With only 11 days till Christmas, it’s “crunch” time (pun totally intended). How are you doing with your holiday shopping? I have made some headway in the last few days, but I still have a way to go. Stuffing the kids’ stockings is generally the last task to be completed and I am always looking for great ideas at the last minute.
This year, Nestle Crunch has come to the rescue by delivering a limited edition Paul Frank Nestle Crunch Bar complete with a cover than opens like a card which is only available at Target! And if you just can’t get enough Crunch, have you tried “Jingles?” They are little individually wrapped bell shaped candies made of Nestle Crunch (warning: they are totally addictive and totally stocking worthy). Still not enough? Check out the CRUNCH Facebook page to enter the Stocking Stuffer Sweepstakes for your chance to win weekly prizes including sunglasses, clothing and gift cards! How do you plan to stuff your stockings?
GIVEAWAY
One winner will receive a limited edition Paul Frank CRUNCH bar, plush toy, “Story I Love” color book and a bag of NESTLÉ CRUNCH Jingles.
How to enter:
1. Tell me what you would love to find in your stocking!
Additional entries:
1. Blog about this giveaway and link to The Not-So-Blog (10 extra entries).
2. Follow me (@BridgetteLA) on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway. Every time you tweet you get an additional entry! Unlimited! (You must have over 50 Twitter followers to qualify for unlimited entries!)
3. Subscribe to my blog.
4. Become a Fan of The Not-So-Blog on Facebook and Nestle Crunch on Facebook.
5. Place my blog banner on your sidebar.
Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on December 22nd. Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to U.S. Residents only.
When I was a kid, I was a very picky eater. Unfortunately, now I have two daughters who are following in my footsteps. I have to try pretty hard to get them to eat healthy foods and make sure they are getting the proper nutrients. n an effort to make sure my girls grow up strong and smart, I am constantly looking for new ways supply them with the daily allowance of vitamins and minerals.
Recently, I think I solution may have made it’s way to my email inbox! BOOST Kids Essentials has challenged my daughters and I to try the Nutritionally Complete Drink and offer our feedback. About BOOST Kids Essentials:
“Not only is BOOST® Kid Essentials Nutritionally Complete Drink loved by kids for its taste, it also contains complete nutrition! It’s gluten-free, lactose-free and great for growing kids — even kids who are picky eaters. Available in vanilla and chocolate, BOOST Kid Essentials Drink tastes great and has 24 essential vitamins and minerals.”
Like anything I give my daughters, I tried it first. And I loved it! The drink was smooth and creamy and very chocolatey! I couldn’t wait to get their opinions. After school, my kids are ravenous, so it is the perfect time to offer a healthy snack. My youngest chose Vanilla and my oldest decided on the chocolate drink. Success! Before I knew it, both drinks were GONE.
After looking at the BOOST Kids Essentials website, I found some incredibly tasty recipes (the chocolate pudding pops look great!) as well as tips for picky eaters. BOOST Kids Essentials can be found at Walmart and if you would like to try it with your kids, make sure you print the $3.00 off coupon first!
GIVEAWAY
One lucky reader will win a BOOST Kids Essential Prize Pack including 2 4-packs of BOOST Kid Essentials Nutritionally Complete Drink (1 pack vanilla, 1 pack chocolate, a recipe book, a $35 gift certificate to Walmart, a coupon packet for BOOST Kid Essentials ($3 off value each), and a branded backpack.
How to Enter:
1. Check out the BOOST Kids Essentials recipes and tell me which one you would try.
Additional entries:
1. Blog about this giveaway and link to The Not-So-Blog and BOOST Kids Essentials (10 extra entries).
2. Follow me (@BridgetteLA) on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway. Every time you tweet you get an additional entry! Limited to 10 a day, please. (You must have over 50 Twitter followers to qualify for unlimited entries!)
3. Subscribe to my blog.
4. Become a Fan of The Not-So-Blog and BOOST on Facebook.
5. Place my blog button on your sidebar.
Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on September 28th. Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to U.S. Residents only.
I have a ton of winners to announce tonight! Congrats to all who won! You will receive an email shortly. Please respond within 72 hours to claim your prize and make sure you read my Winners Policy, too!
KRAFT Cheese Veggie Pasta: Michelle S.
Creativity for Kids Headband Kit: Laura D.
Nestle Family Summer Fun Giveaway #1: Geoff K.
Ottilee and Lulu Tween Skincare: Renee
Energizer WeatherReady Tawnda
Glow Crazy: Randy B.
PowerSharp Chainsaw Sharpener: Eileen
HABA Flower Friends Mobile: Breanna
Pampers coupons: Ellen
Sprite Spark Parks: Laura D.
Constructive Playthings: Pauline
Domino’s $20 Gift Card: Kristi C.
American Girl Dolls: Debbie J.
Zaycon Foods: Judith
Zulily: Mandy
Lovable Labels: Renee
Softy Soakers: katklaw777
McDonald’s: Sandra
Nestle Family Summer Wrap Up: Karine
Thanks to the amazing sponsors and all who entered!
More fun giveaways coming soon!
Last month, I shared with you some facts about Ovaltine and a tasty recipe for brownies (did you try them?). In this recipe, we used the traditional Rich Chocolate variety of Ovaltine, but did you know there are two more varieties to try? From the press release:
Anxious to taste test some of the other varieties, we decided to try the Ovaltine Choc-o-nana Shake using the Chocolate Malt variety.
1 to 1 1/2 cups fat free milk
2 medium bananas, peeled, sliced and frozen
1 cup ice cubes
1/2 cup of OVALTINE (Rich Chocolate, Chocolate Malt or Classic Malt Mix)
Place milk, bananas, ice and OVALTINE in blender; cover. Blend until smooth.
Cook’s Tip: For added protein, blend in 1 scoop vanilla protein powder.
Obviously, this is a super easy recipe, which is right at my skill level! We did not freeze the bananas, so we decided to add a little bit of fat free frozen yogurt to add a thicker texture. All in all, the recipe only took about 5 minutes to prepare and we served it to both of my daughters after naptime. It was a huge hit and both of them asked for seconds!
GIVEAWAY
Would you like to try some of these tasty recipes from Ovaltine? One winner will receive a basket full of Nestle goodies including Ovaltine!
How to enter:
1. Check out the varieties of Ovaltine and tell me which one you like best!
Additional entries:
1. Blog about this giveaway and link to The Not-So-Blog and OvaltineUSA (10 extra entries).
2. Follow me (@BridgetteLA) and @OvaltineUSA on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway. Every time you tweet you get an additional entry! Unlimited! (You must have over 50 Twitter followers to qualify for unlimited entries!)
3. Subscribe to my blog.
4. Become a Fan of The Not-So-Blog and on Facebook.
5. Place my blog banner on your sidebar.
6. Subscribe to my Feed.
Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on November 30th. Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to U.S. Residents only.
WOW! Tons of winners today! Thanks to everyone who participated!
Nestle Walmart $100 gift card: Donna B.
Nestle Stouffers: Kimberly
Nestle Juice Juice: Deb C.
Nestle TollHouse and $25 Target Gift Card: Jennifer B.
San Lori: Michelle H.
Emily Osment: Laura
Mrs. Butterworth: Meagain2
Aquaphor: Pamela S.
Wendy’s $5 gift card: Eve
GLEE DVD set: Debbie S.
Monkey Around Sports: lulumsu33
Musselman’s: Patti H.
Redbox: Loni
Teacup Piggies: Traci S.
DYMO Label Maker: Kara P.
Macy’s $25 gift card: Paul D.
Douglas Cuddle Toys: Susan H.
Little Piggy’s House: Snowflake07
Congrats to all the winners! You will all be emailed shortly! Please see my winner policy to claim your prize!
As a child, I was a horribly picky eater (sorry, Mom!). So I guess it should come as no surprise that both of my daughters are picky as well, right? I do my best to introduce them to new foods and provide a balanced, nutritious diet, but I do worry that they aren’t getting the proper amounts of vitamins.
I am fortunate that both my daughters LOVE milk, so I found that using Ovaltine in their milk is a great way to add vitamins to their daily intake. From the press release:
“OVALTINE is a good source of a variety of vitamins and minerals, from A to B12 and magnesium to zinc. A glass of milk with Rich Chocolate OVALTINE provides 20 percent or more of the daily requirement of vitamins A, C, B6 and B12, and 25 percent or more of the daily calcium, zinc and magnesium kids need every day.”
While I was well aware that Ovaltine can be used in both cold and warm milk, I had no idea that it could be used for baking! I took the opportunity to bake with my oldest daughter this past weekend and we decided to try Ovaltine brownies!
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
2 tablespoons water
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups Rich Chocolate OVALTINE Mix
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (6 oz) NESTLÉ®
TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet
Chocolate Mini Morsels, divided
Preheat oven to 325° F. Grease 9-inch square baking pan. Combine sugar, butter and water in large bowl; stir well. Stir in eggs and vanilla extract. Combine flour, OVALTINE, baking powder and salt in medium bowl; stir into sugar mixture. Fold in 1/4 cup morsels. Spread into prepared baking pan. Bake for 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out slightly sticky. Sprinkle remaining 3/4 cup morsels over top of brownie; let stand for 5 minutes. Spread morsels over brownie with small spatula. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.
I have to say that I am pretty darn proud of myself! These brownies were delicious (I say were because they are GONE)! I had to cook them for about 10 minutes more than the recipe suggested, but they were very moist and just down right YUMMY. Both of my daughters loved them, and while I realize they aren’t low calorie, they do have the vitamins and minerals found in Ovaltine which is more than you can say for the traditional brownie!
I was so impressed with this recipe that I plan on trying out a few more as the Thanksgiving holidays draw near. Make sure you come back to see what I find and I might just have a great Ovaltine giveaway for you, too!
This school year was a BIG deal in my home! My oldest daughter started Kindergarten! She absolutely could not wait to be a “big girl” and sit down with her very first Kindergarten reader. While she did really well with letter sounds and letter recognition in Pre-K, I would not say that she was a full blown reader just yet. But already, in just the first month, she has started blending sounds and reading her first books. The look on her face when she completes each page is pure joy.
Because I believe every child should be given the chance to experience the joy of reading, I was so happy to have the opportunity to partner with Nestle and the Reading in Fundamental program. The RIF program is the nation’s largest children’s literacy organization which provides many services for America’s youth. Literacy starts early and the RIF Shared Beginnings program teaches young parents the importance of reading aloud to their children. Another program, Books for Ownership, motivates children to read by providing books they can select and take home free of charge. The RIF Organization also encourages parents to lead by example through the Family of Readers program. Parents are asked to share quality time with their kids by talking about their favorite books and sharing their love of reading.
Nestle has partnered with the RIF Organization to help distribute millions of books to elementary schools across the country and now asked me to take part as well! I was excited to share my own love of reading by hosting a “Happy New School Year” party at my home to spread the word about Reading is Fundamental.
On September 11th, I hosted a party for friends, family members and kids to come to my home and learn about this great program (while feasting on some Nestle goodies, of course!). Each guest was invited to bring a new or gently used book to the party to donate to a local RIF school. In addition to this donation, Nestle shipped $350 worth of children’s books themed around nutrition to my home in order for me to research and choose a local school in which to donate them.
While my guests checked out the books, donated their own and ate some yummy goodies (the Nestle Toll House cookies were a HIT), I discussed with my guests the donation locations we could choose from. Because my 
area was hard hit by Hurricane Katrina, we decided to donate to a local school that was destroyed during the Storm and is still in the process of rebuilding. After we picked the location, I held a raffle for the guests that brought a book to donate. The winner received a Nestle lunchbox filled with coupons and an Amazon gift card!
It was really great to get together with my family and friends and work together for a great cause. Everyone was really involved in selecting a school and I can’t wait to show you which one we chose in my next post! Thanks so much to Nestle and Reading is Fundamental for providing the goodies and books that will make such a difference to a school in my area.
Lots of winners to pull today! Thanks to everyone who participated!
Constructive Playthings gift card: Joanna
Zhu Zhu Pets: Laura
Nestle day 1: Debbie S.
Nestle Day 2: Nancy S.
Nestle Day 3: Sarah
Nestle Day 4: Janet
Nestle Day 5: Jennifer R.
V Reader: Andrea K.
Sunglass Warehouse: Diane W.
Slix: Gianna
Ice Box Bakery: Peggy
Hersheys: Karen G.
Chili’s: Bacallsmom
Sleepjoy: Diane R.
1800Flowers: Geoff K.
Congrats to all the winners! You will all be emailed shortly. Please respond within 72 hours to claim your prize!
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In 2009, Bridgette co-founded a consultation service, Double Duty Divas, LLC in order to connect brands and bloggers. Expanding on this business, she also co-owns a blog conference, Reviewer's Retreat, which is geared towards strengthening relationships between bloggers and brands. [Read More …]
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