Healthy Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Who knew having chocolate covered strawberries for breakfast would not only be healthy BUT delicious at the same time?  I certainly wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but I'm glad I tried it because it was delicious!

I started off by putting a teaspoon of baking cocoa powder in a sandwich baggie.  I added in a sprinkle of cinnamon and 1/2 a packet of Equal.  I mixed it together - then washed my strawberries, dried them just a tad, then cut them into pieces and added those pieces into my sandwich baggie with the cocoa mixture.

I sealed the bag shut and shook it up -- the powdered ingredients easily covering the strawberries.  I then dropped them into a bowl and ate as a side to my breakfast (ham sandwich on wheat).  The strawberries were delicious!  The cocoa turned a little wet so it wasn't dry and ready to choke me at any minute.  Some of the strawberries as they sat in the bowl got very chocolatey.  Sinfully delicious!

This was 0 Points Plus Values since the teaspoon of cocoa powder was 0 pts -- and strawberries are free under the plan.

BzzCampaign: Green Mountain Coffee – Fair Trade

I was invited to take part in a new BzzAgent BzzCampaign – this one centered around Green Mountain Coffee and Fair Trade.  The moment I saw the invite flash onto my phone (I have my e-mail synced to my smartphone) I went onto the website and officially opted into it.  I admit I was pretty excited to be part of this campaign because I am a HUGE coffee lover.  Coffee and caffeine run through my veins all day, every day, so needless to say I was looking forward to receiving my campaign introduction.  I received it the other day, took my photos of it, and went straight ahead to testing it out the next morning.

Fair Trade has started to get a big buzz as of late (and not just in this campaign) especially considering October is Fair Trade Month.  It’s being suggested coffee consumers purchase from Fair Trade suppliers because that ensures you can enjoy your own coffee, while also making sure to take care of the farmer who cultivated those beans you’re drinking.  By doing this Fair Trade ensures farmers get a fair price for their beans (meaning coffee manufactures aren’t nickel and diming the farmers), by doing this farmers working conditions can improve, there’s assistance in protecting the environment, while it also aids in supporting the community aiding in creating new schools, roads, drinking water, etc.  Green Mountain is largely known for promoting this and pushing for it.

There have been two musicians - Grace Potterand Michael Franti who have taken part of the Fair Trade act and traveled over to Colombia and Sumatra to visit the farming communities and get a better understanding of how Fair Trade significantly impacts not only the farmers of coffee beans, but the world and the individual farms communities.  The Green Mountain facebook page details the two performers trip, journey and the impact Fair Trade has on farming.  Make sure you check out Green Mountains facebook page to see Grace Potter and Michael Franti Fair Trade source trip which also includes a live stream of their concert: https://www.facebook.com/GreenMountainCoffee.  One other thing you can get over at the Green Mountain facebook page is coupons off Green Mountain Coffee k-cups and bagged coffee.

In my campaign box, I received a stack of $1 off manufacturer coupons, a BzzGuide which details Fair Trade centering around coffee and 3 boxes of K-Cups. The K-Cup boxes house 4 K-Cups in each box and the 3 boxes have the same four flavors in it.  The four flavors provided were: Sumatran Reserve (Extra Bold), Colombian Fair Trade Select, Wild Mountain Blueberry, and Vermont Country Blend.

In closing, I can say drink responsibly. 

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Hillshire Farms - Garlic & Herb Grilled Chicken Breast

I never knew Hillshire Farms sold prepackaged chicken breast until I spotted these while on at Target run.  I've been checking out Targets refrigerated food section because I've been finding Target stocks the yogurt and the BBQ chicken I like - where if I want those items I have to travel further up to Walmart to get them.  Anyway!  I purchased these prepackaged, precooked garlic & herb flavored chicken breast and I have to say they are REALLY good!  I wasn't sure if they would be good because I'm a chicken snob, especially when it comes to premade chicken because it can sometimes taste artificial, fatty, or like rubber.  These don't taste like any of those things.  The chicken is actually moist, flavorful and quite good.  The calorie count is low - I want to say it was between 90-120 (I finished them & threw the box out).  Each box contains 2 prepackaged chicken breast, that you heat in the microwave for 60 seconds in it's little warming pouch.  Quite good!  If you're in the mood for a quick meal that you can incorporate into a salad or into a sandwich - I suggest you try these out!  The greatest part - they're only 2 points plus values each!

Yoplait Light Pumpkin Pie Yogurt

Fall is upon us, which means pumpkin everything!  One thing Yoplait came up with was this Pumpkin Pie flavored yogurt.  For those who are on Weight Watchers (as I am) this light yogurt is only 2 points plus values.  I LOVE anything pumpkin, so I immediately threw these in my cart when I spotted them at Target.  The 4-pack was $2 as they were on sale 3 for $6 last week.

The yogurt flavoring is on point, it taste just like a pumpkin pie ALTHOUGH the consistency of the yogurt really threw me off.  It's watery in consistency as Yoplait yogurts tend to be so that kind of made me think the yogurt was strange.  The flavoring is there but it would have been SO much better if it were slightly thicker since anything pumpkin (in my opinion) should be thicker.  I did decide to use one of these in a smoothie and I found I like how that turned out.