You are here: Home / 2010 / Archives for September 2010

George Foreman Healthy Cooking Evolve Grill Review

September 12, 2010 By 4 Comments

image The George Foreman Evolve™ Grill is quite an improvement over the last George Foreman Grill we purchased. The grill comes with so many different plates and they are all dishwasher safe. My only complaint would be that I want one that is even bigger than this one, longer, not deeper. The deepness of the George Foreman Evolve Grill, and the ability to control the temperature is what causes it to be so very unique in a healthy cooking perspective.

 

GeorgeForemanGrillPlates

The deep-dish baking plate allows you to quickly create casseroles to cakes. Mix up your ingredients, use the precise digital temperature control, pre-heat it, poor your goodies out, use the digital timer, and then serve. All of the plates have a non-stick surface allowing for easy clean up.

imageKey Product Features are:

  • George Tough™ nonstick coating for oil-free cooking
  • Patented slope for fat to drip away
  • Drip tray that is dishwasher safe for collecting grease drippings
  • 84 square-inch cooking surface
  • Precise Digital Time and Temperature Control
  • Removable dishwasher-safe plates

 

 image

Pictured to the left is the muffin tin. This lays in the deep dish pan to create muffins. I like how you can use the spatula and attached it to pull it out when it is hot. image

Even when a pan says that it is non-stick, I still usually use a little cooking spray to keep it from sticking. That or I just throw everything in the dishwasher. When grilling with the George Foreman Evolve Grill I don’t spray it because I know that I can throw it in the dishwasher and it will come clean. And it does!

image 

One of the plates that it comes with is the cross plate design that is perfect for making Panini. I get so tired of eating sandwiches so I love to heat mine up. The George Foreman Healthy Cooking Evolve Grill is perfect for making toasted sandwiches in a short period of time. It cuts out the need to flip the sandwich and if you just use a little bit of cooking spray on the bread you don’t need to use any butter, thus making your sandwich golden in color but healthier for you in the end.

To Learn more about the George Forman line of products Like George Foreman Cooking on Facebook and on Follow George Forman on Twitter.

image

A product sample was provided by George Foreman Healthy Cooking & Family Review Network to facilitate this review.

Filed Under: review Tagged With: , , , , ,

New Healthy Choice Steaming Entrees Giveaway

September 12, 2010 By 463 Comments

imageIf you have been following my dieting journey with Healthy Choice then you know that I truly believe that dieting is hard. Sticking to a routine, following dieting tips, and just re-teaching yourself to eat healthy with proper proportions takes time and dedication and no excuses. It also takes the dedication to yourself. When you tell yourself you can’t have something then you want it more and more, so making sure that you leave a little room for indulgences is really what made the biggest difference for me. With dedication and determination and one Healthy Choice meal a day, I made my weight goal.

Healthy Choice came out with new entrees and I’ve enjoyed them quite a bit. These new entrees by Healthy Choice are Steaming Entrees that you make in the microwave. They steam inside their packaging and are ready to serve. image

Healthy Choice Steaming Entrees Options:

1. Honey Balsamic Chicken

2. Rosemary & Sweet Potatoes

3. Portabella Parmesan Risotto

4. Garlic Herb Shrimp

5. Lemon Herb Chicken

6. Chicken Romano Fresca

7. Sesame Glazed Chicken

8. Roasted Chicken Verde

My favorite flavor so far is the Portabella Parmesan Risotto. I love the cheesy mushrooms, yes I’m a fan of a good fungus!

imageI like the portion size and the fact that I feel full before I finish a meal. Healthy Choice is using real ingredients in their frozen meals. You can actually see the veggies or meat in a good quantity, not too much and not too little. I was honestly surprised with the meals in my journey because I was so used to healthy freezer meals just having no flavor at all. Meals are now healthy and tasty. I love what a little seasoning and proper ingredient combinations can do. I will admit, I don’t like every type of meal that Healthy Choice came out with, but there are so many options that you can eat something different in a 90 day challenge like the one I’ve been participating in. You’re bound to find something you will like.

Enter to Win:

10 Healthy Choice Free Product Coupons

To Enter:

Tell me what you your biggest challenge is in losing weight!

Extra Entries:

Tweet or RT the giveaway using the RT button above, include the link to the post

Like Mom Start on Facebook
Follow me on twitter tell me your twitter ID
Follow me on Google Friend Connect
Subscribe to my blog
Comment on any other non-giveaway post 
List this giveaway on any giveaway site, dig or stumble
Blog About this Giveaway (5 extra entries, linking to the giveaway)
Add my blog button to your sidebar (3 extra).

This giveaway ends September 27th. All rules can be found under giveaway rules. This is part of a Paid Campaign with Healthy Choice.

Filed Under: giveaway Tagged With: , ,

Giveaway Winners

September 11, 2010 By 1 Comment

I just updated the Winner’s Page. Please check to see if you are a winner of any of the giveaways on Mom Start.

 

Just to let everyone know, I’m trying to clean up my blog so I thought it might be helpful if I created a winners page.

giveawayjingle

So if you are wondering if you won a giveaway, check out the winners page.

Filed Under: winners Tagged With: , ,

Build A Bear Craftshop Fashion Decorating Kit Party

September 11, 2010 By 5 Comments

A Few weeks ago we held a play date sponsored by Build a Bear. Build a Bear sent us supplies for all of the kids to decorate their own t-shirts. Everything was included, even the shirt. The shirt is the perfect size for any of the dolls you create inside the Build a Bear stores.

craftshop Build-A-Bear Workshop® is excited to share their new partnership with Michaels Stores. Their brand new line of crafts called Build-A-Bear Craftshop™ will be introduced in all Michaels Stores in September, so they should be hitting shelves now. The new and unique Build-A-Bear Craftshop line includes 24 fun make-your-own projects such as a jewelry kit, hair accessory kit, painting projects and Make and Share kits containing a wearable craft creation for you and your furry friend. Build A Bear sent us the Fashion Decorating Kit for the play date. We invited our friends over and had a great time decorating shirts.

image image

image image

imageThe Build A Bear Craftshop Fashion Kit included markers, stencils, and a ton of iron on transfers. I didn’t get the iron out because I don’t have one, but I was told by the moms and dads that the girls just had to have the iron ons added as soon as they got home form the play date. There were so many iron ons to choose from that the girls could add them to their own clothing. So there are enough supplies to make a shirt for your bear and a shirt for yourself.

I was very impressed with what they put together. I feel like they thought of everything when it came to little girls and decorating a t-shirt.

 

To Keep up with Build A Bear, like Build A Bear on Facebook and Follow Build a Bear on Twitter.

Filed Under: review Tagged With: , , ,

LOCAL: The Wiggles in Comcast Arena Everett WA

September 11, 2010 By 1 Comment

CAE - WhiteWho: The Wiggles – Wiggly Circus Live!

When: Saturday, October 9 – 11:00 am and 2:30 pm

What: The Fab Four from down under are back with this year’s most anticipated family event. It’s the smell of “Hot Poppin’ Popcorn”! It’s the excitement of a “A Big Big Show”! It’s the Wiggles “Wiggly Circus Live!” Join the Wiggles, Captain Feathersword, Dorothy the Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus, Wags the Dog and all the Wiggly Dancers as they bring all the excitement of the big top with a wiggly twist to the Comcast Arena at Everett!
Wiggles - Artwork (SM)Come and wiggle in the aisles for the “Wiggly Circus Live!”

Tour and their highly interactive, fun and educational message. Audience participation features include:

o Having fun with your favorite wiggly pals as they sing and dance through the audience
o Start the fun at home by creating a Wiggles sign and/or dressing up as your favorite character
o Yelling “Wake up, Jeff!” whenever the loveable Purple Wiggle falls asleep onstage.

Children can have even more wiggly fun while they wait for the big day online with www.WiggleTime.com, the Wiggles’ very own virtual world created specifically for preschoolers and their parents. WiggleTime.com provides toddlers with a safe and fun learning environment online. Parents can monitor their child’s progress and have access to premium promotional offers, competitions, merchandise discounts and presale Wiggles tickets!

Tickets: Tickets ($11, $21, $31, $41, VIP $76) are on sale Friday, September 3 at 10 am at the Comcast Arena at Everett Box Office, online at www.comcastarenaeverett.com, or by calling 866-332-8499. All tickets subject to agency convenience charges. Groups of ten or more, call 425.322.2609.

Filed Under: savings Tagged With: , , ,

Giveaway Jingle Link Them Up

September 10, 2010 By 9 Comments

Here is this week’s installment.

You’ve got a giveaway, I want to know about it!

image

Filed Under: linky Tagged With: , ,

In Transit

September 9, 2010 By 5 Comments

IMG_4911Today we will be leaving the beautiful Gulf Coast and going back home. The kids have really enjoyed staying with Grandma Mimi and Papa Mark. They aren’t ready to leave, and in a way I’m not either, but at the same time there is no place like home.

We spent the week at the beach, the aquarium, the pool and shopping. I’m exhausted! I’m sure that as I’m home I’ll share more of our experiences with everyone.

Mom Start reviews and giveaways will be back with a vengeance next week. I have some exciting things lined up! As you can guess I’m behind, majorly behind, but it was really worth staying off the computer and spending time with my kids. We had so much fun!!

Filed Under: personal

The Pig Pays Big on Pig.com

September 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Saving money is something I strive to do and if I’m going to spend the money on something while having the opportunity to earn some, I might as well take part in the opportunity. Does that make sense?

Here is the scoop:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA The Pig Pays Big! Do your shopping through pig.com and earn as you spend. It’s something you were already going to purchase, so make a little with the purchase. There are lots of other places just like it out there, but here’s the scoop!

 

A National Retail Federation (NRF) survey showed that the average family will increase this year’s back-to-school spending by 11% with 30.8% of households using the internet to shop and save. Luckily, parents can utilize the newly launched online shopping website, Pig.com, to go hog wild in savings for those last minute back-to-school purchases.

Backed by Offerwise, the marketing research firm behind BigSpot.com, Pig.com is a fun, easy-to-use website where consumers receive cash-back incentives for every purchase made.

pigPig.com has secured many stores that you probably already make purchases at. With hundreds of national name brand retail chains featured on their website for instant cash-back savings, such as the following:

· Macy’s

· Footlocker

· HotWire

· The Limited

· Drugstore.com

How can you go wrong?

The payout at Pig.com is 10.00 which is much lower than most places. As a result, you are able to have a rewarding, one-stop shopping experience while your children acquire the name brand must-haves for the school year. Being able to shop and save without leaving your home with children in tow …

Priceless!!!

 

This is a sponsored post

Filed Under: savings Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Faclon Crest Season 1 & Season 2 DVD Giveaway

September 7, 2010 By 104 Comments

Falcon Crest was on when I was a very little girl. I remember watching a little bit of it, but I was much more interested in watching Dallas. So, what is your memory of Falcon Crest? I just asked my mom if she watched it and she said yes. Of course she watched it, otherwise; how would I have ever seen it?

Falcon Crest was one of the evening Soap Operas when on air in a time when people were much more interested in watching soap operas, now everyone is just interested in reality TV. I mean, I love reality TV too but I also like a good dramatic show to watch, and I’ll admit, I still watch soap operas when I get the chance.

 

clip_image001Synopsis:

The dramatic saga continues in the complete second season of Falcon Crest, the popular,

long-running series centered on the rich vineyards and richer people of Northern California’s

wine country. Academy Award® winner Jane Wyman stars as winery matriarch Angela Channing,

who will let nothing – family, honor, the law – stand between her and power. Co-stars include

Robert Foxworth as Chase Gioberti, Angela’s upstanding nephew and rival, and Lorenzo Lamas

as Lance Cumson, Angela’s scheming, playboy grandson. Meet the characters…indulge in the

lifestyle…savor the second season of of vintage television melodrama.

About FALCON CREST:

Created by Earl Hamner of The Waltons fame, the highly popular prime time television soap opera Falcon Crest ran from 1981 to 1990. Set in the fictional city of Tuscany Valley, it centered on two wealthy wine families: the Channings, headed by corruptive matriarch, Angela Channing (Jane Wyman), and their rivals, the Giobertis. Falcon Crest ran for nine seasons on CBS, and was a Top 20 show in the Nielsen ratings for four straight years, ranking #13 in its debut year and reaching #7 by the third season.

Enter to Win:

Season 1 & 2 of Falcon Crest

To Enter (required):

Tell me what your favorite night time soap opera was, once upon a time.

Extra Entries (optional):

Follow me on twitter tell me your twitter ID
Follow me on Google Friend Connect
Subscribe to my blog
Comment on any other non-giveaway post 
List this giveaway on any giveaway site, dig or stumble
Blog About this Giveaway (5 extra entries, linking to the giveaway)
Add my blog button to your sidebar (3 extra).

This giveaway ends September 27th, I have been offered a 15.00 Gift Card in exchange for this post. All rules can be found under giveaway rules.

Filed Under: giveaway Tagged With: ,

How To Wear a Backpack

September 7, 2010 By 2 Comments

As I am on vacation this week, and have found that I have an awful internet connection where I am, I am finding it very difficult to upload my own content, so I leave you today with a guest post. This particular guest post is important to me because my husband is always giving me his two cents on the matter as it is.

How you should wear a back pack and what kind of back pack you should get. He tells me all the time. I was one of those kids that loaded up my backpack to an unhealthy weight too so I know it is something I needed to hear then and now, because I’m still not doing it right.

HOW TO WEAR A BACKPACK

IMG_4344Back to school means backpack time! Kids love picking out backpacks with their favorite superheroes or Disney stars but overstuffed packs can take a toll on young bodies. Are your kids wearing their backpacks the right way?  Parents should be aware that overloaded backpacks can cause back pain if worn improperly. 

Dr. Andrew Casden, associate director of Beth Israel’s Spine Institute, says “overloaded backpacks can lead to fatigue, muscle irritation and tiny muscle tears that bring kids into the office with pain.  Students should know the proper way to wear their backpacks to avoid pain.”

The good news is that most times the damage isn’t permanent and pain can be alleviated by minor behavior adjustments. Dr. Casden recommends the following 5 tips for children:

· Reduce the weight in the pack – weight should not exceed 20% of the child’s body weight.

· Bend at the knees, not at the waist when lifting heavy packs.

· Wear the backpack over both shoulders, not slung over only one.

· Place heavy items in the back of the pack.

· Consider a pack on wheels that can be dragged rather than carried.

Back pain in children is rarely serious, but should not be ignored either.  If children complain of persistent pain, you should consult a physician to rule out any medical problems.

Filed Under: Announcement Tagged With: , , ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »