With the holiday season approaching, many moms are already planning for Thanksgiving and Holiday parties with friends and family.

As many of you know, I was part of the Frigidaire Test Drive Program back in 2010 and have loved cooking with my oven ever since it arrived. Actually, my favorite part of the oven is how easy it is to clean the messes I make with it! (ha!)

Anyways, Frigidaire has another reason to celebrate this holiday season – their new range with Symmetry Double Ovens. The new freestanding range helps families get their holiday feasts on teh table faster thanks to the most capacity (each oven fits a 28-pound turkey)m faster preheat (4 minutes), and 1-touch options.

Frigidaire also recently kicked-off their latest campaign to support Save the Children’s U.S. Programs. Here’s how.

1. Visit MakeTimeforChange.com and check out top turkey tips and holiday entertaining recipes

2. For the first 550 visits, Frigidaire will donate a turkey to a Save the Children family

3. For every visit between now and 12/31/2011 Frigidaire will donate $ to Save the Children. If you go daily, they will donate daily. They will donate a minimum of $38,000 no matter what, with a maximum of $43,000.

4. While there, enter to win a Range with Symmetry Double Ovens from Frigidaire. You can roast two turkeys at once and the Keep Warm Zone will maintain the temperature of your stuffing, potatoes and rolls.

So, whether you want to help Frigidaire donate money, get Turkey Tips or enter to win a Symmetry Double Oven, there are plenty of reasons to link over and MakeTimeForChange.

This is solely the opinion of the Mom Buzz. The Mom Buzz was provided with a gift to share this news. Other people may have different experiences with the product. And don’t forget to enter my other hot contests so you can win and try buzzworthy products!

Baseball season is here – and Frigidaire is inviting everyone to take a swing at helping children have access to healthy outdoor activities. Visit MakeTimeForChange.com to take your virtual swing and Frigidaire will donate up to $1 to Save the Children. Plus, everyone who participates will be entered to win a Frigidaire Affinity Washer and Dryer featuring Ready Steam.

Getting some good outside time is important, whether you are kicking a soccer ball, at a batting cage or maybe some horseback riding. Whatever the activity, moving and grooving in the fresh air and sunshine does everyone some good! That’s when that Affinity Washer and Dryer with Ready Steam would really come in handy. When I used to horseback ride, I was always covered in black dust from the trails. My poor mom had to deal with that mess. Most recently we enrolled my boys in swimming lessons! No worries about dirt, but we do have to get the chlorine out of their swimsuits and wash A LOT of towels. If I had the Affinity Laundry Collection with Ready Steam, I could wash their laundry fast, with the Ready Clean setting offering a gentler cleaning that uses 30% less energy and water.

Anyways – don’t lose out on your chance to win a Frigidaire Affinity Washer and Dryer and help raise money for Save the Children while you are there! The contest runs from April 26th to June 22nd, 2011.

This is solely the opinion of the Mom Buzz. The Mom Buzz was provided with a gift card to get outside and play. People may have different experiences with the product. And don’t forget to enter my other hot contests so you can win and try buzzworthy products!

Frigidaire is teaming up with Jennifer Garner to help families prepare and enjoy nutritious foods together. Without a doubt, obesity and diabetes is on the rise – and not just in adults, but young children! But you can lead your children to make the right decisions by having them follow your lead. The Frigidaire Kids’ Cooking Academy is there to help make this new lifestyle an easy option.

Frigidaire Kids’ Cooking Academy launched today. It’s an online “school” that features daily tips, fun recipes and how-to videos hosted by family-friendly Chef Mary Sue Milliken. To join the academy, simply visit Frigidaire.com. And when you join, Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children to make sure even more children have access to healthy foods. Plus, you will also be entered for a chance to win the daily giveaway; a kid’s apron set, and the grand prize, a brand new Frigidaire Gallery Double Oven Range, with more space for preparing healthy meals and snacks.

Just last night my little one (3 years old) was in the kitchen cooking up a healthy chicken and broccoli dish with my husband. They do that a lot, since my three year old loves to help in the kitchen, from making healthy blueberry muffins to making “protein-brownies”. (If you want the protein brownie recipe, you have to ask my husband at KevinbTaylor.com!) Usually we chop the ingredients up ourselves and let him pour them into the casserole dish or mixing bowl. And he also gets a chance to use a big spoon to stir things up!

We of course use our Frigidaire stainless steel range (Model: FPEF3081KF) to cook together. And it’s fabulous for cooking with your children, because spills are inevitable. Before my Frigidaire Glasstop Range, if I had a spill it would go under the burner and turn into a hardened mess. But the glass top on my stainless steel range is nice and level. All spills are easy to clean with damp, warm, soapy cloth. And at the end of the day I just quickly wipe down the top and front to make sure everything is clean throughout the night. It comes with a cleaner to keep the stove top looking new, but you only need to do that once a month. Buff on some of the white cleaner with the supplied sponge and then wipe off with a clean cloth. It’s so easy to maintain the appearance of this appliance.

GOOD -TO-KNOW:

• Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children for each time you visit the Kids’ Cooking Academy between 1/18/11 and 4/25/11 with a minimum of $35,000 and a maximum of $40,000.
• You can Follow MakeTime4Change on Twitter for more news about the #cookingacademy!
• You can also Follow MakeTimeForChangebyFrigidaire on Facebook!

This is solely the opinion of the Mom Buzz. The Mom Buzz was provided with a gift card to make a healthy meal with her family. People may have different experiences with the product. And don’t forget to enter my other hot contests so you can win and try buzzworthy products!

I am HUGE on scheduling. I find it easier to have time for fun with the family when I am not worried about when I am going to do chores, clean, run errands, blog, etc. Frigidaire knows what moms want and need, so they built their stainless steel range (Model: FPEF3081KF) with an uber-valuable feature – Delay Start. With Delay Start you can set your oven to begin cooking on your schedule and schedule it to shut off automatically when you are done baking. It can be programmed from 1 to 24 hours.

To use the scheduling feature, obviously you need to set the clock correctly. That is top of mind right now since we just went through daylight savings here. And if you want to program the delay start to start 12 hours or later, you need to controls to be programmed for 24 hour display mode. All of this is simple to update, although I can’t think of why you want to have a raw meal in the oven that long – do keep in mind that doing stuff like THAT can get you sick from food poisoning.

That said, what I love about scheduling is that it TURNS OFF AUTOMATICALLY! No more burning food when I get distracted! Often I cook one meal for the kids and me and something else for my husband, since his diet is so strict. Sometimes after the kids and I have eaten, my husband comes home and I panic wondering how long I’ve left his chicken in the oven. Often I say, “You say you like it crunchy!”

Now I can make dinner for me and the kids, as usual. Then I can plan my husband’s dinner. I just prepare his meal when I prepare the kid’s and mine. After I cook the kid’s meal, I can put my husband’s meal in the oven and set it to start cooking and end cooking in time for him to come home to a warm meal – doesn’t that sound domestic? Let’s just call it kindness, for him working so hard so I can stay home with the kids.

Using this delayed bake time feature is easy. You press Bake Time, enter how long you want to cook for (example 1.5 hours for a lot of chicken), press start and then delay start. Next you type in the time you want it to start. If my husband comes home at 8, I would want to start cooking his meal around 6:15 pm. Then you push start (which is really like the “Enter” button). Next you need to tell it what temperature to cook at – so let’s say 375 degrees for the chicken. Finally you push start. When it’s done cooking the oven will say END and shut off automatically. After that it will beep until you push cancel.

And yah, not only can you tell the oven when and how long to bake. The oven also has an auto shut-off feature for safety. No more worrying if you left the oven on anymore, instead as an extra safety measure the oven will automatically shut off after 6 hours. For all of you “in-the-kitchen-ALL-DAY” types, no worries. You don’t have to have your bake-a-thon interrupted. There is a way to change between the 6-hour turn off feature and continuous bake setting.

So that is just another fabulous feature, developed by Frigidaire. In case you haven’t had a chance to read them yet, here are the other Frigidaire Articles I’ve written about features I love on the stainless steel range (Model: FPEF3081KF):

• One-Touch Button Cooking
• PowerPlus Cooking
• Energy Star
• Fits More Oven and Effortless Oven Rack
• Easy to Clean and Keep Warm Drawer
• More Me Time

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

So I am going to admit something that most of my close friends already know. I have memory problems. My BFF’s dad teases me about it. He is a pharmaceutical rep … and he owns a cabin up north. My friend showed me pictures ages ago, but although I remember he owns a cabin I can’t remember much else from the pictures. He always asks me my opinion about his cabin (see how valuable my opinion is???) and I tell him honestly, “I don’t remember!” Actually, a lot of his questions about anything make me say, “I don’t remember!” So one day when he was teasing me, I said, “Well, don’t you have a pill for my memory problems?” Remember, he is a pharmaceutical rep. He tells me, “I do, but you’re too young!”

Haha! He goes on to say that most of my problems come from being a time-crunched mom with too much on my mind already. And I know that I am not the only mom like this – how many of us had “Pregnancy Brain” which later progressed to “Mommy Brain”? Nothing seems to stick and you just run on automatic.

But, being a Frigidaire Mom has helped me with some time-crunch issues, which does allow me to focus on family and relieves a little stress. Like those Power Plus features I buzzed about last month which lets the oven preheat faster or soup boil quicker. It’s so freakin’ convenient!

Another convenience are the One-Touch Options on the over-the-range microwave (Model: FPBM189KF). This Microwave oven features easy-to-use one touch buttons so you can cook pizza, pizza, baked potato or veggies – or even add 30 seconds to the timer – with the touch of a button.

And with the touch of two buttons you can use convenient buttons to automatically heat up snacks like pizza, hot dogs or a kids meal. You can auto cook items like a frozen breakfast, scrambled eggs, soup or hot cereal. You can sensor cook  a list of items that include ground meat, seafood and chicken breasts. You can soften ice cream and cream cheese or melt butter and chocolate.

You think that’s all? Nope. With two pushes of a button you can choose to auto reheat fresh rolls, frozen muffins, coffee or pasta. Or auto defrost ground meat, chicken pieces, casserole or a roast.

Cheat Label Inside Microwave

To do those items listed above (two- three button options) you simply choose your cook option (sensor cook, auto defrost, etc.) and then use a cheat sheet label inside the microwave that matches the item you are trying to cook. Easy and it doesn’t take up any valuable memory, nor do you need an instruction manual nearby to use these really easy options.

This Frigidaire over-the-range microwave is taking the guess work out of cooking, so instead of walking back and forth between the oven adding minutes and minutes – overcooking or undercooking – it is done right faster so you have time to complete kitchen tasks quicker, meaning more time with your family.

I think less worries in the kitchen is helping me free up time and build memories instead of losing my mind! Thank you, Frigidaire!

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

So I’ve owned my Frigidaire stainless steel range (Model: FPEF3081KF) and over-the-range microwave (Model: FPBM189KF) for about 7 weeks now. There are a lot of features that I’ve buzzed about that have just completely sold me on the units, such as:

• Easy to Clean
• Lots of Room
• More Counter Space

But a huge pro about this specific range is the Power Plus Feature. Power Plus helps you get out of the kitchen faster, since it has a radiant element with a higher power level capability. That means it can bring the items you are cooking or boiling to the right cooking temperature faster. This is GREAT when you need to prepare a bigger meal. In other words, waiting for water to boil takes on a whole new meaning to Frigidaire Range owners! There are three settings that help you get your meals done in a jiffy!

PowerPlus™ Preheat: Pre-heat your oven in less than 6 minutes. Perfect when you are busy baking!

PowerPlus™ Boil: Boil water fast with a 3,100 Watt Cooking Element. A must-have for impatient, hungry kids.

PowerPlus™ Convection: Roast meat to tender, juicy perfection in less time.

I really love the PowerPlus Pre-heat, because it is so darn useful when baking brownies and cupcakes! It takes a serious amount of cooking time off, letting us all munch on ooey, gooey sweets that  much quicker. I also love the PowerPlus Boil, because it helps me get the rice and pasta cooking quicker. Plus, my kids love soup and you know how patient kids are when they want something. Ha!

The only thing you need to remember is to activate the PowerPlus Preheat from the oven control function panel. It’s located below the clock, under the bake option.  When you want to activate it for baking you just push Powerplus Preheat, press Start, press Bake, enter the desired temperature and press Start one final time.

I think it’s such a neat feature that really lets you spend more quality time with your family Just imagine if all of your appliances were time-saving Frigidaire ones! As you know, a busy mom’s time is super valuable, especially when you just want to play with your kids, not sit in the kitchen and wait for something to boil or preheat!

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

I have counterspace again!

I have had my Stainless Steel Range and Microwave from Frigidaire for over a month now. I have to say, I am so sold on it. It is SO easy to keep clean! I used to HATE my kitchen. But the new range and microwave really updated it, although I still crave some new cabinets and countertops. But I no longer walk into my kitchen feeling like it is all falling apart. And I think a lot of families would find that upgrading and replacing their range might be the most economical fix, besides painting, that will make a huge impact on how their kitchen looks.

And having gone from a kitchen that had the over-the-range microwave, to a kitchen that had a microwave on the counter, I really missed that counter space. So the new over-the-range microwave has really helped open up my kitchen, giving me more room to prepare meals and just do simple daily tasks, like pour a bowl of cereal.

Now, I’ve talked about a few features I love already with this range and microwave set, like how the stainless steel actually reduces the appearance of fingerprints and all the room for baking inside the oven. Today I wanted to chat about Energy Star and Frigidaire.

Do you know that this newly introduced Frigidaire line just received the EPA’s prestigious 2010 Energy Star award 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.

You see, the new range and microwave let you save time by cooking more at once and the PowerPlus features. But some of the other new Frigidaire collections also save you considerable amounts of energy and water – from washers that use up to 82% less energy and 60% less water, to dishwashers that use at least 41% less energy and 40% less water than was used just 10 years ago.

Pretty much, Frigidaire will help you save time, money, energy and water! You can learn more by visiting www.Frigidaire.com/ecosavings. You can even calculate your potential cash and energy savings by swapping out old appliances. Check it out today! It might help convince your significant other that updating your appliances is the economical thing to do in the long-term!

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

I’ve been the proud owner of a Frigidaire Stainless Steel Range and over the range microwave for about 3 weeks now. Now, I admit when it comes to cooking, I usually just quickly baking chicken and steaming veggies … but I actually love baking. I’m no Bakerella, but I make cupcakes, traditional cakes, rum cakes, cakes made to look like characters (Cookie Monster most recently), chocolate chip cookies, shaped cookies, pies … just about anything for holidays, special events and “cheat days”. For birthdays and holidays I am usually multi-tasking my oven baking a few different things at once. So, it’s so cool that the Frigidaire oven (Model FPEF3081KF) has a “Fits-More” feature where there is this unique rack configuration that creates more cooking space than a traditional oven.

Even if you aren’t busy baking like crazy, this feature is awesome for preparing a family dinner. You can be baking bread on the top rack, potatoes on the second rack, dessert on the third rack and a casserole on the bottom rack. Actually, you can fit MORE than that in there … it’s just insane the amount of room you have with the unique rack system.

Cookie Monster Cake baked in old oven. Could have benefited from more room in the Frigidaire Oven!

Each rack is a little different, which helps add the desired room. There is 1 flat oven racks, which is what I am used to in an oven. But then there is also the special bottom oven rack which gives you more depth and uses otherwise unused space in the oven. (You can see the croissants baking on it in the picture above). And then there is a unique half oven rack which has a removable section so you can bake “taller” items! For example, my Cookie Monster cake would have been a perfect example of an item that could have benefited from those special trays! (He was baked in my old oven and what a pain it was since I had to worry about his butt getting cooked on the rack above!

The fourth rack I want to talk about is the unique Effortless Oven Rack feature, where you attach these little metal rods/ connectors to this special rack. Then when you open the oven to check on food, maybe to baste a turkey or flip some chicken fingers, the second rack with those food items will glide out … effortlessly. No need to grab the rack and pull it out with oven mitts. The door and connectors do it all for you! It makes cooking just that much more quicker!

As you can tell, I continue to be amazed with the features of this oven! So far my “love” list includes:

1. Unique Oven Rack System for more room

2. Effortless Oven Rack Feature

3. Reduces Fingerprint Smears

4. Easy to clean

5. Keep Warm Drawer

I am sure I am going to find even more to love and chat about in the weeks ahead, so stay tuned for more posts about this awesome oven and microwave set from Frigidaire!

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

So I’ve owned my Frigidaire Range and Microwave for about a week now and I am already in love. In case you are wondering, below is a picture of my old range next to the picture of the newly installed range/microwave combo. You can see how the burners are all lopsided on the old range, since I always have to remove them to clean spills under them. And plus, it was just old, rusty-ish, and one of the burner lights wasn’t working. That was what was removed.

Old Range vs. New Range with Microwave

What came in was a stainless steel range (Model: FPEF3081KF) and over-the-range microwave (Model: FPBM189KF). First off, I learned that it can be tricky to figure out whether a range will fit in your current area in a kitchen when replacing an appliance. I kept wavering back and forth on if it would fit. The measurements for this Frigidaire range were 29-7/8″ W x 47″ H x 28-1/2″ D. The height kept freaking me out – but then I realized that the height is what is against the wall, showing the control panel, so it doesn’t matter. And as long as your countertops are a standard height, not a special height like for a basketball player, you should be good to go. The width was main concern, but it fit perfectly. Since we are talking measurements, the one for this model over-the-range microwave were 29-15/16″ W x 17-1/16″ H x 16-3/8″ D.

I took the time to do a quick VLOG to show you some of my favorite features, along with one super cool feature that would make this stove perfect for entertaining and large dinners. You can watch the VLOG right here at the Mom Buzz, just press play:

New Range: Model FPEF3081KF

In case you can’t watch the video, here are the highlights. My favorite feature is how easy it is to keep this glasstop stove clean. Before, if I had a spill it would go under the burner and since I was cooking, it would turn into a hardened mess. Repeated lifting of the burners to clean left them lopsided, creating even more spills. The glass top is nice and level. All spills are easy to clean with damp, warm, soapy cloth. And at the end of the day I just quickly wipe down the top and front to make sure everything is clean throughout the night. It comes with a cleaner to keep the stove top looking new, but you only need to do that once a month. Buff on some of the white cleaner with the supplied sponge and then wipe off with a clean cloth. It’s so easy to maintain the appearance of this appliance.

Plus, I was always iffy about stainless steel appliances. I’ve had them and they get fingerprints so easily. That’s why I chose a black fridge. But the Frigidaire Stainless Steel appliances I have installed have a protective coating which has eliminated fingerprints! I have not had one fingerprint on either appliance. It is awesome! Now I say it has eliminated, but I want to let you know that Frigidaire simply says it reduces the appearance of fingerprints. But in my home – not one fingerprint has been caught on the stainless steel. Amazing.

One unique feature that I adore for entertaining and large dinners – think Thanksgiving – is the Keep Warm Drawer. You know that drawer on the very bottom that is often used for storage. Well, Frigidaire makes use of that space creating a Keep Warm Drawer where you can keep rolls and pies as the Turkey is cooking! Just put the items in the drawer and then on the control panel push Keep Warm. You can’t get much easier! Depending on the item, you can choose to have the temperature in the drawer at high (like for gravies), medium or low.

So, that’s what I have noticed so far. I have more thoughts to come – you can trust me on that – where I will buzz about some other AMAZING features I’ve found and noticed. Any questions about the appliances, feel free to ask and I’ll address them in a post or comment.

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

Anyone who knows me, knows I passionately HATE my stove. I have a tiny kitchen, an old stove that has caught on fire (before we owned it… and yes, afterwards too…) and a lack of kitchen space. Which means our HUGE countertop microwave is not doing us too many favors. So I was BEYOND thrilled when I learned that the Mom Buzz was chosen to be part of a Frigidaire Test Drive Program – Team Range/Microwave. My husband was literally ready to buy me a stove for Valentine’s Day until he learned about this!

I am going to share a BEFORE picture of my range. See that color? Ooogly. See the stains? Awful. Oh … and the burner lights don’t work. Turns out they are kinda useful in knowing which burners are on. (Hence, the little fire we had when I left an oatmeal box on a burner I thought was off.) Plus, I am limited with counter space so the over the range microwave would be a huge blessing!

Now, as part of the Test Drive team, I will be talking about the Range and Microwave once they come late February – real life experience and usage, people. Plus, I will keep you up-to-date on other must-know Frigidaire Info. Here is the latest scoop:

Frigidaire’s Spin & Win Campaign:

In this campaign, Frigidaire and Jennifer Garner have teamed up to support Save the Children. During this campaign, you can log onto MakeTimeForChange.com to play Spin & Win for a chance to win prizes, including a new time-saving Frigidaire Affinity washer/dryer. Oooh – how cool is that! My husband and I are in the market for a new washer and dryer! Anyways, here is the cool thing. While you are playing to win, with every “spin” Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children as part of their $250,000 commitment to this worthy cause!

More Me-Time:

Can you believe that Frigidaire has introduced more than 250 new appliance in 2009? And the best part, they were ALL designed with the idea of creating more time for us Moms. Face it, 24 hours in a day is just NOT ENOUGH. And to stand behind their claim, Frigidaire offers a “More Me-Time Guarantee.” Moms will save a minimum of 8 hours a month or their money back!

Stay tuned to the Mom Buzz for more Frigidaire News! I look forward to sharing my journey with you!

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