FOOD + BEVERAGE, PRODUCTS, REVIEWS, SHOP, SPONSORED

Holiday Crazy Cake Sundaes with debi lilly design™

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Safeway. All opinions are 100% mine.

This year, the holidays may be a little different. Although it is not traditional, we can still try to make the best out of our situation and celebrate safely at home with our loved ones. My local Safeway has a lot of items to make shopping easier for us this year and I am thankful for that. Not only does Safeway have groceries and OWN brands that provide high quality budget-friendly alternatives to brand-name items, they also have great gifting items for the holidays so that Safeway can be our one-stop shop.

I learned a couple of tips from floral designer & chief eventeurDebi Lilly, to elevate my home as well as gifting with high-quality, affordable ‘grocery to gorgeous’ tips + tricks and wanted to share a couple of those tips with you all.

I wanted to make a holiday dessert bar featuring crazy cake sundaes. I think my family loved the idea of a sundae bar that I had made a couple of months back so I decided to make crazy cake sundaes using debi lilly design™’s Alpine frost bouquet as a centerpieces for my holiday sundae bar at home to bring some holiday cheer during these times.

Here are some items I bought for my holiday crazy sundae bar- at home:

Signature SELECT™ Ice Cream Sandwich, Peppermint

Ice Cream flavor of your choice

Signature SELECT™ Seasonal Cheesecake Platter

Open Nature® Almonds, sliced

Signature SELECT™ Mini Chocolate Chips (semi sweet)

Signature SELECT™ Mini Marshmallows

Signature SELECT™ Sugar Cones

O Organics® Pumpkin Pie Spice

Lucerne® Whipped Topping, Pumpkin

debi lilly design™ Alpine frost bouquet

To make a crazy sundae, I chopped the ice cream sandwich and cheesecakes into bite-sized pieces. If you are not a fan of peppermint, they also have an eggnog flavor as well. I scooped some ice cream (I used vanilla since we will be adding a lot of different seasonal flavors) & added the chopped peppermint ice cream sandwiches, chopped cheesecakes into a bowl. Then I added various toppings such as almonds, chocolate chips, marshmallows. I topped the sundae off with pumpkin whipped cream & with a dusting of pumpkin spice. I also added a sugar cone on top to give it some texture.

For decoration, I used the debi lilly Alpine frost bouquet. I chopped and dropped the bouquet and separated them into smaller bouquet arrangements to make it more festive. I think a dessert bar is something we all could use for the holidays and it was easy to put together and it was great that I only had to make a stop at Safeway to get all the items.

I shopped at Safeway, but you can also find all these items at the Albertsons Companies family of stores, including Albertsons, ACME Markets, Jewel-Osco, Randalls, Shaw’s Supermarket, Star Market, Tom Thumb and Vons.

If you are unable to go to the store, or want to avoid the crowds during the busy holiday season, Safeway also offers Grocery Delivery and DriveUp & Go™ for convenient ways to shop.

I hope you liked these tips! I hope everyone has a safe holiday season. Let me know in the comments what your holiday is looking like this year!

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FOOD + BEVERAGE, PRODUCTS, REVIEWS, SHOP, SPONSORED

Holiday Wine Advent Calendar Gift Idea with Safeway

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Safeway. All opinions are 100% mine.

Can you believe that September is already nearing its end and the holidays are just around the corner? This year just flew by! Who is excited for the holidays? The holiday season is the season of giving, which reminds me that I have to think about gifts. And I just found the perfect gift for my friends that drink. Safeway is offering a limited-edition wine advent calendar for the holidays and it would make the perfect gift for any wine lover. Tbh, who hasn’t been enjoying a little more wine at home these days?

Since we are all mostly staying home this year, this wine advent calendar is perfect to keep us occupied. The calendar comes with 24 mini bottles of wine. Each bottle is 187ml & there are 13 reds, 9 whites and 2 roses. Ideally, the mini wine bottles can be enjoyed everyday starting at the beginning of December, right up until Christmas.

I had first tried a wine advent calendar last year and immediately became a fan. I love having options so I was excited to try another one this year. ABSCO’s wine advent calendar has wines from California, Washington and Oregon. Each wine is unique and has its own label + story.

Some of the wines are from prestigious sub-regions of the three states. There are 17 distinct varietals included in the box to suit every palate. There are popular varietals from Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon to Pinot Noir and less known varietals such as Gewürztraminer. My favorite type is Cabernet Sauvignon (& mostly reds) so I am thrilled that 13 of the 24 bottles are red wine varietals. I cannot wait for my friends to try them as well!

To elevate the gift, I bought a bunch of charcuterie items from Safeway and made a gift basket to pair with the wine advent calendar. I purchased grapes, strawberries, prosciutto, spicy salami, mixed nuts, hummus, snap peas, olives and some cheese to make the perfect charcuterie board. Who knew that Safeway had such quality ingredients that are budget-friendly to make an amazing charcuterie board? The items were all Safeway signature brands, btw.

Visit www.24daysofwine.com for product details & to learn more about the wine and region of the day. Tasting and pairing suggestions will also be available for the particular wine of the day when you click on the day of each wine.

Safeway also offers Grocery Delivery + Drive Up & Go™ for convenient ways to shop! I have yet to use this service but it is a good option if you are uneasy about going inside to shop during these times.

I shopped at my local Safeway, but you can also find this wine advent calendar at the Albertsons Companies family of stores, including Albertsons, Safeway, Jewel-Osco, Randalls, Tom Thumb & Vons. This wine advent calendar is available at your local Safeway for a limited time so shop ahead for yourself or for your wine-loving friend. I’ll probably get one for myself too.

Must be legal drinking age to enjoy & enjoy responsibly! Let me know your thoughts on this wine advent calendar in the comments section if you decide to get one.

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BAY AREA EATS, FOOD + BEVERAGE, PRODUCTS, SHOP, SPONSORED

Celebrate Summer with Open Nature® Scandal-less Light Ice Cream from Safeway

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Safeway. All opinions are 100% mine.

Summer is here which means ice cream weather is here! To celebrate and to bring a little joy to our unprecedented summer, I’ve decided to make a SCANDAL-LESS ice cream sundae bar using Open Nature® Scandal-less light ice cream. We all could use a little light ice cream after sheltering-in-place, right? I know I could, with all the snacking and eating that was happening in my home during shelter-in-place. I was a little skeptical about the light ice cream at first, but these flavors really won me over! I recommend the Peanut Butter Cup Light Ice Cream.

I went to my local Safeway to gather all the ingredients for my little ice cream bar. I got some topping options such as chocolate chips, hot chocolate sauce, gummies, berries, cereal, maraschino cherries, sugar cones, waffle bowls and of course, some sprinkles! I picked up the following Scandal-less ice creams. I chose a few different flavors such as Peanut Butter Cup, Cookies & Cream, and Sea Salt Caramel. I usually gravitate towards these kinds of flavors normally, so I was excited that Open Nature had a light version of these flavors.

The Peanut Butter Cup flavor was my favorite out of the three because it was not overly sweet and it had a balanced peanut butter & chocolate flavor. Cookies & cream is a classic flavor and I thought Open Nature made a good light version of it. The ice cream wasn’t too hard and it was creamier than other light ice creams I have tried in the past. I enjoyed the sea salt caramel flavor because it had a nice balance of sweet and salty.

Open Nature Scandal-less light ice cream products have no artificial colors or flavors. They are low in calories & fat while having a high protein content. And if you are counting calories, each pint has about 240-370 calories. Can you believe that each ice cream has between 60-80% less calories & 40-50% less fat than regular ice cream? It is definitely treating yourself with less guilt.

For my ice cream sundae bar, I put the toppings in cute bowls and made a little arrangement around the ice creams. Just doing something as simple as that makes such a big difference. I think creating a fun theme is something that everyone can appreciate. It is all about the little details and presentation and of course, the ice cream!

Can you even tell that this is light ice cream? I think everyone was surprised that the ice creams were light. Everyone enjoyed the variety of flavors and the time spent together making our unique ice cream sundaes.

I got these ice creams at Safeway, but you can also find these SCANDAL-LESS ice creams at the Albertsons Companies family of stores, including Albertsons, ACME Markets, Jewel-Osco, Randalls, Shaw’s Supermarket, Star Market, Tom Thumb and Vons. Or for convenience, you can also get them through Safeway Grocery Delivery & DriveUp & Go™.

So far, I have been really impressed with Safeway’s private label brands and will continue to try their different items & showcase my favorites throughout the year. Hope you will try them as well & let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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