Dear Faithful Readers,

I am super excited to say – we are growing! The WiC Project is making its mark in the blogging world. Hundreds of visitors come here each week to read our product reviews, enter the giveaways, find recipes, or to read some of our faith-inspired posts. Along with growth comes more opportunities, and while opportunities are a huge blessing, if you are a full-time worker with a side business, then sometimes you have to pass them up just because there isn’t enough time in the day.

We love working with companies – both large and small. We view it as a symbiotic relationship – one where we have the opportunity to test and review products and host giveaways to grow traffic and they receive additional exposure online from our honest opinions and reviews. Instead of having to turn down some of the companies who have contacted us, we thought we could TRY a new program which we’ve (cleverly, or not so cleverly) named The WiC Chicks (or Chucks.)

Here’s the basic idea:

1. You sign-up to participate in the program, selecting the types of products you would like to receive and review.
2. When we receive a product review opportunity, we will email qualifying participants and will select a reviewer from the people who respond.
3. We will work with the sponsor to ship the product directly to you.
4. When you receive the product, you will test it and photograph it, providing as much detail as possible about your experience and your opinions on the product.
5. Finally, email us everything you think about the product, and we will write the review based on your notes. You read that right – we write the review – you just give us the product information and your opinion. (Doesn’t that make it easier?)

If this sounds like a program you would like to participate in, then make sure that you are a commenter, subscriber, follower on Twitter, and Like us on Facebook since those may be criteria we use to select the reviewer from the pool.

The WiC Chick (or Chuck) Program is still early in the planning stages, so any and all feedback as we move towards getting it launched is very welcome.

Stay tuned in the next few weeks for the WiC Chick (or Chuck) registration form, which will allow you to sign-up to participate!

Peace & Blessings,
Miriam

When I was working in meal assembly, we went through a lot of Ziploc bags. The owner would go to Costco and stock up on boxes and boxes of bulk Ziploc bags. As we opened new boxes, the employees would be sure to tear off the little Box Top for Education coupon and save it in (of course) a Ziploc bag. Over the course of the year or so that I worked there, we accumulated hundreds, if not over a thousand, Box Tops which she would then take to her son’s school. With each coupon worth 10 cents, that meant that every year the school got an extra $100 plus dollars.

This year, Box Tops for Education and Safeway have teamed up to bring 2 Ways 2 Earn - a new program that makes it easier than ever to earn money for your school by combining Box Tops for Education and the “10% Goes Back to Schools” program. Between August 11 and September 14th, Safeway has labeled over 2,000 of their store items with special School Bus tags. When you buy one of those items, then 10% of the purchase price can be donated to a local school of your choice.

I decided to shop with an eye out for the yellow bus at a recent Safeway shopping trip. It seemed like most of the products that qualified were in the snacks, baked and dry goods aisles. Although I was pleasantly surprised that the new Bic pen I bought also gave me 10% back. I thought it was a coup when I found a Betty Crocker Warm Delights that had a bonus Box Top on it (can you say SCORE?)  Remember, that when you shop for the Box Top products, you are earning the 10 cent coupons in ADDITION to the 10% back that Safeway, so that $2.19 cake box is funding $0.40 to a school of my choice. The Box Top coupons are found on the corners or at the tops of the boxes of participating products and finding the coupoons could be a fun scavenger hunt for the kids!

After checking out, I took a gander at my shopping receipt. The receipt shows a running tally of the amount of qualifying 2 Ways 2 Earn products that I have purchased. Starting September 18th, the receipts will give me a redemption code that I can use to donated the amount earned to a local school by visiting backtoschools.escrip.com. I think the cool thing is that this is my second shopping trip this month, and even though I didn’t know I was earning rewards, Safeway was keeping track of the sales. As of my last trip, I’ve purchased $36.83 worth of qualifying products which equales $3.68 for a school. So make sure you check your receipts in case you’ve been earning cash without knowing it.

With school budgets being cut across the country, the 2 Ways 2 Earn program is a great way that we can help fund our schools by doing our usual shopping. You don’t have to buy things you don’t normally buy and you don’t have to spend any extra money out of pocket. As an added bonus, as part of Safeway’s “10% Goes Back to Schools” program, they are hosting the Safeway Bonus Box Tops Sweepstakes which gives the chance to win 1,000 bonus Box Tops (which is an extra $100!) To stay up-to-date on the lates Box Tops news, then you can “Like” Box Tops for Education on Facebook.

The WiC Project 2 Ways 2 Earn Box Giveaway!

The Prize:

One winner will receive a $25 Safeway gift card (also valid at Dominick’s, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Vons, and Genuardi’s) plus a 50 Bonus Box Tops certificate.

To Enter:

1. Take a look at the products that have the Safeway “10% Back-to-School” yellow bus tags and share in the comments below which products you might buy.
2. For a bonus entry, subscribe to The WiC Project via reader or via email and leave a comment letting me know that you have.

The Rules:

One winner will be selected at random for this prize.

Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM EST, September 14, 2010.

Visit our Giveaway Rules page for general giveaway rules that also apply to this giveaway.

Disclaimer: This post consists of my (and/or fellow tester) opinions only. No compensation was given for this review/giveaway. I did receive a free “Safeway Back-to-School” prize pack and information from Safeway and General Mills through MyBlogSpark to use and test for the purposes of this review. This did not affect the outcome of this review.

If you’ve read my about page, then you know that WiC stands for Walking in Christ. While I haven’t always been a Christian, and I certainly don’t consider myself a “Bible Thumper,” I do have my own story about how I found Him. Here’s a new article talking about how I became a Christian:

Christianity is More Than Just Words

As a child, I went to an Episcopal elementary school. Every Friday, we would file into the chapel and diligently recite the Lord’s Prayer. At home, however, there was no explanation of what I was doing in the chapel. My father, while a Christian, was married to an atheist. They believed in raising a child to form their own beliefs, not having faith instilled in them. When I entered into high school, my father made a few attempts to get me involved in the church, mostly by having me attend Sunday school. Again, there was no dialogue of what the point was. I remember thinking, “He wants me to act like them? They’re doing worse stuff than I am!”

It wasn’t until a few years after college that my journey to know Christ really began. I was working in a job I didn’t like, was friends with people who didn’t actually like me, and I was feeling alone. Fortunately, I did have one friend who actually cared. One friend who knew of a better way to live life. And while I was feeling lost, my friend offered a path to find happiness. He shared a way to find, receive, and ultimately give back love continuously and uncondtionally, and that path was through Jesus Christ.

READ MORE

Peace & Blessings,

Miriam

I love to read. Ever since I was a little girl – and despite the fact that my dad made me write book reports during the summer – I’ve been able to escape to the fictional worlds that authors create. Page turners are both the  best and the worst. The best because they suck you right in and keep you reading page after page. The worst because I would inevitably be up until 3 or 4AM reading when I’d have work the next day.

One series of books that has consistently captured me is Harry Potter. The stories are so exciting, the plots so intriguing, and the characters – each with their own personality, are all very relatable. I’ll be honest that I only started reading Harry Potter as a last resort. My family was on a bus trip and I had just finished my last book and was bored. My brother had his copy of Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone. I picked it up and was hooked. Since then, I’ve read every single book multiple times. I pre-ordered the new releases ahead of time and have seen every movie (also multiple times.)

With all of that in mind, it shouldn’t be a surprise that I am UBER excited for the upcoming movie – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1. I’m both thrilled to see the movie come to life, yet sad that it’s also coming to an end. Either way, here is my list of 10 things I’m looking forward to in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Deathy Hallows movie!

Since the Harry Potter series first came out in movie theaters, beginning with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in November, 2001, audiences around the world have embraced Harry Potter and his adventures. Now, Harry’s story draws to a close with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I on November 19, 2010. In the last of the seven book series, we will watch Harry continue his search for Lord Voldemort’s horcruxes so that Harry can defeat Voldemort once and for all.

As an avid Harry Potter fan, here is a list of ten things I am looking forward to while watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. *CAUTION* Spoiler Alert! I will be discussing things that will happen in the movie if they are shown as written.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

I’d also like to give a shout out to all my fellow Harry Potter fans (shout out!) And if you haven’t read any of the Harry Potter books, I definitely recommend you give them a shot. They are total page turners and are a lot of fun. I guarantee that once you start, you’ll want to finish the whole series, so you might as well go ahead and pick-up the whole box set which is currently on sale for ~$50.

There’s a hole in the wall Indian restaurant down the street from my work. They happily sell me Chicken Tikka wraps for $8.00 a pop. I go there occasionally (it’s a little pricey) and more often than not, I find myself putting the chicken to the side and tearing off bits of the naan wrap to eat separately. I’ve considered ordering only the naan one time but thought that might make me weird. While I’m not always the hugest curry fan, I’ve always been a fan of naan – whether it’s dipping into a sauce or eating it plain. If you are a fellow naan lover – or even if you aren’t but are game to try something other than french bread as a side dish – the Tandoor Chef has a great selection of naan products for you to check out.

Founded in the early 1970s by Mrs. Bhagwati Amin, Tandoor Chef is a family-owned business that bring the taste of authentic Indian cuisine to the states. How authentic? The package of naan bread I had said it was actually a “Product of India.”Available in the frozen food aisle, Tandoor Chef offers tandoori and garlic flavored naan, in addition to their new line of naan pizzas which come in Roasted Eggplant, Cilantro Pesto, Margherita, and Spinach & Paneer Cheese varieties. Eager to try their pizzas, I went to Whole Foods only to find that they were sold out of the Tandoor Chef Naan Pizzas. I consoled myself with a box of their Tandoori Naan.

Let’s be honest – the box makes the naan look delicious. Especially with that little slab of butter slowly melting across the top. O.M.G. It’s described as “Authentic Indian bread hand-stretched and baked in a traditional Tandoor oven.” It is also touted as being all natural, with no preservatives or additives. Taking a look at the ingredients, I was happy to see that I knew what all of them were: wheat flower, water, milk, sunflower oil salt, levure. (I did have to look up levure – it’s essentially yeast.) When you open the box, you’ll find a sealed plastic bag that contains 3 pieces of what I assume are pre-cooked pieces of naan bread. It might not look like it, but this is a picture of my frozen Tandoor Chef naan.

Looking at the cooking instructions, I was surprised that preheating the oven took longer than the actual heating of the naan. They recommend that you preheat the oven to 400? for 10 minutes, then heat for 60 to 90 seconds. Finally, glaze the naan with butter and serve it hot. I’ll admit that I was feeling lazy and instead I let the toaster oven heat up for about three minutes, then I put the frozen naan in for the full 90 seconds (sometimes a little longer if I was too slow to get to it after the time went off.) But I did diligent rub a stick of butter all over the top of the breads to give them a nice buttery glaze. Do you see the glistening of the butter in the light?

Fresh out of the oven, the naan bread brought an aroma of freshly heated bread. I was quick to rub on the butter and watched with satisfaction as it slowly melted across the piping hot surface of the naan. I’m all about eating with my hands and tore off chunks of the naan to enjoy with my salad. The bread was easy to tear off into pieces, with a slightly crusty exterior and a soft interior. The butter was clearly on the naan, yet the bread had its own distinct flavor. I’m not sure if it is 100% authentic, but I do know that it tastes just like the bread I get from the Indian restaurant down the street (although slightly smaller) and I would not be surprised if some restaurants served Tandoor Chef Tandoor Naan on their own tables.

If you’ve been curious to try Indian cuisine, or are currently a fan, then you should take a look Tandoor Chef. Tandoor Chef is available in stores nation-wide. Some of their products are also available for purchase on Amazon. For more information, as well as recipes, you can visit their website at www.tandoorchef.com. You can also stay up-to-date on their latest happenings by Liking Tandoor Chef on Facebook or Following Tandoor Chef on Twitter.

The WiC Project Tandoor Chef Giveaway!

The Prize:

Two winners will receive TWO coupons for FREE Tandoor Chef frozen food products.

To Enter:

1. Visit www.tandoorchef.com and in the comments below, let me know which Tandoor Chef frozen food you’d like to try.
2. For a bonus entry, subscribe to The WiC Project via reader or via email and leave a comment letting me know that you have.

The Rules:

Two winners will be selected at random for this prize.

Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM EST, September 8, 2010.

Visit our Giveaway Rules page for general giveaway rules that also apply to this giveaway.

Disclaimer: This post consists of my (and/or fellow tester) opinions only. No compensation was given for this review/giveaway. I did receive free coupons for Tandoor Chef from the manufacturer or representing PR agency to use and test for the purposes of this review. This did not affect the outcome of this review.