Go Picnic “Ready-to-Eat Meals” Giveaway

Are you tired of eating fast food when you need to eat on the go? I know I am, which is why I was thrilled when GoPicnic.com offered me the chance to review their products, as well as host a giveaway for them on my blog. I first heard of GoPicnic when I was vacationing in Chicago, and had wanted to try their meals, which my hotel offered as a to-go lunch option. Now that I’ve finally had the chance to taste their meals, I’m bummed out that I didn’t go with my instincts in Chicago, as I loved, loved, loved the products I tasted.

I received the Salami + Cheese: Classic Deli Meal, which includes Old Wisconsin Beef Salami Slices, Late July Organic Crackers, Copper Cowbell Asiago Cheese Spread, Sweet Perry Orchards Cashew Medley Fruit & Nut Mix and a Late July Organic Dark Chocolate Sandwich Cookie. This meal had 10g protein, 2g fiber, had 370 calories, and was utterly delicious, and sells for $4.99. I absolutely loved the Asiago cheese spread and was surprised at how good the cookie was, too. As you can see from my pictures, I added a pretzel roll to my meal, making it utterly filling.

I also received the Hummus + Crackers: All-Natural Meal, a balanced meal featuring Wild Garden Hummus Dip, Crunchmaster Multi-Seed Crackers, Seapoint Farms Dry Roasted Edamame, Sweet Perry Orchards Baja Blend Fruit & Nut Mix and a Terra Nostra Organic Dark Chocolate Square. 24g protein and 12g fiber, 410 calories, and was also mouth-watering good. The Wild Garden Hummus Dip was the best store-bought Hummus I’ve ever had, and the crackers were out of this world good. It is a steal at the price of $4.99.

Lastly, I received the Parmesan Peppercorn Cheese Spread: 8 Pack (8 – 0.75 oz. cups), a delicious gourmet cheese spread that blends the flavors of Parmesan cheese and peppercorns together. While I enjoyed this cheese very much, GoPicnic is limiting me to offer only 2 meals for my giveaway, so I’m going with the other meals rather than this cheese. You may purchase this cheese is currently on sale for $3.99.

GoPicnic offers a variety of meals, ones that are all-natural, gluten-free, vegan, kosher, GMO free, and have no artificial flavors. Actually, all of their meals are made with no trans fats, no high fructose corn syrup, no added MSG, and have no artificial flavors or colors. Who wouldn’t want to eat something so healthy and tasty while traveling, or even on a picnic or as an alternative to fast food on any occasion? I know I would.

You may purchase GoPicnic meals on Amazon.com or at GoPicnic.com. If you aren’t into the whole online shopping thing, you may also purchase them at Costco, Cost Plus World Market and Wegman’s nationwide.

Ready to buy your own GoPicnic meals? Sign up to get 10% your order off here.

GO PICNIC GIVEAWAY – 1 LUCKY WINNER

RULES:

**Open to U.S. residents only.

**No P.O. boxes, please.

**Must include your email in your comment, unless you signed in to leave a comment with your “real” email.

**All comments must be separate to count as separate entries. For example, if you follow me on Facebook and Twitter, leave 2 comments, one with your Facebook name, and one with your Twitter name. Or, if you posted about the giveaway on your blog, leave 5 comments, all with the link to your giveaway.

**Please read the additional rules here.

HOW TO ENTER:

**Mandatory Entry: Go to GoPicnic.com and tell me what fun or interesting thing you noticed there.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Like Go Picnic on Facebook.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Facebook. Make sure to leave your Facebook name in your comment.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Facebook and share a link on your wall with the following comment I entered The Girl from the Ghetto’s Go Picnic giveaway here http://bit.ly/kRbz73. Make sure to leave a comment below with a link to your Facebook profile message, or at least with your Facebook name.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Follow @GoPicnic on Twitter. Make sure to leave your @Twitter name in your comment.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Twitter. Make sure to leave your @Twitter name in your comment.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Twitter and tweet the following RT @NerdGirlBlogger I entered the Ready to eat meals #giveaway by @GoPicnic here http://bit.ly/kRbz73. You can tweet 4x a day (Once every 6 hours) for even more chances to win. Make sure to leave a link to your tweet in a comment below.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Subscribe to my blog via email or Feedburner.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Enter one of my other current giveaways and tell me which one.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Comment here and tell me why you need to win this giveaway! Do you love eating? Have you tried Go Picnic meals before? Do you enjoy finding healthier meal choices, or, do you just love winning free stuff?

+5 MORE ENTRIES: Write about this giveaway on your own blog. Make sure to post a link to http://thegirlfromtheghetto.wordpress.com, and leave me 5 copies of your link via comment here.

Contest ends Sunday, July 3, 2011 at midnight. Good luck to you all!

Junk Food Care Package Giveaway by Gourmet Gift Baskets

When GourmetGiftBaskets.com asked me to review one of their Junk Food Care Packages (and host a giveaway) for my blog, I was really excited. I love to eat junk food, and the last time I received a care package was back in 1989, when I was a freshman in college. My care package arrived just a few weeks ago, and thankfully, I had a party to go to that same day, so I was able to share many of my mini treats with my friends, as well as my husband.

I was supposed to receive the following 28 mini snacks in my gourmet gift basket:

· Dorito’s Nacho Cheese Flavor by Frito Lay
· Rice Krispies Treats by Kellogg’s
· Oreo’s by Nabisco
· Easy Mac Microwavable Macaroni and Cheese Dinner by Kraft
· Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies by Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookie Co.
· Plain M&M’s by Mars
· Sour Patch Kids by Cadbury Adams Canada
· Pringles Snack Stacks by Procter & Gamble
· Snyder’s Pretzels by Snyder’s of Hanover
· Original Slim Jim’s by Con Agra Foods
· Cheddar Cheese Pretzel Combos by Mars
· Cheez-Its by Sunshine
· Cheddar and Bacon Potato Skins by T.G.I.Friday’s
· Ritz Crackers and Cheese Dip by Kraft
· Cracker Jack’s by Frito Lay
· Yoo-Hoo Chocolate Drink by Yoo-Hoo
· Lifesavers Gummies by Wrigley’s
· Welch’s Fruit Snacks by Welch’s
· Tootsie Pops by Tootsie Roll Industries
· Original Skittles by Mars.
· Twizzlers by Hershey
· Gobstoppers by Nestle
· Pixy Stix 3-pack by Nestle
· Smartfood Popcorn by Frito Lay
· Chewy Granola Bars by Quaker Oats Co.
· Planters Nuts on the Go by Kraft
· David Sunflower Seeds by Con Agra Foods
· Cinnabon Original by Kellogg

Instead, I received the following items, shown above, as GGB notes that they do substitute items as needed. Despite their warning, I’m still quite sad that the Cinnabon didn’t make its way to me, as it was one of the main reasons for picking this particular gift box. Thankfully, I gobbled the M&M’s and my mini Slim Jim to drown my sorrows in. As you can see, the size of the snacks are small, like the ones that you can buy for 50-75 cents at your local store. With a name like Gourmet Gift Baskets, I can’t help but expected a bit more for thirty-five dollars they normally charge for this package. At the very least, I expected the Junk Food Care package to come in some sort of basket, rather than just a slightly dented shipping box. To be completely honest, if I had paid for this item myself, I would have felt a little ripped off, especially since my Oreos were crushed and my Yoo-Hoo tasted slightly funny, even though it had a valid expiration date. However, I do realize that if you are the sort of person who doesn’t have time to shop for gifts and take them to the post office (or FedEx, UPS, etc.) to ship to your loved ones, then this is the way to go for those types of people. I’m the sort of girl who has a plentiful stock of a variety of gifts/gift bags/baskets in her basement closet. But if you aren’t me, then perhaps this item, and some of their other gift baskets are right up your alley. I certainly enjoyed eating many of the snacks sent my way, as I am a junk food junky, but I still wish the size of the treats were just a bit larger.

GourmetGiftBaskets.com offers a wide variety of gift baskets–you can find anything from Pet Gift Baskets to Italian Gift Baskets to Cupcake Gift Baskets.

Want to buy your own Junk Food Care Package? You can do so now for $34.99.

JUNK FOOD CARE PACKAGE GIVEAWAY BY GOURMET GIFT BASKETS– 1 LUCKY WINNER

RULES:

**Open to U.S. and Canadian residents only.

**No P.O. boxes, please.

**Must include your email in your comment, unless you signed in to leave a comment with your “real” email.

**All comments must be separate to count as separate entries. For example, if you follow me on Facebook and Twitter, leave 2 comments, one with your Facebook name, and one with your Twitter name. Or, if you posted about the giveaway on your blog, leave 5 comments, all with the link to your giveaway.

**Please read the additional rules here.

HOW TO ENTER:

**MANDATORY ENTRY: Like Gourmet Gift Baskets on Facebook. Make sure to leave me your Facebook name.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Follow Gourmet Gift Baskets on Twitter. Make sure to leave your @Twitter name in your comment.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Visit GourmetGiftBaskets.com and tell me which gift basket you would pick for yourself.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Facebook. Make sure to leave your Facebook name in your comment.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Facebook and share a link on your wall with the following comment I entered The Girl from the Ghetto’s Gourmet Gift Baskets Giveaway here http://bit.ly/jfOxCd. Make sure to leave a comment below with a link to your Facebook profile message, or at least with your Facebook name.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Twitter. Make sure to leave your @Twitter name in your comment.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Twitter and tweet the following RT @NerdGirlBlogger I entered the Junk Food Care Package #giveaway by @gmtgiftbaskets here http://bit.ly/jfOxCd. You can tweet 4x a day (Once every 6 hours) for even more chances to win. Make sure to leave a link to your tweet in a comment below.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Subscribe to my blog via email or Feedburner.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Enter one of my other current giveaways and tell me which one.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Comment here and tell me why you need to win this giveaway, or which item you would have liked to chow down on if you had received the same basket as I did.

+5 MORE ENTRIES: Write about this giveaway on your own blog. Make sure to post a link to http://thegirlfromtheghetto.wordpress.com, and leave me 5 copies of your link via comment here.

Contest ends Saturday, July 2, 2011 at midnight. Good luck to you all!

Partylite Giveaway and Special Discounts on All Orders

I’ve been a fan of Partylite products since attending my first party in 1990. I was absolutely smitten with their products, candles and scents, and I still own 2 of the 3 candle holders that I bought at that first show. As someone who has been buying their products for over 22 years, I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to receive an 18-pack of Black Raspberry tealights, a dozen Lemongrass votives, and a pair of Mulberry mini barrel jars, valued at $55, from Partylite Consultant Megan Real, in order to review them for this blog. To me, candles are much more than a product to buy–they are an experience, decor and enhance any room and all moods. I can’t tell you the number of times someone has walked into my home and commented on how nice it is to come over and see, smell or experience all of the candles that I burn. Back in the old days, when I was young and much more fun, I’d throw really fun Halloween parties, and would burn well over a hundred candles at a time.

As someone who already owns that many 100 candle holders, I wanted to review Partylite candles, because I believe with all of my heart that Partylite candles are the best made, the best smelling, and the easiest to clean up after. Their wax burns cleanly and evenly, never leaves a black mark on the ceiling, and can even be removed from carpet if you use a cool iron and cover the wax spill with a piece of paper. I love burning my Partylite candles, as they don’t leave wax behind if you burn them in a Partylite candle holder. I’ve always been a fan of the Lemongrass and Mulberry scents, so it was great smelling it once again in my home. This was the first time I had burned Raspberry tealights, and their fresh, fruity scent filled my entire first floor. All three scents are wonderful, and if you like fruity, clean scents like I do, you are going to be thrilled that Megan has agreed to let me also host a giveaway for the same candles!

Partylite candles come in all sorts of scents and shapes, which you can check out here. I’m a fan of their large 3-wick candles, their jar candles (Especially the mini jar candles, which make excellent gifts anytime of the year.), their voties, tealights, melts, and their mottled pillars, as shown above. Aren’t they gorgeous? Honeydew has always been my favorite scent, but I’m pretty much a fan of almost every scent they sell, especially their fall scents. You can check out more of the Partylite votive scents here.

I had a blast looking over their Summer 2011 catalog, their Winter/Spring 2011 catalog, their Weddings and Special Occasions catalog, and their Look Book. I pretty much wanted everything I saw, as it has been 3 years since I’ve been to a Partylite show, but of course, I don’t have the room, or the money to buy it all–otherwise I would, especially since Megan has agreed to offer all of you some fantastic offers if you are interested in purchasing some Partylite products for yourself.

SPECIAL OFFERS BY MEGAN REAL:

• Anyone who emails Megan Real their order at megan.real@yahoo.com and mentions that The Girl from the Ghetto sent them will receive 10% off their first order.
• Anyone who places their order online at Megan’s website, Partylite.biz/MeganReal, will receive a FREE dozen of tealights (surprise-scent) for every $50 you spend. 

Thinking about placing an order? Make sure you check out the monthly specials highlighted on her website. I know Megan is offering 5 dozen tealights for only $14.95, and you can pick them out from both their Summer 2011 catalog, their Winter/Spring 2011 catalog. I’m seriously considering taking her up on this offer, because I’ve finally run out of my Partylite stash of candles in the first time in 12 years. She also has some great Internet specials, where you can buy items for as low as $3.

Don’t forget you can always host a show with Megan, or even Become a Partylite Consultant yourself.

PARTYLITE GIVEAWAY – 1 LUCKY WINNER

RULES:

**Open to U.S. residents only.

**No P.O. boxes, please.

**Must include your email in your comment, unless you signed in to leave a comment with your “real” email.

**All comments must be separate to count as separate entries. For example, if you follow me on Facebook and Twitter, leave 2 comments, one with your Facebook name, and one with your Twitter name. Or, if you posted about the giveaway on your blog, leave 5 comments, all with the link to your giveaway.

**Please read the additional rules here.

HOW TO ENTER:

**Mandatory Entry: Go to Megan Real’s Partylite website, and tell me what fun or interesting thing you noticed there.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Like Partylite – Megan Real on Facebook.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Facebook. Make sure to leave your Facebook name in your comment.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Facebook and share a link on your wall with the following comment I entered The Girl from the Ghetto’s Partylite candle giveaway here http://bit.ly/jmqheo. Make sure to leave a comment below with a link to your Facebook profile message, or at least with your Facebook name.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Follow @MeganR on Twitter. Make sure to leave your @Twitter name in your comment.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Twitter. Make sure to leave your @Twitter name in your comment.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Twitter and tweet the following RT @NerdGirlBlogger I entered the Partylite candle #giveaway by @MeganR here http://bit.ly/jmqheo.  You can tweet 4x a day (Once every 6 hours) for even more chances to win. Make sure to leave a link to your tweet in a comment below.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Subscribe to my blog via email or Feedburner.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Enter one of my other current giveaways and tell me which one.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Comment here and tell me why you need to win this giveaway! Do you love Partylite candles? What is your favorite Partylite scent? Do you enjoy burning candles in general, or, do you just love winning free stuff?

+5 MORE ENTRIES: Write about this giveaway on your own blog. Make sure to post a link to http://thegirlfromtheghetto.wordpress.com, and leave me 5 copies of your link via comment here.

Contest ends Friday, July 1, 2011 at midnight. Good luck to you all!