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Tag: Review

  • Lets Cook App Review and Bertolli Olive Oil Giveaway

    Lets Cook App Review and Bertolli Olive Oil Giveaway

    Have you ever turned on the cooking channel and wished you didn’t have to go search the internet for a recipe, or sat there trying to write every ingredient down?  Yeah me too! All new from Fabio Viviani Top Chef All Stars and Season 5 Fan Favorite, is the Let’s Cook App for Ipad, Iphone, and even Itouch!! I was really excited to try out this app. I love cooking, and I love Top Chef. Fabio is definitely a favorite here.
    The Let’s Cook App features
     – More than 5 hours of video right at your finger tips (no streaming required)
     – 16 step-by-step video recipes in full HD
     – 100+ recipes hand-selected by Chef Fabio
     – A dozen of Chef Fabio’s cooking and entertaining tip and menu suggestions

    Here’s a little teaser for you!

    After first downloading Let’s Cook I started browsing the recipes.  Oh my goodness there were so many good looking ones!!! It’s been a lot of fun to watch Fabio cook and read some of the tips.  I learned that cutting cherry tomatoes, is actually pretty easy!  Here’s what the app looks like. On the right is a scroll bar where you’ll find the video recipes, more recipes, and tips. On the left is Fabio. He gives you a little introduction, welcoming you to the App. Let’s Cook is a very friendly, easy to use app!
    So for dinner one night last week we had some Fresh Fettuccine with Crispy Pancetta, Mushrooms, and Cherry Tomatoes. It was divine.  My kids ate it up like it was the best stuff ever, and Mark asked if there was more. We had no leftovers, a very odd occurrence in  our household. 
    Don’t worry I’m not going to just leave you with the picture, and my review. Why don’t you try it for yourself? Here’s the recipe!

    FRESH FETTUCCINE WITH CRISPY PANCETTA, SAUTÉED MUSHROOM AND CHERRY TOMATO
    by Chef Fabio Viviani
    Serves 2, double ingredients for 4 servings
    Prep Time: 20 minutes
    Cook Time: 30 minutes
                             
    2 cups cherry tomatoes (20 small), halved and seeded
    2 Tbsp. Bertolli® Extra Virgin Olive Oil
    Salt and fresh ground black pepper
    2 ounces pancetta or bacon, diced
    1 Tbsp. Bertolli® Extra Light Tasting Olive Oil
    4 to 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
    12 ounces oyster mushrooms, very thinly sliced
    1/2 cup chicken broth, divided
    8 ounces fresh fettuccine
    2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
    Shaved Parmesan cheese
    Preheat oven to 475°. Drizzle tomatoes with Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Season with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Arrange in baking pan and roast 5 to 10 minutes or until wilted.
    Sauté pancetta with Bertolli Extra Light Tasting Olive Oil over medium-high heat until crisp. Season with fresh ground black pepper and very little salt. Add garlic and mushrooms and sauté until golden brown.
    Add roasted tomatoes and 1/4 cup broth to sauté pan. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered.
    Add fettuccini to boiling water over high heat, stirring occasionally until it floats, approx. 5 to 8 minutes.
    Add cooked fettuccine to sauté pan and remaining broth. Increase heat and drizzle with Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Add parsley. Simmer 2 to 5 minutes.
    Top with shaved Parmesan and serve.
    We also tried the Bruschetta Margarita.  A simple, yet delicious Bruschetta!
    * I was provided with Let’s Cook App for Itouch to review. All opinions are my own. I was also provided with a bottle of Bertolli Olive Oil to use with the Let’s Cook App, and one to giveaway.
    Head on over to the Let’s Cook site to learn more and download your app today! Then make sure to enter the Rafflecopter form below to win you’re own bottle of Bertolli Olive Oil, the featured Olive Oil in the Let’s Cook App!

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  • Sea-Band Review and Giveaway!

    Sea-Band Review and Giveaway!

    Morning sickness, ugh. What is there to say about morning sickness? Personally I think they named it wrong, can we all agree to call it All day sickness? I think it’s a much more accurate description.  Of course, this is the first real experience I’ve had with All Day Sickness. I’d get bouts of nausea with Princesses, but nothing that lasted all day every day.  This pregnancy has been very different. For the last 2 almost 3 weeks now I’ve felt so sick. I haven’t gotten sick, but have you ever been to the point where you wish you could just be sick to get over the feeling of nausea? I’m far past that point now too!  I’d really like it to all just up and dissappear.
    Then I heard about Sea-Band, the natural anti-nausea relief. It uses the ancient Chinese art of accupressure to pinpoint the spot on your wrist that will release natural chemicals that trigger the body’s  natural healing process.  In the past I probably would’ve scoffed at something like this. I just didn’t really think that one spot on my body could make a huge difference. I was at the point that I was going to try everything. I spent a few too many days laid out on the couch wishing that magically the kids would be fed, and the house would be clean, hahaha…still dreaming that. So like I was saying, I decided to give Sea-Band a try, and I am impressed.
    The first day wearing them, I was a little worried because it’s a fairly thick piece of cloth on your wrist, and we have no A/C. I wasn’t fond of intentionally making my wrists hot and sweaty, but the nausea outweighed my heat discomfort. The first hour, I didn’t feel any different and my wrists were getting itchy from the heat, but I wanted to really give them a chance. After that hour, I almost forgot they were even on, and the nausea wasn’t nearly as bad. I could still feel a “disturbance” somewhere, but I had energy, and moving around actually was possible. I even wore them to playgroup that day. Which I do have a nice suggestion for the people at Sea-Band, could you make it a little more stylish? At times I felt I was on parole with these thick black wristbands. Of course I didn’t care too much about style though since they were working!
    Now my dr did prescribe me some Zofran, which has also helped in the nausea relief department, but I’m pregnant, and my mind gets easily lost. So day 2 of wearing the Sea Band happened when at lunchtime I realized I had not taken any Zofran, and the nausea was setting back in big time. On went the Sea-Bands, and this time within 5 minutes I felt completely normal, and there was no itching either. Sweet!! I’m seriously loving these things!!
    Sea-Band also makes some ginger gum to help relieve nausea. My personal experience, it had too much ginger in it, but it did help keep the nausea away.
    Are you ready to win your own set of Sea-Bands and Ginger Gum? Great! Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below, and you’ll be entered to win!  Win it for yourself, or as a great gift for a pregnant friend.  Oh, did I mention, these will also help with carsickness?!

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  • FoundIt.net Review

    FoundIt.net Review

    *I received product for my honest thoughts. All opinions are 100% my own*
     

     Have you lost an item recently? Are you worried your kids stuff is going to get lost at school? No fears! FoundIt.net is here!
    No joke, never worry about your lost items again. I’m going to start here with a story.  This story takes place on two plane rides, on the same trip.

    A couple years ago, Mark’s mother decided she wanted to retire teaching and work for the Department of Defense Education system. They sent her to Japan, and we jumped on the chance to visit. Really, I mean travelling the world is like a dream come true for me! After months of planning we jumped on board a plane and headed to Japan! We were off. Now we knew we couldn’t use our American cell phones in Japan, but we felt we needed them in case we missed a lay over flight, and on our way back to coordinate our pick up, so the cells went in the carry ons. We had a very nice flight considering the young age of our children. When we arrived in Japan, Mark’s cell was gone. We figure it must have fallen out of the carry on. There was no getting it back since we had no idea which plane it had fallen out on (we switched planes twice, and airports once).  Oh well we said, good thing we brought mine too! We enjoyed a wonderful vacation in Japan, and after a couple weeks, boarded the planes again to head home. As we were landing in Salt Lake, Mark pulled out my phone to get ready to call my parents who would be picking us up. We got off the plane and almost immediately found my phone gone! We had just had it. I know it was on that plane! So I ran back and asked if I could go search the plane. They were a little hesitant, but decided to trust me. I searched that plane with no luck! Someone must have picked it up!

    We did all we could and told the flight agency, and filled out their form. I’ve never seen the phone since. In comes FoundIt.net! Seriously I wish these people had been around 3 years ago! They make labels for all your items, and provide a text or email service to get your lost items back to you! Imagine if our phones had had those stickers on them! We’d have easily gotten them back. Take a look at these cool tags!
    They make stickers you can place anywhere! I’ve got one on my phone, camera, stroller, and itouch!

    They also make tags, that can attach to key rings, zippers, you name it! I absolutely love the fun sayings they put on the back of the tags too!
    So how does FoundIt.net work? When you sign up, you give your cell number, and email address. As well as mailing address. FoundIt assigns you one ID for all your items. Wait a couple days, and you’ll receive your stickers and tags in the mail. Start labeling you items! Each tag has instructions to either text the ID to a number, or to go online where they can enter your ID. Once FoundIt receives info that your item has been found, they will contact you within seconds of it being reported, and reunite you with your lost items!
    One other reason I love FoundIt is their concern for your safety. Instead of writing your address on everything, you just have an ID. Once you’ve been informed your item has been found you can meet up in a public place to get your items back. FoundIt has a page specifically about keeping you safe, and tips on how to safely get your belongings back.
    Now thankfully I haven’t lost anything since signing up with FoundIt, but I’ve got a 4 year membership, and knowing me, something is going to get lost in that time frame! I just know it.
    GIVEAWAY
    CLOSED
    *I was provided with a MacDaddy package from FoundIt.net to review. All opinions are my own. Thanks to Business 2 Blogger for this opportunity!

    <a href=”http://rafl.es/enable-js”>You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway</a>.**

  • Sponsor Spotlight: PureAyre Odor Eliminator

    Sponsor Spotlight: PureAyre Odor Eliminator

    Have you heard of Pure Ayre? I love this product! It’s like febreeze, but better! Pure Ayre is your green solution to clean air. No more chemicals in your air, masking the smells. Pure Ayre was designed to break down odors and eliminate them. Who better to tell you all about though, then James Mitchell, creator of Pure Ayre Odor Eliminator. Here is a clip of James Mitchell just before going into the Shark Tank (ABC Channel)
    Isn’t that amazing? Still not sure Pure Ayre works? Well, I’ve tried it, and I’m here to tell you I really love this stuff. We recently had a flood in our basement. Unfortunately, no one was able to come take a look at damage until a couple days had passed. What happens when wet carpet sits? It stinks! I mean mildew smell was permeating every corner of our basement. We turned on the fans, we lit a candle, and we turned on our rainmate with some essential oils in it. Then you know what I did? I grabbed my small bottle of Pure Ayre for Home and started spraying the basement. We gave it a bit of time, and then we were actually able to breathe while we ripped out that carpet. 
    Now yes, I did use other items with the Pure Ayre, but we wanted to be sure to get that smell. The candle worked, as long as it was lit. The rainmate helped, but it was more of a mask. Pure Ayre, I’m positive took out the smell for good.  I’m not stopping there though! Just last night, my 3year old, Princess C, threw up all over the floor. She then proceeded to find a different spot, and go right back to sleep without alerting anyone to this stinky fact. 4 hours after the fact and she had climbed in bed with me. I got up to take her back to bed, and that’s when I caught wind of the stench. It was not good. This time I grabbed my bottle of Pure Ayre for Baby, and sprayed that whole room. I actually started with the carpet, and sprayed at the source of the smell. Then I gave the room a once over. Pure Ayre isn’t just for the air though! Oh no, Pure Ayre works on stains too! Don’t believe it? Just go check out this post, where I put it to the test!
    Convinced yet? Great! Pure Ayre is sponsoring Home Maid Simple in the Christmas in July Giveaway Hop

    Giveaway Closed!

  • Happy On Purpose #BookReview

    Happy On Purpose #BookReview

    Happy on Purpose: Daily Messages of empowerment and joy for Women

    Author: Diana Fletcher
    About the Book and Author: Diana Fletcher is a Life Coach specializing in Stress Reducing Strategies. In her book Happy on Purpose each page is dedicated to a thought followed by a Happy Action.  You can learn more about Diana and her book by visiting her website.
    My Thoughts: I have thoroughly enjoyed reading Happy on Purpose.  I am generally a happy person, but I do have my off days.  By reading one though and Happy Action each day it has really been able to put some things in my life in perspective.  I decided to really put this book to the test. Each day I read a little, I tried to write down my own personal thoughts in a journal. Things I felt I should change, do better, or just ways to be more happy.  I feel I’ve been a happier person just through reading Happy on Purpose and putting some of the Happy Actions into play.
    Book excerpt: 

    “March 7th – Just Because you can, doesn’t mean you should.  Happy Action – Don’t do everything you can, just because you can. Some things are just NOT good for you. Take control and make the best choice for your future happiness and good health”  

    My thoughts on the above – just because I can afford the stuff at a yard sale, doesn’t mean I should buy it. The clutter in my home, does not need more added to it and will only detract from my happiness.

  • Sponsor Spotlight Cha Cha’s Treasures

    Sponsor Spotlight Cha Cha’s Treasures

    A month ago Cha Cha sent me a Marriage Pillow to Review. I wrote about it HERE, and said I’d be reviewing it more this month.  So here I am, it’s been a month of having this beautiful pillow in my home, and I love it.
    Cha Cha creates beautiful pillow covers with the intention of using them as you study scriptures.  I loved her commitment to Bible  Study, and since I have the same commitment in my life, it really fit well in my home.  
    The first couple weeks in June I had the pillow on our couch in the front room. It’s colors matched perfectly with the decor in there.  The Princess’ absolutely loved cuddling up with the pillow as we had story time and Family Scripture Study each night before bed.  There is a really cute flower pinned to the pillow we received, and the Princess’ loved playing with it.  I was really concerned that they were going to rip it off, but they haven’t.  Even with all the pulling, and twisting that flower is on, and still looks nice.  This is a QUALITY made pillow case!  
    The pillow has a well “hidden” pocket in the front that you can use to leave notes, bible verses that meant something to you, etc. After the few weeks on the couch, I hadn’t really used the pocket at all. So I decided to move it to our master bedroom.
    It really added a nice touch of elegance to our room. It does make me want a new bedspread now though.  Anyways, so now that’s it’s been on our bed for awhile, I started using the pocket.  It’s much easier to leave Mark little love notes in the pillow, and know that he will get them.  The first night I put it here, Mark actually searched it for a note. I hadn’t thought that far in advance however, so it was empty. He was sad.  No worries though, I’ve made up for it, and he’s started receiving notes. It’s been a lot of fun for our marriage, to have a “secret” place to send love notes.
    * I received a pillow for review purposes. All opinion are my own.
  • MyMemories Review and Giveaway

    MyMemories Review and Giveaway

    *I received the MyMemories Suite software download for my honest review. All opinions are 100% my honest thoughts*
    My Memories digital scrapbooking kits and scrapbook software

    MyMemories is a digital scrapbooking software.  With the busy schedule of being mom, wife, maid, and everything those encompass I found I had little time to sit down and really scrapbook! So along comes My Memories Suite and in a few simple steps I was able to create a lasting album that I can print, burn, and share online.
    For a long time I tried avoiding digital scrapbooking. I’m an oldy when it comes to things like scrapbooking and reading hard copies of books verse digital. So when I had the opportunity to review My Memories Suite 2, I decided it was time to check out digital scrapbooking.  I really quite enjoyed it.  I haven’t printed any pages yet, but there hasn’t been a need, since I can share all the scrapbooks directly online. No more working over pages just to have it sit on a shelf, or in a box. I’ll still create some traditional scrapbooks for the Princess’ to have on hand to show their kids, but digital scrapbooking is the way to go to share with all my friends and extended family.
    I decided my first digital project should involve pictures from the blog.  I actually ended up using my family blog 3 Princess Acadmey for this review.  I had a lot of fun looking back through the posts I’d written, and the fun activities the Princess’ and I have done together. 

    My Memories Suite downloads right to your computer.  It comes with many layouts, papers, backgrounds, and embellishments.  There is also a wide variety for anything you could dream up to download at reasonable prices from the My Memories site.
    I had a little trouble when I downloaded my first pack (Girls Dream Pack), but the simple instructions in the FAQ page led me through the process successfully.  Once I had it downloaded, I really had a lot of fun creating!  One major plus side to me of digital scrapbooking, is that I get to reuse all aspects of it. I don’t have to continuously buy more paper, stickers, or embellishments. 

    Right now you can get $10 off the My Memories Suite 2 with this coupon code –  STMMMS37783
    (hint – copy and paste to avoid misspellings!)
    Enter to WIN a free My Memories Suite 2
    CLOSED

    *I was provided with My Memories Suite 2 free of charge to review. No monetary compensation was received for this review.  All opinions expressed are mine.
  • Marie Callender’s – Better than Homemade?

    Marie Callender’s – Better than Homemade?

    Would you say Marie Callender’s is better than homemade?  This recent article lists 8 Grocery Store Products that are Better than Homemade (really).  Among the list is Marie Callender’s Frozen Chicken Pot Pie.  So I was contacted and asked whether I thought Marie’s Pot Pies were better than homemade.  What a question!!
    This took me on a trip to the grocery store where I purchased a Marie Callender’s Frozen Chicken Pot Pie.  In all honesty, I probably didn’t need to purchase one just to answer this question.  I happen to be a huge fan of pot pies, homemade or store bought.  Something about a good old pot pie is very satisfying.  However, I wanted to make sure I gave an honest opinion, because it had been awhile since buying some of Marie’s Pot Pies.  Oh they had so many choices!!  Should  I choose the classic chicken, perhaps turkey, hold on they even have beef pot pies!!  Oh there were so many choices, but I decided on my personal and all time favorite, the classic Chicken Pot Pie (not to be confused with the Creamy Parmesan Chicken, or the Creamy Mushroom Chicken).
    Well, I brought my Chicken Pot Pie home, and had it for lunch the same day. (darn, I took some pictures of the yummy goodness, and now I’ve lost the memory card!).  Imagine with me if you will…a perfectly sized pastry for one. Not too small, but not enough for leftovers.  You take your fork and break through the top of a flaky, not mushy, crust to find warm creamy sauce covering chunks of chicken and vegetables.  Now you place that bite in your mouth, and your whole body relaxes.  That’s what eating a Marie Callender’s Chicken Pot Pie is like for me.  Yum! Seriously, the peas tasted like I had just picked them out of my own garden, that’s how good it was! 
    So on to this question…was it better than homemade? I say it depends on who’s cooking.  I’d sure love to sit in Marie’s kicthen while she’s cooking.  It’s probably better than my homemade (which may be why I haven’t made one in about a year…).  I wouldn’t necessarily say it was better than homemade, but most definitely equal to homemade! It tasted homemade itself! 
    As a mom one other thing I love about Marie Callender’s Pot Pies (and other products) is that it saves me time in the kitchen.  Have you ever made a pot pie from scratch? That takes a lot of time.  Marie Callender’s saves me the time so I can spend more of it playing with my kids, working on making this place a home, and just enjoying the day.  
    *I was compensated by Marie Callenders and The Motherhood for this post, however all thoughts expressed herein are my own.   
  • Princess Peach Costume

    Princess Peach Costume

    *In accordance with FTC guidelines. I did not receive any financial compensation for this post.  I was provided with the product for my honest review.  All opinions expressed in this post are my own!
    This last month I had the opportunity to review a costume from the Costume Super Center.  It’s a great place for cheap Halloween Costumes!
    We got to pick the costume for review, so Princess V and Princess C and I sat down and browsed their huge (and I mean HUGE!) costume collection.  It was really hard deciding, but when we came across the Girls Deluxe Super Mario Princess Peach Costume, we knew we had a winner!  It was decided and within a week we reveived our costume.  We opened it right away and within seconds it was on Princess V and it was not coming off anytime soon. 
    The quality is just amazing! We so often in our society associate the word cheap with poor quality.  The Costume Super Center offers cheap halloween costumes, that are also well made and will last.  When ordering the Girls Deluxe Super Mario Princess Peach Costume, I was struggling with their site (ok my computer was actually just acting funny) so I was unable to find how they measure the sizes.  I ordered a medium so I would hopefully not be too big or too small.  It was perfect!  It is just slightly bigger than Princess V (4 years old), so she should be able to wear it for at least 2 years maybe more!
    Now so you’re wondering, they do have a size chart, and it’s really easy to locate and size for each costume (I did go back once we got the computer back up to par!)
    I just can’t help posting all these cute pics!
    The Girls Deluxe Super Mario Princess Peach Costume comes with the dress, gloves, and crown.  Everything a Princess needs! 
    The Costume Super Center has a great selection of kids costumes ranging from the decades, to movie characters, to the scary stuff like zombies.  I can’t wait to go back and get something for Princess C and Princess R for this fall.  I may not even wait until the fall. These costumes are great for every day dress up, not just Halloween! 
  • Haircoverings.com Review and Giveaway!

    Haircoverings.com Review and Giveaway!

    I had a wonderful opportunity to review Haircoverings.com.  An online store for all your hair needs!  We got to review a Little Girls Hat with Flower, and a Snood.  I love these products!!  I was never really a girly girl, but then I grew up and gave birth to 3 girls.  After 3 girls, well pink starts to grow on you, and you want to play with their hair all the time, and dress them up like little dolls.

    When I first opened the package with our hair accessories Princess V yanks off her hat gives it to Princess C saying “Here, you can wear my hat!” followed by “Mommy I want to wear that one!!”  So of course I put it right on her (just so you know, Princess C is perfectly content with the snow hat she was just given).  It was so cute, and she fell in love!  It also happened to be a nice day that day (the weather needs to make up it’s mind!), so we headed out to a park.  Isn’t she just adorable!
    One thing I really love about this hat, is it fits both girls and can be worn without the flower as well.  You can take the flower off and there is no tell tale place saying something should be there. Which also allows for interchanging flowers and bows!!  The flower also can be worn alone – at the top of a pony tail or just on top of a baby’s head (we did that this last Sunday and it was so cute on the baby’s head). The hat itself is beautifully crocheted, and the flower holds up to a baby yanking it off her head consistently.

    Next we got a snood. The name of this just really intrigued me.  I had never heard of a snood before (we’ll call that one on culture and lack of girly interest).  So I googled it.  Snoods are pretty cool! It’s what ladies use to wear to keep their long hair up, instead of having to make it all fancy! They seemed to mostly wear them with hats.  So it’s a historical thing, my kind of product! In todays society we simply call them hairnets.  I ‘m definitely preferring the word Snood to hairnet.  Now granted my hair is not really long enough for a snood to hold it up, but it still works wonders for me! I wear it when I cook to help keep my hair out of the food, and I can wear it when I breastfeed my baby.  You see, the baby LOVES pulling on my hair while she eats. I actually cut my hair to try and keep her from grabbing it, but no such luck, she still manages to get some.  These are also crocheted, but you can also buy some sequined snoods!
    Besides these products, haircoverings.com also sells hair rollers, mirrors, combs/brushes, scarves, turbans, bandana’s and headbands!  They really have all your hair needs in one place!

    Giveaway time!
    Haircoverings.com is giving one lucky reader a box of hair accessories worth $25!  You know you want this!  
    Open WORLDWIDE!!! Ends 5/2
    Mandatory Entry
    Visit Haircoverings.com and tell me which products you would like to try. Leave an email so I can contact the winner.
    Extra Entries
    (leave one comment per entry)
    1.d “http://www.HairCoverings.com” to your blogroll 
    2. Follow The Hair Coverings Blog on GFC 
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    6. Follow Hair Coverings on twitter: 
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    *I was not financially compensated for this review.  I did receive some hair products to use for the review. All opinions are my own.