I have very fond memories from when I was a child, of my dad in the kitchen, making Rice Krispies Treats. Once in a while, he’d change it up, and toss in chocolate chips, or M&M’s, or even drizzle them with chocolate. Now, I have children, and I love making Rice Krispies Treats with them.

When I was given the opportunity to participate in the Rice Krispies challenge, I couldn’t say no! I thought it was a great chance to show off one of my favorite party treats using Rice Krispies! This is such a fun recipe, and the kids love it… Warning: it’s very high in sugar!!! LOL What fun would it be without it?!?!

Rice Krispies Treats Sushi

Ingredients:

6 cups Rice Krispies

40 large marshmallows

3 Tsp Butter

Dehydrated Fruit (Mangoes, Apples, Apricots, Pineapples)

Gummy Worms

Green Fruit Rolls

Make Rice Krispies Treats per instructions on the box.

Spread the Rice Krispies Treats on a cookie sheet. Make it no more than 1.4 in thick. One trick I’ve learned, instead of using a spatula, put a quart size sandwich bag on your hand, and lightly spray with non stick spray. Use your hands to spread and flatten out the Rice Krispies Treats.

I’m also giving away two Rice Krispies™ Snap™ Crackle™ and Pop™ Bowls here on Mommy Brain Reports!!! (Winner will be selected randomly on Friday, Sept. 3 at 5pm EST). All you have to do is leave a comment! Yes! It’s that easy!!!

You can tweet about this giveaway as many times as you’d like for extra entries! Leave a comment each time per entry!!!

**Disclaimer: I am participating in this contest for a campaign with Rice Krispies and The Motherhood! I was given a gift card for supplies and compensated for my time. Rules for this contest are located here: http://web.mediacdt.com/docs/Motherhood_Rules.pdf

This is more for the Jacksonville, NC area, but I figured I would tell everyone about this anyway…

So, the TaeKwonDo school that my girls and I have attended since April has started offering a new fitness class in addition to traditional TaeKwonDo. It’s less martial art and more of a fitness program… Kisado

I’m sure you’ve heard of various High Intensity Interval Training workouts, the ones that tell you that you can lose tons of weight in only a few minutes of a workout… I never believed in them, until now.

My husband and I have been volunteers to test out the new Kisado class at Tiger Rock TaeKwonDo Academy here in Jacksonville, and after each class, I’ve felt awesome. The classes are only about 40 minutes long, including warm up and cool down stretches. I’m not the most fit person… but I’m working on it, and I am so excited to have these classes now! TaeKwonDo has been an amazing workout, but adding this to my routine is going to really help me! I love that the workout is all about me. I do how much I can, rest when I need to, and just jump right back into it. I work up such a sweat that I’m leaving puddles on the ground… gross, I know… but darn it.. it’s so awesome…

Anyway… If you are in the Jacksonville, NC area, come by Tiger Rock TaeKwonDo academy! The Kisado classes start the Wednesday after Labor Day at 630 am or 11am . I’m already seeing results… I’m feeling better, and have more energy… I’m actually looking forward to classes now!

**Disclosure: I was not compensated in any way for this post. I just really love the class, and figured I’d share something very important in my weight loss journey. I’m down to a 16 from a 22, and wearing regular sizes now!!! No more plus sizes!!! WOOT!

I remember back to when my mom would throw clothes out if they had stains on them, or they were dubbed play clothes or home clothes only. Luckily, I don’t necessarily have to waste the girls’ clothes. I have had to fight all kinds of stains, and some have been easier than others to deal with… Honestly, stains have probably always been the worst part of anyone’s laundry regimen, and Wisk seems to have been able to do something about it.

Enter the new Wisk Deep Clean with Stain Spectrum Technology….

Have you seen the special new teaser commercial which recently hit the airwaves?? It formally introduces Wisk with Stain Spectrum™ Technology in a new red-hot bottle. Not only does it look cool, but their new, enhanced formula brings the science to stain-fighting, helping moms everywhere tackle a full range of stains ranging from oils to proteins.  They’ve come a long way since battling those pesky rings in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Talk about nostalgia… Check out this Wisk classic “Ring Around the Collar” commercial.

*Disclosure: I am working on a campaign for Wisk and the new Stain Spectrum Technology & will be compensated for my time. Thoughts and opinions are always 100% mine.

It’s that time of year again.. The days are getting shorter, the air is starting to cool off, and I’m starting to get the craving for chips and dip… It’s FOOTBALL SEASON!!!

I’m a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.. Don’t ask why… I’ve never lived there, never even visited there, but I’ve followed the team through quite a few years. My hubby, on the other hand, is a Raiders Fan.. We have a lot of fun in our home during football season.

Something we haven’t really followed much is College Football. Here in North Carolina, you can tell that College Football is a HUGE deal. Well, this year, we’re going to give it a shot.. No, we’re not going to play it.. We’re going to watch UNC Football! Yes, we’re donning our Carolina Blue Gear!!!

Regardless of what team you root for.. there’s one thing everyone has in common.. The essential Game Time Get Together! Of course, anytime you have a large get together, there’s a bunch of planning involved. Who better to plan out the ultimate Game Time Party than Mom??? I like to think my parties are pretty cool!

Here’s how I plan out a fun football get together..

Make a list of everyone I want to invite…

Plan food for everyone that RSVP’s!

On the menu at our house… Smoked Baby Back Ribs, Jalapeño Poppers, Chips, Smoked Salsa, Hot Dogs and some veggies… Home made lemonade, beer and juice boxes are a must!

Make sure to dust off the Chip & Dip Bowls, Color coordinate the plates, napkins, cups and utensils. Wash all of the jerseys, t-shirts, and random logo gear. If you have hats, get them ready.

Make sure the TV and all digital equipment is in good working order. If not… move party to a friend’s house, or local sports bar… getting sitters for the kids if needed.

Ok, so the last one isn’t exactly a rule, but it sure wouldn’t hurt! Just do your research and verify that the place you go is friendly to your team.. otherwise, you could have a very interesting time! HA HA!

I’d love to know how you prepare for your family and friends to come over for your Game Time parties!!!

Check out some of my fellow Walmart Moms‘ posts about their game time experiences and some awesome dip recipes!!! Lori from A Cowboy’s Wife, Melissa from ConsumerQueen, Lynnae from BeingFrugal, Tara from Deal Seeking Mom, Heather from The Domestic Diva, Erika from Chic Shopper Chick, and Audrey from Mom Generations!

Ok Ok… that was trying a little hard there with that title… but read on a bit, and you’ll see why I thought of that…

We’ve all heard about various “frequent shopper” cards, and coupons, or rewards you can get for shopping with some of your favorite stores. I’ve signed up for so many of them, I have to have a separate key ring for all of those little plastic tabs.

*side note: I’m so glad they started making those little plastic tabs! My wallet was looking a little thick.. and it had nothing to do with money being in there… because there wasn’t any :)

Anywho… So, a few months back… OK, almost a year ago, I was shopping at my local KMart. They had awesome sales on bed sheets, and my girls were going to be getting their big girl beds, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. When I got up to the checkout counter, the cashier asked me if I wanted to sign up for the new “Shop Your Way” rewards program. Once she explained it all to me, and assured me that it was a FREE program, I signed up. I’ve signed up for similar programs, and never really got much from them. I just don’t shop that much! *gasp* Well, I like to shop at outlet stores, and Walmart is where I do most of my daily shopping, so rewards cards don’t really get scanned a lot here. This card, though, was going to prove itself this weekend.

Over the last year, we’ve made a few good purchases at our local Sears. Sears seems to have become one of our first choices for some of our purchases.  We’ve found an employee there, Steve,  that has really helped us make some great purchase decisions . He’s the reason we keep going back to Sears for many of our purchases… Ok, sorry, I keep getting off course on this post..

So, anyway, today, Hubby and I were talking about having to do the yards, and making sure we edged the lawn. Well, one of our purchases a few months back was a new Craftsman Weed Trimmer. We purchased that particular one because we loved the option of being able to purchase more attachments for it and convert it into just about any useful tool. It just so happens that this weekend, the edger attachment was on sale. We headed over to Sears after a few other errands and grabbed that edger attachment. When we got up to checkout, hubby reminded me about the rewards card. The cashier that helped us asked if we wanted to use some of our points towards the purchase. I had no idea how many points we had in the account, so I said sure… I figured any little bit would help out. It just so happened that I had enough to cover the entire purchase of this edger attachment… That was over $64 after tax. I was so surprised. Seriously… We walked out of there not having to pay a single penny, and we still had some points left over. Absolutely amazing. I never thought that all of our purchases between KMart & Sears would have added up to so much of a reward!

The Shop Your Way Rewards program is good at Sears, KMart, Land’s End and a couple of other affiliate stores. If you frequently shop at these stores, and haven’t signed up for the Shop Your Way Rewards program, ummmm.. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??  LOL…  I’m definitely going to be shopping at Sears and KMart just a little bit more… Those small purchases add up too! Totally check it out!

And now you know why I said that I was Saving some “Sears”ious Money… :)

**Disclosure: I was not compensated in any way for this post. I just thought I’d share a cool experience today!

My girls are past the infant formula stage.. .Waaaay past… but I still keep up with the information since I have a lot of friends with babies. I’ve written before about our choice to use Parent’s Choice formula with our girls, and the fact that store brand infant formulas, like Parent’s Choice are FDA regulated and must be made nutritionally equal with the national name brand formulas. Just thinking about the formula gives me great memories of my girls as babies.

Well, the other day, I was shopping at my local Walmart and noticed what I thought was a new infant formula on the shelf! I had to take a second look! It was Parent’s Choice! They have an incredibly cute new label on their formula! Check these out!

I absolutely love the new look! It’s cute, and easy to read… and honestly.. it really stands out on the shelf!

I truly do hope that more parents will consider saving money with store brand infant formula! There’s no reason to pay the higher prices of the name brands! All they are doing is paying for the name… and their marketing budgets! Really! Did you know that the higher prices are to cover the company’s marketing efforts??? .. All of their magazine ads, tv ads, and all the samples that they give out to hospitals and pediatricians are all paid for by the consumer. Funny how that works eh??  Just remember, saving money does not mean you’re sacrificing your baby’s nutrition. You’re not. My girls used Parent’s Choice, and they are healthy, strong, smart girls… They rarely ever get sick, and they didn’t have any weird issues as babies. Take a look at the product labels, and see for yourself!

Another big announcement is that Walmart will begin selling Parent’s Choice online with free shipping – noteworthy for parents who live in New York City and in areas where they are not close to Walmart. You can still save money!!! That’s great news!

You can go to Parent’s Choice’s Formula Finder to see which formula might work best for your baby.

Check out their Savings Calculator to see how much money you could save!

and…

Get Free Samples of several of their products!

**Disclosure: I work with Parent’s Choice in Social Media. All opinions are my own based on my personal experience with the product. Be sure to check with your pediatrician before changing anything in your baby’s diet.