I once had a terrible milk experience with a school lunch as a child (I still cannot talk about it and to this day get the chills thinking back). It was gross. After that, I would not drink milk for YEARS-I am talking like 20 years. However, when I got pregnant for the first time with my Salsa, I CRAVED milk like crazy, and have been a milk drinker since then.

I have been a big milk drinker. I still don;t really like it, but I often crave it. After Salsa was born 8+ years ago, fast forward 6 years and 3 more kids. Our little baby girl Cat was just transitioning from nursing to milk and it was not going well to say the least. To make a long story short, we found out she was totally lactose intolerant, and we started our quest for the perfect cow's milk alternative for her.

We found it-she LOVED Silk milk. More specifically, she LOVES Silk Very Vanilla milk. I only gave the Silk Milk to Cat and the rest of the family has stuck to cows milk. Well, I actually also liked the flavor and texture of the Silk milk better than I have ever liked Cow's milk, but I reserved the Silk milk for Cat.

Well, now here we are 2 years later, and through my association as a BzzAgent on Bzzagent.com,
I get the chance to take a challenge from Silk! I get to try the Silk for Milk 10-day challenge!

Here is the 411 on how it all works: It is simple, just replace your milk with Silk for 10 days and see (to quote Silk) "how easy it is to enjoy wholesome, plant-based nutrition".

And guess what?! There are 13 different yummy varieties of Silk, and they are within 3 different kinds of milk: Soy Milk, Almond Milk, and Coconut Milk. I have tried the soy and almond, but have not had the chance to try coconut-I cannot wait!

So, are you excited to try the challenge with me yet?! Go here to the Silk website and read about the challenge! Then (and this is a favorite part for me) click here to sign up for the challenge and to get a COUPON for your first carton of Silk!

I will keep you updated on my challenge here on the blog-I will be starting tomorrow! Anyone starting with me?!

Wow, she looks so grown up to her momma!!

I am sure this will be one of those Facebook Freebies you have to get right when it goes live, so I wanted to give you a heads up about it (But it looks like they are giving a lot away-so this one is probably worth trying for!!)!

Next Thursday (March 24) the first 200,000 fans to visit the Suave Beauty Page on Facebook will be able to request a FREE full size bottle of Suave Professionals! I am excited to try for this one!!

Thanks Save the Coupons.

Here are my favorite deals in Omaha grocery this week:

Hyvee

• Hy Vee Cottage Cheese 12 oz $.69
• Hy Vee Mac N Cheese 4/$1
• Fresh Asparagus $1.48/lb
• Boneless Chuck Roast $2.97/lb
• Prego Past Sauce 23.5-24 oz $1.58
• Kraft Natural Cheeses (shredded, chunk, cubes, crumbles or cracker cuts) 5-9.6 oz 2/$3 (with in ad coupon)

In addition to their regular week long special, Hy Vee also has a 4 Days of Savings Sale Wednesday 3/16-Saturday 3/19 that includes the following:

• 20 Pack (note 20 NOT 24) Coke Products $3.99 with in ad coupon (FYI-this cannot be pricematched at local Omaha Walmarts as they do not carry this products)
• Mission Tortilla Chips 13 oz $1.99

No Frills Fresh

• Farmland Whole Boneless Ham $1.59/lb (and they will slice it for free!)
• General Mills Cereal (8.9 oz Cheerios, 10.7 oz Trix, 11.8 oz Cocoa Puffs or 12 oz Golden Grahams) $1.68
• Our Family (generic) canned beans (15 oz- chili, light of dark kidney beans) $.48
• Skinner Pasta 16 oz $.88

Bag N Save

• Our Family (generic) 18 ct Large Eggs $1.19
• Braeburn Apples $.79/lb
• Cottonelle Bath Tissue 12 ct Double Rolls $5.77
• Avocados $.99 each
• El Monterey Taquitos or Tamales 21-24 oz $4.99

In addition to their regular week long special, Bag N Save also has a 3 Day Sale Friday 3/18-Sunday 3/20 that includes the following:

• Rotella Vienna Bread $.99
• Eggo Waffles 9-12 oz 2/$3

Baker's (Remember their sales are almost always WITH card)

• Dillons (generic) Large Eggs dozen $.99
• Lay's Potato Chips 10.5-13.7 oz $1.99
• Kroger Ground Chuck $1.99/lb (sold in 3 lb roll for $5.97)
• Kroger Value packs Boneless, Skinless CHicken Breasts or Thighs (fresh) $1.79/lb
• Coke 2 L $.89
• American Beauty Pasta 12-16 oz $.49
• Quaker Quakes Rice Snacke $.99
• Capri Sun or Kool Aid Jammers $1.40

In addition to their regular week long special, Bakers also has a 1 Day Slam Dunk Sale Friday 3/18 that includes the following:

• 7 Up Or Dr Pepper Product 2 L $.88
• Hamburger or Hot Dog Buns 8 ct (Bakers/generic) $.88
• Wholly Guacamole (YUM) BOGO (cannot price match that)
• Lay's Potato Chips 10.5-13.7 oz $1.77
• Dillons Chocolate Milk gallon $1.99

Aldi

• Bananas $.39/lb
• Red Potatoes 5 lb bag $.99 ($.20/lb)
• Yellow Onions 3 lb bag $.99 ($.33/lb)

Super Saver

• Fresh Celery $.57 each
• Best Choice (generic) shredded cheese 8 oz $1.18
• Doritos 11.5-13.87 oz $1.98
• Pepsi Products 24 packs $4.78 (this is a FANTASTIC deal-best I have seen in a long time!!!) (limit 2)
• Roma Tomatoes $.76/lb
• Pillsbury All Purpose Flour 5 lb $.98
• Ragu Pasta Sauce 26 oz 2/$3
• Barilla Pasta 13.25-16 oz $.98
• Banquet Pot Pies 7 oz 2/$1

In addition to their regular week long special, Super Saver also has a Weekend Sale Friday 3/18-Sunday 3/20 that includes the following:

• Pepsi Product 2 L 4/$3 (wyb 4-limit of 4) (This is only $.75 each and can be price matched!)
• Land O Lakes Sour Cream or dips 16 oz $.97
• Nabisco Snack Crackers 8-10 oz $1.78 (My local Walmarts both have a coupon for $1/2 Nabisco Crackers right now-the coupons are just on the displays and you can  use them with this price match to get them this makes the boxes only $1.28 each, so look for the peelie coupon where you shop an dhopefully you will luck out and get one!!)
• Sunkist Navel Oranges $.56/lb

Fareway

• Roberts Cottage Cheese 24 oz $1.88
• KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce 17-18 oz $.99
• Tostitos Chips (all varieties except baked) 4/$9 ($2.25 each)
• All Natural Bone In Chicken Breast $.99/lb
• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast (3 lb frozen Bag) $5.99

***Remember that I generally just price match at Walmart as much as I can rather than go to all the stores separately! I LOVE being able to do that. You can also pricematch at Target, but I find it easier to pricematch at Walmart.

I told you all a long time ago that I was chosen to be a part of the Carmex® Blog Squad. In fact, one of my first giveaways was for some Carmex® Lip tints.

Well, I as a member of the Carmex® Blog Squad I was chosen recently to participate in a trial of their new Orange flavored Carmex Moisture Plus lip balm. I was SOOO excited to get chosen, and since my lip balm came a few days ago, I have been inseparable from it! I L.O.V.E. it!! All the fantastic moisture and awesome feeling on my lips of the Carmex products I have come to know and love along with this perfect little orange flavor! Yum! I am loving it and loving how my lips feel with it on!!

If you are looking for a great lip balm with a fun flavor, be on the lookout for this Orange flavored Carmex Moisture Plus lip balm! It is good stuff!

***I should note that I did not receive monetary compensation for this post and all opinions are my own! I really love this product! I Did receive a free sample as pictures above.***

Way, WAY back on April Fools day last year (4/1/10) I posted about getting a free subscription to OK magazine. I still get that subscription (for a few more weeks at least), and I was SOOOOO excited this week to find an AWESOME free coupon for Orbit gum in my free magazine! If you subscribe to Ok (or if you want to buy it anyway), look for this cover:

Then check out this coupon on page 9:

SWEET!!! A freebie within a freebie! LOVE it!

As you know, we have a large family with 4 kids and one coming (hopefully SOON). SO, if we want to go out to eat and take a break from cooking, we have to find GREAT deals. We look for kids eat free deals a lot and for inexpensive, great restaurants. Well, We have found a great inexpensive dinner buffet, Cici's Pizzas.

Did you know that Cici's Pizzas has a $4.99 endless value dinner (buffet) that includes pizza, pasta, salad, bread sticks, and desserts? And for kids the endless value dinner is even less (it is less that $3). Which means, for my HUGE family of 2 adults and 4 kids, I can feed the family for less than $25.

I know what you must be thinking because I was thinking the same thing when I heard of Cici's-for that cheap, could it possibly be good?! Well, I had the chance to go try it out a few weeks ago when the kids school did a restaurant night there and guess what? It WAS good-all the kids and I liked it-we could eat what we wanted, we could go back for more, it was a fun atmosphere and we LIKED how the food tasted. Sadly my husband missed out on this fantastic night out, but we will be returning there soon!

So, next time you need a night off from cooking and are looking for an affordable, tasty and fun place to take the family, check out your local
Cici's Pizzas. You won't regret it!

***By way of disclosure-I was not monetarily compensated for this post, but I will receive 2 free buffet coupons. I am going to use them to take my husband and kids over there and have a break...it will be such a treat with the new baby coming so quick!***

I was sent a press release about this AWESOME new contest and FREE sampling event at Great American Cookies! The sampling will be tomorrow (Tuesday March 15th) and that is also when the contest kicks off. Please read about it directly from the press release (it looks awesome!):

Great American Cookies announced today that the brand has created its first-ever nationwide search for the “Great American Mom.” The Great American Mom Contest will be open for entries March 15th through May 10th and offers individuals an exciting way to spotlight their mom this Mother’s Day. To enter the contest, participants will be asked to share with the world, in 200 words or less, what makes their mom a “Great American Mom” at www.greatamericancookies.com. Great American Cookies is managed by GFG Management, LLC, a subsidiary of Global Franchise Group.


The contest kicks off during Great American Cookies’ Bravo Brownies celebration and, to recognize how much moms give every day, the company will offer FREE samples of their new Red Velvet and Turtle brownie flavors all day on March 15th at participating locations across the country.


The contest will be conducted completely online, with submissions accepted only through the entry form available at http://www.greatamericancookies.com/. Visitors to the site will also have the chance to help Great American Cookies select the winners by voting for their favorite entries online from May 11th through May 31st.


Winners will be announced in June when one Grand Prize winner will receive a luxurious Four Seasons spa getaway weekend for Mom and a guest plus a $1,000 travel voucher. Two Runner Up winners will also be selected and will each receive a $250 American Express® gift card to help Mom celebrate her special day.


Customers can stay up to date on all of Great American Cookies’ new products and promotions by becoming a fan on Facebook® (www.facebook.com/greatamericancookies), following the brand on Twitter® (http://twitter.com/Gr8AmCookies) or by joining Great American Cookies’ e-mail fan club (CookiE-mail) at http://www.greatamericancookies.com/.

I have told you before about my love for Houseparty.com. It is a site where you apply to host various parties, and if chosen for a party, you get a party pack supplied to you for your party. (And as a side note-you do NOT have to be a blogger to host these!)

And...Boo-yeah!! Thanks to House Party and Kraft's new Philidelphia Cooking Creme I got to have one heck of a party PHILLY Dinnertime Dilemma House Party™ on Saturday (March 12th)! WAHOO!!!

For my PHILLY Dinnertime Dilemma party, House Party sent:

For Hosts:

•4 gratuity coupons for New PHILADELPHIA Cooking Creme
•1 GreenPan™ Signature Stainless Steel skillet
•1 GreenPan™ Signature Stainless Steel skillet pamphlet
•1 PHILLY Cooking Creme Oven Mitt

For Hosts and Guests:

•16 PHILLY Cooking Creme coupons
•16 PHILLY Cooking Creme recipe booklets
•16 PHILLY Cooking Creme notepads
•16 PHILLY Cooking Creme magnets
•16 PHILLY Cooking Creme cooking spoons
•16 Home Shopping Network coupons

Each of my guests got to take home some fun stuff! See:

I decided to try out 3 different entrees from the cookbooks they sent and have a variety of options for my guests to eat! I made: Creamy Chicken Pot Pie, And 2 recipes provided by Chef Todd English: Creamy Artichoke Pasta, & Creamy Italian Mac & Cheese. All 3 were delicious and SUPER EASY!! Here are some pics of getting it all ready:

And a few of guests enjoying it (there were very few of the actual party pics that worked out properly-they were all blurry somehow...but here are a few less blurry ones)

If you too would like to host parties like this with prize packs provided, you should go apply for some of the exciting upcoming events. Check them out at Houseparty.com. I would LOVE to attend some of your house parties!! :)

First, Thank you so much Purex for sponsoring this great giveaway!

I used Random.org to generate the 3 winners in the Purex Complete Crystals giveaway. I had 115 entries and Random.org chose entries #19, #87, & #1. Those winners were as follows:

19. heartnsoulcooking said...
Follow Ah...Deals...Beckee's Deals via GFC [Geraldine Sandoval]

87. starlightears said...
follow on twitter @urmariposa

1. MamaMika said...
Purex Crystals come in 3 scents!


I have emailed the winners and they have 48 hours to get back to me (If you are a winner and did not get my email, please check your spam folder or email me at beckeesdeals AT gmail DOT com)!