Be Carton Smart and Eat Cheesecake!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Carton Smart for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Thanksgiving is almost here and Christmas is just around the corner!  That means lots and lots of holiday baking.  Carton Smart is trying to make life (and food!) better for all of us.  

Carton Smart sent me three of their products to try.  I received Pumpkin Puree, Chicken Stock, and Cranberry Sauce.

 For today's post I will focus on the Pureed Pumpkin.  I love cheesecake and my husband loves pumpkin pie, so one of my new favorite holiday desserts is Pumpkin Cheesecake!  (I believe the first time I had this delicious dessert my sister-in-law made it at the in-laws.)

Here's the recipe that I used:

• 4 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese

• 1 cup sugar 

• 1 carton of pureed pumpkin

• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

• 1/2 tsp. ginger

• 1/4 tsp. allspice 

• 1 tsp. vanilla 

• 4 eggs 

Heat oven to 325.  (Since I made a crust-less cheesecake I lightly sprayed my cheesecake pan.)  After beating together the cream cheese and sugar, add the pumpkin, spices, and vanilla.  The eggs are the last thing to add, and it is best to add them one at a time.  I baked my cheesecake for a little more than an hour.  (Although I should note that I prefer my cheesecakes on the "well done" side, so you might want it to be a little less.)

Confession time: I almost had an epic fail, I came very close to forgetting the eggs! 

A little whipped cream and it was delicious!  

If you wanted to add a crust:

• 1½ cups finely ground gingersnap crumbs (roughly 1/2 a 15 oz box)
• ¼ cup granulated sugar 
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Press the mixture into your prepared pan and bake at 325 for about 15 minutes. 

Now, you might be wondering "Why do I care about this carton thing"?  Here are some reasons:

• Cartons use 1/3 of the packaging compared to cans (Yippee for less trash!)
• The cartons are easy to store by not wasting precious pantry space.
• The unique packaging process preserves the flavor (and nutrients!) without preservatives.
• The cartons are easy to recycle.
• Cartons are even reclosable, eliminating the need for extra plastic or dish-washing!   
• Tetra Pak® cartons are mostly made from a renewable resource

So, this holiday season why don't you Become Carton Smart!  You won't regret it!

Be sure to check them out on social media!

 Follow #CartonSmart on Pinterest

 Tweet @CartonSmart 

Be Creative with Duck Tape® Round Up

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walmart for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

"Back to School" in our house means lots of fun pre-school age projects.  I recently become aware of a fun product that we'll have to add to our "school" shopping!

Have you seen Walmart's wide selection of Duck Tape®?  (It can be found in either my personal favorite section of the store, The Craft Area, or my close second favorite part of the store, The Paint Department.)

Adding Duck Tape® to your cart is the beginning of a fun journey!   It can be used to create, embellish, and decorate!  While browsing Pinterest I came across so many great ways of using Duck Tape® that I had to share some of these great finds!  (This Duck Tape Roses & Flowers board is one of my new favorite Pinterest boards!)

Two Daloo has a fantastic post post with lots of great ideas, and just check out the building blocks that she made! 

At some point I am going to have to recreate Julie's track system for my little girl!  I think that she would have a blast driving her cars on this "road"!

The pencil boxes that Crafting in the Rain made are so adorable!  What a great way to give boring boxes some personality! 

 

These Duck Tape® boats, from Mess for Less, are no less than fantastically awesome.

Ok, this one might be a tad complicated for a pre-schooler, but I just loved it too much not to share!  AC Moore gives clear instructions so that you can have your very own Rose Pens.  

Now that I've shown you just a few of the awesome things that you can do with Duck Tape®, go buy Duck Tape at Walmart and have some creative fun with (or without) your pre-schooler!

Be sure to follow @TheDuckBrand for tons of creative inspiration!

White Cloud Toilet Paper (Yes, I blog about just about everything!)

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of White Cloud for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Yes, this post is all about toilet paper.  This toilet paper, in fact.

I'm fairly certain you've heard of White Cloud Toilet Paper before, but have you seen their new Luxuriously Soft Bath Tissue?

The brand new White Cloud Luxuriously Soft Bath Tissue is made using an innovative manufacturing method, which is called “TAD.” In case you're wondering, TAD stands for “Through Air Dried”. This basically means that White Cloud uses a fancy machine to blow air through single-ply sheets, giving you and me an awesome two-ply product.

Now, you might be worried that this fancy technology will up the cost of your toilet paper, making it an unreasonably expensive luxury, but that's not the case!  White Cloud Luxuriously Soft Bath Tissue is a premium product without a premium price tag; it's a luxury for everyone.  White Cloud products are exclusively available at Walmart.  Find White Cloud products near you.

If you want to save even more money, the White Cloud Facebook page will have a coupon for this new product starting on June 10!  Go print your $1.00 off coupon!

I received a package of Luxuriously Soft Bath Tissue so that I could share my honest opinions with you, so be sure to watch the video to see what I thought! (Yes, my toddler loved the novelty of the UPS man delivering toilet tissue to the front door.)

Don't forget to  Like White Cloud on Facebook and Follow White Cloud on Twitter to always be in the loop!