Sweet treats at Sweet Flour

One of the advantages of spending a lot of time on Twitter is learning about new things, including new local businesses. At least those smart enough to take advantage of connecting with people (and potential customers and ambassadors online).

I know this will sound diametrically opposed to my weight loss efforts but I’m a huge cookie fan. So, a few weeks ago when I started reading tweets about a new cookie shop called Sweet Flour Back Shop, I paid attention. Sweet Flour’s founder Kim Gans was also on Twitter and started sending me DMs (private messages) inviting me to stop by.

It took a few weeks and some convincing but today I finally got my family on board. We decided it was a perfect day to spend time strolling along Bloor West Village. The outing wouldn’t have been complete without a trip to Sweet Flour.

Why Sweet Flour? Well, in my university days, I visited Steve’s and worked at Greg’s – I learned about mixings early on. Sweet Flour is all about made-to-order fresh baked cookies, muffin tops and granola. You can even buy a “shot” of raw cookie dough. How could I resist?

How it works
• Start by choosing your cookie dough (today’s menu included original, peanut butter and oatmeal - I choose original)
• Next, choose from 20 yummy mixings – (two are included in the price and you can add more for $0.50 each - my pics: semi-sweet chocolate chunks and cherries)
• Watch a baker mix your custom cookie, pop it into a special oven and two minutes later, you’ll have a fresh cookie right out of the oven.
• Enjoy! Pure deliciousness.



My younger son ordered a hot chocolate too, it was made from scratch using chocolate chunks. Honestly, it was the best hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted. He thought it was among the best he’s ever tasted but found it too hot and after burning his tongue, had to let it cool for 15 min. Perhaps Sweet Flour should follow the coffee shops and keep the temperature lower when making hot drinks for the kiddies.

I made a point of not asking for Kim when we arrived because I didn’t want us to receive special treatment. Once we had paid for our orders, Kim recognized me and introduced herself. She is just as lovely as her baked goods asked my son about his cookie and his favourite cookies because he might become the customer of the day. Sure enough, when we got home, he received this email – it made his day and his burned tongue was quickly forgotten.

“Thanks from Sweet Flour
Thanks for visiting Sweet Flour today. We want to let you know that the picture of you and your family will be up as our customer of the day on Tuesday. We hope you had a great visit.

Regards,
The Sweet Flour Team”

We’ll be back and yes, the verdict was unanimous. It was worth the 1/2 hour drive.

There’s more to starting a new business than having a unique concept and service yummy treats. Making customers feel special is an equally important ingredient and it looks like Sweet Flour is starting off on the right track.

Check out my annotated flickr photos (same ones as in the slide show but with commentary).

Nestlé Noir keeps me wishing for more

I’m a new member of ChickAdvisor’s product review team. Sometimes I’ll get free samples of new products in exchange for a review on their site. This time around, I thought I’d share...

My first package arrived last week and contained four Nestlé Noir dark chocolate bars:
• Nestle Noir Cherry
• Nestle Noir Intense
• Nestle Noir Eclat Noir
• Nestle Noir Eclat Caramel

Okay, I know what you’re thinking, “She’s on NutriSystem, what the heck is she doing?”

No, I haven’t been taste testing these new dark chocolate bars from Nestlé. Instead, I’ve been spreading the Nestlé Noir love around.

Nestlé Noir Cherry
I brought the Nestlé Noir Cherry bar to the office and watched six other women enjoy it on my behalf. Everyone loved the dark chocolate mixed with little bits of dried cherries.

I was expecting at least one dissenter. Her husband travels to Switzerland frequently and he is known for brining home exquisite Swiss chocolate. Guess what? She truly enjoyed this dark, chocolate, cherry treat. I adore dried cherries so watching my co-workers ooh and ahh while enjoying the Nestlé Noir Cherry bar wasn’t easy. Guess I’ll have to wait until I reach my goal weight first but this is on my list new treats to try when I get there - in moderation, of course. ;)

Nestle Noir Eclat Noir and Nestle Noir Eclat Caramel
My husband and kids fought over the other three bars. They tasted each one. I was curious to see their reactions because all of them prefer milk chocolate. I was pleasantly surprised. Each one of them enjoyed Nestle Noir Eclat Noir and Nestle Noir Eclat Caramel, equally. Both are rich, dark chocolate bars with chocolate and caramel crisps respectively.

Nestle Noir Intense
Nestle Noir Intense with 70% cocoa was their least favourite, which isn’t to say each intense bite wasn’t savoured. They unanimously agreed they preferred the bars with crunchy bits more.

One thing is certain, these three samples weren’t enough. I settled a couple meltdowns by promising to buy them more. I’ll just wait for another 8 weeks so I can have a bite next time. ;)

Tamsin joins me for the NutriSystem Challenge

One week, nine entries, two posts and three judges later, we have a winner...

Congratulations to Tamsin who will be joining me in Bargainista’s NutriSystem Challenge.

Here’s Tamsin’s winning entry:

Happy new year Eden
I’d love the chance to give NutriSystem a try. In 10 minutes, I face my 37th birthday and, while I feel blessed and pretty good about my life, I know that I weigh more than I ever have and hate the way my clothes (don’t) fit. Like you, I’ve lost and gained -- back and forth -- over the past 5-8 years. I’m sick of maintaining 3-sized wardrobes! I feel I know my natural “happy” weight and this 145lbs isn’t it!

As for my physical activity, I began taking pole dancing fitness classes a couple of years ago and trained to become a part-time instructor last year. The pole dancing (2 classes a week) keeps me fairly fit, but natural aging has changed my body (I don’t have children). I *know* that I need to eat more healthily to trim my extra pounds -- I’d love to see myself 15-20 pounds lighter. (Portion control is another challenge for me, especially as my husband is the cook in our family.) I have never tried formal dieting before; I’m curious about NutriSystem.

I would love to share updates with your readers.

Tamsin

Tamsin has agreed to write guest posts so expect both of us to provide you with regular updates.

Thank you to everyone who entered the NutriSystem challenge. I hope you’ll follow our trials and tribulations over the next 12 weeks or so and share your weight loss experiences in the comment section.

In total, I received nine compelling entries from across Canada. The judges had their work cut out for them but in the end, Tamsin was clearly the winner.

Judges scored each entry individually. In order to stay objective, my role was simply to determine judging criteria and add up the scores. Judges were asked to score entries based on three criteria around the theme of building community.

A big shout out also goes to the judges:
• Kate Trgovac (Vancouver), publisher of One Degree – “a marketer's secret weapon” and author of My Name is Kate, one of Canada’s leading blogs on marketing and technology;

• Kim Vallée (Montréal), writer of At Home with Kim Vallee – inspiration for stylish living and entertaining; and,

• Sameer Vasta (Toronto), storyteller and new media junkie who likes to laugh a lot. You can find him at blogTO and Eloquation.

Join me for a NutriSystem challenge

If you’re like most Canadians, one of your New Years’ resolutions was to lose weight. I didn’t make any resolutions. Never do. But when NutriSystem asked if I’d have a reader giveaway, I immediately stepped up to the plate. (Bad pun, I know but I couldn’t resist.)

NutriSystem has been helping Americans lose weight for 35 years. New to Canada, they want to share their secrets with us Canucks. Apparently, clients who stay on the program for three months, lose 1.5 - 2lbs/wk (.68-.9 kilos). Carol Prinn has been on the plan for five months and lost 36 pounds. I want to know if her results are typical and what it’s like to be on the program. Teena has just started so I’ll be watching her closely too.

I’ve been struggling to shed the extra 25-30 pounds I gained back after a successful experience with another weight loss program six years ago. I used to go to meetings but got bored when the focus shifted to a triathlon the company sponsored. Last year I tried a workout program but it didn’t work out for me.

I lost some weight last summer but gained it back. My clothes aren’t fitting and nothing I try seems to look good on me. (The cat is out of the bag. Now you know why I haven’t been shopping for clothes lately.)

I’m curious to see if NutriSystem really works and what the food is like. I’ve never been a fad dieter or tried anything like this before.

Wanna join me for FREE?
Here’s the deal... NutriSystem will give us (me plus one lucky reader) a 3-month supply of food plus phone and online support for free (approximate value: $1,000). I’m going to blog about our progress at least once a week. And don’t worry, I’m not posting my actual weight and I won’t share yours either unless you want to. I’ll be focusing on weight changes. We can start the program together and I’m hoping the community will cheer us on. If you have a blog or podcast and you’d like to discuss your results, that’s cool too.

Want to join me? Leave a comment or send an e-mail explaining why. The contest is open to Canadian residents and ends on Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 5 p.m. EST. So, what are you waiting for? Get your entry in soon.

Another NutriSystem freebie
NutriSystem has a promo on now. Buy 28 days of food and get one week of food for free. You won’t be alone. NutriSystem offers counseling and support for everyone on the program and provides preliminary counseling and assessment for those who are thinking about joining. If you do decide to try it out, as always, leave a comment.

The fine print
As with any weight loss program, contact your doctor first and read NutriSystem’s Terms and Conditions. I (“Bargainista”) am not responsible for any problems ensuing as a result of your participation in this program.

Check out chocolate Tylenol for kids

I don’t usually plug drugs but after enduring the weekend watching my little one suffering with a bad bout of strep throat, I just have to tell you about chocolate Tylenol.

My little guy was so sick he didn’t want to take anything for his fever. His throat was killing, his tummy ached. The bottle of grape flavoured Tylenol in our medicine cupboard just wasn't doing it for him.

So, I caved, spent double the dough and picked up a box of Children's Tylenol with Flavor Creator. It’s your basic bottle of unflavoured children’s liquid Tylenol along with 20 flavour packs (strawberry, apple, bubble gum and believe-it-or-not, chocolate).

Well guess what? My little critic loves the chocolate flavour and has since tried the others. According to him, apple is okay, strawberry is yucky and chocolate is by far the best. The verdict is still out on bubble gum - for what I’ve paid for this stuff I sure hope it’s tasty because the pack comes with twice as many bubble gum flavour packs as the others.

I’m just glad my little one is starting to feel better and his fever is gone.

Technorati tags: Children’s Tylenol with Flavor Creator, drugs, medicine, pain relievers, strep throat