Perfect Afternoon Snack – Starbucks and The Bakery at Walmart #DeliciousPairings

Posted by Stephanie on Apr 22, 2013 in Cbias, Yummy | 8 comments

Some afternoons about 3 p.m., I’m finding myself reaching for a coffee and wishing that I had something snacky to go along with it.  I try to steer clear of candy as much as possible, but still want that sweet and savory mix of fruity and sugary flavors.  On the weekends, I’ve found that I keep heading into a local Starbucks to grab a drink and a snack, and realized that it was more cost effective to have a similar treat at home.  I headed off to Walmart to grab some grocery items, and to find the perfect mid afternoon snack to share with a piping hot cup of Starbucks coffee.

I had been hearing about a new Starbucks in store campaign called Delicious Pairings, but unfortunately, my local Walmart did not have the display.  No worries, I went ahead and looked through the coffee options in the store and decided that the Medium House Blend sounded exactly like what I wanted – light, lively, balanced.  I wandered over to the Bakery department and hemmed and hawed over several choices for awhile, and ultimately decided on the blueberry muffins. Nothing satisfies as a light, airy, sweet, and fruity blueberry muffin.  The perfect, delicious pairing!

I took my treats home and was immediately ambushed by my toddler, bored, wanting a snack, and wanting to do a craft of some sort.  As I got my coffee brewing, he took in several deep breathes and asked what smelled so good.  I said it was the coffee, but he swore it was the blueberry muffin!  I promised to share with him while we did a special Earth Day craft together.

I have seen several tutorials online of various things to do with your leftover coffee packages, and decided to let my son take part in one craft.  As the coffee brewed, I put the remaining unbrewed grounds into a Tupperware container for safe keeping, and turned the coffee bag inside out (but not before noticing this awesome comment on the bag – free coffee!).

I washed the outside of the bag with soap and water, then dried it off and laid it on a towel, along with some Sharpie markers.  I still didn’t tell him what we were up to at first.

When the coffee maker beeped, I poured myself a cup of coffee, a cup of milk for my son, and decided that we could share the muffin since it was so large.  I brought it to the table with two forks, and he eagerly dug in.  I sampled a bite of the muffin, took a sip of the Medium House Blend coffee, then took another bite of the tasty bakery treat – and relished in the satisfying feeling at how perfectly matched the coffee was with the muffin.  Just the right amount of sweetness between the two, and it still felt light and airy.

As we munched on the blueberry muffin, I finally relented and told my son what we were doing with the Starbucks bag – we were making a “coffee flower pot” with the bag and used coffee grounds.  He was VERY excited to decorate the bag how he saw fit, and soon we had a colorful flower pot, waiting for the coffee grounds to go into it.

After pouring the used coffee grounds in, we put the flower that he had selected earlier in the week into the bag, then sat it in the window so it could catch some rays.  Unfortunately, it’s been rainy and cloudy here, but we know that Florida’s sunny rays will soon make his flower grow big and strong.

I give this delicious pairing a big two thumbs up, and if I keep going through this coffee as quickly as I have been, we’ll have a whole windowsill full of flowers soon!  Next, I’ll have to figure out what to do with all of the blueberry muffin trays…hmmmm…..

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™. #cbias #SocialFabric

**HOT Starbucks Deal with Groupon!** #Starbucks #Groupon

Posted by Stephanie on Mar 22, 2013 in Yummy | 1 comment

You can purchase a Starbucks $10 eGift Card

for only $5!

Quick Dinners Do NOT Have to be Tasteless! #TysonGoodness #CBias

Posted by Stephanie on Jan 6, 2012 in Product Review, Reviews, Sponsors, Yummy | 0 comments

As mentioned in my last post, we’re running on a tight schedule to get packed and moved.  And tonight, Zachary had to make a trip to the doctor due to a bout with bronchitis.  Times like these, I just can’t stop to make a full dinner that takes nearly an hour to make.  Luckily, Tyson chicken mini sandwiches are quick to make and can have a variety of items added to the sandwich to spice it up a little.

To change it up some tonight, I decided to make a “spicy wrap” of sorts.  First – don’t be jealous of my kick butt spider plate.  Most everything else is packed up and that, along with some Christmas plates, is all that I had on hand.  Anyways, I cooked the Tyson chicken mini sandwiches as directed in the microwave, then warmed up a flour tortilla for 20 seconds after that.  I transferred the chicken to the tortilla, then took some of the cheese that was on the sandwich and added it as well.

Please note: I had to get out of my work pants, and my jeans were in the dryer still drying, hence the really sexy stripes and plaid outfit that I have going on.  AMAZINGLY HAWT.

And I never said my husband was a photographer, by the way.

Next, I added on a few pepperoni slices to kick it up a notch.

And then on with the lettuce!

Of course, you have to wrap it all up like a burrito after the fact.  Then have a weird green spider stare at you as you warm up veggies to add as sides.

A colorful plate of food (with a green bean in the background, yay) – and a very tasty and under 5 minute dinner.  My husband said that it reminded him of a spicy chicken sandwich from a fast food place – not too shabby.

We are officially out of our tasty sandwiches and will have to go to another Walmart in our area – they are also sold out (check out our previous shopping trip at Walmart on my Google + album!).  If you haven’t tried these yet, my whole family encourages you to check out Tyson Goodness and see if there is a Walmart near you selling these tasty little treats.  There is still a fantastic deal going on for these sandwiches – buy 2 mini chicken sandwiches, and receive a $5 Walmart gift card!

Three easy steps to receive your Walmart Gift Card:

BUY any two (2) Tyson® Mini Chicken Sandwiches (8 count).

ATTACH your original Walmart cash register receipt, dated between 10/31/11 and 1/13/12, containing the address of the Walmart store, the purchase date, and the purchased products of either Tyson® Mini Chicken Sandwiches or Tyson® Mini Chicken Sandwiches with Cheddar Cheese all circled, THIS COMPLETED FORM, AND MAIL to:

Tyson® Chicken Walmart Gift Card Offer,35610 Mound Road, Dept. 2030, Sterling Heights, MI 48310-4725.

Envelope must be postmarked by 2/13/12; received by 2/20/12.

Product must be purchased by 1/13/12. Offer expires 1/13/12 or when supply of gift cards runs out, whichever occurs first. Supplies limited to 2,000 Walmart Gift Cards.

Congratulations to the winners of the Walmart gift cards from this week’s Twitter party!

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias All thoughts in this post are my own – and my kids – and our stomachs.

International Delight Iced Coffee Taste Teaser #CBias #IcedCoffee

Posted by Stephanie on Jan 4, 2012 in Reviews, Yummy | 9 comments

Before I had Zachary, I wasn’t much of a coffee drinker.  But since he never really figured out how to sleep through the night properly, coffee very quickly became my best friend.  I was actually once up to five cups a day before I realized that is WAY TOO MUCH coffee for one person to consume on a daily basis.

But during hot summer days, I dread trying to wake up with a piping hot cup of coffee.  Instead, I’ll head over to my local chain coffee shop across from my office and purchase an iced coffee – and at the end of the week, my husband wants to know if I’m meeting guys there for lunches or dates, because I am racking up major bills there with each purchase.

Think about it – the average small cup of iced coffee is nearly $3!

When I heard about the new International Delight Iced Coffee, I was so excited to be able to give them a taste test to see if they’re as good as that national chain – and was really crossing my fingers, because my pocketbook wanted to keep that extra dough!

In Original coffee, mocha and vanilla flavors, these iced coffees are made with 100% premium Arabica coffee and are ready to drink as soon as you open that container.  No mixing with other liquids, no grinding beans – you don’t even need ice if you don’t want it (but I usually do!).

My husband and I did a taste test of the three flavors, and he also took them to his store to let his coworkers try them.

While we all liked the flavor and taste of the vanilla and original flavors, the big winner from the testers was the mocha flavor.  With a rich coffee and chocolate flavor, it was velvety smooth and was just the right mixture of sweetness with a little coffee punch.

A big thanks to http://eightymphmom.com for use of the above image –  we drank the entire container of mocha and forgot to photograph it until it was thrown out!  It was THAT good!!

I can’t wait for these drinks to be available in stores later this month.  I will definitely purchase them and have them on hand at work and home – they’re really so versatile.  You can also make some delicious beverages with these drinks such as peppermint mocha, vanilla spice, and I bet you anything these would make some pretty amazing coffee floats!  Or maybe blend a mixture of flavors along with some Cool Whip for a homemade frapp.

International Delight Iced Coffee will be available at your local Walmart starting January 15th in the dairy section.  I’m sure that they will follow soon in local grocery stores as well!  Follow #CBias and #IcedCoffee on Twitter to learn more about these delicious drinks.  If you try them out, give me a shout and let me know what you think!

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias #CBias  All thoughts and opinions are my own (and my hubby and his coworkers).