Purina Pro Plan Selects {and a giveaway!}

This is a sponsored review by BlogHer and Purina.

Meet Max. We often refer to him as our first born son. Yes – our dog is a member of our family! My family had dogs growing up, but they were never really family members. But just about 5 years ago, Max joined our family. My husband and I were planning on getting a dog, but we were in the process of remodeling our house, and we were living in my in-laws basement until the house was livable. And then one day, a co-worker of my husband’s came into work with this little guy.

My husband called me and told me to come to his work, where we both immediately fell in love with this little fellow. We ended up buying him from the co-worker – even though he wasn’t originally for sale and even though we were almost homeless at the time! But he stole our hearts and was automatically our first child.

I know that this is a food blog, and you may be wondering why I am writing about my dog here. Well, because we consider him a member of our family, what he eats is very important to us. I wouldn’t give my daughter a bowl of second-rate food, and I won’t do that to my dog, either!! So when I had an opportunity to try out Purina’s Pro Plan Selects, I jumped right in! I know that nutrition is not only important for your children, but also for your children with fur!

Max is a bit of a food snob and a picky eater, so taste is also very important. I poured some of the dog food into his bowl, and Max gobbled it right up! With great ingredients like chicken, turkey, beef and salmon, it’s no wonder he loved it! Do you need some more reasons that this is a prime dog food?

• All Pro Plan Selects formulas are made with real, natural chicken, turkey, beef and salmon as the #1 ingredient.
• They use whole grain barley and brown rice for highly digestible sources of carbohydrates.
• They also include high-quality sources of protein including egg protein and pea protein.
• Every formula is created without corn, wheat or soy and artificial colors, flavors and preservatives.

All you have to do is look at the label to know that this is a great way to show your dog that you love him/her!! Purina Pro Plan Selects is only available at pet specialty stores, but your pet is totally worth that extra trip!

Blogher and Purina are giving one of my readers a $100 Visa card. Think of all the dog food you could buy with $100!!

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

• Leave a comment below and let me know what you do to show your pet that you love them. If you don’t have a pet, just let me know!
• Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
• Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
• For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

Giveaway dates are : 4/4 – 5/4

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

For other chances to win, check out the Round Up page.

Please visit our sponsor HERE.

Want to try out Purina Pro Plan Selects?  Get a coupon HERE!

Make Every Night Amazing {and a giveaway!}

This is a sponsored review from BlogHer and Stouffer's.

CONTEST IS CLOSED - CONGRATS TO MCANTU1019 WHO IS THE WINNER!

Everyone tells you, but I don’t think you really realize how much your life actually does change after you have kids. Adjusting to one child has been a challenge, but throw in a newborn and I know my life is going to be crazy! I remember the early days of our marriage when we would both get home at night and we could spend time together, watching tv and cuddling on the couch. These days, nights are filled with Mickey Mouse and playing games and bedtime routines. But just because you have kids doesn’t mean that you can’t still have “couple’s time!”

These last couple years, I have realized just how important that couple’s time is – you need that time to re-connect. And I feel like it’s especially important for me, since I am a stay at home mom and I’m not interacting with other adults on a daily basis. But sometimes it’s hard – especially since my husband’s schedule has him working late several nights a week. So what do we do to make sure we are still having that adult time? Food, of course!!

After the kids go to bed, it’s a perfect time to have adult time at the table. Reconnecting over food is always a great way to go! Turn down the lights, light some candles, and enjoy dinner time – just the two of you. Since my husband does work later most nights, going out is not always easy, so a simple dinner at home is a great way for us to spend some time together. And I don’t know about you, but sometimes – after a day of chasing after a 2-year old, trying to keep a house clean, and taking care of the duties of the day - sometimes a big fancy dinner is the last thing I want to worry about. In comes Stouffer’s Sautes for Two! I was sent 2 versions to try out at home, and I’m being completely honest here – the Grilled Chicken and Asiago Tortelloni was the best frozen meal I’ve ever had. Both my husband and I agreed on that. The Gorgonzola Steak entrée was equally delicious. We both agreed that they were restaurant quality – and that we’d rather spend the evening at home together over good food than to fight the crowds going out!!

Good food, good company – the perfect way to spend a romantic night at home!!

Blogher is giving one of my readers a $100 Visa card. Just think – if you win, you can fill your freezer with these delicious meals! You have 4 ways to enter to win:
No duplicate comments!

1 – Comment below and let me know how you make your ordinary nights extraordinary with your significant other.
2 - Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post.
3 - Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post.
4 - Visit the official rules for additional forms of entry.

The giveaway runs from March 17 – April 11, 2011.
This giveaway is open to US residents age 18 and older.
Winners will be selected via random draw and will be notified via email.
You will have 72 hours to get back to me, or a new winner will be chosen.
The official rules are available HERE.

Check out the Blogher.com round-up page for this giveaway HERE.
Find out more about our sponsor HERE.

Campbell's AdDress Your Heart Giveaway

GIVEAWAY CLOSED!

The winner is Cheryl F.{The Lucky Ladybug}  Congratulations!

Did you know that heart disease is the number one killer in women?  But the good news is that we can take action against this preventable disease!

And right now, Campbell's has teamed up with Monica Potter and NFL mom Deborah Johnson to raise awareness for this disease.  Both Potter and Johnson walked the red carpet in Campbell's red dresses at the Women's Day Red Dress Awards.

“I am proud to be a part of Campbell’s ‘AdDress Your Heart’ campaign and wear this red dress to help raise awareness of the cause and honor my father who I lost to heart disease,” said Potter. “I hope to rally moms and everyone across the country to stand up and fight this disease by choosing heart-healthy foods, exercising and helping me spread the message that heart disease is preventable.”

And you can help, too! Potter and Johnson have shared their heart-health stories on video at CampbellsAdDressYourHeart.com and are asking others to address their hearts. For every video view through March 31, 2011, Campbell will donate $1 to the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women movement, up to $625,000. This is part of the overall $3.6 million donation Campbell has committed to the organization by 2012.

The Campbell's Soup Company is also committed to promoting heart health through many of their products.  Not only are they active in donating money and raising awarenss though their AdDress Your Heart program, but Campbell's also offers more than 100 convenient, great-tasting products that fit into a heart-healthy lifestyle. This selection includes all 25 Campbell’s® Healthy Request® soups, Low Sodium V8® 100% vegetable juices and Prego® Heart Smart™ Italian sauces. All of these products have been screened and verified to meet the American Heart Association’s certification criteria to display its heart-check mark.

And Campbell's is giving away an assortment of hearth healthy products to one of my readers!!  The prize package will look like the one pictured above, but contents may slightly vary.


Here's how you can enter:

Mandatory: Comment below and tell me if you use any heart healthy products or foods, and if not, what you are going to do to change.

Extra entries:
*Go to www.campbellsAdDressYourHeart.com and  watch one of the videos. Then come back here and let me know that you have.
*Follow Taste and Tell on Facebook
*Share this giveaway with your Facebook friends
*Follow Taste and Tell on Twitter
*Tweet about this giveaway
*Follow Taste and Tell via RSS feed.
Note: for any of the extra entries, make sure you leave a separate comment for each.

Details:
*This giveaway will go from today until 1:00pm MST on Thursday, March 3rd. The winner will be announced on March 4th..
*Please make sure you leave a way I can contact you - either via blog or email. If you don't, I will automatically choose a new winner.
*This giveaway is open to US residents

**Disclosure - Campbell's provided me with a gift package and is providing the winning package to one of my readers.  All opinions expressed are my own.**

Kroger Cart Buster Giveaway

GIVEAWAY CLOSED

The winner is Averie who said:

Averie said...

Fave way to save money is buying what's on a store-buy/club-card sale 

Congrats!!

 -------------------

I don't know about you, but I love saving money at the grocery store!  From February 27th through March 12th, shop Kroger’s biggest-ever promotion and find the hottest prices around on more than 35 brands, across more than 60 categories from General Mills, P & G, Nestle, Pepsi and Kroger Banner Brands. During the Cart Buster Savings Event, you’ll find great savings in almost every department at the Kroger Family of Stores, which includes Kroger, Ralph’s, King Soopers, City Market, Dillons, Smith’s, Fry’s, QFC, Baker’s, Owen’s, Jay C Food Stores, Hilander, Gerbes, Food4Less, Pay Less Super Markets and Scott’s Food & Pharmacy.

Here are just a handful of the great brands participating in the event: Multigrain Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Hamburger Helper, Yoplait, Progresso, Totino’s, Green Giant, Cascadian Farm, Tide, Charmin, Bounty, Pampers, Pantene, Crest, Iams, Febreze, Old Spice, Bounce, DiGiorno’s, Nestle Toll House, Juicy Juice, Coffee-Mate, Edy’s, Stouffer’s, Lean Cuisine, Hot Pockets, Nestle Candy, Purina and many more! 

And there's even more!!  All through the promotion, you can visit Kroger.com/CartBuster where there will be a special promotion every day.    

And guess what?  I'm giving away a $25 gift card, courtesy of Kroger and MyBlogSpark!  This would be a great chance to take advantage of these great sales!

Here's how you can enter:

Mandatory:  Comment below and tell me your favorite way to save money on groceries.

Extra entries:
*Follow Taste and Tell on Facebook
*Share this giveaway with your Facebook friends
*Follow Taste and Tell on Twitter
*Tweet about this giveaway
*Follow Taste and Tell via RSS feed.

Note:  for any of the extra entries, make sure you leave a separate comment for each.

Details: 
*This giveaway will go from today until 1:00pm MST on Tuesday, March 1st.  The winner will be announced on March 2nd..
*Please make sure you leave a way I can contact you - either via blog or email.  If you don't, I will automatically choose a new winner.
*This giveaway is open to US residents

*Disclosure:  This giveaway is sponsored by the Kroger Family of Stores and General Mills/Nestle & P&G through MyBlogSpark.  All opinions are my own.

McCormick Valentine's Day Giveaway

GIVEAWAY CLOSED!!

The winner is Stacie who said:

Jeramey, Stacie Jaylee & Alexis said...

My favorite is red cake made from scratch:)

February 11, 2011 5:20 AM  

 

 

-----------------------------------------

 Ok, I know this is totally last minute.  I feel so badly, because I agreed to do 2 McCormick giveaways, then didn't follow up to get more information about them.  And now it is a few days before Valentine's Day, so whoever wins won't quite get their package before Valentine's Day.  But who says you only bake your sweetie treats on Valentine's Day??  So this will be a really quick turnaround - you have less than 24 hours to enter!!

This giveaway includes:

* “I Heart You” McCormick Apron
* Valentine’s Cookie Cutters from Crate and Barrel
* Valentine’s Dish Towels from Crate and Barrel
* Valentine’s Spatula from Crate and Barrel
* Sweetheart Candies
* Valentine’s Cupcake Papers from Crate and Barrel
* Valentine’s Sprinkles
* McCormick Red Food Color
* McCormick Vanilla Extract
* Relationship Recipe Matrix and Two Recipe Cards

I loved the "Relationship Recipe Matrix."  It gives great ideas of what to bake for anyone - no matter their relationship - in your life!!  And if you haven't planned out your Valentine's Day baking yet, make sure and visit www.mccormick.com for tons of great ideas!

Here's how you can enter!

Mandatory:  Comment below about your favorite Valentine's Day treat.

Extra entries:
*Follow Taste and Tell on Facebook
*Share this giveaway with your Facebook friends
*Follow Taste and Tell on Twitter
*Tweet about this giveaway
*Follow McCormick on Facebook
*Follow Taste and Tell via RSS feed.

Note:  for any of the extra entries, make sure you leave a separate comment for each.

Details: 
*This giveaway will go from today until 1:00pm MST on Friday, February 11th.  The winner will be announced on February 11th..
*Please make sure you leave a way I can contact you - either via blog or email.  If you don't, I will automatically choose a new winner.
*This giveaway is open to US residents

*Disclosure:  I was sent one of these gift packs from the good folks at McCormick.  They are sending out the winning package.  All opinions are my own.

Campbell's Kitchen Giveaway #3

 GIVEAWAY CLOSED!  The winner is Dawn who said:

Dawn said...

Campbell's tomato soup (made with milk and served with a grilled cheese sandwich)

Congrats Dawn! 

-------------------------

I loved reading your answers to yesterday's giveaway!  It made me realize that our best meals can be anywhere - from fine dining to that hole in the wall restaurant to a night home alone with your someone special. Today is the last of the Campbell's giveaways.  This one is probably my favorite - just because of one item.  Do you see that bag of chocolate in the front?  It is a 2 pound bag of chocolate.  Godiva chocolate.  I got a bag of it for myself as well - that's how excited I am about it!  I've been looking for the perfect recipe to use it on!!

Onto the giveaway... This giveaway includes: *1 red Campbell's soup T-shirt size large *1 Campbell's cookbook - 4 Ingredients or Less *1 Pace Family Recipe Round-Up Cookbook *1 2 pound bag of Godiva chocolate *1 Campbell's water bottle And here's how you can enter! Mandatory:  Comment below and tell me your favorite flavor of Campbell's soup. Extra entries: *Follow Taste and Tell on Facebook and share this giveaway with your Facebook friends. *Follow Taste and Tell on Twitter and retweet this: Come and enter to win goodies from the Campbell's store & @tasteandtell! http://bit.ly/gNtXJR *Follow Campbell's Kitchen on Facebook or Twitter *Follow Taste and Tell via RSS feed. Note:  for any of the extra entries, make sure you leave a separate comment for each. Details:  *This giveaway will go from today until midnight MST on Wednesday, February 2nd.  The winner will be announced on February 3rd. *Please make sure you leave a way I can contact you - either via blog or email.  If you don't, I will automatically choose a new winner. *This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere!!

*Disclosure:  I was sent on a shopping spree at the Campbell's store, courtesy of Campbell's Kitchen.  I'm just sharing the love with all of you!!  My trip to Philadelphia and Camden was also paid for by Campbells.

Swanson Chicken Ultimate Football Challenge {and Giveaway #2 at the bottom!}

 GIVEAWAY CLOSED!!  The winner is momof2girls who said:

momof2girls said... I love eating with my family at Rainforest Cafe in Las Vegas. The kids are entertained by the decor and the food is great.

---------------------------

What a whirlwind of fun!!

As I mentioned, I was chosen as one of 3 finalists chosen for Swanson's Chicken Ultimate Football Challenge.  I went to Philidelphia, PA and Camden, NJ to participate in a cook-off, trying to win the title.  I'm so glad that Laura of Real Mom Kitchen was one of the other finalists, and I had a travel buddy since we both are in Utah!

The trip started off a little rough.  We were supposed to fly out at 7:10am, but our flight was delayed.  We were a little worried because we had a connecting flight in Chicago, and if we missed that connection, we wouldn't make it to Philadelphia in time for dinner.  But luckily, our second flight was delayed, and we were able to run from plane to plane, just in time.  (But then as we got on the runway, the flight got delayed for another 45min-1hr...) 

Laura and I were the last ones there, but we made it to dinner at Tinto.  I think I was more excited about this dinner than I was for the cook-off.  Tinto is one of Jorge Garces' (the Iron Chef!!) restaurants in the Philadelphia area.  And it was very cool, because it was restaurant week, so we got to sample many of the dishes there!  We were greeted by many employees of Campbell's and their other brands - and they were all wonderful company for the night!

I loved everything I ate. In fact, everyone raved about almost all of the food.  The sea bass had mixed reviews, but no one complained about anything else!  My first course was La Peral Cheese (semi-firm, bleu, pasteurized, cow & sheep's milk), and Chorizo Pamplona (smoky pork sausage, hint of garlic).  For my second course, I had Beef Brochette (hanger steak, cider, guindilla aioli, crushed peanuts) and Duck Montadito (duck confit, serrano ham, black cherry, la peral spread).  And for dessert, I went with the Bananas y Azafran (chocolate cake, caramelized bananas, saffron crema).  That cake - which was more like fudge - was so rich.  I don't think any of us finished our piece!  I was trying to think of what my favorite dish was, but it was all so amazing.  Easily one of the best meals I've had.

Early the next morning, we headed to the Campbell's headquarters in Camden NJ.  We were taken to the Campbell's Kitchen for a light breakfast and a few introductions before the competition began.  I was so surprised and delighted to learn that their test kitchens are set up just like any home kitchen would be.  In each kitchen, they had different appliances and cookware - the stuff most of us cook with at home.  They really do aim to make sure their recipes can be duplicated in the home kitchen!

We had a few minutes to familarize ourselves with the kitchen we were assigned and to go over our recipes.

And here was my competition:

Laura from Real Mom Kitchen

and Cathy from Hazzard in the Kitchen (wearing her game face!)

Let the competition begin!!

There was a photographer there as well as a videographer.  I didn't take many pictures during the actual competition, so these are shamelessly stolen from the Campbell's Kitchen twitter page!!

We all finished in the hour and a half time limit.

My Chicken, Bacon and Cream Cheese Mini Taquitos with Avocado Ranch Guacamole

Laura's Quick Chicken Enchilada Nachos

and Cathy's End Zone Empanadas with Roasted Red Pepper Poblano Dip

It's kind of funny, because I wasn't nervous with the camera man and the video man in my face the whole time, but when we went before the judges, I all of a sudden got nervous!

And the winner is.....Laura with her Quick Chicken Enchilada Nachos!!

Win or lose, I just had a lot of fun.  I was glad to get to spend some time with these other wonderful bloggers, as well as with so much of the Campbell's staff.  They were wonderful and welcoming and just all around nice people.  I wish my trip wouldn't have been so short, but it was packed full of fun!

 

 

And although I didn't get to see much of Philly, I did manage to snap a few pictures from the window of our car.  It's definitely a place I want to come back to visit and explore one day.  Our driver said that it is a city full of stories, and that's my favorite kind of place!!


And finally - onto the giveaway!!

This giveaway includes:
*1 Pepperidge Farm Cheese cutting board & kit (there are also cheese knives underneath the board)
*1 Campbell's cookbook - Potluck for All Occasions
*1 Pace Family Recipe Round-Up Cookbook
 *1 box of Godiva truffles

And here's how you can enter!

Mandatory:  Comment below about your favorite dining experience.

Extra entries:
*Follow Taste and Tell on Facebook and share this giveaway with your Facebook friends.
*Follow Taste and Tell on Twitter and retweet this:

Come and enter to win goodies from the Campbell's store & @tasteandtell! http://bit.ly/hFHijK

*Follow Campbell's Kitchen on Facebook or Twitter
*Follow Taste and Tell via RSS feed.

Note:  for any of the extra entries, make sure you leave a separate comment for each.

Details: 
*This giveaway will go from today until midnight MST on Tuesday, February 1st.  The winner will be announced on February 2nd.
*Please make sure you leave a way I can contact you - either via blog or email.  If you don't, I will automatically choose a new winner.
*This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere!!

*Disclosure:  I was sent on a shopping spree at the Campbell's store, courtesy of Campbell's Kitchen.  I'm just sharing the love with all of you!!  My trip to Philadelphia and Camden was also paid for by Campbells.

Campbell's Kitchen Giveaway #1!

GIVEAWAY CLOSED!  THE WINNER IS KEERSTEN, WHO SAID:

Keersten said...

and I get you in my rss feed.

January 27, 2011 9:25 PM

 CONGRATS KEERSTEN!

I'm hoping to have a write up of my trip last week done by tomorrow, but I didn't want to put off the giveaways!  As some of you know, I received a little shopping spree at the Campbell's Store while I was visiting the Campbell's Kitchen.  I came home with some great stuff.  But instead of doing 1 big giveaway, I decided to 3 giveaways to share the love!  Today is the first giveaway and I'll have one on Thursday and 1 on Friday.  Make sure you come back to enter to win each set of goodies!

Up first:  this prize package includes:
*1 black Campbell's hooded sweatshirt - size XL
*1 Campbell's cookbook - Weeknight Cooking
*1 Pace Family Recipe Round-Up Cookbook
 *1 5.75 ounce bag of Godiva Dark Chocolate Caramel Gems

And here's how you can enter!

Mandatory:  Comment below about your favorite dinner tip.

Extra entries:
*Follow Taste and Tell on Facebook and share this giveaway with your Facebook friends.
*Follow Taste and Tell on Twitter and retweet this:

Come and enter to win goodies from the Campbell's store & @tasteandtell!  http://bit.ly/exZRTm

*Follow Campbell's Kitchen on Facebook or Twitter
*Follow Taste and Tell via RSS feed.

Note:  for any of the extra entries, make sure you leave a separate comment for each.

Details: 
*This giveaway will go from today until midnight MST on Monday, January 31st.  The winner will be announced on February 1st.
*Please make sure you leave a way I can contact you - either via blog or email.  If you don't, I will automatically choose a new winner.
*This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere!!

*Disclosure:  I was sent on a shopping spree at the Campbell's store, courtesy of Campbell's Kitchen.  I'm just sharing the love with all of you!!