Simplify Your First Week Back with Kraft Foods Giveaway

UPDATED 8/31/12 We have a winner! Each comment was given a number and the numbers were run through a randomizer - the capture below shows the number to be 1 which is RHONDA! Congratulations Rhonda, and thank you everyone for participating!

There is quite possibly nothing more difficult for caregivers of school-aged children than back-to-school time. The rush, the runaround, the paperwork, the planning, the meals. It can make your head spin. With 5 off to school myself this year, I know this all too well.

Kraft has stepped in once again with a fabulous giveaway chock full of time-savers and sanity savers. I'd be hard-pressed to name my very favorite from this list of goodies I have to share, but I think the organizer in me is completely in love with the Weekly Meal Planner Pad  and Calendar Stickers. The Meal planner pad has a large magnet across the back so I can hang this at Family Central, a.k.a. the refrigerator. There are spaces for lunch, dinner and snacks/dessert along with a Notes section for AM, NOON and PM appointments and such. There's also a handy "Need to Buy" column - this really does keep everything all in one spot and ends the age-old question of "what's for dinner?" Now I point and they read.

The stickers are totally adorable as well and have everything you'll need for the whole year: travel, birthdays, wedding, shopping days, dr. appointments, work-outs and more! A quick label makes viewing your day at-a-glance so much easier.

The kids, of course, LOVE the CHIPS AHOY! Chewy Gooey Caramel and Chewy CHIPS AHOY! made with Reese’s ® Peanut Butter Cups. Here's a little hint, 5 seconds in the microwave make the centers even MORE gooey. Just in case you needed more.

The backpack is large and sturdy with lots and lots of pockets for pens, notes and change etc. and the sweat-free ice pack is perfect for use anywhere as it won't leak onto books or papers. As soon as the kids hit the door, have them use germ-X Hand sanitizer to save yourself the headache of back-to-school viruses. And once they're all clean, sit them down with those cookies and a glass of milk served with a classic Krazy Straw. My kids use these for everything they drink and they're sturdy so they can be washed and reused over and over.

There's also the cutest little notepad EVER ... shaped like an apple and very handy for those little notes you want to tuck into the kids' lunches or for the few things you need to grab on a shopping trip. Go have a look at it!

What else is in this pack? Lots more!

• A full box of CAPRI SUN Super V Fruit and Vegetable Juice Drink(Fruit Punch):  CAPRI SUN Super V is a new refreshing fruit & vegetable juice drink that kids will enjoy and moms will feel good about serving. The new ready-to-drink beverage, which comes in the popular CAPRI SUN pouch, contains a combined serving of fruits and vegetables (3/4 from fruit juice and 1/4 from vegetable juice) and is a good source of fiber, offering a perfect blend of nutrition, great taste and “kid cool.” 

• A coupon for LUNCHABLES with Smoothie: New Turkey and Cheddar Sub Sandwich with Chiquita® Strawberry Banana Smoothie and Double Stuf OREO cookies is the perfect first-day lunch time option that combines all of your kids’ favorites! You can also try the new Chicken Strips and Deep Dish Pizza options to add some variety to lunchtime! Also, look out for more exciting Lunchables news coming your way next month directly from the Lunchables team J

• A coupon for JELL-O with Mix-Ins Pudding Packs:  Feed your family a snack you can feel good about with new JELL-O with Mix-Ins. Mix your favorite toppings into your favorite pudding flavors to create your new favorite dessert. Kids will love trying the six fun flavors like Strawberry Shortcake, OREO Dirt Cup, Birthday Cake, German Chocolate Cake, Turtle Sundae and Banana Caramel Pie. And you’ll love that they’re made with real milk.

• And two boxes of New! VELVEETA CHEESY SKILLETS Dinner Kits in Creamy Beef Stroganoff and Lasagna: Craft your family a quick, easy, molten and melty dinner made with the liquid gold of VELVEETA. Wield your skillet and one pound of ground beef to forge a feast of new Creamy Beef Stroganoff, with premium seasonings, curly ribbon pasta, and creamy VELVEETA cheese sauce. Or, forge VELVEETA CHEESY SKILLETS Lasagna by smiting together one pound of ground beef, lasagna noodles, red sauce and premium seasonings together with the liquid gold of VELVEETA.

OK now - I KNOW you'll love this prize box as much as we did, so here's how to enter for your chance to WIN this $100 gift pack!

Each one of the following actions will count as a single entry for this great prize, so the more you do, the higher your chances of winning.

1. Follow @CookingwithAnne on Twitter and Tweet the following:
I'm entered to WIN KRAFT prizes and more @CookingwithAnne http://bit.ly/MZ1bsi !
Come back here to the blog and leave a comment with a link to your Tweet.

2. LIKE the Cooking with Anne page on Facebook. Come back here to the blog and leave a comment letting me know you've done so.

3. Follow me on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/annecoleman/  and come back here to the blog to leave a comment letting me know you've done so.

That's THREE ways to win! 

Contest ends August 30th at 12:01 AM EST.

*Kraft Foods is providing the prizes for this program at no cost to me and has provided me with a gift of equal value for review.  This program is not administered or sponsored by Kraft Foods or its affiliates, but solely by Cooking with Anne.

Back-to-School Giveaway with Polly-O String Cheese and Crayola

Updated 8/16/12 We have a WINNER! All the entrants were given a number, one number for each entry. The numbers were fed into the randomizer at Randomizer.org and the following screen capture shows the number to be 3 which is MANDA. Congratulations to our winner and thank you all for entering! Stay tuned for the next great giveaway starting tomorrow!

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The most hectic time of year for me has to be the weeks before and just after the back-to-school rush. This year the five youngest are off to school and the constant questions are already plaguing me: What are they wearing? What are they eating? What supplies do they need? This year I hope to help one lucky winner with at least a little of that worry.

Kraft and Crayola (two of my favorites) have teamed up to help feed our kids' hunger and creativity by offering the following terrific prizes, worth $70:

·         Two POLLY-O/KRAFT Sting Cheese Gratuity Coupons

·         Dry-Erase Bright Crayons

·         Dry-Erase Washable Markers

·         Dry-Erase Board Set

·         Twistable Colored Pencils

·         Wild Notes 1 subject

·         Wild Notes Journal

·         Wild Notes Refill Paper

·         A Lunch Box to pack their favorite lunches in

Everything in this photo PLUS two coupons for FREE Polly-O String Cheese!

How fun is that? Here's the deal. Below all this prize-winning mumbo jumbo, I'll share my own ideas for what to do with Polly-O String cheese and some more information for you to peruse, and then you'll enter and cross all you have!

Each one of the following actions will count as a single entry for this great prize, so the more you do, the higher your chances of winning.

1. Follow @CookingwithAnne on Twitter and Tweet the following:
I'm entered to WIN Crayola prizes and more @CookingwithAnne http://bit.ly/MZ1bsi  #KRAFTStringCheeseB2S!
Come back and leave a comment with a link to your Tweet.

2. LIKE the Cooking with Anne page on Facebook. Come back and leave a comment letting me know you've done so.

3. Tweet your favorite snack or lunch idea using Kraft Polly-O String cheese using the tag #KRAFTStringCheeseB2S. Come back here and leave a comment with a link to your Tweet - one Tweet per person.

4. Follow me on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/annecoleman/ and come back to leave a comment letting me know you've done so.

That's FOUR ways to win! Go ahead and do that and I'll have coffee while you're gone...


All done? Good! Now, here's what I've done with Polly-O String Cheese to help feed the little minds I'm in charge of.

I STUFFED them! What? Really. I got to thinking about "ants on a log" and, honestly, my kids are only a fan of one part of those and it's not the ants or the log. So, I cut each stick of string cheese almost all the way through to the bottom, lengthwise, and got out some of the kids' favorite "little" foods and stuffed each one. Think of the possibilities! Once stuffed, wrap in plastic and pop them in their lunches or save them in the refrigerator for after-school snacks. Simple and really yummy. See what ideas you can come up with on your own.

From the left: Red pepper, red seedless grapes, all-natural no sugar added peanut butter, dried cranberries, almonds and salami.

Make sure you check out the following links for fun and information on Kraft and Crayola. Also, be sure to look for specially marked packages of Polly-O String Cheese from July 15th until September 30th that contain a coupon for $3.00 off your next $10.00 purchase of Crayola products. Who doesn't love that?


www.kraftbrands.com/kraftstringcheese 

www.kraftbrands.com/pollyostringcheese

www.crayola.com/kraftstringcheese

www.crayola.com/pollyostringcheese 


Thanks so much for reading and entering and best of luck to you!

Kraft Foods is providing the prizes for this program at no cost to me and has provided me with a gift of equal value for review.  This program is not administered or sponsored by Kraft Foods or its affiliates, but solely by Cooking with Anne. This contest will run until August 16th at 12:01 AM EST so enter today!

 

Happy Blogiversary to Me!

Cooking with Anne turns 7 this year on July 4th, and in honor of my new-found maturity at such a ripe old age, I thought I'd come clean.

When I started this blog, it was sort of like every other blog out there; chatty, filled with personal info, serious at times, silly at times. I feel like I've gotten away from that (I know I have) so I want to share where I'm at.

Blogs are supposed to be personal in nature and I realize most of what I've shared lately hasn't been very personal other than the fact that my recipes are mine. Big deal. There are thousands of blogs that share personal recipes and mine is really no different in that respect.

I shared my grandmother's passing here, I shared my father's illness and death here, I shared a pregnancy and birth here, and I shared a personal family tragedy here and through each was supported with an unimaginable caring by my readers.

Here's the deal. I'm divorced. I divorced last August after 22 years of marriage. I'm sure a few of you, the ones who read through each update about my ex-husband's fall and subsequent hospitalizations and recovery are wondering why.

The truth is, beyond that tragedy was another tragedy that was happening every day for many, many years. I've been called a "saint" by close friends and I don't think I am at all, but I do know what I and my children survived for a very long time, and I finally had the courage to say, "enough". I won't get detailed, I don't think it's necessary, but those times where there are large blanks in my posting were the times when things were hardest.

I was presented with an amazing person who helps me daily to see me for me, not the person I was made to think I was; who keeps me smiling and genuinely cares about me. Without that person, I don't think I would have stood my ground and moved on. God is very funny that way ... I think He holds out on you until you're hanging by your last thread only to throw you the strongest rope you've ever had.

The point is, I'm here. I'm probably here for the long haul. Know this though, silence now is more likely the result of something GOOD happening here instead of something not-so-good. For everyone who still reads, I love you. I really do. Some of you have been here from the very start and you know who you are - I appreciate you - some days you were the light that pulled me through.

And, to the amazing someone who still keeps me going now (and the seven amazing kids who love me no matter what) ... I love you, too.

A Very Veggie Garden

Every year for a very long time now, I've grown a garden behind my house. No matter where I lived there was something there that I was tending. Flowers, vegetables, fruit or herbs, I was out in the sun each morning checking on seedlings or pruning and weeding larger plants. I didn't always have a bumper crop, but I always had something to tend to. 

Tiny little zucchini.

Now that I've moved (and last year was close to the end of the growing season and I had to leave my garden behind) the yard is not so big and quite weedy. I also haven't had the time to devote to a full garden. I did have a large seed tray filled with plants, but when the time came to plant (and I was in the middle of that) my mother needed me to help during a brief illness and the planting window opened and closed quickly.

Tomato flowers ... soon-to-be-tomatoes!

No matter, there's no way I wouldn't have something growing, and I did get zucchini, green beans and tomatoes in the ground. The green bean leaves were eaten by the cutest bunny ever, so they were doomed from the start. Sad to me, because it's the one thing I've always been able to grow without issue.

A whole lotta mint!

The zucchini are starting and the tomatoes just now blooming. I'm happy with that. I lost some herbs to the recent heat, as well, but learning the new sun location has taken me a little time and if I'm here next year, I'll know better. I also have a bumper crop of wild mint and purslane is creeping everywhere! If you don't know about purslane, please do have a look here for more information - it's not just a weed!

Purslane creeping across the concrete walk.

Over the years, though, I've grown many things and I always had a little companion with me to check growth, pull weeds and harvest when the time was right. My kids love to get into the dirt (sometimes in a not-so-helpful way) and pick vegetables from the garden. And, because of their love for gardening, they also love to eat veggies.

Purslane closeup.

It's not really so hard to get kids to eat their veggies when you involve them from the ground up. They're proud of their accomplishment and really want to see if what they grew tastes like what they've only seen on shelves at the store.

This is in line with Country Crock's message that vegetables are delicious and shouldn't be hidden. I believe the same. Hiding veggies in recipes by pureeing or overcooking not only takes much of the nutritional value away, but doesn't really teach children to enjoy vegetables, setting them up for a lifetime of issues. They won't always have someone who will be willing to hide their veggies for them.

Make veggies the star - have a veggie tasting party with your kids - let kids take turns picking out vegetables at the store for meal time, or do what we do - Grow Your Own! Even if you don't have a yard, many vegetables can be grown in containers and kids love to watch things grow. Give it a try and see if you don't have not only budding gardeners on your hands, but veggie lovers, as well.

Before you go, check out The Country Crock Chronicle for more veggie tips and recipes!

*Disclosure: My posts for Country Crock are sponsored, compensated and/or reimbursed by Country Crock and Unilever. As such, all content and opinions are required to be honest and belonging wholly to myself.

Hello!

I sometimes wonder if being on camera comes natural to everyone in the world but me. I get nervous and tongue-tied and my eyes wander everywhere but the camera. I sat down today and after 8 tries have a short intro video (with a guest!). If we've never met in person you get a tiny glimpse of what I'm like in real life. 

I'm hoping to get rid of my fears and actually make a cooking video some day soon. No, I'll never be on The Next Food Network Star, but I do hope to at least connect a little better with my readers.

Alright Mr. Demille, I'm ready for my close-up...