Busy Mom Reviews

April 12 is National Licorice Day, and what better way to celebrate than with Red Vines Licorice.

To celebrate, Red Vines is taking a look back at their beloved candy that's over 94 years old and they're kicking off a drawing contest.

Licorice loyalists can submit an original drawing illustrating their love of Red Vines candy for a chance to win fabulous prizes including a $5,000 scholarship or a trip for 4 to anywhere in the United States.

Fun facts:

- Each Red Vines twist is eight inches in length.
- It takes 3 days to make a Red Vines twist
- Red Vines brand is the number one non-chocolate confection in the West. Utah consumes the most Red Vines candy per capita.

I have nearly single handedly gone through the samples they sent us, and boy is it good!

Spring 2008 has arrived with lots of new toys from Hasbro, and I was sent several of them to try out.

Littlest Pet Shop has a fun VIP line. They are virtual interactive pets and kids can cuddle them and play online with them in cyber form.

Don't forget all the other Littlest Pet Shop fun things, too. They are all the rage with the kindergarten set around here.

The Fur Real Friends are a big hit at our house, even with my older kids. The Tea Cup Pup is adorable and there's lots more.

The Classic Easy Bake Oven (which my boys were knocking each other down to get to) is 45 years old! It's just like you remember and it allows young bakers to create cakes and snacks for everyone to enjoy.

Baby Alive has lots of additions to the family this spring. Each new member of the family showcases a different stage of a baby and toddler’s development from playing peek-a-boo to potty training.

The new for 2008 Baby Alive Newborn Assortment had dolls that sleep, sip from a bottle and even ones a "mommy" can pat and burp.

Hasbro also has another birthday. Did you know that My Little Pony is 25 years old? They have a contest to celebrate where you can have a chance to win a $25,000 savings bond.

These are some great gift ideas for girls, but be sure to check out all the other great toys and games as well!

Pizza Hut is branching out and has introducedTusacni Pasta.

It comes in 2 flavors, Meaty Marinara and Creamy Chicken Alfredo.

We got to try out the Meaty Marinara flavor. It was delivered to our door just as promised, and, you know what?

It was really good.

I was mildly skeptical that pasta could survive the delivery process still warm, but the aluminum pan was carefully insulated in a cardboard box and it was still quite warm.

The pasta itself was done very well, there was lots of meat and cheese, not like some fast-food type pasta that looks like it might have accidentally run into some sauce.

It's a great alternative to pizza delivery. Though it's not exactly gourmet fare, we loved it and it would be an option for an informal dinner gathering.

Tuscani Pastas are $11.99 each and it feeds four, and comes with breadsticks. There was plenty for us and 3 kids.

Try it out!

I was sent some of Palmolive's phosphate-free Eco+ Gel Dishwasher Detergent.

It's said to be more environmentally friendly than regular dishwasher detergent. It has a strong bleach-y smell, I kind of liked it, but it made me wonder how that could be more "eco-friendly", but. I'm not sure.

I like that it doesn't have phosphates, but I'm not sure that is the only requirement to make something "green".

I liked it. It did a fine job of cleaning dishes, comparable to my regular detergent, and, it was a little runnier than I thought it'd be, but that wasn't a show stopper. I didn't have to use more or less than I usually do to get the dishes clean.

Eco+ is available in three scents, Lemon Splash, Citrus Apple Splash and Lavender Splash.

Prilosec OTC is sponsoring the Winner's Circle Sweepstakes.

The grand prize is a weekend trip to the final NASCAR Chase for the Championship race in Miami, Florida the weekend of November 14, 2008.

More than 100 instant winners will receive other great prizes, including an authentic NASCAR firesuit with driver autograph, NASCAR SuperStore.com gift cards and a race tire signed by No. 31 Prilosec OTC driver Jeff Burton and the No. 31 team.

After playing, you can download the official “Winner’s Circle” widget to keep track of how the race is going.

You can enter once a day and it ends on September 1, 2008.

No, this isn't a PR blog, thanks for asking.

But, from time to time I do get PR announcements that I like to pass along. I pass along whatever strikes my fancy.

Sometimes? I even use their text.

So, if you wanna hear about ice cream, then here ya go:

On Wednesday, April 30, 2008, from 5-10pm, Baskin-Robbins is offering ice cream for only 31 cents per scoop to pay tribute to heroes across the United States.

In addition, they are partnering with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and donating $100,000 to the worthy organization.

Local firehouses are invited to go to their neighborhood Baskin-Robbins to scoop ice cream, teach fire safety tips and help raise money for their individual fire stations.