http://www.paleoscaleo.com/a-getaway-and-a-giveaway/A GETAWAY AND A GIVEAWAY!
Paleo Giveaway Box | PaleoScaleo.com
Let’s play a little game of Pro vs. Con. Then, at the end, I’ll give you the chance to win $70 worth of free Paleo goods. Sound good? Ok, let’s get started!
Best friend comes to visit. Pros: You get to spend an awesome 6 days with her, doing fun stuff, eating good food, and generally being awesome. Cons: You drink enough in 6 days to last you 6 months, and don’t get any blog posts written, because you’re having way too much fun.
You work from home and make your own schedule. Pros: You get to make your own schedule! And show up to work in your pajamas and/or workout clothes! And cook food , eat, and work out for a living! Cons: When your BFF comes to town, you take too much time off, do just enough work to get by and maintain, leaving the proactive stuff for the birds. Then when BFF leaves, you realize you’re a week behind on…well, everything.
Hurricane comes to visit. Pros: You get to take an impromptu trip to the mountains of western NC. You sit in a small town coffee shop, and listen to some of the locals debate about their local cattle farmers and how they manage their property and farms (not joking – that is happening right now, as I type this). Cons: Hurricane shows up the day BFF leaves, right when you need to be getting back to business. Your husband turns into an even bigger ball of stress, because he’s supposed to leave town in a few days to defend his dissertation. So you leave town, just in case, to make sure he can get to where he needs to go without getting stuck in Charleston.
You get up at 4am, drive 7 hours to the next state, book a rental house an hour before you arrive in town, and hope for the best.
And then…
You get the best.
theview It took a serious drive up a mostly vertical gravel road, but we made it here, and even managed to enjoy a cocktail in the hot tub before sunset.
hottubedited So, I guess the chaos of escaping a hurricane has its perks.
And since we’re talking about perks, let me tell you about a little perk I have for you!
I’m hosting my first giveaway on the site. I’m super excited about this giveaway. It’s chock full of awesome products that you’d likely never hear about or be exposed to otherwise. All of the sponsors for the giveaway are small businesses who make their own products, and they all donated their products for you to try out! They also sent me one to try out, so I could let you know a little bit about each product and what you were getting. Here’s a breakdown of everything that’s included in the giveaway box, and my personal thoughts on each one:
PUMPKIN SPICE GRANOLA FROM INOLA GRANOLA
I’ve worked on a couple of Paleo granola recipes for this blog, but haven’t quite managed to get it exactly how I want it just yet. I can tell you in the season of all things pumpkin spice, Nikindra over at Inola Granola has nailed it. This granola is just the right amount of clustered yet crumbly, crunchy yet chewy, and flavorful but not too sweet. I’ve snacked on it both by itself and also in a bowl with a bit of almond milk and some berries, and it was truly delicious both ways. You can follow Inola Granola on Facebook here.
CLIFFSIDE COCONUT BERRY AND BEDROCK BEEF CHILI FROM PALEO MEALS TO GO
These meals are freeze-dried, so they’re meant for backpacking, camping, or other activities where you might not have access to cooking. That being said, you could definitely eat them any time. After our hurricane evacuation, I’m definitely planning on ordering a few for our Hurricane Kit, so if we ever do lose power in a storm, we’re not stuck eating Spaghettios out of a can!
Dawn sent over a few different flavors, so I haven’t actually had the opportunity to taste these two flavors. The ones I had the pleasure of tasting were Caldera Chicken Curry and Butte Cocoa Banana, and let me tell you what a pleasure it was! You do have to remember when you’re eating these not to expect a fresh home-cooked meal. When you dehydrate food, it changes the consistency of it. That being said, if we’re comparing freeze dried meals to freeze dried meals, these definitely come out on top.
Caldera Chicken Curry smelled delicious when I opened the bag after “cooking” it. It has spinach, red pepper, and onion, so you definitely get your veggies in. The chicken gets a bit “deconstructed” – it’s not the texture of chicken you’re used to, but you’re still getting your protein in too! The pineapple adds sweetness to the mix. The ingredients do include coconut sugar, and I personally don’t think that the sugar is necessary in addition to the pineapple – I think the pineapple alone would be sweet enough. I also wanted the curry to be spicier, but that’s likely due to the fact that I love spicy food! I can definitely see how if you wanted to appeal to the masses, you wouldn’t want to overdo it on the spices.
The Butte Cocoa Banana had bananas, strawberries, flax seed meal, almonds, cocoa nibs, vanilla, coconut sugar, and salt. One interesting thing I did note is that it has almond flour, sliced almonds, and whole almonds in it. The almond flour is likely for consistency and texture, but when eating it I think omitting the whole almonds would have been fine. They were pretty large, and they threw off the overall texture a bit for me. I loved the crunch of the cocoa nibs. Of the two, this one was definitely my favorite – while eating it I could picture myself sitting by a campfire in the early morning brisk air. Which is kind of what I’m doing, since I’m in a mountain cabin in the chill mountain air – just no tent and campfire!
I can tell you these meals are a must for anyone who is Paleo and enjoys the outdoors or needs a complete meal-on-the-go option. Dawn has also included a discount code for any future purchases of Paleo Meals To Go – just use the code “friend20” on their website here to receive 20% off your purchase!
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE MIX FROM NIBBLEE BITS
These are a refreshing change from the Paleo cookies I’m used to. My go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies is Against All Grain’s recipe, and they are easily passed off as a regular chocolate chip cookie if the eater is not informed of their Paleo status. These cookies from Nibblee Bits were on the softer side, and were not overly sweet, which was nice. They felt less like a “replacement” food and more like their own, unique style. Michaela uses tiger nut flour in the mix, which is not a flour I’ve worked with before, but I suspect may contribute to the uniqueness of these cookies.
I started out with heaping spoonfuls on a parchment lined cookie sheet. When I checked them after a few minutes, and noticed they weren’t flattening out, I went back and read the bag again. Turns out in the instructions it says to ‘shape’ the cookies before baking. Oops. I took them out of the oven, flattened them and “shaped them,” but their appearance was a bit messy due to the chocolate already being melted, and then me smashing it with a spoon. #bakerfail
I cooked them a couple of minutes extra due to the aforementioned error, and they still came out well. These are not a “crispy” cookie. I had a friend over for dinner when we tested them, and both she and Brandan mentioned that they seemed more “scone-like” and less on the sweet side. These definitely aren’t downfalls; they’re a nice treat alternative when you need something a little sweet but not overly so.
I imagine if they had been shaped before I baked them, and made a little thinner, if they would have cooked up differently. The winner will have to experiment and let me know!
Sidenote: As an experiment, I took a couple of cookies out of the fridge a few days later and reheated them up in the oven to see what would happen. I put them in at 350° for about 6-7 minutes. They did crisp up nicely on the outside, stayed chewy on the inside. The BFF mentioned earlier in this post who was visiting tasted them and proclaimed them, “delicious.”
COCOA MANNA FROM COCOA MANNA BREWING
Brewing Chocolate : Ok, confession: I haven’t actually gotten to try this yet. The lovely Karen from CocoaManna told me that this is best made in a french press, so I ordered one. I ordered this french press from Amazon, because I take my drinking of all things chocolate pretty seriously, and I wanted the best experience possible. That being said, I’m quite positive you could brew it just like you brew tea, and would have the same results.The sad news is, we had to evacuate for the hurricane before the french press showed up. Womp womp. We’re stuck out here in the mountains for a few days, but I’ll be sure to update with review details once I’ve tried it!
Here’s what I REALLY love about this stuff. This is a direct quote from Karen’s email to me: “It’s easy, really. Just use enough and let it steep 10 to 12 minutes. It’s not coffee; you need to use more then you do when you make coffee and let it steep longer. You can use it a second time, and it is perfectly edible (like cocoa nibs but ground finer) so can be added to protein drinks or chili. Also I dry it out and put it in a plastic bag because it’s a great hand scrub.” So, let me get this straight – I can brew it not once, but twice, and then I can eat it or cook with it or clean myself with it? Um, yes please.
Maple Cocoa Beans: Karen included these as well, as these are another product that she makes. You read the name of them, and you think “sugar.” I’m here to tell you they are anything but. Natural cocoa beans are actually very bitter (think unsweetened chocolate). She roasts these with a touch of maple syrup and cocoa. The end result is a crunchy, very mildly sweet bean with an intense chocolate flavor like you’ve not ever had before. Just one or two of these is the perfect treat to quiet your sweet tooth without downing a whole milkshake.
MEAL PLANNER PRINTABLE FROM TUMBLEWEED LETTERPRESS
Did you know my nickname is Messy Jessie, and my husband refers to our kitchen as ‘Scully’s Disaster Kitchen?’ I like to refer to it as my office. When I have to go do dishes, or cook, I say, “time for me to go clean up my office!” He means well, but I do tend to make a bit of a mess when I cook. Sometimes I feel like my grocery shopping and meal planning go the same route. I make lists and try to stay organized, but often times I have scraps of paper all over the kitchen with recipes, shopping lists, and notes to myself. These grocery list and meal planner printables from Clazena over at Tumbleweed Press are an awesome way to help keep you organized both in your shopping and cooking! Clazena has included a gift certificate in the giveaway for a grocery and meal planner printable from her website.
SUMMARY
While the focus on eating Paleo should always be mainly on meats and vegetables, I can definitely get behind people and small businesses who are working to help make eating this way easier. You don’t always have access to cook a meal, sometimes you need snacks on hand, and in the world of Scaleo, you sometimes need something slightly sweet. These products all give you options for these situations, and are supporting others who believe in living this type of lifestyle.
The total of all these products is valued at over $70! I can’t wait to see who wins this bundle box, and hear about how they use the products. To enter the giveaway, simply fill out the form below and submit your information. The giveaway closes on Friday, October 28th, and the winner will be announced on Monday, October 31st. Good luck!
Enter to Win the Giveaway
