Blog tour Archives

Everyone Loves Hickory Farms Party

December 2, 2011 by Momstart 8 Comments

I had a party before Thanksgiving and what did we have, we had Hickory Farms. LOTS of Hickory Farms and everyone went home with their own box. Ok, each couple went home with their own box, and I had a few boxes left over to give to people here and there and the response has always been.

REALLY? That’s for me? I Love Hickory Farms, or some response just like it. I have to admit it’s been so much fun sharing the boxes of Hickory Farms with those around me. I love being Santa! And Everyone LOVES Hickory Farms!

Growing up for me, we didn’t buy Hickory Farms, but for my husband this has always been a fun tradition. When we got married that year for Christmas we had to go out and get cheese and a Hickory Farms Beef Stick. I remember that it was a special meal for the two of us. Neither one of us are very big eaters, don’t get me wrong I LOVE FOOD, but we just don’t eat a large quantity, so we would get two meals out of the beef stick and cheese. We haven’t done it every single year but we talk about doing it ever single year and bought it often. This year thanks to my blog we didn’t have to buy any, and I’m still giving it away. I have one huge box left and I’m trying to decide who should get it.

So Why does everyone like Hickory Farms:

I think everyone Likes Hickory Farms for some sentimental reason. So many people have family traditions or holiday traditions wrapped around Hickory Farms. Plus the quality and taste just make you think holiday party. One of the best serving trays to make is a meat and cheese tray, and Hickory Farms includes the cheese, the sausage, and fruit, crackers, and condiments all in one box. The selection of gourmet gift baskets are filled with fresh, quality ingredients.

The Orchards Bounty basket (which contains fresh produce) was enjoyed by our whole family. The kids loved the pears, who knew they were going to like pears. Plus the oranges and apples were a great addition to the meat and cheese assortment. The basket was quite beautiful too!

And You know I’m all about the charity aspect:

For a limited time this holiday season, for each Party Planner Gift Box sold, Hickory Farms will donate $5 to Share Our Strength, a leading national non-profit organization working to end childhood hunger in America. Additionally, for 40 of these gift items, Hickory Farms provides free military shipping, allowing our troops across the globe to share in holiday traditions.

For more information about the brand, just visit, Hickory Farms Facebook page.

“I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Hickory Farms and received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

I Need Help in the Hillshire Farms Most Wanted Sandwich Vote Apple Champ!

January 16, 2011 by Momstart 33 Comments

There are 15 different sandwich recipes all competing for the Hillshire Farms Most Wanted Sandwich. The winner will receive 5,000 to keep and another 5,000 to donate to charity. We had to choose our charity up front, and I chose to give mine to The Eastside Domestic Violence Program. So your voting is going to make a huge difference, no matter who wins, a very worthy charity is going to win too! Each of us competing against each other brought our game day faces as we went head to head making our local fresh variety sandwiches. I created the Apple Champ:

Apple Champ

Potato Bread

Honeycrisp Apple (grated with a cheese grader) If you can’t find a honeycrisp let’s use a granny smith apple
Hillshire Farm Signature Honey Ham
Sharp Cheddar Cheese Slice
Honey Mustard dressing

Directions:

1. Use an cheese grater to grate up the apple, by grating the apple you can add as much or as little apple as you like. Spritz with some lemon juice if you want the apple to keep it’s fresh look and color

2. Place the Ham on the sandwich

3. Place one slice of cheddar on the ham

4. Place the grated up apple on the sandwich

5. Drizzle some honey mustard over the top of the apple

Voting started yesterday so I’m a little bit behind, ok, I’m actually really far behind, but I know we can catch up.

All I need you to do is to go to GoMeat.com and vote for the Apple Champ, you might have to scroll over to vote for me. Remember, Apple Champ, Louise Bishop, http://momstart.com Mom Start. Once you vote you will receive the opportunity to download a coupon to save on your next purchase of Hillshire Farms Fresh Deli Lunch Meat. It’s our family favorite and has been for 7 or 8 years.

Go Meat!

National Geographic Little Kids Magazine Giveaway

April 10, 2010 by Momstart 83 Comments

I used to love to look at my grandmother’s subscription of National Geographic. It was always fun to look at the pictures of other countries and learn about other cultures. Now, you can bring that education and fun to the hearts of your children through National Geographic Little Kids Magazine.

We received four Little Kid Magazines from National Geographic on behalf of The Family Review Network. I gave them to my kids just this morning and we spent quite a while looking at the pictures and exploring. I was quite impressed when both of my kids were able to say “binoculars”. Wow, that’s a big word. Each magazine has pictures, information and learning/educational ideas to do with your children. It’s a great way to get interactive and teach your kids. You’re supposed to be reading to your kids anyways. Now you can read, play games and watch their minds grow. That’s what I just loved about National Geographic growing up.

Currently, National Geographic Little Kids magazine sells for $3.99 an issue or you can subscribe to one year of 6 issues for just $15.

The recommended age is 3 to 6 but my son was extremely engaged with the pictures and he just turned two.

Product Description:

National Geographic Little Kids is the magazine for young explorers, packed with teaching tools to help parents inspire a love of learning in their children. There are captivating animal stories, answers to questions on kids’ favorite topics, features on different cultures to inspire a sense of understanding about the world, plus interactive experiments to introduce simple science. Each issue also includes a set of six wild animal cards. National Geographic Little Kids is available by subscription (six issues a year) and on newsstands. Explore online at littlekids.nationalgeographic.com.

Enter to win:

One NG Little Kids Magazine

To Enter:

Tell me what inspires your children to learn

Extra Entries:

Follow me on twitter tell me your twitter ID

Tweet:

I like learning with National Geographic Little Kids http://bit.ly/9nJdMF #giveaway #contest

Advertise this giveaway on any giveaway site, your blog, or your facebook page and tell me where you advertised it (include link to giveaway). 5 Extra Entries for each one you do
Subscribe to my blog
Comment on any other non-giveaway post
Use any of the share options below, digg, stumble…2 entries each

The contest will run until April 26th 11:59 pm Pacific. All rules can be found under giveaway rules.

This giveaway is provided by National Geographic as part of The family review network blog tour.

Get your passion Sponsored by Prilosec OTC

February 19, 2010 by Momstart 2 Comments

Prilosec OTC, a leading over-the-counter heartburn treatment, dreamed up the "Official Sponsor of Everything You Do Without Heartburn" program. They’re going to help 100 people realize their passions by providing sponsorships with an average value of $1,000 and a maximum of $4,000. I first hear about this program on twitter when I was looking at possible sponsors for Blissdom. Then I decided well, maybe if I fill out all the information and request it for BlogHer2010. I got stuck on why I deserve the scholarship, perhaps you can answer the question better.

What is your passion?

What most moves you and will enable you to take your hobby or passion to the next level? From a commercial oven to turn your baking into a business, to plane tickets and trip coverage to take pottery classes in Italy or to hike the Grand Canyon — the application criteria are simple: "Tell us who you are, what you love to do, and what you need to do it better. We also want to know, if sponsored, who you would tell about it."

There are a ton of categories, fifteen categories to be exact. Among those categories are food and cuisine, arts and crafts, family, home and garden, entertainment and leisure, health and fitness, travel, sports, and professional pursuits. Blogging is considered a professional pursuit or you could just chalk it up to travel, your choice but tell a good story. So much to choose from! And time’s moving fast — the deadline is February 22. Which means I need to get my thoughts organized.

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Prilosec OTC. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Johnson’s Baby Shower Blog Tour

February 9, 2010 by Momstart 4 Comments

Oh man, we buy so much from Johnson’s and Johnson’s. We use their shampoo and body wash and their q-tips. The last time I had to put a gift basket together for a Baby Shower I used all Johnson’s and Johnson’s. You can purchase shampoo, body wash, bubble bath, diaper rash cream, and cotton swabs (PINK Baby Lotion, Gold Baby Shampoo, Head-To-Toe Wash, and Desitin).

It was for my cousin and it’s her first baby. Johnson’s products are so easy to use and the brand is so trusted. We grew up with it at my house, I think Johnson’s has the experience in the market. It’s been so memorable to me growing up and when I spoke with other moms in my MOMS club they all felt the same way. It is the brand they all grew up with and trust. So when they come out with a new product I’m up for trying it.

All of these products rank high on this list of frequently requested baby staples. They give a first-time Mom like my cousin the essentials she needs from day one. Did you know that some of the products can serve dual purposes. For instance, Johnson’s Baby Powder doubles as a deodorant or a dry shampoo to remove oils and grease in a hurry?

You could also consider saving space when traveling by using the same shampoo as your children (I do) or by using baby oil as shaving cream (ok, that is kind of weird, but I guess people do). It is amazing what I find out about companies and the products that I work with. People come up with all kinds of uses for one product and then they will share that with the company? Do you have any interesting uses for Johnson’s?

Lastly, Johnson’s recently expanded its Bedtime line with a new Bedtime Bubble Bath & Wash formulated with Naturalcalm essences, a unique blend of soothing aromas to help babies sleep better, the perfect touch to baby shower gift baskets. I love the way this stuff smells. It’s so soothing to me that I want to go to bed after giving the kids a bath.

Here is a link to some Johnson’s Coupons

"I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Johnson’s and received samples of Johnson’s Baby products to facilitate my review."