Category Archives: giveaways

Sep17

Cooking With Kids; ChopChop Invites You To The #BigPicnic

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Cooking With Kids; ChopChop Invites You To The #BigPicnic

ChopChop Big PicnicParsnip and Dill, I tell my kids. Those are my secret ingredients for delicious chicken soup. Well not my recipe I confess, but passed on to me by Grandma Nettie, Auntie Kimbo’s grandmother. They know that “Auntie” Kimbo is not really their aunt, and that her name is Kim (Kimberly but don’t tell her I told you!).  They also know that Kim and I have been friends since we were six, and somewhere Kim turned into Kimbo, as those things go with longtime childhood friends.

In any case, my kids and I love to cook together and it has been fun as they grow to watch them conquer more and more complex cooking tasks on their own. And by complex I mean my 10-year-old is up to the cracking the eggs into a bowl without bits of shell getting in. One of the most rewarding moments of motherhood so far was the birthday morning that I woke up to heart-shaped pancakes made for me by my 13-year-old daughter. My child had cooked for me , and that felt revolutionary.

I like to cook with them for the same reason that I like to keep a small (o.k. weed infested) garden in our backyard. I like for them to know where their food comes from. To understand the process of how what we put into our body is made, and that they can make food for themselves, it does not have to come in a package or be bought off a shelf. We had been big fans of the quarterly publication ChopChop Magazine for years, loving to try the healthful recipes and snack suggestions within its colorful pages. ChopChop is a non-profit  with the mission to inspire and teach kids to cook and eat real food with their families.

Currently, 1 out of 400 children under 18 in the U.S. has diabetes, and nearly 1 in 3 is obese. ChopChop’s goal is to reverse this trend by teaching kids and their parents how to create healthy, delicious meals that are easy to prepare and use fresh, nutritious ingredients. ChopChop doesn’t demonize particular foods or use scare tactics. They just offer simple, healthy, and affordable recipes for children and parents to make together.

When we found out ChopChop had come out with a  ChopChop cookbook  we were thrilled.   We were sent a copy as a lead up to our participation in The Big Picnic, and when we received our copy of the cookbook  I had the kids pick out a recipe for us to try.  With four kids coming to a consensus can be challenging to say the least, this time somehow they all enthusiastically agreed that they wanted to make Matzo Balls to add to Grandma Nettie’s Chicken Soup.

The ChopChop Cookbook is made for kids so it is easy for them to read and follow the well explained simple recipes. Personally I never knew I could make Matzo balls, so to find them so easy to make surprised me. Of course the kids all wanted to crack the eggs so I was grateful that the recipe they chose called for 6! Of course rolling the Matzo balls was the most fun, but watching them fluff up as they cooked came pretty close.

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Inspired by National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month in September, The Big Picnic is being hosted on September 22nd by ChopChop and partner organizations including The White House as a virtual community picnic in which families across the country will cook and eat together at their own picnics. It will be a fun event with a serious goal: preventing childhood obesity.  Who doesn’t love a picnic!?! They are a great way to remind us that cooking and eating healthy food together is lots of fun—a time to share and enjoy. This event is all about good food and good company!

You can join The Big Picnic however you like, spread out a blanket , eat at a picnic table – outside or in. Invite friends, family,  neighbors, and make it as simple or as elaborate as you want. Take pictures or video and share with the hashtag #bigpicnic, and as a participant you will be eligible to win prizes like subscriptions to the magazine, a copy of the  ChopChop cookbook or other fun surprises. We’ll be there, eating our Matzo Ball Soup!

You can also Enter to Win a ChopChop cookbook and a one-year ChopChop Magazine subscription Below!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is an original post written by me as part of a program with The Mission List. I received a ChopChop cookbook + magazine subscription for culinary inspiration; as always all opinions are my own.

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Oct4

Wine Not Whine; Love My Mommy Juice

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Wine Not Whine; Love My Mommy Juice

At the risk of sounding like Honey Boo Boo…… I love my Mommy Juice!  I have mentioned before one of the fun perks of blogging is being sent products to test out and to review on occasion.  I have to say, hands down, this was my favorite package that I have received yet!    These wines were so fun, that my plan was to save the bottles of Mommy Juice wine to  help celebrate my friend Julie’s upcoming birthday.  So here is my confession, after my final school Open House of the season (did I mention that I have four kids?!) I came home….tucked them all into bed….and I broke open the Mommy Juice. That’s it, there it is, (I am sorry Julie, there is still a bit left that I am willing to share with you!) but I have never tasted such a luxurious glass of wine! O.K., that may be the frazzled open house mom talking, but the truth is, it was really good wine!  I was pleasantly surprised that I liked it so much. Then I read about founder Cheryl Durzy, mother of 2,  who has worked in the wine industry since 1999 (hmmm, the year my oldest child was born).

Cheryl Durzy, founder of Mommy Juice Wines

Cheryl works at her family’s Central Coast Winery, Clos LaChance,  she sits on all sorts of fancy wine boards, and she passed with Merit the Advanced Certificate level of the Wine and Spirits Education Trust. In other words the wine tastes good because she knows what she is doing!   She decided she had to produce a wine called Mommy Juice because her kids would point to a wine glass whenever they saw one and exclaim “That’s Mommy Juice!”. How funny that we all call it that!

 

So now I had to break open the  bottle of  White to see if it lived up to the deep, rich, full bodied red.  The White Wine Mommy Juice is a Chardonnay, which is my favorite type of white to begin with, and the Chardonnay Mommy Juice tasted as good as the red! Crisp, not too sweet. Lovely. Is it wrong to be excited that I’ve found  a wine brand where I love the label as much as the taste!?

These are great bottles of wine to bring along as gifts for all sorts of occasions.  Your mommy friends, or friends who know what a busy mommy you are, will love them. Mommy Juice Wines can be purchased online , or ask for it at your local wine shop.  I guess I can’t show up with two opened bottles of wine to celebrate with, that would be as  uncouth as showing up with a half eaten birthday cake! I do plan on ordering more, so girlfriends don’t worry, I promise I will share next time!

 

* I received a complimentary bottle of red, and bottle of white Mommy Juice to review.

Jun15

Alex & Ani Charity By Design Bracelet giveaway

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Alex & Ani Charity By Design Bracelet giveaway
Alex and Ani Charity By Design
Bracelet Giveaway
~Choose the Bracelet, Choose the Charity~
This giveaway is fabulous because not only do you get a beautiful bracelet to wear, you are also choosing a charity that 20% of the proceeds will go to support. Alex and Ani opened in 2004 by designer Carolyn Rafaelian of Rhode Island. She named the company after her first two daughters, and she created a line of jewelry meant to empower and express one’s inner beauty. The Alex & Ani line includes bracelets, necklaces and rings. The charms are imbued with meaning, and people buy them based on what the bracelet symbolizes. Some popular ones are: The Path of Life, the Four Leaf Clover, and the Star of Venus.
A special line that Rafaelian created is called Charity By Design. In this line she creates single charm bracelets that help to raise money for a certain cause, and designs charms that in some way represent this cause. For this giveaway you will choose one from this line. Your choices are the following:
Piece of the Puzzle:
20% of all sales, with a minimum donation of $10,000, from the Piece of
the Puzzle Charm will go directly to the National Autism Association
that educates and empowers families within the autism community.
Living Water:
20% of all sales, with a minimum donation of $5,000, will go directly to
Living Water International to support their work of demonstrating
divine love by helping communities acquire desperately needed clean
water.
Cupcake:
20% of all sales, with a minimum donation of $10,000, will go directly
to the Nancy Davis Foundation that is dedicated to the treatment and
ultimate cure of Multiple Sclerosis.   
Ribbon of Strength: 
20% of sales from the Ribbon of Strength Bangle will support the Gloria
Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation, a Rhode Island non-profit that
works to spread awareness, education, resources, and hope in the fight
against breast cancer. 
Lotus Blossom: 
20% off all sales from the Lotus Blossom Expandable Wire Bangle, with a
minimum of $5,000, will go directly to Women & Infants Hospital, one
of the nation’s leading specialty hospitals for women
and newborns. 
The Elephant:
20% of all sales from The Elephant Charm, with a minimum donation of
$5,000, will go directly to Friends of Jaclyn, an organization in which
athletic programs adopt children with pediatric brain tumors to provide
them with love, support and lasting friendships.  
Paw Prints:
20% of sales will go directly to the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals
that focuses on supporting, healing, and finding caring homes for dogs
and cats.
 
Shark Finn:
20% of all sales, with a minimum donation of $5,000, will go directly to
Finnz Fundz, an organization that seeks to provide direct assistance to
children and families coping with long-term hospitalization in the
fight against Cystic Fibrosis. 
Tree Hugger: 
20% of all sales, with a minimum donation of $5,000, will go directly to
the African Rainforest Conservancy that works to restore African
rainforests through grassroots conservation and community development. 
Phoenix:

20% of all sales, with a minimum donation of $10,000, will go to support
the work of Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island whose mission is to
care for people who are living with a serious illness when time matters
most.

 

The winner can choose which bracelet and charity they would like to support. All bracelets come in either Russian Silver or Russian Gold. All bracelets are eco-friendly, made of recycled materials, and made entirely in the United States. To learn more about Alex and Ani, please visit them HERE. They are rapidly expanding this year with stores in New York and Washington, DC. 
To WIN one of these inspiring bracelets, just enter on the Rafflecopter below. There will be TWO winners chosen (which increases your chances)!
This Giveaway is Hosted by:
And Sponsored By:
 GOOD LUCK!
  

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