Mommy Made From Scratch

$75 Core Kitchen Giveaway! ended

2013-11-22T12:45:00.000-05:00

**Congrats to Heidi Coblentz Mettler! You have been emailed with details!**

I had the pleasure of reviewing some great Core Kitchen products earlier this week and am crazy about their products! Check out my review here.

I hinted on Facebook about an upcoming giveaway with Core Kitchen. Well here it is...just in time for the holidays! Core Kitchen has been gracious enough to giveaway a $75 e-gift certificate to their online store!

Image courtesy of Core Kitchen

Core Kitchen has a large variety of kitchen related products including bamboo and silicone kitchen tools and utensils, poly cutting boards, knives, glass prep boards and trivets as well as cast iron kitchen products.

Image courtesy of Core Kitchen

Enter using the Rafflecopter form below. You may need to refresh the page a few times for the form to load properly. There is only one mandatory entry for this giveaway. All other entries are optional. Giveaway is open to U.S. residents 18 and over. Winner will be notified via email within 24 hours of the end of the giveaway period. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Core Kitchen Review & Fall Deliciousness {Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread}

2013-11-20T11:50:00.000-05:00

I was so excited to be contacted by Shannon from Core Kitchen to test out and review some of Core Kitchen's products. In the mail I received the Dual Grip Large Cutting Board in Strawberry, the Large Grip Strip Funnel Cutting Board in Strawberry, a Bamboo + Silicone Spoon in Strawberry and the Large and Mini Bamboo + Silicone Pointed Spatula Set, also in Strawberry.

Each of the pieces are made with great quality. I love all of the bright color choices available including: strawberry (pictured), teal, magenta, onyx, lime, manchester, dublin, etc. The silicone on the utensils is strong and durable and the bamboo adds a special, modern touch. I have a number of bamboo products in my kitchen. One of the things I love about bamboo is that it is easily and quickly regrown so that the forests and all the animals in them remain safe and can sustain life.

The cutting boards are wonderful! I have a hard time finding cutting boards that I really love. The Strip Grip Funnel boards have silicone strips on the back to keep them in place when cutting. The Dual Grip also has silicone on both ends that extends to the back of the boards to also keep them in place. I love the funnel aspect of the Strip Grip Funnel board as it makes it easier to get the food that has been chopped into the bowl or pan without spilling all over the counter. Both boards have a hole at the top for easy storage. They are easy to clean and very durable.

I used the spatula set to make one of my family's favorite fall recipes...Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread. Take a look below to see them in action!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread
3 cups sugar
1 cup canola or vegetable oil
4 eggs
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp group cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2/3 cup water
1- 15 oz. can pumpkin
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Grease the bottom and sides of two 9x5x3 inch loaf pans; set aside.

Beat sugar and oil on medium speed. Add eggs and beat well; set aside.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Alternately add flour mixture and water to sugar mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Beat in pumpkin.

Take a look at those spatulas in action! My three year old loved using them.

Add chocolate chips. Spoon batter into prepared pans.

Give the monkeys some extra chocolate chips to snack on while you wait...

I love how easily the spatulas scraped out the pumpkin can and the mix bowl! I can't stand to waste any food leftover in the containers.

Bake the bread at 350° F for 55-65 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks. Wrap and store overnight before slicing for best results. If you don't have time or self-control to wait overnight just wait 20-30 minutes at least before slicing.

So here's my bottom line on Core Kitchen products: Great quality. Gorgeous colors. Modern design. Great price point.

Be sure to check out Core Kitchen at their website, on facebook, twitter and Pinterest. Core offers all sorts of kitchen products beyond the cutting boards and utensils I reviewed, including: glass prep boards and trivets, knives and cast iron products.

KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN! Check back at Mommy Made From Scratch for an upcoming giveaway from Core Kitchen!

*Disclosure: I was given these products to review at no cost to me. I was not given any sort of monetary compensation for my review. All views expressed in this review are strictly my opinion.*

Diamond Candles Review and Giveaway!

2013-09-05T11:44:00.000-04:00

I am so excited to have been given the chance to review Diamond Candles!

I have seen and heard a lot about Diamond Candles and have been itching to give one a try. When Diamond Candles contacted me to do a review I got to choose from the many scents available on their website. Some of my favorite options were: Cinnamon Tea, Chocolate Truffle, Peachy Mango and Vanilla Lime...you didn't expect non-food scents to be my favorite, right?! This is primarily a food blog afterall.

Anyways, moving on...

I chose Vanilla Lime since we're at the end of summer and lime screams summer to me. When it arrived I was happy to see how much care was put into packaging the candle to get it to me all in one piece.

Then it was time to light this baby up, enjoy the aroma wafting throughout my house and wait for my ring to appear. My candle took about 10 hours of total burn time for my ring to appear.

The rings come wrapped in a small foil pouch so that they don't get all waxy. Once the ring was visible I followed these instructions and used tweezers to remove my ring and unwrapped it from the foil pouch. Here's what I found!

Diamond Candles says that each ring is worth between $10 and $5,000. They suggest if you have a question of the value of your ring to take it to a jeweler to be appraised. I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure mine is along the $10 to $100 range. Either way, it's a beauty.

Unfortunately for me I have big fingers so it will only fit my pinky finger. I think I'll give it to my daughter in a few years. Hopefully she won't inherit my big fingers. Most rings are sizes 6-8 and I'm more of a size 10. To me this is the one down side of the whole thing. But if you love the ring, you can always take it to a jeweler and have it re-sized.

I mentioned the scent wafting throughout my house...I wasn't joking. The scent is not overpowering but just powerful enough to make my whole house smell yummy. Also, the candles are soy-based so they are environmentally friendly and all natural.

Bottomline: Smells amazing. Loves the environment. Gorgeous jewelry although too small for my giant fingers. Chance at a ring worth lots of moolah. Great price. ($24.95 for a 21 oz. candle and ring)

Please check out Diamond Candles online, on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.

Also feel free to watch this video about Diamond Candles and all of the ring reveal videos along the right side of the You Tube page.

Now for the best part...I get to give a Diamond Candle away to one of my lucky readers!

Just enter using the Rafflecopter form below. You may need to refresh the page to get the form to load or wait a few minutes for it to load. Once the giveaway is over I will contact you via email with a special code to order your free candle!

Good luck!

**Congratulations to Alan Saxon on winning the candle from Diamond Candles! You have been emailed.**

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Guest Post from Simply Shaye: Four Ways to Save for a Summer Getaway

2013-07-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

I'm excited to have Shaye here from Simply Shaye to share with us some fun yet simple ways to save a buck this summer and give us a chance at affording a summer vacation. Each tip she will share with you is something that anyone can do.

Feel free to leave comments on what you think, things you've tried, how you saved for your vacay, etc. Be sure to check out Shaye's blog, Simply Shaye, for more tips, advice, food, family, life and an adorable dog named Sheba.

Thanks Shaye for the great tips!

Four Ways to Save for a Summer Getaway

Summer vacation. Once the stuff of dreams, too often as adults the magic of summer gets lost in worry about higher electricity bills and summer camp fees. As temperatures rise and the kids get more and more antsy, the idea of a summer getaway becomes more and more tempting. Summer is the prime time to spend a little quality time with your family and get a vacation recharge.

"But how could I afford it?" I hear you ask. In these times of ever-longer work weeks and ever-thinner budgets, the idea of a family vacation seems impossible. Whether you're staying at home or out in the workforce, I know that the life of a mother doesn't offer a lot of time to pick up a second job. This article will give you some ideas that you can easily integrate into your family's life to save or make some money here and there- and maybe net yourself a trip away with your family!

Ditch the Gym

No, I don't mean stop exercising! Fitness is important, but you can stay fit without throwing money down the gym membership drain. Running in the great outdoors, lifting free weights and following along with exercise DVDs at home are all great ways to stay fit and still stash that gym payment away toward a week at the beach.

Tap into Tap Water

Water is important, but there's no reason to pay for something you can get for free. Buying bottled water is an expense that can really add up over time. Switch to tap water and your budget and the environment will thank you! If you don't like the taste of tap water or are worried about water quality, consider investing in a faucet filter, like the kind made by Brita!

Your Clutter Might be Another Person's Treasure

We all have things lying around that we don't need or use. Sure, that shirt might have seemed like a great purchase at the time, but if it has been sitting in your closet all season maybe it's time to make some money off of it! Sell your old consumer goods like clothing, appliances and technological gadgets at a yard sale or online to make a little extra cash and make your housecleaning a little simpler.

Take Care of a Furry Friend

Dog boarding is a great way for moms to earn a little money on the side because they can do it in their own homes. If you're like me and you love dogs, then you get the added bonus of making a new furry friend by dog boarding. Simply take care of someone's pet while they're on vacation. You get paid, and your family gets to enjoy the company of an exciting- but temporary- house pet. Meanwhile, the pet owner is able to relax, knowing that Fido is in your capable hands.

Don't let summer slip by without taking a break with your family, and get some creativity in your budget! It can be hard to scrape together that cash, but with these and other money-saving habits, can help you be well on your way to making your vacation dreams a reality!

Shaye is a single mom that has a passion for family, budgeting, healthy living, fitness, and travel. She loves finding new ways to cook healthier and stay fit, all while doing it on a budget. She has a beautiful son and one eccentric dog, but wouldn’t have it any other way.. Follow her blog at http://simplyshaye.wordpress.com!

Photo credits: Heidi Zapolski Photography

Simple Glazed Donuts

2013-06-07T15:00:00.001-04:00

Happy National Donut Day!

It's days like this that make our country wonderful...that and National Ice Cream Day...Chocolate Day...Pie Day...you get the point.

Nothing beats fresh donuts right out of the fryer or oven. But honestly, who wants to get up early in the morning and wait in line to have a chance at getting the donuts you desire only to be disappointed when they're out of your fav.

Now I know this blog is "Mommy MADE FROM SCRATCH" but I have a confession...these are not completely made from scratch. GASP! No really, I am not a morning person so to have really, truly fresh donuts made from scratch first thing in the morning would only take a miracle. So this recipe is my solution. It's better than Krispy Kreme AND no one really needs to know that you didn't make the dough. It'll be our little secret.

Simple Glazed Donuts

1 can Pillsbury Grand Buttermilk Biscuits

Canola or Peanut oil (for frying)

Icing:

1 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar

1/3 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 T milk

Remove biscuits from can and separate. Using a 2 liter or 20 oz. plastic pop bottle cap or a 1 inch round cutter, punch a hole in the center of each biscuit. Keep the small circle of dough if you would like to make donut holes.

Heat oil in a chicken fryer pan or deep pot until bubbles form on a wooden stick as seen below. FYI: The picture below is from an old project. This is not the pan I used for the donuts. Use something much deeper than this!

Carefully place each donut into the hot oil for 1-2 minutes. Using tongs, flip each donut over to cook the other side. Once evenly browned, remove and place on a wire rack on top of a cookie sheet to drain the oil off.

To make the icing/glaze, in a small bowl mix together the sifted powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. If the glaze is too thick, add a small amount of milk to it until it is to desired consistency.

Take each donut and place in icing then flip over or spoon icing over the entire donut. Place back onto wire rack to dry.

And that's it! The simplest way to make glazed donuts "from scratch." Happy Donut Day!

Busy, busy, busy!

2013-02-12T16:03:00.001-05:00

If you've been following this blog for a while now you know that it's odd for me not to blog for 4 months in a row. Needless to say, I've been busy. I can't stand the fact that I never posted even one Christmas recipe the whole holiday season but certain things in my life have had to take priority over this blog.

I am a stay at home mom of a 3 year old and a 5 year old in kindergarten. Since September I have been working on my daughter's school carnival that was held in early December. It has been really hard for me to balance everything I had to plan and create for the carnival. Then disaster struck the day before the carnival when I got a call from my husband saying he was in a car accident on his way to the hospital after having severe pain in his lower back and abdomen. Thankfully he was fine as far as the accident was concerned but he got his first ambulance ride as a result of his inability to drive from the pain of his mystery illness. Sadly I missed the carnival but had great help in all of the other PTO members who filled in for me.

Since all of this went down, my husband has been up and down in his still mystery illness. He has seen many doctors and specialists but still has no real answer as to what is going on with his body. He can be perfectly find one minute then in a lot of pain the next.

To add on to all of this, we have been planning to sell our house for the past six months or so and have been struggling to get all of the projects done and organizing/de-cluttering finished especially with my husbands' body in and out of service.

Prior to all of this happening I had been going back and forth on whether to continue with this blog or not. I feel as if I spend less time with my husband and kids and put more priority on my blog followers when I am actively blogging. This is completely backwards as to how life should be. I love my husband and kids more than anything and should show them that through more quality time with them rather than spend that time perfecting photographed dinners. I'm still on the fence as far as how much I will blog in the future but I do know that it will be a lot less than before.

Whew!

With all of that being said, I couldn't have you read all of this without rewarding you with a good recipe. Since Valentine's Day is fast approaching, I thought I'd make a sumptuous chocolate cupcake with a cream cheese frosting and cherry chips sprinkled on top. These are such sweet little treats for the loved ones in your life! Enjoy!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting & Cherry Chips

1- Best-Ever Chocolate Cake recipe from Better Homes and Gardens

**Since I didn't change anything on this recipe other than to scoop into a cupcake pan and bake for a shorter period of time, I won't type out this recipe for you. Click the above link to check it out!**
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
dash of salt
1/2 lb. confectioners sugar
1 T. milk
cherry flavored baking morsels

Bake cupcakes according to recipe directions. Allow to cool completely.

Mix with an electric mixer butter, cream cheese, vanilla and salt until light and fluffy. Add the confectioners' sugar a bit at a time on low speed. Add the milk. If the mixture is too dry, add a bit more milk. Beat the frosting until fluffy.

Spread onto the cooled cupcakes then sprinkle with the cherry morsels.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Simple From Scratch Play Dough

2012-10-10T15:49:00.001-04:00

My kids love to play with play dough. They're addicted to it like I'm addicted to chocolate, except they don't eat it...well at least not most of the time. Problem is, they tend to play with it for hours so it dries out fairly easily.

One way to make play dough more economical is by making it from scratch at home instead of buying it at the store. When I make my own play dough I suddenly become the coolest mom ever in my kids' eyes. They are so amazed that I can make this stuff by myself and that I can make virtually any color I want to.

So if you want to be as cool a mom as me and save yourself some dough (pun intended), follow this simple recipe and become magical in the eyes of your children.

Play Dough
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cup salt
1/2 cup water
1/2 Tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
food coloring or icing color

In a saucepan, add the flour, cream of tartar and salt. Stir to evenly mix. Add the water and oil. I used canola oil and it worked perfectly. Vegetable oil will work just as well if you have that instead. Stir until evenly mixed.

Turn stove burner onto medium-low and continue to stir with wooden spoon. Stir until the mixture starts to become more solid. My stove is very slow at heating up so this step took me a few minutes but if you have a stovetop that heats up quickly, it may only take 30 seconds to a minute to complete this step.

At this point, add in some food coloring. I like to use these icing colors from Wilton as they provide bolder, deeper colors than most liquid food colors.

Stir the food coloring in over the hot burner. The mixture will start to really thicken but keep on continually stirring.

Once the mixture begins to pull away from the sides of the pot, forming a ball, remove from heat.

Scoop out the dough onto some waxed paper and let sit until it cools.

Once cooled, knead the dough a bit with your hands to remove any lumps. Store in zippered plastic bags or airtight plastic or glass containers. This recipe will make approximately 2 containers of store bought playdough. I made two batches, one yellow and one violet for this tutorial.

Now I'm officially the coolest mom ever.

Cake Fluff

2012-09-20T15:07:00.000-04:00

Remember the post about my daughter's Tangled/Disney princess birthday party? If you don't, check it out here.

When I made her awesome...if I do say so myself...tower cake I had a lot of leftover, partially frosted cupcakes from the tower. Rather than frost them as usual before eating I thought I'd take all of the leftover cupcakes and create another delicious treat instead.

This dessert can be made with leftover cupcakes, cake or you can bake up some cake especially for this purpose. Enjoy!

Cake Fluff
6 chocolate-chocolate chip cupcakes (from Tangled tower cake)
-or- 6 cupcakes, un-frosted, of your choosing
1- 8 oz container Cool Whip or equivalent of homemade whipped cream

Crumble cake into pieces either by hand or with a fork. If there is frosting on the cakes, that is fine. Just leave it on and it will mix into the finished dessert as well.

In a large bowl, fold crumbled cake into Cool Whip until evenly combined.

It's that simple! Enjoy this easy, delicious treat with your next cake leftovers and I guarantee it will be gone in no time.

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Exciting new affiliate opportunity

2012-09-11T15:27:00.002-04:00

Being a blogger is fun. One of the great perks about blogging is the opportunities I have to work with companies to share great products with all of you! You may have noticed the gorgeous ad to your right appear over the past week from Shabby Apple. I have been given the opportunity to become a Shabby Apple affiliate! What this means for you is that from time to time I will share with you special discount codes and offers as well as the latest up to date info from Shabby Apple and their beautiful line of clothing.

Let me start off by telling you a little bit about Shabby Apple.

Shabby Apple was started "because we saw a need in women’s fashion that was not being met. A need to make women feel feminine and beautiful for what they wear, not what they bare. We offer flirty, stylish dresses a woman can wear just as comfortably in the office, at a family dinner, or on a date. Shabby Apple is a fashion company for women, by women, and of women." (Shabby Apple)

Because Shabby Apple is so devoted to women, they donate 5% of their net sales to helping women around the world work their way out of poverty through their partnership with Accion, a non-profit organization.

Shabby Apple offers a great line of products including dresses, skirts, blouses, maternity, kids and home decor.

Just recently, Shabby Apple released their top selling dresses so far this year. All six of these dresses can be found by clicking on one of the above photos or the ad on the right sidebar of this blog then search on their website for the title of each dress.

1- Alice

2- The Red Queen

3- I'm Late! I'm Late!

4- Ingrid

5- El Capitan

6- Elizabeth Islands

Now on to the really good part...

Shabby Apple has been so gracious to provide a 10% discount code which can be used for everything on their site! Simply enter the code: favorite10 at checkout. This code is good until 9/14/2012. Click any of the photos in this post to take you to Shabby Apple and begin shopping!

Thanks again to Shabby Apple! I look forward to continuing in our partnership in the future.

{Disclosure: Shabby Apple has provided a small compensation for each affiliated sale through my blog. All opinions are my own. I will not promote something I don't agree with or believe in.}

Back to School Pencils: Munchkin Mondays

2012-08-20T13:57:00.001-04:00

I'm always looking for fun and creative ways to get my kids to eat. They are both fairly picky so I try to make their food fun. My daughter especially loves it when I make her food creatively as she is a very creative girl herself.

I was at Target recently. Since I can't just walk past their dollar section, I entered and found another cute little recipe book similar to the one I found for the Squid Dogs recipe entitled, "Disney Family Fun: Easy Kids' Lunches." You can find a similar recipe book here.

One of the first recipes that caught my eye was this simple and fun recipe using string cheese to make pencil-shaped snacks. Since my daughter will be starting kindergarten in a week (yikes!) I thought this would make a fun back-to-school snack or lunch item for when she gets home. I adapted the recipe to better fit my budget and kids' tastes and came up with what you see below.

Enjoy!

Back to School Pencils
string cheese, mozzarella and/or cheddar
green pepper
Bugles corn snacks
raisins
bologna, thick or regular
toothpicks

First cut up your green pepper. Find an area on the pepper that is flat and cut out as many small circles as the number of snacks you will be making. I used this small round 5/8 inch cutter from Wilton.

Next, take a slice of thick bologna or cut one slice of regular bologna in half and cut out several small circles using the same circle cutter. I used regular bologna since that is what I had in the house already. It will look nicer with the thick bologna if you have it.

Grab some Bugles snacks and snap the pointy ends off of them.

Take a raisin or more if you're making more than two snacks, and slice it in half. You'll need half a raisin for each snack.

Now to assemble the pencils...

Using a sharp knife, slice a portion of the cheese stick near one end at an angle, removing a triangular shape. Take one Bugle snack and press it gently onto the angled end of the cheese stick. Take half of a raisin and press gently onto the other end of the Bugle for the "lead" of the pencil.

On the other end of the cheese stick, insert a toothpick so that only 1/4-1/2 inch remains sticking out. Take a green pepper circle and skewer it onto the toothpick. Next, do the same with the bologna, forming your eraser.

If you have small children eating this, you can always leave the toothpick out and use mustard, mayonnaise or ketchup to stick each piece together. If you leave the toothpick in, always remember to warn the child that the toothpick is there.

And there you have it! Back to School Pencils. This is one pencil that you're allowed to chew on. Hope everyone has a great school year!

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Full Plate Thursdays

Giant Skillet Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookie

2012-08-08T21:17:00.000-04:00

With my one year blogiversary coming up and my husband's birthday a few days later, I figured I'd bake a special cake to celebrate both.

My husband wanted a cookie cake, which I've never done before but I wanted to make it a bit fancier by baking it in a skillet. I thought this would be more difficult but as it turned out, it was so much easier AND I was able to use the skillet as a mixing bowl as well. Fewer dishes for me = a much happier blogiversary!

Hope you like it!

Giant Skillet Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookie
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Melt butter in 10-inch cast iron skillet on stove top over medium heat. Stir in sugar, brown sugar and vanilla with a small whisk or fork then remove from the heat. Let the pan rest away from the hot burner until somewhat warm but no longer hot.

Whisk in egg then carefully add flour, baking soda and salt. Stir slowly so as not to spill mixture over the sides of the pan.

Fold in chocolate chunks.

Spread dough with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until it covers entire bottom of pan.

Place skillet into preheated oven and bake for 11-14 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately with a scoop of ice cream for a warm, gooey cookie or wait until cool for a more dense cookie. I drizzled some chocolate ice cream shell coating over the entire cookie for a fun and delicious treat!

Enjoy!

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One Year Blogiversary Giveaway!

2012-08-03T09:00:00.000-04:00

July 27th was my official one year blogiversary! To celebrate, I have several great prizes available to give away to seven, that's right, SEVEN of my followers!

Julie, an Avon representative, has been nice enough to donate three items to give away. Please take a look at what you can win below, then head over to her website to see what else Avon has to offer:

Dove and Heart Anklet Set- $7.99 value
Plus (1) NAILWEAR PRO+ Nail Enamel in Ruby Slippers (beautiful sparkly red) not pictured-$6.00 value

Foot Works Beautiful Mint & Aloe 3-Piece Pedi Care Collection-$15 value

Secrets to Keep Eau de Toilette Spray-A dreamy blend of fruits and florals. Whispers of sweet apple and juicy strawberry with a passionate heart of jasmine, white musk and warm sandalwood. 1.7 fl. oz. A $16.50 Value!

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In addition to the Avon products donated by Julie, Tricia, a representative of Linen World, has graciously donated two more items:

5 Qt. Collapsible Colander with a value of $14.99 which can be found on page 46 of her catalog.

AND this Gourmet Chef Apron with a value of $9.99 in the Olive Oil print. It can be found on page 50 of her catalog.

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Did you know that in addition to my food blog and my photography blog, I also have an Etsy shop?!

It's pretty new so I'm just beginning to stock it with my creations but I would love for you to go take a look. I'll be continuing to stock it up throughout the giveaway so check back often for new items!

Since my Etsy shop, Mama Z Creations is just starting out, I thought I would also donate an item from it as well. Take a look at my shop here. If you're drawn as the winner of the Mama Z Creations
item, you will receive one item of your choice, up to a $10.00 value for free with free shipping -or- you can choose an item or items totaling more than $10.00 and take $10 off of your total purchase.

Any remaining amount from the $10.00 will be forfeited and cannot be used towards a future purchase or for store credit.

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For our last prize, I wanted to give you this little gift set as a way to say thanks for all of your support over the past year.

If you follow me on facebook, you know how much I love coffee! I wanted to spread the coffee love by offering this 4-count box of Tully's Coffee K-cups assortment, a 4-count Green Mountain Coffee Brew Over Ice Hazelnut Iced Coffee K-cups and a 50-count box of Stevia In The Raw. There are even a few coupons attached or inside of the boxes so you can buy more great coffee goodness!

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Whew! That's a lot of stuff to give away! There are many ways to enter so you'll have a lot of chances at winning a prize.

To enter:
Simply fill out the Rafflecopter form below (it might take a few minutes to load so be patient!) by clicking on each entry option and doing the task that it requires. Once done with that task, click Enter and move on to the next entry. You don't have to enter every way but your odds will improve with each entry completed.

When the contest is over, I will draw the winners and notify each by email. Once notified, the winners will have 48 hours to respond or they will forfeit their prize and I will draw another winner. This giveaway will end on Thursday, August 17th at 12:01 a.m. EST.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Top Ten Countdown ~ #6 Chocolate Peanut Butter Haystacks

2012-07-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

I agree with all of you on this one. This should be in the top 10 most viewed posts on MMFS.

It seems impossible to mix chocolate and peanut butter together and have it not taste amazing.

Okay. I can think of a few mix-ins that would be horrible, i.e. - ketchup, radishes, turkey, okra, green onions...I think you get the picture.

Please enjoy your number #6 most viewed post on MMFS, Chocolate Peanut Butter Haystacks!

Top Ten Countdown ~ #7 Garlic French Fries

2012-07-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

We're moving on to #7 today on the Top Ten Blog Post Countdown...Garlic French Fries!

These are delicious, will save you money and are healthier than buying store bought frozen french fries. Serve with your favorite summertime grilled sandwich or hot dog. Enjoy!

#8 Squid Dogs & a Special Award

2012-07-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

Today I've got a two-fer for you. Day 3 of our countdown and the announcement of a fun award that has been bestowed upon me!

We're down to #8 on my Top Ten Recipe Posts Countdown...Squid Dogs!

At the time I wrote the Squid Dogs post I had plans to make Munchkin Mondays a weekly thing...then life got in the way. I do hope to start it back up but for now, please check out this fun, kid-friendly recipe for Squid Dogs!

Now I'd like to take a small break from my Top Ten Recipe Posts Countdown to thank a special blogger for awarding me with the Awesome Blogger Award!

Thank you to Minnie from The Lady 8 Home for giving me this award! Be sure to check out her blog and congratulate her on her recent 50th blog post mark!

As part of the Awesome Blogger deal, I get to pass along the award to 5 lovely bloggers. Please head over to the following Awesome Bloggers and congratulate them on their award:

Congratulations to each of my nominees for being such awesome bloggers!

Here are the rules for those I nominated:

Thank your nominator (and link back!)
Nominate 5 other blogs with less than 200 followers and post a comment on each blog letting them know they have been given the award.
Copy and paste the award onto your blog.

Congratulations bloggers!

Enter to win a Keurig!

2012-07-17T14:32:00.001-04:00

Head on over to Coffee Coupons for Moms to enter to win a Keurig B70 Platinum Brewing System! This contest ends today so get your entries in quickly! Enter here.

Good luck!

Cookie Cutter Crayons

2012-07-16T19:44:00.001-04:00

Remember when I threw my daughter a princess themed birthday party a few weeks ago? Good. As I mentioned in that blog post, I made some adorable cookie cutter crayons included in each child's party favor bag.

I have been wanting to do this project for some time now. It is a simple way to reuse all of those broken crayons lying around your house.

Supplies:
broken crayon pieces
metal cookie cutters
disposable aluminum baking sheets
old metal baking sheet (optional)

Step 1:
Remove paper wrappers from crayons.
Set disposable aluminum baking sheet on top of old baking sheet. This will help you to keep the aluminum sheet from wobbling when you remove it from the oven. You'll want to use an old baking sheet on the bottom just in case you spill the crayon wax over the sides of the smaller tray either during baking or when removing from the oven.

Step 2:
Place broken crayon pieces onto the tray in any arrangement that you like. I tried to color coordinate so that the colors that melted together wouldn't all end up being some sort of shade of brown and so that they would look good together. Bake in a 325° F oven for 10-20 minutes or until melted.

Step 3:
After the sheen/glossy look on top of the melted crayons becomes matte, cut with the metal cookie cutters.

Plastic cutters will work...sort of. It will be really difficult to get a clean cut and the plastic makes it harder to cut through the hardening wax. I used a plastic cutter for the car shape and will never use plastic cutters again for this. Use metal.

Leave the cookie cutters in place for a few minutes before gently pulling them out.

Step 4:
After the crayon wax is completely hardened, pop the shapes out from the bottom of the pan. Keep the scraps for future use.

Have fun!

Punch-a-Prize party game

2012-07-09T15:43:00.002-04:00

I made a game reminiscent of the Punch a Bunch game on The Price is Right for my daughter's 5th birthday party. But instead of cash as prizes, and since I'm not loaded, I put pieces of candy or toys in each hole. Each child would then take turns punching and receiving their prizes until all of the holes were punched out.

Since the kids ages ranged from 2 to 5 I figured this would be a game in which each child would win and it would be an equal playing ground. I put girls prizes in the dotted bowls and striped prizes in the boys bowls so that the boys wouldn't end up with lipstick candy and the girls wouldn't end up with a Matchbox car.

Here's the how-to:

To make the game, I filled Styrofoam bowls with a piece of candy or toy and covered them with a decorative napkin. I used tape to attach the napkins to the bowls by wrapping each napkin around and taping it on the bottom. I used napkins as opposed to tissue paper because I only needed one layer of the napkin as opposed to several layers of tissue paper...and I found the napkins for super cheap on clearance.

I then glued each napkin wrapped bowl onto a piece of foam-core board. It helps to lay out all of the bowls ahead of time onto the foam-core that is laid down onto a flat surface then pick each bowl up and glue one at a time. The Elmer's Glue-All was perfect for this project! It is strong and dries relatively fast but not so fast that you don't have time to work with it if needs be.

The kids had a lot of fun with this! The only complaint was that they wanted to keep on going!

Mommy Made From Scratch

$75 Core Kitchen Giveaway! ended

Core Kitchen Review & Fall Deliciousness {Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread}

Diamond Candles Review and Giveaway!

Guest Post from Simply Shaye: Four Ways to Save for a Summer Getaway

Simple Glazed Donuts

Busy, busy, busy!

Simple From Scratch Play Dough

Cake Fluff

Exciting new affiliate opportunity

Back to School Pencils: Munchkin Mondays

Giant Skillet Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookie

One Year Blogiversary Giveaway!

Top Ten Posts Countdown ~ #1 Zucchini Chocolate Chip Brownies

Top Ten Posts Countdown ~ #2 Overnight Baked French Toast Casserole

Top Ten Posts Countdown ~ #3 Buckeye Pie

Top Ten Post Countdown ~ #4 Sweet Potato and Apple Casserole

Top Ten Post Countdown ~ #5 Patriotic Berry Kebabs

Top Ten Countdown ~ #6 Chocolate Peanut Butter Haystacks

Top Ten Countdown ~ #7 Garlic French Fries

#8 Squid Dogs & a Special Award

Top Ten Post Countdown ~ #9 Crock Pot Smoked Sausage & Vegetables

Top Ten Post Countdown ~ #10 BBQ Chicken Shells & Cheese

Enter to win a Keurig!

Cookie Cutter Crayons

Punch-a-Prize party game

Mommy Made From Scratch

$75 Core Kitchen Giveaway! *ended*

Core Kitchen Review & Fall Deliciousness {Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread}

Diamond Candles Review and Giveaway!

Guest Post from Simply Shaye: Four Ways to Save for a Summer Getaway

Simple Glazed Donuts

Busy, busy, busy!

Simple From Scratch Play Dough

Cake Fluff

Exciting new affiliate opportunity

Back to School Pencils: Munchkin Mondays

Giant Skillet Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookie

One Year Blogiversary Giveaway!

Top Ten Posts Countdown ~ #1 Zucchini Chocolate Chip Brownies

Top Ten Posts Countdown ~ #2 Overnight Baked French Toast Casserole

Top Ten Posts Countdown ~ #3 Buckeye Pie

Top Ten Post Countdown ~ #4 Sweet Potato and Apple Casserole

Top Ten Post Countdown ~ #5 Patriotic Berry Kebabs

Top Ten Countdown ~ #6 Chocolate Peanut Butter Haystacks

Top Ten Countdown ~ #7 Garlic French Fries

#8 Squid Dogs & a Special Award

Top Ten Post Countdown ~ #9 Crock Pot Smoked Sausage & Vegetables

Top Ten Post Countdown ~ #10 BBQ Chicken Shells & Cheese

Enter to win a Keurig!

Cookie Cutter Crayons

Punch-a-Prize party game

$75 Core Kitchen Giveaway! ended