Box2Bake Brazilian Chocolate Alfajores Review

I recently had a chance to review another of Cratejoy's wonderful subscription boxes and to date, I can say I'm not disappointed.  This review is for the Box2Bake which is a baking theme per month subscription box service with 100% organic ingredients. Each month will showcase an international recipe that will especially delight your taste buds and your students if you are a homeschool family like I am. This month, we received the Brazilian Chocolate Alfajores and I can say it was easy YET fun to make.

We opened up our eco-friendly box which is also cute with the international shipping appearance on the outside.  Everything is packed nice and neat and the instructions are easy to follow.  An e-mail is also received to assist in how to make each recipe card along with numerous pictures making it very easy to make that even a student can follow along.

They each their own job to do and they might have went their own way with preparing the ingredients but the end result was ... you have to wait and read!

I have to say this was a lot of fun not just because I made it a homeschool exercise but it was fun just spending time in the kitchen with the girls and they loved the hazelnut applicator!  To sum it up, they really liked the outcome and thought it was a lot of fun!  I also thought the Alfajores were very good!  This is a must try box!  I forgot to mention, the girls really liked them even my picky one!  I like international flavors so this is really a fun subscription box that you have to try!

Click on the link to find out more about Box2Bake.

Also find Box2Bake on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

Bibliophile-Crate: March #JaneAusten Themed Literature Fun Box Review

Have you checked out the subscription box services yet?  Every area of one's love is covered by the numerous boxes with an extraordinary amount of detail in many of the boxes.  I'm a big Jane Austen fan as well as literature in general so I'm waiting for this new box to arrive.

The box service is called Bibliophile Crate and features a couple of photographs of their boxes.  Jane Austen is a yes, yes, yes!  We have tried two to date but this post will focus on the first one called Bibliophile Crate

Our first box contained many items that were handcrafted and unique to the Jane Austen theme.  It had a nice introductory/thank you card, a recipe card, a 5 x 7 print that I could frame (shown) as well as a 3 x 4 framed print.  It also had two Jane Austen pencils in a clever Jane Austen themed pencil box but that's not all!  It also had Pemberley House soap, a magnet, a Jane Austen pen, post it notes and an interesting Sense and Sensibility book with a twist as it was about sea monsters.  The notecard and bookmark were also little nice extra's.  I think the box was well worth the costs and I can't wait until next month's!  

The recipe card was period specific and a nice addition to the box.

The pencils were really a nice addition:

The tea box was cute in a Darcy theme that included two Earl Grey tea bags:

Check them out today on Cratejoy: Bibliophile Crate 

Jane Austen, Hitchcock Other Classic New Subscription Box Service on Cratejoy

Have you checked out the subscription box services yet?  Every area of one's love is covered by the numerous boxes with an extraordinary amount of detail in many of the boxes.  I'm a big Jane Austen fan as well as literature in general so I'm waiting for this new box to arrive.

The box service is called Bibliophile Crate and features a couple of photographs of their boxes.  Jane Austen is a yes, yes, yes!

This one being a classic of Hitchcock's North by Northwest with handsome oldie Cary Grant looks amazing as well!

They even have a one time wine accessory in Jane Austen's theme too that I might have to try.

Check them out here if you are interested:  Bibliophile Crate

Another coming soon box to be launched:  Audrey Hepburn Themed <-- click here to be informed when it launches!

Top Five Fitness and Wellness Predictions for 2017

A new year and new trends to get in shape and get healthy are already upon us at every corner from various social media outlets to television to the magazines at the check out counter. It's really difficult to sort out what is good versus fad and potentially unhealthy. Last year was a mix of eating more natural coupled with squeezing in fitness routines no matter how one made it work. This year will be no different as social media continues to educate a more informed consumer looking for more healthy ways to ensure good health and longevity as well as atheleisure wear that allows one to dress for work with the flexibility to work out. The top fitness and wellness trends for 2017 will be plentiful with the ones I feel will have the biggest popularity include:

5. Vitamins and supplements will probably never go out of style with the advancement of technology and the array of claims of benefits. Vitamin D to fish oil to even smart pills are trending among many consumers. Supplements possibly provide the consumer with nutrients and other ingredients they might not normally get from poor eating habits or busy schedules. It's debatable among some of the claim but we consumers still purchase. "The global dietary supplements market is expected to reach USD 278.02 billion by 2024, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc." That is proof that the business is lucrative.

4. The increase consumption of fats and less carbohydrates will continue to rise given the host of diets and "experts" on social media touting various diets ranging from Atkins, variations to Atkins, Dukan and ketogenic themed diets. High fat/protein and low carbohydrate diets work but they aren't without their controversy either. Fats are not the evil heart killer as they once were perceived and various studies have proven that they are potentially good for us.

3. Organic eating continues to climb the chart of a profitable business with more and more consumers opting for less chemicals and preservatives. It's a tricky business as a consumer knowing what truly is organic versus natural versus dishonest claims to have to weed through. The issue of GMOs are everywhere and difficult to steer clear of especially given the fact that the consumer has to be diligent to find out what the animal was fed. If an animal was fed GMO corn, that then affects the quality of the "organic" meat or other animal product such as milk. 

2.  Wearable technology will continue to rise in popularity. The convenience of being able to track everything is a bonus especially for those that are busy and are on their feet a lot. From Apple to Garmin to Fitbit, it's a big business expecting to grow even more. Even the pharmaceutical and health industries are getting into the business. Companies such as CRF Health work with pharmaceutical companies in incorporating advance ways of data collection by the use of smart devices. It's a big business!

1. Strength training and athleisure will continue to rise given the host of research supporting the health and wellness claims. Strength training is easy and affordable and can be done just about in any environment. Clothing options has evolved to allow consumers choices in fitness fashion to remain active at anytime yet have a leisurely feel about their choices. One of the brands that I actually fell in love with last year was Betabrand. The great looking and high quality women's fitness fashion pants provide that great office look yet are made to move and allow the flexibility to take that walk at lunch time or even to drop and do some squats or lift some free weights. I did purchase the Boot-Cut Black Dress Pant Yoga Pant and love the fit and the quality of the fabric.

Those are my top five fitness and wellness predictions for 2017. I don't see much variance from the previous year rather more of a focus on getting natural and taking our health in our hands devoid of chemicals, preservatives and pesticides. Having the ability to be more involved in our health from wearable tracking devices to clothes that allow the flexibility to move will be hot topics this year.

NOTE: I was not compensated for this post.

Top 10 Ketogenic Diet Recipes

After yet another year of not meeting the health goals I had set for my family, I decided it's better to try try again rather than give up and succumb to being a quitter. This year is no different from any other year except that my 28 year old is a cancer survivor and it's imperative that I try to lead by example and encourage healthful eating. I have adopted a thought process of baby steps as all or nothing never works for me and I slowly or more so rapidly, watch the scales skyrocket up. This time, I'm going to incorporate smaller steps to encourage and change the mindset of eating better and/or reducing consumption. One diet my son-in-law has had extreme success with is a ketogenic type diet. He joined the Navy and has had to lose weight and keep it off in a relatively short amount of time. He met his goal and he looks amazing and I do believe he feels better. With all the diets, it's hard to keep track of what is good, what is bad or what is different as the high protein, high fat, low carb diets are springing up all over the place with minor variations. 

Some feel they just can't follow such a rigid diet and utilize other means whether it's calorie counting, choosing a particular brand like MorningStar to reduce meat intake or combining exercise with smart food choices. For this post, I wanted to showcase some of the recipes my son-in-law included in his weight loss journey as a ways of possibly encouraging others to never give up. 

Ruled.Me has some great recipes and optional plans and books you can purchase. I am not affiliated with Ruled.Me nor do I get anything in return for posting rather I wanted to share what worked for my son-in-law. Here are the top 10 and recipes can be found with the link above.

Homeschool British Themed Recipes: Pork Pie

We started on a little road of discovery all about Britain.  I'm a dual citizen (by descent) since my mom is from there thanks to a changed law that recognizes the maternal link.  I'm also an ardent Jane Austen fan and that is slowly creeping into my daughter's interest.  I instantly fell for a quirky movie based on the love of Austen titled Austenland.  Low and behold, my younger who is a self-proclaimed 'mini-me', loves it too which has inspired all this new found interest in England.  We previously had our first tea party with homemade strawberry scones followed by a luncheon with finger sandwiches which didn't go over well since they are not egg fans.  Our latest dish was pork pie which was very tedious to make and required me to learn what ramakin dishes were as I had no idea what their official names were.  Luckily Walmart had four but remembering how the Walmart here is not too good as I've opened spices that were already opened along with a couple of other incidences, I decided to remove the lids on each dish to make sure they were not cracked.  Of course, one was so I'm glad I checked as it would have been a real damper to find I was out a dish.  

So, with only three dishes on hand, we proceeded to make our British Pork Pies.  I called my mom since she's the resident expert in this area and when I told her what the recipe entailed, she proclaimed it wasn't like the pork pies she grew up with and that they ate them cold and they had a gel substance inside.  I can honestly say I can do without the gel thank you very much!  So here are our pictures of the long process but very condensed:

The dough is made after the pork and bacon mixture have been prepared and is cooling in the refrigerator.  It was a basic flour and lard recipe and was simple to make.

The skillet included onions, garlic and green apple:

Half the pork butt and thick bacon mixture is pulsed in a food processor and returned with the other half.   It does not look too appetizing!

My two girls are the pickiest eaters ever but they really enjoyed the pork pies!  It was a win!

Not quite like the recipe picture but it was still good!  Want to try it?  Here is the link for British Pork Pie recipe.

My Daughter, the Seamstress and Her Paris Inspired Dress

My oldest has found yet another skill she excels in and that's sewing.  For my younger one, she's the very happy recipient of many fine dresses.  I've been encouraging her to start selling dresses to help their family income since she's an at home mom.  She's also excellent in planning birthday parties down to each detail as well as many other things.  I'm really liking her desire to move forward with making dresses and can't wait for some of my own!

This is her Hi-Low dress she made inspired by Paris.  We bought the hat at Sears and even though it's a woman's size, it will grow with her helping to offset the costs.  My younger one is a diva and I suspect she will always be a fashionista.  She also has a huge love for all things British which makes sense since her maternal grandmother is from England and both sides of my mother and father's side originated from England and France.

She admits the front should be longer but my youngest is somewhat tall but her width makes her a smaller size.  My oldest is learning as she goes and this is providing her with great experience in understanding how to choose the different pattern pieces to match the size of the model.  All in all, she's having a lot of fun and she can turn out a dress in no time!

Cinderella Themed Birthday Party

My youngest chose a Cinderella party theme this year for her party and she fell in love with an idea from Pinterest even though I didn't nail it.  I was a bit behind in the planning stages as I was supposed to be out of town but things were cancelled so my oldest and I had to move fast with the party.  For the carriage above, I purchased an orange bulb, blue sheer curtains for the table skirt, a shade tent and gold paint from Amazon.  The cupcakes included these cute edible pumpkins that my oldest daughter made.

I ordered the clock, crown and letters from Hobby Lobby.

The invitation I made by taking a sketch of the castle and colorizing it and using the Cinderella font along with other font.

The cake was a traditional doll cake mold with the addition of the Cinderella doll.  Floral icing was added as well as a fondant top and butterflies.

Have a Very Merry Best Buy Minecraft Christmas

The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.

My children and grandchild love Minecraft and they are active in both the console version and the PC. It's really a great game not just for fun but we utilize it also for homeschooling lessons. Minecraft is loads of fun with children and adults (my oldest) placing blocks and going on many adventures. My youngest thoroughly enjoys exploring especially caves to mine gems as well as creating worlds and building amazing things to surprise her sisters and niece. She takes such joy in creating the smallest of things like a simple house to a grandiose castle that she would see in one of my shows from England.  We have found that Best Buy has an array of Minecraft games and collectibles. Her Christmas list is full of every possible Minecraft item.

My youngest has requested the Mattel - Minecraft Flying Ghast Quadcopter with Remote Controller which I have obliged much to her surprise. Right now, you can even save $20 by visiting Best Buy to purchase and it's not too late for Christmas to order between the ship to home or pick up options.

Another great gift idea is the Minecraft - Mini Figures Case that can allow your child to transport up to 32 figures. It's a great way to store and travel with them without the fear of losing them. They can even flip it over to discover Minecraft world complete with a playtime portal.

All my children enjoy the Creative Mode since they have unlimited resources or they can mine deep in Survival Mode. The weapons and armor they can create to help defeat the expected and sometimes unexpected mobs is a lot of fun either by themselves or with their sisters or niece. It's a great family-friendly game and I would highly recommend it for children. The other great thing about Minecraft is there is such a huge choice of items that make great gift ideas from the game itself but also the toys that are available at Best Buy. One of the big items my children have been wanting is the Xbox One S console bundle that Best Buy has and I can imagine it would be their favorite gift from Santa. 

This Christmas, they are going to have a Merry Best Buy Minecraft Christmas!