Mercedes at Common Sense with Money is hosting a fantastic giveaway. She is giving away a six month supply of Ragu sauce to three readers. Hop on over and check out the ways to enter. This giveaway is open until 9/6/09.

Kids Eat Free at IKEA Sept 5-7, 2009 - not to mention that they have some wonderful things on sale this Labor Day weekend. So, if you need anything for the house this fall and you want to feed the kids a healthy meal head on out to your local IKEA.

Don't forget you can enter The Big Clip sweepstakes daily for a huge chance to win Box Tops for Education for your school.

Don't forget that you can still get a 10% discount on Lovable Labels until Sept 10th using the code itscool.

And in case you haven't noticed yet SWAGBUCKS released a new toolbar yesterday and it is super cool! Not only can you still search from the toolbar if you are an IE user but now Firefox and Safari users can, too! Very Nice! SwagCodes can also be found on the toolbar and you can trade your swagbucks in much easier. Well there are even more things you can do but you'll need to download it to believe it. It's beautiful. Truly.

Another bonus is that they are releasing a free SwagCode every day for the Month of September to celebrate the new toolbar. It will be much easier to catch the codes if you have the new toolbar so grab the button here and hop on over. Swagbucks are definitely a Cool Idea!

And here we go with our weekly freebie list:

FREE greeting card from The Card Store until 9/7

FREE Sample of Bear Naked Cereal or Granola Bars

FREE Sample of Aveeno Nourish+Shampoo and Conditioner

FREE Sample of Kashi Cereal

FREE Sample of Playtex Sport Tampons

Chick-fil-a is offering a free meal to everyone who dresses like a cow on Friday, July 10th for Cow Appreciation Day. I'm posting this a day early because this might take some preparation. Check out their site for a Starter Kit and information on the Photo Contest where you can win free chicken for a YEAR! That would definitely help my meal planning!!

If you are on the road this year and can't pull together a costume you can still enjoy many of the other amenities of Chick-fil-a - like the restaurant locator which offers Trip-style information and let's you know how many miles it is to the next CFA with a playground. And stuff like that which has been a lifesaver for us many times.

So, enjoy your chicken and let me know if you went dressed as a cow!

I've touched on this before but since these are some of the most magical words in the English Language I thought a post unto itself was more than worthy.

First, let me say to those people playing at home that we are still eating at home mostly and I'm doing an admirable job on my menu planning but there are still times when we are on the road or our schedule needs some flexibility and we head out to eat for the night. On those nights, eating out can be both a refuge and a luxury. Sometimes it's also a sanity saver. Especially those days when you think you'll never make it out of your pajamas. Some days it's part of a play date. I certainly hadn't worried about Kids Eat Free Night until about a year ago when Joy began eating table food earnestly. Now we have two young kids and finding food they'll eat is as much of a challenge as anything else. And knowing that I'm not paying for it helps in the grand scheme of things.

Where do you find place in your area where kids eat free? If you have a local paper dedicated to parenting tips or kid's activities - check there. Next, try a search in Swagbucks for 'kids eat free' Here are some of the things it popped out: Mykidseatfree.com, Allkidseatfree.com, and Kiddie Menu. When I put in my own zip code most of the options where similar on all three but there were a couple that were different from one to the other, so it might pay to check them all out - sort of like the checking your credit score:).

What have our experiences been? Like anytime our kids sit down to eat - sometimes they eat their body weight in mac and cheese and sometimes they stare out the window or beg to go play. However, we have a rule: "No chicken, no ice cream" or "No chicken, no playground". It's not about eating all of your food, but it is a rule about eating something before dessert or playground.

Is this really a Cool Idea? Do we spend more money than if we'd planned a meal and eaten at home?

If we'd eaten a nice frugal meal? Yes, it's more expensive. But if we take it as more than just food than yes, it is a Cool Idea. We treat it as an experience. It's an Adventure. It's also a nice break for me since it can get depressing to keep fixing meals that may or may not get eaten. Besides are a couple of places we go where the girls enjoy both the food and the Adventure. These are the places we go. And if it's an evening when they don't eat, then of course they can take home their meal and eat it for lunch the next day. The point is not to let it run your life but to use the tools at our disposal to make our lives easier and richer - both in love and in money. That's a Very Cool Idea!

"What?" That doesn't make sense to you? Well, in our house 'Cow Chicken' is what Comfort calls  Chick-Fil-A and on Tuesdays kids eat free with the purchase of a combo meal. It's been several months since we've been out to Cow Chicken and the Girls are longing for an Adventure. They love the play yard - which is in great shape and perfectly toddler sized. 

Also, did you see on Yahoo! today that Chick-Fil-A was listed as one of the healthiest fast food restaurants to eat at? Yep, there are many items that aren't fried. Lots of tasty salads. Kids get books in the meal - not toys! And can I tell you how much I love the bendy straws!?!?!?! It makes my life so much happier and just makes me smile.

Sure, prices are bit higher and there's no $1 menu but the food is better and we actually spend about the same for the four of us if we take advantage of Kids Eat Free night. Also, our favorite location puts out games, helps parents carry trays to the table - oh, and did I mention that there are real flowers on those tables? Yep, this is not your regular fast food restaurant. This is a place that wants to help you feel at home. They want you come back and not just because you can get a free refill or trade in your book for ice cream if you want.

So, if you need a break tonight, or if you are a loss in your meal plan check out Chick-Fil-A. It's a great place even if it's not Kids Eat Free night. If it is, it's definitely a very Cool Idea!