Thrifty Jinxy Review Team - Reviewer Opps

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Eating Right Kids from Safeway Review

I recently had the opportunity to try some of the new products in the Safeway Eating Right Kids line of foods. Eating Right™ is a new brand of healthier foods found exclusively at Safeway and featuring Looney Tunes characters .

There are over 60 different products including frozen entrees, juices, bagged salads, snacks and lots more. They're healthier, yet very convenient options, to help you to feed your family better without doing a ton of work.

The Eating Right products also feature the "Spot Your Needs" system, which uses color-coded spots that each correspond to a specific dietary attribute such as >high fiber, low sodium, low fat, multi-grain, and more. It makes it easy to "spot" the particular benefits of each food, just by glacing at the packaging.

Thanks to Team Mom we received the Eating Right Kids Chewy Bars, Microwaveable Pasta Cup, Fruit Cup and Apple Juice. These are all packaged in just-right, kid-sized portions and are made to appeal to a kid's palate. We enjoyed them all, especially the fruit cup!

You can check out the full line of Eating Right Kids products at your local Safeway store, or view product information online at Safeway.com.

Check Out "Durham County" on ION Television

I'm happy that the new fall TV season is here and I'm always anxious to check out the new shows, or at least shows that are "new to me". I haven't yet seen "Durham County". This award-winning show is a one-hour crime-drama series that follows the troubled world of Homicide Detective Mike Sweeney (Hugh Dillon, CBS' "Flashpoint"). Sweeney becomes personally involved in a murder investigation after moving his family to quiet suburbia for a fresh start when his partner is killed and his wife Audrey (Helene Joy) is diagnosed with breast cancer.

"Durham County" is ION Television's first original series. It's season premiere already passed on September 7^th, but you can check out all new episodes Monday nights at 10:00 p.m. It's preceded by one of my all time favorite shows, "Criminal Minds", so I will definitely have to give it a try.

For more info, check out Durham County Secrets, to view exclusive clips, sound bites and photos. You can also upload your own secrets, view secrets from others and send them to a friend.

New Cards for Kids and Moms from Hallmark - Review & Giveaway

Hallmark has two new lines of cards, focusing on Moms and on Kids. The "Edge of Motherhood" line features humorous cards that celebrate some of the "less than perfect" moments of motherhood. These cards are a fun way to share the lighthearted side of motherhood with a friend and offer a few words of encouragement.
For the kids, there are new encouragement cards, perfect for offering support or a confidence boost for special moments like taking a test, trying out for an athletic team, a dance recital, or the first day of school. Some of the kid cards even have sound clips that play when they're opened. The cards are available at Hallmark Gold Crown stores and other retailers where Hallmark cards are sold.

Hallmark sent me a selection of cards to check out and they're great. They are all bright and fun and the mom cards are hilarious. The kid cards have very cute designs and the sound cards are super fun. And they aren't just 2 second sound clips, they continue to play for a while. With prices starting at just $.99 and the sound cards starting at $2.99 they are reasonably priced as well.

Giveaway: Two lucky Thrifty Jinxy readers will each win a collection of Five Edge of Motherhood cards and five Encouragement for Kids cards from Hallmark. To enter, just fill out the simple form below with your name and e-mail address.

Rules: All entries must be received by 11:59 PM CST 9/23/09. One entry per person, except for extra entries (see below). Entrants must be at least 18 years old and reside within the United States. Winner must respond to the winning e-mail within 48 hours or a new winner will be selected.

Extra entries: You can get up to 7 extra entries in the giveaway by doing things like subscribing, following, tweeting using the button below, etc. Click here to see how to get your extra entries.

Wordless Wednesday - Good and Evil

Good and Evil
(I do have to add some words to make a disclaimer that Jinxy is NOT the evil cat in the picture!)

American Le Mans Series at Elkhart Lake, WI - August 2009

We had a great time this weekend! We drove to Elkhart Lake, WI for the American Le Mans series. My husband's friend works for the BMW Racing Club and was nice enough to get us tickets. I have never been to any type of auto race before and wasn't sure how I would like it. I liked it a lot. One of the reasons I probably liked it was that we didn't just sit and watch cars driving by for hours. The track itself was not what I expected. It is a long, 4-mile track, that meanders through a park-like setting. I couldn't believe how huge the place was! There was also a "carnival-like" atmosphere. All of the different car manufacturers and other race team sponsors had tents with displays and promotional events (meaning we got some free stuff like t-shirts too!) There were a lot of different types of races with different types of cars, which really kept things interesting.

I have to say that my very favorite part was the food provided by BMW hospitality. We had fantastic meals with a variety of entrees, pasta dishes and fantastic salads. Saturday evening was barbecue night with brats, BBQ ribs and lots of great sides like corn on the cob and unique potato salad. I will be bummed out going back to my own cooking starting today.

Overall I had a GREAT time and am hoping we can go again next year!

"Off Season" by Anne Rivers Siddons

Be sure to visit Thrifty Jinxy to check out "Off Season" by Anne Rivers Siddons. I haven't yet finished the whole book to do a full review, but I love what I have read so far and will be back to fill you in once I'm finished! While you're at Thrifty Jinxy, you can also enter to win one of five copies to be given away courtesy of Hachette Book Group.