Favorite Product of the Week: Keurig

As you know, I love my Nespresso machine, which makes amazing espresso for lattes, cappuccinos and other high-end coffee beverages. However, I’m not always in the mood for espresso. Sometimes I want regular coffee, and our old coffee machine began failing about a year ago. Because I loved the pod system of the Nesspresso so much I decided I had to have a similar system for coffee. The question was, which one?

I asked for advice right here on my blog. I posted to Facebook and I read every review I could find online. I was obsessed. My husband can vouch for that. I rewound DVR recordings just to watch a Keurig commercial. I read ads in magazines, I read reviews online and I talked to people about their coffee pod machines. While reviews helped me zero in on which machines I was interested in, the only way I felt I could make an informed decision was to taste the coffee. Not as easy a task as you might imagine. Until I discovered (when researching the Dolce Gusto, a coffee maker created by Nestle), that the day after Thanksgiving, Bed, Bath & Beyond was conducting live demos of the exact three machines I was interested in:

Keurig
Dolce Gusto
Tassimo

During my daughter’s naps on the three days following Thanksgiving, I drove over to Bed, Bath & Beyond to taste coffee. The first day I tasted coffee made in the Keurig. They weren’t serving decaf that day and it was about 2 in the afternoon so I limited myself to just a tiny cup, but I must say, it was love at first sip. I tasted the Donut Shop variety and I loved it. It just tasted great, plain and simple. It was exactly the kind of coffee I like, it was the perfect temperature and there were no grinds at the bottom of the cup -- a problem that was getting increasingly worse with our old machine.

Day two was a demo of the Dolce Gusto. I don’t have much to say about this machine other than it’s kind of cute and has a very small footprint, which is nice. I just didn’t like the coffee it produced nearly as much as I liked that made in the Keurig. So I moved on. But I do have to thank the folks at Nestle for posting information about the demo on their website, as that is the only way I found out about the Dolce Gusto demo (and subsequently the other two demos, which I learned about in the store).

On day three I tasted coffee from the Tassimo. We have good friends who have this machine and they love it. About a year ago we even had lattes made in their machine and we talked about those lattes for a week. We loved them. But I wasn’t in search of good lattes. I was in search of good coffee. I will say that the cup of decaf Tassimo coffee I sampled that day was good. It just wasn’t great. I was of course limited to trying the variety they had on display at the demonstration so it’s entirely possible I would have liked a different variety better.

The Tassimo has some real positives. Most obviously, it makes everything: lattes, cappuccinos, drip coffee, hot chocolate and tea. If we didn’t already have the Nesspresso, we may have indeed opted for the Tassimo. It also has a smaller footprint than the Keurig and I think has a slightly better, more sophisticated look about it. To be honest, the smaller footprint was a big selling point for me. However, I didn’t love the coffee I sampled that day and that bothered me.

So, after much debate about which machine to go with, I decided to opt for the Keurig and I must say, I love it! I haven’t consumed this much coffee ever, and I look forward to every cup. The coffee selection is tremendous. I also just happen to like the brands of coffee that are made for the Keurig machine better than the brands made for the Tassimo. To date, my favorite varieties are: Donut Shop by Coffee People, Dark Magic® Decaf Extra Bold by Green Mountain Coffee, Celestial Seasonings English Breakfast Black Tea (I was very skeptical of this one, but I LOVE it!) and….wait for it…Green Mountain Coffee® Half-Calf!!! That’s right, they make half-caf pods, which means the machine truly answers all of my coffee prayers.

We've had the machine since Christmas Eve, thanks to my mom asking me exactly what I wanted this year (I did my research!). I keep telling her that I think this is my favorite Christmas present ever. I love the machine, I love the pods, I love the coffee and the lack of clean-up. I love that I can make a cup of decaf after putting my daughter to sleep and it takes a mere 30 seconds. I just looooooove this machine. I may just have to host a BYOP (Bring Your Own Pod) party one of these days.

Thanks again, Bed, Bath & Beyond, for your holiday demos!

Favorite Product of the Week: Nespresso Essenza

One of my absolute favorite products that my husband and I use on a daily basis is our Nespresso Essenza machine. We registered for this when we got married and were over the moon when it appeared in our kitchen. Our machine (Essenza C100 model) makes single-serve esspresso that has the aroma, taste and crema that rivals any latte I've ever ordered in a restaurant or coffee shop. In fact, I prefer it to the lattes I used to get at the place around the corner from us, which shall remain nameless. It takes up barely any space on our counter and seriously makes the best esspresso ever. The aroma alone brings a smile to my face.

We have a milk frother (also made by Nespresso) as well because we usually drink our espresso in lattes or an occasional cappucino, though this stuff is so good we have, on occasion, sipped it just as it is (i.e., without milk). This machine feels at the same time like an absolute luxury and a total necessity, if that makes any sense at all. The quality is top-notch, so you think it is indeed a luxury, but when you get used to having it in your house, you cannot live without it. Ever. Again.

During the winter months we make lattes on a daily basis, and on hotter days we make iced lattes that I think we could sell on the street for a hefty price. They're that good. In fact, when I was on maternity leave, I got so used to my daily afternoon iced-latte that I wondered how much of I hard time I'd get if I bought a second Nespresso machine to use at the office. I decided against this, but haven't entirely called it out of question in the future.

Anyway, we looooooooooooooooooooove our Nespresso machine and tell everyone about it. That said, we don't love our regular coffee maker and are ready to replace it. The debate I'm having is whether to go with the pod system for drip coffee (we love it so much for esspresso!!) and if so, which one: Keurig? Tassimo? Others? Any/all suggestions welcomed!

Wholly Guacamole

I made a discovery in the produce aisle at the supermarket two weeks ago and I have to share it with you here.

The product is one you may already know about. It’s called Wholly Guacamole, and I think it’s getting a fair amount of buzz. I first discovered it at my friend Shelly’s house during book club a few months ago. As someone who regularly orders restaurant meals because they come with a dollop of guacamole, I can tell you I love the stuff, but it’s got to be good. I don’t like fancy spices or unexpected flavors in my guac, and as you know by now, I like mine homemade. Just about everything is better when you make it yourself.

However, when I first ate Wholly Guacamole at Shelly’s house, I a) assumed it was homemade, and b) wondered why on earth I’d ever make my own guac again (after discovering it was store-bought and not full of chemicals). This product was so perfect that it almost didn’t seem worth it to make my own anymore. And then I did. During Labor Day weekend, I made a batch for us to have one afternoon. It was pretty good, but honestly, not my best showing in the guac department.

A day later while we were grocery shopping, I had a full-on MOMENT in the middle of the produce section at the grocery store. I spotted what I thought was Wholly Guacamole single-serve packs, and froze immediately, as if zeroing in on a target. I did a double-take from afar and approached my target slowly. I then cautiously picked up what I thought couldn’t possibly be staring at me from the refrigerated supermarket shelf.

But it was!

“Oh my gosh!” I hollered. “Jeremy, come here!! You’ve got to see this,” I exclaimed. “Wholly Guacamole has single serve pouches now,” I told him. “Remember the guacamole I told you about from Shelly’s house!? It comes in single serve pouches,” I gloated. “I can take it to work for lunch and not worry about it getting brown.”

“Cool,” he said, happy to see me so excited about one of my favorite foods on the planet, now in a brilliant new (to me) package.

The next day I brought a sandwich to work for lunch (a rarity, as deli sandwiches don’t usually sound good to me), made on an English muffin. I proudly packed my Wholly Guacamole on the side with some chips in case I had extra guac that didn’t fit in my sandwich (which I did).

I felt like the skies opened up above my desk and gave me a big kiss when I ate that sandwich. All because of the guac.

And let me tell you – this is a bit of a confession, as I haven’t spoken about it on this site before – I don’t like lunch food all that much. My sister and I have a running joke that we hate lunch. For some reason, nothing sounds good to me at lunch, particularly if I’ve brought it from home. This has been going on for years, and of course I’ve found work-arounds so that I can enjoy my lunch.

But, oh my gosh, these single serve pouches of Wholly Guacamole may have just completely transformed my relationship with lunch. I’m excited to see my guac every time I open my lunch, and the options are endless. It will dress up just about any sandwich, and actually make it worth eating. I've even started buying extra vegetables just to dip into the guac that doesn't fit in my sandwich. I’ve always said that avocado is like a little bit of luxury in my mouth. Well, guacamole is a full-on party in my mouth.

Now, I get to enjoy it every day for lunch, thanks to the folks at Wholly Guacamole, who invented the single serve pouch.

Plus, the ingredients are simple: avocados, jalapeño puree, dehydrated onion, salt and granulated garlic.

Never a dull lunch again for this mamma. If you’re a fan of guac, I encourage you to find this stuff. Your lunchbox will thank you – and so will your taste buds!!

This is surely one of my most favorite products that I've reviewed to date. I only hope I’ve done justice to my newest discovery.

Favorite Product of the Week: Galeo's Salad Dressing

I have been eating a lot of salads and raw vegetables lately, and there is one very specific reason for this -- Galeos Salad Dressing. I was turned onto this after eating lunch at a friend's house a few months ago. She made a big salad for lunch, and to be honest, I was a little worried that just a salad wasn't going to be filling enough for my very large, nursing mother's appetite these days.

Not only was it surprisingly filling, but it was exceptionally delicious -- all because of this salad dressing. It's called Galeos, and the flavor she used was Sesame Seed. I can honestly say this is the best store-bought salad dressing I've ever had. I've since turned many people onto it. I'm telling you -- once you buy a jar, you're going to be hooked. Not only do I eat it on salads almost every day now, but I dip raw bell peppers and cucumbers in it and pinch myself every time -- it's that good. My husband can't get enough of it either. He'd like me to introduce it to his parents the next time we have dinner together.

The Sesame Seed flavor is our current favorite. It tastes like one of those really good salad dressings you'd get in a Japanese restaurant and don't have a clue how to replicate. It's creamy, tangy with a hint of miso, and really just indescribable beyond that. Delicious and yummy are the only words that come to mind.

As an added piece of information, it's somehow extremely low-calorie and made with ingredients you'd find in your own kitchen cabinets. You know how I feel about counting calories (I don't do it), but I thought I should acknowledge the nutrition information in this post, as I learned after some very limited research that this dressing is apparently sought after because of it's low calorie count. So not posting that fact might be akin to ignoring the big white elephant in the room. If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, however, you'll believe me when I say that the reason I rushed out to the store to buy this stuff just hours after eating it is because of the taste and the taste alone. It really is that good.

Go see for yourself.