Archive for the ‘Product Review’ Category

As we ring in the year of 2011 we start fresh with a clean slate.  For many of us that means healthier eating habits and a resolution to shed some of those holiday pounds.  Well, there’s a great new product out there that can help you still be able to enjoy a yummy snack and achieve those goals.

Introducing Popchips, the all natural fresh popped snack chip.  It’s nothing like a baked lay or any other chip you’ve ever tasted..and you wanna know the best secret? It’s delicious and only 120 calories per 3oz snack bag.  To me that is awesome when you’re trying to stay below a certain number of calories all day and the fact that they taste terrific is a great bonus.  Popchips currently has seven yummy varieties out there for you to enjoy.  Original, BBQ, Sour Cream & Onion, Cheddar Cheese, Parmesan Garlic, Sea Salt & Vinegar (my personal fav) , and Salt & Pepper.

Popchips has teamed up with Kroger and Jillian Michaels to sponsor the Popchips Flyaway Sweepsteaks. Enter to win a health retreat in L.A. and a personal fitness consultation with Jillian herself. Prize includes wellness consult with Jillian Michaels, round trip airfare for two to L.A., 3 nights at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel & Spa, spa session, prizes from K-Swiss, and of course, FREE Popchips. You have until January 31st to enter to win, by the link above or at any Kroger, Ralph’s, Fry’s, Fred Meyer, or King Sooper  food stores.

Popchips is also doing a fantastic giveaway for my readers here at Food Tramp Diaries.  The grand prize winner will win a YEAR supply of popchips and the runner up a 1 month supply!! That may be the biggest giveaway in FTD history.

Follow these instructions for your chance to win a year supply or month supply of popchips from Food Tramp Diaries:

1)Fan Popchips on facebook and twitter (if you tweet)

2) Fan Food Tramp Diaries on facebook  and twitter (if you tweet)

3) Suggest Popchips and Food Tramp Diaries to one friend on facebook and twitter (if you tweet)

4) Enter a comment ON THE BLOG, not on my facebook page. Your comment must include what your New Year’s resolution is and why you would love to try Popchips.  If you have already had Popchips, what is your favorite flavor?

5) You may enter as many times as you like AS LONG as you suggest a NEW friend to Popchips and Food Tramp Diarie’s facebook/twitter for each entry.

6) I will take entries until Friday, January 7th until Midnight, MST.  The winner will be chosen by www.random.org

GOOD LUCK!!!!!

Would you like your Thanksgiving meal “Kikk-ed” up a notch for the holidays?  Well, the awesome people at Kikkoman were kind enough to provide me with lots of their product line along with means to purchase a turkey, so I could find out for myself how delicious my turkey would taste after using their Kikkoman savory brine recipe.

brining necessities

I am not being paid by Kikkoman and my review is completely subject to my opinion.  I do have to say that the turkey I cooked last Sunday was the most  juicy, flavorful, and moist turkey I have ever cooked in my life.  I do brine my turkey every year with a traditional brine recipe, however, there is something in the naturally brewed Kikkoman soy sauce that makes your turkey THAT much better!!

ready to go into the fridge

I’ve been using Kikkoman soy sauce in my kitchen for a long time, for many things, none Chinese or sushi related.  Soups, stews, goulash, side dishes…Kikkoman soy sauce is a great way to season your food while being able to control the flavor.  Below is the recipe for the savory turkey brine, alone with a link to Kikkoman’s green bean casserole and also Kikkoman’s glazed yams.  I made all of these this year at my Thanksgiving table and they were a hit.

the finished product

GIVEAWAY

One lucky reader gets to try their chance at kicking up their holidays with 2 full sized Kikkoman products.  Simply leave a comment below telling me which recipe you would want to use your Kikkoman products for and you’re entered! I will take entries until Friday November 19th noon, so that the winner will receive their products in enough time for the big day.

No worries for the people who don’t win, simply go to this link to print out a buy one get one free coupon to get your own Kikkoman products in the future. http://www.kikkomanusa.com/homecooks/cookingclass/howto.php

Savory Turkey Brine

2 gallons cold water

10 ounces Kikkoman Naturally Brewed Soy Sauce

1/2 cup kosher salt

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons dried sage

2 tablespoons dried celery seed

1 tablespoon dried thyme

The night before rinse turkey and remove neck and giblets.  Place turkey in large clean bucket, stock pot, or brining bag (I always get a great one for meer dollars at Bed Bath & Beyond.) Put all ingredients in with the turkey and stir. Refridgerate overnight or at least 8 hours, I did mine for 12 hours. When ready to roast, remove turkey from brine and rinse well.  Follow your cooking instructions.

Go here to get the other Kikkoman inspired Thanksgiving recipes: http://www.kikkomanusa.com/homecooks/cookingclass/howto.php

To all of my readers…I am SO sorry I haven’t posted in two months.  Shame on me.  I have just been so ill the last two months with morning sickness and I wasn’t able to do anything, let alone blog.  Now I’m feeling much better and am able to drink coffee again (hooray), which means I have energy and can get this blogging done.

Today I want to roll out the Sonic Drive-In  giveaway that I was suppose to do a good month ago.  Luckily, the people of Sonic are AMAZING and totally understood my situation as to why I was tardy with this.

Who doesn’t love Sonic??? I have never met a single person that would turn down a cherry limeade or some amazingly crunchy tots.  Sonic is America’s Drive in and their food is undeniably addictive.  My favorite you ask? Popcorn chicken and chili-cheese tots of course, with a diet cranberry limeade for the most delicious refreshment.

too much yumminess to choose from

Enter today to win a $25.00 gift card from Sonic.  For being so patient I am also sending the winner the remainder of my Sonic gift card, which is for $23.00 , that’s a lot of tots folks!!

Entry into this giveaway is easy, just follow these few steps and you’re entered to win. You may enter as many times as you like until Friday. If entering more than once you must refer a new friend to my facebook fan page.  Thank you so much.

1) Like Sonic Drive-In here on Facebook and here if you’re on Twitter

2) Like Food Tramp Diaries hereon Facebook and here if you’re on Twitter.

3) Suggest the Sonic Drive-In facebook page AND the Food Tramp Diaries facebook page to one friend (for every new entry you must suggest to a new friend)

4) The most important step: you must post a comment to this post as your entry and include your email address.  If you don’t comment, you haven’t officially entered. 

Good luck! I will choose a winner on Friday with the help of random.org

Phoenix Resident, Jaclyn Douma has released her first cookbook containing a collection of her own recipes specifically designed with couples in mind. 

As a newlywed herself, Jaclyn knew she wanted to organize a book with helpful tips, party suggestions and many of her favorite recipes for couples who couldn’t necessarily make/afford those “Filet Mignon” recipes in many of the cookbooks given as wedding gifts.  Jaclyn’s dream of providing a useful tool in the kitchen, as well as, passing along recipes of her own on a newlywed budget has finally come true.

 I’ve gone through this book and it is really fantastic!! Simple and delicious recipes, and most of them make more than two servings.  So a newlywed couple, or a young couple with small children could easily benefit from this cookbook and possibly even have leftovers.  I love the list in the front of the book of pantry essential items, it’s a great tool if you’re needing to build a pantry, but don’t quite know how.

 Jaclyn is doing a giveaway on the blog for one lucky reader to win this book for themselves.  Follow these simple steps to enter, and enter as many times as you’d like.  I will let random.org choose a winner on Thursday night!

 1) Make sure you are a fan of Food Tramp Diaries on facebook and twitter if you’re a fellow tweeter.

 2) Fan Our First Year on facebook and follow them on twitter if you’re a tweeter.

3) Leave a comment on what your favorite food to make at home in your kitchen is!!  Good luck, I will post a winner on Thursday.

To my amazing luck, I ended up on a 3 day business trip (per se) for my blog in June.  I was staying in West Hollywood at the most amazing hotel known to man (Thanks Dole).  I got to eat TONS of delicious food and drink lots of yummy alcoholic drinks.  It really was a weekend to splurge and by the time Sunday rolled around I was SUPER hungover and looking for something relaxing to do before my plane left for Arizona Sunday evening.  My ever faithful friend “Foodie Bear” told me I really needed to hit up the Hollywood Farmer’s Market.  It was only 2 miles from my hotel and he told me I would love it.  His recommendations have never failed me so I typed the address into my handy Garmin and off I went!

Living in Arizona, I’m always singing praises about our all year round farmer’s markets here, but Hollywood Farmer’s market was the coolest market I have ever been to. I toured the whole market which was about four different aisle ways of  fresh produce, flowers, food, and gourmet goodies.

On my way back to the car port I saw the cutest little orange bicycle with a freezer cooler hooked to the front.  Two people were passing out mysteriously wrapped packages out of this cart and there was a line…I was curious.

I get closer and I see that it’s a popsicle bike/cart!!! “OMG, how freaking cool;” is what I’m thinking in my head.  Also cursing myself because I had just had a mint chocolate cacao chip ice cream sandwich from the Carmela Ice Cream stand.  I really couldn’t eat anything else, my stomach was in a bad place already, being hungover, but I still wanted to get the scoop on this awesome popsicle making duo!

Chef Michelle Sallah has been in the food arena her whole life having parents who owned a diner. She’s worked in the restaurant world since she was 12 years old,  so culinary school and fine dining was the next logical step.  After awhile she decided to become a freelance chef to have more freedom to work on her own projects and this is how Popcycle Treats came about!

The “legs” of this project is John.  He rides the bike around everywhere toting these delicious handmade gourmet pops. He even designed and constructed the whole bike himself which I believe is quite an amazing feat!

Michelle makes the pops and she offers many different flavors, depending on what fruits and veggies are in season in their area.  When I spotted them they were carrying salty cucumber lime, peach ginger, and lemon mint blueberry organic popsicles.  I really wish I would have found them before I found Carmela, but now I have something to look forward to next time I am in L.A.  Even as I was  speaking to them they quickly sold out, as they do on every trip out.  I know they frequent the Hollywood Farmer’s Market, Silverlake Farmer’s Market and the  Cinespia screenings in L.A.   Just like a food truck, if you want to know where you can find them simply follow them on twitter or fan them on facebook. 

salty cucumber lime, orange blackberry

coconut milk chocolate, raspberry Arnold Palmer

I really wanted to show you guys this unique foodie find, I just thought it was the coolest thing EVER…wish we had one at the Scottsdale Farmer’s Market…hmmmmm???