Hershey Spread

I want to admit, I am one of those weird people who do not obsess about Nutella(-like)® products, instead only using them from time-to-time when the craving hits. I am generally not a fan of nuts (it's mostly a texture issue; I love peanut butter, but walnuts in a brownie are right out), but I do like some flavors: Jif® peanut butter, almond extract, and obviously hazelnut butter. My love of chocolate sometimes causes jealousy issues with my boyfriend. Thus, when I received a free sample from a survey group called Crowdtap I eagerly dived in and dutifully sampled Hershey's® Spreads Chocolate with Hazelnut Flavor and am posting my impressions here for you, dear reader!

The Packaging

Not much to say here; one 13oz bottle is comparable to a rival product with other brands of chocolate/nut butter mixes. The bottle itself is food-safe plastic and has a mouth that is large enough to insert a knife for sandwiches and/or accommodate a spoon for snarfin.... err, for those times when you want to eliminate the middleman and instead opt for immediate enjoyment. The lid goes on securely, but to my opinion was a little tight to open the first time. If you have arthritis in the hands and/or find it difficult to open screw-top lids in general, you may need a little help.

The YUM Factor

Finally, the whole point of this review: the flavor. The chocolate in Hershey's® Spreads Chocolate with Hazelnut (henceforth referred to as HSCH) does not disappoint in keeping with the trademark Hershey's® taste. The exact flavor is comparable to the chocolate in a standard Hershey Bar. That being said, the chocolate flavor is very subtle: the taste is complementary to the hazelnut butter by presenting itself as a background note; if this product was a song, the chocolate would be the harmony while the hazelnut is the melody.

Unlike Nutella® (for example), HSCH pre-blends the hazelnut butter with the chocolate completely, as opposed to stripes of chocolate running through the hazelnut. This thorough mixing means the spread is one solid color. While this may be negligible to some, I found that the taste was more balanced and flavorful. Maybe it is just me, but there were times that Nutella® seemed to subtly change tastes as one person would scoop one portion out more than the other.

The hazelnut butter in this spread, as mentioned prior, is definitely the stronger note in the product flavor. That is not to say that the hazelnut completely dominates the chocolate, rather, the creaminess of the butter and the nut flavor are the initial taste for the party in your mouth, when the chocolate coming in moments later to create the perfect symphony for a snack. The good news is that the spread actually does spread; the texture is comparable to creamy peanut butter and spreads smoothly on potentially delicate surfaces like bread and cake. As a bonus you can also microwave the HSCH and make it pourable so that you can use the warmed-up spread to add an additional flavor to your baking (and don't have to worry about smearing the layer below the spread.

The Final Say

If you are a fan of Nutella® and/or any other chocolate/nut butter spread, Hershey's® Spreads Chocolate with Hazelnut will make your day. While having the classic taste of Hershey's® chocolate mixed with the creamy nuttiness of hazelnut butter, you will find yourself reaching for this jar often. The ease of spreading this product on a piece of bread, or the flexibility of being able to microwave it to create a non-greasy pour able spread of deliciousness means that you will be able to use HSCH in as many ways as you can think of. In the end I found myself falling more and more in love with the taste, ending with me preferring it over the dominate competitor's rival product (of course, I mean Nutella®). I know that personal tastes vary, but I can say with confidence that Hershey's® is definitely giving other manufacturer's a run for their money with a winning formula.

In the end, don't be afraid to give this (or other Hershey's® Spreads flavors) a try. You will not be disappointed and may just find a new, favorite product to grace your kitchen shelves. So, head out to the store and spread the news: Hershey's® Spreads Chocolate with Hazelnut will make your mouth go "YUM"!

I received the Hershey Spread for free  from Crowdtap and the opinions expressed in this post are my own. #Gotitfree

Klout Perks

I received these goodies free from Klout.com.

I was given a free product or sample because Im a Klout influencer. Iam under no obligation to receive the sample or talk about this company. I get no additional benefits for for talking about the product or company.

GREEN MOUNTAIN COFFEE FAIR TRADE CERTIFIED

I'm a fan of the Green Mountain K-cups. This is one of my favorite fair trade varieties. It is a very consistent flavor from cup to cup. It is strong, with almost a chocolate undertone and very little bitter aftertaste compared to most K-cup roasts. Trying to extend my dollar a little further I had an extra large coffee mug one morning and decided to brew my standard large cup and an extra brew (same k-cup) with the smallest setting. I was surprised that it still had a lot of flavor and didn't taste watery or weak. Much better than the Green Mountain Dark Magic or Double Black Diamond. Those left a bitter and burnt aftertaste, even with more sugar and cream than usual. Just be mindful of the price fluctuations and make sure you check the price per K-cup, some entries list price per ounce - which can make the coffee look more or less expensive than others.

I received the Green Mountain Coffee for free  from BzzAgent and the opinions expressed in this post are my own. #Gotitfree

Halloween TruMoo

We got the opportunity to try the TruMoo milk and decided to go with the classic and always favorite Chocolate flavor. What we loved most next to the great taste of this milk was how much less sweet it was compared to the other chocolate milks. TruMoo Chocolate milk is not only great to drink cold, but it’s also perfect when hot, or when used in recipes like smoothies, popsicles and similar.

With Halloween just around the corner we are looking forward to getting more of the TruMoo milk and of course trying the vanilla flavored one too which will be perfect for the Halloween party we are planning.

I received Halloween TruMoo Milk for free via a coupon from BzzAgent and the opinions expressed in this post are my own

Kashi Hummus Crisps

I literally just cracked my bag open and loved it so much. I had just finished the last kernels of some old cheddar popcorn I had and my snack fix wasn't quite satisfied, so I decided to try these out. After that fatty, salty, flavor-saturated popcorn, the first crisp I put in my mouth was quite bland. But as I kept eating them, I realized they're delicious! Just more subtly flavored. Which is even better, if a food can be lightly flavored and still be delicious.If you're more a fan of really salty, unhealthy munchies, like your average potato or corn chip, the flavor of this might be too light for you. I personally love it. The caramelized onion flavor is pretty lightly sprinkled and not overwhelming, which allows you to taste the flavor of the chip itself. And I LOVE the flavor of the chip itself. It has a nice wheaty, earthy, chickpea-y flavor. Each chip is also nice and lightly crispy, not roof-of-your-mouth scraping hard and crispy. The crisps have the same ridged circle shape as a lot of puffed rice or puffed potato crisps, but are quite thin.I might eat this entire bag in one sitting. Good thing it wouldn't be TOO damaging...just about 420 calories. #Gotitfree

I received Kashi Hummus Crisps for free via a coupon from BzzAgent and the opinions expressed in this post are my own

Poplets review

I have received a small sample of Poplets from Goodies.co. My review on this item is my own. I personally did not like this item. To me it felt like I was eating from the bottom of the popcorn bag. Sure they were all crunchy and not like you would find at the bottom of your popcorn bag, but I'm not sure I would just buy these to snack on. They look like popcorn that has been stopped in their process from popping. I really could not taste much sea salt or butter, they were pretty bland and had a very hard crunch. So do not feed these to a toddler. Would I recommend this item...no. Would I buy this item...sadly no. I don't think this product will last too long. Again it was a free sample and I did not enjoy this one.

The Mortal Instruments City of Bones

First of all, I've been familiar with Cassandra Clare's work for quite a few years now...of course, what I mean is that like thousands of other people, I knew her from her LOTR and Harry Potter fan-fiction days, under the penname "Cassandra Claire." She would probably be the most stellar example of what's known as a BNF, or a Big Name Fan. She wrote the "Very Secret Dairies" for LOTR and the "Draco Trilogy" (Draco Dormiens, Sinister, and Veritas) for Harry Potter. They've been translated into various languages and most likely if you read any Harry Potter fan-fiction at all, you've probably heard of Cassandra Clare. Unsurprisingly, there was also some controversy and accusations of plagiarism involved, since she paraphrased or "forgot to cite" a lot of phrases and quotes that she used in her stories, which she'd taken from other famous works/fandoms. You can read all about it at her very own Fanlore page <here>. As I recall, she may or may not have been gifted a laptop by fans when hers was stolen - though this is apparently one of the myths that got deleted off websites like Fanlore.

Anyway, all this is just background context, but it's important context, and you'll see why. So basically after this highly successful fan-fiction stint, Cassandra Claire became Cassandra Clare, the best-selling author of the YA "Mortal Instruments" series, which finally brings me back to City of Bones. With that said, City of Bones is more or less the Harry Potter world re-imagined  and what I mean by that is that basically almost every single concept and phrase and description in this book seemed oddly familiar... But that's kind of to be expected, since naturally a writer's style can't change overnight. Still.

Here's now the series works. Clary Fray is your normal teenage girl - for about fifty pages, anyway - and basically she starts seeing things that other people can't see. No, it actually isn't a book based off the ever popular faerie mythology. Clary sees three teenagers covered with weird markings kill someone they claim is a demon. Turns out, there's a whole "Shadow world" out there, where there are vampires, werewolves, faeries, and so on. One of those marked teenagers turns out to be a young Shadowhunter named Jace, who happens to have all the same mannerisms and characteristics as Draco Malfoy, especially the Draco Malfoy portrayed the Draco Trilogy. In other words, he's arrogant, wealthy, sarcastic, blond, and he even comes with a back story with some kind of stern father who teaches him that "to love is to destroy." The father spoiled his son with luxuries (they live in the Malfoy - well, a manor - after all) but the father also died. Jace is a Shadowhunter, meaning he's been trained since birth to kill demons and whatnot. A Shadowhunter uses a stele (which is a wand-like object, Clare's description, not mine) to draw runes, i.e. they use this "tool" to do magic. Cool, right?

Okay, Jace is actually pretty appealing (well, why not? He's basically Draco) but the similarities don't stop there. See, about 16 years ago in this magical world, this guy named Lord Voldemort - er, I mean Valentine - decided to get rid of everyone who he felt wasn't pureblooded enough, which in this case means anything nonhuman. There's actually quite a bit of snobbishness going on between the Shadowhunters and the Muggles - er, I mean mundanes - that don't know about this magical world that's hiding in plain sight. Anyway, 16 years ago, "Valentine" failed and everyone thought he and his wife and child died. His supporters, the Circle (okay, fail, Death Eaters sounds so much cooler), either died during the Uprising or turned themselves in and are somewhat co-opted back into the government, but exiled.

Clary, of course, turns out to be mysteriously connected to He Who Shall Not Be Named, who turns out not to be dead. Like you didn't see that one coming. Anyway, Valentine sends demons after Clary and manages to kidnap Clary's mom. Clary's dad conveniently died around the time she was born. Hmmmm. Valentine used to be this popular and handsome Shadowhunter who, you know, didn't start out evil but gradually became obsessed with killing all the Downworlders (those nonhuman, part demon whatevers) and using this thing called the Mortal Cup to create more Shadowhunters from regular humans. Problem is, only like 20% of the converted humans survive, but Valentine's not going to let that stop him. He builds up his followers - the Circle - which basically consists of the parents of all of Clary's new Shadowhunter friends. By the way, the Shadowhunter names are all things like Blackwell, Pangborn, Lightwood, Fairchild. Just so you know. No sense of deja vu, of course.

Also, in a twist you so couldn't see coming, Valentine turns out to be Clary's mom's husband, which makes Clary...right, his daughter. Oh no! To help you (and Clary) keep track of everyone, there's this old picture of the Circle when they were young, y'know that group of friends who were all together...too bad the picture isn't animated, right? Let's keep going though. So V's after the Mortal Cup, which Clary's mom has hidden, so Clary and Jace try to find it while some action and unrequited love pads the story. The relationships are painfully similar to what was in Draco Trilogy, but I guess you can't really plagiarize from yourself. On the romantic front, I won't spoil it completely, but just think Leia and Luke Skywalker. Uh huh, another classic. Jace also has an "I am your father" moment.

All right, all this said, despite all of the above, City of Bones is a pretty good book, in the same way that I thought that the Draco Trilogy was pretty fun to read. Incidentally, the Draco Trilogy can be downloaded as a PDF from a variety of places. Both the Trilogy and this "Mortal Instruments" series have lots of Latin inscriptions, lots of references, and lots of funny moments. It's only irritating because the whole thing constantly makes me think "wow, I've seen this before," to the point that it was really distracting. There wasn't a single part that I felt was all that new, but everything was pretty well done and well written. Clary is almost unbearably a Mary Sue, but I was way more distracted by the shoutouts to Jaida Jones (another famous fanfic writer turned published author, who actually did write a novel I liked, Havemercy) and Holly Black. Regarding the Mary Sue issue, though, can we please get rid of all these fantasy heroines who never seem to realize they're beautiful until their romantic interest tells them? Cliche much and annoying much? Please, you're telling me a 16 year old girl somehow never realized her own level of attractiveness. Really, now.