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Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Product Review - Sweet Earth "Mindbender Quesadilla"

Hi guys!

This morning I have something a bit different to review instead of cosmetics and beauty products, but I have an amazing food item to share: the Mindbender Quesadilla from Sweet Earth!


Some of you know that I am a vegetarian, but I am one of those vegetarians who loves meat substitutes, and I also love food. If it doesn't have meat/fish/seafood in it, I will try anything from any cuisine.

As a little background, I became vegetarian when I was 6, so I was old enough to have eaten a lot of meat, and I have surprisingly good memories of what everything tasted like. I also liked fake meat a lot when I was a kid, so back in the 90s (I swear I'm not that old...) I knew the market on meat substitutes pretty well. I haven't actually expanded my knowledge base terribly much since then, however -- most of my vegetarian cooking either uses the old standby of Morningstar/LiteLife products, tofu, or just omits the meat altogether. I've been trying very hard to expand my horizons in the past year, however.

One of the new-ish players in the vegetarian market is absolutely awesome, however: Sweet Earth. I think I have seen them around for a long time without actually trying them, but once I realized that all of their foods are vegetarian (at least all I have ever tried/seen), I had to give them a shot! If you guys like these kinds of reviews, I can give you my thoughts on some of their other products as well, but for now, I have the Mindbender Quesadilla to discuss.

This quesadilla is absolutely awesome. It has mushrooms, "savory grounds" (vegetarian turkey ground, I'd call it), spinach, poblano peppers, onions, and mozzarella/pepperjack cheese, all wrapped up in a really flavorful little tortilla. There are two quesadillas per box: they say one is a snack, and two are a meal. That's about correct! It isn't vegan with the cheese, but it's an absolutely delightful vegetarian dinner.

I microwaved these ones following the directions, but adding another 30 seconds to each quesadilla because my microwave is an old lady and needs a little more time to do her work. Using the paper towel method to crisp the tortillas a bit was excellent, and I think it absorbed a bit of the grease from the cheese as well -- yay. I topped it off with a dollop of sour cream.

I love savory food and I am obsessed with onions (sorry to everyone around me, all the time...) so this hit the perfect spot after a long day at work. The flavors really complement each other well, and there's plenty of cheese: one thing I often find in frozen Mexican dinners is that there's a significant scrimping on the cheese, and I end up piling more on... O:)

Sweet Earth continues to impress me with their variety, good ingredients, and thoughtful recipes. This is a complete win for me. Ingredients below!


I picked up mine from Target, but their products can be found at a lot of different stores! [Shameless plug for referral credits impending] If you guys want to use Instacart to pick up yours, you can get $10 off your first order with my referral link . I see the Sweet Earth products on sale fairly often, too!

I did not receive this product from the manufacturer/retailer for review.




Product Review - Dior HydraLife Créme Sorbet Pro-Jeunesse

Hello to all!

Today I wanted to review my absolute favorite "new" product of the summer: my moisturizer! I promise it isn't boring, however: this is an on-trend product and I definitely understand why it is.



Without further ado, here is my review of HydraLife Créme Sorbet Pro-Jeunesse (or "Pro-Youth" depending on your branding and language).

My normal go-to moisturizer is Chanel HydraBeauty Gel Creme, so I am not surprised that Dior's competing Hydra line has really been made to compete. This moisturizer is amazing.

I'll spoil it now -- I think the Dior is my new favorite, even over the HydraBeauty. My main critique with face products in general, and this extends even to the Chanel, is that I pathologically hate the wait time for products to work their way into my skin. I am not (and I repeat, not) a morning person, so more often than not, I'm a hot mess in the morning when I'm running to work: wake up, robotically apply makeup, grab the day's clothes, feed cat, coffee... all in about 10-15 minutes. I'm still working on trying to give myself more time in the morning to be a bit more relaxed, but practically, when I'm sitting there waiting for the Chanel (+serums +eye cream +sunscreen +everything else) to absorb into my skin, I'm already having to catch the train, so half of the time moisturizer just got swirled into my foundation.

This is not the case with the Dior. I think it's in the "sorbet" texture, but this absorbs so damned fast, and my skin drinks it up and loves it. I have awful combation normal (not quite dry) to oily/breakout skin, but universally all of the skin types on my face seem to even out and very much enjoy this product. I definitely see reduced oil, particularly on my forehead, and even in the summer humidity, and I've had fewer breakouts in the normal/dry(ish) skin. There's a really light and clean fragrance as well -- I know some hate products with a scent, but (just like with the Chanel) the elegant smells kind of make my morning.

In full disclosure, I have been going off of the copious samples I'd picked up over the spring, so I haven't bought the full-size yet, but as far as what I've seen so far, this really cannot be beat. It's my new day moisturizer, and I really want to explore more of the line.

What are your thoughts? Have you tried any more of the chiffon/sorbet/whip face products on the market right now? Share them below!

You can pick up this product at any department store that carries the Dior line, or directly from Dior here. It lasts a long time, so it's actually not a bad price!

This product was not supplied by the manufacturer or retailer for review and I do not receive any benefit if you purchase the product.