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12
Jul, 2012

Candy That Is UNREAL

I’m not going to lie: Aubrey and I LOVE candy. I was one of those new moms who didn’t let my baby have any refined sugar for the first two years. Until almost two and a half, Aubrey did not taste candy, donuts, ice cream… nothing! The only things were her 1st and 2nd birthday cakes which were made by me, from scratch so they weren’t too horrendous.

But I love sugar and junk food and I knew it was only a matter of time before Aubrey would be away at preschool and the holiday and birthday parties would change her palate. I knew it was coming and I was fine with it. Now we enjoy sweets as part of our daily lives. We enjoy having a little treat of some sort every day, but everything in moderation and we try to not eat COMPLETE junk. For instance I try to limit artificial flavors and colors and we don’t drink soda pop or instant flavored drinks in our house. We bake a lot of our own treats from scratch mainly because it’s a fun thing to do and I know what ingredients go into what we eat and I can choose real food ingredients.

A couple weeks ago, I was introduced to a new snack food company that is out to change the way we treat ourselves and I can’t tell you how excited I am about it! The name of the company is UNREAL.

Their junk food concept is junk food UNJUNKED. What happens to candy when you take corn syrup and replace it with real cane sugar? Take out artificial colors and flavors and replace them with more cacao and plant dyes? Research and use a superior packaging material to keep the candy fresh without the use of artificial preservatives? What happens when you make a candy with sustainably farmed ingredients, no hydrogenated oils/fats, real milk from grass fed cows, also free from artificial hormones and antibiotics. No GMOs?! The result is an amazing tasting candy with more protein and fiber and over 40% less sugar per serving, on average. Yes! It is possible.

At this point you’re probably thinking – oh I bet it’s expensive and I’ll only be able to buy it at high end hippie stores where they shoot you dirty looks if you don’t bring your own reusable, help shopping bag. NO! It really IS delicious and it’s the same price as the junk filled candies you have settled for for years. And soon you will be able to buy UNREAL candy in over 30,000 stores nationwide.

I did have the opportunity to take a sample box of UNREAL candies home and Aubrey and I really enjoyed tasting them. We both love all of the 5 current offerings: UNREAL 77 (peanut butter cups), UNREAL 5 (chocolate caramel nougat bar), UNREAL 8 (chocolate peanut caramel nougat bar), UNREAL 41 (candy coated chocolates) and UNREAL 54 (candy coated chocolates with peanuts). #8 is my fave πŸ™‚ Β Click this pink banner to see more nutritional info!

As a mom, I’m sold. I believe in trying to feed my kid real food as often as possible and I am disgusted and shocked that in 2012 a typical US grocery store is filled with mostly “food” that is not really food. Chemicals laden with salt, corn syrup and artificial flavors and colors. Did you know that most caramel in the most popular candy bars isn’t actually caramel? It’s corn syrup colored to look like caramel and most of the chemical and non-food additives put into candy isn’t there to make it taste better. It’s there to make it cheaper to manufacture. None of us are perfect consumers or perfect moms but here’s an easy way to give your kids, and yourself, something everyone enjoys and feel a little less crap about it. Another way to eat real food and demand better.

UNREAL candies are currently available at Michael’s CVS & Walgreen’s stores and soon will hit the shelves at Kroger, Ralph’s, BJ’s, Target, Fred Meyer and Food4Less. Check out their super groovy website, www.GetUnreal.com, and read the UNREAL story, get the UNREAL facts. Get inspired to UNJUNK your junk food and support this new company doing the right thing for people and the right thing for our planet. What a refreshing and yummy change!

 

* I was not compensated for this post and I did receive a sample box of UNREAL candies to facilitate this review. I honestly, truly did this candy and this company’s mission! Yay!

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12
Dec, 2011

Fresh And Easy Does It Again!

I always like to eat, but eating during the holidays is one of my favorite things. I allow myself to let loose in the food department and the belt department and reflect on the year that has passed and the year to come whilst stuffing my face. 


And I like it all – savory, sweet, sugary, meaty, fruity, chocolatey, liquory and my most favorite of all… BUTTERY.

The fine folks of Fresh And Easy (my FAVORITE grocery store on the planet) invited me down to a Holiday face stuffing extravaganza last week which was awesome within itself, but the venue was amazing as well – The Queen Mary Verandah Grill. It was my first time on the QM and it was a beautiful night to gorge oneself on a ship.

I LOVE Fresh And Easy and their holiday specialities this year are amazing! Grab one of their Holiday Guides or view it online, and go to town. You can even order an entire fresh cooked holiday meal for 8 of turkey, ham or beef roast from between $45-$65!! Just be sure to order by December 18 if you would like to have it for Christmas.

The San Fernando Valley Ninja Moms – We are STEALTH! (BTW, I just made that name up. We’re not really ninjas.) 

There’s a lot to choose from and lots of it is seasonal so don’t wait or it will be gone. Some of the items we sampled were the…


Cheeses, meats, veggies, nuts and dried fruits, crackers, salad and shrimp cocktail…

Petite Quiche (come in 3-cheese and Florentine, frozen section), 


Sweet sausage and yam skewers (YAY Chef Cindy!!), 

mini beef en croutes and brie & cranberry pastry puffs


Pie bites (apple raspberry & chocolate caramel, frozen section) & mini eclairs, pumpkin cheesecake pie, holiday cookies…

And of course, we all left with a giant bag of holiday goodies to sample and share with friends:


Aubrey and Bob Barker are ready for the holidays!

Belgian Biscuits, Dark Chocolate Nut & cranberry Squares,  Pumpkin Bread Mix, Orange Spice Granola, Napa Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Organic Cinnamon Flavored Coffee, Peppermint Hot Cocoa Mix, Panettone, Peppermint Bark, Swiss Dark & Milk Chocolate Truffles, Vermont Maple Syrup With Vanilla Bean



Aubrey is in love with the peppermint hot cocoa and we munched some of those truffles in the movie theater over the weekend. Shhh… don’t tell. That’s what the “mom purse” is for after all. Tonight I’m going to bring the wine and biscuits over to a friend’s house to share and the rest is MINE!! ALL MINE!!!! Mwahahaha! I’ll be cracking open the rest over the holiday week at home with Aubrey. I especially can’t wait try the vanilla bean maple syrup on my homemade pancakes πŸ™‚


Food makes a great holiday gift and I haven’t tired a single thing from Fresh And Easy that I haven’t liked yet. Great prices, amazing natural products with no corn syrup, no artificial colors or flavors and minimal use of preservatives. Stop by and pick up a gift – even if it’s just for you!


Happy Holiday Eating everyone and thank you, Fresh And Easy, for a fantastic kick off to the holiday party season!

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29
Mar, 2011

New Jelly Belly Bubbles For Easter!

Hey There! For all of you Easter Bunnies out there, I just found out about a fun new basket goodie that’s a nice alternative to the typical sugar overload – Jelly Belly brand has new scented bubbles! Woot!


Aubrey is almost four now, so she’s healthily obsessed with candy. I can’t blame her, I love candy too, but I do limit the amount of sweets she gets. Easter is just around the corner and while looking for a candy alternative for her basket I found these new Jelly Belly scented bubbles and I think they’ll be a big hit so I wanted to pass on the info!


I think most preschoolers like bubbles and what kid wouldn’t like a bubble that smells like a fruity sweet Jelly Belly? The bubbles come in a four different styles and each in three different colors/scents:



Jelly Belly Squeeze and Blow Pop-Up Bubbles



Jelly Belly Scented Bubble Necklace



Jelly Belly Scented On-The-Go Bubbles





All of these products are available in Very Cherry, Grape Jelly and Top Banana scents and  also look for the other new Jelly Belly Scented products: Body Wash, Nail Polish, Moisturizer, Ice Shaver, Stationery and Candles, all available on Amazon.com


I know Aubrey is going to go nuts for these in her basket and hopefully they will distract her enough to allow me to eat all of her Resse’s Peanut Butter Eggs and malted milk ball eggs. Hey, what’s the point in having a kid if you can’t put YOUR favorite candies in their Easter basket?

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