Champions for Kids. Be one of millions.

I did the math, and it makes my heart sad.

There were 50,641 households in 2010 in the county in which I live, made up of a total of 131,642 people.  (I did the research.)  Of those 50, 641 households, 31.1%, roughly 15,749 households, contain children under the age of 18.  25.9 % of the county's population, about 34,095 in total, were age 19 and under.  That's an average of 2.2 children per house in a household, in the households that have children.

In 2010, 6,055 of the households in my county were food stamps recipients.  People, that's 12% of the households.  Of those households, 50.2% had children under 18.  Let's pretend, just for a minute, each of the families with children who receive food stamps have exactly 2.2 children, the county average.  What that would mean is that approximately 6687 children, in MY county...in MY neighborhood...have meals subsidized by food stamps!  

Six thousand, six hundred, eighty-seven children in MY backyard are "food insecure," and probably even more!  

What's more, there are tons more kids, I'm sure, in my neighborhood, in my county, in this country, who either don't have access to nutritious foods, either by chance, by choice, or by lack of education!  That breaks my heart.  Kids, whether they have food available or not, are starving - starving! - because what they are putting into their bodies isn't healthy!

I can't find any solid evidence to tell me what the childhood obesity rates are in my county, but I'm sure they're high.  Why am I sure?  Because the national adult obesity rate is currently (in 2011) is 25%, and in my county that rate is a soaring 32%!  People, a third of the adults in my county are obese, and I can just about guarantee you that problem didn't start for most of them the minute they turned 19.  

Children around our country, despite there being more than enough nutritious food for all of us, are starving nutritionally because of the choices they are making and the situations in which their families are finding themselves, and I think that's tragic!

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I have partnered with Abbott Nutrition #AbbottCFK and become "One of Millions"...one of millions becoming Champions for Kids  #Championsforkids and working to fight back against the nutrition tragedy in our nation!  I've got to be honest with you, this started for me as a campaign to get my kids involved a little in the community and earn a little money. #CBias  It's become SO much more than that in my heart, already, though.  So very much more.  I just have to roll around in my head what exactly it'll mean!

Champions for Kids exists to mobilize MILLIONS of people by providing training and resources to improve the lives of children in communities across America and beyond. Our goal is to mobilize 20 Million people by 2020. 

My kids and I went shopping over the weekend to buy some Abbott Nutrition brand snacks to create some snack packs for kids who need them.  We went to our local Walmart to do our shopping.

I'd done some research ahead of time and had a pretty good idea of what kinds of snacks we'd buy.

Since I took a couple of boys with me, we had the chance to play a little "nutritious/not nutritious" game while we were deciding on what exactly to purchase!

We finally decided to stick with snacks from the Abbott Nutrition line.

We bagged up our snacks and delivered them, last night, to our children's pastor, Pastor Gayle! 

Pastor Gayle was excited to receive the snacks and said there are children, even in our church, who could use the nutritious snacks!  Little Lou was so excited to take the snack packs to church because not only does she love Pastor Gayle, but she had a sense of "knowing" where those snacks were going!  Pastor Gayle said she'd looked at the Champions for Kids website through the link I'd sent her, and she was very intrigued by it.  She's planning to do some more research, and is considering adding some Champions for Kids ideas into the Wednesday night curriculum!  

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People, our snack bags will provide a couple of kids with a couple of snacks, but sadly they can't provide snacks for ALL the kids in our area, and they certainly can't provide the education the families need to eat a healthy diet daily...OR the resources for some of the families to do so!  

That's where we all come in.  Champions for Kids is an amazing program!  Please check out the website.  Read some of the "SIMPLE Service Project" ideas.  Pick one or make one up.  Get out there and DO something.  There are children all around us that need our help.  

Won't you become One of Millions?  Won't you become a Champion for Kids?

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias  All opinions are my own.

Family Game Night with Wipeout 2 Wii!!

I am ALL about cheap family entertainment, and my hubby loves video games!  We are SO in love with the video game rental feature from http://www.redbox.com! 

This weekend we purchased a new (to us) car!  What better way to celebrate this new phase in life than with a family game night, right?  When we were back in town, Redbox and Con Agra from Walmart were ready to provide our snacks and entertainment!  #CouchCritics

We decided to rent Wipeout 2 for the Wii as our game night game.  It is rated E10+, and our kids are 4 and 6 (and 1...but he doesn't play video games).  We read some reviews about it and didn't think it sounded like there was any content that was to questionable, and it didn't look all that difficult, so we decided to go for it!

We grabbed some Con Agra snacks...Swiss Miss pudding cups, Orville Redenbacher popcorn, and Swiss Miss hot chocolate, and we were ready to go!

The kids LOVED the game! 

They loved it so much, in fact, that the grown-ups never had a chance to play!  (I think daddy got a few turns in, but mommy didn't get to touch the wii remotes once...other than to get games going for the kids!)

They loved the snacks, too!  Bugsy especially loved the Swiss Miss pudding, although he's a BIG chocolate fan! 

I love hot chocolate, and Swiss Miss in by far my favorite, so I was in heaven with my choice!

The Redbox is easy.  It's fun to have a cheap ($2!) video game night with the kids.  It's also fun to get a cheap grown-up blu-ray video ($1.50) for after the kids go to bed!  Con Agra foods made the perfect snacks on the side!

Thanks, Redbox and Con Agra, for helping us enjoy an evening IN!

(Be sure to follow Redbox on twitter and facebook to keep up with their latest news!)


This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias All opinions are my own.

Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches After the Game!

Moms with kids (which is, by the way, pretty much all moms) are an inherently busy group of people!  The kids are busy, too!  Sometimes the kids are busy AND hungry!

Basketball runs for 9 weeks between the beginning of November and the end of January!  It's great fun.  The girls LOVE it and the parents love seeing the girls learn new skills!

This week was basketball Saturday!  Little Lou's age group plays ball from 1-2:30.  They practice from 1-1:45 and then play a game.  This week was also my nephew Cracker's 2nd birthday party!  It was scheduled for 4:00 Saturday, an hour away!  When basketball was over, Little Lou was sweaty and hungry, but we needed to get to that party.

Enter, Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches!

We rushed home after the game finished and Little Lou and I ran into the house.  She changed into "play clothes" and I went into "make a quick snack" mode.  Tyson made it easy-peasy!  We had a box of Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches in the freezer.  These little sandwiches cook up in just under 2 minutes!  I made 2 packages of them in under 5 minutes while Little Lou changed and we were out the door!

Stinky won't eat sandwiches, so I cut his up into bite sized pieces.

The "big kids" were excited to eat their chicken sandwiches (they LOVE Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches!) and they were also excited to eat in the car!  (Mommy is a stickler for keeping food out of car seats!)  Check out the rest of the story here.

Thanks to Tyson, we were able to make it to the party just in time!  Happy Birthday, Crackers!

Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches are a fantastic "after the game" snack!  They cook up quickly and are packed with just enough protein and carbohydrates to keep your little ones (or big ones!) moving!  They're a favorite around here, that's for sure, and they will be at your house as well!

Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches are available at many Walmart stores!  Check today to see if they're available at yours! 

“This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias  All opinions are my own.

No-hassle meals for sleepy moms! (A Tyson Mini-Chicken Sandwich story)

I'm one of them.  Yep, that's right.  I wear it loud and proud.  I'm not ashamed.

I'm a Black Friday Shopper!

Now, I'm not the "dress up in Christmas wear" kind of shopper.  I'm not the "shove people out of my way for the stuff I want" kind of shopper.  I'm not even the "stand in line for hours on end" kind of shopper...usually.  

What I AM is the "shop from midnight to 4am" shopper.  (Longer if no one is sick at home.)  I'm the "make a list and leave it at home" kind of shopper.  I'm the "I don't really want anything, but I can't resist going" kind of shopper. I'm the "shop all the local stores and then shop their websites" kind of shopper.  I do it for fun, with my sister and mom.  

And then I'm exhausted and all I want to do is SLEEP!

But, I have three of these:

and they like to get up early.  And eat. 

What's a super sleepy, post-Black Friday shopping mama to do when 3 hungry monsters sweethearts wake up too early on Black Friday morning?

Why, she'll pop a couple of these bad boys into the microwave:

50 seconds on each side, add a few apple slices, and my three munchkins had a balanced breakfast!  (Mommy got to turn the kiddos over to Daddy and go back to sleep!)

Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches are quick, easy, and budget-friendly!  (They're daddy friendly as well, in case the need should arise.)  You can purchase them at Walmart.  Click here to see where I found them in my store and to "watch" my shopping trip!  Right now, for a limited time and while supplies last, Tyson has a special offer at Walmart!  (Check here to see if your Walmart has the sandwiches!)  When you purchase 2 boxes of Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches, you can earn a $5 Walmart giftcard by mail!  Now that's #TysonGoodness!

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias  All opinions are my own.

Quick Breakfast with Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches

I know you're not like me.  I know you lay out your clothes the night before, everything ironed and just-so.  I know your kids' clothes are laid out too.  I know you get up at 4am, exercise, shower, get your children up, bathe them, dress them in chic matching outfits, and send the happily to school with a nice, healthy lunch in a little bento box and thermos.  Every day.  I know you do.

You don't?

You're more like me?  You oversleep, wake up at 6:45, and realize you have to leave at 7:15 because, "Oh no, I'm driving the morning carpool today," too?  You grab your three kids out of their beds, throw some clothes on them (or not), and pray that you have something quick and easy they can eat for a "healthy" breakfast while you snatch a quick shower, like I did on Tuesday?  Do you even leave all the debris of the morning laying around the living room and hope you can get to it later in the day?

 

Then this is for you!

I have an opinion about breakfast foods.  I think they should be protein packed to help make it through the day, but with enough carbs to give a good boost right from the get-go.  Cereal doesn't really cut it.  Pop Tarts definitely don't make the grade.  My daughter's typical favorite "breakfast" food is a peanut butter and honey sandwich on whole wheat.  See that?  Carbs and protein, all in a nice creamy bundle.  And it's quick...but sometimes not quick enough!  

There are days, like Tuesday, when I have 30 minutes to pull together 3 kids and myself and be out the door.  On these days, I need something I can make with one hand while I'm pouring drinks or changing diapers with the other.  

Tyson Chicken has a solution!

Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches are kid-sized little chicken sandwiches that microwave in their bags in about a minute and a half!  They come in 2-packs, so for my 3 kids I make 2 2-packs.  

3 minutes later, they have breakfast, complete with milk (or water, for Little Lou, who doesn't like to drink milk because "it has too much sugar"), a dry diaper, and clean clothes!  I have time to take a fast shower and get dressed myself before we rush out the door on the way to school!

I LOVE that the cooking directions are clearly marked on each package.  You don't have to hang onto the box if you're tight on space, and if you pack them to take along for your own breakfast or lunch, you don't have to try to remember how to make them!  

Tyson Mini Chicken sandwiches are really yummy!  Mmmmm, #TysonGoodness!  They're available with or without cheese.  My whole family prefers the ones with cheese (although when I drew the short straw and got a cheeseless one, I dressed it up with a slice of colby-pepperjack...yum).  Little Lou wants one EVERY morning for breakfast now!  They're a perfect kid-sized breakfast, lunch, or snack food.  They're great for mamas and daddies on the go, too.  

Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches are available now at Walmart!

You'll find them in the freezer section.  I found them in the "snacks and appetizers" section of the freezer.  At my Walmart, they're $5.14 for a box of 8.  That's just 64 cents a sandwich!  I don't know how you feel, but I think it's worth 64 cents to have an easier morning, particularly on already hectic days!

Want to know more about my experience with Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches from #TysonGoodness and #CBias?  Check out my photo journey!

Think you want to try some of your own?  Now is the PERFECT time!  Between now and January 13, when you buy 2 boxes of Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches at Walmart, you can earn a $5 Walmart gift card!  (While supplies last.  Only 2000 available.)  Who can't afford 16 sandwiches at 32 cents each?!?  Just visit Tyson Goodness for complete details!  While you're there, check to make sure your local Walmart is carrying the sandwiches so you aren't out on a wild good chase looking for them.

Try 'em!  You'll like 'em!

“This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias #TysonGoodness  All opinions are strictly my own.