Not Everyone's Mama

Perfect gift idea – for anyone!  Nothing says I love you at Christmas time like Hickory Farms.  At least for me.  Send me the fudge, mom, if you’re searching for my perfect presents!

Oh Hickory Farms.

How I love thee.

Let me count the ways.

Sausage.

Chedder.

Nuts.

Fruit.

Fudge.

Cookies.

So much more.

Seriously, what tells you it is Christmas time faster than seeing the Hickory Farms store at your local mall?

When my grandpa was alive,  I always got him a Hickory Farms gift basket for Christmas.

When I bought him clothes he gave them back to me to wear.

I knew he’d eat this.

And share!

‘Cuz I love them too.

Their #1 gift basket was dropped off at my door just in time for Thanksgiving.  My sister in law warned my children that if they dared eat that cheese without her, there would be dire consequences.

They know how much their Aunt Shelley loves cheese and took her seriously.  So did Pato.

It went over huge when I set it out before Thanksgiving dinner was completely done.  Every last piece gone.  I’m glad I ate some as I cut it up.  I know my family with cheese and sausage.  My favorite was the farmhouse cheddar.  I’m not a huge smoked person, so those were not my favorites, but for everyone else, it was a smash!  The summer sausage.  I could live on that daily.  They have the absolute best summer sausage!

I was just looking through their site for more stuff for me my family’s holiday gifts and they have a category called military gifts.

Order military Christmas gifts from Hickory Farms and express your appreciation for deployed soldiers. Our gifts for soldiers are a great way to thank the brave men and women of the military during the holidays. You’ll find unique gifts for military personnel that feature nostalgic authenticity and quality ingredients that are sure to brighten the day of any soldier. Choose from an assortment of military packages that offer free shipping to APO and FPO addresses.
You’ll find perfect APO gifts for the Christmas season, so your deployed family member or friend can have a taste of home during the holidays. Support the troops and show your appreciation with military Christmas gift baskets that are eligible for free FPO delivery.

I think that is a very cool gift idea to send along with your box of essentials that those men and women need.

I need their fudge.  I really do.

I have a slight addiction to fudge.  Don’t judge.  We all have our vices.  Look at this!

My mouth is watering just looking at it.  So yummy!  Heavenly Fudge Assortment

Now that I have you as hungry as I am, head over and check out the rest of their selection.  You will be the most favorite gift giver ever if you include Hickory Farms on your gift list and with $3 flat rate shipping and awesome daily deals, you’ll be feeling pretty good about your gift giving self!  (Make sure you don’t forget a present for yourself!)

I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Hickory Farms and received a product sample to facilitate my review.

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New styles of yogurt that let you enjoy unique and delicious taste experiences! New Activia Selects brings you great tasting, cultural recipes plus everything you already love about Activia.

So this review was supposed to be up a few days ago.  Boy do I have a good reason for why it isn’t.

Every time I bought the Activia Selects yogurt, it would disappear before I had a chance to eat it.

Seriously.

It didn’t matter where I hid it in the fridge.

Gone.

No one would admit to it either.

How am I supposed to review something if it’s not there to try and my children will not tell me who ate it.

I bought both Activia Selects French yogurt in cherry and Activia Select Greek nonfat yogurt in blueberry today.

I sat down and ate them both.

Not kidding.

I was not about to have it disappear on me again.

That should tell you how good it is.

I can’t keep it in my fridge.

This was something I thought would be amazing for me, I LOVE yogurt.  And it has this added benefit:

On top of being incredibly delicious, Activia® Selects contain the unique probiotic culture Bifidus Regularis® (Bifidobacterium lactis DN 173 010) that helps to naturally regulate your digestive system, when consumed daily for two weeks as part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle.

I’m going to put a safe in my fridge and lock it just for my yogurt.

I’ve never had anything but the kids’ yogurt disappear that fast.  They like all yogurts but I never have to worry about not getting any.

Now I do.

I am so busy in the mornings getting 3 kids off to 3 different schools that I don’t have time to sit and eat breakfast, not to mention I am trying to lose more weight, so though I know breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I don’t like a big one.

This is perfect.

If my kids would leave it be.

My thoughts, I liked the Greek, but it was a little thicker than I normally like my yogurt.  Would I buy it again?  Yes, but not if the French was available.  That wasn’t really like eating yogurt at all.  The French was smooth, not too thick, the cherry was so good.  Loved it!  And I love the benefits of it when consumed daily for two weeks as part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle.

Maybe I shouldn’t have eaten them one right after the other, but people, this had to be done.  I had to try it out for myself.

They are also standing for something amazing!

Cups Of Hope

It is the long standing mission of National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. to increase awareness through education, provide diagnostic breast care services for those in need and offer nurturing support services to save lives through early detection. Dannon is committed to helping people lead a healthy lifestyle through our line of fresh cultured dairy products. Together, Dannon hopes to rally a community around this cause and give up to $1.5 million to National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. (with a guaranteed minimum donation of $500,000, including retailer-specific programs). This donation should provide the equivalent of 150,000 women served through free or low cost mammograms, ultrasounds and various forms of early detection and support after diagnosis.

Each cup has a code on it.

For each under-the-lid code from specially marked packages of Dannon yogurt entered at www.cupsofhope.com before November 30, 2010, NBCF will receive a 10 cent donation from Dannon – up to $1.5 million, with a guaranteed $500,000 minimum donation, including retailer-specific programs.  There is no need to mail in lids, as Dannon shoppers can just peel off the lid of the product and enter the code, found underneath, at CupsOfHope.com.

I have to go find the lid for my cherry.  I almost didn’t get that one either.  I stopped my 2 year old mid-finger-scoop after turning my back to put the last of the groceries into the cupboard.

The blueberry under-the-lid code was safe.

Activia Selects are getting a big huge

because I couldn’t keep it from my children.  Something nutritious?  That they loved to eat?  That I also love?  Very rarely found.  This is a keeper!

I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Dannon Activia Selects Yogurt Series and received a coupon to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.

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Who doesn’t love chocolate?  Who doesn’t love Hershey’s chocolate.

I have to say, Pato and I give each other chocolate all the time.  For any occasion.  We both are huge chocolate lovers.  I usually give him a box of his favorite as a “I’m just thinking of you right now present”.  I do give them to him for holidays too.  Especially Christmas, that’s when his favorite chocolate comes in different varieties that aren’t available all year long.

He’s good at reciprocating.  He brings it home to me when he knows I’ve had a rough day with the kids because you know, chocolate makes it all better.

For other people’s presents, I usually craft my own, but boxed chocolate would be awesome for teachers, your post person, the UPS guy who delivers all my packages.  I’m sure he’d love a box of chocolate!

According to the National Confectioners Association, the winter holidays represent the biggest boxed chocolate gifting season with more than 70 percent of adults giving or receiving a box of chocolates! Hershey’s Pot of Gold Truffles Sampler and Premium Collection gift boxes are perfect for last minute hostess gifts, unexpected holiday guests, and delicious stocking stuffers.

I am all for that!  I love the Hershey’s Pot of Gold chocolates.  All of them.  I’m not ashamed to admit it.

Now you can go celebrate with Hershey’s!

I am entering a contest for a Hershey’s Pot of Gold prize pack as a member of the Mom Bloggers Club but I still love chocolate!

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We got to try Simply GoGurt by Yoplait!  We’ve actually been a GoGurt family for a long time.  You can open up my refrigerator and find those tubes in there at any time.  We tried both the mixed berry and strawberry flavors and as always, my kids loved them.  It’s a healthy snack that I’m good with giving to them.  Even Christiano carries the portable tubes around.  He makes a mess every once in awhile but for the most part, he just sucks the yogurt right out.

Simply GoGurt has no high-fructose corn syrup or artificial colors, flavors or sweeteners and each yogurt tube is a good source of calcium and vitamin D.

It still has the great Yoplait taste that we’ve come to love in our family!  I eat the containers of Yoplait Light and the kids eat Simply GoGurt.

Yoplait has a $1 off coupon over on the Simply GoGurt site so that you can save on your box of Simply GoGurt!

I want to thank My Blog Spark for sending me a coupon for Simply GoGurt, an mini Etch-A-Sketch, and a planner!  

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Congrats to Jill Myrick!  Thank you to everyone who entered!

I recently got to try a whole bunch of Kraft’s new products!  Look at all these!

• New KRAFT HOMESTYLE DELUXE Macaroni & Cheese Dinner: a delicious homemade taste complete with a crunchy breadcrumb topping.
• New KOOL-AID FUN FIZZ Drink Drops: a fun and delicious way to get kids to drink water with only 5 calories per serving.
• RITZ CRACKERFULS Filled Crackers: made with real cheese and 6 grams of whole grain per serving to help keep you satisfied.
• New DIGIORNO Pizza & Breadsticks: fresh-baked taste with big juicy toppings plus cheesy breadsticks along with marinara sauce — all in one box.
• OSCAR MAYER Deli Fresh Shaved Meats: sliced, packed and sealed at the peak of freshness.
• New KRAFT 100 CALORIE PACKS CHEESE BITES: big cheese flavor in every bite-sized piece in these satisfying 100 calorie packs.

I have to say that my favorite was the Kraft Homestyle Deluxe macaroni. (My most favorite is the Old World Italian!)  We have tried all the flavors now and they are a staple in my cupboard for lunches.  They take just a few minutes longer than the regular Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (which we love too), but it is totally worth it.  My kids chow it down.

The next thing I have bought tons of are the Kool Aid FunFizz Drops.

My kids love those!  They love to make it themselves.  Watch the fizz, then drink it down.  It only has 5 calories per serving, which is fabulous!

The Oscar Meyer Deli Fresh deli meat is so yummy!  It makes excellent sandwiches.  We add some chedder and provolone cheese, some red wine and vinegar and have an excellent sub.  It tastes just as good as the deli meat that I have had sliced for me at the grocery store.

The Ritz Crackerfuls were a huge hit with my kids.  Huge.  They were a little sweet for me.  Not my favorite thing in the gift basket, but ok.  I think I actually prefer the regular Ritz crackers, but since the kids love them, we have bought these also.

The Kraft 100 calorie pack cheese bites were excellent!  But, what Kraft cheese isn’t?  It’s the only kind I buy.

And the DiGiorno Pizza & Breadsticks were fantabulous!  Just what I’d expect from DiGiorno!  My kids ate that up too!

Guess what?  I’ve got a gift basket to give to one of my readers!  In it you will get samples of New KOOL-AID FUN FIZZ Drink Drops, New KRAFT HOMESTYLE DELUXE Macaroni & Cheese and RITZ CRACKERFULS Filled Crackers along with gratuity coupons for New DIGIORNO Pizza & Breadsticks, OSCAR MAYER Deli Fresh Shaved Meats and New KRAFT 100 CALORIE PACKS CHEESE BITES. I wanted to let you know the coupons expire on 7/31/10, so use them quickly when you get them!

NOTE – MOVING THE EXPIRATION DATE UP TO THE 5th due to coupon expiration dates.

It took me awhile to get the deli meat and the pizza & breadsticks at my local store, which is why I’m late in posting this. I wanted to try all of them before I posted the review.  I didn’t think about the expiration date while I was waiting for them to get more of that product.  (Sold out when I went the first couple of times!  Told you they are excellent!)

MAIN ENTRY:

Tell me which of those new products above that you would love to try!

MAKE SURE YOU DO THE MAIN ENTRY BEFORE ANY OF THE EXTRA ENTRIES! THANKS!

EXTRA ENTRIES:

• - Tweet this giveaway –

Win a gift basket full of Kraft’s new foods from from #HeatherM74! http://bit.ly/a37c05 ends 7/5 US Only! Please RT #Giveaway

See this link for extra entries now.  It will open in a new window/tab.  Then you can just look, come back to this page, and enter each one you did.

Giveaway ends on 7/5/10 at 11:59 PM CST. (so you can get the coupons and use them before they expire) US ONLY! – Winners will be chosen by random number generator. Winners will be emailed and must respond within 48 hours or an alternate winner will be chosen.

Thank you to Kraft for providing me with a gift basket of their new foods to review and give away!

Kraft Foods is not responsible for conducting the promotion or for selecting the recipient or is in anyway connected with this promotion.

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Congrats to phxbne!  I’m sending you an email now!  Thank you to everyone who entered!

That little doughboy has come out with something else!

Pillsbury pizza crust!  I was able to try the classic crust and I was excited!  I LOVE making homemade pizza.  I usually use the packets of pizza crust mix, 2 to each pizza.  It makes quite a mess when I make pizza.  Plus, rolling it out can be a pain in the toosh.

I headed off to the store and got some Pillsbury pizza crust.   Came home, made the pizza, and was so happy when it turned out that it tasted better than I want I make our crust with.  Not to thin, not too thick, and so yummy!  I’ll give you my recipe for pizza since I don’t have an interview with my kids.  When making supper, having 4 underfoot in the kitchen doesn’t work out well.  If I could get just one kid to help me at a time that is awesome, unfortunately if one is in there, the other 3 have to be too, right under my feet, and it’s dangerous with the baby around a hot stove.  I only let them help me if there is a process before I start cooking (IE:  Making cookies – getting the dough ready before I start working with the oven.)

1 tube of Pillsbury pizza crust

1/8 cup of butter (margarine, whatever you have, I usually use I can’t believe it’s not butter)

2 teaspoons garlic powder

Presti’s Pizza Seasoning

(That looks like this and it’s awesome!)

1 lb of Italian sausage

small package of pepperoni

black olives

mushrooms

2 cups of mozzerella cheese

Cook the Italian sausage.  While that’s cooking, get the pizza dough ready and black olives cut up.  When the Italian sausage is done cooking, I throw the black olives and mushrooms in with it for a few minutes.  That is optional, you could just spread it over the pizza without cooking them.

I melt the butter and add the two teaspoons of garlic powder to that.  Brush that mixture over the pizza dough.

Sprinkle a little Presti’s pizza seasoning over it.

Layer the pepperoni on the dough then sprinkle the Italian sausage, olives, and mushrooms over it.

Cover the pizza with mozzarella cheese.

Sprinkle a little more of the Presti’s over the whole thing.

Cook according to pizza dough instructions.

My favorite meal I make.  I also make one with hamburger instead of Italian sausage because a) we need 2 pizzas – I have 4 kids and a husband b) Jordan, Kat, and Alyce claim the Italian sausage is too spicy, though the baby will eat it like it’s going out of style.

I don’t like red tomato sauce on my pizza hence the garlic butter sauce.

That pizza is a huge hit wherever I make, usually at my house or my mom’s.

The plates that came with it went over big with my kids too. They pull them out for everything, not just pizza.

We also go to try Pictureka!

We have had a serious blast playing this game.  It’s our new family favorite.  Even Pato gets down on the floor and plays with us.  Nano’s the only one who is too young.  When Alyce plays we let her use the blue cards during her turn.  She can find the picture fairly well.  Sometimes we will tell her what board it is on if she is struggling, but she does really well with this game.  It’s too much fun!

Go over to Hasbro and check out other ideas for Family Game Night!

I have the same Family Pizza Nut package for one reader that I was able to try!  It’s complete with Pictureka, pizza plates, and a coupon for Pillsbury pizza crust!

(After you enter the giveaway, go over to Pillsbury and get some great coupons on those Pillsbury products you love!)

This will be a quick giveaway because I have to turn the winner in by June 11!  So keep that in mind when you enter.  I have to have your info by June 11, during the day.

MAIN ENTRY:

Tell me what is your favorite thing to do on Family Game Night?  (Or you can tell me what your favorite thing to do on Family Game Not was growing up.)

MAKE SURE YOU DO THE MAIN ENTRY BEFORE ANY OF THE EXTRA ENTRIES! THANKS!

EXTRA ENTRIES:

• See this link for extra entries now.  It will open in a new window/tab.  Then you can just look, come back to this page, and enter each one you did.

Enter to win a Pillsbury Family Pizza Night pack from #HeatherM74 http://bit.ly/ctSDuP ends 6/9 *US Only please RT #Giveaway!

Giveaway ends on 6/9/10 at 11:59 PM CST. US ONLY! – Winners will be chosen by random number generator. Winners will be emailed and must respond within by June 10 during the day or an alternate winner will be chosen.

Thank you to Pillsbury for providing me with the VIP coupons, online coupon link, information, and prize packs through MyBlogSpark™

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You know who Entemann’s is don’t you?  The blue and white boxes of yummy yummy cakes and pastries?

I don’t remember when I first saw them, my grandpa had something of Entemann’s on his kitchen counter for as far back as I can remember.  He would tell me how could they were whenever we went to the grocery store, or when he cut a bit out.  I still think of my grandpa when I think of Entemann’s. 

Imagine how happy I was to hear that Entemann’s came out with coffee!  Coffee.  I love me my coffee.  That’s another grandpa thing.  I only drank coffee when I was with him until he passed away in 2005.  After that, I started drinking it every day.  It was something I did with him, and I just kept it up.  Kind of like the Entemann’s.  I only ate it with him. 

Entemann’s sent me a few samples of their new coffee to try.  I got to test out their Ultimate Hazlenut, Ulitmate Vanilla Bean, and Ultimate Cafe Blend.  I don’t think I can choose a favorite.  I loved the taste of all of them.  I’m not a huge flavored coffee drinker either.  I never buy flavored coffee because I like my chocolate creamer too much.  I would buy those two flavors they sent me and the Ultimate Cafe Blend tasted really good.  Better than the normal one I buy.  They all smelled wonderful too.  The Ulitmate Vanilla Bean scented up my whole house and Pato said he almost wanted coffee.  Almost.  He hates coffee.  Both of the flavors were true to their name, they weren’t overpowering, but the flavor was definitely there.

I might be willing to give up my creamer just for the chance to try the Ultimate Cinnamon Crumb Cake, I mean come on.  Does that not sound delectable?  I love cinnamon crumb cakes, I love coffee – win win I say!

You can try all 3 of their flavored coffees by purchasing one of their gift sets.  I’m tempted.  I’m really really tempted.  I can only imagine how good my house would smell with the Ultimate Cinnamon Crumb Cake brewing.

If you’re a coffee drinker, I recommend checking them out.  If you know Entemann’s cakes and pastries and the quality you get from those, you know what the quality and the taste of the coffees will be like.  I say it’s a great way to start your day!

I’ve got to make this post in memory of my grandpa just because of how much he loved Entemann’s cakes!

Thank you so much to Entemann’s for providing me with samples of their new coffee to try.  It was so good!

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Congrats to phxbne! Thanks to everyone who entered!

I got to try YoPlait light yogurt thanks to MyBlogSpark.  I have to say that I was already a huge YoPlait fan.  It wasn’t hard to get involved with this one.  I did try some new flavors when I went shopping this last time.  I still have quite a few in my fridge, but so far I have tried -

Apple Turnover – Boston Cream Pie – Red Velvet Cake – Pineapple Upside Down Cake

My favorite of the 4?  Apple Turnover, but the Pineapple Upside Down Cake comes in a very very close 2nd.  I liked the other 2, but they tasted a like to me.  Good, but not a big difference in taste.  The 2 fruit ones taste just like what they say.  I was pretty amazed.  Usually when I buy yogurt I stick with the old standbys for me:  strawberry cheesecake, cherry vanilla, black cherry, all the old favorites.  I’m so glad I tried these flavors.  I will definitely be getting my 2 favorites again.  Plus, I still have quite a few other ones in the fridge to try.

YoPlait and MyBlogSpark have a Yoplait Light “Outsmarting Temptation” gift pack, which includes an insulated gourmet lunch tote, a food journal and a travel utensil set.  I got the same gift pack and the lunch tote and travel utensil set are so cute!!  Katiana stole it from me for her cold lunches at school.  (They keep stealing my yogurt as well, I had to hide the rest in the refrigerator.)

HOW TO WIN!

Leave a comment here about what your favorite flavor of YoPlait Light would be!

Giveaway ends – April 1, 2010 @ 11:59 PM CST

Thank you to YoPlait and MyBlogSpark for providing me with a coupon for a free YoPlait light and the Yoplait Light “Outsmarting Temptation” gift pack!

For myself – tweet is Win a YoPlait light Outsmarting Temptation gift pack with insulated gourmet lunch tote! http://bit.ly/9ZAQfA ends 4/1

Do you use a paid web directory? Is that like a phone book?  Or like Google?  I have no idea.

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