Busy Mom Reviews

Sorry for the delay, but the winner of the Palm Pre Plus giveaway is Amy H.

Thank you everyone for following along as I learned about this fun phone.

I've got more giveaways coming up, get ready!

For the past 3 months, I've been part of the Your Shape Challenge. I've been using Your Shape for the Nintendo Wii featuring Jenny McCarthy for a while, and now it's time to let you give it a try!

Your Shape featuring Jenny McCarthy is a new fitness game for Wii from Ubisoft. It's different from other fitness games since it uses a camera to monitor your moves and you don't have to hold a controller while you exercise. It also features a virtual Jenny McCarthy who gives you feedback and encouragement as your proceed through the exercises.

The Giveaway

I'm giving away one (1) copy of the Your Shape fitness game for Nintendo Wii.

1. (Required) Leave a comment (and a valid e-mail address) telling me something you're doing to lead a healthier life.

2. For an extra entry, tweet (Be sure to leave a separate comment linking to your Tweet below) about this giveaway. I'm @busymom.

3. For yet a third chance to win, leave a separate comment and let me know how you found out about this contest. If it was a website or blog, be sure to tell me which one.

4. 1 (one) winner will be picked randomly via Random.org from the comments.

5, Contest is open to all U.S. residents 18 years or older

6. Winner has 24 hours to get back to me, otherwise another winner will be drawn.

7. Hurry! Contest ends Thuesday, April 15, 2010 at 10pm CST.

8. Now that you've entered, why don't you come say hi to me over on my blog, Busymom.net? C'mon, I'll even break out the Cheez-Whiz for you.

The Your Shape Challenge was sponsored by Collective Bias, Ubisoft, and Walmart. I received the game and have received additional incentives throughout the challenge, including this copy for giveaway, but my opinions are my own.

ALSO: Enter to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card

And? There's more. Get a free photo canvas. Really. (you pay shipping)

I am forever looking for a way to save stuff I find on the Internet. I use a bunch of different computers, plus my phone and I'm terrible about bookmarking something on one, and having no recollection of where I put it.

Springpad is a free, online personal organizer that helps you easily save anything you want to remember such as ideas, lists, recipes, restaurants, products, books, movies and more.

Thanks to doing this review, I've "rediscovered" Springpad. It's more than just social bookmarking (though you can make friends and see the cool stuff they've shared), it helps you remember things and organize them for easy access.

You can save all kinds of things within Springpad and there are several different Springpad apps to help ehance your notes. If you're like me, you can also use the reminders that you can send yourself by text or e-mail to help you get all those things on your list done. The Post-It Note method I've been using just wasn't hacking it in this area.

The easiest way to get started is to open your free Springpad account, and drag the "Spring it" button to your toolbar so you can save stuff online with one click and you never have to leave the page you're on.

Springpad is also easy to access what you've saved when you're on the go by using the Springpad Mobile site on your phone, or the Springpad iPhone app. This app is particularly cool, you can put in text or a photo, and you can also scan an item's barcode to save it. You can also e-mail notes into your Springpad account with your own personalized Springpad email address.

Learn more about Springpad:

Give Springpad a try and be sure to check out the Springpad blog and fan Springpad on Facebook and follow Springpad on Twitter.

The giveaway:

Prize: One (1) $25 Amazon Gift card:

1. (Required) Open a free account at Springpad, make a list, save something (whatever you want to do) and share it in the comments using your Springpad user name (http://springpadit.com/YOURUSERNAME)

2. For an extra entry, tweet (Be sure to leave a separate comment linking to your Tweet below) about this giveaway. I'm @busymom.

3. For yet a third chance to win, leave a separate comment and let me know how you found out about this contest. If it was a website or blog, be sure to tell me which one.

4. 1 (one) winner will be picked randomly via Random.org from the comments.

5, Contest is open to all U.S. residents 18 years or older

6. Winner has 24 hours to get back to me, otherwise another winner will be drawn.

7. Hurry! Contest ends Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 10pm CST.

8. Now that you've entered, why don't you come say hi to me over on my blog, Busymom.net? C'mon, I'll even break out the Cheez-Whiz for you.

I received a gift card as a thank you for my time and one to give away. My opinions are my own

ALSO: Enter to win a copy of YourShape fitness game for Wii (ends 4/15/10)

Beginning today, April 15 (in honor of Busy D.'s 8th birthday, I'm sure) Lands' End is starting it's Family and Friends promotion. Use:

Promotion Code: LESHOP
PIN: 6413

and get 25% off any regular priced item AND Lands' End free shipping!

Hurry, it's all over on Monday, April 20, 2010!

As you might remember, I was selected as a Frigidaire Test Drive Mom from Mom Central.

We've been getting to know our new dishwasher over the past couple of months, no easy feat as we'd had the old one for quite a long time. You'd be surprised at how much habit is involved in loading a dishwasher, and there's actually a bit of work involved when you get a new one.

Or, maybe that's just me.

The space is one of the greatest feature of this Frigidaire Dishwasher. You can get a lot of stuff in there, even the big items.

Some of the key features of the dishwasher related to space:

SpaceWise Organization System: features adjustable racks so there's a place for virtually anything.

(We are still experimenting with what is the best place for our dishes. We use a lot of small, glass bowls with about a 1" lip that we can't quite figure out the best place to put them, yet. But, the directions do offer a lot of loading options.

You can fit a lot of full-sized dinner plates in there along the bottom rack. The tines fold flat to get really large stuff in there, we can fit the inside of our large crockpot in the top rack.)

Largest Silverware Basket (among leading brands): There’s room for over 180 items in our multi-compartment silverware basket.

(The basket has several compartments, and spans the length of the lower rack. As a matter of fact, we had to wash everything in the utensil drawer (don't ask) and we were able to fit nearly the entire contents.)

Adjustable Upper Dish Rack: Flexible racking system lets you adjust the to rack to fit taller items.

(This really comes in handy when people who are not me use every dish in the house when they are cooking, including multiple casserole dishes and cutting boards.)

I also learned that it's kind of hard to take a picture of a loaded dishwasher and get the full effect of both levels, but here ya go:

All in all, it's been a great dishwasher so far, it's really sleek looking and very quiet. Just a couple of small snags to note:

We've had a couple of instances where the soap dispenser either didn't open, or didn't empty completely. I've heard that using detergent tablets helps that, but I can't remember to get them at the store.

Also, every now and then, if you pull the bottom rack out too far, it gets off track and you have to lift it back into place.

But, does it clean your dishes?

Stay tuned!

Also, good news on the eco front for Frigidaire appliances: They just received the EPA’s prestigious 2010 Energy Star award for their “Swap and Save” Energy Star Promotion. The award recognizes Frigidaire’s commitment to smart energy management and its efforts to share the importance of energy efficiency with a wide audience.

Find out more about how you can save time, money, energy and water at Frigidaire Energy Saving.

I wrote this review while participating in a Test Drive Campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Frigidaire and received a Frigidaire Dishwasher to facilitate my review.

Last year, when I went to the Netflix Holiday House, I was sort of jealous to find out that you could stream Netflix content through X-Box 360 and PlayStation3, since we didn't have either at the time. We did, however, have a Wii.

Good news, for Wii owners now, though! As of April 12, 2010, you can stream your Netflix content through the Nintendo Wii.

When you have a Netflix unlimited plan starting at $8.99 a month, all you have to do is insert an "instant streaming disc" (available to Netflix members at no extra charge) into a Wii console with a broadband Internet connection, then use the Wii Remote controller to wirelessly navigate and select programming.

Enjoy watching movies without waiting at the mailbox!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hormel Foods. All opinions are 100% mine.

Hormel Foods, particularly chili and Dinty Moore Beef Stew have been around a long time. As a matter of fact, Hormel Chili and Dinty Moore are 75 years old.

During those 75 years, the famous Dinty Moore lumberjack character replaced characters Jiggs and Maggie from “Bringing Up Father” in the 1930s, and Hormel chili has a long history of featuring stars from Ray Milland, star of “Copper Canyon,” appeared in print ads. In the 80s, pro football player Fran Tarkenton

I learned to eat chili from my Dad. He ate it straight from the can, and it was also from him that I acquired my love for hot sauce as well. Now, my family enjoys chili, and it's great to have as an ingredient in hearty dips and nachos, especially during the cold weather months.

I was introduced to Dinty Moore Beef Stew when I met my husband. No idea, why, but I didn't grow up eating it when I was young. We enjoy it on camping trips, now and as a quick, occasional meal on the go. Now, there are lots of varieties, but we like the original beef stew the best.

Be sure to check out the Hormel Foods recipes for recipe ideas such as Chili Cheese Dip, Chili-mac, Easy Shepherd’s Pie and Chili and 3-Cheese Fondue.

I'm a member of the TropiMommas blogger panel for Tropicana. Along with 11 other bloggers, I will be giving Tropicana feedback about my family's habits and preferences and I will also be able to offer you some exclusive opportunities and giveaways.

So, here ya go, a contest just for you lovely people here at Busy Mom Reviews from Tropicana!

How to enter:

Tropicana has an exclusive sweepstakes offer to readers of the TropiMommas blogs.

Visit Tropicana’s Juicy Sweeps website and enter the exclusive code TROPPURE

You’ll be entered for a chance to win:

* Second Prize – $10.00 Coleman gift card for use on Coleman.com

Hurry, though! The contest ends at 11:59 pm CT April 28, 2010. Winners will be selected at random through 11 separate drawings, one for each blog, with prizes from Tropicana’s Juicy Rewards partners for 3 Busy Mom Reviews readers.

No purchase necessary. Ends 4/28/10. Please see Official Rules at website for details.

Disclosure: Tropicana provided me information about the Juicy Sweeps event but the opinions expressed in this post are solely mine.

Also, don't forget to go to Tropicana.com to sign up for Tropicana Juicy Rewards where each twist-off cap from Tropicana juice has a special code to enter at the Tropicana Juicy Rewards for savings on everything from golf and workout gear to water park and zoo admissions.