World Vision Gift Catalog and Prosperity Cinnamon Review and Giveaway

This review and giveaway is sponsored by World Vision.

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender.

Online and in their print catalog you can choose from more than 250 meaningful, life-changing gifts, ranging in price from $10 to $39,000, to meet the essential immediate needs of women, children and their families around the world. These alternative gift ideas such as: animals (goats, sheep, cows, chickens, pigs, oxen, ducks, donkeys, rabbits, alpacas), sewing machines, bicycles, education and training, homes, clothes and shoes, clean water, fruit trees, honey bees, supplies and tools, medicine, etc. - honor the recipient and make a lasting impact for people in need. The catalog also offers a wide variety of 30+ gifts to match the interests and hobbies of the gift recipient to make the gift giving more meaningful. The recipient of the gift you give, whether a friend or family member, will get a special card describing the gift and its impact. Also with a contribution to the Maximum Impact Fund donors can also receive free handmade items from around the world: such as ornaments, jewelry, scarves, totes, etc. These donations help the areas of greatest need.



The World Vision website has a online tool allowing individuals the option to make a personal My Gift Catalog page at www.mygiftcatalog.org for personalized fundraising. The individual can then encourage family and friends to visit their page and purchase a gift from the catalog instead of or in addition to traditional holiday presents. You can use this during all year round too, such as: the holiday season, birthdays, weddings, graduations or other celebrations.

From the Handcrafted Gifts category I received the Prosperity Cinnamon for free to facilitate this review. This is perfect for baking and cooking with. I love cinnamon! It is one of my favorite smells and spices. This cinnamon comes in a gorgeous hand carved cinnamon bark box that smells just as good as its contents. The box and lid has the common Asian character for prosperity carved onto it. There is 3oz. of cinnamon inside the box. It also has a cinnamon stick tied around it with a natural raffia ribbon. Vietnam's renowned sweet cinnamon is a renewable resource collected from the Cassia tree, sold to benefit generations of hard-working families. It is a sweet smelling box with a nice sentiment for anyone who loves cinnamon.

$85

Approximate size: 3" x 3"

BUY IT
To order from the World Vision Gift Catalog, visit www.worldvisiongifts.org. To order by phone or to request a print catalog, call toll-free at (888) 511-6511.

WIN IT
Prize:  Prosperity Cinnamon (US Only!)

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DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received this product for free to facilitate this review and the opportunity to give away one for free. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

Foodie Friday Homemade Cinnamon Pancakes

These delicious pancakes are loaded with cinnamon and are good enough that they don't need any maple syrup. Just slap a little bit of butter on these and eat or if you want to embellish them a little add some apple sauce or apple butter, whipped cream, fresh fruit, yogurt or a combination of these.

HOMEMADE CINNAMON PANCAKES

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 cups milk
• 8 tbsp. melted butter or vegetable oil
• 4 tbsp. sugar
• 12 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. salt
• 4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 tbsp. cinnamon

Directions:

Beat egg until fluffy. Add remaining ingredients and beat in until there are only a few to no lumps. Pour about a half cup of batter onto hot griddle. Turn pancake over as soon as bubbles form. Repeat from "Pour". Makes 12 to 20 good size pancakes.

Dilmah Tea Review

THE COMPANY:
Dilmah takes pride in their teas. Their founder, Merril J. Fernando, has dedicated his life (60 years) to the perfection of tea. His journey started in the 1950's, and in 1988 he launched Dilmah. He along with his two sons, Dilhan and Malik (from whose names the brand name was coined), make it a family business. Dilmah is the first producer owned tea brand in the world and for 21 years they have been making their fine tea.

DILMAH'S CEYLON TEA:
Most other tea brands are blended tea, a mixture of tea from all over the world. Dilmah tea is set apart from most. It is a single origin tea. It comes from a single source: the fabled tea gardens of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), renowned for its high quality tea. Dilmah uses traditional, centuries-old processes. Their garden fresh Ceylon tea is handpicked (two tender leaves enclosing a bud, because the flavor of the tea is concentrated there), perfected, packed at source, and shipped within days to tea drinkers around the world. This means it is fresher, more flavorful, and you will be getting more of the antioxidants from the tea/Camellia sinensis plant.

SUSTAINABILITY AND ETHICS:
Dilmah is also an ethical company. Earnings from Dilmah remain in Sri Lanka, are shared with their workers and the community, and are reinvested to make tea a sustainable crop. Merril shares his success with his workers and the community through his MJF Charitable Foundation.

They also recognize that the environment and its protection are integral to human welfare. Dilmah Conservation focuses on the protection and study of the Asian Elephant to try and lessen the human elephant conflict in Sri Lanka. In the Symbiosis Arboretum project they are eventually going to plant 500 hectares (about 1236 acres) of natural vegetation and re-introduce plants that have become extinct or rare in Sri Lanka. These plants are very important to the eco-system. This will also help further the study of agricultural practices and how to not negatively impact the environment. Dilmah Conservation also has a Kids' Club that might be a great learning opportunity for your children to learn about conservation.

MY THOUGHTS:
One of my favorite times of the day is sipping/savoring a good cup of tea on my own. I like the quiet alone time. Call me a tea connoisseur. I love tasting different varieties and flavors. Dilmah tea is one I had never tried and am very glad that I got the chance to.

They sent me one box of Ceylon Green tea with real Cinnamon and one box of Earl Grey to try. Each tea bag is individually foil wrapped to seal in flavor. I was very eager to try them both.

The Ceylon Green tea with real Cinnamon smelled and tasted wonderful! Green tea is rich in catechins, a beneficial antioxidant. I love that they added cinnamon...it is such a wonderful spice! True cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum, synonym C. zeylanicum) is the spice obtained from the bark of a small evergreen tree belonging to the family Lauraceae. The true cinnamon tree is actually native to Sri Lanka.

This Earl Grey tea is Ceylon black tea with bergamot flavor. I love the stronger flavor and citrus accents of this Earl Grey tea. Black tea has thearubigin and theaflavin compounds that also provide antioxidant benefits originally attributed solely to green tea. The bergamot orange flavor and aroma is derived from the oil extracted from the rind of this fragrant citrus fruit. This is added to the black tea to make it an Earl Grey tea. The Dilmah version has a fuller, richer flavor.

SOCIAL NETWORKING:
Dilhan has a blog that he keeps. I love how he calls it Integritea...so clever :) Follow Dilmah tea on twitter. Join their group on Facebook.

HOW TO ORDER:
You can purchase Dilmah tea from their website. They offer a great variety of teas to choose from. Buy any Gourmet 125g pack and get a tea scoop FREE!