review

Note: I attended this show in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Reviews & Giveaways Tagged With: Feld, review

Make a Weeknight Dinner Special with @Bertolli #BertolliMealSoup

January 29, 2012 By Paula 4 Comments

weeknight special dinner, bertolli meal soup I took the challenge to make a weeknight dinner special with Bertolli dinner soups. I had one hour to make a special meal for my husband and I using Bertolli dinner soups. I was able to use any decorations I wanted with it. I didn’t have a lot of time to get together everything I wanted before I made the meal because I thought I had another week before the challenge was over. I went to the store and picked up Bertolli Chicken Minestrone soup. It’s actually my second favorite Bertolli soup. My favorite is actually Tomato Florentine & Tortellini with Chicken, but Walmart was out of it when I went shopping. See, my husband and I were actually invited to a Bertolli frozen meal soup tasting a few months ago and both really liked the soups. We were able to try each one of their soups paired with a different wine and bread. My least favorite of the soups is the Tuscan-Style Beef with Vegetables. I don’t like mushrooms and they were too overpowering to me in that soup.

I love how easy it is to make a Bertolli meal soup. All it takes is 1 cup of water and about 10 minutes! The vegetables come out the perfect doneness. They are not that mush you get in canned soups. They are crispy and just really good! The soups are all full of so many flavors. I’m a big fan of these soups. Not a huge fan of the sodium content, but as long as it’s not a daily meal, I think you’ll be fine having them.

weeknight, review, bertolli frozen meal soup So what did I do to make my meal special? My husband helped get the kids their meals together and got them set up in the basement with a movie while I threw together our meal. I set the table for two with place mats, cloth napkins, candles, and we each got a glass of Flip Flop Wines Riesling. Along with our Bertolli Chicken Minestrone Meal
Soup I served a few slices of French bread and an organic special leaf salad that had dried cranberries, candied pecans and raspberry vinaigrette dressing. It was really nice to just sit down with my husband and have a nice dinner in our own home without having to get a babysitter or pay an arm and a leg! Our soup cost $6.48 and the French Bread cost $1.60 which I can still cut up and use for two more recipes!

Here’s a little more about Bertolli Meal Soups:

• Bertolli Frozen Meal Soups are hearty and fresh-tasting with vegetables, meats, pasta and herbs individually flash frozen at the peak of freshness.
• Bertolli Frozen Meal Soups are available in the frozen aisle, and can be prepared on your stovetop in minutes.
• With robust flavors and rich textures, new Bertolli Frozen Meal Soups are available in four varieties: Chicken Minestrone, Roasted Chicken & Rotini Pasta, Tomato Florentine & Tortellini with Chicken, and Tuscan-Style Beef with Vegetables.
• Bertolli Premium Meal Soups for Two are available in 24 oz. packages, and with the addition of one cup of water, yield 32 oz. of mouthwatering soup. The new line of hearty, fresh-tasting meal soups are available in the frozen aisle of grocery retailers nationwide, including Walmart and Target, in four varieties reminiscent of flavors created by Italian Chefs:

Chicken Minestrone – Roasted white meat chicken, beans, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, tomatoes and pasta in a hearty vegetable broth
Roasted Chicken & Rotini Pasta – Roasted white meat chicken, pasta, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots and celery in a savory chicken broth
Tomato Florentine & Tortellini with Chicken – Cheese-filled tortellini, white meat chicken, spinach and tomatoes in a rich tomato bisque with a hint of basil
Tuscan-Style Beef with Vegetables – Tender beef, mushrooms, yellow squash, zucchini, carrots and celery with bowtie pasta in a savory broth

Like I said, I really would recommend the Bertolli meal soups to anyone. I’m surprised that they don’t have a vegetarian option, though. My husband’s thoughts are: “It’s like a restaurant quality soup made at home, but it’s quick and easy. A great way to impress guests.” Check out Bertolli meal soups in the freezer section of your favorite store and don’t forget to connect with them with the links below.

Connect with Bertolli:

Note: I was compensated by Bertolli to participate in the Weeknight Meal Special Challenge in exchange for my honest opinions. All opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Reviews & Giveaways Tagged With: review, soup

Kenmore Progressive Glide Upright Vacuum #Review #KBS2012

January 29, 2012 By Paula 3 Comments

As some of you may know, I was given the chance to go to the Kenmore Blogger Summit last weekend. (Which I still need to write about.) As a thank you for taking my time to go to the summit, they gave me a vacuum to review.

My vacuum came on Wednesday and I couldn’t wait to open it up! I had no idea what kind of vacuum I’d get, so it was a total surprise when it got here. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get one with all the bells and whistles. I’d really love a vacuum with attachments. This little vacuum is pretty powerful, though!

I received the Kenmore Progressive Glide Upright Vacuum to review. Taking it out of the box, the only thing you need to do is screw the handle on to the vacuum and you’re ready to go. There is a pedal on the bottom of the vacuum that you press with your foot to raise it up or down depending on what type of floor you’re cleaning. You can use this vacuum to go from carpet to hardwood floor. There’s a switch on the handle that you can change with your finger to go from carpet to hardwood. The body of the vacuum actually swivels when you use it, kind of like a Dyson, I believe. (I’ve never used one, just judging from seeing it in commercials.) There’s also a light on it to tell you if the floor is clean. I love the ease of use of this vacuum and seeing the green light come on makes me feel better about my carpets and having my kids play all over them. After using the vacuum, I want to keep it around for my every day use vacuum. My husband still really wants a vacuum with all the attachments. Here’s a little from the Kenmore site about the Kenmore Progressive Glide:

The Kenmore Progressive Glide upright vacuum cleaner combines heavy-duty cleaning and lightweight maneuverability into a single stylish upright.

Ultra lightweight — 12.9 lbs — makes the Glide effortless to use, carry and put away
SWIVEL+ ;STEERING SYSTEM^TM makes it easy to avoid obstacles and furniture
Electronic Dirt Sensor alerts you to the dirt that you can’t see
Foot-activated height adjust sets the vacuum at the perfect height to clean your carpet
Fingertip Control allows you to clean multiple surfaces with the touch of a finger
Optimum Carpet and Bare Floor cleaning is delivered by a 2-motor system.
Vacuum contains recyclable plastic, uses 100% recyclable packaging, and uses 17% less energy than a 12 amp vacuum.

review, vaccuum I was just reading through the reviews on the Kenmore page and one person said “Recommend this for singles, couples, and elderly……if you have children or pets……get something w/ attachments. I LOVE IT !!!” I also noticed that a lot of people said this vacuum may tip over when standing alone. I noticed that as well. It hasn’t actually fallen over on me, yet, but it is a little top heavy and tipsy. One of the things I really like about it is that the head actually fits under my furniture, so as long as all the Legos and Strawberry Shortcake pieces are picked up, I can get all the dust bunnies that hide (and cat and dog hair!)

Overall, I think this is an easy and great vacuum to use. I agree with the person that wrote the review and said it’s great for singles, couples and elderly. It’s not heavy, it’s easy to use and it picks up well. Having kids and pets, though, we need attachments.

Buy It:

The Kenmore Progressive Glide Upright Vacuum retails for $149.99. It’s currently on sale for $99.99 on the Kenmore site. Also, if you use the Shop Your Way Rewards you will earn 1000 points.

Connect with Kenmore:

Note: I received a Kenmore Progressive Glide Upright vacuum to review in exchange for my honest opinions. All opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Reviews & Giveaways Tagged With: review

Weekly Agenda #Review and #Giveaway

January 23, 2012 By Paula 32 Comments

organized, Get Buttoned Up What were your goals this new year? We’re 23 days in now, can you believe it?! One of my goals was to get organized. I have received a new planner called the Weekly.Agenda from Get Buttoned up to review. I absolutely love this planner because it’s a great size. I have had many planners in the past that are just too oversized and bulky which makes it hard to carry them around. This planner fits perfectly into my purse and doesn’t take up so much room that I can’t fit other items.

The planner has a pocket on the inside of each cover that you can slide stamps, receipts, etc into for safe keeping. I love the little notes at the top of each week to help you prioritize your Organization, Me Time, Home and Events. For example, this week it says:

Do something for someone else today, just because. When you share your time with others, it’s amazing how your world expands. Plus, you will brighten their day in the process.

Haha, I was just reading the key features and didn’t even realize the corners were perforated to easily find the week you’re in. I’ve been using the little ribbons to show which week I’m on. There’s also a Notes section and shopping list/errand list in the back. The lists have perforated pages as well so you can easily tear them out. It’s really helped me to keep track of my posts due, reviews and giveaways to get done and pick winners, as well as following up with PR reps and my every day duties such as getting kids to and from activities.

If you’d like to see what the inside pages look like, go ahead and visit Get Buttoned Up and you can enlarge the pages to see them better.

Buy It:

You can buy your own Weekly.Agenda at Get Buttoned Up for $19.95.

Win It:

One of my lucky readers will win a Weekly.Agenda.

Mandatory Entry

What is one organizational tip you can share with me to help organize my family life and house?

Extra Entries

Like Frosted Fingers on Facebook
Follow Frosted Fingers on Twitter
Tweet about this contest once every 24 hrs. Please include @frostedfingers. You can click the tweet button above.

Connect with Get Buttoned Up:

Please leave a separate comment for EACH extra entry indicating that you performed the required entry. Provide links to Tweet, etc. as required for the entry.

Giveaway is open to the USA and ends on February 6, 2012 at 11:59 pm CST. Winner will be selected at random from all eligible entries and will be contacted by email. Winner will have 48 hrs to respond. Please add paula@frostedfingers.com to your trusted email filter. If original winner does not claim their prize within 48 hrs, it is forfeit and a new winner will be selected promptly.

Note: I received a Weekly.Agenda for review in exchange for my honest opinions. All opinions are my own.

No purchase necessary to enter or win. Odds of winning are not increased by a purchase.

Filed Under: Reviews & Giveaways Tagged With: giveaway, review

Baked Mac and Cheese #Recipe

January 19, 2012 By Paula 1 Comment

http://frostedfingers.com/2012/01/baked-mac-and-cheese-recipe/

I got this recipe from the Carb Lovers Diet Cook Book, which I’m reviewing. I haven’t made any more recipes from the book yet. I wasn’t very fond of this recipe, to be honest. It kind of turned out dry and for some reason the red pepper didn’t mix throughout the whole recipe leaving spots a little too hot and others with no heat at all. I thought it was kind of flavorless as well. I thought it was way too much work for the way it turned out. I hope to have better luck with the other recipes in this book. If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear if you have better luck! Here’s the recipe:

Baked Mac and Cheese Recipe

Rating: 11

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes

Yield: 6 servings

Serving Size: 1 cup

Calories per serving: 433

Fat per serving: 12.1 g

Baked Mac and Cheese Recipe

Ingredients

2 1/2 c low-fat milk (1%)
4 T flour
1/8 t ground or freshly grated nutmeg
3 oz reduced-fat cheddar cheese, grated
2 oz smoked Gouda cheese, grated
2 oz reduced-fat Gruyere or Swiss cheese, grated (I used swiss)
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/4 t pepper
6 c cooked elbow macaroni
1 c unseasoned bread crumbs
2 T freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 t chopped thyme
2 t chopped parsley
1 t olive oil or butter
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400.
Whisk together milk and flour in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat, add nutmeg, and cook, stirring until thickened, about 10 minutes.
Add cheddar, Gouda, Gruyere, cayenne, and pepper; whisk until melted, 1 minute. Add macaroni and stir to combine.
Toss bread crumbs, Parmesan, thyme, parsley, oil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
Place six individual crocks, ramekins, or ovenproof bowls on a rimmed baking sheet. Spoon 1 cup macaroni mixture into each ramekin and sprinkle with 1/6 cup bread-crumb topping.
Bake until topping is browned and cheese is bubbling, 30-35 minutes. Serve hot.

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Filed Under: Recipes, Reviews & Giveaways, Side Dish Tagged With: macaroni, recipe, review, side dish

ShedMonster #Review

January 12, 2012 By Paula Leave a Comment

cat fur, shedding, review, deshedder Day 2 of my pet product reviews. Today I’m reviewing the ShedMonster.

ShedMonster is the latest solution in deshedding tools for sensitive pets just in time for shedding season, ShedMonster turns the once dreaded brushing experience into a pleasant massage for dogs and cats.

Pets with sensitive, allergy prone skin can often be sensitive to bristled brushes or any metal-pronged tools. Senior pets also have more delicate skin, and are not able to tolerate harsh grooming tools.

The picture on the top left is the hair taken off when I used the ShedMonster on my cat. I was really surprised he actually let me use it! My cat does NOT like to be petted. He is one of the least friendly cats I’ve ever met. He’s calming down more and becoming a little more friendly, but he is most definitely NOT a lap cat. He actually LOVED me using the ShedMonster on him. He was purring and sitting still the whole time. He barely lost any fur, which is probably a good thing. He’s not a big shedding cat.

ShedMonster, dog, deshedder, tool, brush, cat

I then pulled my poor dog, Sarah, out from under our bed. Sarah is old. She’s an 11 year old Jack Russell Terrier who, unfortunately, is on her way out. She’s completely blind in one eye, can’t hear and has some kind of sore under her other eye. She also was getting sick for two days straight this weekend. My poor husband had a huge mess to clean up. She seems to be doing better, but she’s still hiding a lot. Anyway, I decided to try the ShedMonster on her. You can see from the middle picture that a lot more hair came off of her. She’s never been a fan of having anything done to her fur. She starts to shake when you go to cut her hair or brush her. She sat through it and didn’t flinch. (She was shaking, but she didn’t try to run away or flinch away.) She even seemed to enjoy it at parts, even though she was shaking. She looks slightly more presentable now that I used the ShedMonster on her. I do think it would work better on shorter coat dogs or maybe just a bigger dog. I didn’t feel like I could get to the root of all her fur.

Overall it seems like a productive product. If I remember, I will be trying to use it on both pets once a week to try to keep their coats healthy and shiny.

Buy It:

You can buy your own ShedMonster for $19.99. You will also get a Deluxe 5 pc. grooming kit with your ShedMonster.

Connect with ShedMonster:

Note: I received a ShedMonster of my own to review in exchange for my honest opinions. All opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Reviews & Giveaways Tagged With: pets, review

Sunny Seat #Review

January 11, 2012 By Paula Leave a Comment

review I was given a few pet products to try recently. I haven’t had the opportunity to share my blogging with my pets yet. My first item is the Sunny Seat. (I’ll review the others over the next couple of days.)

The Sunny Seat Cat Bed is the innovative feline perch that attaches to any window in the house, providing hours of entertainment and peaceful sleep for indoor cats. Supported by industrial strength suction cups, it installs easily and takes up no floor space. Sunny Seat holds up to 50 lbs, making it the ideal solution for large cats or multiple cat households.

The company’s lab tested over 100 suction cups to create the strong and stable support for even the most acrobatic cats. Sunny Seat earned 3rd place in the New Products Expo at the 2011 Global Pet Expo.

My cat definitely loves his seat and he’s up there a lot now. I currently have it in my kitchen, but it won’t be it’s forever home, because I don’t want cat hair floating into my food. YUCK!

My thoughts: Putting the frame together was super easy, however getting it into the canvas was kind of a pain in the rear. There’s two little slits on the back of it where the plastic cable comes out so you have to get your hand in there and try to thread them through. Once put together, it’s a cinch to put on your window. I love how fast it goes up. My cat does love the seat. As you can tell from the photo, though, he also likes to eat the cables. I’m not sure how long those plastic cables will hold up to my monster cat’s teeth. I’m already seeing wear on the plastic and I’ve only had the seat up for a week.

Buy It:

You can buy your own Sunny Seat for $19.99. It’s currently a buy one get one free promotion and you’ll also get 2 laser lights with your Sunny Seats.

Connect with Sunny Seat:

Note: I received a Sunny Seat of my own to review in exchange for my honest opinions. All opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Reviews & Giveaways Tagged With: pets, review

True Resolutions with Trop50

January 8, 2012 By Paula

It’s that time of year again where everyone seems to make resolutions for the New Year. Yesterday I told you I’m going to focus on one word, FAITH, to help me get through my goals for the year. Of course I have the normal resolutions, such as lose weight, clean more, blah blah blah. I want to focus on Faith to get me where I need to go. Faith in God, my husband, my children and myself.

Trop50 wants to know what your resolutions are! TropicanaTrop50offers fruit juice goodness with 50 percent less sugar and calories, and no artificial sweeteners. Trop50 True Resolutions celebrates the real reasons behind New Year’s resolutions. Share your secret motivation behind your resolutions and you’ll earn a coupon for $1 off Trop50 for yourself and 50¢ off coupons for up to 50 of your friends. You can even submit incognito with a fierce disguise. Bonus: Whether you submit a resolution or not, you can also enter a sweepstakes to win a $1000 gift card.

My number one Resolution would be: To lose weight! My motivation behind it would be 1) to stay healthy for my family, 2) to fit into my clothes better and 3) to look good!

Trop50 is giving me a chance to give you a $25 Visa gift card!

Win It:

One of my lucky readers will win a $25 Visa Gift Card.

Mandatory Entry

Tell me what your New Year’s Resolution is and your motivation behind it.

Extra Entries

Like Frosted Fingers on Facebook
Follow Frosted Fingers on Twitter
Tweet about this contest once every 24 hrs. Please include @frostedfingers. You can click the tweet button above.

Connect with Trop50:

Please leave a separate comment for EACH extra entry indicating that you performed the required entry. Provide links to Tweet, etc. as required for the entry.

Giveaway is open to the USA and ends on January 22, 2012 at 11:59 pm CST. Winner will be selected at random from all eligible entries and will be contacted by email. Winner will have 48 hrs to respond. Please add paula@frostedfingers.com to your trusted email filter. If original winner does not claim their prize within 48 hrs, it is forfeit and a new winner will be selected promptly.

Note: I received compensation for this post exchange for my honest opinions. All opinions are my own.

No purchase necessary to enter or win. Odds of winning are not increased by a purchase.

Filed Under: Reviews & Giveaways Tagged With: resolution, review

Concannon Crimson & Clover Wine #Review

January 5, 2012 By Paula 2 Comments

review I was recently sent Concannon’s Crimson & Clover Wine to review. I remember when I first tried red wines and couldn’t stand them. They are really starting to become my favorites. My husband, on the other hand, still only likes sweet wines. Our favorite is ice wine. This year I plan to find a wine tasting to go to. I’d love to get a clue as to what I’m supposed to be tasting as I try these wines. Right now it’s just about whether or not I like the taste overall. I’d love to learn to appreciate all the flavors of the wines. Anyway, back to the Concannon Red Table Wine.

Vineyard Notes:

Our Conservancy wines help protect precious California vineyard land from urban development, as all Conservancy winegrowers have placed their land into a legal trust that protects against development forever. The Conservancy wines preserve not only the land but a simpler way of life for future generations.

Winemaker Notes:

The 2009 Crimson & Clover, Conservancy is a velvety blend of signature Livermore varietals. Aromas of currant, clove, and vanilla lead into bright, fruit flavors of blackberry on the palate. The spicy finish is soft and long with hints of leather and tobacco. A tribute to the “Father of America’s First Petite Sirah,” Jim Concannon, from his son John, this wine epitomizes the innovative, steadfast spirit of Jim. Bold and lusciously fruity, the backbone of Petite Sirah gives this blend fantastic depth and structure.

Food Pairing:

Black pepper-crusted Filet Mignon with goat cheese or grilled artichoke with tarragon aioli.

We had the wine with my mother’s-in-law famous angel hair pasta recipe. I really enjoyed the wine. It was very strong and made me feel the effects after half a glass, but I liked it. My husband wasn’t a fan at all. My roommate tried a few sips and said it was ok, but he’s not a wine drinker himself. I also really liked the bottle with the raised gate on it. I think it’s very pretty. If you like red wines, I think you’ll enjoy this wine. You can purchase it for $18 a bottle from the Concannon site.

Connect with Concannon:

Note: I received a bottle of Concannon Crimson & Clover of my own to review in exchange for my honest opinions. All opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Reviews & Giveaways, Thirsty Thursday Tagged With: review, wine

Angry Birds Crochet Hat #Giveaway

January 4, 2012 By Paula

Crochet Hat, Jennifer Rentner, Love to Crochet, Is Angry Birds a big craze in your house? It is in mine. One of the best received Christmas presents for my kids this year was the Angry Birds Knock on Wood game. (Which Santa had a hard time finding!) My friend Jenn from my Church does awesome crochet hats. I reviewed a Hello Kitty hat last year for her. It started getting cold and I knew I needed to get new hats for the kiddos. I saw the Angry Birds hat and knew that Buddy would love it. I had to get Monkey a new Hello Kitty hat since we couldn’t seem to find it and Little Man wanted a “Monster” hat so he got Frankenstein.

Here’s a little snippet of Jenn’s profile from Etsy:

I am currently a stay at home mom with my girls. I learned to crochet when I was a lil girl thanks to my wonderful Aunt Kay. I can’t believe its been 30+ years and Crochet is my favorite hobby. I put my heart and soul into each creation. I have been a long time seller for years on Ebay with 100% positive feedback.

I love Jenn’s work and highly recommend her hats to anyone. Everyone that sees my kids’ hats fall in love with them.
How would you like a chance to win an Angry Birds hat for yourself?

Buy It:

You can buy your own Angry Birds hat or many other types on Jenn’s Etsy shop. Hats start at $12.

Win It:

One of my lucky readers will win an Angry Birds hat for their little one (or yourself).

Mandatory Entry

Visit Jenn’s Etsy shop and tell me which other hat you’d buy.

Extra Entries

Like Love to Crochet on Facebook
Like Frosted Fingers on Facebook
Follow Frosted Fingers on Twitter
Tweet about this contest once every 24 hrs. Please include @frostedfingers. You can click the tweet button below.

Connect with Love to Crochet: