Where healthy eating and free stuff intersect!

In general, I like the President’s Choice line of products and I’ve blogged about them before. That’s why I didn’t hesitate to say, “Yes please!” when a nice PR fellow contacted me recently and offered to send me an assortment of new Blue Menu products from the latest Healthy Eating Insider’s Report for review. (I had to laugh that night at dinner when I realized what a Blue Menu product junkie I am — every single product from the spaghetti to the sauce to the bread to the shredded cheese to the dressing on the salad and the croutons were either President’s Choice or Blue Menu!)

The package arrived last Friday, and we’ve been working our way through the products. Here’s a list of what they sent me, and in parentheses afterward what we thought of it:

(Items without a link I couldn’t find on their website. Note to PC: I liked your products a lot more before I started looking for them on your site. Improve your search engine!)

I was perplexed but pleased when not one but two crates showed up, and was about to blame it on a serendipitous shipping mistake when I remembered that when the nice PR fellow offered me the sampling of products, I had asked if I could have a second set for a bloggy giveaway. Yay, free groceries to share!

Except, the package is one of those recyclable grocery bags just full of heavy, bulky stuff and I’m way too cheap to pay to ship it out to you. I pondered this one all weekend, and here’s the best solution I could think of: if you want to enter this contest, leave a comment and tell me — hmmm, let’s see, something that makes you happy. Anything that makes you smile will do it. I’ll make a random draw at 5 pm on Tuesday, March 2. (Edit: Tuesday is March 3. Oops!) If you win and you live in the Ottawa neighbourhood, I’ll drop off the groceries to you. If you are not within delivery range, I’ll send you a $15 President’s Choice gift certificate. Is that a reasonable compromise?

* We haven’t tried the Fair Trade coffee or tea yet, but I have to say “Bravo” to President’s Choice for this whole line of products. As you know, I’m working on ethical eating, and happily pay an extra 10 cents a pound for their Fair Trade bananas. Works out to less than a buck difference a week (yes, we eat a LOT of bananas) and I’m happy to pay the price. Next up, can we please have products that are Fair Trade AND organic?

Author: DaniGirl

Canadian. storyteller, photographer, mom to 3. Professional dilettante.

32 thoughts on “Where healthy eating and free stuff intersect!”

  1. What makes me happy is seeing my 1 year old scream from happiness and run to the front door to greet me when I get home from work. And seeing my 3 year old follow close behind.

    What makes me happy is putting my baby to bed at night in my arms, in my bed, (and then transfering him to his crib) and then putting my 3 year old to bed, after reading books with him and talking about our day.

    What makes me happy is when my boys are happy.

    What makes me happy is when they both have good eating days!

    What makes me happy is warm, sunny, weather, and swimming in the ocean or pools with my children, because they’re so darn cute in the water!

    What makes me happy is my family and friends.

  2. I’m not as deep as Loukia. I’m happy with a Grande London Fog Tea Latte.

    Mmmmm.

    ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. Today, a lone daffodil blossom on my dining room table made me happy. It had seemingly arched around to bask in the morning sun. Or maybe Sam had simply elbowed it out of his way make space for his oversized scribbler. Either way, a daffodil in the sunbeams made me happy. And, hell ya, the laughter of children and a good cup-o Starbucks does the trick, too. No argument there.

  4. One thing that certainly made me smile: seeing my daughters (age 1.5 and 3), in their respective car seats, reaching out to hold hands across the back seat.

    (Oh, and Dani, you may find your winner is outside the reach of President’s Choice – shocking! Maybe starbucks will suffice in that case?)

  5. What makes me happy is the promise of spring. This past week there were a few days when the weather was above zero, and the little bit of sun combined with melting snow was enough to make my heart skip a beat!

  6. I haven’t taken the email guy up on his offer to review products on my blog. I’m never sure how much the expect me to say and most of the stuff they want to give me I’d never eat anyway. I’ve done some comparisons of “blue” products to other products and it’s sometimes difficult to understand what the blue’s all about. That bean soup with almost 600 mg of sodium?? Just like those heart healthy labels. I don’t know what someone has to pay to get that checkmark on their product because they sure aren’t heart healthy. It seems like a sneaky way to stop people reading those labels companies are forced to put on their products. But hey what do I know

  7. Lots of things make me happy these days. To name but a few:

    – snuggling with my cuddly toddler this morning for half an hour before work
    – the very slight stirrings in my belly of another baby on the way this summer
    – the upcoming celebration of a drug-free year for my amazing baby sister
    – a husband who makes me laugh at least five times a day.
    – Mini Eggs. THANK GOD these are only available for a few months a year or I might have a serious problem.

    I’m one lucky gal.

  8. Holly’s comment makes me happy. And the fact that they have a 3 pound bag of mini-eggs on sale for $12 at the Superstore and she still doesn’t know about it.

    That’s what kind of best friend I am!

  9. Hey!!!! Holly, congratulations!!!! Well, that just made my day – wonderful news!

    XUP, I agree – that’s something I have been meaning to write about, how products like Blue Menu tout “low in fat” or “rich source of omega” while being high in sugar, or salt, or pseudo-ingredients. I guess the short answer is that you have to be smart about it and read the whole label, not just the sparkly bits.

  10. We just had Blue Menu whole grain muffins yesterday!

    Makes me happy – Maxime’s smiles. Even at 4 this morning. Actually, especially at four this morning. There is something about just you and baby nursing and he pops off to give you the BIGGEST grin. So big, you think your heart might actually burst inside you.

  11. Something that makes me incredibly happy is the fact that not one kid in my house is sick today. First time in two months ๐Ÿ™‚

    We drink a fabulous free trade and organic coffee from Costco – it’s the best one I’ve tried!! (I tend to drink a lot of coffee . . . )

  12. Mmmm, sparkly bits. I likes the Blue Label, anyway, and PC is often as good if not better than other name brands. It’s all about the yum.

    What makes me over-the-moon happy? Jade had her first SEIZURE-FREE DAY since September yesterday! I don’t even need free groceries to celebrate that on! ๐Ÿ™‚

  13. what makes me happy is a husband who loves to clean the house and do laundry! ok, maybe he doesn’t love it, but he at least does it without ever being asked ๐Ÿ™‚

  14. What makes me happy is my daughter’s giggles. And when she leans in and nestles against my body, snuggling close for a cuddle.

  15. Kissing my bubby’s big chubby cheeks until he giggles in delight. Pure happiness!

  16. I love watching the family of deer outside our house. The kids pass the binoculars and watch them in amazement. A nice way to end the day!

  17. What made me happy today was my 3 yr old finally getting up from the ice by himself during skating lessons! And I’m happy when he stops screaming “hold my hand!” for a minute or two each lesson. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    I’m also happy that a plant that I thought we’d killed (can you say major wilt?) not only revived when watered, but also decided to flower again!

  18. I was snuggling with Reid this morning as she woke up and had the time to notice that she stretches her legs and then her arms and then scrunches her nose and lips as she wakes, just as she did when she was a tiny baby. It makes me happy to get glimpses of her baby-self even though I am glad that she is getting to be a big girl.

  19. No originality here. Maxim’s peels of laughter mean instant joy to me. On a food note, I’m like Holly. Love the mini eggs and so thankful that they are around only a few times a year. Did you know they have them at Christmas time now too? Funny, I devoured them when I was pregnant too!

  20. Wow… there are a lot of people with a lot of really important things to be happy about! I feel kinda’ superficial saying I’m happy about going to Florida with my kid next week… but there you have it. ๐Ÿ™‚

  21. The fact that we’re in winter’s last gasp – something about the fact that spring is coming makes it possible to savour every crispy cold day!!

  22. What makes me happy today is that my son who was suffering from an ear infection is feeling better and went back to school…

  23. I’m hoping it’s not too late. What makes me happy is that it’s March, which means that April (and Spring!) is just around the corner and I made it through February without disasterous SAD episodes…

  24. Hmmmm what makes me happy? My kids playing together, snuggling on my lap or even fighting. I am so blessed just to have the two kids that I have that I am happy to have them every single day.

  25. Today I am so happy to be a babywearer! I have a very sick 8 week old who can’t be put down… thank goodness for wraps!

    I’m happy that each day gives us a few more minutes of sunshine.

    I’m happy that school’s out this week and I have all three of my boys all to myself.

  26. What makes me happy…a good night’s sleep, with a latte made by hubby the next morning….after sleeping in and waking up to a beautiful sunny day!

  27. Hi there, this is the first day that I have read your blog. I put a post on the teacher classifieds asking for good blogs to read and yours was suggested. I have to say I am totally inspired by what I have read so far and love this give-away idea. I’m not sure I’ve ever tried their line, I generally shop at Farm Boy and Food Basics, but am up for a taste test that’s for sure!

    What makes me happy, well lots of things do, but recently my husband asked me if I wanted a massage and I’ll tell you that made me pretty damn happy!

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