Smoked Espresso-Rubbed Brisket Sandwich

I try to post more organic and natural type things but this one caught my eye.  Not only because it's from Chef Robert Irvine but it just looks fantastic and there is no reason you can't make it healther.  The Smoked Espresso-Rubbed Brisket Sandwich looks amazing!

Here's a peek at the ingredients but for the full recipe, click above on the link.

Ingredients

For the Espresso Rubbed Brisket:
5 lbs Whole Raw Brisket
2 oz Ground Espresso
6 oz Dark Brown Sugar
3 oz Kosher Salt
1 dash Ground Cumin
2 dashes Garlic Powder
3 dashes Ground Pepper
1 dash Cayenne
2 dashes Ground Cinnamon

For Horseradish Aioli:1 oz Prepared Horseradish, Drained and Squeezed
3 oz Mayo
2 oz Sour Cream
Salt and Pepper To Taste

For Crispy Pickled Jalapeno:1/2 cup Canned Sliced Pickled Jalapenos
1 cup Corn Starch
Fry Oil as needed

For Sandwich Assembly:8 Slices Taleggio Cheese (if not available, substitute Fontina or another semi-soft pungent cheese)
1 tbsp Grapeseed Oil
2 cups Julienned Onions
6 ea Martins Brand Hoagie Rolls

Homemade Almond Butter Recipe

Everyone is trying to get healthier nowadays with all the bad information forthcoming about what is good for you or not or how it's made.  More than a couple of year's ago, I decided it was time to eat better for myself and children's sake.  Luckily, my children love almonds and I found this great recipe to make almond butter thanks to BudgetSavingDiva!

Ingredients

• 1.5 Cups of Raw Almonds
• Pinch of Salt
• Oil ( if needed)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Place almonds on a lined cookie sheet and baked for 2- 3 minutes
3. Place almonds into the food processor ( only use blender if you do not have a food processor)
4. Process for about 10 minutes -- it takes a while.
5. If it is a little dry add a little oil
6. Enjoy
7. It makes about ¾th cup

by Sara

Banana Boat® Great Big Family Reunion and Best Summer Ever

I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Banana Boat^®. I received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for my participation.

I'm so happy now that summer has officially began because I love the warmer weather.  Sunny days and warm nights are the perfect time for getting together with family.  It's already been a very hot summer with intense sunshine.  I have a variety of ages to protect from an eight month old to four, eight and 12 year olds.  My middle one is a red head and requires a lot of sun protection which is why I turn to the line of Banana Boat^® sun protection products due to their most comfortable line of sun protection products yet.  When I go outside, I immediately apply Banana Boat^®'s reformulated Dry Oil Clear UltraMist^® Sunscreen which now includes argan oil.  It's perfect for restoring moisture to my dry legs while providing protection from the sun's rays.  It goes on smooth and it's not oily which is a double bonus.

When applying sunscreen, you should apply 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) of sunscreen to you and your kids’ entire bodies 30 minutes before going outside and reapply every two hours or immediately after swimming or excessive sweating.  In spite of the terrible humidity and heat, it really lasts and provided the sun protection they needed.  There have been no sunburns so far!

For my children, I alternate with SunComfort™ Clear UltraMist^®Sunscreen and Sport Performance^®Lotion Sunscreen with Powerstay Technology.  The SunComfort™ Clear UltraMist^®Sunscreen is also good for everyday use, allows sand to be brushed off easily and relieves dryness caused by the sun, chlorine and salt water.  The SunComfort™ Clear UltraMist^®Sunscreen™ was designed for those that are more active (i.e. young kids going crazy after school has let out for the summer!).  What I liked about this product is it really lasted long and It was light weight, sweat resistant as well as up to 80 minutes water resistant.  It absorbed quickly, was non-greasy and didn't run into my eyes like many do.  The heavy duty protection was perfect for playing in the little pool or mowing the yard.

For other big news, Banana Boat^® Great Big Family Reunion offers summer fun in the sun good times for the whole family and visitors!  Just enter the sweepstakes for the chance for one lucky family to win a reunion for up to 50 of their family members and friends. Participants can also spin the Wheel of Fun for exciting activities to entertain their families all summer long!  I love having pre-planned activities to make it easier on me when entertaining.

It doesn't always require a lot to get family together and any excuse is better than none.  I've watched my family go from a family that held extended family reunions to none.  I find it sad that people are too busy to find time to get together.  Some of my fondest memories were summer time, in the sun, reunions with all my cousins and other family members.  This summer, I'm getting together with some of my cousins.  What about you?  Grab the Banana Boat and head out whether your family is small or large, have fun this summer!

Make sure to follow on social media for more information:

Banana Boat^® Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BananaBoatBrand

Banana Boat^® Twitter:  https://twitter.com/bananaboat

 #bestsummerever

Here is a chance to win even more!  Share information on the Great Big Family Reunion sweepstakes to enter to win one of five $30 Banana Boat^® Prize Packs including:

• Banana Boat^® koosie
• Key chain
• Draw string backpack
• Three sunscreen products

Contest opens on June 8, 2015 and closes June 29, 2015.

To enter, choose a social media sharing option from the social media amplification tool!

Banana Boat “Great Big Family Reunion” Sweepstakes

SPLENDA® Brand Summertime Sweet Life In-Home SWEET SWAPS™ Holiday Strawberry Cream Cheese Cake Roll

I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for the SPLENDA^® Brand. I received product samples to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation. All opinions and reviews are my own.

Can you believe summer is already upon us?  It's not officially summer but it certainly feels like it with the hot humid weather here in Georgia.  As when the summer months come, new recipes come to mind with all the fresh fruit and vegetables.  As I look to the summer, I want to find recipes that will allow me to swap out sugar for a lower calorie option.  This is where SPLENDA^® Sweetener Products come into my house.  Instead of using full sugar, why not swap out for SPLENDA^® Sweetener Products?  It's still great tasting but easy on the calories.  There are many products offered such as SPLENDA^® No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated, SPLENDA^®Sugar Blend, and SPLENDA^® Brown Sugar Blend.  It's a great way to lessen those calories while visiting SWEET SWAPS™ to try out some great recipes to satisfy the biggest sweet tooth.

As part of our kicking off summer activities, we invited family and friends out to camp and hike as what better light activity than to walk in nature?  Since the younger one's couldn't hike much, we had to break up in two groups and have my sister watch them.  After our walk, we stopped to eat and then we had some sweet fun using the SWEET SWAPS™ Holiday Cake Roll recipe mostly because it's a favorite with my youngest and I've yet to master one.  There really isn't any better excuse than to get friends and family together for fun and food!

Now for the fun part, I've learned that making cake rolls are tricky, in my opinion, as you have to make sure you don't crack it when you roll it.  Our creation will be the Strawberries and Cream Cake Roll Recipe. My almost eight year wanted to help make it as she loves strawberries and she also wanted to be the hostess for serving up the Holiday Cake Roll at our get together.  It all looked easy enough and it was smooth sailing but albeit, I found out that I have not mastered the rolling of the cake.

Our after activity was a success.  Those that liked strawberries and cream cheese loved it and no one knew I replaced sugar with SPLENDA^®!  Given that my one guest, Kristin, was watching calories, this was ideal for her.   I have to say that I love that I can create recipes with less calories while not sacrificing taste and with SWEET SWAPS™ recipes, I have a great database to choose from! There are many more tips, tricks and amazing looking recipes on SweetSwaps.com.  Did you know that swapping just one cup of sugar with one cup of SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated can save more than 600 calories? (

For those of you that want to try it yourself, here is the recipe:

Strawberries and Cream Cake Roll Recipe

Servings Per Recipe: 10

Serving Size: 1 slice (1/10 cake)

INGREDIENTS

• 4 large eggs, separated
• 2/3 cup SPLENDA^® No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated, divided
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ cup light corn syrup
• 2/3 cup sifted cake flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 (8 ounce) carton frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 pint strawberries, sliced

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
2. Grease bottom and sides of a 15x10x1-inch jellyroll pan; line pan with waxed paper; grease and flour waxed paper. Set aside.
3. Beat egg yolks at high speed of an electric mixer until thick and pale; gradually add 1/3 cup SPLENDA^® No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated, beating constantly. Stir in oil and vanilla extract.
4. Whip egg whites at high speed until foamy; gradually add remaining 1/3 cup SPLENDA^® No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated, and corn syrup, beating until stiff but not dry. Fold beaten egg whites into egg yolk mixture.
5. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; gradually fold into egg mixture. Spoon batter into prepared pan; spread batter evenly.
6. Bake for 10 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched in center.
7. Sift 2 tablespoons powdered sugar on a cloth towel. Loosen cake from sides of pan using a narrow metal spatula and immediately turn out onto sugared towel. Starting at narrow end, roll cake and towel together tightly; cool 30 minutes on a wire rack seam side down.
8. Unroll cake and remove towel. Spread with whipped topping; spoon strawberries over topping; carefully, reroll. Place on a serving plate, seam side down. Chill 2 hours before serving.

For more information or to stay up to date, check out:

SWEET SWAPS™ Website: http://www.sweetswaps.com

SPLENDA Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/splenda

SPLENDA Twitter: @Splenda

SPLENDA Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/SPLENDA/

#SweetSwaps #IC #ad

Copycat Chick Fil A Chicken Sandwich Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 8 oz each – or 4 4 oz chicken breasts)
• 1/2 cup pickle juice (just use the juice from any pickle jar)
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 cup flour
• 2 tbsp powdered sugar
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp celery salt
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1 cup peanut oil for frying
• 4 Hamburger Buns (buttered and toasted)
• Pickle Slices

1. Pound chicken breasts flat and cut them in to 4 pieces – then you want to marinate your chicken in the pickle juice for at least an hour.
2. Beat eggs and combine  dry ingredients together.  Dip the chicken in the egg and then the flour mixture.
3. Cook approximately five minutes on each side and then serve on the buns with pickle slices.

Register for Game Night at Best Buy! #ad

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.

Either getting married or assisting one of your friends or loved ones is always a fun occasion.  Every detail has to be planned just right while others seem to fall right into place.  After you start gathering details, the other big to do list item is the gift registry as it makes it so much easier for everyone if they know what you really really want.  There are many places to register but there is one place that can cover so many needs especially in a tech driven society.  As you plan your registry, what better theme than to register for game night at Best Buy.  Couples today tend to play video games more and more together.  Game playing together can be a fun experience and it's even better with the right equipment.  Whether a couple games on a PC or using a game console, Best Buy has amazing choices to choose from to ensure the ultimate gaming experience is had.

For those that have a very generous list of guests or if you just want to treat yourself, there is the option of creating your very own home theater complete with state of the art televisions like the Samsung 55" Class LED Curved 2160p Smart - 4K Ultra HD TV and a matching set of his and her's Leather Home Theater Seats.  I know myself and my girls would LOVE this set up!  We are a gaming family ranging from the PC games to consoles and I know my girls would fall in love with this set up.

Any new couple would love to have that as their home theater when they return from their honeymoon.  Whether it's a PS4, an XBox, Wii or more, Best Buy is the ticket to marriage happiness.  They aren't just known for gaming products too as products for the home, computers, cameras, home office, fitness and more, it's a great place to start a wedding registry or any gift registry for that matter.  When my oldest married, I gave them Best Buy gift cards to purchase a stainless steel refrigerator.  To me, giving a gift a couple needs is far better than trying to second guess or give something that they might not want.

Whether you are getting married or know someone getting married, set up a gift registry at Best Buy or suggest it because you can't go wrong!

Best Buy Education will help your school every step of the way #ad

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.

Surprisingly, it's not too soon to start thinking about the new school year as it really is just around the corner.  As a kid, I remember summer seeming like it lasted almost forever but the older I became, the summers just flew by.  It seems like one day the kids are out on summer break and then two weeks later, all the commercials and back to school sales start.  School has become so technology driven from when I was in school and it's a must in today's technology-based world.  When schools start thinking about what is best for their classrooms, they can now turn to Best Buy Education for expert advice.  Best Buy's Account Managers and Education Specialists are eager to listen and understand each school's technology needs, then use that knowledge to provide unbiased advice to ensure every school is happy with their decision.  They'll even assist with the product purchasing, installation, service and support!  Just the installation and support should help to alleviate any concerns knowing a company like Best Buy will be there!

When a school is ready to move forward, they can count on receiving the right products for their school or district from the latest tablets, laptops and chrome devices for students to office equipment to classroom white boards and carts, Best Buy has the reliable educational technology needed to outfit your schools.  It doesn't just stop there either as they offer complete technology solutions, from simple to complex to include assisting with commercial service plans, pre-sales engineering, project management, installation, complex logistics and multi-location delivery.  The solutions are vast and offers so many extra like imaging and asset tagging too!

You've all seen the Geek Squad® and know the reputation they have so you can count on them to keep your school’s or district’s technology running smoothly with IT support provided by phone, online, remotely or on site.  The Geek Squad Agents can install and upgrade hardware and software, troubleshoot problems that arise and repair devices right in your offices or classrooms.  It's really a great solution for any school's technology needs to include Flexible payment Options.  Tax exempt?  No problem as Best Buy honors those too!  There are a variety of payment options ranging from leasing, purchase orders, wire transfers and checks.  There is also a Business Advantage Account with Net-30 terms and 24/7 access to your account through a customized Web site.

Don't forget, if you are attending ISTE Conference and Expo on June 28 – July 1, Best Buy Education will be in booth #2262.  Make sure you come by and check out the daily demonstrations being held throughout the conference and don't forget to bring any questions you may have!

Also, enter to win $25,000 Transform Your School!