Cook’n Recipe Organizer Software Review and Giveaway

July 12, 2012 By

Cook'n Recipe Organizer

AND THE WINNER IS … Author: Sarah Yurga

 

 

I love food. As a youngster I remember watching Julia Child on PBS, and later Michael Lomonaco’s show. My parents and I would write down the recipes and then we would venture into the kitchen to work a little recipe magic. Cooking is in my blood and now that I have my own family I am always getting a chance to dream up something delicious. But with Matthew’s dietary restrictions I can’t always rely on my favorite cookbooks, and instead I spend a lot of time surfing the web looking for a good gluten free, casein free, soy free, sugar free…yada, yada, yada free recipe.

I have tons of recipes and websites bookmarked, but more often than not I forget to hit the bookmark key and then I have to remember my query term and what website the recipe was on. (yeah, I lose more recipes than I get.) Often I just forget that I used to make this killer flourless chocolate cake, and then the recipe is lost for years until someone reminds me how much they loved it, and then the search for that elusive recipe begins.

While I was at Brandcation I received a copy of Cook’n Recipe Organizer software. This is a super cool recipe organizer that allows you to pull recipes right off the web. It will parse the recipe and then store it in your recipe book you create in Cook’n. You can also enter your own recipes so you don’t have to keep reams and reams of paper recipes on hand. I love it because I want to start sorting through all my recipes and get them in some sort of order. I want to get all my GF recipes in one place, but I don’t want to lose any of my family recipes from my childhood (one day I pray my kids will be able to enjoy my mom’s Christmas cookies.)

Cook’n doesn’t stop there, it will take your recipes and give your the nutritional content based on the ingredients and number of servings! I think that is awesome, since it makes homemade foods easier to use on diets. I often found that when I needed to calorie count or when I was on Weight Watchers I relied on processed foods more since the calories, fiber and fat were already on the package. With Cook’n I can simply click a button and I get all that information from my favorite recipes! Cook’n also has a menu feature where you can set up your menus for the week and then ask it to print you a shopping list, this way you won’t forget the baking soda or the ginger. It will even organize your list by isle/department so that you won’t be walking back and forth throughout the store.

Folks new to gluten free living often ask me for my favorite recipes and Cook’n allows you to email your recipes to friends and family. I love sharing my recipes, but I HATE to have to type them out when emailing them. Cook’n makes it simple to share your recipes. It also allows you to print family recipe books. I think this is a great idea for Christmas or other holidays. It would also make a fantastic bridal shower gift.

Giveaway

Want to win your own copy of Cook’n? One winner will receive their own copy of Cook’n. To enter to win you must Like Cook’n on facebook, and leave them a note on their wall. Please come back and leave me a comment with a link to your Facebook comment. Make sure you leave me your email address so I can get in touch with you should you win.

Additional entries:

For each additional entry please leave me a comment with link if appropriate.

Contest is open to those 18 years and older. And the Winner is plugin will be used to randomly choose the winner. Contest will run from 7/12/12 to 11:59:59 7/26/12. Matthew’s Puzzle is not responsible for the contest and does not accept responsibility should Cook’n not fulfill/deliver product. Winner must claim prize within 48 hours of receipt of the email notification or a new winner will be selected.

I received a free copy of the software for review. All opinions are my own.

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Angela’s Crafts Giveaway! – Closed

April 13, 2012 By

giveaway soap

 I’m a sucker for a great soap. I think it is because no matter your size, hair color, or skin type, a well scented, luxurious soap can make you feel special. So for me, if I’m not having a great day, and am craving a little pick me up, I can use one of my lovely soaps and feel beautifully scented and pampered.

Speaking of lovely soaps, this past week I received a bar of Woodbury soap from Angela’s Crafts’ new line of Goat Milk soaps. Angela selected the Woodbury scent for me and I think she must have been truly inspired because the base fragrance in it is grapefruit! I adore grapefruit (it happens to also be my favorite flavor of Jelly Beans!). In addition to the grapefruit, Woodbury contains notes of sweet berries and earthy woods, which means it isn’t too sweet, but still has a feminine quality . I was planning on keeping the soap in our powder room where it could gently scent the room, while inspiring the kids to wash their hands, as they LOVE bar soaps, but I realized I tend to wash my hands more often at our kitchen sink. So I’ve placed it on a beautiful silver soap dish for me to use multiple times a day. My little treat to myself.

One of the reasons I love Angela’s Crafts’ soaps are that they are made without parabens, sodium laurel sulfate, unnatural preservatives and petroleum products! I can’t abide petroleum products. And although the Goats Milk line, like the soap I reviewed,   is not Vegan, she does offer many Vegan options too. From the ingredient list it appears as if they are gluten free – mine contains:

  • olive oil
  • coconut oil
  • water
  • sodium hydroxide
  • organic palm oil
  • soy oil
  • fresh goat milk
  • sunflower oil
  • shea butter
  • fragrance
  • may also contain tocopherols (natural vitamin e) and stearic acid (vegetable source)

Angela has kindly offered a lovely giveaway. It includes:

  •  (1) 3.5 oz (approx. wt) bar of handmade all-natural vegan soap – scent of winners choice including unscented.
  • (1) single use packet of Sweet Pea Bath Salt
  • (1) single use packet of Lilac Bath Milk
  • (1) hand-knit 100% Pima Cotton Facecloth
  • (1) reusable canvas mini-tote bag

To enter the giveaway simple head over to Angela’s Crafts and leave me a comment here telling me which scent you would like to try. For additional chances to win you can do any of the following, but for each item you do, remember to leave me a comment with the proper link. Please leave your email address so that I can contact the winner.

  • Like Angela’s Crafts on Facebook
  • Tweet this contest
  • Like Matthew’s Puzzle on Facebook
  • Sign up for Matthew’s Puzzle RSS
  • Follow Matthew’s Puzzle on Twitter

The winner will be chosen at random by a random number generator. The contest will run from Friday April 13, 2012 to 11:59:59 Friday April 27, 2012. Once the winner is selected I will send a notifying email and the winner has 48 hours to claim the prize or a new winner will be selected.

Angela’s Crafts provided me with the Woodbury soap free of charge. All opinions are my own.

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Gevalia Kaffe Giveaway!

February 11, 2012 By

 We LOVE coffee in our house. In fact, we have a standing joke that says you know you are part of this family if you sat on your grandma’s lap taking sips of her coffee going “mmm”. We have all done it, and my boys are exactly the same, they always want sips of our coffee!

I received two bags of Gevalia coffee to do a very formal taste test. Seriously, very formal. The first was a bag of the Gevalia House Blend, a medium/dark roast. We found it to be very smooth, with no noticeable acidity, which I liked. My husband found it to be a little too light for him, so the next day I made a pot of the French Roast (dark). We both enjoyed this blend very much. Some French roasts can be bitter, acidic and one very popular brand always tastes burnt to us. But the Gevalia brand was extremely pleasant and flavorful without those less desirable traits. Because we both enjoyed the French Roast so much I began mixing the two so that the House Blend had a little more punch. This was a great mix and would be amazing if used in cold brewing iced coffee.

Both bags we received were ground although whole beans are offered in some blends. Gevalia, available at Safeway, comes in 8 varieties.

  • Traditional Roast
  • House Blend
  • House Blend Decaf
  • French Roast
  • Columbia
  • Espresso Roast
  • Vanilla
  • Chocolate Mocha

Kraft would like to offer one of my readers a prize pack containing one (1) sample of the House Blend from Gevalia Kaffe, one (1) sample of the French Roast from Gevalia Kaffe and a Gevalia Kaffe branded coffee mug, just like I received.

To enter, simply leave me a comment sharing the Gevalia you most wish to try, or your favorite way to drink your cup of Gevalia. Please leave your email address so I may contact you if you win. For an additional entry tweet this contest and paste a copy of the tweet in the comments below.

The contest will run from February 11, 2012 to 11:59:59 February 25, 2012. One winner will be chosen at random, using a random number generator. The winner will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If I have not heard from the winner within 48 hours a new winner will be selected. To qualify you must make a meaningful comment. US residents only. MyBlogSpark requires the winner to provide their shipping address and phone number – DO NOT PUT THEM IN THE COMMENT AREA. I WILL CONTACT THE WINNER FOR THIS INFORMATION. PUTTING YOUR ADDRESS AND/OR PHONE NUMBER IN THE COMMENTS IS DANGEROUS AND YOUR ENTRY WILL BE DELETED.

To learn more about Gevalia Kaffe please visit Gevalia here.

Or visit Gevalia on Facebook here.

Disclosure:

Kraft Foods, through MyBlogSpark, has provided sample product to me and is providing the prizes for this program at no cost to me.  This program is not administered or sponsored by Kraft Foods or its affiliates, but solely by Matthew’s Puzzle.

 Prizes to be supplied by Kraft: 

  • (1) sample of the House Blend from Gevalia Kaffe
  • (1) sample of the French Roast Blend from Gevalia Kaffe
  • A Gevalia Kaffe branded coffee mug

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Betty Crocker Box Tops For Education Giveaway

September 10, 2011 By

“Disclosure: The Betty Crocker products, information, and giveaway have been provided by Betty Crocker through MyBlogSpark”

My boys are back in school and the fundraising has already started. One of the first things our PTA sent home was information on Box Tops For Education. The class that brings in the most box tops will win a special class party! I have already collected about 20 box tops from over the summer and plan to continue collecting so our school can get additional funds for necessary supplies.

Betty Crocker sent me a wonderful Box Tops For Education prize pack, and they have offered one for Matthew’s Puzzle to giveaway. The prize pack contains one box of regular, NOT Gluten Free, brownie mix, Cupcake iclips, Cupcake bag, Cupcake notepads, Box Tops for Education pencils, and a Neoprene Lunch Sack. The iclips will be great for marking recipes in your favorite cookbook, keeping place in your novel and giving to the kids to save the place in their chapter books. Matthew’s school is trying to reach a million pages read by the students by March, at which point they will have a carnival day at school to celebrate. I was thinking of donating the pencils to the school to be added to treasure chest as a treat when the children do something special. And since we don’t eat gluten I was thinking of donating the brownies (so yummy) to the local food bank. But what ever you choose to do with yours remember to collect those Box Tops for Education.

Now, you can find Box Tops for Education on all Betty Crocker baking mixes, including new Fun da-middlesTM, individual cupcakes with a fun, creamy center. These sound pretty interesting, but again they aren’t gluten free so I haven’t so I haven’t tried them.

This back-to-school season, look for double Box Tops on specially marked packages of Betty Crocker baking mixes.

To get more information about Betty Crocker and Box Tops For Education check out the following links:
Betty Crocker Website http://bit.ly/bcbtfeweb
Betty Crocker Facebook http://on.fb.me/bcfbook
Betty Crocker Twitter http://bit.ly/bctweet
Box Tops for Education Website http://bit.ly/btfeweb
Box Tops for Education Facebook http://on.fb.me/btfefbook
Box Tops for Education Twitter http://bit.ly/btfetweet

Now for the giveaway. One entry per person. You must answer the question with a thoughtful answer. You must be 18 years or older and a US resident. The giveaway will end September 18, 2011 at 11:59PM.

So, what is your favorite Betty Crocker dessert mix and how will you collecting Box Tops For Education help your chosen school?

That is it. Pretty simple and good luck.

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