Here’s a spring-timely giveaway and review for you, this one sponsored by Combat and their new Combat Killing Bait Strips. (You have your choice: Ant, or Roach.)

They sent over some Ant Killing Bait Strips to try to get rid of ants that keep popping up in different parts of the house every spring. These pop apart into five individual strips (but apparently in the roach version you get ten strips — which makes sense, they are harder to get rid of!).

So you remove the protective covering from the adhesive side. You stick these things wherever needed, and then you pull off the protective covering on the other side so as the ants find the bait and carry it back to their home to get to the source of your infestation and destroy the nest. Here, I stuck it under my kitchen sink — and see how it has an unobtrusive design, so you can fit it in where needed?

This is not exactly where I currently have ants, but it says keep out of reach of children and pets. I have cats, and don’t want to stick this anywhere they can get their little paws into. Likewise, be careful with these if you have curious toddlers around, and stick well out of their reach, on the inside of a locked cabinet, etc. (I did try the inside of my cabinet door, first, but the adhesive didn’t hold well and it kept falling down.)

You can find these Killing Bait Strips everywhere from Walmart to Home Depot to Target to Dollar General, if you want to try them out for yourself.

And hey look — they have their own sweepstakes

Head over to the Combat $1000 giveaway here and you could win one of three $250 Visa gift cards or one $1000 grand prize Visa gift card. Then, enter below to win your own Killing Bait Strips!

On to the giveaway

Wait, what can you win?

• One winner will receive their choice of either Combat Ant Killing Bait Strips or Roach Killing Bait Strips.

How do you enter?

• Comment here and let us know what you think of the “strips” concept as compared to other forms of insect control.

One entry per comment; one comment per person; each comment is an entry. Enter through 11:59 PM Central on 5/1/13. U.S. residents only. If you are reading this through email or Facebook, please click on the title of this post (up at the top where it says “Giveaway and Review — Combat”) to go back to the blog. Scroll down to the bottom of the post and you will see a box to enter your comment; just comment there to enter.

Email and Facebook entries will not be counted. If you are reading the Mashup Mom homepage on the web, look at the bottom of this post where it says “___ comments.” Click on that to get the box to enter your own comment.

The fine print

Prizing and information for this giveaway has been provided by Combat brand. Combat brand provided me with a sample of Combat Killing Bait Strips in exchange for a review; however, all opinions here are my own. The winner will be chosen on or around 5/2/13 through random number generation at random.org and will have 48 hours to respond to notification email; Mashup Mom reserves the right to choose a runner up if no response is received in that timeframe.

No purchase necessary. The number of eligible entries receives determines the odds of winning. Void where prohibited.

Del Monte is running a fabulous new Find Your Inner Chef contest, and you should check it out! Daily prizes, including gift cards, kitchen tools, and small appliances. And, Del Monte Fresh Produce Facebook visitors will have the chance to “like” submitted recipes.

Those with the most likes become weekly finalists — AND, these finalists will then have the opportunity to compete at a Cook Off challenge competition in Miami. The grand prize winner gets a three-day retreat for two to one of the Culinary Institute of America locations. (Prize includes airfare, hotel accommodations, and ground transportation.)

How cool is that? And, I know you guys love trying out different recipes, since we talk about them here all the time, so it would be even cooler if one of us won.

Here, you can either use a favorite family recipe or create an entirely new recipe that incorporates Del Monte fresh fruits and vegetables. Also perfect, since we’ve again just been talking in comments about the stores we visit for fresh produce and a lot of people’s shifts in shopping habits towards cooking with more fresh ingredients. Share what you’ve come up with along these lines with Del Monte, and we could see you headed to Miami!

So how do you enter their contest?

Head over to the Del Monte Fresh Produce Facebook page, like them, and click the “Inner Chef Contest” tab. Then, you just enter to win by filling out the entry form and posting your original recipe using Del Monte fresh produce, sit back, and watch the “likes” come in. (Plus, a great chance to check out the recipes submitted by other contestants to get new ideas for using your own Del Monte fresh produce, right!?)

• The contest started on April 15, and Kara from Fresno, CA was last week’s winner. Stay tuned for the next three — and be sure to enter your best fresh produce recipe for the chance to win yourself!

Then, enter here for more Del Monte Fun

Seriously — FUN! This giveaway cracks me up, and I hope you guys enjoy it too. Because you could win…

Wait, what can you win?

• TEN — yes, TEN lucky Mashup Mom readers will win a one-size-fits-all Del Monte BANANA SUIT, as well as $.50 off Del Monte fresh produce coupon. How fun — and funny — is that?! Awesome!

How do you enter?

• Comment here and let me know where you would wear your shiny new BANANA SUIT first!

One entry per comment; one comment per person; each comment is an entry. Enter through 11:59 PM Central on 5/4/13. U.S. residents only. If you are reading this through email or Facebook, please click on the title of this post (up at the top where it says “Del Monte”) to go back to the blog. Scroll down to the bottom of the post and you will see a box to enter your comment; just comment there to enter.

Email and Facebook entries will not be counted. If you are reading the Mashup Mom homepage on the web, look at the bottom of this post where it says “___ comments.” Click on that to get the box to enter your own comment.

The fine print

Prizing and information for this giveaway has been provided by Del Monte. This post has been sponsored by Del Monte; however, all opinions here are my own. The winner will be chosen on or around 5/4/13 through random number generation at random.org and will have 48 hours to respond to notification email; Mashup Mom reserves the right to choose a runner up if no response is received in that timeframe.

No purchase necessary. The number of eligible entries receives determines the odds of winning. Void where prohibited.

This one is sponsored by Soft Scrub 4-in-1 toilet care, and they sent over a 4-in-1 toilet care with bleach product to try. This is supposed to help clean, prevent buildup, fight toilet ring, and freshen, for up to four weeks. I’m always game for anything that promises to reduce toilet scrubbing, so gave it a try.

So you hook the rim hanger over the edge of your toilet bowl, where the water hits it when you flush. Note: It says all over it to keep away from children and animals, harmful if swallowed, etc. — so I would not use this in a house with curious toddlers, and I’m not so sure it’s a good idea for our toilet-bowl drinking cats, either, since my kids are never going to remember to keep the lid closed.

I flushed a few times. Didn’t look like this toilet bowl cleaner did anything at all for the perma-ring on our very old toilet, but boy does it smell “fresh.” Very strong bleachy-y clean-y smell. So if you like that permanent clean bathroom smell, this may be a good product for you. Sign up for email updates on this and other Soft Scrub products on their site.

Enter their Brighter  Bowl sweepstakes, too

• Soft Scrub is running a sweepstakes: One person wins $1,000, while 250 second place winners will get to try NEW Soft Scrub 4-in-1 Toilet care for free. Enter theirs, then below, enter mine (which probably has better odds, lol).

On to the giveaway

What can you win?

• One lucky Mashup Mom reader will win three coupons, each good for ANY ONE FREE Soft Scrub product up to $3.39 and good through 12/31/13.

How do you enter?

• Comment here and let us know what you think of the 4-in-1 toilet care idea.

One entry per comment; one comment per person; each comment is an entry. Enter through 11:59 PM Central on 4/23/13. U.S. residents only. If you are reading this through email or Facebook, please click on the title of this post (up at the top where it says “Giveaway — Soft Scrub”) to go back to the blog. Scroll down to the bottom of the post and you will see a box to enter your comment; just comment there to enter.

Email and Facebook entries will not be counted. If you are reading the Mashup Mom homepage on the web, look at the bottom of this post where it says “___ comments.” Click on that to get the box to enter your own comment.

The fine print

Prizing and information for this giveaway has been provided by Soft Scrub. I received a 4-in-1 toilet care product to review; however, all opinions here are my own. The winner will be chosen on or around 4/24/13 through random number generation at random.org and will have 48 hours to respond to notification email; Mashup Mom reserves the right to choose a runner up if no response is received in that timeframe.

No purchase necessary. The number of eligible entries receives determines the odds of winning. Void where prohibited.

Here’s a new Gorton’s giveaway for you! I received coupons for purposes of this review, and this one is sponsored by Gorton’s, which has 20 seafood products 200 calories per serving or less.

The challenge here: To pick one of these products and create a recipe with it that we’d never tried before. So, I grabbed a box of Gorton’s garlic butter shrimp scampi…

Sauteed up some onion, mushrooms, broccoli, and sweet peppers. Removed them from the pan.

Cooked up the scampi… and pulled some shrimp out for Mr. 6, who wanted his “separate” — you remember that whole “foods don’t touch” phase, right? Mixed the rest together, and whammo! Vegetable shrimp scampi. It was pretty good, and fed me and Mr. 6 nicely for lunch the other day. Sometimes when you’re in a hurry it’s nice to use something pre-made like this as a base, and then add your own touches.

But wait, there’s more

Well, they did send more than one set of coupons. So we also made a dinner out of it with Gorton’s “Simply Bake,” which is basically fish and sauce in foil pouches for oven baking/steaming.

Food allergies? Careful here. I bought two different kinds, because only one kind of tilapia appeared not to contain milk.

Left, tilapia, right, salmon. The whole family liked these, but the calories appear to be kept down partially by portion size — even Mr. 6 ate his entire piece in about a minute and asked for more. So be aware that the portions are small when deciding what to purchase to feed your family.

They also contain quite a bit of sodium. Above, the nutrition label for the salmon — one small piece has 20% of your daily recommended value. So as always, read labels if you are watching your sodium intake.

Bonus

But, each box had a coupon for next time!

Check em out

You can check out more about Gorton’s on Facebook, twitter, and Pinterest to get inspiration for your own seafood challenge recipes.

On to the giveaway

What can you win?

One lucky Mashup Mom reader will win a Gorton’s prize pack: Five coupons for FREE Gorton’s products, a branded spatula, oven mitts, and apron.

How do you enter?

• Visit Gorton’s, take a look at the products, and let me know in a comment here what you’d make!

One entry per comment; one comment per person; each comment is an entry. Enter through 11:59 PM Central on 4/16/13. U.S. residents only. If you are reading this through email or Facebook, please click on the title of this post (up at the top where it says “Giveaway — Gorton’s”) to go back to the blog. Scroll down to the bottom of the post and you will see a box to enter your comment; just comment there to enter.

Email and Facebook entries will not be counted. If you are reading the Mashup Mom homepage on the web, look at the bottom of this post where it says “___ comments.” Click on that to get the box to enter your own comment.

The fine print

Prizing and information for this giveaway has been provided by Gorton’s. I received a prize pack of my own for purposes of this review; however, all opinions here are my own. The winner will be chosen on or around 4/17/13 through random number generation at random.org and will have 48 hours to respond to notification email; Mashup Mom reserves the right to choose a runner up if no response is received in that timeframe.

No purchase necessary. The number of eligible entries receives determines the odds of winning. Void where prohibited.

We had so much fun with the last $50 Groupon gift card giveaway — so let’s do it again! You, yes you, could be the winner of a shiny new $50 Groupon Gift Card to put toward whatever deal (or deals!) strike your fancy. $50 on Groupon can go a long way, right?

So Groupon changes up every day, right? But here are a couple of my favorites from today, which might change by the time you read this — browse through and see what’s good for you, too.

• $29.99 for a pair of Seven7 women’s jeans — shipped!
• $19.99 shipped for a Bible storybook bundle for kids.
• Numi organic flowering tea gift set in a bamboo case, $20.99 shipped.

And for the Chicagoland locals today…

Just a few highlights:

• $15 for a movie and popcorn for two at the New 400 Theatres in Rogers Park.
• $5 for $10 at Anthony’s Italian Ice in Lakeview.
• $10 for $20 frozen yogurt and more at YoGo Station in Oak Park.
• $15 for $30 sushi and drinks at SakeZake in Grayslake.
• Up to half off Girls Night: The Musical.
• HUGE discount on paintball at CPX Sports in Joliet.

But those are just a few of my current favorites

And you might pick something totally different. Browse your own local Groupon here, and see what deals you can find.

On to the giveaway

What can you win?

One lucky Mashup Mom reader will win a $50 Groupon Gift Card! Important: I will be sending the gift card via email. Please enter with an email address that you check regularly; the gift card will be sent to the email address the winner entered with.

How do you enter?

• Browse around Groupon for your area and let me know — if you had that $50 in hand today, what deal would you pick up?

One entry per comment; one comment per person; each comment is an entry. Enter through 11:59 PM Central on 4/30/13. U.S. residents only. If you are reading this through email or Facebook, please click on the title of this post (up at the top where it says “Guess what? …”) to go back to the blog. Scroll down to the bottom of the post and you will see a box to enter your comment; just comment there to enter.

Email and Facebook entries will not be counted. If you are reading the Mashup Mom homepage on the web, look at the bottom of this post where it says “___ comments.” Click on that to get the box to enter your own comment.

The fine print

Prizing and information for this giveaway has been provided by Groupon. I was not compensated for this post, and all opinions here are my own. The winner will be chosen on or around 5/1/13 through random number generation at random.org and will have 48 hours to respond to notification email; Mashup Mom reserves the right to choose a runner up if no response is received in that timeframe.

No purchase necessary. The number of eligible entries receives determines the odds of winning. Void where prohibited.

Here’s what I got with my free $5.00 Starbucks gift card for signing up for AT&T Alerts (with a whopping $.74 left over! lol). Alas, they are out of gift cards — but you can still sign up for alerts, AND, it is not too late to enter my AT&T Alerts $50 Visa gift card giveaway! That’d buy a decent amount of coffee. And morning buns.

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cottonelle for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

You may recall that last month Cottonelle gave me the opportunity to test my own cleaning logic with Clean Care toilet paper plus flushable wipes, the idea here being that you wouldn’t wash anything else with just a dry cloth, so let’s bring that logic to the bathroom. So, let’s see how that’s playing out!

(One note: We did stick the wipes to the wall with the included wall hanger. A couple of you mentioned in comments that this didn’t last long on your own wall, and asked how it worked on ours — luckily I’d stuck it to tile, because it did come crashing down after a few days. So be careful sticking to paint/drywall, especially if you have little kids pulling on yours. The wipes are now sitting comfortably on the back of the toilet, instead.)

But one other cool note on the wipes — I never would have thought to look, but check it out: They have Box Tops for Education on the back! So be sure not to toss your wrapper accidentally before clipping that.

The test…

Well, now that we’ve been testing out the toilet paper + wipes combo for a while, it’s time to do our own Cottonelle Wash Test and see how well we can clean without the combination of cloth and water!

So we had this handy plate o’ peanut butter (from a kid who wanted to dip veggies but left a lot over).

Let’s see: How well does it work to clean this up with just a paper towel — anyone want to venture a guess?

Yeah. That would be: Not very…! lol

Through June 30th, 2013, you can visit Cottonelle.com to watch videos of more amusing wash tests and submit your entry for a chance to win one of four grand prizes: A $10,000 bathroom makeover.

On to the giveaway

Check out another fun Cleaning Logic Video above, and then you’ll want to visit Cottonelle on Facebook and Cottonelle on Twitter for more on testing your own cleaning logic. Also check out their April Fool’s twitter status while you are over there — hilarious!

Then, enter to win your own Cottonelle care package containing the Cottonelle Fresh Care fluishable wipes and Cottonelle Clean Care toilet paper! Just comment here and let us know WHY you’d like to win — and be sure to leave your email address inside your comment for this one, since they’ll be picking the winner from comments and contacting you from the address provided. Contest ends on 4/30/13.

sweepstakes rules

Here’s a neat new service for you guys — and a giveaway, to boot! Introducing: New AT&T Alerts! This is kind of cool, and text messages to and from AT&T alerts are free for A&T customers nationwide, so no worries about incurring extra charges. (Not currently available, however, for the iPhone 5.)

• Those who are quick to sign up will receive a $5 gift card code for a major national coffee store, while supplies last!

So what are AT&T Alerts? This is a very cool concept, and right up our alley here. Using geolocation, AT&T will text you when you get near a deal! Opt-in to the service and begin receiving discounts, rewards and offers via text message when you are near participating retailers and brands.

• Here’s a partial list of participating retailers and brands, and the list is growing: Apple Vacations, Banana Republic, Chuck E. Cheese’s, Discover, Duracell, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Gap, Haggar, InterContinental Hotels Group, JCPenney, Kiehl’s, Meguiar’s, Motorola, Last Call by Neiman Marcus, PayAnywhere, PayPal, Qdoba and Zales.

When you sign up, or when you log back in, you can also customize AT&T Alerts by telling it what types of offers you would like to receive.

• I like that it’s location based — why not get alerts while you’re out and about? Maybe I’ll go drive by Qdoba later and see what happens… Plus, I know that some of you have been unable to take advantage of some of the smartphone offers, but this one just requires texting!

On to the giveaway

What can you win?

• One lucky Mashup Mom reader will win a $50 Visa gift card!

How do you enter?

• Comment here and let me know what you think about AT&T Alerts — did you sign up yourself?

One entry per comment; one comment per person; each comment is an entry. Enter through 11:59 PM Central on 4/5/13. U.S. residents only, please. If you are reading this through email or Facebook, please click on the title of this post (up at the top where it says “Sign up for…”) to go back to the blog. Scroll down to the bottom of the post and you will see a box to enter your comment; just comment there to enter.

Email and Facebook entries will not be counted. If you are reading the Mashup Mom homepage on the web, look at the bottom of this post where it says “___ comments.” Click on that to get the box to enter your own comment.

The fine print

Prizing and information for this giveaway has been provided by AT&T. I was compensated for this post; however, all opinions here are my own. The winner will be chosen on or around 4/6/13 through random number generation at random.org and will have 48 hours to respond to notification email; Mashup Mom reserves the right to choose a runner up if no response is received in that timeframe.

No purchase necessary. The number of eligible entries receives determines the odds of winning. Void where prohibited.

Here’s a new product for you — Soft Scrub Advanced Surface, which is a rinse-free gel intended to be a better way to clean premium surfaces such as granite and marble countertops, glass cooktops, and stainless steel. This is an “apply and wipe” cleaner, with no rinsing required; just apply and wipe with a damp sponge or paper towel.

Well, I have granite countertops, so just gave it a try on this stain of unknown origin on the left here. It’s hard to see because of the glare, but yes: It worked. Did it work better than any other cleaner I have tried? Honestly, not so much, and it kind of smudged a little. I much prefer the Soft Scrub Total.

They’re also having a sweepstakes

• Enter the Don’t Worry, Be Happy Sweepstakes over on the Soft Scrub site for a chance to win $1000 and a year’s supply of Soft Scrub coupons, then enter my giveaway below for a chance to try out Soft Scrub for yourself!

On to the giveaway

What can you win?

One lucky Mashup Mom reader will win three coupons, each good for one FREE ANY Soft Scrub product up to $3.39, exp. 12/31/13.

How do you enter?

• Comment here and let me know what you think of the Advanced Surface gel idea — and what surface you’d try it on.

One entry per comment; one comment per person; each comment is an entry. Enter through 11:59 PM Central on 3/29/13. U.S. residents only, please. If you are reading this through email or Facebook, please click on the title of this post (up at the top where it says “Giveaway — Soft Scrub…”) to go back to the blog. Scroll down to the bottom of the post and you will see a box to enter your comment; just comment there to enter.

Email and Facebook entries will not be counted. If you are reading the Mashup Mom homepage on the web, look at the bottom of this post where it says “___ comments.” Click on that to get the box to enter your own comment.

The fine print

Prizing and information for this giveaway has been provided by Soft Scrub. I received a product for purposes of this review; however, all opinions here are my own. The winner will be chosen on or around 3/30/13 through random number generation at random.org and will have 48 hours to respond to notification email; Mashup Mom reserves the right to choose a runner up if no response is received in that timeframe.

No purchase necessary. The number of eligible entries receives determines the odds of winning. Void where prohibited.

You guys should check out Origami Owl’s new Tagged line of customizable jewelry. These are neat — not only are they made in the USA, they combine pewter tags with Earth Elements of your choice to make your very own statement! Mine came in this cute little gift bag, above.

They sent over a necklace for review, which is adjustable length as shown here. The tags also have a nice weight to them; this is surprisingly solid for such a delicate-looking piece of jewelry.

It’s surprisingly difficult to take a picture of yourself wearing a necklace, by the way! So please ignore my deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression, and focus on the nice necklace. I like that this is adjustable, since I’m short and longer necklaces often hang strangely on me. It also makes a happy little jingling sound, but quietly enough that it’s not distracting. I’ve been wearing mine for the past few days, and it makes me smile.

On to the giveaway

What can you win?

One lucky Mashup Mom reader will win their own customized Origami Owl Tagged necklace: You’ll be able to choose one charm from each category: empowerment tag, earth element, and inspiration tag.

How do you enter?

• Comment here and let me know how you’d customize your own necklace — which charms and earth element would you choose?

One entry per comment; one comment per person; each comment is an entry. Enter through 11:59 PM Central on 3/29/13. U.S. residents only, please. If you are reading this through email or Facebook, please click on the title of this post (up at the top where it says “Review and giveaway — Origami Owl…”) to go back to the blog. Scroll down to the bottom of the post and you will see a box to enter your comment; just comment there to enter.

Email and Facebook entries will not be counted. If you are reading the Mashup Mom homepage on the web, look at the bottom of this post where it says “___ comments.” Click on that to get the box to enter your own comment.

The fine print

Prizing and information for this giveaway has been provided by Origami Owl. I received a product for purposes of this review; however, all opinions here are my own. The winner will be chosen on or around 3/30/13 through random number generation at random.org and will have 48 hours to respond to notification email; Mashup Mom reserves the right to choose a runner up if no response is received in that timeframe.

No purchase necessary. The number of eligible entries receives determines the odds of winning. Void where prohibited.

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