ends 3/28 $50 Xperience Days gift certificate

ends 4/2  Foxgloves Funky Fingerless Gloves 

ends 4/3 Hamburger Helper Prize Pack

ends 4/15 Javabites – Gourmet Espresso Cookies (5 winners)

Do any of you like cookies? Coffee? Chocolate? Silly question? I’m a huge fan of all three, so I felt triply blessed to receive a wonderful package with five flavors of Stir Crazy Creations’ Javabites and a pouch of their Organic House Blend Coffee.

Javabites are crunchy morsels of bliss. Yes, seriously. They are that good! And, to top it off, they are made with nothing but the finest natural ingredients. No artificial anything. They use organic, fair trade coffee and use a local roaster who personally visits the owner of the farm that grows these delicious beans. There is no middle man and this ensures that the coffee is of the highest quality and taste.

Their bakery is nestled against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Loveland, Colorado where they brew their cookies and….what’s that? Brew their cookies… well, yes.

They start with organic shade-grown, coarsely ground, espresso-roasted Arabica beans. Then, these beans are blended into a specially formulated moist cookie dough. Next, they slowwwly bake the cookies allowing the espresso to thoroughly brew into each cookie. And the cookies come in latte, mocha, cappuccino and espresso flavors.

They are great for crunchy cookie lovers (me!) and can also be dipped in coffee or tea. I tried both. The Organic House blend they sent was rich yet mellow. Very very good. As you dip the cookies in, they don’t get mushy but soften just enough to melt in your mouth. So good! They are also delicious with ice cream. I crunched them up over my Vanilla Bean the other night.

How to describe the flavor? It’s like a rich coffeehouse latte. They even provide a mild kick that is great when energy flags mid-day for me. And the espresso flavor is totally authentic. Actually, these cookies are a feast for the senses, because when you open the package (individually wrapped in packs of 2 to stay fresh), the smell is like walking into a coffeehouse of delights or falling into a heap of coffee beans (what, yes, I’ve imagined it!). Also a feast for the eyes as the packaging and cookies are just beautiful; for the ears – love the crunch; for the nose – a coffee lover’s paradise; and for your tastebuds – well, you just have to try them to see how delectably good they are! Rich and full of flavor and they taste homemade.

I also love that Stir Crazy Creations is all about making a positive impact on both the community and the environment.

So, here are the different varieties that I tried and that you can check out on their website & enter to win!

White Chocolate Vanilla Latte – Crunchy White Chocolate Chip Cookies with Espresso Bits – (6 100 calorie packs)  – This is their signature cookie, buttery with hints of vanilla, these are amazingly delectable! My favorite!

Almond Mocha – for almond lovers! almond chocolatey cookie with espresso bean bits and milk chocolate chips

Chocolate Chip Espresso – the classic with a kick! Chocolate chip cookies supercharged with espresso bean bits! Not your grandmother’s chocolate chips…My sister loves these. She stole my last one.

White Chocolate Mocha Latte – A chocolate lover’s dream – chocolate mocha cookies filled with white chocolate chips w/bits of espresso beans. I have a feeling my friend Linda would be in chocolate heaven.

 Cinnamon Cappuccino – My mom’s favorite as she loves cinnamon – these are like snickerdoodles – vanilla-cinnamon cookies revved up with bits of espresso beans

You can purchase Javabites at Amazon or at Javabites.

CONNECT WITH JAVABITES:

Website
Facebook
Twitter

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Disclosure: I was provided these products by the sponsor for review but the opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.

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What’s for dinner? What are we having? If you are like me, you’re occasionally tired of that question, especially after a long work week. But, you really don’t have to stress, because Hamburger Helper is an all-in-one meal that takes nearly no time to make and they even have some new flavors to try.

For 40 years, Hamburger Helper has helped to make family dinner time easy, and now with two new delicious varieties, Ultimate Beef Stroganoff and Cheesy Italian Beef, Hamburger Helper offers even more options for easy family style cuisine. With naturally- flavored mixes and rich, tasty sauces, Hamburger Helper makes a meal your family will be happy to enjoy together.

New Hamburger Helper Ultimate Beef Stroganoff has rich roast beef flavor and pasta w/ a decadent sour cream flavored sauce mix while new Hamburger Helper Cheesy Italian Beef features real Italian herbs and pasta enhanced with naturally flavored Italian-style sauce mix.

Simple to make, you just add milk, water and your favorite ground beef.

We preferred the Cheesy Italian dinner with a salad and some garlic bread, but the Beef Stroganoff had a nice rich tasting sour cream sauce also. Both are good when you just simply don’t want to cook, but want a good-tasting family meal. So, check out the new varieties!

You can visit here to download a printable coupon for $0.70 off one box of Hamburger Helper.

Betty Crocker and General Mills through MyBlogSpark sent not only the two new flavors to try but also some great extras including a wonderful serving dish, a trivet and a slotted serving spoon.

Would you like some help with dinner?

These generous folks are also offering a reader the chance to win the same prize pack I was given.

So, please follow the Rafflecopter, and let Hamburger Helper help you out.

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Disclosure:  The Hamburger Helper New Varieties information, product, and prize pack have been provided free of charge by Betty Crocker® and General Mills®, through MyBlogSpark.

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I was kind of astonished to see Brendan and Rachel on The Amazing Race this year. They were such a trainwreck on Big Brother.

But, as always, “TAR” remains my favorite reality show! Last night curling beards, curling gnomes, yodeling in Bavaria and next week they go to Azerbaijan.

I must confess I’ve always wanted to be on this show and my good friend and I have contemplated it many times. When we watch, we talk about which would do what challenge!

I love traveling and this would be a blast!

Have you ever wanted to be on a reality show? Which one? And do you watch The Amazing Race?

I’m loving Bopper and Mark from Kentucky!

this?

or this?

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I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

I’m so excited to be teaming up with Laughing Vixen again to bring you some more awesomeness. She is a wonderful friend and one of my favorite artisans. I have a varied collection of many of her delightful necklaces, pendants and charm bracelets and I’m pleased that she has offered one of my readers their choice from her shop!

Laughing Vixen Lounge is a one woman show run by Kris, a former Hairstylist who decided to put her love of movies and vintage style to good use making fun and unique jewelry.

St. Patrick’s Day Silver Pendant

Here are some of my favorite pieces:

The Ocean Blue Charm Bracelet  

and, for those of you edgier sorts, The Zombie Charm Bracelet.
I have the perfect friend for this one!

From Laughing Vixen’s Shop Announcement:

Pop culture jewelry with a flair for retro, horror and custom designs. Find yourself a unique necklace, charm bracelet and many other needful things. **All items are made when ordered and will take 3-5 days before they ship**

$1 from every item will be donated to www.donatejdm.org from December 1st – April 22nd to help The Brittany Foundation for rescue dogs.


Laughing Vixen Lounge


Appearing nightly on stage:
A mix of Retro Kitsch, Rockabilly Chic, Vintage Horror and Pop Culture Obsession.

Specialties of the house:
Pendants, Charm Bracelets and other Needful Things.


Today’s Special:
1 part Sassy, 1 part Sexy, 1 part Superhero. Mix ’til Amazing and garnish with Laughter. Wear and be Fabulous! Repeat as needed.

That should give you some idea of the amazing variety. I always have a blast going to her site and seeing what new imaginings she has created.  Here are a few more favorite pieces:

White Rabbit Psychedelic Silver Pendant

Fairy Dust Necklace (with Fairy Dust!)

All My Love Necklace  

Vampire Fangs Necklace with Blood Drop Beads


But, I don’t want to spoil all the fun because there’s so much more to explore at Laughing Vixen’s Etsy Shop.

So, check it out and enter this fun giveaway! You can buy something cool for yourself, a friend, a family member, a stranger ;).

Laughing Vixen has generously offered one of my readers a $50 gift certificate to her shop to buy anything their heart desires (she’ll even pick up the shipping, cause she’s cool like that).

This giveaway is open to everyone 18+ worldwide! She will ship to you internationally.

Just follow the Rafflecopter and it will lead you in the right direction.

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It is a perfect time to find what gifts you would like to give to your mother. Makobi Scribe is proud to present Mother’s Day Gift Ideas Carnival Event from May 10 12:01 PM EST to May 18  at 12:01 PM EST and is accepting signups now.

Sinky, Flushy and Trashy – no, they’re not the names of newly discovered dwarves that lived with Snow White. What they are are powerful probiotic natural household cleaners.

It’s not that often that I get excited by cleaning products, but honestly, these products from Natural House have done it for me. I am a great fan of probiotics – take them every day and encourage my family to do the same. Probiotics, also found in yogurt, help to eliminate the bad bacteria while keeping the good in your gut.

Natural House products use an eco-friendly cleaning method of probiotics that create a beneficial, odor eating ecosystem to naturally drive out and digest odors at their source. They don’t just cover up the problem, they go to the root of it.

I was sent these three natural cleaners to try out for 2 weeks in my home and I immediately went on a cleaning binge. I actually enjoyed cleaning! Now don’t get me wrong, I love a clean house, but I’m not big on nasty smelling chemical products that often don’t work well. I hate when, after using them, myself or my family ends up coughing or worse, and I hate when I wonder if the surfaces are ok to touch afterward.

This is particularly important if you have children or pets. All of the Natural House products are phosphate/APE-free, eco-friendly, non-toxic and biodegradable.

Here’s a video for those who want to know more:

I started with Trashy. I sprayed all the trashcans in my home – in the kitchen, in the bathrooms, in the bedrooms. It has a fresh minty scent and you just spray it in before putting in the trash bag. I noticed that it worked on even the worst smells.  I was very relieved to know that there are alternatives to harsh smelling chemicals that truly work.

After Trashy, I moved on to Flushy. Now, no one I know enjoys
cleaning toilets. I’m sure some do, but not my friends. I’m actually used to seeing products in the grocery store that say poison on them. I have to admit that gives me pause. And, this is where Flushy comes in. Utilizing non-toxic, probiotic cleaning agents, Natural House products are strong enough for commercial clean-up, yet safe and gentle for all of the members of your home.

I had fun with this one. You simply drop in a small wrapped square packet, and within 10 seconds, it’s foaming up and blue. I watched it as it did its thing and then had a simple job with a brush. I honestly didn’t have to put much elbow grease in as Flushy had done most of the work and I was left with a sparkling toilet bowl. So, yes, I ran to do the other toilets in my home, even going so far as to get an audience to watch the foaming action. Maybe I’m weird that way.

And, now, moving on to Sinky. Here was my biggest test. You see, embarrassingly enough to say, I had had this weird odor in my kitchen sink.

It was truly so odd and unrecognizable that it reminded me of that Seinfeld episode where someone had to sell their car because of an unrelenting odor! But, I couldn’t very well sell the sink, and I’d tried to get rid of the smell through normal cleaning, rinsing, lemons, sprays. Nothing worked.

So, optimistically, I approached the sink, my nemesis, armed with a little square package of Sinky. I tossed it down the drain, and turned on the hot water for about 10 seconds. Now, first let me say that you can use this with a garbage disposal or not. It promotes healthy drains and breaks down grease and food waste preventing clogs and slow drains.

And, it did that, but, what amazed me was “the smell” was gone! It was truly gone. Never to return. I’m ecstatic. And it kept on cleaning! Also, the water drained faster and more smoothly.

Natural House probiotics create a mini-ecosystem on a microbial level that produce enzymes which break down odors, dirt, fats, oil, grease, food scraps, waste and toilet paper products on a continuous basis between applications. This creates a natural, clean, balanced environment that is safe for even the most sensitive members of your natural house.

So, these products get my high seal of approval, and not just mine, they won the “Retailers’ Choice Award” at the 2011 National Hardware Show in Las Vegas, NV.

You can buy  Natural House products directly on their website:  — Or you can purchase Natural House on Amazon.

I can’t wait to try Moppy, Surfy and Glassy next. I find the prices very reasonable.

CONNECT:

Natural House Website
Natural House on Facebook
Natural House on Twitter

Natural House has also generously offered my readers a chance to win a 30-day-supply of the same cleaners I received so you can experience them in your own home. Just follow the Rafflecopter. Good luck!

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Disclosure: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

It is a perfect time to find what gifts you would like to give to your father. Makobi Scribe is proud to present Father’s Day Gift Ideas Giveaway Event from June 10 12:01 PM EST to June 18  at midnight EST and is accepting signups now. Just sign up here.