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Cheap Cookie Cutters Review and Giveaway

December 11, 2009 81 Comments

As my loyal readers know, this blog isn’t call Simply Sweet Home for nothing. Yes, we do love our desserts around here, especially cookies!

Recently I had the chance to try out some new cookie cutters from Cheap Cookie Cutters. I got a mini Mickey Mouse cookie cutter and three Christmas Cookie Cutters. My set included a Christmas Tree, Stocking, and Angel.

These were great! They shipped quickly to my house. And I was immediately pleased by their size and condition. Previously I’ve bought a set of hard plastic cookie cutters, and I have to that these are a lot better than those. They cut better, and the shapes come out very nicely. (Much better than those old plastic cutters I have!)

As I looked through the Cheap Cookie Cutters website I found a lot of noteworthy cookie cutters to tell my baking and blogging friends about. For instance, the site has an entire section of Disney Cookie Cutters, including Mickey, Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet.

They also have alphabet & number cutters and even United States Cookie Cutters. What a great–and not to mention, a yummy–way for kids to learn.

And there are so many other great cookie cutters to be found at this website. Also, if you go there now and put in the coupon code 10off at checkout, you get 10% off your purchase! So head on over there right now and pick up what you need for Christmas baking, or pick up something for your baking friends.


Giveaway: One Simply Sweet Home Reader will win a set of Christmas Cookie Cutters like the one shown above worth $11.99. To win, visit Cheap Cookie Cutters and then come back here and tell us your favorite cookie cutter or cookie cutter set.

Giveaway Closed. Thanks for entering!

-Jerri


Filed Under: Giveaways, product review, Sponsors

Holey Donuts Review & Giveaway

December 7, 2009 5 Comments

The other day the Fed-Ex guy left a big box at my door. I was thrilled and literally jumped for joy when I looked at the box label and read the words “Holey Donuts.” Today I’m pleased to tell you about my Holey Donuts Experience and tell you how you can win some Holey Donuts for your family.

Holey Donuts is a gourmet donut company that specializes in low fat, low calorie donuts. Obviously when we think of the word “donut” very few people think of the phrase, “low fat, low calories.” And then if we add the word “delicious” to that phrase, many would say, “Impossible. A delicious, low calorie donut? There’s no such thing.” Well, if you are one of those people, prepare to be amazed!

These premium, low fat gourmet donuts are made entirely by hand, requiring 22 steps from the mixing, hand rolling, cutting, and special patented cooking process. Donuts are then hand filled and each donut is decorated with the finest homemade care. They are then gently hand packaged and frozen and quickly shipped to you by FedEx.

Holey Donuts sent me a box of their Jumbo Reduced Fat Cinnamon Rolls, a box of Jumbo Reduced Fat Blueberry Vanilla Cinnamon Rolls, and a box of their Reduced Fat Mini Cinnamon Rolls. I can’t say enough about how great these are. Of the three, my favorite was the mini cinnamon rolls. The minis are the perfect size for a quick snack at home or work. I can heat up one or two and be perfectly satisfied. And because they come 16 to a box, they would be great to feed to your family in the morning. And they’d be an ideal snack to serve or take to a party.

I was impressed by the way the donuts were shipped and packaged. The donuts were shipped within a couple of days through Fed-Ex. Inside the cardboard shipping box was a Styrofoam cooler, and the bottom of the cooler was filled with packs of dry ice to ensure that your donuts remain frozen. And of course, inside the cooler each order of donuts is in a separate box. And they are high quality boxes that will protect your pastries from freezer burn.

The second thing that impressed me was the fact that the donuts can be prepared very quickly. I’ve grown accustomed to getting cakes and pies that need to be thawed over night and all day before they are ready to eat. With Holey Donuts, you just remove your pastry from the box, and place it in the microwave, cooking it at 5 second intervals. So in 30 seconds or less, you can have a hot fresh cinnamon roll. Imagine it: No more turning on the oven or heading out to your local bakery if you want a fresh donut or cinnamon roll. Excellent!

And finally the taste of these was just remarkable! They were hot and fresh. They tasted like something you would make at home or get from your finest bakery. They were incredibly sweet and flavorful. And it’s obvious that a lot of care went in to making them.

If you place an order with Holey Donuts, you won’t be disappointed. I would definitely recommend these to my friends and family, as well as my blogging pals. In case your curious, Holey Donuts has a ton of flavors to choose from. Here are just a few selections that I’d love to try:

Reduced Fat Boston Cream Oreo Cookie:

Low Fat Chocolate Crumb:


Low Fat Chocolate Fudge Crumb • Low Fat Vanilla Crumb • Low Fat Caramel Crumb:

Giveaway – One Winner Will Recieve the Following:

1- Full box of Jumbo Low Fat Cinnamon Buns (4)
1- Full box of Our Awesome Jumbo Low Fat Blueberry Vanilla Buns (4)
1- Full box of Holey Donuts! Low Fat Cinnamon Bun Middles (16)
+$150 Holiday spending cash!

Giveaway Closed. Thanks to everyone who entered!

-Jerri

Filed Under: desserts, Giveaways, product review, Sponsors

Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters Snack Pack Giveaway

September 29, 2009 98 Comments
My friends at MyBlogSpark sent me a Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters Snack Pack with all the items pictured below. While in school, I often ate granola bars and cereal bars in the mornings and in between classes, so I was happy to try out this new Granola Clusters snack.

I received four 5oz packages of Nature Valley Granola Clusters. The four flavors are Nut Lovers, Honey Roasted Peanut, Roasted Cashew, and Roasted Almond. These bite-size snacks are perfect for home, work, or when you’re on the run, and they taste great!

My favorite flavor was the Honey Roasted Peanut. The back of the package says it best: “Imagine a lightly sweet, yet salty combination of honey roasted peanuts gently rolled in Nature Valley granola and a touch of honey. It’s a taste of nature one delicous bite at a time.”

These also passed the husband taste test. I wasn’t sure if he’d like them or not because I don’t really think of him as a granola fan. But when I gave him one cluster to try, he immediately snatched the bag from me and started eating them as if they were chips or popcorn.

I definitely recommend these to anyone who’s looking for a healthy, tasty snack.

One Simply Sweet Home reader will win a Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters “Snack Pack” prize pack that includes all 4 varieties of the Granola Nut Clusters along with a sling backpack, stainless steel water bottle, flashlight and binoculars!

To win this prize, simply leave me comment telling me your favorite element in nature OR your favorite snack item.
Giveaway Closed. Winner to be announced.
-Jerri


Filed Under: Giveaways, product review, Sponsors

Spotlight on Simply Sweet Home

July 31, 2009 4 Comments

Spotlight

Tara at Feels Like Home and Adrienne at Adrienne’s House are hosting a great event where they are helping fellow bloggers to get connected with PR professionals. In January I received my first advertising offer, and since then I’ve had the chance to work with a few companies on sponsorships and product review/giveaway opportunities. It’s been very fun and exciting for me, and I would love to get more opportunities like these in the future to grow my network and build relationships. For this event, I have to write post introducing myself and my blog to the PR professionals.

About Me
My name is Jerri. I’ve been married for two and a half years to my college sweetheart and best friend Mark. We don’t have any children yet, but we hope to start a family in the next year or so. In the meantime, we have two kitty cats that we adore. (Our parents jokingly refer to them as the “grandcats.”)

My husband was recently laid off from his job, so we’re in the process of starting a new business, which I hope to share with everyone as soon we get started. And I’m also getting ready to open a small handmade jewelry shop on Etsy in the coming weeks.

Why I Started Simply Sweet Home
I started Simply Sweet Home nearly two years ago, because I thought it would be a good creative outlet. I enjoyed reading other people’s blogs, and I thought it would be fun to be a part of the blogging community and be able to share ideas and give advice and tips to women just like myself. And I hoped that it could open the door to other opportunities.

About Simply Sweet Home
When I got married I fell in love with all the aspects of being a wife, and I wanted to create a blog that would encompass any and all topics related to home and family. Since this blog was started, I’ve always posted a Recipe of the Week, and this year I began posting it on several weekly carnivals. I also host a special feature called Sweet Thursday, which is a monthly dessert carnival where people can submit a dessert that goes along with the month’s theme. These two features seem to be the most popular among the readers and have helped me to increase my readership. Because of this fact, my blog would be great for promoting food products and kitchen items.

Other topics that people enjoy and find helpful are my posts on organizing, party planning, seasonal/holiday posts, and home decor. I love highlighting new organizing products and sharing ideas and products for seasonal decorating and parties.

Also, every few months I try to do special features and events on my blog. For example, last year I had a Christmas Festival for the entire month of December, which I plan to do again this year. I’ve also written a series of articles called “Back to College” for potential college students and parents of college students. And I recently did a series of Bridal Shower Posts.

And because I’ve worked in a small business before and am in the process of starting a new home-based business with my husband, I would like to start writing some posts, advising work at home moms. With this in mind, I would love an opportunity to review office products and any products and services that are designed to help small business owners, bloggers, and people trying to make money from home.

Contacting Me
If you’re a PR Professional, thank you for visiting and considering my blog. If you would like to work with me, please send an email to simplysweethome@hotmail.com.

-Jerri


Filed Under: announcements, product review, Sponsors

Break Pal Review and Giveaway

April 23, 2009 28 Comments

Can’t find the time to exercise? Finding it hard to stay fit when you’re sitting at a desk all day? Looking for a convenient alternative to the gym? Then you should try Break Pal. It’s a great site where you can access quick workouts every day.

Break Pal is devoted to “Fitness at Your Desk.” It is specially designed for people who work at a desk job and would be perfect for bloggers and people who own a computer-based home business.

Here’s how it works. You sign up for a free trial, and then download the Break Pal widget onto your computer. When you’re working at your computer, you’ll get an alert when it’s time to exercise. You can set your alerts to come at the intervals of your choice: every 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, or 60 minutes. You then click on a link to go to the list of exercises on the Break Pal website.

The site has a variety of exercises that can be done right from your desk such as stretches, Chi Kung, yoga, and Cardio Karaticise. (My favorite exercises are the Block Lunge exercises, which are Standing Cardio Karaticise.)

There are videos that walk you through each exercise. Each video lasts only a few minutes, which is perfect if you’re on a tight schedule, and it’s great for someone who wants to incorporate a short work out into their day. The exercises are fun and can be done by anyone, regardless of your current fitness level, and because each session only lasts a few minutes, you can avoid the fatigue, sweating, and shortness of breath that goes along with a lot of traditional workouts.

What I love about the site is the flexibility that it offers. I always find it difficult to get into a regular exercise routine, so having this widget is very helpful to me. And I love that each exercise routine only lasts a couple of minutes. This allows people of all fitness levels to participate, and it allows you to do the exercise regardless of how much time you have on your hands. It’s also great that you can set your alerts to come at different time intervals. This means that whether you’ll be at your desk for a couple of hours or all day long, you can set aside plenty of time to exercise.

The website also offers a point system for doing your exercises, and they have a network where you can make friends with fellow Break Pal users. You can also create your own profiles and post to an online blog about what your doing on Break Pal.

A membership to this website normally costs $9.95 per month. And today I’m happy to announce that BreakPal is going to give away A Free Membership to 5 lucky Simply Sweet Home Readers. Your membership will never expire, and it will give you access to the Break Pal Widget, all the great exercise routines, and other features on the site.

Giveaway Rules:
To enter, leave a comment telling me something that you think would like about Break Pal. (Don’t forget to leave your email address if you do not have a blog or profile so that I’ll be able to contact you if you win.)

Additional Entries: Please leave separate comments for each entry to ensure that all your entries are counted.

1. For one additional entry, you can tweet about the giveaway, or spread the word on another social networking site. Just leave a comment letting me know that you did that. (Please leave your username or a link.) You can make up your own tweet or use the following:
“New Giveaway – Break Pal Fitness Site Membership – 5 winners –https://simplysweethome.com/2009/break-pal-review-and-giveaway.html”

2. You can also get 2 additional entries if you do a blog post on the giveaway. Please mention my blog and Break pal in the post, and be sure to link back to my blog. (Please leave two separate comments saying that you posted about the giveaway, and in one or both of your comments, leave a link to your post.)

3. You get one additional entry if you sign up today to be a Follower of my blog via blogger, a feedblitz subscriber, an RSS/Atom feed subscriber, or if you subscribe in a reader. Just leave a comment telling me how you subscribe. (1 Entry for Each Method through which you follow.)

4. To reward current subscribers, I’m also offering an additional entry if you are ALREADY a follower of my blog or a Feedblitz subscriber, prior to this giveaway. (Just leave 2 comments saying that you are already a subscriber.)

5. Become a Fan of Simply Sweet Home on Facebook, or follow jhrivers on Twitter (1 entry each).

6. And one additional entry will be given if my button is posted in your sidebar. (Just leave a comment saying that you have my button.)

This giveaway is now closed. Winners will be announced over the weekend.

-Jerri


———————————-
I’m posting this at the following carnivals:

Life as Mom and The Shabby Nest for Frugal Friday.

The Springtime Giveaway Carnival at Heavenly Homemakers.

Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family

Filed Under: Giveaways, product review, Sponsors

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with See’s Candies

February 13, 2009 6 Comments

Still shopping for Valentine’s Day gifts? Consider buying a delicious box of chocolates from See’s Famous Old-Time Candies for that special someone.

I recently tried an assortment of milk chocolates from See’s Candies, and I was very impressed.

See’s Candies was founded in 1921 and is wildly popular in the West. The company is known for its friendly, old-fashioned service and its tradition of using only the finest ingredients to make their delicious chocolates.

Being a Southern girl, I had never had the opportunity to try See’s Candies until recently. When my package arrived in the mail I was thrilled, and I was even more excited when I looked at the contents.
As you know, when you open a box of chocolates you never know what you are going to find. I carefully chose my first piece and was very pleased. It was a Milk Chocolate Butter, a milk chocolate coated confection filled with a sweet, smooth chocolate buttercream. I could have eaten an entire box of these!

Next I tried a Milk Pattie, which was filled with yummy vanilla caramel. (The caramel ones are always my favorite!) And I was more than pleasantly surprised to find another caramel treat, a Milk Butterchew, filled with vanilla, brown sugar caramel. I can’t even describe how good these were! From here, I went on to try the Milk Peanut (yum!), and a Milk Molasses chip.
Then, in order to prevent myself from eating the entire box, I had to offer some to my husband. Hubby heard me rave about this array of yummy sweets, and I suspect he was a little skeptical, thinking they can’t be THAT good. Judging by his reaction, I think his skepticism instantly disappeared. “MMM!” he said biting into his candy. “That IS good. And I don’t usually eat chocolates. Wow!”
I absolutely concur with his quick assessment. And I must confess, while I eat my fair share of cookies and cakes, I don’t usually eat a lot of candy. Most of the time if someone gives me a box of candy, I pick through it and find about two or three pieces that I like and the rest is given away to a friend or thrown away.

 

This was definitely an exceptional box of candy! For the first time I was actually eager to try each and every piece. After trying just a piece or two, I was convinced that each treat would be delicious, including flavors that don’t generally appeal to me, or to put it another away, flavors that I didn’t even know I liked. The candies were perfectly fresh, sweet, and smoothly textured. They weren’t overly rich and heavy like so many other chocolates I’ve tried. And the taste was simply unbeatable!

 

What makes this company even better in my book is that you can go to their website and purchase your own custom mix. You can choose up to ten of your favorites from their list of 102 candies to be included in your custom mix and even adjust the proportions. This is a great option whether you are buying for yourself or a friend.
In the future when I choose to order chocolates I’ll definitely shop See’s Candies. And I strongly recommend them to everyone.

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Filed Under: cookies and candy, fashion, product review, Valentine's Day

Works For Me Wednesday: Bagel-Fuls

January 14, 2009 1 Comment

If you are looking for a new snack to serve to your kids (or to yourself, for that matter) consider trying Bagel-fuls. Bagel-fuls are one of the latest products from Kraft. A box of 4 sells for around $2, and they come in the following flavors: Original, Strawberry, Cinnamon, Chive, and Whole Grain.

I’ve personally tried the Original flavor, and I liked them very much. You can eat them straight out of the fridge, or you can warm them in the microwave for about 10 seconds. Either way, it is great for a quick snack. I totally recommend this product to anyone who’s looking to save time in the morning or anyone who rushes off to work or other appointments and is tired of eating the same old quick breakfasts.

Over the years I’ve eaten a lot Nutri-grain bars, cereal bars, and other quick/instant breakfasts both at school, at the office, and at home, and I think Bagel-fuls are really good for a change. It is true that for just a little more money you can buy a bag of 6 or 8 bagels and a container of cream cheese and just make it yourself, but for a quick, convenient, mess-free, on-the-go snack, Bagel-fuls work just fine for me.

For more WFMW, visit Rocks in My Dryer.

-Jerri

Filed Under: appetizers and snacks, breads and sides, casseroles and quick meals, product review, Simple Solutions

Works for Me Wednesday: Ultimate Fudge Truffles, An Easy Treat for The Holidays

November 12, 2008 14 Comments

The Thanksgiving/Christmas season will soon be upon us, which means millions of people will be flocking to the massive store displays of baking ingredients and returning home to their kitchens to create an array of cakes, cookies, and confections. Yum!

I love this time of year, and I love baking. But I sometimes dread making Christmas candy. I, of course, love the end result and enjoy eating the fruits of my labor. But I think my candy making process sometimes looks a lot like Lucy and Ethel in the chocolate factory.

That’s why I love recipes like the one I posted last week for my recipe of the week. The unbaked caramel cookies were quick and easy to make, and the process didn’t totally destroy my clean kitchen. Here’s another easy treat that you can make for for this holiday season:

Betty Crocker’s Ultimate Fudge Truffles are a great treat that you can make in minutes. These are perfect to carry to a Thanksgiving or Christmas party or to stuff in your Christmas candy gift baskets. You only need a couple of ingredients to go along with the kit, and the process is simple.

Simply mix the ingredients, heat in the microwave, spread out the batter, and let it set for a few minutes. Then cut the batter and form into balls. You can then roll them in the topping of choice. The kit comes with cocoa to roll the truffles in, but I chose, instead, to leave some plain while dipping others in powdered sugar or sprinkles. You could also use chopped nuts or give them a drizzle of caramel or fudge. The kit even comes with little wrapper/cups to put the truffles in.

This and other dessert kits are great if you don’t have time to look up a bunch of recipes and shop for a bunch of ingredients, or if you’re just not a skilled baker. It can also save you a lot of money because you’re not having to puchase an entire cart full of ingredients.


I totally recommend this kit to all you chocolate lovers out there and to anyone who, like me, loves to eat candy and treats and is looking for something easy & quick to make.

Post Update: I should mention that these truffles remind me more of fudge brownies than of the little truffles you get in the store with the chocolate shell. If you want a chocolate shell on them, I guess it would be easy enough to melt a couple of squares of bakers chocolate and dip them. But again, I love them as is, and my husband liked them too. (And he’s not even a choc-o-holic!)

For other great ideas, visit Rocks in My Dryer.

-Jerri



Filed Under: Christmas, cookies and candy, fall, product review, Simple Solutions, Thanksgiving

Works for Me Wednesday: Bundinos, A New Snack to Try

April 30, 2008 5 Comments

Hello everyone. For the first time, I’m doing a Works for Wednesday post. It is a blog carnival on Rocks in my Dryer. Since I already have MPM, Recipe of the Week, and other posts to do every week, for right now I won’t be participating in WFMW every week, but I’ll try to participate as much as I can.

For this post, I wanted to introduce a new product to you. It is called Bundinos, and it is found in the frozen section. After a little research I found that these are made from the same company that makes Michelina’s frozen dinners, which has a great line of frozen pastas.

Bundinos are sort of a cross between mini pizza rolls and hot pockets. They are essentially meat, cheese, and other fillings inside of grilled, oven-baked bread. They are a little over in an inch wide in diameter, and they are a great for a quick, tasty, mess-free snack. They are also reasonably priced at a little over $2 for a box of 9.

There were a few flavors available (and sorry I can’t remember them all). But I purchased the Chicken, Swiss, and Ham flavor, and I was highly impressed. The cheese was very creamy, and all the ingredients had a great taste. And unlike a lot of these kind of snacks, none of the filling leaked out during the cooking process, nor did it ooze out after being bitten into. So you don’t have to worry about a mess, and you can cook them up in 2 minutes or less.

Usually I’m a little picky about microwaved foods, but these were a great value, and I’ll definitely buy again! They were very flavorful and different, and I think they’re great for a quick snack or meal. And I think the kids would like them too. Overall, I give them 5 stars out of 5.

Filed Under: appetizers and snacks, product review, Simple Solutions

Safety Concerns & The Magic Eraser

February 26, 2008 2 Comments

A reader left an interesting comment about the Magic Eraser product view that I posted. The comment stated that the Magic Eraser contains formaldehyde; this concerned me, and so I decided to check it out. I responded to the post in the comments section, citing statements made from the Mr. Clean website, but for some reason whenever I try to post the link on the comments page I cannot get the entire link to come up, so I decided to post it again Here.

Here is some of the information from the site:

“A recent television broadcast may have raised concerns about an ingredient in Magic Eraser. Be assured Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is completely safe when used according to directions, and poses no health risks or safety concerns. Here are some facts about the ingredients used in Magic Eraser:

The ingredients in Magic Eraser have been safely and commonly used for many years in a wide range of household products.

Formaldehyde is not and has never been an ingredient in Magic Eraser. One ingredient in Magic Eraser (formaldehyde-melamine-sodium bisulfite copolymer) contains the word “formaldehyde” in its chemical name. However, this ingredient is not formaldehyde and poses no health or safety risks. (Think of this name like “sodium chloride”, which is table salt. Sodium by itself can be dangerous, but sodium chloride – salt – is safe.).

Magic Eraser is considered non-toxic. As with any sponge-like product, when swallowed this product may block the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, we do advise to keep this product out of the reach of children and pets to avoid accidental ingestion – it is not a toy.

It is possible that formaldehyde may be present in minute, trace amounts as a result of the manufacturing process. Even then, the amount present is significantly lower than standards established by governmental agencies and trade associations, and is actually less than what is found in indoor air.

In fact, no ingredients in Magic Eraser are subject to any health-related labeling laws in North America or in the European Union.”

Of course, you can do the research and decide for yourself whether you want to use the product. For other information on safety, see the following:
http://www.homemadesimple.com/sites/en_CA/mrclean/ME_Truth/index.shtml

Filed Under: cleaning, product review, safety tips
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