the next 2 weeks if possible. I talked to my mother in law and took some notes on what to plant and how to go about it. I think our garden is about 15x15--so it's a nice space for trial and error. I am sure I will have lots of errors too. It will be a fun learning experience for all of us if anything.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

snackTAXIs Giveaway winner!

janetfaye is the winner!
Please contact me w/in 48 hours or a new winner will be chosen
Congrats!!



Here are your random numbers:34
Timestamp: 2009-04-14 18:00:59 UTC

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Nice weather

This weekend was a really good one. The weather was nice and there was some yard work done.
My in-laws come for the day and helped us cut down a tree in our backyard.
I was able to talk to my mother in law about starting the organic garden. She was a big big help as she already has a really nice garden of her own. She gave me some tips as a new gardener and I just want to get started already. The garden is less of a mess since my father in law used his chain saw to cut down the big weeds, trees and other things that have taken over my garden area. Now all we need to do is get in there and clean it all out. The weather has been fairly nice for a few days in a row, so I hope we can get out before it goes from 50 degrees one day to 85 the next; it has happened before-trust me.
I also talked to my father in law about a compost pile. He is all for it and if I bring it up again, I might be able to get him to build me one! He's very handy and unfortunately my hubby did not inherit that gene!
So far I plan on planting tomatoes, broccoli, squash, pumpkin and peppers in the garden.
Amara is all ready too!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Recipe Review--

I have not done a recipe review in a while. It's from my old stand by of Deceptively Delicious.
I made the Marshmellow Crispy Treats.

I could not locate the "secret" ingredient of brown rice cereal though. I just used the regular Rice Krispie cereal.
The other odd ingredient was flax meal which I already had on hand. These treats tasted just as good as I remember. Matt and Amara agree.

Nonstick cooking spray
1 tbs trans-fat free soft margarine spread
1( 10 oz) package of mini marshmallows
6 cups crisp brown rice cereal
1/4 cup flaxseed meal

1- coat an 8 inch baking pan with cooking spray
2-Melt margarine in large pot over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove the pan from the heat.
3-Add cereal and flaxseed, and stir until rice is well coated with marshmallow. Press mixture into the baking dish and let cool before cutting into squares.

makes 8 large squares