The amount of grooming products available for men on the market is really pale in comparison when it comes to beauty products for women.  I’m not sure what is worst – having too many options or too little?!

When a man reaches a time in his life when he is comfortable in his own skin, he needs a product that helps him exude that same confidence.  Unfortunately, there are just not that many options…until now.  Just recently, it was shared with us about a new Dove product line, formulated just for men.  I have always been a fan of Dove so I was excited to hear about the options available for my husband!

New DOVE Men+Care, the brand’s first ever product line formulated specifically for men’s needs, celebrates the unsung moments when a man is comfortable with himself and offers products that literally provide total skin comfort.  My husband is now at the age where he wants to take better care of his skin. There was a time when he would use any type of bar soap to cleanse his face.  I still cringe at the thought today.  He’s always been big on good hygiene but figured any bar of soap would get the job done.  Now that he’s older – wiser, he’s more careful about what he uses.

My husband received the Dove Men + Care Body and Face Wash in Clean Defense and Fresh Awake, and Dove Men + Care Deodorant and Anti-perspirant in Aqua Impact to try.  He has been really pleased with the products so far and NO MORE washing his face with bar  soap.  I am happy that there is now a better option for my husband!

To learn more about these products CONNECT WITH Dove® Men + Care™ ON THESE SOCIAL MEDIAS

Dove Men+Care US on Facebook
DoveMenCare on Twitter
DOVE® MEN+CARE® on YouTube

Also, check out Shaquille O’Neal on the video below as he talks about his Journey to Comfort.

Courstesy of Dove® Men + Care™ONE Cocktails with Mom reader will win a Dove® Men + Care Prize Package.  

* NEW Dove Men + Care Aqua Impact Antiperspirant and Deodorant
*A Dove Men + Care Active Clean Dual Sided Shower Tool
*NEW Dove Men + Care Body and Face Wash in Clean Defense and Fresh Awake:

Enter Below for your chance to WIN!

 Required Entry

Visit Dove Men + Care and tell me what product you love the most in a comment below!

Optional Extra Entries

Required entry must be completed before extra entries qualify. Leave an additional comment for the value of each extra entry.  Also please be sure to leave your email address with the first entry.

• Like Cocktails with Mom on Facebook – 1 entry
• Like Dove Men+Care US on Facebook
• Subscribe to Cocktails with Mom via email/rss (2 Entries, please leave 2 comments: Please remember to confirm your subscription)
• Blog about this giveaway (Please leave a link to your post) – 3 entries
• Grab my Button and post it on your blog – 2 entries
• Follow @MomCocktails  and DoveMenCare on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway– 1 entry

Enter to win a Dove® Men + Care: “Journey To Comfort” Prize Pack http://tinyurl.com/88jb4mz @MomCocktails @DoveMenCare #win # giveaways

• Interact on myFacebook Page and let me know you did!
• Comment on any non-giveaway post on Cocktails with Mom. (just tell me what post you commented on)– 1 entry
• List this giveaway on any giveaway site, or share on Facebook – 2 entries

Rules:
Open to US only
Make sure to include email address with first entry
Winner will be chosen by random
Giveaway ends 5/02/11 at 11:59 CST
Winner will be emailed and must respond within 48 hours or another winner will be selected.

Product(s)  were received for this review. Opinions expressed are my own!

As busy moms, sometimes you forget to take an extra minute or two for yourself throughout the day. Lack of a skin care regimen and the mere fact of getting older are two reasons our skin change over time. Add in stress and the joys of motherhood and one day you can wake up to wrinkles and fine lines you would. Something I’m sure you would rather not think about. Are you one the will grow old gracefully or try to do all you can to keep your skin healthy and beautiful?

Today I’ve got a special giveaway for my readers. Thanks to the folks over at LJCSC, I am giving away two fabulous beauty products to one lucky reader.

Skin Polisher and Ultra Sheer Moisturizer.

La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Centre offers cosmetic surgery and non-invasive rejuvenation and goes above and beyond to make their clients feel as comfortable as possible in a medical setting. So whether you are like me and just enjoy skincare products or are someone who is thinking about plastic surgery – this giveaway is a great way to get some awesome beauty products to assist in helping you look younger and in turn feel younger!

Enter below for your chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

They say that the way into a man’s heart is through his stomach. Well, please quote me because the way into a woman’s heart is through chocolate. I was so delighted the other day when I was allowed to try two very wonderful pieces of Lindt Chocolate. One piece of the chocolate was a hollow bunny and I’m not kidding when I say this bunny was amazing. You can buy those cheap bunnies at the dollars store, but I’m not kidding when I say this is a one of a kind chocolate bunny experience.

Lindt was also awesome enough to include a bag of milk chocolate eggs. Those are amazingly tasty and it’s something that is good enough for the whole family. I can’t explain it, but when you bite into chocolate made from the Lindt Company it’s like a whole new experience. This is definitely a whole new take on milk chocolate.

Are these good enough for Easter? Yes! I couldn’t be more delighted then to add these to my kids Easter baskets. I guess my advice would be to “fill er up.” Your kids will love the taste of the chocolate and they will not be disappointed. In fact, I think I’ll be skipping out on the toys this year and just doing chocolate from Lindt.

LINDT GOLD BUNNY is also the bunny that gives back, with 10 cents of proceeds donated to Autism Speaks for each bunny sold in the U.S. in 2012. As part of Lindt’s partnership with Autism Speaks, Lindt is also donating up to $25 to Autism Speaks for every #Pin4Autism pin on Pinterest through Easter.  To participate, your readers can visit Lindt’s #Pin4Autism board on Pinterest and select and re-pin the Easter tradition photo that they enjoy most.  For more details, click here.

Have you tried the Lindt chocolate bunny or truffles before?  If not, why haven’t you?  They are soooo good!  For more information about Lindt chocolates, or to find a location near you, please visit www.LindtUSA.com.

Hoppy Easter!

WIN IT!

Lindt has kindly offered to give a lucky reader a Lindt Gold Bunny and Lindt Mini Eggs.

Mandatory Entry:  Share with us your favorite thing about Easter.

Extra Entries:- 1 entry each- leave a comment for each one.

• Subscribe to Cocktails with Mom by reader or email
• Like Cocktails with Mom Facebook
• Like this post on Facebook and leave us a general comment
• Follow Cocktails with Mom on Twitter
• Tweet about this giveaway- 1 entry per tweet and you may tweet 2 times a day. Be sure to leave the tweet URL in your comment.
• LEAVE a comment on a non-giveaway post (Come back and let me know that you did!)(can be done up to 5 times)

Jess received free sample products in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are entirely my own. Lindt will be providing the prize. 

In my house, VTech is a well loved named.  Many of our favorite electronics as well as kid’s toys are made by VTech.  Over the last few months, I have been in search of a good video baby monitor.  I looked at the baby companies but never considered that VTech might have one.  When Dee emailed me with the information, I jumped at the chance to review their Safe & Sound Full Color Video and Audio Monitor.  Just a week and half ago, my daughter was born 9 weeks early and is currently in the NICU.

Even though I am not a first time parent, I feel like one.  She is requires a different type of care than my full term babies needed and frankly it scares my husband and I just a little bit.  Having a video baby monitor in our home to keep an eye on her when we do have to walk away from her gives both my husband and I huge peace of mind.

Even though Abigail is not home yet, we decided to test this system on our two year old son and love many of the unique features that are included with the unit.

First of all, the Safe & Sound Full Color Video and Audio Monitor took less than 5 minutes to set up – we just needed to charge the parent unit.  Being a busy mom, this is what I like to see with baby products.  I don’t have time to spend 30 minutes to an hour setting up a video monitor system.  I also love that the unit has a rechargeable battery for the parent unit.  This is a huge lifesaver for me because it seems we go through batteries like water.  The child unit plugs into the wall and has a battery compartment for times when you need it when you are away from home.

Since Abigail is a preemie, she struggles to maintain her body temperature and the VTech monitor helps me make sure her room stays a good temperature by showing the temperature of the room on the parent monitor.  There is also a talk button on the parent monitor that allows you to talk to baby if they are upset or just in need of your voice.  We used this with my 2 year old to let him know that he needed to return to his bed.

Another wonderful feature is that fact that you can zoom in on baby.  It only allows you to zoom in one time but it does allow you to get a closer look if you need reassurance that your baby is resting peacefully.

The only feature that I would love to see added to this unit is the ability to pan the camera from the parent monitor.  This would be nice as Abigail grows and moves a lot in a crib.

Overall, the Safe & Sound Full Color Video and Audio Monitor from VTech is a great video monitoring system that gives any parent peace of mind that their baby is safe.  My husband and I have great peace of mind knowing that we can check on our precious baby any time.  You can purchase the entire system for $149.95.

VTech offers parents peace-of-mind and makes it easy to navigate the baby monitor world with a new line of Safe & Sound Baby Monitors. The new line ensures that parents won’t miss a gurgle or hiccup from their little one.

WIN IT!

One Cocktails with Mom reader will win a Safe & Sound Full Color Video and Audio Monitor

Mandatory Entry: Tell me why you would like to win.

Extra Entries:- 1 entry each- leave a comment for each one.

• Subscribe to Cocktails with Mom by reader or email
• Like Cocktails with Mom Facebook
• Like this post on Facebook and leave us a general comment
• Follow Cocktails with Mom on Twitter
• Tweet this message- ” I just entered to win a Vtech Safe & Sound Full Color Video and Audio Monitor from @momcocktails and @Vtech http://bit.ly/H6wEGY #giveaway “ 1 entry per tweet and you may tweet 2 times a day. Be sure to leave the tweet URL in your comment.
• LEAVE a comment on a non-giveaway post (Come back and let me know that you did!)(can be done up to 5 times)

Rachael received A VTech Safe & Sound Full-Color Video and Audio Monitor in return for this review and giveaway.

I love pasta.  All pasta actually….but my favorites are spaghetti and lasagna. It is the only food I actually crave. Even now my mouth is filling with saliva at the very mention of it.  When I moved to Texas a few years ago, I quickly learned that there a few staples you rely on in the kitchen and Skinner Pasta happens to be on of those.  I actually never heard of it until we moved here but now it is my go to pasta when cooking up my favorite dishes.

Dinner time is special for our family.  Not only is it time for a great tasting home cooked meal, it brings about togetherness and holds a lot of special memories.  Skinner Pasta has been a part of Texas family meals for 100 years so in celebration of their 100th year anniversary, they are celebrating ten decades of of Texas mealtime traditions with their 100 Years of Mealtime Memories essay contest.

Now through May 14, 2012, Skinner Pasta invites families from the Texas region to share an original story of a favorite mealtime memory with Skinner Pasta in 250 words or less.  One essay will be awarded the $10,000 Grand Prize and four runner-ups will receive $1,000 to help them continue the tradition of creating mouth-watering mealtime traditions.

How can you  enter?

Submit one(1) essay in 250 words or less sharing an original story of a family mealtime memory with Skinner Pasta.  There are 3 ways of entering.

1. Visit www.skinnerpasta.com
2. Visit the Skinner “100 Years of Mealtime Memories” Essay Contest tab on the Skinner Facebook page . If entering via the Skinner Facebook page you must first “like” the page.
3. Mail essay in self addressed envelope to: Cohn & Wolfe, 200 5th Avenue, 7th Floor,New York, NY 10010

 Buy It:

Skinner pasta can be purchased at your favorite Texas grocery store such as H-E-B, Fiesta, Foodtown, and others. If you haven’t yet tried it, you really should.   Prices are reasonable and it tastes good.  They also come in a variety of noodles ranging from $1.60 – $1.85.

Win It!

One Cocktails with Mom reader will win a Skinner Pasta mealtime kit that includes:

• Two boxes of Skinner® Pasta
• One colander
• One set of Texas-themed serving utensils
• Two Skinner® Pasta recipe cards

Mandatory Entry: Tell me your favorite family meal time memory.

Extra Entries:- 1 entry each- leave a comment for each one.

• Subscribe to Cocktails with Mom by reader or email
• Like Cocktails with Mom and SkinnerPasta on Facebook
• Follow Cocktails with Mom and  Skinner Pasta on Twitter
• Tweet this message- ” Enter to win a Skinner Pasta Mealtime Memory Kit from @momcocktails and @SkinnerPasta http://bit.ly/y2e44v #giveaway “ 1 entry per tweet and you may tweet 2 times a day. Be sure to leave the tweet URL in your comment.
• LEAVE a comment on a non-giveaway post (Come back and let me know that you did!)(can be done up to 5 times)

A Skinner Pasta Recipe

Nana’s Spaghetti and Meatballs
Created by Robb Walsh

Spaghetti and Meatballs Ingredients:

1 (12-ounce) package Skinner Spaghetti

6 cups Nana’s Red Sauce

18 Nana’s Meatballs

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Crushed red pepper to taste (optional)

Directions:

Boil the spaghetti in briskly boiling salted water according to package directions. Drain and rinse well. Toss the spaghetti with the red sauce in a large mixing bowl combining thoroughly. Put the spaghetti in a serving bowl and top with the meatballs. Sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese. Put the rest of the grated Parmesan cheese and the crushed pepper on the table and let diners add their own. Servings: 6

Note: If you make spaghetti and meatball using the red sauce recipe, you should have around four cups of red sauce left for another meal.

Meatball Ingredients:

1 ½ pound ground beef

½ cup bread crumbs

1 ½ cups finely chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup loosely packed chopped parsley

2 tablespoons dried ground oregano

2 eggs

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons parmesan

1 teaspoon salt or to taste

Nana’s Red Sauce

Directions:

Combine all ingredients, except red sauce, in a large mixing bowl and mix well, blending all ingredients into a uniform texture. In your cupped hand, form 34 to 36 small (one ounce) meatballs. Drop meatballs gently into Nana’s Red Sauce. Simmer, stirring gently every fifteen minutes to avoid breaking up the meatballs. Cook for 45 minutes to one hour or until meatballs are well done.

Nana’s Red Sauce Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound ground sirloin

1 pound Italian sausage, casings removed

4 cups chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup grated carrot

3 tablespoons minced garlic

1 cup white wine

2 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes

1 (46-ounce) can tomato juice or V-8

2 (6-ounce) cans tomato paste

2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce

1 cup chopped parsley

½ cup coarsely chopped celery leaves

1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves

2 tablespoons dried basil leaves

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)

Directions:

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Brown the beef and sausage in batches, transferring the browned meat to a bowl with a slotted spoon. When the meat is all browned, reduce the heat to medium and add the onion, celery and carrots. Use the vegetables to deglaze the pan scraping up the browned meat that stuck to the bottom. Cook for three minutes until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the garlic and stir to mix well. Cook another two minutes until the onions are translucent. Add the white wine and turn the heat to high stirring constantly for three or four minutes or until the white wine is reduced by half. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato juice, tomato paste and tomato sauce, mix well and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and add the cooked meat and the remaining ingredients, stirring to combine. Simmer for two hours stirring every fifteen minutes.

Books, CDs, DVDs, and toys–now what a better combination for fun and entertainment for  kids to enjoy!  For the release of the brand new  VeggieTales Robin Good and His Not-So-Merry Men,  we were thinking it would be fun to award one lucky Cocktails with Mom readers to win a fantastic VeggieTales  prize package.  A valued of  over $100…

VeggieTales: Robin Good and His Not-So-Merry Men  is a fun parody that features plenty of high-energy, family-friendly music, including a new Silly Song with a theme that was selected through a recent online fan contest. The episode also includes the animated short, “Lenny & the Lost Birthday,” which also helps teach lessons about handling hurt and forgiveness.

Here’s a chance for the little Veggie fan in your life to win a “VeggieTales Prize Pack” including the all-new DVD, Robin Good and His Not-So-Merry Men.

For those of you who are not familiar, Veggie Tales is a religious Christian cartoon.  Take a look at the trailer for VeggieTales Robin Good and His Not-So-Merry Men

Enter To Win!!!

Giveaway will remain open until Wed, March 19, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. CST. Winner will be chosen at random, notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond.

REQUIRED ENTRY:

• Share with us your (or your kids) favorite VeggieTales DVD!

OPTIONAL ENTRIES: Please leave a separate comment for each entry

• Subscribe to Cocktails with Mom
• Like Cocktails with Mom on Facebook and/or Twitter
• Like VeggieTales on Facebook and/or Twitter
  
• Comment on a non-giveaway post
• Tweet this giveaway

Rules:
Open to US
Include email address with first entry
Winner will be chosen by random
Giveaway ends 3/19/11 at 11:59 CST
Winner will be emailed and must respond within 48 hours or another winner will be selected.

Welcome to Cocktails with Mom’s ….Thursday Giveaway Link Up Party!

Do you have a Giveaway going on? Feel free to join in on the party!

Share with us your Fabulous Giveaways and enter a few while you’re at it. Be sure to come back next Thursday, same time same place.

Please RT so that others would be able to join in on the Party!

Are you looking for the perfect sweet for your sweetie?  Why not add a personal touch and flavor to Valentine’s Day delights instead of the usual  impersonal bouquet of roses or box of chocolates, opt for a delectable homemade cake pop arrangement from Bake Pop. Bake Pop is a unique pan that allows you to create adorable cake pops.

Perfect for any occasion, it comes with a pan to bake 18 cake lollipops, sticks, bags and twist ties to put them in, and even a decorating idea booklet to help the baker out. You can decorate the cake pops however you want, use any type of cake mix and make one of a kind, delectable treats to serve to your special someone on Valentine’s Day. What better way to say “I love you” than creating personal delicacies for Mr. or Ms. Right?

The Bake Pops™ Cake Pops Set includes:

• Bake Pop Cooking Tray
• 18 Reusable Pop Sticks
• Instruction Guide

The website also contains a  Decorating Guide to help you make a perfect set a cake pops.

CONNECT WITH Telebrands™
TeleBrands on Facebook
TeleBrandsBuzz on Twitter

 Win It!

How to Enter: ( Mandatory)

Leave a comment saying you’d like to win.

EXTRA ENTRIES!

1. Subscribe to our blog via email/rss
2. Like Cocktails with Mom   and Bake Pops on Facebook ( 2 entries)
4. Follow @MomCocktails  and @bakepops on Twitter and tweet this giveaway or create your own. Leave your Tweet Link. (2 tweets per DAY is allowed)

Enter to #win a bake pops set from from @MomCocktails and @Bakepops #giveaway ends 2/26

5.ADD the Cocktails with Mom text link or button to your blogroll/sidebar (5 entries)
6.LEAVE a comment on a non-giveaway post (Come back and let me know that you did!)(can be done up to 5 times)

Rules:
Open to US
Include email address with first entry
Winner will be chosen by random
Giveaway ends 2/26/11 at 11:59 CST
Winner will be emailed and must respond within 48 hours or another winner will be selected.

Disclosure:  Telebrands sent me the above item game for review and giveaway purposes, opinions are my own.

When kids are young, they unfortunately do not have a good concept of time and don’t always adhere to our sleep schedule.  Who cares that  mom wants to sleep in late on the weekend?   Surely not your kids!  Just when you think you are going to enjoy a few extra hours of sleep, here comes the little one barging into your room. At 6am… On a Saturday morning… Demanding you get up and start your day.  Sometimes they just do not get it, but it is not their fault totally, they just need a little guidance. 

I was offered the opportunity to review a ZAZOO Photo Clock  recently and it is definitely a mommy must have.  My boys are old enough now to understand the difference between day and night but I could have really benefited from this when they were younger.  Now that they are older, it is still one pretty cool clock.  The ZAZOO Photo Clock is more than a photo clock. It’s a clock, a photo frame, a video and MP3 player all wrapped into one. It even comes with a remote ! Teaching kids the difference between night and day could not be more fun.  The ZAZOO Photo Clock is a contemporary multimedia accessory that teaches children the concept of “sleep” and “awake” while helping parents the opportunity to create healthy sleep habits in a fun, educational way.

The concept of the clock is really simple.   The clock has two pre-programmed image sets of “awake” and “asleep” photo options that help your child know when to stay in bed or get up and start the day. When a child sees the sun image on their ZAZOO Photo Clock, they know it is time to wake. If they see the moon photo, that lets them know they should stay in bed until the alarm picture changes.

The alarm can be set for both naptime and bedtime. You can even personalize the awake and sleep images by uploading  personal images of your kids sleeping or waking up.  For an even  more personalized touch, you can even download your child’s name in images to be used on the clock.  

The ZAZOO Photo Clock is amazing and brillant all at the same time.  It can grow with your child even up to their teen years.   My son really enjoys this clock and operates it fairly well on his own.  He has even showed me a few things or two.  His favorite part has to be all the features the clock  has to offer.  As I mentioned earlier, The ZAZOO photo clock is more than just a clock.   It comes with a USB cord and the option of adding a SD memory card so that you can upload pictures, videos and even music.  You can create a picture show of your kids favorite photos  and watch their excitement as the pictures scroll by while set to some of their favorite songs. In a nutshell, this little clock does a lot and can really grow with your kid for years to come.

If you could use a little help with getting your kids to bed and staying there until its time to get up, then the ZAZOO Photo Clock could really help.  I think it is really one of those products that is beneficial to both mom and kid and then maybe you can get those extra 2 hours of sleep on the weekend you all deserve.

PRICE: The ZAZOO Photo Clock from ZAZOO KiDS retails for $89.99
.

Win It!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
>

Aquaphor products are amazing! Especially for those who suffer with very dry/sensitive skin.  Both my husband and I have dry skin and my boys have somehow inherited it.  I didn’t notice it so much when they were younger, but now it has become more noticeable.    They both have some of the driest skin and we have tried several products that just doesn’t seem to work  or stop working after a while.   Just when I think we’ve found that magic solution, we somehow end up back to square one.   Sometimes you have to go through a few to find one that works for you and your family.   

Something dawned on me recently when I was offered the opportunity to review a few products from Aquaphor.  A few years ago when my nephew was dealing with some skin issues, my sis mentioned to me about how she used the Aquaphor healing ointment and how it really worked.  He had a really bad case of Excema and she raved about the results, so I wanted to give this a try also.  No one in my household had excema but we did have really dry skin so figured this would work. It did and really well at that!    We used the product until it ran out and somehow, for some reason, didn’t purchase it again.  Our skin issues seemed to be more manageable for a period of time so I attributed that to the other products we were using at the time.  Thinking back, I don’t think that was the case.  Its my opinion that the effectiveness of the Aquaphor ointment kept our skin moisturized even after we stopped using it.

SO long story short.  We’ve been through several different products and I never thought it was the healing ointment that was what really worked for us until this opportunity arised.  So you see,  I’ve been a fan of Aquaphor products for many years, but I just didn’t know it.   When it comes to our skin, we want to keep it protected at all times, especially during the winter months.  So what I guess Im saying is that when you find something that works you should stick to it.  Irritable skin conditions such as dry, cracked and inflamed  skin can leave you feeling irritable-so imagine how that would feel on a baby whose skin is even more sensitive which is why you want to keep it protected.  Your babies skin–and yours is worth protecting.  Aquaphor wants to help which is why we have arranged a fabulous giveaway for my lovely readers.

Aquaphor Healing Ointment - The Baby Healing Ointment is a pediatrician-recommended formula that will soothe and protect your baby’s uncomfortable dry skin and provide effective relief for dry, cracked skin. .

a Rafflecopter giveaway