Celebrate National Popcorn Day With Gaslamp Popcorn! [giveaway]

January 19, 2016 by 10 Comments

popcorn day

In celebration of National Popcorn Day, Gaslamp Popcorn has offered a free shipment of popcorn to a lucky reader of Agoura Hills Mom! My family tested the product out before I accepted, of course, and the results were immediate and obvious:

 

kids with gaslamp popcorn

Everyone loved it. The family favorite was the Kettle Corn flavor, but I also loved the White Cheddar. And, confession: I had to stop working on this post to go and get some popcorn and eat while I wrote. Looking at the pictures made me hungry, and there was a bag of Gaslamp Popcorn’s Cinnamon Caramel Popcorn still burning a hole in my pantry!

 

gaslamp popcorn bowl

Gaslamp popcorn was originally made in the actual Gaslamp district of San Francisco. It’s gluten-free and non-GMO. Gaslamp Popcorn can be purchased online or at your favorite Ralphs, WinCo, Safeway and Vons now!

gaslamp popcorn

You can win your own shipment of Gaslamp Popcorn here! Just leave a comment on this post – one entry per family please – and a winner will be chosen at random and notified by email. How are you celebrating National Popcorn Day? Entries accepted from now until 11:59 PM on Monday, Janary 25. Good luck!

All images except the one of my crazy kids are courtesy of Gaslamp Popcorn

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One Last Hope For Cereal Lovers Who Can’t Eat Grain: Quinoa Pops

January 14, 2015 by Leave a Comment

quinoa pops with strawberries and yogurt

I’ve written before about how I had to eliminate most grains from my diet. It’s just better that way, for me. I still indulge every now and then, and my go-to indulgence is a bowl of cereal, because man, I love cereal. At least now I pour almond milk in it. That’s a 50% decrease in Things That Are Bad For Me in that bowl.

Imagine my delight when Pereg sent me a box of their latest product – four different flavors of their new cereal, Quinoa Pops.

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Made by popping whole grain quinoa under high pressure and a bit of heat (like popcorn), the popped quinoa is then combined with natural flavorings like pure cocoa powder, premium vanilla and natural strawberry flavors to create a delightfully pure, simple and yummy treat. Only 100 calories per serving, Quinoa Pops contain no cholesterol, and are low in sodium and sugar. Available in original, vanilla, strawberry and cocoa, Quinoa Pops are also certified gluten-free, OU Kosher, and a perfect complement to vegetarian and paleo diets.

I was very excited to try them. I poured a big bowl, added the almond milk, and…

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…Well. They are definitely better than nothing. I mean, if you are super allergic to gluten, rice, oats, and any other alternative to cereal, then this is your last chance. If that is the case, Quinoa Pops to the rescue! However, to my palate they are of course not the same as say, puffed rice, or corn flakes. There is not as much crunch – in fact, they are a little bit chewier than I had anticipated.

On the other hand – there’s a lot of other things you can do with Quinoa Pops. A serving suggestion right on the packages of each flavor has you working the pops into other recipes. I tried them in yogurt with fruit, and they add a nice little flavor burst and the tiniest bit of crunch.

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I also think little kids might like them. Mine are already ruined – they love their cereal just like mama does. They wouldn’t even go near this.

Looking around online I saw recipes for quinoa chocolate bars using popped quinoa, and that’s what I will try with them next. Quinoa Pops come in four flavors and cost around $6.00 for a 3.53 oz box.

I received complimentary samples of the product to facilitate this feature.

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Introducing Lucy’s – Safe, Tasty Cookies and Treats [Giveaway]

April 1, 2013 by 19 Comments

Lucys Blogger Tea Event
Last month I attended a lovely little event at the amazing Whole Foods store in Pasadena hosted by Savvy Sassy Moms. I must confess I haven’t yet been to the location in Thousand Oaks, but if it’s half as large and full of amenities as its Pasadena counterpart, well, I’m going to have to make a little field trip out there.

There’s another reason to splurge on a Whole Foods shopping trip, too. Lucy’s brand cookies and treats which are made without wheat, gluten, dairy milks, butter, eggs, casein, peanuts, or tree nuts. I know you are wondering “but how do they taste?” because I wondered that, too. Many boxes of Lucy’s cookies later, I can tell you that they all taste delicious, but I have my favorite!

Once upon a time, Dr. Lucy Gibney was a practicing emergency room physician. When she was returning to work after maternity leave following the birth of her son, she and her husband gave him his first bottle of formula. He was only 3 months old. That very first bottle induced an anaphylactic reaction, and the baby was rushed to the hospital – thankfully he got through it and was just fine. Subsequently, he was diagnosed with severe food allergies to everything under the sun. Over the next few years, Dr. Gibney devoted herself to developing recipes for cookies that her son would be able to eat safely and also enjoy. And that’s how Lucy’s brand was born.

Now Lucy’s brand snacks are sold in 7,000 stores nationwide and also online. Cookies come in Chocolate Chip,Sugar Cookie, Cinnamon Thin, Oatmeal Cookie, Ginger Snap, Maple Bliss, and Chocolate flavors. And they make chocolate Brownie Cakes, too.

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Dr. Lucy Gibney shows us a photo of her son, 21st century style

At the event in Pasadena, Dr. Gibney told the gathered crowd of local bloggers her story and answered numerous questions, even after a breathtaking few days at the huge Natural Products Expo West. We were all given samples of the cookies and brownies to eat at the event and to take home. I snuck the Snack ‘n Go packs into my kids’ and husband’s lunches the following week, and basically gave the cookies to whomever I saw. Plus, I tried all the flavors myself.

maplebliss

You probably assumed I would have chosen the chocolate cookies or Brownie Cakes. Surprise! I can tell you without a doubt that the Maple Bliss cookies are my absolute favorite. As thankful as I am that neither my children, nor I, are allergic any foods (that I know of), we all enjoyed these cookies, and were grateful to eat them with glasses of cold dairy milk.

At $4.99 – $5.99 per 5.5 ounce box, these cookies are definitely a splurge, but they’re especially great for younger kids who are satisfied with just a couple of cookies at a time. Me? I could eat a whole box at once!

An added bonus of the gathering that day was the presence of Ambiance Salon, a shop that recently opened nearby on Lake Ave. It’s a little known fact that when I first moved to California from Connecticut in 1995, I lived in an apartment building right in that neighborhood with my best college pal, Lisa. I have a special place in my heart for that town, so I am happy to tell you that the staff from Ambiance feels that way too. They did a lovely job dolling up some of the attendees at this event, and they even had a very talented braid artist present!

Lucys Tea Braid Bar

That’s the back of my head, upper left!

Lucy’s is giving away a box of their cookies or brownie cakes to a lucky reader of this site. Leave a comment here by 11:59 PM on April 8 and indicate which flavor you’d like to try (check them all out here before you pick). I will pick a random winner from qualified entries and that person will receive a box of treats in the mail! US Only.

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