Herbal Essence BzzCampaign

I've been selected for the Herbal Essences BzzAgent Campaign.  Woo-hoo, more exciting free stuff!  This campaign activated far earlier than others I've been assigned to, and I have already received the box of products in the mail.

What I got:
- full size Herbal Essences Naked Volume silicone-free volumizing shampoo
- full size Herbal Essences Naked Volume silicone-free volumizing conditioner
- full size Herbal Essences Naked volumizing "souffle" 
- travel-size sets of the same shampoo & conditioner x 3

Pretty impressive!

I'll be waiting a week or so to try them out as I'm almost finished my current bottle of shampoo (brand omitted on purpose).  Once that is in the recycling, I'll switch in the Herbal Essences Naked shampoo and conditioner.

The products are all free of silicones, parabens, and dyes.  The scent is grapefruit and mossa mint oil.

Mrs Dash Salt-Free Taco Seasoning Review

I received a free 35g package of Mrs. Dash Salt-Free Taco Seasoning in the mail.  Tonight I had some lean ground beef that needed to be used up so I thought I'd give it a try.

 

First off, ingredients:

• yellow corn flour, chili pepper, maltodextrin
• corn starch, cumin, dried onion
• garlic powder, potassium chloride, yeast extract
• onion powder, sugar, black pepper
• citric acid, oregano, red pepper, celery seed

Package directions: brown 1lb ground beef; drain.  Add 3/4 cup water and seasoning mix.  Heat until thickened; stirring often.

Preparation was as simple as the directions.  I sautéed half an onion first before adding the ground beef as my only change.  Drained the beef and added the mix:

After incorporating the water, mix, and beef, it took about three to four minutes to thicken up a bit, resulting in:

Looks and smells good.

Taste: good mild chili taste.  Needs salt.  I like my salt too much for salt-free it seems.  I added a dash of sea salt to my bowl and that enhanced the flavours enough for me.  I'd say its a good base, and great if you want to eliminate or control the amount of salt and sodium in your mix.  Its easy to add your desired amount of salt at the end or to your own dish.

Other comments: does it really need sugar?  I doubt it.  Potassium chloride is classified as a type of salt, though sodium-free. Sneaky.  It is used for a wide variety of other non-food production processes - check out Wikipedia for more.

Finish & Mrs. Dash Samples

These came in the mail over the last couple of weeks.  Both had coupons with them.  Mrs. Dash took a little longer than expected, but it is fun to get Taco seasoning.  More useful for me than an all-purpose seasoning.  We'll see how salt-free tastes!

What's In My Purse?

In response to the blogging trend of the same name, here is a list of the contents of my purse today:

• Wallet (flowers & bees pattern from Shag Wear)
• Coupon file 
• Personalized note pad
• Pen
• Hair clip
• Random kleenex tissues
• SwissCard
• Pill vial (two-day supply of prescriptions, vitamins, Advil Liquigels)
• Mirror
• Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in Wine (?)
• Cell phone
• Old McDonald's receipt for two-for-one pineapple mango smoothies
• Earrings I wore two days ago
• Current prescription I need to fill
• Mini emery board
• Annabelle #420 Blush lip liner
• Clinique Sassy Spice Colour Surge lipstick
• Aveda Nourish-Mint hydrating lip glaze in #764 Ginger Lily
• Work access card
• Work key chain

I'm using a Nine West crossbody style 8" high by 7" wide with one zippered exterior pocket, one main zippered pocket, and one hidden zipper pocket inside.

Love & LavAzza

I've been enjoying the flavours my my LavAzza coffee packs for about a month now.  I use a four-cup Cuisinart drip coffee maker at home - or rather, my husband does...I'm too sleepy in the morning to be much use.  Special coffees are love at work in our home.
 

We started off with the Gran Aroma which is a medium roast.  I love my morning Special Coffees which consist of about a third a cup of coffee, topped by milk foam and cinnamon.  Here is my first Gran Aroma cup and you can see that there is a a lot of foam!  The first sips are sweet and warm, perfect morning waking comfort.  Then the coffee comes through and its a warm nudge of deliciousness and awakening aroma.

The aroma on this coffee is amazing.  From the first opening of the package - which has a round air seal by the way - its just dreamy!  I stood there inhaling the scent of the grounds in my slippers one morning and I could have gone back for more later in the day.

The taste of the Gran Aroma is a standard medium roast - a bit acidic, not very deep - although there is a sense of quality in the liquid - it truly has become coffee, not hot water and coffee.  For myself, medium roast is an okay roast - I prefer the dark.  The Gran Aroma is a medium roast I would go to for the quality if I couldn't find any dark roast.

Onto the Gran Selezione.  THIS is the roast for me.  Oh how amazing it tastes in the morning and blends into the foam like its in a lover's arms.  Yes, the Gran Selezione is so delicious its making me poetic.  It is dark, velvety, smooth, and deep with a hint of quality chocolate.  This is the one I will be looking for in stores.  I'm so sorry that my package is almost empty!  Again, I could inhale the scent of the grounds themselves for hours. 

If you are a dark roast lover, I recommend the Gran Selezione.  My price-checking has come up with $12.99 a package at London Drugs.  I did find Gran Aroma at Superstore, but only that roast.   Don't forget to scour the internet for a $2 off coupon, and I also found Sample Source tear-off coupons for $2 off a package at Superstore.

My BzzKit came with a few $4 off coupons, if you know me, you may be one of the select few recipients.