Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Blogger Event: My Cooking Matters Class

Read Part 1 - the first day of my Cooking Matters Bloggy Boot Camp experience last week
Read Part 2 - my experience with the Cooking Matters Boot Camp here

***

I went to Dallas for the Bloggy Boot Camp months ago. It was only just today that I was finally able to arrange to attend a class in Chicago. I've been looking forward to this for a long time, and I'm sort of bummed it took so long to connect with the classes in the Chicago area, but I'm thrilled that I did.


I connected with Kristen Nachtwey, an Americorps Service Member, who is currently working at the Cooking Matters location in Chicago. One thing different about the Cooking Matters classes in Chicago from those in most other places is that the affiliation is with health centers rather than food banks. They still impart the same information, but the way that recruit for clients - and in some ways, the clients themselves - are a little different.

Today's class was the third week of the session where the focus was on fats - "good" fats and "bad" fats and how to cook more leanly. I'm all about that, as anyone who reads my blog regularly knows. I loved some of the conversations that we had during the class. I loved how the instructor (Kristen), the chef (Siobhan), and the nutritionist (Lindsey) allowed the students to ask questions to get the information they cared about, even if it took us a bit off topic.

I thought it was really neat how many volunteers are involved in this program - at least in Chicago. Siobhan freelances in marketing and advertising and comes from a background of being a line cook. While she's to been to culinary school, she has all the skills needed to teach the cooking parts and did a great job. Kim was another volunteer who attends the classes to help the students, clean up, and assist wherever she can. I loved all the positive reinforcement everyone in the class was able to provide.

We started the class reviewing what they had learned the week prior - a discussion of fruits and vegetables. With the three women in the class (at that time - two more new women joined later in the class and look like they'll stay to finish off the session!), I was impressed at how much they remembered about how much to eat - two and a half cups of veggies and two cups of fruits a day, etc.

The part that had me giggling - at least on the inside - was where they discussed the benefits of ingesting more fiber. It was the "3 Fs" - feeling Full, helping you Flow, and low Fat. Needless to say, the ladies remembered it, as well as the need to drink more water when increasing your fiber intake.

From there, we moved onto the cooking portion of the class, as we were making a rice dish that took lots of time to prepare. We made Haitian chicken (yum!) and a brown rice salad with everything from oranges to edamame to dried cranberries in it. Needless to say, none of us had ever had anything like this before.


This is a hands on course, and each of us (including me!) had a cutting board and knife, along with ingredients to help make the dish. I love communal cooking, as it's always so relaxing to me. Siobhan made sure to demonstrate each technique for us first and made sure we were all using good knife safety. We chopped onion, cut up chicken, and squeezed limes as well as whisking the dressing for the brown rice salad. It was good practice for everyone and hopefully will help some of the skills stick.

That said, it's amazing how quickly two hours can fly by. Although the recipes we created didn't require a ton of time to prep or cook (except for the rice, which was done in advance), we still ran out of time to really cook the chicken ourselves. There was still more of the lesson to go, so Siobhan gave us the basics of what she was going to do while we worked with Lindsey the nutritionist. She explained how and why to heat the pan and oil before putting the chicken in and how she was going to make the sauce for it. It would have been nice to be able to do that part, too, but ... time flies when we're having fun, right?

While Siobhan finished up our Haitian chicken and brown rice salad, Lindsey talked to us about fats. Lindsey is a nutritionist at the health center, typically working with pregnant and breastfeeding moms, as well as moms of kids ages one to five. She is able to jump into these classes sometimes to help out, and she had lots to say.

We walked through the good fats and bad fats in an abstract way, winding our way through the types of saturated and unsaturated fats as well as the types of cholesterol and the like. We had some great conversations about types of oil to use (yes to olive oil and safflower oil and grapeseed oil, no to Crisco and palm oil and peanut oil) and various types of lean protein from tofu to quinoa to fish and more.

As Lindsey put it, most meats can be or are lean. It's how we cook it that adds the cholesterol and fats. Think about coconut shrimp with sauce versus steamed cocktail shrimp. It's what we do to our foods that causes our problems!

Then we had the most fun part of the day. We went through the Blubber Burger exercise. We were each able to choose a typical meal at a fast food restaurant. After choosing our items, we calculated the fat in the meal. Yikes! Knowing that we're aiming for 44 to 62 grams of fat in an entire day, many of the meals were 70 or more grams of fat - for just one meal. That's still a little too abstract though, no? From there, we divided our fat grams by four and got how many teaspoons of fat. Now, we're concrete.

How concrete?



That's what 70 grams of fat looks like. That's what so many people are ingesting in one meal. I think we were all pretty grossed out, and there may be some different choices being made after that. Yum. Not. I'm more and more grateful that I chose just a bean burrito with only 10 grams of fat (a little over two spoonfuls!).

Fortunately, this exercise didn't seem to ruin our appetites. Next up was our plate of Haitian chicken and brown rice salad. It was absolutely delicious, although I have to admit that I'm not used to the richness of eating chicken thighs. I am definitely making the salad for the wee ones, as I know they'll adore it! Yum.


Yes, there were a few women who went back for seconds. It was that good, although the chicken - even with just half a Serrano pepper - was surprisingly spicy, in a good way. In Dallas, they had talked about how the class participants went home with a gift card to be able to purchase the groceries to make the meal at home again for their families to show that it's something they like, but the Chicago Cooking Matters classes can't afford that, which is a shame - I absolutely adored the idea of providing the proof of concept by that gift card.

Two hours more than flew by, as the class ran a little over, and there was so much more yet to say. I'm not sure how they manage to get through all the material every week. There is so much there and so much to learn - so much more that we covered even than I noted here. The women all feel like they're learning something, and that's really what matters, especially if they can pass it on to just one more person.

Personally, I loved seeing where the class was making a difference for the women there. One woman talked about how instead of going to snack on potato chips, she was now reaching for Cheerios instead. It's those little steps that make a difference. Another shared how she was looking at the ingredients on cereal boxes in the store to find the healthiest one and was shocked that the ones that are marketed as being super healthy aren't always. The edamame we included in the salad was new to all of them, too, and I think there are a few converts there. They were also all very interested in learning more about quinoa and possibly cooking some of that "perfect protein," too.

I definitely want to try to head to another class again. I only wish there was an option closer to me so that I could volunteer, as well. The drive into the city is a little much for me. That said, I also had the opportunity for a little interview with Kristen, the intern I worked with. That will be posted tomorrow - along with a giveaway of a Cooking Matters gift bag, so come back then.

In the meantime, what could you do to impact hunger in your community? Will you go sign the pledge to help end childhood hunger by 2015? It requires only minimal info from you (email and zip), and you'll be shown so many ways you can make an impact.

In the interest of full disclosure, ConAgra Foods Foundation paid for my travel and accommodations for the bloggy boot camp. I also received compensation for attending the event, but all opinions expressed are my own.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Winners!

Unfortunately, I never heard from Alicia who was the original winner of the Cheerios Young Author gift pack - please make sure you put in your email when you enter! I had to choose a new winner, so congrats go to Cris Goode from Goodeness Gracious who has 48 hours to respond.

I also have a winner of the Hasbro travel game. Tell Melissa Taylor from Imagination Soup who wins a new game - a mystery one of the six available!

There is still a Lands End gift card giveaway up now, and more will be coming now that I'm home from Autism One and have a moment to start posting again!

Monday, May 23, 2011

Winner!

Congrats to Alicia for winning the Young Author Prize pack. HOWEVER, the profile for Alicia is not enabled, and I do not have an email address. If I have not heard from her in 48 hours (by 5/25 at 10:30pm central), I will draw a new winner. Please please please make sure I have a way to contact you when you enter!

And speaking of entering... apparently the blogger outage last week ate all the entries for the Hasbro travel game giveaway. It ends tomorrow night, and there are currently zero entries somehow - and I know I saw entries last week. Go enter now - your chances are great!

Giveaway: Lands End $100 Gift Card

Raise your hand if you hate your body. (Mine is up there, too!) Now raise your hand if you hate shopping for a swimsuit. (Yep, still up there. That's why my last swimsuit literally disintegrated before I threw it away and finally broke down and admitted I needed a new one.)

Enter Lands End with their National Swimsuit Confidence Week. I was able to choose a Lands End swimsuit that flatters me - a tough trick. I've had great experiences with Lands End in the past, and I was up for the challenge.

Their website has a variety of ways to search for a swimsuit. For those who have experience with Lands End styles, they offer various collections to browse that - based on reviews I read on the site - seem to stay somewhat consistent from year to year. For those of us who have no clue, there are other search methodologies - from shopping by solution (flatten tummy, slim hips, conceal thighs, etc - ummm yes?!) to special sizes (for everything from mastectomy suits to larger cup sizes and more) - which I thought was very cool.

The best solution for me though was to talk to a swimsuit advisor via their web chat, although there was also the option of video chat. I didn't need that, though. The web advisor was awesome. She talked through what I liked and was looking for and confirmed my measurements before recommending a few suit styles for me to check, including passing along the links directly to the suits. It was sort of like shopping with a girlfriend who knew what she was talking about, and I definitely need more of those!

I finally settled on the Beach Living Collection and the v-neck tankini top in a long, knowing that mine tend to ride up on me. I was sort of sad that though the suit offered a long option and a D-cup option (seriously, how did I not know this was available in swimsuits?), both were not offered at the same time. I'm also all about the swim skirts now, and the ones I've had have been actually pretty flattering, so I found a nice black one that I liked, figuring I could match it up with another swim top later.

A few days later, my new suit arrived. The color wasn't quite the vibrant purple of iris that I had expected given the color swatch on the site - it had more red to it - but I liked the color, and quickly tried the suit on, hoping that measuring myself meant I might find a halfway decent suit.

The suit didn't support my top quite as much as I'd hoped - and as other similar styles I've owned in the past have - but it was very comfortable. I probably could have or should have gotten one size smaller, and that may have helped. The swim skirt fit perfectly. It was supposed to be a tummy slimming one, but it didn't feel like it was pulling me in any - again, maybe I needed a smaller size. The skirt was also a little longer than I'm used to in a swim skirt, but as I'm getting older, maybe that's a good thing! I have a feeling I'll be a little more comfortable sitting on the edge of the pool playing games with the wee ones this summer with the slightly longer skirt.

Interestingly, I was unable to take a single flattering picture of me and the swimsuit. That said, it looks better on me in person, especially when I'm moving than it does here.



I do like all the options that were available for the suits, and I look forward to alternating the halter with other swim tops to avoid any one particular tan line. Or at least I will once I hit the gym far more regularly than I have been lately - except that's not at all what this week is about. It's about having confidence in your suit. Because, really, so long as someone is wearing a suit that fits, do we really go around judging all the other moms at the pool? I didn't think so!

Lastly, join Lands’ End every day from May 23 to May 27 from 12:00–1:00 pm CST for a series of National Swimsuit Confidence Week events on Twitter. This weeklong movement was created to celebrate women of all shapes and sizes as well as educate and inspire us to embrace our swimsuit beauty (obviously we need it!) and have fun this summer. Each day Lands’ End will give away 10 Lands’ End Swimsuits, 10 Lands’ End Beach Towels and announce exclusive swimsuit promotions.

There are twitter parties each day this week - Monday is Swimsuit Coverage, Tuesday covers (ahem) Swimsuit Trends for Real Women, Wednesday is all about Swim Slenderizers, Thursday focuses on Bring Your Confidence To The Beach, and Friday is the Ultimate Swimsuit Confidence Celebration. Follow @LandsEndPR and the hashtag #landsend for the parties.

As a part of this campaign, Lands End is giving me a $100 Lands End gift card to one reader to purchase a swim suit. Yay! So what do you have to do to win? First of all, let me stress that you must follow all the rules. If you do not follow the rules, your entry will not count!

This contest is open until Monday June 6 at 7pm CST. I must have a valid way to reach you, so leave me your email address in your comment or be sure your profile has your email address visible. No duplicate comments will count. This giveaway is open to US residents age 18 and older. Winners will be selected via random.org and must respond within 48 hours of being notified by me or I will select a new winner.

Mandatory Entry: What is your biggest swimsuit challenge?

Bonus Entries (leave a comment for each entry - if you put it all in one comment, I'll count it as one entry):

1) Earn one additional entry for following me on Twitter and tweeting this contest with the following tweet: "Win a $100GC from #landsend as part of National Swimsuit Confidence Week from @honestandtruly http://bit.ly/m7y9a6" (leave a link to your tweet as your comment and make sure you do all the steps!)
2) Earn one additional entry by following this review blog publicly via Google Friend Connect.
3) Earn one additional entry by following my “regular” blog Honest & Truly! publicly via Google Friend Connect.
4) Like my blog on Facebook and let me know what name you used to like it.

Good luck!

In the interest of full disclosure, I was provided with a swimsuit by Lands End for review purposes. I received no compensation, and all opinions expressed are my own.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Review: Dot & Ziggy

Last Sunday, Little Miss and I went to the theater. It wasn't the first time we've been to the theater, but it was definitely different from any theater we'd been to in the past.

I was always a little leery of taking Little Miss to the "real" theater until about the last year or so. She doesn't sit still well, and she likes to talk. That and much of theater is too long for her, too. The Chicago Children's Theater is currently presenting Dot & Ziggy, a theater for babies and toddlers and is truly aimed at those as young as six months.

As you enter the Biograph Theater on Lincoln, you can immediately see that this sis not your usual play. There are chairs and tables set up with crayons and coloring pages (that Little Miss happily busied herself with while we waited for the seating to open up), and stroller parking is offered on the opposite side of the lobby. As we were called to the theater by a musician, we arrived in a large room with giant rugs scattered on the floor where we were to sit. Little Miss happily chose her spot, and we cozied down to wait for the play to begin.

I thought the play itself was very cute. It ran only about forty-five minutes, a perfect length for young children. In it, a ladybug (Dot) and a skunk (Ziggy) learned to be friends. It focused on very basic concepts from sharing to up and down or in and out to stripes and dots. There was also some musical accompaniment, and I have to admit that I still have "From stick to stone, I'll follow you home" going through my head nearly a week later.


While Little Miss was definitely on the upper age range at 5 years old, she rather enjoyed it - especially the bubbles at the end - until she read the card about the play and discovered it was for babies and toddlers. Then the grown up little girl announced she wasn't so sure about it. I enjoyed getting up with her and dancing - both the hoky poky that we knew and reaching up to the sky and to the ground in a movement I didn't know previously.


This is a perfect introduction to theater for young children, as it doesn't have too many characters or noises to be overwhelming and is short and accommodates those who need to move around or get up and leave mid performance. I will admit that the $16 pricetag during the week and $18 on weekends is a little steep for such young children to see a relatively short play. That said, tickets do all include discounts or offers to a nearby family-friendly partner restaurant.

The show is running through June 26 at the Victory Biograph Theater on Lincoln in Chicago. The shows are 10am Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, as well as 10am and 12pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Use discount code MOMDZ to receive $2 off tickets when purchasing them through the Chicago Children's Theater website.

In the interest of full disclosure, I was provided with tickets to see the show for myself and my daughter. I was not compensated, and all opinions expressed are my own. By posting this, I am eligible to receive tickets to a Chicago Children's Theater production.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Trop50: Five Fabulous Bloggers



Thanks to Trop50 for sponsoring my writing about fabulous bloggers. This year Trop50 is granting 50 Fabulous Wishes. Click here to enter for a chance to win $1,000 to celebrate a friend with a refreshing attitude about looking and feeling fabulous!

I have to admit that I'm excited about writing this post. Trying to figure out what makes a fabulous blogger in my mind and who then fits that criteria is fun - in my mind, anyway. I knew one or two who I'd have to put up there in my definition of fabulous, regardless, but I also know my list is probably different from a lot of others. I don't tend to read a lot of the "big" blogs out there, and I'm fine with that.

For me, a fabulous blogger is a writer who connects with me in some way, someone who I sneak in to read even when I don't really have time. Some of them make me laugh, and one in particular tends to make me cry. They all make me feel, though, and to me, that's key. Ok, except for one that is pure snark. Somehow, that's also my cup of tea.

First up has to be Melisa Wells from Suburban Scrawl. I love that she lives relatively near me so I can hang out with her on occasion. It's far more than that, however. She is just all around awesome. Did you know she just wrote a book? It's just released, and I can't wait to see how it does. There are all sorts of travel books out there, but this focuses on things to do with tweens and teens in Chicago. Brilliant. Not that I'm at all biased. Her blog is awesome, too, from the still cracking me up twitter conversation post to a poignant discussion of the meaning of Purim. She has two great boys, and even though they're teenagers, she still gets to write about them sometimes. Needless to say, I absolutely love her, and she's Fabulous with a capital F in my book!

(Momo, Melisa, and me at BlogHer '10)

I also love sneaking over to read Stacey at Is There Any Mommy Out There? She has four children and has shared openly about her adoption struggles many times - making my cry each and every time, too. She makes me giggle as I empathize with her frustrations about her house and her kids. She is a beautiful writer and draws pictures and emotions constantly. It's a true gift where she can take any topic and immediately draw you in. She's someone I wish lived close by so I could go hang out with her.

We move a bit into snark with Jaci from Ravings of a Mad Housewife. I've been reading her blog since long before she deleted it in a fit of pique and had to recreate it. She always tells it like it is no matter how painful the subject. She's recently launched a cake making business, and how awesomely talented is she? She's struggled - like me - in deciding whether to work or stay at home (and voila - cake making business for her!), something that became even more relevant as she had her second baby, and ohhhh were those stories hilarious. Jaci is one of those bloggers who I know won't sugar coat anything and isn't going to make herself look better than she is. But she doesn't need to because she's just fabulous the way she is!

Karen from The Rocking Pony is another of the fabulous blogger club. Karen constantly has her hands full. Not only does she have four children - including Micah who has Downs Syndrome - but she owns a business making fabulous shirts and is also a dog breeder. She puts up awesome photos that I love to just stare at and is also philosophical and makes me think. I love how Karen keeps it real and keeps me coming back for more. Definitely part of the fabulous club.

The last blogger is a bit of a mystery. In fact she (I think it's a she?) isn't known by anyone. This is my guilty secret blog. It's actually the first blog I ever read wayyyyy back when before I knew what blogs were. Ahem. Even after I figured out what blogs were (thank you, Dawn), I didn't put two and two together to realize that this, too, was a blog. It is very different from other blogs. Can you tell I'm procrastinating here? Ahem. I adore Prevuze. It's utter snark and so perfect. It lampoons each day's episode of Days of Our Lives - a day in advance. And oh my word she stopped posting and closed up shop. I'm crushed (and obviously behind on my blog reading?). The six years of history is definitely worth reading through, however. That said, I don't suppose it really counts as a fabulous blogger anymore.

On the plus side, I get to sneak in another of my fabulous bloggers. Laura from Hey, What's For Dinner Mom? is my idol when it comes to food. She lives in Alaska, doesn't use a microwave and doesn't do processed foods. Let's just say we think a lot alike when it comes to food. She's also my inspiration for the Twix Bars that are now a staple whenever I go anywhere (though I tweaked her recipe). She has a great linkup for Meatless Mondays, which I find a great inspiration. She's also very into thrifting, and I love to see what she's found. It's not a hobby for me, as I'm working on getting things out of my house, but I can live vicariously through her at least!



Hey What's For Dinner


That is so much fun! I love writing posts like this, as there are so many other bloggers I adore and think are fabulous. It's really hard to narrow it down to five. These definitely hit my top five - go check them out and tell them I say hi! Who are your Fab Five? Tell me so I can go visit.

Don't forget to enter the 50 Fabulous Wishes contest for a chance to win $1,000 to celebrate a friend with a refreshing attitude about looking and feeling fabulous. I was selected for this Tropicana Trop50 sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do. I received compensation to use and facilitate my post.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Giveaway: Hasbro Travel Game

The wee ones are getting older, which means a few things. First, the games they play are getting more interesting to me. And secondly, we're getting far more busy running here, there, and everywhere.

I'm doing things a little differently from what my mom did in that I don't have the wee ones doing the same activities. They each have their own interests and own activities where they can shine, for the most part. While sometimes that means splitting up the family while Little Miss goes to gymnastics and Mister Man goes to Tae Kwon Do, other times that means Little Miss is sitting around waiting for Mister Man or vice versa.

I'm lucky that the wee ones love to read, as that frequently keeps them occupied (and quiet for other people waiting with us!). Sometimes, however, they prefer to do something else. Growing up, we loved travel games, especially given my parents' propensity towards road trips.

Hasbro recently sent me one of their Fun on the Run games - Perfection. I don't remember that being an option when I was growing up, but I loved the regular size game. I never owned it, but it fascinated me. I played it every time I went to Brooke's house.


I opened it up for the wee ones, and they are fascinated by it. Granted, they can't "win" the game by themselves, but neither can I. I have managed to get all but two pieces in before the center pops out and scatters the pieces everywhere, but I'm just not fast enough. The stress of it just gets to me!

I love that it doesn't require batteries, which always seem to run out. I can see the disaster that would be on a road trip, how about you? Instead, you simply turn the button to the off position, crank the timer, and push down the blue center. When you're ready, flip the button to the on position and see how fast your fingers can fly!



Also smart thinking? There's a little drawer to put the sixteen pieces in when you're finished playing. Little is the operative word, unfortunately. I could make a whole new game of "try to fit the pieces into the drawer all at once." This is definitely something the wee ones won't be able to do on their own. I did finally succeed after many minutes of trying, but it was not easy. I wish the drawer were a little larger!


Playing the game was a hoot, and the wee ones and I enjoyed it. It's not something they could play for hours, but we played it many games in a row, and they were still interested, even though the game is simple enough that Mister Man got it figured out the first time we played. We did alter the rules slightly for play. Two of us worked on it together to ensure we could get the shapes all in before the timer popped them off and tried to beat our fastest times. When working on it solo, instead of trying to beat a time - because we could never get all the shapes in - we competed to see who would have the fewest pieces left to put in when the timer went off.

I love that this is focusing on several areas that are good for the wee ones - especially Mister Man. It is great for hand eye coordination in general and visual perception, as many of the shapes are similar but have to be put into the right spot in the right direction. It's also great for fine motor development, since you're using a pincer grasp to pick up the pieces and spin them to face the right way. Consider it occupational therapy and a game all in one!

Hasbro offers six Fun on the Run games - Perfection, Connect4 (another of our favorites), Trouble, BattleShip (definitely on Mister Man's birthday wish list), Guess Who?, and Hungry Hippos (still a favorite in our house). All the games are under $10 and available now. I'm thinking we might need a few more for our summer "keeping everyone occupied" goal!

I also have a Fun on the Run game to give away to one of you. I can't guarantee which game it would be, but it will be one of the six. Gotta love a mystery, right? So what do you have to do to win? First of all, let me stress that you must follow all the rules. If you do not follow the rules, your entry will not count!

This contest is open until Wednesday May 25 at 7pm CST. I must have a valid way to reach you, so leave me your email address in your comment or be sure your profile has your email address visible. No duplicate comments will count. This giveaway is open to US residents age 18 and older. Winners will be selected via random.org and must respond within 48 hours of being notified by me or I will select a new winner.

Mandatory Entry: What is your favorite game to play?

Bonus Entries (leave a comment for each entry - if you put it all in one comment, I'll count it as one entry):

1) Earn one additional entry for following me on Twitter and tweeting this contest with the following tweet: "Going somewhere with your child? Win a travel game from @honestandtruly to help pass the time http://bit.ly/jU6v1Q" (leave a link to your tweet as your comment and make sure you do all the steps!)
2) Earn one additional entry by following this review blog publicly via Google Friend Connect.
3) Earn one additional entry by following my “regular” blog Honest & Truly! publicly via Google Friend Connect.
4) Like my blog on Facebook and let me know what name you used to like it.

Good luck!

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a travel Perfection game from Hasbro for review purposes only. I was not compensated in any way, and all opinions expressed are my own.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Winner!

Congrats to Megan Simmons (MegPieMeg) who won the Wacoal America giveaway! She has 48 hours to get back to me with her choice of product and size before I need to choose a new winner. Congrats to her!

Friday, May 6, 2011

Giveaway: Author Prize Pack

We love reading around here. I read a lot. The wee ones read whenever they get the chance - including sometimes when they aren't supposed to. I also discovered during spring break that Mister Man loves to write (he had to keep a journal describing his vacation since we pulled him from school a few days early).

It shouldn't have been a big surprise to me. After all, he invented an entire comic book series called "Beyond Time and Space" that was incredibly complex and had great characters - super heroes with some pretty cool abilities - who got into great adventures. Of course he loves to write.

Cheerios encourages this with their new author contest going on now! Those - adults only - interested in writing a children's book in either English or Spanish. The book should be aimed at children ages three to eight and submitted now through July 15, 2011.


I suppose it should come as no surprise that I have tons of ideas for children's books. Actually executing on them is the challenge. I think this might be some of my incentive to finally sit down and work on it though! You can find out more about the contest here. Did I mention that the grand prize winner One Grand Prize will receive a $5,000 cash prize and a possible publishing deal with Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, in addition to having his or her book featured inside Cheerios cereal boxes nationwide?



I've got great company. Cheerios via MyBlogSpark sent me a great prize pack with a box of Cheerios that includes the 2009 winner's book How Do You Hug a Porcupine? by Laurie Isop. The wee ones also received two book writing kits for kids. The Creativity for Kids kit includes to create your own hardcover books.

Let's just say the wee ones were thrilled. Beyond thrilled. They couldn't wait to write and illustrate their very own books - and with two books in the kit, each child was able to have one to write. Mister Man immediately sat down and began composing the 14th episode of Star Wars. You didn't know it went that far, did you? Little Miss grabbed her book and ran up to her room with it, paging through the empty spaces. I could see her imagining how she'd fill it, but she hasn't decided upon a final story yet.

The books allow you to both write and illustrate the story, making it great for a wide variety of ages. There are also sticker sheets and colored pencils. I love that the kit also included ideas of what to write to help some of those who are stuck trying to come up with an idea - fortunately not an issue with my wee ones, though Little Miss may need help trying to narrow down her idea!

I also have one of these prize packs to give away to one of you. Whether you enter the author contest or not, you're invited to enter to win the box of Cheerios (focused on encouraging the development of a love of reading) and the Creativity for Kids create your own books kit.

So what do you have to do to win? First of all, let me stress that you must follow all the rules. If you do not follow the rules, your entry will not count!

This contest is open until Friday May 22 at 7pm CST. I must have a valid way to reach you, so leave me your email address in your comment or be sure your profile has your email address visible. No duplicate comments will count. This giveaway is open to US residents age 18 and older. Winners will be selected via random.org and must respond within 48 hours of being notified by me or I will select a new winner.

Mandatory Entry: If you were writing a children's book, what would you write about?

Bonus Entries (leave a comment for each entry - if you put it all in one comment, I'll count it as one entry):

1) Earn one additional entry for following me on Twitter and tweeting this contest with the following tweet: "Have a young author in your house? Win a Cheerios author prize pack from @honestandtruly http://bit.ly/jlrNbP" (leave a link to your tweet as your comment and make sure you do all the steps!)
2) Earn one additional entry by following this review blog publicly via Google Friend Connect.
3) Earn one additional entry by following my “regular” blog Honest & Truly! publicly via Google Friend Connect.
4) Like my blog on Facebook and let me know what name you used to like it.

Good luck!

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a Cheerios prize pack as described above courtesy of MyBlogSpark and General Mills. There was no compensation involved, and all opinions expressed are my own.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Winner!

Congrats to Cheryl F the Lucky Ladybug for winning the $35 gift certificate to DaySpring and InCourage. She has 48 hours to get back to me. Congrats!

More giveaways and reviews to come - school volunteering is sucking me dry at the moment!