New winner!

I didn't hear back from the first winner of the last Visa $100 Gift Card from BlogHer/Kellogg's, so it's time to name a different winner!



Congrats to susan1215, who wrote, "On Christmas mornings I make cinnamon rolls and breakfast casserole". Enjoy the gift card, Susan! BlogHer will be contacting you about getting the gift card out to you.

Kellogg's $100 winner!

Well, we have a winner for the last Kellogg's/BlogHer $100 Visa Gift Card, but...I don't know how to contact her! If this is you, please email me at cbethblog@gmail.com. Thanks!



The winner is Kristi...and I don't have a way to contact her! Here's what she wrote:

We have breakfast casserole and french toast on Christmas morning...after presents and stockings.

Thinking we'll add a couple of other special breakfasts in the coming year! This contest has sparked some creativity!

Kristi, I'll need to hear from you by 9:30 a.m. Pacific Time on 11/7, I'll need to choose another winner.

A special breakfast tradition

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

Psst...Be sure to keep reading 'til the end for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card! Contest is now over.

It's been fun talking about breakfast, bowls, and mornings with you all! This is the last Mom's Breakfast Club post, and I've been glad to share this blog series with you! Wish we could all sit down together and have some real breakfast together. (Currently my daughter and I are loving Kellogg's Special K Low Fat Granola. Don't let the words "low fat" scare you away--it's good.)

For this week I'm supposed to write about any yearly traditions our family has with breakfast--maybe a special breakfast on a special day. Sounds like an easy topic--except we don't have any traditions like that!

So I got to thinking.... Every tradition has a "first time," so what could I do this year that might become an annual occurrence? We'll be visiting with lots of relatives at Christmas, and I really think it would be fun to make something special for all of them.

Enter one of my favorite recipes...Blueberry Streusel Bread.



I have two versions of the recipe on my blog--the original version, and the whole wheat version. Both are fantastic. I even have an idea for improving on the recipe. Instead of using plain oatmeal in the streusel, what if I used some Kellogg's Special K Low Fat Granola? I think it would give an extra delicious crunch to the bread...not to mention the extra nutrients added by the fortified cereal!

The bread is rich, and a couple of loaves will feed lots of relatives. Yep--I think this is just the right tradition to start this year. But just to be sure, I checked with my four-year-old daughter Chickie....



I think the rest of the family will approve too!

Now it's your chance to win a $100 Visa gift card! For all the fine print and official rules of the contest, visit this link.

To enter, leave a comment sharing a special breakfast tradition you have, or one you'd like to start.

For a second entry, you can:

• Tweet about this post with a link to it (and put your tweet URL in a separate comment below)
• Blog about this post with a link to it (and put your blog post URL in a separate comment below)
  

Sweepstakes ends 5 PM EST on November 1, 2010.

Spam comments will be deleted.

Remember, you can only enter twice, and you need a separate comment for each entry. The contest will close next Monday. Good luck! (And to improve your chances, enter at the other blogs involved in this series--just click here!)

Last week's winner:

Congratulations to commenter #59, Deb! She wrote, "My favorite meal in a bowl is spaghetti with meat sauce...pure comfort!" A $100 Visa gift card will buy a lot of spaghetti, Deb!

*****
Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.betterbythebowl.com.

Steaming, scrumptious soup

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

Psst...Be sure to keep reading 'til the end for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card!

Has fall come to your area yet? It's starting to arrive here, with some mornings and evenings feeling positively chilly. And on a cold night, I love to sit down with a steaming bowl of soup, chock-full of veggies and meat and broth and pure yumminess. It warms me to the core!

But you know what? I like soup so much that I don't wait to eat it until the weather cools. I live in an area that has a lot more hot days than cold days. If I waited for Jack Frost to sneak in, we wouldn't be eating much soup! Instead, I make it year-round...even when the weather's as hot as the soup. It's one of my favorite things to eat from a bowl.

I save most of my recipes to my online Delicious bookmarking site, and I have 42 soup recipes there. Click here to check them out.

One of the food blogs I really enjoy reading is called Finding Joy in My Kitchen. SnoWhite, the blog's author, recently posted a recipe for Cheddar Chicken and Rice Soup. I made it, and it is divine. Doesn't this look fantastic?!

(Photo provided by SnoWhite; used by permission.)

How could you not eat that, whether the temperature outside is 10 degrees or 100 degrees?!

So if you happen to meet me in person, and you happen to come over for dinner...don't be surprised if your main dish is served in a bowl!

Now it's your chance to win a $100 Visa gift card! For all the fine print and official rules of the contest, visit this link.

To enter, leave a comment sharing one of your favorite meals to eat in a bowl.

For a second entry, you can:

• Tweet about this post with a link to it (and put your tweet URL in a separate comment below)
• Blog about this post with a link to it (and put your blog post URL in a separate comment below)
  

Sweepstakes ends 5 PM EST on October 25, 2010.

Spam comments will be deleted.

Remember, you can only enter twice, and you need a separate comment for each entry. The contest will close next Monday. Good luck! (And to improve your chances, enter at the other blogs involved in this series--just click here!)

Last week's winner:

Congratulations to commenter #83, Betty C.! Betty won by Tweeting this giveaway!

*****
Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.betterbythebowl.com.

The breakfast that never fails

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

Psst...Be sure to keep reading 'til the end for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card!

The breakfast choices in our pantry change pretty often--different selections of cereal or granola bars mostly. Sometimes we even get into a pancake phase.

But there's one thing that our whole family will nearly always eat. And I'm kind of embarrassed to admit it.

Donuts.



I'm not even talking about some donut-mimicking healthy option; I'm talking about the real thing. Yep, those calorie-dense, fried, frosted circles of delight. Chickie likes the pink frosted variety with sprinkles. Zoodle likes anything, but sprinkles tickle his fancy too. The Engineer likes old-fashioned sour cream donuts (regular and chocolate.) And my taste changes from visit to visit--maple frosted donuts and eclairs are two of my favorites.

Of course, we don't eat donuts every morning. We explain to our kids that things like donuts are treats. They understand that treats are things we only get sometimes. I really think that an overall healthy diet can include some indulgences like donuts--in moderation!

We're lucky; we have a donut shop right outside our neighborhood. Sometimes we walk there; Chickie and I even ran there together recently. It's less than a mile and a half round trip. It may be kind of weird to be teaching my daughter about fitness by running to get donuts, but of course she doesn't seem to mind!

So usually we enjoy healthier breakfasts, like cereal. That's what we stock in our pantry so that the easiest choice for breakfast is a healthy choice. But occasionally we indulge in delectable donuts. It's a fun way to make the whole family happy!

Now it's your chance to win a $100 Visa gift card! For all the fine print and official rules of the contest, visit this link.

To enter, leave a comment sharing a go-to breakfast food that pleases everyone in your household.

For a second entry, you can:

• Tweet about this post with a link to it (and put your tweet URL in a separate comment below)
• Blog about this post with a link to it (and put your blog post URL in a separate comment below)
  

Sweepstakes ends 5 PM EST on September 18, 2010.

Spam comments will be deleted.

Remember, you can only enter twice, and you need a separate comment for each entry. Good luck! (And to improve your chances, enter at the other blogs involved in this series--just click here!)

Last week's winner:

The winner of last week's gift card was determined by my trusty friend random.org....



Congratulations to commenter #110, won! She Tweeted to get her $100 gift card!

*****
Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.betterbythebowl.com.

Very very busy

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

Psst...Be sure to keep reading 'til the end for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card!

Our family loves the Philadelphia Chickens CD from Sandra Boynton. But there's one song that's hard to sing along with--"Busy Busy Busy," sung by Kevin Kline. He sings these lyrics at such a fantastically frenetic pace:

"We're very very busy and we've got a lot to do, and we haven't got a minute to explain it all to you...." (You can listen to a clip here.)

Well, even though a lot of our mornings are relaxing, we do have some busy mornings...or busy afternoons, or busy evenings. I'm often in a frenzy when we have to get out of the house, no matter what time of day it is! So there are a few things that help us when we're "very very busy and we've got a lot to do":

• Easy grooming routines. Even if I blow dry and straighten my hair and do makeup (none of which I do every day!), I can complete that routine in about 15 minutes. Chickie has a short bob haircut that doesn't require a lot of work--very important for a girl with a tender head who doesn't want me spending lots of time messing with her hair! And Zoodle's the easiest of all of us. Gotta love low-maintenance boys.
• Community baths. Okay. I admit this one won't last forever. But with a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old who still need lots of help washing up, it saves time for me to stick them in the tub together, climb in with them, and get 'em clean.
• Velcro on kids' shoes. Need I say more?
  
  
• Easy breakfasts. Homemade biscuits, bacon, and omelets are great, but if we have a meal like that it's usually at dinnertime! For our morning meal, convenience is key, especially when we're "very very busy." As I write this, Chickie and I are eating Kellogg's Apple Jacks with milk, and toast. It didn't take long to fix, and our mouths enjoy the flavor while our bodies enjoy the vitamins and whole grains (9 grams whole grain per serving of Apple Jacks, plus 100% whole wheat in the toast!)

Now it's your chance to win a $100 Visa gift card! For all the fine print and official rules of the contest, visit this link. Here's how to enter:

You can enter up to 2 times. Choose up to 2 of these 3 entry methods:

• Leave a comment here sharing how you deal with days that are "very very busy" or what your favorite fast breakfast is.
  
• Tweet about this contest, and leave a comment with a link to your Tweet. (Sorry, Tweets only, not Facebook posts.) To link, post your Tweet then look directly underneath it. It'll show when you Tweeted ("less than a minute ago" or "5 minutes ago"). Click that; it's a link to your Tweet!
• Post about this contest on your blog, and leave a link to the blog post.

Spam comments will be deleted.

Remember, you can only enter twice, and you need a separate comment for each entry. The contest will close next Monday. Good luck! (And to improve your chances, enter at the other blogs involved in this series--just click here!)

Last week's winner:

The winner of last week's gift card was determined by my trusty friend random.org....



Congratulations to commenter #46, 3 Boys and an Old Lady! This winner wrote, "Weekends were made for waffles in our household."

*****
Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.betterbythebowl.com.

On the run on the weekends

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

Psst...Be sure to keep reading 'til the end for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card!

I suppose weekends are supposed to be relaxing, but on Saturday morning, I'm on the run.

Literally on the run! On Saturday morning I do my longest run of the week, and I usually end the run at Starbucks. I hang out there for awhile by myself (bliss!) and wait for the family to drive and pick me up.

That means that feeding the kids breakfast on Saturday is usually up to The Engineer, my husband. Thankfully, since we already have such a simple breakfast routine, The Engineer can open the pantry and find convenient choices. He can give the kids cereal and milk or granola bars and know that they're getting a healthy breakfast.

Sundays are always busy as we try to get out the door for church. So we rarely have any special breakfasts on the weekend. We just choose from our easy options so that we've got the fuel we need to enjoy our time together as a family!

Now it's your chance to win a $100 Visa gift card! For all the fine print and official rules of the contest, visit this link. Here's how to enter:

You can enter up to 2 times. Choose up to 2 of these 3 entry methods:

• Leave a comment here sharing what you and/or your family usually have for breakfast on the weekend.
  
• Tweet about this contest, and leave a comment with a link to your Tweet. (Sorry, Tweets only, not Facebook posts.) To link, post your Tweet then look directly underneath it. It'll show when you Tweeted ("less than a minute ago" or "5 minutes ago"). Click that; it's a link to your Tweet!
• Post about this contest on your blog, and leave a link to the blog post.

Spam comments will be deleted.

Remember, you can only enter twice, and you need a separate comment for each entry. The contest will close next Monday. Good luck! (And to improve your chances, enter at the other blogs involved in this series--just click here!)

Last week's winner:

The winner of last week's gift card was determined by my trusty friend random.org....




Congratulations to commenter #47, Eva, who said her key to a good morning is, "Make sure to get enough sleep the night before!" Wise words, Eva! I may be a mom of two, but I agree--I value my sleep!

*****
Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.betterbythebowl.com.