Like many of you, I made some New Year's Resolutions to eat healthier and make better health choice for my family and myself.

It takes a lot of time and energy to be a label reader at the grocery store.  I've been one ever since my daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.  I spend a lot of time checking out ingredients and trying to make better choices for my family.

Well, General Mills has now made it easier!  The have added a white check to their boxes.  This means that cereal has more whole grains than any other single ingredient.  How easy!  Just look for the check!
General Mills has a great website called Whole Grain Nation that can help you on your quest for eating Whole Grains.  There's a great game and sweepstakes where you can navigate through grocery store aisles and identify products that have whole grain as their first ingredient.  Then you can enter a sweepstakes to win one each of all 50 whole grain cereals!

From General Mills:

According to Dr. Travis Stork, emergency room physician and host of “The Doctors,” identifying whole grain products can be challenging. Shoppers can look for nutritional cues on the front of the box, but they need to read the ingredient list to know if they are getting enough whole grain. Ingredient lists detail ingredients in order of prevalence, and if the words “whole grain” are followed by a grain like wheat or oats, it means the food contains more whole grain than any other single ingredient. Here’s how to determine if your cereals have whole grain as a first ingredient: With all the health messages facing grocery store shoppers, it can be confusing to translate what appears on food labels into nutritional needs, and hard to determine which foods have a meaningful amount of whole grain. Dr. Stork has some additional recommendations to help you include whole grain easily into your diet. They include: Start Early! The Dietary Guidelines recommend people get at least 48 grams of whole grain in their daily diets. Get a jump-start on the day’s nutrition by incorporating whole grain into your morning routine. For instance, when choosing cereal make sure whole grain is listed as the first ingredient. One easy choice is cereal with the white check, which have more whole grain than any other single ingredient. Make Simple Swaps. Choose whole grain versions of the foods you love. Great options include whole wheat pasta and whole wheat bread or even whole grain crackers. Also, try different types of whole grain. Use brown rice instead of white rice as a side dish at dinner or popcorn, which is a whole grain, for a snack. Don’t Judge a Food by Its Cover. The front of food packages provide good nutritional cues, but don’t forget to read the ingredients and check the nutrition label and side labels for additional health information. Cereals with the white check even include the amount of whole grain per serving on packaging.

We have added a lot more whole grains to our diet as a family, and I feel so much better.  I'm fuller faster, and that feeling stays with me longer.  I love that I can find whole grains in some of our favorite cereals including Honey Nut Cheeries (I Love Honey Nut Cheerios), Lucky Charms, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch.


Want to try some of these delicious cereals?  Well, how about a great giveaway to help!  One of you lucky readers can win a prize pack containing 5 boxes of General Mills with the white check!  Woot!


Please leave me a comment letting me know which of your favorite General Mills cereal with the white check  you like to start your morning off with. Please include your email in the comment if it's not visible in your profile (jane smith at yahoo dot com)

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Contest ends Thursday, February 9, 2012. One (1) winner will be randomly chosen from all correct entries. Winner will be notified by email and has 72 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. This contest is open to residents of the US, ages 18 and over.
Disclosure: The prize pack, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

Contest is over and winner has been chosen!  Thanks to all you amazing readers!

Yes, I admit it... I'm a fan of the Chipmunks!  I love the movies and have such a good time listening to all the songs!  I've loved them since I was a child!

Well, now there's a very fun game out where you can bust a move with the Chipmunks!  Enter... Alvin and the Chipmunks:  Chipwrecked, the Game!




You wanted to dance along while watching the trailer, didn't you?!   Not only can you dance along to 30 of the Chipmunks hits, but you can customize your own little Chipmunk or Chipette!

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked Game is available for the Kinect™ for Xbox 360®, Wii™ and Nintendo DS™.  It is rated E 10+.

Now for the really fun part!  One of you lucky readers can win your own copy.  Please note, the copy for the giveaway is only for the Kinect for Xbox360.

Mandatory Entry:

Please leave me a comment letting me know who 's your favorite Chipmunk or Chipette.  (I'm partial to Theodore!) Please include your email in the comment if it's not visible in your profile (jane smith at yahoo dot com)

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Contest ends Thursday, February 9, 2012. One (1) winner will be randomly chosen from all correct entries. Winner will be notified by email and has 72 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. This contest is open to residents of the US, ages 18 and over.
Disclosure: The giveaway is furnished by the sponsor. The opinions are all my own and free of charge!
Contest is over and winner has been chosen! Thanks to all you amazing readers!

Have I got something delicious to tell you about! Let me introduce you to Hawaiian Kettle Style Potato Chips!  These are some very yummy chips!

From their website:

Discover a new world of Flavor Destinations when you crunch into Hawaiian® Kettle Style Potato Chips. The crispy, golden chips are cooked to perfection, then salted just enough to enhance the natural potato flavor. Using the traditional Polynesian recipe that originated the Hawaiian® Kettle Style Potato Chip, only the finest ingredients are used to create a chip that captures the freshness and authenticity of the islands. Open a bag of Hawaiian® Kettle Style Potato Chips, and let yourself be swept away to a tropical paradise of blue skies and warm, sandy beaches. For more information, visit www.hawaiianbrandsnacks.com.

These chips come in four different flavors, Original, Sweet Maui Onion, Luau BBQ, and Wasabi.  My favorite is probably the Luau BBQ, but I'm a sucker for a good BBQ flavored chip, and this is a Good chip!  It's definitely got a little kick to it, but I think that's what makes it so good!
I also like the Original flavor, which has just the right amount of saltiness to it, and the Sweet Maui Onion is scrumptious too!

Let me warn you about the Wasabi... my husband loved it, so did my daughter, in fact it's their favorite.  The Wasabi had my son and I running for a drink of water.  I think I was breathing fire for awhile!  It has some fire behind it!

So, is your mouth watering yet?  Well, one of you amazing readers has a chance to win a variety pack of Hawaiian Kettle Style Potato Chips!  Can I have a "Woot! Woot!"

Please leave me a comment letting me know what flavor you think would be your favorite. Please include your email in the comment if it's not visible in your profile (jane smith at yahoo dot com)

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Contest ends Thursday, February 2, 2012. One (1) winner will be randomly chosen from all correct entries. Winner will be notified by email and has 72 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. This contest is open to residents of the US, ages 18 and over.

Contest is over and winner has been chosen.  Thanks to all you amazing readers!
Disclosure:  The giveaway is furnished by the sponsor.  The opinions are all my own and free of charge!

I have always been a fan of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  Well, General Mills has done it again!  Introducing Frosted Toast Crunch!  Let me sum it up in one word - Yummy!

I admit it, I'm a sucker for anything sweet, so when I had the opportunity to try a cereal called Frosted Toast Crunch, I was all over that!

When the cereal arrived, the kids and I dove into it.  We tried a few squares without milk... ooh, so good!  Then we gave it the milk test... ooh, so so good!  It has a taste of vanilla and a hint of cinnamon.  I really like this stuff!  It's a great cereal to put in a snack bag for an on-the-go treat!

This is now the go-to cereal of our home.  I don't mind at all as it contains 11 grams of whole grain and is a good source of calcium.

Is your mouth watering yet? So do you want to try it for yourself?  Well, one of you lucky readers gets the chance to win a very fun prize pack!  Very cool!

The Prize Pack contains a spilt milk bowl, a lickety spoon, a frosted pitcher, and of course, a box of Frosted Toast Crunch!  See, I told you it was cool! Ü

Please leave me a comment letting me know if you'd eat Frosted Toast Crunch with milk, or right out of the box! Please include your email in the comment if it's not visible in your profile (jane smith at yahoo dot com)

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Contest ends Thursday, January 26, 2012. One (1) winner will be randomly chosen from all correct entries. Winner will be notified by email and has 72 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. This contest is open to residents of the US, ages 18 and over.

Contest is over and winner has been chosen.  Thanks to all you amazing readers!
Disclosure: The product, prize pack, information, and giveaway have all been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark. The opinions expressed are all my own and free of charge!

Jut when I thought it can't get any easier, Purex has done it again!  Let me tell you about Purex UltraPacks.  They are little packs of laundry detergent that are pre-measured you can just toss into your washing machine.  They dissolve very quickly in water, even cold water.

They are filled with their new Triple Action Formula all in one little pack!  You don't need to tote a heavy jug of laundry detergent home, just a pouch of these UltraPacks.

What I especially love about them, is now my son can do laundry all by himself.  Before I had to help him measure the detergent and get it in the dispenser without spilling (which is quite a task for my son with special needs).  Now he can just grab an ActionPack, toss it in, then add clothes and Voila! laundry is washing!  It gives him such a sense of independence and accomplishment to be able to do this without any help!

I love these little guys!  There is no mess, no measuring, just toss and go!  Thanks Purex, for another great idea!

Want to try them out for yourself?  One of you lucky readers can win a coupon to try Purex ActionPacks out!  Cool!

Please leave me a comment if you'd pick the Mountin Breeze Scent or Free and Clear. Please include your email in the comment if it's not visible in your profile (jane smith at yahoo dot com)

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Contest ends Thursday, January 26, 2012. One (1) winner will be randomly chosen from all correct entries. Winner will be notified by email and has 72 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. This contest is open to residents of the US, ages 18 and over.

Contest is over and winner has been chosen.  Thanks to all you amazing readers!

Disclosure: I was provided a sample of the above product for the purpose of a review. The opinions expressed are all my own and free of charge!

I'm one of the lucky ones who gets to be a Purex Insider!  This means I get to review new Purex products!  I know, I told you I was lucky!

So, let me tell you about their new laundry detergent.  I love it!  It's that simple!  You've read about my son before.  Well, let's just say that he is hard on his clothes, really really hard on his clothes.  Every time I do the laundry I pause in amazement as some new, unidentifiable stain is on his clothes...  every piece of his clothing.  I have been a fan of another brand of laundry detergent since he's been a baby.  So, it took a lot to sway me over to a new brand.

I have been swayed!  Purex Triple Action Detergent actually got out those mystery stains!  His clothes (and ours too) come out cleaner and brighter.  Plus it's a lot less expensive!  I'm also thrilled that you can use it in High Efficiency washers.  It's great to use, no matter what type of washing machine you have.

Purex will be using their Triple Action formula across their whole line of liquid detergents.  Cool!  So, to summarize, yes, I am a fan, and a believer!

Want to find out for yourself?  Three of you lucky readers can each win a coupon for Purex Triple Action Detergent.  How cool is that?!

Please leave me a comment letting me know what laundry stain drives you crazy! Please include your email in the comment if it's not visible in your profile (jane smith at yahoo dot com)

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Contest ends Thursday, January 19, 2012. Three (3) winners will be randomly chosen from all correct entries. Winners will be notified by email and has 72 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. This contest is open to residents of the US, ages 18 and over.

Disclosure:  I was provided a sample of the above product for the purpose of a review.  The opinions expressed are all my own and free of charge!

Contest is over and winners have been chosen.  Thanks to all you amazing readers!

If you know me, you know I'm an avid reader!  I almost always have a book (or two) started.  It makes me crazy when life gets in the way of reading.  Darn you, laundry!

I was offered a chance to read and review a book, Sleeper's Run, by Henry Mosquera.  The book was right up my alley!  I love a good suspense, thriller, mystery book!

From the website www.sleepers-run.com :

War on Terror veteran, Eric Caine, is found wandering the streets of Miami with no memory of the car accident that left him there. Alone and suffering from PTSD, Eric is on a one-way road to self-destruction. Then a chance meeting at a bar begins a series of events that helps Eric start anew. When his new job relocates him to Venezuela–the land of his childhood–things, however, take an ominous turn as a catastrophic event threatens the stability of the country. Now Eric must escape an elite team of CIA assassins as he tries to uncover an international conspiracy in which nothing is what it seems.

This book started out at a fast-pace.  I immediately started to like Eric Caine, and his flaws.  I enjoyed the story-line and really liked all the twists and turns.  It drives me crazy when I can figure out everything in just a few pages.  This one kept me surprised for the most part.  I enjoyed the ending that left me hoping to hear more about Eric Caine and of course, Trishna.

What I didn't like was the language and the violence.  I feel you can tell a story with out giving me all the gory details.  The fight scenes were very detailed and sometimes a little too much for me.

So I guess final opinion is, good job by first-time author Henry Mosque.  Now, how about writing a sequel with a little less foul language.  My poor eyes were burning!

Disclosure:  I received this book for the purpose of a review.  The opinions are all my own and free of charge!