OMG. I know that is a funny way to start out a review but that is how I feel about this product. O-M-G. It is one of those products that has changed my life. It is really that amazing. The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook by Erin Chase is not just a cookbook. It is also a life changing guide to shopping frugality and healthy eating.

Yes, 80% of The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook is a cookbook. It’s a good one too. It contains recipes for nearly anything you could imagine eating. Rosemary Orange Chicken, Beef Curry with Raisins, Roasted Bell Pepper Rotini. Those all sound delicious right? Maybe they sound like something you’d probably only eat at a restaurant. Well now they are not only easy but they are inexpensive as well. $5 of less to be exact. Even better, these meals are healthy. Erin believes in using only the best products with little to no chemicals in her cooking and she shares this with us.

You might be wondering how it could be possible that all of these recipes could be so inexpensive? The answer is found at the beginning of the book. Erin Chase teaches us how to manage our budget better by making a list, carrying cash and clipping coupons. After you learn these basics she will also teach you about stockpiling. Find a good deal at the grocery store, use a coupon, buy in bulk and save even more. It is that simple with her help.

This all might sound like something you already knew, and if so that is great. I can bet you that Erin Chase will teach you something you didn’t know though. And for people like me who really didn’t know about most of this stuff it will be an eye opener.

I want to offer one of my lucky readers a copy of this cookbook. To enter follow the instructions below.

To Enter (worth one mandatory entry):

Visit http://www.5dollardinners.com/recipes/recipe-index and tell me one of the recipes you’d like to read about in the actual cookbook. What sounds good to you? The ones I mentioned in the review can’t be used.

Extra Credit (worth 1 separate entry each you do)

1. Follow me on Facebook by clicking HERE. Come back and tell me who you are.

2. Follow me on Twitter using the button on the left. Come back and tell me who you are.

3. Share this post by using the button on the left. Facebook and Twitter are not options since they are already listed in extra credit. Come back and show the link of how you shared.

This contest is open to both US and Canadian residents. Contest will end on Wednesday March 24, 2010 at midnight EST. Winner has 48 hours to claim their prize.

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I have fake nails. I had them put on for the People’s Choice red carpet event because I bite my real nails. It’s a bad habit. Then after that I was going to be interviewing Adam Baldwin and I wanted to keep them looking nice. Now I doubt I’ll have them removed anytime soon. However one issue I was having was trying to get that little flap open on my phone in order to charge it. My nails were too thick to open it.

I don’t have to worry about that anymore because the Verizon Palm Pre has this nifty charger called the Touchstone. I plugged this charger into my phone once, peeled off the sticky tape protector and sealed it to my kitchen counter. Now when I come home all I have to do is lay the phone on top of this device and it immediately begins charging. It is so easy to use and makes my life so much easier. Now my phone is always charged. I don’t have to go searching for my charger and fumble around to open the flap. I just lay the phone down and walk away.

Life made simple.

*I received the Palm Pre Plus phone free for review. However all the embarrassing things that happen to me and I share with you including my opinions, are all mine.

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Coming up soon on my blog I’m going to have a great giveaway from CSN Stores. They have so much to offer from kids bedding, mailboxes and toys and games. Anything you could possibly be looking for you can find CSN Stores. Check it out for yourself to see over 200 stores.

http://www.csnstores.com/ourstores.asp

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Ever since Spencer was born Jason has been head over heels in love with him. He is the best big brother in the world. Jason loves to include Spencer in everything he does and it is so much fun to watch. However I realize that one day this will end. You would think that Jason would start to reject Spencer as he gets older but I actually think it will be the other way around. I think that Jason will always be happy to include his brother but one day Spencer will be too cool for Jason, who already leans towards comic books, coin collecting and sci-fi.

For now I’m just going to enjoy it.

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You should all know by now how excited I get on Oscar night. The dresses, the hairstyles, the schmoozing and of course…the awards! Oscar night has been a big deal to me my entire life. When I was a little girl my mom would make my favorite appetizers for dinner and we would sit around the coffee table enjoying our snacks while we watched the red carpet and then the awards. As I grew older this tradition lived on, however I was always allowed to invite my friends. One year I even attended an Oscar party with my sister where I had to dress up as a character from an Oscar nominated movie. I chose Wednesday Adams. It was a blast. The host handed out awards to all her friends that mirrored the categories of the Oscars themselves. I think I won Most Dramatic but I could be wrong.

I have plenty of Academy Award memories. I plan to make this year no different. I no longer live with my mom, since I had no choice but to grow up one day, but I’ll be having dinner at her house during red carpet. After that I will come home and watch the show with my husband who probably won’t enjoy it much. I’ll probably jump into the chat room on The Stage Right show to see what they are talking about so I have some form of communication during the show and I will probably be found tweeting quite a bit.

Here is the link to see all the nominations. I have my favorites but I also have my opinions on who I think will win. I really like Jeremy Renner from Hurt Locker but I think he is a long shot. I would love Matt Damon to win for Supporting Actor but that is because he is one of my favorite actors, he however is also a long shot. Gabourey Sidibe should win for Precious, fingers crossed. If Meryl Streep wins I will do something awful, I’m just not sure what yet. And by the way, wasn’t Coraline the previous year? Sometimes it is very confusing.

So who are your picks for this year?

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My 5 year old son, Ronen, and I were very excited when Joanie Leeds’ (and the Nightlights) I’m a Rockstar CD arrived in our mailbox. We like listening to music in the car, so on our next outing I popped the music into the CD player and we began listening.

My first impression was that it wasn’t really my ‘kind’ of music (I’m into more alternative tunes), but it wasn’t intended for me, right? It was produced for kids, so I asked Ronen what he thought after the initial listen, “I like it!” he exclaimed. OK. That’s good, but I knew if I was going to write a review worthy of MySentimentExactLee, I needed to do a little better than “I like it!” : )

So we listened to it again. And again, and again, and again. And I have to admit that after a few repetitions, several of the songs really grew on me. I thought I’d take you through the playlist, with my thoughts (and a few comments from Ronen).

1. I’m a Rock Star – One of the better songs, in my opinion. Pop-y, mainstream, but fun. If your kid likes to strum on a guitar, this is a good song for them to ‘play along’ with.
2. Sunglasses – This is one of my favorite songs on the CD!  It’s catchy, I like the melody. In fact, I  enjoy singing it with my own words substituted…oh Ronen, you are my s-o-o-o-o-o-o-n, I love you…um, well, that’s enough of that. Good tune!
3. More Cowbell – I can’t listen to this one. It’s bad. So bad. You know those songs that make your stomach clench and your ears bleed? This is one. But maybe it’s just me. Ronen says he loves it. There’s no accounting for preschool taste.
4. I Wanna Be Green – The environmentally friendly ditty. It’s fine – nice message, bouncy beat. ‘Nuff said.
5. Give me a Hug – The bedtime/ naptime song. We usually skip it. Not awful, just not that interesting.
6. Jump, Jump – Sort of, kind of, an old school R.E.M. genre melody. It’s good, but not great.
7. I like Jazz – An  intro to basic jazz styling. Familiar songs (ABC, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Blackbird) get a jazzy treatment. I like this one. Ronen doesn’t. Go figure.
8. Popcorn – Eh. Not a fave. Sort of annoying.
9. En Espanol – I like that there’s a non English number on the CD. Ronen really likes this one, and will often ask to hear “The Spanish One”! There’s an authentic Latin flavor to the song (at least to my gringo ears).
10. It was the Elf – Ronen’s absolute favorite! This is somewhat a They Might Be Giants style story/song. Silly, funny, and very entertaining.
11. Joanie Says – ‘Simon Says’, Joanie Leeds style. Ronen has a lot of fun with this one. He’s partial to the part when she sings,“Simon’s on Vacation, now I’m in charge”!  He likes trying to play along with the song, even when sitting in his harnessed car seat. This is a great ‘get up and dance’ song on a day when you’re cooped up in the house with the kids.
12. Put a Little Smile on Your Face – Hands down, my favorite song on the CD. Don’t ask me why. Sometimes it makes me cry (in a good way). Love, love it.
13. Goodbye, Goodbye – A sweet, but upbeat goodbye song. I can hear this one being played at Ronen’s preschool graduation, while all the parents simultaneously weep and laugh. Well done.

None of the songs are much longer than about 2.5 minutes (a few are shorter than 2 minutes), so the CD is only about a half hour long. Will this replace our beloved Dan Zanes or They Might Be Giants in our hearts and ears? No. But Joanie is a fun diversion as far as kids music goes, and I’m glad we have the CD.

I also think this is a perfect collection of songs for a daycare or preschool, perhaps even a birthday party. I plan on donating our copy to Ronen’s co-op preschool when he outgrows it.  I’m sure Joanie will be enjoyed by both the kids and parent workers for many years to come.

This review was written by Amelia Stewart. Amelia lives in San Fransisco with her precious son Ronen and her husband Errol. She is a talented actress, teacher and music enthusiast.

Right now we are offering a copy for giveaway to one lucky reader. To enter follow the directions below.

To Enter (worth one mandatory entry):

Visit http://citykidmusic.com/ and take a look around. Come back and tell me something you learned that wasn’t mentioned in this review.

Extra Credit (worth one separate entry each you do):

1. Follow Me on Twitter @mysentiment. Come back and tell me who you are.

2. Tweet about this contest once a day by copying and pasting this “Win I’m A Rockstar by Joanie Leeds @mysentimenthttp://tinyurl.com/yhbcnch”

3. Share this by using the button on the left. Twitter is not an option since it was mentioned as extra credit above.

This contest is open to US Residents ages 18+ only. Contest will end Saturday March 20 at Midnight EST. Winner has 48 hours to claim their prize.

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I have the opportunity to interview Nancy Kanter, Senior Vice President of Playhouse Disney Worldwide. One of the divisions that Nancy oversees is Playhouse Disney Programming. I wanted to offer you the chance to submit any questions you may have for her regarding the shows our children are watching. Maybe you wonder what happened to your favorite show or you are wondering what it takes to be picked up by a power house like Playhouse Disney. Whatever your question please feel free to submit it below.

A little about Kanter’s role with Playhouse Disney Programming:

This is sure to be an informative interview and I hope you will all watch. It will be aired during my web show on Thursday March 18th at 10PM EST.

MySentimentExactLee

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I’ve never had a smart phone like this. I once had a Blackberry type phone but it didn’t have applications and it wasn’t touch screen. The Palm Pre Plus however is the most handy friend I never knew I needed.

Located on my phone, at the simple touch of the screen is an entire catalog of applications that I can download for free or cheap to help me in my daily life. Not only do certain “apps” help me but some also entertain me.

For example I downloaded a helpful nugget called TweetFree. Basically it’s Twitter on my phone. But way easier than if I went through the Internet to get there. It’s laid out in this really easy to navigate way so I don’t have to worry about my fat finger touching everything but what I’m looking for.

Also, you have no idea how many times I find myself wishing I had the movie times available when I’m out shopping. I know there is a phone number of some sort that I can call but I never remember what it is and always end up calling some strangers  house on accident who is never keen on the idea of looking the times up for me. Our theater does not have one of those large signs with times so I’d have to drive over there, park, walk to the front. It simply smacks of effort. So I downloaded the Fandango application. Now I never have to wonder if I could make a movie before I need to get home to my screaming children. That can be a sanity saver.

It hasn’t even been a week but I can already tell I won’t be able to live without this phone.

*I received the Palm Pre Plus phone free for review. However all the embarrassing things that happen to me and I share with you including my opinions, are all mine.

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Okay so you know how a lot of us use SponsoredTweets in order to earn some extra money, well this is kinda like that. Except with MyLikes.com you get paid per click rather than for actually tweeting or blogging about the advertisement. And you get to go looking for what you want to “Like” they don’t just offer you something once in a while. You can be active about it.  Oh and you can also either Tweet or Blog. I’ve been hearing great things about it so I finally signed up. Other bloggers keep saying they are making good money at it.

So I’m here to ask you to sign up using my code so I can get paid for it! Tacky right? Well I mean, they gave me a code to use so I would think it was okay to go begging.   Besides if you sign up you will then start making money and will hopefully get some people to sign up under you. Kinda like a pyramid scheme, but one that works, and is actually nothing like a pyramid. So that made no sense.

Anyway just sign up okay!!!

http://mylikes.com/signup?token=mysentimentexactlee

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No not the famous Dana Delaney. Sorry guys. But this Dana Delaney is pretty neat too and she could very well be famous after she wins the Pepsi Refresh Grant. This Dana Delaney is the creator of Carry It Again Bags. CarryItAgain.com has a kit that teaches you how to create your own shopping bag using reused plastic in your home like bread bags, vegetable bags and anything else plastic.

Carryitagain.com applied for the Pepsi Refresh Everything grant and she needs our help to win. She is going to visit the show, tell us about her company and product, give some kits away to lucky viewers and then chit chat with us about all things mompreneur.

I hope you’ll join us at 10PM EST Thursday night here at http://www.mysentimentexactlee.com/web-show

Check out this video and hear for yourself just how important this project is to her:

And please vote for CarryItAgainBags at this link and if you can, Tweet about it or show it around on your Facebook or blog!

http://www.refresheverything.com/CarryItAgainBags

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