Talking Turkey With Jennifer Garner and Frigidaire

It's hard to believe that the holidays are right around the corner! On September 21, Frigidaire and Jennifer Garner hosted a holiday discussion with food/mom bloggers to talk turkey, traditions and keeping family dinner a priority during the busy holiday season.

The event celebrated the launch of Frigidaire's new Gallery Range with Symmetry Double Ovens. The new, freestanding range helps families cook their holiday meals faster thanks to its huge capacity (each oven holds a 28-lb. turkey), faster preheat time (4 minutes), and easy, one-touch options. It also features a Keep Warm Zone that will maintain the temperature of your food while you prepare your table for dinner.

Most importantly, the holiday round-table event also kicked off Frigidaire's latest campaign to support Save the Children's U.S. programs. And it's not too late for you and your family to join in and support the cause!


Just visit MakeTimeForChange.com, where you can see Jennifer's top turkey tips and fabulous holiday recipes, as well as videos of the round-table discussions. For the first 550 visits, Frigidaire will donate a turkey to a Save the Children Family, and for every visit, $1 will be donated to Save the Children to support their U.S. Programs.

Helping others has never been so easy, has it? With just a click of a button, and never having to leave your home, you can help feed hungry families across the country this holiday season, at no cost to you whatsoever.

In addition to supporting a worthy cause, visitors are entered for a chance to win a Range with Symmetry Double Oven of their own from Frigidaire! So hurry over to MakeTimeForChange.com right now and check out the great videos and tips!

Disclosure: I wrote this post as part of the Frigidaire Test Drive program and received a gift certificate to thank me for my time.

Frigidaire Wins ENERGY STAR Partner Award

Readers of So a Blonde Walks Into a Review already know that Frigidaire dishwashers save you time, energy and money. Now, I'm excited to let you know that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have named Frigidaire an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for Appliances!

The award recognizes Frigidaire for increasing their selection and delivery of environmentally-conscious ENERGY STAR qualified appliances and helping to educate consumers about the ENERGY STAR program.

Frigidaire's new kitchen and laundry collections include ENERGY STAR qualified appliances in every product category where applicable, offering a wide variety of stylish appliances that are from 10 to 80% more energy-efficient than non-ENERGY STAR qualified appliances.

As I stated in a previous post, I had to say goodbye to my amazing Frigidaire dishwasher when I moved and I miss it tremendously. I've never owned a more quiet, efficient, and roomy dishwasher than my Frigidaire.

Here's a video I made showcasing some of its features:



The dishwasher in my townhouse rental (NOT a Frigidaire) is loud, doesn't hold a lot of dishes, and often does not clean very well. When I purchase a new home, I am going to make sure I have a Frigidaire dishwasher again!

Frigidaire's award comes at a perfect time as April is Earth Month. One easy way you can celebrate Earth Month is to take the Eco-Friendly Options Poll on Frigidaire's Facebook page. You can also enter to win an eco-friendly Frigidaire appliance while you're there! Good luck!



Disclosure: I received a $50 gift card to help facilitate this review as part of the Frigidaire Test Drive program.

Frigidaire and Jennifer Garner Team Up to Get Kids Cooking!

One of the most important things to me as a mom is making sure my kids have healthy, nutritious, homemade meals to nourish them as they grow. And since kids learn by example, they've developed a love of cooking from watching me cook in the kitchen over the years.

Now, I have a new tool at my disposal to help them learn more cooking skills thanks to the Frigidaire Kids' Cooking Academy. Frigidaire teamed up with actress Jennifer Garner to help families in preparing nutritious foods together with this online school that features daily tips, fun recipes and how-to-videos hosted by Chef Mary Sue Milliken.



Not only is the school free to join when you visit Frigidaire.com, but Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children for each person that joins to help ensure that children across the world have access to healthy food.

And there's something in it for you as well beyond having fun with your children while learning new skills. Everyone who participates will be entered for a chance to win the daily prize (a kid's apron set) and the grand prize (a new Frigidaire Double Oven Range that offers more room for preparing healthy meals and snacks!).




I plan on making the "Apple Cinnamon Hand Pies" recipe with my fiance and our kids this weekend. I watched the instructional video and it looks like a fun way to teach our kids how to cook. And getting them to eat fruit is an added bonus!



I also want to try the "Cauliflower Popcorn" recipe with them since getting them to eat vegetables is even more of a challenge.

With all of this cooking comes added dishes to wash of course, and as you might remember, I am part of the Frigidaire Dishwasher Test Drive program with Mom Central. But due to my recent move, I no longer have my beloved Frigidaire Professional Line Dishwasher so I will have to settle for the dishwasher that's in our townhouse rental to handle the clean-up from all of our fun recipe making.

I won't mention what brand I have here in our townhouse, but I will tell you it's not Frigidaire. And I can't express enough how much I miss the performance of my Frigidaire dishwasher. Not only does it not clean as well, it's not as quiet and holds less dishes and silverware, which means running more loads, wasting energy and more of my time. I really miss Frigidaire's SpaceWise Organization system, which had adjustable racks and the "Largest Silverware Basket" feature. It really, really made a difference in how many dishes I could load in one wash.

As soon as my fiance and I are in our new home (hopefully by the end of the year), I am going to make sure we have a Frigidaire dishwasher there!

In the meantime, I'll suffer through the extra dishwashing so that my fiance and I can cook up the fun, healthy recipes from Frigidaire's Kids' Cooking Academy with our kids!

Note: Follow these links for more information:

• Make Time for Change by Frigidaire - Facebook
  
• Frigidaire - Facebook
  
• Save the Children - Facebook
• Make Time for Change - Twitter
  
• Save the Children - Twitter

Disclosure: I received a $50 gift card to facilitate this review as part of the Frigidaire Test Drive program.

Even My Dishwasher Thinks I Work Too Hard!

First of all, I want to offer much thanks to the team at Mom Central for their patience with me in sharing my last posts about my beloved Frigidaire Dishwasher with you. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am going through some life changes that have taken up much of my time and the great people at Mom Central have gone above and beyond in understanding about me missing (that's putting it mildly) my deadlines.

I am back now and ready to blog away and have some exciting posts to share with you! But first, I want to bring you my final post in my Frigidaire Dishwasher series to let you know how very impressed my family has been with its performance.



Let me just say that this is one dishwasher that refuses to let you work too hard. I discovered this when I noticed a build up of soap on my dishes and didn't know why it was happening. It turns out it was my fault, not the dishwasher's.

Frigidaire's Professional Line dishwashers are both energy efficient and intelligent. It actually knows when your dishes are clean and when they are soiled. Having been used to pre-washing my dishes before loading them into the dishwasher (which requires a lot of effort and time), I was essentially telling my dishwasher, "Hey, here are some clean dishes for you to wash!"



Frigidaire's soil sensor recognized that the dishes were not soiled, and thus, ran fewer wash/rinse cycles. But I had been putting in enough soap for a full, soiled load.

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty impressed with a dishwasher that tells you, "No, REALLY! Stop working so hard! Let me do it for you!" :)

Now, we have a "just scrape" rule where we wipe off the big chunks of leftover food and leave the rest to our Frigidaire dishwasher to take care of. So now I'm saving even MORE time, which is something that I am definitely short on these days!

As if I hadn't already had enough things to rave about when it came to the dishwasher, I've found a new thing to love! (and if you've read my previous posts, you know that there is SO much to love when it comes to this dishwasher!)

Click here to see all that the Frigidaire Professional Line Dishwasher has to offer. Thanks again to Mom Central for allowing me to test drive this fabulous appliance!

“I wrote this review while participating in a Test Drive Campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Frigidaire and received a Frigidaire Dishwasher to facilitate my review.”

Hiatus

I wanted to offer an apology to my readers for the lack of posts/giveaways on this site. I am in the middle of making some very important life changes and have gone back to work as a freelance writer so I don't have the time to put into this site that I once had.

I do want to complete my series on my Frigidaire dishwasher and will be bringing you two final posts this month to let you know how it's been working for me. As for future posts on other topics...never say never. I will keep this site open and will consider hosting giveaways or doing reviews as time will allow.

Thank you to all of my readers for your loyalty over the years! My contact information can be found in my bio if you would like to keep in touch.

Frigidaire Features

I've already shared with you several of the wonderful features my Frigidaire Professional Dishwasher has to offer: how quiet and roomy it is, how much energy and time it saves, and how sleek and sophisticated it looks. But there's STILL so much to tell you!

One feature that I love that I haven't yet written about yet is the stay-put door:



No matter what angle you open it at, the door stays in place!

In addition to having the most adaptable delay start (1- to 24-hour options), the Frigidaire dishwasher also offers multiple cycle options:



We usually use normal wash, but for dirtier loads, you could choose the power plus wash cycle, or, for lighter loads, choose the light wash option. There's also an energy saver cycle to help you save money, and a china/crystal cycle for your more delicate dishes.



The air dry option will also help you save money but I personally like to have my dishes heat-dried. The germaphobe in me also prefers to use the high-temp wash option, and even better is the sanitize feature, which I use if we're throwing sponges in with a load of dishes to get them clean.

Frigidaire's DishSense™ Technology is automatic for all cycles and sensors inside the dishwasher either shorten or lengthen the washing time based on how soiled your dishes are.

Click here for more information on the Frigidaire Professional Dishwasher. You can also follow along with all of the Frigidaire Moms over at Twitter with the hashtag #frigidairemoms.

And don't forget about Frigidaire's "Make Time for Change" campaign. You can log on to www.maketimeforchange.com for a chance to win prizes, including a new time-saving Frigidaire Affinity washer/dryer. Every day that you take a spin, Frigidaire donates $1 to Save the Children as part of their $250,000 commitment to this worthy cause.



“I wrote this review while participating in a Test Drive Campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Frigidaire and received a Frigidaire Dishwasher to facilitate my review.”

Frigidaire Dishwasher Update

I'm now well into month two of my Frigidaire Professional Dishwasher ownership and wanted to share with you how well it's been performing. I have to say my favorite feature of the dishwasher so far is how quiet it runs. You can barely tell it's even running...that's how quiet it is. There's a reason it was voted the quietest dishwasher in its class!



I also love the rinse-aid displays that alerts you when you're running low. There are two indicators as you can see in the pictures above and below. With my old dishwasher, it was always hard to tell when I needed to refill it. I would refill the rinse aid dispenser every couple of months or so, which apparently wasn't enough because this dishwasher has reminded me to refill twice in the month and a half or so that we've had it. And as you can see:



...I need to refill again!

There's exciting news that just came out on Frigidaire's entire professional line of appliances. The EPA just awarded their prestigious 2010 Energy Star award to the line for their “Swap and Save” Energy Star Promotion. The award recognizes Frigidaire’s commitment to smart energy management and its efforts to share the importance of energy efficiency with a wide audience.

In addition to the time-saving features, the new Frigidaire collections also save you considerable amounts of energy and water. My dishwasher uses at least 41% less energy and 40% less water compared to dishwashers from just ten years ago. There's a really cool energy calculator on Frigidaire's energy savings page that you can use to find out how much energy, water and money you would save by swapping out your dishwasher for Frigidaire's.

Click here for more information on the Frigidaire Professional Dishwasher. You can also follow along with all of the Frigidaire Moms over at Twitter with the hashtag #frigidairemoms.

And don't forget about Frigidaire's "Make Time for Change" campaign. You can log on to www.maketimeforchange.com for a chance to win prizes, including a new time-saving Frigidaire Affinity washer/dryer. Every day that you take a spin, Frigidaire donates $1 to Save the Children as part of their $250,000 commitment to this worthy cause.



Disclosure Notice: I wrote this review while participating in a Test Drive Campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Frigidaire and received a Frigidaire Dishwasher to facilitate my review.

Saving Time With Frigidaire

If you've been following along with my Frigidaire posts, you already know about Frigidaire's "More Me Time" guarantee.

For my second update on my new Frigidaire Professional Dishwasher, I'm going to let you all know how Frigidaire has lived up to their guarantee.

There are several features the dishwasher has that help you save time, and energy:

· SpaceWise Organization System: Features adjustable racks so there's a place for virtually anything.

· Largest Silverware Basket*: There’s room for over 180 items in the multi-compartment silverware basket.

· Adjustable Upper Dish Rack: Flexible racking system lets you adjust the to rack to fit taller items.

· Quick Clean: Enjoy a quiet night with a book, extra time with your family or catch up on favorite shows with the Quick Clean to clean dishes faster.



My favorite time-saving feature is the SpaceWise Organization System. Being able to fit more dishes, pots and pans means less loads to run, and that's definitely a time-saver!

Click here for more information on the Frigidaire Professional Dishwasher. You can also follow along with all of the Frigidaire Moms over at Twitter with the hashtag #frigidairemoms.

And don't forget about Frigidaire's "Make Time for Change" campaign. You can log on to www.maketimeforchange.com for a chance to win prizes, including a new time-saving Frigidaire Affinity washer/dryer. Every day that you take a spin, Frigidaire donates $1 to Save the Children as part of their $250,000 commitment to this worthy cause.



Disclosure Notice: I wrote this review while participating in a Test Drive Campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Frigidaire and received a Frigidaire Dishwasher to facilitate my review.

* Among leading brands
** Based on published manufacturer specifications for plastic interior dishwashers.

My New, Sleek, Gorgeous Frigidaire Dishwasher

As you know from my previous post, I was selected by Mom Central to be a Frigidaire Test Drive Mom and I was chosen for Team Dishwasher. My brand new dishwasher, from Frigidaire's Professional Line, arrived a few weeks ago and I am in love with it!

First, let me show you a couple of pics from my old dishwasher, which was on its last leg and even stopped working at one point. We didn't even realize how icky it had become until our new one arrived.

There was a permanent stain on the door and on the inside of the dishwasher, which I suppose happens over time with a white interior:



And while there was a good amount of space inside:



the prongs had become broken and rusted and it really lacked a lot of space-saver features that our new dishwasher has.

Here's our new dishwasher right after it was installed:



Isn't it gorgeous? I love the stainless steel and Frigidaire's appliances have a protective coating that prevent fingerprints from showing, a problem I was concerned about after hearing about other stainless steel appliances being notorious for showing those.



The interior is much more roomy and the space saving features make it even more so. I also love the silver inside, rather than the white, which as you saw above, shows stains.

For this first post, I recorded a vlog to give you an overall feel for the features the dishwasher offers. Over the next few months, I'll be covering the features more in-depth and will keep you up to date on how it's running.



One thing I forgot to mention in the video is how quiet the dishwasher is. It's so nice not to have to try to shout over the sound of our old dishwasher!

As for Frigidaire's "More Me-Time Guarantee?" So far, they've lived up to that. With more dishes fitting into the dishwasher, I have less loads to do. And I find that most of the cycles are more quick due to the soil sensor.

More time for me is probably the best part of all!

Click here for more information on the Frigidaire Professional Dishwasher. You can also follow along with all of the Frigidaire Moms over at Twitter with the hashtag #frigidairemoms.

And don't forget about Frigidaire's "Make Time for Change" campaign. You can log on to www.maketimeforchange.com for a chance to win prizes, including a new time-saving Frigidaire Affinity washer/dryer. Every day that you take a spin, Frigidaire donates $1 to Save the Children as part of their $250,000 commitment to this worthy cause.

Disclosure Notice: I wrote this review while participating in a Test Drive Campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Frigidaire and received a Frigidaire Dishwasher to facilitate my review.

I'm a Frigidaire Mom!

I am so excited to announce that, thanks to Mom Central, I have been selected to take part in the Frigidaire Test Drive Moms group! I'm on "Team Dishwasher" and I'll be bringing you posts and vlogs of my brand new Frigidaire dishwasher over the next few months.

Frigidaire introduced more than 250 new appliances in 2009, and all were designed to create more time for moms. In fact, Frigidaire is so confident that their appliances will do just that, that they offer a “More Me-Time Guarantee.” Moms will save a minimum of eight hours a month or their money back. You can't beat that!

With five people in our house, we do a LOT of dishes! And time is something I could definitely use more of, so I am extra excited to start using my dishwasher from Frigidaire's Professional line when it arrives this week. I'll be sure to share with you all the ins and outs of how it runs, how it looks, how it sounds and most importantly, if it saves time!

In the meantime, take a look at how gorgeous this dishwasher is (click photos to enlarge):

Front...



Open...



Interior...



Very sleek. Very modern. Very professional!

Above all, I am most proud to be working with Frigidaire because of their commitment to helping others. You may remember that, last September, Frigidaire teamed with actress and philanthropist Jennifer Garner to create the "Make Time for Change" campaign, which benefits Save the Children.

Today, Frigidaire launched a brand new feature of the campaign with Garner called "Spin & Win." You can log on to www.maketimeforchange.com for a chance to win prizes, including a new time-saving Frigidaire Affinity washer/dryer. Every day that you take a spin, Frigidaire donates $1 to Save the Children as part of their $250,000 commitment to this worthy cause.

Head over today for your chance to win, and stay tuned for my upcoming reviews of my fabulous new Frigidaire dishwasher!

Disclosure Notice: I wrote this review while participating in a Test Drive Campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Frigidaire and received a Frigidaire Dishwasher to facilitate my review.