Stuff Parents Need - Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

Fashion Find: Wood Watch from Jord (Giveaway!!!)

January 27, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 108 Comments

Oh friends, do I have some seriously beautiful arm candy for you to admire today. I was recently introduced to the watch brand Jord, and they specialize in wood watches. They sent me one for review, and I’ve been in awe of it ever since it arrived. Take a look!

This is the Ely Series in Maple. Let’s get the price out of the way, first. This retails for $129. I think that is a REALLY good price for such a unique and beautiful accessory. Tim is very taken with it and said that he is really surprised that it doesn’t cost double the retail price because it is so beautiful. That’s saying something, because Tim usually thinks everything costs (or should cost) about half of what it actually does!

The watch has a single action locking clasp, and a really pretty design on the back of the watch face. Isn’t it just spectacular?

I also wanted you to have a sense for how the watch looked on a person. It is a smaller build, but I wouldn’t personally call it petite.

I’ve been pairing it with a bracelet designed to look like polished rocks. I thought it looked cool worn with another piece that was a bit flashier, but still made one think of natural elements.

Have you ever seen a wood watch? I’d be curious to hear how you’d style it! Check out the entire line of wooden watches from Jord. They are just incredible.

And because the folks at Jord are so SO awesome, I get to give away a watch just like the one I reviewed to a lucky reader! Let’s do this! Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win an Ely Series Maple wood watch from Jord (ARV $129!).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

Fun New Promotion at Chuck E. Cheese: #RipitSipitWinit (Everyone Wins!!!)

January 26, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

Attention all Chuck E. Cheese fans! Wanted to let you know about a really fun new promotion happening now through March 31st called “Let the Good Times Rip!” which you can play inside the stores nationwide.

Simply peel a game piece off of an 18 ounce adult-size cup and see what you won. And you WILL win something, because everyone is a winner during the promotion!

We were treated to a pizza, drinks and some tokens for playing at Chuck E. Cheese just yesterday, and we each scored 5 free tickets, which made for a nice little bump in our ticket total.

As of today, there are over 2,580 grand prizes left to be won, and those include awesome prizes like a $5,000 Disney Cruise Live Vacaction, XBox One Console, Razor Crazy Cart, Playstation 4 Console, Chuck E. Cheese’s gift cards, and board games!

And if you want to score a great deal on your trip to Chuck E. Cheese when you go to play the game, just check out my guide to Chuck E. Cheese coupons. I’ve also got great information on how to save money on a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party if you want to plan one, and the inside scoop on the gluten-free menu at Chuck E. Cheese, which they have rolled out at every store! And don’t forget to like Chuck E. Cheese on Facebook, too. That’s a great place to share pictures of your winnings using the hashtag #RipitSipitWinit!

Time for Another Stitch Fix!

January 26, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Well hello there, friends! I’ve been away from the blog for a few days (nothing exciting, just a stomach bug. Yuck). But I’m back and ready to talk fashion!

Today you can find me over at A Daily Dose of Toni, sharing all the details on my latest Stitch Fix box and talking about wearable fashion for moms (but not mom jeans!). Come visit me and let me know what you think about what I kept and what I sent back!

Wednesday Night Relief: Red Baron on the Table

January 22, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

This post brought to you by Walmart. All opinions are 100% mine.

Most every family has that one night of the week that is the craziest. For us, it is most definitely Wednesday. It’s one of my primary work days, coupled with schlepping kids to and from two different schools all over town, ballet lessons, and in the warmer months, a trip to the farmer’s market to pick up our CSA basket. This is the day, more so than any other day, that we wish fairies would sneak into our house while we are gone and magically prepare dinner. Because by the time we get home, we’re hungry and totally out of gas.

Well, those fairies have yet to show up, but I’ve been buying convenient options that please everyone, like Red Baron® pizza. I like this brand because the pepperoni they use is exceptionally flavorful. It’s a stand-out, for sure!

Right now you can find great coupons for Red Baron® at Walmart. Their prices are already really good, and the coupon makes it even better! Don’t miss the coupon for $3 off and 3 Red Baron® multi-serve pizzas. While you are printing those great pizza coupons, don’t miss out on the string cheese and the egg rolls. I definitely printed those, too!

Wednesday at my house is the complete and total opposite of this:

If you have a day of the week that is also NOT AT ALL like rainbows at sea, then pick up some Red Baron. You’ll give yourself a break, and by using the coupons, you’ll save some money! Take that, elusive pot of gold!

How to Strengthen Hair From the Inside Out: NeoCell Keratin Hair Volumizer

January 22, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Thanks to NeoCell for sending complimentary products for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.

Over the past few years I’ve tried a lot of different hair products in an effort to keep my hair manageable, shiny and thick. Some haven’t worked at all, some have worked for a period of time and then quit once my hair got too used to them, and others (like no ‘poo) seem to work consistently.

neocell keratin hair volumizer

But I have never thought to take the “inside out” approach until I learned about NeoCell Keratin Hair Volumizer. I’ve been taking them for the past month, though I’ve been sporadic about taking them (I stink at remembering to take pills!). So I can’t tell you that I personally have noticed a significant difference in how my hair looks and feels based on the supplements alone. However, I can tell you that this product has already started winning awards, which is a good sign to me that it is doing something right.

The capsules contain NeoCell’s award-winning collagen with solubilized keratin. The solubilized keratin is a first in the industry, and that really sets it apart from other supplements. The keratin binds to the hair shaft from the inside, and makes it stronger and less prone to breakage. It has also been clinically proven to enhance hair volume and increase shine.

A one-month supply of Keratin Hair Volumizer retails for $19.99 , though at the time of this writing I saw it for $15 on Amazon.

If your hair is in need of some help, and the things you have tried on the outside aren’t working, try starting from the inside with NeoCell Keratin Hair Volumizer.

Sharing #BaconLove with My All-Time Favorite Bacon Recipe

January 21, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 16 Comments

This post was created in partnership with Bi-Lo. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

At my local grocery store, Bi-Lo, there is a BIG celebration going on, and it is all about bacon.

Awww yeah! #BaconLove is spreading like wildfire! And honestly, what’s not to love about the food also known as “meat candy?” Bi-Lo has some really great deals happening right now on all things bacon, so if you live in the part of the country that has a Bi-Lo, don’t miss out on your chance to go “hog wild” (Snort snort)!

In celebration of this event, Bi-Lo asked me to share my favorite bacon recipe, and I didn’t even have to think for a second before I knew what I’d be sharing. Friends, today I’m going to teach you how to make this:

Aside from cold cereal, which will always be the culinary equivalent of my first love, spaghetti carbonara is my favorite meal. I would eat this twice a week for the rest of my life with absolutely no complaints. Please understand that as a general rule, I don’t make the same dish in my home more than once every six months. I can’t stand to eat the same food frequently (yes, it is every bit as annoying as it sounds…I curse myself daily for needing so much variety). Anyway, the point is, for me to have a food other than cereal that I will eat so often is a REALLY. BIG. DEAL. And that’s because it is just that good.

And what makes it so good? The bacon, of course!

So here’s what you need to get started:

1 package bacon

1 lb spaghetti noodles

2 eggs, cracked and scrambled in a bowl (but not cooked!)

4 Tbsp butter

4 Tbsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

handful of fresh parsley (roughly 1/3 cup) (spring for the fresh stuff…it’s worth it!)

1/3 cup Parmesan or Romano cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil, and arrange bacon on the sheets. Once the oven is preheated, cook the bacon in the oven for 15-20 minutes (start watching it at the 15 minute mark). Such an easy way to get perfectly crisp bacon! While the bacon is doing its thing, get some water boiling for your spaghetti. Once you have a rolling boil, cook your noodles for the time indicated on the package.

While your noodles are cooking, go ahead and get your parsley chopped. I use kitchen shears to get the job done fast! Now’s also the time to grate your cheese, get your eggs cracked and scrambled in the bowl, and to start heating up the olive oil and the butter in a pan. Once the oil/butter combo is hot, add the garlic and cook it for a few minutes until it turns golden.

By this point, the bacon might be done. if so, remove it from the oven, and once it is safe to touch it, get it all nice and crumbled (once again, I used the kitchen shears!). Set crumbled bacon to the side.

Now your noodles should be done. This is where things are about to get intense, as you’ll need to do all the remaining steps fairly quickly. Ready? Here we go! Drain the cooked noodles and then return them to the pot. Add the butter/oil/garlic mixture to the pot and give it several quick stirs. Then add the scrambled raw eggs to the pot and STIR! STIR! STIR! The eggs are basically going to cook all over the noodles. You want egg-coated noodles, and not chunks of egg in your noodles. Stirring quickly is the key to success here.

Once you feel like you’ve got a good coating on your noodles, it is time to add all the other stuff (parsley, cheese and bacon) and mix it around a bit. And this is your end result!

The taste is absolutely incredible, friends! Don’t be intimidated by the crazy egg stirring step, and don’t be weirded out by how it sounds, either. Just trust me on this one and spread some #BaconLove to your family this week by giving it a try!

And since you already be interested in pasta dishes with bacon, definitely check out the Bacon with Butternut Squash Penne recipe. It’s SO yum!

What’s your favorite bacon recipe? Do tell!

Car Woes and Wows with Zubie

January 20, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

This post brought to you by Zubie. All opinions are 100% mine.

As I type this, my car is sitting in our back yard, in official "time out" for making some seriously bad noises (metal-on-metal….NEVER good).

My only consolation while I wait for shop to open Monday morning so I can limp my car over (just 2 blocks, thank goodness), is that I already know that the problem isn't in the engine. How do I know? My Zubie Key told me.

The Zubie Key, which fits into the standard port found in most cars, interfaces with the engine and the battery to let me know if there are any perceived problems or weaknesses. When I checked on my smartphone app that connects with the Zubie Key, I noted that thankfully, the engine seems to be having no problems. There's still a problem, to be sure, but it isn't in the engine. If it was in the engine, I'd be needing to brace myself for one killer auto bill. Dodged a bullet there, and I'm glad to know that now rather than having to worry about it all weekend.

We've had the Zubie key installed for about 3 weeks now, and one of the features that impresses me the most is its ability to assist with safe driving. You'd better believe that I'll want one of these in my car when my oldest becomes a teen driver. I'm sent an alert whenever the car has a hard break. I have to admit, I'm aware of that notification, and it is making me actively work to improve my own driving skills.

I also really like the real-time tracking location. While I feel safe in my neighborhood, I'm no stranger to living in a city with a high car theft rate (shout out, Memphis!). With the Zubie Key, you can track the location of your vehicle, even when you aren't in it! Great to know for keeping your family tracked without having to send text messages back and forth, and also great in the event that someone else decides that they want to steal your car. You (or rather, the police) can track them down, likely before they even realize that the Zubie Key is in place!

And best of all, the Zubie app, which can help you coordinate a trip with other drivers, is completely free. You can get a feel for some of the great features the Zubie Key can offer before making the purchase. Give it a try; I bet you'll like it enough to get a Zubie Key. And you can order today with code SAVE20JANand SAVE 20%. Offer good through February 28, 2014. Shipping charges may apply.

Keep up with the latest by following Zubie on Facebook and on Twitter.

On My Workout Wishlist: Wireless Earbuds

January 20, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.

So we are almost 3 weeks into 2014, friends. I’m curious how many of you have goals and resolutions for the year that involve improving your health in some way? I certainly do, and I’ll be the first to tell you that I have struggled right out of the gate to address it. While I have been improving my breakfast habits, which is an area I wanted to work on, I haven’t yet made it to the gym.

Yikes.

I need to get motivated, and that means that I’m about to start firing up my FitBit again. When I used it last year, it kept me honest about how much I had been moving, and on days when it seems that I had been particularly sloth-like, it helped me to recognize it, and then get the family out the door for a walk. Time to get back in the habit!

I also want to have some great earbuds on hand for when I finally do make it over to the gym for a little one-on-one time on the treadmill. I absolutely WON’T do it without music! I think I have some earbuds around here, somewhere. Maybe? Tim is the one who uses them the most often. And our cat, Hattie, has chewed through her share of earbud wires, so some have been lost that way.

I think I just need to get an official pair for myself. And I’ve got my sights set on the yurbuds.

These are WIRELESS earbuds. The are Bluetooth compatible, andthey don’t plug into your device at all, which is awesome! No more having your plug rip out while you are jogging or doing some other form of exercise. I’ve had that happen to me multiple times on the treadmill, and it always causes me to stop what I’m doing, which kills the momentum! Studies have actually shown that playing music during a workout can increase intensity and duration of exercise time by up to 15%. These earbuds were created by an Ironman Triathelet and 24-time marathoner in response to the problem of earbuds coming disconnected during exercise.

The Wireless Sport Earphones are sweat and water resistant, and they are ergonomically designed for maximum comfort. You get to focus on your workout, and not on if your earbuds are about to fall out or disconnect. I really love that! The battery lasts for 6 hours, too, which can get you through an entire week’s worth of 1 hour workouts (assuming you take a day off!). You’ll also never be caught off guard by the battery running out, as it provides visual and audio notifications of the need to recharge.

Best Buy knows a great product when they see one, and they are SUPER excited about the launch of these wireless yurbuds. To celebrate, they are offering 20% off all yurbuds products online and in-stores! Valid 1/19/14 – 2/22/14. If purchasing online, just use code yurbuds20 at checkout.

Additionally, now is a great time to get any sort of Health and Fitness product you might need (like a FitBit!). Best Buy is offering a $5 Best Buy Gift Card when you make a qualifying Health and Fitness product right now ( at Best Buy Mobile Specialty Stores). Valid 1/19/14 – 2/22/14.

What do you think about these? Would they make your workouts a bit easier? And do you have any song suggestions for my workout playlist? It needs an update!

Back On Track to a More Balanced Lifestyle (#WowThatsGood)

January 19, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 4 Comments

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser.

I have to tell you, as much as I love the fact that my family is together for almost every single meal daily (even lunch!), it comes at a price to my ability to maximize my work day. Since I work from home, I’m the one who is in the house and can get lunch and dinner ready each day. Mondays and Wednesdays are the worst, because I don’t have the kiddos with me before lunch, and it is prime “work” time. To spend 30 minutes of that precious time preparing lunch totally wrecks my attempt at a balanced lifestyle, because it gives me less time to get my job done, which in turn makes me more stressed out.

I’ve been noticing that as a result, I’ve been throwing together meal options that aren’t the best choice for my family due to their high salt intake, and I’ve been stress eating while trying to work lightning fast on those days. I need to get back on track with some healthier options that are also really convenient so that I can focus on my work, and also not feel guilty about what I’m eating.

#wowthatsgood stocked freezer

So I headed to Walmart to find some options that would help me make the most of my work hours without coming at a steep cost to my waistline. I really hit the jackpot, too, and now my freezer has an ample supply of healthier choices that can be prepared in a flash.

Breakfast this week has been looking like this:

#wowthatsgood lean cuisine turkey sausage english muffin

This is the LEAN CUISINE Morning Collection Turkey Sausage English Muffin. I’ve been eating it with some sliced citrus and a glass of almond milk. It is totally filling and takes 2 minutes to prepare. The box I purchased at Walmart cost $2.50 for 2 muffins, which makes it very reasonably priced (I can tell you from experience that a similar product at a certain fast food joint with golden arches costs more than double that price per serving where I live, and I don’t even want to know what the calorie difference is!).

For lunch, my new favorite go-to dish is the Lean Cuisine Sesame Chicken dish.

Now, in my experience, frozen Chinese food is ok at its best. And if it is a lighter version? You’ll be doing good for it to taste edible. I know that LEAN CUISINE has a reputation for putting out excellent products, so I wasn’t expecting it to taste bad.

But I also wasn’t expecting it to taste great. But it really did! It tasted like REAL Chinese food, and it cost only $1.97 and was ready in 4 minutes. It is safe to say that I was shocked by just how yummy it was. Sesame Chicken from LEAN CUISINE immediately went back on my shopping list, and I plan to buy 5 more, and then treat myself to this particular lunch once a week for the next month! Little Layah also LOVED the noodles in the dish, and certainly ate her fill of them after tugging on my sweater and pleading, “Mommy! Noodle! Peeeze!”

Did you know that LEAN CUISINE items actually come with a Money Back Guarantee? I just recently learned this, and that’s really all I needed to hear in order to start trying multiple new (to me) products each week. I’ve tried their Salad ADDITIONS before (AMAZINGLY good, by the way), and I have just learned that they also have Wrap ADDITIONS. I picked up the Creamy Balsamic Chicken, and it is DELICIOUS, and MINE, MINE, MINE! Tim doesn’t like balsamic vinegar, which means I don’t have to share. Hooray!

I’ve also been wanting to try the LEAN CUISINE Simple Favorites Macaroni and Cheese, as that is a go-to dish for really bad/hard days (it is comfort food, after all) and I’d really love to try LEAN CUISINE’s take on it. With that Money Back Guarantee, I’ve got nothing to lose!

But here’s the tricky thing about the mac and cheese: getting it past my kids without them taking (ridiculously large) bites of it! Not only did I NOT get to keep this all to myself, but when I prepared this dish, it was all I could do to get a few bites in. My little ones were like hungry piranhas around it!

When I was shopping, I also knew that I needed to help myself make some better choices during my coffee breaks (which are frequent!). I’ve been curious about CoffeeMate’s Sugar-Free French Vanilla creamer, so I picked some up. Now I just needed a little chocolate, and found a great option with Skinny Cow. They have Divine Candy is a variety of options, but I knew the moment I laid eyes on the peanut butter creme filled chocolates that they would be going home with me. What a delicious and guilt-free snack break! I highly recommend them! And as for the creamer, I was very pleasantly surprised! I think it will take a little bit of time to get used to the sweet factor being not quite as strong, but given how much coffee I drink, making the switch to a sugar-free creamer is going to have a significant impact on my daily intake of calories. I’m glad I made the switch!

Later today I’m going to be serving a really fun snack to my entire family. LEAN CUISINE Three Cheese & Spinach Stuffed Pretzels will make for the perfect 3 o’clock treat for my crew, and is a much better choice than the alternative, which at the moment is leftover holiday candy.

What about you? Do you struggle to find food options that don’t take long to prepare and that promote a balanced lifestyle? Any particular products you think I should pick up the next time I’m grocery shopping?