CHOBANI Greek Yogurt Review/Giveaway!!!!

I was recently given the opportunity to do a review of CHOBANI Greek Yogurt! I live fairly close to the CHOBANI plant and also to their parent company AGRO-FARMA! I have driven by the plant a few times and I am proud to say that CHOBANI is made and produced in Upstate NY!! One of the best things (at least to me) is that CHOBANI uses milk from local-dairy farmers! Any company that supports the local farms/businesses gets a HUGE A in my book and is also a gigantic contributing factor is the products that I buy for my family. But that isn't all that puts CHOBANI at the top of my list, here are other reasons:

• All natural. No preservatives. No artificial flavors. 
• It's made with real fruit
• It has TWICE the protein of regular yogurt
• It is a good source of calcium

CHOBANI'S expert team is committed to bringing you products made with only natural ingredients that are not only the highest quality but also taste great too. At Chobani, our secret isn't an ingredient but a passion and love for what we do…and a man who goes by the name of Mustafa.

Mustafa Dogan is Chobani’s Master Yogurt Maker. He’s an artisan armed with years of yogurt-making experience and is responsible for crafting the rich, deliciousness that is Chobani. Mustafa custom blends special yogurt cultures just for Chobani. We add these to the milk that we receive daily from local farms to make yogurt. We then strain this yogurt to make it outrageously creamy and ridiculously high in protein.

This unique straining process is what makes Chobani Greek Yogurt “Greek” and full of flavor and health benefits:
·      Free of synthetic growth hormones: No rBST-treated milk.
·      Includes 5 live & active cultures, including 3 probiotics.
·      Gluten-Free and Kosher-Certified.
·      Safe for people with corn, nut and soy allergies.

Like I said earlier: I was lucky enough to have a case of 12 assorted yogurts hand delivered to my front door by a CHOBANI employee (which they are welcome to do ANYTIME **hint**hint**) The flavors that I received were: blueberry, pineapple, pomegranate, strawberry-banana, raspberry, black cherry, vanilla, 0% plain, 2% plain, mango, peach and honey. (there is also lemon and strawberry flavors available)

My overall thoughts on the product = DELICIOUS!!!! I loved that the pomegranate was actually the pomegranate seeds and the mango had HUGE chunks of mango in it! But my favorite was the blueberry - it was creamy and smooth and the flavoring was out of this world!! When I got to the bottom of the container I wanted more! I'm sure my kids would love this too but for now I'm being selfish and I don't really want to share it with anyone :) (p.s. while writing this review I eventually gave in to my kids salivating mouths and let them share a container of the Honey Yogurt - and they ate it all up)

I did make bread using some of the plain yogurt though - here is the recipe:

Lemon-Blueberry Chobani Loaf


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Serves: 10
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes
Calories per serving: 290

Ingredients

1 1/2 C+ 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour (if you’re skipping the fruit, you can also skip the last Tbsp of flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 C Plain 0% Chobani Greek Yogurt
1 C + 1 Tbsp sugar
3 extra-large eggs
2 tsp grated lemon zest (approximately 2 lemons)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 C canola oil
1 1/2 C blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and rinsed
1/3 C freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.

Sift together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the Chobani, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold them very gently into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 (+) minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before flipping out onto a cooling rack. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in (a pastry brush works great for this, as does using a toothpick to make tiny holes that draw the syrup in better). Cool.

Nutrition Information: Calories 290, Fat 14g, Sat Fat 2g, Protein 7, Carbohydrate 39g, Fiber 4g, Sodium 100mg
Courtesy of Elizabeth Kurtz from Gourmet Kosher Cooking

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Now on to the GIVEAWAY!!!!
I want to just take a second to thank CHOBANI for the opportunity to have done this review! And as a thank you to my readers, one lucky person will win a sampler case (12 out of the 14 flavors available) . 

- How To Enter:

• This giveaway is open to U.S. Residents, 18 years or older.
• Leave a separate comment (on this blog) for each entry
• Please be sure to include your email address with your mandatory entry - if I do not have your email address I won't have any way to get in touch with you if you win!  
• If you have any questions on how to enter - please do not hesitate to send me a email to: 365daysasmom@gmail.com

-Mandatory Entry (Worth 1 Entry):

• Visit the sponsors website, have a look around and leave a comment telling me what flavor you think you would like the best. If you already have a favorite let me know that too!

-Bonus Entries (Optional):

• Follow this blog publicly via Google Friend Connect - if you already do be sure to let me know (1 extra entry) 
• Post on your Facebook wall about this giveaway and leave a link back to this blog. You can do this once per day (2 extra entries per post) *hint* click the share to facebook button at the bottom of this post 
• Follow this blog using networked blogs (1 extra entry) 
• Follow me on Twitter (1 extra entry)
• Follow my Facebook Page (3 extra entries)
• Vote for me on Picket Fence Blogs - you can do this daily (2 extra entries per vote)
• Tweet about this giveaway. You can do this twice per day (2 extra entries per tweet) 
• you can use this tweet = #Review and #Giveaway!! #Win a case of  @CHOBANI greek yogurt from @365daysasmom http://tinyurl.com/5vehadz

• Follow the sponsor on Facebook - Please tell them I sent you (it makes me feel special) - (2 extra entries)
• Follow the sponsor on Twitter (2 extra entries)
• Sign-up  to receive the sponsors newsletter and special offers!! (2 extra entries)
• You can also earn one additional entry by using any of the other share buttons at the bottom of this post (1 extra entry per additional method - let me know how you shared)

  Remember, to please leave a separate comment ON THIS BLOG for each entry. And please enter only in the ways listed above. I reserve the right to delete comments not adhering to the above entry guidelines. The last day to enter this will be March 29 . I will use random.org to pick a winner. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me, if I have not heard from the winner within that amount of time I will pick a new one

• For more information about CHOBANI please visit their website = www.chobani.com 
• To find out where you can buy CHOBANI please visit = http://www.chobani.com/products/where
• For coupons go to =  http://www.chobani.com/coupons

How to enter blog giveaways

I've started doing some giveaways on my blog and since I have done this there have been lots of questions about how to enter. I think the easiest way to answer is to write a post that covers this.

When you first start reading the mandatory and optional ways to enter into a giveaway it can seem a little overwhelming and confusing - but I assure you...it isn't! Just like you I was once confused too (sometimes I still am - OK most of the time I am). There are still some answers that I don't know, so I will just tell you what I do know! My blog uses blogger and I don't really know very much about wordpress.

First thing is first - in order to leave a comment on a blog you are going to need to create an account so that I will know who you are. The easiest way (I think) to do this is to create a google account - it's free and it's easy! Go here to do this: https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount?continue=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&hl=en

Now on to the entries -

Most of the time there is going to be a mandatory way to enter - that means YOU HAVE TO DO THAT or your other entries WILL NOT count. Mine is usually to visit the sponsors page and leave me a comment telling me something. Once you have left your mandatory entry comment you can move on to the optional or bonus entries.

And these are just that OPTIONAL!!!!

You do not need to do these but by doing so you are going to GREATLY increase your chances of winning the giveaway that you are entering for. Sometimes a optional entry will say something like this:

"follow the sponsor on twitter (2 extra entries)"

that means that if you click on the twitter link and click that follow button you have satisfied the requirement for that entry. So now it is time to leave your entries - notice that it says "2 extra entries", that means you will need to leave TWO COMMENTS!!!! They can say something like this:


"I follow the sponsor on twitter #1 - Erica 365daysasmom@gmail.com"
and then
"I follow the sponsor on twitter #2 - Erica 365daysasmom@gmail.com"

ALSO - be sure that you leave contact information when you enter - this is usually your email address! How are we going to reach you if we don't have your email??!!

And doing the daily entries (like sharing on Facebook and voting on Picket Fences) is another great way to increase your chances of winning.

I think I have covered everything, but if you still have questions - just use the comment button below to ask them! thanks and GOOD LUCK!!!!

Your questions answered - 3/14

I've really been surprised at the number of questions I get regarding raising chickens - here is your chance to ask any that you might have and every Monday I will answer all of them. These are answers based on my personal opinion and experiences - here are this weeks questions/answers!!

• What breed of chickens did you buy? and why? = my flock consists of:

• 4 Rhode Island Reds
• 3 Barred Plymouth Rocks
• 3 White Plymouth Rocks
• We ordered these chickens because they are all known to be excellent eggs layers. They are also especially cold weather hardy and being that we live in Upstate NY, it can get quite cold. I decided to go with 3 different breeds and 3 different colors because I wanted a variety.

• Do you still have it in your heart to eat chicken? = yes we still eat chicken. It took a little convincing with the kids for the first few weeks after we got the chicks. They were certain dinner had come from the backyard. We are already preparing ourselves for when the day comes when the chickens in the backyard become dinner. They only lay eggs for so long and such is the circle of life. (but ask be again in a few years when that time comes) 

• When did you start deworming? = We have not dewormed our chickens. Nor will we unless there is a problem. We try to raise our chickens as natural as possible - which includes trying to eliminate all un-natural "substances". That being said I did some investigating and read up on this topic in my book "Raising chickens for dummies" and here is what it says about deworming = "Worms are common internal parasites. Many species of worms can live in chickens and not cause any problems. If you aren't in the habit of checking out chicken droppings, you may never know your birds have worms. Generally, treatment for worms consists of worming the entire flock. Some people prefer to worm chickens at least twice a year as a precaution, even if they don't see worms or symptoms. It doesn't hurt to worm as a preventive measure if you follow the directions for the worm medicine. However, we don't believe that home flocks need to be wormed as a precaution if they appear healthy and you don't see worms in the droppings. If you notice worms or your chickens don't seem to be as healthy as they could be, it may be time to check for worms and treat if necessary. 

THOSE WERE THE QUESTIONS ASKED THIS WEEK - KEEP THEM COMING!!!! THANKS!