Kroger Skillet Meals

Like most families these days, mine gets super busy with crazy weeknight schedules. While I like to prepare food from scratch and ensuring my family eats nutritious meals, the truth is, I don't always have the time to. Admittedly, we've been getting a lot of frozen skillet meals lately because they're just flat out cheaper than take out and drive thru plus it's healthier as well.

I recently had the opportunity to try out Kroger's Skillet Meals from BzzAgent and picked the Sesame Chicken with Brown rice to try. First I will say it's super easy to make and fast. Just 10 minutes and my family had a fairly wholesome good meal to eat. That's the good part. The down side is, the packages are small. I have a family of four, two of which are kids. I had to buy and make 3 packages of the Skillet Meals in order to have enough for everybody. At just under $6 a pop, that adds up to just under $18 to feed my family of four. Which really, isn't all that terrible, considering that's about how much we'd spend at McD's and these Skillet Meals are far healthier.

Visually, it looks nothing like take out Sesame Chicken, but it's edible. In fact, we were all so ravenous about it that I forgot to take a picture for this review and for BzzAgent. I am looking forward to trying other varieties though.

Skip the ugly sweater

Gift cards tends to get the bad rap that it's impersonal, when the truth is, most people would really rather get a gift card than a knick knack or ugly sweater they don't want or need. No, it's not about what YOU think they want or need, but gift giving is about the recipient. Not only that, but gift cards make life so much easier for you and the recipient.

Kroger offers 4 times the fuel points when you buy gift cards from them. No fees, no hassles. Just use your club card when you shop and when you get gas. Heck, half the time I don't even remember to bring my card. I just use my phone number at the store and gas pump. Picking up some gift cards, knocking a few things off of the Christmas to do list while picking up groceries, AND getting fuel points to help lessen the pain of prices at the pump? Sign me up! I don't need MORE stress this Holiday season. :)

Review: Denver Post ad package week 2

So here we are, week 2 of the Denver Post Yes ads delivery program. I am very happy to say that...

I have coupons!

This week's delivery included the SmartSource coupon insert which made me very very happy. I'm still uncertain whether or not it typically includes coupons, (I hope it does!) and whether or not it includes all of the coupons that's typically in the actual Sunday paper (I don't think it does) but hey, I'll take it! Thus, I won't be canceling it...not just yet anyway. I'll try it out for a while longer and see how it goes.

Review: Denver Post ad package

(Click to enlarge)

Remember my post about the Denver Post having a new program where they will deliver just the ads and coupons for free? First of all, I'd like to apologize because I got the program name wrong. As you can see in the picture, the program name is actually called YES! (short for Your Essential Shopper) not Perks like I'd originally thought.

Second, today is August 1st which means it's the first day of the program delivery. I was SO excited about it that I couldn't wait to tear into my bag of goodies. Unfortunately, I was sorely disappointed. As you can see in the pictures, there are no coupons. What you see in the picture, an Ulta ad, USA Weekend Magazine, Parade Magazine, Kohls ad, and another general ad was pretty much all that was in the delivery. (There was also a plumber's magnet, and Safeway ad that didn't make it in the shot but it's really nothing to write home about since I get grocery ads, including Safeway in the mail every Tuesday anyway.) That's it. No coupons at all like I was told...twice...once in the voice mail they left me and again when I called to inquire about the program. At first I thought, well maybe there weren't any coupons in this week's paper. It happens. Well, according to Sunday Coupon Preview, that's not the case. In fact, there were TONS of good coupons in the paper today. What a ridiculous let down. I'm so annoyed and I feel like I just got a bunch of trash. I think I'll give it one more week. If next week's delivery is suckage, I'm going to cancel my 'subscription.'

BzzAgent Review: got2b smooth operator lustre lotion

I've been a BzzAgent for a few years now and when I first signed up, I got frustrated with them because each time I'd get notification that I qualify for a campaign, I go to sign up for it and it's already all gone. I try to be fast about it, but the truth is, I have a life outside of the Internet, but there were many times when I'd log on as soon as I got the email, the campaign was already full. So I got frustrated and quit until recently. I signed up for the got2b smooth operator hair care product campaign and qualified. Soon they sent me samples of the lustre lotion to try, and bzz about which I actually liked quite a bit. It was fragrant but not so much that it singed my nose hairs. The fragrance lasted too. The coolest thing though was that it actually made my coarse hair silky soft. Overall, I enjoyed the product.

Here's a bit of a moral puzzle/dilemma for you:

Part of my Bzz Kit contained a bunch of coupons, one of which was for a free bottle of lustre lotion or mousse. Upon reading the fine print, it said the coupon was BOGO and not totally free so I decided to not use it since I had no need for it and didn't feel the desire to spend the money to buy one bottle just to get one free. A few weeks later I got an email from BzzAgent saying that the coupon was misprinted, that it should be for a free bottle, not BOGO and the bar code on the coupon should ring up properly. If it didn't I could fill out a survey to let them know. Based on that, I used the coupon at a national chain drugstore. Behold, it wouldn't ring up at the register. The cashier looked at the product, the coupon and verified that I got the right thing but she didn't read the fine print that said BOGO. She called the manager over and the manager did the same thing so the manager told the cashier to just ring it up as zero dollars. While I'm grateful that both the cashier and manager went the extra mile to give me the product for free, part of me feels bad and feels like I took advantage. I tried to fill out the survey to report my experience using the coupon but I never got the opportunity to tell them my exact experience in that I only got the product for free because the store employees were generous enough to just override their system without reading the fine print. I'll never know if the barcode was really programmed properly or not. (I ended up writing an email to BzzAgent's campaign manager explaining my coupon experience in hopes it can be avoided next time.)

Would you feel bad about the coupon situation?

Review: Lowe's Build and Grow Clinic

My kids love helping daddy fix things around the house. They have their own little set of play tools, and they've staked claims on some of daddy's real tools like screwdrivers. In fact, one of my husband's screwdrivers now lives in the belly of my kids' Rocking Horse because one of them was "fixing" it and stuck it in the horse. Hmm...maybe I can use that as a marketing ploy when I go to sell it. "Buy the horse get a screwdriver free!"

I'd learned about Lowe's Build and Grow Clinic a while ago but for some reason couldn't drag my lazy butt out of bed in time to get to one on a Saturday morning. I recently looked into again and when I realized that they were building Monster Trucks this weekend, I made the effort to drag myself and my husband out of bed for it...and boy was it well worth it!

If you have a kid that loves to help fix things or build things then I HIGHLY recommend Lowe's Build & Grow Clinics. If you've never done it before, here's the skinny. First of all, it's free! It's on Saturdays @ 10am - 11am, though it doesn't look like it's every Saturday, more like every other Saturday. You register on their website, print out & sign the waiver and bring it with you. When you show up, they hand your kiddo a Lowe's apron and a building kit for whatever the theme is that day. They have several work areas set up with safety goggles and hammers. (Some may let the kids keep the goggles too I think but I would ask to be sure. The aprons we did get to keep.)

The kits have everything they need to build whatever the theme is for the day...nails, wood, stickers to decorate it, instructions, etc. Since today's theme was Monster Truck, when they were done with it, they each got to take home a wooden, rolling Monster Truck that was about 8" long so it was a good size toy with tiny cardboard cars for them to crush. At the end, when you're done, you take what you built up to the Lowe's employee who gave you the kit and they'll give the kiddo a certificate of completion and a patch for you to sew onto their apron that says they participated in that day's project. We thought it was just a generic patch but it was so cool! It had a picture of a monster truck plowing through mud embroidered on it and it also said, "Lowe's Build and Grow Monster Truck." It reminded me of scout badges lol. They each also got a coupon for a free Jr. Frosty @ Wendy's.




The next one will be this coming Saturday, July 3, 2010 from 10 am - 11 am. If don't already have plans...setting the dog on fire with fireworks, burning your brows off with the grill, etc, check out Lowe's Build and Grow Clinic with the kiddos. This one will be a Ball and Cup Game.

P.S. those of you with young children will get the humor in this.

So we took the kids to Lowe's for the Clinic. We get home, turned on the TV (yeah we're those type of parents) and behold, Handy Manny is on. But wait! There's more! The employee at Lowe's who helped us out? Oh, her name was Kelli. :p

Nope, so not makin' that stuff up.

And if you didn't get that at all, here, this might help.

Coupon & Review: $2 off Off! Clip On

Right@Home has a $2 off coupon for Off! Clip On starter packs. The starters typically run about $8 each and comes with 1 cartridge which lasts approx 12 hours. (If the link doesn't allow you to get a coupon, you may have to join Right@Home.

I'll admit, I was skeptical about these at first, but after using them for almost a month now, I think they do a good job at warding off bugs. They are not designed for lots of motion though as they require you to be fairly still. They are great if you're watching a sporting event or gardening, just any activity that does not require you to move around too much, making the fan blowing the repellent around you ineffective. The clip doesn't clip on securely, it's more like it just hangs there. I usually hang it out of my shorts' pockets.

Review & Writing to Companies: Orajel

About a month ago, at the advice of our dentist, I bought some training toothpaste for my toddler, who doesn't quite get spitting out toothpaste. The Orajel Toddler Training Toothpaste was all I could think of to buy because it was the only brand of training toothpaste that I'd seen before so that's what I got at the store.  When I came home and opened it up, it instantly oozed out at me into a big huge, sticky mess.  Even my husband complained about how messy it was when he used it on the kiddo.  Every time I took the cap off, more of it oozed out into a puddle of mess than I would put on the toothbrush.  It was utterly wasteful. It was just a huge mess all over the place...on the cap, our counters, our hands, it was every where. It was a runny mess.  Needless to say, I was frustrated.  The product itself was fine, my kid loved it, but it was just such a pain to use that I wrote an email to Orajel complaining about the issue. In the email I explained how messy it was in a calm and kind fashion and asked that they please consider either reformulating the product or redesigning the tube so that it's not so messy to dispense.  Really, that was what I wanted and hoped for because the product itself was fine, just the dispensing method was awful.

To my surprise, I got a response the very next day from a Customer Relations Specialist.

Dear Mrs. ...:

Thank you for visiting our web site recently and taking the time to contact us regarding Orajel® Toddler Training Toothpaste. We are sorry to learn of your dissatisfaction with the product.

We appreciate your bringing this matter to our attention and are concerned that our product did not meet the usual standard of quality you have come to expect from us.  Your comments are important to us and provide valuable information that helps us maintain the high level of quality associated with our products.

As we guarantee your satisfaction with our products, we would like to send you a refund for your purchase.  Please respond using the link below to provide your full name and mailing address at your earliest convenience.

Again, thank you for taking the time and having the interest to contact us.  We value your patronage and trust you will continue to purchase Church & Dwight Co., Inc. products with confidence.  If you have any questions or concerns in the future, please call us at 1-800-952-5080.

While I know the email seems pretty canned, the message made me happy.  They offered me a full refund of the product, which is very nice.  I replied to the message accordingly as instructed.  Three business days later, I got another response from the same Customer Relations Specialist:

Dear Mrs. ...:

Thank you for visiting our web site recently and taking the time to contact us regarding Orajel® Toddler Training Toothpaste. We are sorry to learn of your dissatisfaction with the product.

We appreciate your bringing this matter to our attention and are concerned that our product did not meet the usual standard of quality you have come to expect from us.  Your comments are important to us and provide valuable information that helps us maintain the high level of quality associated with our products.

At Church & Dwight Co., Inc. we guarantee your satisfaction and under separate cover, via the United States Postal Service, have sent a refund check for the product you purchased.

Again, thank you for taking the time and having the interest to contact us.  We value your patronage and trust you will continue to purchase Church & Dwight Co., Inc. products with confidence.  If you have any questions or concerns in the future, please call us at 1-800-952-5080.


I am pleased.  Very pleased.  I'm quite happy with their response to my issue and offering me a full refund.  I do like Orajel's products and I sincerely hope that they will consider reformulating their product or redesigning their dispensers.  The lesson learned here is, don't be afraid to contact companies about their products. The worst that will happen is you get a canned response or no response at all.  (Or a potentially alarming response may change the way you feel about the company, but it really is better to know than not know.)  It never hurts to try and no matter how angry you may be at them, it never hurts to try to calm down, write a draft of your email first, read it, before sending it.  It's not the customer service rep's fault, and a little kindness just may sway them to go above and beyond to help you.

Review: PhatStraps

My husband got me custom handmade camera straps for a belated Mother's Day present (simply because I couldn't come up with what I wanted for Mother's Day before the day) and they're here! I'm soooo excited! They look and feel SO good!

My husband got me the "accessories kit" which includes an extra long shoulder strap, a wrist strap, and a lens bag, all of which I got to pick, mix and match the patterns for. I couldn't decide on one pattern for a complete set look so I went with getting both:




Check out the soft, plush yummy goodness of the minky underside of the strap!



I just got it in the mail today and so far I'd say it's a rave! I'm loving the quality of the straps so far, they're thick and super comfy. We got them from PhatStraps and so far, I'd highly recommend them if anyone is looking to replace their default dSLR straps. They were so nice, very responsive and fast! The skulls pattern I picked wasn't even an option listed for camera straps, they're originally for guitar straps and she custom made it for me. I'm soooo happy!

Review: Sunsilk Hydra TLC

A few days ago, I got a sample of Sunsilk Hydra TLC and decided to give it a try tonight.

First, the sample of the shampoo, conditioner, and leave-in conditioner comes in little packets enough to wash medium length hair once. (I could've had enough to use the leave-in conditioner twice, but opted not to.)

Second, the shampoo seems to do a decent job cleaning my oily hair. I'm not sure if the shampoo and conditioner alone would've been enough to moisturize my hair considering the dry climate I live in, but it does smell nice.

Third, the leave-in condition is nice. Because I used more than I probably should've (didn't think to save some for next time till it was too late) it feels a little greasy on my hair but not bad at all, just a really really thin layer of slight greasy feeling when it's still wet. The feeling seems to improve as the hair dries.

Fourth, after using the leave-in conditioner, the fragrance is VERY potent. It smells like I just came out of the salon, but after a while, the scent is so strong it smells very chemical-like.

The sample I got also came with some $2 off gift card/coupons. At this point, I'm uncertain on whether or not I'll buy it. I'm usually a generic shampoo using type of gal (though I do love me some designer brands such as Paul Mitchel) but if I can find a good deal on it, and I later learn that the fragrance of the leave-in conditioner fades nicely, then I think I'll pick up a bottle of the conditioner.

Edit: It's been hours (at least 3 hours) since I've used the leave-in conditioner and it still smells very strong. As I'm sitting here, I feel like I have hair dye in my hair. I can still smell it full strength with my hair in a twist held in place with a large clip. You would think that my nose would eventually get used to the smell but it's just so strong that it's starting to irritate my nose and eyes. Ugh.

Toys r Us/Babies r Us loyalty program

Toys R Us/Babies R Us have a new loyalty program which rewards you with a $5 gift certificate with every $150 spent. The $150 requirement is cumulative and works with both stores. In addition to the gift certificate, they notify you of any recalls on purchases you've made with them.

You can enroll in the program (free of charge) in store or online here:
https://rewardsrus.toysrus.com/index.cfm