Ritter Sport Chocolate Veteran’s Day Party

Last month I hosted another Tryazon party; this one was for Ritter Sport Chocolate and was Veteran's Day themed!  It was so much fun learning about Ritter Sport chocolates and getting to do a blind taste test with all of my guests!  Ritter Sport offers so many different varieties of premium chocolates including alpine milk chocolate, marzipan, dark chocolate, peppermint,  and milk chocolate with cornflake, butter biscuit, macadamia nuts, coconut and strawberry crème.  It was so hard to pick a favorite as there were so many to choose from!

For the blind chocolate tasting game, 6 different mini candy bars were unwrapped and guests had to blindly taste each one and then rate them in the order that they like them.  The top two winning flavors were peppermint and milk chocolate with cornflake!  In honor of Veteran's Day, we made this creation out of Ritter Sport Chocolate:

Thank you to Tryazon for selecting me as a host for this amazing party and thank you to Ritter Sport for making this party so delicious and chocolatey!

Goddess Garden Party

This Memorial weekend was a BLAST!  We hosted a Goddess Garden party with friends and their kids.  Tryazon graciously sent samples for each family to try along with an amazing array of their different sunscreens to fit every lifestyle.  Everyone had so much fun enjoying one another's company and learning about Goddess Garden products.  The adults talked about vacation plans for the summer, the importance of using sunscreen outdoors, what to look for when purchasing sunscreen and why Goddess Garden sunscreens are so wonderful.  The kids applied sunscreen and then headed out in the sun to play some fun water games (they didn't even have to wait for 20 min for the sunscreen to absorb because Goddess Garden sunscreen is effective immediately!)

One of the main reasons why Goddess Garden sunscreens are so great is that they are made with minerals (including zinc and titanium that reflect the sun's rays) rather than chemicals.  This means that the sunscreen isn't absorbed into the skin, won't break down in the sun and doesn't contain synthetic chemicals that can cause allergic reactions or other health issues.  Since Goddess Garden sunscreens are made with natural minerals, they’re just as safe for the earth as they are for  #GoddessGarden   #Tryazon 

Ozobot Evo Ground-Zero Party

with I recently hosted an Ozobot Evo Ground-Zero party with several of my friends and their kids.  The Ozobots were sent to me, courtesy of Tryazon, in exchange for our honest opinions of this product.  The kids at the party ranged from 2-8 and while even the youngest ones enjoyed interacting with the Ozobot, the oldest ones were able to get the most out of it by using it in conjunction with their ipads and drawing unique designs on paper for the Ozobot to follow.  The kids loved being able to race each other with different Ozobots to see which one would be crowned the winner.  Even the parents were getting in on the action and enjoying the Ozobots as much as the kids were!  There were times that the Ozobots would get confused and would need to be recalibrated, but it only took seconds to recalibrate and for it to be ready to go again.  This is definitely a product that I would recommend as a fun, learning tool that can be used individually or in a group setting.  My friends love that this product will grow with their kids and agree that it is a great way of introducing them to coding and STEM in a fun, engaging way. 

These smart toy robots can be purchased directly from the Ozobot website (http://ozobot.com/) or on Amazon.   #tryazon #ozobot

Enjoying New Silk® Protein Nutmilk!

I recently found out about the new Silk® Protein Nutmilk, compliments of Crowdtap, via a coupon for a free carton that I could use in exchange for my honest opinion of this product.  I had used Silk® milks before (my kids are especially fond of the dark chocolate almond milk!), but had never heard of this new nutmilk with packs in 10 grams of protein per serving from 100% peas!  I was SO excited to try it! With the goodness of almonds and creaminess of cashews, Silk® Protein Nutmilk is delicious over cereal, in smoothies, as part of a favorite recipe or served alone in a glass. Silk® offers this nutmilk in regular or vanilla varieties and I opted to first try the vanilla.  I love the creaminess of the milk, the slight sweetness of the vanilla (with only 6 grams of sugar!), the fact that the nutmilk is non-GMO, packs in 10g of protein and comes from a brand that I trust and that cares about the environment. 

I first made this delicious oatmeal for my family for breakfast using Silk Protein Nutmilk, blueberries and almonds.  It was DELICIOUS!  Kids and adults loved the hint of sweetness of the vanilla and the creaminess of the nutmilk.  As a mom, I love that this nutmilk is packed with 10g of protein, half the sugar of regular milk and is plant-based and non-GMO.  In the past, I would add brown sugar, agave, maple syrup or regular sugar to the oatmeal to sweeten it, but when using this vanilla nutmilk, I didn't have to add any additional sugars! 

I have also been enjoying trying out different smoothies using this new Silk Protein Nutmilk.  This particular one was quick and easy to whip up and a favorite amongst my kids.  I would highly recommend this delicious, healthy nutmilk!  #TastesLikeBetter

Trying NEW French’s® Dijon Mustard With Chardonnay

I was recently sent a free sample bottle of French’s® new Dijon Mustard With Chardonnay to try in exchange for my honest opinion, compliments of Crowdtap.  I love all different kinds of mustard, so when I found out about this new Dijon mustard with chardonnay, I was excited to try it with various types of recipes.  I love to cook with different wines and thought that this would be a great way to kick my recipes up a notch and give them a new level of flavor.  Sure enough, this mustard did impress!  Along with the bottle of mustard, I received a recipe card and immediately made the Deviled Eggs recipe.  The eggs were delicious!  My entire family loved them, including the kids.  The mustard has a nice creamy flavor with a touch of chardonnay and horseradish. 

 

My next recipe was Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Butternut Squash With Candied Dijon Sauce.  It was DELICIOUS!  The original recipe called for carrots, but I substituted butternut squash. 

 

This is the recipe if you are interested in making it:

      

1 lb. fresh Brussels sprouts, cleaned and cut in half

2 cups cut carrots

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. butter

1/4 cup FRENCH'S® Dijon Mustard

2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice

1 Tbsp. maple syrup

1/3 cup dried cranberries        

Preheat oven to 375°F. Cut  off the brown ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves. Mix them in a bowl with the carrots, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Pour them on a sheet pan and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, tossing twice. Roast until tender on the inside. Melt butter in saucepan over medium low heat. Stir in mustard, orange juice, and maple syrup. When vegetables are ready, pour sauce over them and mix in cranberries. Bake for 5 minutes.


It has been fun trying all sorts of appetizers, main dishes and sides with this new mustard.  It's also great just by itself as a dip (I enjoy dipping my egg in it in the morning).  And I love that it's made with all natural ingredients, no thickeners or fillers and no high fructose corn syrup.

Tryazon SmartGames Party

I recently hosted a SmartGames party through Tryazon and boy did the kids have fun!  I invited a few friends to our house for dinner and games.  While the adults were finishing up dessert, I brought out the games and introduced them to the kids.

 

Some kids decided to play a friendly game against each other and others played individually.  The three SmartGames that we played were Busy Bugs (using 4 puzzle pieces, kids had to find the hideouts of the busy bugs!  This game is magnetic and perfect for on-the-go!), Ghost Hunters (this was the party favorite!  In this game, kids light up all of the ghosts in each challenge by placing all the flashlight puzzle pieces correctly) and IQ XOXO (this game is neatly compact and is also great for on-the-go.   Players are challenged to fill the grid with 10 colorful, double-sided pieces, leaving X’s and O’s in sequence).  All three games were fun brain teasers and the kids had such a fun time comparing how they did on each of the games to their opponents. 

After the kids got the hang of how each of the games work, the adults got in on the action and we teamed up - parents against kids!  It was so much fun!  I explained to the parents that SmartGames has won over 70 awards worldwide and then we browsed their website for other games made by SmartGames.  All parents agreed that their website is laid out so user friendly with games categorized by "The Originals", "The Compacts", "The Pockets" and "The Magnetics".  Games are further broken down by age group.  Each of the games are awesome because they can grow with the kids.  Challenges are divided into 4 or 5 levels of difficulty. You start with the easiest challenges. Gradually, the challenges get more difficult so that they stay interesting and fun.  These would make GREAT gift givers, especially with Christmas right around the corner!  http://www.smartgamesusa.com/about-smartgames/

 

#tryazon #SmartGamesUSA 

Blount Organic Soup Party

I recently hosted a Blount Organic Soup party through Tryazon with several family members.  While the snow was falling outside and the temperatures were dropping, we were warm and cozy inside, enjoying each other's company and sampling many of the wonderful soups by Blount Organic.  We sampled Blount's Organic Coconut Lentil, Minestrone and Chicken Tortilla soups.  Each one was unique and had a wonderful flavor!  We paired the soup with some cheese fondue and oven crisped bread.  The combination was yummy!  After enjoyed each one of the soups, I will definitely be looking for other varieties at my local grocery store.  All of the ingredients used in Blount's bulk organic soups & sides contain no genetically engineered ingredients and are USDA Organic certified.  For more information on Blount Organic soups, please visit http://www.blountfinefoods.com/blount-organics.    #tryazon #blountorganics