Nescafe Dolce Gusto Test Drive

Just about everyone I know loves coffee, I am probably one of those rare people that doesn’t drink a whole lot of coffee and didn’t even own a coffee maker till I was married.  I don’t drink it because I try to avoid the caffeine, so I have never really enjoyed it.  Nowadays, there are so many choices out there, that I can enjoy some of the hot beverages minus the caffeine.  My favorites however are hot chocolate and an occasional cup of tea.

I was recently offered the chance test drive the NESCAFE’  Dolce Gusto coffee maker.  I took the opportunity because I like single serve coffee makers and like having the option of making a single cup at a time.  Going into the winter months, I tend to make a lot of hot chocolate and tea, and I like having the option of making it any time during the day, quickly, and without making an entire pot of hot water. Not only is the NESCAFE Dolce Gusto a coffee maker, but it was designed with kitchen decor in mind

“Each machine carries an individual style and personality,designed with something  for everyone.Compact,classic,modern and smart-it’s a dramatic departure from what’s currently in the marketplace.”

With most of my kitchen electronics, I try to keep them stuffed in a cabinet, or well hidden in my kitchen.  Let’s face it, many kitchen appliances are just big and bulky and unattractive to look at, and the only reason why they stay on our counters, are out of pure necessity and easy access.  NESCAFE has come out with some really cool looking single serve coffee makers, that actually look good on your countertop.  Names like Piccolo, Creativa, Melody 2 and Circolo, each coffee maker has it’s own individual character.  I chose the Creativa, because it just looks fun, and kind of exudes my artsy personality.  It also comes, in this really sexy red, if you feel like making a bold statement in your kitchen.  I have had several people already pass by my new NESCAFE Dolce Gusto and say “oh that is cool!”  So, it definitely draws some attention.  I like how it looks and it is far from ordinary.  I definitely won’t be hiding this one in the cabinet and it makes a great conversation piece.  It sort of makes you want to use it more, because it is fun, functional and really cool.  I couldn’t wait to use it.

If you are looking for something that has functionality but adds a really nice design element in your kitchen, NESCAFE Dolce Gusto, offers you several choices to add pizazz to boring kitchen appliances.  They also come in a really nice neutral titanium and black color, so if you aren’t as bold as me, you can still have something that looks great. It’s a fun and exciting way to make your coffee! In my next post, I will talk about the benefits of a single serve coffee maker, all the fun flavors NESCAFE has to offer for your Dolce Gusto, and what my experiences were when using it.

“I wrote this review while participating in a test drive campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto and received a coffee machine to facilitate my review.”

Sansa Fuze+ MP3 Player With VH1 Slot Radio *review*

We are a house that loves music.  One of my favorite things to do is to put on headphones, and do housework or go on a hike at our local parks.   Being able to have portable music via MP3 player has been one of the greatest inventions since sliced bread.  In fact I still have boxes of CDs in my closet wondering what on earth I will do with all of them.

For me when it comes to portable MP3 players, the smaller they are the better, because  it is easier to take with me on plane trips, on car rides, in my purse, and on walks.  I was recently given a really cool opportunity to check out the new Sansa Fuze+ and a VH1 slot radio card, and this thing is pretty cool.  I received a  red MP3 player  which just looks really sleek and compact, but I also love all the features.  The sound is really good, but the fact that I can listen to this pre-loaded VH1 slot radio card, is even better, or add additional music to a blank micro sd card.  I like being able to get a preloaded card that I don’t have to mess with hand picking and adding songs,  and it had a lot of the very popular  songs from the 80′s.  The screen on the Sansa Fuze+ was really crisp and clear which and I had no trouble navigating with the Sansa Fuze “invisible” capacitive touch control.  You simple just have to touch right, left, up, down, or in the middle to navigate through song lists, genres, and even settings.   You can also watch videos on the bright 2.4 inch LCD screen which is really cool.

At a $79.99-$119.00 price point, depending on the capacity, you can get this for just about anyone in the family for a gift for this holiday season.  The Sansa Fuze+ is available in five colors, red (my favorite), black, white, blue and purple.  Also available on the Sansa Fuze website are all sorts of preloaded slot radio cards that you can get to accompany your new MP3 player.  I am already eying the one with Health and Fitness to get ready for my New Years workout plan.

Specifications/Features:

• Capacities**: 4GB, 8GB, 16GB
• 2.4″ bright QVGA screen (320 x 240, 30 FPS) LCD screen
• Audio formats: MP3, WMA, Secure WMA, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, AAC, Audible, Podcasts
• Video formats: MPEG-4***, H.264, WMV and Flip Video™***
• Photo formats: JPEG and BMP; photo formats can be further extended with Sansa Media Converter PC software download?, enabling TIFF, GIF, and PNG formats
• Digital FM Tuner with record functions
• Rechargeable battery lasts up to 24 hours for audio playback and 5 hours of video playback†
• Hi-speed micro-USB 2.0 port
• Expandable microSDTM card slot and microSDHCTM card slot
• Ready for slotRadio™ & slotMusic™ memory cards
• Sleek industrial design with “invisible” capacitive touch control and highly intuitive graphical user interface

SanDisk® slotRadio™ Cards

Each SanDisk® slotRadio™ card includes 1,000 songs featuring artists from the Billboard® charts. Songs are preloaded onto a tiny card with handcrafted playlists that include hundreds of artists. Like a FM radio experience, you can lean back and let slotRadio do the heavy-lifting so you don’t have to download music song-by-song. Songs are played in sequence and are locked to the card. You can skip individual songs as many times as you like, or switch between playlists with a touch of a button. Simply insert a slotRadio™ card into the slotRadio player and enjoy music in an instant. It’s great music made effortless.

This is really a great little MP3 player for just about anyone with some really great features.  You can listen to your favorite radio stations, pop in a pre-loaded slot radio card with all your favorites, or add you own song line up.  You can even watch a video.  It would make a perfect gift, or stocking stuffer.

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of SanDisk and received the SanDisk Sansa Fuze+ and VH1 slotRadio Card to facilitate my review.”

Bing Our School Needs Contest Voting Phase!

Education is one of the biggest and most important things that we can give our children so that they can be successful in their life.  It is the best gift that we give our children in hopes that they can flourish as individuals.

Bing is showing its commitment to education by helping teachers and students by providing them with the financial support needed to ensure their success in learning.  Bing will be giving away up to $1.1 million dollars through its Our School Needs contest.  In a bid to win $100,000 for their school, parents, students, and teachers around the country have been sending in essays, photos and videos to Bing to tell them what their school needs. The entry with the most votes wins $100k, and 3 others will each win $50k. The voting phase starts Friday, October 29 and runs through Sunday, November 7. America will be asked to vote on the 15 Our School Needs finalists as determined by the panel of judges. The winners will be announced Tuesday, November 9.  Be one of the first 30,000 to vote for your favorite finalists each day and receive a $3 donation code to redeem for the classroom project of your choice!
This hits so close to home, so do know that your votes matter!  I used to be an early development teacher and there were so many budget cuts that I found myself dipping into my own pocket to get the kids the books and material they needed for successful development.  There are so many great teachers, and sometimes there just aren’t enough resources.  In the schools near me, teachers and parents have set up classroom donation lists where parents bring in two of a particular item so their is a surplus of much needed supplies.

When I watched some of the videos and read some of the stories, all of them touched me in some way.  But Bear River Charter School, a K – 8 school in Logan, spoke to me because of the importance of books in my own children’s lives that I found getting them a new library is something that is like winning a million dollars.  Up to date books in every subject is great for little imaginations, and children who read are smarter, have better language skills and go far in their education.

If you want to help our schools out, casting your vote for a school in need is a wonderful start.  You never know the young minds you are helping to shape (maybe the next president or the one who finds the cure for cancer) just by clicking a button.

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Bing and received a gift card and DonorsChoose.org giving code to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Banquet Fruit Pies

I am a sucker for pie especially when it is fresh out of the oven and when someone else makes it for me.  Pie has to be one of those comfort foods that tastes good out of the fridge or warm.

I love to roll up my sleeves and make a fresh pie, but sometimes I just crave a slice of pie that doesn’t require me going through all the steps to make one.  Recently, I was given the opportunity to try Banquets new fruit pies, and I was excited, because who doesn’t love pie?  Banquet has been making  meals for more than 50 years, and now they are introducing new single-serving fruit pies.  Each Banquet fruit pie has a half serving of real fruit inside a flaky pastry shell that you can enjoy hot from the oven or microwave. The pies come in three delicious flavors: apple, peach, and cherry berry for a great low price.

I   popped one of the cherry berry pies in the oven because I like a crust that is more brown and a little crunchy, but you have the option of making them in your microwave. Then after pulling the pie out, I topped that baby with some whip cream and grabbed my fork. The crust was nice and flaky and the filling was pretty good and had just the right amount of sweetness and tart mixed together. Banquet’s new fruit pies are perfect if you have that late night sweet craving or if you want to treat the kids. And the fact that they only cost around a dollar makes it an even sweeter deal. I will definitely have a few of these on hand in the freezer from some late night indulgence and fun treats for the kids.

**I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Banquet and received free coupons to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central also sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate**

Breyers Smooth And Dreamy Ice Cream Bars *review and giveaway*

Who doesn’t love ice cream in the Summer time or just about any time for that matter.  For us moms, I am sure we break out a pint of of favorite ice cream when the day hasn’t gone so well and it makes all your trouble melt away.  July is National Ice Cream month and to help celebrate, I had the chance to try Breyers Smooth and Dreamy Ice cream bars. 

I am always looking for a chocolate fix and I almost always like my chocolate cold.  Ice cream seems to be my latest craving and the more chocolate the better.  Breyers, has a new selection of ice cream bars that will satisfy those chocolate craving that come up in the heat of the Summer.  I tried the Triple Chocolate Chip Bars and I thought I died and went to heaven.   They have just the right amount of chocolate goodness with a hint of crunch from the mini chocolate chips and the chocolate shell coating.  Nothing was left out and it is the perfect combination.  Not only that, Breyers Smooth and Dreamy Bars have no artificial flavors or colors, 160 calories or less and 4-6g of fat per serving!  What can be better than felling like you are indulging without the guilt?  After trying them, I shoved the box into the back of the freezer to keep them well hidden, so I don’t have to share.  I will definitely be keeping a private stash in my freezer.  I can’t wait to try all of the different flavors.

To help me celebrate my love for chocolate, and for the sake of chocolate in general, Mom Central and Breyers is letting me giveaway some Breyers Smooth And Dreamy to five lucky readers!   You definitely want to get in on this one, and who can pass up free ice cream????

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Breyers and received products necessary to facilitate my review. In addition, I received a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Here’s What You Gotta Do

Tell me why you would like to try Breyers Smooth And Dreamy Bars, Or share a childhood memory about ice cream.

Additional Entries

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Contest Starts July 30 and Ends August 2o, 2010

Good Luck!!!!

Winners are drawn at random, if winner does not respond within 24 hours the prize is forfeited

Contest open to US residents only.

Hunts Ketchup Gets Down To The Basics

We are huge ketchup fans in this house.   Both of my boys always ask for everything with dip (meaning ketchup).  They dip their french fries, chicken nuggets, and fish sticks, so we find ourselves going through bottles of the stuff on a regular basis.  I always try to read the labels, and often times you cannot pronounce what is in your food.

We were sent a bottle of Hunt’s Tomato Ketchup to try, which boasts no high fructose corn syrup.  As a Mom, you are always trying to make healthy and conscious food decisions for your family without compromising the taste.  High fructose corn syrup is something I try to avoid because it isn’t really a  natural sugar in our diet.  Hunt’s ketchup now features five simple ingredients. Hunt’s reformulated recipe includes no high fructose corn syrup, and no artificial ingredients or preservatives and we all loved the taste.  It tasted just as good without all the extra fake fluff in our food (as I call it).

And to celebrate Moms and the choices they have to make for their family,  starting July 2nd, Moms have a chance to win a family vacation (up to $5,000) through a photo contest. To enter, go to facebook.com/hunts, submit a photo of you and your family achieving a “simple victory” and you could win that summer vacation you’ve been longing for.

Having basic and simple ingredients in our foods, doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice the taste.  I am seeing more and more foods offered in local grocery stores that are getting back to basic ingredients, and I like having those choices for my family!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Hunt’s and received a ketchup sample to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central also sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Barilla Share The Table

Many families today are extremely busy, with having kids in sports, working. and schedules that are hard to line up.  Dinner isn’t the same these days, and is often eaten by everyone in the family at different times.  I know that we have a hard time sitting down to one meal together as a family through the week, with my husband working varying hours through the week.  We have made it a point to make dinner a meal that we could eat together, and catch up on how everyone’s day was.

Barilla has started a “Share the Table”  program to help families make the most out of their dinnertime together. Barilla has a Share the Table website,  that offers  recipes from chefs like Mario Batali and tips on how families can make meal times more meaningful in bringing families together.

To help families get started sharing the table, Barilla now offers “Pasta Friday Sweepstakes” with weekly winners of pasta and pasta sauce giveaways and has created the “Mealtime Moments Contest,” which gives families who commit to making a better mealtime experience,  the opportunity to share  stories and win select prizes throughout the summer. For everyone that becomes a fan of meaningful meals at ShareTheTable.com, Barilla will donate $1 to Meals on Wheels Association of America, helping seniors get the nutritious meals, that they often don’t get.

To help our family “Share The Table,”  we were sent a wonderful package full of all the things we needed to create a meal for the family.  We all love pasta in this house so it was easy to create something that we all loved.    Our favorite Barilla pasta is the Penne, and I mix it up with Barilla’s Garden Vegetable Sauce, hamburger, mushrooms, and sweet italian sausage.  It is rare that we have leftovers, and the whole family enjoys it.  There are so many great meals that you can create with pasta and Barilla makes it easy.

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Barilla and received products necessary to facilitate my candid review..”

Pool And Summer Safety Tips From UL

Summer, is the perfect time to head outdoors and enjoy the warmer weather with your family.  This means time spent swimming in the family pool, and running, jumping and climbing on the backyard swing set.  As a parent, you want to do what you can to keep your children and family safe. Just like you would child proof your home, there are safety measures for outdoor play that, sometimes, we tend to overlook.

Pool safety, is one of the things that I am so vigilant about.  Having had first hand experience with the loss of a family member’s young son many years ago, makes it something that is burned into my memory.  To this day I still remember and watch my boys like a hawk when they are playing in just 2 feet of water.  After, they are done, the pool gets emptied, because you just never know when they may think to go back to it when you are sidetracked.   I know that you obviously cannot empty a much larger pool, but you can put safety measures in place, to avoid injury or tragedy.

This summer, Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a leading product safety testing organization, has taken some time and provided some useful tips to help keep you and your children safe around play sets and the pool.  There is also a really great Disney video about pool safety you can watch with the whole family.

When you go out for a swim:

POOL SAFETY AT HOME

• If you have a pool at home, install a fence. The fence should be at least four feet high and have a self-closing, self-latching gate that has a locking mechanism beyond a child’s reach.
• Cut overhanging tree limbs and remove chairs or ladders from the pool area to prevent children from climbing over the fence that surrounds the pool.
• Keep grates and drain covers in good repair and secured in place. Alert your family and guests to stay away from these devices, as the suction from drain outlets can be strong enough to cause entrapment of hair or body parts, which can potentially cause a person to drown.
• Make sure you know infant and child CPR if you own a pool.

BE SAFETY SMART WHILE SWIMMING

• Supervision is a must. Follow the 10/20 rule when you’re at the pool. The 10/20 rule states the supervising adult needs to position themselves to be able to scan the pool every 10 seconds, and reach the water within 20 seconds.

• Always have rescue devices, such as UL-LISTED life preservers, nearby.
• Flotation devices, toys and inflatable swimming aids are not safety devices. They are toys and can easily puncture and deflate.
• Always drain wading pools after children are done playing. Infants can drown in just a few inches of water.
• Have a telephone nearby and appropriate emergency numbers posted.
• Remove all toys when you leave the pool. Toys may attract children to the unattended pool.

When at play on the backyard play set:

BEFORE INSTALLING A BACKYARD PLAY SET…

• Make sure your backyard is large enough for playground equipment. The site must also provide good visibility and security. Before setting up equipment, look out for obstacles, such as the garage, tree branches, utility poles and wires.
• Read and follow the manufacturer’s directions when setting up play set equipment. Be sure your child’s weight and age fall within the manufacturer’s recommended limits for the equipment.
• Install protective surfacing, such as rubber tiles or mulch under the play set, at least six feed in all directions, to prevent serious injuries should a child fall.

 

BEFORE HEADING OUT TO PLAY…

• Carefully inspect backyard playground equipment. Make sure equipment is anchored safely in the ground, all equipment pieces are in good working order, S-hooks are entirely closed and bolts are not protruding.
• Check for spaces that could trap children, such as openings in guardrails or between ladder rungs. These spaces should measure less than 3.5 inches or more than 9 inches.
• Always supervise children on play set equipment to make sure they are playing safely.  
• Never attach ropes, jump ropes, clotheslines, pet leashes or cords of any kind to play set equipment. If used improperly, they can be potential strangulation hazards.
• Watch for potential trip hazards, such as rocks, tree stumps and concrete footings. Make sure you’re children are aware of them as well.
• Do a sandbox check. Before letting your child dig in, rake through the sand to check for debris or sharp objects. Also, inspect for any animal contamination or insect problems.

Doing a safety check list doesn’t have to be a chore.  In fact, you can head out as a family and go over the check list together!  This way you can help teach your children the importance of safety and what is unsafe, and do something together as a family.  It is pretty scary to think of something happening to your children, and an ounce of prevention goes a long way.  Sometimes, I think we put off the little things, and that can sometimes cause big consequences.  So take the time out to be safe, so you can enjoy a fun and relaxing Summer!  Thank you to UL for some really great safety tips.  This will be something we do every year.

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Underwriters Laboratories. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Uncle Ben’s Brown Rice Healthier Choice Without Compromising Taste

As a Mom, it is always a challenge to come up with things to feed your family.  It is even harder to come up with creative ways to slip healthy dinner choices into your family’s diet, especially if you have picky eaters.  One of my boys will eat just about anything, but my other, you have to convince him that the food you put in front of him is good.  Making subtle changes with healthier variations is what I found to be easiest when attempting to put something good for us on our plates.

I will be the first to admit that I tend to skip over the healthier version of a favorite food because it has been burned into my mind that it just won’t taste as good or taste the same, but I am usually willing to try it, if you put it in front of me..  My husband is a very anti-healthy anything, and if the label even mentions whole grain foods or whole wheat anything, he won’t touch the stuff.

I was recently given the opportunity to try Uncle Ben’s Brown Rice and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised.  We use a lot of white rice with various dishes in the house, so I figured that making a switch would be a good idea in the long run.  We were able to try a few different varieties Natural Whole Grain Brown, with the traditional cook time (40 minutes), plus Fast & Natural Instant Brown Rice and Boil-In-Bag Whole Grain Brown Rice (both ready in 10 minutes).  I am a big fan of the boil in bag rice but we tried the Fast & Natural Instant Brown Rice.  I was serving a pork dish with a sauce that I dumped over the rice, but because rice is so versatile you can incorporate it into many dishes.

The rice definitely has a distinct taste, and you can taste the whole grain, but everyone seemed to really like it, and I can see switching to use it in place of just using white rice, although I don’t think I will give it up completely.  Uncle Ben’s also has some really  great recipes to try using their Whole Grain Brown Rice, such as: Chicken & Brown Rice Sloppy Joes (this is next on our list to try); Tex Mex Rice with Shrimp, Corn and Lime; Chicken, Apple and Walnut Brown Rice Salad; and Mediterranean Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms. This makes it really easy to incorporate healthier choices and please even the pickiest palate.

All in all, we really liked Uncle Ben’s Whole Grain Brown Rice and will be keeping it as a staple in our pantry.  I can’t wait to try their Sloppy Joe Recipe!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Uncle Ben’s and received samples to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Halls Allergy Relief

This has to be one of the worst allergy seasons for me and my family this year. Our entire family seems to suffer from seasonal allergies. But my husband seems to get them the worst. My poor husband has been sleeping upstairs because with allergies, his snoring has become almost unbearable.
All of us are armed with allergy medications this year and take them on a regular basis. But even with medication, it seems like it is hard to get any sort of relief. My husband and I have the biggest problem with our noses being so stuffed up we can hardly breathe, and my worst problem is always having one side of my nose plugged up in the morning.
I get up and take my allergy medicine and wait at least and hour or two for it to take effect. In the meantime me and my husband spend a good half of the time sniffling away with stuffed up noses.
Finding methods for quick relief are always a plus. We were sent some Halls cough drops to help with just this sort of problem and provide some much needed short term relief while you are waiting for allergy medicine to kick in. Halls can complement your medicine and help relieve allergy related sore throat and cough symptoms and even help cool nasal passages. I have always taken Halls when I have a cold, and the feeling of being able to breathe easier with a stuffed up nose, is just something you can appreciate, when you are already feeling miserable.
Halls is a great addition to your allergy regimen for fast-acting allergy relief, so you can get on with the more important things, like playing outside with the kids and breathing a little easier!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Halls and received products necessary to facilitate my candid review. In addition, I received a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

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