It's That Time...ALLERGIES!

In Atlanta it has rained on and off for a week. If you happen to be surviving the horrible pollen you probably aren't escaping the mold! My entire family is dying of the sneezles. My DH even tweeted about it the other day.

I'm lucky enough to have just reviewed 2 different allergy type products from BzzAgent.

What does that mean for you? Well, I have a bunch of coupons for Afrin PureSea, a hydrating nasal rinse made from 100% purified sea water and nothing else. It cleanses your nasal and sinus passages from particulates, pollutants, allergens and other stuff (tar build up for smokers), so you can breathe freely. I have a bunch of coupons for $3.00 off if you want to try it. I've been using it here and I have found it very helpful. My niece, on the other hand, didn't care for it because she had a hard time to getting it to clear her sinuses (turns out she had a severe nasal infection).I also tried Claritin for Children. I didn't even know they made allergy medicine for children as young as 2 (recommended for children age 2 - 6). The sample I received were grape flavored chewable tablet that James thought were candy. They are non-drowsy, 24-hour relief tablets that provide all-day relief for runny noses, itchy, watery eyes, and other allergy symptoms. Additionally, they are the #1 pediatrician recommended non-drowsy brand on the market. I also have a bunch of $3.00 off coupons for these, if you are interested.If you are interested in coupons for either of these products just leave me a comment and they are yours while supplies last. Make sure to let me know what one (or both) you are interested in. If you have tried the product, share your Bzz!

Started A New Job

For those of you who don't know - I started a new job last Friday. I haven't worked outside the house in a while and it is absolutely kicking my @$$! I don't know how I ever used to do this?!? Anyway, please give me a week to get in the grove and I will resume my daily posts. In the meantime I will do my best to post AT LEAST every other day.

I have so incredible reviews and giveaways coming up that you are gonna love and I'm so excited to share them with you.

Don't leave me, just let me get some sleep.

*hugs*
Lisa

The Winner of the CVS Giftcard Announced

Fruitfulvine2 left my 94th comment for The Ultimate Blog Party post! Congratulations on being my 94th comment! Unfortunately there is no contact information for Fruitfulvine2 therefore I'm hoping you come back here soon (end of day Monday) to let me know where to send you CVS giftcard.

I met some great people at the party this year and if I haven't gotten back to your site - I will! Thanks so much for stopping by and be on the look out for some incredible reviews and giveaways in the coming week.

If you would like to enter a comment use the OpenID option and use your blog url, facebook url, or myspace url.

Lisa

New Comment Layout

Sez-who will soon be no more and I had to switch the type of comment application I was using. I hope we like it better. I alreayd love the fact that I can comment on your comment. There are so many times I have read what you wrote and wanted to reply, but wasn't able to because of the old layout. Please leave a comment and tell me what you think - be honest because if you hate it I'll find something else. Check back too because I will be commenting back to each of you...

(NOTE: To sign in as a blogger use OpenID and enter your blog url - it is that easy! Once you upload an avatar the first time you never have to do it again, anywhere.)

My blog post will be done today - but I wanted to check out what you thought about this new feature.



Hugs and Kisses,


Lisa

Recipe: Haagen-Dazs Five Desserts

High Five to Five!

I recently had the opportunity to sample Haagen-Dazs' new line of ice cream called "Five". Why five? Because there are only 5 ingredients! For anyone who believes in "clean" living, you can't get much cleaner than this. The four staple ingredients are: skim milk, cream, eggs, and sugar. The fifth ingredient is whatever flavor you chose: milk chocolate, mint, ginger, vanilla, passion fruit, coffee, or brown sugar. After having sampled these flavors I do not think I will ever be able to eat any other ice cream again!

This weekend we had a tasting party at my house. We invited over a bunch of friends and sampled milk chocolate, mint, brown sugar, coffee, and ginger. We even made a fancy desert.

Ingredients:
Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry
Haagen-Dazs Five Brown Sugar Ice Cream
Fresh Berries

Needless to say, it was a huge hit!

What were our favorites:
Brown Sugar (3 votes)
Milk Chocolate (2 votes)
Mint (2 votes)
Coffee (2 votes)
Ginger (1 vote)

The mint was a great choice for finishing because it left a cool, fresh minty feel in your mouth. The ginger was surprisingly yummy with small hints of crystallized ginger pieces - it would be great served with ginger snap cookies. The coffee was very good and almost had an espresso flavor. The brown sugar was almost indescribable. It was fun mixing different flavors for different tastes. The only con for me with the Five line is that you cannot eat too much because they are very rich. Wait, is that a con?

Did I mention they have less fat than regular ice cream?

Here are a couple recipes for you to try...

Häagen-Dazs Five™ Ginger Ice Cream with Cardamom-Honey Roasted Peaches
Makes 4 servings

2 large or 4 small peaches
1/3 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons mild honey
6 cardamom pods crushed, husks discarded, or 1/4 tsp.ground cardamom
1-1/2 tablespoons butter
Häagen-Dazs Five Ginger Ice Cream
2 tablespoons toasted pistachio pieces

Preheat oven to 450ºF. Peel peaches if desired. Slice in half and remove pits. Placepeaches cut side up in a non-metallic oven-proof 8x8 or 9-inchround baking dish.

Stir together orange juice, honey, cardamom and butter in a microwave-safe dish. Heat 30-60 secondsuntil warm; stir until butter is melted. Pour over peaches.Bake 20-30 minutes until peaches are tender and syrup is bubbly, spooning syrup over peaches once ortwice during baking. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes.

Slice peaches into wedges and place in dessert bowls. Top with a scoop of Ginger Ice Cream. Drizzle with warm syrup from baking dish and sprinkle pistachios.

Häagen-Dazs Five™ Passion Fruit Ice Cream with Tropical Fruit Confetti
Makes 4 servings

1 medium mango
1 small papaya
2 kiwi
2 tablespoons toasted coconut
Häagen-Dazs Five Passion Fruit Ice Cream

Peel and cut mango, papaya and kiwis into 1/4-inch dice;combine in a bowl. Serve fruit over scoops of Passion Fruit IceCream. Sprinkle servings with coconut.


You have to go out and try this ice cream. To find your nearest retailer click here. Tell me what flavor sounds most interesting to you...

Wordless Wednesday: Our Day At The Atlanta Zoo

Nap Time!

What is your favorite zoo animal???

Guess Where We Went Yesterday...

Here is a hint:

Find out on Wordless Wednesday!

Did You Win A Giveaway This Weekend???

Happy Sunday. I may or may not make another post today. Depending on the weather, I might go to the zoo with my family.

I hate when I enter a giveaway and have to wait days to find out if I won. Don't you? For instance, I entered a giveaway on another blog that ended on the 13th and still there is no news about who won. I understand that things happen some times, but she has been making daily posts and still has not made mention of the giveaway winner. Anyway, that is one of my pet peeves.

This is the list of the Clorox Disinfecting Wipes winners. The 50th post was done by CVSer In Training and she won the tote with the free wipes.













Here are the other 9 winners:
2. SandyM204
3. Steph
4. pestkaj
5. toohotfortheturle (1 per winner)
6. Tumbleweed Trails
7. Shel
8. Jill
9. Someone Being Me
10. Emilie

Now, on to the next giveaway....
The winners of the 3 Fiber Friend Face-Off Challenge are:

1. sphinx63
2. YZgirl4
3. toohotforturtle

Well, don't forget to enter my giveaway for the CVS giftcard. All winners MUST respond by Friday, 3/27 and email their mailing address to lisa(dot)samples(at)gmail(dot)com

Any unclaimed prizes will either be awarded to the next winner on each of the lists or be given away in a live giveaway.

I hope you all have a gorgeous Sunday! Congratulations....

I Need A Vacation - Let's Go To Myrtle Beach

As sad as it may sound, I'm 42 years old and haven't been on a vacation since 1996. I have been married for over 6 years and have never, ever been anywhere with my family. It seems like we talk about it a lot, but never have the money to do it like we want to...so years keep passing us by and we sit in Georgia.

I'm ready to go. I'm ready to sit on a beach in the sun while my boys frollick in the water. I'm ready to sip a Pina Coloda with my hubby while watching the sunset over the ocean. I want to stay here at the Island Vista Resort. It is right on the ocean and has great amentities. It looks amazing and I can almost see myself laying on Myrtle Beach with the sand between my toes and I can almost hear the waves crashing on the shore. And if it rains? So what! I want to ride the Lazy River in a tube with my kids. It almost looks like a cave somewhere on a secluded island.

Do you want to come with me? Well, MyrtleBeachHotels.com is giving us the chance to win a $1,000 gift certificate valid at one of their one of their oceanfront hotels along the Grand Strand of Myrtle Beach. It is really easy to enter and you don't have to write a blog post if you don't want to. I chose to dream build and spread the word via this post. I also want to encourage my readers to go register as a fan of either Caribbean Beach Resort or The Breakers Resort on facebook. Please, if you do this for me let me know because it counts as an entry for you and me! I just need to know that you did it.

On March 24th you can increase your chances of winning by attending the Twitter #beachbash! For more information please go here.

In closing, I'm really ready to go, but if I win the gift certificate I'll be sure to twitter my experience and make a blog post with lots of pictures!

Ultimate Blog Party 2009 - Let's Get This Party Started w/Door Prize

Welcome to my personal party! For those of you who don't know 5 Minutes For Mom's annual Ultimate Blog Party 2009 started at midnight! I am participating and hope you will join me. I'm looking forward to meeting new, interesting women and winning some prizes! I even donated one to the cause (INTL 52). What would I like to win? How about the Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer provided by Moms Who Think? That is my first choice prize! Here are my others - 2nd Choice: 19, 21, 22, (INTL) 8, 88, 26, 91, 15, 113, 87, 60 and my 3rd Choice: ALL INTL 1, 3, 23, 30, 35, 61 (in no order)

Want to know something about me, your host?

My name is Lisa and I am the mom of 2 boys, wife of 1. I say that because I'm 42 years old and my hubby is only 29! In some circles I am referred to as a Cougar, like Demi Moore, but I look nothing like her. I met my husband through my girlfriend and neighbor (at the time) - his stepmother! We have been married now for 6 years. My boys are 5 years old and 15, another age gap. We live outside of Atlanta, Georgia and own 3 brindle boxers.

My interests are varied. I love to learn new things, cook, twitter (@lisasamples), shop, spend time with my family, and watch UFC. Yes, I'm not your average mom because I love watching mixed martial arts. If you still want to learn more, check out the ABC's of me!

If you come back to my blog (and I'm hoping you will) you will find all kinds of things: honest reviews, delicious recipes, awesome giveaways, personal stories, money saving tips, picture of our life, and some other informative tid-bits. I welcome you to follow my blog and follow me on twitter. I love meeting new people!

Door Prize!

Now, here is one thing about me that all my followers know - I LOVE GIVING THINGS AWAY! So, since this is my first party I want to give one of my new friends a welcome gift - a $10 giftcard to CVS! What do you have to do? Leave a comment - be creative! While you are here, you can enter my two other giveaways here and here. Door prize winner will be announced once the party is over...

Now, let's get this party started!

I'm Not Good At Wordless, But It Is Wednesday

Woke up yesterday and it was in the low 40's. Four hours later it was 75 degrees, sun was shining, and I had a beautiful surprise for me in my front yard.

I guess I need to put some bird food back in the feeders.

Last year I had gorgeous roses...

This year it is my azaleas that are taking my breath away.

What takes your breath away?

Review: We are Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs Combos

Seems to be a hit. When the Mom Bloggers Club asked if I would be interested in reviewing a cereal by General Mills I said sure. Well, I 'm glad I did because it was a hit. I had planned on taking a lot of pictures of James enjoying the soon to be released Cocoa Puffs Combos, but by the time I put away the milk and cereal and returned with my camera, this is what I found:

I decided to have a bowl after I brought him to school to try it for myself. The flavor wasn't overpowering with chocolate and they didn't get all soggy before I finished my bowl. They weren't too sweet either, like a lot of the kid cereals. I liked it.

Here are more pictures of James enjoying his new cereal:

Sidenote: My husband tried the cereal, but wasn't as excited as my son. He thought the chocolate/vanilla flavors blended together too much...and that it had a protein shake taste.

My sister in-law and niece both thought it was yummy and brought some home for their breakfast tomorrow.

Final vote: 4 yeah, 1 nah

Here is some additional information about General Mills Cereals that you may find useful:

• Are you aware of the recommended amount of calcium and vitamin D your child should get each day? Better yet, did you know the American Academy of Pediatrics recently doubled the vitamin D recommendation for children? Approximately 75% of kids today don’t get the recommended levels of calcium and vitamin D -- two key nutrients for bone growth.
• Not to worry though — as a parent, you can easily help your child get more of these two nutrients by looking for calcium and vitamin D fortified cereals, milk and juice. All General Mills Big G kid cereals (including Kix, Lucky Charms, Trix, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and more) offer a good source of BOTH calcium and vitamin D in each serving.
• Additionally, a recent report in a leading consumer magazine ranked kid cereals by nutritional content, and all nine General Mills Big G kid cereals included in the report were ranked in the top half. All Big G kid cereals have at least eight grams of whole grain per serving (at least 48 grams are recommended daily), and all have 12 grams or less of sugar per serving.
• Cereal is one of the most nutritious breakfast options a kid can eat. Most cereals have about 100 – 130 calories per serving and provide at least 10 key nutrients. And, ready-to-eat cereal is the number one source of whole grain in American diets.