Edna Valley Vineyard Review

I have tried some of the wines from the Edna Valley Vineyard previously and fell in love with them.  This winery is located in a wonderful area in California.  Edna Valley Vineyard is located in the San Louis Obispo area.  This is right along the coastline.  I always say that this is truly one of my favorite parts of California. The winemaker creates amazing and balanced wines.  These wines are full of flavor.  

Edna Valley Vineyard 2011 Central Coast Chardonnay

I love this wine!  This is a wonderful dry white wine.  It is fresh and crisp tasting.  It has a really nice fruitiness, but is not sweet.  It is perfect with fruit and cheese.  I love it with pork or poultry too.  The grapes from this wine come from the central coast region.  They have added some grapes from Monterey County too.  This wine retails for about $15 a bottle.

Edna Valley Vineyard 2011 Central Coast Cabernet Sauvignon

This is an amazing full bodied dry red wine.  It is also made with grapes that come from the central coast region.  Most of the grapes are from the Paso Robles area.  It is mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, but it is blended with a tiny bit of Merlot.  This gives it a great flavor.  The wine is smooth and easy to drink.  This bottle retails for about $15.  

Disclosure - I received a free sample to facilitate my review.  No monetary compensation was provided.  All opinions are completely my own.  My participation is voluntary.   I am disclosing in accordance with FTC 16 CFR Part 255.  

Shirley J Cooking Made Easy Prize Pack Giveaway 5/14 CLOSED

Shirley J is a company that is new to me, but they have been around a long time.  They actually began in 1978.  The idea behind Shirley J products is that they offer amazing quality products, but they will make cooking easier.  I had so much fun in the kitchen when I tried out some of the great Shirley J products I received.  

Whisk Bliss 

This is a wonderful product.  If you make your own cream sauces or anything like that then you will love this.  This product simply gets stirred into water and then brought up to a boil - then simmer.  The best part about this is that it makes making a white sauce super quick.  You don't have to use butter and flour.  You don't even have to add milk.  I love that everything you  need (except the water) is in the package.  This can be used as a base for so many meals.  Do you like cream soups?  Whisk Bliss is perfect for that.  I used it to make some amazing biscuits and sausage gravy.  My husband loved them!  I love to make my own mac and cheese with a white sauce.  I can't wait to try using Whisk Bliss to replace my white sauce.  What would you use this for?

Biscuit Mix and Baking Mix

I sometimes make biscuits from scratch when my husband wants his biscuits and gravy.  They are definitely good, but they are also a bit of work.  I don't always have the time for that on a week night.  I decided to try out the Biscuit Mix from Shirley J.  I could not believe how easy this was.  You seriously just add water, knead, roll out and then bake.  I seriously had biscuits in about 20 minutes.  I also love that you don't have to measure anything out.  You don't need to worry that you are out of anything to make them either.  You can make these as long as you have water!  The biscuits were delicious.  They were so good with the Whisk Bliss sausage country gravy too!

Chicken Bouillon

I use a lot of bouillon in my cooking.  I use it quite often to season things like rice before I cook it.  I am not fond of those prepackaged seasoned rice mixes.  I have found that bouillon is a great way to flavor things like rice and it tastes great.  The Chicken Bouillon from Shirley J is some of the best I have had.  What did I like?  It has a really nice chicken flavor, but it's not too salty.  I make homemade chicken soup often.  I find that I have to add a little chicken bouillon to my broth to get it to taste like anything.  I plan on adding some of the Shirley J Chicken Bouillon next time to help boost the flavor.  What do you use chicken bouillon for?

These are just some of the great products that Shirley J offers.  I know that these are going to be things that I am going to use often and that will make cooking easy.  I know I am so busy during the week and it gets hard to make meals easily.  You can learn more about all of the great products that Shirley J offers by visiting the website.  

You can also connect with Shirley J on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Giveaway - 2 winners will receive a package of Whisk Bliss, Chicken Bouillon and $10 gift card to Shirley J.

Open to US residents 18 years of age and older.  The giveaway will end on 5/14/13 at 8:59 PM PST.  The winners will be chosen randomly.  The winners will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to contact me back to claim their prize.  Mommie of 2 is not responsible for lost prizes or prizes that are not received.  

Disclosure - I received a free sample to facilitate my review.  No monetary compensation was provided.  All opinions are completely my own.  My participation is voluntary.   I am disclosing in accordance with FTC 16 CFR Part 255.    

Upcoming Review - Dormco.com

I recently found out about Dormco.com and I am exited to announce that I will be doing review soon.  They offer a great variety of products geared towards college students that live in dorms.  They offer a great selection of products that could also be used around the house or in a child's room too!  

I will be reviewing an Easy Storage College Cube.  I can't wait because I can find a ton of uses for this.  Keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming review!

Bridlewood Estate Winery Review

The Bridlewood Estate Winery is located in the Central Coast of California.  I was really intrigued when I found out that this winery used to be the home to an Arabian horse farm.  Bridlewood Estate Winery is known for it's wines that are often called complex.  David Hopkins is the winemaker at the Bridlewood Estate.  The grapes he uses come from a variety of regions.  

The Bridlewood Estate has a Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 new release.  This comes from the Paso Robles region.  That around the San Louis Obispo area.  This is an wonderful bottle of red wine.  It is smooth.  I allowed it to breath for about 30 minutes before drinking and it was excellent!  The grapes that go into making this wine are hand selected.  The wine has a touch of Merlot and Petit Sirah in it too.  I love the boldness of this wine.  It does have a hint of fruitiness to it too.  This bottle retails for about $15.

The Bridlewood Estate has a Blend 175 new release too.  This is a wine that comes from the Central Coast.  This means that the grapes come from a variety of different regions.  This has created a superb wine that is amazing.  It blends Syrah, Cabernet Sauvigon, Petite Syrah, and Viognier.  This is a smooth red wine that has a wonderful flavor.  It's great paired with cheeses, red meats and much more.  It is a wine that is easy to drink too.  This bottle also retails for about $15.  

You can learn more about the Bridlewood Estate Winery by visiting their website too!  

Disclosure - I received a free sample to facilitate my review.  No monetary compensation was provided.  All opinions are completely my own.  My participation is voluntary.   I am disclosing in accordance with FTC 16 CFR Part 255.  

Barefoot Books - Monster Stories 1-4 Review

My daughter is 6 and I've been looking for some simple chapter books for her to read.  She isn't quite there yet, so I usually read her most of it and have her help me with the simpler words.  I also have an 8 year old that loves to read.  He reads anything he can get his hands on.

Barefoot Books offers a wonderful selection of titles for children of all ages.  They offer books for children about 1 year old and up.  I enjoyed browsing their website.  I noticed that so many of their books are also beautifully illustrated.  This really makes reading fun for children.

The Monster Stories from Barefoot Books are geared towards children ages 6 to 11.  These are simple chapter books that are great for the early reader.  The Monster Stories have easy vocabulary and simple sentences.  They also really keep your child engaged in the book.  The plot is interesting and the pictures are fantastic.  

I honestly set these books on the couch and was going to sit down with my daughter and read them with her.   My 8 year old was bored and sat down and started reading them.  He fell in love with them and read all 4 of them in a day.  I am so happy that both my 6 and 8 year old can enjoy these books.  

Monster Stories #1 - The Feathered Ogre

This is a wonderful story from Italy.  It features a king that ends up ill.  He is trying to get someone to bring him an ogre's feather.  This special feather will make him better.  Pirolo is a palace gardener and he sets out to find the feather.

Monster Stories #2 - The Mother of Monsters

This Story from South Africa.  This story is about Ntombi.  She is the chiefs daughter.  She is a very active girl!  The chief really wants his daughter to get married, but that is not really in her plan.  She wants to go see the Ilulange River.  This is where the Mother of Monsters lives!

Monster Stories #3 - The Abominable Snowman

This is a story that comes from Nepal.  Ramay is a boy that I would say doesn't help his mom out enough.  His mom thinks he is lazy.  She ends up telling him to leave.  She wants him to stop behaving the way he does.  Ramay goes to live up in the mountains.  That is where the monster Shopka lives.

Monster Stories #4 - The Terrible Chenoo

This is a North American Story.  It is a Native American tale.  A man and woman leave their tribe.  The man is responsible for hunting and the woman prepares the food.  They are getting ready for Winter.  The woman comes across a Chenoo, but she isn't scared.  She hugs the Chenoo and the Chenoo now has a friend!

These are all wonderful stories that my kids loved.  I asked them both which was their favorite, but they said they really liked them all.  Have you read any of these Monster Stories from Barefoot Books?  Which one is your favorite?

You can learn more about Barefoot Books by visiting their website.  You can also connect with them on Facebook and Twitter.

Disclosure - I received a free sample to facilitate my review.  No monetary compensation was provided.  All opinions are completely my own.  My participation is voluntary.   I am disclosing in accordance with FTC 16 CFR Part 255.    

Best of Warner Bros 100 Film Mother's Day Giveaway $597.92 value 5/9 #BestofWB CLOSED

Most people love movies.  I know that we do in our house.  How about a great movie giveaway for Mother's Day?   Warmer Bros. has a 100 Film Collection that they are going to offer one of my readers!  This is a really great set of DVD and it's very impressive too.  This would make a great gift for any mom or grandma that loves movies of all sorts.  If you want to get an idea of what kinds of great movies you will find in this 100 Film Collection from Warner Bros. just check out the app above.  You can play a really fun game called Guess-The-Scene.  Some of the movies in this great collection include . . . .

Casablanca

Giant

Gigi

Lethal Weapon

Natural Born Killers

Seven

L.A. Confidential

Matrix

and so many more!!!!!

Warner Bros. is helping make this giveaway even more fun with the My Perfect Mother's Day Fill in the Blank Sheet.  If you are a mom this is perfect.  You can print this out and then fill in the blanks with how you would like to see your very own Mother's Day end up!  This is perfect to help that spouse that has no clue as to what to get you too.  If you simply click on the image below it will allow you to print it out!

Giveaway - Enter to win the Best of the Warner Bros. 100 Film Collection on DVD.  

You do not need to be a mom to win!  If you aren't a mom and want to enter please enter via the Rafflecopter and answer the questions like you were answering for your mom, grandma or any other mom you think is amazing!

Open to US residents 18 years of age and older only.  No PO Boxes.  The giveaway will end on 5/9/13 at 8:59 PM PST.  The winner will be chosen randomly.  The winner will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to contact me back to claim their prize.  Mommie of 2 is not responsible for prize fulfillment.

Fancy Frills Boutique Studded Handbag and Chevron Necklace #Giveaway 5/10 CLOSED

I love great deals and great quality products.  That is exactly what Fancy Frills Boutique has to offer.  Fancy Frills Boutique was started by 2 stay at home moms.  They both previously worked at Nordstrom and both had great knowledge about great fashionable products and great deals.  They now have teamed up to offer really cute fashionable items and they do it at great prices.  They are constantly looking for cute items they can offer their customers at a fraction of the price.  I love the idea behind this.  

You will see a number of great stylish items available at Fancy Frills Boutique.  The items they offer could include purses, wallets, jewelry, belts, accessories, clothing and much more.  I was asked what I wanted to review and started browsing their website.  I honestly found it complicated to pick something only because everything they offer is so cute!  

I received a studded handbag from Fancy Frills Boutique.  This bag is so cute.  It is made of quality material.  The bag is a great size too.  The bag is large enough to fit pretty much everything you need in it, but it's not too big.  The bag I received is a pretty pink color.  It's almost like a bubblegum color.  It is perfect for Spring and Summer.  The bag is made well and made with quality materials.  The bag has a retail price of $62, but the price that Fancy Frills Boutique was selling it for was much less!  I also received a very cute studded wallet as well.  The wallet is perfect and slim.  I like that it is made with quality material and sturdy.  However, it is super cute and fashionable too.  The studded wallet has a retail value of $40, but was also selling for much less on the Fancy Frills Boutique website.  Both the handbag and wallet are something I am going to get a ton of use out of.  I have already gotten a bunch of compliments on both of them.  

If you are looking for great quality items that are very fashionable and fun you can find many at Fancy Frills Boutique.  They offer so many items that would make great gifts for mom or grandma for Mother's Day too! You can learn more about the Fancy Frills Boutique by visiting them on Facebook and Pinterest.  

Giveaway -  Enter to win a Studded Handbag and Chevron Necklace.

Open to US residents 18 years of age and older.  The giveaway will end on 5/10/13 at 8:59 pm PST.  The winner will be chosen randomly.  The winner will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to contact me back to claim their prize. Mommie of 2 is not responsible for lost prizes or  prizes that are not received.  

Disclosure - I received a free sample to facilitate my review.  No monetary compensation was provided.  All opinions are completely my own.  My participation is voluntary.   I am disclosing in accordance with FTC 16 CFR Part 255.    

OBO Creations $25 Jewelry #Giveaway 5/9 CLOSED

I love unique and beautiful jewelry.  I love when I find out it's handmade too.  I think that truly makes an item special.  I think the idea that someone worked hard to create the piece you are wearing is even more special.  oBo Creations offers beautiful handmade jewelry that is very impressive.  I fell in love with the items the minute I saw them.  oBo Creations is located in Switzerland.  This is so neat!  The jewelry is made by a young jewelry maker.  

oBo Creations offers jewelry that is unique.  The items are made individually and you cannot find anything like it.  They are made with beautiful colors and materials.  Her goal is to create jewelry that makes people happy.  I think she has done a wonderful job of this!  

I received a beautiful Antracit Black Heart.  The heart necklace is so neat!  I love it and get so many compliments on it.  It is definitely eye catching.  These unique heart pendants retail for about $27 and can be purchased from the oBo Creations Etsy Shop.  They are truly a neat piece of jewelry to add to your accessory collection.  I also want to say that I was very impressed with the packaging of this necklace.  It comes in handmade packaging too that is absolutely adorable.  You really can tell that the designer cares about what she does and loves it too!

You can visit the oBo Creations website or Etsy Shop to learn more.  These items would make wonderful Mother's Day or Graduation Day gifts too!  You can also find oBo Creations on Facebook and Pinterest too!

Giveaway - Enter to win any item from oBo Creations up to $25 in value.

Open to US residents 18 years of age and older.  The giveaway will end on 5/9/13 at 8:59 PM PST.  The winner will be chosen randomly.  The winner will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to contact me back to claim their prize.  Mommie of 2 is not responsible for lost prizes or prizes that are not received.

Disclosure - I received a free sample to facilitate my review.  No monetary compensation was provided.  All opinions are completely my own.  My participation is voluntary.   I am disclosing in accordance with FTC 16 CFR Part 255.    

Smoke Pass E Cigarette from Electronic Cigarettes Inc. Review

I smoked for a number of years and quit a little over 2 years ago.  This can be a very challenging thing for anyone to do.  However, I have been looking for ways to convince my husband to quit  smoking.  I have seen a lot of info about people saying they have used electronic cigarettes to quit.  I wanted to have him give this a try.  

He received a Smoke Pass Electronic Cigarette kit from Electronic Cigarettes Inc.  He said that the kit is very easy to use.  That it definitely helps reduce cravings and the flavor is similar to that of a real cigarette.  The Smoke Pass kit has no smoke.  It has no tobacco, tar or other chemicals in it that are commonly found in cigarettes.  The Smoke Pass kit provides you with vaporized nicotine.  This electronic cigarette kit comes with a cartridge and a battery.  The batter easily hooks up to a USB and just plugs in.  The cartridge is where the nicotine comes from.  The cartridge is about equal to 30 cigarettes.  

The Smoke Pass Electronic Cigarette kit comes with the following . . . 

1 Battery

1 USB Charger 

and 2 Refill Cartridges.

This kit can be purchased directly from Electronic Cigarettes Inc.  They offer a huge selection of different kinds of electronic cigarettes.  You can learn more about all of the products that they offer by visiting their website.  

Disclosure - I received a free sample to facilitate my review.  No monetary compensation was provided.  All opinions are completely my own.  My participation is voluntary.   I am disclosing in accordance with FTC 16 CFR Part 255.    

Cafe Zupas Opens in the Las Vegas Area

I was given the awesome opportunity to attend a VIP dinner event at Cafe Zupas.  They have a number of locations in Utah and a few in Arizona.  I was excited to hear that they were arriving here in the Vegas area.    They have just arrived in the Vegas area.  The are located at 9640 South Eastern.  They are officially open to the public as of April 25, 2013.  They will also be opening another location in the Summerlin area eventually too!  

So what exactly is Cafe Zupas?  It is a restaurant that has won a number of awards.  They offer fresh and delicious food that is made the way it should be.  They use quality ingredients.  There menu consists of soups, salads, sandwiches, desserts and more.  They even have a kids menu.  The food is fast, fresh and reasonably priced.  They offer a great menu that offers healthy options too.  I love that you can order any item how you want it.  If you want a sauce left off of a sandwich they will do that for you and without a fuss!

I love the way the restaurant is set up.  You order your food at the front and then pay at the register.  They offer a great selection of soft drinks.  I even love that they offer Italian Sodas.  These are a big favorite of mine!  I was truly impressed with Cafe Zupas Spice Rack.  This is the neatest thing ever.  My husband and I are huge hot sauce fanatics.  The Spice Rack consists of a number of bottles of great hot sauce.  Most of these are what I would call specialty hot sauces.  This was truly impressive!

So what did we order?  My kids ordered the chicken strips and fruit cup meal.  The kid's meal combo at Cafe Zupas gives you 4 choices and your child can pick 2 of them.  This is really fun for the kids.  The kids meals are only $3.99 too!  My kids inhaled their meals and loved it.  They even got a chocolate covered strawberry that came along with it.  I honestly think that was their favorite part.  Can you blame them?  

My husband ordered the Yucatan Chicken Tortilla Soup.  He enjoyed it.  He described it as a chicken taco in a bowl.  My 6 year old insisted on trying it and she loved it too.  He also got a Honey Bacon Club Panini that he said was excellent.  This is a panini with turkey, ham, bacon, tomatoes, cheese and usually a honey mustard sauce.  However, my husband doesn't eat honey mustard and they had no problem leaving that off for him.

I ordered an Asian BBQ Pork Sandwich.  This is one of their gourmet sandwiches.  It is full of flavor too.  This sandwich consists of slow cooked pork, chili lime sauce, Korean bbq sauce, cilantro, cucumbers and pickled carrots.  Yum!  It was amazing.  I wasn't sure if I would like it, but I loved it.  I actually ate the entire thing.  I also tried the Shanghai Chicken Salad.  This is a wonderfully fresh Asian style chicken salad.  All of the ingredients were extremely fresh and delicious.  The Sesame Ginger Dressing is really good.  I also love that there is a Fat-Free option on the dressing too!  That is great if you are watching the calories.

We then moved on and had dessert.  Many of the items comes with a chocolate dipped strawberry.  They were so good!  However, I couldn't resist trying the Salted Caramel Brulee.  It was rich and creamy.  It wasn't too sweet either.  My husband had to try the Rocky Road Brownie.  He said it was very good.  This was a monster size brownie too!  

These are just some of the delicious items that you can find at Cafe Zupas.  You can find a complete menu by visiting their website.  You can also connect with them on Facebook and Twitter too!

Visit the Las Vegas/Henderson Cafe Zupas at. . .

9460 South Eastern
Henderson, NV 89123
702-763-6415

I also want to thank Cafe Zupas for having us at this wonderful event.  My family truly enjoyed our dining experience.

Disclosure - I received a free sample to facilitate my review.  No monetary compensation was provided.  All opinions are completely my own.  My participation is voluntary.   I am disclosing in accordance with FTC 16 CFR Part 255.    

  

Shake it Up CD Review

Disney's Shake it Up:  I <3 Dance CD features great music from the television show "Shake it Up."  This is a CD with 12 great dance tracks that your kids will love.  The CD has 12 tracks that are from the 3rd season of the show.  Is your child a fan of the show?  They will really like the music if they love the show!

The songs feature music from Bella, Zendaya, Selena Gomez, Bridget Mendler and more!  The tracks are fun and upbeat and your kids will love to dance to them.  My 6 year old loves this CD.  She can't get enough of it.  She wants to listen to it at home and in the car.  

The 12 tracks on the CD include . . . 

Contagious Love

This is my Dance Floor

Beat of My Drum

Blow the System

Afterparty

Holla at the DJ

These Boots are Made for Walking

Sharp as a Razor

Future Sounds Like Us

I Can Do Better

Shake it Up Theme Song

and a Bonus Track!

My daughter loves the song Beat on My Drum.  Have you heard the songs from this CD?  What is your favorite?  The Shake it Up:  I <3 to Dance CD retails for about $9.99.  You can learn more about this CD and all of the other great Disney music by visiting their website.  

Disclosure - I received a free sample to facilitate my review.  No monetary compensation was provided.  All opinions are completely my own.  My participation is voluntary.   I am disclosing in accordance with FTC 16 CFR Part 255.