Chuck E Cheese Pizza Maker

Ben is a huge fan of Chuck E Cheese. We have one not too far from us so we go whenever I find a really good coupon or for a special treat. When we can't make it out, we have the next best thing at home: The Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Maker!

I was recently sent one to try out. As soon as I opened the box and Ben saw what was inside, that was it. He wanted to open it and have pizza for dinner.


The box contains everything you need to make your own kid sized pizzas: Mixes to make the dough and sauce, cheese, spoon, spatula, kid-safe pizza cutter, a bowl to mix it in, and a pizza tray to make it all on. We had a blast making these:

Here's Ben mixing the dough. "I wanna do it all by myself!" Ok, ok, Mommy will just take the pictures. The directions are very easy to follow and all that's required to make the dough is a little bit of water.
Press the dough onto the tray to make 2 small kid-sized pizzas. (What a cheese-ball! That's the smile he reserves for when the camera is out.)

To make the sauce you add a little bit of ketchup to a powdered mix which is included in the kit.

Spread the sauce, sprinkle on the cheese and pop them in the microwave for a couple of minutes and this is your finished product!

Ben loved this. He had so much fun making them and was really excited to eat it for dinner. I had fun helping him and this was a project that was easy for him to do with only a little help from mom. Older kids could definitely tackle this by themselves. There is no stove or oven to worry about and no sharp utensils needed.

The Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Maker is available at Toys R Us stores all over. This would make a fantastic Christmas gift for the Chuck E. Cheese fan or pizza loving kid on your shopping list. It's not too expensive at $16.99.

Check out Wowwee Toys for more great holiday shopping ideas! They are generously offering a Free Chuck E Cheese Pizza Maker Kit to one lucky reader!

Here's how to enter:

• Check out www.wowwee.com and tell me what other toys you like. (1 entry)

For extra entries:

• Post about this giveaway on your blog or Facebook page. (2 entries)
• Tweet about this giveaway. Copy and paste or write your own. Just make sure to include @WanderingPeanut in your tweet somewhere. (1 entry) Win a Chuck E Cheese Pizza Maker from @WanderingPeanut. Great Christmas gift for a lucky kid in your life! http://bit.ly/90iIde
  

Please leave a separate comment for each entry and make sure to include your email address in your comment(s). This giveaway will end on Sunday, December 13 and winner will be notified via email.

Good Luck!

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Skin MD Natural Lotion Review and Giveaway

This giveaway has ended. Thanks to everyone who entered!

Winter months and dry skin seem to go hand in hand. Winter is a double whammy for me because I work at a veterinary hospital and am washing my hands constantly. Between dry winter air and lots of soap, my hands get extremely dry and sometimes even cracked. I'm always looking for a great lotion to keep my skin healthy.

I was recently sent a free bottle of Skin MD Natural lotion to try out. I'm picky about what lotions I use because I don't want something thick and sticky or something that leaves a greasy film on my hands for hours afterward. The first time I tried this I was pleasantly surprised. This lotion is thin and silky. It feels wonderful going on. Not thick and gunky at all. It dried very quickly so I wasn't left with a damp greasy feeling. Immediately after applying, my hands felt wonderful. My skin was so soft! But, how did it feel later, you ask? Still wonderful! Soft, silky, hydrated hands!

Skin MD Natural is a "shielding" lotion which works differently from other lotions. From the website:

"Shielding lotion is a lotion that forms a protective barrier on the skin and keeps out irritants and chemicals. It also allows the natural oils and moisture to remain in the skin so it can heal better. It is a big advantage that shielding lotions are light and go on without a greasy mess," says Dr. Brian Zogg, a dermatologist in Albert Lea, MN.

This lotion is safe to use on hands, body and face! If you're one of those with very sensitive skin, I would recommend giving this a try. There are no fragrances, no colorants and it's paraben free. 90% of the ingredients are all natural. There are also no animal products in the ingredients and there has been no animal testing so you can feel good about using Skin MD Natural.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who has issues with dry or sensitive skin. It's sold at retailers all over the country. You can click here to locate a store near you.

One lucky reader will win a full sized bottle! Here's how to enter:

• Visit SkinMDNatural.com and tell me one thing you learned by browsing around the website. (1 entry)
• Post about this giveaway on your blog or Facebook. (2 entries)
• Tweet about this giveaway. Copy and paste or write your own. Just make sure to include @WanderingPeanut somewhere in your tweet. Solve your dry skin problems! Win a bottle of Skin MD Natural lotion from @WanderingPeanut http://bit.ly/6oL6PX
  

Please leave a separate comment for each entry and make sure to include your email address. This giveaway will run until Thursday, December 10. Winner will be notified via email.

Remember, this would make a fantastic stocking stuffer!

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The Ultimate Cloth - Review, Giveaway and Freebie! - ENDED

This giveaway has ended. Thanks so much to all who entered!

Living in a household with an almost 3 year old, 2 cats and a dog (not to mention the hubby) I'm always looking for new products that can help me keep things clean while saving time and, of course, money! Recently, I was contacted by Ultimate Cloth America and asked to try out their Ultimate Cloth.

The website says "The 'Ultimate' in Cleaning GREEN! NO Chemicals, NO Paper Towels - MORE EFFECTIVE" Of course, I was skeptical. I opened the envelope and found a dry cloth that was 13.5" x 15.5" and a direction sheet. That's it. No sprays, no gels, no powders, no other cleaning materials. The cloth is made of MiraFiber which is exclusive to the Ultimate Cloths. From the website:

MiraFiber™ Technology has open spaces between fibers that act as millions of tiny 'scoops' that pull dust, dirt, oil & other contaminants into the cloth and hold them until washed away with mild soap or detergent

So how do you clean with it? Just dampen it with water. Yep, water. From the tap. Cleaning with only water? Does that acually work?

YES!

First, I decided to try it out on my dirty kitchen. I had made spaghetti with homemade sauce that first night so I decided to try it out on the tough stuff right off the bat - sauce dried onto the stove. As per the instructions, I wet the cloth and rung it out until it was just damp. Then, I started scrubbing.... hmmm... I don't really need to scrub. After just a couple of swipes, the sauce was gone. The stove was spotless. Wow - that was easy! Now let's try the counters. Clean! So easy! No scrubbing, just some wiping and the counters were clean, also!

Now, how to clean the sauce out of this cloth? Wash it in the sink with a little bit of dish soap and you're good to go. You can also use bleach to clean the cloth if you've used it in dirtier areas - the bathroom, for example.

You can use this thing all over the place. The same cloth can be used in all areas of the house and on all surfaces. Bathrooms, kitchens, computers, televisions, cameras, leather, cars (dashboard, windshield, etc), boats, rv's. The list is really endless. The cloth has no chemicals whatsoever. No chemicals are used in the manufacture of the cloth, either. It won't scratch or leave streaks so it's safe to use anywhere you can think of.

This is amazing as a money saver! One regular sized cloth retails for $6.00 and is guaranteed for 5 years of general use! How many rolls of paper towels do you use in 5 years time? Think how much you could cut down on paper towel use by owning a few of these cloths. And think of the savings in your budget!

This is also a green product! No chemicals, no wasted paper. This is the ultimate reusable, environmentally safe product. Safe to use around children and pets.

All in all, this is an amazing product that actually does what is advertised. It's inexpensive, works great, is environmentally safe and will help me to save a ton of money over time. What more can you ask for?

Ready to try it for yourself? For a limited time, everyone can try an Ultimate Cloth for free! All you have to pay is the shipping and handling of $2.99. Click Here to see more info and get yours!

One lucky reader will get one for free!! No S&H, either! Here's how to enter:

• Visit www.ultimateclothamerica.com and look around the site. Then, leave a comment here telling me your favorite feature of the cloth. (1 entry)
• Become a fan of The Ultimate Cloth on Facebook! (1 entry)
• Tweet about this giveaway. You can copy and paste or write your own. Just make sure @WanderingPeanut is included in your tweet. (1 entry) Win the Ultimate Cloth, the ultimate money saver! Check out this post from @WanderingPeanut http://bit.ly/7Onq55
  

Please leave a separate comment for each entry. Also, make sure your email address is included with each entry. This giveaway will run until Saturday, December 6. Winner will be chosen via random.org and will be notified via email.

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ValueRays Pink Warm Mouse III Winner

And the winner is....

Lois S

Lois, I've sent you an email with the details.

Thanks so much to everyone who entered. Remember, keep reading because there are lots of great giveaways coming up.

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Brugo Mug Review and Giveaway

I love coffee.

Coffee is good.

Caffeine is good, too. Coffee keeps me sane in the morning.

A burnt tongue is not so good.

Here's how my typical morning goes: I hear my alarm in the morning and then I decide to sleep for 10 more minutes. 10 minutes becomes 15 and then I'm running late. I bolt out of bed and run to the shower. Meanwhile, Eric is supposed to be getting Ben dressed and ready to go. I jump out of the shower, get dressed, turn on the coffee maker and run around madly trying to make sure I have my keys, lunch, purse, etc. I splash some milk and sugar into my coffee and we're out the door. Finally, I take my first sip of coffee. Yow! I burn my tongue! It never fails...

I should know by now that I have to wait a few minutes for my coffee to cool down but I have no patience in the morning. What if you didn't have to wait? What if your coffee was cooled to the perfect temperature for you?

The Brugo Mug can do it for you. I was recently given the opportunity to try it out.

Did you know that coffee has an ideal temperature? To take full advantage of the flavors you should drink coffee at between 150 and 170 degrees (F). Coffee is usually brewed at around 205 degrees.

The Brugo Mug will instantly cool your coffee, or any other hot beverage, to the perfect temperature in its patented Temperature Control Chamber. The lid has three options: Lock, Tip and Cool and Sip. Slide the lid to Tip and Cool, tip the mug away from you and a mouthful sized sip of liquid (about 1 oz) is transferred to the Temperature Control Chamber where it is instantly cooled to the perfect temperature. Then, just sip like usual. Tip away from you, then take a sip. That's it. No more burnt tongue! You can bypass the temperature control chamber by turning the lid to Sip and when it's turned to lock you have a spillproof mug.

The mug is ergonomic and fits nicely in your hand. It looks sharp and comes in 13 different colors from bright to neutral and everything in between. It has double wall insulation so your drink stays hot for a looong time and has a no slip bottom to minimize accidental slippage (off the edge of your desk or the roof of your car for example).

After using this mug, here are my thoughts: It takes some getting used to, but it works just like it's supposed to. I found that you should only tip away from you when you are going to drink the sip immediately after. If you leave the liquid in the cooling chamber it becomes too cold. If you're not taking a sip, then don't tip. Once I got the hang of it, it was wonderful! If you're adding a cool liquid to your coffee, creamer or milk for example, you may not need the cooling chamber so turn your lid to Sip to bypass it.

There are two things about this mug that I didn't really like. One, the lid has a stainless steel coating and I kept getting a metallic taste in my mouth. However, Eric also used the mug and said he didn't know what I was talking about. Maybe it's just me. Two, the cooling chamber can be a pain to clean. If you clean your mug shortly after using it it's no big deal. If, on the other hand, you are the type (like me) who gets to work and leaves the mug on the desk until late in the afternoon (or the next day) you might have trouble cleaning out the temperature control chamber. It's a narrow opening that does not allow for a normal sized sponge to fit in it. This won't really be a problem if you are aware of it, though.

Overall, this is an amazing travel mug that does everything they say it does. This would make an amazing gift for that hard to buy for person, or even for a company Christmas party or gift exchange. There are 13 different colors to choose from and are $19.95 each. Check out www.brugomug.com to see all of the colors, videos about the mug, and details about how it works.

One lucky reader will win one of these amazing mugs! Here's how to enter:

• Visit www.brugomug.com then come back here and leave a comment telling me what your favorite color Brugo Mug is. (1 entry)

To earn extra entries:

• Post about this giveaway on your blog or Facebook page. Please leave link to your post in your comment. (2 entries)
• Tweet about this giveaway. Copy and paste or write your own. Just make sure to include a link to this post and include @WanderingPeanut in your tweet. (1 entry) Never get burned by your coffee again! @WanderingPeanut is giving away a Brugo Mug. Enter here http://bit.ly/1AYWmY
  
• Subscribe or Follow The Wandering Peanut. If you already do, that counts, too. (1 entry)

Please leave a comment for each separate entry and make sure to leave your email address as well. This giveaway will end on Sunday, November 22. The winner will be notified via email within 48 hours and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

Good luck!

Disclosure: I received a free Brugo Mug to try out and review.

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Value Rays Warm Mouse III Review and Giveaway! - ENDED

This giveaway has ended. Thanks so much to everyone who entered!

I'm on the computer a lot. Between reading blogs, writing my own posts, Facebook (and all it's games - curse you FarmVille!), Ravelry, etc, etc.. I'm on the computer a good portion of the time I'm home. One of the worst things about that is that my hands are always freezing. Especially this time of year because we wait until it's 20 below to turn our heat on. Ok, not really. But we do wait as long as we possibly can because oil is expensive!!

So, my hands freeze. I usually wear a pair of fingerless gloves or something like that to make it a little more bearable. Actually, I knitted the "Fetching Fingerless Gloves" in my Ravelry sidebar just so I could wear them while typing and using the mouse. Then, I was contacted by ValueRays and they asked me if I wanted to try out their Warm Mouse III. I was only too happy to accept their offer.


My first thought when taking it out of the packaging was that it's really large. In today's age when iPods are Nano sized and cell phones are so small we all look like crazy people talking to ourselves, I was a little taken aback. However, once I placed my hand on it I was sold! Those teeny tiny mice give me hand cramps! This one was soooo comfy! It has a large oval shape which allows your hand to rest flat and loosely on the mouse without the need to grip tightly which can cause discomfort.

After marveling at the amazing comfort I decided to actually try it out on my computer. This mouse is totally plug and play. No discs, no drivers, no install. Plug it in to any open USB slot on your PC and begin. That's it. My grandmother can even handle that. There's an extra long cord so you should have plenty of slack no matter how your work area is set up. This is an optical mouse so there is no roller ball to collect lint, or dog hair, or cat hair, or anything else. It moves very smoothly on the mousepad and just glides along with minimal effort.

On the cord is this nifty little switch which turns this from a great mouse into an unbelievable mouse! Turn the switch and within a couple of minutes your hand is nice and toasty. The Warm Mouse offers infrared heat which penetrates directly to the muscles of your hand. 20-30 minutes of daily infrared heat therapy can help improve circulation. And, it just feels goooood! Anyone who suffers from arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome or a number of other conditions may benefit from the use of infrared heat and this mouse would be perfect. When you're done with heat or if it's 90 degrees outside, just turn the switch again and the heat is off.

But, the best thing about this mouse, in my opinion, is that a portion of every sale will be donated to the American Cancer Society's Fight Against Cancer. The mouse is pink and features a ribbon on it to show your support for cancer research.


There are only 2 things that I think could be improved on with this mouse. First this mouse is only for right handed users. Sorry lefties but because of the ergonomic design this mouse will not work for you. They don't currently have a lefty version of this specific mouse. Check out the Warm Mouse I instead. Second, I personally prefer a cordless mouse. I think it's just less trouble and mess. I'm not sure how that would really work with the heat so it may be a little unrealistic. The heat would probably drain the batteries of a cordless mouse but I think it would be nice. Having said that, the benefits and comfort of this mouse so outweigh the inconvenience of a cord that I will still use it all the time.

If you're looking for a great gift for the techie in your life, a cancer survivor, or if you want to treat yourself, check out the website: http://www.warm-mouse-heated-keyboard.com
The cost is normally $39.95 but you can find it on sale right now on the website for $29.95. There is no shipping fee and no sales tax! They also offer Warm Keyboard Pads, Mouse Hand Warmer Blanket Pouches, USB Computer Lights and lots of other great products. Take a look around the site for some great holiday gift ideas.


All of my readers have the opportunity to win a Pink Warm Mouse III! Here's how to enter:

• Visit http://www.warm-mouse-heated-keyboard.com and tell me what other product you would be interested in either for yourself or as a gift. (1 entry)

For extra entries:

• Tweet about this giveaway. Copy and paste or write your own. Just make sure to include @WanderingPeanut in your tweet. Warm up your hands! Enter to win a Pink Warm Mouse from @Wandering Peanut http://bit.ly/11dNPz (1 entry)
• Post about this giveaway on your blog or facebook. Please leave the url in your comment. (2 entries)
• Become a fan on facebook! (1 entry)

Please leave a separate comment for each entry and please make sure you have an email address listed in at least one of your entries. If you leave an anonymous comment I cannot contact you and will choose another winner. This giveaway will end on Tuesday, November 17. The winner will be notified via email within 48 hours and will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.

Remember, this mouse is for right handed users only so keep that in mind when entering!
Good luck!

Disclosure: I received a free ValueRays Pink Warm Mouse III to review for this post.

Click Here to read more...

Progresso Panko Review and Giveaway

These days, everyone in the food world is talking about Panko. I had heard of it and knew it was some kind of bread crumb but didn't know much else about it. Panko is a Japanese breadcrumb with a coarse texture and jagged edges. This makes for a really crunchy breadcrumb and is perfect for baking or frying.

Progresso and MyBlogSpark sent me a box of the Plain Panko to try. I was really excited. I'm hesitant to buy new products because Eric and Ben are both picky eaters. I'm always afraid I'm going to end up with a whole box or package of something that no one in the house except me will eat.

I took a while to decide what recipe to try. Progressofoods.com has a whole bunch of recipes featuring Panko. I wanted something kid friendly and quick. Chef Michael Chiarello, who appears daily on the Food Network, offers tips and recipes featuring Panko on the site. I browsed through them for a while and then spotted these tips:

• Breading 1-2-3: Panko adds the perfect light crunch to fish fillets, chicken breasts and pork chops. Dip in flour, then beaten egg and coat both sides in Panko before frying or baking


• Faux Fried: Instead of frying, bake Panko-coated chicken in a 400F oven for 20 minutes to get the same crispy crunch without the fat

Using those tips, I decided to go very simple and made some home-made chicken tenders. I seasoned the breadcrumbs myself with some parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning, dipped the chicken in flour, then in beaten egg, then in the Panko mixture. I baked them for 15-20 minutes in a 400F oven. They were a-maze-ing! The Panko was light but had an incredible crispiness. Ben loved them!

The next night Eric made some of his home-made baked macaroni and cheese. He usually crushes up some saltines and sprinkles them on top but he decided to try the Panko instead. He just mixed it with a little bit of butter and sprinkled on top. It make the perfect topping.

We all loved it and I'll definitely be using it more often. I can't wait to try some fried chicken using this stuff! Want to try it yourself? Progresso and MyBlogSpark is offering a Progresso Panko and Broth Prize Pack to one reader:

The prize pack includes:
1 full size box of Progresso Panko breadcrumbs - plain flavor, 1 carton of Progresso Broth, a measuring cup, slotted spoon, soup ladle, a sheet pan and the Progresso Soups & More cookbook.

To enter:

• Leave a comment with your tip or recipe using Progresso Panko or Broth (1 entry)

For extra entries:

• Tweet about this giveaway. Copy and paste or use your own but please leave the url of your tweet in your comment. (1 entry) Win a Progresso Panko gift pack including a box of panko, baking pan and recipe booklet from @Wandering Peanut http://bit.ly/3e0kCn
  
• Subscribe to or Follow The Wandering Peanut. If you already do, that counts too! (1 entry)
• Post about this giveaway on your blog or on Facebook. Please leave the url in your comment. (2 entries)

Please leave a comment for each separate entry and make sure you leave an email address in at least one of your comments so I know how to contact you. This giveaway will run until Monday, November 9. Winner will be notified via email on Tuesday, November 10 and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

If you don't want to wait to try out Progresso's Panko and Broth you can go to Progressofoods.com to print a coupon good for $1.00 off any 2 Progresso products.

You can also visit Progressobroth.com for tons of great recipe ideas and tips for using broth as well as a coupon good for $.50 off a carton of broth.

Click Here to read more...

Winner of the Temple Touch Thermometer

And the winner is....

Jen!

Congratulations! I've sent you an email with the details.

Thanks so much to everyone who entered! Stay tuned for lots more upcoming giveaways.

Click Here to read more...

Yoplait Save Lids to Save Lives - Giveaway

I think everyone knows that October is breast cancer awareness month. If you don't, you must live under a rock because everyone everywhere is buying, selling and wearing pink this month. However, as the month of October comes to a close I'd like to reach out to my readers with a reminder that breast cancer doesn't go away when the month of October does.

Did you know that 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime? That's 12% of women! That could be your mother, your sister, your daughter, your best friend, or you! Huge advancements have been made in detection and treatment of breast cancer but we still have not found a cure.

Each year, Yoplait teams up with women like us to raise awareness and funds for Susan G. Komen for the Cure with the Save Lids to Save Lives program. Check out this video from Dr. Kristi Funk:

All you have to do to help is save your pink Yoplait lids, rinse them off and mail them in. For every lid Yoplait receives before December 31, Yoplait will donate $.10 to Susan G Komen for the Cure. They will donate up to $1.5 million and a minimum of $500,000. Last year women across the country helped Yoplait to meet the $1.5 million goal!

You can donate on your own, or you can invite your friends, family and co-workers to help the cause by creating a team. Just visit YourLidMatters.com to find all the details about mailing your lids and creating a team.

You can also check out more videos from Dr. Funk about breast cancer detection and lifestyle changes you can make now to help lower your risk for breast cancer.

MyBlogSpark and Yoplait are offering one lucky reader a "Promise to Make a Difference" gift which includes a coupon for free Yoplait Yo-Plus yogurt, a breast cancer awareness bracelet and a leather jewelry case. Take a look:

Here's how to enter:

1. Leave a comment and let me know that you've pledged to Save Lids to Save Lives by visiting YourLidMatters.com (1 entry)
2. Tweet about the Save Lids to Save Lives program and this post. Copy and paste the italics or write your own. Just make sure to include @WanderingPeanut: Save Lids to Save Lives and enter to win a "Promise to Make a Difference" gift from Yoplait and @WanderingPeanut http://bit.ly/4AQxCQ (1 entry)
   
3. Post about this giveaway on your blog or facebook. Make sure to leave the link in your comment. (2 entries)

Please leave a separate comment for each entry and remember to include an email address so I can contact the winner. This giveaway will run until Monday, November 2. The winner will be notified via email on November 3 and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

Click Here to read more...

Temple Touch Thermometer Review and Giveaway - ENDED

This giveaway has ended. Thanks to everyone who entered!

If you're a mom (or a dad), I'm sure you've had the pleasure of inserting a rectal thermometer into a child who already doesn't feel well, may or may not be puking, is screaming and thrashing around. Just what you want to do to a child who already feels horrible as it is. I remember almost being in tears when Ben was little and I had to do that to my poor little guy who had a fever of 104. But you need to know! A fever of 99 is a lot different than a fever of 101 and that's a lot different than a fever of 104!

What if there was a way to take a temperature without inserting anything anywhere. No more rectal thermometer. No more oral thermometer. No more trying to get a 2 year old to sit absolutely still to take their temperature in their ear.

How about a Temple Touch Thermometer? All you do is push the button, wait for it to beep twice and then hold it on the child's temple. No fuss, nothing invasive. You can even take a temp while the child is sleeping. Or, while the hubby is sleeping if he's more of a baby than the real baby.

MomSelect sent me one of these to try out.
I actually got it a while ago but haven't really had cause to use it. A good thing for the family but not so good for the review process. Well, last weekend we had cause to use it. Ben woke up and felt really warm. I told him we were going to take his temperature and he immediately started crying. I calmed him down and put something on tv for him to watch. When he was calm and paying more attention to the tv than he was to me, I snuck out the thermometer to try it out. He was a little skeptical when he heard the beeping but then he ignored it. Less than a minute later we had our results. Sure enough, he was up over 100 degrees. And there was no screaming, crying or thrashing.

It was sooo much easier! I'm sold!

Everyone who has a small child (or a child for a husband) should have one of these in the house. It's small, non-invasive, easy to use and accurate.

If you're interested, these are sold at Walgreens and retail for $29.99. This week they're on sale online for $19.99. One lucky reader can get one for FREE! Here's how:

1. Leave a comment on this post telling us what you like to do for your little one (or big one) when they're under the weather. (1 entry - mandatory!)
2. Subscribe via email or reader (1 entry)
3. Tweet about this giveaway. Copy and paste or write your own. Please leave the url of your tweet in the comment. (1 entry) @WanderingPeanut is giving away a Temple Touch Thermometer. Enter here http://bit.ly/4rladP Please RT!
   
4. Post about this giveaway on your blog or Facebook page. Please leave the url of your post in the comment. (2 entries)

Please leave a separate comment for each entry. Please make sure you have a valid email address listed with your comments as well. Winner will be chosen on Saturday, October 31 and notified via email on Sunday, November 1. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. Open only to U.S. residents.

Good luck!

Click Here to read more...

Nature Valley Snack Pack Winner

And the winner is....

JC

JC, I've sent you an email with the details. Congratulations!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered! Stay tuned because I have a lot of great reviews and giveaways coming up in the next couple of weeks!

Click Here to read more...

Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters Review and Giveaway - ENDED

This giveaway has ended. Thanks so much to all who participated!

MyBlogSpark recently gave me the opportunity to try the new Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters. They sent me a sample of each of the four flavors: Roasted Cashew, Nut Lovers, Roasted Almond and Honey Roasted Peanut. I was really excited to try these because I love granola bars and all of the other Nature Valley products. They are my preferred brand for both chewy and crunchy granola bars. Eric and Ben, however, are not generally the biggest fans of granola.

I first opened the Honey Roasted Peanut flavor. Immediately Ben came over and said "What's that? Can I have some, Mommy?" Of course, I shared. After I tasted them, I reconsidered the whole sharing thing and decided that this bag was all for me. Yum! Who would want to share these things? There's a really yummy combination of sweet and salty. The peanuts were a little salty and the whole thing is lightly sweetened with honey. This is not an over the top "candy" sweet, it's a light, natural sweet that perfectly compliments the salty.

Since I decided that I was no longer willing to share (bad, Mommy!), Eric opened the Roasted Cashew and shared with Ben. They devoured the whole bag together. Hmmm....ok, so this is definitely healthier than eating a bag of potato chips or cheese puffs, but a whole bag in one sitting?! They must be pretty good!

I worked on the Peanut ones over the next couple of days. Instead of eating buttered popcorn or chips I opted for the Granola Nut Clusters. They're bite sized and make the perfect snack to munch on while watching tv (or even blogging).

So how were the other 2 flavors? I'd love to tell you but I don't really know. Eric decided to steal them and bring them to work with him to snack on during break. This is a guy who thinks spray cheese and Ritz crackers are a whole meal in and of themselves. I never even got a chance to try them because they were gone before I knew it! I think that says it all.

We will definitely be buying these often. I was also very happy to learn that BJ's sells these in a larger size bag so definitely check out your local club store if you have a membership.

Are you ready to try these for yourself? MyBlogSpark is offering a Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters "Snack Pack" to one of my readers. Check it out:

One winner will receive a Snack Pack which includes 4 bags of Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters (one in each flavor), a sling backpack, stainless steel water bottle, flashlight and binoculars. Perfect for spotting all of this beautiful fall foliage, or maybe going apple picking or on a great nature hike.

Here's how to win:

1. Leave a comment on this post and tell me your favorite thing about the fall (this is mandatory - 1 entry)
2. Tweet about this giveaway. Copy and paste or use your own: @WanderingPeanut is giving away a Nature Valley Snack Pack! Enter here: http://bit.ly/NatureValley (1 extra entry)
   
3. Subscribe to The Wandering Peanut. If you already do, that counts too (1 entry)
4. Follow The Wandering Peanut on Facebook (1 entry)
5. Post about this giveaway on your blog or Facebook page (2 entries)

Leave a comment for each separate entry. This giveaway will run until Sunday, October 25.

*Full disclosure: I received a "Snack Pack" from MyBlogSpark for this review.

Click Here to read more...

Yoplait Whips Summer Cool Down Giveaway! [ENDED]

This giveaway has ended.  Thanks to everyone who participated!

Have you tried Yoplait Whips yet? It's yogurt, but it's incredibly fluffy and light because, like the name says, it's whipped.

Did you know you can freeze Whips? I had no idea and never would have thought of it. Freezing certain kinds of dairy products - like milk and yogurt - has always struck me as a little odd. I'm always afraid it's going to come out of the freezer tasting wierd or separating or something.

MyBlogSpark sent me a sample of Whips to try in the freezer. To my surprise, it came out the same consistency as ice cream and tasted just as good! We tried the Raspberry Mousse and Chocolate Mousse flavors. Both were amazing and even my 2 year old approved.

Let's hear from an expert:






As you can see, he was so focused on eating his "ice cream" that he didn't even want to talk to me. lol Ben loves this stuff. From now on, I'm going to keep a couple of these in the freezer instead of ice cream. They're a whole lot healthier, make a great snack and come in a whole bunch of different flavors including Chocolate Mousse, Dulce de Leche, Orange Creme and other really yummy flavors.

Are you ready to try them for yourself? MyBlogSpark is giving one of my readers a Summer Cool Down Gift Pack!
This gift pack includes:

• 2 coupons for FREE Whips!
• 1 cooler tote
• popsicle molds
• a set of 12 color changing spoons

Here's how to enter:

1. Visit the Whips site and tell me which flavor is your favorite or which one you'd most like to try. This is mandatory to enter.
2. Follow me on Twitter (@WanderingPeanut) and tweet about this giveaway. You can copy and paste: @WanderingPeanut is giving away a Yoplait Summer Cool Down gift pack! Win free yogurt, a cooler bag and more: http://tinyurl.com/qohu9d You must either include @WanderingPeanut in your tweet or leave the url to the tweet in your comment.
   
3. Follow The Wandering Peanut on Facebook
4. Subscribe to The Wandering Peanut
   
5. Post about this giveaway on your blog
6. Link to me in your blogroll and/or add my button to your site.
7. Add me to your favorites on Technorati
   

You will receive one entry for each of these. Leave a comment for each entry and please make sure to leave your email address in each comment to make it a little easier for me. This giveaway will run until Thursday, September 17. Winners will be picked using Random.org and will be notified via email. Winners will have 48 hours to respond to the email or a replacement winner will be chosen.

Even if you don't win, you can still get a free sample of Whips by signing up for the Betty Crocker email newsletter. They have run out of samples.  Sorry!  You can still print a coupon for $.60/3 here.

Click Here to read more...

Wanchai Ferry Gift Pack Winner

The winner of the Wanchai Ferry Stay at Home Dinner Gift Pack is....

Rachel Taylor!

Congratulations Rachel! I've sent you an email with the details. I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered! Stay tuned for more great giveaways very soon!

Click Here to read more...

$10 Stop & Shop Gift Card Winner

The winner of the $10 Stop & Shop Gift Card is....

cblanchard76

Congratulations! I've emailed you with the details. Thanks so much to everyone who entered!

Click Here to read more...

Win a $10 Stop & Shop Gift Card! [ENDED]

This Giveaway has ended. Thanks to everyone who entered!

This week Stop & Shop and General Mills are teaming up to help families gear up for the beginning of the school year and they are giving one of my readers a $10 Gift Card to take advantage of some of the great deals! This giveaway is courtesy of MyBlogSpark and General Mills.

This week, September 4-10, participating General Mills products are specially priced (see my regular weekly post for coupon matchups):

Cereals: Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Reese's Puffs, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cookie Crisp or Sprinkles Cookie Crisp 2/$5
Old El Paso Dinner Kits 2/$5
Pillsbury Toaster Strudel 2/$4
Pillsbury Scrambles 2/$4
Green Giant Boxed Veggies
Yoplait Yo-Plus Multipack 2/$5
Fiber One Yogurt Multipack
Pillsbury Refrigerated Cookie Dough 2/$5
Pillsbury Crescent Rolls 2/$4
Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls 2/$4
Yoplait Delights

In addition to these great deals, you can also earn extra points for gas! If your store has a gas station attached, you will earn an extra 100 points ($.10 off a gallon of gas) for every 4 participating items that you purchase.

Your store doesn't have a gas station? Don't worry, they haven't forgotten about you! Just buy 5 participating products and get 20 Bonus Box Tops for your school!

Ready to go shopping? One lucky reader is going to get a $10 gift card for Stop & Shop.

How to Enter:

1. Leave a comment on this post telling me why you love to shop at Stop & Shop
2. Tweet about this giveaway! Make sure @WanderingPeanut is in your tweet or just copy and paste this: I just entered to win a $10 Stop & Shop gift card from @WanderingPeanut Want free groceries? Enter the #giveaway here http://bit.ly/2goFcL
   
3. Subscribe to The Wandering Peanut in a reader or email
   
4. Become a fan on Facebook
5. Link to me on your site - either a link or grab my button. Leave a link to your page in the comment

You can earn one entry for each of the above - up to 5 entries! Leave a separate comment for each entry and make sure you have an email address listed in each comment. This will be a quick giveaway and will end Sunday, September 6. The winner will be chosen by Random.org and will be announced on Monday, Sept 7.

Good luck!

Click Here to read more...

Wanchai Ferry Giveaway! [ENDED]

This giveaway has ended! Thanks to all who participated and stay tuned for more great giveaways!

Doesn't that look yummy? I'm a huge fan of Asian food. Unfortunately, no one else in my house is so I hardly ever get takeout. I was so excited when MyBlogSpark asked me to review the new Wanchai Ferry Frozen Dinners!

I tried the orange chicken variety. On the bag is says it takes about 14 minutes to make. I timed it and came in pretty close at 16 minutes. It was very quick and easy. For the orange chicken the only extra ingredient you need is some vegetable oil. Otherwise, everything is included in the bag...chicken, veggies, rice and sauce. It goes right from freezer to the pan to the table. Very quick and easy which is a huge plus for me since I work a full time job during the day.

Each bag serves 2 people. I got both servings to myself! Enough for dinner and then to take for lunch the next day. However, if you have a larger family or someone with a large appetite you would definitely need more than one package to serve everyone.

So, how did it taste? It was yummy! The orange sauce was sweet but had a little zip to it, just like it's supposed to. The chicken was crispy under the sauce and the veggies were cooked perfectly. The orange chicken has broccoli, carrots and baby corn in it. Honestly, I'm not a fan of broccoli so I left it out. I'm always a little leery of carrots in frozen meals. I find that often they don't cook fully while cooking after being frozen but these came out perfect. They cooked completely through! The whole thing was really yummy!

Want to try it for yourself? You're in luck. MyBlogSpark is giving one of my readers a "Stay At Home" prize pack! This is the perfect opportunity to save a few bucks and instead of going out to dinner, stay in and make a night of it with Wanchai Ferry.

One winner will receive a Stay At Home gift pack which includes:

• 2 coupons for Wanchai Ferry Frozen dinners
• 2 rice bowls
• 2 sets of chopsticks
• 2 bamboo placemats

How to enter:

• Visit the Wanchai Ferry website then come back here and tell me which variety you're most looking forward to trying (this is required to win!)
• Tweet: Win a Wanchai Ferry Stay At Home gift pack from @WanderingPeanut! http://bit.ly/26umBp
  
• Become a fan of The Wandering Peanut on Facebook. If you're already a fan, that counts too.
• Subscribe to or Follow The Wandering Peanut. If you already do, that counts too.

Please leave a comment for each separate entry! Also, make sure your email address is included with each entry. This giveaway will end on Saturday, September 5. Winners will be chosen by random.org and will be notified via email.

If you don't want to wait for the contest to end, click here to print a coupon for $1.50 off a Wanchai Ferry Frozen Entree.

Good luck!

Click Here to read more...

Minute Rice Winners!

Drumroll please.....

And the winners are......

KC
cblanchard76
Meg Hitt
sphinx63
Minnemom

Congratulations to all the winners! You will all be receiving an email from me shortly. I hope you and your families enjoy the rice!

To all of you who entered, thank you so much! I loved reading your recipes and got some great ideas for dinner in my house. I very much recommend that my readers check out the comments to the original post for some great recipe ideas.

Stay tuned because I'll be giving away a Wanchai Ferry Frozen Dinner and gift package very soon!

Click Here to read more...

Minute Rice Review and Giveaway!

I recently was given the opportunity to try Minute Rice's Brown Rice. I've been a fan of Minute Rice for a long time but have never tried the brown rice before. I was always afraid it would taste different and we wouldn't like it but I was pleasantly surprised. It was great!

Why should you eat brown rice instead of white rice? It's healthier! In general, brown rice is less processed than white and has more nutritional content. All rice starts out as brown but the germ and husk are removed to create white rice. During this process some of the natural nutrients are lost. Brown rice is whole grain and according to this article at Associated Content:

...brown rice offers six times as much thiamin, three times as much riboflavin, five times as much niacin, twice as much vitamin B6, twice as much folate as white rice and offers such nutrients as vitamin K and betaine that white rice does not.

Some people say that the taste is different but I really did not notice a difference. I also have a picky 2 year old and he didn't mind it either. I modified one of the recipes on the back of the box to make Teriyaki Chicken and Rice and it was awesome! From beginning to end it took me about 20 minutes to make dinner and only 10 of that was cooking the rice.

I'll definitely be using Minute Rice's brown rice regularly from now on. It was quick and easy and tasted great. If you want even faster, they also have Ready to Serve varieties which only take 60 seconds to make! Great if you're a really busy family, or even to take with your lunch!

Ready to try it for yourself? Minute Rice is offering 5 of my readers a chance to try their products. 5 winners will each win:

(1) FREE Minute Rice product, any variety coupon
AND
(1) FREE Minute Rice Ready to Serve product coupon

Here's how to enter. You must leave a seperate comment for each entry and please make sure your email address is included in each entry:

(1) Leave a comment with your favorite recipe using Minute Rice's brown rice. This one is mandatory to enter the giveaway!
(2) Follow @WanderingPeanut on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway! Make sure to add @wanderingpeanut to your tweet so I can see it. Leave a comment letting me know you tweeted. If you already follow, that counts too so leave a comment.
(3) Fan The Wandering Peanut on Facebook. Leave a comment letting me know you did. If you're already a fan that counts too so leave a comment.
(4) Subscribe to or Follow The Wandering Peanut. Leave a comment letting me know. If you already follow of subscribe, that counts too so leave a comment.

This giveaway is open to U.S. Residents and will run until Wed, August 19. The winners will be chosen by Random.org.

If you want to try the products right away, you can print a couple of coupons!
$1.00 off any 2 Minute Rice products
$1.00 off 2 Ready to Serve products

Check out the Minute Rice website for product information, recipes and nutritional information.

Click Here to read more...

And The Winners Are...

Drumroll please......

Dana Glitch

Selinda McCumbers

Christina Blanchard

You ladies will be receiving an email from me shortly.

Thanks so much to everyone who entered! For all of you who didn't win, don't forget to print out your coupon for $1.00 off any Romano's Macaroni Grill Dinner Kit.

Click Here to read more...