Hop over to IHOP for a new Griddle Melt!

I recently received an email inviting me to visit my local IHOP to give their new Griddle Melts a try.  Needless to say, my children were THRILLED with the idea of eating at IHOP.  So Friday night, we decided to go out to dinner and check things out.

IHOP's Griddle Melts are available as a whole sandwich or a half, and come in three varieties:

• Spinach, Roasted Pepper & Cheese - Sautéed fresh spinach in a fluffy egg omelet topped with roasted red peppers and onions, melted Provolone, Parmesan and Pepper Jack cheeses on grilled artisan sourdough bread. Served with your choice of hash browns, French fries or seasonal fruit.

• Western - Smoked ham and sautéed peppers and onions in a classic omelet, topped with sliced ham, melted American cheese and served on grilled artisan sourdough bread. Served with your choice of hash browns, French fries or seasonal fruit.

• Ham & Egg Melt - Sliced ham and melted Swiss and American cheeses over a fluffy egg omelet served on grilled artisan sourdough bread. Served with your choice of hash browns, French fries or seasonal fruit.

Don't those sound absolutely wonderful???  It's difficult to choose just one!  The one that everyone could agree upon to try was the Ham & Egg Melt, so we ordered a whole sandwich with fries.  What arrived at the table was a completely stuffed, beautiful sandwich with perfectly cooked fries.  Check this out:

Lots of hot, fluffy egg, tender ham, and enough cheese to even impress my cheese-fanatic 10-year-old!  And that picture is just half of the sandwich!  

This was a fantastic value for the money and even filled my 16-year-old son.  The egg and ham were hot and freshly cooked, the cheese was melted just right, and the bread was crispy and flaky on the lightly grilled outside and soft and tender in the center.  The bread gave it a good "bite" while the fillings left us feeling very satisfied.  This was a wonderful dinner, and I know it would be the perfect start to the day as a breakfast entree - with hash browns as the side, of course!  :-) 

Here's a better shot to show you the light grilling and the generous portion of fries:

That one just doesn't show you how stuffed full the sandwich really is.  It truly is a great value for your dining dollar, and if you aren't hungry enough for the whole thing, you can order half with a side.  

Give the Griddle Melts at IHOP a try, and let me know what you think.  My kids are already asking when we're going back again.  Apparently Breakfast is the new Dinner!  :-)

If you want to know even more about these great new offerings at IHOP, check out their press release by clicking here.  I know one of these Griddle Melts has YOUR name on it! 

DISCLOSURE: I received a $25 gift card to try the new Griddle Melts, but received no other compensation for this post.  The opinions expressed are strictly my own.

Pillsbury Artisan Makes Any Game Great!

As everyone well knows, we just had a huge event on Sunday!  Even if you aren't a football fan, chances are that you watched the Big Game, at least for the commercials.  It's a fun and exciting event that even my kids watched this year.  Okay, so they did it for the family "squares pool," where there were boxes of candy and gift cards to be won, but still!!  :-)

And what's a big game without some pizza??  I'm sure the pizza places all across the country were ultra-busy all day long, delivering pizzas to the masses.  Everyone loves pizza, and pizza and football go hand-in-hand, particularly when it's the Super Bowl!

We didn't call out for any pizza, though.  We made fresh, hot, absolutely delicious pizza at home! And it didn't interrupt a moment of the game, because I made it easy with Pillsbury Artisan Pizza Crust.  Just roll out the tender crust and top it with whatever you like on your pizza, put on some cheese, and into the oven it goes.  YUM!!  So easy and so good.....and so ideal for the big game!  It would be the perfect addition to ANY game.....from the Super Bowl to your child's Little League ballgame.  Easy, tasty, and a great family meal.

Right now, you can get an amazing coupon for Pillsbury Artisan Pizza Crust!  Just click on this link and you will be able to print a $1.50 off coupon.  That makes for a steal of a deal, especially when you consider what even a carryout pizza costs from a pizza place.  I'm sure your family will love it - mine does!!

If you'd like to learn more about Pillsbury and their Artisan Pizza, here are some resources:

• Pillsbury Website
• Pillsbury's Facebook Page (like them!)
• Pillsbury's Twitter Page
• Recipe Ideas

Be sure and come back and let me know how much you loved the Artisan Whole Grain crust!  :-)  Don't forget to use that wonderful coupon!!

Disclosure: The product, a gift pack, information, and additional sample have been provided to me by Pillsbury through MyBlogSpark.  The opinions expressed are my own.

Box Tops for Education and Sam's Club

I don't know about you, but I *HEART* Sam's Club, and I really *HEART* Box Tops for Education, so when you combine the two and have Bonus Box Tops, it's a total home run for me!  

Sam's Club already helps me save a lot on my grocery budget by offering products in bulk at amazing prices, and they carry quite a variety of wonderful General Mills products for deals you can't get anywhere else.  But  NOW, they have a fantastic promotion going on in all their stores that includes bonus Box Tops and a membership bonus!  Here's the scoop:

It's back to school time, and Sam's Club is providing Box Tops opportunities so you can earn more cash for your school!  Not only can you collect between 6 and 14 Box Tops on some of your favorite General Mills products, but you can also check out these additional opportunities, only available at Sam's Club!

• New Plus Members will receive 100 Bonus Box Tops.*  (A $10 value to any BTFE-participating school)
• Upgrade your current membership to a Plus membership to receive 50 Bonus Box Tops.* (a $5 value to any BTFE-participating school)
• New Advantage or Business Members will receive 25 Bonus Box Tops. * (A $2.50 value to any BTFE-participating school)

*Offer valid only with original receipt of purchased membership taped to certificate.  Only available in-Club.  Offers available to the first 50 new Plus members at each Club, to the first 100 members who upgrade to a Plus membership at each Club, and to the first 100 new Advantage or Business members at each Club.

How great is that???  Think of how much you can help your school by just purchasing the things you already love and probably keep on hand all the time anyway!  Schools across the country are struggling with funding, and Box Tops are a completely painless way that you can help your child's school - every one is worth ten cents, and they add up faster than you can imagine.  I used to coordinate the programs at two schools, and it never ceased to amaze me how much money we earned with those cute little Box Top icons!  It's an amazing and worthwhile program that makes a huge difference to our schools.

You can connect online with Sam's Club and Box Tops for Education right now.  Here are some valuable links:

• Sam's Club website
• Sam's Club Facebook page
• Sam's Club on Twitter
• Box Tops site on Sam's Club page
• Box Tops For Education website - definitely sign up here!

Check out the great promotion going on NOW at your local Sam's Club!  Then come back and let me know how many Box Tops you earned for YOUR child's school!  Thanks for making a difference in our children's education with Sam's Club and Box Tops for Education!!!!

"Disclosure: I have received gift cards, and the information contained herein from Sam's Club and General Mills through MyBlogSpark."

Guilty

I have been found guilty of completely neglecting this poor little blog. I haven't posted much lately, even though a million things have been going through my head as potential blog fodder. I just haven't set aside the time to put up a proper post, and I feel terrible about that.

So what's been going on lately? Lots, really! I've traveled the past few weeks, which has been absolutely wonderful! At the end of February, I flew to Denver, CO, to spend the weekend with a dear friend. We had a fabulous time, and the time went so fast! I rode my first light rail, learned how to properly play darts, tried Blue Moon beer (and actually liked it!), gazed longingly at the unbelievable beauty of the Rocky Mountains, and even saw a Linkin Park concert. Anyone who knows me has raised eyebrows right now, as that is just NOT the kind of music I tend to like. But I did!!! I LOVED Linkin Park, and have bought three of their cd's since I returned!

While Colorado was definitely the highlight of my life to date, last weekend I drove with a friend to a wedding in Hutchinson, KS. While that might not seem like a very thrilling drive, it ended up being very nice. We did not take the interstate coming back to KC, but instead had to take a route that included Clay Center, KS. My friend had to view a site for a work project, so we took the scenic route back. And it was beautiful!!! The wheat fields were the most gorgeous golden amber color and we drove through some very nice terrain on back highways, including a little bit of gravel. We even drove along the ORIGINAL US-81, which still isn't paved! We stopped to view the plaque stating that the highway was the original, so I know it was the real deal.

The weather is finally starting to show hints of the return of spring, which is very pleasant. Thoughts are turning to gardening and taking bike rides around the neighborhood. The girls are finally learning to ride, so I look forward to taking rides with them starting this spring. They are pretty excited about it, too!

We are also planning on another house concert next month. We had one last year, and I'm sure I mentioned it on the blog if you've been with me awhile. It's a lot of fun...we clear out everything to set up seating and have live music right there in the living room. It's a wonderful time with friends and live music. Hopefully this year will go as well as last year's performance did. I'd love to have even more people this year, and finally an event set up on Facebook today. At least I didn't wait until the last minute!! :)

I have a new cell phone addiction, as if texting wasn't enough! My friend Sam got me hooked on a game called Words with Friends. It's a lot like Scrabble, and you play on the phone with either friends or random opponents. I LOVE it!!! Nobody around here will play me in Scrabble, but I've found some very tough players on this game and am having a ball - it's a great challenge! If you play Words with Friends, look me up and start a game. My username is JanelleKC.

I guess that's about all I have to report for today. I'm hoping to get back to blogging, but I'm not making any promises. I can't risk taking a chance on disappointing the few people who are still reading this blog. I will definitely try, though!!! Enjoy the weather this week!!!!

CSN Winner - Better Late than Never....

Okay, apparently I hit "Save" instead of "Publish." Yeah, it's been one of those weeks! :-) Sorry for the delay!!

We have a winner! I used Random.org to choose the winner of the CSN Stores gift certificate, and here is what I got:

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:33Powered by RANDOM.ORG

**Note - I don't know why it pasted as 1-100 - I entered 1 to 37 and that's what I tried to cut and paste. I STILL get confused trying to screen-shot a Random.org generator.

Comment #33 was posted by Jo! Jo, I've sent you an email with the information on how to redeem your certificate. Thanks so much for entering, everyone!

Think Summer - and Think Giveaway with CSN Stores!

The current weather forecast is for ice tomorrow and then somewhere around a foot of snow on Tuesday. I wish I was kidding!!! I can't do much about the weather, but I can daydream of Spring and Summer, as they will arrive at some point in time! :-) And in picturing that lovely weather, I envision children playing on swingsets and soaking up the sun while having a great time!

CSN Stores is currently offering Free Shipping and up to 70% off swingsets from Flexible Flyer! Ordering now would give you plenty of time to assemble it! Here is a great option at a VERY reasonable price:


They also have a wide assortment of other great outdoor equipment for the kids to enjoy. How about a trampoline or a super-cool sandbox??




I'm excited to let you know that CSN Stores is offering one of my readers a $35 gift certificate to buy anything you would like from their website!! You could put it toward one of these wonderful outdoor swingsets or anything from their many, many websites. You could spend hours looking for the perfect item - and have $35 of free fun!! This giveaway is open to readers in the US AND Canada!

Here's how to enter:

1) For your first, and mandatory entry, visit the link above and pick out what outdoor play equipment you think would provide the most enjoyment for the kids in your family! Let me know in a comment.

2) For a second entry, follow this blog via Google Friend Connect, using the link over on the right. Post a SECOND comment saying that you follow. It also counts if you're already a follower!

3) For a third entry, tell others about the giveaway. You can post it on your blog, or tweet it, or put it out there on Facebook. Just leave a THIRD comment with a link to show how you spread the word!

The giveaway will be open for comments until Thursday, February 10th, at midnight. I will randomly select a winner and will announce/contact that winner on Friday, Feb. 11th.

Good luck!!

Ah....Re-Organization!

I wish I had taken "before" photos of my baking pan cabinet in the kitchen. It was a mess of pans and baking sheets in a completely random order, to the point that I only used a select few pans for fear of actually trying to locate any of the others. But it didn't even occur to me to photograph that cabinet until I finished my re-organization this morning and sat there, admiring how nice it now looked!

Are you wondering what in the world possessed me to suddenly decide to re-do my baking pan cabinet? Well, I got a 13x9 springform pan from my mom for Christmas and I couldn't fit it in the cabinet!!! So, I decided to pull everything out and see if I could possibly rearrange things to make more room.

After everything was out, I started sorting my pans (I have stainless steel, aluminum, glazed stoneware, and basic stoneware, so it's quite a mis-match collection!) by size/type. Then I got to thinking....what if I had all my bread pans together, and all my square pans together, and my round pans, and so on. I thought I would give this a try. Here is the left side of the 4-door cabinet that houses my baking pan stash:




The top shelf has my baking sheets on the left, then my Bundt-type pans. On the bottom shelf are my cooling racks on the far left, pies and angel food in the back, right behind my square pans. Springform pans (I now have round, square, and rectangular - yay!) are in the back beside pie plates, with my round pans in front of those. Here is the right side:


I have muffin pans and bread pans on the top shelf, with all my 13x9 pans on the bottom. You might notice one stoneware round pan on that bottom shelf. It's there partially because it actually FIT there, but partially because it's a large round pan that will hold about the same as one of my 13x9 pans, so in my mind, it made sense.

I love my stoneware, but I have learned over the past few months that I love my stainless steel pans at least as much. They bake great, clean up easily, and I don't have to worry about cracking them if I'm not careful! I got them from kitchencollection.com and they weren't expensive at all.

I really hope I can continue this organizing trend into the new year. I certainly have a LOT of cabinets that can use it! I also hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!!