Tag Archives: Holiday

ALDI Award-Winning Wine Review

Food and Drink, New posts, , ,

ALDI wine review

I didn’t know much about ALDI until recently.  ALDI and Mom Central Consulting offered me the opportunity to shop at a local ALDI to purchase wine from their line-up of award-winning international exclusive wines, and other treats.   While I didn’t find the manager of our local ALDI store very helpful when we asked questions about the wine selection, we have enjoyed the wine very  much.  My husband said that when he asked the manager which wines he would recommend, he said “Well, I’m not actually much of a wine drinker so I can’t help you there” and he walked off.   It seems to me that the manager should have had some training on the wines and could have spoken in a more positive and encouraging tone.  Also, the shelves we all out of whack with wines in the wrong place and manyo f the wines were even turned the wrong way so you couldn’t see the label.  I hate to gripe though, so I’m moving on now.  That situation doesn’t affect my decision to return to ALDI to buy wine again in the future honestly.

ALDI’s wine prices are great with award-winning wines starting at just $5.99 and going up to just about $10.  Great prices, huh?

For a recent get together we enjoyed two award-winning 85 point wines from ALDO’s: Sunshine Bay’s Sauvignon Blanc ($6.99) and Chaza Moscato ($4.99) paired with assorted cheeses, vegetables, onion dip, sausage balls, and fruit.

We’ve already planned a trip back to ALDI to pick up more wine for our Christmas Eve and Day meals.

About ALDI:

Known for its premium exclusive brands, ALDI offers more than 1,400 of the most frequently purchased grocery items for up to 50 percent less than traditional supermarkets. Customers can get all the holiday essentials for less, including everything from wines and appetizers to main courses, side dishes and desserts, making holiday meals and family gatherings warm and memorable. During the holiday season, ALDI stores also carry an additional line-up of more than 100 seasonal items at unbeatable prices.

Connect with ALDI:

ALDI Website

ALDI Smartphone App

Disclosure: “I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of ALDI and received a gift certificate to facilitate my review.”

Alicia Hagan, Editor

Join me Monday 12/19 (8-9:30pm EST) at the #SearsChat ‘Last Minute Shopping’ Chat and #Giveaway

Gifts, Holiday, New posts, Twitter Parties, , , ,

Christmas is less than a week away! Are you still looking for gifts? Have no fear, we have dedicated a #SearsChat & a Sweepstakes to help you out.

I thought I was going to have all of my holiday gift shopping done by now, but I thought wrong. I think it’s nearly impossible to ever be finished with holiday shopping.  There’s always someone to buy for, something to exchange, or something that you or a loved one really wants goes on sale at the last minute, so rightly so.. you have to go by it.

Sears Twitter party

Christmas is less than a week away! Are you still looking for gifts? Have no fear, we have dedicated a #SearsChat to help you out.

Sears has all of your last minute gifting needs- great deals on great gifts. Our hosts @Sears, @StacieInAtlanta, @Crissy, @JollyMom and @MommyInsider will give you the scoop on how to make last minute shopping a little less stressful.

Follow @Sears and @SearsDeals and tweet with us from 7pm-8:30pm CT using the hashtag #SearsChat to participate. We will be giving away the following prizes:

  • 1 Forever Lazy
  • Remington Foil Shaver
  • 1 Smart Planet Mini Cupcake Makers
  • Oster Electric Wine Opener
  • Oster MyBlend Blender
  • Hamilton Beach hand stand mixer

To Enter for a Chance to Win you MUST do the following:

  • Have an active Twitter account.
  • Follow the official @Sears and @SearsDeals Twitter accounts
  • Tweet “Join me @Sears & @SearsDeals for #SearsChat – Mon 12/19 from 7-8:30pm CT talking about Last Min Gifting- Details/Prizes: http://bit.ly/tMnbmG
  • Post the link to your tweet in the comments on this Sears post.
  • During the Twitter Party, send a Tweet (containing only appropriate, family-friendly content as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion) that includes the #SearsChat hashtag.


A few important rules:

You must follow @sears and @SearsDeals in order to be eligible to win

Winners must accept their prizes within 15 minutes of the announcement that they won.

You must accept your prize by tweeting something like this: “Thank you, I accept my prize @Sears @SearsDeals #SearsChat”

Read the official Sears Last Minute GiftIng Twitter Chat SWEEPSTAKES rules and RSVP here.

See you there!

Alicia Hagan, Editor

Liven Up Your Holiday Menu With Ragu and Win a $200 AmEx Gift Card! #Giveaway

Brand Ambassador, Contests, Food and Drink, Giveaways, Holiday, ,

RaguThe holiday season is often the busiest time of the year, and when friends and family come to visit, the last thing I wants is to be stuck in the kitchen preparing time-consuming holiday meals. By having a couple of quick and easy recipes in my recipe book, I can have festive holiday meals on the table and join the party too.

RECIPE IDEA: An easy recipe that requires only a few minutes of preparation is a pasta bake. It’s also a sneaky way to get the kids to eat their vegetables, since Old World Style Traditional Ragu Sauce packs in 2 servings of vegetables in every 1/2 cup of pasta sauce.

HOW TO: Just cook a favorite pasta, such as rotini or fusilli, layer it in with sauce and generously top with Parmesan, and bake, it’s that simple!

RECIPE IDEA: Another fun holiday pasta recipe is Penne Pasta with Sausage.

HOW TO: Brown spicy Italian sausage in light oil with onion, add the sausage to the pasta sauce, and toss them together with the cooked penne. Sprinkle generously with Parmesan and enjoy. You can even please your picky child with a homemade pizza with Ragu Homemade Style Pizza Sauce, (my very picky 5 year old loves these!) allowing your child to top their own section with their favorite toppings.

Serving pizza and pasta dishes are quick and easy ways to feed a crowd, and satisfy even the pickiest or heartiest appetites. By adding these festive dishes to the holiday table, the host and hostess can save time and toil in the kitchen and enjoy the holidays with the family.

$200 AmEx Gift Card Giveaway!

We are giving a lucky reader a $200 AmEx gift card thanks to Ragu!

Mandatory entry:
To enter to win, tell us in the comments below how you would liven up your holiday menu with Ragu sauces or in general.

Get extra entries for doing each or all of the following:
Leave a comment for each thing you do so we can count all of your entries. 

Entries accepted through 11:59pm December 26th.  Open to U.S. residents, 18+.  No P.O. Boxes.

Connect with Ragu

Read my previous Ragu “Moms The Word on Dinner” posts here:

Disclosure: This is part of a campaign for which I am an Ambassador for the Ragú® Mom’s the Word on Dinner Program. Visit www.facebook.com/ragusauce to join the conversation.

Alicia Hagan, Editor

Win the January 2012 Issue of All You AND Stetson Original Cologne – #Giveaway {Ends 12/21}

Contests, Gifts, Giveaways, Holiday, New posts, , , , ,

All You magazine and Stetson Cologne giveaway prize package

The January issue of ALL YOU (on sale December 16th)  contains a coupon on page 38 to save $1 with the purchase of ALL YOU magazine’s February issue AND any one (1) Stetson® Cologne.

If you aren’t already familiar with ALL YOU magazine, you’ll want to get to know it.

Each issue of All You contains:

  • Down-to-earth, affordable, and no-nonsense tips and ideas for every area of your life.
  • Diet and fitness advice that fits your busy lifestyle.
  • Fashion for real women’s bodies, money-savings tips for your everyday life, and meals with easy-to-find, affordable ingredients.

Plus, each issue is packed with so many money-saving coupons that the magazine pays for itself!

You can pick up the latest issue of All You at your local Walmart or subscribe online for about $1.66 per month here!

 

About the Setson Brand:
Setson Original Cologne giveaway

“Experience a true original.  STETSON.  The legendary fragrance of the American West.  A rich, masculine blend of rugged woods and spice.”

HEROIC. INDEPENDENT. AUTHENTIC. STETSON.

John B. Stetson headed west prepared to make his fortune. But what he wasn’t prepared for was the wet and cold that followed him every step of the way. So, in 1865, Stetson set out to make the hat that could tame the American West.

The hats were a big hit in the thinly populated West, where being rugged was a requirement for clothes (and for people). The rugged individualism of the West was perfectly represented by a hat that could be shaped differently by each wearer – a punched in crown, a blended brim and a braided leather band were all different ways to make a Stetson one’s own.

Today, the name Stetson embodies the authentic heritage and spirit of the American West. It’s individuality that can never be tamed or fenced in. Authentic style that telegraphs who you are without saying a word. And confidence that comes from knowing there’s nothing you can’t handle.

Stetson Cologne carries on this legacy with fragrances for men and women that represent the pride, passion, and confidence of the pioneers.

GIVEAWAY!

We are giving 10 lucky readers the January 2012 issue of ALL YOU and a  3.5 oz bottle of Stetson Original Cologne!

To enter to win, leave a comment below telling us why you want to win.. (example: who would you give the Stetson cologne to?).

Earn extra giveaway entries:

  • Be sure to have completed the mandatory entry first!
  • 1 extra entry – Follow @mommyinsider on Twitter
  • 1 extra entry – Like The Mommy Insider Facebook page
  • 1 extra entry – Subscribe to The Mommy Insider (and confirm your email address via the confirmation email)
  • 1 extra entry – Follow @allyou on Twitter
  • 1 extra entry (each time) – Tweet this up to once every 8 hours:
    “I’m entered to win the Jan ’12 issue of ALL YOU & Stetson Original Cologne & @mommyinsider & @allyou!  Details: http://wp.me/plszx-2EH”.
  • 3 extra entries – Write about this giveaway on your own blog and leave the URL to your blog post in the comments below (can be done once).
  • 5 extra entries per giveaway you enter – Enter any of our other giveaways and/or The Divine Miss Mommy’s giveaways and leave a comment below telling us which giveaways you entered.

Entries accepted through 11:59pm ET December 21st.

Open to U.S. residents only. No P.O. Boxes.

10 winners will be contacted on 12/22 and must respond by 2pm 12/22 in order to claim their prize.  If we do not receive a response by then, we will have to choose an alternate winner.  While we’d love to think that the winners will receive their prize before Christmas we can not guarantee it.    Prize fulfillment is handled by the PR company.

Connect with All You

Connect with Stetson

Disclosure: I received the January 2012 issue of ALL YOU and Stetson Original Cologne free from ALL YOU for review and giveaway purposes.
Alicia Hagan, Editor

Nissan #HolidayQuest Visits Atlanta and Spreads Holiday Cheer by Donating to a Local Charity!

Car Reviews, Charity, Nissan HolidayQuest, , ,

I am thrilled to announce that I was offered the opportunity to participate in program with Nissan called Holiday Quest.   Nissan has provided me with a Nissan Quest loaner and will be making a $500 contribution to a local charity of my choice.   What an amazing way for Nissan to contribute to my community!  I will announce the local charity soon, so stay tuned to @mommyinsider and @atlantamoms on Twitter.

I will be driving it the Quest for several more days and will be reporting about my Holiday Quest on my Twitter page @mommyinsider and you can also follow with myself and the others HolidayQuest campaign participants on twitter with the hashtag #HolidayQuest.

 

Nissan Holiday Quest

Join me on my Holiday Quest with the Nissan Quest!

Nissan has some fun things planned during the Holiday Quest campaign including a Twitter party December 20th during which myself and seven other great bloggers will be participating in and giving away prizes!  It gets better!   Nissan is allowing me to make a charitable contribution to a charity of my choice!  Follow me during my Holiday Quest on twitter at @mommyinsider and @atlantamoms by following the hashtag #HolidayQuest.

Join me at the #HolidayQuest Twitter Party on Tuesday, December 20th from 8-9pm CT/9-10pm EST. We’ll be giving away some great prizes!

Connect with Nissan Quest:

Nissan provided a loan of the Nissan Quest for this program, a gift card for my family as we use the vehicle, and a contribution to a charity of my choice in my community.

Alicia Hagan, Editor