Snuggle Scent Boosters: Actual Lavender Joy For Your Laundry! #TeamSnuggle

As a member of The Snuggle Bear Den, I have the chance for many opportunities, and I finally hit the jackpot with my free bag of Snuggle Scent Boosters in Lavender Joy Scent.

Let me just say this: if it smells good, I want it. I sometimes feel like I singlehandedly keep the air-freshener industry rolling. Everything from body spray to wax melts. So just when I thought I couldn't find another scented product, Snuggle shows me the light.

As you see, it's a little pack. It just gets dropped in the washer, on top of the dirty clothes.

Wash as normal, and when your clothes are done, they smell FABULOUS. It lasts, too. It's not horribly strong, though, or overpowering. Just a nice, sweet scent that is very soothing. It's a godsend for my couch blankets that too quickly take on the not-so-pretty aroma of feet.

I want to wash everything in it. Seriously. I pondered using it on the kids, but since it's not a recommended use, I decided against it. Even so, it's a welcome addition to my scent-loving collection, and I'm very happy to make its acquaintance. May we be lifelong friends.

I received free product from Snuggle for review purposes. My opinions are my own.

My Little Pony Swag Pack Giveaway, Hosted by Sweet Cheeks and Savings!

I'll have to miss the new Equestria Girls movie, and I've been hearing about it from my mad MLP fan teenager all weekend. But thanks to Sweet Cheeks and Savings, there is a salve for these wounds...SERIOUS MLP SWAG, PEOPLE!

Calling all MLP Moms, Bronies and Pegasisters!!!

Who is excited for My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks?  I know I am one Momma that will seeing this movie!  What's next best to seeing the movie?  Winning some SWAG!!!!

This swag pack include a copy of the movie theater poster, stickers and tattoos!  Enter the giveaway by using the Giveaway tool below!  Good Luck!

The Giveaway:
How to Enter: Please use the Giveaway Tool below!
Prize: My Little Pony Swag Pack including a movie poster, stickers and tattoos.
Dates: Starts September 27, 2014 6:00 pm EST.  Winner will be chosen October 7, 2014 11:59 pm EST.

Entry-Form

Disclosure: Sweet Cheeks and Savings teamed up with Shout Factory for this giveaway. Other participating bloggers are not responsible for choosing the winner or shipment of product. They have not receive any compensation for this post. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. The winner will be chose at random by the Giveaway Tool and emailed. The winner must claim the prize within 48 hours or they risk forfeiting the prize.

Triscuit Cheesecake? Yes, I Went There. #TeamTriscuit

So I was issued a challenge by Crowdtap and Triscuit to come up with a new recipe featuring those fabulous crackers in a new way. I love a food challenge more than anything, so I pondered.

I've had a lot of cool Triscuit snacks that were savory, but I MUST BE DIFFERENT. So I started thinking dessert. And this is the result:

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/200058408422880671/

They're sweet and creamy, with a cinnamony flavor, but you still get the great crunchy texture and just a touch of salt from the Triscuit. My family LOVED them, even the little ones. And they're actually pretty easy to make.

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese, softened 

1/4 cup plus 1 tsp sugar 

2 Tbs milk 

2 tsp vanilla extract 

1/4 cup butter 

Cinnamon and sugar blend 

Original Triscuit crackers

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

1. Beat together cream cheese, sugar, milk and vanilla extract until smooth. 

2. Melt butter. 

3. Place Triscuits on ungreased cookie sheet. Brush with melted butter. 

4. Coat buttered Triscuits with cinnamon and sugar. 

5. Bake for about 5 minutes. Do not leave in too long. Remove and allow to cool. 

6. Fill a pastry bag with the cream cheese mixture. If you don't have one, a plastic bag with the corner snipped works, or you can spoon it on. Pipe onto the crackers, cinnamon side up. 

7. Top with a blueberry. 

Any spread can be substituted for butter, and any fruit for the blueberry. Enjoy a fun, sweet snack with the goodness of Triscuits!

I created this recipe for a Crowdtap challenge. I did not receive compensation or products.

Parents! Vote Now to Help Kids Have More Fun – One Playspace at a Time!

As parents, we spend a lot of time discovering creative ways to nurture our children’s curiosity. Luckily, being outdoors provides the perfect landscape, fueling young imaginations and creating endless possibilities for exploration, discovery and creativity. Children’s Claritin hopes to inspire parents to create innovative play spaces in their backyards, and communities.

 

Children’s Claritin also believes in the benefits of outdoor activity for children, and wants to help children get the most out of every day! They’re teaming up with KaBOOM!, a national non-profit, to help bring innovative playspaces to communities in need and you can help! By voting, you can help them pick the four community organizations that will receive Imagination Playground™. What’s Imagination Playground™? See imagination at play – watch last year’s winner enjoying Imagination Playground™.

 

Be sure to visit ClaritinVoteforPlayspaces.com where you can place your vote and gather playspace inspirations for creating your own backyard playspace.  

 

While visiting the Children’s Claritin & KaBOOM! Facebook page, you can also:

·         Learn more about the twelve organizations you can vote for receiving Imagination Playground™

·         Download coupon offers

·         Locate a playspace near you

Vote now and help us pick the four community organizations that will receive Imagination Playground™. You can vote one time per day through 9/26/14. Click here for voting rules.

 

As a member of the Children’s Claritin Mom Crew, I receive product samples and promotional items to share and use as I see fit. No monetary compensation has taken place and any opinions expressed by me are honest and reflect my actual experience.

Kingsford Charcoal and "Fire and Smoke": The Perfect Combination!

I love cookbooks. I love barbecuing. And now I love Crowdtap, because they hooked me up with both to do their #TailgateForOurTroops!

Behold!

The cookbook is "Fire and Smoke", by world champion pitmaster Chris Lilly. The charcoal is Kingsford. The grillmaster is my husband.

 The results? Awesome.

We opted for a healthier spin on the usual tailgate fare. I started with a recipe from the back section, Sauces and Dry Rubs, the Spicy Mayonnaise. It mentioned it was great as a dip, and so I used it for my crudite plate:

It's very simple to put together, but VERY tasty. The kick of cayenne and horseradish blends well with the other ingredients, which include, of all things, maple syrup. Seriously, though, it works. I've never seen a veggie tray be that popular before.

But there is Kingsford Charcoal, so there must be fire! Back to the book.

Now, I will say I will be hitting this cookbook often, because he really put together some really awesome recipes, like Curry Chicken Satays and Smoked Lamb Ribs with Rosemary and Fig Barbecue Sauce.  There's sections for drinks, desserts, and even what to do with leftovers. I even found a recipe from my childhood. The popular local fundraiser in my hometown in Pennsylvania was the chicken barbecue, with the giant steel drums cut in half and the topper, this incredible white barbecue sauce. Well, Chris Lilly includes a recipe for just that. I will be all over it. Seriously...very cool cookbook.

But back to the tailgate at hand. The recipe I settled on was the Smoked Pork Tenderloin with Spinach Salad.

Oddly enough, it relies on an old-fashion cast iron skillet. First, there's a spice rub for the pork loin. Then I cooked bacon to crisp, then browned the spiced pork loin in the back fat. Next, there's a sauce that goes over the loin. Finally, still in the skillet, it goes on the grill, on indirect heat. Does it not look fabulous?

After grilling to a nice 145 degrees, it's time to finish the dish. Let it rest on the cutting board, and cool down the skillet with cold water. The recipe actually called for a process that involved sauteing red onions in the juices, but as my family is not huge onion fans, I opted to leave them out. It's still delicious.

Using the skillet as a serving dish, I added fresh spinach, that bacon from the beginning, crumbled, and fresh clementines that I'd peeled and sectioned. The recipe allows for canned Mandarin oranges if you don't want the trouble, but I decided to be a purist. I sliced the pork loin and arranged it, then drizzled it with this tasty dressing, also included in the recipe. Ta-da!!

It comes out moist, tender, and with wonderful flavors. The slightly sweet dressing melds beautifully with the earthy spinach, and the bacon and clementines add salty and fruity elements that complement the smoky flavors of the meat. The presentation is fun, too.

The entire family enjoyed it, even the little ones. I can't wait to try more recipes, and I have a big bag of Kingsford Charcoal to do it with, because, well, it's awesome and our go-to charcoal.

If you're interested in getting this tome of foodie fabulousness for yourself, you can purchase it here. It's also available in Kindle Edition.

I received products from Crowdtap for testing and review purposes. My opinions are my own.

Hallmark Stationery Journals #Giveaway, Hosted by Beautiful Incentives!

 Always wanted to keep a journal, or even just wanted a pretty place to write down your daily to-do list? Hallmark has the answer with their line of Stationery Journals, and the Beautiful Incentives blog is giving you the chance to win your very own! Check out her review below and enter!

  

Personally I love journaling or just writing down random thoughts as they pop into my head. You can read my full review on why here and also how getting the right for your personality can help inspire you! 

I know a lot of you must love journaling too, so I'm excited to offer this giveaway! Get ready to enter for your chance to win 1 of 3 beautiful Mystery journals from Hallmark! There will be 3 winners and the journal will be a complete surprise. 

Good Luck!  

US ONLY 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks to Love, Hallmark for sponsoring this Stationery Journal review & giveaway. All opinions are always 100% my own.  This giveaway is in accordance with FTC Rules. I nor the other blogs advertising this giveaway are responsible for prize fulfillment.

Meet Arthur Tweedie...You Gotta Check Him Out! #WaterCritic #contest

I'm not normally one to check out the videos of a commercial icon, but as I was watching TV, I had my first encounter with Arthur Tweedie, Water Critic, and I will say, it did catch my attention. He's sort of a combo of a dork and a yuppie, but interesting. And there's this...

Obviously, the dude is emotionally involved with his Pur Filters. Should he get a hobby? Yes. But in the meantime, be amused and feel confidence that your water will be safe if it passes the #WaterCritic test. I received incentive of an entry into a contest for this review. #WaterCritic #contest

Heartland Home Foods: The Beginning of a Healthy Friendship!

I never thought I could do the organic lifestyle, but my freezer is now full of possibilities, courtesy of Heartland Home Foods!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Allow me to introduce you all.

Courtesy of heartlandfoods.com

From the website: Heartland Home Foods provides families with all natural, top quality food items - fully aged grass-fed Black Angus Beef, Mid-Western select Pork, Cage Free lean Poultry, Wild Caught Seafood, 100% USDA certified Organic Vegetables, as well as a full selection of custom cut gourmet items. No steroids. No growth hormones. No antibiotics. No nasty stuff at all.

And they DELIVER. For FREE.

Before you get too excited, they ONLY serve the mid-Atlantic region of  Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia, and  Pennsylvania. If you live there, then get excited.

So what's the deal?

Well, one of their fabulous reps, like Stephen here, sets up a meet-and-greet and gives you the skinny on the process with a nice multimedia presentation. Stephen's the taller one, by the way.

They go over the plan very carefully to figure out your needs, and take your budget into consideration. If you don't think your current freezer can handle several months worth of food, they can even help you out there with a plan to add a commercial-grade freezer at a reasonable charge per month.

But is the food any good? Well, no demo is complete without a taste test, right? And that was next.

Fully aged grass-fed Black Angus beef, Midwestern Select pork, and Cage-free lean poultry. Cooked only in a dash of olive oil, yet the flavors were AMAZING. The beef was very tender and had a rich, intense flavor. The pork tasted very fresh and even a touch sweet, and the chicken... Wow.

The breast on the left was a lemon pepper flavor, and it was perfectly seasoned, without major pepper overload like a lot of that type. Even the unseasoned breast had a great flavor. They come gourmet trimmed, so you don't have to cut the fat and that gross little joint area out.

The next step...the delivery. They bring it not only to your door, but they put it in the freezer for you. Let me tell you, it's a wonderful thing to open your freezer and see this:

 

 Everyone  I spoke to, from the owner to the delivery folks, were very knowledgeable about the products, and even seemed to know ahead of time the kind of questions I'd ask. They were all very friendly, too.

My family has always wanted to eat healthier, but we always had the common issues: cost, finding quality foods, and taking the time to put together meals. With Heartland Home Foods, everything is sealed by portion size and flash frozen, so not only is it tasty, but it's easy to gauge how much you need to take out AND it thaws super fast.You don't even have to go grocery shopping...Just go to your freezer and load up!

Oh, and did I mention The Pantry? With these goodies, you can also receive products like paper goods and brand name products. One more job off your list.

I've always heard that even the simplest change in a healthier direction can make you feel better. I'm very curious to see how eating fresh like this will better our lives, and plan to update often on how things are working out.

Next: the foodie party begins!

For updates and fun recipes, follow them on Twitter and like them on Facebook.

I received products for testing and review purposes. My opinions are my own. Reminder: Serving the entire Washington/Baltimore Markets and extended suburbs from Northern Virginia through Southern Pennsylvania

Trim Fuel Protein Shake Giveaway from Daily Deals From A Nerd Mom. Awesomeness. Ends 9/13.

 This is both a fabulous blogger and a fabulous product, so you have no excuses not to enter the fabulous giveaway! So get cracking and get healthy!

Daily Deals From A Nerd Mom has teamed up with Trim Nutrition to bring to you a Trim Fuel Protein Shake sampler pack giveaway!

One winner will receive all 4 flavors of the protein shakes. I have tried these out and they are delicious and really boosted my energy to get the day going.

 

Rules: Enter using the widget below. Winner will be drawn randomly on Saturday, 9/13 at 11:59 pm and has 48 to claim prize or another winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way endorsed, associated or affiliated with Facebook, Twitter or any other Social Media Networking sites. This giveaway is valid in the Continental U.S. and entrant must be 18+ years of age to enter. Daily Deals From A Nerd mom is not responsible for prize shipment. Trim Nutrition is in charge of that.

GOOD LUCK!

 

Entry-Form

Sheer Cover Studio Makeup - Simple, Fun, and Hides The Bad Things!

I was lucky enough to be chosen by ModernMom to try out Sheer Cover Studio Makeup. I had heard a lot about it, and I was VERY curious, especially since I have, well, less than perfect porcelain skin. Behold the coolness!

 Sheer Cover Base Perfector Primer, Lengthening Mascara and Lash Lengthening Fibers, Conceal and Brighten Trio, Perfect Shade Mineral Foundation, and Sun-kissed Bronzing Minerals, as well as special brushes.

Take a look at me before. Blotches, bumps, and moles. Not a smooth terrain.

 

I opted to not use the primer at first out of curiosity...I wanted to see what the basic makeup could do. So, the first step was Conceal, with the Conceal and Brighten Trio:

I covered the pimples on my cheeks, and the reddish area around my nose. I also hid a pesky red spot on my chin, and the dark circles under my eyes. The compact comes with three shades that make it simple to get your perfect match.

 

 Next, using the same compact, I brightened! I used the white makeup in the compact and added a bit around my eyes, and just under my brow bones.

Step Three: Cover. Time for the Perfect Shade Mineral Foundation!

It went on VERY easily, and covered all, even without the primer. It took care of the redness between my eyebrows and my shiny nose.

Step four, Illuminate, using the Sun-kissed Bronzing Minerals.

I used it along my cheekbones in lieu of blusher, and also along my jaw to give it more angles.

 

So with the base in place, it was time for the pretty:  Lengthening Mascara and Lash Lengthening Fibers.

 It goes marcara, fibers, mascara, which melds together into seriously long lashes. Yes, this is me!

Here's my fabulous after, with all of the above:

My verdict: Sheer Cover Studio Makeup is easy to use, and it covers very well without feeling heavy or sticky.  I didn't notice a strong makeup odor, either, and normally I do. It feels great on, and leaves a wonderful matte finish that lasts through the day, though the Primer does seriously amp up the staying power. I didn't have any irritation, and that makes sense: it's non-comedogenic, dermatologist-tested, paraben-free, and sensitive-skin tested.

Oh, and the brushes are pretty, too.

I received products from Sheer Cover and ModernMom for testing and review purposes. My opinions are my own.