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! I love the wasabi/soy ones!
I’m thinking wasabi! Just because I like to say that word:)
salt and vinegar sound amazing!
The salt and vinegar sound awesome amazing!
Honey Dijon sounds good.
Wasabi soy sounds DELICIOUS!
I would love to try the blueberry. My husband loves plain almonds and is constantly snacking on them at night. I like some flavor to mine or to add the plain in with dried fruit or semi sweet chocolate. I also use them with dates and other things to make my own lara-type-bars.
Loveeee the wasabi sky sauce but they’re also the only ones I’ve tried haha! Great giveaway!
Honey dijon sounds AMAZING!!
I want to try the honey dijon almonds!!
Jalapeno Smokehouse sounds interesting!
I would love to try the wasabi!
NOM NOM NOM!!
Honey Dijon sounds right up my alley!!
Awesome giveaway! I LOVE almonds…well, nuts in general, but particularly almonds. I know I love the cocoa roasted almonds, but the habanero BBQ sounds AMAZING 🙂
Woud love to try the wasabi sy sauce. I love savory snacks.
I love anything salty so my absolute favorite is Salt & Vinegar! I just started taking a nutrition class and the first assignment was, if you could be any food, what would you be and why? I said I’d be an almond!!!
I love almonds, and I love Blue Diamond almond milk. The blueberry and honey dijon look yummy to try.
Honey Dijon sounds delicious!
The Honey Dijon ones look delicious!
Very curious to try the Salt and Vinegar! Love the plain, wasabi, cocoa, and cinnamon flavors already!
I agree that these almonds are all so tasty. I love the salt n vinegar and wasabi ones and even just the lighlty salted are delicious. The BBQ ones taste like BBQ chips. MMM! I want to try the honey dijon now!
wasabi/soy sauce is already one of my favorites. Now I must go out and try and find more flavors to samples. Yum!
I want to try the mocha kind! I love the plain salted and wasabi already 🙂
Yum this is making me hungry! Honestly I haven’t tried any flavors, 🙁 Whomp whomp so would love a chance to give ’em a try!
I would love to try the Salt ‘n Vinegar flavor! Chips, in any flavor, are my weakness, so I might feel better if I accidentally ate the entire container!
Habanero BBQ!
I want to try the honey dijon!
I’d be curious to try salt n’ vinegar or honey dijon. Both sound delicious!
I love salt and vinegar anything so I have a feeling those would be one of my top picks too! Almonds are by far my favorite snacks (almond butter and dark chocolate is my nightly indulgence!) — I’d love to win!
They had a toasted coconut flavor that was amazing. I can’t seem to find them anymore though. Those honey Dijon look great!!
Honey dijon does sound good, and I’d love to try the mocha coffee flavor!!
I have just tried the Salt n Vinegar flavor and coffee covered almonds. But love something spicy so Honey Dijon sounds just perfect.
I’ve been loving the coffee almonds lately! Dying to try the Salt & Vinegar though
I want to try all the flavors. I never had flavored almonds before and it sounds amazing 🙂
Lime and chili sounds good to me!
The fruit flavored almonds sound intriguing!
Honey dijon sounds really yummy!
The salt n’ vinegar one sounds great! I think I’ve had their smokehouse one, and I loved that!
Wasabi soy sounds great to me!
I need those Salt N Vinegar almonds in my life ASAP! They sound beyond delicious.
Honey dijon sounds amazing!!
I love the jalapeno smokehouse flavor but would love to try the honey dijon, I have never seen those in the store!
pretty sure i’d eat S&V by the can-full!
Sweet fancy moses – there’s a JALAPENO smokehouse? My husband is would probably sell an organ for a large enough supply of the regular smokehouse flavor. I can’t even imagine how we would both feel about the jalapeño flavor. This information is life changing!
The Salt n Vinegar sound awesome! I would love to win 🙂
I’d love to try jalapeno smokehouse!
I’m already obsessed with the wasabi flavor….I dominated one of the big bags not too long ago. But I’d love to try the honey dijon! Sounds amazingly delicious.
The wasabi soy sounds delicious!! But I love anything and everything salt and vinegar, so that would likely be my fav! I’ll have to see if I can find these!
The salt & vinegar sound amazing!