My thanks to Influenster and Hellmann’s® for sending me complimentary product to try and share my thoughts with you today. All opinions are my own. 
Lots of fun and happy things happen at our home around Memorial Day.  I took a week off work to help welcome the unofficial start of summer, the girls end another year of school, I celebrate a birthday (of course I am 39 again!) and we kick off grilling season, usually with big, juicy burgers like this one. 

burgers,fries,#Hellmann's, Mayo
Notice the mayo on that burger? My husband wouldn’t have one any other way, and his go to Mayonnaise brand is Hellmann’sWe use it on everything from burgers to potato salad this time of year but it is a challenge to get the very last bit out of a jar of squeeze bottle; until now. 
The nice folks at Hellmann’s came up with a new bottle design that will help put an end to the battle with your mayo container!

mayo, bottle, squeeze, flip, top, lid

About Hellmann’s new bottle: 
"Hellman's new and improved squeeze bottle provides a best-in-class squeeze experience with less waste, less mess and more control. Its unique design allows you to get more mayonnaise out without all the shaking, banging and mess and with the same unmistakable taste of Hellmann’s®. The new Hellmann’s® squeeze bottle allows you to squeeze more out, complete with three main improvements:
A Precision Tip, for pinpoint mayonnaise deployment
A Clean-Lock Cap, custom designed for a cleaner experience 
A Sleek New Design including unique slip agent technology for getting more mayonnaise out."

A photo posted by Linda Kinsman (@ismilefirst) on

I’m really enjoying the no mess feature! Making sandwiches for my girls or watching them make their own is no longer a messy task! Plus, the cap really does stay clean, so I don’t have to wipe it off or run it under water with each use making it a perfect go to Mayo container, for home, picnics, BBQ’s and more. 

I invite #SqueezeMoreOut this summer by learning more about this product by visiting Hellmann’s website where you can find recipes and tips and by following them on Twitter, or visiting them on Facebook


Please share in comments: What is your favorite summer recipe that uses Mayo?

To say that it is an honor to review Barb Webb’s newest book on sustainable living is an understatement.  As an avid reader of her blog Rural Mom, I grew to love Barb’s quick wit and clever writing style years ago. 

Simply put- Barb teaches without every preaching. She is a pro-earth, sustainable living chick who is out to show all us modern ladies that this lifestyle can be sexy in her newest book: Getting Laid- Everything you need to know about raising chickens, gardening and preserving. I received a digital copy of this book to share my thoughts with you today. All opinions are my own. 

chickens, gardening, preserving, sustainable living


About Getting Laid from Amazon:

"Sustainable living boasts no boundaries. You don't need massive amounts of acreage or even a fenced-in backyard. We may not be 100 percent sustainable in our lifestyle, but we can become better in-tune with our environment and conscientious of our actions. Like all aspects of life, it's about balance, finding ways to live a greener, cleaner life within the parameters of your current lifestyle. 
Top blogger for country living, Rural Mom, shows us the (actually very easy) way to live a sustainable lifestyle without making ourselves crazy in the process."


My thoughts:

Reading this book was fun, enlightening and motivating. Barb says that sustainable living is not only practical, it’s doable! That our sustainable living mission is of the utmost importance to ourselves, our environment and future generations! 

Excerpt from Getting Laid:


In this ten chapter book chock full of helpful guides and tips Barb takes us by the hand and helps us understand:

How making one small change today and then another tomorrow can lead to a lighter, greener, sexier lifestyle.

Choose the correct chicken for our personality (I got raise chickens for eggs) and master the art of Chicken Zen by following Barb’s guides to caring for your chickens.

What organic gardening means and how to get started with step by step guides on choosing plants, caring/watering/harvesting and preserving.

And so much more!


I spent a lot of time in Barb’s gardening chapters. I loved her quick Chick Tips like this one: 

"For sweeter tomatoes, sprinkle baking soda around the base of the tomato plant once a week prior to watering. The baking soda lowers acidity in the soil, which translates to plump, sweet tomatoes on the vine."

I also found her Gardening Themes Guide helpful.  She shows you how to plant and grow by culinary themes like an Irish or Italian garden. 

I’ve starred and highlighted so many sections of Getting Laid for later reference! Chapters on, composting with worms and how to make an indoor Vermicomposter and canning were of special interest to my husband (worms) and canning (me).


Dotted throughout this book are over 100 mouthwatering recipes!  Everything from an Old World Irish Mince meat pies to a delightful sounding Cucumber and Green Bean Salad our showcased. 


Excerpt from Getting Laid:



I couldn’t help but think of my parents and my grandparents while reading and in some cases re-reading the pages of this guide book. I had the privilege of growing up in a family that loves the earth and what it provides us. 

My family always had large gardens and one of my earliest and fondest memories with my Dad was working in the garden until the Whippoorwills called. That was my cue that dusk was at hand and it was time for me to put down my hoe or spade and go in for the night. 

Reading Barb’s words, feeling her sentiments, so aligned with mine- made me long for a cup of tea at my Grandmothers table once more, where I could share this book with her and listen to her stories and now, as an adult, share a few of my own tales.  


If you’ve ever longed for simpler days, if you’ve ever wished you could have lived like your grandparents did- gardening/hunting/preserving/thriving – this book is for you


You can purchase a copy for yourself by visiting Amazon. This book would make a perfect gift for friends and family who have expressed a desire to raise chickens, garden or live a more sustainable lifestyle.


You can learn more about the author, Barb Webb by visiting her author’s website Sustainable Chick. You can also join us on our sustainable living journey by visiting Rural Mom owned by the incomparable Barb Webb. 

It has been my privilege to work on Rural Mom for close to a year; first as a regular columnist and now as the assistant editor. I’ll be joining the Rural Mom team more often this summer so I hope to see you there.


Please share in comments: Do you raise, or want to raise chickens? If so, what kind?

Hello and happy Monday! The much needed rain has passed in my area for now so I enjoyed looking out my front windows at all the pretty green. There is something so perfect about spring green after a rain. While enjoying my view, I decided that it was the perfect time to tackle inside windows, we’ll tackle outside soon.



I’ve received valuable feedback from friends online, and surprisingly offline regarding my chore prompts.  You prefer my quick call to action prompts versus a how-to write up, so I’ll stick with that moving forward. Thanks again for the emails and chats friends!



Time To wash Windows:



windows, clean, prompt , cat
Fiona in her favorite spot


Color of the Month - May 2015- Minion Yellow

in , , , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Wednesday, May 13, 2015
My oldest daughter had declared our May color of the month should be a happy yellow weeks before Pantone announced that Minion Yellow was the color this season. I applaud my teen daughter for her on point choice and give you our picks for this happy color and season! 
minion, yellow, wildflowers, #gardening #design
Minion Yellow Wildflowers in our yard

And here's my Pinterest board for the month. I hope you like it.  Go outside and enjoy the sunshine today!

Follow Linda A.'s board Color of the Month - May 2015- Minion Yellow on Pinterest.
Please share in comments: Do you have anything yellow in your wardrobe right now?

Welcome to my new blog series! As you may have read last week, the idea for this series stemmed for a from a conversation over lunch with a friend who needed a quick chore prompt to help her tackle chores over and above her daily cleaning.
This week, we are tackling the refrigerator folks. That over stuffed, sometimes smelly place we rely on daily. 



Time To Clean out the Refrigerator:




food, frig, stuffed, clean, organize
A peak inside my over-stuffed Fridge

Happy Friday dear readers and if you are a Mom- happy Mother’s Day to you! I hope you enjoy your special day and will have a no-cleaning Sunday! If you are a busy Mom like me, you may be half way through your spring cleaning and despair that you have so much more to do. Never fear- Linda is here!

Welcome to my Weekly Chore Prompt:




While talking with a friend over lunch recently, she remarked that she wished she had a guide to help her keep on top of both the big and the little chores she should do every week; beyond making the bed, or sweeping the floor. That gave me the wonderful idea to share a weekly chore with you here. These won’t be anything fancy, no need to print -just a quick post sharing what area of my home I’m focusing on that week. Hopefully we can get and keep our home sparkly clean and clutter free together!



baking,soda, cleaning, tips

You’ve got the “write” stuff Pentel, Happy 50th!

in , , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Tuesday, May 05, 2015
If you are sitting at a desk reading this right now, do me a favor please; take a quick inventory of your pens. I’m betting at least one of them is a Pentel. Personally, I have loved Pentel products most of my life because my Mom, a busy account manager, used their pens almost exclusively.  That’s why I was happy to work with #Shopletreviews who provided me with complementary Pentel products to share my thoughts with you. All opinions are my own.


writing, pens, pencils,


Happy 50th Pentel! 

Pentel of America sold its first pen in 1965. That’s the same year the Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 space capsules conducted the first Earth orbit rendezvous in history.  And, here’s a little known fact, each astronaut carried a Pentel Sign Pen in their sleeve pocket!  

The Pentel Sign Pen made another famous appearance in 1965 when then United States President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaimed his “Great Society” during his State of the Union Address. He signed the Address with a Pentel.

Admittedly, I’m not signing anything as important as a former President, and I’m certainly never going to be an astronaut – but I still sign and write some pretty important pieces of paper her in my little corner of the world. 

My family and I love Pentel’s new Vicuna line of low viscosity fine ballpoint pens. They come in a rainbow of ink colors and write ultra smooth while drying fast on the page. Perfect for quick notes and homework, these pens are already migrating into other parts of our home. 


write, pencils, eraser, office, school, supplies,
Source

Equally easy to use is the Twist –Erase III fine point automatic pencil with a jumbo eraser. My daughters prefer mechanical pencils for school work and found the ergonomic comfort grip a huge plus.


My personal favorite of all the Pentel products sent to me for review is hands down the Pentel EnerGel Alloy medium point roller ball pen. 

birthday, wishes, pens, pencils, #Pentel


It has the style and feel of a much more expensive pen. The quality of ink makes it a superb writing pen that I will keep handy for signing important papers that need a smooth, quick dry- no smear signature. 


You can shop and save on these Pentel products and other office supplies by visiting the links found on each product above and by visiting Shoplet.com


Please share in comments: What color of ink is in the pen you are using today?

I am really happy to work with our sponsor, LifeBankUSA via Robb Digital today to share this information with you! I will receive a thank you gift for my time, however I only share content I feel will benefit my readers. All opinions are my own. 

pregant, mom, baby, healthy, contest

Having a beautiful, healthy baby is one of most joyous occasions for any Mother. I can still remember the moments I found out I was pregnant with both my sweet daughters and the prayer of thanks I immediately sent up, followed quickly by the fervent wish that my babies be healthy.  Thankfully, I had easy pregnancies and two beautiful, healthy newborns, who are now beautiful healthy teens. 

Had I known more about stem cell collection services from LifeBankUSA back during my pregnancies, I would have given it serious consideration and that’s why I agreed to share their information and contest with my readers. 


About LifeBankUSA:


healthy, baby, new, mom,



“Only LifebankUSA offers expectant parents the unique opportunity to bank stem cells from cord blood and placenta blood. Banking placenta blood stem cells makes your cord blood collection even more powerful for the near-term and for the future. It gives you the ability to bank more stem cells which has been shown to increase transplant success and survival rates. And placenta blood contains other types of progenitor stem cells which are expected to play a key role in regenerative medicine.”


Win!

car seat, giveaway,


LifebankUSA wants to give parents the chance to win one of THREE Graco 4everTM 4-in-1 Car Seats (valued at $330 each) in a random drawing from entrants in their Facebook contest. Entering is easy, just click this link and you’ll be taken to their Facebook page!

Good luck and Happy Mother’s Day! Please consider sharing with any expecting Moms you know!


Please share in comments:

Are you a Mom? If yes, how many children call you Mom? 




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