I love to cook but my real passion in the kitchen is baking. While I do love cooking, I really hate cleaning up so that task is always left to my husband. After all, if I can spend hours cooking & baking, he can spend 15 minutes cleaning up the kitchen.
When looking for ingredients, I am the type of girl who will go out of her way to get the best ingredients possible. I do believe that if you skimp on quality, it will indeed affect the overall appearance and taste of your prepared dish.
Recently I learned about an online store called OliveNation and immediately fell in-love with this store. They sell all kinds of different gourmet foodie products like baking chocolates, olive oils, gourmet vanilla, baking supplies, vinegars, condiments, sweets and so much more!
The company sent me 4 complimentary products to try out for all of you and I was pretty excited about using them!
First up, the Extra Virgin Olive Oil that is made from hand picked olives, stone ground, cold processed and it is chemical & additive free! We are big olive oil users and use olive oil almost daily. I like to whip up homemade pasta salads, salad dressings and we always brush down all of our seasoned beef steaks with a coating of olive oil. I used this olive oil on some steaks and wow…our steaks came out moist and juicy! I also used it when I whipped up some homemade Italian salad dressing and it was delicious!
Last week I made a batch of no-bake chocolate granola cookies for my family to enjoy. I used the Cocoa Powder and Pure Vanilla Extract that OliveNation sent to me for the review.
The Cocoa Powder is very fine in its texture and is perfect for baking or use it to make some hot cocoa. It is made out of pure cocoa powder and gave our cookies a wonderful taste & texture. This is exactly how ALL cocoa powder should be! Matter of fact, it is the best that I have ever used!
The Pure Vanilla Extract is a must have if you love to bake and its made from Madagascar Vanilla Beans, some of the best vanilla beans in the world. This is a fabulous vanilla and I found that I could actually cut down the amount of vanilla I use in various recipes because this vanilla is so flavorful. I used it in the cookie recipe and it really stepped up the flavor in those cookies!
Finally, OliveNation sent me a bag of their Bismark Milk Chocolate Disks to try out for all of you. I love to melt chocolate disks and then dip cookies into them to make cookie pops. We also like to melt chocolate to drizzle over ice cream, cakes, brownies and cupcakes. These chocolates are fantastic and I was able to easily melt them using my microwave oven. You can also melt them stove top over low heat. We inserted lollipop sticks into some chocolate sandwich cookies and then dipped them into the melted chocolate and then decorated them. The Princess took them into school and all of the kids loved them!
I am really impressed with all 4 of the products I was sent for the review and when I run out…I know exactly where to go to purchase them. They really are high-quality and in my opinion…very affordable!
* This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, we may or may not receive a small commission which helps to support this site. Thank you!
Disclaimer: Shelly has personally reviewed the product listed above. Shelly has not received any monetary compensation for her review. Shelly did receive a free product to try out so she could evaluate and use it for her review. Her thoughts & opinions in this review are unbiased & honest and your opinions may differ.
I liked fb post * Updated Info *
Because of the issue with Feedburner delivering emails etc,
I would love to try the Jumbo Cashews
I would like to have the jumbo cashews!
I would like to try the Split Mung Beans.
I would love to try the BOURBON MADAGASCAR VANILLA BEANS.
I want to try the a little bit of italy 3.7 lbs cheese!
i would like to try the Bourbon Madagascar Vanilla Beans
I want to try the OliveNation Cocoa Powder I bake alot
I would like to have the jumbo cashews.
i would love to try the Valrhona Dulcey Blond Disks
Trompette Mushrooms. Thank you so much for the chance to win.
Commented on fb post “Because of the issue with Feedburner delivering emails etc, we have moved our list to another service provider.”
Rose flower water
I would love to try the Garlic Infused Olive Oil or the Red Chile Pepper Infused Oil.
I like the Instant Pastry Creme Filling Mix
Karen Goodwin Delaney liked & commented on * Updated Info * Because of the issue with Feedburner
I’d like to try BCA1001, the Homemade Cheesemaking Kit
would love to try the Callebaut Milk Chocolate Mousse Mix
I would love to try OliveNation’s Chanterelle Mushrooms. Chanterelle mushrooms remind me of mushroom hunting in Sweden.
Ii’d like their Italian cheese sampler — 2 lb
Bourbon Madagascar Vanilla Beans
I love the Dark Bittersweet 80% Baking Chocolate Disks
I would like to try the Organic Hard Red Wheat Berries
I’d like to try the dried coconut.
I’d love to try the Trompette Mushrooms!
I would love to have the A LITTLE BIT OF ITALY collection. It’s full of goodies.
Italian Honey could it get any better?
I’d love to try the Sweetened Dried Coconut.
The pure ginger oil sounds good.
Oh boy oh boy I love the sound of the Callebaut Milk Chocolate Mousse Mix! Yum!
coriwestphal at msn dot com
I would like to try the OliveNation Red Pepper Infused Oil.
French cheese assortment 1.8 lbs
I would love to try the Classic Italian Hard Cheese 1 lb; it sounds fab.
I’d love to try their Smoked Salmon.
The Italian cheese sampler sounds like it must be delicious!
wrote on FB on your email method change
I would like to try the Italian cheese sampler.
I’d like the A LITTLE BIT OF ITALY 3.7 LBS
Thanks for the contest.
I would love to try one of the cheese collections, like the: French, Italian or Spanish.
Nice site! The Callebaut Milk Chocolate Mousse Mix looks good too!
I’d love the Italian cheese sampler — 2 lbs!
Anything vanilla, so I would like to try the Vanilla Caviar
So many great things to try but I might start with their DRIED ORGANIC BANANA CHIPS.
I want. The 19th hole snack mix
I would like to try the Tandoori rub.
I liked and left a comment on the FB post- Wordless Wednesday Louie
the Vanilla Caviar
I want to try the Coffee Caffe Del Farro Ground.
Definitely vanilla caviar
I would like the Vanilla Caviar!
I would like to try the Satin Ice Vanilla Rolled Fondant.
I’d like to try the EVO Planeta from Sicily 500 ml. Thanks!
I would love to try the Morel Mushrooms!
I would love to try the Wild Hibiscus Flowers in Syrup
I would love to try their pure ginger oil
I’d love to try the Chocolate Raspberries, what’s not to like???
I Liked and Commented on this Facebook post: “Love Yoga and Pilates but get joint pain? Check out this giveaway for fitness donuts and wedges you can use for a more comfortable workout”
Definitely Cheddar of the World cheese. I have a problem with cheese.
I’d like to try the Dulce De Leche Paste.
A little bit of France cheese
I like the smoked salmon. I liked the FB post about recipada.
I would love to try the SET OF 4 NUT EXTRACTS. And the SET OF 6 LIQUOR EXTRACTS.
I’d like to try the A Little Bit of France cheese sampler.
I’d like to try the Dulce De Leche Paste.
I’d like to try the smoked salmon. Mmmmmm
I want to buy Sea Salt
I’d like to try their dried Lobster Mushrooms to add to a mushroom enchilada.
I would like to try the Il Molino DOP italian extra virgin olive oil 500 ml
I’d love to try the 19th Hole Snack Mix.
I would LOVE to try the scotch smoked salmon. Yum!!
Honestly, though, I’m very tempted by the organic section of the site, and the lemon verbena tea looks pretty amazing.
Great looking food! I’d love to try those chocolate dipped cookie pops.
I’d like to try the Spanish Cheese assortment 2 lbs.
I liked the 5/1 Facebook comment on a great classic movie to watch for date night? Still Mine releases on Blu-ray and DVD May 6th.
I’d like to try their Jumbo Cashews.
I would like to try the Cheddars of the World 2 lbs.. I Love Cheese and these sound delicious!
I’d like to try their Jumbo Cashews.
I love mushroom, so I would love the Morel Mushrooms! Thanks
My son went to France once and I would love to give him the A LITTLE BIT OF FRANCE 3.5 LBS cheese set.
I FB commented on Good morning everyone! I am getting a slow start today and wow…this rain is setting off my body pain in a BIG way! Come on over and jump in on our daily discussion topic Rainy Days and Pain Misery
Name: Stephanie Compton
I’d like to try the WILD HIBISCUS FLOWERS IN SYRUP.
I do a lot of cooking with olive oil. I would love to try the OliveNation Olive Oil.
There are so many wonderful things it’s hard to choose just one, but I would love to try the Almond Extract and perhaps some of their Sanding Sugars.
I would like to try the Pure Cinnamon Oil
Italian cheese sampler 2 lbs
i would also love to try the 19th Hole Snack Mix
I would love to try the OliveNation Estate Oils
Visited the site and I really like to try the CALLEBAUT MILK CHOCOLATE MOUSSE MIX because it looks so delicious
I’d love to try their Hawaiian Sea Salt. I am a salt junkie and this sounds great!
The Barney Almond butter would be something I’d buy, it’s priced about the same as the kinds sold where we live.
I went to the sponsor’s site and I would love to try their roasted almonds for $6.15.
I would like to know how the Italian Honey tastes like.
Hello! The Raw Mammouth Pecan Halves sound delicious. Nice shop! Super yummy! Thanks
I’d like to try a bottle of the Malandel (French) Rose Flower Water from Olive Nation. I’ve seen recipes that call for rose flower water but it’s a specialty item not readily available around here.
I would love to try their smoked salmon.
I commented on Facebook post “Almost Wordless” Wednesday post/photo–from 4-29-14 of Shelley’s granddaughter.
I’d love to try their Chocolate Brandied Cherries! They sound amazing. I’m drooling just thinking about it!
There are so many things I like at OliveNation from the Smoked Salmon to the set of 4nut extracts
I’d like to try their extracts, especially the Amaretto and Bourbon Whiskey.
I’d love to try Rose Flower Water as an addition to my ricotta pudding
I would like to try the Pumpkin Seeds Roasted in the Shell.