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Bacon Shake from Jack in the Box, flavor review

February 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I love you more than bacon

It's Valentine's day. I've been married over 10 years and my sweet husband still thinks of me every year at Valentines: buys me nice presents and takes me out. I can't imagine life with out him and feel secure that he feels similar. Reality is, though, I don't think I can ever expect him to claim "I love you more than bacon". Bacon, after all, is his favorite food and he'd eat it for every meal, if it wasn't for the poor nutritional value. Would he marry bacon? That's silly, but fun. My entire family loves the new Jack in the Box advertising campaign "If you like bacon so much, why don't you marry it?" (www.marrybacon.com).  My daughters laugh uncontrollably at the commercial "make it official; you may now eat the bride". Jack … [Read more...]

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SOBE lifewater Pacific Coconut with coconut water, review

February 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Sobe lifewater Pacific Coconut with coconut water

It's good to see a beverage manufacturer providing a solution for the unpleasant tasting coconut water on the market. Last year I reviewed Zico pineapple & citrus flavored coconut water and was impressed with how I felt (amazingly refreshed & hydrated), but could hardly manage to drink the entire beverage. Coconut water has bitter rancid fat note that I find unappealing. My thoughts are that coconut water needs some sugar or sweetener to mask the bitter rancid flavor. The team at Sobe beverage must have thought the same thing. Because lifewater with coconut water contains sugar and Reb A (a natural high potency sweetner from Stevia extract). Sobe beverage also decided to lower the amount of coconut water, from 100% to 10%. This … [Read more...]

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Cheribundi Ginger Cherry Juice review

January 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Cheribundi Ginger Cherry juice

Tart cherry juice is all the rage this year! Exotic super fruit juices (acai berry, mangosteen) are losing ground to local fruits and berries. I'm delighted with this trend and excited to try some of the new juice beverages in the fresh produce section. One of these juice products is Cheribundi's Ginger Cherry juice. The cherry juice in this beverage is advertised as coming from 50 cherries and not from concentrate. There is no added water on the ingredient statement, and the ingredient statement reads (in descending order): tart cherry juice, apple juice (from concentrate), ginger juice and natural flavors. Cherry ginger is a new flavor combination. There exists one other beverage: a cherry ginger soda from Reed and several recipes … [Read more...]

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Activate Vitamin Performance Beverage, Fruit Punch review

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment
after shaking

It's Monday and it can be difficult to get motivated and going.  The Activate Vitamin Performance beverage is a perfect choice for a review on a Monday. Activate Vitamin beverage has a unique delivery system: a powdered drink in the red cap that you must "twist, shake, activate". The tag line for Activate Performance beverage is "a turn for the better". The advantage of this beverage over typical vitamin beverages on the market is that the vitamins in Activate are held under dark, dry conditions. Vitamins dispersed in water and exposed to light are subject to degradation (reducing effectiveness). Activate Vitamin beverage is packed with vitamins. One bottle has the following nutrients: Vitamin A  37.5%     Vitamin E   37.5%     … [Read more...]

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Silk all natural soymilk, Mint Chocolate review

December 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Silk all natural soymilk, mint chocolate

I'm a fan of Silk soymilk products. Silk's soymilk vanilla creamer is delicious and amazing in coffee.  Silk soymilk mint chocolate sounded like something my girls might like (since they love Westsoy's mint chocolate soymilk); so I gave it a try. I did not look at the ingredients or label closely and later realized that it was sweetened with Stevia. Stevia tends to be bitter and have a lingering aftertaste. I was hopeful that this product would taste good, since it was the Silk brand and it contained evaporated cane juice as well as Stevia.  Silk soymilk mint chocolate is pretty good as a cold beverage: creamy, sweet, nice mint flavor, low soy notes; but it is lacking in fullness & chocolate flavor. Unfortunately, my daughters … [Read more...]

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Bigelow Tea Eggnogg’n Review

December 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Bigelow Eggnogg'n Tea, An "Eggceptional" Winter Tea

Since moving to the Northwest seven years ago, I have become a huge tea fan. In the mornings, I allow myself one coffee drink and then switch to tea. I prefer tea with flavor, sweetener and milk.   Therefore, hearty comfort flavored teas are my favorite. Recently, at my local Albertson's, I found Eggnogg'n tea from Bigelow.  I've enjoyed a cup every morning since.  I prepare it with one packet of splenda and two tablespoons of light egg nog and find it very satisfying. Unfortunately, the flavor isn't too much like egg nog.  Personally, I find egg nog to have fruity rum notes, with vanilla, nutmeg and cream character.  There is little rum or nutmeg flavor in Eggnogg'n tea from Bigelow.   The tea is very buttery, caramelized and … [Read more...]

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Coffee-mate Caramel Macchiato creamer review

December 9, 2011 By 1 Comment
Coffee-mate Caramel Macchiato coffee creamer

It only took one taste of a caramel macchiato from Starbucks to fall in love. Caramel macchiatos are my favorite espresso drink. I inquired with the barista at Starbucks on how they make them, and now it's my usual coffee drink every morning. According to the barista, first you steam your milk, add the syrup (I use a tablespoon Torani Classic Caramel flavoring syrup), stir, and top this mixture with 2 espresso shots. It's delicious and a little labor intensive. When I saw the Coffee-mate's Caramel Machhiato flavored creamer in the store, it seemed convenient and I decided it was worth a try. If you add a good slug of it to your coffee, you'll begin to get the resemblance to a caramel macchiato, but it's no match. The buttery caramel … [Read more...]

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Westsoy Chocolate Peppermint Stick Soy Beverage review

November 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
West Soy Chocolate Peppermint Stick Soy beverage

Tis the season! It's getting cool outside, snow is on its way and it's time to stock up on seasonal beverages. Egg nog lattes and peppermint mocha are two favorite seasonal beverages.  Since chocolate peppermint stick is a flavor that appeals to the entire family, Westsoy's beverage is a good buy. I steamed it to use in my peppermint mocha and the girls loved it cold as their morning beverage. They quickly got over the fact that I didn't serve them a cup with a candy cane in it, once they tasted it. For a mocha, I use about 1/3 cup of chocolate peppermint stick soy beverage and steam it till nice and frothy. To the steamed soymilk, I add two espresso shots, 1 package of splenda and 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Without the extra sweetness, the … [Read more...]

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SoBe lifewater black & blue berry review

November 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment
SoBe lifewater black & blue berry

Because I grew up in an agricultural area in California, I know what a good peach, strawberry, plum, cantaloupe or tomato taste like. The only way to truly know what a fruit or vegetable tastes like is to try it fresh and ripe.    Moving to the Northwest has given me the opportunity to try other fresh fruits and vegetables. Some new favorites are raspberries and blueberries.   In fact, I like blueberries so much, I planted some in my backyard.   Before moving here, I would have describe blueberries as floral or green; maybe even watery. Blueberries are a touch more complex when picked ripe, they have a nice full sweetness, a touch of a floral character, some seedy notes, nice juiciness and a subtle tartness. The SoBe lifewater black … [Read more...]

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McDonald’s Peppermint Mocha review

November 6, 2011 By 2 Comments
McDonald's Peppermint Mocha

I visit McDonalds about once a week in the colder months. It's a great place to take my daughter to play while I enjoy some coffee and relax. If Starbucks had a play land, I'd be there in a heartbeat, but they don't. The coffee at Starbucks is hands down better than McDonalds; although McDonalds has done a great job recently in providing coffee options. If you buy a McCafe drink at McDonalds, you will not get to choose decaf, sugar-free, an extra espresso shot or light: McDonalds McCafe drinks come in big food service pouches (large bags) that are inserted into a machine to be dispensed. I found this out when I ordered a Peppermint Mocha and realized my order was the first order of the season. The crew had to go get the "new bag" from the … [Read more...]

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