Reviews Galore

Howdy folks!

Got what I hope is a fun post for you today but first I wanted to let you know that CSN Stores contacted me about an opportunity to review a product from one of their online stores. Yeah, CSN and I are like this.

If you’re not familiar with CSN Stores, they have over 200 online stores to shop from. You can buy things like end tables, kitchen rugs, or greenhouses.

I haven’t decided what I’m going to review just yet but wanted to let you know to be on the lookout for it in the near future.

Hope you don’t mind but today’s post is mainly random non-sponsored product reviews. Things I picked up along the way recently and thought I’d share with you.

Soooo, I finally bought my first jar of Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter. Averie has spoken very highly of the stuff that when I spotted it I didn’t hesitate to pick it up. Let’s just say I can totally understand why she stocks up on the stuff for year-round! Oh my! Now, I know this isn’t the healthiest thing but hey, it’s seasonal and why not give myself a little treat. Snarf!

While at TJ’s we picked up a frozen bag of Quinoa Duo with Vegetable Mélange. We normally would cook our own quinoa (and veggies) but here it’s all ready to go (takes like six minutes to cook). Gotta have a cheat once in awhile or what I’d refer to as a Rachel Ray or more like the semi-homemade lady (she annoys me - the lady that is, not RR, although I'm sure RR is annoying to others). It’s great as a meal or an addition to one for lil Yardsnacker. He loves the stuff. It has red and white quinoa with sweet potato and zucchini. It’s a hit-n-miss with the zucchini for my lil guy but otherwise, it’s a winner. I have to admit I like it too.

Still with me?

We picked up a HUGE bottle of Ohgave raw agave syrup as it was on sale at Whole Foods. This is a new product to me. Say what you want about agave but I’m not opposed to it…for the most part. We don’t have it much to be honest but I’m not going to shun it like Dr. Mercola wants me to (I sometimes like Dr. M but find he’s annoying a lot of the time with his scare tactics). This bottle has a pic of Matthew Kenney on the back so it must be good, right? Well, as a matter of fact, it is! I will say that not all agaves are the same. Some people will argue about the fructose content or the color of agave (I’ve heard that if it’s not clear there’s no guarantee you’re getting 100% raw agave - Ohgave says I am) but I do believe in GOOD agave. I will rate this as a good agave. So many are mass produced that I believe there is validity to some of the arguments. However I don’t think I have to be running scared because some aren’t “raw” (although, I do prefer the raw ones, if possible) and/or is amber in color. If you’re not against agave syrup then I do recommend Ohgave’s raw blue agave nectar.

At my Whole Foods there is a product we’ve tried many times before because we love it so much but then forgot about it until recently. I think we od’d on it before…it’s Zane & Zack’s honey-chipotle gourmet sauce. Oh my, so good! It’s spicy, it’s sweet, it’s smoky, it’s d-lish! It’s made here in Washington so I’m not sure if it’s sold at other Whole Foods. But if you spot it and it sounds like your kind of condiment, I (we) highly recommend it. Great on tacos (raw or not) or with guacamole or whatever. As you read, it contains honey so if you don’t do bee products then you’ll want to pass.

Hello? Still there? Good, if you are.

Last review. Recently, I won a Vapur water bottle from Julia’s blog Easy Eco to Go. Thanks again, Julia and Vapur! So I’ve had time to test it out and it’s awesome. Very handy with its design (when empty it can be stored folded or rolled or just flat) and carabiner clip. Well, YS2 loves the bottle too. He can drink out of it (with assistance since it’s made for big people) pretty good. However, he reminded me of those old old old Samsonite commercials where the gorilla goes “ape” on the luggage. Caleb didn’t sit or stomp on the “un-bottle” like the gorilla but it was thrown, dropped and folded while half filled with water. I don’t recommend doing these things normally but I can report the integrity of the un-bottle is still intact. Phew! It’s a mighty good reusable bottle if you ask me. If you’d like to read Julia’s review on the vapur, read it here.

Hopefully, I didn’t bore you too much. Just had to get that off my chest. :) Thanks for sticking to the end if you did.

Do you like/appreciate product reviews? I hope so because I like to post them and will continue to do so. But just curious if you like them or find them helpful.

Do you do agave? I didn't go in detail above about the pros and cons of agave (I left that one to other people and experts to duke it out) but I just don't believe that all agaves are bad. What do you think?

And Dr. Mercola. *sigh* He puts out some good info; I even subscribe to his newsletter but find many times deleting them before reading because of his scary negative approach. There are other sources of info besides him but what do you think of him?