Sorry! This contest is now closed. We would like to congratulate Nicole (#11) and Heather (#15) on winning these prize packs from Windex! Thank you all so much for entering and have a wonderful day! 

I am not ashamed to say that I take many shortcuts to save valuable time off of our busy family schedule. People are often surprised how much I am able to create and do in my kitchen, but it is because over the years I have learned some easy strategies for getting a lot done over the weekend so that I can reap the rewards all week long. Today I want to share with you five of my favorite kitchen shortcuts to save you time.

Prepare Your Meat in Bulk for the Week

If you know that you will be eating chicken or ground beef more than once during your week, consider preparing your meat in bulk for the week to save you time when preparing recipes. When it comes to chicken, for example, I buy the 3 pound bags of frozen chicken, cook, and dice all of it for the week – afterwards I use Windex^® Touch-Up Cleaner on my counter to clean away bacteria. The chicken is then ready to go to be made into wrap sandwiches, fast paninis, a protein addition to my salads for lunch, and it helps me save a big step when creating dinners for the week.

My foolproof strategy for cooking chicken is to spread the frozen chicken breasts out over one or two cookie sheets, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and then bake for 45-50 minutes at 375 degrees. Allow the chicken to rest ten to fifteen minutes (to allow the juices to redistribute within the meat). Dice or shred for your various recipes throughout the week.

Make Your Grocery Lists as You Go

Instead of sitting down and going through the tedious process of making a grocery list, add items as you go. Making and sticking to your grocery lists has never been easier thanks to the Grocery IQ app that I have on my iPhone & iPad. As you gather your items from your list, simply check it off and the item moves to the bottom of the list. Once your whole list is complete, everything is shifted towards the bottom and then can simply be clicked to add those repeat items back on the list for your next visit.

Since I always have my phone with me, switching to an electronic grocery list has been much easier than I thought it would be. The coupon feature helps save our family money on items we were already planning to buy and the list helps keep our family budget on track. I also love that I can sync my list from my iPad to my iPhone so I can use whichever device I have handy to add items when we need them.

Chop Once; Enjoy the Rewards All Week Long

Designate one day a week to chopping ingredients you would like to keep on hand in your kitchen – this will inspire you to eat healthy all week long! I designate one spot in my fridge to be my very own personal salad bar. By designating just one day a week, I am assured that I can eat healthy on-the-go and be prepared no matter what life throws at me throughout the week.

Make Kitchen Clean-Up Simple

With all of the chopping and food prep happening in your kitchen, it will leave you very little time for clean-up. Thankfully, Windex^® Touch-Up Cleaner is an easy way to clean your kitchen fast. Simply dab your favorite dishcloth or paper towel over the cleaner’s dispenser and pump it twice. You know you need to not only clean your surfaces, but also kill bacteria that may be lingering from a day of food preparation. This product not only saves you time, but is antibacterial giving you the assurance that you have a sterile environment for your family.

For product details, visit http://www.windex.com/ and check out the Windex^® Facebook page at www.facebook.com/windex for information, coupons and more; additionally, don’t forget to check out the Shineboard for creative cleaning ideas!

GIVEAWAY: Two (2) lucky readers will receive tools to make spring cleaning a breeze as well as samples of Windex^® Touch-Up in a Spring Cleaning tool-kit!

To Enter: Leave a comment below telling us why you need Windex^® Touch-Up in your home!

*If you are a winner, please leave a testimonial here once you’ve tried it out!*

OFFICIAL RULES

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT POST OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE OR, PAYMENT WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.

 

1. Eligibility: Mom Advice’s Windex® Touch-Up Product Giveaway (“Sweepstakes”) is open only to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States (including the District of Columbia) who are at least eighteen (18) years of age.  Employees of Mom Advice (“Sponsor”), Daniel J. Edelman, Inc., and SC Johnson & Son, Inc. and any of their parents, subsidiaries. affiliated companies and their advertising and promotion agencies, as well as the immediate family (spouses, parents, siblings and children and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside) and household members, whether or not related of each such employee are not eligible to enter or win. The Sweepstakes is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

2. Agreement to Official Rules: By participating in the Sweepstakes, entrant fully and unconditionally agrees to and accepts these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor which are final and binding in all matters related to the Sweepstakes. Whether an entrant receives a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.

3. Timing: The Sweepstakes begins on March 18, 2013 at 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time (“PT”) and ends on March 25, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. PT (“Promotion Period”).

4. How to Enter: During the Promotion Period, there is one way to earn an entry: 1. Leave a comment on this blog post answering the question, “Why do you need Windex^® Touch-Up Cleaner in your house?”

All online entries must be received (comments posted) by 5:00 p.m. PT on March 18, 2013 to be eligible.  Limit one (1) entry per person, per email address and per household, regardless of method of entry. Entries received from any person, email address or household in excess of the stated limitation will be void. Entries generated by script, macro or other automated means and entries by any means which subvert the entry process are void. All entries become the property of Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned. In the event of a dispute over the identity of an online entrant, entry will be deemed submitted by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address associated with the blog post and he/she must comply with these Official Rules. Authorized account subscriber is the natural person who is assigned the e-mail address by the Internet Service Provider (ISP), on-line service provider, or other organization responsible for assigning e-mail addresses.

Entrants must comply with guidelines provided by Sponsor. An entrant’s failure to comply with the terms and conditions and/or guidelines, as determined by Sponsor, may result in disqualification and all associated entries will be void. By submitting your name and email address, you agree to receive relevant promotional emails and contest follow up communications from Sponsor.

Blog posting must (i) be entrant’s own original work and reflect the true opinions and experiences of the applicable entrant,  (ii) be in English, (iii) cannot be previously published or submitted in connection with any other promotion, (iv) be in keeping with the Sponsor’s image and (v) not be offensive or inappropriate, as determined by the Sponsor in its sole discretion, nor can it defame or invade publicity rights or privacy of any person, living or deceased, or otherwise infringe upon any person’s personal or property rights or any other  third party rights. Sponsor reserves the right to remove any blog post and void the associated entry that it determines, in its sole discretion, is offensive or inappropriate, not in keeping with Sponsor’s image or that is otherwise not in compliance with these Official Rules.

By posting a blog post, each entrant acknowledges and agrees that Sponsor may obtain blog posts under this Sweepstakes or have developed on its own or through other third parties’ ideas and material and blog posts that may be similar or identical in theme, idea, format or other respects to others submitted under this Sweepstakes and/or other promotions sponsored by the Sponsor or submitted for other reasons on the website, and entrant waives any and all claims he/she may have had, may have, and/or may have in the future, that any other blog post accepted, reviewed and/or used by Sponsor may be similar to his/her blog post.

5. Winner Determination: Potential winners of prizes will be chosen from all eligible entries received in a random drawing to be held within five (5) business days after the close of entries by Sponsor whose decision is final and binding in all matters. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.

6. Winner Requirements: Potential winners will be notified by email on or about twelve (12) days from March 18, 2013. The inability to contact the potential winner within a reasonable time period, the return of the prize or prize notification as undeliverable or non-compliance with these Official Rules will result in forfeiture of prize.

Winner, by acceptance of prize, except where legally prohibited, grants permission for Sponsor and its designees to use his/her name, address (city and state), photograph, voice and/or other likeness and prize information for promotional purposes without further compensation, in all media now known or hereafter discovered, worldwide in perpetuity, without notice or review or approval.

Winner, by acceptance of prize, agrees to review the product received in the prize package and post a product testimonial on Windex.com (click on the link to be directed to the review webpage).

 7. Prizes: A Spring Cleaning Prize Package including a cleaning bucket, decorative cleaning gloves, sponges, one bathroom Windex^® Touch-Up Cleaner and one kitchen Windex^® Touch-Up Cleaner. Approximate Retail Value of prize is $75.00 USD and will be given to two (2) selected winners. Prize is non-transferable and no substitution or cash-redemption is permitted except by Sponsor, in its sole discretion, which reserves the right to substitute the prize (or portion thereof) with one of comparable or greater value. Winner is responsible for all federal, state and local taxes (including income and withholding taxes) and any other costs and expenses associated with prize receipt and/or use not specified herein as being provided.  Prize is awarded “as is” with no warranty or guarantee, either express or implied by Sponsor. All prize details are at Sponsor’s sole discretion.

 8. Release: Entrants agree to release and hold harmless Sponsor,  Daniel J. Edelman, Inc., S.C. Johnson & Son  and their respective subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, distributors, advertising/promotion agencies, and prize suppliers, and each of their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliate companies and advertising and promotion agencies and their respective officers, directors, employees and agents (collectively, the “Released Parties”) from and against any claim or cause of action, including, but not limited to, personal injury, death, or damage to or loss of property, arising directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, out of participation in the Sweepstakes or receipt or use or misuse of the prize.

 9. Ownership/Use of Blog Posts: By submitting a blog post, each entrant agrees Sponsor shall own the blog post submitted (including all rights embodied therein) and that it and its designees (including S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc.) may exploit, edit, modify, and distribute the blog post and all elements of such blog post, including, without limitation, the names and likenesses of any persons or locations mentioned therein (including the use of the blog post for promotional purposes in connection with this Sweepstakes and for the promotion of Windex^® products, except where prohibited by law), in any and all media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity without compensation, permission or notification to entrant or any third party.

10. General Conditions: Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Sweepstakes, or any part of it for any reason, including if virus, bugs, worms, unauthorized intervention, or any fraud, technical failures or any other factor impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the Sweepstakes, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion.  In the event of cancellation, Sponsor reserves the right to select the winner from among all remaining non-suspect entries received as of time as such cancellation. Sponsor, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Sweepstakes or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or those of any other promotion or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner and all associated entries will be void.  Any attempt by any person to deliberately undermine the legitimate operation of the Sweepstakes may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages and other remedies (including attorneys’ fees) from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law.  Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.  Twitter and Facebook are not affiliated in any way with the Sweepstakes.

11. Limitations of Liability: The Released Parties are not responsible for: (1) any incorrect or inaccurate information in any Sweepstakes-related materials, whether caused by entrant, printing or typographical errors or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Sweepstakes; (2) lost, interrupted or unavailable network, server, Internet Service Provider (ISP), website, or other connections, technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines, or failed computer, satellite, telephone, cable, or network/computer hardware or software, or jumbled, scrambled, delayed, or misdirected transmissions; (3) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Sweepstakes; (4) technical, mechanical, network , electronic, computer, human or other errors which may occur, including any errors that may occur in connection with the administration of the Sweepstakes, the processing of entries or blog posts, the announcement of the winner or in any other Sweepstakes-related materials; or (5) late, lost, incomplete, misdirected, delayed, garbled, illegible, postage-due, undeliverable, damaged or stolen entries or blog posts or mail.  Released Parties are not responsible for damage to any computer system resulting from participation in, accessing or downloading information in connection with this Sweepstakes. Released Parties are also not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by site users, tampering, hacking, or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Sweepstakes.

12. Winner’s Name: Winner will be available after twelve (12) days from March 18, 2013 at http://momadvice.com/. The winner’s name will be available until on or about March 29, 2013.

13. Sponsor: Amy Clark