Farmer's Wife Rambles

Zipz Interchangeable Shoes Pays It Forward – Giveaway Ends 6/21

2013-06-18T04:48:34Z

Just like being able to change the shell of our purses was a huge hit, I bring you Zipz. Zipz is for tweens and teens what Miche is for us mom’s. How much fun is it for us to be able to quickly change the shell of our purse to match our outfit or mood for the day. We love it right? Now kids can do the same thing with their shoes.

About Our Sponsor

Zipz! The world’s first, true, interchangeable shoe is here to start a shoevolution! Born in California. Designed in the USA.

Our Zipz Shoes “Covers” are removable and interchangeable. Simply purchase a completed pair of Zipz and then accessorize your footwear purchase with more Zipz Covers now or in the future! You can match any Zipz “Cover” with the same size Zipz Soul to create one of a kind mix/match shoes to suit your mood. Not to mention buying Zipz Covers is easier on the wallet than buying more full pairs of shoes. Adding to your footwear collection is a zip! Whether it’s fashion, function, or fun – Zipz shoes have you covered. Find Zipz Shoes at Hot Topic!

Patented Technology + Durable YKK Zippers + Foot Arch Support System + Extra Padded Footbed + Soft, pliable Rubber soul with hand-tooled construction to give your feet the comfort and quality they deserve!

Change your shoes. Change yourself. Change your world!

Be sure to check out this great Zipz Shoes Review from Blogging Mom of 4

The Prizes

2 pairs of Zipz – One for the winner and one to share with a friend!

Keep: A pair of Zipz

Share: A pair of Zipz

How to Enter

The Giveaway will open up on 6/18 12:01 am EST and Close on 6/21 at 11:59 pm EST.

Complete the mandatory entries on the Rafflecopter below.

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Check out and Enter our Other Giveaways

Side note…It’s not mandatory to enter all the giveaways at each blog. Those are just great bonus giveaways for you to enter.

Mission Giveaway started with Madame Deals and her $100 story where with $100 several people received the help they needed. We are on a mission to help people help each other! We have gathered a group of bloggers that want to make a difference. Together we are Mission Giveaway!

To ask about becoming a sponsor, please contact Amee or Dawn at madamedealsmedia@yahoo.com for details. Take a look at our Media Kit to see what Mission Giveaway has to offer.

Are you a blogger that would like to participate in Mission Giveaway? Find out how you can join us.

Find our official Terms and Conditions on the Madame Deals Media page.

The post Zipz Interchangeable Shoes Pays It Forward – Giveaway Ends 6/21 appeared first on Farmer's Wife Rambles.

Peaberry Tea Pays It Forward With The Mission Group – Giveaway Ends 6/21

2013-06-17T14:43:44Z

I usually start my mornings with coffee that feature a lot of creamer in them. This tends to make it pretty sweet which I like most mornings, especially a lazy Sunday morning. Sometimes though I am just not up for the sweetness first thing in the morning and prefer a much more mellow way to start the morning. On these mornings I reach for a steaming hot cup of green tea or perhaps lemon. These two flavors are my favorite flavors of tea and green tea still offers the caffeine I am looking for to feel “awake” in the morning.

Peaberry Tea offers me the flavors I need and the supplies I need to easily put together a steaming cup of loose leaf tea to start my mornings.

About Our Sponsor

Love tea? Want to love loose tea but don’t know where to start? Host a Peaberry Tea home tea tasting and be rewarded with tons of free product and exclusive host specials! Sip several of our all natural artisan blends, learn steeping techniques and health benefits all while sharing a newfound love of tea with friends. Peaberry Tea currently offers 39 loose teas, scone mixes and shortbread mixes, teaware, and pottery. Tea is second only to water as the top consumed beverage in the world. Do you feel you aren’t a tea drinker? You simply haven’t tried great tea…yet. Give us a few sips and we’ll change your mind!!

Check out Gwen’s Peaberry Tea Review!

The Prizes

Peaberry Tea is awarding 3 of its artisan loose teas in 2 oz resealable bags, one fine mesh infuser basket and dish set, one perfect tea scoop, and one bag of our Classic Scone Mix…to the winner AND a friend!

It’s finally summer and we’ve chosen the perfect teas to steep for iced as well as hot tea. This collection has everything you’ll need to steep the perfect cup. Our Organic Ceylon is a black tea, rich with chocolate notes. The tropical fruits added to a beautiful base of green tea in our Aloha Green are a summer staple. The tartness of pomegranate are perfectly paired with the sweetness of pear in PomePear, a fruit tisane great for all ages. Topping off the experience are our scones. Simply add butter and buttermilk (and cranberries, blueberries, chocolate chips, etc.) to make the most delicious, moist scones you’ll ever have. (Total value of over $110!)

Keep: A Peaberry Tea Prize Pack

Share: A Peaberry Tea Prize Pack

How to Enter

The Giveaway will open up on 6/18 12:01 am EST and Close on 6/21 at 11:59 pm EST.

Complete the mandatory entries on the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out and Enter our Other Giveaways

Side note…It’s not mandatory to enter all the giveaways at each blog. Those are just great bonus giveaways for you to enter.

To ask about becoming a sponsor, please contact Amee or Dawn at madamedealsmedia@yahoo.com for details. Take a look at our Media Kit to see what Mission Giveaway has to offer.

Are you a blogger that would like to participate in Mission Giveaway? Find out how you can join us.

Find our official Terms and Conditions on the Madame Deals Media page.

The post Peaberry Tea Pays It Forward With The Mission Group – Giveaway Ends 6/21 appeared first on Farmer's Wife Rambles.

Personalized Ornaments Keep Traditions Alive + Giveaway Ends 7/2

2013-06-18T05:04:33Z

**This is a sponsored post on behalf of Ornaments & More. I did receive two personalized ornaments to review, however, this did not influence my thoughts or opinions.**

Personalized Ornaments Make Memories

Traditions.

Memories.

Family.

All of these things bring one thought to my mind…Christmas. Yes, I know it’s a few months early but I like to be prepared early for this amazing holiday when the snow is falling and everyone just seems to be in a better mood. What is up with that right?

One major tradition in my house growing up was that everyone would get a personalized ornament, everyone would get a handpicked personalized ornament for them that signified something major from the year. My mom would spend months finding the perfect ornament for each of us, going through what I would like to think 100 ornament shops. With the dawn of a new era, I visit a 100 ornament shops on-line from the comfort of my couch with a steaming cup of coffee in my hand and I try my best to have it done early.

This year I will be prepared early for my two boys by finding a dump truck and bulldozer personalized ornament from Ornaments & More. Ornaments & More offer free hand personalization with any ornament purchase, which includes a specified name and year. Ornaments & More offers thousands of ornament choices that will make it easy to remind those you love about something special from the year that they accomplished. Hand personalized ornaments to celebrate a new marriage, a child’s birth, graduation, heck they even have ornaments for those just because days.

As a family when we decorate the tree we have our “special” ornaments that each person gets to put on the tree and we tell the story of each of those ornaments every year, the stories become ingrained in everyone’s brain! This tradition continues on in my own house and I am glad to see my husband do it willingly with a fake smile plastered all over his face. The boys are all smiles every year as they get to find their special ornaments to place on the tree and I get to tell them story of it being the personalized ornament from their first Christmas or that Great Grandma Iva gave them that John Deere tractor ornament for Christmas.

Christmas is a magical time in our little town and most importantly in our house, it brings us together and brings traditions to our lives. It may be a few months before Christmas but I am always looking to be in the holiday spirit and just shopping for personalized ornaments puts me in a happy mood.

Do you have family traditions that you carry on? How early do you start your Christmas shopping? Do you think personalized ornaments are a perfect simple gift?

Purchase From Ornaments & More

You can see all the personalized ornaments that Ornaments & More offer at their on-line shop. Also keep up to date with everything ornaments by following Ornaments & More on facebook and twitter.

Win A Gift Certificate From Ornaments & More

Ornaments & More will be supplying one lucky Farmer’s Wife Rambles reader a gift certificate to purchase their own personalized ornaments.

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Creamy Lemon Crystal Light Cream Cheese Dip With Splenda

2013-06-07T23:33:59Z

I LOVE LEMON!!

Just wanted to make sure everyone heard me that I love lemon and a lemon dessert is a downfall of mine. I can deny most desserts, well more than my fair share of desserts (except for these Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies), especially after one serving but anything lemon it just seems like I can’t.

There is no will power when it comes to anything lemon, dessert or not.

So back in the 90′s when my parents participated heavily in the Atkins Diet I was pretty much in heaven with the one dessert we got.

Creamy Lemon Crystal Light Cream Cheese Dessert.

Yep that was it, that is the dessert we got 6 days a week while they were on the diet. It was maddening delicious for me and I still think about it often. Since I am still thinking about it I had to make it for my own family. I asked mom for the recipe and this is what she sent me. Since they were on the Atkins diet at the time the recipe originally called for a couple of packets of Equal. I will be subbing out for Splenda as I think it is a much better artificial sweetener and I call it a dip now. I don’t mind eating it just as a dessert but my family doesn’t have my fascination with lemon. Calling it a dip is like the middle ground for us, I get lemon and they get cookies.

Since we are calling this a dip I usually serve mine with Nilla Wafers, sugar cookies, graham crackers, raspberries and strawberries. Raspberries are a little tougher to eat this with and require a spoon because they are so small, but they are my favorite dipping item for the Creamy Lemon Crystal Light Cream Cheese.

Time for honesty here, lemon is my FAVORITE flavor and I am afraid to tell my family that this dip can be made in any flavor of Crystal Light, so if the strawberry banana mix is your favorite flavor than just sub it out. The possibilities are endless really as more companies are making powdered drink mixes. Heck even propel and Gatorade flavorings work just fine just make sure they are pitcher size.

The Cast of Creamy Lemon Crystal Light Cream Cheese

1 package of crystal light lemon mix (pitcher size)
1 package softened cream cheese
2 cups whipping cream
2-3 packets of Splenda (I like mine tart so keep that in mind, my husband would like 5 packets of Splenda added)

Directions for Creamy Lemon Crystal Light Cream Cheese

1. Mix whipping cream, Splenda packets and crystal light mix until whipping cream for 45 seconds on medium. You don’t want the whipping cream to become whip cream but you want it to stiffen up just a little.

2. Add softened cream cheese and mix until creamy.

3. Serve in small bowls topped with whip cream OR as a dip with your choice of dipping devices. I recommend lemon cookies, Nilla Wafers, sugar cookies, graham crackers, raspberries and strawberries.

If you love lemon don’t forget to pin this recipe for later. Perhaps your more of a strawberry person you won’t be disappointed with the Strawberry Cream Cheese Crescent Bars.

How do you think you will prefer this Creamy Lemon Crystal Light Cream Cheese? As a dip or as a dessert? What is your favorite “diet” dessert? Favorite dip?

The post Creamy Lemon Crystal Light Cream Cheese Dip With Splenda appeared first on Farmer's Wife Rambles.

Mike The Knight Live Performance At 18 Locations

2013-06-16T12:55:30Z

**This is a sponsored post on behalf of Mike The Knight and HIT Entertainment.**

About Mike The Knight

Mike the Knight is a new CG-animated preschool series that invites viewers into a fantastical world of castles, quests, dragons and trolls that centers on Mike, a young knight-in-training, with a bright future ahead of him. The son of the King and Queen of Glendragon, he is determined to follow in his father’s footsteps to become a brave and noble knight. Co-produced by HIT Entertainment and Nelvana, the series currently airs on Nick Jr., Monday-Saturday, from 7-8pm. Additionally, a new line of books featuring Mike the Knight was just released from Simon & Schuster, an all-new toy line from Fisher-Price will debut at retailers in May, and Mike’s first home entertainment title, Knight in Training, releases on DVD June 4th from NCircle Entertainment.

About Mike The Knight Live Performance

On June 23, Mike the Knight™ and his friends are galloping into Broadway Mall for special live performances of Mike the Knight and the Mission for Hidden Treasure. The free 20-minute interactive musical adventure will also feature Mike’s dragon, Squirt, from the beloved television series on Nick Jr., and includes meet & greets, photo opportunities, giveaways, and a preview of the first Mike the Knight toys from Fisher-Price debuting in Spring 2013. Performances will be held at 12pm and 2:30pm.

It’s time to be a knight, and do it right! Mike the Knight and the Mission for Hidden Treasure follows Mike, Squirt, and friends, as they piece together clues to discover hidden treasure. To help Mike accomplish his mission, audience members are invited to take on special fun-filled challenges alongside Mike and Squirt, and learn lessons in knightliness. After the show, young knights in training will have the opportunity to tell Mike the Knight what knightly deeds they have done and participate in a special knighting ceremony.

Meet Mike The Knight

Each 20 minute show will be followed by a meet and greet with Mike. In addition to the two performances, guests are encouraged to come dressed in knight and princess attire and participate in all of the fun.

Mike The Knight Live Performance Location

Mike The Knight performances will be held at 18 mall locations across the US. Find a participating mall location near you that will be featuring a Mike The Knight Live Performance, and see Mike The Knight in action with a meet and greet. I wish I lived closer to a performance my boys would be in heaven!

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Jack The Giant Slayer To Be Released On DVD June 18th

2013-06-16T12:38:42Z

**This is a sponsored post on behalf of Warner Bros about Jack The Giant Slayer. Please know that I will receive a DVD of Jack the Giant Slayer for my time in posting this. This however did not influence my thoughts.**

About Jack the Giant Slayer

Unleashed on the Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing Jack (Nicholas Hoult), into the battle of this life to stop them. Fighting for a kingdom and its people, and the love of a brave princess, he comes face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed in legend… and gets the chance to become a legend himself! Directed by Brian Singer (X-Men, Superman Returns)

Starring: Nicholas Hoult (About a Boy), Ewan McGregor (Star Wars, Moulin Rouge!), and Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones).

Jack the Giant Slayer Blog App

Take The Jack The Giant Slayer Quiz

• How Brave Are You? QUIZ – Are you brave like Jack? Do beanstalks and “giant” challenges make you afraid or courageous? Take the quiz to find out!

• Giant Soundboard – Jack the Giant Slayer is filled with epic giant stomps, sword slashes and thunderous sounds! Play with official sound effects from the movie and compose your own “giant hit song”!

The post Jack The Giant Slayer To Be Released On DVD June 18th appeared first on Farmer's Wife Rambles.

Travel In Style With A Coach Backpack + Giveaway Ends 6/30

2013-06-16T03:52:58Z

Coach Giveaway

As I get older and am dragging my children all over the country side for swim lessons, play dates, park dates and shopping I have learned that I need a bit more than just carrying a wallet. I have learned and am never spotted outside of the house without some type of large bag that will help make sure I have a days worth of supplies. When you live 30 miles from anything that you will need it doesn’t do any good if you forget something. I would be in heaven if I could head to town with this Coach Daisy Applique Multicolor Backpack, what a stylish way to do errands! Or pack for a weekend trip. I honestly couldn’t imagine having the luck to own this backpack which retails for $298 that features Coach’s signature fabric design with a playful multicolor floral pattern.

Join Our Coach Backpack Giveaway Now!

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This Coach giveaway starts on 6/15/13 at 6pm EST and ends on 6/30/13 at 11:59pm EST.

The post Travel In Style With A Coach Backpack + Giveaway Ends 6/30 appeared first on Farmer's Wife Rambles.

24 Awesome Father’s Day Ideas

2013-06-14T16:11:54Z

Father’s Day is right around the corner and for those of us who slightly procrastinate (like myself) there are a few ideas that can be finished before this Sunday and nobody will ever know you weren’t actually ready (don’t read that Cory!).

Whether it’s dinner, treats or a homemade gift we have you covered. Candy Bar Poems are always huge hit and the Grill Hands mitts are probably one of my favorite. Cory doesn’t wear grill mitts but if he did I know he would be getting a set. I do make sure to try and document the boy’s hands in some way for Cory (plus it’s a little bit as a reminder for myself). Cory doesn’t care about the memories of how small their hands and feet are now but we both look back at the first ones from 5 years ago and are slightly in ahh.

We have tradition that we tend to go 4-wheeling for Father’s Day and last year we joined a poker run. That’s the plan for this year as well. We will be joining the poker run and putting 30 miles on the 4-wheelers while making pit stops to gather our poker hand. Last year we were so close to winning something and we sure hope the boys will be given their chance at a few better cards this year. Either way we spend the day as a family and try to keep it simple. Cory will wake up to homemade chocolate chip pancakes, a Father’s Day Coupons, the boys hand-prints to be saved and a day on 4-wheelers. What more could he really ask for?

Glad this procrastinator married someone who is easy and low key!

Father’s Day Ideas – Gifts

Personalized Mug for Fathers Day
Fathers day craft: Following in daddy’s Footsteps
We Love you to Pieces craft with glue dots
Picture Frame Craft
25 DIY craft ideas for Father’s day
Handprint T-shirt for dad
Monkey Toes
Homemade Grilled Mitt for dad
Father’s day Candy bar poem

Father’s Day Ideas – Dinners

BBQ Chicken
Homemade Steak rub
Homemade Spice Rub
Stacked Enchiladas
Pepperoni and Jalapeno Stromboli
Cheese Stuffed Green Chilis
Fall Off The Fork Tender Swiss Steak
Otto’s Funyun Meatloaf

Father’s Day Ideas – Desserts

Peanut Butter Bacon Beer Brownies

Chocolate Kahlua Cake

Red White and Blue Parfait

Three ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

Worlds Fudgiest Brownies

Lemon Mousse Shots

Mud Pie

Do you have a tradition for Father’s Day? Perhaps a favorite gift that you always try to give? Your husband’s favorite plans? Can you put one of these Father’s Day Ideas to use?

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Dried Celery Makes It Easy To Add Vegetables To Your Meals

2013-06-14T03:22:07Z

As I progress with my Fabulous Food Dehydrator Series, I couldn’t decide whether dried celery or dried canned pineapple was easier. I thought about putting them in the same post because they are so easy, in the end though it came down to the tools needed. You have to actually chop celery so I decided it was harder…but only because it makes another dish to wash.

As I said above you need to chop your celery before you can dry it. I purchased three bundles and my chopping skills are questionable, remember they all need to be about the same size. This is where a mandolin slicer comes in handy. Nothing fancy is needed, mine was a hand me down that the original purchaser paid less than thirty dollars for. Within fifteen minutes I had two Emsa Clip & Close Containers filled with my sliced celery. I needed to refrigerate mine since I had the pineapple in my dehydrator but I wanted to make sure I was ready to do a quick swap out.

Out came the dried pineapple and with a quick rinse I soon had a couple of trays of celery filled up. Most things in the dehydrator you need to be careful not to have a lot of overlap but with celery it’s so thin anyway that a little isn’t going to affect the overall product.

I started my dried celery, at 130 degrees, before I headed out to MOPS for the day and when I got home eleven hours later it was good to go. With vegetables I believe the crunchier the better. You need to make sure that when you break a piece in half it snaps rather than stays pliable. With dried celery it will pretty much crumble because your pieces were so thin. Now I can send part of this celery into its new home of the food safe bucket and I am also going I powder some if it up with my food processor to “hide” in normal foods. I know it’s not adding much but it sure is easy to hide powdered celery in mashed potatoes, casseroles, even as a meat seasoning with salt and pepper. Every little bit helps right?

Celery is so easy because it’s one of those that doesn’t require blanching before and it’s pretty impossible to over dry. Out it in before bedtime and it’s finished in the morning or of you get delayed running errands with it in at home, 15 hours is not going to hurt. It’s also easy to justify because I am not allowed to use celery in many dishes so rarely do I have a stick on hand for soups or stews . Throw a handful in while your soup is boiling and fifteen minutes later it is just like fresh. Remember though that dried foods absorb liquid so adjust your recipe accordingly.

Don’t Miss The Rest In The Fabulous Dehydrator Series

What is Food Dehydrator All About?
So What Exactly Can You Make?
How to Choose a Food Dehydrator
How to Care for Your Food Dehydrator
Saving Money with a Food Dehydrator
Dry Pineapple The Easy Way

What is your favorite thing to dehydrate? Is there something in particular you would like to learn to dehydrate? Do you have a favorite dehydrator or brand?

The post Dried Celery Makes It Easy To Add Vegetables To Your Meals appeared first on Farmer's Wife Rambles.

Busy Bag Activities Are Perfect For A Long Car Ride

2013-06-11T04:03:44Z

Summer is here and for many including myself that means traveling. Family vacations can equal hundreds if not thousands of miles and that means memories will be made for in the future. Right? You know the memories that everyone has of going to Disney Land, Mount Rushmore or the zoo two states over. All if it can equal some amazing memories, a few to be had now and even more memories to fill in ten years from now.

Why do the memories always seem to get better as we age? Possibly because we become more nostalgic or actually realize what taking a family vacation means for our parents and the work they put into it. We are able to appreciate the vacation more, right? Well the truth of the matter is that over time we forget about the boredom in the car, the yelling from parent to child and the bickering between the kids. The constant bickering and the noise that never seems to end. I know I can’t be the only one that at times actually dreads the vacation because we cram everything we can into a few days and the kids are tired, whiny and the fighting just gets worse, along with the boredom of 2,000 miles in the car.

Use A Busy Bag Cooperative To Gain Several Bags At Once

With the help of Rebecca’s splendid ideas and a group of amazing women I feel like I will be a bit more armed to take on the summer driving and summer activities, this summer we will be using Busy Bags. Some would call them quiet bags but my boys are far from quiet while doing them and even others refer to them as church bags. No matter what you call them they will be helping me keep my sanity this summer, whether in the car or out. I will be stocking up every nook and cranny in my house with a couple of these bags, keeping a few special ones back for long road trips and keeping a few others in the Yukon for everyday use. I admit I am no stranger to the portable DVD player but we do use it sparingly so we have to be a little bit inventive when it comes to keeping the peace in the car.

So follow along with me for the next several weeks where I will be sharing several busy bag activities that I exchanged with 9 other women in the park today. By making this a cooperative effort I was able to bring home 9 different activities while still putting very little effort into the event. After all I think making 13 of the same activity is easier because I can fall into a routine and don’t have to buy all the supplies for different activities. By only needing the supplies for one activity 13 times I actually used up all the supplies I bought and didn’t have 9 different activities worth of open supplies wondering what am I going to do with that…

So this summer as you hit the road, church or just need some quiet time with occupied children I encourage these busy bags/quiet bags/church activities. Form a co-op like we did and get to exchanging, perhaps monthly to really get a large variety of bags and levels.

These free blog printables might be some help on the road this summer as well. Remember that I laminate all of my blog printables with my Scotch Thermal Laminator so that they can easily be re-used.

How do you keep your kids happy in the car for long rides? Do you have a favorite game you play only in the car? Perhaps a favorite treat that is reserved just for long rides?

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