Comforts From Home {+ giveaway}

If you’ve been following this blog since before I was pregnant, before the deployment, and before I was a solo parent for a short stint, then you would know that I love cooking. We used to meal plan every week and I was always on the lookout for new recipes to try. And then everything changed. Throw in a tired mama and a toddler who only eats—sometimes—1/8th of the food I put in front of her some days (and that’s being generous with the percentage), some most days I don’t cook. I’m hoping that’ll change now that the mister is home, but until then, my go-to foods come out of the freezer. That’s real life right there, friends.

We didn’t eat many frozen meals as a kid, so when we did it was always exciting. I remember trying different brands, but my absolute favorite was Marie Callender’s Spaghetti and Meat Sauce, and as an added bonus, it came with garlic bread. It always tasted real to me, so naturally, MC is what I end up buying these days.

Well, as it happens, Marie Callender’s is teaming up with the USO (another organization I absolutely, positively love) for a program called USO2GO. This is a program that delivers care packages with “comforts of home” (electronics, sports gear, books, games, etc.) to deployed troops. Food, care packages, the USO, deployments? This is right up my alley and I’m so excited to help spread the word.

So, here’s the deal: If you buy specially marked packages of Marie Callender’s dinners and desserts you can enter the special eight-digit code on the back of the product and Marie Callender’s will donate $0.50 to the USO2GO program. This is going on now through the end of January, 2015, so even if you plan on eating the yummy meal later, you can always input the code now!

Seriously, go get yourself some pie, lasagna, pot pies and more. Yum, yum, yum!! And all to support an awesome cause! 

And maybe it’s the pregnancy hormones, but I pulled this from the Comforts From Home page and it totally hit home and made me cry:

Marie Callender’s knows that home is more than a place. It’s big hugs
and joyful laughter. It’s warm memories and comforting homemade
favorites on the dinner table. Marie Callender’s also knows that life
can often take our loved ones far from home and away from all of the
comforts and happiness it brings. That’s why we’re introducing the
Comforts From Home Project—a program dedicated to bringing the
heartwarming feelings, flavors, and favorites of home to those who miss
it most.

This fall, Marie Callender’s will launch the Comforts From Home
Project by bringing the comforts of home to those who protect America’s
homes every day: the brave men and women of the U.S. Military.

Tears, right? Please tell me you’re crying, too. This deployment, although shorter than the last, dragged on for-ev-er. I’m so incredibly thankful it wasn’t over the holidays again (been there and done that…too many times), but it was hard nonetheless. I love that there are programs out there benefiting our troops, and the USO is one that I absolutely stand behind.

Want a head start on helping this project out? Marie Callender’s graciously sent me 10 coupons to give away to my readers. I’m going to give five of you two coupons each! You know the drill, get to work on the Rafflecopter below!