Rayovac Powers Your Summer Promotion and Twitter Event

From June 21 to July 20 you can enter the Rayovac Powers Your Summer Promotion. You only have to answer the daily question which is about how you will power your fun this summer. You can win cameras, bikes, camping supplies, or a summer supply of Rayovac batteries! It was very easy to enter, and it took less than a minute! You must be a US resident and 18 or older at the time of entry.

There will be a twitter party to support the exciting Rayovac Powers Your Summer Promotion. It will feature more than 20 fun giveaways from Rayovac ranging from a summer supply of Rayovac Batteries to $50 Target Gift Cards.

Rayovac Powers Your Vacation Summer Promotion Twitter Event
Date: Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Time: 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. CST
Location: #rayovac
Follow: @Rayovac_Battery, @5minutesformom, @CirclePRMary


The first 99 bloggers to promote the Rayovac Powers Your Summer Promotion won a prize package from Rayovac. The first 99 bloggers to promote the Rayovac Powers Your Summer Twitter Event won a prize package from Rayovac.

What’s For Dinner? Menu Planning Tips for Busy Moms

Dinner is the last meal of the day and a time when families can get together and discuss their day. It is also a hectic meal for busy moms who are just getting off of work or who have been busy with other activities all day. If you are a busy mom or you know a busy mom, here are some menu planning tips to help make dinner meals easy and even fun.

1. Schedule your meals a week in advance. This is one of the most important planning tips for meals. Knowing what you are going to eat throughout the week means less chance that you will stop off at the closest fast food joint for a convenient, but unhealthy meal. Decide on the last day of the previous week (let’s say Saturday for the sake of argument) what the menu will be for the following week. Create your shopping list from the list of ingredients to avoid buying what you don’t need at the grocery store.

2. Look for bargains. Clip coupons, read advertising circulars and the like to decide where the best grocery to shop is for your menu items. If one ingredient is a common denominator in many meals, consider buying in bulk to save money. Common staples like milk, eggs, bread and sugar can be bought in bulk as well. Some stores will have double or triple coupon days when you can save even more.

3. Search online. After a while your family will get tired of chicken and rice every Thursday. You can get into a menu rut sometimes. Use the Internet to search for new and exciting recipes. Learn to put a twist on old recipes for a new taste.

4. Have a leftover night. After preparing meals for five or six days, there is bound to be some food left over. Designate one night to be leftover night and let everyone mix and match for dinner. It saves mom from having to throw away any food.

5. Cook your meals in advance. After deciding on a menu plan for the week, go ahead and fix as many meals as you can. Choose a day when the entire family can help like Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon. Each person can take one meal and fix it for the following week. Once everything has cooled, store it in sealed containers or casserole dishes to be frozen until the night it is needed.

6. Do prep work in advance. All of the meals can’t be cooked at once. Some foods just taste better freshly prepared. For them, so as much prep work in advance as you can. Enlist your kids to help chop (give them the kitchen shears instead) vegetables, dice cooked meat and mix together dry ingredients. The night of the meal, all that is needed is to add the wet ingredients and bake.

Meal time doesn’t have to be all on mom. The entire family can help with dinner so it is a relaxing meal for everyone.

Want to learn more? You can get a free ebook Menu Planning For Today's Busy Family.

5 Savings Tips for Losing Weight

Dieting is big business! Watch only a few moments of late night television and you’ll be barraged with ads for fat burning creams, diet pills and the latest craze in exercise gimmickry. Don’t be fooled! You can successfully slim down this summer without spending money on needless items with our 5 savings tips for weight loss.

1. Skip the gym, hit the pavement.
Gym memberships are expensive and they can be almost impossible to cancel without having to pay a large early cancellation fee. Skip the gym, throw open the front door and get outside! During the warmth of summer, your exercise activities are nearly endless. You can walk, run, bike, play badminton, throw a Frisbee around, swim, play croquet, garden, mow the lawn, or take a hike. All of these activities are free! Playing tag with your kids in the backyard burns up to 200 calories an hour. The only thing you have to lose is a little of you. Get moving!

If you feel you must join a gym, watch for free membership trial periods offered by local gyms and specials on memberships. Also, check out your local YMCA and YWCA.

2. Join an online fitness support group.
Research has shown than some people are more inclined to lose weight using the buddy system. Online fitness support groups will help you log daily food intake, make exercise goals and connect with other people who are also trying to shed pounds. Check out these free online support groups Spark People, Daily Burn, and My Fitness Pal.

3. Buy used fitness equipment.
Exercise machines don’t have to be expensive. Shop Goodwill, yard sales, Craigslist and Freecycle for used weight benches and free weights, bicycles, trampolines, stair climbers, and more. Even better, swap equipment with friends and family members! Do you have an old bike that someone in your family has outgrown? Trade it for an exercise bike.


4. Buy in season.
Buy vegetables and other produce items only when in season. Produce will be cheaper, fresher and more nutrient rich. Visit your local Farmer’s Market for weekly sales, join a food co-op or meet a local farmer who will deliver items right to your door. When you must buy out of season, always purchase frozen fruits and vegetables instead of canned goods. Frozen vegetables retain their nutrients, have no added salt or preservatives and can be kept for long periods of time in the freezer without spoiling.

5. Use your library.
Take a trip to your local library for exercises DVDs and videos, healthy cookbooks and weight loss magazines and books. If you find a DVD or cookbook you like, you can always buy it later. Sample for free!

Now, what are you waiting for? Get moving!




5 Savings Tips for Losing Weight was originally posted on the Savebrite.com blog. It was posted with permission of Francessca De Jesus from Savebrite.com.

RaceTrac Freefill Cup

I was asked to pass a good deal on to my readers. Do you have a RaceTrac where you live? We don't have one here. :( According to their site they are currently located in 5 states in the southeast: Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

If you live there you will want to check out the new RaceTrac Freefill Cup. For only $6.99 at your local RaceTrac location, this cool cup entitles you to FREE refills from their impressive fountain for the entire summer until August 1st.

I did not receive any compensation or this post. I was entered in a contest for posting.