Del Real Foods Review & Giveaway

I love traditional Mexican food and the stuff that I normally find in the store just doesn’t cut it. It tastes just all the other products on the shelf and there is nothing fresh or unique about it. As much as I love to cook I have yet to master delicious Mexican food.

I recently had a chance to check out Del Real traditional Mexican food and I was a little hesitant and figured that it would be similar to what I’ve found in stores before. I could not have been more wrong! Everything that we tried was incredible. From the tamales to the carnitas everything was fresh tasting, spiced perfectly, and there was nothing about it that seemed fake.

The first thing I did after checking out the food was to find the nearest location that sold Del Real food…. there is nothing within 50 miles that sells it. 🙁

The good thing is that I can buy it online! 🙂

So a little bit about Del Real…

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in California, Del Real Foods is a family business committed to preserving the rich gastronomy and traditions of Central Mexico. Designed to satisfy all palates and promote healthy eating, Del Real Foods refrigerated products offer authentic taste, using the freshest, locally sourced ingredients and cooked with traditional methods for an enhanced dining experience among family and friends

Del Real Foods refrigerated products include carnitas, barbacoa, tamales, seasoned shredded beef, shredded chicken and more.

Del Real Foods products are based on the following pillars:

  • Authenticity: the family strives to create deliciously simple products based on traditional recipes infused with Mexican culture and bold colors. Prepared in an industrial, home kitchen, the products will provide comfort and familiarity.
  • Healthy People: cooked with a safe open-kettle method, the products are made with the freshest, ingredients, most of which are locally sourced. Once prepared, they are ready to enjoy. The products are also gluten free and do not contain any trans fats.
  • Healthy planet and better communities: the company has adopted sustainable initiatives including wastewater management and recycling to help the environment. Del Real Foods has also sponsored local sporting events and made donations to local communities to contribute to their improvement.

Party Box with TShirt

Would you like to give Del Real Mexican food a try? I’m giving away a “Party In A Box” featuring Del Real highlights like carnitas, barbacoa, tamales, pupusas and chipotle chicken. Just use the super easy Rafflecopter below to enter.

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Brica Review & Giveaway!

Ever since my son toss my iPhone across Kohl’s and shattered the screen I’ve been looking for all sorts of ways to protect my precious iPhone. Of course he still wants to use it and play some of his favorite games and watch Dinosaur Train on the PBS app and every time he touches it I get a little nervous.

But now I don’t worry quite so much. Why? Well because I have Brica!

brica

Brica creates great products that help us as parents make things just a little easier. They have products for the house, the car, the stroller, bath, and travel. One of those products that has helped me so much has been the phone pod. I LOVE this thing!

phone pod

At first I wasn’t sure how often I’d use it but it’s always on the stroller or bike! I use my phone to track how many miles I run/walk or bike and this thing is perfect for holding my phone while I’m on the go. I can also attach it to the front of the stroller so Andrew can play with the phone, but so far I’ve used it just for me. The only down side is that no matter how tight I get it after a while the pod turns and my phone ends up facing down towards the ground. Oh… just an FYI… it does not work if you have an iPhone in an Otter Box case. I switched cases and now have a LifeProof case and it works great.

brica products

The snack pod is pretty cool too! I clipped that thing to the car seat and my son thought that it was awesome that he could put his cup in  it and take it out whenever he wanted. Downside… he loves it so much that he brought it in the house and now I can’t find it. He claimed it as his…. I’m sure that it’s buried in with his toys somewhere in the house.

The snack pod can be attached to most anything just like the phone pod and to make it just a little bit better… it’s dishwasher safe.

Both of these are made of solid plastic that can’t be bent, dented, or otherwise (my toddler has tried!).

Interested in getting these two incredible products for yourself? Well, it’s your lucky day! I am giving away both the deluxe snack pod and the phone pod!

You can find these great products in Target, Babies R Us, Amazon and at Diapers.com!

Enter using Rafflecopter below!

I received both of the products mentioned above to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Socialpunk Preview!

I have this great opportunity to review a new book, Socialpunk, and today I’m sharing an excerpt with you before I post my review as well as a great giveaway!

Socialpunk cover

And now for the good part! This excerpt is the prologue from Socialpunk.

After playing God for six years with the world he created, he couldn’t control any of his subjects, none at all. Over the years, he had watched them evolve and become the sum of their own choices rather than the sum of his; and for that, he regretted ever giving them life.

A small, blinking red light from just inside his eyelid reminded him of the news they sent him earlier that morning. The company had cancelled his funding and would shut down his project within three months. According to them, the project cost too much and took up too much space, and the inconclusive results couldn’t be published reputably, now or in the future.

Six years of his work, tens of thousands of lives at stake—and he could do nothing to save any of it. He bowed his head, letting his chin rest on the rim of his breakfast smoothie. The smoothie reeked of powder—crushed pills—but he supposed he had better get used to it. He wouldn’t be able to afford the luxury of real food after they canned him.

He closed his eyes and called up the camera view of one of his favorites, number 3281. She fascinated him; he couldn’t deny it. When he had designed her, her pre-teen rebelliousness lit fire in her eyes. A survivor, he’d thought. He’d meant for her to have it all—to grow up, to get married to the love of her life, and to have a beautiful family of her own someday.

But he had only given her sadness so far. Instead of creating a strict father, he had given her an abusive one. Instead of creating a loving boyfriend, he had given her a friend who could never love her. And instead of creating a strong, proud mother, he had given her a meek one, who watched the whole thing unfold and did nothing about it.

He looked at his last and final creation sitting in the chair across from him—his own son, not awakened yet. The law forbade him to have any children of his own, so this boy would substitute.

But he had done the unthinkable with this creation—he had bestowed on it his own thoughts, emotions, and decision-making processes. He’d given the boy his own mind, his own physical characteristics, his own wants and desires.

He had never done so with any of the others because of the dangers of investing too heavily in any one of his subjects. But who could he kid? He had not stayed objective thus far, watching some of his subjects more closely than others, wishing for the happiness of some at the expense of others. He had become an abomination, a monster of his own doing, who had created subjects only to watch them suffer.

He couldn’t forgive himself; not now, not ever. His eyes lingered on the vial that sat next to his breakfast smoothie, that he’d stowed away for the day when they destroyed all his work, his entire world. He would save it, tuck it away for now, for as long as he could protect them. When things spun out of his control, he would drink it and end himself the way he had ended them.

In the ancient stories, gods frequently gave their sons as gifts. Now, he would give his son as a gift to her, number 3281. So she could be happy in her last months on earth, before they destroyed her with the rest of them.

About the author of Socialpunk.

Monica Leonelle is a well-known digital media strategist and the author of three novels. She blogs at Prose on Fire (http://proseonfire.com) and shares her writing and social media knowledge with other bloggers and authors through her Free Writer Toolkit (http://proseonfire.com/free-writer-toolkit).

Doodle Roll Review & Giveaway!

My kids have always loved to color, draw, and do crafts. I have a closet full of all sorts of coloring books, crayons, and the like but the majority of isn’t travel friendly. If they decide that they want to take something with them we have to pack a big bag of stuff and hope that we don’t lose anything along the way.

Doodle Roll

Doodle Roll is the perfect way to take coloring on the road! It has the paper all rolled up neatly and a place to store the crayons. Super easy! But it’s not enough that I like it…. the kids have to like it too. So we put it to the test!

Lauren - Doodle Roll

We rolled out a few pieces and the kids spent the morning one weekend drawing all sorts of pictures & making banners to hang up. Lauren made a banner with her name on it for her bedroom door.

Natalie - Doodle Roll

Natalie drew a few different pictures… the one she’s working on above was her brother’s name for his wall.

Andrew - Doodle Rol

Andrew isn’t much for sitting still and coloring so it surprised me when he sat down with his sisters! I loved that it came with the larger crayons… perfect for little hands!

Lauren - Doodle Roll

The only thing that the kids didn’t really like was the quality of the crayons. They weren’t as smooth as regular crayons but it didn’t stop them from using them.

Doodle Roll is a lot fun! It’s a great activity that you can do with your kids or one that you can take on the road with you. The Doodle Roll is also the perfect stocking stuffer for the upcoming holiday season or party favor for your next birthday party.

You can win it!

One lucky winner will win their own Doodle Roll.

Mandatory

Check out there characters on the Doodle Roll website and then come back and leave a comment which your favorite one is.

Want an extra entry or two?

Like Doodle Roll on Facebook

Follow Doodle Roll on Twitter

Follow With Just a Bit of Magic via Google Friend Connect

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For each entry leave a comment telling me what you did.

The giveaway will close on November 25th at 11:59pm and a winner will be selected via random.org. I will then contact them and they have 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected.

 

This is a MamaBuzz Media review. The product was provided by Doodle Roll for this review. All views/opinions are my own.

Simply Bags

Every year when the girls go back to school there are lists and lists of supplies that we have to get. And then of course there are the things that we don’t really ‘need’ like the special pencils, the new Sharpie pens, and of course a new backpack even though the one from last year is perfectly fine.

Yes, I cave in. More often than I should.

I was pretty lucky when Simply Bags contacted me about checking out one of their bags!

I was a little hesitant because there are backpacks out there that are cheaply made and don’t usually make it through the school year. More often than not what happens is the zipper breaks or the sides rip.

When I got the backpack I was really impressed with it! It was really well made, the fabric was heavy, and there were a lot of pockets to hold all of my daughters little things she smuggles to school.

I love the embroidery!

the backpack

Honestly… I want to check out some of the other bags now!

So, I figured that since I don’t use the backpack on a daily basis I’d ask my daughter to write something about what she thinks of the backpack.

Lauren’s Thoughts….

Lauren & her bag

I think that my new backpack is really cool! It’s creative and the color green is one of my favorites. I also like pink so it’s an awesome choice.

I just love the backpack and all of my friends do too. Thank you.

Well, there you have it!

Take a few moments and check out them out on their webpage, Facebook, and of course Twitter!

The Sixty-Minute Shakespeare Review

Before blogging, Twitter, and all other social media activities I used to be an avid reader. I love to read… so much so that it wasn’t unheard of for me to finish a book in a single day or stay up half the night with my book glued in front of my face. Seriously, I had an odd addiction to books.

I’m not one of those people who will read anything that they can get their hands on though. I’m a fiction girl. Chick Lit, mystery, drama, historical fiction, poetry, and books along those lines. I’m also one of those people who wander the bookstore aimlessly for hours picking up books around the store and often judging them by their cover. I know…. I know… you should never judge a book by it’s cover.

I’ve always been a fan of Shakespeare but have had trouble reading the full texts because of the way it was written. But I still tried to get through them till I found the movies and easily set the books aside. By far my favorite has been A Midsummer Night’s Dream…. I love the faeries & mischievous Puck.

Midsummer Nights Dream

The Sixty Minute Shakespeare books are great! They’re short, simple to read, and still deliver the message that was intended with the full play. I read a act or two a day and was able to get through it pretty quickly. No, I didn’t try to read it in an hour although I don’t see why someone couldn’t.

The books are great for students or anyone just wanting to become acquainted with some of Shakespeare’s greatest works! I would recommend them to friends, family, and some of my teacher friends for their classrooms.

Five Star Publications publishes these books and you can purchase the entire series for $45.89 or individually for $8.99. From my perspective the series includes some of the best of Shakespeare’s works; Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing.

Shakespeare Series

Do you want to read Shakespeare but couldn’t get through it? Interested in trying the Sixty-Minute Series?

I’m offering one lucky reader the chance to win their very own copy of A Midsummer Night’s Dream!

To enter all you need to do is follow me via Google Friend Connect!

For extra entries you can do one or more of the following;

  • Follow me on Twitter
  • Follow Five Star Publishing on Twitter
  • Use the handy Tweet button to share this review & giveaway with others (leave a link to your tweet in the comment)

Please make sure that you leave a comment for each entry and that your email is visible in your profile or leave it in the comment so I can contact you.

The giveaway will end on September 19th at 12 noon EST and a winner will be selected via random.org and they will have 24 hours to respond or another winner will be selected.

This is a MamaBuzz Media review. The product was provided by Five Star Publications for this review.  All views and opinions are my own and are not influenced by anyone or anything.

Fresh Produce ~ Clothing to Live In!

Recently I was able to check out some great clothing from the company Fresh Produce and let me tell you…. the clothing is amazing! I was really excited to work with them and I swear I spent hours going through their website putting together outfits in my head from all the things they offer as well as figuring out what I could pair those cute capris with or the tunic top or my most favorite piece ever… the Coastal Wrap cardigan with clothing from my closet! It didn’t take me long to figure out that I could easily spend my entire paycheck on some new outfits.

Fresh Produce was started way back in 1984 by a husband and wife duo selling brightly colored t-shirts and jewelry at the 1984 Olympics in California and from there they built up a great clothing line that is comfortable, affordable, and fun to wear!

They have so many options to choose from whether you are a dress girl and want a cute daytime dress or prefer something along the lines of capris to chase your toddler through the park in! There are even some cute party dresses for that special event you have coming up! I highly recommend that you take a look at what they have & I’m sure that you’ll find something that you absolutely love.

Fresh Produce sent me a few pieces to check out. First was the Wrap Me Up dress which I fell in love with the moment I opened the package! The fabric was a beautiful gray color and was soft, stretchable, and very figure friendly! Once I had it on I was surprised how well it looked & fit because I have to admit that I was a bit hesitant since not all dresses look that good on me. With this dress I was able to imagine all the way I could dress it up or wear it in a more casual manner.

Wrap Me Up DressAndrew & I posing in my Fresh Produce Dress
There are a few other dress that I really love and one of them is rather similar to the Wrap Me Up Dress that I’m wearing above. It’s the Cafe Wrap Dress and it is shorter with cap sleeves but still the same wrap look to it. That and the cardigan will probably be my next purchase!

I was also sent a cute pair of pants and top. Again I was hesitant because more often than not pants are not true to size and rarely fit me because I am a bit bottom heavy. So I followed the size chart that Fresh Produce has on their site and ordered based on that. And to my surprise the pants fit amazingly well! I was really impressed with how well they did with the size chart.

Broadcloth Pants & Vintage CowlneckBroadcloth Pants & Vintage Cowlneck
This is me in the Thistle (light purple) colored Vintage Cowl Neck top and the Broadcloth Roll Up pants in Vanilla (creamish).

Overall I would highly recommend the Fresh Produce clothing line to anyone. They’re great casual pieces that can be dressed up for a night out or even work if you want.

Disclosure – The products featured in this review were provided to me  free of charge by the manufacturer. All of the opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced by anyone or anything.

Tea Collection Review & Giveaway

With the new school year just around the corner and four kids to get ready for the fall season I’ve had to really start planning now for everything.

Luckily, I found Tea Collection and their incredible Children’s Clothing line. They have a huge amount of mix and match pieces that are perfect for fall.

One of the things that I liked best about Tea is that they have clothing for girls, boys, and babies. I wish I had known about them when my girls were all smaller because there were times that I would dress them all in the same dress or coordinating outfits and with the clothing from Tea Collection this is super easy!

The have a great selection for boys too which I often find lacking in many clothing stores. It seems that the greater majority of the products are for girls.

My youngest daughter loves to dress up, shop, try on new clothes and see what kind of outfits she can create and the sets that you get from Tea make this easy! And she’s at an age where I can still pick out almost anything for her and she likes it and of course will wear it.

Tea Collection

This was her favorite piece

She had a great time trying on all the new clothes that I got her and posing for pictures. She told me that everything was super comfy and soft (her exact words) and that she wanted to wear them now despite the high heat & humidity.

What I love about the clothing from Tea collection was how well made everything is and that it’s all made from 100% cotton. The colors are bright, the patterns are eye catching and kids just love it. Even my older girls wanted to know if there was clothing in sizes for them! I can’t wait for Tea to create a line for tweens & teens!

Tea Collection        Tea Collection
Do you have school shopping to do for your kids? Wouldn’t a $100 gift certificate to Tea Collection help out a lot this year? Well, if your answer is yes then all you need to do is enter to win!

Details
One lucky winner will get a $100 gift certificate from Tea Collection! This giveaway will end on August 18th at noon at which point a winner will be selected and have 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected. Also, your email must be visible in your profile or in the comment so I can contact you.

Entry Method
Visit Tea Collection and share with me in a comment what you’d buy!

Want another entry?
Pick one or all of them! For each of the following you must leave a separate comment.
* Follow me on Twitter.
* Use the handy Tweet button to share this giveaway & make sure my Twitter id is in there (@JackieCross)
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* Follow With Just a Bit of Magic publicly via Google Friend Connect

Disclosure: This is a MamaBuzz Media review. I received a gift certificate from Tea Collection to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.