Whether you are cooking for a big game day party or just your home team, these easy and yummy pork chops are sure to be a hit. Bonus -they are kids friendly too!

Shake N Bake pork chops are a staple on our regular meal plan. In fact, they were a staple on my regular meal plan growing up too. It may not be the fanciest of recipes, but for busy families they are nutritious and delicious – just how we like it. Growing up mom always served them with homemade macaroni and cheese and a veggie, so that’s the way we sever them too. YUM!

Ingredients:

• Boneless Pork Loin Chops – we buy the think sliced lean chops
• Shake N Bake Original Pork Recipe
• Dijon Mustard (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425.

1. Trim any fat (I am way picky about fat, so I trim everything).
2. Brush the chop with Dijon mustard coating both sides. (This is an optional step, K & I prefer without the Dijon hubby prefers his with the Dijon. If not using Dijon wet the chops ever so slightly with water.)
3. Pour the Shake N Bake mix into the provided plastic bag and place each chop (one at a time) in the bag. Hold the bag closed and shake, shake, shake.
4. Remove the chops and place on baking rack or baking sheet.
5. Cook in the oven for 15 minutes.

TIPS

• The bottom of the chop can get a bit soggy if placed directly onto the baking sheet, so my genius husband started placing a cookie rack over the baking sheet so that the chops would get crispy on all sides. It works perfect!
• Cut your chops into strips and serve them to little ones as pork fingers.

Easiest Macaroni & Cheese recipe ever.

• 1/2 box of elbow macaroni
• 1 bag of sharp shredded cheese
• Splash of milk
• Heaping spoonful of butter

Boil the noodles. After pouring off the water dump in the milk, butter and cheese. Let the heat from the noddles melt everything. Stir until smooth.

Next week we will tackle a brand new recipe for pork roast, a cut we have never made before. But for now here are a couple of other yummy ideas for game day pork chops - Thai Lettuce Wraps with Satay Pork Strips, Stuffed Pork, Cheddar and Apple Panini or Game Day Pork and Chile Wraps. You can find even more recipes at www.porkbeinspired.com.

GO PATS!

Disclosure – This post is brought to you by the National Pork Board, Publix and TheMotherhood, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Head over here to send your valentine.

Mirror Mirror opens in theaters March 30, 2012.

Check out the trailer for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9zsP6RAPDs

Disclosure – I was provided promotional product in consideration for this post, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

This special event being held at Toys”R”Us stores across the country lets you experience the brand new building craze, LEGO® Friends, and support Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) in the fight against childhood cancer! LEGO will hold an exclusive event at participating Toys”R”Us stores on Saturday, February 4 from 12 to 2 pm, where children can create a complimentary LEGO Friends lemonade stand to take home. For each stand built, The LEGO Group will donate $1 to ALSF*!

* Up to $10,000 to ALSF. Event intended for children, ages 5-up. Parental supervision required at all times. All event materials and free giveaways available while supplies last and distributed to participating children only. Limit one per child. Quantities limited; no rain checks.

For more details, head over here.

America’s Biggest Storytime, hosted by Book It, began five years ago as a way to remind parents how important it is to establish a daily reading routine with their young readers. Last year’s celeb reader was Justin Bieber, who read The Cat in The Hat, and more than 500,000 kids, parents and teachers tuned in.

Put it on your calendars now so you don’t miss it!

Thanks to Surviving on a Teacher’s Salary for the tip.

Whether the day of ♥LOVE♥ makes your heart swoon or you are among the jaded who complain that the day is nothing more than a Hallmark holiday to boost retail sales,  you can’t escape St Valentine’s Day. Did you know that more than a billion (yes, billion with a b) cards will be sent? That’s second only to Christmas when we send more than 2.5 billion cards (I contributed my share!).

Here are some more interesting facts about cupid’s day:

In addition to all those cards, 110 million red roses are sent. And chocolate lovers devour more 35 million boxes of those heart shaped boxes of goodness (dark chocolate Godiva for me please). But the top-selling sweet treat, 8 BILLION conversation hearts! (I just love those sweet confections.)

Statistically, men spend more money on gifts for their sweetie. But we girls don’t forget all about our guys, we like to spoil our guys too with gifts of jewelry (like black tungsten rings), technology (like giant plasma screens) and even flowers (27% of flowers are purchased by women).

But it isn’t all about romance. Guess who receives the most Valentines - teachers! (Which reminds me I need something for K’s teachers.) Next up our kids, moms and finally wives and girlfriends. Fiddo isn’t forgotten either. Nearly $367 million are spent on Valentine’s Day gifts for pets. (Shocked? I am!)

So just what are you expecting (or hoping) to receive on February 14? Chocolates, flowers, jewelry?

Before you click away incorrectly assuming I am going to bore you with a lot of information about pork, let me assure you that I truly plan to inspire you – not bore you. (Although you can find some great nutritional information offering a comparison of pork to chicken and beef here.) This series corresponds with Publix’s month-long special on pork, and the plan is to show you mouth-watering recipes that you can make using the pork cut that is on special for the week. (See, I am still thinking about saving you money!) At the end of the campaign, I will even have a giveaway that includes $40 in coupons for free pork.

The first cut that is on special at Publix (January 26 - February 1) is the pork tenderloin. Over the past several months, my mother’s new pork tenderloin recipe has quickly become a new family favorite, so I am excited to share it with you. In your family, Wednesday nights are FDN – family dinner night. We all head over to my parent’s house for a family gathering around the dinner table; the attendees include my family, my sister and her fiance, my aunt, my grandmother and, of course, my parents. FDN entertainment is provided by K who often plays dress up, leads a band, organizes a dance party or otherwise keeps us laughing.

The catch for FDN is that mom (AKA Mimi) prepares dinner for nine while watching K because Wednesdays are also “Camp Mimi” – the day K gets to spend with her Mimi each week. So dinner recipes must be simple and yummy. While she has a standard repertoire of meals, she tries to mix it up from time to time. After testing a new pork tenderloin recipe on us last fall, we all quickly agreed it was to be added to the regular rotation.

I had hoped to get some pictures of the preparation this week, but since K ran a fever of 101-104 for three days, FDN was canceled this week due to K being quarantined at home. (By the way, I am happy to report that K is better now.)

Without further ado, Mimi’s grilled pork tenderloin.

• 1 1-lb pork tenderloin (Mimi typically makes a 4 or 5 lb one to feed nine and adjusts accordingly)
• 2 tsp. salt, divided
• 3/4 tsp. pepper, divided
• 3 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme (Mimi strips the leaves off the woody stems)
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. honey 1 garlic clove, minced

Preheat grill to 350 – 400 (medium high) heat.

1. Remove silver skin from tenderloin, leaving a thin layer of fat.
2. Sprinkle pork with 1 tsp. salt & 1/2 tsp. pepper. Combine mustard and other ingredients (Mimi puts them all in a food processor to mix). Rub mustard mixture on pork and let stand 10 minutes (Mimi says hers typically sits a lot longer, a couple hours, as she preps the pork during K’s nap. I think it’s probably better that way, as the ingredients have longer to meld.)
3. Grill pork, covered with grill lid, 10-12 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest portion registers 155. Remove from grill; cover with foil and let stand for 10 minutes.

The results – moist, tender and delicious.

Mimi pairs the tenderloin with a salad, steamed broccoli and rice.

For even more ideas about how to prepare pork tenderloin visit www.porkbeinspired.com where you will find pages and pages of recipes including a recipe for Sauteed Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Lemon-Garlic Sauce, which sounds oh-so yummy. (Hint, type tenderloin in the search box to find recipes exclusively for the tenderloin cut.) Or how about this recipe for Honey-Kissed Pretzel Crusted Pork Tenderloin. Pretzels and pork? I bet even kids would eat that!

Disclosure – This post is brought to you by the National Pork Board, Publix and TheMotherhood, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

They do have a premium service for $40/year that includes additional features such as the ability to reschedule delivery, change delivery address, opt to have the package delivered to your local UPS store and more, but the free service will certainly suffice for me. To get started, just head over to the My Choice website here.

There are a lot of different ways to watch Netflix Instant Video, and we happen to have Netflix streaming built-in to our TV which makes it very easy. Most Blu-ray players have the feature, and you can also use the popular and simple-to-use Roku players too. They of course have FREE iPad, iPhone, and Android apps, or you can watch their entire streaming library using your Xbox, PS3, Wii, or your computer’s web browser.

You can currently try out Netflix for one-month FREE, and they’ll even currently give you a FREE $10 Papa John’s gift card if you continue past the trial too!

While I am sure K’s symptoms are the result of something minor – probably the beginnings of a cold. All moms live in fear of a simple fever becoming something worse. Luckily, we live in a day and age where vaccines mean that our little ones will never have to face such terrible threats like measles, mumps, rubella and even chicken pox. But while I was amazed (again) at the number of shots my youngest received at her two-month appointment, not all vaccines available are currently recommend by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of the routine vaccination schedule.

One disease that is preventable if vaccinated is Meningococcal Meningitis, and the Meningitis Angles organization is working to urge the CDC to recommend vaccinating infants against this deadly disease.

Meningococcal Disease is among the leading causes of preventable in death in the US. More staggering is the fact that approximately 50-60% of these cases are vaccine preventable. While the vaccine is currently recommended for teens and preteens, infants are particularly at risk. Sadly, 1 in 16 infants who contract this disease will die and 1 in 6 will suffer limb amputations, paralysis, seizures, strokes, hearing loss, blindness, organ damage, severe scarring, brain damage and more.

The following PSA shares more information about the devastating illness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ2qLQ7F8TU

While the CDC is seeking public input on whether infants two years and younger should be immunized against meningitis, you can help by signing the Meningitis Angels petition. Voice your opinion to support protecting infants from meningitis and urge the CDC to recommend that pediatricians immunize infants against meningococcal disease.

As with all vaccinations and medications, talk to your pediatrician to see if this vaccination is right for your infant. I’m adding it to my list of questions for S’s four-month check up.

Disclosure – I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central and Meningitis Angels. This campaign was made possible in part through support provided by Novartis Vaccines. A small donation to a charity of my choice was made in my name fromMom Central as a thank-you for participating. All opinions in this posting are 100% my own.

Chatting with the other moms at K’s dance class, I thought about how naive I am in my own life about things that could happen. While I am a worrier for sure, there are many circumstances in which I just assume everything will be alright. A family cruise is case in point.

As friends discussed the possibility of taking a multi-family cruise aboard one of Disney’s ships this summer, one friend is already prepared with a game plan for getting her four-year-old daughter off of a sinking ship in an emergency. She plans to grab a tablecloth or bed sheet to create a papoose to secure her daughter as she shimmies up the banisters crawling to safety. A mental image that gave me a chuckle, but made me realize that on board several cruises I have never even considered running aground, sinking or capsizing as a possibility. On trips I tend to be more worried about forgetting something, a sunburn or getting sick. Hats off to my friend who now has me thinking that I will carry my Sleepy Wrap EVERYWHERE on board a cruise, just in case…

Disaster can take many forms, although the natural ones seem to involve either fire or water. While I live in the sunshine state, I find myself more worried (for no apparent reason) of a house fire than the very real effects of a hurricane. Of course, a fire would be awful, but Central Floridians learned in 2004 – hurricanes are a real threat even in the middle of the state.

I buy a couple flats of water (just in case) at the start of every hurricane season. Water I know that we will drink throughout the year. But major disasters like the Italian cruise ship make me wonder if I do enough to protect my family from the just-in-case scenarios that now play in my mind. Water is all fine and good, but perhaps I should also stock my pantry with emergency food from Prepare Wise.

Perhaps I am getting ahead of myself. Perhaps I should continue to live in the comfort of assuming everything will be fine… I certianly have enough to worry about already. But perhaps… perhaps we should all take another look around us to make sure we have an evacuation plan out of every environment – cruise ship, home, hotel, plane, train, automobile or otherwise… I think I will go make sure the emergency kit in my car is up to date now.

Our mission – create a snack pack to donate to a food pantry.

When shopping for our snack pack, we decided it was important to mix nutritious options with a little fun. After much debate we selected Abbott’s Pediasure (in chocolate, of course), banana chips, raisins, animal crackers, trail mix and Rainbow Goldfish (which are better than plain Goldfish according to my three year old). A snack pack that would please any kid. You can see more pictures from our shopping trip in my Google + story.

As I previously posted, our snack pack for the Champions for Kids‘ simple service project would be donated to The Sharing Center. In addition to our snack donation, my husband recently cleaned out his closet so we also had three bags of men’s clothes and shoes to donate to the thrift shop. The Sharing Center also recently opened “The Oaisis,” a place for homeless families to shower and get cleaned up. The Oaisis is always looking for travel-sized toiletry items, so I cleaned out our stash of hotel goodies and filled a bag full of shampoos, conditioners, lotions, etc.

Upon arriving at The Sharing Center I figured we would just drop off our items and leave, but the woman we met was kind enough to show us the pantry so K could see where her donation would go. I was happy to see that among the shelves of meal ideas there were also shelves just for kids (apparently I wasn’t the only one thinking about snacks for kids). Cereals, snacks and goodies just what kids want. I even noticed several six-packs of Pediasure on the shelf, so our donation would fit in perfectly. The woman told K all about how people who need help can come and get food they need to help them get back on there feet. She even mentioned that when there are kids they always try to give them some fun snack items like what we brought with us. It was a really neat experience to bring K back into the pantry to see all the food donations and learn about where her donation would go.

I am honored to have been a part of this campaign to give back to our community. Learn more about how you can get involved in giving back with Champions for Kids at www.championsforkids.org. If you are on Twitter, I also invite you to participate in the Champions for Kids Twitter party on January 19 at 9:00 EST using the hash tag #AbbottCFK.

Disclosure – This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

• Adorable child-friendly design with a blue nursery theme makes this ultrasonic cool mist humidifier a standout
• Whisper-quiet operation gives refreshing relief from year-round heating and cooling
• Variable humidity output regulator and low power consumption provide economical comfort
• Easy-to-carry removable water tank supplies up to 11 hrs. of running per fill
• Suitable for rooms about 500 sq. ft. in size

Check it out here.

Walgreens is part of our weekend routine. On Sunday’s we sit on the couch (or in bed) and we read the “magazines” (as my daughter calls them). We each have our circulars we like – hubby, the tech ones; K, the toys; me, everything else. While my family browses, I go to work. I analyze the sales and deals to pair up with my coupons, and during nap time that afternoon I shop. I rely on Walgreens as one of my go-to bargain shopping stops.

If you also shop Walgreens, you may have noticed that Express Scripts no longer covers prescriptions filled at Walgreens. This change (effective January 1, 2012) means that Express Scripts customers who are used to filling their prescriptions at Walgreens now have to go elsewhere to get their prescriptions covered by in-network benefits. While contract negotiations to keep Walgreens and Express Script together have failed, Walgreens is trying to make this transition as smooth as possible and offer solutions for customers who want to continue filling their prescriptions at their local Walgreens.

Among the steps Walgreens is taking to minimize the disruption is offering a special discount on annual membership for the Walgreens Prescription Savings Club. An individual can join during a special January promotion for only $5, or $10 for a family membership, and receive savings on more than 8,000 brand name and all generic medications. More than 400 generics are available with a three-month supply for less than $1 a week. (Regular annual membership is $20 for an individual and $35 for a family.)

Only patients with certain prescription insurance plans managed by Express Scripts are impacted. (Contact your local Walgreens pharmacist to find out  if you’re impacted.)

Walgreens customers can stay updated on information by following Walgreens on Twitter and Walgreens on Facebook. (You’ll also find great deals for the store in addition to pharmacy info.)

Fine Print:

1. Use the promo codes and links provided below only on the dates listed to receive the savings.

2. All deals available only while supplies last. No back orders or rain checks unless specified by the retailer.

3. Exclusive deals are applicable only to the items specified below. The savings are not applicable to other items on each site.

4. Deals cannot be combined with other coupons and offers.

5. Contact retailers directly for any questions about products, pricing and delivery before ordering online.

6. You might experience temporary technical issues because of the high volume of traffic. Thanks for your patience.

Dr. Doormat

Original: $27 to $47

GMA Exclusive Deal: $14 to $24

Get 50 percent savings on apartment- or house-size doormats

Valid: 1/11/12 through 1/12/12

drdoormat.com/GMA using promo code GMA

Debbie Greenspan, a lifetime allergy and asthma sufferer, was concerned about the household dirt her baby daughter was ingesting while playing on the floor. So Debbie created Dr. Doormat, which she says is the first antimicrobial treated doormat for home use. According to the company, just wipe feet twice to remove 99 percent of debris, microbes, allergens and other toxins and safely destroy them on contact. Dr. Doormat is eco-friendly, EPA approved and made in the United States from sustainable materials. Shipping is $7.95 – $9.95. Costs are higher to Alaska and Hawaii.

Yummie Tummie by Heather Thomson: Joelle Tank, Lavonne Bustless Slip, Minnie Slip

Original: $64 to $78

GMA Exclusive Deal: $32 to $34

Get 50 percent savings on select women’s shapewear

Valid: 1/11/12 through 1/12/12

http://gma.yummielife.com/gma.html using promo code GMAYUMMIE

Slim down instantly with sexy styles that smooth and shape with a comfy hug from Yummie Tummie by Heather Thomson. When mom and inventor Heather Thomson had children, she found that she needed a product just like this. She created these slimming products for moms who have trouble losing those extra pounds, but also so that all women are comfortable in their own skin. Free shipping.

The Bag Holder

Original: $20

GMA Exclusive Deal: $9

Get 54 percent savings on The Bag Holder in Blue or Mocha

Valid: 1/11/12 through 1/13/12

http://thebagholder.net/gma/

(no promo code needed when you use this exclusive link)

Looking for a way to make mass meals in minutes for the families she cared for without making a huge mess, this chef mom created a product to turn any gallon bag into a bowl. Use the holder to easily transfer, marinate, pour, pipe and store any recipe in a gallon bag. This includes 103 family-friendly recipes and many are made ahead for meals to freeze. Shipping is $4.

Hungry kids in the United States. Hungry kids in Florida. Hungry kids in Orlando. Hungry kids, down the street.

From the moment the growing problem was highlight nationally, local groups banded together to help feed these kids (including my mom’s club). But the problem persists and continues to grow. Just last week the Orlando Sentinel ran with this headline, “Number of homeless students in Central Florida nears 10,000 as DCF issues call to action.” It’s a problem that isn’t going away, in fact, it’s still growing. Today, Orlando is#2 in the nation’s hungriest children.

Last month, I took on the Champions for Kids Simple Service Project and donated a stocking filled with Disney Princess goodies to a local organization. This month’s Simple Service Project has teamed up with Abbott Nutrition to help feed hungry kids, and I am excited to take part by creating a kids’ snack pack. I’ve decided to donate my snack pack to The Sharing Center.

The Sharing Center assists local families with “food, toiletries, clothing, financial aid with rent/mortgage, utilities, transportation costs, medical prescriptions, and other help specific to an individual.” In addition to food donations made to The Sharing Center’s pantry, the The Sharing Center is supported by the proceeds from its thrift store. So in addition to my snack pack donation, I will also be donating a few bags of clothes for the thrift store.

Later this week I will share with you what I choose for my snack pack and more about donating it to The Sharing Center.

Learn more about how you can get involved in giving back with Champions for Kids at www.championsforkids.org. If you are on Twitter, I also invite you to participate in the Champions for Kids Twitter party on January 19 at 9:00 EST using the hash tag #AbbottCFK.

Disclosure – This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Let’s see if you can follow this logic.

On top of my normal insruance, I had to pick up maternity rider in order for my daughter’s birth to be covered because private insruance policies don’t cover maternity. Ok. Done.

Baby was born 10/11/11, and I called soon thereafter to ask about canceling my rider. I was told the day I delivered my rider no longer covered anything else (unless, of course, I got pregnant again). I was assured that my six-week check up would be picked up by my normal plan. (See where I am going with this.) So I canceled my rider as of 10/31/11.

On 11/21/11, I went in for my six-week postpartum check up. At that check up, my routine annual Pap Smear was performed. (Mothers will recall that you can’t have a Pap while pregnant so while my annual used to be in the summer time, I missed that Pap.)

In my monthly insurance statement for December, I noticed a denied claim from Quest Diagnostics for said Pap Smear. (Note, I pay extra for an insurance plan that covers wellness appointments and testing at 100%. Even the message I had to listen to over and over while on hold today talked about wellness testing covered at 100% so you can stay healthy and save money by catching things early.) So, I took to the phone for about the hundredth time in regards to my insurance plan over the last year. (Ok, hundredth is an exaggeration, but a monthly phone call to deal with some insurance issue is not.)

After going round and round for 32 minutes, I was disconnected. No one called back, so two hours later, I called again.

This phone call took an hour. And after a phone call to the doctor I learned this…

Because my routine Pap Smear was done at a postpartum appointment it received the diagnosis code of V242 (which says done during a postpartum appointment) to explain why procedure number A8175 (Pap Smear) was necessary.

That code is why my claim is denied. That code says maternity, and I have no maternity coverage. End of story. If it had received a code of an annual exam, it would be covered. But because it was an annual attached to a postpartum check – no dice.

Do you follow that? If I had refused my Pap, made an appointment for a separate annual and had a Pap at that appointment it would have been covered (as would the appointment) at 100%. But in an effort to save appointments, Paps are given at the postpartum so I have to pay 100% of it myself.

Seriously? Yep.

Oh, and one last thing… That $100 bill I will have to pay. My statement shows that the insruance would only pay Quest $25 if it was covered. But since it isn’t, I get to pay $100!

Gawh – I hate insurance.

I have never really been one for diets. The truth is I could succeed at my own weight loss program by just dumping all of the Christmas cookies, cakes and candies that still cover my kitchen counter. Instead, I have decided that my cookie-free diet will begin after I finish every crumb I have. (Oh… except for the pesky and adorable Girl Scout who rang my door yesterday. Maybe after those cookies…) Hang on, gotta go polish off another Christmas cookie

I admit, I am one of the lucky ones; I have genetics on my side (and breastfeeding). That said, I really do need to do something to tighten up this post-baby flab I see in the mirror around my middle. But the trudge of getting back into the gym just seems so daunting with two kids. (I just don’t know how you gym-rats do it!)

Perhaps I could succeed at an at home program. After all, hubby lost +30 lbs by just adding a short, 20-minute workout routine six days a week to his ritual. It’s true, he really did. I am so impressed. Although he also doesn’t live on the cookie diet like I do… so that probably helps.

Yes, my eternal problem is my sweet tooth. And frankly, I enjoy my sweet tooth. So I guess exercise is the only way. Perhaps the girls and I will take a nice walk this afternoon to get started followed by some crunches while playing Pretty, Pretty Princess with my daughter. That’s more my speed.

Are you planning to loose weight in 2012? How will you do it?

Did you know you can give the gift of Redbox? I didn’t. In fact, when I was asked to give the gift of a Redbox rental to a fellow blogger, I had a hard time figuring out just how to do so on Redbox.com. (Note, I am so accustom to finding things in a menu I didn’t even notice the button at the homepage that says Redbox gifts, LOL.) Once I was able to find where to purchase the RedBox gift it was super easy. Best of all, it is super affordable (which is awesome for gift giving).

Here’s the scoop on affordability. A normal Redbox rental costs $1.20 for a DVD ($1.50 for a Blu-Ray), which in of itself is a deal. Remember the days of video rental stores when a movie rental cost $4-5? And on-demand rentals that cost $3.99 each. So even full-price Redbox rentals are a deal. But back to gift-giving, when you purchase Redbox as a gift, you pay only $1 per movie (for a DVD – Blu-Ray gift codes are not currently available). Nice, huh? When was the last time you were able to give someone a evening of fun for just $1?

Redbox gifts are delivered, via email or Facebook, in the form of individual promo codes to be used at a kiosk (so there’s no gift card involved, which is what I was initially looking for). Codes can be purchased in batches of five or 10 rentals for $5 or $10, respectively. For the gamers in your life, you can also buy game codes for $2 each, which is the normal daily rate (also in five and 10 code batches).

One thing to note is that when the gift recipient is ready to rent a movie, they still need to swipe their credit card to rent. This is in case they don’t return the movie on time (or at all) in which they will be charged a late fee. But as long as they return the movie on time, the credit card will not be charged.

Here’s my frugal tip. Sure, the codes make a hot gift. But you can also buy the codes for yourself. That makes movie night, buy four get one free. (Four movies at $1.20 each is actually $4.80, but close enough.) You can also rent your movie online for just $1 per rental to save that $0.20 if you don’t want to purchase five at a time (at least through 1/31/12).

I know it is still months away, but I am think this would make an excellent end-of-the-year teacher gift. I have four teachers to buy gifts for, so I could buy five codes and send them to myself. Then I could jot the code down in a nice note paired with some popcorn, candy and soda presented in a nice gift basket. Ta-da — instant, affordable gift with one code left for a movie night with the family.

Free Movie Rental Code Alert – like Redbox on Facebook to get a  code for one free movie rental .

Disclosure – This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

1. Photo or no photo. This simple question will define your announcement, and should be a reflection of your sense of style. There is no wrong answer here – some prefer the classic text-only style while other opt for the more modern photo announcement. As the recipient of many announcements, I prefer to both send and receive photo announcements. I am a sucker for those sweet faces, and I want to show off my beautiful babe. (But if you prefer text only, go for it.)
2. Choose your photo first. If you decide on a photo announcement, select the photo or photos before you begin the announcement search, doing so will save time and headaches. There’s nothing worse than wasting time selecting (and falling in love with) the perfect announcement only to have your image not work with the selection. Go ahead, browse announcement styles for ideas, but don’t try to narrow down your selection until you know which picture(s) you want to feature. With all of the announcement options available, finding one to fit your pictures is much easier than trying to make your pictures fit an announcement.
3. You don’t have to hire a professional. I have gone both ways. With one daughter I hired a professional to take stunning photos of my newborn, with the other I used my favorite snapshots from the hospital to create my announcements. Both announcements turned out beautifully. Use what you have. If you are having professional photos taken, by all means use those, but if you aren’t don’t worry. Your friends and family will be excited to see your little one however you capture the image.
4. Where to order? Digital proofing has changed the way we select announcements. While there are still paper shops where you can browse and order your announcements, these days it is easier to order them from the comfort of your home. (And since getting out of the house is hard enough for a mom with an infant, save yourself the hassle and order those announcements in your pjs while baby naps.) There are oodles of places online to order your announcements from, for my new baby I choose to order from Tiny Prints. There are so many beautiful options and the quality is top-notch, I am ecstatic with how they turned out.
5. Set a budget. The choices can be dizzying and prices range greatly, so the quickest way to narrow your selection to a manageable number is to know how much you want to spend. Tiny Prints has announcements that start at $1.69 for the lowest quantity of 10 ($0.89 each if you buy 100 or $0.69 if ordering +200), and they are truly all beautiful, so you really can’t go wrong. If you have a strict budget, do yourself a favor and use price to narrow your options before you start looking. Don’t let yourself fall in love with something out of your price range, there are plenty of options in every level.
6. Narrow your options. If you are ordering announcements from an online card company like Tiny Prints, don’t try to select from the hundreds of options on your own. By utilizing the ability to narrow your options by features, you will make the process much quicker. With Tiny Prints, you can narrow by card size, paper type, color p, number of photos and more. The more you narrow, the quicker selection will go.
7. Compare and contrast. Still too many options? Yeah, I know. Another benefit of ordering online is the ability to create and preview several announcements to choose from. Go ahead and make a couple so you can see how your images and details look on the announcements you are considering. Seeing your baby on your top choices well quickly help you decide which is best.

There are so many decisions to make when a new baby enters the world. I hope these tips help make at least this decision a bit easier, and I recommend Tiny Prints to eliminate any worry about the quality of your perfect birth announcements. Make your budget go further by checking for the latest coupons from Tiny Prints.

Thanks to my photographer, Rebecca Jill Photography, for my stunning baby and family photos!

Disclosure – I was provided product to facilitate this post, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.