Product Reviews

Spring Cleaning with OXO

Leah Short — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 19:08:12 +0000

This post is part of the #OXOSpringCleaning campaign. All opinions expressed here are solely my own, as always. Thank you for supporting brands that support So, How’s It Taste.

I’ve been a big fan of OXO for a long time, even before I started blogging. Their tools have come in handy in my kitchen and I’m a proud owner of several gadgets. So when they approached me about their Spring Cleaning campaign, I kind of did a double take. How did I not know how many cool cleaning tools they offer?! I was thrilled when they sent me some of their tools for the kitchen. I’m in the process of reorganizing my condo in the hopes of putting it on the market soon, so the timing was perfect to help me out!

Check out all these items for the kitchen! This girl loves to get organized so I was dying to unwrap everything and put them to use.

Foldaway Dish Rack, All Purpose Clips, Water Bottle Cleaning Set, Silicone Sink Mat, Sponge Holder, Heavy Duty Scrubber with Tray, Compost Bin, and Expandable Utensil Organizer

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J.M. Thomason Gourmet Spices

Leah Short — Wed, 17 Dec 2014 14:52:42 +0000

I’m so excited to offer this awesome giveaway today! J.M. Thomason is a gourmet seasonings and spices company located in Franklin, right outside of Nashville. They’ve been supplying their seasonings and spices to chefs and restaurants for more than 50 years and now they’re available to the public! They have six custom blends including Bourbon BBQ, Chili Lime, Hot Chicken, Porterhouse Steak, Streamside Angler, and Tuscan Dipping Oil. How am I ever going to decide which to try first?! Visit their website to find out where the spices are sold or keep reading to enter to win your own!

photo by Hannah Messinger

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Avocado Egg Salad featuring PeakFection Guacamole

Leah Short — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 22:53:02 +0000

I’ve been a big fan of avocado for a long time. You can’t beat its creamy consistency and flavor, not to mention its health benefits and versatility. What I have trouble with is buying avocados. I’m the worst at picking them out. They either aren’t ripe enough when I’m ready or I wait too long and have to throw them out. I’ve tried subbing prepared guacamole in the past with no luck. Gross consistency (too thin) and no flavor. I was skeptical when I received a sample of PeakFection Guacamole from Kroger recently because I just knew I wouldn’t like it. Wrong! This stuff has changed my cooking life.

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Batch Nashville

Leah Short — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 12:40:09 +0000

Brace yourselves, I’m about to tell you about the most genius idea ever, especially for all you Nashville lovers out there. Batch Nashville is a new Nashville business bringing you a goodie box of products from local businesses. It’s mostly food, but I hear sometimes you may get a non-food goodie item, too. I look at it like Stitch Fix, but it’s food and it’s Nashville! It’s such a great idea for gift giving, sending Nashville love, or if you’re like me, getting a taste of local products that would normally take way too much time to hunt down yourself. Sign me up!

I ordered the October box, but was completely bummed I’d missed out on their first box for September. As luck would have it, my friend Stephen Moseley is one-third of the team behind Batch Nashville and sent me a nice email asking if I’d like to get in on the September box. Twist my arm YES! I know Stephen from high school, so not only was I supporting a local business that supports local businesses, I was more than happy to support a former classmate…and he reads my blog. Together with Sam Davidson and Rob Williams, Batch Nashville came to life.

How does Batch Nashville work? You can purchase a month at a time for $30 per box or get three months together and it’s $25 per box. I received my September box yesterday and I’m sold. Batch Nashville puts so much care and detail into their boxes and each one has a theme. The September box theme is Rise & Shine. It’s all about my favorite meal of the day!

I opened my box to find it tied in blue and white string (it was in a pretty bow, but I was camera-less when I first dove into the box). On top is a sheet with details on what’s inside. It’s perfectly written to guide you through how you can use each product to have the best start to your day ever. I seriously wanted to call in sick to work the next day so I could eat my way through my September box!

On the back of the sheet is more information about the purveyors included in the box and their web site addresses. I loved reading more about each company as I hadn’t heard of some of them (bad Nashvillian!). So even if you live in Nashville, I think you will really enjoy Batch Nashville.

Let’s get to what’s inside! Rise & Shine!

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Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker

Leah Short — Mon, 26 Aug 2013 12:33:00 +0000

About a month ago, I got wind of the Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker and thought it was the best idea ever. I reached out to Hamilton Beach to see if I could review it for So, How’s It Taste. Luckily they chose me as one of their breakfast maker brand ambassadors! I talked about this machine for weeks at work. You would have thought I’d won the lottery! (Psst…there’s a chance for you to win, too!)

So, how’s it taste?

I brought the Breakfast Sandwich Maker to work to put it to the test. English muffins, cheese, butter, sliced ham, and eggs. We made a build-your-own-breakfast bar. The machine is so compact, it was perfect for our tiny work kitchen. It would also be great for back-to-school since it’s doesn’t take up much counter space and in five minutes you can have a hearty sandwich. Much better than getting out a skillet to cook the egg, using the toaster oven, and then trying to time it all to be ready at the same time.

Be sure to check out the entire post for a fun video and a chance to win your own Breakfast Sandwich Maker!

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Dipped Delights Chocolate Bark

Leah Short — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 13:29:32 +0000

This past weekend I made a visit to Dipped Delights at the West Nashville Farmers’ Market. They are a local company specializing in chocolate bark. I’d been planning on trying out their chocolate bark for months and finally had the chance. Oh man have I been missing out! I didn’t realize they had so many flavors. They have milk chocolate, dark chocolate, milk & dark chocolate pretzel, milk & dark chocolate almond, and…chipotle! I think you can get chipotle with the pretzel and almond as well. I sampled a few and brought home dark chocolate chipotle and milk chocolate almond.

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thinkThin® Bars {Giveaway!}

Leah Short — Wed, 29 May 2013 13:14:33 +0000

Not too long ago I was approached by thinkThin® to see if I’d be interested in sampling a few of their bars and doing a giveaway. Perfect timing because I had read about them on a blog and a few weeks earlier and went to Whole Foods seeking them out! You can buy them in boxes or in singles. I grabbed the Dark Chocolate and Brownie Crunch Protein Bars. The bars are about 230 calories each, which is a little high for me, but they have 20 grams of protein per bar! So it’s a tradeoff I’m happy to make. Plus you can sub one of these for a meal on the go. I was driving to my mom’s one afternoon and didn’t have time to sit and eat lunch, so I grabbed a bar to eat in the car. Perfect! I really enjoyed both flavors. They’re very chocolatey (bonus!) and the high protein left me pretty satisfied. thinkThin® sent me three boxes of their bars to sample and I was pretty excited to try new flavors and the Crunch variety.

So, how’s it taste?

I received a box of their Creamy Peanut Butter Protein Bars. These are in the same line of the two I had tried before. This one was peanut buttery, but I wouldn’t call it creamy. It still has the texture of a protein bar. I didn’t love this flavor as much as I had enjoyed the other two. It does taste like peanut butter, but it also has a vitamin-y background to it. It is a protein bar after all! Not my personal favorite, but not bad. When I’m looking for a snack to keep me full until lunch or dinner, I cut these bars in half for a quick pick-me-up. It’s surprising how filling one little bar is!

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Sucre, A Sweet Boutique {Giveaway!}

Leah Short — Fri, 03 May 2013 13:36:53 +0000

Imagine coming home after a long day at work and finding a package on your doorstep that you weren’t expecting for a few weeks. And it’s Friday! That was me a week ago today. A fairly decent-sized box waiting patiently for me to get home. Snuggled inside a cooler-type setup was this super cute striped box with a sweet note from Sucre. Sucre is a sweet boutique with two locations in Louisiana. I’ve never been and sure do wish I lived closer. Checking out their web site, they’ve got pretty amazing desserts like macarons, chocolates, marshamallows, chocolate-covered macarons. Um, how quick can I get to New Orleans? Lucky for me, the nice folks at Sucre sent me their 15-Piece Signature Collection Macaron to try.

So, how’s it taste?

I really had good intentions of saving a few of these and sharing them with my coworkers that following Monday. Yeah, that didn’t happen. (Sorry if you’re reading this guys!) I spent the entire weekend sampling and snacking my way through each delicious bite…all by myself. Hey, I’m an only child. I don’t comprehend sharing very well.

Can you blame me? The box is pretty, but look at those macarons. They are almost too pretty to eat…almost. Bite-sized works of art and they taste even better. Check out the flavors: chocolate, hazelnut, almond, pistachio, bananas foster, strawberry, pecan, and salted caramel. Hello!

I had so much fun tasting these beauties. The standouts for me were chocolate (of course!), pecan, and bananas foster. I don’t normally like anything banana, except real bananas, but this one was spot on. I could taste the caramelized bananas. I don’t know how they get that into a macaron. The pecan tasted just like pecan pie. This southern girl was impressed with that one. You can’t go wrong with chocolate in my book and this one was perfect for this chocoholic. My only complaint? There was only one of the chocolate!

Now here’s where I’m learning about sharing. Not only did I get to indulge in a box of macarons, but one lucky reader will, too! My friends at Sucre were kind enough to offer a 15-piece Signature Macaron Collection for one of you!

Mandatory: Visit Sucre’s web site and leave a comment here on this blog telling me what sweet treat makes your mouth water! (Giveaway open to contiguous U.S. residents only.)

Optional entry: For one additional entry, tweet the following: â€œWin a box of @SucreNewOrleans signature macarons from @SoHowsItTaste! Enter here: http://bit.ly/sucremacâ€ and leave a separate comment that you tweeted.

Contest ends on Friday, May 10th at 5 p.m. central. Please make sure you enter a valid email address as an alternate winner will be chosen if I donâ€t hear from you within 48 hours. Good luck!

Disclaimer: I was sent the 15-piece signature macaron collection for review. I was not compensated for this post. All opinions are solely my own, as always.

Congrats to Sharon on comment #35!
You’ve won your own box of Sucre macarons!
Winner chosen using random.org.

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Fun & Healthy Lunches

Leah Short — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:13:08 +0000

Check out Fun & Healthy Lunches #2 for more great lunch ideas!

I normally get really excited about food. I love it. I’ll be at lunch talking about what I’m going to have for dinner. Oh, if only calories didn’t exist! A friend of mine posted about This Lunch Rox! a long time ago and I always pored through each post, thinking “I could do this for me.” Well, minus the cute cutouts and such. Kids shouldn’t be the only ones to have fun with lunch. I struggle during the week with lunch while I’m at work. I’m surrounded by delicious restaurants, most in walking distance, but my wallet and my waistline would suffer too much. Leftovers or frozen meals are my usual route, but since that’s been my go to “grab & go” lunch for years, I’m burnt out. Then I thought back to This Lunch Rox!, got some ideas from the Bistro Boxes at Starbucks, and was determined to make my own fun & healthy lunches!

To make this work, I needed a new lunchbox. Throwing all these bites into baggies wasn’t going to work. I’m a sucker for boxes and bags and such, so I kind of just wanted to buy something new. After searching all over the lunchbox aisle and not being happy with anything, I by chance stumbled into the plastic container aisle and found Rubbermaid Lunch Blox Sandwich Kit! Perfect! There’s a Sandwich Kit, Salad Kit, and Entree Kit, or you can buy the compartments on their own. The sandwich style was just what I wanted.

I bought four so I could prep my lunch for the entire week. I treat myself to one lunch out a week, so no need for five (although I’m eyeing the Salad Kit). The compartments all snap together on top of each other and the kits come with a Blue Ice pack that snaps on as well. I don’t really use the ice pack since I have a fridge at work, but this would make these wonderful for travel.

I filled mine with all kinds of healthy bites. What makes them fun is that it’s not just one thing, it’s several things. I tend to get bored with just a sandwich and chips, but this way, I’m eating tons of stuff (it feels like). I keep the calorie count under 400 per box, and it fills me up. It’s really easy to vary each box if you wanted more variety, too. Lately I’ve been stuffing mine with a hard-boiled egg, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, deli turkey, reduced fact Colby Jack cheese or reduced fat mozzarella stick, red & green grapes, hummus, mixed nuts, crackers, pickles, and pickled okra. See, that’s a lot of food! I also enjoy that it’s so many different flavors and textures. I discovered raw veggies (especially broccoli) are delicious dipped in hummus, and if you eat the egg and pickle together it’s like eating deviled eggs! Eating lunch is fun!

Every Sunday, I line up my containers and get them ready for the week. It’s a cinch and actually kind of fun! It also takes no time, so I don’t have to worry about what I’m going to do for lunch for an entire week. Since they’re stackable, they fit nicely in the refrigerator without taking up too much space.

Check out Fun & Healthy Lunches #2 for more great lunch ideas!

Disclaimer: I am not associated with Rubbermaid. This post is my personal opinion and I was not compensated by Rubbermaid or any third party. This post contains an affiliate link.

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Lean Cuisine Chef’s Pick

Leah Short — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 01:06:42 +0000

When I was contacted not too long ago about pairing up with Lean Cuisine, it was a no-brainer saying yes. You all know how much I am an advocate for counting calories when it’s time to lose a few pounds, and Lean Cuisine has played a big role in that for years. In fact, it’s been about 10 years since I discovered their meals. I love to cook and it’s easy to cook low calorie (check out my low calorie category), but I don’t always have time to cook. That’s when I turn to Lean Cuisine. They taste great, have lots of variety, and take no time to prepare.

So, how’s it taste?

Today Lean Cuisine has many more options than 10 years ago. In their Culinary Collection are several Chef’s Pick selections where chefs have created new recipes for the product line. Before I was contacted, I had already tasted the Ranchero Braised Beef and really enjoyed it. In fact, it quickly became one of my go-to favorites. It’s braised beef in a spicy red chile sauce served with a side of chipotle mashed sweet potatoes. The flavor combination is fantastic. The beef is really tender and although the sauce sounds like it would be heavy, it’s not. As I’ve found with most Lean Cuisines, it’s a bit too much sauce, but that’s ok. I really liked the change from regular mashed potatoes to sweet potatoes. Plus the touch of chipotle (it’s more smokey than hot) goes great with the chile sauce on the beef. I was really happy with this one.

For my next meal, I chose Chicken Pecan. Anything pecan has my attention, but I have to be honest, I usually stay away from the chicken dishes. I tend to gravitate more towards the vegetarian options or other protein. After reading the description, I had to try it! Roasted chicken in a maple bourbon sauce with white and wild rice, pecans, sweet potatoes, apples, cranberries. Hello! Maple bourbon sauce from Lean Cuisine? Yep, you read that right. This dish smelled heavenly cooking in the microwave. I really liked the sweet and savory combination. I could slightly taste the maple with the chicken, but couldn’t pick up the bourbon. The sauce was sweet, but not too much so. There’s so much texture going on for a frozen dinner, too. Lots of crunchy pecan pieces, rice, tender chicken, soft sweet potatoes, and the apples still had a tart, firm bite to them. The cranberries added a tang to balance the sweet. I was surprised how much I liked this one.

There’s several other Chef’s Picks that I can’t wait to try. Spinach Artichoke Ravioli and Asparagus Ravioli are two that I’ve got my eye on. If you’re like me and want some low calorie options when you don’t have time to cook, definitely give the Chef’s Pick selections from Lean Cuisine a try. Let me know which ones you enjoy!

I have partnered with Lean Cuisine through DailyBuzz Food to help promote their new line of Chef’s Pick products. I have been compensated for my time commitment to work with this product. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments. Thank you Lean Cuisine!

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