Traditional Home July and August 2013

Herbs-

Lavender -

Lavender flowers and buds are bost cooking. Release their flavor by steeping the buds in liquid, chopping and adding to batters, or grinding and adding to sugar. Harvest lavender by cutting the stem close to the foliage. The most flavorful blossoms are those that have not completely bloomed, but are violet in color. Rubbing the buds between your fingers releases their essential oils.

Savory -

Both summer and winter savory can be used for cooking, each in its namesake season. Add several sprigs to cooking liquid for legumes, or chop the leaves and stir into rice or grain as they cook. Harvest savory about one-third down then store the stem. Remove the leaves by grasping the top of the stem and gently pulling the stem through your fingers. This method works for most stemmed herbs such as rosemary, thyme, and oregano.

Lemon Verbena -

Lemon verbena parks a wallop flavoring teas and syrups or infused in milk, it also pairs well with tangy ingredients. Chop the coarse leaves very fine when use fresh, or strain them out when cooked in liquids. The leaves from this plant can grow up to 4 inches; use the smaller ones for cooking. Combine finely chopped leaves with sugar, then store to create a lemon infused sugar for baking for syrups and teas.

Goodie's Company Taster's Box - August 2013 Box 2

Mott's Medley's Assorted Fruit Snacks by General Mills  - A healthy fruit snack! I really love these. I ate this whole bag in 6 seconds. I wish I still had some more.

Wild Berry by Morris National Inc.  – These reminded me of the sour straws, I got couple boxes ago. They tasted almost the same.

Sea Salt & Butter by Rocky Mountain Popcorn – These were okay, I wasn’t quite the fan of this.

Chocolate Fudge Brownie by General Mills – These were super yummy. They were moist and pretty tasty for something “healthy”. I kind of wish, there was fudge and walnuts too.

Southern Pecan by Barnie's Coffee – I am not a fan of coffee. But this concentrate made a decent strength coffee and was easy to use. The coffee also had a strong scent too as well. I actually really like the scent the most.

Hershey's Chocolate Chunk Cookie Mix by General Mills – These were easy to make and pretty tasty too. I was excited to get this but then I got a bit sad because I realized I have to make these. I wish, they would include only pre-made stuff.

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter by General Mills – These are okay, I wasn’t a huge fan of them.

Goodie's Company Kid's Box - August 2013 Box 1

Hawaiian Fun Animal Cookies – Sea Animals Cinnamon Graham by Diamond Bakery – These were yummy. They remind me of graham crackers but these had a twist of cinnamon.

Cinnamon & Sugar by Crunchmaster – These were both my brother and my favorite. Even though the box was big, we were still fighting over it. The fact that stuns me the most, is that this is actually sort of healthy.

Chocolate Chip by Enjoy Life  - These were enjoyable but not my entire favorite. I tend to like soft cookies. These were a bit crispy, I usually have to be in the mood for them.

Mott's Medley's Assorted Fruit Snacks by General Mills  - A healthy fruit snack! I really love these. I ate this whole bag in 6 seconds. I wish I still had some more.

Wild Berry by Morris National Inc.  – These reminded me of the sour straws, I got couple boxes ago. They tasted almost the same.

Fuji Apple Chips by Bare Fruit – These were tasty and I actually ate the whole bag and didn’t even notice it. I was surprised the whole bag was 80 calories. These were one of the best dried fruits I have tasted that actually taste like the fruit.

Vanilla Milkshake by Reach Company – This was a unique concept but the instructions say one straw per a cup but I noticed one straw barely does for a cup before the flavor gets weak. I did like using these but I don’t really go out of my way to drink milk because I am lactose intolerant.