Product Review-Fresh Take Cheese and Breadcrumb mix

It is not often that I find a product that I just can not wait to promote on here but I have found one.  The new Kraft Fresh Take Cheese and Breadcrumb mixes are so good!  My family has already tasted three of the flavors (although Italian Parmesan is our favorite) and we LOVE them.  The seasoned breadcrumbs, the cheese, and the bag to "shake" it all in is all included in this pack and it couldn't be easier to use.  Sure, you could buy your own cheese and breadcrumbs and ziplock and make it all work together but this all being in one pack is SO convienent and easy.  It takes me about 5 minutes to get the meat in the oven with this pack!  I can whole heartedly recommend this one with two thumbs up, especially for those busy mommas out there needing a "homecooked" meal in minutes!!  LOTS of coupons out for them right now too since they are a new product so keep your eyes open! 

Go here for $0.50 off a pack (Kroger will double that to $1)

Product Review-Downy Wrinkle Releaser

It's been a while since I have done a product review on here . . . but it's been a while since I have found a product I love as much as this. 

Downy Wrinkle Releaser is a great little spray that actually works!  I had my doubts but then I got a free sample and threw it in my travel bag last time we went on a trip.  I took out my husbands polo shirts which had wrinkled with the suitcase and gave the bottle a try.  Spray and tug and poof . . . wrinkles gone!  I was so impressed I had to share it with you!  I might just never need my iron again.  :-)  I will NEVER travel without it again, that's for sure.  Those hotel ironing boards are just nasty!  Two thumbs WAY up Downy!

V Smile Motion Product Revew

We recently purchased this V-Smile Motion for our 3 year old son and we couldn't be more pleased with it.  It is strong quality materials and takes a beating and still hangs in there.  We especially love that the game it comes with (and I believe all the other games too) is educational and that my son can play it without much help.  The controller is easily modified for left or right handed children and can be used as a movement controller (similar to a Wii controller) or as a traditional joystick controller (my son's favorite way to use it).  The controller is completely wireless so no cords to get tangled or messed up.

An even cooler feature if you have several young children is that they can play head to head with each other with this system.  All you need is another wireless controller and your kids can play against each other live on the screen.  I don't think many children's gaming system's allow for that type of play.

The V-Smile Motion does not come with the plug in adaptor (although it is available separately) but since it does run by battery we were able to plug it into our car recently on a long trip so my son could play games on the TV built into the van.  I am not a big fan of video games for kids .  .  . but this one is so educational, that used in moderation (like on long car trips) I think it will continue to be a great addition to the toys in my home.  The graphics are NOT good . . . not anywhere near the Wii graphics my husband and I use . . . but for a 3 year old with his first gaming system it's been just fine.

If you are looking for a video game system for your 3-5 year old child I highly recommend this toy.  It has not gotten great reviews online but my son has used and ABUSED his and it's still doing just fine and we are enjoying it often.  I can't wait to try out some new games.  slight disclaimer, we have never used any other gaming system with my child so while we do LOVE this system, we have not at this point ever used another system made for 3 year olds.

The system retails for about $40 at most stores.  I recently found that one of the Walmarts in town was clearing the shelves of this product so it was actually marked down to $29.99 and the games were only $9.99 so you might check your local store to see if they have theirs on sale.

Shutterfly Photo Cards

Sorry for the leave of absence on the website . . . hopefully this is the first of many Christmas money saving posts as we head into the Christmas season.

Shutterfly is one of my favorite online photo printing sites.  I have been extremely happy with their promotions and the quality of all the prints and photo books I have received from them in the past.  I was especially thrilled to see the wide variety of Christmas cards they have available this year.  If you are a new customer of theirs, you will also receive 50 free prints with your order!!  That should get your photo album for 2010 going on the right foot!  I also love that you can pick up your prints at CVS (or Target or Walgreens) which I am already shopping at each week so this isn't another stop in my errands list if I need them right away.  If I don't need them right away, I can always have them sent to my home. 

Shutterfly has one of the best sites for religious photo cards that I have seen anywhere and offers many cards that you can personalize but still celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.  You can find all the religious options here.  My personal favorite is this one, because of it's clear message as well as the ability to put my family photo in it.  I love how Shutterfly has allowed you to personalize your cards without having to sacrifice and put a Christmas message you are uncomfortable with as well.

Another one of my favorites is in the story cards section.  This section of cards is great for Christmas because of it's ability to tell a story of your year to friends and family who perhaps are not able to keep up with you throughout the year.  Here are two of my favorites from the story cards section.  I can just picture pregnancy pictures in the first month or two and then infant and growing up pictures of my best friends baby in this first card!  :-)  The top 10 moments card would make a GREAT place for me to put the top 10 quotes of Andrew through the year . . . he certainly seems to be full of them!!

Don't have much time this year?  Perhaps the best feature of all is that Shutterfly will actually stamp and mail the cards for you . . . just upload or enter your addresses into the system and mail them out!  Easy as pie right?  :-)  (although I never really understood that since pie is actually quite difficult to make)

Here are some current promotions to get you started on your Shutterfly journey.

1 Free 5x7 Card---enter CARD4U at checkout

Free Shipping on orders of $30 or more---enter SHIP30 at checkout

20% off all holiday cards---click here to get started

50 free cards---click here to find out how you can post about this on your blog and get 50 free cards

disclaimer-everything I said in this post is true and my opinion of this product is honest---I did, however, receive a sample, trial, or promotion for posting the review of the product above and while it didn't change my opinion of the product, I do need to let you know that.

Odor Grabber Diaper Pail Refill Review

Saw these at Walmart a few weeks ago and thought it was great!  An off brand bag to put in my diaper genie to save money!  I was all for it and excited to try it out since it was $1 cheaper than the diaper genie refill.  I was severely disappointed.  This was not a continuous bag like the genie refills but instead was 10 individual bags that you put on with a plastic ring that is included in the pack. 

I found the ring easy to use and the concept worked as well as the genie brand as far as odor and cleanliness go.  I found that the bags were too big for me to use up in a week though.  So, I was throwing away an entire bag with only a few diapers at the bottom and it seemed like such a waste.  The genie bags let you tear it off right at the top of whatever fill you have so that none is wasted. 

The Odor grabber claims that it has a diaper capacity of 300 and I can't confirm or deny their claim on that . . . but . . . who wants to leave the diapers in the pail until the bags are COMPLETELY full?  Not me!  On trash day, my diapers go out NO EXCEPTION!!  For this reason, I won't buy Odor grabber again.  When trash day comes around I can't justify throwing away a half used bag and I also can't keep diapers in my house longer than a week just to use up a bag.  Yick.

Did you get the free Chicken?

Did you take advantage of the free Chicken sandwich sample I posted about here?  We did it last night and were quite impressed with Chick-fil-a.  We had a Spicy Chicken VIP table waiting for us.  We were not only given a free sandwich but free fries and large drink as well.  We were even waited on at our table as we ordered our son's kids meal and got refills.  We just got to the restaurant and sat down . . . we were waited on hand and foot after that.  Quite impressed with the entire event and saw four other tables of people taking advantage of the event as well while we were there.

The spicy chicken sandwich was WAY too spicy for my liking . . . I couldn't even finish it all.  My husband, however, loved it and said he will order it again when it is available to the public.  We were recommended to put some ranch dressing on it to cut the spice but neither of us tried that since we are not a fan of the dressing.  They also offered various cheeses to either spice up or tone down the sandwich.

One of the most fun and interesting free events we have ever attended.  We felt very important sitting at the special table and getting all that free food.  Did you redeem your free coupon?  What did you think?

"Tanning" Lotions

I LOVE-Jergens Natural Glow Daily Moisturizer--A little touch of color, no orange streaks! I have used this for two years now and LOVE it. I will even pay full price for it if I don't have a coupon and that's saying something for me. 

I HATED-Nivea Sun-Kissed beautiful Legs--It turned me orange after only one use!!  I have fair skin and I was using the lightest color they had and I looked like an orange afterwards.  Would certainly not recommend it to anyone.

Curves and Yoga DVD

In an effort to be more physically fit I am trying several new ways of working out. I find that if I have something that I enjoy I seem to do much better at being faithful in my workouts. I thought I'd keep a little journal here of the things I try and what I think of them for your reading pleasure. (because I'm sure you have nothing better to do than read about my workouts). Plus, it will help me have a reference point in six months when I have forgotten what I liked and didn't like about each thing.

CURVES FOR WOMEN

 I just recently tried a 30 day membership at Curves for Women that a friend gave me as part of a promotional deal. I thought I'd do a brief review on here for anyone who (like me) wanted to know what it is all about. Curves is a predesigned workout routine that you do in a 30 minute time segment each time you go to the gym. It takes 30 seconds on each machine, two times around the room for a total of a 30 minute workout (plus stretching at the end). Every 30 seconds a voice comes over the intercom system telling you to switch machines. It is an all women's place so no men allowed. There are women of all ages, shapes and sizes so it's not a bit intimidating and if you are a chatter . . . I can assure you that you will find at least one woman working out with you who will be willing to talk.

Overall I found the workout to be very challenging for my muscles but I don't think it didn't do a whole lot for my cardio. I was not tired at the end like after running on the treadmill but I will admit that my muscles felt like they had had a workout and I was often sore the day after working out. The workouts made me feel great and I honestly think it stretched muscles that have not been used in a while and opened up my entire body. Overall, my opinion is that this would be a must have workout for anyone who is pregnant or recovering from an injury and unable to do a harder workout. It would also be great for older people who have limitations that would keep them from jogging, playing tennis, riding a bike . . .

If it were not so expensive, I might use it as my weight training to strengthen my muscles while doing cardio on the side because it did make me feel really good and my muscles were glad to be worked and stretched. I found that the cost was quite high ($99 first time fee and then $41 a month) and that for that fee my entire family can get a YMCA membership with pool access. I just can not justify spending that much money on myself alone when my entire family could benefit.

On a totally different topic. I am not at all a germaphobic person but I found the entire thing to be quite disgusting. You simply move on to the next machine every 30 seconds. No wiping anything off, no time to clean up after yourself . . . if you got on the circuit behind a sweaty woman you were in trouble. YUCK!!!

To their credit, Curves has a newer program called Curves Smart which seems really cool. The entire time you are on the machines a digital personal trainer (a green light) tells you if you are working hard enough or which of your muscles need more repetitions. At the end of each workout you log onto a computer and it shows you a map of every muscle in your body and which ones are not strong enough and which ones are pulling all the weight. I think that would be really motivating and interesting. I was not able to test this program so I can not attest to whether it changes my overall opinion or not.

I will not be going back. Too expensive to spend on only myself for half of my workout.  Are you a member?  What do you think of Curves?

Check out their website for more information. http://www.curves.com/

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YOGA
I won a giveaway in the All You magazine a couple months ago and I won a Yoga DVD. Do any of you practice Yoga? I mean seriously, is my body supposed to be able to do that? I couldn't hold one pose let alone all the deep breathing she was telling me to do while I was holding myself in an upside down pretzel . . . Then she is telling me to focus on my inner core . . . what? My inner core is now turned upside down and is somewhere between my outer shell and my fat rolls . . . nope, Yoga is out for me . . . garage sale box has just inherited a yoga DVD.

Overnight Diapers

I was THRILLED to no end to discover such a thing as overnight diapers. I went from changing the sheets, pajamas and blankets in baby Mountaineer's bed EVERY MORNING to only changing them when I want to. They are no longer covered in wet from the diaper not lasting all night.

These have been a lifesaver for us not only at night but also for long trips. We love love love them and although they are a little more expensive than regular diapers . . . we only use them at night and for traveling and it's well worth the extra cost.

A few weeks ago, however, I found an amazing deal on the new Pampers Extra Protection diapers so I bought them. Figuring they were the same concept and would be the same I was thrilled to get such a good deal on the more expensive ones.

The nights we tried them . . . wet bed, wet pajamas and wet boy in the morning. Not a happy momma. Needless to say, they don't get my vote and I won't be buying them again. All diapers work differently for people and I know my moneysaving vote may not be the same as yours but my moneysaving vote for a 2 year old boy clearly goes to Huggies Overnights.

Also, check out  http://www.babycheapskate.com/ they have even more diaper reviews there (click on the diaper reviews tab for further reviews on all brands of overnights as well as store brand diapers.

Aquafresh Iso-Active Whitening Toothpaste

I was sent a free bottle of this foaming toothpaste and then I was to try it and post on my website what I thought.

So, here goes. I did not care for the taste of this at all.   It tastes like you are using shaving cream or hairspray to clean your teeth. Now, it DOES give you a really clean feeling when you are done and the fresh feeling in my mouth lasted longer than with other pastes.  I really felt like I had just left the dentist.  I honestly don't think I could continue using it because the taste is so foul though. Just my opinion obviously but I wouldn't waste my money if I were you. Stick to the old fashioned toothpaste you already have.  Haveyou tried it? What do you think?