Kelocity.com

A runner with an appetite for adventure!

Cleaning Up Adele’s Uh-Oh’s May 22, 2013

Filed under: Baby,Review — Kelocity @ 3:42 pm
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I’m going on the record to say that Adele’s official first word was “Uh Oh”. Even beyond “mama” and “dada”, she uses Uh-Oh both intentionally and deliberately.
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In fact, she not only says the word (over and over), but she is continually demonstrating her understanding of it by tossing socks, shoes, toys and food overboard and then proclaiming loudly “Uh-oh!” And then she waits for you to retrieve the unfortunate item for her so she can start her trick all over again.

Here’s an example. Video proof, if you will:

So as you can imagine, meal time has been a bit… messy. I’d say Baby-Led Weaning has been a success, but the side effect is food on the floor. It’s inevitable. But I don’t stress about it.
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I usually have a cute plastic dropcloth under her chair to save my poor floors, but lately, I’m finding it’s just easier to scoop up the crumbs and spot clean the floor when she’s done. Though she definitely enjoys throwing food on the floor, I’m actually noticing that a lot more thought goes into than I though. She is developing clear preferences for the kinds of foods she wants to eat (i.e., if I put cauliflower and broccoli on her tray, only the broccoli ends up on the floor… she’s smart enough to know not to throw out her beloved cauliflower!) She also seems to throw more when she’s full, so I try to pay attention to her cues.
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When she’s done, I brush off her crumbs and let her play with her toys, and it takes me 5 minutes to clean up her chair.  I gather all the crumbs from the seat and floor onto the tray, and then I rinse and wash that in the sink. Done and done. Sometimes I use a dishcloth, but lately, I’ve also been using paper towels. Bounty sent me their new Duratowel (which has the strength of a dishcloth, without the germs they can harbor). I have to say, it passed the ‘Adele Mealtime Test’. One sheet cleaned her chair, tray and the floor successfully. It really does feel stronger than other paper towels I’ve used.

In the spirit of ‘going green’, I know reusable is best. But when my dishtowels are all in the laundry, DuraTowel to the rescue. This mom gives it two thumbs up.

 

Chocolate or Vanilla August 11, 2011

Filed under: Food,Giveaway,Review — Kelocity @ 10:00 pm
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I didn’t get outside once today! It was such a nice day too. Hope to change that tomorrow and go for a nice walk.

Next week I will be switching my blog to a self-hosted server. I’m so excited that my little blog is growing up! I’ve been trying to tweak a few things to get it ready for the big move. Let me know if you notice anything strange in the next few days.

I’d also like to take a moment to thank my lucky stars for friends like Erica who brought me an AMAZING chocolate treat from her recent trip to Canada. (She was there at the same time Will and Kate were there!)
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We adore Ice Wine. It’s a little pricey, but once a year or so, it’s definitely worth the splurge. Ice Wine comes from grapes that are harvested while they’re frozen so they can only make it in certain parts of the world (like Canada!)
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Whoever thought to combine this with chocolate should win some kind of prize. It was delicious! Thanks, Erica!
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Irving and I went to the grocery store tonight (armed with BOATLOADS of coupons from BlogHer!) He wandered around the store looking for boring things like BBQ sauce and milk while I beelined to my favorite aisle.
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Boy, do I love cereal. I could spend all day looking at cereal boxes, comparing prices, sizes and taste. Growing up my mom used to have a $2 rule. We had to choose the cereal that was $1.99 or less. Nowadays it’s hard to find a box for less than $3, but I still try to go for the sales and use my coupons. I totally broke all the rules tonight when I walked away with this.
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I got a few samples of this at BlogHer this weekend and I LOOOOOVED it. It was $4.49 (my mom is probably gasping out loud right now!) but I had a coupon that brought it down to $3.50. Still pricey, but worth it for a product I now love so much. (Hear that Quaker? you gave me a free sample and I shelled out a few bucks for more just a few days later! Marketing for the win!)
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Classic Foods sent me (two) boxes of some of their new Baked Classics Chips recently. I wasn’t expecting to get quite so many, so I have been sharing the love with my friends lately.
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They made an appearance at the Hollywood Bowl last week and I passed them out to our friends. Chips make great picnic food. They travel well and it’s fun to have your own bag.
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They sent over a new product that I’ve never seen before: Vanilla Frosting Multigrain Chips. I am a total vanilla girl. I almost always choose vanilla over chocolate if given the choice! (But I’ll never turn down good chocolate either, don’t get me wrong!) Wait… a vanilla frosting flavored chip? How intriguing!

“They are popped to a light, crunchy crisp and then seasoned in the mouth-watering flavor of Vanilla Frosting.”

They have no cholesterol, trans fat, saturated fat, preservatives, msg, high fructose corn syrup or artificial flavors or coloring.
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I’m a huge vanilla fan and I really, really liked these. They feel indulgent, totally satisfy my sweet tooth and surprised my taste buds a bit. I’ve been bringing them with my lunches lately, but I always save the chips for my 3pm sugar craving hour. Always does the trick.
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I asked my friends to try them too and let me know what they think. Overall, most people liked them and appreciated what a new and different product it was. But some thought the taste was a bit artificial. It’s also a little strange because they do taste like a rich sugar cookie, but the texture is that of a chip. So maybe it could be compared to a crunchy cookie? It’s hard to explain, but I kind of liked it.

Want to try them for yourself? I have a couple of bags to give out! Comment below and I’ll pick a winner on Monday.
Tell me what your vice is: salty or sweet!

Classic Foods provided me with these chips for the purpose of reviewing it on kelocity.com. All opinions are my own.

 

Product Review: Crystal Geyser for the Win! August 9, 2011

Filed under: Food,Review — Kelocity @ 9:25 am
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I typically don’t drink a lot of my calories. I much prefer to get them from actual food. I don’t drink soda (Root Beer being the scarce exception) and I don’t usually drink juice. However, I do love tea, seltzer and water and try to just stick with that.

But when the nice people over at Crystal Geyser offered to send me an array of drinks, I was excited (especially for the Tejava!)  We drank these over the course of about two weeks.IMG_6714

When I told the rep how much I already loved the Tejava, she sent me a full sized bottle to review. Of course I already knew how great it was, but now I have a reason to talk about it.

First off, Tejava has two ingredients: water and tea leaves. I LOVE unsweetened tea. I never put milk or sugar in my hot tea either. I like it plain and simple. And as such, it has 0 calories! If you’re thinking maybe it would be too bitter, it’s actually not. They microbrew it which “yields a rich, distinctive, full-bodied taste”.
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I enjoyed this tea last week using my new glass from Katie and Mark’s wedding! Yum!

If you are interested, they are holding a contest right now where you can enter to win a trip to the Java Tea Plantation and the Island of Bali!
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The second product we tried was the Crystal Geyser Juice Squeeze line. Irving had the Cranberry Black Cherry and I tried the Passion Fruit & Mango. They are a bit tart with a hint of carbonation and come in eight different flavors. Irving loved them. He really liked the taste and thought the flavor was right on. Though I’m not really a juice girl myself, I think it’s great they don’t add corn syrup, cane sugar or beet sugar. But I view juice is an occasional treat and I prefer it a little sweeter.

They do however suggest adding it to a lunch box since it contains a full serving of fruit. If kids are going to drink juice anyways, might as well make it a healthy option.
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The next products were Crystal Geyser California Iced Teas. I have an undying love for Iced Tea so of course I loved these. The ingredients are water, tea and cane sugar and natural flavors. It’s actually pretty hard nowadays to find drinks that still contain real sugar. We do not drink anything with Splenda, Aspertame or Nutri Sweet. (No more Diet Snapple for me. I stopped drinking that a few years back, so I’m happy to find a product to replace it!)  I not only don’t like the taste, but I’m not a fan of artificial sweeteners in general. If I’m going to have sugar, give me (a small amount of) the good stuff.
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I had my first one along side a super delicious chopped salad. If I could go back in time and eat this salad again, I would. This tea was the perfect accompaniment. It was just sweet enough for me. I really enjoyed it.
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Ok, real quick, here’s the recipe for my Chopped Lettuceless Salad:

–Dice up tomato, red onion, red pepper and cucumbers
–Stir in a glug of honey, a tablespoon of olive oil, salt, pepper, and whatever seasoning you like (I used a rosemary garlic flavor)

Enjoy!!
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And the last product is actually one I buy quite frequently. It is the Crystal Geyser Sparkling Mineral Water. Sparkling water is my beverage of choice. It has nothing in it, yet it is still bubbly, fun and delicious.
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I brought these for lunch last week. First was a Trader Joes Eggplant Parmesan (which I don’t recommend, by the way).  I drank the Orange Flavored sparkling water as an afternoon snack. It definitely satisfied my 3:00 snack craving for 0 calories. Perhaps I was more bored than hungry. For the win!
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And next was a chicken salad sandwich with chips. Nothing goes better with a sandwich than some bubbles.
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Crystal Geyser is currently only in the California and western markets, but if you do live here, it’s widely available. I see it all the time in my local grocery stores. I still only buy bottled drinks occasionally, but when I do crave one, I’m really glad to have some healthy, natural alternatives to the usual fare. Beware though, that Tejava is like crack. It’s SO good!

 

popchips: a review and a giveaway! July 5, 2011

Filed under: Food,Giveaway,Review — Kelocity @ 1:00 pm
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The awesome people over at popchips sent me some samples to review. I’ve had the original and BBQ flavors before, but I was excited to see what new varieties they had as well.
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popchips are all-natural and have some pretty great stats:
-They’re popped (not baked or fried)
-Less than half the fat of fried chips
-No transfat, saturated fat or cholesterol
-No preservatives, colors or fake flavors
-No greasy residue

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They also sent me a sweet bag clip (how cute is that? A bag clip from a potato chip company! Brilliant!)
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Irving and I dug into the first bag right away. We chose the Sour Cream and Onion first because it’s a flavor we don’t get very often, but I used to LOVE those kinds of chips!
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The flavor was perfect. Not too salty or overbearing. The right amount of tastiness for the chip. popchips are denser than regular chips. Almost like Munchos, remember those? MMmm! (but these are much healthier!)

I couldn’t show you a bag of chips without subjecting you to another photo of my face! haha.
PS….. I spy Irving in the mirror!
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The next flavors we tried were shared with our friends (and new parents!) Erika and Timmy! They grabbed the BBQ and sea salt & vinegar flavors. It was the perfect pre dinner party snack! Light, satisfying and delicious. I think they liked them!
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On our roadtrip up to San Francisco, I had the salt & pepper flavor to keep me company. I always get hungry on long car trips, probably out of boredom. But popchips were the perfect snack for the road. I really liked these. I’d say they were a bit on the salty side, but the pepper flavor was PERFECT. They kept my mouth happy.
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I still have the Cheddar and Original flavors left, and I’ll probably save those for a Hollywood Bowl night or for a time when I am craving something munchy.

Thanks again to popchips for letting me try the new flavors!

For more information on popchips, check out their website or their blog!

Want to win some free chips??? Leave a comment below and tell me what flavor you want to try.
I’ll randomly pick a winner on Thursday morning to receive a coupon for a free bag!

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Oh Honey, Honey… June 1, 2011

Filed under: Cooking,Review — Kelocity @ 6:38 pm
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I love honey. I add it to tea, spread it on Peanut Butter sandwiches, smear it on bananas, and drizzle it on spinach.

I like because it’s sweet, but carries less guilt since it comes from nature. That’s good reasoning, right? IMG_6048

But did you know that honey is a great source of natural energy for everyday activities or during exercise as well as for pre- and post- workout fuel. Honey helps sustain your energy levels as it delivers a unique carbohydrate composition of natural sugars and trace amounts of antioxidants, enzymes, minerals, vitamins and amino acids? [source]
CuttingBoard Honey Granola Power Bowl 

In fact, honey is almost the perfect superfood for athletes and runners. It has 17 grams of carbs per tablespoon and is ideal for working muscles. It delays fatigue and can decrease muscle soreness too. One of the best post-exercise snacks is a banana with peanut butter and honey!

The kind people at the National Honey Board sent me some local honey to try out! Sounded good to me!
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This morning, I tried their Whey Better Berry and Honey Energy Boost Shake!
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Whey Better Berry and Honey Energy Boost Shake

Serves 2 – 3

Ingredients

  • 3 – 4 tbsp honey
  • ½ cup water
  • ½ cup skim milk
  • 1 scoop vanilla whey protein
  • ½ cup strawberries
  • ½ cup blueberries
  • ¼ cup raspberries
  • ½ banana
  • 3 cubes of ice

Directions

  1. Slice strawberries and banana.
  2. Combine all ingredients in a blender.
  3. Blend. Be sure ice is crushed and all ingredients are well mixed before serving. Enjoy a great breakfast on the go!

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I halved the recipe to just make one smoothie. And I used frozen berries instead of fresh with ice.  It was DELICIOUS!IMG_5803

I’ll be posting a few more recipes highlighting honey soon, I just LOVE it! A power breakfast that tastes like dessert is an A+ in my book.

For more information on the benefits of honey and other fun stuff, visit www.honey.com.

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Disclosure: The National Honey Board has provided me with this product for the purposes of trying and reviewing it. All opinions are my own.

 

 
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