Frontera- Wine You Can Afford To Splurge On!

This is another one of my BzzAgent freebies! Well, I guess it's not technically free, but with the mail in rebate, I basically got a buy one get one free deal. Each bottle is only about $5 at Kroger! So even without a rebate, it is a wine that even people on a tight budget can afford to splurge on once in a while! I tried the Moscato and Pinot Noir flavors.

Moscato is my favorite wine already- so it was no surprise when I liked it. It really is sweet and delicious! It is a wine you can drink with a meal, drink in the evening socially, or just drink in the evening alone to relax a bit. No matter how you want to drink it, this is a great choice! This white wine goes great with sweets- or in my opinion, it goes great with everything! It has amazing value- I can't believe it is only $5.

The Pinot Noir is alright. However, this is a pretty good review coming from someone who generally HATES red wine. It is very dry, which is to be expected. But it has better flavors than most red wines I have tried. It is a little sweet- which I like. It is a nice wine to sip on- but definitely not one I could drink all night at get togethers. It was even better when I drank it with my dinner (chicken). It is supposed to go well with meats and cheese, which I can totally see working with this wine. It worked with my dinner!

To sum it up- this is a great affordable wine. I will totally be buying this again- at least the moscato. And it is great for parties- you can buy multiple bottles without breaking your bank account! We have all been to those wedding showers and bachelorette parties where everyone is supposed to bring a drink to share, and this is a great option. It costs $5, but no one would ever know because the taste is great!

Free Chickfila Breakfast!

I am a huge Chickfila fan, but I never knew they had such awesome promotions!

Did you know that they have a breakfast giveaway event going on this week at multiple locations. All you have to do is reserve your breakfast entre by going to the link below. You pick a date (or more than one date!), an hour slot of time, and what breakfast entre you want to reserve. Then they email you, you print the receipt, take it to the location you selected, and they will give you your free breakfast item! Easy as pie :)

Last week, they had Cow Appreciation Day. If you dressed from head to toe like a cow, you got a free meal. If you dressed partially like a cow- you got a free chicken sandwich!! And get this- you didn't even have to go in! You could just do it through the drive thru! If I would have known sooner, I would have posted about it to give everyone the chance to enjoy this fun freebie. However, I did not know until that day, when my friend (who is even more of a freebie freak than me) told me about it! We went together at lunch for our free sandwiches. She cut cow spots out of paper, and we taped them on our clothes. In the words of Chickfila, we were "not too chicken to dress like a cow!"

Thanks Chickfila! You are officially on my radar with your awesome promotions and events!

Click Here To Reserve Your Free Breakfast While You Still Can!

Dealing With Colic & Fussiness

Colic and fussiness- I have absolutely been there. Not only does it break your heart when your little one is so upset, but after a while it also feels like it is breaking your sanity... It is upsetting and stressful for any mom. Not to mention, after so long you want to scream yourself- and then you feel bad about being so irritated with your baby! This is no fun for anyone!

First off, don't feel bad! It would take a saint to deal with a screaming baby for hours upon hours, over countless sleepless nights, and not get frustrated. It is totally normal to be frustrated when your baby has colic. I have literally cried at times. It is overwhelming. So I would love to share what I have tried, and what I have found to work best for me with my four children. Over the span of four newborns, it probably adds up to hours of researching the subject. So here are things I have tried. Some have worked, and some have not. And keep in mind, if your baby has colic, he will probably not STOP crying all together, but they may at least calm him down a little bit.

• The basics- positioning and movement. Of course I have tried every position possible. The most successful I have found are the football hold (where the baby lies with his belly against your forearm), the normal cradle hold- but also pulling them in tightly against your body to give them the feeling of closeness and some added pressure, and in an upright outward facing position- with your arm going somewhat across their lower belly and your hand holding them up between their legs. Each one of my children have preferred different positions. Positions have proven to HELP in my experience, but generally do not solve the problem when it comes to extreme fussiness. If you find a position that works consistently, stick to it. But you can also add some motion to it. Swaying side to side, rocking front to back, or bouncing- or even a combo of these- can help as well. Of course, somehow the little crank-pots know when you sit down... for me standing was the only way to go. No matter how tired I was, or how slowly I moved to a chair- I ended up standing.
• Mylicon Drops. These are easy to use- you can either put them in the bottle, or directly into your babies mouth. They help relieve gas. If gas is part of the problem, you will likely know because about 20-30 minutes after giving the drops, your baby will be making some serious music down there! I have used these on all four children, and it has been helpful.
• Warm blankets. Throw some receiving blankets in the dryer to warm them up. Then fold them into a long strip, and wrap it tightly around your babies lower belly. The pressure and heat can help relieve gas and belly pains. You can also do this and place them on your knees, belly down, and bounce your knees slightly to give some added pressures. This has seemed to help from time to time.
• Different bottles. Some people swear by switching to different bottles- particularly Dr Brown Bottles. Also, Similac has a bottle that supposedly reduces colic. I have tried both, and for me, my bottle choice has had absolutely no impact on fussiness whatsoever. So, I stuck with what I had rather than spending more on the Dr Browns.
• Different materials. My children have all liked different materials against their face. Some liked fleece, while others liked cotton. So if your baby seems to like a specific type of blanket- try holding them close and just letting them feel the material against their cheek. One of my kids even just liked my cheek against his. For me, this was very helpful.
• Culturelle. This I have not tried, but I wish I would have known about this earlier. My doctor told me that you can put one packet of Kid's Culturelle in one bottle every morning, and it has been said to help with colic. This is a probiotic, safe for babies. It comes in little packets of powder that mix into liquid. I have actually used this for other reasons with my older kids. It is a little pricey at $30- I believe it is for 28 doses. But you can find it almost anywhere, and if it works, it would obviously be worth it!
• Different sounds. Of course, you have probably heard of the whole white noise thing to put babies to sleep. Sometimes different sounds are soothing to babies. One of my kids like a light "shhhhh" sound in his ear. Some of them just like your quiet voice- "It's ok", etc. Try different sounds or music to see if anything helps for your baby.
• Baby massages. There are a TON of different baby massages and movements to relieve gas pains. No doubt, the most common is "the bicycle". I will tell you- YouTube is a wonderful thing! It has several different videos of baby massages- which to me is much more useful than reading how to do it, then trying to figure it out and wondering the whole time if I am even doing it right. This helped a lot with my youngest.
• Different formula. There is formula that states it is made specifically for fussiness and gas, or for colic. I have tried both, and this was not successful for me. They are generally more expensive and have not worked for any of my kids. However, some people swear by them- so I suppose it is always worth a try! I know Similac makes formula specifically for this.
• And last but not least- the biggest piece of advice I can give: Stay calm. Your baby feeds off of your energy... If you get worked up and stressed out, it will ONLY make things worse. Your baby will surely not stop crying if you are screaming on the inside. Yes- I of all people know that this is easier said than done. Not only is it not easy, but I truly believe it is impossible at times. As I said before, it is normal to get frustrated.  So if you notice yourself getting increasingly tense, do you and your baby a favor and take a break. Some people cannot bring themselves to do this. They feel bad about letting their baby cry. However, it is truly best if you lay your baby down, let him cry, and take a break. Think about it- if you have been holding him for 30 minutes, and nothing you are doing is helping, and he is still crying.... then most likely he is going to cry whether you are holding him or not. And it is going to be hard for him to calm down if you are worked up. Then you are just going to feel bad about being irritated with him (even though it is normal).  Take a little bit of time to walk away into a quiet room and calm yourself down. It could take you one minute, or it could take you five. Either way, it is better to be calm than to be irritated at your baby. A few minutes can seem like a long time in the moment, but it's really not. Your baby will be just fine. Coming back a few minutes later refreshed and in a soothing mood can make a huge difference.

Just remember not to feel bad about it when you get worked up. No one has enough patience to handle it without ever getting stressed. There is nothing worse than not being able to help your baby, especially after long crying spells. You are not alone! And as long as you are doing your best and you love your baby, you are a good mom!

Make More Money- Mystery Shops

So, I have clearly been slacking as I transitioned back to the reality of working full time and raising 4 kids. Life is crazy. However, while on maternity leave and in my desperate attempt to find ways to make more money so that I could stay home part time with my children, I discovered the beauty of mystery shopping. It is easy- sign up and you can earn money by shopping or using services. Majority of these require actually going to a specific store, but every once in a while it is just making a phone call. It is usually for a specified date or date range. Some of them require you to purchase something- specific or not, which you usually get reimbursed for. Then you answer specific questions (that they give you a heads up on before you do the shopping), and get paid a specific amount of money. The payment usually ranges between $10-$40 each shop. This turned out better in theory than in reality for me solely, because of the crazy life I chose with 4 kids so young and close in age. For me, actually going out to do these shops are totally NOT worth dealing with all 4 of them in a store they don't want to be in, while trying to concentrate on everything that is going on. However, I will say if I did not have this craziness around me, it would be SO easy! In fact, there are quite a few shops at the mall, which if I did not have kids I would probably be at sometimes anyway. I did however end up doing one while I was on leave. Our Acadia needed an oil change, and there was a mystery shop for this! I thought this was perfect. I was reimbursed the full amount I paid for the oil change AND paid $35! So, hello- I just got the oil change I already needed for free on top of getting paid for it? Pretty awesome. I just had to go to a specific dealer to get it done, and then answer questions about how I liked their lounge area, the service, the customer service rep, etc. Definitely easy money! So, I researched several of these before signing up. The two best and easiest I found were BESTMARK and BEYONDHELLO. I would definitely recommend these for someone who is able to freely leave and take a quick trip to a store. It's easy money! And you can choose the ones you want to do based on what is available. Check them out if you are interested- they both have websites where you can register!

Beach Fun With Kids!

So we just got back from our first beach vacation with the kids! Wow was it amazing! Thankfully they all absolutely LOVED it! I wanted to share some of the things we did on the beach beyond your typical sandcastle and burying daddy in the sand. Lots of people go to the beach with their kids, and I would love to see other families having as much fun as we did!

1. Night Beach Walk
OK, so I was a little freaked out by the night time beach walk. Keeping 4 kids in my sight in the dark does not seem like it would be fun for me! BUT, we made sure to make it as easy as possible! Of course their were rules and everyone had to have a hand, but there were even better ways for the kids to have a blast and for me to be able to relax a bit...
One of the things we used was glow bracelets! We put them around their ankles (because they can fall off of their wrists since they are so little!). Immediate tracking device! They were of course allowed to have some around their neck and wrist if they wanted, but the ankle was required- and of course they did not complain! They LOVE glow sticks! Then we let them put their feet in the water to see if they could see their glow sticks shine through- which they did as long as they were not deep.
The second thing we used was flashlights. But not just any flashlights- COLORFUL flashlights. The entire flash light lit up on the outside. We bought a different color for each kid. They were from walmart and totally worth it. It made them easy to spot in the dark for sure! And they loved having their own flashlights to look for shells and light the way for our crew! Not to mention, it made Mommy feel much calmer knowing that I could find them easily if they were not right next to me.

2. Boats
Seems simple, but we brought little toy boats that floated. When the tide went out, a bunch of little, shallow pools of water formed all over the beach. The kids loved to float their boats in the little pools and watch the wind take them across the water. Easy and cheap!

3. Pirate Treasure Hunt!
This was by far the most fun for the kids! What a brilliant idea by my older sister! :) We made a treasure map the night before, and when we were ready to head to the beach in the morning, we "found" it. Oh boy was that exciting! We had little paper pirate hats for everyone to wear. I wish we would have had pirate eye patches too... Now my kids are not old enough to read, so I read the directions to them (if your kids were older this would be a great way to give them some participation)- starting from going out the door of our condo, down the stairs, across the parking lot, over the bridge, through the sand to the water, and back out of the water through the sand until they found the big X marks the spot. We filled a little Tupperware tub with cookies for each of them, a pirate note, and some shiny quarters, and my sister ran ahead and buried it. Had I known we were going to do this, I would have totally bought the gold chocolate coins for the treasure! My sister stood by the spot so I knew where to march them to. She put a big X right over the spot it was buried. The kids lit up like you wouldn't believe when they saw the X. I can only imagine how excited they were that they actually found a treasure and anticipating what it was going to be! So we gave them each a shovel and they all helped dig it out. They were so excited when they saw it. That was so much fun- for all of them. And they totally thought it was real. SO CUTE :)

It was so nice to have different activities. The beach is of course fun by itself, but the kids really need different stuff to do to keep them wanting to go every day. Beyond fun activities- there are a couple of tips I would love to share.

1. Definitely pack a cooler- even if just a small one. Kids get overheated very easily- and a drink, or even just a piece of ice can help them cool down and hydrate- and keep them from getting cranky. Packing a few snacks is of course very helpful with kids too.

2. Bring at least one bottled water (NOT in the cooler). Use this for if and when sand gets on their face or in their eyes. Also if the salt water is bothering their eyes. They will not want ice cold water on their face! And the towels will be sandy and useless. We used this several times throughout the week.

3. My cousin shared with me a trick to get sand off so you don't have to track it everywhere once you get inside. Baby powder! We tried it out- and it definitely works on all parts of the body that are completely dry- but on the damp parts around the bathing suits- you should just forget it. So if this seems to be useful, then use the baby powder to wipe away the dry sand from their bodies before taking them inside.

Hopefully these tips will be helpful if you are taking your family to the beach!

Check out their flashlights!

They were really bright!

You could see them from pretty far away!

Follow Up- Filippo Berio Olive Oil versus the store brand...

As I mentioned last, I am trying out the Filippo Berio olive oil free thanks to BZZAGENT. In follow up to my previous post- I still totally think it is awesome that you can use olive oil as a healthier substitute for butter! But as I have mentioned several times- I love to save money. So I decided to put this name brand to the test in a taste test against the Kroger brand. For Father's Day, my husband and I made an awesome steak dinner. We decided to compliment it with a great oil dipping sauce for the bread- you know, like they do at Bravo. We thought it would give it a more formal touch. So what better way to have a taste test? We used the Filippo Berio olive oil and the Kroger brand olive oil. We used the same pre-mixture of herbs for a garlic rosemary flavor- so the only difference between the two bowls was the olive oil. I knew which bowl contained each brand, but no one else did. All 6 people unanimously picked the Kroger brand immediately! The olive oil flavor was not quite as strong in the Kroger brand- so maybe if you like a stronger flavor, then Filippo Berio is for you. But I will stick with saving money and better taste in the Kroger brand olive oil. However- in Filippo Berio's defense- both of them were eaten, and we probably would not have thought twice about it if there wasn't anything to compare it to. It was still delicious!

Make a healthier choice with olive oil!

Thanks to BzzAgent, I got to try out Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil for free! It was when I received my kit that I also received this brilliant information! I always knew you could substitute olive oil for any other kind of oil in a recipe by using the same amount. However, I had NO IDEA you could use 3/4 the amount of olive oil in place of the full amount of butter in most recipes! What a great thing to know! Now, we have already established that I am by no means a health nut, BUT if I can make a healthier choice without sacrificing flavor- I am all for it! And here is such an easy way to do that!

Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil has many benefits over other oils and butter:

• it is 100% natural
• it can help reduce the risk of heart disease
• it can help control blood pressure and blood sugar levels
• it contains no trans fat or cholesterol
• it is high in monounsaturated fats (aka the good fats)
• it contains no sugar, salt or gluten

You can see why this is a healthier alternative!  And it is simple. For a printable conversion chart for the substitution and more information on the health provided by olive oil, visit the product's website link below.

Filippo Berio

So of course after reading about this, I had to put it to the test. I was a little skeptical on how it would affect the flavor and texture of different dishes.  So I tried substituting for butter in Riceroni and Mac N Cheese. It did not change the flavor AT ALL. It was not more oily. My family didn't even notice a difference at all! So it made me feel good making the dishes a little bit healthier for everyone.

Then I tried substituting this olive oil for butter in homemade chocolate chip cookies. This was a bit of a different story. The cookie dough was thick and extremely sticky. The cookie dough flavor was a bit odd but still decent, but after seeing the consistency I was convinced that this was going to be a total failure. However, the dough was already made- I figured I should just finish it and see. So I did, and I tried one while it was still warm. It was terrible. The flavor was disgusting. But I still finished the batch and let them all cool. Somehow, after all that, I decided to taste it again after they cooled down. It was probably my inability to resist chocolate when I see it! But I am glad I did because once they cooled down the cookies were actually really good! There was a little difference in flavor... maybe just not quite as sweet, slightly like shortbread cookies, but just in an aftertaste. I couldn't quite put my finger on it... my husband thought it almost tasted like there was peanut butter in it. But they were moist and still delicious! My mom, my kids, and my husband all ate them and loved them! The cookies were actually a little bit fluffier than my typical cookies, which was surprising! All in all- they looked and tasted really good! (See the pic below.) Needless to say, they did not last very long. I was impressed. I would definitely make it this way again.

You can also use this as dressing and drizzle it on salad. However, I am totally a ranch girl, so that would not be even remotely close to compare for me. But I plan on trying it on some pasta and vegetables. Now, I have to be honest- I have no idea if the flavor would be any different with another brand of olive oil. However, I plan on trying out an oil dip recipe for bread in about a week, and I am going to compare another brand. So I will update on the difference in flavor. But overall I am absolutely pleased with the Filippo Berio brand, and I will definitely be using olive oil as a substitute for butter more often now- as much as I can in cooking hot dishes, and I would like to try out some baking dishes like this again too! Why not be healthier when it's so easy?! (and of course still tastes good!)