Day: November 29, 2011

  • Cranberry Naturals Review and Giveaway

    Cranberry Naturals Review and Giveaway

    I love Cranberry Juice. Growing up, I loathed it. I cringed opening the fridge and seeing the Cranberry Juice, because it meant someone was sick, and everyone would be drinking it until the sickness was gone.  To my young tastebuds, Cranberry Juice was very bitter. 
    Then one day I married Mark, and he LOVED cranberry juice, drinking close to 1 glass a day. So I looked into Cranberry Juice more, and started slowly adding it to my diet (not diet diet, just the normal foods I would eat).  Overtime I was able to overcome the bad childhood memories of cranberry juice, and actually enjoy it.  I think the biggest problem was that when you have a cold, it magnifies the bitter taste.  I still can’t drink cranberry juice when I’m sick.
    I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review some of Old Orchards Cranberry Naturals.  Here’s a few fun facts about this awesome drink:
     – It has 2X the cranberry juice of leading “diet” juices
     – 40% less sugar than other brands, and naturally sweetend with Truvia and just a touch of sugar
     – NO artificial flavors or preservatives
    Can it get any better?  Besides Cranberry Juice already having tons of health benefits, Old Orchard has made Cranberry Juice healthier by cutting back their sugar and loading it with more of the actual fruits juice! 
    Now being the holidays are here, and the cold weather has come to stay, I had to try something a little new with Cranberry Naturals.  I decided to make my own Wassail, completely experimental with no recipe to guide me (I LOVE recipes and rarely venture away from them).  Oh, and if you’re wondering what Wassail is, it’s like Hot Apple Cider, but has more fruits and spices in it. One of my favorite Christmas Carols is Here We Come A Wassailing, although some sing it as Here We Come A Caroling. That is the only word that has been changed. Not sure why, but there’s a little Christmas fact for you!
    Right back to my Wassail.  I made it up last night, and it was so delicious! The kids loved watching it simmer, and enjoyed drinking it as well.
    Home Maid Simple’s Cranberry Wassail
    Ingredients:
    64 oz Old Orchard Cranberry Naturals Original
    6 oz Old Orchard Frozen Apple Concentrate
    1 Gala Apple, peeled, cored and sliced
    1 Orange, juiced
    1 Orange, sliced
    2 Cinnamon sticks
    1/2 tsp Allspice
    Directions:
    In a large pot, mix all ingredients together. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, let simmer about 20 minutes. Serve warm.  You can either pull the fruit pieces out, or enjoy with the wassail. The kids escpecially had fun seeing apples and oranges inside their drinks. For large holiday parties, I suggest doubling the recipe.  Enjoy!
    Guess what?! I have a giveaway for you!!!  Old Orchard is giving away coupons for FREE Cranberry Naturals to 5 of my lucky readers!  Each winner will receive 2 coupons for FREE Cranberry Naturals as well as 2 $.50 cents off coupons!  That’s 4 coupons each for 5 Winners!!
    All you have to do is enter the Rafflecopter Form below!
    (If the form is not reloading, or the wrong giveaway is showing, just click the title of this post, or refresh your page)
    *I was provided with Old Orchard Cranberry Naturals to review and give my honest opinion. All opinions shared are my own.
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  • Tuesday Tips – The Amazing Bread Slice

    Welcome to Tuesday Tips!
    Have you ever taken a good hard look at your bread? Wonder what you can do with it other than eat it? No? Or do you throw away the heel because no one in your family likes it, especially the kids?
    Ok, I know kind of random questions there, I mean who really wonders what they can do with food besides eat it. Bread is pretty amazing though!
    For instance, if I place a slice of bread in a container of brown sugar, my brown sugar will stay soft! I hate going to use brown sugar (especially during this baking season) and find that I have to pull out a pick ax to get a few grains. 
    While browsing pinterest I came across another way to use a slice of bread!

    If you bake a cake the night before you want to use it, and leave it on the counter overnight. You probably worry about it going stale. If you just put a slice of bread on top of it, it will keep the staleness away.  Apparently it works on muffins and cupcakes too, but I’m guessing you’d need to use a couple slices to cover a whole batch of those.
    I haven’t tried this yet, but I just bought some round cake pans from pampered chef, so a cake is in our near future. The science behind it though, makes perfect sense to me. The cake, like the brown sugar, draws on the moisture from the bread. I don’t recommend eating the bread after using it for these tips, as it will be stale! It would probably make some great French Toast though!
     
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