I cannot express how blessed I feel to be asked to review so many great products. This is a particularly fun one because it brought me back to my youth! I remember as a kid waiting through the rest of the year for late September when these favorite cereals would come back for the holiday: Oh boy was it ever a treat when my parents would let us get one! Count Chocula, FrankenBerry, and Boo Berry can often be found this time of year still, but Yummy Mummy, and Frute Brute have been gone for a while. But guess what?! Target is going back in time with exclusive retro packaging, AND they are re-introducing two throwback flavors: Fruity Yummy Mummy and Frute Brute!
And thanks to General Mills through MyBlogSpark I got the chance to try out some of these fine cereals and to share them with my family. AND I have a sweet deal to share with you, as well as a giveaway! Yipee!!! 
What is it and What is the DEAL?
Well, I guess I already told you what it is above-but to review, it is AWESOME retro cereals! And here is the deal, available exclusively at Target!
When you buy three (3) General Mills Monster Cereals in a single shopping trip at Target now through the end of the month (October 31, 2013), you’ll receive a free Monster Bash Magazine full of recipes, tips and tricks for you to have the creepiest, scariest, spookiest, most fun Halloween ever! 
Awesome!
Where can you get more information? Check out this great website: http://www.grocerysavvy.com/ Or even just stop in at your local Target store and look for these cereals! 
What did we think?
Before I answer that, let me tell you what I got to review. 
I was so happy that we were sent 3 flavors of cereal: Boo Berry, Fruity Yummy Mummy and Frute Brute, as well as a $25 gift card to Target so I could go pick up some more cereal!  I had all 5 of my kids, my husband and myself all taste test the cereal. I will say this-all were a hit, though everyone had their own favorite. And apparently our family is not super fond of Orange cream flavored cereal because the Fruity Yummy Mummy was the least favorite (though still liked). I liked Boo Berry best. Most of the kids liked the Frute Brute best, and my husband liked them all. He noted that they are particularly good cereals to put in milk then drink the milk after. I am not a fan of milk with cereal, but if you like to drink milk from the bowl after you eat the cereal, Wes says these are great cereals for that! So, after I took all the pics for the review and was ready to write it, I went to work on a few things, came back in the kitchen and found my youngest sitting at the table having helped himself to more cereal. So, I set up the cereal in a way the camera could catch it and recorded this little video of what he thought:

I guess I don't need to tell you that he was a big fan of all of the cereals. I am thinking the time frame to get these cereals is coming to a close, so you ought to run out and grab some at Target while you can-and grab that free magazine while you are at it. What can you win? (Here's the giveaway part!) Of course, you always have the chance to win some cereal from me as well, so you might as well enter and try to win! One winner will win the same package I received: 3 flavors of cereal: Boo Berry, Fruity Yummy Mummy and Frute Brute, as well as a $25 gift card to Target  You can enter here on this Giveaway Tools widget below.
This is a quick giveaway! Please get those entries in quick and share this giveaway with your friends!   Terms and Conditions of Giveaways: Winners will be picked at random after the giveaway ends! Blogger will email winner, winner then has 48 hours to respond to email to claim prize. After the 48 hours has expired, blogger will pick a new winner.  Also, Facebook is not affiliated with this giveaway and cannot be held responsible for it in any way. All giveaways are subject to fulfillment by sponsors. Blogger is NOT responsible for prize fulfillment (unless it is expressly stated in the giveaway post). By way of disclosure: The information and prize pack have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark 

I get a lot of PR info from people in my email. Often it is not relevant to my blog or is a "deal" I don't really think is that great, Today though, I was contacted and asked if I would share today's Daily Deal at Target.com, and I think it IS a pretty sweet deal that might be relevant to some of you (can you say Christmas?!).

Today only, Target has the Spa Sonic for $34 (regularly $59.99).

Here is some info about it:

1. Includes four brush head attachments: A small brush for the face, a large brush for the body, a pumice pad for rough areas, and a facial sponge for microdermabrasion and reduction of fine lines.
2. It's a waterproof device that makes deep cleansing, exfoliating, tightening and minimizing of pores possible for both the face and body.
3. Available in white, lavender and pink shades
4. Uses AA batteries so no charging before using it.

You can find the deal here. I bet there are a lot of people on my list this year that might like this for Christmas...

 Thanks Target, I will be checking out your Daily Deals a lot more in the future!
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For week 2 of our Thrifty Tips, I want to revisit a favorite. As you might be aware I am the mom of a whole herd of kids!

Yep, before you ask they ARE all mine! All 5. And to save money and be thrifty, I try to cook at home. However, there are those nights when momma cannot play that cooking game ANYMORE ("Really, you're hungry AGAIN? But I just fed you twice today!!") I am sure we have all been there...or maybe it's just me...either way, this is a money saver for families when they go out to eat-seek out restaurants that have Kids Eat free nights! LOVE them. L-O-V-E them!

Here is a list I have put together of places where kids eat free (or cheap):

The first week I put up my new list, I noted that I was doing so because I was frustrated by the fact that other online lists are TOTALLY outdated. I have tried to verify all the ones on this list. They have all been used by myself or a friend. However, many of the chain restaurants have deals that vary from store to store and restaurants change their promotions from time to time. So, to avoid the frustrations I have had, please call your local store before you head over to make sure they are participating in the kids eat free or cheap promotion! :)

Kids eat free:

Omaha

• Hyvee: Eat FREE on Thursdays with an adult meal purchase at any of the following eating locations in the store: Italian, Chinese Express, Kitchen. Dine in only. (one kids meal per adult meal purchased)
• China Buffet: Tuesday kids eat free with adult meal purchase
• Spaghetti Works: Monday up to 2 free kids meals per adult meal purchased
• La Mesa: Thursday night One free kids meal per adult meal purchased. I know this is good at the location on 156th and Q but I do not know about the other locations.
• A+ Buffet and Mongolian Grill:  Thursdays all day Kids ages 3-10 one free per adult meal purchase
• Salgado's Mexican Grill in Omaha (around 9th and Fort). Kids eat free Wednesdays (Thanks Chrissy!)
• Heartland BBQ at 5402 NW Radial Highway has free Kids Meals (I think every day?! I will check on that to be sure) (Thanks Chrissy)NW
• 
  

• Denny's: Tuesdays 4-10 pm (Check with local store to verify they participate then be sure to ask your server before you order)
• Pizza Ranch: From their Website: Many Pizza Ranch locations offer one FREE Kid's Buffet with the purchase of an Adult Buffet at regular price on Kid's Night. Use the RanchFinder to find the hours for Kid's Night. Ask your local restaurant for details.
• Texas Roadhouse: Mondays 4-10PM one kid eats free with purchase of each adult meal
***NOTE-I believe this is nationwide, but call your local store to verify. Also for Omaha readers, please note that I hesitantly include this one because we have REPEATEDLY had TERRIBLE service at the Texas Roadhouse in West Omaha and we will NOT eat there again even with good food and Free kids night. However, a friend noted that her family enjoys the one in PAPILLION! So I include this deal with a warning about the West Omaha location (and FYI-when I wrote to them about the issues we have had over and over, they did not reply or care at all. That is why we don't eat there anymore!)***
• Chick Fil A: Wednesday nights One free kids meal per adult combo meal (I have not verified this one so check local store! A friend told me that this is good in Utah locations on Wednesday. I do not know if our new Chick fil A in Omaha has a kids night or not).
• O'Charley's: Day Varies by location 2 kids free per adult meal (Hav enot verified this-cams as a tip from a friend so please check your local store)
• Buffalo Wings and Rings: Mondays  (looks like one free per adult meal)
• IKEA: Kids eat free on Tuesday in Utah (Thanks Aubrie) There is also Kids eat Free in the Tempe Store. I bet all the locations have somethng so call your local store!! (also I noticed at their site that Mondays there is FREE breakfast until 11 am and Fridays you can get a hotdog and a soda for only $1)
• Cafe Rio: My friend Catherine told me that Kids can get a free cheese Quesadilla! Awesome! (I LOVE and MISS Cafe Rio!) Radial Highway | Omaha, Nebraska 68104

Kids Eat Cheap

• Applebees: Tuesday and Thursday Kids eat for $.99 (one child per adult meal purchased)
• Fazoli's: Tuesday nights 5-8pm Kids eat for $.99.
• Buffalo Wild Wings Grill and Bar: Monday Kids eat for $.99 with adult meal purchase
• Pepperjax Grill: Monday night Kids eat for $.99 (5-8pm)
• Fuddruckers: Monday and Tuesday all day Kids eat for $.99 (in Omaha) 2 free kids per adult

Kids under a certain age eat free:

• Cici's Pizza: Kids under 3 eat free. (Thanks Heather)

Other Kids eat Cheap Deals to note:

• IHOP: In Utah, Kids eat for $1.99 every day after 4 pm. (Thanks Catherine)

If you have any other great kids free or discounted deals to add to the list, please comment with them after this post! Thanks and happy eating out! :)

I see Treaures! Today's Recipe Treasure comes from the recipe book of Mrs Lorene Osborn!
I decided to start out with an easy one. It is a Jello Salad. I know I have had Jello salad's like this before but never knew how to make it. So, this recipe may not be new to you, but it was new to me. I made it a couple weeks ago for the first time. Here is the recipe: 
Can you read it? It says:
Jello Salad (Agnis)

• 1 6oz box Jello, any flavor (Dry)
• 1 Big cool Whip
• 1 Small crush pineapple
• 1 pint cottage cheese

Mix Together-refrigerate.

Now I had to collect ingredients. I was not able to find the exact sizes of things she called for, so I looked up how much a "big cool whip" is and a small crush pineapple, and I measured out those amounts from the ingredients I bought:
Once it was all put together, it looked like this:
The after refrigeration it looked like this:

Then came the real test: did the Johnson's like it? Here we all are trying it:







Here was the reaction. We had 6 thumbs up responses:





AND one hold out that thought it was "OK":
All in all I really liked it and found it was a quick easy salad to make. I have made it a number of times with different Jello flavors since the first batch. I even brought it over to my friend's house for a pot luck-type meal, and I think it was well liked! All in all, it was a great recipe treasure to discover. Our favorite flavors of Jello so far were Black Cherry and Raspberry. If you try this recipe with a different flavor, we would love to know how it turns out!! 
What a great find! What will we try this week?! I guess I better go and start looking through the recipe box...

OK-So, I just discovered Estate Sales! Oh.My.Gosh. LOVE! I am also obsessed with Storage Wars and Storage Wars: Texas. And just like Mary, "I see Treasure!" She sees treasure in Storage Units, I see treasure in Estate Sales.  The first estate sale I went to a couple weeks ago was done by Smith Estate Sales and was in Moclips, WA. According to their website, it was the home of these people: If you look at the website, it tells you a little about the people that owned the estate. This is what it says about this couple: 

GEORGE AND LORENE OSBORN BUILT THE HOUSE IN 1941 THEY LIVED THERE ALLL THERE LIVES. SOME OF THE TOOLS BEING SOLD CAN BE SEEN IN THERE OLD PHOTO ALBUMS. THEY HUNTED, FISHED, CLAM DUG, HAD A GARDEN AND LIVED A GOOD LONG LIFE. GEORGE ALSO WORKED AT THE ALOHA LUMBER MILL IN ALOHA WA "ON THE POND"

I loved some of the fantastic items in their home and we bought some awesome tchotchke's (I learned how to spell that just now-thanks Google). But the item I found that is the biggest treasure as far as I am concerned is this:
A recipe box, full of handwritten recipes! EEK! How can those get lost in the shuffle?! I cannot let that just fade into the years, so I spent the best $1 I have ever spent, and bought the box. And now I am going to try to cook my way through the recipes in it!  I will continue to look for these little treasure boxes and cooking my way through the recipes. Look out later today for my first recipe from the box of Mrs Lorene Osborn!

Saturday's Service Spotlight! I love to share something AWESOME that people have done, and this is a story I happened upon this week on Facebook. I love it! Such great examples of service and showing love for our fellow humans with NOTHING expected in return. The article is called "The Business 9 Women Kept A Secret For Three Decades".  A few things that struck me as totally awesome and as things I can learn from:

1. These ladies sacrificed. They took money and resources from their own household and personal allowances to do this. Often service does take sacrifice.
2. I love that couponing was one way they saved the money they needed-see it can really save! :) 
3. How awesome that when the ladies got "caught" by their husbands, the husbands wanted to join in and help! LOVE that...Those ladies did so much good, but think of how much more they could have done if the couples had been working TOGETHER for 30 years! 
4. These ladies do not want any credit for this-still! They are not identified. They are not seeking attention of props-they are simply looking for ways to help others!

If  you haven't read about this amazing story go read "The Business 9 Women Kept A Secret For Three Decades" now! I hope you find it as heartwarming as I did!

One of the weekly items I used to do that I am bringing back is my Friday feature called Weekend Warriors: Daycations. It is where I share a bunch of info on one of my favorite places to visit in a day or weekend. 

I also told you I would be trying to connect my Weekend Warrior feature with my Where's Wes (Wednesday) feature. So, Wes was at Lake Zorinsky in West Omaha, Nebraska in the picture here.  

So today I am reposting my very most often viewed blog post EVER! The original Weekend Warriors: Lake Zorinsky post can be seen here, or just keep reading because I am posting it below as well! Enjoy!

As a reminder, I intend for this series of posts to give suggestions of good day trips you can make from various locations. Today is a great place to spend a day in Omaha. Some of the other places near Omaha I have covered in the past are:

• The Henry Doorly Zoo here
• Adventureland in Iowa here
• Eugene T Mahoney State Park here
• Shenandoah, Iowa here

Today, I want to talk about a favorite place for our family to visit any day of the week: Zorinsky Lake.  Check out the pictures I took of the sunset over the beautiful lake (this is from up on the trail):

Zorinsky Lake is located at 156th and F streets in West Omaha.

There is a HUGE lake with just over 7 miles of walking trails around it, a couple playgrounds, lots of picnic shelters, and a swimming area with water slides.

We LOVE to walk around the lake as a family and could easily spend all day there. In fact, we spent MANY days there when my husband was in residency. We lived right off the lake and spent a lot of time taking advantage of the great activities it has to offer!

If we were to spend the whole day there now, here is what I would do:

Pack up a cooler for lunch (or the makings of a BBQ), then  choose which of the following activities I wanted to fit in:

• The new pool (This does cost money, but not bad for a daycation-it is a really reasonable rate, but the pools in Omaha are only opened for a limited season each summer. The pools open Memorial Day weekend usually and they close when school starts which is generally around August 10th.)
• Walk around the lake (MY favorite thing to do!)
• Play at the playground
• If I had a boat (or a friend with one) I would happily just go boating all day!
• Fishing
• BBQ

Now, just as an FYI, you can reserve some of the covered shelters if you want to make sure you have a place to eat and hang out. You can find more info about Shelter rentals here.

AND I will add a few things: The water Park is AWESOME and inexpensive for what it is. You could spend all day there if you wanted to! Or spend part of the day there and enjoy the rest the Lake has to offer as well.

So, head on over to Lake Zorinsky and ENJOY!!!

Hey there and welcome to Thrifty Thursday's Thrifty Tips. This week's tips brought to you by my hungry tummy!

 I try to cook at home to save money. I try to make meal plans based on the local grocery deals. I price match at Walmart as much as possible (though I do not have a Super Walmart where I live so that's harder now). I shop local grocery ads, and I seek out local farmer's markets or "produce reclamation" type businesses.

My favorite thing EVER in this area was something I found In Arizona last year called Market on the Move. As I mentioned, we also check out Farmer's Markets (which can either be super pricey or super great deals-check them out and find the right one for you). And the most popular program I have heard friends speak of (and have yet to try) is Bountiful Baskets.

Let me tell you today about MOM (Market on the Move). From their Website:

Market On The Move provides a farmers’ market atmosphere at various locations throughout Metro Phoenix and Tucson areas where partners and supporters of this program can come on a regular basis and make their $10 donation to receive up to 60 lbs. of fresh produce. There is no need to pre-register or pre-donate on line. You can make your donation at the host site. 
Click here for distribution locations, dates, and times.

Basically you bring a $10 donation and you get a box of produce (sometimes other items as well) up to 60 lbs. We discovered MOM way too late in our year in AZ! Wes went down the first week and came home with SO MUCH stuff. So, the next week, I went to a different location and came home with all this:

Now, you may be thinking that is WAY TOO MUCH stuff and it would go to waste. Not so at this house of 7 people. It was all eaten and enjoyed (and I bought this about a week before we moved out). When you go to the location, you make your donation, grab a box and go down a line picking your produce. Some items will have limits (like only 2 watermelons, 4 tomato containers, 2 cantaloupe, 2 pasta boxes above) while others will be take all you can use (like zucchini, Roma tomatoes, and cucumbers above). 

If you do not have a huge family like I do, consider going to MOM with a friend and sharing the produce. Or if you can, this could be AWESOME for you to can up some great food storage! One cool thing a lot of the locations do is to hand out recipe ideas for the produce they give you that day! We used some of their eggplant recipes!

So, if you are in AZ, check MOM out!

As for me and mine in Washington, we will be trying out Bountiful Baskets and you can rest assured we will give a report when we try it!

I admit...today's Where's Wes is a tough one to start with. A Winter pic...good luck. Please Leave guesses as to where you think he might be.

Obviously Wes is not alone in this pic, but it was the best I could do for this location. (BTW Ladies...the handsome young man in the red coat is single still...just sayin!)

Hello friends! Boy I have not been on here much! I have just moved across the country and I am doing my best to settle myself and 5 kids into a new place. I have also been trying to figure out what to do with my blog. I wondered if it was time to retire it altogether or maybe just revamp. I have decided to go with the revamp. I am still a mom of five looking for a great deal, I still want to share great deals, product reviews and other great content. However, my blog has had some changes.

While in Omaha, I focused a lot on local grocery deals, store sales and local free or cheap activities. I tried to do the same when I lived in Scottsdale, AZ last year but found it was difficult. In that area, grocery deal match ups and couponing were not of interest. I think some of it was backlash due to the perception of couponing people now have thanks to shows like Extreme Couponing. Some of it was the fact that most people living in that area do not need to coupon. Whatever the reason, it was a fail-my blog numbers dropped dramatically.

The place I live now is a small town. It does not have the same kinds of options for pricematching and groceries that big cities have. I am still learning how to shop and save money here. Luckily for me there is a FANTASTIC blog locally that is helping me learn. If you are a local or are planning to visit Grays Harbor at any point, make sure to check out Annaliese over at Grays Harbor Deals. Her blog is awesome! And I know her personally-she is awesome too!

Most of my readers live in Utah and Nebraska. I have a good group in Arizona, and I found I have a growing number all over the country-actually all over the world. I learned in looking at my blog stats, that the posts with the most hits are usually my travel posts. Awesome! Reviews and travel posts are the ones I like to do the most!!!

So, here comes the new plan (which is a work in progress, so bear with me): we are bringing back the weekly series! We are continuing to review and give away products, and we are focusing on deals that are not quite so local (that's not to say I won't post local stuff-I will sometimes). 

My former Weekly Series looked like this:

• Sunday: Sunday Savings: Newspaper round up
• Monday: Mommy School Mondays 
• Tuesday: Tuesdays Travels
• Wednesday: Beckee's Best of Omaha Grocery
• Thursday: Thrifty Thursdays (Random thrifty tips on a variety of topics)
• Friday: Weekend Warriors: Daycations
• Saturday: Service Spotlight Saturdays
•