Thursday, August 25, 2011

Chuck & Friends App & Giveaway

When I am trying to make dinner, do dishes, or clean up some mess that someone has made there are few things that keep the little ones busy and teach them at the same time!  One of our favorite new apps is Chuck and Friends by Ruckus Media.  If you have not heard of Ruckus Media it is really time that you check them out.
Ruckus Media Group has many apps that are geared to the preschool age child. Spot the Dot and Andrew Answers are two of our favorites.  Recently Ruckus Media Group teamed up with Hasbro and they now have a great app called Chuck and Friends.  I think this app would really appeal to little boys.  But my 3 year old girl keeps going back to it and enjoying it too!
Here is a quick clip of what the app looks like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfL-0M9LW8g

Ruckus Media Group was nice enough to offer FIVE of my readers a code to get the Chuck and Friends app to try out for themselves!  I will randomly pick 5 comments using Random.org to win the 5 codes.
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You can earn up to 5 entries
1. Follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/cookwith5kids
2. Follow Ruckus Media Group at www.twitter.com/RuckusMedia
3. Leave a comment telling me your child's favorite app!
4. Tweet about this giveaway and leave me a comment that you did.
5. Follow me above on Google Friend Connect

Winner will be chosen on September 1st at noon.  Good luck!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Earthquake and a Giveaway

Today we had an earthquake.  It was a really big earthquake for an East Coast girl like me.
Today was a beautiful day, about 75 degrees, sunny, not a cloud in the sky.
My husband and I were both at home working on our computers at opposite ends of the house.  Our 5 kids were all playing happily running around the house as usual.  We had 2 neighborhood friends over too and all was good.  Until it happened.  I felt the floor rumble first and the wall start to shake and I immediately thought, OMG is this an earthquake and then it stopped.  I then decided I had imagined it all and maybe a big truck had just gone by.  My husband also thought maybe a big wind was blowing his windows.  Then after about 30 seconds of quiet it happened again.  This second time it was much harder.  The doors started to rattle, the windows were shaking, the pictures were falling.
I ran towards my husband, he started to run towards me and we both screamed EARTHQUAKE!!  I then had a brain drain and said, should we go down to the basement? NO he said EVERYONE OUTSIDE NOW!  All the kids ran after us into the front yard and then it stopped shaking.  One elderly neighbor also was outside and walked towards us and said, what the heck was that? We said, it was a pretty strong earthquake, are you ok?  I know a 6.0 earthquake is nothing for those of you who live in California but for us it is quite big.  We had a small earthquake last summer, a 3 or a 4 and I remember it clearly.  It was 5:30 AM and I was lying in bed awake reading a book and my bed shook a little and I went to Facebook and posted, Earthquake??? and then realized, yes, it was a small earthquake.  But today it was totally obvious and really scary.  I am still freaked out a bit.  I fixed all the pictures upstairs, picked up the things that fell down, but deep down I wonder, will there be aftershocks? will there be another one that is bigger??


On a happier note I have a local giveaway.
In a few weeks we have a very exciting week long event called Rockville Restaurant Week (September 10-18 2011).  You can read more about it here http://www.rockvillerestaurantweek.com/  Many different restaurants are participating.  It is a great chance to get out, take the night or afternoon off from cooking, and try some of our local places you have never been before.  Each restaurant will have a Prix-fixe menu for lunch and dinner.  Prices are $8 or $15 for lunch and $15 or $30 for dinner. I have a $25 gift card to Phillips Seafood on Rockville Pike to give to one reader who would like to go out during Rockville Restaurant Week.
If you would like to enter to win this $25 gift card please leave me a comment and tell me your favorite restaurant in Rockville.
For 3 extra entries:
*follow me on twitter @cookwith5kids and leave me a comment here that you do.
*and follow me on google friend connect above and leave one more comment.
*retweet or tweet about this giveaway and you will also got one more entry!
Winner will be chosen on September 12th at 6 PM and I will mail you the gift card.
Good Luck and lets hope for no more earthquakes!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Back To School Giveaway

I still cannot believe this summer is coming to an end. Where did the time go? I feel like the school year just ended. I am completely not ready for making lunches, homework, and washing smelly PE clothes.
We still have 12 more days of quiet left to enjoy.  So that is what I will try to do.

MyBlogSpark has a new giveaway for you.  My 2nd grader has fallen in love with this prize. He has claimed the cool whiteboard for his locker and might be the tiniest bit excited to hang it up in there.  He also loved the lunch bag.  The best part is that I have an identical prize pack for you, my lovely readers, too!



This prize pack is really cute.  One winner will receive
  • One box of Lucky Charms® Cereal Treats Bars
  • One box of Golden Grahams® Cereal Treats Bars
  • Lunch bag
  • Locker whiteboard
  • Colored pencil set in a really cool round case with nice recycled colored pencils inside
We had a back to school food drive at our local grocery store so our 2 boxes of bars went to their local collection for snacks for kids when they go back to school.
But these bars look great!  They are new from General Mills.  The Golden Grahams treat bars have 130 calories, 4 gm fat, and 1 gm protein.  The Lucky Charms Treat Bars have 100 calories, 3 gms fat, and 1 gm protein.  6 bars come in each box and 2 box tops for education are also included on each box!

You can read more about these bars at the Betty Crocker Website http://bit.ly/BCtreats
and you can also become a fan of Betty Crocker on Facebook here http://on.fb.me/BettyCrocker

For one entry in this giveaway, leave me a comment telling me what you will send for your child as a snack this year.

You can earn 3 additional entries:
* follow me on twitter @cookwith5kids
* follow me above on Google friend follower for 1 extra entry
* tweet about this giveaway using hashtag #myblogspark
* please leave a comment for each entry, thank you!
If you already follow me on Twitter or Google just leave that in the comments as well.
Winner will be chosen on August 24th at noon, so leave your comments today!

Disclosure: My prize was provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark but the opinions provided above are completely my own.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Peanut Butter Pie

I just read about Jennie's husband Mikey passing away earlier this week.
http://www.injennieskitchen.com/2011/08/for-mikey.html
and I feel so sad for Jennie and for her children.
I just put my peanut butter pie in the fridge and through my tears I will serve a piece to my family tonight.  Hug your loved ones tonight and every night because you never know when you will serve your last piece of peanut butter pie.
 Vegan Peanut Butter Pie
I bought a chocolate crust at Whole Foods
16 oz tofu, soft silken
1 cup creamy Peanut Butter
3/4 cup sugar (I used organic zero)
2 TB almond milk
2 tsp vanilla
I put all my ingredients in my Vitamix and blended it all really well.  I put it in the prepared chocolate crust and refrigerated it for 2 hours.

Fiber One 80 calorie cereal Giveaway!

As a part of MyBlogSpark I was sent a gift pack from General Mills.  Inside there was a box of their new Fiber One 80 calorie cereal, a pedometer, and a cool orange armband that can hold an ipod.
There are many great things about this new cereal
*Slightly sweet, honey flavor
*Only 80 calories per serving
*Keeps you feeling full all morning
*Extra fiber keeps you feeling full which helps you lose weight
*Each 80 calorie serving has 40% of your daily fiber, wow!
*Feel full without adding too many calories

MyBlogSpark and General Mills is nice enough to offer one of my readers a giftpack exactly like the one I got.  You will receive a box of the new FiberOne cereal, a sensor pedometer with USB connector, and a neoprene Ipod or Smartphone armband.
For one entry in this giveaway, leave me a comment telling me how you try to add fiber into your diet.
You can earn 3 additional entries:
* follow me on twitter @cookwith5kids
* follow me above on google friend follower for 1 extra entry
* tweet about this giveaway using hashtag #myblogspark
* please leave a comment for each entry, thank you!
If you already follow me on Twitter or Google just leave that in the comments as well.
Winner will be chosen on August 15th at noon, so leave your comments today!

Disclosure: Fiber One 80 Calories cereal, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.