And yes, the name of the wines really is Barrel Sample! In what I consider very innvotive packaging, the bottles of wine are missing the typical foil wrapper on top and the big wide sticker. Instead, each bottle has a clean cork visible on top, no wrapper needed. Instead of the standard wine sticker, there is a very cool and trendy ‘hang tag’ that dangles from the top denoting the type of wine, lot number, PH Level, alcohol content and other important wine notes.

This bottle is super eye-catching and complemented my table decor.

My guests took their glasses of 2013 Barrel Sample Chardonnay outside to enjoy with Supannee’s Summer Rolls. The Barrel Sample Chardonnay has crisp green apple and citrus notes on the initial taste, followed by a creamy buttery finish. The smooth Chardonnay was well balanced and really paired well with the crisp vegetables and shrimp stuffed inside the rice wrapper summer rolls and peanut sauce.

After appetizers, we sat down to eat dinner. I actually had to disappear for about 5 minutes as I quickly microwaved some of the entrees such as Red Curry with Tofu, Green Curry, Eggplant Delight with Veggies and Pineapple rice actually served in a pineapple. I also plated up the spicy tangy green mango salad.

The 2013 Barrel Sample Pinot Noir had been opened about 30 minutes prior, so it had plenty of time to aerate, if it even really needed to. I honestly felt as if it was quite drinkable the minute I took out the cork! My guests and I really enjoyed the bright cherry flavors and light smooth finish. The soft tannins are a great match for spicy Thai food, as it did not overpower the food. The pinot was thoroughly enjoyed throughout all the entrees!

Thank you to Barrel Sample Wines & the Coomber Family Wines for hosting wine to be reviewed. These are great wines that were greatly enjoyed and my guest and I will be sure to have these as ‘go to’ bottles for entertaining! The Barrel Sample wines may be ordered on Amazon. You must be 21 to order and consume wine.

Thank you to Supannee for SDThai.com for your amazing Thai food, dedication to fresh local ingredients and being the hardest working person I know in the San Diego Restaurant scene!

For the College Student:

Air Hammock

They’ve packed for dormlife, but have they packed anything to use outside their small cubicle room? The weather is nice outside for many months during the school year, so why not give your student something they can use and enjoy outside?

My pick is the Outdoor Air Hammock. It folds up neatly and even comes with a handy carry strap. When it’s time to use it (a little wind doesn’t hurt), run in a straight line to the big hammock and capture as much air as possible into each of the two chambers (one at a time). Then seal it up quickly and roll the ends until you have a comfy floaty air hammock that can be used in a park, quad, beach, etc. What a great study tool!

A Ginormous Bamboo Pillow

Can you really give your college student sleep? Nope, you can’t. They will have many late nighters either from studying or partying, but regardless deep necessary sleep is going to have to happen eventually. Encourage healthy rest with a soft and earth-friendly bamboo pillow.  The Cariloha Bamboo Pillow  is both huge (a luxe kingsize) and incredibly soft. Its plushy and medium soft interior  will cradle that studious head to much needed sleep.

The Cariloha pillow is available online and may be sent directly to your student at college. This is way better than a care kit full of cookies!

Stress-Relief

Often college kids get stressed out and prone to illnesses that can wipe them out from school. College should be a fun and exciting period in one’s life, but time and stress management skills will probably dictate whether your student will thrive or dive. Send your kid off to college with as many tools to combat stress.

The Phytopia Tranquility Anxiety & Stress Release Essential Oil formula was master crafted by a clinical aromatherapist. It is made from all natural plant oils that have been used since ancient times to bring calmness to one’s life. These plant and bark oils are also known to increase mental clarify – ie, your student can then make better decisions when under stress!  Drops may be added to a bath, or a little dab on the neck and massaged into the shoulders will work wonders. Or, your student may enjoy adding some to a difuser (see below) to use in their dorm room – what a bonus for a roommate too!

The Phytopia Tranquility formula comes in a gift bag and is beautifully packaged! What a thoughtful back to school gift to send to your student away from home?

Middle School/High School: 

Aromatherapy DIffuser & Essential Oils

Teen girls are like so, oh mmm gee, obssessed with trends and this is one I can get behind. Aromatherapy is hot and it’s also very beneficial! Certain essential oils like lavendar and peppermint are great for clearing the sinuses, and can be stimulating! Great for homework time. The extra bonus is that it smells great! What better thing to have going in a teen’s room!

This MIU Color Essential Oil diffuser by is small, compact and really pretty as it changes color. I recommend using Brooklyn Botany’s lavender and peppermint oil, which are both available on Amazon.

Facial Scrub

Ack! I’ve seen too many teenies as of late turning into pizza faces, and yes they are becoming hormonal, but the bigger problem is simply lack of proper skin care. Oz Naturals offers a dermafoliant called Ancient Orient Bamboo that can scrub away your teen’s dead skin cells and oils that can cause blackheads and breakouts. In this hormonally challenged age, now is the time to get your teen on a regular skin care program and exfoliating is an important step. This dermafoliant is a powder that can be blended with water in the palm of your hand (about a nickel size). Use this thin paste to scrub the face in a circular motion, and then let it sit for a few minutes. This is a great time to brush teeth while it sits on the skin. Then wash away with warm water and pat skin dry.

Ionic Face Tool

As you can tell by now, anything that helps my teen get interested in hygeine and better skincare is a great idea to me. One such novel idea is an ionic skincare tool. The concept it to aid in cleaning by using either positive or negative ionic charges. The flat metal disk side goes against the soaped up skin on the positive ion setting to help draw out impurities such as dirt and dead skin. The negative ion setting is used after the face is clean and you want moisture and cream from your face cream to go back inside the skin. The ionic tool gives off a slight tingly feeling which wakes up the skin. It doesn’t hurt at all. If anything, it helps circulate the blood and give skin a fresh appearance. Again anything to combat teen acne is a bonus in my book and using ions to help do the job is a great idea!

This tool is available on Amazon here. 

Elementary School: A Real Thermos 

Mom, don’t be so lame. Snoopy thermos containers are so not cool. This solid color KUUK thermos may be lacking a cartoon character, but it offers amazing insulation power. You can heat up some soup or chili for your child early in the morning and it will still be pipping hot by lunch. What a nice way to send a warm meal on a chilly day – it’s like a big hug! (Plus, all the other kids will be like, “Oooh…” (saddy face)  “All I got was a soggy PB&J.”

Lunch Bags

If you’re going to give your kid a thermos, make sure they have bags to accomodate! I love these neoprene lunch bags because they are lightweight and super easy to clean!

Available on Amazon. 

Fiber

The kids are back to school which means they are probably eatting more processed snacks due to the contraints of refridgeration for school lunches, and then sneaking in extra treats like birthday cupcakes, gummies, etc. Combat that extra junk by adding more fiber to your child’s diet in addition to fresh fruits and veggies at home. A great fiber supplement is by OmniGreen Labs. It’s a tasteless, odorless fiber that dissolves into liquid quickly. Your child won’t even know that you’ve added some to their juice, water or tea! Healthy intestinal health is a key to overall health, so sneak some in or you could always just tell them. You’re going to eat it and like it!

OmniGreen Labs supplement is available on Amazon here. 

The items listed above are items that I have been given to review previously, however I like them so much I am recommending them again. I was not compensated for this review. All opinions and experiences with these products are that of my own. 

“Here, want some fruit?”, I’ll offer. Not much of a consolation prize.

Thankfully, I have just been introduced to Paka Baking Mixes. They offer a large variety of healthier alternative dessert mixes that are low in sugar, high in protein and high in fiber. Some of the baking mixes are gluten-free as well!

 *This article has affiliate revenue sharing links in it. 

I’ve just baked up a batch of their Cookies & Cream Brownies and they were a hit! In fact, I had to hide the tray of brownies as my gluten-eating friends were devouring them and I wanted to make sure there were some left for my gluten-free peeps!

The Paka Baking Cookies & Cream Brownie Mix is a gluten free, brownie loaded with 6 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein. The delicious taste of cookies and cream can be served warm and fresh with only 4 net carbs per serving. Each 12.2 oz. box makes 16 bars.

These brownies are also low in carbs as they use Kakato™ Sweetener. Whereas most baking mixes load up on sugar, Paka baking mixes uses Kakato™ sweetener as its sugar substitute. This allows for a teeth friendly, prebiotic, low glycemic index, and fiber sweetener sugar substitute to give you the sweetness you crave from sugar without all the negatives of sugar.

The brownies are easy to mix up and you’ll need two eggs, butter and some water. They bake in about 13-15 minutes max.

{ The Paka Baking Mixes are available online for purchase. They currently offer Free Shipping with orders of $35 or more.  }

* This post is sponsored by Paka Baking Mixes but the content and opinions expressed are that of my own. There are also affiliate links in this article. 

After all, what are we going to do with all this paella???? (For my Seinfeld Fans).

If you aren’t familiar with paella, it’s a dish that originated in Spain, with origins dating back to the eighteenth century. It’s a rice based dish that is typically saffron infused (giving the rice its signature yellow color) and has a variety of meats, shellfish and veggies. However, this particular Paella & Wine Festival is based around a very serious competition of over 60 chefs cooking up their interpretation of paella from traditional to vegan. Some Chefs were from California, but many had traveled from Mexico to bring their ‘A’ game. Judges came prepared with the best qualification ever: the ability to eat a lot of paella.

I arrived at the event early in order to scope out the grounds and get a feel for how the day would go. All of the paella competitors were assigned staggered serving times, so some had already started cooking. Others were holding off until later in the day. This allows an ongoing ‘flow’ of paella tasting, as this event goes from noon to 6:00pm!

Paella Judge Mitchell Thompson, Director at the Otay Water District, said that as a public service official he had to be fair and intended on tasting ALL of the entries. Vaya con Dios, Mitchell! That’s a lot of entries!

Here’s some early contestants getting their paella’s started. It was interesting to see so many different variations, even from the start.

This was the largest paella dish being prepared and is said to feed thousands! The pan was the size of a hot tub and had 4 to 5 cooks working on it at all times. Amazing!

Everyone was all smiles!

San Diego Local Chef – LaDuque66@yahoo.com

As noon approached, the line for attendees started to queue up outside of the event. The sun also decided to make a debut in full force, and it got hot very quickly! Thankfully there was no shortage of beer, wines and tequila to cool down with. We made our way over to some vintners to test out some wines from San Diego, Spain and Baja California. Some of my favorites were:

San Diego’s Vinavanti Urban Winery – The La Zingara White Wine was refreshing and crisp. All grapes are grown organically in San Diego County.

The Spanish Cune Rioja – a brightly colored Rosé made from Tempranillo grapes. Typically bright or dark colored Rosés have a lot of sugar content, but this was surprisingly dry with great floral notes. This is a Spanish Rosé I will be sure to hunt down!

Finally, mi favorito for the day was Puente de Rus Savignon Blanc. Crisp with pineapple and herb notes, light and paired perfectly with paella. This is one of those Spanish wines that you would find while traveling, not pay a ton for it, but then after your trip you’ll dwell about what a good value it was. You may find this wine locally in San Diego at Old Town Liquors.  I did taste a lot of great reds by the way, however I’m a traditionalist; Whites and Rosés on a hot day, Reds at night.

Guests started to pour into the event, and the air filled with spice and smoke. Some of the paella chefs were starting to put the final decorative touches on their paella pan creations. Festival attendees circled around the booths, and a hush fell over the crowd as the judges stepped up with clipboards in hand. Nervous faces looked on as this was serious paella business!

After the judges left with their secret notes, it was time to serve up the paella and eat! Here’s some of the finished paella presentations. They were all so beautiful!

Paella by Los Chatos

Paella by Los Gregorianos

Paella by El Arte En Paella

One of the most surprising paella entires of the day was the vegan option by Awake the Great!  The rice had great texture and the flavors were citrusy and smoky from the crunchy coconut toppings. I was so impressed with what they did!

After guests had paella and drinks in their bellies, things started to get muy divertida or fun. Hey, it’s a party!

Paella Man danced around the party and posted for pictures with guests as the mariachi band played on stage.

I have to say my MOST favorite part of the event, other than the amazing food, was in the VIP section (consider this upgrade for next year’s event). While judges were still tasting and deliberating, there was what I can only describe as a Sing Off. Chefs, guests and other VIPS would step up and belt out a song one after the other. Here’s an example:

A Day at the Paella & Wine Fest is now live at BoredMom.com check it out and thanks to @paellawinefest #paella #sandiegoevents #paellawinefest #sandiego #winefestival #wine #singwithme #party #boredmom #review

A video posted by bored mom (@bored.mom) on

May 9, 2016 at 6:39pm PDT

My brain was trying to absorb everything at once, and my stomach was telling me to go take a nap. “Wow, these chefs can cook AND sing??” There was some serious talent at this event. Note to self: Step up my chef game and start singing while cooking.

The San Diego Paella & Wine event was a huge success, and I’m not proud to admit that it’s been a whole day after the event and I’m still full. I ate THAT much.

Can’t wait for this event next year, and here’s my tips if you’re planning on attending in 2017:

1. You are allowed to bring chairs and a picnic blanket. Take advantage of this and do it!

2. Wear a hat & bring sunscreen. Despite the threat of rain, in true San Diego fashion, we ended up with gorgeous weather.

3. If you are with a friend, I recommend splitting up into different lines. Most of the servings are rather large, so you can share and taste more of the offerings.

4. Drink water throughout the day. Stay hydrated and pace yourself, like these judges (below)…they did have to taste ALL of those entries after all!

¡Ay, Carumba! Only 32 more paellas to taste!

Until next year! For more information on this event, please visit:  Paella & Wine Festival  Congrats to the The San Diego Culinary Arts School for taking first prize!

Thank you to the Paella & Wine Festival for hosting me and my fabulous photographer for the day.

Want Bored Mom to come to your event and blog about it? Contact me here!