Good Earth Dinner Giveaway

When dinner means tons of pots and pans and mixing or chopping for hours, sometimes dining out seems tempting. Now with new Good Earth TM dry dinner kits, you can have restaurant taste without the restaurant wait and still have a wholesome dinner.

With appetizing entrées from Good Earth, dining in is made easy! Enjoy cooking a sophisticated, restaurant-quality meal in the comfort of your own home. Each variety includes vibrant and flavorful sauces along with specialty ingredients like sweet basil, white wine and dried tomatoes. Delicious dinners that allow you to keep a healthy lifestyle without sacrificing taste, Good Earth dry dinner kits are perfect for whipping up a no-fail, five-star cuisine in less than 30 minutes.

100% whole grain, no trans fat, no artificial flavors, no artificial preservatives, no MSG - just add meat and, voila! Dinner is served.

Coming to stores this month, Good Earth dry dinner kits offer a selection of four delectable meals: Mediterranean Chicken with angel hair pasta, Spicy Citrus Glazed Shrimp with angel hair pasta, Herb Crusted Chicken with mushroom risotto and Tuscan Chicken with penne pasta.

My BlogSpark recently gave me the opportunity to taste this new product. For those of you who have been reading a while, you know that I'm a BIG fan of easy-prep meals! This one is definitely a winner!

At first I was a little worried that it wasn't going to be enough food. The package of wholegrain pasta seemed so tiny. I'm all for portion control, but this looked like I'd be left hungry. Boy was I wrong. This little box exploded into a delicious and bountiful meal! I couldn't believe how much food it made!

I had the Mediterranean Chicken. It tasted as fabulous as my favorite Italian restaurant! I was even very proud of myself for making such a tastey dinner!


You have the chance to win a Good Earth gift pack that includes a Good Earth Mediterranean Chicken dry dinner kit, two sets of bamboo flatware, two bamboo dishes, a bamboo utility board and a 100% recyclable grocery tote. This is one of the cutest prize packs I've seen!
 
 *Disclosure* product, gift pack, information and additional gift pack to give away were all provided by Good Earth and MyBlogSpark.

Here's how to enter. Please make sure you leave a separate comment for each entry!

 Giveaway ends July 5th, 2010 at 7:00 pm EST. Good luck and thanks for entering!

Initial Entry:
Which Good Earth meal would you like to try?

1 Extra Entry:
Follow my blog or subscribe to the RSS feed. Please leave a separate comment that you did!

1 Extra Entry:
Tweet this giveaway, include @MadMomMission and a link to this giveaway, and post a link to the Tweet here. (limit once per day)

1 Extra Entry:
Become a Fan of The Mad Mom on Facebook. Leave a comment that you did so.

2 Extra Entries: Blog about this contest with a link back to this Giveaway! Don't forget to put a link to your post here!

Sex and the City Soundtrack Makes Girls Night Complete

As moms, we can all use a good night out (or in) with our girlfriends. I'm usually pretty skeptical when it comes to feature film soundtracks. They seem to have a bunch of songs that are perfect for the movie, but just not something I would listen to on my own. 

This is not the case with the Sex and the City 2 soundtrack. Tracks on this CD are the perfect soundtrack for getting ready - which as women, getting ready for a night with the girls can be a production in itself! 

And for those SJP fans out there, you now have a chance to win a phone call from Sarah Jessica herself!

Soundtrack to Strut Your Stuff!

 

1. Alicia Keys “Rapture”
2. Dido “Everything to Lose”
3. Cee Lo “Language of Love”
4. Erykah Badu “Window Seat”
5. Natacha Atlas “Kidda”
6. Michael McGregor “Euphrates Dream”
7. Liza Minnelli “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”

8. Ricki-Lee "Can't Touch It"

9. Alicia Keys "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down"

10. Jennifer Hudson and Leona Lewis "Love Is Your Color"

11. Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon “I Am Woman”

12. Sex and the City Men’s Choir “If Ever I Would Leave You”

13. Sex and the City Men’s Choir “Sunrise, Sunset”

14. Sex and the City Men’s Choir “Till There Was You”

15.  Shayna Steele, Jordan Ballard, Kamilah Marshall “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered”

16.  Liza Minnelli with Billy Stritch “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye”

17.  Cyndi Lauper “True Colors”

18.  Aaron Zigman “Divas and Dunes” 

 

Now that you've all had the chance to see the movie, party like a diva and order your Sex and the City 2 soundtrack!

Cali's Rockin' Her First Giveaway

Rockin' Green Laundry Detergent

I know I mentioned it in my intro, but I am a cloth diapering mama.  While that on its own is an entirely different blog entry, it is how I found what I am about to tell you all about.  Laundry detergent!  HOORAY!  Only mom would get excited about laundry detergent.  When using cloth diapers, you must be careful how you care for them and that includes washing.  You can’t use many of the main stream detergents. Certain dyes, enzymes and scents leave buildup that will make your diaper repel moisture, which is obviously the opposite of what you want in a diaper right?  That buildup will also attract and trap dirt, again the opposite of what you want, for anything you wash.  My search for that perfect detergent led me to Rockin’ Green; it is everything I was looking for, and MORE.   

First off, it’s not only safe for cloth diapers, but it is obviously good for your everyday laundry; secondly it smells amazing!  It makes one of my least favorite chores, delicious!  It is phosphate free so what makes it good for sensitive skin also makes it a good choice for the planet!  Did I mention it smells deliciously amazing?  It comes in three formulas: Soft Rock for those that have soft water, Classic Rock for those that are in the middle, and Hard Rock for those of us that have hard water. 

Now for the fun (and incredibly embarrassing part).   I know a lot of you are thinking “okay great, it’s good for cloth diapers, I don’t use cloth diapers”.  My first challenge… How do I relate to everyone?  I know… SHEETS!  Everyone uses multiple sets of sheets for you and your little ones.  So I filled up my bathtub and “Rocked a Soak” with my Rockin’ Green.  What is that?  Well it’s simple; I soaked our sheets in our tub with three tablespoons of the detergent.  Rockin’ Green will pull all that buildup from detergent, minerals from the water, and well… just plain dirt. First I ran our sheets through a quick cycle in the washing machine with my old detergent, just for good measure so they are just as clean as they would be for anyone else trying Rockin’ Green after another detergent.   The results were, well… amazingly, embarrassingly, disgusting!  My sheets after only a half hour into a soak:

You can soak in your tub like I did, or just in your machine.  The website has a great guide as how to rock a soak, and how to use it depending on your machine.  Now if you will excuse me, I must go clean my tub after all that!   A little birdie told me that maybe just maybe Rockin’ Green will have something for that soon, in the form of an all purpose spray cleaner. 

So wanna try some Rockin’ Green on your stuff?  Well we will pick one lucky reader to get a bag just for them! Here's how to enter:

Giveaway ends Friday, July 2nd at 7:00 pm EST. Good luck and thanks for entering!

Mandatory Entry:

1. To enter go to the website at http://rockingreensoap.com/  Take a look around and let us know what scent you want to try and if you have soft or hard water. 

Bonus entries:

1.  Like Rockin’ Green on Facebook  (I recommend checking out the pictures of things other fans have soaked)

2.  Become a follower of this blog or subscribe via RSS

3.  Like The Mad Mom on Facebook

4.  Do something “green” and come back here and tell us about it.  Two entries if you post a picture of it!

Tell us what you want to Rock a Soak on!

Father's Day is Coming!

Is it mean to say that I kind of dread Father's Day? I mean, yeah, I want to tell my Daddy how much I love him and how much he means to me, but I always feel obligated to get him some big fancy gift. To make it worse, his birthday is in May, so I have to double up the excruciatingly difficult task of  shopping for Dad.... again.

He gets to wear jean to work everyday, so a tie is out. Gift cards feel like a cop out. He's had the same watch my entire life and I don't think he'd like to get a new one since that one's so "broken in." I also really hate asking what he wants. I feel like by me asking, I'm pretty much saying, I've known you for 26 years and still have no idea what you like.

I know what he likes. He likes things that aren't tangible. Like saving money, grilling meats, and... well... that's all he really does...I'm thinking of getting him some good craft beers. Something he'll enjoy, but won't have to keep laying around the house until the end of time.

This is what I plan to get my hubby: The Gator Grip - He does a lot with his hands at work and never has the right size socket. Hopefully this one tool will save him some frustration!

And because I'm obsessed with the Food Network Challenge cakes show, here's a nice display of some necktie cakes for the man in your life.

New Addition: Welcome Mad Mom Cali!

Aren’t We ALL a Little Mad?

I think the definition of being a mother includes some madness!  Where to begin about my own?  My name is Cali, I am 26… That’s the boring stuff. I have two munchkins, my wonderful, rambunctious four year old boy Gabriel “the Goblin” Goobs, and Cordelia Bunny “Fluffy Butt” who is a whole eight weeks old.  I am a cloth diapering mama, aka I do a LOT of laundry. I also proudly wear my baby, yes I wear her, I couldn’t think of a cuter, bolder fashion statement and she goes with almost anything!  I plan on sharing all about my decent into madness, including those things, so be ready to hear about some great baby carriers, diapers, and a few other “green” products along the way, and who knows, maybe even a giveaway…

I love my kids, but in this house, nap time is sacred.  When else do you do the dishes, throw in a load of laundry and fold what was in the dryer; and now get some quick thoughts down into the blogosphere?  I have a severe chocolate addiction, and as soon as they come up with chocoholics anonymous I am there!  I don’t want to give everything away so you'll have to stay tuned to keep learning more about this new addition to The Mad Mom Blog!

I'm No Photographer

So my little man is 18 months now... Well, actually he's almost 19 months. Time is flying so fast! He's a very active boy, constantly on the go! This age is so much fun. He's learning something new, it seems like everyday. As he's growing out of his baby looks and beginning to look more like a little boy, I try to take so many pictures.

Looking back, I probably have hundreds of pictures from birth through about 11 months. After 11 months, he got really good at running. Therefore, I have very few photos of him actually looking at the camera. Something always grabs his attention. Such a little explorer. We've tried fun noises, toys, and practically everything we could think of to get our guy to smile for the camera. Nothing has worked. He holds a smile for a millisecond, then by the time the camera snaps the shot, he's looked away. This results in many, many photos like this one:

While of course I still love the pictures, it sure would be nice to capture one with him looking at the camera. I want to see his smile with those big blue eyes all lit up. The only pictures I have of him at my desk are from when he was 11 months and younger. I see the side of his head all the time. I want to see that smiling face when I'm at work.

This same problem holds true for my video camera.  While I'm not trying to capture him in a still position, he's quite intrigued with the camera itself. He did the cutest thing today, so I whipped out the video camera. He realized this right away and stopped talking on the phone (well, he thought he was) saying "hi, Daddy!" But of course he stopped right away and I have nothing to show my husband when he gets home from work :(

Hopefully he'll grow out of this soon so I can take lots and lots of pictures of that adorable smiling face!

Soft Scrub Total Bath

I have a whole lot of raving to do about this product! Just a couple weeks ago, actually it was the weekend I was hosting a bachelorette party, my bathtub drain totally plugged up. It was disgusting. Not only was the water not draining, but nasty water was coming back up into the tub whenever the water was running in the bathroom sink.

After three full days of nasty, mucky, rusty looking water spewing back into my tub, we had finally figured out a fix. The water drained within a matter of minutes. The aftermath was terrible. A rust colored ring of filth lined the tub. I just couldn't wait to get in and scrub it clean... Yes, that was total sarcasm...

The ring of rust colored filth was on top of all the other day-to-day grime that builds up which made it look like even more of a challenge to clean. Naturally, as a mom, my first thought was "I have to bath my baby in that!" Immediately after the water drained and we were sure the problem was fixed, I reached for the Soft Scrub Total Bath & Bowl. Knowing that my last experience was so effortless, I thought this would be the perfect time to really put it to the test! I figured it would at least get the really grimey stuff off, but I'd have to kick in a little elbow grease to get the rest of the job done.

That wasn't the case at all. I really wish my computer wasn't busted at the time because I would have uploaded tons of pictures! Using the foam spray, I coated the gunk. Then switched the nozzle to spray the bottom of the tub with a fine mist. Given the severity of the filth, I let the cleanser sit to work it's magic for a couple minutes.

I got myself ready, sleeves rolled up, heavy duty scrub brush out, abrasive Ajax cleaner on deck. With one swipe of the rag, the mess was gone. All that anticipation. All that preparation for a bathroom cleaning nightmare... Gone... Just wiped the surface of the tub, rinsed, and it looked brand-spanking-new!

Another reason to rave about Soft Scrub Total Bath & Bowl is because of the staying power. This cleaning miracle took place on May 16th. Just this Wednesday, two and a half weeks later, my mother came over to watch the baby while I was out on business. She commented how good my tub looked! I couldn't believe it! Me, the person who hates to clean and rarely does it, still has a great looking tub after all that time! And yes, we do shower and bath regularly!

So tomorrow, my mom is going out to purchase this amazing bathroom cleaner and I'm going to demonstrate how effortless it really is! I'll try to take a video- if she'll let me tape her bathroom :)


Get the coupons!

MIA Status

I know I totally went MIA for pretty much the entire month of May. Things have been crazy busy! The little one is now 18 months and is SO much fun! Work has been equally busy (if not more). Then, to top it all off, one of my very best friends got married last weekend. (Yes, you can expect a "mommy drank" post soon)

The biggest reason for my disappearance from the blogosphere is due to my computer crashing... for the fourth time... You'd think I'd learn my lesson and just get a new one with super virus protection, but I refuse. I'm frugal, not cheap!

I'll have a lot to say in the next few posts so stay tuned!