Nature's Recipe Dog Food -- product review

*This post contains affiliated links. I was given a free sample of the product in exchange for my review. The opinions stated are all mine though.

Thanks for Kroger's MySharingNetwork I had the opportunity to try a new dog food by Nature's Recipe. Ok, my dog was the one who gave it a try. I'll pass on sampling dog food. My toddler would b more than happy to try some though. Thankfully my dog liked this food so much that Kizzy didn't have to chance to sample it.

We tried Nature's Recipe Grain Free in the pumpkin and salmon flavor. It was a hit! Previously, like since we got our dog, Kona, seven years ago, we have mostly fed her another popular brand of dog food. Most of the time she will eat it ok, but sometimes gets picky. It was not a grain free dog food though. And while grain free dog foo tend to be a bit more expensive due to them not having a bunch of filler product, they are worth it. 

Kona suffers from doggy allergies and dry skin, which makes her an itchy mess. We get her an allergy shot once a year to take care of that issue, but her vet recommends that we give her fish oil daily for her dry skin. This dog food contains Omega 3s and with it I don't have to put fish oil on her food everyday. So, because of how good this food is for Kona and how much she likes it, we are making the switch to Nature's Recipe. 

Private Selection -- Product Review

*This post contains affiliated links. I received these products for free in exchange for my honest review.

Summer is upon us, and with that comes summer food. Cookouts, salads, watermelon, ice cream, and the list goes on. Kroger has a line of products under the label Private Selection. I have tried many of the Private Selection items before as I am a regular Kroger shopper. With their #MyMagazineSharing program I was able to try two more products. I received full sized samples of their Green Chile Ranch Seasoning Rub and their Texas Inspired BBQ Kettle Potato Chips.

First, lets talk about he potato chips for a quick minute. I generally do not pick BBQ flavored chips if I am buying chips. I do really like kettle style potato chips though. These Texas Inspired BBQ Kettle Potato Chips were very tasty. There was a bit of tang to them. I don't know if that is generally true of Texan BBQ as I am not a Texan, not even close. I did eat my share of these chips, but my husband was the one who was really into them. He finished off the bag. (Please see the above picture of the crumpled bag that I dug out of the trash in order to get a picture of it.) So, these chips passed the taste test at our house and I would purchase them again.

Second, the Green Chile Ranch Seasoning Rub. Ok, I do not usually cook with a lot of spice mixes. I just use my general spices most of the time. Their is some convenience to spice mixes or rubs though. I actually tried this out two different ways. I first tried the rub on some chicken breasted that I just roasted in the oven. That turned out just ok. The second time that I tried the spice rub it 1 used it in my Southwest Chicken Salad. The flavor went great with the salad and was really good. Here is what I put into my salad, which is a quick summer favorite around this house.

Southwest Chicken Salad

• chopped romaine lettuce
• 1 can of drained and rinsed black beans
• 1 can of drained corn, can also use fresh of thawed frozen
• 1 tomato sliced
• 1 diced avocado
•  2 chicken breasts grilled and sliced. Use whatever seasoning you would like. 
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• Southwest ranch dressing
• Optional things that you can add to the salad are croutons, green pepper, onion, tortilla strips, cilantro, salsa, sour cream

NESTEA -- product review

*This post contains affiliated links. The opinions about the product are my own. I did receive this product for free in exchange for my review.


Kroger has a newish thing they are doing called My Magazine Sharing Network. Basically anyone can sign up for the program and this allows you to do missions to earn points. The missions are usually trying a new product, spreading the word about it on various social media, and giving them your opinion. The best part is that you get free products for your participation. I love free!

One of the products that I recently got to try out is the new NESTEA. (Actually I received three coupons to get this item for FREE. So, I received not one to try for free, but three.) By the way, if you follow this link to the NESTEA website, you can get a free bottle of tea for yourself.

This revamped version of NESTEA is available in three flavors: lemon, black tea slightly sweet, and peach. All are good. In my opinion the best part besides the fact that they taste good is that they removed a bunch of the not so good for you stuff. No more high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors or flavors. That right there would persuade me to choose this tea over other teas that may contain those things. I would most definitely drink this tea again, even if I have to pay for it. 

Cookbook Giveaway!

Blogging for Books (which is who I receive free books to review from) and Read it Forward have partnered together to give away 5 copies of Sweet from the editors of Food Network Magazine. 

If you have every looked through a Food Network Magazine, you will know that it is full of delicious recipes. I'm sure this cookbook is no different. Not to mention it is fully devoted to sweet treats. Who doesn't love a little bit (or a lot) of sweetness in their life every now and then. To enter, follow the link here. Simple as that.