Review & Giveaway: JOJO's Chocolate

Who among us doesn't like chocolate?  I mean I'm sure there is someone, but that person is a rare oddity.  One of the hardest things about eating healthy and getting in shape is having to give up sweets, and especially chocolate.  Sugar is as addictive as heroin, and kicking it can be a painful process.

Enter JOJO's Chocolate.  JOJO's Chocolate was created Jodie Jones, who was diagnosed with breast cancer and throughout all of her treatments she realized she needed to change her eating habits. It started with handmade chocolate bark made right in the kitchen of her home in between radiation and chemotherapy treatments, and has since blossomed into a much bigger organization helping to promote fitness and good health.

JOJO's Chocolate is made with dark chocolate, pistachios, almonds, and cranberries to create a flavorful experience that is full of fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and more.  The idea is that one ounce of JOJO's chocolate a day will help you kick your sugar craving, and they even have a money-back guarantee if you don't crave sugar less by week three.  It's great with a company stands behind their product so much that they're willing to offer a satisfaction guarantee policy like that.

I received a week supply of JOJO's Chocolate, and I'm happy to say I can definitely see the health benefits.  When I have a chocolate craving I can have a small piece and feel satisfied, and the satisfaction lasts longer due to the pistachios and almonds inside that help me feel more full for longer.  I totally approve of and recommend JOJO's Chocolate as a healthy alternative to the sweets you crave as you kick the sugar habit.  It's a much better and more helpful alternative!

Just look at these health benefits, and learn more about them HERE.

The wonderful people at JOJO's Chocolate have offered one lucky winner a one week supply of JOJO's Chocolate.

Giveaway is open to the continental USA only and ends on 5/24/15.

Entering below agrees to all Terms and Conditions in the Rafflecopter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I Miss Halloween Already {October Updates}

I know, I know... It's November-but I've been crazy busy, so this update is happening a little late.  Let's start with Halloween, because I miss it already.  It was a great Halloween-though a little different.  Every year I host a Halloween party and invite all of my friends.  However, this year I just didn't feel up to it.  I'm still dealing with missing my best friend and the financial and emotional difficulties that come from learning to live alone.  My heart wasn't in it, and it felt like no big deal until Halloween day when something felt... Off.  I also hadn't realized how many of my friends relied on it, because I was asked at least 10 times if I was hosting and why I wasn't.  I definitely have to next year.

This year was also off because I had no idea what to be.  I confess...  I literally woke up Halloween morning and thought-I can be a gypsy!  I grabbed two skirts, three scarves, a tank top, a flowy cardigan, big earrings, lots of eyeliner, and the bells that hang over my front door and just layered them.  It actually didn't turn out bad, and I got lots of compliments to my surprise.

 

I confess that also stayed up until midnight the night before baking cookies.  It's been a long time since I've done that, so it was fun! 

 

Let's Have Dinner at P.F. Chang's!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of P.F. Chang's for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

On any given night, if you are going out to dinner with me and ask where I'd like to go, you'd better be prepared for asian food.  Chinese, Vietnemese, Thai, Japonese, etc.  I love it all.  One of those awesome places I really have enjoyed in the past (though I've been there far too little) is P.F. Chang's.  Though I've only been there a couple of times, I've thoroughly enjoyed everything I've tried from their menu.

This year, to celebrate the 2014 Chinese New Year, P.F. Chang's has released a new Winter Seasonal Menu filled with so many declicious new beverages, meals, and even desserts.  That's a little of everything ot make the perfect meal!

For the new Winter Seasonal Menu, they are introducing six new dishes, including:

• Orange Ginger Beet Salad--Sliced red and gold beets mixed with fresh oranges and tossed with honey-ginger dressing, finished with crumbled goat cheese, candied walnuts and daikon sprouts.  Want some wine? Pair it with Frog's Leap Sauvignon Blanc
• Shanghai Waldorf Salad--Fresh chopped Kale, endive, radicchio, crisp apples, grapes, celery, grape tomatoes and candied walnuts tossed in light miso-lime vinaigrette.  Wine pairing: Estancia Pino Grigio
• Chili Shrimp Bao--Asian-inspired "sliders."  Warm, pillowy bao buns filled with Bibb lettuce, chili-marinated shrimp, pickled daikon, carrots and cucumber topped with tamarind-chili sauce. Wine pairing: Mel Soleil "Silver" Chardonnay
• Firecracker Chicken--Savory and spicey hoisin-glazed chicken breast, wok-fired with pineapple, Chinese broccoli, Asian mushrooms, Fresno peppers and dried chilies.  Wine pairing: S.A. Prum "Essence" Riesling
• Red Wine and Pepper Braised Beef--Red wine and black pepper sauce wok-tossed with marinated flank steak, sliced potatoes, broccolini, Napa cabbage, grape tomatoes and Fresno peppers.  Wine Pairing: Alamos Malbec
• Miso Glazed Salmon--Broiled and served with grilled baby bok choy and cool julienne daikon radish in a warm savory broth.  Wine Pairing: Tozai "Living Jewel" Junmai Sake

They're also introducing two new drinks an dessert options!  Yum!

• Chocolate Raspberry Wontons--Handmade, crispy wontons with a creamy chocolate-raspberry filling, dusted with powdered sugar, served with chocolate and raspberry sauces, fresh raspberries, and mint.
• Sweet Vanilla Cream Wontons--Handmade, warm and crispy wontons filled with vanilla cream cheese, dusted with powdered sugar, served with vanilla and raspberry sauces and fresh mint.
• Crimson Spritzzer--Plymoth Gin and Luxardo Cherry Liqueur with marasca cherries, fresh lime juice and muddled kaffir lime leaves, topped with Mumm Napa Brut.
• Red Goose Martini--Grey Goose Vodka shaken with POM Wonderful pomegranate juice, Thai basil leaves, fresh ginger and lime juice.

These all look so delicious, and I can't wait to go out and try them.  I'm especially excited for those dessert wontons and it would be hard to decide which out of the two sounded better.  I am a vanilla flavor lover, so I'm betting I'd go for those and hope someone else ordered the chocolate so I could try one of them! ha!  

That Orange Ginger Beet salad sounds sooooooo delcious too, and I'm definitely putting it on my list!

P.F. Changs is encouraging individuals to ring in the New Year with a toast to 2014, so let's take a moment and raise our glasses to an awesome year that is filled with good food, good friends, and so many good memories!

Make sure you Follow P.F. Chang’s on Pinterest and Follow @pfchangs on Twitter to keep up with more fun menu options, and for a limited time you can visit pfchangs.com/winter to get a $10 off coupon for when you spend $40.  I love a good coupon/bargain, especially in relation to food... Drinks anyone?  Make sure to hurry in and try all of these new dishes!  I want to know what you think! 

What dish are you most excited to try?

Happy Friday + Life Lately

I confess that I'm still missing Oregon.  I've been back for over a week now but my heart is just not in anything... I desperately want to go back there.  Did you see all my gorgeous photos I took with my new DSLR?  If not see Eel Lake, Umpqua Lighthouse, Cape Arago, Bandon, & Mr. Bingo's Backyard.  Here are a few Instagram Photos that didn't get shared in those posts:

1 // At the airport I stopped for a wine tasting.  It almost made me miss my flight though! 

2 // On our first night there we went to Pueblo Nuevo for dinner and I had this Margherita with the most amazing seafood burrito.  It was in a sauce that I can only describe as a Mexican Alfredo.  Love! 

3 // The ocean is amazing.

4 // My camera on the very first day I took her out shooting.

5 // I did a lot of cooking, the first morning I made coconut pancakes and the next I made crepes! 

6 // Inside Tony's Crab Shack.  So delicious and adorable! 

7 // The beach in Bandon was super windy, but very pretty! 

8 // I also baked banana bread for the first time in my life while I was there.  This was Nutella Banana Bread.

9 // Mr. Bingo's back yard - it was awesome!

10 // On my last night there we went back to the Mexican restaurant because I wanted that burrito.  Except they were out of the small seafood that went inside and only had large Prawns, so he offered to make me something else with the big ones.  I asked if he could use that same sauce (since it's really what I went for) and they outright refused.  The waiter was nice, but the owner was pretty rude about it.  Screw them!

11 // The tree in Mr. Bingo's front yard.  I feel like I say goodbye to it with a photo every time I leave.

I confess that I haven't done laundry since before my trip, so I'm now forced to wear my nice blouses and dress slacks to work.  How funny is it that I dress nicer on laundry day?  

Do you follow me on Instagram?  If not, you should!  I'm giving away this cute pink zippy back with a $10 Victoria Secret Gift card, pink Sally Hansen nail polish, a face mask, Blow Pro Hairspray, and a body spray!  It ends on 3/31 and to enter you simply follow me, repost the photo on Instagram with #MSCCMarchGiveaway and @MySoCalledChaos, and then tag three friends on the original giveaway post!

 

Did you hear that the Ultimate Blog Party is coming up over at 5 Minutes for Mom?  I LOVE participating each year-and currently they're taking giveaway donations.  I donated $135 worth of featured advertising this year, and wanted to let you guys know so you can get in on the prize donations if you'd like!  Otherwise it'll be a bunch of link ups from April 4th through 11th that you can join, and you can enter the giveaways too!

Another fun link-up I'm looking forward to in April is Fairy Tale Fortnight.  I'm planning a huge fairy tale related giveaway.  If you don't want to host your own, but offer fairy tale related goods please let me know if you'd like to get in on the big one I'm throwing and have your links in the giveaway Rafflecopter! :) 

I went on my first Utah hike of the season on Sunday.  I looked up easy beginner hikes because I'm so out of shape (Hiking is one of my goals to get in shape this year) and we decided to hike up Ensign Peak behind the capital building.  It was short, but not easy.  I'm super out of shape.  I wrote an entire post over at Health NOT to Health NUT about the things I realized about myself and journey on this hike.  Also, Utah is not nearly as pretty as Oregon and the altitude here kills my asthma.  Hiking along the coast was a breeze.

While in Oregon, Mr. Bingo informed me that he's lost 50lbs over the last year simply by not eating out.  He lives so far from any fast food places or stores that it makes it not quick and easy, so he just cooks now.  I had so much fun cooking meals in Oregon that I decided when I came back I'd give up fast food and work on cooking more, and I've had so much fun with it!  I haven't eaten out at all this week and the kitchen has never stayed cleaner, because now that I'm cooking I keep up with the dishes and stuff.  It's also been nice to have leftovers on nights when I have school (and am too tired to cook when I get home at 8pm) instead of grabbing something unhealthy.

So far I've cooked Ahi Tuna Steaks & Asparagus (Sat), Coconut Pancakes (Sun), the roommate made Irish Stew Sunday night (which carried over into a lunch at work too!), Monday we made Fried Rice, Wednesday I made Linguini and Clams, and ate it's leftovers for lunch and dinner yesterday, and tonight I'm going to make Spaghetti Squash.  I've also eaten a lot of yogurt with berries & oats this week, and salads!

Belvoir Ginnger Beer, a Cornish Pasty, Violet Crumble, & Double Decker.

I confess that I recently went to the British store by my house for the first time.  It's totally overpriced, but it was fun to get a few little goodies to try.  Though I've been informed that ordering these online is way cheaper.

I have a B in French.  I knew I wasn't doing as well as last semester (this is a tougher class/professor and I did miss 2 days already) but I didn't expect it to be a B.  For some reason my brain is equating a B with an F and I am not happy about it at all.  Ugh.  Buuuut, I am understanding a lot more now when it's spoken to me so I know I'm improving, and my adorable classmate Julie drew this picture of me while we watched Être et Avoir - which was the most adorable little documentary about a teacher and students in France.

Work is work.  Not much to report here other than I'd rather be back in Oregon...

How are you?
Linking up with:

Minute Muffins from Kodiak Cakes

I'm in Oregon right now, but I wanted to take a moment to tell you about an awesome little company from back home-yep, they're Utah locals located only about a half hour away from where I live in Park City, Utah.  Who am I talking about?  Well, Kodiak Cakes of course.

These guys have taken the mug cakes/muffins to a whole new level making it even easier and healthier before.  They are all natural, containing whole grains, fiber, and protein-while still having a fantastic flavor.  I loved having these four little treats on hand for breakfasts.  They were so simple to toss in my purse and then pop in the microwave for a minute once I got to work-and they were soooo delicious.  I tried one of each of these flavors and I'd have a really hard time picking a favorite-I loved them all!

Want to try these little lovelies out?  You can buy them online and have them shipped directly to you!  The box smells so amazing when you open it too and I have no doubt you'll get hooked on them too.  They're so tasty!  You can even choose to go with all of one flavor or purchase a sample pack that sends you three of each! They have lots of other fantastic products to try as well-aside from ordering more of these I think I want to give their Buttermilk and Honey Flapjack and Waffle mix a try when I'm not in a rush... Yum! 

This post was sponsored by Kodiak Cakes but all opinions are 100% mine.