If you have ever really looked at food labels you know that they can be very confusing! Many manufacturers use confusing or generic terms to make their food sound healthier so you really have to know what you are looking for when you read labels. You need to look past the flashy labels and read the ingredient lists to find out what is really going on in your food. Some ingredient lists can be down right scary! Every time I see mechanically separated chicken as an ingredient I picture Foghorn Leghorn getting chased by a crazy contraption with saws sticking out all over.

General Mills provided this great information to help you determine if your cereals have whole grain as a first ingredient.Eating whole grains can be simple when you just swap out some of the things you eat with a whole grain version. Switch to brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread, and whole grain crackers. Popcorn is whole grain so you can even incorporate it into your snacking.

I usually snack on Cheerios. I am a Cheerios freak! Sometimes I just eat them plain but other times I add in a few nuts, dark chocolate chips, and dried cranberries. Then I get some fruit and those good for you monounsaturated fatty acids. If I feel like something sweet and salty I eat Honey Nut Cheerios with a few salted peanuts. I find that my Cheerios snacks keep me from eating horrible junk food and yet I feel full and like I really treated myself.

Make sure to check out the Whole Grain Nation Website and learn more about the 50 cereals that proudly show off their white check. You can also enter their sweepstakes to win over 50 boxes of cereal!

THE GIVEAWAY!!!

One lucky winner will receive 5 boxes of General Mills cereal with the white check!
Prize can only be shipped in the US.

Disclosure: Products for review, information, and the giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

My girls are very picky about fruit snacks. Between morning snack time and lunch I send a lot of packaged snacks to school. I try to make it as healthy as possible and I try to save money, so I have bought every brand of fruit snacks out there. I don’t know what the difference is but my girls hate many of the brands out there. I have learned to just stick with certain kinds or they will never get eaten.

As soon as we got our package of the new Ocean Spray Fruit Flavored snacks my girls were super excited. They could not believe that they got 6 boxes! Of course they wanted to taste them right away and I was very happy to find out that they loved them! As soon as I saw how much they loved them I had to remind them that they were for bring to school only so they would not disappear right away. They did disappear fast though. In spite of my cupboard full of school snacks they only wanted to bring in the Ocean Spray Fruit Snacks!

Ocean Spray Fruit Flavored snacks come in two flavors… Assorted Fruit and Berries & Cherries! They are made with real fruit juice, contain 80 calories, are gluten free and they contain 100% of the Daily Value of Vitamin C. They are also available with year round Double Box Tops!

Do you want to try the new Ocean Spray Fruit Snacks? Check out this coupon good for $1.10 off of the purchase of (2) Ocean Spray® Fruit Flavored snacks!

Disclosure: Ocean Spray® Fruit Flavored Snacks, information, and giveaway have been provided by Ocean Spray® through MyBlogSpark.

THE GIVEAWAY!!!

The school year may be half over but don’t forget to keep collecting those Box Tops. You can collect them and help your school all year long. Make sure to also check out Sam’s Club and get even more Box Tops on great products like Nature Valley Oats ‘N Honey Crunchy Granola Bars, Yoplait and Progresso!

THE GIVEAWAY!

*Disclosure: The Sam’s Club gift card, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

I love how beautiful my house looks all decorated for the holidays! I try to keep all of the decorations up as long as possible. The house just seems so plain and boring after enjoying all the decorations! This year I am going to start dressing my home up more during the rest of the year.

When we lived in Arizona I spent a lot of time decorating and the house looked great. As my kids got older, there just was not enough time. Add that together with moving around and across the country, and we have not spent too much time on decorating.

Have you found less and less time to dress up your house since you have had kids? A PartyLite party might just be the answer for busy moms! You can have fun with relatives, friends, or coworkers and get some great free products to redecorate and refresh your home. When you host a party you can earn free stuff and who does not love free!

PartyLite has the best premium quality scented candles, candle warmers, home decor accessories, and reed diffusers. You can easily decorate your home and leave it smelling fabulous. How great does it feel to relax with a wonderful smelling candle? It really adds to the warmth of your home. Check out the PartyLite Winter/Spring 2012 Catalog that launched on Dec. 16th to find everything you need to redecorate and refresh your home!

Make sure to “Like” the PartyLite Facebook page. The PartyLite Simple Pleasures Holiday Sweepstakes just ended but there will be more specials going on that you will not want to miss!

Moon dough is recommended for ages 3 and up and has an all new dough formula. It is still no mess and never dries out but now it is easier to mold into fun creations. Moon Dough has bright vibrant colors and is hypoallergenic and wheat free. This means that even kids with the most sensitive skin and those with wheat allergies can still have fun and not worry about irritation.

Moon Dough has a set for every imagination. There is the Ocean Pals set that we received and there are also sets like a Breakfast, Grocery Store, Snack Shop, Magic Zoo, and Ice Cream. There really is a set to spark fun and creativity in every child. If you are looking for a last minute gift or something to get while after Christmas shopping with all of those gifts of money, Moon Dough is worth looking at.

I don’t know about you but while we love baking Christmas cookies and candies we start to really get sick of all of the sweets. This is why I got so excited about the idea of a Chex Party Mix-Change. People are always doing cookie exchanges and they just don’t interest me. My girls do not like to bake huge batches of cookies so they would get bored and leave me to do it all. Let’s face it, it takes a lot of time to make all of those cookies! A Chex party would be easy to do and it would be a great change from all of those cookies.

The Chex Party Mix-Change website makes it easy to plan your party. They have printable invitations, pretty recipe cards, party tips, fun display ideas, a shopping list, and a TON of Chex Party Mix recipes. All you need is to get some friends and family together and have everyone bring a different Chex Party Mix recipe.You can enjoy the party and know that there are plenty of snacks for everyone. Even the pickiest of kids will be happy with the snacks!

My girls got very excited when they started to read the recipes. They want to try them all but we started with the Original Chex Party Mix and the Chocolate-Peanut Butter Munchies. I think next we will try the Buffalo Chex Mix, Cheesy Ranch Chex Mix, or Chex Pumpkin Pie Crunch. It is so hard to decide where to begin. We may just have to invent our own too!

THE GIVEAWAY

One lucky reader will receive a big box of Chex cereal and a $25 Sam’s Club Gift Card so they can have a fun Chex Party Mix-Change of their own!

Free products, Sam’s Club Gift Cards, and information for review and giveaway provided by Sam´s Club, Chex Party Mix and General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wow, do I have a deal for you today! I love the great deals during the holiday season. This is a great time to get a few presents for yourself too. You have to take advantage of great deals, right? Today is your last chance to take advantage of a holiday deal from Sprint. Sprint is giving away the HTC EVO 4G or the EVO Shift for FREE!

It is that time of year right? I know many children that are begging for a new cell phone right now! My younger two just had got new phones because they just had their birthdays. My oldest has her birthday right after Christmas so she is in full begging mode.

After seeing the new phones that my youngest two got I really started to want a new cell phone. My cell phone is a year old now and my kids now have better phones than me. That is simply not fair! I should have a better phone than them right!?!

I guess it is not just kid that are begging for new phones this Christmas! Everyone could use a new phone especially if you can get a great deal! Don’t forget to check out this great deal from Sprint. The best gifts are free and who would not want free Android™ powered EVO 4G devices!

Have you started thinking about your New Years resolutions yet? Last year 16% of women decided to make losing weight their New Years resolution. I wonder, how many women really stuck to it? Most people have a hard time with their resolutions and I wonder if it is because we wait to start them until New Years. This year I decided that I want to start right now. It is not normally good to put things off so my new healthy lifestyle starts right now!

I was recently given the opportunity to review Slim-Fast so I figured this is the perfect time to start my new life of getting healthy. I tried the new Cappuccino Delight. It was so rich and creamy that I definitely did not feel like I was missing out on anything. Slim Fast shakes are now even better tasting and come in convenient plastic bottles that can go anywhere with you. They come in Creamy Milk Chocolate, French Vanilla, Rich Chocolate Royale, Cappuccino Delight, and Strawberries N’ Cream.

The new shakes are part of the Slim-Fast 3•2•1 Plan that makes it easy to customize your own plan and stick to it.

3 Snacks: You can choose 3 snacks a day which can be fruit, nuts, veggies, or Slim-Fast 100-calorie snack bars.

2 Slim-Fast Shakes or Meal Bars for the day: Slim-Fast shakes and meal bars will give you the balanced nutrition of a meal and up to four hours of hunger control while still tasting great and keeping you on track.

1 Balanced Meal: This plan allows you to enjoy one balanced 500-calorie meal per day. As a rule, try to fill half your plate with veggies, a quarter with protein, and a quarter with whole grains. 

This plan allows you the variety you need while still keeping it easy to understand. Many diet plans starve you and end up slowing down your metabolism. I have always been a fan of diets that give you 6 low calorie meals a day like this Slim Fast 3•2•1 Plan. They keep your metabolism going so you can burn fat all day long and they keep your hunger pains away so you are not tempted to cheat on your diet.

Whether you are trying to fit into a hot dress for a Christmas party or your next reunion or if you just want to start the new year off with a new you, I would like to wish you luck. You don’t need luck though. You can do anything that you put your mind to!

Has cooking for people over the holidays gotten you stressed out? The holidays can be stressful enough without having to worry about the food! I try to head off the stress by choosing some things that can be made ahead and just warmed up. The more you can do ahead of time the more fun you can have with guests. Think like a caterer!

One of the things that can not be made ahead is gravy. I have heard many gravy horror stories so it is no surprise to me how many people dread making gravy. I always recommend that people keep products like GravyMaster in their cupboards. When the stress of the holidays set in and the gravy is a disaster it is always nice to know that if all else fails you are able to quickly whip up another batch. Don’t cry over burnt or separated gravy! If you are prepared with GravyMaster you can just make some more.

GravyMaster has been around since 1935 and has been loved for generations. It contains no meat, fat, or calories and is certified Kosher. It is not just for gravy though. It is the only seasoning and browning sauce capable of the caramelization process. You can Master the meal with great recipes from their site.

I would love to try the many BBQ and BBQ sauces recipes on their site. The Easy Cheese and Nut Spread and the Stuffed Mushrooms would be perfect for the holidays too. Yummy!!!

I would love to see what you would make with GravyMaster! Share your ideas in the comments.

Once you have kids life gets very crazy! My day starts abruptly as I race to get kids ready and drive around to multiple schools to drop them off. I try to get as much work done as possible during the day but there is never enough time. Before I know it school is over and I am helping with homework and making dinner. It feels like the day flies by in a blink of the eye and yep, you guessed it, the house is not spotless!

I don’t know about you but I need a little pick me up in the middle of the day. I was recently sent a one month supply of the All Natural Phix Energy Drink. The first time I tried it I was very surprised about how I felt. Phix does not give you the same feeling as coffee or soda. When I drink Phix I just feel like I am well rested and ready to start my day again. It does not give me that crazy over energized feeling or the jitters. It also does not have the crash that other energy drinks give you. What is the point of added energy if you end up paying for it afterwords when you feel like crap?

Phix had the help of licensed dietitians and a world-class naturopathic physician when they created their all natural energy drink. Phix is made by mixing green tea antioxidants, energy-restoring NADH and yerba maté for enhanced vigor. They also add vitamins and minerals to keep you feeling healthy. The end result is a 100% all-natural energy drink that gives you energy without the spikes, jitters, or crashes. You simply get smooth and sustained energy.

Phix is a great tasting powder drink that comes in convenient single packs so they are easy to use anywhere. Phix natural energy drinks come in 3 delicious flavors: Citron, Tropic, and Teaberry. One of our lucky readers will receive three boxes of Phix Energy in their flavor choice! Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below.