New Pillsbury Baguette Chips Review and a GIVEAWAY!

*This post is sponsored by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

 *GIVEAWAY CLOSED*

Source: General Mills via MyBlogSpark



As first mentioned HERE, I am a member of the online communicaty, "MyBlogSpark" through which I have the opportunity to "connect, share, and discuss" my thoughts on various products. Recently, I was asked to try out a new treat from Pillsbury called "Baguette Chips". Since they sounded so yummy, I said "why not?!" so they sent me a gift pack that included 3 bags of Pillsbury Baguette Chips in Italian Cheese & Herb and 3 bags in Cheddar Sundried Tomato.




Source: General Mills via MyBlogSpark


They arrived last week and we've been sampling away. Now before I give you my opinion on these chips, I'll share some stock information on the product:

"Looking for ways to spice up your snacking routines? Pillsbury knows just how you feel and wants to awaken your taste buds with their new Pillsbury Baguette Chips! These hearty chips are sliced from oven baked bread and topped with savory seasonings bringing the unique and contemporary flavors of Italian Cheese & Herb and Cheddar Sun-dried Tomato to gourmet snack chips. The delicious flavors and perfect texture of these crispy chips can help you round out any recipe.
 

Enjoy Pillsbury Baguette Chips for a wide range of occasions: eat them alone, add a bit more flavor to your favorite dip, spice up soup, or add some crunch to your salad!

With 130 calories per serving (21 baguette chips), and 50% less fat than regular potato chips*, Pillsbury Baguette Chips are delicious snack chips that you can feel good about eating.

*Pillsbury Baguette Chips (5g fat per 29g serving); regular potato chips (11g fat per 29g serving).  See nutrition information for sodium content."


As mentioned, I was sent 3 bags of each flavor for sampling. Here is a photo of the Italian Cheese & Herb variety right out of the bag...

My first impression was "Wow! They're a lot smaller than I expected!". I placed them next to a dime for these photos to give you an idea of the size.

And here is a photo of the Cheddar Sun-dried Tomato variety...

Straight out of the bag and completely plain I have to say that I really liked the taste of these chips. They were really crunchy and had good flavor. And although the small size initially surprised me, it didn't detract from the yummy taste. Personally, I preferred the Cheddar Sun-Dried Tomato. I really liked the Italian Herb ones too, but found they were not as consistent in the amount of flavor on each chip. The Heela (my husband) had a hard time choosing for the same reason I just stated and ultimately said he also preferred the Cheddar Sun-Dried Tomato. Unfortunately, my 4 and 5 year old girls refused to try either one. *sigh*. 

I decided to try them with a little cream cheese to offset the "crunch" with some "smooth" and was really pleased with how nice the contrast worked.

After eating a few more, I found that I actually really liked the smaller size of these chips. It made them more appropriate in my mind for a snack as oposed to other baguette 'chips' I've seen before that are more appetizer-sized. They are thinner too which made them more enjoyable, in my opinion. I think they are a nice alternative to regular chips and would definitely recommend trying them if you're looking for something a little different.

To download a printable coupon for $0.75 off one package, visit http://bit.ly/PBCcoupon today!

Now for the fun stuff...

~GIVEAWAY TIME!~

One lucky RACKS and Mooby reader will receive (3) Bags of Pillsbury Baguette Chips in Italian Cheese & Herb and (3) Bags of Pillsbury Baguette Chips in Cheddar Sundried Tomato (you'll receive 6 bags total!).  To enter this giveaway, in the comment section below, let me know which flavor you’d like to see Pillsbury Baguette Chips come out with next?

**Giveaway Closed - winner has been contacted by email (congrats Lisa!)**


This giveaway will end on July 2 at 5 pm EST. Winners will be contacted by email so please be sure to provide it in your comment (if not already linked to your profile).

Note: Giveaway is limited to US residents only.

For more information feel free to visit:
Pillsbury Website: http://goo.gl/fL5Fa
Pillsbury Facebook Page: http://on.fb.me/pad9ru
Pillsbury Twitter Page: http://bit.ly/q8CoIm
 

Disclosure:  As part of my participation in this Spark from MyBlogSpark, I was provided (3) Bags of Pillsbury Baguette Chips in Italian Cheese & Herb and (3) Bags of Pillsbury Baguette Chips in Cheddar Sundried Tomato. The opinions expressed herein are my own and have not been influenced by the receipt of the chips. The product, gift pack, information in quotes above, and additional sample have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

New Cheerios 2-Pack Review and a Giveaway!

Are you a savings Club member (i.e., Costo, Sam's Club, BJs)? Personally, my family belongs to Costco and I love being able to purchase some of our heavily used items in bulk. With 2 pre-schoolers in my house, I recognized early on the value of buying Cheerios cereal at Costco. We go through it like wildfire - and not just the kids, the Heela and I love it too! But, it came in a large, oversized box with 2 plastic bags of Cheerios inside. While it was a great way to get a lot of cereal at once, it was not very practical from a storage perspective. I basically had to transfer the cereal from one of the bags into a tupperware-like container and then had to find somewhere to store the other bag/large box in the meantime. And the box was so tall, it didn't fit on my normal height shelf! Frustrating to say the least. Well... things have changed!

New 2 Box Cheerios Packaging

"While buying Cheerios at Club is already easy and affordable, new 2 box Cheerios packaging format makes Cheerios an even better purchase! You can cheer on the value by purchasing the new 2 box Cheerios packages in Club!"

That's right - new packaging! Instead of one oversized box with 2 bags, the new 2 box Cheerios contains two individual boxes which come attached at the time of purchase, but can be separated once you get home. This makes them so much easier to store and easier to pour!

And the added benefit? The new packaging is greener too! Who doesn't love that?! "By reducing the amount of air in each individual bag, these enhanced containers fit 10% more cereal than before and use less packaging. While each box contains more cereal, packaging material has been reduced by over 200,000 lbs, saving 1,000 trees and taking 130 Cheerios trucks off the road, decreasing CO2 emissions."

Check out this video for all the benefits of new 2 box Cheerios packaging :


If the embedded video doesn't work for you, see below:
Cheerios Video link:  http://bit.ly/CheeriosNew2Box



A few days ago the generous folks at General Mills and My Blog Spark sent me a prize pack to check out the new 2-box Cheerios packaging. The first thing that impressed me was the shorter stature of the package itself. It was a more "normal" size that I knew would fit much better on my pantry shelves. On the left is the new packaging. We happened to have one of the old packages in our pantry already so I compared the two...


New boxes are a more "normal" size

Next I thought it was really neat how the packages could be separated into two individual boxes of cereal. No need to transfer anything to another container (unless I wanted to)! The boxes are connected at the top and the bottom by "stickers" which have little tabs that you pull.



Stickers connect the boxes

You just pry up the tab and tear...

Tab separates easily

The boxes are also connected to each other by those "booger adhesive dots" (yes, that is the technical name) in various spots along the body of the boxes. These also pull apart easily.

Adhesive "Booger" dots keep the boxes connected until you want to separate them

A quick pull apart and you have two separate boxes!

Two separate boxes make for easier storage!

Ta-daaa! So much easier to store! But you still get the benefit and savings of buying "in bulk"!

Now for the fun stuff...

~GIVEAWAY TIME!~

Two RACKS and Mooby readers are each going to win (2) Cheerios 2-pack Cereals (equals 4 boxes)!  To enter this giveaway, in the comment section below, let me know how the new 2 box Cheerios packaging will benefit you and your family?

This giveaway will end on May 9th at 5 pm EST. Giveaway Closed - see winners announced HERE

Note: Giveaway is limited to US residents only.

For more information feel free to visit the Cheerios website HERE.

Disclosure:  As part of my participation in this Spark from MyBlogSpark, I was provided (2) Cheerios 2-packs (4 boxes of cereal). The opinions expressed herein are my own and have not been influenced by the receipt of the cereal. The Cheerios® cereal, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.