Big Slice Apples Review & {GIVEAWAY}!

Apples are one of my favorite fruits. I typically have a fresh apple or applesauce in my work snack drawer. I replaced those with some Big Slice Apple pouches and they're a wonderful snack that I can easily eat out of the pouch! 

Below is my favorite flavor--cherry vanilla. 

Big Slice features sophisticated fruit combinations and whole ingredients that you can actually taste and chew. 

How it works: they slowly cook fresh slices of GMO-free, USA-grown apples and that results in delicious chunks. They add pure whole fruits and superfoods. The end result is a healthy snack that gives you the protein, energy and fiber you need. 

With 16 luxurious flavors, Big Slice comes in glam on-the-go pouches. They are naturally gluten- and fat-free and all around 100 calories per pouch.

  

Big Slice can be found at retailers across the nation, including Target, Costco, Whole Foods Market, Publix, H-E-B, The Fresh Market, Cosentino’s Fine Foods, Hy-Vee, Price Chopper, Marsh, Busch’s, Fresh Food Market, Meijer, Vitacost, Straub’s, Dan’s Supermarket, Haggen Food & Pharmacy and Kowalski’s Markets.

Big Slice is:

·      All-natural with no artificial ingredients or preservatives

·      Made with real fruits and superfoods

·      Naturally gluten and fat free

·      Vegan

·      Around 100 Calories

·      BPA Free

·      Based on an authentic heritage recipe

Some ways to enjoy them are:

·      As a delicious, healthy on-the-go snack

·      Topped on your favorite Greek yogurt

·      On top of a whole grain waffle

·      Mixed into your hot cereal

·      Paired with a delicious salad

·      On frozen yogurt

I added some of the orange ginger flavored apples to the top of a waffle. 

Some history from the company: Big Slice Apples were first cooked in Grandma Hoerner’s farm kitchen, made from apples straight from the orchard in the late 1800s. Her grandson, Duane McCoy, inherited his grandmother’s treasured recipe. Recalling the wonderful flavor from his youth, he worked hard to replicate it, finding the perfect blend of firm apples and sweet fruit-juice sweetened sauce. Big Slice Apples were sold in traditional Mason Jars until Regina McCoy, Vice President and Duane’s wife, developed an industry-disrupting new pouch design and new, cutting-edge flavors for today’s modern woman. Regina’s knowledge of the market and her love of the original recipe have truly created the best blend of old and new.

Additionally, a portion of the purchase of every Big Slice pouch goes to the Sparkle Foundation, an organization that supports women and girls in need, so you can feel good about eating Big Slice too.

Follow Big Slice Apples on social media:

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Ready to enter to win this wonderful package for yourself? Enter via the Rafflecopter tool below. If you don't use Rafflecopter, please leave a comment on this post about your favorite way to eat apples OR your 2016 resolution if you have one AND please include your e-mail address in the comment.

The winner will receive a package equaling $50 total retail value that includes the following:
-12 sample pouches, assorted flavors
-Big Slice Tumbler
-Spork or jars

a Rafflecopter giveaway


You have until Monday, January 4th at midnight to enter! I'll e-mail the winner and they will have 48 hours to respond. If they do not respond, I will pick a new winner.

Disclosure: I received Big Slice apples complementary in exchange for this review and giveaway. All opinions are my own. Thanks to my partnership with FitFluential for this opportunity. 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! It was fun to spend the holiday celebrating in a new house!

I started the day with my new favorite coffee, Green Mountain's spicy eggnog flavor!

We opened our gifts in front of the warm and pretty fire. I received the only thing I wanted--an adult coloring book and colored pencils. Craig found some cool dual-ended type at Target.

Then we went on a long walk mid-morning and found a new trail to explore. It still seems so weird to be walking outdoors this much in December. We've only had one big snowfall so far this year.

After our walk, we got ready and headed over to Craig's parents' house for lunch. We didn't plan to match, it just keeps happening on accident.

And after that, we drove to my parents' house for dinner and dessert!

Now we're relaxing at home with the kitties. Pema is sleeping on my lap and keeps looking up at me and purring from time to time.

I'm going to end the night watching the new Cinderella movie. We watched part of the Muppets Christmas Carol together last night, but I've got to return Cinderella to the library tomorrow!

Hope you all had a lovely holiday, if you celebrate, and enjoy your weekend.

Weekend Recap

How was your weekend? I started mine off with a haircut on beautiful Pewaukee Lake! 

My new stylist gave me a graduated bob, which I have always loved, so it's shorter in the back. Since I stink at curling my hair, she curled it for me and tried to teach me how. I'll practice with my wand because the clip kind freak me out.

I had Craig try to get some shots of me with the kitties. They're way too active for a photo shoot!

We had to run errands and started out with lunch at Jose's Blue Sombrero. It was our first time eating there! There weren't many veg options on the menu, so I asked our waiter about what I could customize. He was very helpful and told me to stick to black beans and white rice since neither were cooked with animal products like lard or chicken stock. I ordered a chimichanga with black beans and vegetables. It could have used some hot sauce, but otherwise I thought it was pretty good!

When we got back from failing to find anything at two furniture stores, we had curtains on our front doorstop delivered from Kohl's.com! (They're Sonoma Life + Style Gianna in Stillwater). They weren't my first choice but they are opaque, match our decor and are really 95" vs. being advertised as such and three inches shorter! I guess what I am trying to say is that it is so hard to find curtains--much more difficult than I ever expected.

I was getting sleepy mid-afternoon, so I laid down in bed and looked through a few books I picked up at the library that morning.

I spent much of the weekend on the computer. The kitties were always there to cuddle with me while I worked. 

I'm addicted to Serial again and learning so much about the Bergdahl case this time.

I received this Rose mask in a Sephora grab bag recently and tried it today. It smelled lovely and seemed to moisturize my parched skin as promised. And I still need to give myself a manicure tonight because I haven't gotten around to that yet. 

While Craig went to see Star Wars by himself, I ran to a few stores in the afternoon.

I stopped by Malabar Coast coffee for a vanilla strawberry rhubarb scone and caramel mocha. Both were delicious.

Once home, I put things away and then went for a walk before the sunset. I still love that our neighborhood has sidewalks and trails bordering it.

 Have a great week!

Blogging for Books: Food52 Vegan Review

I've been trying to eat more vegan recipes (vs. vegetarian), so I was excited to review Food52 Vegan by fellow blogger Gena Hamshaw and add a new cookbook to my shelves!

The book is divided into the following sections: breakfast, appetizers & snacks, soups, salads, main dishes, and desserts. Gena also shares a "basics" section with recipes for an egg replacers, oat milk, nut milk, cashew cream, etc. There are also tips throughout the book like the best way to cook quinoa, using frozen bananas and more. 

It features beautiful photos, easy to follow recipes and every single recipe I came across looked absolutely delicious! I can't wait until I have more time to grocery shop and cook from this book over the holiday break. I'm especially looking forward to making Creamy Tomato Soup and Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese. 

I had all of the ingredients for the Five Minute No-Bake Granola Bars on hand and I needed a snack for the work week. They turned out really well and I am excited to try more recipes!

If you are looking for a great Christmas gift, I would highly recommend this cookbook.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review. All opinions are my own. 

Nektar Crystals Review and {GIVEAWAY}

Happy Friday! 

I've been sweetening my coffee and tea with Nektar Honey Crystals which delivers "Honey Without the Sticky Mess" and you've got the opportunity to try it yourself by entering my giveaway. One winner will receive a 6 oz. bottle of the product! Nektar Naturals is available at Walmarts across the U.S.

Nektar Honey Crystals are:

• All natural
• Non-GMO
• Naturally gluten-free

I always sweeten my coffee and loved how Nektar Honey Crystals took away the bitterness of coffee, but didn't taste overwhelmingly sweet. The flavor was subtle and perfect!

If you win, this would make a great stocking stuffer!

To enter:

• Leave me a comment below saying how you take your coffee or tea (1 entry)
• Share the giveaway on Facebook and tag Nektar Naturals. Leave me a comment with your link. (1 entry)
• Follow @nektar_naturals on Twitter and Instagram @nektarnaturals (1 entry)
• Tweet about the giveaway by tagging @nektar_naturals #beesweet #sweatpink @fitapproach (1 entry)
• Use the store locator on Nektar Naturals’ website to find the closest store where Nektar Naturals is carried (1 entry)

Rules:

• All entries must be received by Thursday, December 17th at midnight
• US entries only
• I will e-mail the winner and they will have 48 hours to respond with their information
• One prize per person. If you win this giveaway, and have already won another prize from Nektar Naturals through another blog, please disclose that you have already won so I can choose another winner. 

CONGRATS to Mar @ Mar on the Run! 

Disclosure: I received a bottle of Nektar honey crystals through my ambassadorship with Sweat Pink.

Lately

I haven't been hopping on my laptop much lately, so I thought I'd check in with what I've been up to.

We've tried out the roomba a couple of times now and the cats aren't too fond of it. Full review to come soon!

We've been sleeping so well on our King mattress (it's an Alaina model from Janesville based Beautyrest). Our first mattress was delivered with two rusty holes, so we got a new one brought to us last weekend. I'm loving our bed frame and headboard too!

My sister-in-law and nephews stopped by to see our house last weekend. They brought us a wonderful housewarming gift. I can't drink a half or full bottle of wine, so the wine saver is perfect!

We cleaned our old house for about six hours. It went up for sale this week! It had one showing yesterday and I'm hopeful it will sell quickly, despite it being a bad time of year to put a house up for sale. Mortgage interest rates are still low so I'm crossing my fingers.

I take so many pictures of house items at Target lately. We're getting these curtains delivered for our back patio. The store didn't carry the 96" type.

Craig installed a Nest thermostat this week! We're loving it (also will review this on the blog if anyone is interested). 

Donuts brought into work by our top leader the morning after a team in our department pulled off a big successful event. I was very happy for that event to be done this week!

I ate way too many of these lately. I've balanced them out with lots of clementines and greens.

Can you find Shiva in the photo below? He naughtily climbed his way to the top of our jammed basement shelves.

New bedside lamps and accent tables from Target, of course.

Pema enjoyed the laundry baskets I bought. The one on the left is for me and the one he is sitting in is for our master bathroom to throw towels and washcloths into.

Tried the holiday spice flat white drink yesterday. It was just ok. I liked that it wasn't very sweet.

This ruined our day yesterday. We were just finishing up running errands and eating lunch when I witnessed a big pickup truck hitting our parked car. This was the result of that driver's stupidity. Nothing like eating lunch and seeing your car rocking from side to side, not knowing what the scrape looked like yet. It was much worse than I expected.

After that stressful afternoon, I wanted to just chill out later that night, so I watched Far from the Madding Crowd. I liked it very much.

Our Christmas tree is in one of the bedrooms upstairs, away from the cats of course. I finally got the ornaments and garland on it.

I'm hoping today is better! We'll probably stay home and work on house projects--there's always more unpacking and organizing to do.

Blogging for Books: What Color is Your Parachute 2016

I recently signed up for Blogging for Books and received What Color is Your Parachute 2016 by Richard N. Bolles complementary in exchange for a review here and on their site. 

As someone who has many interests and doesn't see myself being in only one field my entire life, I figured checking out this book was a good fit for me. 

It's broken down into two main topics--searching for a job, interviewing and salary negotiations and finding out what you are good at and like to do. 

I found both sections to be extremely useful and it taught me a few new things I hadn't read before, especially about searching for a job. 

I've been the interviewer on panels for the last three months and learned a lot from those experiences. One of the reflections I had is that interviewing is a lot like dating and the book also states that!

I really liked the five questions an employer is concerned about during an interview. He broke that section down into simple language to really help you prepare for a nerve-racking interview.

While I didn't complete all of the exercises in the section regarding what you want to do and good at, I will do that soon and I think they are great reflection activities.

I definitely can see myself coming back to this book as a great reference one to use for job searching, interviewing and self-assessment. I would highly recommend it for that person in your life struggling to find their path or the recent grad who needs a little insight into the changing and competitive world of job searching.

My rating: 4.5 stars. Definitely worth purchasing!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for review. 

What a week!

This has sure been a crazy week!

We moved last weekend.

 Loading up the truck at our old house.

My mother-in-law cleaning our old tiny kitchen!

 Chaos in the dining and living areas.

On Saturday night, we walked to our corner Mexican restaurant one last time to enjoy a margarita pitcher, chips and salsa and fried ice cream.

If I look exhausted here it's because I was (still am). I had walked over 25,000 steps that first day.

On Sunday, we loading up the moving truck twice and didn't finish our day until 10 p.m.

Once our help left for the evening, Craig and I drove back to load up more little things and the whole garage. Then we had to get the cats in their cages and I drove them back to the new house. Tears started flowing then. It was the last time the kitties would be at the house they "grew up in."  I felt so bad since they hate being in cages. Tanzi and Pema meowed the entire 20 minute trip and Shiva was silent.

The new basement freaked them out a bit and Tanzi wanted out of there! Shiva and Pema hid behind the washer and dryer.

We spent Sunday night at the new place and I woke up to a gorgeous sunrise to greet me on Monday morning!

I was still off of work on Monday and ran errands to Steinhafels to complete our living room couch order and Costco for groceries and whatever else I could find. I'm bummed that our special order couch for the living room won't come until January if we're lucky, but at least we have a new couch to enjoy in the entertainment room.

Of course I found two fabulous and cheap rugs at Costco--this one is for the kitchen sink area and the other is a runner I scored for under $10. I have to carefully select rugs now because we bought a Roomba and it's picky about what it cleans!

After two nights in the basement, we let the cats out on Tuesday evening. Tanzi was excited to explore the new place and Pema was nervous, but came up. Shiva protested and stayed in the basement. Eventually, we got him upstairs and he is still pretty nervous at any odd noise he isn't familiar with.

Shiva exploring a bit once he was more comfortable.

The new kitchen was a mess for a little while but now it's coming along. Thanks to my wonderful friend Danielle and my mother-in-law, we got dishes washed, dried and put away on moving day #1.

We needed barstools for our breakfast nook and I found these at Target.com for about $70 each (which is a total steal). We love them and so does Pema. At least if the cats scratch the upholstery, I won't fret too much vs. $200 barstools.

By Wednesday, I started getting a bad neck ache and stiffness. I think it was a result of overexertion from the move. I came home from work early yesterday and watched part of this movie in bed with a heating pad on my neck. I experienced the exact same issue two years ago in November and it was awful. I'm trying to take care of myself and rest this time.

Boy am I glad this week is over, even though it was filled with lots of positives, it was exhausting.