Friday, May 11, 2012

Free Starbuck's Beverage - Flash Giveaway! CLOSED



Enter to win a FREE Starbuck's beverage! 

Open to U.S. residents only.  Contest ends 5/12/12 at 12:01am EST  Winner will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to claim prize.

Congratulations
Entry #36  Wendy!
(Must sign into the widget to see the official winner announcement.)




a Rafflecopter giveaway


Saturday, May 5, 2012

Monday Mention - Earth to Alice Boards 'n Bags




Earth to Alice offers beautiful custom made, hand crafted bags and jewelry boards. They use high-quality materials (some of which are even recycled materials!) and donate $1 of every purchase to the Earth through their Alice to Earth program. Each of Alice's bags and totes are unique in that they are made with reclaimed coffee bags and have a one-of-a-kind stamp and print! How cool is that?!


"Who is Alice anyway? Think of Alice as your sensible but stylish alter-ego that is begging for some order in the chaos of your life. With each Earth to Alice purchase, you will find yourself feeling a bit less frazzled and a little more grounded. We offer not only a greener way to shop, but a personalized approach to your shopping experience. Instead of choosing a product that every other Sue or Jane is sporting, Alice gives you the option to customize your order from start to finish. You are one of a kind, why shouldn't your accessories be too!? "

 ~Earth to Alice




Meet Erin Goodman, co-owner of Earth to Alice:

What inspired you all to start this business? Collectively Sunshine, Jennifer and I were in pursuit of starting a business inspired by creativity and giving back.  When Jennifer had found a solution to an every girl problem, the tangled jewelry woes, I knew that we had found our path.  We initially started solely with jewelry boards when Sunshine became obsessed with the idea of using recycled coffee bags as a basis in her own line of bags 'n totes.  We all agreed that something we craved when shopping on line was the option to create our own personalized products, so we decided that customization was the way to go!  We've always lived by the notion that you get what you give, which is what inspired our Alice to Earth charity.  For each purchase, we donate a $1 to Kids Cafe.  Just $1 feeds one hungry belly!


What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received?  If you keep the customer in the forefront of your mind when making business decisions, you will always come out on top.



What is your most popular product? Everyday Emily in “Sophia Black” and the All Around Alice in burlap

 


If there was one thing you could have people say about your company, what would it be? That we are true to our word and we always look out for the best interest of the customer.



What product of yours are YOU most fond of and why?   The All Around Alice Board in “Viceroy Black” with black hardware and a black frame or the Run Around Sue Bag in “It's a Hoot”




Do you have a promotion you would like to offer our fans? From now through Mother's Day we are offering $15 off of any item. Enter 'mommylove' at checkout!

Website:www.earthtoalice.com
Facebook:www.facebook.com/earth2alice
Twitter: @Earth2Alice

Tell us which Earth to Alice product is YOUR favorite in the comment section below. And don't forget to drop by their Facebook Page and show them some "Likey" love!




Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Homemade Sugar Free Coffee Creamer

Do you like all those yummy flavored coffee creamers on the market, but hate how expensive they are? Or how much sugar they put in them? Well, lucky for you, I decided to experiment with a few homemade sugar free coffee creamer recipes this past weekend and I'm going to share them with you!

First, let's talk about the sweetener.  I opted to get a little crazy and try out an all natural sweetener by making a date paste....something I remembered reading about on the triple "w" a while back.  It worked beautifully, but it does add the extra step of straining the creamer through a fine mesh sieve before storing in the refrigerator.  Feel free to diss my suggestion use whatever sweetener you feel most comfortable with, just make sure you taste as you add to be sure it has just the right amount of sweetness for your taste buds. 


So, let's start with the paste!  This was so super easy to make....

Ingredients:

1 Cup of Dates, pitted
1 Cup of hot water


Directions:
Place Dates in a food processor.  Turn processor on and slowly add the hot water.  Then let the machine run for about 1 minute and you will end up with a very smooth date paste.





Now we'll move on to the flavors!  I'll start with my riskiest flavor combination first...Chocolate Peanut Butter...inspired by the hubster who is obsessed with Reece's Peanut Butter Cups!  Why NOT add that delicious flavor to your morning cup of joe, right??  I wasn't sure how this one would turn out in the end with the peanut butter possibly being too thick of a consistency.  I thought it might just sink to the bottom, only to be left with a big gloppy mess after the coffee was slurped down.  BUT, it turned out fabulously!  I think the key to getting the correct consistency was melting it all together over the stove.  In full disclosure, I found that I did have to add quite a bit of the creamer to my coffee to get the desired taste.  But sticking my finger in sampling this creamer before I added it to the coffee was a wonderful taste of heaven!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Creamer
Ingredients:
1 Cup of Cream
1 1/2 Tablespoons of Cocoa Powder
1/3 Cup of Date Paste (or your own sweetener, added to taste)
1 heaping spoonful of all natural Peanut Butter (yeah, sorry, not an accurate measurement! lol)

Directions:
Place cream and Cocoa Powder in a medium saucepan.  Heat over medium heat and whisk until cream begins to steam. Then add Peanut Butter and whisk until smooth.  Turn off heat and whisk in Date Paste or other sweetener. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. (Not necessary if Date Paste is not used.)  Will store in a glass jar in the refrigerator for about a week.



Now, on to a much more basic, yet, Über popular flavor.....French Vanilla!  This turned out simply fabulous....and I'll just leave it at that.  I know, I know....that is hard for me to do.

French Vanilla Creamer

Ingredients:
1 Cup of Cream
1/3 Cup of Date Paste (or your own sweetener, added to taste)
1 Tablespoon of Vanilla Extract

Directions:
Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl.  Strain through a fine mesh sieve. (Not necessary if Date Paste is not used.)  Will store in a glass jar in the refrigerator for about a week.



Lastly, another slightly off the wall flavor, but SO worth the risk....Cinnamon Streusel!  Yup, you read that correctly.  This one was my absolute favorite!  All the flavors blended so perfectly together that I just wanted to drink the creamer straight from the jar.  Not such a pretty picture, I know.  But, you know you would be tempted too!

Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Creamer

Ingredients:
1 Cup of Cream
1/3 Cup of Date Paste (or your own sweetener, added to taste)
3/4 Teaspoon ground Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
1/2 Teaspoon of Almond Extract

Directions:
Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. (Not necessary if Date Paste is not used.) Will store in a glass jar in the refrigerator for about a week.
  


And there you have it!  Which one would you love to try?  Or, perhaps this will inspire you to come up with another crazy coffee creamer concoction!  Let's us know in the comment section below!


**FOR MORE GREAT RECIPES CLICK HERE**