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CIJ: Christmas Food July 19, 2009

Posted by texasheartland in candy, chocolate, Christmas, Christmas in July, cookies, food, Gift Ideas, gifts.
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Food is always a large part of the Holidays, because it is synonymous with Christmas. There are tons of Christmas recipes at AllRecipes.com. They have some of the best recipes that even I would enjoy making. While it’s not widely popular, they have several recipes for different types of Christmas cake (actual cake).If you have difficulty making fudge at Christmas, they also have tips and tricks for making perfect fudge.  They also have a section for food gift recipes if you have a friend or family member who is an avid cook/baker!

Give the gift of fortune cookies! At Fancy Fortune Cookies, they have fortune cookies that you can customize anyway you want. You can customize the flavor, the fortune in the cookie, and even have it drizzeld in chocolate! If you want to send them a surprise, send them a giant fortune cookie! All Giant Fortune Cookies come dipped in chocolate with confetti and your customized fortune!  Read my review on Fancy Fortune Cookies.

If you want to send something that is homemade without actually having to cook it, Etsy is your best bet! When the Holidays get a little closer, all the bakers start churning out their best that include fudge, chocolate, cookies, and sugary creations! Some stores even offer gift certificates for their products so if you’re not sure if you recipient would like the chocolate fudge or the cupcakes, give them a gift certificate so they can choose their sugar snack!

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ChexMix Giveaway- ENDED July 1, 2009

Posted by texasheartland in food, Giveaways.
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216 comments

Thanks to our friends at MyBlogSpark, you have the chance to win yummy food!

Now what is the deal with the food? If you’re anything like me, you like to snack during the day. Maybe you get a hankering for something sweet AND salty at the same time. Maybe you want something that’s easy to grab and go? Maybe perhaps both but don’t want to spend a ton of money on that taco from Taco Bell? May I introduce to you Chex Mix Turtle bars! They are a delicious snack that includes caramel, chocolate, peanuts, Chex Mix, and pretzels! To read my take, go to Chex Mix Review.

How many winners will there be and how can you win it? There will be three (3) winners and each winner will receive 2 boxes of ChexMix Turtle bars! If you want to win one of those spots, all you have to do is answer the follow question:

How do you unwind after a hard day?

THIS IS MANDATORY! “Enter me” or “Nice giveaway” does not constitute as an entry and will be removed. YOU MUST LEAVE A VALID E-MAIL TO ENTER! OPEN TO U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY.

Extra Entries (6): Leave a separate comment for each entry and/or link.

*Follow me on Twitter (Username- texasheartland.)

*Subscribe to Texas Banter Mailing List (via E-Mail, Google Reader, etc.)

*Tweet about this giveaway (profile link or status link- Enter to win food at Texas Banter! http://tinyurl.com/mv29th @texasheartland)

*Follow Manders on Twitter (Username- confettidreams.)

*Add my Texas Banter Button

*Blog about this giveaway

The giveaway starts on Tuesday, July 1st upon going “live” and will end on Tuesday, July 8th at 11:59PM CST. Entries submitted after that time are voided and are not counted. Winners have 48 hours to respond to the winning notification. If the winner(s) have not responded within the 48 hours, a new winner(s) will be chosen. All winners chosen via Random.org.

Guiltless Gourmet Review June 30, 2009

Posted by texasheartland in food, Product Reviews, Products, Reviews, sweepstakes, thoughts.
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Thanks to our friends at Guiltless Gourmet, we were able to try their Yellow Corn Tortilla Chips.

Now, Guitless Gourmet isn’t like any tortilla chip you’ve had. They are 100% baked. They don’t heavily salt the chips. They are all made with organic corn. With 18 chips as a serving, you get plenty of flavor! They all have 125 or less calories and 3 grams of fat per serving. Not only is it good, it’s good for you!

Their Yellow Corn Tortilla Chips were so delicious! They were perfectly baked. They were lightly salted but still had enough salt to take care of your salt craving. They were so flavorful! I loved the crunch they had! It’s hard to believe they were 100% organic! I couldn’t help myself! I wanted more! I could have easily eaten the whole bag! Theye were so good that I actually might have to pick up a couple of bags next time I go to the store! They are so yummy that even the pickiest of chip eaters will love them!

So where you can you find these? They’re not widely available so on their website, they have a store locator. You choose a product, type in your zip code, and they’ll give you stores within a 90-mile radius. Even if the closest store for me is 15 minutes away, these are well worth it!

Guiltless Gourmet is having a sweepstakes! You can win a trip to Vegas! You do need to buy a bag of Guiltless Gourmet Tortilla chips in order to play or send in a 3” x 5” piece of paper with all your information on it. But you could possibly instantly win a $100 gift card or a bag of Guiltless Gourmet Tortilla Chips. And each time you enter, you get an entry for a 4-days/3-nights at a 5 Diamond Resort in Las Vegas! For more information or to enter, visit Guiltless Gourmet.

ChexMix Review June 30, 2009

Posted by texasheartland in food, Product Reviews, Products, Reviews, thoughts.
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Thanks to MyBlogSpark, Texas Banter was able to review more food! We just love these food reviews.

We all know ChexMix for their cereal and party mix. They have decided to mix it all together to make Chex Mix Turtle Bars! The Chex Mix Turtle roundup_0000000000007524_image_01bar has caramel-covered Corn Chex pieces, Wheat Chex pieces, chocolate, peanuts, and pretzels. While it isn’t exactly attractive looking, they sure do taste great.

They were definitely seeet due to the caramel and chocolate, while the pretzels and peanuts gave it a salty taste. If you’re not used to that, it can be somewhat surprising. I’m not used to sweet/salty food at the same time so I was a little surprised by the taste. I couldn’t tell which one overpowered the other. It was somewhat chewey, almost like a granola bar. I’m not a fan of snacks that are chewey like granola bars if they aren’t. Don’t get me wrong, I love granola bars but this isn’t one. It was a little gooey when it arrived and I account that for the heat we’re having here in Texas. But because of the chocolate and caramel, it was melting pretty quickly. But it was pretty good and very sweet. A little salty but you get used to that. A little chewey and gooey, but on the whole, not bad. I give it a 7 out of 10.

You can buy these in ANY store where Chex Mix is sold and the good thing about these is that there is less than 150 calories per bar. So you can have one and don’t feel guilty because of it. Now that makes for a pretty good snack.

Giveaway Tomorrow June 30, 2009

Posted by texasheartland in Christmas in July, food, Product Reviews, Products, Reviews.
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Even though tomorrow IS the start of Christmas in July, I will be holding a giveaway. First I have to post the review today so that I can hold the giveaway tomorrow. Usually I hold giveaways on Fridays but because of the way it worked out, that isn’t the case this time.

I will give you one hint and one hint only: it’s food. I mean, c’mon. Who doesn’t enjoy the chance to win free food?

Then on July 2nd, we will be holding another giveaway, but this time it is part of Christmas in July.

Each will go for a week and both will be on the main page for your pick. Rules will be ON each giveaway since the Christmas in July rules may encompass different entries. You can even enter both if you’d like.

Reminder: There will be a giveaway tomorrow (July 1st), but it isn’t part of Christmas in July. Then there will be a giveaway on Thursday (July 2nd) that is part of Christmas in July. Look for the “CIJ” before the title.

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Nature Valley Review June 26, 2009

Posted by texasheartland in Feelings, food, Product Reviews, Products, Reviews, thoughts.
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Thanks to our friends at MyBlogSpark, Texas Banter was able to review Nature Valley‘s Granola Nut Clusters. We always enjoy food reviews! We were able to try 4 different kinds of the Granola Nut Clusters.

What they are, essentially, are honey granola clusters with various nuts tucked in. One of the nuts included was the Roasted Almonds. I love almosts so I was happy to taste it. It was good! It was crunch, pretty sweet (thanks to the honey), and had plenty of almonds. It was the perfect mix of honey, granola, and almosts. The Roasted Cashews were okay. There wasn’t that much honey and very little cashews. The Roasted Peanuts were too sweet for my taste. It overpowered the peanuts and granola. The Nut Lovers was supposed to have pecans instead of almosts but there were very little pecans in the Nut Lovers. But besides not having enough pecans, it was pretty enjoyable. Though I do prefer the Roasted Almonds.

The Nut Clusters are perfect for snacking and come in a resealable pouch for later!

Nature Valley got its start in 1975 with creating the first granola bar. Now they have over 100 different items in several different countries, include India. Almost every single item is 100% Natural, creating a better eating habit for those who have a sweet tooth or just love the taste of granola or grains.

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Fancy Fortune Cookies Review June 19, 2009

Posted by texasheartland in food, Product Reviews, Products, thoughts.
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Thanks to Erin and the Fancy Fortune Cookie Co., I was able to try their assortment of flavored fortune cookies.

I opened the box. I gave a vanilla-flavored fortune cookie to Dad and Manders. Mom was handed a cherry-flavored cookie while I snagged myself a chocolate. I opened it, and read my fortune. How funny that my first fortune would be true! But aside from that, it was absolutely delicious! It didn’t taste like the stale fortune cookies in restartuants and had tons of flavor! I tried all of them and as it turns out, the green mint is my favorite! The ending note was just minty enough to be delightful! My family even enjoyed them!

But these cookies are something special! Fancy Fortune Cookies allows you to customize them. You can personalize the fortune to find your needs- whether its for the Holidays, birthdays, party favors, and even for your organizations! You can also have them dipped in luscious chocolate and you can even have sprinkles on them!

If flavored fortune cookies are not your thing, you can still order the original vanilla fortune cookies.

If you want to get something for your boss with your company logo stamped on there somewhere, you might want to check out their corporate gift section. All the cookies in the gift set come dipped in chocolate, and they have a wide variety to choose from.

While you are there, feel free to check out their famous fortune cookie recipes! They have 5 recipes to choose from and all of them sound delicious!

If those small fortune cookies aren’t cutting it for that special person, feel free to check out their Giant Fortune Cookies!

“What’s For Dinner” Giveaway- ENDED May 22, 2009

Posted by texasheartland in Contests, food, Giveaways, Products, sweepstakes.
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303 comments

This time, Texas Banter is giving away food! Our lovely friends at BlogSpark are giving three (3) readers the chance to win!

Now what is the deal with the food? Have you even thought about dinner tonight? If not, might I make a suggestion? Pasta. Not just any pasta- Romano’s Macaroni Grill dinner kits! With yummy flavors like Garlic & Herb Chicken Penne, Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken & Pasta, Chicken Alfredo with Linguine and Chicken Marsala with Linguine, even the pickiest taste buds will enjoy it! To see my review, visit Romano’s Macaroni Grill Review.

So what is up for grabs here at Texas Banter this time? It is the ultimate dinner! Three (3) winners will each recieve the Romano’s “What’s For Dinner?” gift basket:  a sample of the Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken Pasta variety, three coupons for you to try the other varieties the next time you visit your local grocer, colander and serving spoon.

How can you win one of these lovely gift baskets? Just answer this simple question:

What is your family’s favorite dinner topic?

THIS IS MANDATORY! “Enter me” or “Nice giveaway” does not constitute as an entry and will be removed. YOU MUST LEAVE A VALID E-MAIL TO ENTER! OPEN TO U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY.

Extra Entries (6): Leave a separate comment for each entry.

*Follow me on Twitter (Username- texasheartland.)
*Subscribe to Texas Banter Mailing List
*Tweet about this giveaway (Win food at Texas Banter! http://tinyurl.com/puypy6 @texasheartland)
*Follow Manders on Twitter (Username- confettidreams.)
*Add my Texas Banter Button
*Blog about this giveaway

The giveaway starts on Friday, May 22nd upon going “live” and will end on Friday, May 29th at 11:59CST. Entries submitted after that time are voided and do not count.

Winners have 48 hours to respond to the winning notification. If the winner(s) have not responded within the 48 hours, a new winner(s) will be chosen.

All winners chosen via Random.org.

Khaya Cookie Review May 21, 2009

Posted by texasheartland in cookies, food, Product Reviews, Products, Reviews, thoughts.
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When the Khaya Cookie Company agreed to send me products to try for Mom’s birthday, I was floored! Boy, would Mom be surprised!

Khaya Cookies sent me their “Grapeseed Shortbread” and “Orange & Chocolate Krunchi” cookies to try and review.

The “Grapeseed Shortbread” (made with currants and grapeseed) was the first to be tried. I’ve never had currants before so I was curious to how they would taste. It has a unique taste. It does taste like shortbread but without tons of sugar. The finishing note just makes you want more!

Next we move onto the “Orange & Chocolate Krunchi” cookies (which are made with orange zest, Belgium chocolate, and honey-sweetened grains). It has a taste of a granola bar without being too chewy. The chocolate is sublime and there is just a hint of orange. It’s a symphony of flavors!

Did you know that Khaya Cokies are all nature? They use only the finest and freshed ingredients with not preservaties. They are also committed to empowering people so that they can earn a living with solid business and life skills. With a caring company and fresh gourmet cookies, how can you say “no”?

To see what other flavors they offer and to pick up your own box, visit www.khayacookies.com.

Romano’s Macaroni Grill Review May 21, 2009

Posted by texasheartland in food, Product Reviews, Products, Reviews, thoughts.
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Having trouble figuring out what to fix for dinner? Have somewhat picky eaters? Romano’s Macaroni Grill is your best bet! With the new line of dinner kits inspired by the chefs at Romano’s Macaroni Grill, you can now easily make four classic Italian meals at home.

The dinner kits include everything needed to create a high-quality meal in one box including premium ingredients such as such as vine-ripened tomatoes, select cooking wines, specialty herbs and 100% semolina pasta.   All you have to do is add one pound of chicken or your choice of proteins such as shrimp or Italian sausage. Varieties of Romano’s Macaroni Grill Restaurant Favorites dinner kits include Garlic & Herb Chicken Penne, Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken & Pasta, Chicken Alfredo with Linguine and Chicken Marsala with Linguine.

Thanks to MyBlogSpark, Texas Banter was able to review Romano’s Macaroni Grill’s dinner kit.

Let’s start off with the Creamy Basil Chicken & Pasta. Luckily we had chicken in in the freezer. It was so easy to make and only took 20-30 minutes to prepare, depending on your stove.

It was so creamy and the sun-dried tomatoes and creamy sauce tasted like Heaven! Add some grated cheese (included in the dinner kit or add your own) and you’ve got the perfect meal!

While it may seem like it was made for mature tastes, kids will most likely enjoy it because the whole thing together was like an explosion of flavor!

For more information or to find a retailer near you, visit www.restaurantfavoritesathome.com.

Twin Banter May 15, 2009

Posted by texasheartland in family, food, fun, funny, hilarious, life, random, Siblings, sisters, thoughts, twins.
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Around 6pm last night, I had awaken from a nap because I woke up a little early that morning. I was hungry as was the rest of the family. We didn’t want anything we had at home (not to mention we hadn’t gone to the store yet) so Mom asked what we wanted for dinner. Manders blurted out “Hamburgers!” but I wasn’t in the mood for burgers.

Somehow I persuaded Mom to let us eat dinner at our favorite Chinese buffet restaurant. They’re food is absolutely delicious!

Dinner started with relatively small talk. Daddy said to Mama that he fixed the toilet and we talked about Zeus. Then somehow, the conversation turned to me, Manders, and how we would parent our future kids! I don’t remember how it started but it didn’t end there!

A couple of minutes pass with little to no conversation. We were more into enjoying the food than talking about things that would seem so mundane. But after we had all gotten dessert, the conversation turned silly between sissy and I. We were discussing what “Thank You” was in Japanese and Chinese:

Sis: “Arigato” is “Thank You” in Japanese, right?

Me: I don’t know. I think so.

After I said that, we softly (but still loud enough for Daddy and Mama to hear us) started singing “Mr. Roboto” by Styx. I’m sure the man sitting by himself in the booth next to us heard the singing. He probably didn’t mind. He got free entertainment.

Eating before bed… April 21, 2009

Posted by texasheartland in blog, Blogging, blogs, Books, Dreams, Fantasy, Feelings, food, learning, life, magic, random, thoughts, TV.
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Around midnight, I was hungry. I hadn’t really eaten since noon so I decided to get a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I obviously did not remember the fabulous line every mother tells their children: “Do not eat an hour before bed or you will have bad dreams.”. Now, that rule doesn’t usually apply to me unless it’s by some freak accident.

After watching a little bit of Futurama, I decided to go to sleep- which was only 30 minutes after eating. I shouldn’t have eaten that sandwich before bed. I had the most weird dreams! It was where I was bitten by a vampire but instead of turning into some ugly looking-creature that books have made vampires out to be, I turned into this beautiful countess with a flowing white dress that had a blood red bodice. But little did I realize that in my dreams, I was dreaming that. Because upon awakening in my dream, I said I was going to write a book about the dream I just had and blog about it. I was going to call the book “Magick” because of the dream’s Pagan backgrounds and the blog “Vampires, oh my!”.

I don’t know where the vampire came from and I don’t know where the book thing came from. I know where the blog part came from because I was just in the living room as Manders was writing a post. Maybe it was “Magic’s Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed” I watched before bed. I now find magic fake due to this. But it’s so interesting to see what magicians use for their biggest tricks.

I have the weirdest dreams. I think I will until the day I die. I wonder what’s for lunch.

YoPlus Review April 18, 2009

Posted by texasheartland in Feelings, food, health, Product Reviews, Products, Reviews, thoughts.
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As with the FiberOne review, I had won a YoPlus gift basket that came with a coupon for a free productm a huge water bottle, a small notepad, and a bag. I got the YoPlus yogurt the same day and tried them both on the same day. I waited until late afternoon to try the Strawberry-flavored yogurt.

I love yogurt so I was excited to try it. You know how some yogurt has a strong taste and an aftertaste? Well, this wasn’t so strong that you never wanted to eat it again. It was incredibly smooth and bursting with luscious strawberry flavor. The lingering aftertaste didn’t sour at all. In fact, it made me want more! I really enjoyed it and I hope I can continue eating it!

How is YoPlus different from any other yogurt? It has a special combination of probiotic cultures and fiber, plus vitamins A and D. Yo-Plus cultures are clinically proven to help naturally regulate digestive health. So besides tasting great, it’s great for you! They offer a variety of flavors: Strawberry, Cranberry Rasberry, Blackberry Pomegranate, Blueberry Acai, Vaniilla, Cherry, and Peach.

So do your digestive tract a favor and try YoPlus yogurt today!

FiberOne Review April 17, 2009

Posted by texasheartland in chocolate, food, Product Reviews, Products, Reviews, thoughts.
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3 comments

I was hoping this was going to be a CD review since I love music, but alas, I couldn’t get both songs onto the iPod before now so I will most likely review the CD when I head off for a nap after studying.

About 3 weeks ago (when Zeus was sick), I had won AND received a FiberOne Gift basket that included a coupon for a free box of FiberOne Chewy Bars, a bar of chocolate soap, a container of chocolate bath beads, a bathtub pillow, and a bottle of Lights N Lathers Chocolate Body Lotion. Today, I was finally able to get the box of FiberOne bars, and try them. I picked up the Chocolate Mocha flavor and it didn’t take long for the yummy goodness of chocolate mocha to come calling for me so I decided to have a bar for breakfast.

I bit into it and just a sweetness of mocha and chocolate filled my mouth. It’s just essentially a granola bar but with your 35% Daily Value of Fiber. It was so chewy, so gooey, but not as sticky as some granola bars are. They had great flavor. They weren’t bland, gritty, or dry. They were probably one of the best granola bars I have ever eaten in my life and hope to get some more in the future.

FiberOne‘s motto is “Cardboard, no. Delicious, yes.”. They stand true to that!

Songs and Argument April 11, 2009

Posted by texasheartland in Animals, Birds, family, food, fun, funny, hilarious, humor, life, random, restaurants, thoughts.
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I don’t know if it’s because we will have severe thunderstorms heading our way after midnight or it’s because I have lost my mind.

Manders was entering a giveaway for an Outback Steakhouse gift card. And on our local menu, it had Kookaburra Wings as an appetizer. Now if anyone can remember back to their childhood, they would automatically remember the song “Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree. Merry, merry king of the bush is he. Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra! Gay your life must be…”. Well, I obviously do. Once my sister had said what appetizers they offered and said the Kookaburra Wings, I started singing it without skipping a beat. I had forgotten the second verse but you can bet that I sang that first part! Me and Manders started laughing our butts off! It was random but funny! She said “I wouldn’t be proud to know that”. In a way, she’s right. I don’t even know how I remembered it!  Maybe I’m suppressing my childhood songs. But it’s still funny.

Kookaburra Bird

Kookaburra Bird

Has this ever happened to you? You make a comment about asking someone a question that you haven’t asked yet and the person who you’re talking about whom you’re going to ask the question to starts arguing about it? Okay, let me explain- I said to my Dad that I was gonna ask my Mom if Waco (my city) had any chances of flooding due to the weather we will have in the morning. My dad obviously either didn’t hear me correctly or wasn’t paying attention. So we started having a fun little argument over what I said instead of what I wanted to ask. He kept saying “What are you asking? You’re not asking a question.” and I kept repeating myself until I reworded it for him. But for 5 minutes, we kept bantering back and forth about what he thought I WASN’T asking over what I WAS asking. I thought I had made myself pretty clear. Guess I wasn’t.

Anyways, Happy Easter my friends!