Fleischmann’s Simply Homemade No Knead Bread Mix Review

simply homemade bread

In my family I’ve always been known as the bread lover.  Homemade bread is one of my favorite things in the world to eat!  But I’ve always been a little intimidated about making my own. (Not to mention, it’s a little time consuming, etc.) But now Fleischmann’s is making it a whole lot easier to make your own homemade bread with their new Simply Homemade No Knead Bread Mix.

Fleischmann’s Simply Homemade No Knead Bread Mix allows home bakers to prepare freshly-baked yeast bread in just three easy steps.  Simply stir together the ingredients in your with some water, let it rise, and then bake!  So quick and easy!

 This mix is perfect for beginning or experienced bread makers. And it makes some really great bread!  This would be great to use for family dinners, holiday parties, as well as holiday gift giving.

The bread mix comes in four different varieties:  Country White, Stoneground Wheat, Multi-Grain and Italian Herb varieties.

I received the Stoneground Wheat and the Italian Herb varieties for review purposes, and I was very pleased with how they turned out.

My favorite was the Stoneground Wheat.  It was so delicious, and I was surprised by just how much it tasted like homemade bread.  Even the consistency and density was just like that of homemade.  My aunt makes a lot of homemade bread, and this actually reminded me of the breads she makes.

I would be happy to serve a loaf of this bread at my own home or to take along to a holiday party. The bread would also be great to bake for neighbors, coworkers or family gifts.

And you can even use the bread mixes as a base for other recipes.  Simply add a few ingredients to make other bread flavors, and even main dishes and desserts,

Look for Fleischmann’s Simply Homemade No Knead Bread Mix in your local grocery store.  Also, connect with them on their Facebook.

Apart from  reviewing this wonderful bread mix, I’m also pleased to share some tips and tricks from Fleischmann’s Simply Homemade Soleil Moon Frye (from Punky Brewster).

Simply Homemade Tips:
1. Make “Homemade” Simpler. My family loves homemade food and great flavors, but baking from scratch sometimes isn’t possible with our crazy schedules. I love that with Fleischmann’s® Simply Homemade® bread mix, I can make fresh-baked bread with my family more often and in less than an hour. Plus, it’s a fun activity that my family gets to share together in the kitchen.

2. Let Kids Pick The Mix-Ins. I try to make food as fun and exciting as my mother did for me. One of my favorite things to do is let my girls choose the mix-ins when I bake. Whether it’s adding candy to pancakes or fun mix-ins in fresh bread. It lets them know that their ideas and opinions are really important to me… and who’s to say that chocolate chips shouldn’t go in with Fleischmann’s® Simply Homemade® Cinnamon Raisin bread?

Baking / Food – Related Tips:
1. Create Traditions. Traditions have always been important to me, but they don’t have to be big things. My husband and I designate every Sunday as our family day. Every Sunday night we have a special, homemade family dinner and take time to talk about what we are grateful for.

2. Baking As Stress Relief. I love baking, it’s like a therapy. I have found such joy out of baking and it’s something I can do with my little ones that makes us all happy. When I’m frustrated – rather than screaming or crying – I love to put on my favorite music and bake like crazy – let the flour fly, batter drip – and just let go and have fun.

3. Encourage Flavor Experimentation. With picky eaters, it’s a great idea to prepare things they love while introducing one or two new things at a time. Then they can experiment with a spoonful of something new as opposed to a whole plate of it.

Parenting / Lifestyle Tips:
1. Embrace Happy Chaos. I believe “happy chaos” is the sign of a family operating at its best – when parents accept that they’ll make mistakes and will experience messes, tears and skinned knees.

Do you love homemade bread?  Which of these bread mixes would you love to try?

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Disclosure:  I received samples for review purposes. However, the opinions are my own.

Hershey’s Holiday Candy Review and Giveaway

Hershey's Holiday Candy

For me the Christmas season just wouldn’t be the same without the candy and especially the chocolate!  I always enjoying perusing the store shelves for all the holiday candies.  Today I’m taking a special look at Hershey’s Holiday Candy, and I’m giving you a chance to win some candy for yourself! Yay! [Read more…]

ChapStick Seasonal Varieties Review

As a kid, I loved getting ChapStick at Christmas time.  And okay! Now as an adult, I STILL love getting ChapStick at Christmas time!

This year just in time for the holidays Chapstick is introducing three Seasonal varieties.  They are Apple Cider, CandyCane, and Chocolate Truffle.

Featuring a convenient gift tag on the back of each package, ChapStick takes the hassle out of gift wrapping, making it easy to drop into a stocking or you can attach it on top of a gift.

I recently had the chance to review the new  flavors, and I think you will love them!  My favorite of the three is the Candy Cane.  It has a great scent and taste, and it gives your lips a nice, cool sensation that is very soothing for chapped lips.

You can find the seasonal varieties  in the cough and cold aisle at food, drug and mass retailers for the suggested retail price of $1.01 to $1.99.  Also, Connect with ChapStick on Facebook.

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Disclosure: I received samples for review purposes but received no other compensation. The opinions are my own.

Holiday Baking and Sugar Cookies with Truvia® Baking Blend

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Truvia® Natural Sweetener for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

 

As you get ready to bake this holiday season, you may be wishing there was an alternative to the sugary snacks you usually make.  Perhaps you’d like an alternative for yourself or maybe for someone in your family who is on a diet.  Or perhaps someone in your family is diabetic and you’d like to create some treats that are a little more diabetic friendly for them.  If you fall in to any of these categories, consider trying Truvia® Baking Blend in your holiday baking!

Truvia® Baking Blend is a blend of Truvia® natural sweetener and sugar.  Unlike other products,  Truvia® has a a sugar-like taste and texture, but it has 75% fewer calories and twice the amount of sweetness than sugar.

And unlike other sweeteners, you can use Truvia® Baking Blend in your cookies, pies, and cakes, and they will bake and brown like recipes that are made with sugar and have the sugar-like texture and moistness you are looking for.

Today I’m sharing a holiday recipe that has been recreated using Truvia® Baking Blend: Sugar Cookies!

 

 

Recipe for Sugar Cookies with Truvía®

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup Truvía® Baking Blend

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp skim milk

4 cups all-purpose flour

1⁄2 tsp baking soda

1⁄2 tsp salt

Directions: In a large bowl, cream together butter and Truvía® Baking Blend until smooth. Beat in eggs, vanilla and milk.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Gradually add the flour to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.

Place dough on a lightly floured work surface. Divide dough in half; pat each into a circle and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill cookie dough for 30 minutes or until slightly firm.

Preheat oven to 350° F. Roll chilled dough to 1⁄4 to 1⁄8 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.

Cut with a cookie cutter and place cookies 1 inch apart on lightly greased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges of cookies are lightly browned.

Allow to cool 5 minutes on pan, and then place cookies on wire rack to cool completely.

Visit the Truvia® website for more tips and information on Truvia® Baking Blend.

Do you havea favorite holiday recipe that you’d like to recreate using Truvia?

 

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Introducing Mrs. Smith’s Signature Deep Dish Pies and a Giveaway!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Mrs. Smith’s for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

 

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You can’t have holiday get togethers without dessert! Now with Mrs. Smith’s Signature Deep Dish pies making dessert just got easier, and it is just as delicious!



Mrs. Smith’s Signature Deep Dish pies come in 4 varieties:

 

-Signature Deep Dish Dutch Apple Pie with Caramel Sauce
-Signature Deep Dish Cherry Pie with Butter Fudge Sauce
-Signature Deep Dish Peach Pie with Cream Cheese Icing
-Signature Deep Dish Pumpkin Pie with Cream Cheese Icing

The pies go straight from your freezer to the oven and bake up in 80 to 100 minutes (plus a 2 hour cooling time before serving).  This is such a great time saver!  Without having to make or bake crusts or mix ingredients, you can have a dessert that tastes like homemade! And you’ll be ale to spend that valuable time making your other dishes, getting ready for the party, or just having holiday fun!

Beyond their convenience and great homemade taste, these pies are also easily customizable with their yummy toppings.  Use the topping that comes with each pie to decorate and add flavor, and also mix and match your pies and toppings!


I recently had the opportunity to try these pies.  Today I’m sharing the Pumpkin Pie with you.  This pie fills your home with the fresh aroma of cinnamon as it bakes.  And the taste is just like homemade!  You will love the creamy blend of pumpkin and cinnamon, and to top off this pie, it comes with cream cheese icing!  I think you will love the sweetness the icing adds to this classic dessert so much so that you may never want a slice of pumpkin pie without cream cheese icing ever again!


Mrs. Smith’s Pies are available at most Wal-mart Supercenters nationwide.  Look online to find retailers near you.

 

Connect with Mrs. Smith’s Pies on Facebook and Pinterest.

Giveaway!  One Simply Sweet Home reader will win a full value coupon for a Mrs. Smith Signature Deep Dish Pie (up to $8.99 value) and a $50 William-Sonoma card.

To enter, please leave comments letting me know which of the four pies you’d most like to try and tell us how you would use this gift card.  Then use the Rafflecopter form below.  You can also gain extra entries by following Mrs. Smith’s on Facebook and Pinterest.

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PEOPLE Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive

Have you seen  PEOPLE Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive issue? It’s currently on store shelves.  I just purchased the magazine and have been flipping through to see all the eye candy it has to offer.  And the person named the Sexiest Man Alive for this year is Channing Tatum! [Read more…]

Campbell’s Skillet Sauces Review

campbells skillet sauces

As the Thanksgiving and Christmas Rush are now in full swing, you may find yourself running by behind and looking for a fast, last-minute dinner option.  Instead of heading for the drive-thru or settling for a frozen dinner, check out Campbell’s Skillet Sauces! [Read more…]

Stress Free Cats with Comfort Zone® with Feliway®

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Comfort Zone® products for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.


As many of you know, I love my kitty cats.  I got Dixie Belle and Rebel when they were 2 months old, and If have had them now for four and a half years.  Then late last year a little white cat we now call Sugar Belle showed up at my dad’s house, and I offered to take her to get her fixed. I got a little attached to her, and long story short, she is still here!

My cats are mostly well behaved.  But they do get a little scared when people are around.  Rebel has just finally gotten to a point where he will come in the living room when “strangers” are here, and Dixie runs away when someone comes over.  And both Rebel and Dixie are terrified of Sugar Belle.

One thing I’ve been pleased with about all three cats is that they don’t have any problems with urine marking, but occasionally we do have issues with scratching.

So for all the reasons I have mentioned, I’ve been interested in trying Comfort Zone® with Feliway®, and I was very excited to receive a sample of the product.

Comfort Zone® with Feliway® products help reduce stress-related behavior in cats by mimicking their natural pheromones that help them feel calm and comfortable in their environment.  The products are 95% effective at reducing scratching and urine marking for cats after 90 days of continuous use.

The product is a diffuser that continuously releases an odorless vapor that mimics the soothing feline facial pheromone, and you just plug it in where your cat spends most of its time to keep it calm.

I’ve got mine plugged up in our living room.  Actually Rebel and Dixie Belle spend most of their time in our office, but I decided to place it in the living room, so it would be centrally located.  Thisis also the room where the “strangers” always enter, and a place where I’d like some help saving my furniture, so I’m hoping it will be effective.

So far I’ve noticed  a couple of things.  My mom came over the other day, and Dixie not only came in the room with me, but she also went over to my mom to get petted.   And Sugar Belle, who’s still pretty wild because she is young and untrained, seems to be calming down.

Comfort Zone® with Feliway® also comes in a spray that I would like to try.  You can spray it on places where the cats mark or scratch.  And you can also use it in pet carriers before taking your cat on a trip.  Rebel and Dixie completely panic when they are put in a carrier, so I think this would be a lifesaver for trips to the vet.

Check out their website to learn more, and visit their Facebook page.

 

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Airwick Color Changing Candle Review and Giveaway

I love candles, wholesale unique clear glass vases, and pretty things!  And I was very excited when I learned about the new the newest product from Airwick:  “Air Wick® Color Changing Candle  will brighten your world with its captivating light effects. Once lit, a soft & tranquil glow illuminates through the wax. The glow then gently changes color to create a captivating rainbow effect.” [Read more…]

Disney-Pixar’s Brave Five-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition Giveaway

Brave Movie

As a kid I always enjoyed getting new movies for Christmas. Just in time for the holidays, Disney-Pixar’s Brave is coming out on DVD and Blu-ray on November 13.  A breathtaking adventure that has entertained audiences of all ages, the stunning Blu-ray release of Brave includes hours of all new bonus material, extraordinary behind the scenes features, extended and deleted scenes, a mysterious and exciting, new short film, ‘The Legend of Mor’du,” and much more.

[Read more…]