And the winner is....

...soon to be announced!


First, let me tell you that I used Random.org to select the winner.  There were a total of 11 comments on my blog and I didn't count comment #7, since it was a clarification of comment #6.  Had comment #7 been generated, I would have run the number generator again. 

The number generator identified comment #4, which was from Crickett Brown.  Congratulations Crickett!  I'm sending you a note right now.  Kroger does have an excellent selection of gluten free items and I hope you are able to stock up on a few of your favorites!

Thank you, everyone, for entering! 

Passing Along a Winner of a Deal - Kroger

Right now, there is a promotion going on at Kroger grocery stores.  If you purchase any four participating General Mills products, you will either receive free milk (up to $3; limit of 2) or to receive $3 off your shopping order! 

I shop at Kroger here by home.  They have great sales and I often am able to stock up on pantry items.  It helps that they double coupons up to fifty cents, too.  If you’ve read here long, you know I like Cheerios.  We eat a lot of them in this family.  Anyway, they are part of the promotion!  Woohoo!  I think that’s one of my favorite parts!  So, with the current sale, I get to stock up on Cheerios and get my milk for (almost) free.  Around here, milk is a little more than $3 per gallon.  Still, that’s a huge savings.  But, here’s the deal….this promotion ENDS NOVEMBER 26, 2011.  You’ve got to hurry if you want to get in on the promotion.  Like, go this weekend.  Seriously.

Check out the Kroger Facebook Page for more information and learn about other ways to save on your grocery bills. 

Know what makes this promotion even sweeter?  Kroger, General Mills and My Blog Spark have offered me the opportunity to host a giveaway related to this promotion.  One of my lovely readers is going to win a $25 gift card to Kroger!  Is that awesome, or what?  I know they don’t have a Kroger in every area, but this gift card is good at any of the Kroger family of stores.  So, you folks who shop at Ralphs, King Scoopers, City Market, Dillons, Smith´s, Fry´s, QFC, Baker´s, Owen´s, Jay C Food Stores, Hilander, Gerbes, Food4Less, Fred Meyer, Pay Less Supermarkets and Scott´s Food & Pharmacy can use the gift card at your local store, too, if you are the winner. 

So, how do you enter the giveaway?  Easy-peasy.  Leave a comment on my blog.  Tell me how you would use the $25 gift card.  Will you use it to stock up on General Mills cereals for breakfast?  Will you use it to make massive quantities of Chex-Mix for your holiday parties?  Just share with me how you will use the Kroger gift card.  Make sure your comment links back to you, otherwise I won’t be able to reach you if you are the winner. 

I will select the winner Friday, November 25, 2011, using a random number generator.  I will contact the winner and give 24 hours for a response.  The winner will need to provide mailing information to an address within the U.S., which I will submit to My Blog Spark for fulfillment.  If I do not hear from the winner within 24 hours, I will select an alternate winner.

Disclosure: The Kroger gift card, information, and giveaway have been provided by Kroger and General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

It Was a Simply Homemade Party!

MommyParties and Fleischmann's Simply Homemade provided me the opportunity to host a Mommy Party for their new line of bread mixes.  Now, anyone who knows me, knows I love to eat good bread.  I usually make my own, as I've mentioned in my posts.  But, sometimes, I really want covenience without sacrificing flavor and goodness.



I had to test out the product ahead of time, so we made a loaf before the party.  Princess E couldn't wait to try the bread, so I let her help me make it. 



I should clarify that.  By "help", I mean I let her make it while I took pictures.



Here is our finished sample loaf.  It had a thick crust and the loaf was super heavy. 

Then, it was time to get cleaned up and ready for our party.  After I learned how easy it was for Princess E to make the bread, I changed the party plan.  Instead of all us moms making the bread, we let the kid's have fun.  Sure, we were there to supervise, but we let them have the fun. 

We try to blend homeschooling into everyday activities.  So, we turned our little party into a cooking lesson, hygiene lesson, and a chemistry lesson. 

They took turns adding the ingredients for their creations.  They got a kick out of watching the yeast begin to work.  The recipes are very simple and are great for an after work dinner.  Everything is premeasured and packaged for ease, except for water.  All you need to make these loaves is a cup of water.  What could be easier?



We let the children plan their own loaves and shapes.  Just look at all these awesome loaves! 



Did I tell you it takes less than an hour, start to finish to have a fresh loaf of bread?  Of that, less than 10 minutes is active time.  Just 10 minutes. 



This was our smallest "loaf".  She decided to save this morsel of yumminess to share with the pooches. 



Here's another of the loaves. 



Now, let me tell you a little abou the Fleischmann's Simply Homemade bread mixes.  They come in four varieties:

          Country White
          Stoneground Wheat
          Multigrain
          Italian Herb

At our party, I asked which was everyone's favorite.  It was pretty well divided between Country White, Stoneground Wheat and Italian Herb.  Personally, my favorite was the Italian Herb.

We talked about different ideas for making different bread creations.  One suggested stuffing the Italian Herb bread with pepperoni, mozarella cheese and spaghetti sauce.  That would be delicious.  A similar recipe is posted on the Simply Homemade recipe page.  Other suggestions were to make cheese rolls, by mixing in cheese sticks, cooking hot dogs inside shaped dough, and cutting up the leftover bread and making croutons.  All of those sounded like kid-friendly ideas except the last one wouldn't work.  What leftover bread?  Ha!

I think my favorite thing about this line of bread is that I can allow Princess E to make it, pretty much by herself.  It's a great way to practice her baking skills.  You don't even have to knead the dough.  You just stir it all together.  She can do everything except take the bread out of the oven.  Okay, she probably could do that too, but we're not ready to let her pull hot pans out of a 400 degree oven. 

You can pick-up Fleischmann's Simply Homemade Bread Mixes at your favorite grocery store.  A list of chains is provided on their website.  I encourage you to visit the website and take a look. 

Many thanks to MommyParties and Fleischmann's Simply Homemade for providing me the products to host this gathering.  We had a lot of fun!  We moms (and dads!) enjoyed watching the children enthusiastically craft their loaves, and we enjoyed sampling the end results.  The children enjoyed being "in charge" of the kitchen, wearing their own oven mits, and proudly showing off their designs.  It made for a great party!

Disclaimer:  The bread mixes, coupons, apron and oven mitts were provided to me to be able to host this party.  The opinions expressed in the post are mine or those of my guests.