Dipstakes™ Sweepstakes

A dip is a wondrous thing, isn't it? There are so many different types to choose from and dips are so easy to prepare, all at a moment's notice. Start with simple veggies, crackers, meat, pretzels or chips and open a jar of Dean's® Dip and wait for kickoff.

With football season here and holiday entertaining beginning, it's a good idea to keep lots of dips on hand. Everybody has a favorite one. It's so easy to please everyone with dips, serve four or five different dips to accommodate all. Let them argue and scream all they want over the football teams, just make sure they're not arguing over the snacks.

Dean's® Dip comes in a large assortment of flavors; so large that you'll have trouble picking your favorite. Honey Mustard, Cheddar Cheese, French Onion, Ranch, Fiesta Flavors and Pretzel Dips are just a few of the selections you'll be presented with; which is your favorite?

Play the Dipstakes™ Sweepstakes and cast your vote in a weekly football challenge. Head to head combat over the best dip and the best football team will garner you entries to win an Ultimate Home Theater System. Lots of prizes on Facebook and everyone that votes is entered for weekly prizes like dip, BBQ grill or the coveted home entertainment system.

Super easy to play, just visit Facebook here and cast your vote.



Disclaimer: I was sent coupons to try Dean's® Dips , this in no way reflected my opinion of the product. Dean's® Dips are something I would serve to my family and guests and I think you'll like as well.

Cheeky and Knobby

From the 1960's , a cheeky half-mask
perfect for a ballroom masquerade.
I've been promised for two years by the mister that this year,
he will take ballroom dancing lessons with me

If you could or could have learned any type dance, which would it be?
My first love is ballet, then modern, then ballroom
My favorite dancers are Fred Astaire, Martha Graham and Sylvie Guillem
and I love masquerade balls

I also love old doorknobs. I had a collection of quite a few, unfortunately for me, my ex also loved the doorknobs.
A doorknob is a very important thing, it says a lot about the building and the room it graces.
The smooth, hard cold of alabaster says elegance to me.
Glass and crystal doorknobs say..."southern simplicity" to me, and I don't know why.
The metal (maybe brass?) doorknob, seems scary to me. Like maybe it belongs on an old barn shed.

To touch an old thing is such a different feeling, such a feeling of history and wonder.


It's Thursday already and that means
Vintage Thingies Thursday with
Colorado Lady

Snowball Cake from Kraft Food & Family

Do you subscribe to the Kraftfoods newsletter?
The new Holiday Edition recipes are out and you can browse the magazine online here

This Snowball Cake looks so simple yet festive. I can't wait to try and I'm sure my family feels the same. It looks just like the smaller version I used to jam in my mouth all at once.

Snowball Cake recipe here at
Kraft foods

Layered Sundried Tomato and Artichoke Dip

I just love sundried tomatoes, don't you?
Especially since all of my garden tomatoes are gone and we're back to anemic greenhouse tomatoes.

Mighty Leaf Tea Top Brew Mug

Stupid Pomegranate

I hate pomegranates.
Are you sure we're supposed to be eating this thing?
Cause I don't think so.
They didn't have pomegranates when my kids were little and I'm glad. Pomegranate looks like something that would appear in a diaper in whole form in the middle of the night. Pomegranate looks like something Jim Jones would serve on prayer meeting night.
Or a diseased clump of something surgeons scooped out of an organ.
Surely your mother warned you against eating seeds.

A fruit must meet certain criteria to make it through my door
These are my fruit rules:
1) All fruit needs to be easily peelable. If I am stuck in the wild, chances are I won't have a steak knife or the strength to carve. I don't want to have to work at eating natural crap. Save that for fancy cake and pie baking.
2) No fruit should stain. It's not worth the worry and there's the added expense of OxyClean. In the event said fruit is a stainable fruit, opt for freeze dried version instead.
3) All fruit must be able to keep someone alive for at least a week and consequently not shut down any organs. I believe we could live on a banana or blueberry diet if we are stuck in the wild.
4) A fruit should contain very few seeds, if any. If there are seeds in them, it probably means it hasn't fully developed. I look for seedless grapes, we spit watermelon seeds, seeds in oranges are downright annoying, the lovely banana has no seeds inside. If I want seeds, I'll visit the nursery.

I don't trust pomegranates ; all those magic powers they claim to have.
Speaking of pomegranates, have you seen the
Pomegranate NSO8?
It too has amazing capabilities.

Energizer/Susan G. Komen winner

Winner of the Energizer/Susan G Komen is commenter number 2, Peg from ...Pegs Play!
Congratulations Peg; check your email!
Thanks to everyone who played along and remember to buy as many pink Energizer batteries as you can!

Pride

Mr. Man takes great pride in his home.
Since he got his new leaf blower.
Before that, Mr. Man spent lots of time in his office, arranging folders and customizing icons on his Mac.

I did what I had to do, given what I had to work with.
I casually mentioned that if he were to see the yard as a desktop (wallpaper), he would be flabbergasted at it's state of affairs.
Now he looks upon the yard as a desktop and the plants, flowers and leaves as icons.

Three times a week, Mr. Man is out blowing leaves now.
He even blows the sidewalk and offers to blow others leaves. He gets disgusted with neighbors with more than ten leaves on their lawn. He says a few do look nice and natural.

The pride he's taken in his desktop-like yard has spilled all throughout the house. Since he doesn't care for indoor appliances, it is me that is forced to keep a clean home. That he takes pride in. Some days.
But usually only when someone comes over.

From the doorway, I hear the script, again.

"This house was constructed in 1942. As you can see, we've completely renovated the house. We've tried very hard to maintain the integrity of the era."

"Come with me", he says, "and look at the kitchen".
The kitchen that today seems as though I've not cleaned in three months

"Look at how these cabinets open"
Everything is going to crash out on the floor and I'll be forced to show my face, and now everyone knows
" Here, take a look here, in the closet"
Where I hung my dirty lingerie to handwash

"This dining room was in horrible shape, look at the wallpaper and molding now"
And hey, look at all the crumbs and dust all over the expensive table

"Oh you'd love the heater downstairs in the basement"
Where your dog crapped last night and I haven't had time to clean up yet

Oh yeah. Mr. Man takes great pride in his home.
It's just like his computer desktop.
It just needs a little attention sometimes.

Energizer Batteries & Charger, A Review & Contest

Batteries are a lot like cookies, aren't they?
You can never have too many.
At least, that's what I've always believed. And now I've got too many.
We have emergency stock batteries, camera batteries, flashlight batteries, batteries for toys and even hearing aid batteries. Not that anyone we know uses hearing aid batteries, but still, you never know when someone may go deaf.

It's all too confusing and cluttering; searching in the battery drawer.
Going to the store to select the right battery can be another big issue in itself.
What the heck does mAh mean anyway? And do I use the 2450 mAh or the 2600 mAh?

We also use rechargeable batteries and I'll bet you do as well. Rechargeable batteries are so handy and I feel better using those since rechargeable greatly reduces the number of batteries we all dispose of.
With Energizer's new capabilities, the widely used AA rechargeable battery now has increased charge cycles , longer retention and high capacity rate, at no increase in price!
The new rechargeable batteries can be charged up to 500 times and they yield up to 150 more charging cycles than previous Energizer ® 2450mAh batteries.


If you'd like to try the new Energizer®2450mAh Rechargeable batteries, you'll need a charger, won't you? Energizer® is so sure you will love them that they're offering Fractured Toy readers the chance to win both.

One winner will receive an Energizer® Compact (so handy!) Charger and also a set of the new Energizer® 2450mAh batteries.
Perfect for your introduction to rechargeable batteries and perfect for just about anyone's stocking or kitchen drawer..


Giveaway open to US shipping and entries only, please.
Winner is drawn using Random.org and will be contacted in an email. Winner has 72 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn.
Giveaway ends Nov. 23rd, 11 PM, EST.

Main Entry:
Visit Energizer® Batteries and choose a charger
Come back and tell us which battery charger would suit your needs the most.
Please leave exact name of charger.

Additional Entries:
Fan the Energizer Bunny on Facebook and leave your Facebook name in a comment for two additional entries
Follow Energizer Bunny on Twitter . Leave your Twitter name in comment for two extra entries
Tweet this giveaway with direct link to post for two additional entries. Leave link in comment please.

Disclaimer: Energizer® sent me the products reviewed at no charge, to test and review. Having received those in no way affected my opinion of products. As you can see by our battery drawer, we've discovered Energizer ® to be the best darn battery around!

Funky Monkey giveaway

What mom isn't in constant search of healthy snacks? Could there be one that transcends age barriers? Is there a snack that kids 5-95 can agree upon? Surely there is a snack out there that will not humiliate your teenager at the lunch table. What about a snack whose taste, shape and packaging appeals to all ages? Now there is!

Moms know that most "designer" snacks are quickly outgrown and what kids accepted yesterday, has become today's "baby" snack. Heaven forbid that someone see your fifth grader eating a princess or robot fruit snack! Funky Monkey is a universal scrumptious tasting snack that every age can agree on; it's our first choice snack!

With incredibly cool packaging on the outside and yummy tasting fruit snacks inside, Funky Monkey snacks will solve your snack search woes.
Available online at Amazon and in store at Whole Foods, Super Target, Kroger and Winn-Dixie, it's well worth hunting down the monkey.

As a matter of fact, my only "issue" with Funky Monkey is the inability to find in store easily. Funky Monkey has that aspect covered as well though. Available on their site is a downloadable request form for you to take in store to your grocery store manager. Since I don't care to mingle with my grocery store manager, the form made it simple for me to request that the Funky Monkey appear in my store. Get your request form here if you like.

There's an informative video on Funky Monkey that aired on CNBC about childhood obesity that's very interesting you may want to look also. Funky Monkey has also appeared on Lifetime previewing Funky Monkey Snacks on The Balancing Act.

I had tested and reviewed the snacks awhile ago (read here) and we enjoyed the selection offered at the time. At that time, we enjoyed Bananamon, Carnaval Mix, JiveALime and Purple Funk. These freeze dried snacks are always great tasting, USDA organic and a great alternative to chips, sticky sweets or even fruits. Since they are freeze dried, all the nutrients are preserved, unlike dried fruit. In the car on the run, at home anytime or in their lunch, they'll be pleased to find the Funky Monkey. It's the Fruit that Crunches™!

Now there's even more reason to celebrate with the monkey as there are three new flavors. The new additions are welcome as Apple is usually a surefire winner and I give it a four star! Yummy! You can now choose from Applemon, MangOJ and PinkPineapple in addition to the flavors mentioned afore. PinkPineapple has a kind of exotic taste (one of my favorites) and I think MangOJ is perfect for kids 5-95 that like orange. Personally, I dislike Mangoes and Oranges but if you like oranges, you'll love this flavor.

If you or your kids haven't tried yet, I think you'll be most impressed and if you've already experienced, you're sure to find another favorite with these new flavors.

Funky Monkey was kind enough to offer one extremely lucky winner a sampler pack, one bag of each flavor!
If you'd like to enter to win; here's the rules:

For your main and required entry, Follow Funky Monkey on Twitter or Fan on Facebook. Leave your Twitter or Facebook name in a comment so I can verify, please.

Extra entries available:
Twitter this giveaway (one time per day if you like) and leave link to your tweet in comment for one extra entry.
Subscribe to Fractured Toy for one extra entry.


Giveaway open to US shipping and entries only, please.
Winner is drawn using Random.org and will be contacted via email. You'll have 72 hrs to respond to my email or I'll need to draw a new winner.
Giveaway ends November 22, 11 PM, EST.


Disclaimer
Funky Monkey sent me one package of each new flavor to try. Receiving those packages in no way affects my review. We're just in love with a monkey :)

H.R. Pufnstuff Halloween

Tis Halloween, by decree of
H.R. Pufnstuff, The Mayor of Living Island

Go forth and collect sugar


phew. I did it.

El Tacodor game night

Dinnertime is always fun when taco's are on the menu but now El Tacodor™, the world's only
Family Taco Night Game, has made it even better.

Who say's dinnertime has to be dull and boring? Why not play a game at the table while everyone is diggin' in and preparing their masterpiece taco?

When it is taco night here, I start out early in the morning chopping all the vegetables, shredding cheese and preparing all the condiments. That way, when it's time to prepare dinner, all I need do is grab a box Old El Paso dinner kit out of the cupboard and I am all set. Two of us like soft tacos, one of us likes hard tacos and everyone loves tacos in general, so the kits are indispensable!

When the work's all done and the meal is on the table, it's time to have fun eating and playing the El Tacodor Dinner Game. Visit El Tacodor to download instructions, a scorecard and challenge sheet. On your turn, pick an ingredient category (cheese, lettuce, meat, etc.) and proceed with your challenge! It's okay to laugh, spill and (sometimes accidentally) crunch at this meal, just have fun with it.

The Cheese category was my favorite and my challenge was to pick a partner, name a trait of my partner that starts with these letters; S-P-I-C-Y. What fun! S is for Silly, P is for Pensive, I is for Intelligent, C for Cantankerous and of course, Y is where I got stuck. In a few of these challenges, you'll need a partner so if you've a small family, just invite the neighborhood over for Old El Paso and El Tacodor™!

Thanks to my My Blog Spark, I received the game info and cards, (2) two coupons to purchase Old El Paso dinner kits ( a staple in our house) and a $10 gift card to purchase other needs for dinner (lettuce, cheese, etc.). Though I received the same pack as you can win, that had no influence over my post. We just love taco's and turning taco night into family fun night was terrific!

~~~~~~~~~

If you'd like a chance to win 2 Old El Paso dinner kit coupons and a $10 giftcard,
here's the rules:

For your entry, please answer the following question
What is your favorite part of taco night?

Giveaway ends Nov. 10th at 11 PM, EST
US shipping and entry only please


Go forth, comment and play with your tacos.