Giveaway from Trainer Momma!
In the blogging word it’s easy to get caught up in your theme. My friend, the Trainer Momma, is one of the best ladies I know for advice on exercise, healthy living, diet, and so on, so you’re probably thinking that this giveaway would have something to do with having a healthy lifestyle.
Nah.
On top of all that other stuff, Trainer Momma is a rockin’ awesome shopper, and that’s what she’s celebrating with this week’s giveaway.
Two lucky readers will receive $50 gift certificates to TJ Maxx! Anyone with a body, house, kids, or love of shoes and purses (like me) would be thrilled to win, so click HERE to enter. The contest runs until March 8th.
APEricots Giveaway from “For the Love”
Anyone ever hear of APEricots? It’s an adorable site that offers super-cute and organic baby clothes with lots of fun designs (or an option to design your own).
This is the link for the cutie-pants website: http://www.apericots.com/ where you can browse the merchandise, read up on the products/company, or just gawk at the little angel models that they use (I just wanna kiss those cheeks, don’t you?).
Now, what’s even better than cute baby clothes?
FREE cute baby clothes! The Mommy blog, For the Love, is hosting a giveaway for a $25 Apericots gift certificate. Even if you don’t have little kiddos, this is a prize worth winning for grandkids, baby showers, all kinds of things! Here’s the link to enter to win: http://sarandtrav.blogspot.com/2010/02/apericots-giveaway.html
Good luck! This contest ends on 2-29.
Another Approach to my Stuffing Casserole
I love hearing back from people who try my recipes. It tickles my heart just as much as the food tickles my taste buds!
This past week I got an email from my sister-in-law who is a self proclaimed “tentative, fledgling cook.” With a goal to make a new recipe each month, and a diet consisting of little chicken or beef, she took my recipe for Stuffing Casserole and tweaked it enough to make it her own. What even more encouraging was that it was delicious!
Here’s her message, idea for the recipe and picture:
Hey Kim, I finally got up the courage to make one of your recipes, so I thought I’d give you a detailed report. Given that we’re not big meat eaters in our family–especially not chicken for some reason–and because we are trying to eat more veggies, I adjusted the recipe a little and I’m happy to report that it turned out edible! Even “great” according to ["Perfect" Bro]. But I think I may have tweaked it a little too much because it was a little spicy.
Despite having a bit of a kick to it, I think the overall result was a success. Here’s what I did: 
- Instead of 4 chicken breasts, I used 2 free-range turkey breasts.
- I used a small onion, b/c B doesn’t like too much onion.
- I made up for the lack of meat by adding 2 cups of organic frozen peas and carrots, instead of 1 cup.
- I also used Stove Top’s turkey stuffing (also left over from the holidays), but was concerned that since I was using turkey instead of chicken that the cream of chicken soup would clash with the turkey on our taste buds. And since WholeFoods–where I did my shopping for this meal instead of the sub-par NYC grocery store in our neighborhood–didn’t have the soup you suggested, I decided to take a risk with organic cream of mushroom soup instead. I thought it would add more veggies, too, and make the dish even more tasty. I think that’s where I went wrong and where the “spice factor” came from.
- I also added a little extra ground pepper and ground sea salt, which may have been too much considering the 1/4 teaspoon of pepper i already added and given that the stuffing is probably already salty. Not to mention the soup.
Considering this was my first casserole and that we both had 2 servings at dinner, I consider it a success.
Thanks for your contribution Dub-Dawg! Good luck on next month’s endeavor!
And the Winner IS…
Thank you everyone who participated in this week’s giveaway! I had a blast reading all of your comments, visiting your blogs, and feeling so supported. I’m sure Kendra agrees with me in that sentiment.
I was naive going into this drawing, never imagining that we’d get such a HUGE response. I spent much of the night sorting through the entries, making sure everyone got the chances that they deserved and now I’m ready to announce that the winner is…
#5 Kelly Warren!
Congratulations! I’ll be sending your info on to Kendra who will contact you about claiming your prize.
DISCOUNT REMINDER! Kendra is offering 15% off any of her jewelry pieces just for mentioning Just a Mom, HA! Here’s the link to her etsy store one more time.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/bellezamia
MOMS – I LOVE TO SUPPORT YOU! If any of you have a craft, store, or whatever that you’d like to promote or giveaway, just let me know and we’ll make it happen. : )
Thank You Giveaway from Belleza Mia Jewelry!
This giveaway is now closed.
Last week I posted a little story about David Archuleta going to visit the assisted living center where my grandmother lives. I intended it to be a little story about service and anticipated that maybe my dad would read it.
The response was amazing!
I want to thank my readers and the David Archuleta fans who took the time to read the story and especially those who left such kind comments about my Grandmother. I read every single comment, as did my parents, and we were all moved by the kindness, hopes, and prayers that you shared.
To show my thanks I’ve teamed up again with my pal Kendra from Belleza Mia Jewelry for another wonderful giveaway! Kendra’s beautiful creations are all personally handcrafted making each truly one of a kind. This week’s winner will have her/his pick of one of Kendra’s most popular necklaces (BOYS do enter! Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and any gal would love these!):
Brass Pearl Lariat 
In the Bleak Mid Winter 
Falling Leaves
Smoky Haze 
TO ENTER: Leave a comment on this post that says which necklace you would pick if you won OR the title of your favorite David Archuleta song.
**Extra entries will be given to those who tweet, blog, or facebook about this giveaway, have me on their blog roll or have my button on their site. Please mention in your comment how many entries you qualify for.**
THE CONTEST ENDS THURSDAY NIGHT AT MIDNIGHT (CENTRAL TIME ZONE) AND THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED FRIDAY MORNING!
Thank you again everyone for your kindness and good luck!
THIS JUST IN! This morning Kendra emailed me to extend a discount to EVERYONE who reads this blog!
Come to her etsy shop, mention Just a Mom, HA!, and receive 15% off your order! We’re talking EVERY item, not just the necklaces shown – so head over to Kendra’s shop, Belleza Mia, and make your wish list!
My Grandma and the Rock Star
This tale comes from my Dad – he’s not a Mama, but since he isn’t me I thought I could stash it down here as I find this story quite noteworthy.
My Grandma is awesome. A lady that radiates love and is even more welcoming than a warm afghan and a candy dish (though her house was well known for both). You may remember her from this gem last year:
This past year my grandma decided that she’d had enough of housework, yard work, and many other mundane day-to-day tasks (I can relate), so she packed up and moved to an assisted living center in the same middle-of -nowhere town that my parents moved to a year ago. She gets treated like the Queen that she is and doesn’t have a care in the world (besides having fun and doing her hair up cute).
You know the problem with middle of nowhere towns? They are a pain in the tooshey to get to. Going to visit isn’t easy or cheap and therefore doesn’t happen all that often.
Not even at Christmas time. 
Now in this middle-of-nowhere town there is a growing college. Because of the college there are many do gooders in town – young people who want to do a little something to make the world a better place, and therefore the Assisted Living Center gets many, many visitors (especially during the holidays).
Many of the kids come to sing, play the piano, share stories and talents, or just visit. Some are immensely talented, others are goofy, and then, one day, one kid was a Rock Star:
That’s my Grandma, and that’s David Archuleta. Maybe you’ve heard of him? He was a runner up on a little show called American Idol. He was in town for a concert at the college and wanted to do something nice in the community. He came to my grandma’s home with just his pianist and sang requests from his audience.
There was no press, no manager, no agent. Just a good kid wanting to do something good in his free time.
I’m sure there are lots of people out there who, like me, wish with all their hearts to visit their loved ones – sing carols and share an evening, but who can’t. I want to personally thank each and every person who went out of their way to help someone they didn’t know during this past holiday season. Your small act stood in the place of many prayers and hopes of families far away.
A Mom and 2 Kids Need Us
Dear Moms,
This morning I was made aware that a friend of my friend has had a major tragedy occur. Over the Thanksgiving Holiday her husband was killed in a caving accident. He was a medical student, a good friend, a loving husband, and the father of one child with the second on the way. Of this family, my friend wrote:
I remember John and his sweet wife Emily, though we only knew them a short year. They were always happy and had a smile on their faces. Whenever you were around them you felt just a little bit happier. They were always so kind and cheerful…
When I heard all the news all I could think about was Emily and not being able to fathom what it might be like to deal with such a tragedy.
I add, especially while pregnant.
We have a chance to help this family (a perfect way to try out my Scroogisms and spread Christmas cheer and goodwill to those in need).
Donations can be made through The John & Emily Jones Memorial Fund (Utah Community Credit Union and Wells Fargo) or The Emily Jones Children Donations (Zions National Bank).
For those who are not able to go to these places, you can donate online here.
There is also an online auction at A Daily Scoop with funds going towards the family. There will be daily auctions (including items from my friend Kendra’s Etsy shop, Belleza Mia, that was featured on this site over the past month). The instructions on how to bid were only posted with the first auction and can be seen here.
If you would like to contribute an item to be auctioned off rather than bidding, then you can e-mail her (stephaniewaite@gmail.com) or comment on her blog saying you would like to contribute. This is a great opportunity to make Christmas gift buying turn into a double blessing for those in need.
I know that money and resources can be tight at this time of year, but imagine how much tighter they would be if you were to lose your husband. I can’t imagine what this mother must be feeling, but I do know that our thoughts, prayers, and donations will help to ease at least some of the need that has been left by this tragedy.
Hug and kiss your loved ones today – you never know how many chances you’ll have.
Free Yogurt Cup Offer from Stonyfield Farms
This free promotion was sent to me this morning and I’m passing it on to you:
Send in 4 foil lids from Stonyfield yogurt QUART SIZE containers and receive back an eight-ounce yogurt cup made by Preserve®. The cups is made from 100% recycled plastic, is perfect for yogurt-lovers on the go, the ideal size for breakfast or a snack, with room to stir in fruit or granola. It’s dishwasher safe, BPA-free with a screw-on lid – and it’s made in the USA. Consumers will also get $4.50 worth of Stonyfield and Preserve coupons along with the cup.
Entry Details:
Consumers can mail clean foil lids, with name, address and phone number on an index card or 4” x 6” sheet of paper by February 28, 2010 to:
Stonyfield Farm
Reusable Cup Offer
PO Box 4840
Manchester, NH 03108-4840
Cups will be shipped starting in January, 2010 with delivery in 10 to 12 weeks. This offer is good only in the US, while cup supplies last, and is limited to one cup per household (to better spread the love around).
The Belleza Mia Winner IS….
This morning I tallied up all of the possible entries for each contestant, went to random.org, and got this as my result:
The winner is #2 ANGELA S!
Angela, I will send your contact info through to Kendra and she will get in touch with you about claiming your prize.
Thank you to all participants, this has been a wonderful week! Don’t forget that you can purchase this beautiful jewelry with a 15% discount by mentioning this website.
FINAL DAY for Belleza Mia Giveaway
This has been a fantastic week! I’ve loved seeing all of your comments and looking through all of Kendra’s gorgeous jewelry. Today is the final day to enter to win $25 to Belleza Mia, so if you haven’t entered yet click HERE to do so. Remember that by adding me to your blog roll, adding a button, or blogging about this giveaway will get you more entries, but you have to let me know, so leave those messages in the comments section too. Today’s featured item is one that many people have mentioned as a fav:
Thanks for playing along! The final comments will be accepted tonight at midnight and the winner will be announced tomorrow morning.
