Tassimo T55: Unlock a Perfect Cup this Holiday Season | Cyber Monday Giveaway

Although we celebrated last month in Canada, I would like to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends and readers. I hope you have had an opportunity to spend time with your loved ones and truly reflect on all that you are thankful for. Every year, my mother in law heads to Washington to do her Christmas shopping at all the Black Friday sales, and for good reason. Black Friday shopping is amazing and now with the inclusion of Cyber Monday, the entire weekend ends up being a bit of a shopping extravaganza, no matter where you live.

This year, the fine folks from Tassimo invited me to 'Unlock a Perfect Cup this Holiday Season' by sending me one of their new T55 brewers and a selection of T-disc's to try out in my home.

And we are also going to be giving one lucky Momma Stuff Blog reader their own opportunity to 'Unlock a Perfect Cup this Holiday Season' with a brand new Tassimo T55, delivered right to your doorstep.

The Tassimo T55 is a one cup brewing machine that can make a variety of delicious beverages such as coffee, lattes, hot chocolate and tea. Although there are others on the market, the Tassimo uses intellibrew barcode technology, which reads the barcode on each tdisc to ensure that the machines brews your beverage perfectly. The barcode tells the machine the exact temperature, cup size and brewing time to make your bevvie delicious, every time. I love watching the machine create the soft foam on the top of an americano (one of my personal favourites).

Unfortunately, with my recent move to Kamloops and delivery schedules, I haven't had much of a chance to try out my new T55 brewer, but this new features an enhanced slide-control cup stand for added stability as well as a built in water filtration system. I'll keep you posted on any other features that I love as I begin using it on a daily basis.

One of the most common comments I hear regarding the Tassimo is with regard to the waste generated by the T-discs and I must admit that as an environmentalist it is certainly a concern. Fortunately, Terracycle provides recycling opportunities and they pay for the shipping to their warehouse. I set up a Tassimo recycling brigade in my old office and we collected over 1300 Tdiscs in only three months.

But I digress, in celebration of Cyber Monday, we are giving away a Tassimo T55 and a selection of tdiscs to one lucky reader. This giveaway is only open for the weekend, so  enter using the rafflecopter below RIGHT NOW!

I was provided with a Tassimo T55 and a selection of tdiscs for the purposes of this post, however all opinions are my own.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Lessons Learned Thus Far on the Fab Uplift Detox

If you include the precleanse days, I'm almost 10 days into the Fab Uplift Detox. I won't say its been easy, but it certainly hasn't been as difficult as I anticipated.  I also can't say I feel like a million bucks quite yet, but I do feel good; like I've been nourishing my body and truly giving it a chance to find a balance that may never have existed, but if it did, it was long before I had children.

Although there's still six more days left in the Fab Uplift Detox, I already feel like I've learned some important lessons that I hope to carry into my everyday life.

I don't NEED coffee; I've been drinking it on a daily basis for close to fifteen years but its been at least a week since I found myself needing to resist the urge for a coffee. It still smells delicious and I'm sure it tastes as delectable as I remember, but if I can take my previous daily habit and turn it into a treat, that's a remarkable success.

I don't NEED meat to feel satisfied; I have a big appetite, a hearty metabolism and high protein needs. My regular diet includes an egg for breakfast, protein with my lunch (usually dinner leftovers) and meat with my dinner, so I was more than a little apprehensive about embarking on a plant-based diet, even if it was only for 16 days. Without legumes and grains, the last few days have left me feeling a little bit unsatisfied but on the whole, the food on this cleanse has been fabulous, filling and easy (though time consuming) to prepare.

Smoothies don't NEED milk or juice; for some reason I was under the impression that a smoothie made with water would be disgusting and that's just not true. When armed with fresh fruits and vegetables, superfoods like hemp seeds, goji berries and my new favourite raw cacao powder, water and a little ice is all that's required to bring that healthy deliciousness together.

I can't wait to see what other tidbits of insight the Fab Uplift Detox is going to bring me. Today was our juice and smoothie day, which means that we've made it through the toughest part of the cleanse and tomorrow we start slowly reintroducing nuts/seeds, gluten-free whole grains and finally legumes back into our diet. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to eventually re-introducing meat, but I love knowing that my body can function, with remarkable alertness and clarity, on an entirely plant based diet.

As a sidebar, my apologies for my absence and lack of posts, my computer has been having some issues and is currently on its way to the manufacturer for some diagnostic tests. Plus I've been spending oodles of time in the kitchen preparing yummy, healthy food to feed my detoxing body!

Coffee for one with Tassimo | Review

Do you Tassimo?

I recently admitted that I'm a bit of a coffee addict so its probably not surprising that I'm quite particular about the coffee I choose to brew in my own home.  I've had tons of coffee makers since I first moved out on my own, back when I was in university.  I've had machines that brew into travel mugs, expensive coffee makers and cheap ones and one thing I can say with certainty is that brewed coffee tastes best when you make at least 6 cups.

The hubs doesn't drink coffee and considering I usually only drink one cup of coffee at a time, its seems wasteful to consistently brew more coffee than I need.  So when I won my Tassimo from Maple Leaf Mommy, I was eager to discover what it was all about.

My Tassimo brews great coffee quickly.  Each T-disc has a barcode that tells the machine exactly how to brew the coffee, including the precise temperature and quantity of water required to brew the perfect cup.  Since I've been home with my boys (and trying to cut back on my Starbucks addiction) my Tassimo has been my saviour.

There are a huge variety of coffee and tea options for the Tassimo; I allow myself one caffeinated coffee each morning and either the Americano or the Gevalia Dark Roast always hit the spot for me.  I love that you can buy t-discs just about anywhere: grocery stores, drug stores, department stores and even office supply stores.

Although I'm off of dairy these days, for the sake of the baby, the Tassimo also brews a mean latte, chai tea or hot chocolate simply add the milk T-Disc to the machine once your espresso, tea or chocolate syrup has finished brewing.

My favourite part of my Tassimo?  The boy comes running to help me make my coffee, its quite possibly one of the cutest parts of our morning routine.

So back to my original question, do you Tassimo?

You can find Tassimo Canada on the web, on Facebook and on Twitter.

FYI - there is a voluntary recall on some Tassimo T-discs and brewers; I have already registered for my replacement part and you should too!

I received sample t-discs for the purposes of this review, however all opinions are my own.