Smashing First Birthdays! {flash post}

Smashing First Birthdays

Cute video collage of some cake smashes

 

 

 

 

Smashing First Birthdays!

Betty's friends and families celebrate their little ONEs first birthdays. Join in the fun, and share your celebration:
#bettysbirthdays

Click on the link to go to the page to see some cuties in action!

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One sweet day in Motown {flash post}

One sweet day in Motown

One sweet day in Motown

National Sweetest Day, on Saturday, Oct. 19, took on a whole new meaning in Detroit when Betty Crocker descended on the city that rocks with thousands of free cupcakes and goodwill for the local community and nonprofits. As part of the national roll-out of its new line of baking mixes and frostings, Betty Crocker created... click on the link above to read the full post!


 I would NOT mind if Betty Crocker wanted to come to my town and promoted with free cup cakes!
 *hint hint*

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How is simple folk art like sweet cookie dough? {flash post}

How is simple folk art like sweet cookie dough?

How is simple folk art like sweet cookie dough?

Folk art is as American as apple pie and the two can be a package deal – as we discovered when we acquired all-natural baked goods maker Immaculate Baking Co., last year. Not only did we open our arms to their collection of cookie, biscuit, sweet roll and pie dough's, we also acquired their 50-piece... Click the link above to red the full story!

I was totally unaware that General Mills had even acquired this baking company!

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Chocolate Chip Brownie Brittle a Review

Chocolate Chip Brownie Brittle

by Sheila G's

 

 

Have you ever fought over the crunchy corners on the pan of brownies? Have your  heart break moment when you saw that they were all gone? You miss all out?! 

I have a neighbor that LOVES the corners of the brownies that I bake, in fact she has requested that I bake them in a round cake pan so that there are more ha, ha Which I would do for her any time since we love her and her family to bits and pieces.

 I got this amazing bag of brownie brittle from Swaggable ( in the end I wish it was about a million times bigger!)  it was a full size bag and at first I was a little apprehensive about it. I'm not really a brownie corner type of girl. I love the oh so warm and gooey centers the most. Or at least I thought I did, this one little bag had turned my whole warm gooey brownie world upside down! I wanted to devour the entire bag in one sitting BUT I didn't instead I hid them from my children so that I could enjoy them more then once.  HA HA

I received the flavor of Chocolate chip which may I say was just AMAZING! Each little bite was crunchy, flavorful, and wonderful. And it wasn't so hard like traditional brittle that it was about to crack my teeth in half.   It's crunchy just like the corner out of the pan and then enough that it can be called brittle.

 I want to take up stock in these! I already plan on buying a bunch and making a huge gift basket for my wonderful neighbor for Christmas. I can't wait to see the look on her face when she try's these out she is going to love them and so will you!

 Ready to try these out yet? Click Here to be sent right to the web site. They are starting to sell in stores ( woo hoo!) and you can find the link HERE to see if it is in a store near you yet. 

 

 Don't like Chocolate Chip? No problem! Here is a list of some of the other flavors that they offer:

• Mint Chocolate Chip
• Toffee Crunch
• Salted Carmel



 

 

About

Love the crispy crunchy edges of a rich gourmet brownie?  Then you owe it to yourself to try Award-Winning Brownie Brittle™ snacks by Sheila G. Named as a hot item by WeightWatchers.com® (only 120 calories/ounce), Brownie Brittle snacks are peanut-free, certified-Kosher, made with natural ingredients, and were named Best New Snack Product of the year by the National Confectionery Sales Association.

  No more fighting for that corner piece with Brownie Brittle snacks!

  See more here

 

Features

 

• Features WeightWatchers.com hot item

• Gourmet Retailer Editor’s Choice Award

• Progressive Grocer Editor’s Choice Award

• Best New Snack Product (NCSA) Finalist – Most Innovative New Snack Product (NCA Sweets & Snacks)

• One of Oprah’s 7 Fabulous Finds

 

Certifications

 

Truvia a Review

Truvia

To try or not to try....

  

So as some of you know I have a sweet tooth and a coffee  tendency, habit,.... okay, okay...addiction And I like my coffee a little sweet so normally I add just a sweetened creamer no sugar in to it. But the awesome site called CrowdTap  teamed up with the brand Truvia and sent me a couple of sample packets to try out.



   Now I know all about 'fake' sugars, my amazing wonderful Husband can't have sugar but I hate the odd after taste ( and lets all be honest there is normally a weird after taste) that all the ones I have tried had to them. So I always ditch them and go back to what I know and love.... real sugar.



 I have heard about Truvia before trying the samples, Hubby has used it but I gave up trying out the 'fakeies' long ago, so I never bothered to ever even try it out.

   Well now the baby is almost 2 (he's 19 months) I still have a ton of weight to lose and it's time that I start eating and drinking in the direction of that weight loss goal or I'm never going to see it in this life time and cutting sugars is going to be one of the hardest things that I have to do.

So I tried it....

 

I tried the Truvia....

 

and

.....................................................

   I liked it!!
   I am just as shocked as you all are! I was amazed that it didn't leave some odd, bitter, unnatural after taste in my mouth.

Here is the info that was with it:

It's all natural

Zero-calories

 Great tasting!

It is made from the Stevia plant and has been used as a sweetener in South America for generations.

   So here I am starting to walk the road that I should have been walking a long while ago..... to a better and healthier life, I can't say that I won't use ever sugar again, but at least for right now I am on the right path.

   Now if only they could make a candy bar that made people instantly skinny and of course healthy.... because let's be honest although we all want to be healthy I DEFFANLLY want to fit into those smaller size jeans that have been staring at me for the last 2 years!

Our Home Update

Our Home Update

 

 

 

 Post 1 of 2

 

 

Thought I would give you all an update on the AMAZING job that my hubby is doing on the house. When we first moved in all the work that needed to be done to the house was a little over whelming that's for sure, but my Hubby has been doing steady work on it since the day he move in- January 2012!  Here are some pictures from when we first moved in....
  Our Street. Don't you just LOVE it?

This is to be my craft room

Our library

Our living room

Our dining room

Our kitchen (sort of!)

The 'down stairs' family room

Our staircase

 The upstairs hallway

Bedroom #1

Master bathroom

Bedroom #2

There are two more bedrooms and a Jack and Jill bathroom between bedroom #2 and #3 but I can't seem to find pictures of them any where although I know I have them somewhere! We also have a breakfast nook, guest bathroom, laundry room, maids closet, full house basement, and a separate guest house. Every single room., let me repeat that... EVERY. Single. Room. needs something done to it.

 

Here are some of our plans:

Up stairs:

 

We are putting in a private bathroom for every bedroom, moving the laundry up stairs, moving the master bathroom to the other side of the bedroom,  building a balcony off the front of the house, repairing and fixing all the bedrooms, building bigger closets in the master and room #3, building a sitting room in the master bedroom.

Down stairs:

 

 We are expanding the kitchen by using the breakfast nook and making it part of the kitchen, building a HUGE pantry, building an outdoor kitchen and patio off of the back of the kitchen, repairing and painting the formal dining room, repairing and painting the living room and replacing the fireplace, redoing the craft room into a guest room/ craft room, replacing the pillars in the front of the house and fixing the front porch, completely remodeling the library to add in more book shelves and a bigger fire place, and the staircase needs to be refurbished. And don't get me started on the guess house we don't even know how to save it. We are thinking we are going to have to have it tore down and rebuilt from the bottom up. 

Don't get me wrong this is a complete work of Love...well most days anyways.  

 We also have a huge brick wall that needs to be righted as well ( another current project my amazing hubby has going on!)

 

 Well guess this post has going on long enough!! HAHA I will post again with updated pictures of the house and what we have done to it!

 



Blown Circuit ....A Book Review

Blown Circuit

       A Book Review            

I have to start this review out with an apology, I know I know, your asking your self ~ what and why? The reason being is because it's late. Due to power outages and some sick kiddos I didn't get this posted as promised and that's just rude.  So I am very sorry this is being posted so late.

 Here is what I started seeing about this book before I even got the book to read....

 

 The Cold War brought the world to the brink of nuclear Armageddon. 

But it was also responsible for the development of a different kind of weapon.

The new device was stealthy, instantaneous, and absolutely devastating.

Fortunately, it was also lost. 

Until Now...

 

Michael Chase survived China. Barely. But now he has bigger problems. A pair of coordinates broadcast on an encrypted frequency have brought him to Istanbul where his father has left a message for him. Michael's mission is to find a device so immensely powerful that if it isn't located quickly, the global balance of power will shift forever. 

 

But nothing is easy and now Michael has enemies. He doesn't only need to find the device. He needs to find it before the Green Dragon Group hunts him down.

 

Michael and the Dragons aren't the only ones searching. Meryem Demir is a Turkish Intelligence Agent. She didn't ask for the assignment, and she certainly didn't ask to be paired with Michael, but choice is a luxury Meryem doesn't have. 

 

Together, Meryem and Michael form an uneasy alliance taking them from the crowded bazaars of Istanbul all the way to the lonely shores of the Southern Mediterranean in search of the lost device. Of course finding the missing weapon is only half the battle. Preventing its use is the real struggle and when an old acquaintance enters the fray, Michael must decide who to put his faith in -- his newfound partner or a dangerous ghost from the past?

 

If Michael chooses poorly, the weapon will be activated and millions of innocent lives will be wiped out in seconds. And if he chooses wisely, he may never see his father again.

 

    So you can see why I was excited to read it before I ever even got it!

    I love a book that won't give away the plot in the first 3 pages. Since I have not yet gotten the chance to read the first one I have to tell you that this one stands on it own very well, I have heard that it picks up right where the first one left off, in the story Michael explained some crucial aspects and points from the last book, things like what happened to him, how he got to Istanbul, and what happened to his father I plan on getting my hands on the first book and reading it very soon!

  This book has Michael Chase starting out in Istanbul, Turkey where things turn in the poo right from the start.  Nothing is what it seems, who can he trust? Does he really know who is true enemy is? Michael is the new guy in the CIA  and  when his dad disappears and is believed to have been abducted, he is the perfect person to track him down. It's not so simple though....

   Deciphering codes, hidden clues... these are the things he must do, find, go through in order to find his father. But not so fast... or easy, there are attempted murders, explosions, betrayal. Sound awesome yet ( psst it's because it is!)? The story continues on and Michael must find a destructive device that has been missing for 60 years, and must do so before a group of terrorists gets to it first. Can he do it? Who can he trust with it when and if he does get it? There are many twist and turns to this book that I didn't see coming, The ending shocked me ( which honestly doesn't happen very often!) If you would love a thrill ride this is the book to read! I hope that the story goes on and that I get the honor of reading it, regardless for a review or not! I just wanna read it!! HAHA

    I found myself very pulled in by this book from the moment I started reading it, I didn't want to have to put it down. I found it very irritating that at moments I would have to stop reading to go and be an adult and do Mommy things! I just wanted to know what was going to happen next. I promise you that this is a smooth and easy read. It wasn't hard to keep up with the story, which after dealing with kids and the house is a welcomed thing here! I am honored to of been able to do this review. 

Mr. Lars Guignard has a new fan in me!

                                       

                

  Book Information:

• Series: A Michael Chase Thriller
• Paperback: 342 pages
• Publisher: Fantastic Press (September 16, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0992118204
• ISBN-13: 978-0992118204

Buy Links:

amazon.com:  http://www.amazon.com/Blown-Circuit-Adventure-Thriller-ebook/dp/B00AMRGX2A

amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blown-Circuit-Adventure-Thriller-ebook/dp/B00AMRGX2A

Author Bio:

Lars Guignard is a former film and television writer and graduate of both McGill University and the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. His bestselling novel, Lethal Circuit, has been a TOP 100 Amazon Spy Thriller since its release. In addition to the Circuit series, Lars is the author of the children’s adventure series, Zoe & Zak and the Ghost Leopard, Zoe & Zak and the Yogi’s Curse and the paranormal mystery series, Brood.
Ever since attending high school in the Indian Himalayas, Lars has been an avid backpacker and traveler. He now makes his home in the Pacific Northwest where he is busy completing the third Michael Chase thriller for release in 2013.

For news about new releases, please join his email list here:http://www.larsguignard.com/contact/

He can also be reached at the following places:
Blog: www.larsguignard.com
Twitter: @Lars_Gu
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LarsGuignardAuthor


Thank you for the honor of reviewing this book it was great fun to read!


*I received a copy of this book for free in order to give my honest review about it*