Healthy Travel Snack – Big Slice from Grandma Hoerner’s

**Giveaway is sponsored by Grandma Hoerner’s.  I had received a sampling of product for a review. Any opinions expressed are my own**

I did a review last week for some yummy, healthy and portable treats from Grandma Hoerner’s called Big Slice pouches  Yummy flavors of baked apples in a portable pouch you can take just about anywhere.  My whole family enjoyed these. I’m thinking of making a Target trip to get more for our summer road trips.  Grandma Hoerner’s has generously offered to sponsor a giveaway for Luv Saving Money readers.

Blog 008 Grandma Hoeners Big Slice

I’m so excited to offer this giveaway.  I think you’ll find them just as tasty as my family and I did. You can read my full review here: https://luvsavingmoney.com/2014/06/grab-these-healthy-snacks-for-your-summer-on-the-go.html

You can find Big Slices on these social media channels:

Facebook: facebook.com/Bigsliceapples

Twitter: @BigSliceApples

Instagram: @bigsliceapples

Pinterest: pinterest.com/grandmahoerners

GIVEAWAY

1 Luv Saving Money reader will win 

a Big Slice Variety pack similar to the one I received

US only

Pirate’s Booty Mac and Cheesiest Joke Contest

**I participated in this event on behalf of Wendy’s Bloggers for Pirate’s Booty. I received Pirate’s Booty products to facilitate my review.**

Pirates Booty logo

You may have heard of Pirate’s Booty from their yummy snacks but now Pirate’s Booty has mac and cheese added to their list of delicious products.  A cute way to kick things off, Pirate’s Booty has a contest for the Mac and Cheesiest Cheesy Joke.  The submission period started June 4, 2014 and ends July 24, 2014.   You can submit your entries through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Vine using hashtag: #MacAndCheesyJoke and if using Instagram, Vine, or Twitter tag @PiratesBooty . You can find more rules on the Pirate’s Booty Joke Website.  You can also enter through a facebook submission on Pirate’s Booty Facebook page.

We got a fun Pirate’s Booty review kit and a chance to try out these new Pirate’s Booty Mac and Cheese products (my boys really got into this):

Pirate's Booty boys

Even my daughter got into it and she was plundering the booty.

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There are currently 4 varieties of Pirate’s Booty mac and cheese: Shells and Cheese Aged White Cheddar, Anchors and Cheese Aged White Cheddar, Mac and Cheese Mild Cheddar, and Mac and Cheese Aged White Cheddar.  We tried the Mac and Cheese Aged White Cheddar for lunch that very day.  Everyone enjoyed it.  It had a good taste and was easy to prepare.  It’s definitely worth a try. The boys said they like it.  I like the cute packaging and ease of preparation.

pirates booty mcawc

Don’t forget to get your entries in for the Pirate’s Booty Mac and Cheesiest Cheesy Joke contest.  No purchase necessary to enter. First prize is a family vacation for four to Wisconsin Dells (includes round-trip coach flights, ground transport, hotel (4 days, 3 nights), and four amusement park tickets. Isn’t that fun?  Speaking of fun, my boys did a #MacAndCheesyJoke video and I think they did a super job.  It’s short and they really got into it.  A lot of the ideas in the video were theirs.  

That’s it, now it’s your turn to tell Pirate’s Booty your cheesiest joke.  Oh and they’re sponsoring a giveaway for one Luv Saving Money readers.

GIVEAWAY

1 US Luv Saving Money readers will win $50 in Pirates Booty product coupons!

Please note: One winner per household, email address or home address. If you have won this prize on another blog you are ineligible to win again.

Winners must have a U.S.-based address to receive their prize. 

 
pirates booty macncheese chest Pirates booty pirate
 
I participated in this event on behalf of Wendy’s Bloggers for Pirate’s Booty. I received Pirate’s Booty products to facilitate my review.

Nature’s Best Vitamin C Serum

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial. This post also contains Amazon Affiliate links

I’ve been seeing a lot lately about Vitamin C serums face and skin.  Of heard the benefits of using a vitamin C serum can be anything from brightening dull skin to reducing the signs of aging to even helping with acne.  I’m a 30 something mom and my skin is so crazy.  I have all the above issues.  I still break out in my “T” zone, I’ve been noticing more and more fine lines, and my skin just isn’t as radiant as it once was.  If using a Vitamin C serum could help with any of that, then I was on board.

I had the opportunity to try Nature’s Best Vitamin C Serum from Mystelic Beauty. This particular serum also says it contains Vitamin E and Hyaluranic Acid to help with the signs of aging.  It’s manufactured here in the USA in an FDA certified cosmetics lab.  It also contains organic ingredients.

Vitamin C serum Mystelic

Nature’s Best Vitamin C Serum from Mystelic Beauty arrives in a brown glass bottle with a cap and a glass dropper.  Being someone who has never tried a Vitamin C serum before I had a preconceived idea that it would smell like oranges and have an oily feel to it.  That was not the case however.  It actually had no scent what-so-ever and it had more of a watery feel to it, not oily at all.  This was a relief to me since the last thing I wanted to put on my face was oil in in my “T” zone where I already break out.

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After using it several days a week, I did notice my skin appeared to be brighter.  It seemed to glow just a little more than it normally does.  I also noticed that the couple pimples I had seemed to fade faster than normal while using this product.   As far as reducing fine lines, I haven’t notice a change there in the time I’ve been using this. I will continue to use this serum until it’s gone though.  I know some treatments require a longer time to work.

It’s also nice to see ingredients that don’t look scary.  Some of the ingredients used include: Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate (Vitamin C), Organic Aloe Barbadensis Leaf, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel), just to name a few.  You can find Nature’s Best Vitamin C Serum from Mystelic Beauty on Amazon

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Give Dad Control of the Remote with Zmart Remote

**I received the below mentioned product in order to complete a review.  No other compensation was received**

fathers day 2014

Is it just our house that the kids lose the remote?  I mean they put on their cartoons or their movie and an hour later they have no idea where the remote is. We end up finding it behind the couch, stuffed in the cushions, or or the baby dragged it off somewhere. Hubby gets so frustrated, especially when his team is on t.v. or there is something he really wanted to watch.  Right now it’s the World Cup.  He also has a t.v. by his desk to keep up on the news while he’s listing things in his ebay store or checking out his investments.  Then there is the tv in our bedroom which is one of his favorite places to sneak off to.  We got to try a device that lets him control all of these tv’s and more right from his cell phone.

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Zmart Remote Pro available on viatekproducts.com  is a little device that plugs right into the headphone jack of your smart phone.  Download the free Zmart remote Pro App from the Apple store or Google play and set up your devices.  You can add lots of different devices in different rooms to your remote. TVs stereos, surround sound, Cable Boxes, BluRay players and more.  You can set the device sup by room: Living Room, Office, Bedroom, etc.

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If a device isn’t available or all the commands for the device just don’t seem right you can “teach it” the commands with the “Learn-in Commands”  After downloading the app and plugging in the Zmart remote to my phone I started adding devices to my phone.  I have a Lifeproof case on my phone.  I don’t know if you know much about them but the way the case is built you have to have a special extension for the case to plug anything into the jack.  Love my case but hate that part.  Anywho, I was worried that it wouldn’t work with the Lifeproof extension on my phone.  BUT with just a little programming I was able to change the channels on my tv and turn the power off and on on my TV and cable box right away.  The other functions wouldn’t work.  I tried doing the learn-in commands with the instructions that showed up on screen.  I couldn’t quite get them to work.  There seems to be a bit of a learning curve with this device.  I do not consider myself a tech guru by any stretch of the imagination so it took some trial and error to get different functions working.


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Even with the Lifeproof extension on my phone I was able to get some of the functions working right away so that was a plus.  The fact that all you need is the app and the plug in Zmart remote device is nice.  For the tech dad or the dad that likes to be king of the remote and doesn’t mind figuring out how things work, OR if you don’t mind helping set it up, this would make a unique and entertaining gift for Father’s Day.  The Zmart Remote Pro is only $19.99 on viatekproducts.com so it’s a budget friendly gift too.

You can find Viatek on the following social media channels:

Twitter: @Viatek

Facebook: facebook.com/viatek

Pinterest: pinterest.com/viatekproducts

YouTube: youtube.com/user/viatekvideo?ob=5

 

Yes Go Ahead and Buy a Snackeez

**I received the below mentioned product in order to complete an honest review. No other compensation has been received.  Any opinions expressed are my own**

Do your kids sit in front of the t.v. and report back to you like an infomercial on why you need to buy them such and such or is it just my kids?  I have a niece too that just has to have all those “as seen on tv” type products and she has most of them.  I’ll admit, some of them I sit there and think “You’ve gotta be kidding me” and other times I think “Wow if that really works, that would be pretty cool”  The Snackeez was the latter.  I thought man if that really does work that would be great for car trips, movie nights, firework watching, sitting at soccer games, lots of things.

Here’s the thing, I’m not a big “buy it off of t.v.” person.  I like to see it and know that it’s a good product or at least hear from someone I trust that it’s worth it.  I’ve been burned a few times buying things I’ve seen on t.v.  So even when my kids told me about them every time the commercial was on, even when I thought it would be great if they actually worked.  I held off.  I figured they were probably made of cheap plastic and would break after only a few uses.  When I was asked to review them I thought, “You’re darn right I will” Anyone that reads this blog regularly will tell you I point out the good and the bad even if there’s more bad then good.  If I have an issue with something I’ll say it.  I’d be happy to link you to a few of those reviews if you’re new here.

BUT I digress, back t the Snackeez and me reviewing them.  We received two of them. My two youngest boys would ask me several times a week when we would be getting them.

snakeez

I took my youngest sons out myself and examined it. The plastic was actually a heavier plastic.  It wasn’t flimsy.  I started messing with the snack cup lid.  It clicks right into place but it’s still easy enough to open even for my 4 yr old.  The colored band you see around the cup, it’s a rubber grip.  The grip is actually removable for washing.  The cups are also dishwasher safe.  I was surprised at how much liquid the cups actually hold even with the snack cup in place.  The lids is unhindered by the straw.  Everything is set up just so, so that everything works.  The snack cup screws into place with a few twists.

snakeez cup

It comes with instructions telling you not to use hot liquids and such but really it’s self explanatory.  If I was going to have any complaints about this cup it’s just the straw.  I can’t really call it a complaint though because it’s a typical tumbler straw just like any tumbler straw you’d received with just about any tumbler cup. I knew right away my 4 yr old would be chewing on it and he did. But you can easily replace it with any tumbler straw if you want.

My kids LOVE their Snackeez.  I like that they’re easy to clean and actually work the way they’re supposed to.  My kids have been using them for tv time, sitting at the soccer fields, and can’t wait to use them on our drive to the beach this summer.


Snackeez Ty

Snackeez drinking

And at the soccer game

Snackeez D

Snackeez stroller

The boys put them in the cupholders in the car.  We’ve filled them with juice, milk, iced tea, pretzels, fresh fruits, popcorn, and lots of other snacks already.  So from a skeptical mom, yes these are really nice cups, yes they work, and yes I’d recommend them to anyone who asks.

You can buy Snackeez on Amazon. You can actually get them in sets of 2 for only $9.99 plus shipping.  Just FYI they sell them at places that normally sell “as seen on tv” products too.  I was telling people about it on my personal facebook page.  A few of my friends chimed in and said they bought them at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and at Altmeyers.  They really liked them too.  My sister said my niece really wanted one so I got her one as part of her birthday present and she was so excited when she opened it. This is very handy to have on your summer travels.  Oh and I just saw on the site, you can “upgrade” at check out and get light up Snackeez.  I’m not telling my kids though, they’ll want that next.  That would be super cool for summer fireworks though….

**Product received for post.  Regardless I only do honest reviews**