Christmas is the Perfect time to Indulge on Festive Foods

As Try the World puts it "If there's one thing that links all holiday  celebrations together, it  is the incredible FOOD and good cheer." to which I agree.  I am super excited to received this Holiday Box from Try the World .  With this holiday box,  Try the World and Michelin came together to curate  this unique box.  It's  complete with  Rich Hanukkah desserts and  pastries and cakes for Chinese New Year.  I love the selection really!

 I have tried two of these products before in a different box  so I am kind of familiar how they are, the tea and the  ginger snaps.  However, the rest are all  pretty new to me.

 I am planning to bake this Pain d'epices or spiced bread baking mix.  It is from a small french company, Marlette.  This is a traditional French holiday  cake that's made  with freshly milled, organic flour and a variety of baking spices.  Oh I can't wait to try  baking a french bread/cake.

 I am not sure with this Truffle sauce but I am sure  willing to try it. It says that you can mix this into dips or spread it into crostini or even fold it into omelettes.  I might try it with omelettes this weekend.

My daughter already tried this date spread and she said  it's really good.  She is the type of person that sticks to what she knows and like when it comes to food but  that doesn't mean she is not willing to  try other foods.  Yesterday, she made a toast and spread this date to it and then she gave it a thumbs up.

"A symbol of good luck, dates are popular holiday food throughout the Mediterranean.  This date spread is made with ripe fruit grown on a community farm in  Israel, and the packaging process that follows provides working opportunities for disabled  individuals in the community."

These mini pineapple cakes are really good, one of my favorites in the holiday box.  The mini cakes are buttery and filled with sweet and tangy jam.  Pineapple cake is an ubiquitous pastry in Taiwan.

"In Taiwanese, pineapple is called and pronounced as Onglai, which is similar  to the phrase for "the arrival and prosperity and fortune."  This hidden meaning makes it a popular gift during Lunar year."

Here's my daughter who  got attracted right away with the packaging.  We all love fresh pineapple here at home so she was curious how it tastes like.  She loved it!

These classic shortbread biscuits from Sprucewood Handmade Cookie Co from Canada  are good too.  It's rich  and buttery, perfect for dipping in  coffee or you can top an ice cream sundae with it.  It would also  make a cute cookie cookie sandwich.

My avid taster daughter tried this one as she was curious about toffee.  She said, it is more salty than sweet lol.  I tried it and I think it is delicious, rich, and creamy.  It is made of  pure butter from Darling, a south African town  known for its excellent butter.  You can melt and drizzle this over an ice cream or enjoy it as a midnight snack.

I had these ginger snaps  before.  They are good with tea or coffee.  You can enjoy this  ginger snaps  from Sweden  with mulled wine or dip it into a hot cider, or if you want to be an adventurer in baking, you can crumble this in pie crust.

I have tried this mind-awakening Yerba Mate holiday energy teatonics  before and thought it's pretty good.   It's really good in the morning, it would jump start your day.  It is  great with honey and  lemon or you can serve chilled with ice.  This is great especially during winter times.  I wake up at 4:30 on weekdays with my husband and sometimes, I feel  so sleepy, this teatonic is my go-to to  fully wake me up.  

"Born from a passion for natural ingredients and mindful living, Teatonics combine the British love of tea with organic aromatics from around the world to create delicious infusions.  Their tea blends are ground by hand and filled with healthy micro nutrients and antioxidants.

This box comes with an entertaining holiday stories and it also includes recipes.  So if you want a unique  gifts for food lovers this Christmas, this is a perfect option.  You can enjoy a 15% off  gift with promo code DEC15.

I ordered an  Italy box, I am giving it to an Italian friend  for Christmas.  I tried this box before and love what's in it. Hopefully she would love it too.

Disclosure: The owner of this blog was NOT financially compensated to write this review.  I was provided with the product/s mentioned  to help me  facilitate this review but  opinions are my own.

Global Desserts: Holiday Box from Try the World

Christmas is just around the corner and I am excited although I am a little bit homesick.  Some of you might be done with shopping for gifts already  but am sure there are some who still  have some shopping to do.  If you have love ones who have sweet tooth, here is a great gift idea that you can consider giving, the holiday box from  Try the World.   I was excited to receive  the holiday box because I have  sweet tooth here in the family who love these kinds of snacks.

I wasn't sure what to expect but  completely blown away with everything in it.  Inside the box is the best selection of holiday foods from around the world..

The holiday box includes  chocolate truffles, pistachio cream, , yerba mate tea, extra virgin olive oil, panettone, cookies, acai dessert sauce, This box is a bigger size compared to their regular size.  

I love pistachio nuts so I was excited to try this pistachio cream.  This delicious spread is great for  bread or you can mix it with your  pastries.  I even tried this with waffles and it tasted awesome.  I am planning to  use the rest of the cream into making  our holiday cookies.

This ginger snaps is  a great win for my kids.  We don't get ginger snaps  often but they love this kind.  This is a favorite treat on  one of the Sweden's holiday celebration, the St. Lucia day, which also happen to be my son's calls saint.  St. Lucy is the  girl who brought food to those Christians who were persecuted in Rome.  

The french truffles reminds me of the dessert that I eat during Christmas  season  from the country where I came from.  These truffles is  from Canada, a great accompaniment to for   ice cream.  I ate a bowl of coffee-flavored ice cream the other day and incorporated this  into it and man, it was delicious!

I have never tried an olive oil  from Israel so I am super happy that they included this in the holiday box.  I don't cook with olive oil  upon reading  an article that the  health component of an olive oil disappears when you use it to cook in a high heat so I only use olive oil in salad or when making a vinaigrette. This extra virginim olive oil is grown, harvested, and cold pressed  by a cooperative of Jewish women in NOrthern Israel. 

This yearba mate tea is my new pick me up in the morning.  I  mix this with  lemon juice and honey and my morning starts awesome while waiting for my kids to wake up in the morning.  A great  susbtitute for coffee which I recently gave up drinking.  This teatonic  has siuth american suoer yerba mate, blended with citrus and mint for morning vitality and focus.  A great drink to start my day!

I just recently been incorporating an acai powder to my  smoothies so I was super stiked to see this acai sauce in the box.  You can use this to glaze the  turkey you are baking for the holiday.  I love this with my waffles. IT is also great with  pancakes.  

I have never been to Italy yet so  tasting one of their  desserts is awesome.  This is a sweet bread which I really liked.  IT reminds me of the one kind of a bread that I used ti eat back home.  My husband always say that the bread   from my country is sweet, it turns oiout, where not the only one.

This cookies  will bring you to the taste of Morroco.  This is another   one that both of my kids liked especially my daughter.  It's great to  eat when  drinking your cup of tea and having a great conversaion with the family.  

I love the shape of these cookies, so pretty and really tasty!  

Aside from these yummy goodies, I also love the fact that they included some recipes  on the  guide  booklet.  I might try  to bake one of the recipes and make  some cookies.  I baked this almond cookies with acai sauce today, it's delicious.  I will post the recipe  on a separate  post later.

Disclosure: The owner of this blog was NOT financially compensated to write this review.  I was provided with the product/s mentioned  to help me  facilitate this review but  opinions are my own.

Best Desserts for Diabetics

Becoming a diabetic does not mean having to skip all of the sweet treats. When you have diabetes, your blood sugar and pancreas does require more consideration than for non-diabetics, but there is still much food to enjoy. If you are interested in keeping your health intact but you still want to enjoy what you eat, there are some desserts out there for you. Here is a list of diabetic dessert recipes that are healthy for diabetics and that your taste buds will enjoy.

Strawberry short cakes

While strawberry short cake sounds overly sweet, there are some strawberry cake recipes that are perfect for the diabetic diet. Sugar free angel food cake can be baked into small pie sizes. Add raw strawberries on the pie slice, and top with homemade whipped cream made from Splenda, vanilla, and heavy cream. This low sugar and low calorie recipe is perfect for an after dinner dessert.

Watermelon fruit cake

A cake made entirely of fruit will not only please the tongue, but will be healthy for the body as well. Cut watermelon into a large piece, the size of a cake. On top of the watermelon, decorate with grapes, kiwi, and pomegranates. You can add homemade whipped cream if you wish, or enjoy raw. Cut into slices to share with everyone.

Homemade parfait

A parfait is a wonderful snack that can be made into a light dessert. In order to make a parfait, you will just need a plain or vanilla yogurt, granola, and your favorite fruit. Add the yogurt, mix in a little honey, and add granola and your fruits as necessary. These can also be made into small desserts for a dinner party night with friends.

Healthy popsicles

You can make popsicles out of things that you have at home for cheap. Mix up a batch of crystal light drink, and pour into popsicle molds with a stick. Add in small fruit pieces as you wish. Freeze these for several hours then enjoy when you wish. These can be made quick and easy with just a few ingredients and almost no time at all. These make great summer cool down treats.

Crepes

Crepes can be made with a few scratch ingredients found around the home. Flour, butter, eggs, milk, and a little bit of sugar are all you need to make crepes. Combine all of the ingredients and stir the batter. Once the batter is made, heat and oil a skillet. Pour the mixture and fry until each side is slightly brown. Add fruit to the interior and roll to make a great dessert for the family. Crepes are also a highlight of the holidays and look fancy next to any meal.