FiberScrumptious Mini Muffins Review

A few weeks ago I received an email from Ashley, founder of FiberScrumptious.com, asking if I'd be interested in tasting and reviewing their high fiber muffins. I hadn't heard of FiberScrumptious before so I went to their website to read up. After doing so, I quickly agreed and was looking forward to tasting the muffins.

FiberScrumptious was started by Ashley who, after being diagnosed with IBS, was constantly on the lookout for ways to incorporate more fiber into her diet. She looked to premade fiber muffins from the store as a snack, though she found that she had to buy just a few at a time or else they'd become dry, stale, and moldy quickly. During her pregnancy it was even more difficult to make the weekly trip to the store, so she whipped up a batch of homemade, high fiber muffins in her kitchen. And so her company was born.

FiberScrumptious is now an online muffin factory of sorts where batches of tasty, fiber-packed mini muffins are whipped up. A serving of four muffins contains 100-120 calories and 13-15 grams of fiber, and costs $3.50 per pack. Each batch of muffins are frozen after being baked. Because there are no preservatives, freezing the muffins helps keep them fresh during transit. When they arrive, you can freeze them until ready to eat.

There are many wonderful flavors available, like Lemon and White Chocolate Chip, though the Roasted Black Sesame and Peanut Butter Chip and Banana Chocolate Chip stood out to me at the time. My package of muffins arrived on Thanksgiving Eve, packed in a foil liner with ice packs to keep the muffins chilled. Instructions for thawing are on the label. They were a welcomed snack to munch on while prepping for the Thanksgiving meal.

The highlight of these muffins for me is that there are no unnatural ingredients, additives, or fillers. Most of the ingredients are organic, but mainly they're all ingredients you can find in stores to cook with on your own. I appreciate.

The texture was moist and spongy. They weren't dry at all and the flavor of the Banana Chocolate Chip tasted great. The banana was prominent, and the taste was complimented by the chocolate chips.

While I liked the idea of the Roasted Black Sesame and Peanut Butter Chip, the flavor was a little too earthy for me. I felt that there needed to be more sugar, or peanut butter actually in the batter. As a savory muffin it would be excellent. Black sesames can have an intense taste, and it's a flavor I don't think I am used to. Texture-wise, though, I felt the same about these as I did the banana muffins.

Overall, I really liked this product. While it's more costly than buying packaged fiber cookies/muffins/sawdust blocks from the store, with FiberScrumptious Mini Muffins you know exactly what you're putting into your body. They're a light snack and healthier than a latte from the coffee shop, to put the price into perspective. If I were to develop a Running Foodie rating system consisting of soles and whisks, where soles are for non-edible products and whisks are for edible items, I'd give five whisks. Check them out!

FiberScrumptious on Facebook

Gingerbread House '11 - The Beginning

It's that time of year again. For the next 3-4 days, my family and I will be rushing frantically to create our gingerbread house for the yearly contest at the College Football Hall of Fame. We started cutting out the template last night.

To get an idea of the dimensions of the house, and so that we could size out a platform, the house was constructed with cardboard cutouts. It looks pretty plain, but by doing this we were able to work out some ideas we had, which is better than trying to make decisions when we're in a hurry.

One batch of gingerbread was put together and refrigerated overnight. We use this recipe because it makes a crapton of dough, bakes up crispy, and doesn't spread. The original recipe uses butter, though we use shortening so it won't spread and because we aren't eating it.

There has already been a casualty - the handle of a giant red spatula. This is a seriously heavy dough that can only be mixed by a KitchenAid or sturdy wooden spoon.

If you'd like to look at our gingerbread houses from the past, here are the links. And when you're done, vote for our house from last year that's listed under Provo Family in the Global Gingerbread Contest. Thank you!

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Gingerbread House '08, Part One
Gingerbread House '08, Part Two
Gingerbread House '09
Gingerbread House '10

Cake Plate Boutique - Guest Post by Avriel Weston

One and a half weeks ago, on November 17, Skirt PR hosted a trunk show in Chicago featuring Cake Plate Boutique from Napa, CA. The event, taking place at Sugar Bliss Cake Boutique, showcases Napa fashions, featuring outfits and accessories from various designers. Along with fashion, cupcakes from Sugar Bliss were served with wine straight from Napa.

My plan was to attend the event on behalf of Foodbuzz, but I wasn't able to go. Instead of scrapping the event, I asked a friend, Avriel Weston, from Chicago if she would like to go in my place. Luckily, she and one of her friends were able to attend Cake Plate Boutique. Avriel was kind enough to snap some pictures and write up her thoughts of the event, so take a look!

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I was very excited for the opportunity to attend the Cake Plate Boutique Trunk Show on behalf of Christina for Foodbuzz. The trunk show was set up by Skirt PR, a Chicago Public Relations Agency, that worked in conjunction with Sugar Bliss Cake Boutique to bring the Napa Valley based boutique to Chicago. After we worked out the kinks, like if I needed to wear a skirt or not, I took a friend and attended the event.

Good thing skirts weren't mandatory because the night of the show was one of the coldest Chicago has had since last winter. Since I came straight from work, I was a bit early, and due to the weather, I ended up going in before they could roll out the Pink Carpet at the entrance (which I was a bit bummed about because that seemed like it would be real fun).

The location of the show is actually Sugar Bliss' second location. It is a quaint space that fits the Napa Valley fashion very well. The ambiance was nice: free champagne and many dresses that I found could be worn in a Chicago winter, which I liked. The event was more laid back then I expected, and everyone was very nice. I like that the clothing seemed to be in the background of the event and I didn't feel obligated to purchase anything; however, the highlight of the event had to be the cupcakes!

Sugar Bliss bakes their cakes daily. They have set flavors they make everyday, as well as another six flavors they make depending on the day of the week. Along with that variety, there is also a different breakfast cupcake each morning and a daily seasonal flavor, which was Cranberry Orange that day. The cupcakes were delicious. The only one out for the tasting was the chocolate mini-cupcake, so I bought a mix of six differently flavored minis that I took home. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to take a picture of them before they flipped in the box and no longer had the cute Signature Sugar Bliss Bloom intact.

The cake itself is very moist and the frosting is light and flavorful. I'm more of a thick buttercream frosting type of gal but found that I really enjoyed the lightness of their frosting. The six minis I bought were: Chocolate Peanut Butter, Carrot Cake, Red Velvet, Orange Creamsicle (which the boyfriend ate and said tasted surprisingly like the real deal), and Chocolate Coconut. They were all great, but the Chocolate Coconut is a must have--I will definitely go back for a large one of those! I was given strict directions not to put the cupcakes in the fridge if I couldn’t eat them right away; unfortunately, I have two cats that love to get into food that’s left out, so I had to break the rule. The good news is that even after two days in the refrigerator, the cupcakes were still moist and delicious!

I'm glad I had the opportunity to go to this event and learn about a new bakery in Chicago. And learning of a boutique to go to if I ever find myself in Napa Valley? Priceless!