Taste test + Blue Diamond Almonds giveaway
[This post is sponsored by Blue Diamond Almonds. Read on for my top three flavor picks and an awesome giveaway opportunity]
Blue Diamond kindly sent a box of their flavored almonds for the Pilot and I to try in our own taste test. It was almond Christmas at our house!
I was already familiar with many of the flavors, but I was excited to enjoy them again along with new-to-me flavors. As much as I love the fruit and coffee-flavored almonds, I tend to roll with the bold and spicy. I’ve been known to destroy entire cans of the Salt & Vinegar flavor; especially while I was pregnant 😉 Lately, I’ve really fallen in love with the Honey Dijon, which is slightly sweet and gloriously savory. I gave all of the flavors another try, and it took a while (and multiple trips to re-test, haha) to come up with my favorites.
My top three picks:
(salt n’ vinegar, honey dijon and wasabi soy sauce)
and the Pilot’s faves:
(It wasn’t skewed at all… especially when I said, “Honey, come try these almonds” while eating directly out of the Honey Dijon can.)
True love.
Almonds are one of my healthy snack staples. I add them to my salads, homemade trail mix, and also use almond meal in many of my baked goodies (If you haven’t tried almond meal, it’s a fun to experiment with the gluten-free option! The baked goodies end up more dense, but are wonderfully filling). Not only are almonds extremely portable and healthy, but they also make ideal fuel for an active lifestyle.
This year, Blue Diamond Almonds are the official snack nut of the USSA (which includes the U.S. Ski Team, U.S. Snowboarding and U.S. Freeskiing) in the Winter Games. Leading up to the Games, winter athletes have been enjoying these almond snacks as part of their fuel. They have nutrient-dense meal plans and dishes created for them by Allen Tran, MS, RD and USSA High Performance Chef.
“Nutrition is a key component of our athletes’ high performance training program. Our snowboarders and skiers must sustain their energy for long, exhilarating workouts and competition,” said Tran. “Blue Diamond Snack Almonds are ideal snacks for our athletes because they are high in protein and rich in fiber which helps them maintain their energy levels.”
As a healthy snack, Blue Diamond Snack Almonds are being offered at the USSA Center of Excellence training facility and kitchen in Park City, UT, where hundreds of U.S. winter athletes are preparing for the upcoming Games.
“The USSA’s athletes are driven to be the very best skiers and snowboarders in the world,” said John O’Shaughnessy , General Manager of Consumer Foods Division, Blue Diamond Growers. “We are proud to support these U.S. athletes with foods that help them to maintain a performance-enhancing diet as they prepare for global competition.”
Recently, they had a taste test featuring the Blue Diamond flavors. You can check out the video below:
Their top three picks:
Salt n’ vinegar, wasabi soy sauce and habanero BBQ!
Now, it’s giveaway time 🙂
One lucky reader will get the chance to have their very own snack supply of Blue Diamond almonds. The winner will receive twelve (12) 6oz cans, six (6) 8oz jars or six (6) 4oz bags) in their flavor of choice. (Size depends on flavor that is chosen)
Here’s how to enter:
This post is sponsored by Blue Diamond Almonds. Our nation’s best athletes can be even better with your support. Send your words of inspiration to the U.S. Ski Team and U.S. Snowboarding via the “Inspire Team USA” sweepstakes and you could win a $2000 winter gear gift card and a Blue Diamond Almonds Viewing Kit.
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Yum!! Habenero BBQ sounds delish!!
yum! they all sound amazing!
i already know that i love the habanero bbq and the wasabi/soy sauce– but think i’d also love the salt and vinegar
Salt and vinegar sound amazing. Honey dijon do too! 🙂
After voraciously snacking on almonds for most of my life, I found out this year that I’ve developed a life-threatening almond allergy…after going into anaphylactic shock at work after making a smoothie with almond milk (I was okay, but my throat closed and it was very scary). Now I have to avoid most nuts and carry an epi-pen, which has put a real damper on snack-time 🙁 But before I developed the allergy, I loved the lightly salted ones!
I love all kinds of nuts!!! Would love to win this giveaway!!!!!! 🙂
I love the coffee mocha almonds!!! YUM!
I think I would love Honey Dijon, yum!
I loooove the wasabi and coconut flavors
I love spicy sweet – habanero barbecue would be my pick!
The Honey Dijon sounds like they would be really good. I’d also like to try some of the fruit flavored ones.
Wow I haven’t seen the blueberry or strawberry kind in stores yet…any good? I just bought a can of the wasabi the other day while grocery shopping. Salt and Vinegar sounds good too.
As I was reading this post I pulled my almonds out of my snack drawer at work haha. So delicious! I NEED the salt n vinegar flavor!
I think I’d really love the salt and vinegar, and the mocha ones, too!
I am already a huge fan of the salt and vinegar almonds! I would love to try the wasabi soy sauce flavour 🙂
Love there Almonds !!!
Would love to spice up my life with some of these almond flavors
The honey almonds and jalapeno ones sound good.
I’m a huge fruit-flavored fan, so I think I would definitely enjoy one of those. That Honey Dijon, though… Yum!
I want to try the wasabi and soy sauce!
Salt and Vinegar fo sho!
Anything wasabi is the winner in my book!
I am only used to plain or salted almonds, but i would love try the coffee-mocha almonds!
LOVE flavored almonds, they’re a great snack when you’re craving something salty/sweet and don’t want to ruin your healthy eating by devouring an entire bag of chips or cookies. Salt and Vinegar would for sure own my heart!
I really want to try the coconut ones!
So want to try the salt and vinegar!
ooh! mocha or raspberry or honey dijon
Salt n’ vinegar sounds great to me <3
It’s hard to pick, but Honey Dijon and Coconut are at the top of my list! I love almonds, they are a great snack to have on hand!!
I definitely need to try those honey dijon!!!!
I love the Wasabi Soy! My grocery started carrying the BIG bags…I think my boyfriend cried tears of joy when I brought that over! Yay for Blue Diamond!
I’m already a big fan of the coconut flavor but those spicy options sound amazing!
I am addicted the wasbi and soy sauce. I need to try the HD & SV!
I would love to try honey roasted!
I love the chocolate and fruit flavored ones! I need to take a risk and sample more of the bold flavors.
Jalapeno Smokehouse sounds sooo good…but I think I’d like them all!
mmm those all look so good 🙂
Ooo I think I’d like the honey dijon! Thanks for the great giveaway!
mmm those all look so good 🙂 I’d like to try wasabi and soy sauce
I really want to win these!!!!
The wasabi ones are my absolute favorite but I also jumped on the chocolate train awhile ago. 🙂
Wasabi soy!!!
they all look delicious. I want to try the jalapeño smoke house, I love spicy!
I LOVE the bold flavored almonds – -almonds are a great portable snack!
Sign me up for the coffee mocha!! Yum.
Salt and vinegar sounds amazing! I love almonds for a healthy snack.
I think I have to try blueberry almonds
I would have to try the habanero BBQ!
I think I would love any of the sweet flavors or the honey dijon ones!
OH! I’ve never seen the honey dijon in stores. I’d love to try that!