We had such a great time putting together our Valentine’s Day Gift Guide and we hope you loved it to!  Today is the day you have all been waiting for…the day we announce the winners of all our fabulous giveaways!!  If you’re name was chosen please email afroginmysoupinfo@gmail.com by Saturday, 2/11/12 at 11:59pm to claim your prize.  If you’re name wasn’t chosen, stay tuned because we have another exciting giveaway for you starting tomorrow!

And now, without further hesitation, the winners are….

For the Innovia Automatic Paper Towel Dispenser - Comment # 72, Annie C!

For the Personalized Book from MyFairyTaleBooks – Comment # 16, trixx!

For the $50 Gift Card to KLMc Designs – Comment #46, Angel Charm!

For a set of DaddyScrubs – Comment #17, Amber Porter!

For a Saranoni Blanket – Comment # 78, Jen!

For a FunBite Food Cutter – Comment #25, Drama Queens Mum!

Congratulations to all of our winners!  You will be hearing from me shortly!  Please don’t forget to email afroginmysoupinfo@gmail.com by Saturday night or a new winner will be chosen.  Check back tomorrow for our next amazing contest!

For me, keeping it yummy and simple is always the biggest factor in any game-day menu. Here’s a few tips to make preparation even simpler.

Use a Crockpot.

This is absolutely mandatory around here. In fact, crock pots are so useful for holidays and game day we went out and bought a great unit that has three crock pots in it. They are attractive, convenient and one pot does it all from cooking, to keeping warm and serving. 

Plan Ahead

Don’t get too very extravagant, you’d be surprised just how amazing things can turn out with just a little prep and a few ingredients. By planning ahead you don’t have to worry about missing ingredients or last minute trips to the store. Keep in mind there’s almost always a simple way to improvise if you do end up forgetting something.

Keep it Simple

When you’re entertaining a crowd all too often as the hostess we get way too caught up in wanting it to be fancy and impressive. On game-day this is absolutely not necessary! Break out the everyday dishes, the simpler the better actually as game-day tends to be casual and messy. Keep it as simple as possible for not only serving and eating, but for clean up as well!

Now it’s your turn! Join the conversation and tell me what tips you have for hosting a successful party for friends and family for the Big Game and be entered to win a 42” LG flat Screen TV!

Looking for some snack ideas? Tyson Any’tizers are a great snack that satisfies your kids on game day or any day! 

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Tyson Any’Tizers.  The opinions expressed by me do not necessarily reflect the view of the Tyson Any’Tizers Brand. Official Sweepstakes Rules

There are many mornings where making a full breakfast just doesn’t work well so it’s great to have something quick to grab. Also, the hungries hit the boys frequently throughout the day and I love knowing I have something healthy to give them that will fill them up and really feed their bodies well.

So, as I was looking around online I stumbled upon eatbetteramerica.com and their wonderful Healthified Oatmeal Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies (quite a mouthful in so many ways lol). Everything about this recipe I love! It uses natural peanut butter (you should always use the unsalted unsweetened type anyway, it doesn’t take long for the family to get used to it I promise) and honey. There’s NO white sugar in this recipe, what an amazing healthful treat for your family!

Healthified Oatmeal Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies

from eatbetteramerica.com

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray
1/2 cup mashed banana (about 1 large)
1/2 cup chunky natural peanut butter (unsalted and unsweetened)
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup Gold Medal® whole wheat flour
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup dried cranberries or raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat two cookie sheets with cooking spray; set aside. In a large bowl, stir together banana, peanut butter, honey, and vanilla. In a small bowl, combine oats, flour, milk powder, cinnamon, and baking soda. Stir the oat mixture into the banana mixture until combined. Stir in dried cranberries.
2. Using a ¼-cup measure, drop mounds of dough 3 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. With a thin metal or small plastic spatula dipped in water, flatten and spread each mound of dough to a 2¾-inch round, about ½ inch thick.
3. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 14 to 16 minutes or until browned. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months; thaw before serving.

Nutritional Information
1 Serving: Calories 220 (Calories from Fat 60); Total Fat 7g (Saturated Fat 1g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 35mg; Total Carbohydrate 38g (Dietary Fiber 4g, Sugars 22g); Protein 6g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 2%; Vitamin C 2%; Calcium 4%; Iron 8% Exchanges: 2 Starch; 1/2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 1 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 2 1/2
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Image ©JJAVA – fotolia.com

Luckily, I have been introduced to FunBites!  FunBites makes these adorable food cutters that take ordinary food and turn it into “mealtime magic”!  These curved blade cutters can take anything from sandwiches to pancakes, fish, cheese, or fruit, and make it into a fun, neat meal!  I am really loving using this on my kids lunch, especially as Valentine’s Day approaches and I can’t seem to get enough heart shaped goodies!

The blades are sharp enough to use on foods like pizza and allow you to cut the food without having to put your fingers all over it and they are easy to use!

1.  Place your FunBites cutter on top of your food.  Remove the popper top and set it to the side.

2.  Grab the cutter handles on both sides, press down firmly, and rock side to side 5-6 times.

3.  Lift the cutter up, insert the popper top, and pop out the bite-sized pieces! Easy Peasy!!

Some other pros:

• FunBites are made 100% in the USA!
• FunBites are BPA free!
• FunBites are top rack dishwasher safe!
• FunBites were created by the parents of two little girls who wanted to help their picky eater enjoy the healthy foods they served her and not just junk food.  (We love Mom and Dad inspired products!)

You can WIN your choice of a green cube or pink heart FunBites by reading on…

But first, check out these awesome kid (and adult!) friendly creations that you can make with FunBites.

Here’s how you can win!

• Visit FunBites and tell us how you would spend a gift card to the shop.
• “Like” A Frog in My Soup on Facebook.
• Become a follower of A Frog in My Soup on Twitter.
• “Like” FunBites on Facebook.
• Follow FunBites on Twitter.
• Share a link to this giveaway on Facebook and tag A Frog in My Soup.
• Tweet about this giveaway and mention @afroginmysoup.

That’s a total of 7 possible entries! Remember, each comment is it’s own entry, so be sure to leave a separate comment for each of these that you do.

This contest will end Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 at 11:59 pm and a winner will be announced on Friday, February 10, 2012. You will have 72 hours to respond to afroginmysoupinfo @ gmail dot com or a new winner will be chosen.

Good Luck and Happy Entering!

Disclosure: I received these products free of charge to review, however FunBites did not compensate me in any other way. The opinions expressed in this post are mine. You can read this site’s disclosure policy here.

Of course, in my home there’s always a lot of clutter, but finding clever and convenient storage solutions can be the perfect answer for keeping things running smoothly when seasons change. This doesn’t have to be expensive, sure it can be, but there are ways to keep it down to a minimum.

Buy them all the same!

Try to buy the same containers for storing seasonal items. These containers can be different for each season but making sure you’re buying the same ones makes them simple to stack, find and label.

Shop Sales

Right after Christmas is usually the perfect time to shop for storage as most stores have big sales on it. Sure, some of them may be red and green big plastic containers but those are perfect for storing all your winter and Christmas stuff and you’ll always know what boxes to look in for that time of year! Even snow suits, winter clothing, boots, etc are perfect for storing in these containers.

Label Well

Label all your containers with not only the season, but the basic contents. For Christmas/winter stuff I’d typically have one box for lights, another for ornaments/stockings and another for winter clothes. You get the idea.

Plan Ahead

Make an area in your home or garage or basement that’s just for storage. Take time to find that one spot that’s not damp or wet, but isn’t used much. Keep in mind that it does NOT have to be a large area. I would venture to say that for seasonal storage you really don’t need more than a 6ft x 6ft area to fit all four seasons.

This is a great time to get rid of any lights that don’t work or clothes that are worn out, too small or won’t be used again! Fill your boxes and stack them all together by season. The great thing about doing it this way is that it doesn’t take long at all and everything is going to be so very easy to find next year when you need it.

Now I’m off to find that pesky Valentine’s Day table runner I didn’t put away last year !

This post was brought to you by Uncle Bob’s storage company! All opinions and content is entirely mine you can see my full disclosure policy here. 

I am lucky to get to tell you about their blankets!  Saranoni doesn’t just make any old blanket though – these blankets are seriously the warmest, thickest, softest blankets I’ve seen, and I am in LOVE with mine!  When Saranoni asked me to review their new toddler blanket and their adult blanket, I was excited because they are absolutely gorgeous, but then when I tracked my order and saw that it was arriving at just the same time as the snow storm we got a few weekends ago, I was even happier.  I literally sat by the window waiting to see the package and when I did, I ran out to grab them.

They  were even better in person than I would have thought.  They are so cozy and so high quality that they are actually heavy which is so comforting when you are cuddling up in bed or on the couch!  Saranoni sent me the Toddler to Teen blanket in Hot Pink Swirl and the Extra Large blanket in Candy Apple Red/Charcoal Lush.  They are both really attractive additions to our home, but I have to say the swirl detail on the pink blanket is really gorgeous!

We have been keeping the extra-large blanket in our living room which I love because I can comfortably cuddle up with both of my kids and have us all be covered by the blanket.  (Our pup seems to like it to as he insists on sitting ON us when we have the blanket on!)  I’ve never found a blanket that was this luxurious and this large!  It’s perfect for our family!

When the blankets arrived here, my daughter, who is 20 months old, was napping in my bed, so I ran in and covered her up in the blanket and she immediately snuggled into it.  She didn’t want to let the blankie go!  I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I didn’t either!  I may or may not still be sleeping with it…   (Who am I kidding?  I have totally been sleeping with it since it got here!)

My son recently asked if he could borrow our new living room blanket for his room, “just for when it snows”.  I reluctantly gave in until he told me “Okay, you can have it back in the Summer!”!  Ha!  I don’t think so, little man!  The blanket is currently safe and sound on my lap as I type this.

In addition to the stunning blankets that Saranoni makes, they also sell adorable kids shoes and clothes, maternity tees, and beautiful jewelry!

So – who could use a Valentine’s Day gift from Saranoni??  Anyone!!  This is a great gift for a child or adult, and with February 14^th quickly approaching, Saranoni has marked down all of their pink and red blankets in honor of the day of love!

Even better, you could win your own Toddler to Teen Blanket from them right here!  They have generously offered to give one of our readers their own blanket to warm up this very cold Winter!  Want to win??  Here’s how!

Each of the following count as one entry. A separate comment must be left bellow for each entry.

• Visit Saranoni and tell us which is your favorite blanket.
• “Like” A Frog in My Soup on Facebook.
• Become a follower of A Frog in My Soup on Twitter.
• “Like” Saranoni on Facebook.
• Share a link to this giveaway on Facebook and tag A Frog in My Soup.
• Tweet about this giveaway and mention @afroginmysoup.

That’s a total of 6 possible entries! Remember, each comment is it’s own entry, so be sure to leave a separate comment for each of these that you do.

This contest will end Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 11:59 pm and a winner will be announced on Friday, February 10, 2012. You will have 72 hours to respond to afroginmysoupinfo @ gmail dot com or a new winner will be chosen.

Good Luck and Happy Entering!

Disclosure: I received these products free of charge to review, however Saranoni did not compensate me in any other way. The opinions expressed in this post are mine. You can read this site’s disclosure policy here.

My hubby has a pair and loves them!  He uses them for pjs because they are super comfy and my kids get a kick out of them because they say “Daddy”!  I love them because, well, who doesn’t love a guy in scrubs? Right, ladies??

When my kids were born I wasn’t familiar with DaddyScrubs, but the kind people over there offered to send me a pair anyway and my husband was thrilled to get them.  (And maybe we will get to use them in the hospital someday for baby #3! )  They are such a fun and unique gift!  Plus, if your hubby isn’t a scrubs kind of guy, they have hats, sweatshirts, mugs, and all kinds of other great gifts for any super-dads that you know.  If you can’t decide, check out their gift sets that include some really useful, and funny, books, like “The Caveman’s Pregnancy Companion”.  I love the DaddySwag Set pictured below.

It’s really fun to find a fantastic brand that was started by a dad because in the world of products for parents and kids, most are founded by moms, but not DaddyScrubs.  DaddyScrubs was started by Robert Nickell when he found out that his wife was pregnant with his fifth child, and he decided that he was tired of wearing uncomfortable street clothes while waiting for his little love to be born.

The scrubs now come in navy, green, or khaki, and have either an edgy or classic font.

So do you know any dads that would look cool and comfy in these scrubs??  Well then you are in luck because DaddyScrubs is giving a set away to one of our wonderful A Frog in My Soup readers!  Perhaps you could win a pair!  Find out how a little further down.

Each of the following count as one entry. A separate comment must be left bellow for each entry.

• Visit Daddy Scrubs and tell us which scrubs you would like.
• “Like” A Frog in My Soup on Facebook.
• Become a follower of A Frog in My Soup on Twitter.
• “Like” Daddy Scrubs on Facebook.
• Share a link to this giveaway on Facebook and tag A Frog in My Soup and Daddy Scrubs.
• Tweet about this giveaway and mention @afroginmysoup.

That’s a total of 6 possible entries! Remember, each comment is it’s own entry, so be sure to leave a separate comment for each of these that you do.

This contest will end Wednesday, February 8, 2012 and a winner will be announced on Friday, February 10, 2012. You will have 72 hours to respond to afroginmysoupinfo @ gmail dot com or a new winner will be chosen.

Good Luck and Happy Entering!

Disclosure: I received these products free of charge to review, however Daddy Scrubs did not compensate me in any other way. The opinions expressed in this post are mine. You can read this site’s disclosure policy here.

Kristin makes all of her jewelry out of fine silver, and can customize most of her designs just for you.  For example, you could get this necklace with a footprint, handprint, fingerprint, even your lip print!  And although this isn’t my “for him” post, you could even put your little ones’ tiny feet on a keychain or dog tag for any special dad that you know.

If your babies are fur covered, Kristin can take your pup or kittens paws and make beautiful necklace!  Plus, all of her jewelry can be embellished with Swarovski crystals or freshwater pearls.

It’s pretty spectacular how Kristin manages to get the actual prints on to the jewelry, but your part is easy!  I took the really easy way out and scanned my kids’ hospital foot prints into the computer and emailed them over, but you could easily take a current finger/foot/hand/paw/lip print using some bright white paper and an ink pad!

I could probably write pages about all of the gorgeous things that Kristin makes, but instead, I’m going to send you over to her site to pick out what you’d like for Valentine’s Day, and then direct you to the bottom of this post where there are instructions on how you could win a $50 gift certificate to her etsy shop!  (Yippeee!!)

• Visit KLMcDesigns and tell us how you would spend a gift card to the shop.
• “Like” A Frog in My Soup on Facebook.
• Become a follower of A Frog in My Soup on Twitter.
• “Like” KLMc Designs/Bittyclippies on Facebook.
• Follow KLMc Designs/Bittyclippies on Twitter.
• Share a link to this giveaway on Facebook and tag A Frog in My Soup.
• Tweet about this giveaway and mention @afroginmysoup.

That’s a total of 7 possible entries! Remember, each comment is it’s own entry, so be sure to leave a separate comment for each of these that you do.

This contest will end Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 at 11:59 pm and a winner will be announced on Friday, February 10, 2012. You will have 72 hours to respond to afroginmysoupinfo @ gmail dot com or a new winner will be chosen.

Good Luck and Happy Entering!

And don’t forget that we have a ton of wonderful giveaways going on this week! Check back every day for a new product review and a new prize!  Below are the links to all of our current giveaways.

• Innovia Automatic Paper Towel Dispenser
• MyFairyTaleBooks Personalized Book

Disclosure: I received these products free of charge to review, however KLMc Designs did not compensate me in any other way. The opinions expressed in this post are mine. You can read this site’s disclosure policy here.

Our first feature would make a perfect gift for your kiddies.  I mean, let’s be honest, in my house, Valentine’s Day is kind of about them now anyway.  There is not too much time for romance anymore, but celebrating as a family is still super fun!  We bake cookies for Daddy, wrap up his present, and then when he gets home, we all open our little souvenirs of our love for each other.

This year, one of the best products that I have found for my kids is a personalized book from My Fairytale Books.  Books are always a great gift in my opinion, but these books are even more special because they include your child’s name, and other personal details that make them a forever keepsake.  My favorite part is that you can even write your own dedication – something like “For your first Valentine’s Day!  With love from the two people who love you most, Mommy & Daddy”.  (Awwww!)

I was so excited when the sweet people over at My Fairytale Books offered to give my kiddos a book, and I was even more surprised when I received the book only 2 days after I sent them over my book choice and personalization details!  I emailed them to thank them for their amazing service and they told me that they try their best to get the books in the mail 24 hours after they are ordered because “it makes their customers happy!”  Wow!  The book is perfect!  It has a hard cover, so my little girl won’t ruin it instantly, and it has her name and her brother’s name throughout.  I chose the book “Little One, Little One, What Do You See” but there are TONS of choices to pick from!  Not only that, but they also make personalized CDs, and personalized DVDs.

They have everything from superheroes like Batman, to Sesame Street, to books about Noah’s Ark!  They even have a personalized “Bye Bye Diapers” book featuring Elmo!

So, if you’d like to win one of these personalized books for your child, let us know!  Here’s how you can win…

• Visit http://www.myfairytalebooks.com/ and tell us which book you would like to win and who you would give it to.
• “Like” A Frog in My Soup on Facebook.
• Become a follower of A Frog in My Soup on Twitter.
• “Like” My Fairy Tale Books on Facebook.
• Become a follower of My Fairy Tale Books on Twitter.
• Share a link to this giveaway on Facebook and tag A Frog in My Soup.
• Tweet about this giveaway and mention @afroginmysoup.

That’s a total of 7 possible entries! Remember, each comment is it’s own entry, so be sure to leave a separate comment for each of these that you do.

This contest will end Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 11:59 pm and a winner will be announced on Friday, February 10, 2012. You will have 72 hours to respond to afroginmysoupinfo @ gmail dot com or a new winner will be chosen.

Good Luck and Happy Entering!

Disclosure: I received these products free of charge to review, however My Fairy Tale Books did not compensate me in any other way. The opinions expressed in this post are mine. You can read this site’s disclosure policy here.

I am so thrilled to write this post for you!  The product that I am going to tell you about has been such a fabulous addition to my kitchen, and not only am I super excited to tell you about it, I’m even more excited because I get to give one away to a very lucky reader!!

This little beauty arrived on my door step just a few weeks ago, and has made me so happy!  The Innovia Automatic Paper Towel Dispenser is a motion activated disperser that is truly SMART!  Not only does the dispenser know how long your paper towels are (yup, even if you buy the ones that come in different sizes!), but it also knows when you have activated it too many times and it will take the extra towels back in.  It is smart enough to know when I am operating my Keurig that sits underneath it, and when I actually want a paper towel.  It doesn’t go off when I walk by like some motion sensitive products, and it keeps my paper towels protected from germs, water from the sink, and any bacteria that could be on my hands when I am cooking!

We have been talking about healthy homes a lot around here, and food borne illnesses are a huge concern of mine.  When I cook or bake I will literally wash my hands every 2-3 minutes because I don’t want to spread raw eggs, raw chicken, or any other raw foods around my counter tops or appliances.  I always hate when I have to grab a paper towel while cooking because it’s nearly impossible to do so without having some part of my contaminated hands touch the roll or the stand.  Sometimes I end up throwing away the next 5 or 6 sheets because I’m afraid that I have spread the bacteria to them.  This product has eliminated that worry for me and I couldn’t be more grateful!

If you have kids and/or pets like I do, then you know how quickly you need paper towels sometimes, and to be honest, there have been quite a few occasions (spit up, spilt milk, puppy accidents, baby accidents, etc.) when my hands are definitely not in any condition to touch a roll of paper towels.  Now, I am all set thanks to Innovia!  (Where were you 3 years ago when I had an infant with acid reflux?!)

Here are a few things to note about the product.

• My husband installed this in our kitchen in about 20 minutes.  He is a business man, not an extraordinary carpenter or anything like that.  It’s an easy install!
• The unit does require power.  It came with an AC adapter, but we are currently running it on 4 D batteries because we didn’t want the cord hanging down.  It would be easy enough to hide it in a cabinet with an electrical outlet if you have one.
• The unit comes in many different colors.  I chose to have the stainless steel one because it went with my other appliances, but you can also get it in black, white, red or blue.

• The dimensions are as follows:  14.6 inches wide x 9.6 inches deep x 7.6 inches high.  It fit just fine under our cabinet and like I mentioned, our Keurig and our spice rack are both below it.
• We are currently using the unit with Marcal Small Steps paper towels, but we have also used our grocery stores brand and had no trouble.  They do warn on the website that over sized rolls may not always fit, and for some reason Viva paper towels do not perforate correctly.
• My kids find it very fun to set off the sensor.  Luckily, if you give it a few seconds, the machine realizes that you don’t want the paper towel and it sucks it back in.

It has been really fun having friends over and showing off my new technology.  It’s quite a conversation piece when someone asks for a paper towel!  This product retails for $99 on Innovia’s website and shipping is FREE!  But for one of you, this baby will be arriving on your door step at absolutely no cost!  Here’s how you can enter…

Each of the following count as one entry.  A separate comment must be left bellow for each entry.

• Visit www.innoviahome.com and tell us what feature you like most about the dispenser.
• “Like” A Frog in My Soup on Facebook.
• Become a follower of A Frog in My Soup on Twitter.
• “Like” Innovia on Facebook.
• Follow Innovia on Twitter.
• Blog about this giveaway with a link to this post and then share the link in a separate comment.
• Tweet about this giveaway with a link to this post and @AFroginMySoup.
• Share this giveaway on Facebook with a link to this post and tag A Frog in My Soup.

That’s a total of 8 possible entries!  Remember, each comment is it’s own entry, so be sure to leave a separate comment for each of these that you do.

This contest will end  on February8^th, 2012 at 11:59 pm and a winner will be announced on February 10^th, 2012.  You will have 72 hours to respond to afroginmysoupinfo@gmail.com or a new winner will be chosen.

Disclosure: I received these products free of charge to review, however Innovia did not compensate me in any other way. The opinions expressed in this post are mine. You can read this site’s disclosure policy here.