This past weekend I got to try out Wendy’s new summer salad, the Berry Almond Chicken Salad along with other local area bloggers and their families and I must say, that salad was delicious. In general, I like salads but don’t like cold chicken in them so this salad was a treat for me not only because it had warm chicken but it also had almonds which I love. It had the perfect combination for me along with the fresh blueberries and strawberries. It’s the perfect summer salad if you ask me. Doesn’t it look just scrumptious?

Fresh blueberries, strawberries, 11 types of greens, Asiago cheese, almonds and warm grilled chicken breasts. Yum.  I think I need to go get another one. I’m getting hungry just typing this.

After such a great yet light lunch we headed to the park with our families. It was a steamy hot 96 degrees (actually I think it ended up being 100 degrees that day) but that didn’t stop the kids from running, jumping, climbing and making friends and it gave us some time to meet other local bloggers and chat a little.  It was nice meeting some online friends in real life. We all had a great time thanks to TheMotherhood.com and Wendys.


Now we want you to have a great time too and start it off with a taste of the new Berry Almond Chicken Salad (trust me you’re going to love it). So I’ve now got a $25 Wendy’s giftcard to giveaway to one of you fabulous readers.

I’ll make it super simple to enter too. Just leave a comment here on the post telling me your favorite food item at Wendy’s.

Want extra entries? Tweet this message: “I want to try the  #berrytasty Berry Almond Chicken salad from @Wendys thanks to @AMomBlog and @TheMotherhood http://wp.me/p1sZIt-Tn”

Be sure to leave me a comment with the link to your tweet. (no limit on tweets but please don’t spam your followers)

I’ll use random.org to choose a winner on Tuesday, June 7, 2011.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post in conjunction with TheMotherhood.com and Wendy’s. I was also provided with a gift card for our use as well as the one being given away.  All comments regarding the salad are 100% my personal opinions.

© 2011, Nanette Gomez. All rights reserved.

One of the major topics around our house seems to be “responsibility” lately.  It so important for our kids to know that they need to be responsible.  They need to know that now so when they grow up they’ll be responsible adults.  But how  do you teach that with out nagging, without having to constantly remind your kids of what they have to do?

I’m tired of standing over my kids constantly reminding them of what they need to do. So, I’m ready to kill two birds with one stone here (figure of speech mind you, I would never intentionally kill a bird).  I don’t know about your kids but mine are very visual learners.  They also are very techy kids. They love just about anything on the computer so I think I’ve found the solution that provides both.  Today, I went to GoalForIt.com and set up a chore chart for each of my kids. They have the cutest templates.  For Little Bug I chose the race car one and for Princess I went with the girl with guitar.  Perfect for each one of them.

I went in and created the charts and set up the points for each task and what days of the week the task is to be done. Kids need incentives.  Mine do anyway so, hubby & I will set the rewards up tonight.  Once the kids complete the day’s tasks, I’ll take them to the site and let them fill in the ones they did without me having to remind them.  They are going to like being able to get rewards and tracking it themselves. It’s so easy to do and completely free.

Have I peaked your interested?  Go to GoalForIt.com and create your own free charts for your kids.  Give it a try and let me know how it works for your family.

• Free. Just join and set up your account.
• Easy to create charts.
• Multiple types of charts including chore charts, behavior charts and goal setting. (The goal setting one is great for adults too)
• Charts can be created, edited & printed.
• You can set up Rewards for your kids.
• Your kids can see how they are doing and input their accomplishments helping them become a part of their own success.

I am so excited to see how the kids do.  I’m guessing they’ll love it, I already do. One other reason I’m trying this out is because I want my kids to as independent as they can be as adults.  Learning to care for themselves by doing tasks such as picking up after themselves and helping with the laundry are skills that will help them become independent adults and the little added bonus that will will learn they need to work for what they want as well.  It takes work to achieve goals.

Disclosure: This is a compensated post in conjunction with the GoalForIt.com review program and BSMMedia.

© 2011, Nanette Gomez. All rights reserved.

I’m so excited to tell you about Purex’s new product.  Toss out that liquid fabric softener, you are going to love this!  I received a free sample size bottle of Purex Complete Crystals to try out as a Purex Insider and today I actually get to tell you about it as it’s been a secret till now!

Honestly, my first thought was – these look like bath salts for my laundry? But I tried it and Purex Complete Crystals smell wonderful, I can’t wait to take my laundry out (and typically, I’m not a big fan of doing laundry.)    So what’s different about Purex Complete Crystals, well for one thing they’re crystals, not liquid, not a powder like we’ve become accustomed to.

And unlike most liquid fabric softeners, Purex Complete Crystals aren’t oil based.  How is that a good thing?

Oil based liquid softeners:

• work by coating your fabrics in oil, which over time builds up allowing dirt and debris to stick to fabrics decreasing your fabrics lifespan leading to unwanted gray or yellow discoloration. I hate when that happens don’t you?
• decreases your towel’s ability to do it’s job and absorb water.
• make your children’s sleepwear less safe as the oily residue left by most liquid fabric softeners can impair  the effectiveness of the flame-retardant treatment.
• can even reduce the effectiveness of your sportswear as the oily residue can prevent the fabric from drawing sweat away from your body during a workout.

Right now you can buy Purex Complete Crystals at Wal-Mart but coming in January and February it will be available at other retailers as well.

UPDATE!!!! Win a free bottle of Purex Complete Crystals! I now get to give 3 of my readers a free bottle of Purex Complete Crystals courtesy of Purex.  To win all you have to do is leave me a comment letting me you’d like to try the new Purex Complete Crystals or tell me which scent you’d like best – click here for more information and available scents.

If you’d like to you can also get an extra entry by doing any of the following: (please be sure to leave a comment here on this post letting me you’ve done any of the options below)

Follow me on twitter.

Tweet about this giveaway.

Like us on facebook.

Follow this blog on google friends connect. (see sidebar)

Follow this blog via Networked Blogs. (see below)

Winners will be chosen by random.org on Jan. 7th and prize coupons will be shipped via Purex. Winners will be notified via email/twitter and will need to respond within 48 hours.

© 2010 – 2011, Nanette Gomez. All rights reserved.

One of the nation’s hottest holiday toy companies, Pillow Pets™, has released two new children’s games!   We got to try them out at no cost for this review and giveaway.

Pillow Pets Dreamland Adventure Game (shown above) and Pillow Pets Dreamland Matching Game (below).

In Pillow Pets Dreamland™ Adventure Game, players set sail on an exciting journey through seven continents of the world to reach Pillow Pets Dreamland. Spin a colorful wheel to travel along a vibrant pathway filled with exciting adventures, adorable animals, and, yes, even a few pitfalls. The first player to collect at least four Pillow Pets Animal Cards and reach the enchanted Pillow Pets Dreamland wins the game. This game is designed for ages three and older and for two to four players. It retails for approximately $20.

Pillow Pets Dreamland™ Matching Game is a game of memory skills and focus, (and you know I’m all for that), players compete to collect matches amongst 30 “pets” including Ms. Ladybug, Cozy Cow, Friendly Frog, and Silly Monkey, and their corresponding “pillows”. The player with the most “pillow and pet” matches wins. Recommended for ages three and older, Pillow Pets Dreamland™ Matching Game is for one to four players and retails for approximately $10.

Pillow Pets Dreamland™ games are available at www.lovemypillowpets.com.   There is a limited supply for 2010. Pillow Pets is the recipient of the 2010 Top 10 Holiday Toys for Toys R Us and selected “Hot Dozen” by FunFare Magazine. Pillow Pets continues to win awards including the coveted iParenting Media Excellent Product award, the Mr. Dad Seal of Approval, and Dr. Toy Best Vacation Products.

Pillow Pets is giving one of my readers the chance to win their own large Pillow Pet (choice of Snuggly Puppy, Magical Unicorn or Ms. Ladybug) and both, yes both Pillow Pet games.  Isn’t that exciting?  And it’s really easy to enter too.

Mandatory: Simply visit www.lovemypillowpets.com and come back here and leave a comment letting me know which Pillow Pet you plan to buy as a gift or maybe one that your child is hoping to get.

For extra entries: You must come back and leave a comment for each extra entry on this post letting me know what you have done.

• Leave a comment on the blog at www.mypillowpetsblog.com
• Like My Pillow Pets on facebook for an additional entry as well.
• Follow my blog on Google Friend Connect. (see sidebar)
• Follow me on facebook HERE!
• Tweet about this giveaway and share the link in the comments.

Giveaway ends December 25. Winner will be chosen by random draw. Winner will be notified via email/twitter and must respond with 3 days. US residents only.

Disclosure:  My Pillow Pets provide me with both games and one Pillow Pet for my review and will be shipping out a set for the giveaway to the winner.  No monetary exchange took place.

© 2010, Nanette Gomez. All rights reserved.

We received a free review copy of Disney’s Tangled video game for Wii.  Since Tangled is currently my daughter’s new favorite movie you can just imagine the huge, tight hug I got when I opened the package.  It was something she was hoping for and thus as she put it “wishes do come true, mommy”.  The smile on her face was priceless.

She and her brother quickly unwrapped it and popped it into the Wii.  The included instructions are very vague but my kids figured it out pretty quick without them.

Disney Tangled: The Video Game is based on the animated Disney film of the same name and is for children ages 6-11.  Children can play as Rapunzel or Flynn and solve mysteries and challenges to maneuver through a mission-based, storybook kingdom.  Your children will explore 3D environments with 2 players simultaneously via split screen.  They’ll play fun activities and multiple mini games – solve puzzles, paint, race, engage in swordplay, clear obstacles, rejuvenate objects, meet some interesting characters along the way and even keep a journal.

For younger children, when engaged in coop with 2-4 players, the “Hold My Hand” feature can be activated should they need more guidance.

It’s Rated: Everyone with Cartoon Violence

MSRP is $39.99 (Wii); $29.99 (DS)

Co-op with 2-4 players and also has a single player mode

If your children enjoyed the movie, like mine did, I’m sure they’d enjoy the Tangled Video Game (Wii) as well. Mine certainly have.  My son enjoyed wielding his sword to help Rapunzel and my daughter enjoyed twirling, creating flowers and swinging with Rapunzel’s glowing hair.

Disclosure: No monetary exchange took place.  The video game was provided free of charge for this review but in no way influenced my children’s desire to play the game or experiences with it.

© 2010 – 2011, Nanette Gomez. All rights reserved.

{Giveaway is now closed.  Winner chosen and notified}

General Mills has created an online community all about living gluten free.  You can keep up with gluten-free product news, read articles and real-life stories from others living gluten free too.  But that’s not the best, to me the best part is a list of over 300 affordable gluten-free products and even better they’ve got great-tasting recipes too! Recipes from breakfast treats such as Blueberry-Corn Muffins to Chicken Nuggets (you know how kids love chicken nuggets) to brownies and cakes. In fact, we just made the most delicious, moist cupcakes and the kids just gobbled them up. Sshhh, they don’t know I’m hiding a few.

Have you been missing yummy foods like cakes, cookies, brownies, mashed potatoes, biscuits or cereals among other items since going gluten free?  Thanks to General Mills through MyBlogSpark I’ve got a great Live Gluten Freely product box to giveaway to one of my readers.  The Live Gluten Freely product box includes an assortment of gluten-free products from brands such as Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Chex and Larabar (my son’s new favorite), and  a Betty Crocker Red Serving Spoon!

How to enter: Simply leave me a comment telling me what product you’d like to see made Gluten-Free! (mandatory)

For extra entries tweet about this giveaway and leave me a comment with the link to your tweet. (no limit)

Winner will be chosen by random.org on 11/19/10 and notified by email. Prize fulfillment will be provided by MyBlogSpark.  Winner must reply within 48 hours.  Disclosure: The information, products for review and giveaway prize have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark at no cost to me. The personal experiences are my own. No monetary exchange took place.

© 2010 – 2011, Nanette Gomez. All rights reserved.

{Comments Closed – This Giveaway Has Ended}

Since going gluten free in our home though not 100%  (one of us still eats regular breads and biscuits) it’s been trying on our littlest member.  Poor little thing I feel so bad for her sometimes because I just can’t make her biscuits if she’s the only one who’s going to eat them.  Believe me she can’t eat very many so making a batch is just wasteful but she does still like them.  Well, I’ve found the solution to our biscuit troubles.

Pillsbury Grands! Frozen Biscuits!  I can pull out only a few and make them for her whenever she wants one or two without having to make more than she can eat in a sitting.   The Pillsbury Grands! Mini Biscuits are the perfect size for her too.  She’s not one for trying anything unusual with her food yet so we didn’t try making any special recipes – she doesn’t even add butter, just likes to eat the soft, flaky layers of delicious hot biscuits.  I’m hoping later on she’ll get a little more creative with her food but for now just being able to have some quick, delicious freezer-to-oven warm, fluffy, fresh biscuits will do for her.

Check out Pillsbury on Facebook and “Like” them at http://www.facebook.com/Pillsbury Print a $1.00 coupon on the purchase of any Frozen Pillsbury Grands! Biscuits here!

Pillsbury in connection with My Blog Spark have graciously provided me the opportunity to give one of A Mom Blog’s readers a Pillsbury Grands! Frozen Mini Biscuits Prize Pack just like the one I received (free of charge).

The Giveaway: A Pillsbury® Grands!® Mini Biscuits prize pack which includes a VIP coupon good for a free package of biscuits, a $15 gift card to purchase your recipe creation/experimentation needs, a biscuit basket, a butter dish and spreader!!

To Enter: Help me get creative.  Tell me what your favorite recipe idea using Pillsbury Grands! Regular or Mini Biscuits is? (Mandatory – you must do this for your entry to count.)

Additional entries: Tweet about the giveaway and include the hashtag #myblogspark Make sure you come back and leave me the link to your tweet to complete your additional entry. Tweet as often as you like.

Giveaway ends: October 8, 2010  Winner will be chosen by random.org and emailed or contacted via twitter if twitter handle is provided.  Winner must reply within 48 hours or an alternate winner will be chosen.  Prize fulfillment will be provided by My Blog Spark.

Disclosure:  By the way, I did received a Pillsbury Grands prize package from Pillsbury via My Blog Spark for this review and giveaway free of charge.  No other monetary exchange took place.

© 2010 – 2011, Nanette Gomez. All rights reserved.

When we opened the box we received from Team Mom and Spin Master my daughter just squealed with delight, “Mommy, how did they know I loved Olivia?” when she saw what was in the big box. Yes, it was Olivia.  We got the chance to review (free of charge) the new Olivia 8″ plush doll and the Olivia 2-in-1 Transforming Playset.   She immediate inspected everything and could hardly contain herself waiting for me to remove the packaging from the Plush Olivia doll and playset.

Both my kids really enjoy watching Olivia so these toys were just perfect for them.  They know the character and they love her.  One of my son’s first comments was about how soft the plush Olivia was.  She quickly gained a spot on my daughter’s bed along side the rest of her friends.  Olivia began going everywhere with us.  The Olivia 2-in1 Transforming Playset joined us on our weekly therapy sessions too.  It was the perfect imaginative play inducing toy that kept my daughter busy for our long wait.  In fact, another little boy asked if he could play along with Olivia too.  I think for the kids both the Olivia plush doll and the 2-in-1 Transforming Playset were a hit. In fact, my daughter now wants all of the Olivia plush dolls: Artist, Opera Singer, Cow (we received) and Outfits.  She also wants to know if there is a little bother – Ian, mother, father and William doll.  She’s also begun calling her big brother, her big bother instead, just like Olivia does with Ian. Funny huh? See Olivia at home:

While I found them to be very nice, I did have some concerns as the Playset has some very small pieces.  I’d caution you about that especially for young children.  Also the palm tree on the pirate ship side is cardboard and isn’t easy for little hands to put in without bending the tree and it needs to be removed to close the playset so our’s only lasted a day.  And Olivia’s body came apart when my daughter was playing with it.  We will probably just glue it back together in the middle no biggie.

All in all, the kids really are enjoying playing with Olivia and watching the show.  They love her imagination and are using their own.

The 8″ Olivia Plush and 2-in-1 Playset are available at Toys R Us, Target and KMart

Disclosure:  No monetary exchange took place for this review and receiving the product free of charge did not influence our opinions of the products.

© 2010, Nanette Gomez. All rights reserved.