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Tag: review

GOOD EATS/

Genius Gourmet Spicy Nacho and Ranch Keto Chips Review

I recently purchased two cases of chips by Genius Gourmet–Spicy Nacho and Ranch cause they’ve been all the rage on Instagram. Y’all know I’m a sucker for salty snacks so I had to try these babies. To help you gauge my taste, I do like the Quest Tortilla Chips, Aldi Pork Rinds, Mushroom Crisps, and Lavash Chips for my kettle and corn tortilla chip replacements. There was a sale going on so each box was $23.92 for 8 bags of chips ($2.99) per 1.13oz bag, which is one serving.

Here are the macros:

Texture: exactly like a Quaker Rice Crisp and/or a Popcorners brand Flex Chip. 

Taste: The Spicy Nacho has like a 1 second hit of heat to it, but is mostly just cheesy with a hint of tomato powder. Definitely nacho vibes. The Ranch had a really off putting chemical taste but a decent sour cream and onion aftertaste. 

Value: You get about 10-12 chips per bag which I think is a little low for $3 a pop. The macros, specifically total carb count, are on point, so if you are a snacker and need something crunchy and salty to make it work into your carbs, they are worth it.

Final verdict: I would buy the Spicy Nacho again but NOT the Ranch. They both have a good crunch factor but the Ranch has an odor I can’t get over. If you are a fan of rice crisps, you’ll really like these chips. If you are expecting a dorito, you are not going to be impressed.

REVIEWS/

Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker Review

I recently impulse bought an ice cream maker because 1) it was on sale for a very reasonable price ($32 compared to $79 reg) and 2) I had heavy whipping cream and whole milk in my fridge that I wanted to use up. Not very logical or practical, but it’s winter right now and I’m trying to keep myself busy inside to distract myself from the fact that it’s a froze tundra outside.

The Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker is built to make about 1.5 quarts of ice cream. It comes with an electric base, bowl, paddle, and lid. It’s about the size of a large blender and comes in red or white. There was also an instruction and recipe book included in the box, however, the machine is pretty easy to put together sans instructions.

Luckily, David has agreed to be my sous-chef for life so he was able to help me put this thing to the test. The first thing we had to do was freeze the mixing bowl because there is a liquid in there that must be solid before any ice cream can be made. Sixteen hours later, we had a frozen bowl, whole milk, heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract, and some sugar waiting to be transformed. After mixing all of the ingredients together, we turned on the machine and poured the contents into bowl as it spun. The mixture started to thicken after every minute, and after about 15 minutes, we had a soft-serve textured 1.5 quart of vanilla ice cream. We also added crushed pineapple to the mixture to take it up a notch.

Overall, the Ice Cream Maker completed it’s mission exactly as described in the instruction manual. I was pretty impressed at how fast everything came together – and clean up was a breeze. The only thing I would change is to use higher quality vanilla extract because the one we used tasted more like alcohol. Pretty pumped to test out different ice cream recipes over the next couple of weeks!

This post contains affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission for purchases made through our links.

HEALTH + WELLNESS/

Celestial Seasonings – Boulder, Colorado

If Willy Wonka had a super zen Yogi cousin who owned a Tea Factory, this would be it.

Straight from the Tea Factory itself:

Visit the Celestial Seasonings headquarters in Boulder, Colorado and unlock the mysteries of tea with a guided tea tour. During the 45-minute tour, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look how tea is made – from raw ingredients to finished products – plus see unique attractions like our famous Mint Room, Tea Shop and Celestial Café.

Celestial Seasonings is nestled in the Gunbarrel neighborhood of Boulder. Our campus is easily accessible from Boulder, Denver, Fort Collins and the Denver International Airport.

While children of all ages are welcome at the Tour Center, only children aged 5 and older are allowed to go on the factory portion of the tour.

For me, Boulder was beautiful, but I got bored hanging out downtown-maybe I’m not doing it right?! The vibes of the city weren’t necessarily my style, but the Celestial Seasonings Factory tour is definitely something I would recommend. It’s fun, interesting, and includes free tea tastings – so pretty much the recipe for a successful experience. As soon as you walk in, you’ll be greeted by the smell of several teas they have brewing for curious tour takers as they wait for the tours to begin.

Once the festivities commence, a leader takes everyone into a screening room to watch a short overview video, explains the ground rules, and hands out hairnets. The factory tour is cool because it gives you an inside look at how the tea we all love to drink is processed from a-z. The mint room, of course, is a highlight because it’s like walking into a winter wonderland made of candy canes. The aroma of mint packs a punch and leaves (no pun intended) an impression on your olfactory glands…it’s like you almost leave with a peppermint high.

The tour itself ends in the Tea shop where there are lots of goodies and treats available for purchase. Overall, it’s a short tour but filled with a lot of info and tasty teas. Add this one to your Yelp bookmarks fo sho.

BEAUTY/

Fenty Gloss Bomb Review

This post contains affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission for purchases made through our links.

Recently, I purchased the Fenty Beauty: Universal Lip Luminizer Gloss Bomb (try saying that 3 times) in Diamond Milk. After my initial application, I was immediately brought back to my 7th grade blue eye shadow + frosted lips days. Even though I’m always trying to chase my youth, that was not the look I was going for #immediateregret. I went back to the mothership (Sephora) and exchanged Diamond Milk for Fenty Glow, a shimmering rose nude.

Rihanna claims this is the “unicorn of nudes, explosive shine, and nourishing wear” and what better place to try it out than a good ole family get together. I applied MAC “whirl” lip liner all over my lips and then topped them “Fenty Glow”.So then, the test began…

Something to note – it comes to planning parties in our family, the most important topic is liquor quantity and what to serve to sustain the masses. At my nephew’s ONE-derful Birthday Bash, we had to supply enough food to feed a small country and their neighboring territories. Our Menu was a mix of Lao/Thai/Viet cuisine with a special appearance of Que Viet’s famous eggrolls (shout out to Vy whoop whoop).

From eating sandwiches, stews, salads, desserts, I forgot I had any product on my lips. So the verdict? This Gloss Bomb definitely lived up to the hype. It was long-lasting, hydrating, smooth/not sticky, and I only applied another layer at 11pm to “freshen” up.

Throwing this gloss into my daily glam routine.

LIFE + STYLE/

Wilde Jalapeno Chicken Chips Review

I think it’s safe to say that a lot of us have a love/hate relationship with carbs. We love to eat them but we hate how sometimes the bad carbs can make us feel. One of my biggest weaknesses when it comes to carbs is eating chips. I literally cannot say no to a bag of chips. There’s something about the crunchy, salty, oily combo that throws me off any type of diet wagon…EVERY TIME. Queue Wilde’s Chicken Chips. I walked past the display at Whole Foods and was like W(here’s)T(he)F(ood) I gotta try these. Low carb, four flavors, three ingredients?!?! At first I was having low carb flashbacks of those Quest chips (*cough*so dry and felt like I was eating cardboard*cough*) but since I’ve made it a point to find the perfect low carb chip alternative, I just needed those in my life. Four dollars later, I popped open bag of these babies and tried the Jalapeno variety. First impression – loved it! It pretty much tastes like low fat deep fried chicken skin with a sprinkling of jalapeno to give it a kick. There’s a slight sweetness from the coconut oil it’s fried in so it’s a nice balance from the saltiness of the chicken skin and jalapeno. I don’t know if I could swap these for Lay’s Jalapeno kettle chips, but when I’m feeling fluffy and am trying to get my ass back into gear, I think these are going to be my new go-to.