review - Matthew's Puzzle - Autism Recovery, Gluten Free, Green Living Mom Blog

Kiwi Crate Review

May 30, 2013 By Maryann

Disclosure: I received a Kiwi Crate to help facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.

It is funny, I consider myself a fairly creative person, but when it comes to coming up with ideas for things to do with my kids I’m a blank slate. I can’t seem to think up fun and interesting ideas to save my life, or their day. I’m B-O-R-I-N-G. That is where Kiwi Crate comes in. Kiwi Crates are boxes that are delivered right to your door, and they are filled with fun, creative themed ‘crafts’. The crate I had a chance to review was all about percussion instruments and it had two build-it-yourself crafts to keep the kids busy while introducing them to music making. First we got to make hand/foot bells. It was a great little craft that worked through a creative outlet. My youngest son, Lorenzo, helped me make them one day and I was amazed by how much he could do and understand. We needed to decorate our wooden beads which allowed him to show his artistic side (which he gets from me!), then we strung the beads and bells onto elastic band which was provided with our Kiwi Crate. Finally Lorenzo had a chance to make some noise! And he completely enjoyed making that melodic noise all through the house.

The second DIY craft in our Kiwi Crate was a homemade xylophone. Kiwi Crate provided us with all the materials, we simply had to put it together. I really liked this xylophone and while Lorenzo was playing the bells I accompanied him on the xylophone.

Kiwi Crate also included instructions on how to make 6 additional homemade instruments. Kiwi Crate offers several different plans, the one time crate, the 3 months of Kiwi Crates, the 6 months of Kiwi Crates and the full 12 months of Kiwi Crates. I think these would be a great gift for family that lives far away. Or for a parent or grandparent like me that is creatively challenged. It would also be fabulous for the upcoming summer months. Get one for each kid and let them have a bast each month this summer. Make sure you connect with Kiwi Crate on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Betty Crocker Gluten Free Baking Mixes Gift Pack Giveaway

May 23, 2013 By Maryann

giftset

BettyCrockerLogo

The information and prize pack have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark. Free products were received All opinions are my own.

Although I like to make most of our treats (and other foods) from scratch there is always room for a decent baking mix. I know there are plenty of people out there that are super busy and they can’t always prepare their food from scratch. Or, and I’m sure if you are a mother this has happened to you, your child comes to you the night before and tells you they have a party at school the next morning and you need to supply them with a gluten free cupcake, cookie, or other gluten free treat. Yikes! That can really cause some issues. Then there are folks like my parents or my in-laws. They want to have special treats for the boys but they often don’t know what the kids can have or how to find delicious gluten free recipes. My parents don’t even own a computer, so there is no easy way for them to look up recipes and since them themselves are not gluten free, they can’t always keep a large stockpile of gluten free ingredients in their house. That is when a readily available gluten free mix such as Betty Crocker Gluten Free Baking Mixes is wonderful to have around. My parents can easily find this in their grocery store, they don’t need to hunt all over town, and the directions are simply to follow. The perfect mix.

Betty Crocker, General Mills and MyBlogSpark were cool enough to give me a beautiful baking pack that includes an 8 inch square cake/brownie pan and a baking tool set that contains a timer, spatula, rolling pin and baster. I used the set to make up my version of Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Pretzel Bars. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Betty Crocker Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Pretzel Bars-2

Recipe

4.5 from 2 reviews

Betty Crocker Gluten Free Baking Mixes Gift Pack Giveaway

Author: Matthew's Puzzle

Recipe type: Dessert

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Ingredients

1 package Betty Crocker Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
1 stick butter softened
1 teaspoon gluten free vanilla
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk of choice
½ cup coarsely crushed gluten free pretzels
¼ cup gluten free butterscotch chips (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees or 325 degrees if using a dark baking pan.
Prepare the Betty Crocker Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix as directed on package, add the milk and mix.
Add the pretzels and chips (if using).
Spread in 8 inch square baking dish.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until top is golden brown and edges are pulling slightly away from sides of pan.
Cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan and cool on cooling rack.
Frost with you favorite frosting if desired.

Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

Giveaway

General Mills and MyBlogSpark are offering a baking package just like the one I received. Please use the form below to enter. You can follow Betty Crocker on Facebook and Twitter or keep up with the latest happening on their website.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Keka Case Review for Kindle

May 20, 2013 By Maryann

Disclosure: I received these products complimentary from Keka for testing and review purposes.

For Matthew’s birthday we got him/the boys a Kindle Fire. I can’t believe we did that. As I was wrapping the box the night before his big day, it hit me that we were spoiling these guys to death. But that is what a parent is for, at least some times. But we forgot to get a case and if you have little boys you know they can’t hold on to ANYTHING! That poor Kindle Fire has been dropped way too many times.

That was where Keka came to the rescue. We got their Retro Football Kindle case. It is really attractive. I love that it looks like a book with rich detailing and is very sturdy. The Kindle simply pops into the molded plastic on the inside. There are openings for you to be able to charge the Kindle and access all the features while still keeping it protected. The Keka case also acts as a stand when in landscape mode, which is one of my favorite features.

The Retro Football design of the Keka case is perfectly masculine without seeming out of place when I carry it. I think for a family case it is much more accessible than one of the more feminine cases, as it seems to fit all personalities. But Keka does have some beautiful feminine designs if that is more up your alley. You can fine the Keka Retro Football Case on line for $39.00, but I have a coupon code for you for 30% off! Coupon Code: FAMFRNDS

Why don’t you hop over to Keka and tell me what case you would love to have?

Palmolive Soft Touch Review #PalmoliveSoftTouch

May 17, 2013 By Maryann

I had a great Mother’s Day, but even with it being such a great day I still had my mess ups and miss steps. See, I really wanted baked beans. Homemade baked beans to be exact. The night before I soaked the beans just like the instructions. Come Mother’s Day morning I drained the beans and put them in a baking dish. They seemed a little hard, but instead of letting my husband boil them for a little while I said they would be fine if we baked them at a low temperature for several hours. Well, I think you can see where this is going. Come dinner time the beans were still really under done. Larry had to run out and get canned beans so we would have something for dinner.

But the mess up doesn’t stop there. No. Instead I took the beans and put them in the slow cooker and let them cook forever. Well that was a big mistake too. Ended up with just a big burnt mess in my slow cooker that I wasn’t sure would ever come out. And we lost some good bacon to that fiasco.

I decided to try soaking the slow cooker in the Palmolive. Then I cleaned it all up. No evidence of the baked bean incident and my slow cooker is back to normal.

Palmolive has a new formula called Soft Touch, it comes in three formulas: Vitamin E, Aloe, and Coconut Butter. I got to test out the Vitamin E and Aloe formulas. I thought it worked well, but I felt the scents were overpowering and I couldn’t find the list of ingredients. Since I’m such a “green” blogger that did concern me. Palmolive comes to you at a great price of $2.99 for 25 fl. oz and can be easily found at Target or Walmart, among other retailers.