Duncan Hines Holiday recipes

I recently was sent some great Duncan Hines products, chewy brownies, muffins, and cupcake mix, To try out some new great recipes Duncan Hines has put together for the holidays. These recipes are inexpensive and very easy to make.

Unfortunately due to dairy and nut allergies prevented me from making some of these recipes for my family. I  got to make cupcakes, and brownies, but wanted to share these great recipes with you.

carrot cake cheese cake:

  • 1 box Duncan Hines carrot cake
  • 1 cup hot tap water(for soaking carrots and raisins)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 8 1/2 oz can crushed pineapple, packed in juice, drained well, reserve juice
  • 1/2 cup coconut(optional)
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • Cheese cake filling
  • 2-8oz pack cream cheese
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tbsp flour

soak raisins and carrots in 1 cup hot water, allow to stand 5 mins. drain and squeeze out excess water from carrots and raisins. In mixing bowl add dry mix, eggs, oil, carrots, raisins and pineapple. add coconut and walnuts. mix well by hand. spread 2 cups of carrot cake on bottom of a greased 9-9 1/2 springform pan. reserve remaining carrot cake.

in bowl beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla until smooth. Beat in eggs and flour. spread 1/2 of cheesecake batter on top of carrot cake. Spoon on remaining carrot cake and top with remaining cheese cake batter.  Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 50-60 mins. or until cake is set and cooked through. When cake is cooled frost with pineapple cream cheese frosting or Duncan Hines Cream Cheese frosting.

Pineapple cream cheese frosting:

  • 2 oz cream cheese
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 cups powered sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 T pineapple juice

beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and pineapple juice until smooth. beat in powder sugar until smooth. frost top of cake. 

Macaroon brownies:

  • Duncan Hines family style chewy fudge brownie mix
  • 2 large egg whites
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup almond extract
  • 1 cup almonds
  • 1 cup flaked coconuts

Preheat oven to 350, grease pan.

prepare brownies according to package directions

bake 25 minutes

place egg whites in medium bowl. beat at high-speed until foamy, beat in sugar gradually. beating until meringue forms firm peaks. Add almond extract. Fold in almonds and coconut. spread over warm brownies.

bake for 12-14 mins. longer or until meringue is slightly turned brown.

**I just made regular brownies, but they were still very good.  These recipes are cheap and great for the holiday season.

retail: Duncan Hines mixes 2-4 dollars

rating:9

Disclosure: i received mixes from Duncan Hines to facilitate my review other ingredients were provided by me. I did not receive any other compensation for this post. these are my personal views and should not affect your judgement on the products.

Puppy Party DVD Review

Product description:Meet Milo, the yellow lab, and all of his puppy friends as they throw an hour-long Puppy Party. With over 25 breeds and hundreds of puppy’s, you can learn facts about the breeds and watch them play.

****This movie is a great learning tool, if your planning on buying a dog. It features a lot of valuable information on breeds. Plus its enjoyable for the kids to watch the puppies play and interact. This really is an adorable movie.

Release date:December 1, 2009

Retail:$6.99 on Amazon

Running time:70 minutes

Rating:8

Disclosure: I did not receive compensation for this review. i did receive a free product through my partnership with N Circle Entertainment.

Wizards of Waverly Place the Movie Review

wizardsofwaverlyplacethemovieDVD.jpg

The Russo family is going on vacation, but when Alex maks a wish that could possibly destroy her family. While Max tries to keep his parents together.  Alex and Justin set out on an adventure to find the stone of dreams. It’s the only way they can reverse the spell ans save their family.

Bonus Features

• Color-Changing Wishing Stone With Clip (Limited Time Only) included on pack

• Insider’s Exclusive – On Location! – Your Favorite Stars Reveal: Special Effects,Movie Stunts,Magical Props, Animal Actors & More!

****This movie is jam-packed with adventure and of course magic.  My favorite part is when Alex and Justine go on the adventure together. The brother and sister love really comes out. We watch the show all the time and this movie really shows the sensitive side of Alex. This movie also comes with a little magic stone key chain. Which of course my kids fought over but it the key chain is very cute.   This movie really shows the meaning of family, and how important it is.

Release date: December 15, 2009

Retail:SRP $29.99

Running time:98 minutes

Rating:9

Disclosure: Walt Disney Home Entertainment sent me a copy at no charge to me in exchange for my review.

I Catch A Character Review and giveaway(closed)

I recently got to try out www.icaughtsanta.com. icaughtsanta is  family-friendly website providing parents with instant, ‘Picture-Perfect’ Proof that Santa was in their home! They also provide free videos of Santa in your home with every purchase.

They have even added new characters so you don’t have to choose just Santa, they also have Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, And Cupid. 

All you do is upload a photo(of your tree,childs pillow etc.) then choose your character and pose, then you have your photo.

You know when I first saw blogs doing this review i was skeptical, because every blog has the perfect little home with tile floors, beautiful  fireplace etc. I thought it was all set up like that. As you can tell though my house is not perfect.  I think this is a great idea.

Here is the picture i made and I think it’s a fun idea to show your kids on christmas. “Look i caught santa on camera last night.”  I explained it to my children and they were so excited. On the other hand my husband wasn’t very thrilled about it, he said its kindof brainwashing knowing the truth.  It’s all in fun though!

I have 9 codes to giveaway for you to create your own photo.

To enter tell me which character you would use. Santa, Cupid, Easter Bunny, Toothfairy?

Unlimited entries. you can tweet, blog about this as much as you would like.

Giveaway ends 12/26/09

Holiday Gift Guide:V Tech V motion system

Here are some great tips from V Tech Voices:

Get organized. Bins marked for ornaments and decorations make things easy to find, so more time can be spent enjoying decorating.

Be thrifty and creative. Spend time with your kids making homemade decorations and teachers gifts.

Let the kids help. Bake cookies, wrap presents and make holiday cards together. The kids are kept busy and get a sense of accomplishment and pride for helping the parents out

Get in the holiday spirit. Think about how to be your best from the moment you get up, almost like a mantra you’d use in yoga, to tackle your holiday “to-do’s” calmly.

Take advantage of online shopping. Avoid the stress of the mall by shopping online. Great for relatives who live out-of-state, the convenience of direct shipping is priceless.

I got to work with V Tech recently and they sent a V Motion active learning system.

From site: Put your child in motion while driving home lessons in math, reading, science, spelling and more with V.Smile Motion™ TV Learning System! V.Smile Motion™ is a breakthrough gaming console that combines wireless, motion-activated play, web connectivity and educational gaming into a system that plugs directly into your TV!

Plus they have some of the best games for it your kids will love including Cars, Tinkerbell, Dora, Monsters Vs. Aliens, Winnie the Pooh and more.

****This is so much fun and gets your kids up and moving.  The game is very easy to ise and great for preschoolers. I went out and got Monsters vs. Aliens, Cars, and Tinkerbell. My children enjoyed this system so much, and it is so much more child friendly then my Playstation.  What I really love about this system is it gets your child up and moving rather than sitting on the couch. 

Retail:$59.99 on sale for $36.00 on V Tech Kids Website

Games: $24.99

Rating:10

Disclosure: I did recieve this product free of charge from V Tech Kids in exchange for my review.

Cheerios 100,000 book review(closed)

Cheerios has teamed up with author Jon Scieszka to donate 100,000 books to community based programs serving children. Such as daycare, head start and more. The average middle-income neighborhood has a 13-1 ratio of age appropriate books for children. While a low-income neighborhood has 1 age appropriate book for every 300 children.

You can help them donate books. Just go online with your child and test your combined knowledge of children´s books by answering trivia questions related to “Trucktown” and other great children´s books.

For every trivia question answered, you can vote for a state you would like to receive books. 5 states that have the most votes will get 20,000 books each. Wouldn’t that be so great for your state.

All you have to do to participate is go to www.FirstBook.org/Scieszka

We love Cheerios and the frosted Cheerios taste so good, please support this great cause.

 

 

In honor of this great opportunity I’m holding a giveaway with My blog Spark.

You can win a prize pack of Cheerios cereal(i received frosted Cheerios), 5 books, a $25 Barnes and noble gift card.(pictured above)

To enter leave me a comment with your favorite Cheerios cereal(fruity, frosted, multigrain etc.

CHANGE TO CONTEST: DUE TO SPAMMING

Extra entries:

subscribe to my feed-7 entries

follow me on twitter-7 entries

blog about this-7 entries

tweet this-7 entries done daily for 3 entries only(PLEASE ONLY ONCE A DAY)

Contest ends-1/10/09

I received the cereal, information, prize pack and giveaway from Cheerios through My Blog Spark.

Mom Select Holiday Preview Pak

Mom select recently sent me a package of their holiday preview pak.

 

 

 

I received 2 Boz Green Bear Next door DVDs(one includes a toothbrush), Holly and Hal Moose,Holly and Hal book, Temple Touch Thermometer, Coupon for sun laundry detergent, California olive ranch olive oil, playmobil advent calendar.

Holly Moose- is from build a bear workshop, and you can dress her any way you wish. My kids absolutely loved her, shes so cute and cuddly

Hal moose-also from Build a Bear he is Holly sister and only wishes to fly with Santa. his antlers light up like Christmas lights. My kids loved his antlers and how soft he was.

California Olive ranch Olive oil-This high-quality olive oil will come in handy when preparing special holiday dishes. Experience the fresh taste of California Olive Ranch’s award-winning, certified extra virgin olive oil. This is so good, but very fattening with 14g of fat.

Playmobil advent calendar-My daughter was so excited to put this together. There are a lot of very small parts and it is big and bulky. It was destroyed in less than 5 hours. Very fun at first.

Disclosure-Mom Select provided me with all these products for free in exchange for my thoughts on the products. No other compensation was received.

Bob the Builder: Building Crew Holiday Collection

Product Description:

Just in time for the holidays, discover why “the fun is in getting it done” in these action-packed, fun-filled adventures! Join Bob and the Can- Do Crew as they rescue their friend from a winter storm in “Bob’s White Christmas.” Then it’s time to build a log cabin and smooth the ice rink for the Winter Games. And finally, come along as Bob and Scoop hunt for buried treasure – and make some amazing discoveries – in this one-of-a-kind collection that’s the perfect holiday treat for Bob the Builder fans.
This DVD features 3 movies
Digging for Treasure
The Bobblesberg Winter Games
Bob’s White Christmas
****My son loves Bob the Builder and really liked this movies. for me I have the Bob the Builder can we fix it song stuck in my head.  We really enjoyed watching Bob in the snow and celebrating christmas.
(SRP)Retail: $19.99
Running time: 127 minutes
release date:10/13/2009
rating:9
Disclosure: I did not receive any compensation for this post, I did however receive a free copy of this product to perform my review.

Munchkin Math DVD Review +contest

Munchkin Math was founded by Wendy Miller who wanted to teach children math, so they can understand the concepts and succeed. Munchkin Math is  a fun, easy and interactive way for children to retain this vital information. The purpose of the videos is to give all children a solid mathematical foundation early on.
With this series of DVDs, Wendy hopes to better your childs math and prepare them for the future.  Munchkin Math features three Dvds. Counting Money, telling Time, and shapes. using songs, rhymes, and hand motions she makes learning math Fun for little ones.

Counting Money-Description:Counting Money is a vital part of your childs future. Your munchkins will have fun learning how to count money with this interactive DVD. More importantly, they will learn the value of money as well as essential math concepts that will forever be part of their lives. Wendy Miller, the creator of Munchkin Math, teaches using unique rhymes, chants and hand movements. These auditory, visual and kinesthetic cues will help your child retain information.

****I received the counting money dvd, and well my daughter is 4 and didn’t seem very interested. But she did learn how to make a dollar with various amount of changes. She said 4 quarters make a dollar as soon as the movie was over. I liked the learning experience, and the hands on made it a lot more fun and enjoyable. I think singing helps remember a lot of concepts, so that is a very good tool.

Plus you can win all 3 Munchkin Math DVDs. All you have to do is tweet this

 Kids get a head start in math with Munchkin Math’s Shapes, Telling Time, and Counting Money DVDs. RT to enter! #MunchkinMath   (or make up your own tweet just use the #munchkinmath hashtag

Between 12/9 and 12/16 one entry per twitter user.

Rating:7

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Munchkin Math and received a sample DVD to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Hellmans Holiday Helpings(giveaway)

Bobby Flay 

Hellmans/Best Foods have teamed up with Bobby  Flay  to bring Holiday tips and recipes.

Have leftover Turkey? You can find great recipes for all the leftovers.

Leftover Turkey Super sandwich

  • 4 tbsp Hellman’s or Bestfood mayo
  • 8 slices whole grain bread
  • 1/2 cup prepared stuffing
  • 1/2 lb. leftover turkey or sliced deli
  • 1/2 cup cranberry sauce
  • 1 small apple cored and sliced

Spread it:Spread the mayo on 4 slices of bread

Layer it:layer stuffing, turkey, cranberry sauce, and apple on bread slices

Top it:Top with the remaining 4 slices of bread

**this is a great recipe for more than one leftover, and it’s cheap.

Cost per recipe $8.30

Cost per serving:$2.30

Even though thanksgiving is over We still have a big dinner for Christmas(usually turkey or ham)

Here are some useful tips to help out.

Add fresh sage to your stuffing recipes, so much better than dry sage.

Fresh cranberry relish is one of the easiest holiday dishes to make from scratch. Fresh orange and ginger add zing!

For picky eaters, throw a surprise into the meal, like a new sauce.

For more tips and recipes visit http://www.hellmanns.com/promotions/holidayhelpings/

Just for you Mom Select has offered one of my readers a $25 dollar American Express Gift Card.

To enter visit http://www.hellmanns.com/promotions/holidayhelpings/ and tell me a recipe that sounds interesting.

extra entries:

Blog about this-10 entries

subscribe to my feed-8 entries

follow me on twitter-5 entries

tweet this giveaway-4 entries daily

leave a comment on any other post-1 entry

contest closes 1/3/09

Disclosure-I’m running this campaign for Mom Select on behalf of Hellman’s. Mom select is providing me with a $25 gift card and an additional one for my readers.

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