Reviews & Giveaways

Nonni’s Biscotti Bites: Sweeps, Thoughts and Recipe

May 17, 2012 By Robin Leave a Comment

Biscotti are among my favorite cookies, but they are usually pretty large and hard to break without making a mess. Since I have been working on dropping a few pounds before summer starts, I had been skipping them the past few months. My coffee was lonely.

Lucky for me, Nonni’s recently introduced Biscotti Bites. They are smaller biscotti. For me, they were just the right size. Sometimes I want a little sweet fix, not a big production, just a couple bites. Biscotti Bites are perfect for this. Each one is in the 30-40 calorie range, so one or two with coffee, or as a quick snack won’t be problematic for the waistline.

I liked the Caramel Milk Chocolate variety the best, closely followed by the Almond Dark Chocolate. My daughter also seemed most taken with the Caramel Milk Chocolate bites too. When we got to the Classic Almond flavor, I decided to experiment with using the biscotti to make dessert cups. The biscotti certainly packed more flavor than graham crackers, and added an Italian flair to the resulting dessert. The small size of the Biscotti Bites, enabled me to simply empty the bag into my food processor, to grind them up . I was very happy with the crust, and will be using it again in the future for other desserts too. Ricotta Pie would ROCK with a crust made out of these biscotti!

I filled the cups with homemade vanilla filling and blueberries. I will be posting the recipe very soon, but in the meantime, why not enter Nonni’s Biscotti Moments Sweepstakes . Nonni’s encourages you to take a well deserved break, just like their Facebook page to enter to win a grand prize of a trip to Hollywood, complete with spending cash & a new digital camera. Upload a picture of your “Biscotti Moment”, and maybe you will win one of the weekly prize winners of a Nonni’s Biscotti Gift Basket. Since I get a great deal of satisfaction in a new recipe creation coming out well, this is a Biscotti Moment for me, just as much as relaxing and noshing on a few would be, so that is what I submitted… to each their own right.

I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Nonni’s Biscotti and received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Filed Under: Food, Food & Beverage

A Special Cutting Board

May 2, 2012 By Robin Leave a Comment

I enjoy cooking, so kitchen gifts are always appreciated, but like many people who are avid enthusiasts of most anything, I already have a good amount of equipment for my favorite pass time. One way to ensure the gift you give, will stand out and not be something they already have several of, is to make it unique to them.

Personal Creations has a wide array of personalized Mothers Day gifts available, including the bamboo cutting board shown above. Yes, I do have cutting boards (granted most are in shoddy condition), but none which were custom made for me, so this is special. The custom engraving was done quickly, and shipping was very prompt. There is no reason you can’t get mom a unique gift in time for Mother’s Day, this year.

Here are a few other offerings from the site, which might interest you.

Media sample provided. All experiences and opinions are my own.

Extra 20% Off Clearance at Tea Collection

April 30, 2012 By Robin Leave a Comment

I love Tea Collection clothing. It is durable and stylish, while still being comfortable, which is of course important when dressing active children.

Starting today, you can get an extra 20% off clearance prices, with the promotional code EXTRA20 . The deal is going on through May 3rd, but whenever Tea Collection has a special promo like this, the items go quickly. To have the best chance that your child’s size will be available, order soon.

Tea Collection Sedap Malam Knot Dress

Tea Collection Merry Mary Janes

Tea Collection Lotus Vines Dress

Tea Collection Growling Naga Zip Hoodie

Tea Collection French Terry Cargo Shorts

Extra 20% Tea Collection Sale Items with code EXTRA20 through 5/3

Filed Under: Children's Fashion, Girl's Clothing, Shopping

Live Plants for Mother’s Day from ProFlowers

April 25, 2012 By Robin Leave a Comment

This lovely live orchid was delivered this afternoon, from Proflowers. It arrived in a large box, delivered by my regular UPS man. Inside the box, the planter was securely wrapped in plastic, and a triangular inner box protected the flowers from damage. As you can see the packaging was quite effective.

Mother’s Day is the perfect holiday to have live plants delivered as a gift. The weather is not harsh, so delivery risks are minimal, especially when well packaged. ProFlowers has a large selection of Mother’s Day plants and flowers available. Something is sure to suit your mom’s taste, and ProFlowers usually has discount codes available.

Here are just a few selections from ProFlowers, that mom is sure to enjoy.

Media sample provided. All experiences and opinions presented here are my own.

Filed Under: Shopping, Women Tagged With: Mother's Day, review, Shopping

Giveaway : Kraft Fresh Take Recipes Make Dinner Easy

April 17, 2012 By Robin 9 Comments

With busy schedules, even avid cooks have a hard time, presenting fresh healthy homemade food for their family at every meal. This is where a product like the new Fresh Take line from Kraft comes in handy. It sure simplifies the dinner making process and cuts down on mess to clean up.

I tried the Southwest Three Cheese recipe. It is for chicken, pork or fish. As you can see above I went with chicken for this particular meal. All you need to make this recipe is the Fresh Take package, meat of choice, and basic salad fixin’s. Pretty easy, and something your family members who are not too skilled in the kitchen could certainly prepare.

This is what is in the package when you open it up. Complete directions are conveniently located right on the bag itself. Even a teen, won’t miss that.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Open the package, pull apart the separating partition, and mix the topping together, then drop in chicken and coat. Place on baking sheet and top with remaining cheesy crumb mixture. Bake for 28-30 minutes (I used breasts, if you are using tenders, it will take considerably less time). When done, put it on top of a salad and enjoy!

Kraft Fresh Take recipe packets are available in 6 varieties:

Southwest Three Cheese: A blend of garlic, cumin and red chili pepper combined with Colby, mozzarella and cheddar cheeses creates a zesty Tex-Mex meal with chicken, pork or fish.
Italian Parmesan: For a classic Italian meal, add this blend of parsley, garlic, onion, Parmesan and mozzarella to chicken, pork or fish.
Rosemary & Roasted Garlic: This blend of rosemary and garlic with mozzarella, provolone, Parmesan and Romano cheeses is a perfect seasoning for pork and adds delicious flavor to chicken and fish, too.
Cheddar Jack & Bacon: Savory herbs, bacon, Monterey Jack, cheddar and provolone cheeses pair perfectly with chicken, pork and fish.
Chili Lime & Panko: A mix of chili peppers and lime with Colby and Monterey Jack cheeses spice up fish and complement chicken and pork.
Savory Four Cheese: This blend of feta, mozzarella, provolone and Parmesan cheese crumbles with roasted garlic and onion will create a savory burger or classic meatloaf oozing with cheese.

My Thoughts: I personally enjoyed the Fresh Take Southwest Three Cheese recipe on my chicken very much. The cheese and spices really made the breaded chicken special. It had great flavor and crisped up nicely. The chicken was moist and the topping had so much flavor that I didn’t need much dressing on the salad.

Check out Fresh Takes on the Kraft website, for more information and recipe ideas, as well as a 50¢ off coupon.

I am one of several bloggers selected by Kraft Foods to participate in the KRAFT FRESH TAKE recipe program. While I have been compensated for my time, my opinions are my own, and I have not been paid to post positive comments.

Grocery Gift Card Giveaway

One lucky Mom Foodie reader will win a $50 Grocery Gift Card, courtesy of Kraft. Open to U.S. residents 18+

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Filed Under: Entrees, Food, Food & Beverage, Poultry Tagged With: cooking, giveaway

Red, Red Wine…

April 16, 2012 By Robin Leave a Comment

This month from The California Wine Club I received a double dose of red. I tend to prefer red wines most of the time, so I was not sad to see this. The wines were from the Le Vigne Winery of Paso Robles (an area know for producing nice red wines). Le Vigne is a winery new in name only. It was formerly known as Sylvester Vineyards & Winery, and the bottle labels still carried that name.

The included selections were:

Kiara Private Reserve 2007 Zinfandel – I am a big fan of zinfandel and this wine was not a disappointment. It is not one of the big jammy zins. This wine is a bit more subtle, providing plenty of berry, and a bit of vanilla oak, but very flexible for meal paring.

Kiara Private Reserve 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon – I often don’t quite agree with the label descriptions on wines, but in this case it was spot on. This Cabernet was bursting with cherry and had a defined cedar accent.

If you would like to try out new wines along with me, a membership with The California Wine Club, will provide them, conveniently delivered to your door.

California Wine Club Exclusive Deal Code

To kick start your wine tasting experience, I have an exclusive deal available to my readers, that will get you more wine for your money. You will be able to receive 4 bottles for the price of 2 in your first shipment from The California Wine Club, with no obligation to continue. You will also be able to receive all reds or all whites or a combo of each, whatever you prefer.

The discount code to take advantage of this deal is: blommi12

Media samples provided. All experiences and opinions presented here are my own.

Filed Under: Food & Beverage Tagged With: wine

Giveaway: Rubbermaid 2-in-1 Recycler for Tidy Recycling

April 12, 2012 By Robin 5 Comments

Like many owners of older homes, I have some major storage issues. There is simply no spot under my cabinets to store recyclables. I have been placing the large ugly bins in my backroom and bringing recyclable items back there, as they are used. Not the most convenient set up, considering the already impractical design of the kitchen.

I was sent a Rubbermaid 2-in-1 Recycler for review a few weeks ago, and am quite pleased with the quality of construction and ease of use. It certainly looks far better than the blue & green bins from the city, and the compact design makes it easy to find a spot for.

Convenient handles on both the top and bottom bins make transporting recyclables simple. The bottom bin tilts out and holds a standard 8-gallon trash bag. The bag is held in place by the LinerLock™ bag system so it stays put without slipping. The Rubbermaid 2-in-1 Recycler is also appropriately made with recycled materials, and is in torn recyclable itself.

I liked my recycler so much, I ended out buying a new Rubbermaid outdoor trash can, a few days after it arrived. It has been very effective at keeping out the opossums that were raiding my trash. I really should pick up another one.

Check out the Rubbermaid Adventures in Organizing blog, for some great tips to help you organize your household.

Media sample provided. All experiences and opinions presented here are my own.

Giveaway

One lucky Mom Foodie reader will win a Rubbermaid 2 in 1 Recycler, like the one shown above. Open to residents of US and Canada, age 18+.

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Filed Under: Home & Garden, Household, Shopping Tagged With: giveaway, review, reviews

Giveaway! Maggies Direct Shopping with Social Rewards (and exclusive sale)

March 28, 2012 By Robin Leave a Comment

Maggies Direct is a new way to shop online. On this shopping site you get rewarded, for shopping, reviewing and sharing. The rewards are called Social Bucks, and each is worth $1 in product. Social Bucks can add up quickly, and with Maggie’s Direct already discount prices, you can get one heck of a deal.

When you share the deals you find on Maggie’s Direct with your friends, you will earn 1 Social Buck for every $10 they spend, and 1 Social Buck for every $20 their friends spend. You also earn extra Social Bucks during shopping events (like the one below), voting in weekly polls, doing a quick review, and several other things. Learn more about earning and spending Social Bucks .They also have a $5000 shopping spree sweepstakes going on right now, with monthly winners of $500 in Social Bucks!

Exclusive Hotel Bedding Sale with Bonus Social Bucks

Through April 15th Maggie’s Direct will give you a 50% kickback in Social Bucks for items purchased off this special sale page!

I was given the opportunity to try some of the products, that are featured in the sale. I picked the Matelasse Duvet and pillow shams. I have a silk set the same color as the headboard, but wanted a fresher lighter look for spring (and was tired of panicking every time my messy little daughter would decide to play in there… the matelasse is far easier to clean) This duvet is a perfect 4 Season bed cover. Unlike many duvets, it is thick enough to be used by itself as a bedspread, as shown below, in cooler weather insert a comforter. The style is classic and the material & construction are durable, so this will serve you for many years to come.

Here is what it looks like with a comforter inside.

The duvet is already discounted from $175 to $125, and you would get 62 Social Bucks for the purchase. If you refer a few friends, do a few polls and review the product you could pretty much get your money back in Social Bucks with minimal effort. They have a huge clearance sale coming up, so this would come in very handy.

Maggies Direct Giveaway

One lucky Mom Foodie reader will win a $25 Social Bucks credit at Maggie’s Direct, with their Free Shipping, that will leave you a lot of options for a prize

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Giveaways hosted on Blommi are sponsored by third parties. Site owner will of course endeavor to see all prizes are fulfilled, but is not responsible for missing or damaged prizes. Contest ends April 8, 2012 at 11:59 pm CT. Open to US residents , age 18+.

Filed Under: Deals, Reviews & Giveaways, Shopping

Easter Baskets from Personal Creations

March 20, 2012 By Robin 2 Comments

I just got in two adorable personalized Easter Baskets for my daughter. They are from Personal Creations (part of the ProFlowers/Red Envelope family of online stores). Both are well made, and very cute.

The Bunny Basket was on sale for just $5.98. This little guy is so sweet, s/he even has whiskers Rather than fill it with candy, I plan to let my daughter carry it around, like a purse. She is only four, so it will work for her in that capacity. Maybe she can use it to gather eggs… hmmm…. now I’m thinking Easter Egg Hunt in the backyard.

I will have time to set up an easter Egg hunt, because I won’t be running around gathering contents for an Easter basket, since I got the All-in-One Easter Basket, from Personalized Creations. It is personalized, comes with a little stuffed bunny (nice quality) and typical Easter Basket Candy is included for free. In my pic at the top, you can see how the items in this basket are packaged. I will not be doing the assembly until Easter eve or morning. I expect it to take all of about a minute.

The embroidery on both baskets was very nicely done, and shipping was very prompt, especially considering that these are personalized items. I think the pricing on these was quite fair for the quality and unique personalization. Check around for coupon codes before ordering, they usually have a free shipping or percentage off discount running, sometimes your choice of several promotions.

Media sample provided. All opinions and experiences presented here are my own.

Filed Under: Children, Shopping Tagged With: Easter, kids, review, Shopping