A few things that are making me happy...

• End of summer/back to school BBQ's we have been enjoying.
  
• The leaves slowly starting to change, Fall is coming, my favorite time of year.
  
• The thought of HALLOWEEN coming up, we love Halloween!
• This sweet baby girl kicking and growing inside me, life is good :)
  

Online Sweepstakes

 

Everyone knows I LOVE sweepstakes! I win stuff often and want to win something BIG soon. So I keep entering and hope. Its like my free lotto tickets lol. I found a few I sweepstakes I wanted to share with you! Good Luck and I always like to here if you have won anything.


Gerber Children's Wear Facebook Contest

Oriental Trading Company $500 Spooktacular Giveaway


Arm and Hammer Share a Baking Soda Secret Contest

Win a Year Supply of Luvs Disposable Diapers

Crocs Back to School Sweeps to Win a trip to San Diego

Rice Select Made in the USA Facebook Contest

Earth's Best Play-Date Sweepstakes to win a Sesame Street Vacation and other great prizes

Smoothies instead of Shakes

I must admit I am a goodie hound. I love sweet treats, must be why I am so sweet myself lol. But I am trying to switch my thinking to be more healthier. Instead of making milk shakes with ice cream I am now making Smoothies using yogurt.

As a frugal mama I cannot waste anything especially fruit! Over the summer our bananas seemed to go brown faster than we could eat them. So each time I would put it whole into the freezer. Also we purchased fresh fruit when it was a great sale and froze that as well. I purchased some large tubs of vanilla yogurt at Safeway using coupons and my rewards card for a great deal.

This smoothie we used bananas, strawberries, yogurt, a few rasperries, and some milk. I did not add any extra sugar since we are trying to cut back on that as well. It was really good. The vanilla yogurt helped sweeten the tartness of the strawberries.

Plus its cheaper than Jamba Juice and you don't have to leave the house!

So I say forget the ice cream shakes and switch to smoothies for a yummy and frugal way to enjoy a nice treat.

Mi-Del Cookies Review and Giveaway 3 Winners

Cookies are a favorite treat in my house! They are easy to eat and can be made with so many different flavors. I have loved baking cookies since I was a teenager. I even have a recipe from a book that my mom wrote my name by since it was the one recipe I would always make. My son adores cookies too. He comes really close to saying it. I am sure with in a month he will have it down perfect. We always get a free cookie at the grocery store too, its fun, frugal and a tradition we started with my mom when Sam and I were kids.

Since it has been a warm summer we have not been able to bake as much as we would like to. I wanted to find some good quality store bought cookies to share with my Bubba. Our local store only carried the Gluten Free version of the cookies we were looking for, Mi-Del. I have been curious as to how Gluten Free Cookies taste so this was a treat to be able to review these cookies.

I did a mini taste test while I had some extra kids in the house. I gave the all one of each cookie and had them tell me what one they liked best. For the two kids including my son who don't talk yet I gave them one at a time to see their reaction.

All of the Gluten Free Cookies are free of:

• Wheat
• Trans fats
• Artificial flavors or artificial ingredients

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip cookies give you the satisfying crunch that makes every bite a delight.

What's In

• Gluten-free flour
• Organic dehydrated cane juice
• Organic chocolate chips

MI-DEL Arrowroot Cookies are fun animal shapes and a slightly sweet flavor make these a favorite for moms who want to give teething babies a healthier option.

What's In

• Gluten-free flour
• Organic dehydrated cane juice
• Arrowroot Flour

Perfect for those who suffer from gluten sensitivity and celiac disease, but still want to enjoy the bold taste of ginger. This classic cookie has a deep, rich flavor with a crispy snap. MI-DEL Gluten-Free Ginger Snaps are also great as an ingredient in pie crusts and other recipes.

What's In

• Gluten-free flour
• Organic dehydrated cane juice
• Unsulphured molasses

The results of the taste test were what I expected. The kids liked the Chocolate Chip ones the best, the 1 year old liked the Arrowroot  and I liked the Ginger Snaps. The other adults commented that the cookies were a bit dry but would be great with milk. One of the kids put the Chocolate Cookies in her oatmeal the next morning which I thought was really cute! The Ginger Snaps are very snappy, they have a very strong flavor and none of the kids would eat them. I think they would be great as a pie crust. My son would not eat the Arrowroot cookies and handed them back to me. I was shocked he handed back a cookie! He did eat the Chocolate chip ones.

Chocolate Chip covered face!

We look forward to trying other flavors of the Mi-Del cookies in the future. They make a Pecan flavored cookie that I think would be great with a cup of coffee.

GIVEAWAY

 

Win  1 Free Product Coupon for Mi-Del Cookies (3winners)

 

To Enter This Giveaway: 

What cookies from Mi-Del would you like to try?

 *Leave a comment answering the question and be sure to leave your email address if its not public in your Google account*

Extra Entries: Can be done after leaving a comment for mandatory entry. If the extra entry says 1 extra entry leave 1 comment and 2 extra entries leave me 2 comments and so on. 

-Like on Mi-Del Cookies Facebook +1 
-Follow Mi-Del Cookies on Twitter +1 

-Follow Frugal Family Tree on GFC ( right hand side) +2

-Like our new fan page on Facebook Frugal Family Tree +1

-Follow FrugalFamTree on Twitter +1

-Share this giveaway on Twitter or Facebook using the Share Button at the bottom on this post. +2 for each share you do. (can be done once a day)

-Add our button to your blog and leave a link of where it is located +5 (right hand side) 

*Limited to US residents; 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts August 31, 2011 and ends on September 10, 2011 at midnight PST.  Winner will be emailed and has 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected. I was not paid for this giveaway or post. I was provide the item in this review for free by the company or PR firm representing them. The opinions on this item are 100% mine and may vary from others.

Nalgene BPA Free Water Bottle Review and Giveaway

We have tried many reusable bottles since my son was born. Some stainless steel and others plastic. With the stainless steel they can be a pain to hand wash and often have small drink holes. With plastic they have to be BPA Free and dishwasher safe. Thankfully more and more companies are realizing BPA free bottles are what people want. 

I have been looking for a wide mouth plastic bottle that I can easily use. I am always thirsty and take something to drink with me anytime we go out and often to just hang out at home. With my little guy wanting to grab anything he sees having a lid on something I am drinking makes things easier. We found some great bottles for all our needs on the Nalgene website.

MultiDrink bottle

 
I had the opportunity to review a bottle by the company Nalgene. The MultiDrink bottle with a wide mouth and of course BPA free was the bottle we selected to review. I was so glad to see that the opening is as wide as the bottle. It made it super easy to toss ice into it and have great ice tea on the go. The pivoting straw and leak proof lock is great. We took it the park over the weekend and it was a hot day. We shared some grape juice with ease. Even after realizing it was on its side at the bottom of the diaper bag it still did not leak. Thankfully since it was purple grape juice!

On The Fly bottle

We also reviewed the OTF On The Fly BPA Free Bottle. I really liked the ease of use on this one. It was one hand open which for me is great since my hands are always multi-tasking. I can see this being very useful for sports and outdoor activities since its easy to use.

 These would be great for back to school to save money on those costly juice boxes. Or for your kids after school activities to stay hydrated. We have been mixing our own juice and using BPA free bottles to be more frugal and earth friendly.

Nalgene offers two new products, the On-The-Fly (OTF) and the Multi-Drink water bottles that will help students of all ages stay hydrated in a cost-effective manner. Parents can save money on expensive bottled water by giving their kids these re-usable Nalgene water bottles! Whether young kids want to carry one of these around school as their newest accessory or older students need to stay hydrated while they play on their sports teams, kids of all ages going back to school will love these water bottles. These hydrating essentials with easy-to-use loop top caps are 100% leak proof so you don't have to worry about unwanted spills. You can sip, gulp, or slug with the Multi-Drink bottle, which has a straw and a sipping valve so you can have the best of both worlds. Kids will love to show up on the first day back to school with these hydrating essentials, which come in a variety of bright colors! Both of these products are BPA-free, under $15, and also make the perfect accessory to any of your favorite family-oriented activities.

GIVEAWAY

 

Win a prize package of one On-The-Fly (OTF) bottle and one Multi-Drink bottle

To Enter This Giveaway: 

What other product on Nalgene website do you like?

 *Leave a comment answering the question and be sure to leave your email address if its not public in your Google account*

Extra Entries: Can be done after leaving a comment for mandatory entry. If the extra entry says 1 extra entry leave 1 comment and 2 extra entries leave me 2 comments and so on. 

-Like on Nalgene Outdoor Facebook +1 
-Follow Nalgene Outdoor on Twitter +1 

-Follow Frugal Family Tree on GFC ( right hand side) +2

-Like our new fan page on Facebook Frugal Family Tree +1

-Follow FrugalFamTree on Twitter +1

-Share this giveaway on Twitter or Facebook using the Share Button at the bottom on this post. +2 for each share you do. (can be done once a day)

-Add our button to your blog and leave a link of where it is located +5 (right hand side) 

*Limited to US residents; 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts August 31, 2011 and ends on September 10, 2011 at midnight PST.  Winner will be emailed and has 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected. I was not paid for this giveaway or post. I was provide the item in this review for free by the company or PR firm representing them. The opinions on this item are 100% mine and may vary from others.