Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Wordless Wednesday


This is Pudding Pie in monkey-girl mode on Christmas Day.

Pardon our absence from the bloggy world, we have been caught up in the swirl of activity that always surrounds the holidays. We wish readers a happy and peaceful 2009, may all your resolutions be fulfilled! For more Wordless /Wordfilled Wednesday fun, visit MomDot, 5 Minutes For Mom and Angie's Circus!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Wordless Wednesday

My sassy girl.
Check out other Wordless/Wordfilled Wednesday posts at 5 Minutes For Mom, Momdot and Angie's Circus!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Save with the Safeway PowerPump Program

It's the holiday season at last, and along with all the extra fun comes extra expenses. With the recession, times are already tight and adding the holiday fun tab to everyday bills like groceries, prescription co-pays and gas can leave us gasping. Now is the time when loyalty cards are invaluable for the benefits they provide during everyday shopping.

Safeway and its family of grocery stores (Vons, Dominick's, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Pavilions, Carrs and Genuardi's) are helping make this season a bit easier. Shopping with Safeway's Club Card offers the chance to earn gas rewards whenever we grocery shop, buy prescriptions, and even gift cards.

Most significantly, you can earn double PowerPump Gas Rewards for every $100 in gift cards purchased with your Club Card at Safeway stores. The stores offer gift cards from over 300 retailers, restaurants, sports and entertainment companies (including Best Buy, The Home Depot, Macy's, iTunes, plus many more!). To find a participating store near you, go to www.Safeway.com/PowerPump and enter your zip code.

Big Savings Alert!! Not only can you buy gift cards as presents this season, but they can also be great for personal use to receive the extra benefit of double gas rewards at the pump. But don't wait too long to take advantage of this offer of double PowerPump gas rewards on gift cards, as it will only be available through the holidays!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Wordless Wednesday

Pudding Pie's beloved 'Ganny' left for the other side of the pond earlier this week. Here she is watching Ganny go 'byebye.' (Sniff, sniff.)
For more Wordless/Wordful Wednesday posts, visit 5 Minutes For Mom, Momdot and Angie's Circus!

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Mom Central's Holiday Gift Guide

MC Blogger Button

I must share with you Mom Central's utterly fabulous First Annual Holiday Gift Guide. With this, Mom Central has come to the rescue of moms everywhere. They've done the rsearch for us, they've evaluated and even neatly categorized loads of products for us - all we have to do is browse through their research and pick what we like! Also . . . Mom Central is holding daily giveaways, where you can enter to win wonderful prize packages. But hurry, the first seven giveaways of sixteen giveaways are completed, and the eighth giveaway ends today! All you need to do is register with Mom Central, then be sure to log in each day and enter to win!
Click here to register with Mom Central!

Monday, December 8, 2008

Hidden Valley's 'Search for Veggie Champions'

I’m lucky, I have a daughter who thinks peas, corn, broccoli and the like are pretty tasty foods to chomp on. She hasn’t yet learned that she’s supposed to balk at these foods, and I’m going to keep her from this kid truth for as long as possible!

However, I do know that as we become more comfortably ensconced in toddler hood, it is entirely possible that the day will come when she won’t let a vegetable cross her pursed lips. Not to worry, I am prepared for this. My weapon of choice? Ranch dressing! See, I love my veggies too and I never have to be persuaded to munch on them, but throw some ranch dressing into the mix and I get downright piggy about things. I'm thinking that if there is ever a danger of veggies becoming passé in our home, a potentially more picky Pudding Pie will be no match for the tasty combo of veggies and ranch dressing!

In fact, the makers of Hidden Valley® Salad Dressings launched the Love Your Veggies™ campaign soon after a 2006 study by the University of California Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program and the Butte County Cooperative Extension revealed that kids ate 23% more vegetables when they were served with ranch dressing.

The Love Your Veggies™ campaign teaches families how to eat healthfully, purchase and grow the best veggies, and find innovative ways to serve them. The campaign has a site full of information at http://www.loveyourveggies.com/, and is offering a school grant program to provide students with better access to fresh produce. The campaign is also offering a mom retreat hosted by celebrity chef, Art Smith!

OK, Contest Alert! As part of the Love Your Veggies™ campaign, Hidden Valley has created a “Search for Veggie Champions” contest. They are inviting Moms to submit their brainstorms for a community garden and this garden can be at a school, religious organization, neighborhood park, etc. and would ideally help to get the community involved in and excited about eating and enjoying more vegetables.

The ten lucky winners will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Chicago for classes and lessons on selecting and cooking the best vegetable dishes, dinner at Chef Smith's restaurant, Table Fifty-Two, lots of pampering, and $5,000 to create or maintain their community gardens.

What are you waiting for?! Click over to loveyourveggies.com and find out more about how you can be a Veggie Champion!

Review courtesy of Mom Central

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Ultimate Party Meatballs

I love meatballs, and I've tested a lot of meatball recipes: Swedish Meatballs, Italian Meatballs, Chili Meatballs, Meatballs Stroganoff . . . the list goes on. I mean it, I really do like my Meatballs! I also love digging up quick, easy and guaranteed-to-be-a-success recipes for entertaining over the festive season. So, when I got the chance to test the Ultimate Party Meatballs recipe, I couldn't believe my good fortune! I raced to tie on my apron and get down to business.

I like to make my own meatballs from scratch but, because I was in a hurry to test these babies, I did what the recipe recommends and zipped down to the grocery store to buy a bag of pre-cooked, frozen cocktail-size meatballs. That was the hardest part.

The recipe basically calls for combining a 16-ounce can of Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce with a 12-ounce can of Heinz Chili Sauce and cooking over medium to low heat. Once the sauce is smooth, add the meatballs into the mix and cook about 15 minutes more until the meatballs are heated through. After that, arrange these savory treats on a serving platter and voila! Your guests will be mightily impressed -if you can keep from plucking these meatballs off the platter and stuffing them all into your own mouth before said guests arrive!

I tested the recipe this evening and my family made very short work of them, so I'm judging the meatballs a roaring success - and talk about easy! I haven't yet served these meatballs to guests, but I will be, you can sure of this!

Log on to http://www.ultimatepartymeatballs.com/ to test the recipe for yourself and to find other great recipes and entertaining tips. Also, while you're there, enter the sweepstakes for a chance to win a $3,000 Ultimate Party!
Review courtesy of MomCentral

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Wordless Wednesday

Thanksgiving Day. I love the hot pink tights.

Check out Momdot, 5 Minutes For Mom and Angie's Seven Clown Circus for more Wordless - or Wordful - Wednesday fun!


Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Now you can save big on a SeatSnug!


A short while ago I blogged here about the wonderful SeatSnug. This device safely secures your child in a booster seat to prevent potentially life-threatening injuries. It easily attaches to an existing seatbelt and stops seatbelt slack from developing, thus ensuring that your child's seat is properly and safely secured during travel.
Now for the good news . . . just in time for the holidays, Mom Central is providing us with a coupon that will save you a bunch on new SeatSnug products! Use the coupon code MOMCENTRAL at seatsnug.com and you'll save $5.00 on your next purchase! The regular price is $34.95; one is now $29.95 and two are just $54.95!). The discount will automatically be received at checkout.