[Me] & Goji Cereal Review

Hazel's Headache Healer

Ingredients:

flaxed and flaked flakes

spelt flakes

quinoa flakes

goji

banana

raisins 

pumpkin seeds

sunflower seeds

pine nuts

Directions:

1. Go to www.meandgoji.com
2. Mix the perfect blend
3. Name your cereal and design the container
4. ORDER and wait....impatiently, until it comes in the mail a few days later! 
5. Eat and Enjoy! 

That's how easy it is to create your own custom blend cereal at [me] & goji.com where you decide the ingredients from over 60 different all natural and organic ingredients! 

What sort of ingredients are available? When you create your custom blend cereal from [me] & goji, you start by choosing a base. They offer many different flakes, oats, muesli, and wheat blends. From there you enhance the base with such things as cacao nibs, nutmeg, spelt and many more. Now comes the fun part: Add dried fruit (goji, cherry, strawberry, banana, acai powder, etc); Add nuts and seeds (pumpkin, almond, sunflower, pistachio, soy, pecans, pine, etc) and then name your creation and upload a photo if you desire! 

The Results: A natural cereal blend that is packed with health-enhancing, energy-boosting, nutrient full whole foods that will dance on your taste buds and leave you craving for more! You might think I'm exaggerating, but here is the proof:

Alexander, Adam and Carl (founders of meandgoji.com cereal blends) do not skimp on contents. From the very first bowl until the very last, you can be assured that you will be getting a spoonful of pure goodness in every bite! What is unique about [me] & goji cereal is that it remains fresh due to its original packaging. Instead of standard boxed cereals that lose freshness shortly after opening, [me] & goji cereals arrive in a cereal capsule! The capsule is 100% recyclable and maintains freshness as it closely tightly so that air does not get in. Even after a couple of weeks, the cereal was just as fresh as the first day I opened the seal. There is nothing worse (okay, maybe there is something worse, but you get the idea) of biting into stale cereal. Ewww. No more! With [me] & goji, you can be confident that nothing goes to waste as it stays fresh until it's gone (which, if you don't hide it specifically for yourself, won't take very long for it to disappear). 

Why am I so excited about [me] & goji? Let's see some of my reasons:

• [me] & goji gives 5% of profits to charity
• 100% all natural and organic ingredients
• 100% recyclable cereal containers 
• 100% Post Consumer Waste Shipping boxes
• Inks to label the boxes use Vegetable Ink (where possible)
• No trees are damaged for packaging
• They offer a green tag for $1.00 at checkout to offset the CO2 emissions from the creation and shipping of the cereal. 100% goes to the Bonneville Environmental Foundation who invest it in renewable energy projects
• This company has a 100% satisfaction guarantee - if you don't like your custom cereal for any reason, they will send you a new one!

For a fairly new company, I am impressed with their "green" dedication!!  

A little about the company: (the following is from the website)-

"[me] & goji is dream of adam & alexander.we are two friends combining our passions for healthy, good-tasting food, unique products, and thoughtful design: cereal couture, if you will. our mission-driven company believes in using our resources in ways that benefit social and environmental needs."

If you can't decide what ingredients to blend together, they do offer  premade recipe creations that you can order already blended. 

There are approximately 15 servings per cereal capsule, and to get a comparison to the traditional boxed cereal, see their comparison chart.

I truly enjoyed my experience with [me] & goji and highly recommend it to anyone who has special dietary needs such as gluten sensitivity as they do offer gluten-free cereal choices or for any one of you who want cereal YOUR way! I give my seal of approval to Alexander, Adam, Carl and the whole staff at [me] & goji.

I would highly encourage you to visit [me] & goji at the following venues:

• [me] & goji Blog
• [me] & goji on Twitter
• [me] & goji on Facebook

What are you waiting for.....start creating!



Until next time....

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Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce Review and Giveaway (2 Winners) (CLOSED)

"That was really good....I like it", said my daughter when she tasted the dinner I had thrown together a half hour earlier. I had forgotten to take any meat out of the freezer and so I had to think fast. I found some Keilbasa in the freezer, which was quick and easy to defrost and when I opened the cabinet, I found the Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce that I had been sent a short time earlier. I added a few other ingredients that I thought might at least pass for edible when combined with the sauce and Keilbasa, tossed it all together and named it "Cowboy Bean Pot".

Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce is one of my all time favorite products!! I also love the bbq sauce and am so excited by the fact that they have expanded their line to include Spicy All Purpose Sauce, Seasoning Salt, and a cookbook (which definitely needs to be added to my Christmas want list). The company has come such a long way since it first began selling its products in 1977 and I love their explanation for the growth of the company: (the following is found on their website here:)

It would be nice if we could claim responsibility for the success of the company, however, credit must be given where credit is due. Proverbs 16:3 says, "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." We have placed true ownership of Country Bob, Inc. in the hands of God. "Christ is our CEO" and  He is an Awesome Boss!

Both the Original and Spicy versions of the All Purpose Sauce are gluten-free!!  All of the products have a very distinctive flavor- a little tangy, a little sweet...with just the right amount of kick. Since we have been long time fans of the Country Bob's BBQ sauce and All Purpose Sauce, we have used it in a numerous amount of dishes. My husband loves to use it on his special burgers and ribs when cooking on the grill, and I like to add it to any dish that I want a good hearty flavor that is not too overwhelming. Here is my new recipe: 

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Cowboy Bean Pot Recipe


1 Polish Sausage or Keilbasa (or whatever kind you like)
2 Cans of Beans (any kind--I used black beans and butter beans)
1 Cup Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce (Spicy or Original)
1 onion, chopped
2 Cans refrigerator biscuits
Salt, Pepper, Garlic to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. While waiting for oven to preheat, cut up Keilbasa into bite size pieces. Chop onion. 

3. Mix all ingredients in an oven safe pan or dish, including the Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce.

4. Top with 2 Cans of refrigerator biscuits 

5. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes

6. When biscuits are browned on top, it might be necessary to flip them over to cook on the underside. 

7. Done when biscuits are browned!

SERVE and ENJOY!!!!!!

I call it a Bean Pot as you literally could add any type of ingredients to this and still have a tasty dish. This is all I had on hand, but it would be great with some diced tomatoes, green peppers, and perhaps even some frozen hashbrowns cooked on top instead of the biscuits. Vary up the beans too...the variety makes it fun!!

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Now that you know one of my recipes using Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce, try your own recipe!! Country Bob's website offers many different recipes from appetizers to the main course. 

What's better than one bottle of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce....well TWO FREE BOTTLES of course! Country Bob's is offering not one but TWO WINNERS. Each winner will receive two bottles of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce. 

HUNGRY YET

then enter this Giveaway!!

How To Win: Open to U.S. Residents who are 18 years or older. Void where prohibited. Winners will be chosen using random.org and will have five business days to respond to the winning email or a new winner will be declared. I ask that you read the full rules, regulations, disclaimers and disclosure on the Legal page before entering. Please be certain to have an email address in your profile or listed in your entry so that I have a way in which to contact you if you are the winner. 


Giveaway ends on Sept. 6, 2010 at Midnight Central time


Mandatory Entry:
Visit Country Bob's website and tell me which recipe you would want to try the most AND follow me on Google Friend Connect.  (Include both of these in your first entry. This must be done before any other entries are considered valid)


Bonus Entries: (please leave a separate comment for each entry)

• Follow Critique of the Unique on Twitter (+1 entry)
• Follow Country Bob's on Twitter (+1 entry)
• Follow Critique of the Unique by email (+2 entries)
• Follow Country Bob's on Facebook to show your support (+1 entry)
• Enter any of my other giveaways (+1 for each)
• Tweet: 2 winners will #win 2 bottles of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce with @uniquecritiques and @countrybobs. Enter here: http://dld.bz/sCFK (+1 daily)

FTC Guidelines require that I disclose that I received two bottles of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own, honest opinions. Other opinions may vary. Country Bob is the sponsor of this giveaway and is therefore responsible for prize fulfillment. 

Submissions to this giveaway are closed. Winners will be chosen soon and notified by email. Thanks!

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Picking Wild Berries

The children and I went on a little adventure! We wanted to make a cobbler, so we went on the search for some wild blackberries or raspberries, and boy, did we find some!! They were at the back end of our property in an area that was grown up and a bit snaky looking.  I was afraid to get too close to the weeded area as I had seen a snake in the yard earlier in the month and I still could not get the mental image of it out of my head. On that day, I had been picking up pool toys that the children had left around the yard (barefoot of course) and I walked out to the middle of an open field to retrieve a toy and then walked back to the garage.  My husband called me back over a few seconds later and had me do a scan of the yard.  "What do you see?", he asked me, pointing to the area that I had just been.  I didn't see anything, so he pointed again, and this time I followed his finger more carefully and that's when I seen it.  The snake was coiled up and his tail was shaking back and forth (we concluded that it was probably just a rat snake and not of a poisonous variety).  I immediately let out a scream. I had been inches from it just a few seconds earlier (I couldn't help but scream, even though I was in no danger at that point)!

With that memory in mind, I made my husband come do a shake of all the bushes in the area before I would walk close enough to the newly found treasure of ripened blackberries! When I was fully satisfied that there were no snakes, I let the children come over to help pick the berries. I had forgotten about their thorny vines and it didn't take long before we were digging out our winter gloves to protect our fingers.  The vines were not supported and were falling in on themselves and all the delicious berries were buried in the maze of vines and thorns.  I used the gloved hand to hold back the bigger vines so we had access to the berries beneath it. Even with all the precautionary measures, I still pricked my fingers more times than I can recall! But I forged ahead, as I knew the yield would be worth the reward!

We picked half a kettle full and decided to call it quits!  It wasn't until we headed toward the house that we realized that our harvest of berries had disrupted no snakes, but had indeed stirred up a mountain of seed ticks which were now covering our ankles and legs. It was a mad dash to the shower for the children as I attempted to brush off all I could on myself. Unfortunately, days later and I am still recovering form the itchy bites they leave, but thank goodness, the children were not affected.

After they were all showered, we rinsed our little berries, being careful not to damage their clusters. The boy was in charge of getting out all the "yucky" berries that had made it into the pile as me and the girl gathered all the other ingredients.

The recipe we used:

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Blackberry Cobbler

2 16-oz. packages frozen blackberries, thawed  (we substituted the fresh berries)
2 C. sugar or to taste (we found this to be a little too sweet. Might try 1 1/2 cup)
2 T. flour
1 T. lemon juice
1/2 C. butter
Pastry (below)

Combine berries, sugar, flour and lemon juice and stir well. Set aside.

Prepare pastry and divide dough in half. Roll half of dough to 1/8-inch thickness to fit bottom of 9 x 13-inch dish (lightly greased). Spoon berry mixture into pastry-lined dish; dot with butter.

Roll remaining half of dough to fit top of cobbler. Place over berry mixture. Make slits in dough or cut into strips. Dot with butter pats and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350°F. for about 45 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown.

Pastry:
2 C. all-purpose flour
3/4 t. salt
2/3 C. shortening
3 T. ice water

Combine flour and salt; cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle water over mixture and stir with fork. Shape dough into ball.  

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The children had so much fun measuring, pouring and stirring!

 I'll let you in on a little secret---baking is not my forte---but it doesn't stop me from trying!! I make a huge mess, I don't have the right baking instruments (for example: we had to use a bottle of cooking sherry as a rolling pin as I don't own one) nor do I have any skill (I can say that with certainty). My husband has never let me live down the cornbread I attempted to cook him during our dating years. I called for him to get it out of the oven for me and it looked beautiful, perfectly browned on top.  We let it cool while I finished cooking our meal and as we prepared our plates.  He went to get the cornbread out of the pan and the knife literally SUNK into the cornbread.  As it turned out, I had put the oven on preheat and never changed it to "bake", so it got done on the top, but immediately below the bread's crust, it was pure liquid. 12 years later and I am STILL hearing about my "famous cornbread". 

Therefore, I didn't have much faith that this cobbler would turn out. But I figured, even if it didn't look pretty, it might still be edible!!

A little trick: I keep my flour in the freezer as I don't like to leave it in a canister on the counter. I don't have any other reason for doing this except for my mother always kept hers in the freezer, so I do as well.  It was always a big pain as the bag would leak flour out more and more as I used it and make a big mess in the freezer. I purchased these things called "Pasta Express", (the little tubes that you put spaghetti in, add hot water, and VIOLA-you have cooked spaghetti in a matter of minutes) and although I did not like them for cooking noodles, I did repurpose them. They come in different sizes, and have little slotted lids that fit tight on the tube, and then a screw on lid that goes over that. I use the smallest of these tubes to put my flour in. It keeps it air tight and the little lid comes off, revealing the slotted lid, that allows for me to shake the flour out. Works great!!!

Blackberry filling

 The finished product: It won't win any awards at the county fair, but we did it all by ourselves!!!

 I like my cobbler cold, with a scoop of ice cream on the side and a bit of caramel drizzled over the top!!!

YUMMY!  Over the weekend, we will be making Rhubard Pie, so stay tuned!

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