COVERGIRL blast flipstick

I am a bzz agent for Covergirl Blast Flipstick.  I got the most awesome bzz kit:




I got 3 flipsticks, each has 2 colors, each has 2 shades that go from bright to brilliant or soft to sexy or day to night.  I am loving the Vixen Seductress, it's rosy shimmer pink on the day side and darker pinkish plum for night..  You can mix and match or just use one or the other.  A fun product.  I got Stunner and Minx also in my kit, which will be fun to play with and mix and mingle with other shades.  The lipstick itself is creamy and light, doesn't go on too thick, color is long lasting. 

Private Selection Holiday

I'm a bzz agent for Kroger's Private Selection Holday Campaign.  In the box of goodies I got some coupons to try Private Selection Past Sauce, Olives, presliced Deli Cheese and some Classic Water Crisp crackers and Costa Rican Tarrazu Coffee. 

I'm super impressed with everything we have tried!  The pasta sauce was so rich and fresh tasting.  We tried Organic Tomato Basil.  I served it over whole wheat pasta I had on hand.  Seriously good.

We also tried the Buffalo Monterey Jack presliced cheese, served atop the Classic Water Crisps.  The cheese was a total hit and the cracker was the perfect vehicle to serve it on. 

The Costa Rican Tarrazu Coffee is really good as well.  Rich bold flavor.  I like this a lot. 

Oh and last but NOT least, we got the blue cheese stuffed olives.  Now I haven't tried these yet but I'm planning on making martini's soon.

I am very happy with not only the Private Selection products but also the prices, they are premium in quality, packaging, flavor, great for parties, gift baskets and just for everyday and they are easy to find at your local Kroger store. 

Pork, Be Inspired

I am a bzz agent and I'm currently bzzing about pork.  I had a $5 coupon to purchase a pork moist and tender product.  I am not one to buy pork regularly so I had no idea what to get.  I normally buy ground turkey, beef and chicken products.  I was pleasantly surprised to see how economical pork is!  I ended up getting a pork roast, it was $5.75 or something like that for almost a 3 pound roast.  I got it almost free with my coupon.  I found a recipe on allrecipes.com:  This one:  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Tangy-Slow-Cooker-Pork-Roast/  and I had all the ingredients on hand which was nice.  I put it in the slow cooker and let it go all day.  My house smelled wonderful.  The best part was that it was done after about 6 hours on low.  I served it to my family and looked like a rock star.  A wholesome, nourishing meal that was delicious.  The pork was impressive, for tender, moist, fall apart and the potatoes and carrots and onions were wonderful as well.  Here's a picture of it, now it's not the best picture, but gives you an idea.  Pork is a very versatile meat and I will be buying it more often now that I am not afraid of it anymore.  It's really easy to cook and so many recipes are out there to try. 

Burt's Bees Intense Hydration

I am a bzzagent for Burt's Bees Intense Hydration.  That means I get to try the products and tell others about them.  This is what I got in the mail:

I got 3 full sized products:  Burt's Bees - Intense Hydration Cream Cleanser, Intense Hydration Treatment Mask, and Intense Hydration Night Cream.  I also got several samples with coupons so that I can pass these out and also Intense Hydration Day Cream. 

The Burt's Bees Intense Hydration Cleanser is a mild white cream, you apply to the face, wash and rinse.  It goes on smooth, doesn't sud a ton, smells mildly herbal and felt really good on my face.  It rinsed off easily.  So 1st step is done, my face already feels fantastic.  Then I tried the Burt's Bees Intense Hydration Mask, this is also a mild white cream, you don't need much as it spreads nicely.  I applied about a tablespoon (which was probably a bit too much) or so on my face and neck.  Then I let soak in for 10 minutes, after 10 minutes I wiped it off with a towel as it says.  My face feels hydrated and not irritated at all, just feels clean.  Then I tried some day lotion.  Now after the mask, this was overkill.  I don't think I needed it.  So I will try this again on a non mask using day.  I'd say use the mask 1-2 times a week.  Anyway, still regardless it went on smooth and is currently under my makeup and my face and eyes are not irritated at all.  Believe me when I say using Avon, Lancome products get in my eyes and burn and make my face feel irritated beyond belief, so much so that I would only use soap and water.  But I may just become a convert to Burt's Bees because I really feel a difference. 

I'm in my early 40's, mostly been a soap and water girl.  But frankly that isn't what is best for me.  I have tried Avon regimes in the past but the chemicals irritated my skin, got in my eyes and made them irritated too.  What I like about Burt's Bees is that it is totally non irritating, it smells good but not overpowering, it is easy to use and economical, a full sized product will last a long time if you use it wisely because a little goes a long way. 

Plus, Burt's Bees is a responsible company that cares about the earth.  They use natural ingredients, their facilities achieved 0 waste to landfills in 2010 by being innovative in efficient packaging, recycling and composting, using more sustainable materials.  They are also pro Bees, which Bees are in danger and even though bees can sting and hurt us, they are valuable to our earth, they make honey, beeswax, pollinating plants, etc.  Burt's Bees also doesn't do animal testing.  Hello?  I'm an animal lover.  So that is just plain awesome and can make you feel good about using their products. 

Green Mountain Coffee

I'm a bzzagent and I get to bzz about Green Mountain (fair trade) Coffee.  This was very exciting to me because I'm a BIG coffee lover.  I enjoy coffee, even look forward to waking up in the morning so I can have my coffee. 

So I got my bzz kit, it contained 3 -8-cup sample packs and several coupons and literature about Green Mountain Coffee.  So immediately I went and cleaned up my coffee pot, got rid of the stale old Maxwell House that was leftover and made a pot of Green Mountain. 

On first sip, it was bold, it was rich, it was full bodied.  Just the way I like it because I enjoy half and half to mellow it out.  No sugar needed, this stuff isn't bitter, it's smooth. 

Oh and the best thing is that it's a fair trade coffee.  I had heard of fair trade before but didn't really understand what it meant.  In a nutshell it means it helps farmers get a fair price for their beans, improves working conditions, protects the environment and helps communities.  So not only is it good coffee, it's responsible coffee. 

Here's my first but not last cup, in my favorite mug:

Glade Expressions Collection

I was very fortunate to be asked to be part of the Glade Expressions Collection Bzz Campaign recently.  In my buzz kit I got several coupons.  I was able to get a free Glade Fragrance Oil Infuser and also a Fragrance Mist. 

It was hard to choose but I picked Lavender Juniper Berry for the Fragrance Oil infuser.  This was very easy to assemble, no mess and very attractive, easily fit into my bathroom decor.  I have had that for several weeks now.  I move it around to the laundry room and bathrooms, wherever I want to add fragrance.  It's still working great!  It's not an obnoxious smell at all which I'm sensitive to some perfumes.  I really love it! 

The Fragrance Mist I got in Pineapple and Mangosteen.  It's got a tropical scent to it.  According to the description it's got some coconut and passion flower as well.  The mist is straightforward, squeeze the canister and you get a mist.  It's for instant gratification.  Great to put in the bathroom.  It's also quite attractive, minimalist in appearance and sort of fun to operate. 

I would love to try the other fragrances - Fuji Apple and Cardamom Spice and the Cotton and Italian Mandarin as well.  I think I will be buying 2 more of the oil infusers since they are so pretty and would be nice in my other 2 bathrooms. 

Progresso Recipe Starters

I'm a Bzz Agent so I got to try Progresso Recipe Starters creamy Parmesan basil cooking sauce.  I was super excited to get my bzz kit the other day.  I immediately opened it up and found the can of Progresso Recipe Starter.  At first I'm like this is really weird, what will I do with it?  But then went to their website and found a bunch of recipes to try with the sauces, each looked really amazing and easy, just needed basic ingredients and the can of sauce.  I decided on the recipe on the label, Creamy Chicken Alfredo, it sounded good and easy and I had all the stuff except the half and half.  I used milk instead.  I'm sure it would have been really really yummy with half and half but it was still excellent with milk, the flavor was great. 

I used whole wheat spaghetti instead of fettucine because that is what I had on hand, chicken tenders cut up, butter, fresh garlic cloves, Progresso Recipe Starters, parmesan and milk.  YUM.  My house smelled fantastic like an italian restaurant.  Seriously we were all salvitating in anticipation.  Now my picture doesn't do this justice.  I'm not a professional photographer, this clearly needs some sprigs of parsley or cherry tomatoes to add color and design.  But the taste is the most important.  I am looking forward to trying the other flavors.  I saw you can make tuna casseroles and all sorts of classic easy dishes with these sauces. 

Creamy Chicken Alfredo
prep time: 10 min, start to finish 30 minutes

You will need:
8 oz uncooked fettucine
1 package 1 1/4 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4 in pieces
2 TBS butter
3 Cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 can (18 oz) Progresso Recipe Starters creamy Parmesan Basil cooking sauce
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup whipping cream or half and half. 

Directions:
1.  Cook and drain fettucine as directed on package.
2.  In 12-inch skillet heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, cook chicken sprinle with salt and pepper.  Cook until done.
Add butter and garlic, cook until garlic is softened, stir in recipe starters, parmesan cheese and cream.  Simmer 5-8 minutes, stir occasionally, until well blended. 
3.  Serve over fettucine. 

Unreal Candy

We tried all the Unreal Candy recently.  When I say we I mean, my 2 daughters and myself.  They are age 13 and 9.  They love chocolate and so do I.  So we went to Walgreens and got the candy coated peanuts and chocolate (M&M's), the caramel and nougat (Milky Way), the caramel, nougat and peanuts (Snickers) and Peanut Butter Cups (Reese's). 

The candy coated peanuts and chocolate were gorgeous, earthy natural colors, orange, yellow, blue, yellow and brown.  The taste were much like the M&M, but without the "junk".  The price was .89, the same price as the M&M's.  So win win. 

The Peanut Butter Cups are richer than Reese's, darker and more intense chocolate flavor, less peanut butter ratio to chocolate.  They are not quite as creamy as the Reese's, but still make a good showing.  I was quite impressed by these and enjoyed the higher chocolate to peanut butter ration. 

The caramel and nougat was delicious, it's my favorite.  I love Milky Way bars.  I couldn't tell a difference between them, the flavor of the Milky Way is captured and very nicely unjunked.  Have you seen the back of a milky way bar?  The ingredients are crazy!  But not the unjunked version, everything is identifyable here. 

The caramel, nougat and peanuts (Snickers) was very good as well.  Not a huge difference in taste or texture, just unjunked!
So in a nutshell, these are the same price as their "junked" competitor's and taste just as good if not better.  So I recommend that you go out and try these. 
http://getunreal.com/.

Unreal Candy

I got to try Unreal Candy for free being a Bzzagent.  I had a coupon for a free product.  It was a bit hard to find.  Target didn't have it.  But then I found it at Walgreens.  It was up high in the candy aisle, sort of out of the way.  I wouldn't be happy if I was Unreal, they need a better location.  Anyway, there were 3 choices for me to choose from.  The peanut butter cups, M&M type, etc.  I picked the peanut butter cups.  At first bite these were a bit different than Reese's Peanut Butter cups.  But not in a bad way.  The chocolate to peanut butter ratio was more chocolate and less peanut butter than Reese's, it had a darker richer taste.  Not as creamy.  But considering this has less sugar, no transfat or corn syrup I was pleased with the product.  It was very satisfying.  I found the .99 cent price a little expensive.  But with coupons I would totally buy this again.  I can't wait to try the other varieties! 

Covergirl + Olay

I am a bzzagent for Covergirl + Olay.  Today I received my bzzkit.  It's always super exciting to me to get a bzzkit in my mailbox.  I got a full sized foundation in buff beige and pressed powder in fair/light.  I picked the perfect colors for myself. 

I immediately applied the foundation, followed by the powder.  The foundation is light and silky.  It feels good on my skin and not sticky.  The coverage is good, it evened out my skin tone nicely.  I then applied the powder on top.  It complimented the foundation nicely and blended well, didn't feel heavy. 

Would I buy this again after I run out?  I think so.  I like it and it's doing the job for me.  I think I'll like it more in the winter when my skin gets really dry. 

Thanks Covergirl and Bzz for letting me try this!

Be. Wine Pink Moscato

So I went out and bought Be. Pink Moscato to try because I'm a buzz agent.  I had $1 coupon and a $5 rebate with the purchase of 1 bottle.  I purchased this wine at Fry's.  At first I hesitated because it's $14.99 a bottle and even with rebate and coupon it was more than I wanted to spend.  However I bought it because I need to buzz about it. 

First impression is that I really enjoyed this wine.  It's sweet, refreshing, fruity and crisp.  I will buy it again, but I do hope the price goes down to under $10 a bottle. 

Private Selection Taste of Summer Bzz Campaign

I got to be a Buzz Agent for Private Selection Taste of Summer Campaign.  It was an awesome campaign.  First I got a bag of cracked pepper chips.  These were very good, sturdy, not too greasy, can stand up to dip.  Then I got the Angus Ground Beef.  This was excellent.  The quality and freshness was very good.  We got cherry pie for dessert.  Soo fresh!  Flakey crust, fresh cherries, not too sweet, very very good.  I totally recommend Private Selection products, available at Kroger!

Be. Wine

I'm very excited to be a Buzz Agent for Be. Wine.  I'm going to try the Pink Moscato and Chardonnay.