Mommy Has to Work

12 Cookie & Bar Recipes

December 15, 2014 By Anne

This is a sponsored post with Foodie.com

Making Christmas cookies has always been a part of my life. My mother made this a tradition and I’ve followed through and continued this tradition with my stepsons and now my own children. Sometimes we get a group together and sometimes I do them by myself but I always get them done! 🙂

I recently did my first ever cookie exchange and I’ve included some of those cookies here in my collection. I hope you enjoy!

Anne

I'm a mother of 2 who likes to get involved in too much! Besides writing here I started a non-profit, I'm on the PTO board, very active in my community and volunteer in the school. I enjoy music, reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family. We just adopted our 3rd cat and love them all!

Canon is my Favorite Brand at Best Buy @BestBuy #CanonatBestBuy

December 12, 2014 By Anne

The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.

I have always been a Cannon fan. All of the cameras I have owned have been Cannon. About two years ago I purchased my first DSLR, the EOS Rebel T4 and I bought it at Best Buy! I have been loving it. Now I find out that the ESO Rebel T5i is out and I just might want to upgrade.

The Cannon Rebels are great for hobby photographers. They take awesome, crisp, clean pictures. I love taking my camera with me where ever I go to capture that perfect or not so perfect moment.

Best Buy is the ultimate destination for the latest cameras to capture your holiday memories. The Canon EOS Rebel T5i is one of the best-selling DSLRs. This camera makes advanced photography easy and fun, and gives you exceptional image quality, along with a host of features to enhance your creative expression.

• Capture Hollywood caliber full HD video
• Continuous autofocus while taking HD video
• Features an 18.0-megapixel CMOS sensor and a DIGIC 5 image processor to ensure vivid, crystal-clear images.
• The 3″ vari-angle touch screen simplifies navigation.

Save $150 on the Canon EOS Rebel T5i at Best Buy*. Visit Best Buy to learn more. *offer valid 12/7-12/20″

Are you doing your shopping at Best Buy this season? What a re you getting?

Anne

Animalz Headphones – Holiday Gift Guide (Giveaway)

December 10, 2014 By Anne

Looking for a unique gift? Take a look at Animalz Headphones. They are adorable!

Cute, lovable and lightweight enough to take anywhere, Animalz by ReTrak headphones are a fun, furry accessory for family road trips, airplane rides and casual listening. Designed for little ears with volume-limiting technology and a retractable cord for tangle-free travel and storage, Animalz are available in six fun fabric animal designs.

We were sent the Skate Monkeez and let me tell you, there are too cute!

I love the volume limiter feature. Animalz’ sets the maximum limit at 85 decibels, the recommended setting according to the Journal of Pediatrics. Watch this video to see how much fun kids have wearing them while enjoying their favorite tunes, shows or learning activities: http://youtu.be/h87BzsK8K9o.

We are taking a 5 hour road trip in January and my daughter will just love these as will I! She is 6 years old and the “normal” plug headphones never fit her right no matter what size we use.

Choose from Biker Bearz, DJ Panda, Jam Bunneez, Scuba Shark, Skate Monkeez and Surf Dawgz*. Kids can now enjoy listening to their own music, playing games or watching movies all with their favorite Animalz!

Volume-Limiting Technology

According to the Journal of Pediatrics, more than 10 percent of children ages 9 to 19 have noise-induced hearing loss. Prolonged exposure to sound louder than 85 decibels can damage a child’s ears, causing permanent hearing impairment. With Animalz’s volume-limiting technology parents don’t have to worry about overexposure for developing, sensitive ears.

Tangle-Free Storage

Animalz headphones offer crystal-clear sound quality and are equipped with a built-in 3.2-foot retractable cable. Designed with children in mind, kids can simply retract the cord once they’re done listening. The cord comes with a gold-plated 3.5 mm connector that is universally compatible and works with most portable devices. Manufactured with high-quality components, Animalz have a soft fuzzy headband and ear pads with a lightweight design that are comfortable to wear. Built for years of fun, Animalz are backed by a lifetime warranty!

Where to Buy

Animalz are available at more than 15 U.S. retailers including Amazon.com®, Best Buy® and Toys“R”Us®. For a full list visit: http://myretrak.com/ANiMALZ/.

I have the Biker Bearz set to give to one Mommy Has to Work reader!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Anne

Be Green This Holiday Season! #greenliving

December 10, 2014 By Anne

Everyone is busy during the holidays and there is so much to do. However take a moment to consider what you can do to make a difference on our environment. During the holidays, Americans create an extra million tons of waste each week and we boost our energy consumption by 27%. We purchase over 2.6 billion holiday cards and half of the paper Americans consume yearly is used to wrap and decorate products.
Below are some simple things we can do to help reduce our impact and protect our natural resources or our children and generations to come:
* Recycle your Christmas tree by leaving it out for curbside recycling. Please remove decorations and tinsel beforehand. Or you may be able to take it to a local mulch company to be recycled into mulch. One year, we took ours in and received a free bag of mulch in return.
* During the year, collect paper goods that you can later use for wrapping. I have tons of brown packing paper that I smooth out and stamp. It looks so pretty! You can also get creative and use the comic pages, old maps or re-use gift bags.
* Save boxes you might get in the mail or from products and use them instead of buying boxes. I love doing this! I might put a gift card in a odd shaped box. My mom uses food boxes and cereal boxes. They are great for clothes or movies.
* Recycle or re-use all the paper and boxes used for the gift you receive.
* Don’t forget all the plastic containers that come with all those toys. That can all be recycled.
* Give gifts that require little or no packaging and consider the durability of a product before buying it. Buying cheaper items often mean they will wear out faster. Personally, I asked my mom to no longer buy dollar store items for my children. I’d rather her out that money into a movie or books that my children will more out of and last longer.
* Purchase LED lights. LED lights use 90% less energy than traditional lights. I still have some traditional lights but all w lights purchased are LED.
* Eat up all those leftovers from all those holiday celebrations! More food goes into the garbage during the holiday than any other time of the year.

What do you do to be green at this time of year?

Anne

Bonefish Grill $10 Off

December 10, 2014 By Anne

The Fresh Fish Experts at Bonefish Grill are continuing to celebrate the holiday season in a big way by offering a $10 gift to you now through December 30.

While you’re there, savor our decadent dishes from our new Colossal Winter Menu featuring favorites like Lobster Stuffed Shrimp with a creamy lobster and shrimp Imperial stuffing, succulent King Crab Legs, and Whole Grilled Mediterranean Branzino stuffed with citrus and served with a Mediterranean sofrito and arugula almond grains salad. To embrace the season and all its frost, sip one of Bonefish Grill’s Winter cocktails including the Cold Snap Blackberry Frost served in a glass made entirely of ice, mixed with freshly muddled blackberries, blood orange liqueur, vodka and fresh lemon juice or the winter-time favorite Winter White Cosmo, mixed with St. Germain Elderflower liqueur, white cranberry juice and fresh lime.

$10 gift for you and yours: http://bit.ly/12hXY3i