“I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Mom Central for Save Mart Supermarkets. I received Thomas Cookware items to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation.”

For those that have a Save Mart Supermarket near, they have started a promotion for free cookware like I remember from my childhood. Now until January 20, 2015, every time you spend $10 you will receive a bonus stamp that can be applied towards a new and FREE  Thomas fry pan, grill pan, sauce pan or maybe even a casserole pan.

As many of you already know I really enjoy cooking. I also really love the idea of earning free Thomas Cook & Pour cookware just for shopping for everyday groceries. There are nine different pieces that you can choose to save your bonus stamps for. Six of the nine you can get completely free just for saving a certain amount of stamps while there are three that you have to pay a small amount of $4.99 – $5.99 in addition to the bonus stamps.

If  you have saved some stamps and don’t want to wait, each of the nine pieces allows you to get a great deal on the cookware by using half the amount of bonus stamps. For example, you can get the Thomas Casserole Pan with Glass Lid for free with 100Bonus Stamps. Or you can choose to only use 50 bonus stamps and pay $11.99 for the pan.

I made a trip to the the Save Mart that is closest to me to pickup a couple of the Thomas Cookware items. I have to say that I LOVE Save Mart and wish I had one closer. Not only do I like their low prices, they always seem to have a great selection of products in the bakery and produce isle that I don’t see at other stores I shop at. Now that I can earn some nice cookware I think I should be doing most of my shopping at Save Mart.

Ever since I used non-stick cookware I can’t go back. I use skillets and fry pans almost daily and have been enjoying using my new Thomas Nonstick Fry Pan. It is stainless steel, 10″ wide and has a DuPont Teflon non-stick coating to keep my food from sticking and also easy cleaning.

I have the 10″ fry pan as well as the Thomas Sauce Pan that is going to come in real handy when I am making pasta and yummy sauces. I now really want the other pieces to this collection, especially the 11″ Thomas Nonstick Grill Pan. I love that with this collection has been designed to go straight from the stove to the oven!

The Cook & Pour collection by Thomas is available exclusively at participating Save Mart and Lucky Supermarkets. To start your Thomas Cook & Pour collection you got to get shopping at Save Mart and saving those bonus stamps.

If you aren’t a big fan of cooking but shop at Save Mart, the Thomas Cook & Pour collection would make for a great gift for the holidays too! For more information be sure to visit: www.SaveMart.com.

Have you started collecting your Save Mart Bonus Stamps yet?

When you are raising daughters you hope that they enjoy the days of being a kid and not try to grow up so fast. My daughter Hannah is my youngest daughter who enjoys playing games with her brother, but she also likes to play with girly toys like the cute Lalaloopsy dolls that I received to review.

When I received an email to become a Lalaloopsy Insider, I couldn’t wait to tell Hannah. I asked her now that she is 10, did she still like the Lalaloopsy girls and she said yes. She was so EXCITED when she found out that not only were we going to receive some dolls, but we are also going to receive the Lalaloopsy Baking Oven too!

When I told Hannah it was time to cook with the new LalaLoopsy Baking Oven she couldn’t wait to take it out of the box. I will have to admit it was fun helping her take the stuff out the box. It reminded me how much fun I had when I was a child with my very own little oven.

One thing I love about my kids is their desire to cook like mom. All of my kids see me always in the busy enjoying cooking so it is something they enjoy learning and helping out with too. When it comes to baking, Hannah doesn’t get to use the oven in the kitchen on her own, but she is able to use the Lalaloopsy Baking Oven without my supervision.

This weekend Hannah had a blast making cookies and a cake for her and her brother.

Take a peek at this Lalaloopsy Baking Oven Product Demonstration on Youtube:

The cute Lalaloopsy dolls and this fun baking oven are just two of the fun Lalaloopsy products. If you have a Lalaloopsy fan in your home, be sure to become part of the Lalaloopsy Insiders too! This is a fun social community where fans get special access to the world of Lalaloopsy and can share their love of these magical dolls.

For more information on these fun products visit the Lalaloopsy Website

#spon: I’m required to disclose a relationship between my blog and MGAE. This could include MGAE providing me w/ content, product, access or other forms of payment.

The last couple days I have been testing out another fun kitchen appliance to make meals for my family. I have been making burgers, chicken, french fries and even vegetables in my new Ronco Ready Grill.

When I first seen the Ronco Ready Grill I thought it looked similar to my deep fryer that I have stored away. I used to enjoy deep frying food years ago but now I am looking for more healthier ways to cook our meals. With the Ronco Ready Grill there is no oil needed, your food is evenly cooked with infrared technology. You place the food in a basket and it cooks in a vertical and upright position between infrared heat shields. allowing unwanted grease and fat to drip away.

Once I received my grill I wasn’t sure what I wanted to cook first. I watched  an infomercial online with Ronco’s Brand Ambassador Mark Gill that showed him making steak, potatoes, asparagus and even dessert in the grill. It had me wanting to see what I could cook in mine.  Since it has been said that you can cook meals from the freezer I thought it would be fun to experiment with some burger and fries.

I simply took two frozen hamburger patties and some fries our of the freezer, placed them in the basket, sprinkled some seasoning salt and put the basket in the grill. In about 12 minutes I had burgers and fries that were cooked and ready to eat. They might not be the best looking burgers because they got a little smushed on the bottom while cooking but they were evenly cooked and tasted great.

The next thing I wanted to try in the grill was frozen chicken breasts. I added a couple to the basket and and sprinkled the chicken with some  seasonings.

The chicken breast took a little longer to cook than the burgers (about 20 minutes) but came out delicious. When I am making lunch for just the hubby and I, this grill is perfect for grilling 2 pieces of chicken at one time.

Since I did mention I have been trying to cook meals healthier, I couldn’t resist slicing up some zucchini and putting those in my new grill as well. I am a fan of butter on my zucchini so halfway through grilling, I lightly drizzled some melted butter on the zucchini while still in the basket and back into the grill to finish cooking.

After about 10 minutes in the grill I had some sliced zucchini that was ready to eat.

After making burgers, chicken and zucchini I wanted to try something a little easier. My kids love Pizza Rolls. I normally cook them in the microwave since it takes to long to warm up the oven. Plus with being summer I have been trying to avoid the oven if at all possible. I decided I would stick some pizza rolls in the Ronco Ready Grill.

In about 8 minutes I had Pizza Rolls that were nice and crispy as if they had just came out of the oven. My kids told me that they liked them cooked in the new grill better than the microwave. I tried the Pizza Rolls as well and thought they tasted a whole lot better than the microwaved Pizza Rolls we had been accustomed to eating.

I have to say that I have been having fun with this new grill. I haven’t tried to make any desserts in it yet but I am definitely going to give it a try. I love that this indoor grill is super easy to use. It has the Ronco’s famous “Set it and Forget It,” timer that allows your food to grill while you are doing other things. When the bell rings on your grill, your food is ready to come out.

The Ronco Ready Grill is great for those looking for a healthy way to cook your food. It also has small but sleek design that is perfect for smaller kitchens, apartments and even those with RVs looking for easy ways to cook your meals. This grill comes with a removable basket, drip tray, heat shields and an instruction booklet that has a few recipes to get you started. I haven’t tried the recipes yet, I just have been having fun experimenting with my own ideas and plan putting this grill to use often!

This is a partnered post with Crystal Entertainment.

When it comes to my children, games and my iPad I only allow my youngest to use the iPad to play games if they are playing something educational and most important, approved by me.  Last week I downloaded the Alphie The Squid game and my son won’t stop asking to play it.

When you start the game you are Alphie, a cute baby squid in the ocean on an adventure to become one of the giant squids. Your job is to help Archie find different fish to eat that makes him grow but also help him avoid all the dangers he will encounter in the mysterious ocean.

Here is what Alphie looks like as a little squid.

As Alphie starts eating the fish and other safe sea creatures he starts to grow into a bigger squid. The more fish Alphie eats, the bigger he grows!

As you navigate Alphie with the touch of your finger on the screen you have to be sure to avoid the sea predators and make sure to eat enough fish to pass through the growth gates. You will earn points in each level by eating fish, finding gold treasure chest and uncovering treasure fish. The more fish you eat, the more points you earn.

Not only does my six year old son like Alphie The Squid, I think it is fun, entertaining and educational. During the game you can select the Gallery option to learn about the different creatures in the ocean.

I love all the colorful and fun graphics in this game and also the music. The games features music from award winning and Emmy nominated composer David Ari Leon. I personally prefer to wear headphones when playing because it makes me feel like I am underwater and makes Alphie The Squid a more enjoyable experience.

Alphie The Squid is available on the App Store, Google Play and Amazon. The first four levels are FREE to play but to move to the other levels you must download the app for $2.99.  Last year when Alphie The Squid launched it was featured as New and Noteworthy in 36 countries and now with the latest content update to the game, the game has just been featured on the App Store as “Best New Game Update” in 110 countries. I think it is well worth the $2.99 to purchase.

To make it even better, Crystal Entertainment (the makers of Alphie The Squid) have teamed up with the Monterey Bay Aquarium. For every download of this game, $1 of proceeds go to the aquariums Children Education Fund.

To find out more about Alphie The Squid visit: www.AlphieTheSquid.com