Tag Archives: recipes

Disney, Movie

We had a Star Wars: The Last Jedi Viewing Party While on Vacation

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Building and Fun

This past weekend we had a little mini vacation to the Cape Codder Resort and Spa, but when we weren’t in the water park we were in the room. On Saturday afternoon we took the time to enjoy a family viewing of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. We were provided a bunch of great stuff to have this in home viewing party. We received a box full of great Star Wars: The Last Jedi stuff including a Storm Trooper Plush Throw, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Napkins, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Paper Masks, BB-9E Plush – 6”, BB-8 Plush – 7 ½”, Porg Plush – 9”, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Treat Cups and Popcorn. We also received a copy of the movie on Blu-ray/DVD/Digital. I had loaded the movie onto my iPad before our trip in anticipation of watching it during out downtime. I also added in a Star Wars: The Last Jedi LEGO set that I bought before the movie but saved to build with the kids.

The biggest hit of the entire in-home viewing kit was the stuffed Porg. The kids took turns being the keeper of the Porg, over and over again. The Porg was everywhere, just like in the movie. And, once we got home the kids worked out a system in which one child would keep the Porg for the weekend and the other during the week. They really loved that thing. Andrew got it for this photo.

The Battle of the Porgs

So, we popped the popcorn and enjoyed out new stuffed characters. We also watched around the little table and ate the popcorn while building the LEGO set. As we were building we got to the part where Finn and Rose went in search of the code-breaker and the kids recognized the ship that they were building. It was a fun afternoon of family downtime and more bonding over a franchise that we all love dearly.

Movie Time Star Wars The Last Jedi

Since we weren’t home we couldn’t make anything besides the microwave popcorn that was in our viewing kit but had we been home then we could have tried out some Star Wars: The Last Jedi recipes like the ones below. Just click the image to download the recipes.

Star Wars Galactic Recipes

Star Wars The Last Jedi Recipes

We enjoyed seeing the movie as a family and if your family is interested in seeing the movie, too then make sure that you enter my Digital Download giveaway. I am giving away FOUR copies of the movie. That also includes extras like the gag reel.

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI GAG REEL

More about the movie and Blu-ray below. Continue reading We had a Star Wars: The Last Jedi Viewing Party While on Vacation →

Food, Photo-A-Day, Vlog

Trying out a Gummy Recipe!

Dinosaur Gummi
Photo-A-Day #4306

I give making gummys a shot. Working it out before I do it tomorrow night with SteamDads! I wasn’t sure how difficult it would be to make some gummis so I wanted to try it out. When I get a recipe now I have to make sure it works out before we start filming. We’ve had a few experiments go, not quite according to plan and take longer than expected. So now I have a decent idea of how long the creation takes. I also know which of the molds work best for these and it just so happens that the Dinosaur mold is perfect. The LEGO one is pretty good, too. The hearts were more difficult but for the most part everything came out really well.

I only used the Jello for the flavor. I’ve heard that there are other ways to flavor the gummis and even using crushed up Vitamin C makes them sour. I may even look into using the Warheads drops to try something in another batch.

Contest, Disney, Food, Press Release

Crafts and Activities from Disney Family Plus a Chance at a Disney Parks Vacation Package

Special Lunch

I’m always looking for activities to do with Andrew and Eva. More-so Andrew because I have him with me all day long. We’ve been making creative lunches together and they are nothing compared to the lunch art that people are making over at Disney Family. They are inspiring though. I may have to get some Smucker’s® Uncrustables® to see what we can make for special lunches together.

Families can Jump Start 2015 with New Recipes, Crafts and Activities from Disney Family and the Chance to Win a Disney Parks Vacation Package

Disney Family offers mom and families a big library of thousands of recipe, crafts, and activities, all in one beautiful, easy-to-use site. There’s also a “Mom’s Disney Sidekick” section, which is presented by Smucker’s® Uncrustables® and offers tips and ideas on making the fun and magic of Disney easy and convenient. New ideas have just been added to help jump start 2015 and the return to the classroom. Bring Disney to life at home with fun recipes and articles like:

Uncrustables and Disney are also hosting the Show Your Disney Adventure promotion where one winner and 3 guests will receive a magical vacation package at Disney Parks. To enter, share a photo showing your Disney Side online at Disney.com/ShareYourDisneyAdventure or through the Disney Applause app starting today through February 16.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void where prohibited. Open to persons 18 years of age or older, who are, as of entry, legal residents of, and physically located within, the 50 United States or D.C. Promotion begins on 1/20/15 at 12:00:00 (noon) PM (PT) and ends on 2/16/15 at 11:59:59 PM (PT). Limit one (1) submission per person per day. Submissions will not be judged. The winning submission will be posted on Sponsor’s and The J.M. Smucker Company’s respective websites, Facebook pages, newsletters and other media outlets. Click Official Rules for full eligibility and submission details.

Food, Press Release, Television, Toys

Patriotic Recipes from Ponyville

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I received a press release about an upcoming My Little Pony DVD. In conjunction with that DVD I also received a downloadable file full of recipes that will surely make your 4th pony-riffic.

Click Communications: BLOGGER BUTTONS &emdash;

Check out the upcoming DVD from the Trailer below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MY LITTLE PONY – FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC: THE KEYS OF FRIENDSHIP COMING TO DVD JULY 29, 2014

Los Angeles, CA – Ponies make the best friends! With that in mind, My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: The Keys Of Friendship is coming to DVD on July 29 in the U.S. and Canada from Shout! Factory Kids in collaboration with Hasbro Studios. The 5 episodes include “Rarity Takes Manhattan,” “Pinkie Apple Pie,” “It Ain’t Easy Being Breezies,” “Twilight’s Kingdom, Part 1,” and “Twilight’s Kingdom, Part 2.” A fun sing-along is included as a bonus feature.

Since her arrival in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle has learned the true meaning and value of friendship. With her very best friends — Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy and, of course, Spike — Twilight goes on the greatest of adventures and comes back with even more lessons. All of this has earned Twilight her wings and the crown of a Princess and now you can learn what Princess Twilight Sparkle has learned and take with you The Keys Of Friendship.

The My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic series is currently airing on The HUB TV Network in the U.S. and on Treehouse in Canada.

Blogging, Food, Photo-A-Day

Newest Addition to the Johnsonville Grill Greats Blogger Panel

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See a photo a day on BenSpark's ShutterCal
Photo-A-Day #2556

A Little over a week ago I got an e-mail asking me to be part of the Johnsonville Grill Greats Blogger Panel. I’ll be part of a group of roughly 10 other bloggers/online ambassadors who will get to sample Johnsonville products, participate in some fun contests (many that you can participate in including giveaways) and I’ll have some great grilling tips. The panel will be starting soon as grilling season begins.

I received a welcome packet including a grilling mitt, apron, cooler (that will be great for work or transporting Johnsonville Brats to other BBQs). I also got some coupons for Brats and Johnsonville Bratwurst patties. I may also get to attend some food events on Johnsonville’s behalf which may include the Beer Bloggers Conference in Indianapolis in July 2012 or National Bratwurst Day in Sheboygan, Wisconsin in August. Personally I think that Brat Days would be more my sort of thing. Don’t get me wrong I like beer, I just don’t drink it much these days.

So look for some videos, interviews, contests and more to be found on BenSpark.com in the coming year.

Here are some of the other members of the Grill Greats Blogger Panel:

Oh and the Johnsonville Brats I grilled up tonight were a big hit. They were the original flavor. Eva saw that I had two and Allison had two and promptly asked where her second one was. And she would have eaten a second too.

Review

Country Bob’s Spicy Sauce

From My Gallery

I was asked if I was interested in testing out a bottle of Country Bob’s sauce. I had tried the original flavor before and liked it so when I was asked if I wanted a bottle I requested the spicy sauce instead. My contact at Country Bob’s was very happy to send me the spicy sauce as well as the original sauce to try out and compare.

I picked up a couple of steaks the other day because even though Country Bob’s is an All-Purpose Sauce I like it mostly on meat. Also steak was on sale. I like when things are on sale. Allison broiled up the steaks and I enjoyed my Country Bob’s accompanying my meal. The spicy sauce was what I expected and I was pleased. I love spicy things and so giving a little kick to my meal was very enjoyable.

Country Bob’s has a nice taste, there is a slight fruity tang to the flavor. It is not too thick and not too thin either. There was good heat to the spicy sauce too. I’ll be trying both sauces with my future meals as well as with many of the recipes that are on the Country Bob’s website.

I was provided with 4 bottles of Country Bob’s to try and to talk about, the opinions are %100 mine. If you want to try this for yourself they have a Free Bottle offer on the website.

Review

Find something tasty online…

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Allison and I use the Internet often to find new and exciting things to eat. Some of our favorite recipes came from the Internet. Even though we have more cookbooks then days ahead to cook everything in them we still supplement our meals with great online recipes. I found a new site for good recipes that I would like to share. The blog is called The Online Recipe Box and it contains many recipes.

What I like about this blog is that you can click on categories on the right hand sidebar and each category contains either a type of recipe or a certain ingredient. Being able to select recipes by ingredient is important because I may be feeling like chicken tonight and I want to find a recipe for a chicken dish. Being able to select chicken from the sidebar gives me, wait there is no chicken category it is just poultry that I can choose. So this brings me to a suggestion for improvement, how about making more categories so I could search for recipes that call for chicken.

Another thing I like is how the recipe is laid out, there is an image of the dish so I know that is was made. Images are not with every recipe however and I think that there should be images of the process as well as the finished dish. Seeing images that were taken by the cook are much better than staged images or ones from out of a book. I want to know that you have had this dish and that you enjoyed it. I’d also like to see difficulty ratings for the difficulty in preparing the dish.

What I am not thrilled about is the abundance of Google adwords all over the blog. And the linked keywords to random things are not appealing either. They are distracting and make me want to look elsewhere. I’d also like to see a print recipe button where you can print the recipe on a 3X5 card. That would be very helpful.

I’ll have to try some of the recipes from this blog to really be able to tell you whether it is worth bookmarking as a resource. But from what I have seen from reading through the recipes the food looks very tasty and I am excited to try out the Super Moist Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins. They sound delicious.

Also of note on this blog there are contests where you can participate by reviewing recipes or submitting your own. That makes for great interaction between the blog writer and the blog readers. I would love to see some Alton Brown stuff as prizes. Maybe do a road food themed contest and give away the Feasting on Asphalt DVD set.

Read my disclosure policy. You can make money with your blog too, click on the referral button.

Blogging

Website: CookingSpot.com

I love to cook and we own many cook books. But sometimes I want to try online recipes because some of them have become our favorites over the years. Well I found a website called CookingSpot.com and they have free recipes for you to use. You can look up recipes by ingredient or by recipe title, there are many options for you to find delicious recipes online for free. This was a sponsored post. Read my disclosure policy.