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Mint Blackberry Cabernet Sandwiches with Ciao Bella

Mint Blackberry Cabernet Sandwiches

Although I’m still making mini-pumpkin pies for turkey day, I was in the mood for something a little more different as well. Don’t get me wrong, I love pumpkin, but for almost three months now, it’s been in everything: drinks, donuts, even pasta and soups. It’s just about played out. So when I saw this:

You read that right, that’s a Blackberry Cabernet from Ciao Bella. Now, would to do with it? I could just serve it in a bowl with a spring of mint, but, that’s no fun. So I fumbled in the kitchen when I found this:

That’s my grandmother’s sugar cookie recipe. So, I had an idea. I’d tweak it and make bite sized mint sugar cookies and sandwich the Blackberry Cabernet gelato between two.

They’re as easy to make as they are delicious. You just need a little cool down time. The dough ha to chill so the butter and flour cook at the same rate. The mint sugar cookies are slightly chewy and a little crispy when you bite into them. The mint is just slight enough to be there and play against the sweetness of the blackberries and the dryness from the cabernet flavor.

Feeling adventurous? Dip them in dark chocolate before you freeze them. Or try the Ciao Bella Dark Chocolate Sorbet in the center for a little more indulgence. Yum, yum!

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Let me know in the comments if you’re trying out this recipe. I love hearing about it!

‘It’s What’s Inside That Matters Most’ – Project Treasure: Gifting Your Heart

Blog· Review

A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to try out what would become one of the greatest gifts I’ll be giving this season, Project Treasure. It’s not news that personalized gifts are sometimes the most precious, but the kind of personalization that Project Treasure puts into their product is unparalleled. You see, my Grandmother hasn’t been doing too well these past few years and I wanted to give her something special this year. When I was contacted by Project Treasure I knew I’d found it.

Project Treasure delivers joy and inspiration through your words. Printed notes on high-quality paper in signature fonts, tied beautifully together in a crafted bamboo chest and delivered to your friend or loved one.

I had spent the past few weeks having everyone in my family write letters for the chest that will be delivered before Christmas. You choose a theme for the letters and ours was “What you mean to me”. I wanted everyone to let her know why we were so thankful for her. Imagining the surprise on her face when she opens such a beautiful chest and sees all the letters from her children and grandchildren is such a blessing; especially since most of us are far away and we don’t get to see her much. She comes from an era when letters were precious and doesn’t own a computer, so I know these letters will be priceless.

I like how Project Treasure is set up. After you sign in you get to pick the title, the recipient, occasion, theme and then a summary of why you are doing the project. This is mainly for when you are inviting others to write letters.

When inviting contributors, it allows you to invite via email, Gmail, Facebook and also a link! You can also give the option to allow your contributors to share the link with others to help spread the word! So there are many options to get the word out easily. When the contributors connect on the link it brings them to a page where they can write their letter and it saves it. You cannot see their letters and they cannot see yours. I think that is really special due to the very personal nature and you want to make sure it is only for the recipient.

The next step is for you to create your Greeting Card. This is a blank note for you to write an introduction to the box. For mine, I explained what the box was and why we were sending it. It was also a little Merry Christmas card!

Then you can write your letter to your special person.

Once you’re finished, you can set up the time when all the notes should be submitted by and this will adjust your delivered on date. I love how you can see when it will be delivered so you can make sure it arrives right on time!

Just imagine putting something together for your friend’s wedding day or a baby shower with all the sentiments from both sides of the family. A loved one away from home for the holiday opening a chest filled with the love of their family. The greatest thing is that they can hold it. It’s not like an email that seems so impersonal. They can feel the paper within their fingers, see your words and always have them whenever they need them.

I will be doing an update soon when my Grandma receives her chest and I’ll let you know what she thought of it. Until then, why not start putting together one of your own for someone you love.

You can find out more information at Project Treasure. Please take a moment to support such an incredible gift by “liking” them on Facebook and/or @ProjectTreasure on Twitter!

Quaker Oats Real Medley Bars Review + Giveaway

Blog· Giveaways· Review

Staying fueled is the key to accomplishing everything I need to accomplish in a day! I don’t know about you but my energy level fluctuates during my daily activities.

Quaker has reached out to Outnumbered 3 to 1 to understand what Medley of events leaves me happy and successful throughout my day-Quaker calls this Meaningful Medley’s.

So what is my Medley of Events throughout the day in which Quaker has helped me pull through? My day starts off with getting breakfast for the kids, getting them dressed, dropping my son off to school on time, running errands with my daughter, coming home and making sure the house is in order before I pick my son back up from school, getting my daughter down for her afternoon nap, at this point I am ready for my nap but I can’t afford to take one-this is where Real Medleys comes in and pulls me thru-I am re-energized and my day continues with getting dinner on the table, cleaning up dinner so we as a family can spend some quality time together before bath time, after bath time it’s story time, then off to bed for the kids, once the kids are in bed I usually vacuum and make sure the kitchen is in order or finish up some laundry-geesh now I can breath!

Here are the three types of Real Medley Bars Quaker has to offer:

Quaker Real Medleys Peach Almond Fruit & Nut Multigrain Bars are a medley of sweet peach chunks and crunchy almonds in a delicious multigrain bar. It’s a unique combination that is sure to delight your taste buds.

Loaded with chunks of sweet peaches and roasted almonds packed into every bar
Unique premium combinations of fruit & nuts with a delicious multigrain blend
Comes in 5 convenient bars per box
Made with 8g of whole grains in every bar

Quaker Real Medleys Cherry Pistachio Fruit & Nut Multigrain Bars are a unique medley of real chunks of delicious cherries with crunchy pistachios. Together, the real fruit chunks, nuts and multigrains make for a unique combination of textures and flavors that will delight the senses.

Loaded with chunks of real cherries, salted pistachios, and roasted almonds packed into every bar
Unique premium combinations of fruit & nuts with a delicious multigrain blend
Comes in 5 convenient bars per box
Made with 8g of whole grains in every bar

Quaker Real Medleys Apple Nut Harvest Bars are packed with fruits, nuts, and multigrains you can see for a delicious, wholesome taste. Enjoy a unique combination of real apple chunks and crunchy nuts in a tasty multigrain bar you can take wherever you go.

Loaded with chunks of sweet apples, roasted cashews, tart cranberries, chopped walnuts, and cinnamon packed into every bar
Unique premium combinations of fruit & nuts with a delicious multigrain blend
Comes in 5 convenient bars per box
Made with 8g of whole grains in every bar

Our family love these! With no artificial or unhealthy ingredients these Real Medley bars pull me through until dinner time. They are nicely sweetened naturally with the real fruit that is added. Just look at those real chunks of apples, nuts and cherries! My kids even love them for a snack or even breakfast, plus I don’t feel bad giving it to them since they have real ingredients!

So how would these Real Medley Bars add Meaningful Medley moments to your life?

Connect:

You can connect with Quaker on Facebook, and/or @Quaker on Twitter!

Buy It!

For more information on Quaker Oats Medley Bars please visit their website. You can buy the Quaker Oats Real Medley Bars at a store near you.

The Giveaway: How would you like to win your own Quaker Oats Real Medley Bars? I have five boxes to give away to one lucky contestant!

To enter the giveaway please follow all of the directions below! If you don’t follow the rules, you can’t win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rent a Textbook with Campus Book Rentals

Blog

This is a sponsored post written on behalf of Campus Book Rentals

Are you in college or have a child going to college this fall? Did you notice all the add-on prices, from food, to supplies, all the way to the mandatory books needed for just about every single class? I can still remember standing in the college book store with my stack of required reading with a lump in my throat each time the cash register went beep-beep. Bye-bye paycheck. And then at the end of the semester, nobody wanted my books, not the book store or friends. So they’re in a closet some where, collecting dust, and wondering if their spines will ever be cracked open again. There has to be another way that’s easier on the wallet and storage space.

Campus Book Rentals is a truly unique and amazing website that allows you to rent out as many textbook as you need. You read that right. You rent out your textbook with between 40-90% off the book store prices, so no more crying in line each semester. And with the added perk of free shipping on your text books, both ways, you’ll save even more! Here is a list of perks you can expect from the top rated company:

Search for your book by Title/Author/Keyword/ISBN
Free Shipping both ways
Save 40-90% on each textbook
Flexible Renting Periods: 55/88/130 day options OR choose a return day
15 Day Grace Period if you forget to drop the books in the mail
30 Day No Question Asked Return Policy
Highlight, Write Notes, Circle, etc. in your books with no penalty

Each textbook comes with a prepaid envelope for you to return your books in, so make sure you keep that somewhere safe!

Want to make money on textbooks you already own? There’s a new website for that as well! At RentBack, you can rent out your books to other students and get paid! Each time your book is rented, you get paid! Check out this video below to learn more about it!

Another great perk of using Campus Book Rentals is the good deed you’ll do! With each rental, a donation is made to Operation Smile.

Operation Smile is a nonprofit medical service organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, founded in 1982.

Operation Smile is a community of over 5,000 medical volunteers from all around the world that specialize in providing free, safe, and effective cleft lip, cleft palate reconstruction and other facial deformities surgeries for children all over the world. The procedures can take as little as 45 minutes to perform, but offer a lifetime of smiles for the child, their family, and communities. Hundreds of thousands of children still need this surgery and sadly, 1 in 10 children will die by their first birthdays from not receiving a surgery in time. Campus Books Rentals has pledged a minimum donation of an additional 80 surgeries between June 2013-June2014.

Just by saving money renting your textbooks you will help those in need all around the world! So grab your book list for next semester and get ordering. When you’re done renting, make sure you rent out the books you already own today!

This is a sponsored post written on behalf of Campus Book Rentals

Baby Sebamed Health Care Line For Children

Blog· Review

Soap-free product line with same pH as healthy skin – pH 5.5 Does not strip the protective layer of the skin like soap can.

SebaMed is extremely mild and allergen free for sensitive skin. It works to supports the skin’s natural healing process for problematic skin.

When the fall and winter weather swoop in and the temperature seems to be on a roller coaster, I find my child’s skin ravaged by rashes, dry spots, and irritation. The poor thing just turned four and he’s been suffering from this since he was two months old! My husband and I suffer from dry skin as well, but nothing like eczema that drives Sonshine crazy and it seems like after a few weeks any and all products that offered relief just stopped working.

Baby Sebamed seems like the perfect solution for all our itchy, scratchy, blotchy skin issues.

Baby Sebamed Children’s Shampoo is a soap-free shampoo that protects the delicate natural balance of baby’s (and preschoolers!) hair and scalp by no stripping the natural oils. It smells wonderful, a delicate, light blend that left me begging my son for extra cuddles just so I could sniff his hair. This is due to the chamomile extract that naturally soothes his scalp and calm any irritation he might be experiencing. The poor kid had cradle cap until after he was two, so the winter weather really bothers his delicate blonde head! Sebamed’s Children’s Shampoo also:

Dermatologist-tested
Maintains a 5.5 pH balance
Free of: Soap, Parabens, Formaldehyde, Nitrosamines, Dioxin, & Color Additives
Fine for all hair types (Worked great on our fine hair!)
Fine for extremely sensitive scalps/dry scalps
Supports scalp’s acid mantle to maintain moisture levels while blocking negative environmental influences

Baby Wash Extra Soft may or may not have been shared amongst child and mom here… Okay, yes, we shared because this stuff was amazing! It’s a no-tears formula that’s extra-moisturizing which contains sugar tenside complex. This is an extremely mild cleansing agent that protects skin from dryness. The baby wash also:

Contains squalane and allantoin-rich formula
Restores skin to a 5.5 pH balance
Free of Parabens, Soap, Formaldehyde, Nitrosamines, Dioxin, & Color Additives
Great for all skin types

The Sebamed Baby Wash was perfect for keeping everyone’s dry skin balanced and moisturized. After a weeks wash, the dry skin was healing and no longer itched. It also left a very light and clean scent on the skin for a few hours afterwards.

After bathing, we used the Baby Sebamed Baby Lotion to help lock in all the moisture, with it’s lightweight formula. Made with chamomile extract and allantoin, it hydrates and soothes irritated skin. It smells great, just like the rest of the products and offers instant relief throughout the day when Sonshine feels an itch thanks to the change of weather from hour to hour. Just like the other products, you can expect:

Free of Parabens, Formaldehyde, Nitrosamines, Dioxin, & Color Additives
Natural-based buffer substances: Sodium Citrate and Sodium Lactate
Fine for all skin types
Hypoallergenic, dermatologist-tested, and non-irritating

We’ll be buying another bottle in the summer time to keep in the fridge to help calm and heal irritated skin with its lightweight formula. I found this easiest to help Sonshine apply out of the shower, so it soaked in quickly before dressing.

When it’s all too much and we need extra protection, Baby Sebamed Baby Cream Extra Soft is what we reach for. The cream is a little thicker and offers ultra-moisturizing protection to prevent dryness throughout the whole day. We’ve been using this sparingly on the worst patches of eczema because although it’s very soft feeling, but thicker than lotion. It does wonders for the worst skin conditions we’ve faced without leaving a greasy mess behind. You can expect:

Free of Parabens, Formaldehyde, Nitrosamines, Dioxin, & Color Additives
Promotes a 5.5 pH balance
Recommended for extremely sensitive/dry skin
Hypoallergenic, non-irritating, and dermatologist tested

I’m confident that if we keep using all the Baby Sebamed products, that we’ll be kissing skin irritants goodbye this year and for years to come! I love how the products are soap free, dermatologist-tested, and leave my son feeling great in his own skin!

Connect
Connect with Sebamed on their website, Facebook, and Twitter

Buy It
You can purchase all four of these Baby Sebamed products on their website for $12.99 a piece

I received a sample product for this review. All opinions expressed are my own and/or families. Take it or leave it. Click here to view the whole disclosure policy.

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