Homemade Convenience Foods

I am always looking for new ways to be creative in the kitchen. I get bored with making the same things over and over, but I really need quick and easy meals with a 3 year old in the house. I know that I am not the only one that feels this way. We are all short on time.

I was asked to review Homemade Convenience Foods by the Marcia K. Washburn. I would not call Homemade Convenience Foods a cookbook. I would call it a guide. It is designed to provide you ways to use a few minutes of your spare time to prepare a few items for future meals and store them in your freezer, fridge, or pantry. It walks you through some of the items that you should stock up on for your pantry when you have the funds. It also walks you through how to prepare and store items so you can grab them and make a quick and hearty meal for your family.

The recipes that are included in Homemade Convenience Foods are things like; sloppy joe's, chili, biscuits and gravy, etc. They are definitely not the gourmet foods that some people may be looking for, but they are meals that I found my family enjoys and are very easy to throw together with the pre-cooked and pre-chopped portions that I have in my freezer.

You can purchase Homemade Convenience Foods by clicking here. It is defiantly affordable and will provide you ways to stock up and prepare some items in advance when you have a few minutes to spare.

 E-book: $5.99 (ready to download immediately)

Comb-bound print edition: $5.99 + $2 S/H 

*Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this post but I did receive a free copy of the e-book for my review. All opinions are my own.

A Little Taste of Heaven

About a week ago, I received the best box ever in my mail box. It was a box from Shespeaks with a bag of Milk & Truffle GHIRARDELLI SQUARES® in it. Who could ask for a better mail day? I knew that the chocolates were coming but I was more than excited to receive them. I grew up going to Ghiradelli Square in California and this was a nice way to reminisce. 

 

            I made one mistake when I opened the bag. I could not wait to try the Milk & Truffle GHIRARDELLI SQUARES so I dug right in…..with a 3 year old in the room. After we devoured the entire bag of the chocolates, I felt much better.

            Ghiradelli Milk & Truffle squares are creamy and not too heavy. You really do not need an entire bag in one sitting because they are rich. They are truly a nice size portion and individually wrapped. They are ideal to toss in a lunch for a quick and delightful treat during the day. My only complaint, there are not enough squares in the bag. I would love to have a few more chocolates in the bag. Time to go to Costco and see if they carry these!

*I received the product in this post compliments of SheSpeaks and Ghirardelli for purposes of this review, however all opinions are my own.

I have a few giveaways that I am getting ready to post for all of my loyal readers. Here are a few examples of what is coming up:

Shave Well Fog Free Shower Mirror
Natures Sleep Slippers
Leggys in Numberland
Foldin Money
Custom photo that will be GREAT for a Mothers day gift

Make sure to check back daily for your chance to win one of the upcoming giveaways!

Build a Best Friend

Did you know that Build-A-Bear Workshop's are celebrating their birthday? They are turning 15! In the course of fifteen years, Build-A-Bear Workshop has help make 100 million best friends!

Several years ago, a young couple with two very small children had a house fire. Fortunately everyone made it out of the house unharmed, but there was a tragedy in the making that night. All of the kids on the street gathered around to watch the house that was on fire. The firemen, as kind as they were, handed out teddy bears to all of the children standing outside watching the house burn. This event changed my life. Why? Because the firemen gave a teddy bear to all of the children watching, but not the two small children impacted the most, the two they had to pull out of the burning house.

In an effort to help the two children that were traumatized by the fire, I provided each of the children with their own special bear. Each one was dressed up in a cute little outfit, and a note was tucked into to pockets of the bear’s shirts. I needed to make sure that each of those children had a special friend to hold onto during their hard times. A little friend to squeeze when they were scared or snuggle when they were sad. I still communicate with those two children and they still have their bears. The two children are my special friends and their bears are their continuing memories of friendship and compassion.

Everyone needs a friend to comfort every now and then. Celebrate Build-A-Bears birthday today by custom building the perfect fluffy friend for your special friend at www.buildabear.com 

 By publishing this post, I was entered to win a gift card as part of a promotional offer from MomSelect and Build-A-Bear Workshop. All opinions are my own.

      

Newborn Necessities Review and #Giveaway - Closed

Alison, you have won a copy of Newborn Necessities. You should have an email waiting.

A few days ago I received a copy of a book called Newborn Necessities written by Jennifer Cigal. Before I opened the book, I immediately thought that this book would be another book to tell me what to do and when do it with a newborn baby. That is not the case with this book.

As a mother, I know that when I had my first child, I cannot be prepared enough before the birth. There were a million purchases to make, a dozen classes to take, rooms to decorate, and then the baby came. Once my daughter arrived, I felt incredibly unprepared. When my second child was born, he was 12 weeks early. That means he was a teeny little guy and needed special care. 

All children are different, but some of the day to day tasks that we need to complete as a new parent still remain the same. The child still needs to be nurtured, fed, bathed, etc. The book Newborn Necessities is a simple book that allows you to track your babies input and output. How long did your baby breast feed, how many wet diapers did your baby have today, did your baby have a bowel movement today? I know that it all sounds kind of strange, but with all of the upcoming sleep deprivation, this is a great way to track your babies feeding and toileting habits to ensure that they are taking in the proper nutrition and expelling the proper amount of waste. 

As a student nurse, I can attest to the fact that we record input and output for every patient in a care setting.  These records can tell me if a patient is getting enough nutrition to support their growth or healing or if there is a problem with a body system due to a medical problem.

Newborn Necessities has two separate logs for you to fill in. The first one is feeding facts. What time did you start feeding and how many ounces did they consume. Don’t worry if you are breast feeding. There is a space to enter how long there nursed for also. The second log is the diaper diary. This is where you would record what time you changed the babies’ diaper and if it was wet or if they had a bowel movement. There is also a comments section in both logs for you to record comments in. This is where you can note if the baby spit up, burped, or the color and consistence of a bowel movement. Newborn Necessities is a great tool for any new mom. Whether you are expecting or you know someone that is, this is a book to pick up.

Here is the best part. The author, Jennifer Cigale, has offered to provide a free copy of this book to one of my readers. To enter, leave a comment below stating why you would like a copy of this book. For an additional entry, follow me publically on GFC and leave a second comment stating that you did so.

The giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on February 17^th. The winner will be notified by email within 48 hours.

**I received a free copy of this book to facilitate this review. All opinions posted are my own.