Review: Arla Dofino Cheese

I signed up as a Bzz Agent with www.bzzagent.com. As an agent, they send me samples of different products to try. In return, I write reviews, share coupons and tell friends about the products.


For this campaign I got to try Arlo Dofino Cheese. The only cheese my store sold from this brand was their Chipolte Gouda. I really enjoyed it. The cheese had the perfect blend of gouda creaminess and spicy chipolte. My husband chopped up the block and enjoyed the cheese with some crackers. It was a perfect snack for us. The gourmet cheese was easy to find at the store with the specialty cheeses and was reasonably priced.  I looked online and found some recipes that could be made using the chipolte gouda, but I decided I really just enjoyed eating it plain. I'm planning on getting some more for a cheese platter for Thanksgiving! I think our family and friends will love it!

Bzz Review: Secret Outlast Deodorant Clear Gel

I signed up as a Bzz Agent with www.bzzagent.com. As an agent, they send me samples of different products to try. In return, I write reviews, share coupons and tell friends about the products.

I'm a big fan of Secret brand deodorant, so I was excited to be able to try the Outlast Clear Gel. I usually get the solid, not a clear gel so I was curious to try this. I generally stick with the solid because I'm afraid the gel will make me feel like a sticky, wet mess (and isn't avoiding that the whole reason why we wear deodorant?). I've been very happy with the Secret Outlast. I've worn it the last three days, with great results. It doesn't feel super wet or sticky, goes on smoothly, doesn't have a strong fragrance and keeps me dry and stick free. That gets 2 thumbs way up from me! It says that it will not leave marks on black. I haven't tried wearing black yet, but I did wear a dark gray dress yesterday and no marks, yay! The container says it is good for 48 hours, but I'm not good with going 48 hours without showering, so I haven't tried out that claim myself. I'm a happy customer though and will be getting this again.

Review: Kroger Gift Cards 4X Fuel Program

I signed up as a Bzz Agent with www.bzzagent.com. As an agent, they send me samples of different products to try. In return, I write reviews, share coupons and tell friends about the products.



I love Kroger's program to earn fuel points. Getting bonus points buying gift cards where I already shop is a huge perk. Last week my husband and I were going on a date. Before going to dinner we stopped at Kroger and purchased a gift card for the restaurant we were going to eat at. Might as well get 4 times the fuel points if we are going to spend the money anyway. It was great! Buying the gift cards are so easy and saving more money at the pump is awesome. Last month I was able to save 80 cents per gallon of gas I bought.

Review: Kroger Skillet Meals and Sides

I signed up as a Bzz Agent with www.bzzagent.com. As an agent, they send me samples of different products to try. In return, I write reviews, share coupons and tell friends about the products.



I chose the Chicken Florentine Skillet meal to get with my coupon. I was impressed with the selection of meals offered at Kroger. I chose this one because I thought it would be most appealing to my kids. I noticed on the packages that some of them only had two servings, this one had 3.5. When I poured the bag into my skillet there was a whole lot more spinach that what was pictured on the package so I picked out some of the huge chunks before it started cooking. I knew if I didn't kids would complain. We loved it! It tasted fresh and it only took 10 minutes to cook, love that.

I purchased the loaf of garlic bread and lite Caesar salad with my coupons to Kroger to accompany my skillet meal for dinner. Everything was great. The loaf of garlic bread cooked beautifully in 10 minutes and was just enough to feed my whole family. The salad was great. There were just a couple of pieces of wilty lettuce, we just picked them out. Kroger has some great options for dinner!

Review: TruMoo Chocolate Milk

I signed up as a Bzz Agent with www.bzzagent.com. As an agent, they send me samples of different products to try. In return, I write reviews, share coupons and tell friends about the products. 



Our family tried TruMoo Chocolate Milk as part of a Bzz Campaign with Bzzagent.com. Not only was the taste great, TruMoo is lower in sugar, which I appreciate for my kids. We definitely like our chocolate milk. I was surprised that TruMoo is not available at the store where I normally shop. I was able to find it locally though using the store locator. I recommend using the store locator before going so you'll know if your store carries it or not.

Right now TruMoo is having a promotion on their Facebook page. You can enter to win a trip to the Goosebumps Haunted Hollywood Vacation. After entering you'll get an instant Goosebumps DVD coupon. I'd be great to win!

Review: Kroger Comforts for Baby line of baby products

I signed up as a Bzz Agent with www.bzzagent.com. As an agent, they send me samples of different products to try. In return, I write reviews, share coupons and tell friends about the products.


Diapers:
I've bought the regular Comforts for Baby diapers before, do decided to use my coupon for free diapers to try the chlorine free diapers. I have to say, I'm very impressed. My daughter has worn them for a couple of days now and has not had any problems and she has very sensitive skin. The diaper fits nice and snug around her waist and legs, but the diaper is substantial enough to hold everything needed. I love the price too! I've tried other diaper brands in the past but always end up going back to my tried and true brand. I'm impressed with these and will get some more!

Baby Wipes:
I LOVE the Comforts for Baby wipes! I prefer the fragrance free wipes for my baby's sensitive skin (the ones like Huggies wipes) and they work great! Perfect, cloth like texture that do their job wonderfully. These wipes are great and at a much better price than their name brand counterparts.

Baby Wash:
This is a great body wash for baby. I especially love how gentle it is on my daughter's skin. The pump in the bottle makes it really easy to keep one hand on my baby while I get the baby wash to clean her up (she's a little wild in the tub!). She was completely clean and had that wonderful baby smell after her bath. Loved it!

Baby Lotion:
I bought the night time lotion with my coupon to use for my daughter. It has a very nice, but subtle fragrance to it, not too powerful. Generally I'm not a fan of scented baby products, but this was just enough without being too much. I'm thinking I may have to start using it too! She loves it when I rub her feet with lotion after bath and last night that is what we did with our new lotion, worked great!

Baby Bibs:
Since I have a toddler, I used my coupon to buy a toddler bib with a pocket at the bottom to catch everything she drops. I've been wanting to get one of these bibs for my toddler that now wants to do everything herself. It helped! We didn't have nearly the mess in the high chair to clean up after using the pocket bib. Loved it! I also loved that this can go in the washing machine after use. I was afraid I'd have to hand wash the bibs and wasn't looking forward to that. So excited to see on the package I can throw it in the laundry. Great bib!

Review: Kroger Yogurt Smoothie Bars

I signed up as a Bzz Agent with www.bzzagent.com. As an agent, they send me samples of different products to try. In return, I write reviews, share coupons and tell friends about the products.



I love treats, but not the calories. So I was really excited to try these yogurt smoothie bars that really are guilt free. I also love to make berry smoothies so I tried the berry smoothie variety. They taste just like my berry smoothies on a bar. I thought the bar was very convienent, I didn't have to get out my blender and all the ingredients to have a treat, especially just for one. The low calories was great. I'm trying to be more fit and watching what I eat, but I can fit 60 calories into my diet. Love it! I'm excited to try the other products in the line at Kroger!

Review: Green Giant Veggie Snack Chips

I signed up as a Bzz Agent with www.bzzagent.com. As an agent, they send me samples of different products to try. In return, I write reviews, share coupons and tell friends about the products. I tried both the sweet potato sea salt and the zesty cheddar chips with my family. We don't buy chips very often so my kids were so excited to have a special treat. I tried to hide the label from them so they would not know that they are made from vegetables. I was afraid they would immediately say they were gross and refuse to try them. I wanted them to try both varieties first and then we discussed it. They didn't even care that they were made from veggies. They LOVED the chips, especially the zesty cheddar. My daughter kept calling them Doritos (she couldn't tell the difference). I could taste the difference, but thought that these tasted okay. It is not something I'd be really excited to eat, but I would buy them again as a healthier chip for my kids. I liked the sweet potato sea salt chips slightly more. Ironically my kids liked them less. I have to say too that I despise sweet potatoes, but these didn't taste anything like sweet potatoes. The sea salt was great on the chips. Overall I was pleased. I will get them again for a special treat for my kids. Do I love them as much as Doritos? No, but I shouldn't eat Doritios anyway!

Review: Lysol Touch of Foam Hand Soap

I signed up as a Bzz Agent with www.bzzagent.com. As an agent, they send me samples of different products to try. In return, I write reviews, share coupons and tell friends about the products.

I started using my foam soap yesterday and am loving it! I love the thick foam that has a creamy, moisturing feel to it. The soap seemed more moisturizing than other soaps I've tried while still feeling clean. I often feel dry after washing, but I haven't today using the Lysol foaming soap. The scent is great! Generally I avoid scented soaps, lotions, etc because they are overpowering; this one is not. I found it refreshing. I'm excited to check it out at the store and see what other scents the Lysol soap comes in.

Review: Kroger Brand Foods

I signed up as a Bzz Agent with www.bzzagent.com. As an agent, they send me samples of different products to try. In return, I write reviews, share coupons and tell friends about the products.



Overall, we were very happy with our Kroger dinner. We had an early Easter dinner and thought this would be the perfect meal to celebrate! Since we tried different things, I'll talk about each individually.

1. The pork loin - The pork was fabulous! I loved that we got recipes with our Bzz card too. I really wanted to try one of the new recipes but didn't read it in advance to see that the pork needs to be marinated for at least 4 hours. I tried a new recipe I found online and loved it. The pork was super tender and moist, just like it was promised on the package. My family loved it! I will most definitely buy this again.

2. Homestyle mashed potatoes - There was nothing homestyle about these potatoes, at least not like my potatoes. My family did not like them, I did not like them. They were kind of runny and didn't have a great taste. My husband is the only one that finished them. I felt badly, but I threw away the leftovers. No one wanted them. I will not be buying these again. They tasted like potato flakes, not real potatoes. Disappointing.

3. Crescent rolls - I bought the reduced fat crescent rolls and was disappointed with these too. They were flat (didn't rise at all) and tasted off. I have purchased Kroger brand crescent rolls in the past, so I don't know if it tasted wrong because I bought reduced fat or if it just something wrong with the package I bought. Who knows. I will not be buying these again.

4. Kroger chocolate cake and chocolate frosting - For dessert we had chocolate cupcakes! Yum! Who can go wrong with chocolate cupcakes? I usually buy Pillsbury brand cake mix and did not notice any difference between the Kroger brand mix and frosting and Pillsbury. The cupcakes were super moist and delicious. We were all very happy and had chocolate faces!

Overall we loved the pork and dessert but were disappointed with the potatoes and rolls. I love Kroger though and Kroger brand foods and will keep trying it all!

Review: Garnier Triple Nutrition Miracle Dry Oil

I was so excited to try the new Garnier Triple Nutrition Miracle Dry Oil. I liked that it can be used on both hair and body, that's one less thing in my shelf. I saw that it can also be used as a facial moisturizer, but I really don't feel comfortable putting it on my face, so I haven't. I'm perfectly content to use it on my hair and body. I have not seen a product like this in stores before and I love that this is available at Target.

I've been so dry this winter. A little spritz on my hair goes a long way. It has helped to tame my frizzies and has made my legs feel smooth. My normal hair routine has not been great at keeping my frizz under control this winter. So far this has really helped. I have not had to spray very much. I spray it on my wet hair before I comb it and then blow dry. I've had problems finding moisturizers for my legs. Most make my legs burn and get irritated if I moisturize just after shaving. I used this immediately after shaving and did not have any reaction at all. I was thrilled!

Review: Kroger's CARBmaster and Greek Yogurt

I purchased the Carbmaster yogurt and Greek lite yogurt at Kroger. I love how much protein was in the Carbmaster and that it has so much less sugar and carbs. I bought a variety of flavors for us to try. Kroger carries quite a few so there is something for everyone.

I really liked the Greek Lite yogurt. I was a little nervous to try it because I've tried some other brands of Greek yogurts and have had mixed reviews. This surprisingly tastes like the much more expensive name brand of Greek yogurt that I like. I added to my smoothie too. I love the extra benefits of the greek yogurt as opposed to regular yogurt, the extra protein and lower calories. I've been trying different Greek yogurts and have not found many brands that I like. I like the flavor of this one and the price so it has moved to the top of my list. I expect the best from Kroger brand, and am overall very happy with what we've tried.

I signed up as a Bzz Agent with www.bzzagent.com. As an agent, they send me samples of different products to try. In return, I write reviews, share coupons and tell friends about the products.

Review: Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream

I signed up as a Bzz Agent with www.bzzagent.com. As an agent, they send me samples of different products to try. In return, I write reviews, share coupons and tell friends about the products.


During this time of year, my hands feel rough, cracked and itch with dryness, really not my favorite thing. I was so excited to be chosen for the Neutrogena Hand Cream campaign. The hand cream has been a life saver for me this winter, for my hands and nails. I try to take care of my hands, but for me it has to be simple. I don't have the time to spend hours on my nails each week. Here's my nail tips:

1. I like to file my nails and buff them with a nail buffer. It helps smooth them out and make them look nice. 
2. Moisturize! The Neutrogena hand cream is awesome here. I worked into my cuticles making them nice and soft. 
3. Push back cuticles. Now that they're soft, this is much easier and less painful. 
4. Apply a base coat of nail polish. This is important to keep polish on longer and not stain nails.
5. Apply 2 coats of polish
6. Apply top coat
7. Moisturize constantly! 

Review: Kroger's Private Section line of foods

I signed up as a Bzz Agent with www.bzzagent.com. As an agent, they send me samples of different products to try. In return, I write reviews, share coupons and tell friends about the products. I'm a huge fan of Kroger's Private Section line of gourmet foods. It delivers on its promise to be gourmet. I've tried many products in the line before (desserts, appetizers, pizza) and this time we've had the privilege of sampling the pasta sauce, cheese, crackers and olives. I let my children assist me in selecting the pasta sauce and we went with the garlic sauce. We loved it! I make all my pasta sauce from scratch so I was not so sure this would beat my sauce, but it is just as good and so much easier than cooking for a couple of hours. We loved the crackers as part of our appetizers over Thanksgiving. All in all, I'm not surprised. I had high expectations for everything since I'v used it before and been so happy. Kroger saves the day again!

Bzzagent review: Glade Expressions kits

I signed up as a Bzz Agent with www.bzzagent.com. As an agent, they send me samples of different products to try. In return, I write reviews, share coupons and tell friends about the products. The oil diffuser is great. I tried the pineapple mango scent for my kitchen. It was inviting without being over powering. I gave it only 4 stars because after a couple of days I didnt' notice it any more. I don't know if it ran out of oil that fast of if I just got used to it. I tried the lavendar scent mister spray. This I did not like as much. The smell was way too strong for my liking. I wanted delicate lavender, not explode in your face lavender. My kids got a hold of it too and sprayed it with enthusiasm. I might like it better in moderation. I might try a different scent too, lavender will be out for a while.

Bzzagent review: Unreal candy bar

I recently signed up as a Bzz Agent with www.bzzagent.com. As an agent, they send me samples of different products to try. In return, I write reviews, share coupons and tell friends about the products.


We tried the Unreal candy version of the M&Ms. I had them with my children, who could live life alone on M&M's. They loved them. I thought they were fine, but didn't quite taste like what I was expecting. They had a slightly different flavor. I felt better giving them to my children though, knowing that they don't have any extra sugars, artifical colors, etc. I prefer to give them things as natural as possible. I'm going to watch for these to go on sale and get more of them for our special treats.

Bzzagent review: Covergirl + Olay Foundation and Powder

I recently signed up as a Bzz Agent with www.bzzagent.com. As an agent, they send me samples of different products to try. In return, I write reviews, share coupons and tell friends about the products.


I'm happy to report that I really like the 2 in 1 foundation. I was a little leary to try it. I've used department store foundation for years because my skin is so fair I've had a hard time finding anything in store that matches. I wasn't so sure that this would work. However, I actually love it! It is smooth and creamy, easy to blend. I also like that it is not heavy. I always opt for a light foundation and this really fits the bill. I also love that it is a fraction of the cost of what I normally spend. I have a winner! I'm not as big as a fan of the pressed powder. It is okay, just not my favorite. I prefer loose powder. Also the little applicator that came with it is quite cheap. The case is so nice the applicator just seems flimsy, not much to hold onto and not all that soft either. I've been using my powder brush to apply the powder and like that better. All in all, I'm very happy. I'm not sure I would have ever tried the foundation without this campaign, and I'm very glad that I did. Thanks!

Family update

It has been forever since I've written anything other than reviews I know. Right now we're excitedly anticipating the arrival of baby #4. She is due to come May 4, but like Rachel, wants to come and play already. Friday I'll be 30 weeks and I'm hoping and praying we can make it another 8 weeks before her debut. My doctor is doing everything he can to keep her put, short of putting me in the hospital (something I really appreciate). I've been getting weekly injections and taking a daily muscle relaxer to try and lessen the contractions. My last injection is April 12, so we'll see how long she waits to come after that.

We've decided to name her Evelyn Mae. That was the name we'd chosen for Connor if he was a girl so the moment we found out #4 was a girl, her name was chosen. I keep asking everyone if we're really sure, and they insist we are. So I guess it is a go. Evelyn was my Grandma Mason's middle name and Mae was my great-grandmother's middle name. Glen had no idea that Mae was a name also in my family when he chose it. He thinks that April should have a Mae, so now we will.

We couldn't be more excited. Glen brought down the bin of newborn baby girl clothes from the attic. Kate and Rachel loved going through them and seeing how little they were and looking at their cute clothes. It will be fun to dress this one in their clothes. It is crazy to me how time flies and how grown up my three already are.

Kate and Rachel are loving thinking about genetics and how Evie will fit in to our family. Will she have curly hair or straight hair? Will it be brown or blond? Blue eyes or brown? Will she have dimples or not? Since Kate, Rachel, and Connor are so different it will be interesting to see. She is already extremely active like Kate and determined to come early like Rachel.

Connor turned 3 a week and a half ago and was miles past excited. He's been waiting for months for his "urtday" to finally come. To him, having a birthday means opening presents. So when anyone asked him about his birthday he pointed to his presents on the mantle and said "there's my urtday right there." Since Connor is not a fan of cake (another Mason trait), we had yummy brownies and ice cream to celebrate. After 2 years of making cakes and his refusal to eat them, I learned.

Review: Kroger's Comforts baby line

I recently signed up as a Bzz Agent with www.bzzagent.com. As an agent, they send me samples of different products to try. In return, I write reviews, share coupons and tell friends about the products.
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I received a awesome box of products from Kroger's Comfort's for Baby line, including baby wipes and sippy cups. Connor was thrilled with the cups and could hardly stand for me to wash it before he used it. I'm excited about the wipes, they're comparable to Huggies, which are my favorite wipes. When at the store, I was surprised at how many products are included in the Comfort line, diapers, wipes, feeding utencils, food, snacks, potty training pants, etc. I have a couple of coupons to share if anyone would like to try it out. I often think that with a great sale and a coupon you can usually get national brands at a better price, but a coupon on a store brand is also a great deal. I haven't tried out the diapers yet, won't be too long though!

Review: Meijer Canvas Photos

I recently signed up as a Bzz Agent with www.bzzagent.com. As an agent, they send me samples of different products to try. In return, I write reviews, share coupons and tell friends about the products.

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Today I picked up my canvas print from Meijer. I love it! It came out beautifully and was so easy to do. I did mine at the kiosk at the store, but you can do it right from home and pick up the next day. I chose a picture that my friend, JoDee Yost, took of me and Connor when Connor was 6 months old. It is my favorite photo of us together. I just love it. Right now (through January 7th I believe) you can load a coupon to your mperks account to get a canvas print for 50% off. I might have to order another one!