Lindt Excellence White Coconut

photo courtesy of Global Chocolates.com

I like to do little things for Mr. Incredible just because I love him. I love milk chocolate; Mr. Incredible likes white chocolate. I think, "Yuck!" At least I did until he let me try a little bit of the bar I bought for him.

When I went shopping at Wal-Mart earlier this week, I saw a bar of white chocolate (Lindt Excellence White Coconut) and decided to buy it for him. It really was a big bar, but it cost about $2 - see, I told you I do little things for Mr. Incredible! It was only when I gave him the bar that I realized that the name, White Coconut, meant more than just that the bar was made from coconut, as I had initially thought. Instead, the coconut was mixed with the white chocolate.

My first bite convinced me that this was one white chocolate bar that I could love. The chocolate was not your ordinary white chocolate. It was sweet, but not too sweet, and creamy without melting in your hand. In a word: perfect! Mr. Incredible better watch out, or I just might steal his chocolate when he's not looking!

While I purchased this candy bar at Wal-Mart it is also available through fine chocolatiers as well as directly through Lindt's website. In fact, you can even choose from 31 different candy flavors to create your own 6-bar Custom Excellence Kit (cost - between $18 and $25 plus S/H). How could you lose?

My opinion:

• Taste: absolutely wonderful!
• Price: slightly expensive
• Rating: A+
  

A Favorite Blog

I love reading blogs and making friends with fellow bloggers. Karen, who blogs at Thrifty Mommy.com, has become one of my best friends, even though we have yet to meet in real life. She blogs with her friend Kelly, and they offer frugal finds and ideas for living the thrifty life. Frugal Friday is a favorite ongoing series, and you can always count on Thrifty Mommy telling you where to find great deals. If you enjoy living frugally or need to scale back on your expenses, you are bound to find some helpful ideas at Thrifty Mommy.

Modesty on the 'Net

Since my post about Christa Taylor.com, a retail website that offers modestly trendy clothing, I have come across more modesty-related news and websites. (Thanks to MInTheGap, whose search, accessed through my stat counter, led me down several other modesty trails.)

Please note: while it may be that not everything in each of the following linked sites falls within the bounds of modesty according to my definition or yours, small changes eventually led to great change.

Modesty on the WWC Campus offers links to modesty resources including modesty-driven retailers Down East Basics, Modbe Clothing, Shade Clothing, and the aforementioned Christa Taylor.

In modesty news, an 18 year old high school graduate won the Catholic Standard and Times' Modest Fashion Design Contest. Caroline Boyk is an upcoming artist who plans to study graphic illustration. She combined her artistic talent with her modest dress standards to create the winning design. It is heartening to see modesty encouraged an embraced.

According to US News.com, Britney Spears and other celebrities have negatively impacted fashion standards to the point that people are creating their own lines of modest apparel: think Shade Clothing and MikaRose. I applaud these entrepreneurs!

Modesty Zone is a website devoted to, you guessed it, modesty. Keep up with modesty-related news with their What We Are Reading page.

Do you have a modesty-related story or resource to share?

Zesty Mustard Chicken

I'm participating in the Carnival of the Recipes this week. My friend, Karen (of Thrifty Mommy fame), is hosting the "grilled food" edition. I've already posted the side dishes at my other blogs:
Grilled Seasoned Potatoes (at The Porch Light) and Child-Approved Corn Grilled in Its Shuck (at Little Fun; Little Learning). Now I am posting the entree for this grilled meal. (I think Mr. Incredible is grilling our supper tomorrow.)

Zesty Mustard Chicken

Serves 6

Ingredients

1/2 c. prepared mustard
1/2 c. honey
1 Tbsp. salt-free seasoning blend
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 broiler/fryer chicken (3 lbs), cut in half

NOTE: You can use different cuts of chicken for this recipe: split breasts, quarters, drumsticks, etc.

In a bowl, combine the first four ingredients; mix well. Carefully loosen the skin of the chicken; spoon some of the mustard sauce under the skin.

Coat frill rack with nonstick cooking spray before starting the grill. Place chicken skin side up on frill rack. Grill, covered, over indirect medium heat for 20 minutes. Turn; grill 20-30 minutes longer, or until juices run clear, basting occasionally with remaining mustard sauce. Remove chicken skin; cut into serving size pieces.

This recipe is from Taste of Home's "Prize Winning Recipes "Clip and Keep" Recipe Card Collection."

If you have a favorite grilling recipe, why don't you participate in this week's Carnival of the Recipes? Submission is easy, and entry deadline is noon on Saturday. Happy grilling!

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Great Value Dishwashing Detergent

Thanks to my friend, Karen, I recently learned yet again that expensive does not necessarily equal best. Like Karen, I was never satisfied with my dishwasher's performance. In fact, I washed the majority of our dishes by hand. I felt like hand washing saved electricity and produced better results.

When I read Karen's post about Wal-Mart's Great Value Dishwashing Detergent (powder form), I decided to give it a shot. Yep, Karen and Consumer Reports were both correct. My dishes came out clean. Aparently, the magic is the enzymes in the powder. These enzymes eat through the food left on dishes. In fact, Consumer Reports advises against prerinsing your dishes that you are going to put through the dishwasher. That saves time, water, electricity, and labor! What's not to love?

Old El Paso Soft Taco Bake (R) Dinner

My family loves Mexican or Tex-Mex food, and Mr. Incredible (my husband) loves Taco Bell's Mexican pizza. When he saw Old El Paso's Soft Taco Bake (R) Dinner, he was intrigued and asked me to buy a couple of boxes.

I made two boxes for our family of 5. Each box makes one 4-layer (flat) soft taco. First, you cook the meat, then you assemble the layers: tortilla then taco meat. Repeat the layers, ending with the ground beef on top. Top with the cheese sauce in the pouch, and bake for 15 minutes. We topped our soft tacos with lettuce, tomato, olives, and jalapenos.

My opinion:

• Taste - excellent
• Difficulty - very easy
• Cost - reasonable (Each box costs about $2 and is supposed to feed four. Hm.)
• Overall - very good; my only disappointment lies in the fact that I could have made this myself from scratch had I known what it was.

If you are hungry for Tex-Mex food, try Old El Paso's Soft Taco Bake (R) Dinner.

clip art courtesy of fotosearch.com