A Review, A Giveaway and A Day Turned Around

Contest is now CLOSED!  Thanks to all who entered!  I used random.org to determine the winning comment and it was Therese's comment.  She has been contacted via email.  Watch for more giveaways in the future :)

Have you ever had one of those days that was full of minor annoyances and inconveniences that seemed to mount with every step you took?  Yea . . . that was my Tuesday this week.  It seemed that every way I turned, something else happened to darken my mood and I was having a hard time shaking it.


BlogSpark sent me 2 coupons, a $10 gift card, and the El Tacador! game to enjoy a Taco Night in our home.  Before my day had gone downhill, I had decided that Tuesday would be Taco Night.  My lousy day wasn't going to stop that -- especially since Nate LOVES tacos.

With my coupons, I purchased the "Stand 'n Stuff Taco Dinner Kit"  The kit comes with 10 yellow corn taco shells (with wide bottoms that stand by themselves), mild taco sauce and seasoning mix.  With my gift card, I bought shredded lettuce (yes, I know I could shred it myself . . . but did you see how I talked about my lousy day up there?  I wasn't taking any chances!), cottage cheese (what?  you don't eat cottage cheese on  your tacos?  You don't know what you're missing!) and refried beans.  I had ground beef and shredded cheese in the refrigerator, and salsa in the pantry. (another aside -- apparently I'm full of them today -- but thanks to an amazing coupon, I purchased 5 lbs of ground beef for 99 cents!!!  And a couple months ago I stocked up on 10 lbs of shredded cheese when the packages were 99 cents.  I love a bargain!)

My dear, darling, wonderful husband made the taco meat and prepared our dinners.  I had intended to have rice, but somehow I forgot until the last minute -- so we just had tacos.  The shells in this kit were great, although Lydia did have a hard time getting her mouth around the shell because it was so wide.  I broke it apart for her and she ate it like a tostada instead.  The seasoning was perfect -- not too spicy, but not bland either.

The real hit of the dinner, though?  And the thing that got me OUT of my bad mood?  The game "El TacoDor!"  When I was at Table Talk at General Mills in August we played a version of this game during lunch and it was funny.  It looks like they've refined it a bit since then, and while I admit to being a bit skeptical about playing it during dinner -- this silly game made dinner time fun and had us all laughing!

There are different categories and different funny things to try, act out, or talk about.  There is a score sheet, but we didn't play with scores.  The game I enjoyed the most was taking the word SPICY and naming words that started with each letter to describe the people at the table.  We each took a letter, and then came up with a word to describe each person.  It was fun to hear the words my kids came up with, and had us all laughing.

You can visit the official El TacoDor website and print off your own game sheet. There are different game sheets available, score cards, and even certificates! Keep watching for pictures and videos from families enjoying Taco Night.  There are even some coupons available to print.

We had so much fun at Taco Night, that I want to share the fun with one of my readers! Thanks to BlogSpark, I have a Taco Night kit to send to one of you!  It includes 2 coupons for Old El Paso Products, a $10 gift card, and your very own laminated El TacoDor game sheet!  For your chance to win, leave a comment & tell me what you like to top your tacos with! 

Comments will be open until Monday, October 26th at midnight -- so enter now!  Don't delay! Giveaway open to US residents only.