healthy – Adventures in Polishland

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Homemade Cheez-Its Recipe | Healthy Snack Idea

Posted on December 10, 2015November 29, 2015 by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Thursday! Today I am very excited to share a recipe on Adventures in Polishland for the very first time. With the holiday season in full swing, I’ve been a bit more adventurous in the kitchen. I began my baking with some homemade Cheez-Its after seeing a recipe on Rachel Talbott’s YouTube Channel HERE. My dad absolutely loves to snack on traditional Cheez-Its in front of the TV at night, but I worry about all the chemicals and preservatives he’s consuming while doing so. This recipe is the perfect solution! It allows Cheez-It lovers to still have that delicious snack, all while using a few simple ingredients. Let me share my homemade Cheez-Its with you!

How amazing do these look?! First things first, you have to make the dough. I used my Ninja Master Prep to blend up all of the ingredients. It works perfectly, so don’t worry if you don’t own a food processor as recommended in the recipe.

I’m still impressed that the Cheez-Its only need five simple ingredients! Pictured above is the cheddar cheese, butter, flour, and salt. The last ingredient is water. How much easier could this get?

Here is what the dough looks like after it’s been chilled in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. The next step is rolling out the dough with a rolling pin and cutting it into your desired shape. I found a small cookie cutter we already had and used that. Of course, you can cut the dough into the standard square Cheez-It shape if you’d like!

These are my Cheez-Its on the cookie sheet before popping them in the oven. Because the Cheez-Its don’t spread out while baking, you can put them quite close together on the baking sheet.

This recipe makes about 7-8 dozen Cheez-Its depending on the size cookie cutter you use. I brought these to my family’s Thanksgiving for an appetizer, and they were a big hit! I love that I know each and every ingredient inside these Cheez-Its, and that they are a much healthier option than boxed Cheez-Its at the store. Plus, they are easy and affordable! I highly recommend you try them out this holiday season, or anytime you’re wanting a cheesy treat. You can also use white cheddar if you prefer.

Homemade Cheez-Its Recipe

Yields about 7-8 dozen Cheez-Its.

Ingredients:

8oz Cheddar Cheese Shredded
4 Tablespoons Butter, cut into cubes
1 Cup Flour
3/4 Teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Cold Water

Directions:

Pulse all ingredients but water in a food processor or blender until it resembles coarse sand.
Pulse in water one tablespoon at a time.
Wrap dough in plastic and chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350º while dough is chilling.
Roll out dough and cut into desired shape.
Place Cheez-Its on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or lightly greased tin foil.
Bake at 350º for 15-20 minutes, or until crispy.

If you make this recipe, please tag me in your photo on social media! Enjoy!

Subscription Sunday | My First NatureBox!

Posted on August 31, 2014August 30, 2014 by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Subscription Sunday! Today I have a new-to-me subscription box to share with all of you. I’ve heard so many people talking about NatureBox lately, that I just decided to give it a try. NatureBox is a subscription service that sends you a box filled with anywhere from 3-20 snacks per month. I decided to go with 5 snacks at $19.95 per month. It sounds expensive, but each snack bag is multiple servings, and they are guaranteed to be super healthy! NatureBox also provides healthier options with no artificial flavors, colors, or sweeteners. I decided that with Back to School, these snacks would be perfect to take with me to munch on throughout the day. Let me show you what was inside my first box!

Look at all of the goodies inside my box! As you can see, these are over 4oz each, and contain a lot of food in each pouch. I love that these pouches are resealable, as I popped one in my locker at school and can take it out whenever I’m hungry. I’ll tell you about about each snack, too.

Chocolate Quinoa Granola

I love chocolate and quinoa, so the two together were pretty tasty! These almost looked like small cookies, but were of course very crunchy. I really enjoyed these in the morning with my coffee!

Cinnamon Spiced Almonds

These were so good! Plain almonds can be a bit boring to snack on, in my opinion, but these were delicious. I would have liked them to be cinnamon-sugar instead of spiced, but I still loved them and ate up the entire bag.

Harvest Nut Mix

This mix is a spin on your typical party mix, and I really like it. This snack is the one currently living in my locker at school. The protein from the nuts is filling and tasty!

Açai Berry Crunch

This is another type of granola that included some sweetness from the berries. You can put this on top of yogurt or eat it as cereal, but I just ate it dry as a snack. It tasted great!

Honey Dijon Pretzels

I’ve saved the best for last! I’m not typically a huge fan of mustard, but these pretzels were AMAZING. I ate them right up! I would definitely purchase these directly from the NatureBox shop (which is another great option this service has). I highly recommend these!

All in all, I’m so glad I tried NatureBox! I loved each and every one of my snacks, but especially those pretzels. I decided to go with the surprise option, but if you want you can pick out the snacks that NatureBox sends you each month to make sure you’ll like them. You can also mark off if you have a dietary restriction, such as a gluten-free or vegan lifestyle, on the site. Sign up now and you’ll get $10 off your first box when you use my referral link HERE. I can’t wait to taste more NatureBox goodies! Let me know in the comments if you’ve tried NatureBox and what you think of it!

Subscription Sunday | August Love With Food Box

Posted on September 15, 2013September 14, 2013 by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Subscription Sunday! Today I am reviewing the August Love With Food Box. While it is a bit late, I really wanted to tell all of you what happened with my August box. When I first received it at the beginning of the month, it unfortunately was a disaster! A cup of salsa had leaked everywhere, ruining some of the box. I snapped a photo and emailed customer service. Not only did they send me a replacement box, but they refunded my money for the month of August as well! It did take a while for the replacement to show up, which is why this post is so late. I think it’s really important that Love With Food’s amazing customer service was shared!

Here is a sneak peek of what the August Box looked like. It was Backyard BBQ themed!

Sahale Snacks Fruit & Almond Crunchers – I actually haven’t tried these yet, but it’s a mix that you can pour in yogurt or enjoy on its own. Sounds like it will be yummy!
Project 7 Save Mints – I got mints from this brand in a PopSugar box and loved them! The packaging is so cute, and the mints taste really good. I was happy to get another tube.
Aunt Sally’s Creamy Original Pralines – Oh my! This is so delicious! I am thinking I need more of these because it was that good.

Rip van Wafels Caramel Filled Amsterdam Wafel – Yum! These little wafels can be placed over a hot beverage like tea so it gets soft to eat. I loved this so much!
Dizzy Pig Dizzy Dust – Unfortunately this is the one product that is not for me since I don’t eat meat and this is a dry rub. It says you can use it as a spice packet in general, but it’s not really my thing.
Harvest Snaps Snapea Crips – I love these as well! I’ve tried them before, and I already repurchased two bags of these. I highly recommend them.

Last but least is a bag of BOPS Sea Salt Crisps. These were good, too, but I don’t think I would repurchase them. I prefer other chips better!

All in all, I did enjoy this box and the great customer service I received from Love With Food. I never got to try the salsa after all, because that wasn’t included in my replacement. While I do love this program, and think it’s fun to get these goodies every month, as of right now I did cancel my subscription for financial reasons. If you can afford the $10-12 per month, I do highly recommend the service. I will definitely consider joining again when I have the money! If you’d like to join, use code FBGIFT at checkout and your first month will be just $2! You can join Love With Food HERE.

This post contains affiliate links. Subscription box purchased by me. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Subscription Sunday | June Love With Food Box & Giveaway

Posted on June 30, 2013July 10, 2013 by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Subscription Sunday! Today I have a new subscription box to share with all of you, and it is called the Love With Food Box! This box ranges from $10-12 per month depending on the subscription you purchase, and is filled with gourmet snack foods. I am always looking to try out some healthy snacks, and Love With Food describes its program as “health-full” so I new it would be perfect for me. They also provide many snacks that are all natural and vegetarian, which fit into my lifestyle as well. Love With Food also donates a meal to a hungry child for every box that is purchased, so that is a special, feel-good bonus with every box. Let me show you what I got in my first Love With Food box, and stay tuned for a surprise at the end!

Here is what the Love With Food Box looks like when it arrives! While it looks tiny from the outside, I was really impressed with how many goodies were actually packed in there. June’s theme was Summer Bash, as you can see from the informational card. My one criticism of the box is that the card was very difficult to read when I flipped it over — I wish it was more “user friendly” or at least designed better. Moving right along, it’s time to show the food!

Onto the first batch of treats! I’ll tell you more about each one from left to right.

Do More Bar in Pineapple Coconut – This gluten-free cereal bar is basically a healthy rice krispie treat! While the pineapple flavor was not my personal favorite, this bar was delicious. I had it with my coffee in the morning, and I would certainly consider purchasing more.
SoyJoy Bar in Mango Coconut – This bar is all-natural and gluten-free, but it is definitely not my favorite! I disliked the taste and gritty texture, and would not buy more of these. I’m glad I got to try it, though, because I see these in the grocery store, and have always wondered if they were any good.
Turbana Sweet Plantain Chips – Yum! I love banana chips, and these plantain ones were just as delicious. I love how thinly they were sliced, and the touch of sweet flavor made these all-natural chips perfect for my sweet tooth. I would definitely purchase a full size bag of these!
Seaweed Love Roasted Seaweed in Olive Oil – I was nervous to try this seaweed, which basically looks like kale chips, but boy was it yummy! The aftertaste was horrible, but I would definitely buy these again so long as I could brush my teeth directly afterwards. This was the biggest surprise of the box!

Still some more goodies to go! This box sure holds a lot!

Flavrz Drink Mix in Citrus Hibiscus – This organic drink mix turns your water into a refreshing fruit juice! I was not a big fan of the citrus flavor, but I like the concept behind this mix.
Smooze Fruit Ice in Coconut Mango – It seems Love With Food was really into mango and coconut flavors this month! I absolutely love this fruit ice from Smooze! It was perfect to come home to after a hot summer day. Plus, it’s nice to have a frozen treat that is all natural and not filled with nasty preservatives.
Surf Sweets Organic Fruity Bears – These are the best gummy bears I’ve ever had in my life! Not only are they organic, all-natural, and vegan (no gelatin here!), but they were so soft and juicy. I didn’t feel as if they were going to take out all my fillings like some other gummy treats. I would purchase these in a heartbeat!
GoOrganic Hard Candies in Apple and Blood Orange – I loved these organic hard candies! They tasted just like fruit juice! Very yummy, and all natural!
Pür Gum in Pomegranate Mint – I was happy to receive a pack of gum in my Love With Food box, especially one that is made with natural ingredients! I’m loving the pomegranate mint flavor, and I would definitely consider purchasing more.

Overall, my Love With Food box was filled with lots of goodies! It’s difficult to determine the retail value of this box, but I’m guessing it was somewhere around $10 based on the prices for the full size foods. I was lucky enough to score my first box for just $2 using the promo code FBGIFT, so if you are going to join make sure to try that first! You can join HERE!

Love With Food also included a $50 gift card to nakedwines.com in my box. I decided to pass this gift card along to one of my followers! This giveaway does have some restrictions, so please read through the following very carefully:

Who can enter: US residents who are 21 years of age or older, and live in one of the states accepted by nakedwines.com. Click HERE for the full list of states.
What you win: a $50 gift card to be used on any purchase of at least $51. There is a separate $9.99 shipping charge on orders of $100 or less.
Other details: this giveaway is open until next Subscription Sunday, July 7, 2013. I will verify every entry, and any false entries will result in disqualification.

To enter the giveaway, please enter on Rafflecopter by using the following link: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Let me know what you think of the Love With Food Box, and good luck to all entering the giveaway!

This post contains some affiliate links. Subscription box purchased by me. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.