Why not choose fair trade??

I received a sample of Green Mountain Coffee's Three Continent Blend coffee via BzzAgent.

The Green Mountain Fair Trade Three Continent Blend is wonderful. It is so rich, robust, and flavorful. I'd gladly drink the Three Continent Blend every day for my morning coffee. Not only does it taste great, though, this coffee is helping farmers on three different continents, and their communities. That makes it even more enjoyable to me.

Even though I won't be able to go to Peru anytime soon to see coffee growing in action, I was able to live vicariously through Kelly Clarkson by viewing her travelogue at ChooseFairTrade.com. The whole website is really well-done and interactive. I especially enjoyed seeing the statistics on the "A Fair Trade Story" page. Why wouldn't you try Fair Trade Coffee from Green Mountain?

Be sure to visit ChooseFairTrade.com and try some new Three Continent Blend soon!

Filippo Berio® Extra Virgin Olive Oil

I received a free sample of Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil through BzzAgent. My husband and I have enjoyed trying this olive oil in various dishes. We use olive oil pretty often in our kitchen already, since it is healthier than butter and other alternatives. Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil has a great taste. Here are some ways we used it:

Salads: During the summer, I'm a huge fan of making salads that don't necessarily involve lettuce (pasta, potato, caprese, bean, etc.). This week, I made a salad with orzo, chickpeas, cucumbers, dill, and a light olive oil/lemon juice dressing. It made a wonderful summer weeknight meal, and I know it was much healthier than a heavy potato salad made with mayonnaise and sour cream.

Cooking: We use olive oil for cooking most dishes. It's easy to saute just about anything with it. Recipes that call for butter to be melted in the pan can easily use olive oil instead. And the Filippo Berio Extra Virgin has a nice flavor that we appreciate.

Popcorn: We love to snack on popcorn! It's low in fat, and when you don't top it with butter, it's almost fat-free. I use a stovetop popper and good quality popcorn. I drizzle a couple a teaspoons of the Filippo Berio olive oil on the popped popcorn, then sprinkle on some tasty combination of seasonings. The olive oil helps the seasonings stick to the popcorn, and adds a nice flavor. Yum!

You can download your own printable copy of an Olive Oil Substitution Chart at filippoberio.com. You can also find tasty recipes and create ways to use olive oil. I'd definitely recommend giving Filippo Berio Extra Virgin a try!

Got2b POWDER'ful Volumizing Styling Powder

I have been trying POWDER’ful from Got2b that I got for free from BzzAgent. I usually use it on days I don't have time to wash my hair, thought it works any time I need a little extra volume. I have found that I only need a little bit, sprinkled on my hands, for the product to work. It's easy to get too much, especially when you apply it directly to your head. Then my hair gets a little too sticky and feels dirty. But with just a little, the powder does provide a small bit of volume that I don't otherwise have (my hair is generally very, very flat!). It's really not a lot of volume - I could definitely not replicate the gorgeous model's hair on the package - it is just a little bit. I also wish it lasted a little big longer before going flat, but maybe that's just my wimpy hair.

Though I've had hair powder applied to my hair at the salon before, I had never used a styling powder at home until trying POWDER’ful. Now I'm glad I've tried it, and would recommend it to others.

Me Time with Café Escapes

With a young baby in the house and a part-time job, it's very, very hard to find "me time." But after I received some free samples of Café Escapes K-cups from BzzAgent, I was eager to make it happen!

I usually have some kind of coffee drink in the morning on my way to work. Having a Keurig brewer is great for when I'm running late and need a cup FAST! However, this BzzCampaign encouraged me to slow down and enjoy one of the new Café Escapes cups while relaxing. I thought that was a good idea. Here's me relaxing with my favorite mug - As you can see, I've got my hair pulled back, and sweatshirt on!

I had tried the Café Escapes Chai Latte before, and always found it a nice break from regular coffee. The new flavors from Café Escapes are no disappointment. Café Caramel seriously tastes like you're drinking melted caramel candy. It might be a little too sweet for some, but not me! That was my favorite for a relaxing afternoon treat. The Café Vanilla was equally good - kind of like the Chai, just with less spices. I don't have hot chocolate very often, but when I do, I much prefer dark chocolate, so the Dark Chocolate Hot Cocoa from Café Escapes is a great choice.

One thing people may not know is that when brewing a drink that contains powdered milk, like hot chocolate or any of the Café Escapes flavors, your Keurig machine needs to be flushed out afterwards. I learned this the hard way a couple years ago. I would make hot chocolate, then find that the machine kept clogging up and breaking! Luckily, the support person I talked to at Keurig told me what to do, and it's been fine since. After you brew a cup of any Café Escapes flavor, just remove the K-cup and "brew" a cup of plain water. That should clear things up enough for the next use.

I'm very glad I got to try the new (and old) flavors from Café Escapes. I will definitely keep several Café Escapes K-cups on hand for relaxing treats in the future!

Redbox Instant by Verizon

Unfortunately, I have not been impressed with Redbox Instant by Verizon so far. I received a free one month trial from BzzAgent (though anyone can sign up for a free trial here). The trial included access to streaming movies on their website, as well as four credits for renting from any Redbox kiosk.

My husband and I have not really used Redbox in the past, so we were excited to try out the new service. We used all four of our DVD credits at kiosks in our area. The great thing about that is that we learned where the kiosks are closest to our house! The Redbox website makes it easy to browse the movies available to rent at the kiosk and reserve one for a certain site. It's equally as easy to browse at the kiosk. We also liked that you could return movies to any kiosk, not just the one you picked up the movie from.

However, all of that nice stuff above is not new - it's part of regular Redbox, and has been for awhile. The new product is Redbox Instant, the main purpose of which is supposedly streaming movies online. And this is the part I found very disappointing. We found very few movies we were interested in watching among the selection available for streaming. The service claims to have new releases and a good selection, but I just did not find that to be true.

The most frustrating thing to me was the service's website. I found it confusing and difficult to tell which movies were available to stream versus to rent at the kiosk. Then I discovered that there is a whole other category: movies available to PAY to stream. These aren't part of Redbox Instant, but you can pay (usually $4.99 or more) to stream them from your computer. It needs to be clearer which category you're browsing through on the website. I would find a video I was interested in seeing, see the words "WATCH NOW" and think I could watch it as part of the Redbox Instant subscription. Only to find that when I clicked WATCH NOW, it said I had to pay.

I understand that part of the issue with having certain movies available for streaming is with copyrights and the people who make the movies. But if similar subscription-based streaming services (Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu Plus) can provide better choices, why can't Redbox Instant? I've tried all three of those other services, and as of now, I'd take any of them over Redbox Instant.

When I did stream a movie, I used my Mac laptop. The quality was great, and it took NO time to load. This is definitely an improvement over similar services - if Redbox Instant had better choices, I would recommend it for the quality.

I also tried to use my Chromebook to stream, but that didn't work, since you need Microsoft Silverlight for this service. There are a few quirky things sometimes too - like the sign-in window continuing to pop up even after you've signed in - but I can overlook those, since it's still in beta. I'm sure those will get fixed.

Also, it would be nice if we could have streamed the movies through our Sony DVD player or Wii. I understand the service is already available on some devices like those, and I assume they are working on adding more devices, hopefully including what we have.

I'm glad this free trial exposed me to the Redbox kiosks, and I think I will continue to use those - something I hadn't done before. The Redbox Instant subscription comes with four DVD credits a month, but costs $8 a month. Renting four DVD's from the kiosks directly would be a few dollars less than that. So for me, it's definitely not worth it to continue paying for Redbox Instant. I won't continue my subscription until they add more movies or somehow make the service better than similar ones already out there. I'll stick to the kiosks for now, and use Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu Plus for streaming movies and TV shows.

Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream

I recently received free Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream as a BzzAgent. I had used other Neutrogena products in the past, but had not tried the Norwegian Formula, which is a concentrated glycerin-based formula meant to repair and protect very dry and damaged skin.

  

As you can hopefully tell from the pictures, I certainly fit the bill for having very dry skin. In winter, my knuckles are often so dry they crack and bleed. I have the bad habit of picking at the skin of my cuticles whenever I am nervous or bored. And I have one nail that grows in completely split down the middle (my problem nail). I would love to get professional manicures more often, but with a new baby, that isn't easy.

I usually end up taking care of my poor hands myself, often doing one or two steps a day, instead of all at once. After trimming and filing my nails to the length I like (ok, I admit, sometimes what I really mean is biting them to the right length...), I take care of my cuticles. I clip off all the little pieces that I would otherwise be tempted to pick at, using an angled cuticle trimmer like this one. I trim away all I can and try to get them as smooth as possible.

Then I move on to my problem nail. I have experimented with many products over the years to try to get this nail under control. If I don't, it gets caught in everything I touch, rips further down the nail bed, and causes me lots of pain and headaches! Here's what works for me: I trim a piece of fiberglass or silk to fit over the split, squeeze a little nail glue and powder on top, then wait for it to dry. Then I shape the nail with a file and buffer, and apply some clear polish (I like Hard as Nails from Sally Hansen).

If I'm feeling ambitious, or have a hot date that requires painted nails, I can then paint over the broken one with no problem. I will admit I don't paint my nails too often though - especially recently - so it's important that they look at least ok without any polish.

After working on my nails, I always apply some type of hand lotion. I have found that the Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream really helps my dry skin and cuticle problems. In addition to after manicures, I also apply it each night before bed, and again in the morning before going to work. The bottle says you only need a little bit, because it is so concentrated. But I find myself going back for more and more to rub into each cuticle. Once I do so, my cuticles stay soft and moisturized for longer, so I am not tempted to mess with them!

I used to use a special cuticle cream on them, and have also tried plain old Vaseline. But the Norwegian Formula keeps every part of my hands moisturized, and isn't greasy like Vaseline.

Here's what my hands look like now, after a few weeks of using Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream:

  

Hopefully you can tell that the skin around my cuticles looks much better, and the dry knuckles are almost gone! I really like the Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream, and will continue to use it. Now I just need to stop picking at my nails!

My Christmas Cookie Tray

Ok, it's after Christmas, so this is kind of silly to write about now. But at least for my own record, I want to make a list of what Christmas cookies I baked this year, with links to recipes. I have to say I think I did a pretty good job on these, and I'd like to make them again next year. So, instead of thinking "hmm, those macaroons I made last year turned out perfect! Now, what recipe did I use again...?" - here's my list!

1. Sesame Wafers: This recipe was in my December Food Network magazine. I didn't have enough regular sesame seeds, so I used black ones. They were not the prettiest cookie, but very tasty. If you like sesame seeds, make them! If not, don't.
2. Dutch Spice Cookies: Also in the December Food Network magazine. I don't like molasses, so actual gingerbread is not that great to me. But these! All the goodness of gingerbread minus molasses! Mine were not soft at all - very crunchy, but this made them excellent with a cup of coffee.
3. Glazed Citrus Rounds: The last from the magazine that I made. These were one of the most popular on my cookie tray. Very tasty!
4. Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Macaroons: I have always had trouble making coconut macaroons correctly. This recipe is the first that has been a major success for me. Use good chocolate; I melted down a chocolate Santa that someone gave us, and it was great. I wish I knew what kind of chocolate it was!
5. Chocolate Cherry Cordials: Chocolate + cherries = delicious!! I saw these in Parade magazine, and had to make them. I totally forgot to roll them in sugar before baking them, but they were still fantastic.
6. Chocolate Mints: I make these every year - my Mom's recipe!
7. Toffee-Pretzel Peanut Butter Cookies: The name says it all.
8. Jam Thumbprints: I used pineapple and cranberry-raspberry jams, because that's what I had on hand.
9. Nestlé® Toll House® Dark Chocolate & Mint Morsel Cookies
10. Hot Chocolate on a Stick: Not a cookie, but worth mentioning, since it was as much work as cookies, if not more! I gave almost all of these away as gifts, and have just two sticks left, awaiting a cold day for me to try them myself.

Dark Chocolate & Mint Morsel Cookies

Clockwise from top left: Chocolate Mints, Pretzel-Toffee Peanut Butter Cookies, Buckeyes (from a friend), Jam Thumbprints

Draftmark Tap System

I received a new Draftmark Tap System to try out through BzzAgent. When my BzzKit arrived, I was excited to try this new system, which allows you to serve draught beer right from your refrigerator. My husband, a bigger beer enthusiast than me, was excited too. We took the system out of the box and starting charging the battery. After we purchased our first refill, it was very easy to set up the system and get it going in the fridge.

The system takes its own refills, and right now there are only a few beers available: Shock Top Belgian White, Shock Top Wheat IPA, Michelob Amber Bock, Bass Pale Ale, and Goose Island Honkers Ale. We tried the Belgian White and Goose Island. I hope more beers become available soon.

We served the most beer from our Draftmark tap during our New Year's Eve party with eight friends. All who tried it thought it was good, and asked a lot of questions about the system. It was really great having the beer cold and ready to go in the fridge as soon as guests arrived.

At first I had trouble finding the beer refills. The system and refills are now available at many places in the Chicago area, including Binny's and Jewel. Unfortunately, Draftmark's own website does not have an updated list of where you can buy the tap system and refills (side note: I must say the website's splash page, where you have to choose your birthday from a timeline, is rather cool). Most of the refills are about $15 - a little more for Goose Island.

Is the system a good deal? Well, refills are one gallon. I didn't keep track of how many glasses we got from each gallon, but I can do some math: there are 128 ounces in a gallon, which is about the same as 11 12-ounce bottles of beer. For the $15 refills, that's about $1.36 per 12 ounces. A 6-pack of Shock Top Belgian White, one of the refills I tried, is about $8.50, so about $1.42 per 12 ounces. So, without accounting for the cost of the system itself, the beer IS slightly cheaper to buy this way.

Plus, my husband and I have been drinking the beer in small glasses, so it has been a lot more than 11 servings for us. And that's part of what makes the system great: you can have as much or as little as you want.

But the best part about the whole system is that the beer's NOT in a bottle: it's ON TAP!! The taste and texture are very similar to getting a glass from the tap at your local bar. Except it comes right from your own fridge! The refills say the beer stays fresh for 30 days. The one I've got in the fridge now has been in there for about 35, and it still tastes ok. The beer has been quite frothy - sometimes too much - no matter how I've poured it. But it goes down smoothly and tastes great!

The system does make some noise - enough to be a little annoying. There's a sound like a growling generator that it makes every once in awhile. But only while the beer is being poured. I'm sure it's necessary to make the system work, but it was enough to scare my four-month-old, so I'd prefer it was a little quieter. Otherwise, no complaints about this new tap beer system. We'll definitely keep using it, and will recommend it to friends!

Chocolate Mints

These are the best Christmas cookies in the entire world. If you like mint and chocolate (and who doesn't?), I think you'll agree with me. My mom has been making these since I was a little girl, so I don't know where the recipe originally came from. I make them every year, and people are always surprised at how good they are. Of course, you don't have to make them just at Christmas - but that is usually when it's easiest to find a box of Andes mints.

Here is my mom's recipe, with a few of my own modifications. It makes 80-90 cookies, depending on how large you make them - so half it if you don't want that many! Also, note that the dough has to chill, so be sure to allow time for that.

Chocolate Mints

3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 cups (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips or pieces
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Andes mints, about 1 pound, unwrapped

In a large saucepan, over low heat, cook butter, sugar, and water until butter is melted. Add chocolate pieces and stir until partially melted, remove from heat, stir until melted, and pour into large mixing bowl. Let stand 10 minutes to cool slightly.

With mixer at high speed, beat in eggs, one at a time. reduce speed to low and add combined dry ingredients, beating just until blended.

Chill dough at least 1 hour for easier handling. Chilling overnight is even better.

Preheat oven to 350˚. Line cookie sheets with foil. Roll teaspoonfuls of dough into balls; place on cookie sheets about two inches apart. Bake at 350˚ for 11-13 minutes - not longer as cookies crisp as they cool.

Remove from oven and IMMEDIATELY place one mint on each hot cookie. Allow mint to soften, then swirl the mint over the cookie (I use the back of a spoon to do this). Remove from cookie sheets and cool completely.

You can decorate with chocolate sprinkles, but I like them without. I sometimes make the cookies a bit smaller, then use just half a mint on each. These cookies also freeze well, so you can enjoy for a few months like I do.