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Halloween, Snacks and More #StockUpSale

2014 disclosureI just got my sneak peak Acme Markets weekly ad in my inbox. I signed up a few months back so I didn’t miss out on any good deals if the circular didn’t make it to my mailbox. Especially right now during their #StockUpSale i don’t want to miss something that could really make a difference in my budget. I’m making my list on my MyMixx account right now so I don’t miss a thing.Acme Markets #StockUpSale
I don’t know if I should be revealing what’s on sale but I’m going to because that’s the friend that I am.
Jif Peanut Butter 15.5-16oz jars are just $.99. (that’s cheaper than the BIG jars at BJs wholesale)

Acme Markets #StockUpSale
This are the perfect size for care packages to college students and military family. Halloween is around the corner and if you have the will power that I don’t then it’s a great time to snag bags of Hershey’s Snack Size Candy for $8.99 or $7.99 when you buy 2. Two bags is plenty for our trick or treating night.Acme Markets #StockUpSale
The stock up sale is meant to put more in your fridge and pantry with less assault to your wallet. Acme Markets is the neighborhood store that stayed on course by providing quality food with helpful and knowledgeable customer service. Over 120 years later and 110 stores heavy they are a leader in our community from Philadelphia to Delaware and Maryland to New Jersey. I’ve lived in 3 of those states and have always had an Acme nearby.




Disney Poster a Page Books

2014 disclosureShopping for other people’s kids in hard. No two kids are alike so I can never assume I know just the right thing.  But on the flip side knowing a child inside and out is the best way to know what to get them for gifts. My best friend’s son is a comic book, wrestling and superhero fanatic. It never fails that every birthday or holiday is filled with themed gifts from everyone he knows. This Christmas I was able to score him a MARVEL Avengers Poster a Page book.Disney Poster a Page Books for Kids

Disney Poster a Page Books for Kids

Disney Poster a Page Books for Kids

The Disney brand brings to life the most powerful superhero team in the world! Including Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man, and the Black Widow, this book has all of the favorite Marvel characters showing off their skills and battling the most fearsome bad guys.

Each book features a poster on every page plus 9 supersize posters to cover doors, windows and ceilings. That’s where I always put my most prized posters. Time Home Entertainment Inc. offers so many fun options in the Poster-A-Page series. *affiliate links below

Disney Junior: Let’s Play!

Disney Junior: Let’s Play!

Disney Frozen: Magical Moments

Disney Princess: Fairy Tale Moments

Star Wars Episodes I-VI: The Skywalker Saga

Sofia the First: Practice Makes Perfect

Disney Frozen: Magical Moments is going to my niece who’s about to turn 5. Like many other children this year she’s obsessed with Elsa and Anna and of course adorable Olaf.  Shae’s still a Sofia the First fan but don’t tell anyone. We placed some posters around her room and now she said it’s just right.Disney Poster a Page Books for Kids

Disney Poster a Page Books for Kids

Gift a special child in your life with a fun and functional gift that all kids will love.

 

 




Box Tops for Education and Acme Markets #StockUpSale

Box Tops for Education is a very popular program designed to give back to schools and organizations to help the growing costs of activities, classes and extra-curriculars.  ACME, ALBERTSONS, JEWEL-OSCO, and SHAW’S stores have created Growing Local Learning in partnership with Box Tops to bring even more opportunities to earn money for local schools.Earn EBoxTops Growing Local Learning #StockUpSale with Acme Markets

Since March 1, 2010, over $2,300,000 has been earned by local schools through the Growing Local Learning program. With promotions such as

Buy 10 participating General Mills Box Tops of Education Items and get 25 bonus eBoxTops on your register receipt. The purchase must be made in a single shopping visit. Log onto http://www.growinglocallearning.com/ and enter code and 50 bonus eBoxTops are credited to your school of choice

Schools have the potential to earn much more to satisfy the growing expenses each year.

Just doing your regular grocery shopping can benefit in so many ways. Sign up today for Box Tops for Education and for Growing Local Learning if you are a Acme, Albertsons, Jewel-Osco or Shaw’s shopper.

Take advantage of the #StockUpSale going on right now on favorites like General Mills cereals, Mott’s Fruit Snacks and Pillsbury Crescent Rolls.Box Tops for Education Acme #StockUpSale

 




Halloween Whoopie Pies Acme Markets #StockUpSale

It’s the special time of year again. Time for Acme Markets Stock Up Sale. Cool weather and the upcoming holidays bring great prices on soups and comfort foods and needs for entertaining friends and family.

Acme Markets #StockUpSale

Acme Markets, part of the Albertson’s family, is our neighborhood grocery store. That means it’s were we trust to get great deals, high quality and a wide selection on everything our family needs to eat 3 meals a day, sometimes 4 if you include dessert.

Deals on flour, sugar, coconut milk, evaporated milk, eggs and yogurt are just begging for something to be baked up.

Black Velvet Whoopie Pies

Servings: 24
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes

Dive into the spirit of the season with a tempting new take on red velvet cake. These mini cake sandwiches pop with Jack-O-Lantern Orange, Frankenstein Green and Phantom Purple fillings that can be customized to your taste with flavors like Orange, Lemon and Raspberry.

Ingredients

1 package German chocolate cake mix with pudding
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 Tbs McCormick® Black Food Color
3 eggs
1 Tbs McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 jar marshmallow creme
1/2 tsp McCormick® Pure Orange Extract
1/2 tsp McCormick® Red Food Color
1/2 tsp McCormick® Yellow Food Color

Directions
For the Cookies, preheat oven to 350°F. Beat cake mix, water, cocoa powder, oil, food color, eggs and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed just until moistened, scraping sides of bowl frequently. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of batter, 2 inches apart, onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. (Cookies will spread so avoid crowding them on baking sheet.) .

Bake 8 minutes or until cookies are puffed and spring back when touched, turning baking sheets halfway through baking. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

For the Orange Filling, beat all ingredients in medium bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. To assemble the Whoopie Pies, place 1 tablespoon filling on flat side of 1 cookie. Top with a second cookie, pressing gently to spread the filling. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. Store whoopie pies between layers of wax paper in airtight container in refrigerator up to 5 days.Black Velvet Whoopie Pies from McCormick #StockUpSale



recipe can be found here

With deals like this there is no need to clip coupons. Unless that is if you find coupons on your MyMixx account. This week get $5.00 Off when you purchase $50 or more in a single transaction. Signing up is free and easy and can be done right at home. AND there is no loyalty card to carry around.

What’s on your #StockUpSale list this season?

Connect with ACME Markets:
Facebook: facebook.com/AcmeMarkets
Pinterest: pinterest.com/AcmeMarkets
Twitter: twitter.com/AcmeMarkets
YouTube: youtube.com/Acme
Instagram: instagram.com/AcmeMarkets




Kid Movie Night Netflix #StreamTeam

It’s been tough having Shae off at school all day. While I’m able to occupy some of my time with work, I still feel like we aren’t seeing each other enough. It seems like every time I’m home, she’s at school but whenever I have work, she’s home again. We really haven’t been spending as much time together as I’d like. Last week Shae had a day off of school when I didn’t have to work so we decided to build a blanket fort in her room and watch some movies together.

We went around and collected (stole from our brother) some assorted blankets from around the house and started construction in her room. Luckily, she’s got a bunk bed that we were able to us to get some good height on our fort. Construction CollageWe borrowed (stole that too) our brothers empty hamper and used a gaming chair and a toy baby stroller as supports. We also utilized the dresser and the loops on Shae’s mattress to hold down blankets.IMG_0163

Using my incredible knot skills, I crafted some intricate loops to keep the blankets up. We ended up needing to weigh down the ends on the dresser with a DS case but I feel like the end result was worth it. There were also some scarves in there to add some extra flair. And to top it all off we added some hair clips to keep two of the blankets together. Shae’s head made its way through anyways.IMG_0155

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After construction was completed, we filled our fort with pillows and stuffed animals and Shae set to work looking for a new movie to watch on Netflix.

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Recently she’s been really into The Muppet Movie, which is our mom’s all-time favorite, after finding it on Netflix. I hadn’t seen it in years but it’s still pretty funny when my mom sings along to all the songs.

Kid Movie Night #StreamTeam The Muppet MovieWe also watched Anastasia together for the first time, that’s been one of my favorites for many years. I hope we get more days when we can spend some real time together soon.

Netflix Stream Team




25 Halloween Movies for Kids

With the dropping temperatures of fall come one of my favorite holidays, Halloween. We’re just one month away from the fun night of dressing up and gathering goodies from the neighbors. There’s something about that night that makes me feel like a kid again and it’s a great excuse to squeeze in some fun movie time with my own kids. These is my go-to collection of Halloween and Spooky Movies for Kids for Halloween.25 Spooky and Not So Spooky Movies for Kids for Halloween

While they aren’t all Halloween themed they all have an element of spooky, scary, haunted or creepy AND of course fun. Be a parent and do your due diligence and judge for yourself if particular movies are suited for your child’s age and personality. I starred a few that are more scary than others but these are just my opinions. These are all affliate links to Amazon also. Some the prices are super cheap for really great films.

The Haunted Mansion (Full Screen Edition)
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Frankenweenie
Monster House

The Monster Squad *
Hocus Pocus

The Goonies *
Halloweentown
The Black Cauldron
Hotel Transylvania
The Little Vampire
Toy Story of Terror
*
ParaNorman
Coraline
Scooby-Doo! And the Witch’s Ghost
R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour *
Casper
Mickey’s House Of Villains
Little Monsters
Addams Family

Gremlins *


So what do you think about my compilation? Do you have any ideas to add others to the list? What is your favorite Halloween movie?




Experience Toyota Teen Driver Safety Clinic #TeenDrive365

My family’s safety is important to me.  We stay on top of health care, eat well and wear helmets while bike riding. What I can’t do is monitor them when they aren’t home. This past weekend Sabreena and I attended the Toyota Teen Driver Safety Clinic to learn how to keep her safe on the road.

The clinic is an interactive program held at select Toyota dealerships across the US that teach teens and their families ways to stay safe behind the wheel. The program shows so much more than keeping your eyes on the road but also providing driver education, recognizing real life distractions and experiencing driving simulators to evaluate driving habits.Toyota Teen Driver Safety Clinic  #ad #stilletomedia #TeenDrive365

Sabreena has 2 years of driving experience under her belt and so far it’s been quite uneventful. This is a good thing but that doesn’t mean I don’t worry about her when she leaves the house. Whether she’s behind the wheel or a passenger in a friend’s car the stress level is the same. We went into the safety clinic prepared to learn something new.  Sabreena isn’t naive to think that she’s a perfect driver and she can’t learn something new. In fact she took a spot in the front row during the lecture part of the event.

Arriving at Holman Toyota we were greeting with an invitation to hop in the driving simulator to assess Sabreena’s driving performance while encountering distractions such as cyclists on the road, oncoming traffic and fiddling around in the glove box.  She scored ok, she didn’t hit any virtual cars or pedestrians but did exceed the speed limit a couple times and crossed her lane of traffic. Toyota Teen Driver Safety Clinic  #ad #stilletomedia #TeenDrive365

The program then led us into a presentation from a Toyota representative on the dangers of distracted driving, general vehicle maintenance and establishing good driving habits.  We were then introduced to different vehicles and given a scavenger hunt to look for specific items such as the spare tire, recommended tire pressure for the car, fuel door release, brake fluid and more.Toyota Teen Driver Safety Clinic  #ad #stilletomedia #TeenDrive365

We left the event agreeing that we would each be better role models for each other and for our family and friends. We can’t avoid every accident in life but we can take necessary steps to become more aware and defensive behind the wheel to prevent crashes.Toyota Teen Driver Safety Clinic  #ad #stilletomedia #TeenDrive365

I encourage you to research the upcoming events in your area and attend this FREE clinic. It’s only 2.5 hours of your time but could provide the needed education to keep you and your teen safe and alive while driving.




Shepherds Pie Dinner with Manwich Thick & Chunky

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Manwich for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Family meal time is important. It’s often the only time in a day that we all come together to reconnect after busy days at work and school. Coming together around the table lets us talk about not just our days but about family matters, events coming up and of course to share laughs. Making sure we have hearty, healthy and delicious meals encourages more time gathered around the table. One of my latest meal creations came from the help of Manwich with this Turkey Manwich Shepherds Pie.

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I’ll be honest the idea of a Manwich sloppy joe sandwich is not my favorite. Strictly due to the mess involved I avoid making them and serving them. What I do enjoy is the slight bbq tangy flavor that comes from the sauce so I knew I had to recreate a family favorite with a Manwich twist. I turned to Manwich because I trust them to provide easy weeknight meals without artificial flavors or preservatives.

Over the last 2 weeks the temperatures dropped, it’s definitely not summer any more. The cooler nights invite more comforting meals and to my family there isn’t much more comforting and belly filling than shepards pie. My regular recipe is very simple but I knew I could kick it up TONS with the addition of Manwich Thick and Chunky. The texture was just right for this recipe.
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Manwich Shepards Pie #Recipe @socialspark #ad #manwich

Manwich Shepards Pie #Recipe @socialspark #ad #manwich

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Manwich Shepards Pie

Ingredients

  • 3lbs homemade mashed potatoes
  • 1 1/3 lb ground lean turkey or beef
  • 1/2 chopped onion
  • salt & pepper
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • Manwich Thick and Chunky
  • shredded cheese optional

Directions

Start with a creamy delicious homemade mashed potato base. Mine consists of 3lbs of Yukon Gold potatoes, 3 tbls butter, 3 tbls sour cream, 3 tbls cream cheese and warm milk.

In a large skillet over medium heat cook down your onions and ground meat, season with salt, pepper & oregano. Add frozen corn and Manwich Thick and Chunky and stir to combine.

Preheat your oven for 350°.

In a large casserole dish spread your prepared mashed potatoes and top with the meat mixture. Sprinkle some shredded cheese on top for extra flavor.

Bake in a 350° for 30-40 minutes until the dish is hot and bubbly. Serve alongside steamed broccoli or your own favorite veggie.Manwich Shepards Pie #Recipe @socialspark #ad #manwich

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The meal was well received. I already knew the kids loved sloppy joe sandwiches but I didn’t expect such rave reviews. I really liked this dish too and will be adding it into our winter meal rotation. I’ve even going to check out the other Manwich recipes because I already know it’s good for so many other things.

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Toyota Teen Driving Safety Clinic #TeenDrive365

Teen Driving Safety Clinic with Toyota #TeenDrive365 #distracteddrivingHaving one of my children of legal driving age scares the crap out of me. Everytime she gets in the car I worry. I know she’s cautious and has hopefully been following our rules for the last 2 years but that doesn’t lessen the anxiety I have that one day she’s gonna call to say there’s been an accident. Signing up for the Toyota Teen Driving Clinic this weekend will help ease my mind and give Sabreena some new perspective into safe and defensive driving.Teen Driving Safety Clinic with Toyota #TeenDrive365 #distracteddriving

The Toyota Teen Driving Safety Clinic is open to teens and their parents at participating Toyota dealerships in the New Jersey and New York areas. Teens and their families will learn about vehicle dynamics and safety features, defensive driving, distracted driving and the importance of vehicle maintenance. This non-driving program offers parents and teens an opportunity to learn safe driving tips by professional instructors in a non-sales environment. Find a location near you to register.

The FREE 2.5 hour clinic will cover basic car maintenance, safety features, avoiding driving distractions and other topics that drivers encounter each day.

I have very high expectations for Sabreena during this experience. She’s not a new driver but still a young driver. I believe any help and education she can take in can only be a good thing. Kids are given driver’s licenses to easily these days, without much training or real world experience. Distracted driving accounted for  an estimated 421,000 injured individuals in motor vehicle crashes in 2012 (Distraction.gov). I don’t want Sabreena or another family to be part of those statistics.Teen Driving Safety Clinic woth Toyota #TeenDrive365 #distracteddriving

I want to be a part of creating the next generation of drivers. Drivers that are aware of the world around them not just what’s happening in the car. I took the pledge to be a better example behind the wheel. I pledge to be a better driver by being a safer driver. My families safety is priority number one.

Source

http://www.distraction.gov/content/get-the-facts/facts-and-statistics.html

 




Can E-Cigarettes Really Work?

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of NJOY for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

My parents are a HUGE part of my family.  My children have grown up with them involved in every part of their lives. They attend lacrosse games, graduations, birthday parties and random dinners just because. Living 5 miles apart from each is probalby a big contributor of this but also it’s because we all love each other very much.

A couple of years ago my husband and I started to pull back from so many visits to them because of their cigarette smoking habit.  We didn’t stop spending time with them but we just limited the time spent at their house. The kids started to complain of the cigarette smell on their clothes, the dogs, their hair and of course on my parents themselves. The kids often asked US when and if my parents would stop smoking. These days kids are very educated ans aware on the dangers of smoking and I think it started to make them more aware and scared. They would hear Pop-Pop cough and cough and wonder if it had to do with smoking.  I told the kids that quitting was a decision their grandparents had to make on their own. The kids would leave hints, make comments but they understood that the choice had to come from my parents.

Three months ago my parents decided to make a change. They were switching to electronic cigarettes. This was amazing news for my family.  No more skipped visits to see the people they love best. No more complaining of smoke and smells. No more interrupted trips for smoke breaks. I was so proud of the attempt.

Electronic cigarettes like NJoy are a technological breakthrough for those with smoking habits. Vaping is the process of inhaling a vapor that contains nicotine, flavors and chemicals. The NJOY e-cig is constructed to feel as close to a real cigarette as possible. The inhalation of the flavored vapor creates that familiar feeling of smoke in your mouth and throat. The flavors just add a little something extra.

NJoy Vapor Cigarettes Can Really Work

NJoy is NOT owned by Big Tobacco and never will be. They are committed to setting the highest standards for corporate responsibility related to the prevention of use of their products by people under the legal age, transparency and disclosure related to the ingredients contained in and the processes involved in manufacturing of our products, and the advancement of scientific evidence related to the potential benefits associated with the use of their products as an alternative to traditional tobacco products.NJoy Vapor Cigarettes Can Really Work

I personally think my father’s smoking had a lot to do with needing something to do with his hands and mouth. We’d often witness him hold a cigarette, take a puff or two and be done with it till it burned out on its own. Having an electronic cigarette gives him the same feeling of a traditional tobacco cigarette without all the mess and smell and health issues.

Today to say I’m crazy proud of my father is an understatement. He said if he had he known how easy this was he would’ve made the switch years ago without having to go through the trouble of patches, gum, prescriptions and withdraw symptoms.

Is NJoy something a smoker in your life would be willing to try? Learn more about #NJOYVape to help someone else kick the habit.

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