April 19, 2010

Over or Under?

When it comes to toilet paper, my husband considers himself and expert.  He’s rather picky about toilet paper, actually.  It can’t be too expensive, it must be 2-ply, it has to be absorbent without leaving “lint” behind.  Pun intended.  Funny thing is, he never changes the toilet paper roll.  This is one of my biggest pet peeves.  I cringe when I enter the bathroom and find and empty roll still on the holder, and a new roll of paper on the toilet tank.  I mean seriously, how lazy do you have to be? If you are already sitting down… I digress.  Moving on.

When I was asked by Mom Central to participate in a review of Cottonelle toilet paper I jumped at the chance.  My plan was to have my husband write the review, considering how much he loves to debate the best brand of TP.  But again, the laziness.

We received 4 rolls of Cottonelle and when the box arrived I promptly rolled under.  I know.  I KNOW. Most people roll over. I am in the 28% who do not roll over, but I wasn’t always an under roller.  Before kids, I rolled the paper over.  I have only one reason for the switch:  if I roll it over, my son will use a lot of toilet paper.  He’s five.  He doesn’t understand the rules of TP.  When I roll under, he doesn’t seem to be able to grab an excessive amount of toilet paper.

Regardless of your rolling preference, Cottonelle toilet paper will accommodate over and under rolling.  This toilet paper is soft and super absorbent.  It’s a strong, textured paper.  It met all of my husband’s requirements.

The best thing about this Cottonelle is that it’s made by Kimberly-Clark, and we have a KC mill in my hometown.  After trying this brand I think I’ll buy it more often, especially since I know it will boost the local economy.  And of course, who can resist the fun of the Great Debate.  Tell me:  Over or Under?

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I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Cottonelle and received a sample to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

April 11, 2010

Banquet Frozen Dinners: Try them, you’ll like them!

My son, Dawson, is a picky eater.  He has his favorites: chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, broccoli, mac & cheese, corn on the cob, and chocolate milk.  If given the choice he’d eat those frozen kid’s meals with the mini corndogs and child-sized slices of pizza every day, which would be very costly.

Recently we were asked to Banquet home-style frozen dinners.  I went to the grocery store and was amazed by the variety.  Chicken nuggets, fish sandwich, salisbury steak, beef stroganoff, swedish meatballs, macaroni and cheese and so many more.  The price was right at about $2 or less; a perfect meal in a pinch.  That day the store had them on sale for $1 apiece.  I picked up one chicken nugget meal, which had sides of corn and mac & cheese, as well as a swedish meatball entree.

These meals are so easy to make.  They cook in the microwave in about 3-5 minutes depending on package instructions.  Dawson devoured the chicken nugget meal.  I was impressed.  I sampled one of the nuggets and they taste much better than the kid’s meal variety.

Banquet also offers family-sized entrees, but the grocery stores in our town do not carry them so I was unable to sample these or make note of the variety.

Banquet has been making their frozen dinners for over 50 years.  Through the end of April they are giving away more than $1 million worth of redeemable cash prizes.  Look for Banquet frozen dinner meals with the “Thanks a Million” logo on the box. Each of these specially-marked packages will contain a special game piece, either one of over 16,000 redeemable cash prizes worth anywhere from $10 to $100,000, or a Banquet coupon.   You get a great quick meal and a chance to win prizes!

We like the Banquet frozen meals and you will, too.

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This post was written as part of a blog tour sponsored by MomCentral.  We received two coupons for a free entree for sampling purposes.

March 26, 2010

Let There Be Light: Sylvania Halogen Light Bulb Review

When Mom Central asked me to test Sylvania halogen light bulbs, the first thing that came to mind was an episode of The Golden Girls I had watched several years ago. Rose was testing two light bulb brands to see which one lasted longer. She set up the bulbs on a test socket board and literally watched them for hours while they were lit, only to be distracted by Blanche from noticing which bulb went out first.

Thankfully, this review is nothing at all like that episode. When it comes to light bulbs, I’m no expert. I usually buy the generic 60 watt type. In effort to go green my husband and I have used other energy-saving bulbs only to discover a few annoyances.

The last brand we tried took a while to “warm-up”. After flipping the switch the bulb was dim for several minutes before lighting up to it’s full strength.  It didn’t seem to last as long as I had expected either.  I had to replace that bulb less than a month later.

The Sylvania halogen bulbs are so much better.  The light is bright from moment I hit the switch.  These bulbs look like a regular incandescent bulb but this product is made by I name that I trust.  Sylvania is committed to bringing lighting solutions to consumers, in addition to producing light bulbs that will have less of a negative impact on our environment.  Kudos, Sylvania!

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“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of SYLVANIA and received products necessary to facilitate my candid review. In addition, I received a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

March 15, 2010

Photo Books: Now More Simple Than Before

As a scrapbooking junkie, I’ve tried many different products over the last ten years, from traditional to digital and everything in between.

When I was offered the opportunity to try the new American Greetings PhotoWorks Studio Books I was very excited.  I love digital scrapbooking, but I’m not a fan of using software that needs to be installed on my computer.  In years past I used a Creative Memories software but it’s very expensive to buy digital accessories.  The PhotoWorks website offers a wide variety of themes including Wedding, Baby, Travel, Kids, Holidays and more.

When I discovered I could choose a theme without downloading software I was in love.  The studio books are amazing.  Each theme has a pre-designed template, fully customizable by changing the photo layout or background color, as well as the digital embellishments.

After registering for a free account and then uploading my photos to an online album; a process which took twenty minutes (more or less time may be needed depending on the volume of photos you intend to use), I was able to create an entire 8.5 x 11 photo book in under an hour.

The PhotoWorks site allows me to save any unfinished projects making it very easy to pick up where I left off without any effort.  These books are amazing!  Most projects are printed in less than 3 business days, and shipped withing 7-10 business days.  My book arrived in one week.  I’m very happy with the price as well.  Most finished books are $39.95 for the 8.5 x 11 size, but PhotoWorks offers 8 x 8 for $29.95 or 12 x 12 for $54.95.  The prices are much more reasonable than other products I’ve used in the past.

Another great benefit to using American Greetings PhotoWorks is the ability to share my project.  I was able to e-mail my project in the form of a slide show to my family members as well as give the recipients the ability to save copies of the photos (or the book itself ) to their own PhotoWorks account to create their own photo gifts.

The American Greetings PhotoWorks Studio Books are simply fantastic and I’m so glad I got the chance to use this service.  Thank you Mom Central!

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I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of American Greetings PhotoWorks and received a free photo book to facilitate my review.