Sunday, February 28, 2010

Special K Fruit Crisps Review





 
 (picture by ckfinke)
I have a little thing for granola bars.  Little as in... I eat one every morning. So when a new granola bar comes on the market, I MUST have it! I have be anxious to try the new Kellogg's Special K Fruit Crisps.

They are available in Blueberry and Strawberry - I chose strawberry. These bars are unlike pure granola bars - they are more of a "crackery" bar with fruit inside. Similar to Pop Tarts, these bars are lighter with less filling.



 
 And that was my biggest issue - the fruit filling seemed very thin (not like the filling in this picture!) The cracker outpowered it. Luckily, the cracker part is tasty! They come with 2 bars per pack.

At 100 calories for two bars, the Special K Fruit Crisp bars would make a great light dessert or snack on the go.

4.5 stars!

(note: this review is my own opinion. I was not compensated in any way by Kellogg's.)

Target Trip!




So, we needed some toothpaste, aluminum foil, paper towels, etc., adhave been out for awhile. I had planned to geo to Target earlier this week but the rain then snow prevented that. And trust me, this week I REALLY wished I had begun stockpiling better.

I had heard about the $5 Target gc with the purchase of some Kellogg's granola bars. On the endcap, they had the Cinnabon bars, special k bars and the new fruit crisp bars along with signs about the gc on select Kellogg's granola bars.So we took 2 Cinnabon, 2 Special K and one fruit crisp.

After we checked out, I asked the cashier about the $5 gift card.She hadn't heard about it so she called over a manager who told us the Cinnabons weren't part of the $5 gc items because they were marked down to $1.88. When I questioned WHY they would be on the endcap with the others, along with a sign both above and below so it made them look like it was part of the sale, she said "We just like to feature items there sometimes." Very crafty and misleading IMO.

Anyway, we just bought them anyway, but as we were leaving, I was looking at the receipt and surprise, the Cinnabons  were not on sale! So I had to go back to customer service, explain what happened, and the associategave me the difference. But what a chorse.

The sad thing is that is not the first time a store has been misleading like that. I think they count on people not paying attention or not remembering the prices. I hate making waves like that, but in thiscase I thought it had to be done.

Those Cinnabon bars are sooooo worth it though! Yum.

 
(photo from cfinke)

Friday, February 26, 2010

Spring Giveaway and a New Background!

I have been very busy today following a ton of blogs from the Google Friend Connect Group over at Mom Bloggers Club. There are a lot of them, and I have found some great new blogs. One of them is Smart and Trendy Moms. They are having a HUGE!!! giveaway event from March 1 to April 1 with over $700 worth of prizes! How cool it that? Head on over to Smart and Trendy Moms for the details and to enter on March 1st.

Also, I have a new blog background. As much as I like fall, I thought I'd change things up a bit and go with a more spring look. What do you think? I'm not really a fan of the horizontal line look but it is really cute and the colors match. I highlty reccomend The Cutest Blog on the Block for free backgrounds, headers and icons. You can also buy custom ones too!

Snow Day!!!

I called out today... I'm sure I'll get yelled at Monday but whatever. My life is worth more than my job!

In 2WW news, I had a very strange dream the other night.... in a night of strange dreams! It was about CM. lol Yeah, I don't know! I really don't think this month is the month though. :(

Good news of the day... I just made a deal with J... he's going to shovel :D And I am going to empty the dishwasher and wash the dishes. No problem. I'll probably make some cookies too today! A good snow day activity.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Why I Love My Husband...

Because he will patiently watch 2 hours of American Idol with me, snarking when appropriate but not rolling his  eyes and sighing through the rest of it! AI and the Olympics combined are like his own personal hell, and he has been so patient about watching them with me :D

The rain has subsided,  but worse snow/rain is coming in. Our friend is in NYC this week, and it looks like our plans to see him might not happen :( Kind of a bad week to be here on vacation lol!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

More Storms...

Pouring rain all day today... all day tomorrow... probably snow on Thursday to Friday, if not then MORE RAIN. Fun. Not. I am so glad that winter is almost over.

As I was typing this, Jeff pulled me into the other room... We've had a little leaking in the wall problem before, but now it has gotten bad. Apparently the loser who flipped our house didn't seal up a light switch and now there is a leak - and the tape he used on the wall is buckling. t looks pretty bad and when you touch it, water squishes out. Not good. Hopefully it won't get too much worse the next few days. /but it looks like some of our taxrefund is gonna go to fixing it. :\

Sunday, February 21, 2010

TTC Month 2

After a few months of stress, Jeff and I are TTCing again. However, I think I missed my O... I have been temping but while we were away I stopped. Figures that week wasthe big week. Being in a hotel room with thin walls, I was too scared to even try. Or maybe more embarrassed? LOL Anyway, we tried after we got back but I'm not holding out hope this month. :(

But in preparation, I had a little fun with the Make Me Babies web site. I learned about it from Patricia over at Tales of an Almost Mommy.As scary as her pictures are@ I decided to make a few of my own.

Baby 1 actually isn't so bad looknig. A little flat faced but not bad. And he apparently has J's love of hoodies lol!

 Now, let's try a girl...

I guess becauase her head is so tiny that they had to add a huge duck hat? LOL


A fun diversion during the dreaded 2 WW!!!

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Free Pretzel!

Did you guys get your free pretzel?



Jeff was on a quest for gloves, so we went out to the outlets... and scored a few good deals. And also enjoyed a warm, soft, cinnamon sugar pretzel. Mmmm. Thanks Auntie Anne's!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Back Into the Swing of Things...

I feel like I just posted a post like this lol We are back... the trip wasgoodand badaswould beexpected. Was so so wonderful to see my cousins again, though. So overwhelmed with so much to catch up on. Thankfully it's the weekend!

Since my meal planning week went off course last week, I decided to jump right back in it and make pizza! I used the dough recipe from My Litter of Six though I needed to use more than twice the flour. J and I made an Alfredo pizza with scallions, bacon and chicken. Delicious!!!

Mine isn't quite as round and pretty as Tiffany's is!LOL

In good news, we had our taxes done yesterday, and we are getting back a very nice chunk of money. Perfect to start doing the total money makeover with!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Fun Fact of the Day...

Rockford is home of the sock monkey!

These are life sized! :-0

 
 

Friday, February 12, 2010

Snow and life

Well Wednesday it snowed... we got about a foot. Ugh. The local roads are still dicey. So ready for winter to be done. No more cold or snow!!!!

Meal planning went okay - did make the Shepherd's Pie and it was easy and tasty. Of course I neglected to take a picture lol I put some in the freezer, that and leftover pulled pork. It feels good to have "real" food in the freezer!

This week did have some sad news,as my aunt lost her battle with cancer :( So our plans were changed, and we are now heading off to IL for a few days. It will be good to see my family, at least, but man... I'm gonna miss her. Who else will I talk books with? :(

You never know what life is gonna bring you...

Monday, February 8, 2010

Mc Linky Blog Hop - Valentine memory

The Blog Hop theme for this Monday is "VALENTINE MEMORY". Tell us about a memorable Valentine's Day... a special moment, a wonderful surprise, the most memorable Valentine's Day you can remember. Don't forget the pics if you have some of that special day.

This is where I turn red in embarrassment because I don't remember any! I haven't had very many Valentine's Days with a SO. And my memory... ugh. I can say that last year was pretty nice - J and I went to Disneyland! :D We arrived on Valentine's Day, and the lines to get ticket were really long. We needed to renew our APs. Really that is all I remember. We were there for a week, and it was one of the best vacations ever. But V-Day itself was a blur of a plane ride and crowded park!

EDIT.... I DID finally remember that while we were at Disneyland we did celebrate Valentine's day at Mimi's restaurant - where we had our first date! That was really sweet :)



MckLinky Blog Hop

Menu Plan Monday 2/8/10!

Trying desperately to get back on track!!

 

Monday: Leftover pulled pork from Super bowl Sunday
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: homemade bbq or white chicken and bacon pizza. Dough recipe from My Litter of Six 
Friday: Dinner with the TTC girls at Graffiti 
Saturday: V-Day dinner out, unsure where
Sunday: V-Day dinner in ... any suggestions on what to make?


Sunday, February 7, 2010

SUPER BOWL Day!

As I type this, the Who are sucking on my TV. General rule - the older you get the worse you sound, no matter how good you might have once been!! I am enjoying the commercials, though. There have been some cute ones!

It isjsut J and I today, so I made a smaller version of Relish!'s Super Bowl menu.

Of course, the best reason to watch is for an excuse to eat cheese, crackers and dip lol
 

We were going to have the tortilla rollups  as well as the slow cooker pulled pork sandwiches, but decided on only one main dish. I was soooooo nervous to make it. Of course I didn't have all of the ingredients so the sauce was just bottled BBQ sauce, an onion and a packet of Emeril's Essence that I had lying around. They turned out really good!! Even better with cheese.


 For dessert, I made a penut butter brownie recipe from All You magazine. Of course I messed that up too lol too much butter so they are greasy! And also very thick and crumbly. But tasty!!

pre-baking


And after baking, in football shapes and piped via a plastic bag. One day I will have  a real pastry bag set! I used the leftover icing on thr leftover brownies.


I hope that you all are having a great Super Bowl evening!

Friday, February 5, 2010

Superbowl and Giveaway Promotion

Now that Christmas, vacation and my crazy work schedule are over (My insane and horrible co-worker is GONE!!!) I am getting back to reality and BAKING. Tomorrow, in the midst of the coming snow storm, I'll be baking peanut butter football brownies. I'm looking really forward to it.

J isn't into sports at all, so we have low key Super Bowl plans. I only watch for the commercials.;) I am doing a modified version of Relish!'s SB menu. Slow cooker pulled pork (so nervous about making this) and tortilla roll ups. Was gonna make potato bites but... I forgot to buy potatoes! LOL We are also having some snacky, cheese and crackers and dip etc. I will take pics and blog about it!


Also, Lesley at Dragonflies 'n Daydreams is having a huge Valentine's Day giveaway. Lots of great stuff. Click on the pic to enter!
Photobucket