Missy Maintains » chips

Michael Season’s Kettle Cooked Chip Giveaway!

MissyMaintains — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 11:58:51 +0000

You know you are a food blogger when the mail clerk at work refers to you as “his best customer!”

It is always the highlight of my day when Fabio emails me to come to the basement to pick up my package! My coworkers love it too because they always know it will be a new food to try out! We’ve all been enjoying my most recent package, 5 big bags of Michael Season’s Kettle Cooked Chips!

I’ve been a big fan of Michael Season’s chips ever since I reviewed them for the first time in March of 2009! Oh how time flies.

The Season’s Snacks promise makes me happy:

* All natural ingredients
* No preservatives
* No artificial colorings
* No artificial flavorings
* No hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils
* No MSG
* And above all else…GREAT TASTE!

The Kettle Cooked Potato Chips are my favorite of all the different kinds of Michael Season’s chips I’ve tried before. Let’s just say my coworker and I ate an entire bag this afternoon! They are addicting and taste just as good as other unhealthy brands. Today we enjoyed the Lightly Salted flavor which only contain 3 ingredients: potatoes, sunflower oil, and salt! Makes me feel a little better about eating half the bag in one sitting! I also tried the Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar the other day with my roommate. We were on our way to dinner and definitely almost finished the bag on the subway ride home. Nice appetizer! Want a chance to try all five flavors of these delicious chips?

GIVEAWAY TIME!

There are 3 ways to enter!

1) Leave me a comment telling me your favorite kind of potato chip!

2) Tweet about the giveaway. “Win Michael Season’s Kettle Cooked Chips and more from @MissyMaintains! Enter here: http://bit.ly/dTHQrw”

3) Like Michael Season’s on Facebook and let me know below.

I will choose a winner on Monday, April 11! Good Luck!

Disclaimer: Michael Season’s provided me with the chips free of charge. I was not paid to write this review.

Swanson Health $50 Gift Card Giveaway!

MissyMaintains — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 17:50:35 +0000

I recently discovered a website called Swanson Health Products that sells vitamins, supplements, organic foods, teas, natural beauty products and eco-friendly cleaners. The great thing about this website is that all of the products are backed up by a “Double the Difference Lowest Price Guarantee”. This means that if you find a product priced lower in any competitor’s catalog, they will refund you two times the price difference. Sounds like a great deal to me! Swanson was nice enough to offer me a $50 gift certificate to spend on their website! I got a bunch of great goodies!

I ordered the following:

I really loved the Swanson Dried Apple and Stawberry Slices! They are both 100% organic and make a great addition to oatmeal!

The Brown Rice Chips were not my favorite. They contain nori so I think they were a little too fishy tasting for me. I do like that they have no preservatives or chemicals though.

I am kind of obsessed with the Kashi Pumpkin Spice bars!!

They are crunchy and delicious! They did not last in my desk very long.

I am also a huge fan of Arrowhead Mills Peanut Butter since the only ingredient is Organic Dry Roasted Valencia Peanuts. Can’t beat that!

I added in the Zicam and Melatonin at the end of my little shopping spree because I needed to spend another couple of dollars. I always like to keep them stocked in my apartment at all times. I swear by Zicam to prevent colds and I take Melatonin almost every night to help me fall asleep! Love that stuff!

Giveaway Time!

The folks over at Swanson are offering one Missy Maintains reader a $50 Shopping Spree!

How to Enter:

1) Visit the Swanson Health Products website and comment letting me know which 2 products you would like to try.
2) Post a comment on the Swanson Facebook page about the products and let me know you did so below.
3) Tweet this giveaway. “Win a $50 @SwansonVitamins Gift Certificate from @MissyMaintains! Enter here: http://bit.ly/faq6Jb”

I will choose a winner next Monday, February 21. Good Luck!

Disclaimer: Swanson Health Products provided me with 2 $50 gift certificates for a reader and myself. I was not paid to review these products.

Michael Season’s Mediterranean Chip Giveaway!

MissyMaintains — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:12:42 +0000

Yesterday I received a bag of chips to try from Michael Season’s. All of their snacks are gluten free, wheat free, and all natural. They just came out with a new Mediterranean flavor.

About: (source)

Michael Season’s captures the flavors of the Mediterranean! We start with select potatoes and add a combination of garlic, onion, oregano, rosemary & basil. Take pleasure in our all natural potato chips!

I couldn’t wait to dig in!

The nutrition facts are pretty good. One serving is just 140 calories and they contain no preservatives or hydrogenated oils.

I really enjoyed the chips! They were thin and crispy and had a ton of flavor.

They mostly tasted like garlic and onion but the flavor was not too over empowering. I liked that the texture was similar to regular chips and not like cardboard. I would definitely purchase these again!

Giveaway!

One reader will win a reusable tote, a chip-clip and a bag of Michael Season’s Mediterranean chips!

There are 2 ways to enter:

1) Leave me a comment telling me your favorite kind of chips!

2) Tweet this giveaway. “@MissyMaintains is giving away Michael Season’s Mediterranean Chips! Enter here : http://bit.ly/aRVolP”

I will choose a winner next Tuesday, July 13th! Good Luck!

Tequila in the Snow!

MissyMaintains — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:44:40 +0000

Good Morning! Hope everyone had fun in the snow yesterday. If you are from somewhere warm, I am jealous. I had a nice half day!

I got to work and made baked apple yogurt oats.

Nice change from the usual banana! I got the lovely half day e-mail after breakfast and made my way home at 1:00. I stopped at the food store to stock up because I thought I was not going to leave my apartment again.

I made a nice turkey and cheese wrap for lunch. I had Food Should Taste Good chips on the side!

I sat around and watched the snow with Daisy. She has a new obsession with the windows.

My roommate had off from work too so we decided to go to the movies! We were a little early and 5 Burro Cafe was across the street so we ended up splitting a banana margarita! We had to warm up somehow in the cold

We saw Edge of Darkness which was pretty good. We decided to do a double feature so we saw Legion after. This was the worst movie ever. Do not waste your money.

We left and Forest Hills looked like a ghost town! Not one restaurant or store was open! We decided to see if 5 Burro was still open and it was! They said they never ever close! I had one more Apricot Margarita!

Sorry you guys are probably sick of seeing these drinks all the time. I am done with them for a while (maybe)! They are no good for my waistline haha. I also woke up feeling like I had a fever. Probably not smart to run around in the snow with tequila in my system! What else is there to do on a snow day though?

We came back and played with Daisy in the snow!

I had to…it was her first snow storm!

Fun night! I am now chugging coffee so I can wake up a little! I had the subway ride from hell…2 guys battling at 8:00 in the morning. They were rapping at the same time really loud for the entire hour. Good thing I had my music! 2 other guys also got arrested for punching eachother. The subway stopped for 10 minutes at every stop too so it took foreverrr to get to work. Blahh.

How was your commute? How do you get to work/school? Have a good day!

Weekly Workout Roundup

MissyMaintains — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:42:33 +0000

Happy Friday! I’ve had quite the day already! It all started when I woke up at 5:40 for Core Fusion. I made it out the door by 6:05 and thought I’d make it on time for the 7:00 am class. My train finally came after waiting 10 minutes. Some days it comes right away but you never know at that time of morning. About half way there, we were stopped for another 10 minutes. They said a train was broken in front of us. I decided to hop off and get on another train which drops me off pretty far from Core Fusion. At 6:55 on the dot, I got off the subway, found a cab, and told him to speed to class! $8.00 later, I rushed into class 5 minutes late and found my spot next to Dori. It was very stressful since they charge you $35.00 if you miss a class. Luckily I only missed the warm up and part of the beginning plank.

The rest of the class was very good. Our favorite teacher, Kate, is always very challenging but extremely helpful. We have her scheduled for every single Friday from now on. After class, I stumbled to the subway. I have to take 2 subways to get back to work. I ran onto the 2nd subway and it was going in the wrong direction! I had get off and get back on again at some random stop. It was not fun walking up all of those extra subway stairs since my legs were incredibly sore from my week of gym classes! The worst part is that I did the same exact thing on Wednesday! I will never learn.

Exercise Class Reviews

I wanted to talk about some other gym classes I took this week! On Saturday I decided to try a class at Equinox called WillPower and Grace. The website describes the class as:

A cardiovascular fusion of calisthenics, dance principles, yoga and Pilates. You will use your own body weight as resistance to tone your muscles and practice exercises to enhance your posture and walk with more confidence.

It sounded very similar to Core Fusion so I knew I had to try it before my Equinox membership ended. I walked in and we were told to take off our shoes and socks. I don’t really like being barefoot in sweaty studios like that. Hello foot infections. I took my socks off anyway since everyone else did. I don’t even know how to describe this class. We did weird flowy movements and stretches the whole time. We did really fast squats andlunges. It was nothing like Core Fusion. I kind of could not wait for it to be over. It was a little too weird for me and it did not feel like a workout. Oh well.

There was a class right after called Cardio Sculpt.This one was right up my ally. We used weights, a step, and a weighted ball. We did fun cardio moves while holding the ball and then weight exercises while walking up anddown the step. I was drenched during this one. If I ever joined Equinox, I would take this one every weekend. I was glad I left the gym feeling like I actually worked out!

New Core Fusion Challenge!

Sunday was a nice rest day. Monday and Wednesday morning, I went to Core Fusion. I really like going Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays before work. It will be perfect for the new challenge I am taking on this month called Buddha Camp!

The challenge runs from Febuary 1st to March 31st. How it works:

Throughout this 8 week period, Exhale Spa will keep track of the average number of Core Fusion and Yoga classes you attend each week and reward your hard work with great incentives. Here’s what you can get!

3 classes

Core Fusion Cardio class pass
Exhale Mind Body Lounge Music CD
Choice of Core Fusion DVD
Gift bag of exhale products

4 classes:

Core Fusion Cardio class pass
Exhale Mind Body Lounge Music CD
Choice of GRN manicure or pedicure
Gift bag of exhale products

5 classes:

Core Fusion Cardio class pass
Exhale Mind Body Lounge Music CD
30 minute True Facial or Fusion Massage
Gift bag of exhale products

This will definitely motivate me to go at least 3 times a week! I like prizes After seeing Dori’s results from her first month of the challenge, I’d be happy doing Core Fusion every day! She lost 4.3% body fat and barely did any cardio! Amazing!

inTensati

This is the last week of my inTensati challenge! I went on Tuesday and Thursday and have my finale class on Sunday. I will do a more detailed summary of my likes and dislikes of the class once the challenge ends. Overall it was an amazing experience and I really enjoyed each class. I am definitely going to miss it but luckily they offer some free classes so I will be able to take it every now and then! I will take measurements on Sunday as well since I took them before this challenge. I don’t really notice my pants getting any looser but we’ll see!

Attention L.A Readers!

Patricia Moreno, the founder of inTensati, will be teaching the class for a month in L.A. She is looking for people willing to do the same challenge I did! All you have to do is commit to going to 3 classes a week! You can find more information
here!

That’s it for workouts! Tomorrow will be a much needed lazy rest day in the snow!

Eats!

I will just show some quick highlights of great meals I had the past 2 days.

Lunch on Wednesday was a salad with tuna, corn, kidney beans, broccoli, peppers, and a beet! Yes, I officially like beets!

I had these delicious hummus chips on the side!

Lunch yesterday and today was a turkey and cheese wrap with spinach and mustard on a flat-out wrap! I promised myself I’d start bringing my lunch more! Gotta pay those bills…

Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato chips on the side. <3

Dinner=the last of my cooking class leftovers!

Some sugar-free pudding for dessert! (I may have cheated and used the boxed kind).

Dinner last night was a salad with a Morningstar Farms Mushrooms Lovers burger, extra mushrooms, tomato, and American cheese! More sweet potato chips and hummus on the side

Dessert was grapes, Oikos, and chocolate chips! (And a little crumbled brownie left in the kitchen by my roommate).

Now I am off to lunch! Hope everyone has a great Friday!

1) Any plans for the superbowl?

2) What is your favorite way to eat grapes?

Don’t forget to enter my Teather Giveaway!