#43 Gratitudes

I am always saying how much I love my job. It's true! I look forward to getting to work every day and I'm happy when I'm here. I enjoy the company of my co-workers. I love working in NYC. I stand by the products we sell and I use them myself. I feel so fortunate to be able to say all that. Many people I know dread Mondays...they drag themselves to a job they despise and they dream of escape from it. It isn't like that for me, thank goodness. I just wanted to express my gratitude for the good fortune I have. https://www.facebook.com/ecuretreatment

#42 Bzzagent Campaign: Morningstar Farms!

 I am so excited to tell you about the first product campaign I got to participate in as a Bzzagent!https://www.bzzagent.com/. I joined a few months ago. I quickly completed all the surveys. After a while there was no more than one every few weeks. I was disappointed, but my co-worker said to be patient. A few weeks ago I unexpectedly got offered my first campaign. It wasn't for products though: I had to pick a charity and encourage others to vote for my charity choice. I picked St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. I posted it on my facebook page and twitter page and I was pleased to see that St. Jude's won a $5000 donation from the BzzAgent company.
About two weeks ago I received an email offering my first "real" campaign. Lucky me - it was Morningstar Farms! https://www.morningstarfarms.com/  I am already a fan of their products for two big reasons: 1) They offer a lot of Kosher products and that is a dietary and religious observance for me, and 2) They offer healthy alternatives that taste great! So I filled out the response form and I was accepted into the campaign. I waited patiently, expecting a big box of products to arrrive. Here is what actually came:

Yup - an envelope stuffed with coupons. One was for a free product, the rest were for $1.00 off. So I headed to my local Target because they always have the cheapest prices on Morningstar Farms products, plus I had the coupons, plus when I pay with my Target card I get an extra 5% off! So this was a great deal.
<img src="http://img.bzzagent.com/image/morningstar.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=7368929400&Campaign=5354578095&Uid=1387077&token=268dc3e5def8b22524967e41508db1cd" alt=""/>

Lucky, lucky, lucky: target actually had most of the Morningstar Farms products on sale at 2/$6 so I saved even more (most of the products range around $3.50 - $3.65/box normally). I have seen them in other stores at over $4.00/box, so shop around.

Here is my purchase in my freezer:

 

 

The boxes on the left with the orange labels are Italian Herb Chicken patties https://www.morningstarfarms.com/products/chikn/italian-herb-chik-patties . But they are actually meat free soy patties with a delicious crispy breading. The texture is not as firm as real chicken but it is not spongy or salty like chicken nuggets from a fast food restaurant. My kids and I experimented. We made some patties plain. Then we tried some parmesan style: after cooking them in the oven (these don't microwave well) we added a topping of marinara sauce and melted cheese on top. That way definitely my favorite! My boys preferred to top the patties with tangy barbeque sauce. Very tasty, indeed!
I will write about the Hickory BBQ Riblets  https://www.morningstarfarms.com/products/meal-starters/hickory-bbq-riblets and the Veggie Meatballs https://www.morningstarfarms.com/products/meal-starters/meal-starter-veggie-meatballs  in a future post. In conclusion, I would definitely purchase these chicken patties again. They made for a delicious and satisfying meal when served on a sandwich with a side of steamed vegetables.
I still have one coupon left and I haven't decided which product to use it on yet!

#41 The Doughnut Plant!

This was breakfast for the office today. What can I say? Heaven! These are not your typical, dry texture greasy afterfeel doughnuts. These are delectable, chewy, amazing works of art. We tried a box of six cake doughnuts. There are also yeast doughnuts available, but that will have to wait for another day. My all time absolute favorite is the Blackout. It is a chocolate cake doughnut with a layer of chocolate filling inside, chocolate frosting outside and finished with chocolate cookie crumbs. I also tried the chocolate mint doughnut: chocolate cake with a cool mint icing, like an Andes candy. Iaisha tried the carrot cake (cream cheese filling in the middle!) and shared the Blackout with me. The last bite of the Blackout went to Michal, who is still humming his doughnut bliss happiness song.

http://doughnutplant.com/