I love oatmeal but it has to be fixed correctly and have a good texture.  My family was recently provided a taste test kit from Better Oats.  I was absolutely delighted with the kit and the information provided.  Check out what came in my mail!

As you can imagine we were rather excited to try this great package of oatmeal and get down to the testing.  Jesse and I prepared both the Better Oats Apple & Cinnamon Oatmeal and the Quaker Apple & Cinnamon Oatmeal for our breakfast.  The first thing we noticed was how easy it was to make the Better Oats since the package was also a measuring bag for the water.  How easy to fill the package with water to a line after emptying the oatmeal into the bowl. 

And we were off to microwave both packets of oatmeal.  They both smelled terrific but the visual was drastically different.  Quaker’s oatmeal was a thinner than the Better Oats.  The taste of the Quaker was also blander.  I have to say I think I have fallen in love with Better Oats and am thrilled that they also include flax in their ingredient list which has so many health benefits.  Honestly you don’t even notice the flax in the oatmeal.

Stop by Better Oats and see all the great flavors they have today!

Better Oats provided a taste test kit for this review.  No other compensation was provided and the opinions are 100% mine.

I am going to open up my How-To Tuesday to some guest posting.  If you have a great how-to article and you would like to be featured here on My Red Apron please email me at myredapron@gmail.com.  I welcome any ideas you might have and hope to share some traffic with you.

I am glad you are here today and I hope you take some time to try and win my Green Giant giveaway!  Happy contesting!

Forget Me Not: A Novel (Crossroads Crisis Center)

Summary:

Crossroads Crisis Center owner Benjamin Brandt was a content man—in his faith, his work, and his family.  Then in a flash, everything he loved was snatched away.  His wife and son were murdered, and grief-stricken Ben lost faith.  Determination to find their killers keeps him going, but after three years of dead ends and torment, his hope is dying too.  Why had he survived?  He’d failed to protect his family. 
 
Now, a mysterious woman appears at Crossroads seeking answers and help—a victim who eerily resembles Ben’s deceased wife, Susan.  A woman robbed of her identity, her life, of everything except her faith—and Susan’s necklace. 
 
The connections between the two women mount, exceeding coincidence, and to keep the truth hidden, someone is willing to kill.  Finding out who and why turns Ben and the mystery woman’s situation from dangerous to deadly.  Their only hope for survival is to work together, trust each other, and face whatever they discover head on, no matter how painful. But will that be enough to save their lives and heal their tattered hearts?

About the Author:

Vicki Hinze is an award-winning author of twenty-three novels, three nonfiction books, and hundreds of articles. Selected for Who’s Who in Americain 2004 as a writer and educator, Hinze is active in Romance Writers of America and serves as a Vice President on the International Thriller Writers Board of Directors. Vicki lives in Florida with her artist husband, a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel. Visit www.vickihinze.com to learn more about Vicki’s books, blogs, and writing programs.

My Thoughts:

This was my first experience with a book by Vicki Hinze.  I have to say I found another author whom I will likely put on my watchlist for new releases.  She has a wonderful writing style and her story kept twisting and turning.  I even fell asleep with the book one evening not out of boredom but out of exhaustion and not wanting to put the book down.

The characters in this book feel like real people and while the plot is one most of us won’t even come close to in real life a lot of the details are easy to relate to.  You come to want to know the characters and help out solving this mystery of who is the blonde gal at Crossroads Crisis Center.  Why is she here and how is she tied to the community and Ben Brandt. 

I highly recommend you purchase Forget Me Not: A Novel (Crossroads Crisis Center) and find some of your own time to relax.

This was book was provided for review by WaterBrook Multnomah.