Chef Boyardee Bringing Family and Friends Together (Win Free Groceries!)

Chef Boyardee has always been a favorite in our house, but usually we would just have it as a quick and easy go to meal.  But what if you could turn it into an entire meal for your family or entertain a houseful? Well, this weekend, I put that idea to the test.  We rounded up some of our favorite people and went to work in the kitchen!

I decided to invite my neighbors and their family over for a fun dinner and dessert.  One of their twin daughters loves to cook so she was very excited to come over and help.  We decided to make a top secret dinner for her Mom and Dad and brother and sisters.  So on party day we turned on some music, and put together a masterpiece for dinner.  To help us out we were sent all the right tools, aprons, chef’s hat, mixing bowls, baking dishes, and a timer.  I think everyone had just as much fun wearing the aprons and hat!

As part of our party, we had to create a Chef Boyardee recipe to share with everyone.  We chose to make the very tasty Pepperoni Spaghetti Bake and added some of our own little touches to the recipe.  We added some grated Reggiano and Romano cheeses and baked garlic bread on the bottom.  We made a side salad and the meal was complete!  Everyone had their own job in the kitchen, and the boys got a kick out of helping mom.  This has been a really wonderful opportunity for me and the kids, and the recipes offered really were not that difficult to prepare.  This made it easy for the boys and the other kids to participate and enjoy something that they made.  The end result was a really tasty meal, spending less time in the kitchen, and more time enjoying family and friends.

Right now through March 11, 2012, you can submit an original recipe that uses Chef Boyardee as an ingredient (anything you can dream up).  All you have to do is upload a photo of your recipe, and share why your family loves it.  A winner will be chosen based on creativity, all-family appeal, ease of preparation, and palatable appeal by an expert panel of judges.   You can win a $500 prize as well as $75 in Chef coupons or the grand prize of free groceries for a year!  I don’t know about you, but who couldn’t use a stocked fridge and pantry for the year to make delicious recipes like the ones offered by Chef Boyardee?   You can visit the facebook contest for your chance to win.

After all was said and done, everyone loved the meal that was prepared and we could hardly believe that it only took 30-40 minutes to prepare.  We loved throwing a party and I loved getting my kids involved in the meal preparation process.  It was a great learning experience and most kids like having a role in helping.  You can find some more really great Chef Boyardee Recipes on their site.  Don’t forget to enter to win free groceries from now until March 11, 2012!

 

 

“I wrote this review while participating in a In Home Party campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Chef Boyardee and received product samples to facilitate my party and review, and a promotional item to thank me for participating.”

 

Little Surprise For My Birthday

You know those people that always seem to be lucky?  I have never been one of those people that is often randomly surprised by things.   I have always thought that a random winning or a random note in the mail was the cats pajamas for me.   It kind of picks you up and makes your day, week, month or year and gives you a little spring your step.

This year for my birthday, I was blessed enough to get a new laptop from my wonderful husband and a visit from the fairy hob mother.  My laptop was in desperate need of being replaced, and although it still worked, the cord was falling apart, the usb ports didn’t work and the mouse click button was broke.  Then I was pleasantly surprised by a random gift from the fairy hob mother, who blessed me with an unexpected gift of amazon money to spend.   How cool is that?  It was totally random and made my entire day.

Even if you haven’t been randomly gifted from an enchanted being, I think that there should be much more random gifting and happiness being spread in this world.  I have decided that I will pay this forward in some way.  Whether I send a letter to a friend, or send someone a gift that they weren’t expecting, random acts of kindness are great for the soul.

Maybe next year I will be blessed by all new appliances from a place like Appliances Online, I happen to think that all new stainless steel appliances would look stunning in my kitchen.   A girl can dream!

 

 

 

**I was randomly gifted by the Fairy Hob Mother, but this post you see here is all my own piece of mind**

Listerine Oral Care Challenge

We all know that the dental chair isn’t always that much fun, so I like to spend as little time there as possible.  I am petrified of the dentist, in fact I even took an 18 year hiatus from the dental chair as a result of a negative experience.  After I worked up the nerve to go, I had to spend the better half of last year getting a few cavities filled and even the dreaded root canal and was also informed that I have periodontal disease.   Since then, I have vowed to make sure I don’t transfer my fears to my boys, about getting regular dental check ups and attempt to make sure they have a really good oral care regimen.

It sounded easy enough to me, but I have two five year olds that often resist getting their teeth brushed.  It started off innocent enough, then it was a scene akin to bull wrestling.  They decided that the toothbrush made them cough, the toothpaste (kids toothpaste) was too spicy, or the they just plain didn’t like it.  I quickly realized that I would have to get creative about getting them happy about brushing regularly.

Then, the perfect opportunity came about.  The Motherhood has teamed up with LISTERINE® and REACH® for an exciting new project called– the LISTERINE® and REACH® Healthy Habits for a Lifetime Oral Care Challenge designed to  encourage families to adopt a healthy oral care regimen that will help lead to a healthier lifestyle.  They invited me and my family to take the challenge by taking a few extra minutes a day for a complete oral care routine including brushing, flossing and rinsing.  To complete the challenge, me and my family must do these steps twice daily for three weeks.

I know now, however, that I am not alone.   Did you know, that nearly 75 percent of American adults suffer from various forms of periodontal (gum) disease* and don’t know it.  Despite the fact that I was brushing my teeth, I would  have never even known that I had periodontal disease.   Also after attending a webinar, I discovered that brushing your teeth alone misses the germs in 75 percent of your mouth!  I rarely even used mouthwashes, because I figured brushing would take care of it.

So I am on a new mission, to get our mouths in the best possible shape, by taking the Listerine Health Care Challenge and hopefully maintain a routine we all can live with, far beyond the three weeks and make it a lifetime habit with me and my kids.  We will be brushing flossing and rinsing, and making it a fun and healthy experience.  For the kids, we are keeping track on our Oral Care Challenge chart, and at the end they will be rewarded for keeping up the good work!  I am really excited to be a part of the Listerine Oral Care Challenge, and be able to keep my families teeth and mouths healthy and make it something we all enjoy doing.

I also would like to invite you to take the challenge with me!  You can visit www.walmart.com to access  tips from leading dental experts and great values and prices on oral care products.

 

 

**I received products and compensation from Johnson & Johnson and The Motherhood as part of my participation in the Oral Care Challenge. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are my own.**

Meaningful Beauty Test Drive

Since becoming a mom to twin boys, I rarely have much time to do anything that is remotely centered around myself.  They say you should take time outs, but that is a rare moment around here.  As part of that, I think that it is even rarer, that I look in the mirror.  There have been days in which I have forgotten to brush my hair, and I have even walked into the grocery store realizing I had my pajama pants on.

I have never been a make-up wearing girl, in fact I probably wear it once or twice in a given year.  Truthfully, I haven’t paid much attention to the skin on my face.  Usually, when I am in the shower, I just use lather from my soap on my face and rinse.  Today, I turned 39 and realized that the dreaded 40 is right around the corner, and it makes me question just how things are holding up in this body of mine.  Looking in the mirror, I can see subtle signs of aging, like a few more wrinkles around the eyes, and my skin isn’t exactly glowing like a 21 year old.

So, I have been asked to  participate in a four week Meaningful Beauty Program for my skin.  Meaningful Beauty is a simple five-step skin treatment plan to help boost your skin’s resilience, and reduce the visible signs of aging.  Meaningful Beauty is designed to hydrate, firm and restore healthier and younger looking skin.

About Meaningful Beauty

With Meaningful Beauty®, Cindy Crawford shares her secret for younger looking skin.  This comprehensive skincare system was created by internationally acclaimed anti-aging specialist, Dr. Jean-Louis Sebagh.  Meaningful Beauty is formulated with a powerful super-antioxidant from a rare melon along with such skin rejuvenating ingredients as peptides, vitamins, minerals and marine extracts and can help skin appear radiant and youthful.

Included in my kit: Glycolic Treatment Pads ,Glowing Serum , Skin Softening Cleanser, Antioxidant Day Crème SPF 20 UVA/UVB, Crème de Serum , Lifting Eye Crème – Advanced Formula , Skin Brightening Décolleté and Neck Treatment SPF 15

I’m really excited to try Meaningful Beauty and to have an actual plan for my skin and hopefully it is something easy that I can follow, that doesn’t take up much time in the morning or evening. Like I mentioned before, it is rare that I use much on my face in the way of facial care products or make-up, so it will be interesting to see if I notice any changes in my skin. So at the end of these next coming weeks, I will share with you my experience with the Meaningful Beauty skin care regimen, as well as my thoughts, about it’s ease of use, how my skin feels, and if I notice any marked differences.

In addition to me being able to try Meaningful Beauty I was also sent an  additional kit to give to someone meaningful in my life.  I have decided to pass this other kit on to my Mom, who took care of me all my life, who still guides me in many aspects of my life and who is beautiful to me in every way. I am looking forward to sharing Meaningful Beauty with all of you.

 

 

**I wrote this review while participating in a test drive campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf Meaningful Beauty and received a 5-step treatment kit to facilitate my review, a second 5-step treatment kit to giveaway, and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.**

39

I can’t believe that I am staring at that number.  I am just a year before I reach the next check box bracket on all the surveys  lol.  Tomorrow, I will be entering my fortieth year and turning a very intimidating 39.  In some ways it is depressing, but in other ways, I am happy to be here because of my family.

I don’t really feel all that old and in fact, I look at myself as a young mother.  My boys are only five years old, so I have lots of keeping up to do.  I have even entertained the idea of having a sibling for them, I really am not sure that I am done.  A lot of people think having twins or multiples solidifies your family, but since my husband and I started late, I sometimes feel like we just got started.

I like to believe age is just a number, or at least I keep telling myself that, so I don’t lament over that number up there.  Whoever thought to make a big deal out of turning forty?  At least I don’t feel over the hill yet.

Here’s to many more days where I still feel young enough to be happy about turning another year older.   Happy Birthday To Me!

Dark Raspberry Dove Chocolate Cupcakes With Raspberry Buttercream

I was thinking of ways to wish you all Happy Valentine’s Day, or just wish you all a happy day.  So my taste buds decided to take over.  I have an addiction to thee new Dove chocolates that I found in the store one day while I was crabby, PMS’ing and needed chocolate.  If you haven’t tried them, they are the Dove Raspberry Dark Chocolate Promises.  They are the perfect ratio of chocolate to raspberry and I have to hide my stash in the house.

So I decided, what if I put these in a chocolate cupcake for Valentine’s Day, or any day for that matter?  So I came up with a little recipe to celebrate this day of love…love for your loved one, love for yourself, love of all things chocolate, or just plain old LOVE!

Cupcake Ingredients

• 1 ½  cups sugar
• 1 ¾ cups flour
• ¾ cup baking cocoa (dutch process or dark cocoa preferably)
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¾ boiling water (see note below)
• 21 Dark Chocolate Raspberry Dove Chocolates Melted

Change

I haven’t been posting much because I was going through a temporary thing where I was lost in thought.  Since becoming a mom, I have many days or periods of time where I think about things that are going on, as well as the future.  There was one thing I briefly touched on earlier in one of my postings, about the boys heading off to kindergarten.  The moment is both exciting as a parent and is somewhat dreaded.  It is hard to let your children go, parents all over the world struggle with the same thing I am sure.

Registration for the upcoming school year is about to begin, and I will admit that it doesn’t really thrill me all that much.  If I had the choice to home school the boys I would definitely consider the option.  For me, I lack some of the organization, patience and know how.  I also feel like the boys have a hard time sitting down with mom and ultimately focusing enough to do lessons on a larger scale.

There is debate surrounding the home school idea, about kids not being socialized etc.  Having never stepped foot inside of a daycare or preschool,  my boys are already quite the opposite and chatter any kids arm off, and make new friends at any playground or soccer game.  Anyone on the other side of the fence will argue their points just as well, I am not one to debate.

When it comes down to it, the truth is I don’t enjoy sending them off for a large portion of the day, just so I can get my stuff done, so I can take a break, so I can enjoy my free time.  I hear many parents say, how much they enjoy the “free time” or that they are so glad their kids are out of their hair.  The fact is, I will miss seeing them play, interact, learn and slipping me the surprise kisses and I love yous all day long.  It will be someone else watching them learn and play and grow while I am here at home wondering what they are doing.  For me it feels like I’m feeding my kids to the wolves.  School has a lot of good things, but it also has some negative.

I think it will be an adjustment for everyone, and probably for me most of all.  I might have a cleaner house, laundry caught up and dinner on the table exactly at 5pm, but in my mind, I don’t know if what I am missing is worth all of that.  I will be crying in the school parking lot, you bet I will.  The moment will be so full of emotion.

I love you my sweet boys.

Whirlpool Tubs What They Don’t Tell You

When we had our house built a few years ago, it was such an exciting process.  There is nothing like building a home together and getting to choose what you do and don’t like and what features you would like to have.  At the time, the builder had free upgrades available, like a whirlpool tub in the bathroom over a bigger shower.

I am a bath taking girl, I love to soak in there when I don’t feel good, when I am cold during the Winter, or just to light some candles and relax.  At the time the whirlpool tub sounded divine and it still is.  It’s like having a hot tub in your bathroom.  When we first moved in, I used it often and almost daily.  Then I sort of got tired of it and just would soak in the tub.

Then one day, I was sitting in the tub and these flakes of stuff were floating in my water.  EWWWWWW!   I am probably one of the cleanest people on the planet, if I see dirt I’m in full cleaning mode, especially the bathroom.  I don’t like smells of any kind either.  At first, I just thought maybe it was just dirt from the drain or something.  Then it started happening frequently. So I bought some stuff that is supposed to clean out the whole jet system.  I ran it through there and it went away.  But I didn’t use the jets anymore.

So I did some reading and found out that this stuff is inside the jets of the tub are breeding bacteria and all sorts of harmful junk.  It consists of dead skin, oils, mold, and unimaginable bacteria strains.  Gross eh?  No one ever mentioned that I needed to clean out the jets weekly with some special cleaner, so even though I was cleaning out the tub after each use with cleaners, I never thought about the jets. Granted, I am sure that there are instructions somewhere, but I never got any with the house and didn’t know a thing about whirlpool tubs.

Then recently, when the boys were in the tub, this crud started floating in the water again.  So I instantly grabbed the jet cleaner and went to work.  Granted, the jets haven’t been touched in about 5 years because I just forgot about them.  This little adventure of cleaning out the jets went on for the entire weekend, of filling up the tub, running cleaner through the system, draining the tub, refilling with cold water to rinse out the jets, and even running a half a gallon of bleach through it several times.  You would think, that would do the trick, but about a bazillion gallons of water later (I hate to see my bill) , the gunk is still there!  So how do you effectively clean these jets. because the “special cleaner” they recommended doesn’t even work!   I have resorted to showers now until I can get them completely clean, or if I can.

The stuff you see is enough to make you gag, and I am really disappointed in the fact, that you cannot easily clean these tubs, not to mention the gallons of water wasted to do so.  If I ever get them clean again  I might actually get to use the tub, like I planned last weekend but never got to that point.  Until then, think twice about using those fancy jacuzzi tubs in hotels, god only knows what could be lurking in those…just EWWW!  I will never own a whirlpool/jacuzzi tub again.  They are too much hassle for just a few relaxing bubbles and who wants to soak in a bath that makes you feel gross before you even get clean?

Shout Color Catcher Winners!

Congrats to Carol and Amie, for winning the Shout Color Catcher giveaway.  Winners have been emailed.  Thank you for all who entered.

 

Shout Color Catcher *Review and Giveaway*

Laundry reproduces like bunnies in our house.  There isn’t even a full day where I can officially say I am all done or caught up on doing laundry.  I get a less than satisfied look on my face when I turn a corner and the hamper has a few articles of clothing in it after I just emptied it.  Then there is the tiny load dilemma, where I have some light colors and dark colors,  and I don’t really have enough to kick off a load unless I combine them.  We all know that colors bleed, hence why there is sorting of laundry.

Since I am a Shout Brand ambassador, I have been given a chance to try some of their wonderful products like their Shout Free Stain Remover that I reviewed a few weeks ago, and this time Shout Color Catcher with Oxi Booster.  What if you could combine some of those darks with the lights without risking your clothes coming out pink or grey or a new shade of baby blue?  Shout Color Catcher eliminates having having to separate darks and lights and eliminates the need to wait until you have enough darks or lights to complete a load.  Just toss a sheet into your laundry and it absorbs loose dyes to prevent them from bleeding on to other clothes.

About Shout Color Catcher With Oxi

Product Information

I will admit when using the sheets I was still a little hesitant to use them.  After twenty plus years of sorting religiously like my mom always taught me, it was like I was committing a felony by tossing darks and lights together.  I wasn’t as liberal with my color combining because I wanted to test things out before I knew if it really worked.  So, I took some of my husband’s dark work socks and threw them in with some of my light colored pajamas.  After the cycle was complete, I looked at the color catcher sheet and it was a light shade of gray from the black socks, and I noticed nothing on the light colored clothes.  So I would say it does it’s job.  I eventually got a little braver and threw in a red placemat with some light towels and the sheet came out pink but nothing was visible on the towels.  I was pleased with the results.  Will this end my sorting days?   Probably not, because I think it has been drilled into my laundry psyche, but for days when I have less than a load and want to get clothes washed and put away, this is a great alternative, just toss in a Shout Color Catcher with Oxi and I don’t have to give it a second thought!

Want to try out Shout Color Catcher with Oxi for yourself?  You can win it, right here on DoubleBugs!  I am giving it away to two lucky winners! And, if you can’t wait to win it and you want to try it out,  the Shout Facebook Page is offering downloadable coupons  Shout Free and Color Catcher with Oxi !

Here’s What You Gotta Do to Win!

Leave me a comment and tell me your worst laundry nightmare, I know we have all had one.

Additional Entries

Follow me on twitter

Subscribe to my RSS feed

Tweet about this giveaway and provide the link

Contest starts Jan 23, 2012 and Ends Jan 29, 2012

Winners have 24 hrs to respond or the prize is forfeited

Open to US residents only

Good Luck!!!!!

 

 

“I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Shout and received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

 

 

« Previous Page — Next Page »