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Frugal Novice

Share What’s Good with Welch’s Photo Contest!

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Note: I received compensation for participating in this campaign through MomCentral Consulting.

As a busy mom to three kids who also works full-time outside of the home, finding quality family moments is very important to me! We try to make sure and have real conversations with the kids at the dinner table, so we can hear what really went on during their day. Everyone (mom & dad too!) has to share their best and worst moments of the day, and that usually opens up the floor for more conversation from the kids.

Another way our family has quality time is with stories before bed. This is a favorite photo of mine from one of those story times:

StoryTime

 

Welch’s believes in the magic of “kitchen table” moments, and has been helping families enjoy them for generations. In the time it takes to drink a glass of juice or share a sandwich, a special moment can happen. That’s why Welch’s just launched a new movement called “Share what’s good™” It’s all about sharing those special moments that occur each day with family, friends and loved ones – whether it’s at home or on the go. At Sharewhatsgood.com you’ll find a variety of great content from fun family ideas to delicious recipes. You can share photos of your every-day moments and see how others are doing the same.

As part of the Share what’s good campaign, Welch’s has launched the “Share Your Moments” photo contest! From 9/16 to 10/25 upload a photo of your favorite family moment for a chance to win $5,000! While there is only one grand prize, everyone who enters will get a $1.50 coupon for Welch’s 100% Grape Juice – or $2.00 if you share the news. VisitSharewhatsgood.com to enter. Post your photos to Twitter & Instagram, too, and use the hashtag #sharewhatsgood with your image.

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Be sure and keep up with Welch’s on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram too!

Quick & Delicious Chicken Parmesan

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I am a member of the Collective Bias Social Fabric Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client.

With a family of five, we are always busy. Brian and I both work full time, too, and when we’re home in the evening with the kids we want to spend quality time with them and not be in the kitchen all night. Now that our oldest has started kindergarten and bedtime is even more important, we want to find meals that are fast to prepare but still delicious and nutritious.

When we get home in the afternoon we unload all of our things and let the kids have some downtime to play a little. This is our time to get dinner ready, and I have a perfect easy recipe to share that is great for busy weeknights.

I love this recipe because it’s SO easy to have the ingredients on hand. I like to go to Sam’s Club and stock up on things to keep in our pantry and freezer.

SamsIngredients

Here are the ingredients you need – just THREE:

And here are the directions, busy-family style:

  1. Walk in the front door. Preheat the oven and set water to boil on the stove. Pour a can of tomato sauce into another small saucepan and set that burner to low.
  2. Unpack backpacks, check folders, change into comfy clothes, let the dogs out back, or any other things you need to get done.
  3. Put the chicken on a baking sheet and stick it in the oven; put spaghetti in the boiling water. Add spices as you’d like to the tomato sauce (we use Italian Seasoning blend, garlic powder and crushed basil).
  4. Use the next ten minutes to chat with the kids and ask them how their days went.
  5. Remove the chicken from the oven and drain the pasta. Plate the dish with spaghetti, then sliced pieces of chicken, and then the seasoned tomato sauce.
  6. I keep mozzarella cheese sticks in the fridge for the kids to snack on, so I pulled some strings of cheese off and scattered them over the top of the chicken.

Delish!

SamsChickenParmesan

 

Diamond Candles Provide Quality & Element of Surprise

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Note: I received a Diamond Candle to facilitate my review. All opinions are honest and are my own.

I love candles. I love the ambiance they provide, the way the scent wafts through the house, and how you can almost set the mood for the house by which aroma you select. So, of course, when I was offered the opportunity to review a Diamond Candle, I said sure!

Candle_Box

I was impressed off the bat with the packaging. It’s simple and clean, and the box is an ingenious way to keep the candle safe and still easily accessible – just fold out the corners and the candle slips right out!

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I thought the design of the candle itself was really well done, too. It’s simple and modern looking, and doesn’t take away from the look of the candle when you have it out on the counter.

Candle_Back

 

This is no ordinary candle, though… the back of the candle explains how each one contains a ring! If you look on the left side of the candle you can see a circle not far from my thumb. That is where a small gold foil pouch was positioned, and within the pouch was a ring waiting to be discovered.

The rings are what really set Diamond Candles apart from others out there, but I can honestly say that the candles alone are worth the purchase. They’re a good quality (all-natural soy candles), the scent is really nice and they don’t burn too quickly. Which I guess can be a problem if you’re impatient and want your ring out NOW, but I like knowing that my investment in a candle will last me a while.

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The boys thought it was really cool that there was a ring hidden in the candle. Not that they’re interested in jewelry, but they thought of it like a treasure hunt and couldn’t wait to see what ring I got. I have to say I was a little curious myself, because there are some rings that are worth up to $5,000!

Eventually the candle burned down enough that we were able to get out the ring, and here’s what I ended up with:

Candle_Ring

Being 100% honest, this ring isn’t my style and isn’t anything I’d ever wear, but that’s not even a problem because there are Facebook pages where women go to exchange their rings. These candles are a phenomenon, and I didn’t realize just how popular they were until doing a little research for this post! I can understand why, though. Like I mentioned, the candles are good candles – but you get the added benefit of a fun surprise waiting for you… and who couldn’t use a little surprise now and then?

Diamond Candles retail for $24.95 each, which is comparable to other high-quality candles I’ve seen on the market. And to me it’s worth it to invest in a good candle; my friend had issues with her air conditioner filter getting dirty EXTREMELY fast, and found out it was from cheap candles she had tried burning in her house. The way candles affect your quality of air is something worth considering. Not to mention that the scents from Diamond Candles are really good! I know I’ll be purchasing a Cinnamon Roll candle for the holidays!

 

 

 

Britax Booster – Parkway SGL 2013 • Continuing Car Safety for Kids!

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Note: We received the Britax Parkway SGL 2013 to facilitate our review. All opinions in this post are honest and are entirely our own. We are huge Britax fans and have purchased two Britax seats for our kids prior to this review.

Britax_Booster_SeatI have always been very aware of car seat safety for my kids, and J has still been in his five-point harness Britax Marathon seat up until very recently (can I just say that I love that the Britax seats have such a high weight limit? We’ve definitely gotten our money’s worth with the seats). He started kindergarten this week, which I’m still slightly in denial about, and he asked us multiple times about switching to a “big kid” seat. We knew we wanted to get him a booster, but to be honest the switch from a five-point harness made me a little nervous. So, after a lot of research we learned what we already knew – the Britax Parkway SGL 2013 has the features we want that make the booster incredibly safe and functional.

First off, if you’ve looked into booster seats at all you know there are two kinds – those with backs, and those without. We wanted one with a back, which the Parkway has… BUT you can also remove the back and use it as a backless booster. I love this, because that means this can be the seat he’s in until he’s big enough to not need a booster anymore. It’s just another way that Britax shows their value, in my opinion. I’ll talk about the features in a minute, which are what really impress us… but the sheer length of time you’re able to use Britax seats is enough on its own to make these worthwhile.

Now let’s talk about features. This is no ordinary booster – it’s SO well designed for safety and for easy use.

• ISOFLEX Flexible Lower LATCH Connection System secures the booster seat to the vehicle in seconds from either side of the booster seat with two clicks and a pull. ISOFLEX prevents the booster seat from becoming a projectile when not in use, and stabilizes it during a crash. This was SO easy to do. Brian placed the seat in the car, as you can see above, and then he used the two LATCH straps to connect to our anchors in the car:

Britax_LATCH  And then – without having to climb into the seat and awkwardly shove his knee into it – he just easily pulled the strap on each side, heard the clicks, and voila! the seat was securely anchored.
• Base with SafeCell Technology designed to keep your child safe and secure in a crash by compressing and significantly lowering the center of gravity, reducing the forward movement of the car seat.
• SecureGuard works with the vehicle safety belt to prevent the child from sliding under the lap-belt portion of the safety belt (submarining) during impact, thus minimizing the risk of abdominal injury. We love this feature, too – the shoulder guide keeps the top strap where it needs to be, but there’s also the SecureGuard “hook” – for lack of a better term – that slips over the lap-belt and keeps it in place over your child’s legs rather than on  their abdomen, (the soft abdomen is not safe placement in the instance of a crash, so this is really an awesome feature). Of course, since the SecureGuard is between your child’s legs, it also serves to help keep them from slipping down underneath the lap belt.

Britax_ShoulderStrap_Guide

Shoulder Strap Guide

Britax_Strap_Guide

SecureGuard

Some other great Parkway SGL 2013 features include:J_Britax_Booster

  • 120-pound Weight Capacity for safety and comfort as your child grows
  • Quick- Adjust Head Restraint easily adjusts the head restraint from the front of the seat for a more comfortable fit and enhanced safety (this is SO easy to move up and down as needed, just by squeezing a handle on the back of the head restraint)
  • High Density Comfort Foam (under removable cover) provides an extra layer of padding to cushion your child
  • Easy-Remove Cover allows easy cleaning (no more wrangling it off in the inevitable instance of a spill!)
  • Color-Coded Vehicle Belt Guides provide clear indication of the positioning of the vehicle lap and shoulder belt
  • True Side Impact Protection distributes crash forces, shields from vehicle intrusion, contains the head and body, and keeps the head, neck and spine “in true” or aligned, to limit injury
  • Armrests provide a natural and comfortable place to rest arms
  • Retractable Cup Holders are designed to hold children’s cups and snacks (J’s FAVORITE feature of the seat… he also likes to hide toys in the cup holders and then stick them back into the booster)
  • Removable Back allows the booster seat to easily convert to a backless booster while maintaining safety of SecureGuard
  • MSRP (USD) $159.99 – You can buy it on Amazon for $119.99, though!

We weren’t surprised at all to find that we loved this booster. It gives me the peace of mind, and J the sense of independence – a perfect balance. We will always be a Britax family when it comes to car seats for our kiddos.

Dressing Smart for Family Days Out

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On an everyday basis, you probably dress your kids in clothes from discount retailers, second-hand shops, and wardrobe pieces that their older brothers, sisters, and cousins have already outgrown. There is definitely no harm in wanting to find ways to save on the cost of kids’ clothing; after all, they grow too quickly to make a serious investment in their daily wardrobe!AlexAndAlexaDress

But every now and again, it’s okay to splurge on smart clothing for your kids. Whether you’re headed to a friend’s wedding this summer or a holiday party later this year, dressing your kids in designer clothing can actually make them look and feel more mature and stylish. The reason? They’ll notice a difference between the type of clothes they usually wear—trainers, jeans, and jumpers—and the type of clothes they’re wearing for your day out with the family—dress shirts, vests, trousers, dresses, leggings, jackets, smart shoes, etc. Plus, they’ll enjoy the attention they get from adult admirers who see them in stunning Mayoral clothes on your days out with the family. This praise from adults will go a long way in helping them distinguish special occasion clothes from everyday clothes as well.

Another reason to get on-board with the “couture for kids” trend is that designer clothing is made from higher quality fabrics than your average children’s garments. These higher grade fabrics tend to be both more durable and more comfortable for your kids. That means that while you will spend more money for these pieces up-front, you won’t have to replace them as often as you would replace clothing and accessories from discount retailers. You can rest easy in the knowledge that the new designer jackets you bought your children will keep them warm through the fall and winter months and that those designer boots will keep their feet dry (and clean!) when they’re splashing through puddles on their walk to the bus stop or their afternoon recess on the playground.

Even for kids, clothing can make a very important statement about their personalities. Teaching your kids early about fashion can help them form a stronger sense of identity throughout their childhood years—and train them to have a more aesthetic eye, to boot! Of course, it is important to teach your kids that designer clothing requires special care. Remind your kids that they need to be especially aware of dirt and messes when they’re clad in smart clothing so that those brand name vests and dresses aren’t instantly ruined by the spills and stains of childhood. When designer clothes are treated as special wardrobe pieces, they can go a long way in making your kids feel stylish while teaching them a little responsibility in the process.

Shelf Safe Milk is a Must-Have for your Pantry

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Note: This post is brought to you by Milk Unleashed and the Motherhood. I was compensated for my time, but all opinions are honest and are my own. 

MilkUnleashed_CartonsYes, that’s right, I said pantry. I have to admit, until recently I had NO CLUE that shelf safe milk existed. I knew there were things like condensed milk, or powdered milk, but I didn’t know you could get regular, normal-tasting milk that can be stored unrefrigerated for months. 

You’ve probably seen shelf-safe milk before, either on your grocery store shelves or even refrigerated in restaurants and coffee shops.  I know I had seen it, but when I saw it in stores I assumed it must be different from regular milk – and when we had the milk refrigerated at a favorite restaurant, I assumed it was “regular” refrigerated milk. Now I know that it IS regular milk, but it’s pasteurized and packaged in a way that makes it extremely functional (and safe!) without refrigeration required.

Shelf safe milk is Grade A fluid milk that requires no refrigeration until the package is open, and it has NO preservatives! It has the exact same nutritional profile as the refrigerated milk you’re used to! The taste of this milk is very similar to “traditional” milk. My kids have had it (cold) and neither of them noticed a difference at all.

If you’re like me, you’ve probably got questions as to HOW this milk can be kept unrefrigerated… so here’s a look at the process!

Shelf safe milk is pasteurized at an Ultra High Temperature for a shorter time to preserve taste and nutrition – you can see below how the process works compared to the process for traditional pasteurized milk:

MilkUnleashed_Process

MilkUnleashed_PackagingOnce the shelf safe milk is heated, it is immediately put into a sterile, opaque Tetra Pak shelf-safe carton that keeps out light, air, and harmful contaminants.  Packaging is 70% paper; there’s a layer of aluminum foil to keep out oxygen and prevent spoiling, and there’s a thin layer of BPA-free plastic in the packaging as well. Because of the process and packaging, shelf safe milk lasts up to six months without refrigeration or preservatives! Once you open it, the life of the milk is about the same as “traditional” milk.

As a mom of three kids who feels like we’re always on the go, I can think of a ton of uses for shelf safe milk. It’d be really easy to toss in the diaper bag or to bring along on road trips (did I mention the individual cartons typically come with built-in straws just like juice boxes? SO easy). And just think about staying in hotel rooms – no more worrying about having a fridge in your room to keep the milk cold! I love knowing that I can give my kids a nutritious drink on-the-go, whether it’s just out around town or on longer trips. You can even freeze the milk and stick it in your child’s lunch, and it will be thawed in time to enjoy some nice cold milk for lunchtime. Another benefit to shelf safe milk is that I can keep some on hand in our pantry and never have to be out of milk (like we were this very morning, for instance)! It’d be great to have for recipes, too – or if you live in areas affected by hurricanes, it’d be a perfect addition to your emergency kit.

You can buy shelf safe milk in many grocery stores, and you can even order it online at Amazon.com!

Be sure and check out the Milk Unleashed site for tips, news, downloadable games, snack ideas and cow calendars. “Like” Milk Unleashed on Facebook for all sorts of news & info, including a contest that’s starting up soon! And don’t forget to follow them on Twitter  for news and Pinterest for recipes, projects, family activities and more!

Cucumber “Cupcakes” with Homemade Hummus “Frosting” Recipe

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CucumberCupcakesMy good friend Chemese’s birthday was last week, and she requested a little something different from your typical chocolate cake. She asked for me to make a savory snack that would fit with her Vegan lifestyle – cucumber “cupcakes” with hummus “frosting.”

For the cupcake part, I just peeled organic cucumbers and cut the ends off, then cut each cucumber into four even pieces. If I do this again, I’ll hollow out part of the cucumber with a spoon to allow more room for hummus. This worked well enough, though, and was super easy to do. When we ate these, we just cut them up into pieces.

For the hummus, I made it from scratch. It takes some time and prep, but is a fairly easy process overall. Chemese had chickpeas on hand, and she soaked them, then gave them to me. After the soaking, it’s important to boil the chickpeas until they’re tender, which took about an hour. I boiled them the night before, then stuck them in the fridge so they were cold and ready to use the next day. Of course, you could also use canned chickpeas if you don’t have the time to do the soaking and boiling.

Here are the ingredients for the hummus:

  • 4 cups chickpeas, cooked or canned, drained
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • salt
  • tahini
  • lemon juice
  • olive oil

CucumberGraphicYou’ll notice I didn’t list amounts for the salt, tahini, olive oil, and lemon juice – that’s because I think it’s crucial that you add these a bit at a time until you get the taste and consistency you’re looking for. I believe I ended up using 4 tablespoons of tahini, the juice of 1/2 a lemon, and 2 teaspoons of salt. Here’s the process, which is pretty simple:

  1. In a food processor, put in your chickpeas and pulse to get them started blending. Add a little bit of water if you need to loosen things up a bit. Then add your garlic, and blend, adding olive oil in until you get the mixture at your desired consistency. As you can see in the photo, mine was about the consistency of buttercream frosting. 
  2. Next add in your tahini, one tablespoon at a time. It’s important to do this before adding your salt, because tahini has some saltiness to it. Blend between tablespoons, and taste after each one! Next, add your salt, again a little at a time.
  3. Last of all, add the lemon juice. You’ll be amazed at the brightness this adds to the flavor profile, but you want to make sure and not end up with something that’s just plain sour, so again – add a little at a time.
  4. Voila! You’ve got homemade hummus, which is lighter and airier than anything store-bought I’ve tried.

To finish my cupcakes, I just put the hummus in a parchment bag with an icing tip, and then topped the hummus with finely chopped carrots. I love the way they turned out! Our 4-year-old liked them so much that he asked me to make him for his next birthday. :)

Most importantly, though, Chemese liked her birthday treat, and we had a great time celebrating with her!

Chemese_CucumberCupcakes

Back-To-School Style is Easy with Kohl’s!

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Note: I received a Kohl’s gift card to facilitate our review. All opinions are honest and are my own. 

With the latest must-have looks and home essentials available at an incredible value, Kohl’s makes it easy and affordable to update back-to-school wardrobes, organize dorm rooms and outfit first apartments. Of course, in our house we’re prepping for our first true “back-to-school” experience, with our oldest son starting kindergarten. Kohl’s was the perfect spot for us to pick up new clothes to start off the school year in style! At his age, the graphic tees are the biggest hit – and we found a ton that he really liked:

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Every single shirt was on sale, which allowed us to get a lot for our money. I also got him a pair of grey shorts and two pairs of jeans (BOGO free!) so we walked out with a huge selection of clothes that he’ll be glad to have for school (he IS going to wear his Ninja Turtles shirt a little earlier for his birthday party, though!). We did get one other thing, the perfect accessory for kindergarten:

Kohls6

A Batman watch! He is looking forward to wearing it and we’re saving it for the big day.

Of course, you can shop for all ages at Kohl’s – beyond clothing for kids, teens, and young adults you can also find dorm necessities and accessories! I love when you can shop for the whole family in just one store. It makes things SO much more efficient! Of course, at Kohl’s you save money, too.  Kohl’s offers shoppers a variety of ways to get values on the brands they love. Kohl’s Cash (we earned $20 in Kohl’s cash on our trip), coupons and Kohl’s Charge card discounts can be used in conjunction with sales events to maximize savings. Keep up with Kohl’s on Facebook, too, for all sorts of style tips and latest store happenings.

 

Organize With Style – Stackable Storage from Bankers Box

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Note: I received boxes to try out in order to facilitate my review. I was not compensated monetarily for this post. All opinions are honest and are my own.

It’s been about a month since we moved into our new house, and we’re still settling. Moving with three kids 5 & under is a lot more time-intensive and exhausting than moving with one 6-month-old, like we did at our last move. Little by little, though, we’re making the house feel like home. We have much more space, which has been wonderful – and we’re figuring out ways to be organized and start off on a good foot.

One thing that we’ve used and love are the new stackable storage boxes from Bankers Box. We first became familiar with the brand for their file boxes, which were great for moving important files and keeping them safe. But now they’ve expanded their line of storage to include beautiful, functional storage for other areas of the home. These boxes are a smartly-designed system that really maximizes your storage space for the home.  They’re also made from 60 percent recycled content, so they’re environmentally friendly!

We received under-bed and medium storage boxes to try out, and I immediately put the under-bed boxes to use in the boys’ room. They’re perfect for storing extra blankets under the boys’ bunk bed!

BankersBox_BlanketInside

The handles are reinforced and the boxes are very sturdy.

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And as you can see, the pattern on the box is great. It’s a little more feminine, but the boys didn’t mind it because it’s black and white. These boxes are attractive, which make them a great option to use in any room of the house.

The windows in the box make it SO easy to tell what is inside:

BankersBox_Windows

 

And they fit neatly under my kids’ beds:

BankersBox_UnderBed

I really love these boxes, and I’m planning to use the medium-sized boxes for storage in our bedroom and closet. If you’re looking for storage that is functional AND stylish, be sure and check out the Bankers Boxes for home organization. There are a variety of sizes available on Amazon.com.

 

 

Sponsored: Headfirst! Expert Advice on Lice – A New Head Lice Website Resource for Parents

The below content is sponsored by Sanofi Pasteur’s Headfirst! Expert Advice on Lice campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

 When sending the kids off to camp this summer, it’s important to think about a common and hard-to-treat problem: head lice. Luckily, expert information parents need for dealing with and treating head lice is in one place at ExpertAdviceOnLice.com.

Get educated by the Headfirst! Experts and have the information to battle head lice with confidence!

Dreyer’s Gives You More Than One #ReasonToSmile

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Note: This post is brought to you by Dreyer’s and the Motherhood. I was provided with product coupons and compensated for my time, but all opinions are honest and are my own. 
DRY-IceCream_Month-1

It’s July. And I’m in Texas, which means that I’m in the midst of triple-digit temps and scorching summer days. What is the perfect treat to combat the heat? Ice cream, of course! It’s an even better choice right now since July is National Ice Cream Month.

Even better – Dreyer’s has released four Limited Edition flavors, which are a great way to celebrate this momentous occasion! I got a chance to try the new Dreyer’s flavors, and decided to have an ice cream party up at work to share the fun with my coworkers. We lined up the tubs along the counter in our office kitchen, and everyone had fun trying all the different flavors. Let’s take a look at what we got to try:

Dreyers_FourFlavors

Dreyers_TakeTheCake_Front  Dreyers_TakeTheCake

Take the Cake: Yellow cake-flavored light ice cream with a frosting swirl and multi-colored sprinkles. It’s the classic combination of cake and ice cream in one convenient carton. Available in Slow Churned Light Ice Cream.

Dreyers_GermanChocolateFront  Dreyers_GermanChocolate

{NEW} German Chocolate Cake Spectacular!: If you froze a German Chocolate Cake and then exploded it into a carton of chocolate ice cream, you’d end up with this amazing limited edition flavor. Chocolate ice cream with a caramel coconut swirl and brownie pieces. Available in Grand Ice Cream and Slow Churned Light Ice Cream.

Dreyers_SaltedCaramel_Front  Dreyers_SaltedCaramel

{NEW} Sunny Salted Caramel Pretzel: Salty, sweet, and oh so scrumptious. Vanilla ice cream with a salted caramel swirl and pretzel pieces. It’s probably the greatest flavor combination in the history of the world. Available in Grand Ice Cream and Slow Churned Light Ice Cream.

Dreyers_ThreeStripes_Front  Dreyers_ThreeStripes

3 Stripes You’re Out: America’s Favorite Pastime has a new favorite flavor! Vanilla ice cream with mixed blueberry and strawberry swirls. This Limited Edition flavor will leave your home crowd on its feet cheering! Available in Grand Ice Cream.

Ladies_Dreyers

As you can imagine, we were all ready to dive in and start sampling. The flavor I was most drawn to was the Sunny Salted Caramel Pretzel – and it was SOOO good. I love that the Slow Churned Light ice cream has all the taste and 1/2 the fat (with 1/2 the fat and 1/3 fewer calories than regular ice cream). The caramel swirls and the saltiness perfectly balanced the sweet creaminess of the vanilla ice cream. It was definitely my favorite flavor! They were all great, though, and everyone was amazed that the slow churned light ice cream was so deliciously rich.  Here are some of my coworkers with their treats:

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It worked out well, because one of my coworkers was celebrating his birthday the next day, so he took home his favorite flavor (“Take the Cake”) to share with his family. It was a lot of fun sharing these delicious flavors with everyone, and people enjoyed sampling each one.

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Beyond amazing ice cream, Dreyer’s has given us another reason to smile, with their #ReasonToSmile campaign partnering with Operation Smile. If you’re not familiar with it, Operation smile is an international children’s medical charity that makes it possible to provide reconstructive surgeries for children around the globe suffering from cleft lip, cleft palate and other facial deformities. Thanks to this great campaign Dreyer’s & Operation Smile will help make it possible for 500 of these surgeries to take place!

Dreyer’s has been posting content on its Facebook page since mid-May encouraging fans to help the brand donate to Operation Smile. They’ll donate up to $125,000 this year and the campaign will run through September 30, 2013. For more information on “A Reason to Smile”, or on the amazing Dreyer’s ice cream flavors, please visit their Facebook page.

Are you ready to smile? Join the conversation on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #ReasonToSmile.

Win_it

I can help you with yet another reason to smile – I get to giveaway two coupons for FREE Dreyer’s Ice Cream to one lucky reader! Just comment below with which of the four flavors you’re most excited to try, and you’ll be entered to win! This contest is open to all U.S. residents aged 18+. Entries will be accepted until the end of the day (midnight Central) Tuesday, July 30. By entering this giveaway you agree to the Official Rules.