I am attending the 2012 Kenmore Blogger Summit in Chicago next weekend and Kenmore gave me a little challenge to pass on to my readers.

Kenmore knows that when tasked with the overwhelming demands of day-to-day chores, a little creativity goes a long way – and helps stretch our resources a bit.

So here’s the question!

Kenmore wants to know: What is your most unusual, yet practical, use of a common household appliance?

We all get creative with our appliances, right? While I’m not recommending that you do this, I have been known to microwave a shoe or two to dry them after washing them.  I have heard of washing toothbrushes in the dishwasher.  Strange but true.  My son used to make ‘concoctions’ using our blender when he was younger.  With adult supervision of course.

I’m sure you’ve used a household appliance for a creative reason other than the obvious.  Tell us about it in a video and submit a link to the video in the comments below.

Creative Uses of Household Appliances – #KenmoreSummit is a post from: The Mommy Insider. It looks like you are reading this post in your favorite RSS reader. Don't be shy..hop on over to check out our current giveaways, coupon codes, and to share your comments!

Photo source: YaiSirichai

Cakes and pies used to get all the attention, but that’s rapidly changing with a trend towards choosing cupcakes instead. Cupcakes make it easy to give each person a serving of dessert and avoid the mess involved with cutting and serving a cake or pie. Most of all, they’re simply tasty and fun.

Cupcake Party Time

When it’s party time, cupcakes make a good choice for dessert. They are easier to transport than traditional cakes and can also prove easier to ice and decorate. This is an especially important point when letting kids in on the fun of preparing them. Cupcakes are also a hit with sometimes finicky children. For example, when preparing cupcakes for a school party, you can make a variety flavors. Having a selection of choices means there’s a cupcake to please just about everyone.

Family Time

Cupcakes aren’t just for fun times at school. They also provide fun for the whole family. A tasty cupcake can brighten up the day when served as an after-school snack or after-dinner dessert. You can also add to the joy of a birthday or holiday party at home with themed cupcakes. Families can even visit a cupcake bakery for a fun time out together, as can busy couples interested in a unique date-night activity.

Healthy Ingredients

Best of all is the fact that cupcakes don’t have to be unhealthy.  Applesauce or yogurt makes a good substitute for oil and butter, and reduced-fat icing makes for a healthier dessert. You may also add fresh fruit as a topping to reduce the amount of icing used and to take the place of candy and other less healthy toppings. Adding nuts, shredded vegetables and fruits to the batter may also increase its health value without hurting taste.

Enter to win a $25 Amazon.com Gift Card!

Do you have a favorite cupcake flavor?  Cupcake recipe? A favorite cupcake memory?
Share one or all with us in the comments below to be entered to win a $25 Amazon.com gift card!

Entries accepted through 11:59pm December 31st.  The gift card will be emailed to the winner upon claiming the prize.

• Be sure to have completed the mandatory entry first!
• 1 extra entry – Follow @mommyinsider on Twitter
• 1 extra entry – Like The Mommy Insider Facebook page
• 1 extra entry – Subscribe to The Mommy Insider (and confirm your email address via the confirmation email)
• 1 extra entry (each time) – Tweet this up to once every 8 hours:
  “I’m entered to win a $25 Amazon.com gift card from @mommyinsider!  You can enter to win too here: “http://wp.me/plszx-2Gw”.
• 3 extra entries per giveaway you enter – Enter any of our other giveaways and/or The Divine Miss Mommy’s giveaways and leave a comment below telling us which giveaways you entered.

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post.  I was not compensated for any portion of this post.

The Incredible Cupcake Craze + a $25 Gift Card #Giveaway {Ends 12/31} is a post from: The Mommy Insider. It looks like you are reading this post in your favorite RSS reader. Don't be shy..hop on over to check out our current giveaways, coupon codes, and to share your comments!

The holiday season is often the busiest time of the year, and when friends and family come to visit, the last thing I wants is to be stuck in the kitchen preparing time-consuming holiday meals. By having a couple of quick and easy recipes in my recipe book, I can have festive holiday meals on the table and join the party too.

Liven Up Your Holiday Menu With Ragu and Win a $200 AmEx Gift Card! #Giveaway is a post from: The Mommy Insider. It looks like you are reading this post in your favorite RSS reader. Don't be shy..hop on over to check out our current giveaways, coupon codes, and to share your comments!

What do you think of when the holidays get near?  Gifts, shopping, cooking, AND sweets and treats right?  We are here for you then!  Lindt offers a wide range of Lindor Truffles products, including a whole holiday collection that you can put out for holiday guests to enjoy, take to work with you, or just keep in a special place for you and your husband to enjoy!

It all started in a small pastry shop on Marktgasse in Zurich’s old town in 1845. Confectioner David Sprüngli-Schwarz and his 29 year old son Rudolf Sprüngli-Ammann, who also trained to be a confectioner, dared to do something new: they decided to make chocolate. In particular and in keeping with the new fashion that came from Italy –solid bars – just like François-Louis Cailler in Vevey and Philippe Suchard in Neuchâtel had already done.

You can even build your own holiday themed bag of Lindor Truffles!  Mix and match five flavors for a total of about 100 pieces in your bag. You can’t resist that can you?

Connect with Lindt

• Lindt website
• Lindt Holiday Truffles page
• Lindt on Twitter
• Lindt on Facebook

GIVEAWAY!

One winner will receive a bag of:

• Lindor Dark Peppermint truffles and
• Lindor Milk Chocolate truffles

Disclosure: I received Lindor Truffle samples for purposes of this review.  All opinions are 100% my own and were not influenced in any way.

Lindor Truffles – A Great Stocking Stuffer.. and a #Giveaway! {Ends 12/21} is a post from: The Mommy Insider. It looks like you are reading this post in your favorite RSS reader. Don't be shy..hop on over to check out our current giveaways, coupon codes, and to share your comments!

The January issue of ALL YOU (on sale December 16^th)  contains a coupon on page 38 to save $1 with the purchase of ALL YOU magazine’s February issue AND any one (1) Stetson® Cologne.

If you aren’t already familiar with ALL YOU magazine, you’ll want to get to know it.

Each issue of All You contains:

• Down-to-earth, affordable, and no-nonsense tips and ideas for every area of your life.
• Diet and fitness advice that fits your busy lifestyle.
• Fashion for real women’s bodies, money-savings tips for your everyday life, and meals with easy-to-find, affordable ingredients.

Plus, each issue is packed with so many money-saving coupons that the magazine pays for itself!

You can pick up the latest issue of All You at your local Walmart or subscribe online for about $1.66 per month here!

About the Setson Brand:

“Experience a true original.  STETSON.  The legendary fragrance of the American West.  A rich, masculine blend of rugged woods and spice.”

HEROIC. INDEPENDENT. AUTHENTIC. STETSON.

John B. Stetson headed west prepared to make his fortune. But what he wasn’t prepared for was the wet and cold that followed him every step of the way. So, in 1865, Stetson set out to make the hat that could tame the American West.

The hats were a big hit in the thinly populated West, where being rugged was a requirement for clothes (and for people). The rugged individualism of the West was perfectly represented by a hat that could be shaped differently by each wearer – a punched in crown, a blended brim and a braided leather band were all different ways to make a Stetson one’s own.

Today, the name Stetson embodies the authentic heritage and spirit of the American West. It’s individuality that can never be tamed or fenced in. Authentic style that telegraphs who you are without saying a word. And confidence that comes from knowing there’s nothing you can’t handle.

Stetson Cologne carries on this legacy with fragrances for men and women that represent the pride, passion, and confidence of the pioneers.

GIVEAWAY!

We are giving 10 lucky readers the January 2012 issue of ALL YOU and a  3.5 oz bottle of Stetson Original Cologne!

To enter to win, leave a comment below telling us why you want to win.. (example: who would you give the Stetson cologne to?).

Earn extra giveaway entries:

• Be sure to have completed the mandatory entry first!
• 1 extra entry – Follow @mommyinsider on Twitter
• 1 extra entry – Like The Mommy Insider Facebook page
• 1 extra entry – Subscribe to The Mommy Insider (and confirm your email address via the confirmation email)
• 1 extra entry – Follow @allyou on Twitter
• 1 extra entry (each time) – Tweet this up to once every 8 hours:
  “I’m entered to win the Jan ’12 issue of ALL YOU & Stetson Original Cologne & @mommyinsider & @allyou!  Details: http://wp.me/plszx-2EH”.
• 3 extra entries – Write about this giveaway on your own blog and leave the URL to your blog post in the comments below (can be done once).
• 5 extra entries per giveaway you enter – Enter any of our other giveaways and/or The Divine Miss Mommy’s giveaways and leave a comment below telling us which giveaways you entered.

Entries accepted through 11:59pm ET December 21st.

Open to U.S. residents only. No P.O. Boxes.

10 winners will be contacted on 12/22 and must respond by 2pm 12/22 in order to claim their prize.  If we do not receive a response by then, we will have to choose an alternate winner.  While we’d love to think that the winners will receive their prize before Christmas we can not guarantee it.    Prize fulfillment is handled by the PR company.

Connect with All You

• All You website
• All You on Twitter
• All You on Facebook

Connect with Stetson

• Stetson website
• Stetson on Twitter

Disclosure: I received the January 2012 issue of ALL YOU and Stetson Original Cologne free from ALL YOU for review and giveaway purposes.

Win the January 2012 Issue of All You AND Stetson Original Cologne – #Giveaway {Ends 12/21} is a post from: The Mommy Insider. It looks like you are reading this post in your favorite RSS reader. Don't be shy..hop on over to check out our current giveaways, coupon codes, and to share your comments!

Congratulations Marie!

My kids and I enjoy baking together.  Baking together gets us away from the hustle and bustle that is family-life and usually leaves us all with memories sometimes funny (because we threw flour at each other) and a few times.. sad (because we burned what we baked).

If you love molasses cookies, but could do without the preparation and mess, Betty Crocker has come to your rescue!  Betty Crocker recently introducing a molasses cookie mix, making this year-round favorite cookie easy to bake in less than 20 minutes.

• With a delectably soft and chewy texture, and great spice cookie taste, new BettyCrocker® Molasses Cookie mix combines real molasses flavor with hints of cinnamon and spice for a homemade taste that you’ll love.
• Look for Betty Crocker Molasses Cookie mix in the baking aisle of grocery stores this fall.
• In addition, you can download a printable coupon for $0.75 off the purchase of one (1) Betty Crocker® Molasses Cookie mix pouch today!

Connect with Betty Crocker:

Disclosure: ”The product, information and prize pack has been provided by Betty Crocker through MyBlogSpark.”

Betty Crocker Molasses Cookie Mix Review and #Giveaway – {Contest ended12/15} is a post from: The Mommy Insider. It looks like you are reading this post in your favorite RSS reader. Don't be shy..hop on over to check out our current giveaways, coupon codes, and to share your comments!