"What's For Dinner" Gift Basket Giveaway-Closed

I really do enjoy cooking, especially gourmet made-from-scratch cooking...when I have time, the recipe all picked out, the right ingredients on hand and no kids running around and screaming. Since it isn't very often that all the stars align to have all of the above, I am always on the lookout for quick, simply dinner ideas. Recently I had the opportunity to try this Macaroni Grill Creamy Basil Dinner Kit. It was absolutely delicious and easy to make.

Here's some information about Macaroni Grill Dinner Kits:
With the new line of dinner kits inspired by the chefs at Romano's Macaroni Grill, you can now easily make four classic Italian meals at home. With quick and easy preparation, a Romano's Macaroni Grill Restaurant Favorites meal is ready to eat in about 20 minutes.
The dinner kits include everything needed to create a high-quality meal in one box including premium ingredients such as such as vine-ripened tomatoes, select cooking wines, specialty herbs and 100% semolina pasta. All you have to do is add one pound of chicken or your choice of proteins such as shrimp or Italian sausage. Varieties of Romano's Macaroni Grill Restaurant Favorites dinner kits include Garlic & Herb Chicken Penne, Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken & Pasta, Chicken Alfredo with Linguine and Chicken Marsala with Linguine."

I'm excited to tell you that 3 lucky readers will win a "What's For Dinner" Gift Basket which includes a sample of the Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken Pasta variety, three coupons to try the other varieties the next time you visit your local grocer, a colander, serving spoon and cheese grater.

To enter: Click here and take a look around. Come back here and leave a comment telling me what Dinner Kit you'd like to try.

For Extra Entries:
Tell me how often you eat together with your familiy
Follow my blog
Subscribe to my blog
Blog about / Twitter about this giveaway (leave link to status page in comment)

Please remember to leave an email address so I can contact you if you win. Leave a comment for each separate entry. This contest ends May 2, 2009 at Midnight.. A winner will be chosen using Random.org and will be contacted via email. This giveaway is open to US residents.

Yeah for fellow couponers

Today I was shopping the Doubles at Kmart (Woo Hoo, My total was $54 before coupons, $2 after!!). I ran into a couple of other people who had coupons out and were obviously doing the same thing. But I ran into one person who looked like she really knew what she was doing. I had to stop her and compare deals with her. We talked for over 20 minutes and in the end she gave me some coupons and told me about some deals I never knew were out there. It made my day and was great to meet another person and hear what sites she used and how she finds herdeals. She gave me the name of a few sites I am going to check out and if they work out I will share them with you later this week!

Flower Craft Idea

I am in charge of crafts for a bunch of 4 & 5 year olds every Wednesday night so I am always looking for new and fresh ideas for things to do with them. Right now we are working on Mother's Day crafts and we are making flowers this week. I found this awesome flower on the Parents website and thought I would share it with you. It is pretty easy to make and lots of fun. I would say that if you have a 4 year old they will need help with this...but 5 and up can make it with little instruction. My daughter and I made some as a test run for tomorrow night and they came out so cute. For instructions, visit here.

If you make it, let me know how you do!!!

Deals/Freebies for Earth Day-April 22

There are a lot of good things going on tomorrow for Earth Day! If you know of something I didn't list, please let me know in the comment section :)

Aveeno- online- receive one of the limited edition AVEENO ENVIROSAX reusable organic cotton bags and a sample of the new AVEENO NOURISH+ Hair Care Collection shampoo and conditioner.

Macy's - the first 150 customers at Macy's will receive a free copy of "Kid Power" a book teaching you about native plants and how they help the environment. Available in the children's department.

Disney Store- - On April 22 the Disney Store will be rewarding recycling. Bring in any 3 empty plastic bottles to recycle and they'll give you a free reusable water bottle (while supplies alst, an $8.50 value)

Walgreens-free recyclable Walgreens bag

Starbucks - Bring a coffee mug/travel mug to your local participating Starbucks and they’ll fill it with Pike Place Roast.

Reynold's Wrap-, Try Reynolds Wrap® Foil from 100% Recycled Aluminum Free with mail-in rebate (up to $3.99) Rebate available for download on Earth Day(April 22nd, 2009) starting at 4:22 am EDT. Quantities are limited!

Reminder for free Ben & Jerry's tomorrow (Tuesday)!

Don't forget tomorrow, Tuesday, April 21st, is free ice cream day at Ben and Jerry's!!!

CVS 4/19 to 4/25

Here are a few of my favorite deals this week...let me know if you find something I've missed!!!

Bayer Quick Release crystals 2.00
Get 2 Extra bucks
Free after Extra Bucks (limit 1)

Edge Infused comfort or hydrate shave gel, 7 oz. $2.89
Get $2.89 Extra bucks
FREE after Extra Bucks (limit 1)

Crest Pro-Health toothpaste 4.2 oz, rinse 250 ml, Oral-B floss 27-55 yds, $2.88
Get 2 Extra bucks
Use $.75 off coupon from SP&G 4/5/2009
$.13 after coupon and Extra Bucks!

Flinstone Vitamins, $7.49
Use $1 flintstones childrens multivitamin product ss 3/22/09
or Use 1 off printable Flintstones
Get $4 Extra Bucks back
$2.49 after coupon and extra bucks

Milk One gallon, 1%, 2% or skim milk $2.79
Get 2 ECB When you buy (4) General Mills Cereal and a gallon of milk
$.79 after ECB with purchase of 4 creals

General Mills Cereal-Lucky Charms, Total, Honey Nut Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch 4/$10
Use $1 off printable coupon for each cereal
4/$6 after coupons

*Combine the cereal and milk deals and get 4 boxes of cereal plus a gallon of milk for $6.79

Aveeno-spend $25 get $10 extra bucks
Use $2 off printable coupon

John Frieda, Jergens, Curel or biore-spend $15 get $5 extra bucks
Use $2 off John Frieda coupon from SS 4/5/2009
Use $1 off Jergens moisturizer from 3/15/2009
Use $1 off Curel from SS 4/5/2009

Nikki Knits $50 Gift Card Winners!

Thank you to Nikki Knits for such an awesome giveaway. Their matching family clothes are so adorable! The two winners of the $50 gift card are:

#67-JoannaOnthelake
I am subscribed to your blog through email.joannaonthelake@gmail.com

#171-Goode
I really like the Daddy and Me line. The items were fun and witty.

Winners were selected by random.org
If you did not win, you can still buy them at http://www.nikkiknits.com/ and use the code livinglife to get 10% off!

Free Tradepub Magazines!

All magazines are free, no credit card required and nothing to cancel (I know...how do they do such a great deal?) Enjoy :)

STORES - STORES Magazine provides a unique perspective on the retail industry and is essential reading for retail executives. (US & Canada)

Landscape Management Landscape Management has been at the forefront of reporting news, trends and intelligence on the growing landscape management market for over 45 years. (US & Canada)

Best's Review Magazine - contains insightful, award-winning news coverage of the worldwide insurance industry--giving you the information you need to make informed decisions about your business and career. (US & Canada)


Golfdom - Superintendents and golf course owners and managers all over the country rely on Golfdom's award-winning, reader-driven coverage of all aspects of golf course maintenance. (Worldwide) (US)

Greenhouse Management & Production - This monthly publication keeps growers abreast of the newest trends, while constantly instructing them in modern marketing strategies and growing methods. (US)

Life Science Leader- The editorial discusses issues that Life Science executives in the biopharm, traditional pharma, R&D, and contract manufacturing fields have in common, including business process management, information technology, regulatory compliance, and finance/business development. (US & Canada)

Target Marketing - Target Marketing covers all direct response media, including direct mail, telemarketing, space advertising, the Web and direct response TV. (US)

Food Arts - Food Arts provides top-of-the market professionals with cutting edge information from the food and beverage industry. Exceptional recipes and fresh ideas...innovative presentation techniques...business tips and forecasts...news on tabletop, lighting, interior design...hints on where to find special products or produce...restaurant openings and closings...chefs on the move and much more in every issue. (US)

Futures - News, analysis and strategies for futures, options and stock traders. (US)

CFO - From refinancing to reengineering, from insurance to information systems, CFO takes the latest financial thinking and shows how it is being implemented in the country's most innovative organizations. (US)

Metal Finishing - provides information on emerging technologies and new products; technical papers; and the latest news impacting the finishing and coatings industries and your business. (International)

American Spa - Through the use of evocative photographs and an elegant design, they build a community by taking their readers deep inside the spa world. Twelve times throughout the year American Spa delivers the highest quality news and stories in the spa industry. (US)

Abacus Abacus Is the accountant-centric magazine focused on small to mid-size accounting practice firms that provides stimulating and provocative articles from a perspective you won't find in any trade magazine. (US)

See Kai Run Giveaway!-closed

I just love shoes!!! And I'm afraid I might have passed my shoe addiction on to my two children who can't stand to go by a shoe section in a store without stopping to try some on. That's why I'm so excited to tell you about See Kai Run. See Kai Run has the cutest line of children's shoes for sizes 0 months-8 years old! (although this giveaway is only for sizes 0 months-3 years). What's best is that they aren't only fun to look at, they are designed to provide the support a growing child's foot needs.

Here a little about See Kai Run from the creator herself:

"In 2002 I gave birth to a little boy named Kai. Two years later, I gave birth to a company called See Kai Run. See Kai Run was inspired by the need for comfortable shoes with flexible soles for my little Kai to wear outdoors. I wanted to create a line of shoes that was as happening as Kai - bold, hip, fun, with an urban sensibility. Something entirely different than what was offered.


Twice a year, I design a new collection of 15-20 designs. Our designs are sophisticated and classic with modern twists sprinkled throughout. And most importantly, our shoes are healthy for developing feet. The soles are made of extremely flexible rubber which is great for outdoor use while allowing the foot to flex in all the right places. They're also made of butter soft leather with a breathable leather lining and padded collars for comfort. Finally, See Kai Run shoes are easy to get on and off with Velcro closures that ensure a great fit."


I had the opportunity to try out the boy's Ocean style. I was very impressed with the quality of the shoes. It was so soft on the upper part of the shoe. And the bottom was very flexible yet it had a sturdy sole to protect my son's feet. I really loved the look of the shoe. It was very different than the standard shoe you see everywhere. In fact the first day I had him in the shoes I had two comments from fellow moms asking me where I got them from because they were so different from what they had seen before! But don't take my word for it, go check them out yourself!


One lucky winner will get to pick any pair of shoes from the See Kai Run or Smaller line.

To enter: Click here to go to See Kai Run and take a look around. Come back here and leave a comment telling me what your favorite shoe is.

For Extra Entries:
Follow my blog
Subscribe to my blog
Sign up for See Kai run's Email List
Twitter about this giveaway (leave link to status page in comment)
Purchase something from See Kai Run and let me know (3 entries)

Please remember to leave an email address so I can contact you if you win. Leave a comment for each separate entry. This contest ends April 26, 2009 at Midnight.. A winner will be chosen using Random.org and will be contacted via email. This giveaway is open to US residents.

What I learned this week

I started this blog a little over a month ago, and mentally I've changed direction a few times over the course of the month. I definitely want to share deals that I know about (thus all of the deals listed)...and I know I love to find fun, unique products that other moms want to hear about (thus the giveaways)...but I never thought about sharing anything too personal. After all, who wants to read about how my day went??

Then I came across a few personal blogs that I have found that I can't stop reading. They are inspiring, sometimes silly, educational, and always helpful. I have to share the name of my favorite one with you, it is the Musings of a Houswife. I just love reading her site, and when she started a "what I learned this week" carnival, I have decided to join in on the fun. To be part of this carnival, I will be posting a "what I learned this week" post every week to give you some piece of information that I have learned this week...if you enjoy it, please let me know!

What I've learned this week

I've learned that if you take kids to a strawberry u-pic field and don't supervise them well, you will end up with a basketfull of half squashed, half-worm invested bucket of strawberries that cost you more than they do in the store.

I've learned that when one kid gets a runny nose, break out the tissues because the rest of the family will be getting it soon

I've learned that sometimes it is more fun to make up your own recipe than to follow one

I've learned that having family nearby is the best blessing of all!