Now that school is back in full swing, I make sure I keep a stash of snacks for that after school “Mommy I’m STARVING” time. Also, it doesn’t hurt to have an emergency bottle of wine for mama and daddy. I’m just sayin’.

Families have been submitting their favorite healthy, kid-friendly recipes to the Dole Way to Snack! Recipe Contest. Visit the official website to find smart snacking recipe ideas and vote for your favorite snack daily for a chance to win $100!

In November the crazy zoo gang from Madagascar returns to the big screen in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. Visit the Dole Marty Snak Pak site for information on purchasing an adorable limited edition insulated Marty Snak Pak, which is the perfect size and shape for Dole Fruit Bowls.

One lucky Savvy Housewife reader will win coupons for a month’s worth of Dole Fruit Bowls, a week’s worth of Dole Jarred Fruit products AND a Madagascar 1 DVD. To enter, simply leave a comment here about your child’s favorite healthy snack. A random winner will be drawn from all eligible entries left by midnight Thursday, September 4. You don’t need a blog or website to enter, but you do need to leave a valid e-mail address so that I can contact you should you win. Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.

Summer is primo BLT fixin’ time at our house. There’s nothing better than a BLT made with homegrown tomatoes.

Savvy Dad made BLTs this past weekend and got the fancy Hormel bacon out. You know, the center cut “good stuff.” Savvy Dad noticed that when he took the bacon out of the package, Hormel must have misunderstood center cut and chosen the fatty cut.

Center cut my ass. Or should that be a pig’s ass? Sorry, couldn’t resist.

Below is a photo of what a piece of the center cut bacon cooked down to. The package purports that this more expensive center cut line has 25 percent less fat than their regular bacon. If that’s the case, then their regular bacon is like a can of lard, and I quote Savvy Dad on that bit of commentary.

We are obviously having bad luck with meat this summer.

Heather C., who commented “Thankfully, my daughter goes for cold water. If she needs to replace electrolytes, we’ll get her some Gatorade,” is the winner! Thanks to everyone who entered.

Fall soccer season kicks off soon and my 6-year-old will be starting weekly practice sessions. August in in the South can be brutally hot and humid, so we’ll pack plenty to drink during her practices.

A great alternative to popular sports drinks or sugary juice boxes, Nui Kid Water comes in three flavors: Outrageous Orange, Raging Red, and Purple Power. My 6-year-old tried it and loved it. Nui Kid Water’s mission is to empower kids sto improve personal, social, and environmental health (they also have a great school fundraising program.)

Nui Kid Water is low in sugar because it is sweetened with fruit juice; it has 1/2 the sugar of apple juice and has vitamins, including one serving of calcium, vitamin D, dietary fiber, and antioxidants, and it in low in sodium, unlike many popular sports drinks. Here’s a link to a nutritional fact sheet about Nui Kid Water.

Nui Kid Water is truly a kid friendly product. Not only do they have a cool website, with helpful nutritional information for parents, but they are a for charity company, donating 50 percent of their profits to children’s charities that empower kids with healthy lifestyles, nutrition, and physical fitness.

Here’s your chance to win a Value Pack of Nui Kid Water (one case of each of the three flavors, which is a $40.99 value.) Simply leave a comment on this post telling me what your kids like to drink when they’re at sports practices or just out playing in the heat. For two chances, leave a comment and subcribe to the Savvy Housewife RSS Feed. Savvy Housewife will select a random winner from all eligible comments left by midnight Monday, August 11.

Renee and Cheryl W. are the winners. Thanks to everyone who entered!

Orville Redenbacher has been the name synonymous with microwave popcorn for 40 years. At our house it’s a big treat to pop in a DVD and pop a big bowl of popcorn. Do we know how to party or what? If we’re really feeling crazy we might actually watch an entire movie (hubby and I, not the girls.)

Orville Redenbacher comes in several varieties to meet everyone’s tastes:

• 100 Calorie Smart Pack bags for those of you watching your girlish figures (and who isn’t?)
• Delicious butter flavors with zero transfats and no added diacetyl
• The classic Movie Theatre Butter, which I always love
• And my personal favorite, the new sweet and salty Kettle Corn variety.

The Orville Redenbacher website features a great family classic movie guide to help inspire you for family movie night, which is fitting since Orville Redenbacher’s gourmet popcorn is sold in more movie theatres nationwide than any other brand.

To win a fun special edition Orville Redenbacher popcorn bowl as well as samples and coupons, simply visit the Orville Redenbacher website and then come back here and leave a comment about your favorite variety of Orville Redenbacher popcorn. Two lucky Savvy Housewife readers will win from all eligible comments left by midnight Thursday, July 17.

July 4th will be here before you know it. Savvy Housewife has pulled together the best Web guide to guarantee your holiday will be festive, stress free, and fun.

Throwing a backyard bash? Here are some links to get you inspired:

Send out invites via Pingg.com, a new online event management and invitation site featuring stylish, swanky invites (no corny clip art here)

Recipes, craft ideas, printables, and how to videos from Family Fun magazine.

Fireworks art project from ParentsConnect (great for kids age 3 and up)

Martha’s July 4th how-tos.

Patriotic Party Menu from Kraft Foods.

This red, white, and blue ice cream cake from Epicurious looks absolutely divine.

Festive Starfruit Cocktail Garnishes and Fun 4th Of July Cocktails from Hostess Blog.

These glory dishtowels from Crate and Barrel would be a lovely hostess gift.

Now that you’re set on food and drink, you need something to wear. At some point you outgrow your mother’s whim to deck you out like Old Glory for the 4th, but it’s still a great excuse to shop.

These twirly tutus from Etsy seller Zoes Couture Boutiqe are perfect for your little Miss Firecracker.

Patriotic Posies hair clips from Etsy seller Cute And Sweet are just that

I love this fun and funky capri set from CWD Kids.

A hippy dippy tie-dyed t-shirt is great for boys too cool to dress like Uncle Sam.

This crab crate navy T-shirt is also a good color scheme for boys reticent to deck out for the 4th.

These star espadrilles for girls are on sale at CWD Kids and make me long to be little.

Baby sister would make a splash in this patriotic bikini and at what other point in a girl’s life will she look stunning in stripes?

This smocked bandana print top from Old Navy screams summer, not Yankee Doodle Dandy.

An understated red and navy striped button down for Dad will carry him through cool summer evenings.

Don’t forget the classic navy sundress (like this one from J Crew).

Savvy Dad made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious. The recipe was courtesy of Allrecipes.com, but Savvy Dad likes to customize recipes, and he added chicken. Our girls, ages 3 and 6, will actually eat plain spinach salad, so we prepared theirs plain with just a little ranch dressing for our oldest, and a little green goddess dressing (which we’ve nicknamed mermaid dressing) for our 3-year-old. No fancy salads for them, thank you very much, but at least they are getting their greens, as my mama would say.

Ingredients

1 tbsp. butter

3/4 cup almonds, blanched and slivered

1 pound spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces (We used prepared Publix brand bag spinach.)

1 cup dried cranberries

2 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

1 tbsp. poppy seeds

1/2 cup white sugar

2 tsp. minced onion

1/4 tsp. paprika

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Directions

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook and stir almonds in butter until lightly toasted. Remove from heat and let cool.

In a large bowl, combine the spinach with the toasted almonds and cranberries.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, onion, paprika, white wine vinegar, cider vinegar, and vegetable oil. Toss with spinach just before serving.

When we returned from our Florida beach vacation earlier this month, Savvy Dad went to WalMart solo for a blitzkrieg grocery shopping trip. He spent more than $300 on groceries. The cupboards were bare no more!

Typically we don’t buy meat or seafood at WalMart, but purchase our steaks and ground chuck and tilapia and salmon filets at Publix or Harris Teeter. However, Savvy Dad was impressed with the look of the new Genuine Steakhouse steaks at WalMart and bought a $14 package. I’ve seen the commercials and WalMart is really pumping this line of steaks on TV and on their website as being prime cut and “bursting with flavor.”

I’m sure you know where I’m going with this.

Savvy Dad fired up our backyard gas grill and threw the steaks on. Now they looked beautiful. We were both anxious to sit down and have a nice juicy steak for dinner. Unfortunately the steaks tasted horrible. They had very little flavor. I am not a food critic, but I’d describe the taste as flat and old. We ended up giving the steaks to our dogs, who were quite happy with the $14 dog treats.

Not wanting to flush our hard earned money down the drain, or down our dogs’ gullets, I took the receipt and the empty package to WalMart’s service center. My money was refunded, no questions asked, and I promptly respent the $14 on supplies for my daughter’s 6th birthday cookout. However, we will never buy steaks at WalMart again. Thankfully all of our other food purchases from that grocery trip, including a pack of chicken breasts, have been fine.

Savvy Dad is the master chef at Casa Savvy Housewife.

Savvy Dad loves beer.

When Savvy Housewife got the chance to review the The Ultimate Beer Lover’s Cookbook by John Schlimm, she knew this was one cookbook Savvy Dad would want to check out.

Savvy Dad loves the following quote from the book,“Beer makes you feel like you should feel without beer,” from Australian poet Henry Lawson.

The Ultimate Beer Lover’s Cookbook is a hardbound collection of more than 400 food and drink recipes. Not only would it make a fabulous Father’s Day gift, it would be a nice hostess gift in this season of summer cookouts (perhaps paired with a six pack of the recipient’s favorite beer or some nice pilsner glasses). The book also serves as a party drinks handbook, with a comprehensive collection of recipes for mixed drinks, chuggers, shots, chasers, party punches, milkshakes, and flaming drinks (flaming Dr. Pepper anyone?) — all made with beer.

Author John Schlimm is a member of one of the oldest brewing families in the United States, beginning with his great-great-grandfather, Peter Straub. A writer, educator, and artist, Schlimm is the author of several books, including titles on beer and brewing such as The Straub Beer Cookbook and The Straub Beer Party Drinks Handbook.

The Ultimate Beer Lover’s Cookbook retails for $24.95 and is available at Amazon.com (where it is currently on sale for $19.95).

So what is your favorite dad’s favorite beer? My dad is partial to Beck’s, which Savvy Dad also likes. Savvy Dad tells me his favorite beer changes with the seasons, but his current favorite, Yazoo Hefeweizen, is brewed locally here in Nashville

I’m surprised I have no Italian heritage in my family tree as I could eat pasta seven days a week. My girls also both love pasta, so when Mom Central asked if I’d like to participate in a new Ragu sauce blog tour I didn’t hesitate.

Ragu’s new Fresh & Simple pasta pouches come in three varieties: garden vegetable, traditional tomato basil (my favorite), and tomato, onion, and garlic. The microwavable pouches heat up in 90 seconds and there’s no messy pot to wash. There’s no added sugar and just like the traditional Ragú® Sauces, no artificial additives or preservatives; you also get a full serving of vegetables in each 1/2 cup of sauce.

I have a 5-year-old little girl with a very discriminating palate who said of the traditional tomato basil blend, “I love that sauce!” I mixed it with ground chuck and served it over whole wheat spaghetti and she asked for seconds. Add a small spinach salad with dressing (I used Green Goddess and told the girls it was “mermaid” salad dressing) and a whole wheat baguette and you have a healthy, no fuss dinner.

Freebies: The Ragu website features a helpful Ragu® Recipe Widget tool that enables you to get fast, wholesome meals five days a week at your fingertips. Even better, visit Feedourkidswell.com for tips, recipes, and to sign up for a free recipe book filled with great meal ideas from Ragu^®’s expert panel.

If your kids are like mine, they go through yogurt like Victoria Beckham goes through Hermes bags.

You’d think kids would eat any variety of yogurt, but my girls insist that their yogurt does not have “stuff” in it. I mean God forbid yogurt have actual pieces of fruit in it! Yoplait is one of their favorite brands, not to mention that Yoplait Kids yogurt features their favorite cousins, Dora and Diego.

Yoplait recently sent me samples of their new drinkable yogurt and regular yogurt cups. They now have reduced sugar and if you’re an admitted nutritional value scanner like me, you look for packaged snacks that one, your child will actually eat, and two, that aren’t full of sugar. Yogurt makes a great after school snack and it’s one of those items I keep stocked in the refrigerator.

Yoplait Kids:

• features OMega-3 DHA, which supports healthy brain development

• has 25 percent less sugar than the leading kids’ yougurt

• has no artificial sweenters or flavors

• is an excellent source of calcium

Savvy Housewife is giving away coupons for a free pack of Yoplait Kids cup yogurt or Yoplait Kids yogurt drink to the first seven people to comment on this post! Visit the Yoplait Kids website and then come back here and leave a comment about which flavor your kids would like best. No blog or website is required, but you do need to leave a valid e-mail address so that I can contact you. (Giveaway limited to U.S. residents).

While you’re visiting the Yoplait Kids website, register for a free coupon (just in case you don’t make the cut off here!)