Summer Giveaway Winner

I plugged into to random.org the number 18, and got the following results:

And the 12th comment was from Rachel from This Hearts Desire:

Congratulations Rachel! Contact me with your information within the next 48 hours (I'll need your full name, address and phone #) and I'll get your prize pack out to you soon! Thanks to everyone else who entered. I've got more great giveaways planned for this summer, so be on the lookout!

A Summer Giveaway

I don't know about you, but when you're a mom on the go, you're always looking for a good alternative to fast food snacks. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love me some fried food and soda, but if I ate it every day, I'd secure my spot in Biggest Loser. That's why I was excited when I was given the chance to review the Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix Bars. Let me just tell you, they did not disappoint.

I received my package yesterday and was so excited because it was just before snack time. B and I had another date out by the kiddie pool in the backyard, so I grabbed a trail mix bar to munch on while I sat outside with him. Normally I have to find a slew of things to munch on to fill me up, but honestly, the trail mix bar hit the spot and left me feeling delightfully content until dinner. These will definitely be making trips with us in my purse for those pregnancy moments where I need that little something to get me by until the next meal. What's great about these bars is that they come in a HUGE pack from Sam's, so if you have a large family (or consume a large amount of food like our family of 3 does), you don't have to run to the store every other day, or fill your pantry with 6 boxes of bars. 

Think this is something that your family could use as summer approaches as trips to the pool are eminent? Well good, because I have a special treat for you. I'm giving one lucky reader a chance to win their very own  box of Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix Bars, along with a $25 giftcard to Sam's Club so they can purchase more if they so desire! Sounds awesome right?! Here's how to enter:

• LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS POST, TELLING ME WHAT YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT SUMMER IS (Make sure I have a way to contact you, either through your blog or email address). Only one comment per participant will be accepted; duplicate comments or more than one comment by the same participant will be deleted.
• Must be a US resident to be eligible for the prize pack.
• The winner will be selected using random.org next Friday, June 4th. The winner will be announced on my blog, and will have 48 hours to respond, otherwise a new winner will be chosen. 
• GOOD LUCK!

 The prizepack, information and giftcard were provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark. All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated in any other way for this review or giveaway.

Camera Strap Giveaway Winner

OK, I picked a winner for my camera strap giveaway with random.org and got this:

And the 3rd commenter was Christa who said:

Congratulations Christa! Email me with your contact info and I will get your strap in the mail to you! Thanks so much to all who entered, and a special thanks to Pam for giving me the opportunity to give away such a cute strap! If you didn't win, you can still head over to Pam's craft site to check out all of her cute straps!

Camera Strap Giveaway

Recently, I won a giveaway over at Troop Petrie's blog. Pam makes some super cute camera strap covers; if you own a digital SLR camera, I highly recommend getting a camera strap cover. They are SO cute, functional, and give your camera just a little bit of flare. Pam was kind enough to include an extra strap cover for me to giveaway to one of my readers. It's one that looks like this:

Isn't it cute? 

If you'd like to own this piece of camera flare, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post! I'll pick a winner using random.org next Friday, May 14th. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me with their info, or I will choose a new winner. Good luck!

Walmart Giftcard Winner

Well, I plugged in all the details into random.org, pressed the generator and got this:

And the first comment was my friend Jessica at Two Little Cowboys and Rocketships & Elephants.

Jessica email me with your address so I can get the giftcard sent out to you! Thanks for everyone who participated, and a special thanks to P&G and MyBlogSpark for providing the kits and giftcard.

Cascade Complete Review & Giveaway

 When I was approached with the opportunity to review the new Cascade Complete ActionPacs, I jumped on the opportunity. Anything to make my life easier is worth a try right? I have to admit though, that after reading the challenge, I was a bit skeptical. I, mostly by training and habit than anything, always soak and scrub my dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. I guess it kind of grosses me out to leave food on dishes when they go in the dishwasher, and I absolutely HATE when I go to put away all of the silverware and find that piece of crusty old casserole left from Monday's dinner. GROSS. But I figured since the challenge was free to me, I'd give it a shot. 

Sunday we had some friends come over for dinner, so I baked up the Blueberry Cobbler as directed (don't worry, I'll post the recipe below, because it's DELICIOUS and SUPER easy!). It was ooey, bubbly, blueberry goodness and we ate to our hearts content. Against my nature, I left the dish out as directed for 24 hours. No rinsing, no scrubbing, no scraping. Left in it's natural state  of post-devouring. Do you know how bad it ate at me that there was a dirty dish just sitting there crusting by the second and I was INTENTIONALLY doing it? Agghhhhh! I was relieved to put it away in the dishwasher last night (still with no scrubbing, soaking etc, and in all it's crusty glory!), but still skeptical that  the day old cobbler remains would all come off. I figured that these ActionPacs might work if you had a super duper nice dishwasher, but ours is not top of the line by any stretch of the imagination.

I put the dishwasher on normal cycle, popped the cute little pack in the detergent container (no more squirting gels or trying to aim your powder into your dishwasher-- just pop and go!), walked away, and eagerly awaited the results. 2 hours later, when the clean light lit up, I opened the dishwasher with hesitancy. To my surprise, EVERY CRUSTY BIT OF COBBLER WAS GONE! These ActionPacs REALLY work! Drew was skeptical too, so I can't wait to show him the results when he gets home from work. We might be upgrading our dish detergent from now on people-- momma's got bigger and better things to do than sit in the kitchen scrubbin' after the kiddo goes to bed!

Because the people at P&G are so generous, they are offering up a $25 Walmart giftcard to one of my lucky readers so that you too can try out the new Cascade Complete ActionPacs. Believe me, if you're a busy mom like me, this might be the next best thing since sliced bread!  

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post letting me know which meal leaves the most nastiness on your dishes. 

That's it... that's all you have to do and you're entered to win the giftcard! Easy peasy right?! This is going to be a super fast giveaway, so  

I am only going to leave the comments open to entries for 24 hours. Comments will close Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 at 10:30am. 

The winner will be selected using random.org and will have 48 hours to contact me with their information, otherwise a new winner will be chosen. Good luck!

Oh, and if you want the recipe for the cobbler, wait no more.

BLUEBERRY COBBLER RECIPE

Filling:

1 pint (2 cups) fresh blueberries

1 can of blueberry pie filling

Crust:

1 stick of butter

2/3 c. all-purpose flour

2/3 c. sugar

2 packets of instant oatmeal (I used Maple & Brown Sugar)
1/2 t. cinnamon


Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400. Mix blueberries and pie filling in the bottom of a baking dish (I used a deep 9x9 baking dish). In a separate bowl, melt butter, and add all dry ingredients. Stir with a fork until mixed (this should be crumbly). Sprinkle crust over filling and bake for 30 minutes. The filling should be bubbly and the crust should be slightly brown and crunchy. Enjoy!

This product review was based on using complimentary Cascade product provided by P&G. I also received a Walmart giftcard to share with my readers. P&G does not represent or warrant the accuracy of any statements or product claims made here, nor does it endorse any opinions expressed within this blogsite. All opinions and statements made in this review are my own. The Cascade Complete ActionPacs product kit and giftcard were provided by P&G through MyBlogSpark.

The Power of a Wish... A Giveaway!

Back when I was in high school, one of my brother's friends had a brother who was dying from a terminal illness. It was a pretty traumatic situation back then, and as a mom now I can't imagine knowing that my son was going to die. The thought just makes me shudder! The family submitted to the Make-A-Wish foundation the wishes of their son-- to see a Harry Potter movie filmed live. His wish was granted, and the whole family was able to go on a trip far away from the reality of illness and into a world where this little boy was given the biggest wish he could ever have thought. That was my first experience with the Make-A-Wish foundation, and it was truly impactful. I love the foundation and what they offer to children and families who are in terrible situations. That's why I was so excited to hear about this new program that Betty Crocker® is running right now. 

 

For the next 3 years, Betty Crocker® has made a $250,000 annual commitment to the Make-A-Wish foundation. Pretty cool huh? Want to know what's even cooler? The fact that with our help, they may be able to double their donation this year! That's right, Betty Crocker® is giving customers the chance to pitch in on this awesome venture. Want to know how you can participate? It's easy and there's two ways:

* Support the Make-A-Wish Foundation® online while saving on your favorite Betty Crocker® products through the Give $5, Get $5 promotion. Just visit the Betty Crocker® Stirring Up Wishes website from now through April 15th to donate $5 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation to help make children’s wishes come true and get $5 worth of downloadable Betty Crocker coupons. If you're like our family, this is a steal of a deal, because we eat Betty Crocker® brownies and cookies ALL. THE. TIME. They are a total lifesaver when you're busy but still need to bring dessert to your community group, play group or meeting at work!

* Simply purchase your favorite Betty Crocker® products this spring. For every specially marked package purchased, Betty Crocker will donate 10¢ to the Make-A-Wish Foundation®, with a guaranteed minimum donation of $250,000 and a maximum donation of $500,000. Easy peasy right? And to think that there's more to this story!

Because Betty Crocker® is so awesome, they're going to give one of my readers a prize pack AND make a $25 donation to the Make-A-Wish foundation on behalf of the winner! How awesome is that?!!! To enter this giveaway:

Mandatory Entry: Visit the Betty Crocker® Stirring Up Wishes website, and leave me a comment letting me know what wish you would grant, and why. 

Want additional entries? I thought so. 

For 1 extra entry: be/become a follower of my blog. Leave a comment letting me know.

For 1 extra entry: subcribe/be a subscriber to my blog. Leave a comment letting me know.

For 3 extra entries: blog about this giveaway. Leave a comment with the POST URL. 

Comments will be open until Wednesday, March 31st at 7:00AM CST. The winner will be selected using random.org, and will have 48 hours to contact me with their information otherwise I will pick a new winner.

Disclosure: Betty Crocker has provided the prize pack, products, donations and product information through MyBlogSpark. All opinions in this article are my own. 

y Crocker provided you with the product, information, donations, and prize packs through MyBlogSpar