Archive for the ‘Money & Finance’ Category

Giveaway Results: Cheer brightCLEAN Detergent for One Year

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

Thank you all for your entries! We would like to congratulate Michelle S. (Commenter #202) on winning our Cheer for a Year Giveaway! Happy Holidays to you all!

Editor’s Note– Don’t forget to enter our Tassimo T20 Coffeemaker Giveaway from Monday (valued at $139),  our $1,300 Prize Pack from The Talk, and our Nintendo Wii with Family Game Night 3 Giveaway. Check back tomorrow for more!!

Over the last few months I have had the incredible opportunity to work as the spokesperson for Cheer brightCLEAN detergent which has been a fun and exciting opportunity for our entire family. I have been working hard to share with moms easy ways to keep their clothes looking great for the back-to-school season, but my work doesn’t end there since a mom’s work with laundry and clothing is never done!

Today I wanted to share with you some easy tips for organizing your closet in under 30 minutes. If you are limited on closet space, like me, or you simply like to organize your clothes by season, I have a few easy tips to incorporate in your life to help keep your closets organized and fresh!

Pull All of the Clothing Out of the Closet– To begin organizing your closet, you really need to know what is in it. Begin pulling all of the clothing out of the closet and eliminate any items that have not been worn in the last six months, clothing that no longer fits, clothing that is no longer in season, or clothes that are no longer in style.

Organize Clothing by Color– Next put your items back into the closet and organize it by color and then by type. For example, put all of the black clothing together and then organize it by style of shirt (knit, blazer, sweater, cardigan, etc..) I have used this advice over the years,  that was offered to me by my closest fashion confidant, Kathy Friend. Sorting items by color makes it easier to find what you need quickly and also discover what areas in the color scheme needed a boost and what areas need some scaling back.

Repeat these steps above for your children’s closets and I am sure you will notice a true difference in how easy for you all to get ready in the morning!

Store Your Out-of-Season Clothing– Storage depends truly on the size of home you have and the space that you can use to tuck your out-of-season items away. In our house, Rubbermaid totes are our clothing storage option and I keep my personal (freshly washed)  out-of-season items tucked away in the basement, while the kids have two bins going all of the time in each of their closets.

With my children, one bin of clothing that they are outgrowing is stored throughout the year and can be added to as items are outgrown. I have been lucky enough to have a “bin exchange” program with my best friend and we trade bins of clothing with each other for our children. When a bin is filled, I pass it on to her in exchange for a bin of her clothing. With this exchange system, I can probably count on one hand the amount of items that I have had to buy my daughter this year. It is great if you can work something like this out with a friend and by keeping a bin on hand, it helps to keep your closets tidy and organized.

The other bin of clothing that is housed in their closet contains items that they will soon be growing into, sometime in that next year. This bins helps serve as a reminder to me on how much or how little I really need to buy for the upcoming year or season. If you do a lot of thrift shopping, consignment shopping, or hit the garage sales for your children’s clothing, an itemized list of items you have on hand and sizing can help reduce the amount of duplicate purchases.

Implement a Free-For-All Drawer for Kids– Maintaining organization in your house, let alone your closet, with small children is practically impossible. I have learned over the years to choose our battles, but I never knew what battles were until I met my strong-willed and wildly independent little girl.

It is because of her that I have developed the, “Free-For-All,” drawer. This nightstand is my daughter’s drawer that she can organize and do exactly what she pleases with it. Each day we were battling her about what she could or could not wear for school. Now we have compromised and this drawer is filled with all of her favorite nightgowns and pajamas. At the end of the day, she can do whatever she wants and where whatever she wants from this drawer, provided we are spending the day at home!

Make sure that if you have a drawer for your children, that it is the lowest one or a safe one to access. When my daughter began climbing on a chair to grab her favorite nightgowns and toppled the drawers on herself, we knew that she needed a drawer that she could access with a few of her favorite things in a safe location.

Donate Often– Make donating to your local thrift store or shelter a part of your weekly routine and just imagine how much space you can reclaim in your closet and home. I like to keep a bag or bin going all week long and add as I see items that we no longer need or have outgrown, that can be passed on to someone else. It is amazing how these little things really add up over the course of the week, and how much simpler my life has become thanks to ridding myself of clutter. Make it a part of your routine just like paying the bills and caring for your home each week and you will begin to see the power you have in transforming those cluttered corners and closets.

Switch to a Wallet-Friendly Detergent- Before storing those clothes for next season and when caring for those clothes for this season, be sure to look for a wallet friendly detergent to care for them with that will keep your clothes looking fresh and bright for this season (and many seasons to come).  Do a price comparison on the detergents in your store and I am sure you will find that Cheer brightCLEAN detergent is  not only inexpensive, but that it performs just as well as the more expensive detergents.

At only $.15 a load though, it is great to know that if you need to buy it, that this detergent is very budget-friendly and they offer different (including unscented) varieties to choose from! It is a product that I am using for my own family and one that I would love to share with you! The best part though is that it will remove the day’s dinginess from your clothing and brighten the clothes you already have at a fraction of the price. Who wouldn’t want a little of that in their life…or perhaps, a year’s worth of that!

I don’t want to just talk about how much you will save by using Cheer brightCLEAN detergent, I actually want to give it to you and save you that expense for an entire year! Cheer brightCLEAN™ detergent has graciously offered to give to one of our lucky readers a year’s supply of laundry detergent. Imagine not having to pay for detergent for an entire year and what you could do with that money.

Today we are offering one lucky reader a year’s supply of Cheer brightCLEAN Detergent to help inspire you to get your closet organized with fresh clean clothes with Cheer brightCLEAN Detergent!

Leave one comment for each item that you complete to enter:

  • First Entry: Leave a comment and let us know one tip you use to get your closet and out-of-season clothing organized in your house or one tip that you have discovered through this post that would really help your family!
  • Additional Entry: Let us know you are a fan of MomAdvice and join the MomAdvice.com Fan Club today on Facebook.
  • Additonal Entry: Follow me on Twitter and get an early scoop on all of our giveaways and articles that we are formulating for the year!
  • Additional Entries: Subscribe to my feeds and never miss another thing on our site again! We have a landing page where it makes it easy to subscribe to our blogsFor each one you subscribe to, leave one additional comment.

One winner, chosen at random, will receive a year’s supply of Cheer brightCLEAN™ Detergent . Please submit your entries by Wednesday (12/22)  at 8PM EST.  Our winner will be drawn at random. Good luck, everyone!

Please check out this video below where I share more great tips on organizing your closet in 30 minutes or less!

I am a spokesperson for Cheer brightCLEAN™ Detergent and have a relationship with the company. Want to know more about how things are handled here at MomAdvice? Be sure to read our Disclaimer which clearly states how things work and know that we will always offer only the best reviews to our readers. In full disclosure, the email addresses that are collected for this giveaway will only be used for the purpose of contacting the winner(s), and will never be sold or given to anyone. This giveaway is only open to residents of the United States who are 18 years of age or older. Entries that do not follow the above criterion will automatically be disqualified. This giveaway will close Wednesday, December 22 at 8PM (EST). I’ll anneounce the first name of the winner(s) that will be added to the top of this current giveaway post and contact the winner(s) by email. I will draw the names of the winner(s) by using the random number generator at Random.org from the eligible entries received. If a winner does not contact me within 72 hours by email, I will draw a new winner. The winner(s) will receive their prize from the PR agency responsible for this giveaway. There is no guarantee that this item will be received by Christmas.

Giveaway Results: Prize Pack Worth Over $1,300 from The Talk

Tuesday, December 14th, 2010

Thank you all for your wonderful entries to this contest! We would like to congratulate Ashley (Commenter #161) on winning this fantastic prize pack from The Talk!  Happy Holidays, everyone!

Editor’s Note– Don’t forget to enter our Tassimo T20 Coffeemaker Giveaway from Monday (valued at $139), our Nintendo Wii with Family Game Night 3 Giveaway & Cheer brightCLEAN Detergent for One Year. Check back tomorrow for more!!

When I promise big giveaways this week, I truly do mean big giveaways. I am so lucky to have been offered the opportunity to share with one lucky winner a prize pack valued at over $1,300!  This giveaway is being shared by The Talk which you can watch on your local CBS channel! They were so generous to share this giveaway with our readers so set your DVR’s and try and catch this show when you can!

This prize pack includes the following 5 items (pictured above):

DXG Riviera 720p HD Camcoder (valued at $149)

Epson Artisan 725 Color Ink-Jet Printer (valued at $199.00)

Oreck Platinum Pilot (valued at $599.00)

Literati by The Sharper Image (valued at $159.00)

TEMPTU Perfect Complexion Set (valued at $280)

To enter to win this fabulous prize pack valued at over $1,300, you need only to do the following…

Leave one comment for each item that you complete to enter:

  • First Entry: In honor of, The Talk, I would like to talk a bit about what you would like to see in the new year!  Tell me one thing you would like to see next year on MomAdvice.com. We would love your assistance in planning our editorial calendar for your reading enjoyment!
  • Additional Entry: Let us know you are a fan of MomAdvice and join the MomAdvice.com Fan Club today on Facebook.
  • Additonal Entry: Follow me on Twitter and get an early scoop on all of our giveaways and articles that we are formulating for the year!
  • Additional Entries: Subscribe to my feeds and never miss another thing on our site again! We have a landing page where it makes it easy to subscribe to our blogs. For each one you subscribe to, leave one additional comment.

One winner, chosen at random, will receive the above prizes valued at over $1,300. Please submit your entries by Tuesday (12/21) at 8PM EST.  Our winner will be drawn at random. Good luck, everyone!

MomAdvice Giveaway Guidelines: Want to know more about how things are handled here at MomAdvice? Be sure to read our Disclaimer which clearly states how things work and know that we will always offer only the best reviews and giveaways to our readers. In full disclosure, the email addresses that are collected for this giveaway will only be used for the purpose of contacting the winner(s), and will never be sold or given to anyone. This giveaway is only open to residents of the United States who are 18 years of age or older. Entries that do not follow the above criterion will automatically be disqualified. This giveaway will close Tuesday, December 21 at 8PM (EST). I’ll announce the first name of the winner(s) that will be added to the top of this current giveaway post and contact the winner(s) by email. I will draw the names of the winner(s) by using the random number generator at Random.org from the eligible entries received. If a winner does not contact me within 72 hours by email, I will draw a new winner. The winner(s) will receive their prize from the PR agency/company  responsible for this giveaway. The above link(s)  are an affiliate link and provided for reference for our readers. There is no guarantee that this item will be received by Christmas.

Giveaway Results: A Tassimo T20 Coffeemaker (Value $139)

Monday, December 13th, 2010

Thank you all for your entries! We would like to congratulate Sandra (Commenter #290) on winning this prize!  Thank you to Tassimo for this fabulous giveaway and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Editor’s Note– Don’t forget to enter our our $1,300 Prize Pack from The Talk, and our Nintendo Wii with Family Game Night 3 GiveawayCheer brightCLEAN Detergent for One Year. Check back tomorrow for more!! &

Well, I have been hard at work on pulling together a big surprise for all of you. This week we are going to take a little diversion from my normally scheduled writing to provide some fabulous gifts for our readers to enjoy this holiday season! I love to give back to all of you and this week should prove to be a fun one filled with a chance to win some really great prizes.  I am promising you BIG giveaways…in fact, I would say that The MotherLoad is giving away the mother load today so be prepared for prizes beyond your wildest imagination!

Our first giveaway is for a prize that any tired mother could appreciate… a Tassimo T20 Coffeemaker. The company (unsolicited) sent one of these to me for our family to enjoy along with a large variety of coffees and other fun concoctions that you can create with the coffeemaker.  I was happy to share it with our family for the Thanksgiving holiday and allow each of our guests to pick out their own favorite brew following our Thanksgiving meal.  It is definitely a fun coffeemaker to use when entertaining!

This coffeemaker is ideal for a more casual coffee drinker who doesn’t benefit from having a pot of coffee and perfect for a midday cup of coffee or a little creamy cocoa to warm your belly after a cold day outside.  While the individual pods are definitely more expensive than buying a bag of coffee and brewing it in a drip coffeemaker, it is less than half the cost of getting a fancy coffee drink out at the coffee shop. If Starbucks is your weakness, this would make a great substitute to create those favorite cappuccinos and lattes in the comfort of your own home for roughly $.60 per coffee.  For a long time, I used a pod-style coffeemaker because I could not seem to figure out how to make the perfect cup. If you are coffee-challenged like me, than this would make a fabulous gift under your tree.

To enter to win this Tassimo Coffeemaker with two boxes of great coffee, you need only to do the following…

Leave one comment for each item that you complete to enter:

  • First Entry: Let us know why this coffeemaker would be the perfect gift beneath your Christmas tree!
  • Additional Entry: Let us know you are a fan of MomAdvice and join the MomAdvice.com Fan Club today on Facebook.
  • Additonal Entry: Follow me on Twitter and get an early scoop on all of our giveaways and articles that we are formulating for the year!
  • Additional Entries: Subscribe to my feeds and never miss another thing on our site again! We have a landing page where it makes it easy to subscribe to our blogs. For each one you subscribe to, leave one additional comment.

One winner, chosen at random, will receive the Tassimo T20 Coffeemaker and two packages of coffee pods. Please submit your entries by Monday (12/20) at 8PM EST.  Our winner will be drawn at random. Good luck, everyone!

MomAdvice Giveaway Guidelines: This product was received as a review sample. The thoughts and opinions expressed will always be honest and heartfelt and no reflection on receiving a sample copy.  We promise to always do our best to also give away each of these products to our readers because it is always better to give than to receive!  Want to know more about how things are handled here at MomAdvice? Be sure to read our Disclaimer which clearly states how things work and know that we will always offer only the best reviews to our readers. In full disclosure, the email addresses that are collected for this giveaway will only be used for the purpose of contacting the winner(s), and will never be sold or given to anyone. This giveaway is only open to residents of the United States who are 18 years of age or older. Entries that do not follow the above criterion will automatically be disqualified. This giveaway will close Monday, December 20 at 8PM (EST). I’ll announce the first name of the winner(s) that will be added to the top of this current giveaway post and contact the winner(s) by email. I will draw the names of the winner(s) by using the random number generator at Random.org from the eligible entries received. If a winner does not contact me within 72 hours by email, I will draw a new winner. The winner(s) will receive their prize from the PR agency responsible for this giveaway. The above link is an affiliate link and provided for reference for our readers. There is no guarantee that this item will be received by Christmas.

Freebie Friday: December 10, 2010

Friday, December 10th, 2010

Happy Freebie Friday, everyone! We would like to thank our wonderful hostess, Stephanie from Couponing 101. I am so glad to have her assistance each week with our freebie list. Stephanie is running another great giveaway this week. She is giving away a chance to win a $100 Cash or an iPod Shuffle. I think both of those would make the perfect Christmas gift!

This week on MomAdvice I have been very busy gathering up ideas for ways to make those holidays a little easier on your budget and create a few new family traditions to share with your own family. This week I am sharing an original and unique recipe for gingerbread donuts with a simple glaze, the hidden secrets to achieving the perfect cut-out sugar cookiesfour more great reads to tackle over the winter break, peppermint candy bath salts & an oatmeal bath soak that you can create for frugal holiday gifts, our weekly notebook of holiday crafts & food projects, & our round-up of great giveaways. Phew! What a week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Health & Beauty
Garnier Fructis Anti-Dandruff Shampoo
John Frieda Sheer Blondes
Pureology Colour Stylist (on Facebook)

Food
Slim-Fast Peanut Butter Crunch Bars (for Sam’s Club members)
Taster’s Choice Coffee
Whey to Go Protein Powder

Entertainment
100 Free Kindle Book Downloads
Online Storytime: “The Polar Express”

Home
Mist8 All-Purpose Cleaning Spray
Two 5×7 Photo Greeting Cards

Pet
Purina One Beyond Dog or Cat Food (on Facebook)

This Week’s Freebie Events

December 11 – 17

Whataburger: 12 days of Freebies!

Starbucks: 12 days of Sharing

Santa’s Wonderland at Bass Pro Shops

11 – Michaels Craft Store Create a gift card holder and gift bag, 10 am – 11 am.

11 – Lakeshore Learning Craft: Create a Gingerbread Ornament, 11 am – 3 pm.

11 – Lowes Build and Grow Clinic Make a Passenger Car, 10 am – 11am.

11 – Borders Kids Children’s holiday party, 11 am.

An Apron Full of Giveaways 12.07.10

Tuesday, December 7th, 2010

Handmade Whimzy, $29

Welcome to our Apron Full of Giveaways! I hope everyone is having a great week this week! As we do each week,  here is our round-up of giveaways for our readers. We hope that this is beneficial to you and your family! Please let us know if you guys win anything- I love to hear the success stories!

Below are the contest links-if you are hosting a contest please link it up below. Sorry, we aren’t giving away the aprons just showcasing them! Please put your site name and then what type of contest you are hosting. For example, “MomAdvice (Children’s Movies).”

Please let me know if you have any questions and good luck to each of you!

Freebie Friday: December 3, 2010

Friday, December 3rd, 2010

Happy Freebie Friday, everyone! Today starts our very first Freebie Friday with our wonderful hostess, Stephanie from Couponing 101. I am so excited that she will be assisting us each week with our freebie list and would love for you to leave her a comment to welcome her to our site.

Stephanie is running two great giveaways this week. She is giving away a $35 LilyTom Creations Gift Card and $35 Wall Worthy Vinyl Decor Gift Card . Please head over to her site to enter to win these fabulous giveaways! Please visit Couponing 101 for ways to save on a little bit of everything in  your life!

This week we are sharing a recipe for baked pumpkin donuts with maple frosting syrup for a fun way to use up that pumpkin puree from the holidays, we are showcasing an idea for creating an Advent calendar out of common household items, our weekly notebook of craft & food inspiration for the holidays, and our weekly giveaway round-up.

Have a great week, everyone!

Health & Beauty
Always and Tampax Sample Pack
Potty Training Success DVD
Emergen-C
Breathe Right Strips
Vaseline Intensive Rescue Lotion

Food
Tea Chef Tea
Krispy Kreme Doughnut (when you join “Friends of Krispy Kreme”)
Wendy’s Natural Cut Fries with Sea Salt
Denny’s Gingerbread Pancake Puppies (on Facebook)

Entertainment
25 Free Christmas Music Downloads

Home
Charmin Extender

Pet
Purina One Dog or Cat Food

This Week’s Freebie Events:

DECEMBER 4 – 10

Whataburger: 12 days of Freebies!

Starbucks: 12 days of Sharing

Santa’s Wonderland at Bass Pro Shops

4 Home Depot Kids Workshops Build a Picture Frame, 9am – 12pm.

4 – Lakeshore Learning Craft: Create a Reindeer Hat, 11 am – 3 pm.

4 – Lowes Build and Grow Clinic Make a Train Caboose, 10 – 11am.

4 – Photos with Santa at Toys “R” Us Giveaways, story time, and decorate a cookie, 12 pm – 3 pm.

5 – Borders Kids: Hanukkah Celebration Stories, games, sing-alongs, and more at 3 pm.

An Apron Full of Giveaways 11.30.10

Tuesday, November 30th, 2010

Lover Dovers, $29.99

Welcome to our Apron Full of Giveaways! I hope everyone is having a great week this week! As we do each week,  here is our round-up of giveaways for our readers. We hope that this is beneficial to you and your family! Please let us know if you guys win anything- I love to hear the success stories!

No giveaways this week, but we will be back next week with a brand new giveaway that you won’t want to miss! Trust me, it will be the perfect gift to wrap under you tree. In the meantime, please enjoy linking up and visiting these fabulous sites below for great giveaways!

Below are the contest links-if you are hosting a contest please link it up below. Sorry, we aren’t giving away the aprons just showcasing them! Please put your site name and then what type of contest you are hosting. For example, “MomAdvice (Children’s Movies).”

Please let me know if you have any questions and good luck to each of you!

Freebie Friday: November 19, 2010

Friday, November 19th, 2010

Happy Freebie Friday, everyone! We have been so lucky to have Freebies 4 Mom share their list of the best freebies of the week with our readers each and every Friday. Please visit her site for fabulous freebies and sweepstakes information every single day! This week Heather is giving away a $50 Walmart gift card from Hefty.

Sadly, Heather will no longer be able to provide the Freebie Friday list for our readers and this will be her last week with us. I am forever in her debt for her assistance each week and it has been a true pleasure to work with her. I hope you will please leave her a comment and thank her for help!  We will miss you, Heather!

We will be taking Freebie Friday off for next week since it is the holiday weekend. We will be back in December though and Stephanie from Couponing 101 has graciously offered to take over our list each week. Her site is a fantastic and organized resource for anyone looking to save money and she is going to be sharing with our readers the latest freebies on our Freebie Friday. Hurray!

This week on MomAdvice we are sharing 7 easy appetizers to make-ahead for Thanksgiving Day, so many ideas for dressing up pre-packaged convenience foods for a delicious weeknight meal as our calendars fill up with holiday activities, our weekly notebook of craft & food ideas to inspire you as you prepare for the holidays, and 150 giveaways that you can enter to win for some fabulous prizes.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!


Health & Beauty

Burt’s Bees Lotion

Food
Einstein Bros. Free Bagel or Drink (every entry wins)

Entertainment
Two 5×7 HP Photo Cards in-store
Thanksgiving Road Trip printable activities

This Week’s Freebie Events:

NOVEMBER 19 – 30

Burger King: FREE Coffee Every Friday this month

20 – Lowes Build and Grow Clinic: build a Snowman 10-11am.

30 – Whataburger: 12 days of Freebies!

Target Free Arts & Cultural Events

Pottery Barn Free Decorating Classes

Taking a Little Store-Bought Help in the Kitchen for the Holidays

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

If you have been reading the site long enough, I am sure you know that I am one of those people that prefers to make everything from scratch to cut down on our grocery budget. We have big eaters in our family though and often convenience foods leaving us feeling unsatisfied and ready for snacking within an hour. Since those foods don’t seem to fill us up, the nights that I don’t feel like cooking we usually end up opting for dining out which costs a lot, even for our little family of four!

I doubt I am alone in saying that my calendar is overflowing with an unbelievable amount of obligations right now. We have holiday concerts, appointments, work commitments, volunteer opportunities…  and it is only going to get worse as the holiday season gets closer.

See that little “No,” sign in the corner of my calendar?

This is supposed to be offering a memory trigger to myself that there is no need to say yes to everything.

Now view my calendar.

I think I must be having a disconnect these days.

Fortunately, Walmart reached out to me to see if we would like to sample some of their Marketside brand items that are sold over by their deli area in the store. These items are of gourmet quality, but offered at a lower price.  The line includes bagged salads, gourmet soups, fun dips for entertaining, take-and-bake pizzas, veggie steamers, artisan breads, and fresh gourmet pastas.

After sampling all of the items, you can be assured that they are delicious and every bit as fancy as dining out.  The soups and bread rivaled our Panera Bread and the veggies were crisp and delicious.  The fresh dips (which included vanilla bean fruit dips, fresh guacamole, and a variety of ranch dressings) would be perfect to keep on hand for all of those holiday potlucks and gatherings!

Of course, adding my own homemade spin to these great convenience items allowed us to pull together a delicious dinner every night last week on a week where our calendar was jam-packed with activities (see the calendar above). With the busy holiday season upon us, I wanted to share a few ways to take those store-bought ingredients to a new level as the calendar fills up.

Veggie steamers are an easy way to incorporate great veggies into your diet in a quick way.  Look for these stir fry medleys over in your local Walmart’s cooler and take these home for a quick & healthy dinner. I love dressing up veggie steamers with a little of my favorite sauce from our favorite Chicken Lo Mein recipe.

Quick Weeknight Stir Fry

1 bag of stir fry medley veggies
1 chicken breast diced (Optional. I use this roasting method once a week to keep chicken on hand)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon ketchup

Cook veggies as directed. In a separate mixing bow, add soy sauce, vinegar, and ketchup. Stir to combine. Add cooked veggies and serve immediately over baked brown rice.

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Fresh pasta is one of life’s little luxuries that I love to keep on hand for a quick weeknight dinner. Marketside offers so many fun varieties for the meat-eaters in the family as well as the vegetarians. These delicious pastas can transform your usual spaghetti night into a dinner that rivals your favorite Italian bistro. They also offer fresh pesto and sauces to decorate your pasta without any effort.  Here are a few ways to use their pasta on a busy weeknight!

Pesto Tortellini Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cans petite diced tomatoes (14.5 ounces)
8 cups chicken broth
1 pound  tortellini of your choice (I love a chicken or sausage stuffed, but cheese is always a crowd pleaser!)
9 ounces spinach, chopped roughly
1/4 cup basil pesto

In a large pot, saute the garlic in the olive oil. After a minute or so, add the diced tomatoes and chicken broth to the pot. Bring the broth to a rolling boil and then add in your tortellini. Cook tortellini as directed on package. In the last minute of cooking time, mix in your roughly chopped spinach and stir in the 1/4 cup of basil pesto. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese on top. Side Note: When reheating, feel free to add some additional chicken broth to thin the soup, as the tortellini will absorb the liquid!

Serve with a bag of salad and a loaf of crusty bread for an easy weeknight meal!

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Ravioli With Pesto Cream Sauce

1 pound ravioli or tortellini (I love a mushroom-stuffed variety)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk (we used skim milk)
1 pinch salt
1 pinch pepper
1 1/2 cups grated Romano cheese
1 cup prepared pesto

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook as directed and drain. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in garlic and butter, and saute until garlic is soft and fragrant, about 1 minute. Dissolve flour in milk, then stir in. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Add cheese, and stir until melted. Stir in pesto. Dish ravioli on plates and then drizzle the pesto cream sauce over it. Garnish with a little fresh basil or chopped parsley.

Serve with a bag of salad and a loaf of crusty bread for an easy weeknight meal!

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Ravioli With Homemade Red Sauce

1# package of ravioli
3/4 cup chopped onion (we omitted because we don’t like onions)
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes (do not drain)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
3/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook as directed and drain. Saute onion and garlic in 1/4 cup olive oil until onion is translucent in another pot. Stir in tomatoes, salt, and sugar. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer one hour and thirty minutes. Stir in tomato paste, basil, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and meatballs and simmer thirty more minutes. Gently break apart the tomatoes with the back of your wooden spoon.  Serve over a big plate of your favorite ravioli.

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Although this wasn’t included in my Marketside feast, I recently discovered the beauty and flavors of their rotisserie chickens for my weeknight chicken noodle soup. This soup is being made again this week for a fast & delicious soup that will leave people wondering how the heck you could pull it off on a busy school night.

Quick Weeknight Chicken Noodle Soup

2-3 cups egg noodles (I like the Ream’s brand in the frozen foods section)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
12 cups low-sodium chicken broth
salt & pepper to taste
2 stalks chopped celery
3 chopped carrots
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 rotisserie chicken

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add egg noodles and cook until tender. Drain, and rinse under cool running water. Meanwhile, in  a large saucepan or Dutch oven, saute the carrots and celery in two tablespoons of olive oil for five minutes to start your soup base or you can skip this step and proceed as directed, if you desire a crunchier vegetable.  Heat up broth and bring it to a simmer. Stir in celery and carrot. Gently add your rotisserie chicken and all of the drippings from the pan and put a lid on your pot.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water together until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Pull out your chicken and set aside to dice.  Gradually add the cornstarch to soup, stirring constantly. Stir in noodles and diced rotisserie  chicken, and heat through. Toss in a handful of fresh chopped parsley and ladle into bowls.
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Of course when all else fails, there ain’t no shame in taking home a take-and-bake pizza and calling it a night! My favorite variety is the Primo Pizza with sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, & black olives. Every mom deserves a night off from the kitchen once in awhile!
I am a participant in the Walmart Moms program.  Marketside provided me with meals last week in exchange for my honest feedback.  Participation in this program is voluntary. All opinions are my own. check out the other Walmart Moms had to say about Marketside. (prices may vary from store to store)
What store-bought items do you like to keep on hand for quick weeknight meals or for a night off in the kitchen? Please share!

An Apron Full of Giveaways: Bissell Steam & Sweep Ending!

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

Madeit4u, $25

Welcome to our Apron Full of Giveaways! I hope everyone is having a great week this week! As we do each week,  here is our round-up of giveaways for our readers. We hope that this is beneficial to you and your family! Please let us know if you guys win anything- I love to hear the success stories!

No giveaways this week, but I hope to offer more after the holidays! This week ends our Bissell Steam & Sweep Hard Floor Cleaner (valued at $157) giveaway for  one of our lucky readers! This Bissell Steam & Sweep clears hard floors of dry debris and steam cleans all in one pass.  It simply uses the natural power of steam for a total one-step, time saving complete clean. It would make a wonderful holiday gift for any mom, and we can’t wait to share this with one lucky reader of our site. Follow the link below to enter the contest. PLEASE NO ENTRIES HERE!

Below are the contest links-if you are hosting a contest please link it up below. Sorry, we aren’t giving away the aprons just showcasing them! Please put your site name and then what type of contest you are hosting. For example, “MomAdvice (Children’s Movies).”

Please let me know if you have any questions and good luck to each of you!