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

Hamburger Recipes We Love: Chorizo-Apple Burger

September 20, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 6 Comments

Friends, I have got one of the best hamburger recipes I have ever made. I took some inspiration from the other recipes I saw online, and then added my own elements to come up with something just perfect for my crew. When I served these for lunch this week, my husband ate three!

Chorizo-Apple Burger

1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb chorizo sausage (I used 3 links from the package), removed from casing
1/2 large onion, minched (food processor works best for this and the apple)
1/2 large apple, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients together in a bowl and form patties (6-8, depending on how big you want them). Cook on a stovetop with 1 Tbsp olive oil over med-high heat for 5 minutes on each side, or until the internal thermometer reaches at least 165 degrees. I use a George Foreman grill to make these and they are finished in 6 minutes total since the George Foreman cooks them on both sides.

These burgers come together surprisingly fast and have a flavor that will leave you wanting more! Definitely give them a try this fall; they are SO perfect for game day!

RUN….Awesome Boots and a Scarf for CHEAP!!!

September 20, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Affiliate links included. You are helping me lift a child out of poverty through Compassion International, with your purchase!

I love you all so much that I decided to post this even BEFORE I went shopping, myself! Cents of Style, one of my favorite online shops, is having a killer deal for today only! You can get a very stylish pair of boots (3 color options) AND a super cute scarf (6 color options) for $32.95 shipped. Use code FASHIONFRIDAY to score the discount price!

BAM!!!

The retail price of these items is $69.90, which honestly is still a good buy for a pair of tall boots and a pretty scarf. But you are going to be paying less than half of that, my friends!

Happy shopping! Let me know what you get!

28 Cloth Diaper Reviews for The Cloth Diaper Confused!

September 19, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 14 Comments

I still can’t believe that my family’s journey with cloth diapering will be over in just a handful of months. What a ride it has been, and an unexpected one at that.

We have 2 children, and when we were pregnant with the first, cloth diapering wasn’t on our radar AT ALL. My best friend used hybrid diapers and suggested I look into them, but I didn’t pay too much attention. And since my BFF lived far away from me and I didn’t get to actually see the diapers, I had no idea just how great they really were.

One thing I distinctly remember about getting into cloth diapering, however, was how completely overwhelming it is. There are (seemingly) a dozen different types of diapers, all of which have their own language of terminology, and dozens upon dozens of different brands. How do you know which cloth diaper is best?

The short answer is, you don’t! What works best for one baby won’t necessarily work as well for the next. But I promise you, you WILL get the hang of it. And when you find something you love, hold on to it!

I always loved reading about the experiences other parents had with different diapers, and reading those reviews helped me find some of my very favorites, as well. Here are all 28 cloth diaper reviews I have done over the past 4 years. I hope you will find them useful as you wade through all the information out there and make your decisions about which brands and types to use when building your stash. By no means is this an exhaustive list of available options, but I think you will find some brands that are very popular, as well as some lesser known brands that are also great finds!

Why we started using cloth

Newborn Cloth Diapering

Cloth Diaper Rental

Mabu Cloth Diaper Kit

All-in-One (AIO) Diapers

All-in-Two (AI2) Diapers

Pocket Diapers

Prefold and Cover Diapers

Holden’s Landing

Real Nappies

Hybrid Diapers (also called Two-in-One)

Flip Diapers

Charlie Banana

Overnight Diapers

Ecobubs

Buttons Diapers

Fleece Cover from Twinkletoes

Potty Training Information/Products

Super Undies

Early Potty Training

Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions. The fact that you want to cloth diaper means you are on the right track, even if you are feeling a bit lost! 🙂

Turkey Sausage Recipes We Love: Turkey Sausage with Sauteed Veggies

September 18, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 2 Comments

Has your family embraced the turkey outside of the month of November? I have a great turkey sausage recipe for you to try, whether you already purchase and love this product, or if you need some convincing the turkey sausage is actually tasty. My family of 4 (remember, two of those people are quite young!) ate almost the entire dish in one sitting!

Turkey Sausage with Sautéed Veggies

2 small/medium red bell peppers (or 1 large)
1/2 large onion
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil or grapeseed oil
1 lb turkey sausage, cut into 1 inch pieces
16 oz frozen whole kernel corn
1 tsp garlic salt
¼ tsp pepper
hot sauce (to taste…we only use 4 drops!)

Slice your bell peppers and onions into long thin strips, like this:

Heat the butter in a large skillet over med-high heat, and saute the pepper and onions until tender (about 6 minutes). Remove from the skillet and add 1 Tbsp oil. Then cook the sliced turkey sausage until browned and crispy on both sides.

Once the turkey sausage has been browned, add the peppers and onions to the skillet, as well as the corn. Cover the skillet and reduce the heat to medium and cook until the corn tastes tender. Add garlic salt and hot sauce, stir to combine, and serve!

If you try the recipe, I’d love to hear what you thought about it!

I Just Earned Cash For College While Shopping Online!

September 17, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

This post brought to you by Upromise by Sallie Mae. All opinions are 100% mine.

Generally speaking, I do my online shopping at two distinct times each week. I love to shop on Fridays because so many of my favorite brands offer great deals to kick off the weekend. I also love to shop REALLY early in the morning, when the house is quiet and I can actually have an uninterrupted thought. I don’t have to get dressed or fix my hair. I can just sit in my office, in my jammies, and shop at the most convenient hour of the day for me: 4am. I don’t know about you, but my local mall isn’t open at that hour!

I seriously doubt that I need to convince you of how awesome online shopping is. But did you know that in many cases, you could be earning cash back for your child’s college when you make those purchases? Upromise by Sallie Mae is a FREE service to help you save for college expenses (your own or your child’s!). It has been around for several years and I’ve had an account for quite a long time.

But in truth, I ALWAYS forget to go to the UPromise website and see if the online retailer where I’m shopping offers cash back. And as I result, my grand total of college savings with the program is just shy of $9. I mean, I’ll take it, but that’s pretty lame. But it is all my fault, because I never utilize the program!

UPromise knows that many of its members struggle to remember to use it, so they created RewardsU, which is a toolbar you can very easily download and then use when you are searching for something you want to buy. I went to UPromise.com, got myself logged in (signing up is also easy if you don’t have an account!) and then clicked on the big orange button to get the toolbar installed.

For those of you who love to keep a ton of tabs open, just be aware that all of your tabs need to be closed before you can install the toolbar. Once I had it installed, I looked for the icon on my toolbar list. There it is in the right corner!

I clicked on the icon, and a simple search bar pulled up. I then searched for an item that Kayla from KaylaAimee.com taught me about: the beauty blender. Evidently it is the makeup applicator tool unlike any other, and I have been wanting to treat myself to it. If you are like me, you rarely treat yourself to things like this that are nice to have to totally unneccessary, so I have to say that the sell was made easier when I realized I could earn a portion of my purchase back in funds for college. Win/win!

I thought the search results were SO COOL! It showed me several different places where I could find the coveted beauty blender, and it also highlighted the places that were UPromise rewards partners so I could easily see where my purchase could result in college savings.

Once I decided where I wanted to shop, I just clicked on the UPromise button in the search results and my ability to save was activated. See the note at the top of the screen letting me know that I’m good to go? It stays up there for about 10 seconds before going away, just FYI. I then went on my way, made my purchase, and felt good about knowing that 5% of what I spent was coming straight back to my kiddos.

As a longtime UPromise member who never actually remembers to use the service, I’m absolutely thrilled with RewardsU. It is right there on my toolbar now, which makes it SO much easier to think of when I’m doing my shopping. I’m looking forward to watching my college savings for the girls increase with UPromise, because goodness knows I’m going to keep shopping online! 🙂

Thrift Store Prices Today at Crazy 8

September 17, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Affiliate links may be included. Thanks for your support!

I just went shopping this morning and scored some GREAT deals at Crazy 8! Right now they have lots of REALLY cute fashion tops for $10, and they also have a lot of tops and leggings on sale for 2 for $10! Oh heck yes they do!!!!

$10 Deals sale at Crazy 8

I gave myself a $50 budget, and I scored 10 great pieces for my girls! A few things I bought in pairs so that they can match (I think there aren’t too many more years left when Darah will be excited to match her sister…better take advantage now). These prices are close to what I pay at the thrift store for used clothes, so I’m feeling pretty darn excited! Click on the images to go straight to the pieces online. These are just a few of the things I scooped up!

sparkle bunny top ($5)

fairy shirt (50% of proceeds go to St. Jude) $5

heart patch leggings ($5)

Get on over to Crazy 8 and find your bargains. I’d love to hear about what you buy!

Women and Retirement: 2 Things to Keep in Mind

September 17, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

This post on life insurance is brought to you by Genworth and Brandfluential. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

I think about retirement quite often. Even though I don’t have a traditional 9-5 job, I’m still a working parent. And in my case, I have to work really tough hours (my “day” started at 2:15am today). I have to create those pockets of time when my kids are asleep or away from home to get my writing done.

Make no mistake, I LOVE my job. But yes, I do think about the day when I’m no longer working to have to pay for my day-to-day needs. Perhaps that will come before age 65, but most likely not (just being realistic!).

My time as a Genworth Ambassador has been really eye-opening and given me a lot to think about, especially as a woman thinking about retirement.Women have some unique realities that should have an impact on how we make our plans for retirement.

Women and Retirement

1. Retired and single.There is a greater than 50% chance that by the time a woman gets to age 65, she will not be married. This is due to being widowed, divorced, or never married at all. While I hope and pray with all of my heart that Tim will still be with me to enjoy retirement, the fact is that he might not. And even if he is, I’m statistically likely to outlive him, by a few years or even by several decades, just depending on the cards we are dealt. That is why it is SO important for me to have a clear understanding of our retirement plans and to be actively involved in managing our retirement contributions to ensure a robust nest egg.

2. Preparing for long-term care. A familiar scenario is that a wife is able to care for her husband as his health declines, sometimes delaying or altogether eliminating the need for time in the nursing home for the husband. But that leaves no care provider for the wife, and the need for long-term care arises. Did you know that the median cost of a private room in a nursing home is $81,000/year? Planning for that possible scenario takes some forethought, to be sure, but it is important for women to have a plan in place for how to pay for such needs, should they arise. Nursing homes have, by some accounts, 80% female patients. Nobody dreams of the day when they move to a nursing home, but the reality is, it happens. And it happens to women in much greater numbers than it happens to men.

While there are some scenarios and situations that make me feel nervous about retirement (such as facing it without Tim, or ending my days in a nursing home), the reality is that it could happen, and the better prepared I am for the financial piece of retirement to be in good shape, the easier it will be to handle other aspects. Money definitely doesn’t buy happiness, but having “enough” money to know your future is secure is a game changer.

Reaching retirement age (62) entitles you to many new perks. One is potential eligibility for a reverse mortgage. Unlike a regular one, a reverse home loan provides less stress in the here and now. You and your lender can look at a reverse mortgage calculator online tool to determine the borrowing amount. After you use reverse-loan calculators online, you simply spend that amount the way you want when you receive it. It is not owed back for years. However, the amount the reverse mortgage calculator comes up with is not what you eventually repay. You have to also pay a lot of interest when the time comes. Nevertheless, it may be the ideal choice for you, if you are most concerned about being comfortable in the present and near future.

Grilled Cheese Recipes: Delicious Idea for Crazy School Nights

September 16, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 4 Comments

In our home, grilled cheese recipes are what we turn to on the craziest of school nights, which is usually Wednesdays. While we are all home by 4:45pm, I have been in the car 4 different times taking each girl to school and picking each girl up (separate trips), and we’ve gone to ballet, and we’ve gone to the farmer’s market to pick up our CSA share. Wednesday is also supposed to be one of my big “work” days on the blog, which means I minimize the amount of time I spend cooking so that I can get more work done. And on Wednesdays, Tim is usually home for 10-15 minutes before he heads out the door to a weekly evening meeting he has.

So we are doing pretty good if we even manage to get some bread and cheese out for a quick, hot sandwich! I was recently inspired by a recipe Pillsbury offers for grilled cheese using Grands! Biscuits (sounds kind of crazy, right?). I took that recipe as a starting point, and made a few additions so that I could create a “grown up” grilled cheese sandwich that feels fancy and special, but that comes together lightning fast!

The ingredients I gathered consisted of Grands! Biscuits (I chose homestyle flavor, but I think some of the other variations would also work well), prosciutto, mozzarella cheese, sharp cheddar cheese (I loved the sharp cheese with this, but mozzarella is perhaps the more obvious choice), and pesto.

I veered from the Pillsbury instructions in that I used grape seed oil in the pan (higher flash point…less likely to burn) and I set my pan on med-low heat, and cooked them for 2 minutes on each side instead of 3. I think the temperature setting your use and the amount of time you let the biscuits cook really will depend on your cookware and your stove…they are all a little bit different!

Since I was trying out this dish over the weekend, I was also able to make a tomato soup to go along with it. Tomato soup, in my experience, freezes really well, so make a big batch for your family and freeze it. That way, syou can pull it out before those crazy week days when you know cooking won’t be an option.

I thought this was a delicious, indulgent take on the grilled cheese sandwich. Even though it was totally easy to prepare, it really did feel like a special meal. I’m going to make it again for my family next Wednesday, for sure! I think it will cause us all to pause, even if only for a few minutes, and really enjoy our food together.

Pillsbury has a lot of great recipe ideas using Grands! Biscuits. Check out the recipe booklet they offer for free and let me know what recipe you think you’ll try first with your family on a busy week night!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective. The content and opinions expressed here are all my own and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of General Mills. Compensation was provided by General Mills via Clever Girls Collective.

Online Books for Kids: We Love Bookboard (Try it FREE!)

September 14, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 3 Comments

I am a member of Bookboard’s Blog Ambassador program. I am compensated, from time to time, with free products and monetary payments. Any views expressed in this post are completely my own.

We have a new nightly ritual in our home that involves reading several online books for kids. After we put Layah down for the night, Darah and I find the iPad and plop down to read anywhere from 1 to 4 books we have never read before. We don’t have a huge stack of library books to keep track of, and we aren’t spending a small fortune at a bookstore, either. Everything we need is on Bookboard.

Bookboard is a children’s digital subscription library for the tablet. If you own a tablet, and if you have a child in your life, then this is something I want to VERY STRONGLY encourage you to try out. In fact, Bookboard offers free trial subscriptions (you don’t give them your credit card, so there’s no way they can charge you, I promise!).We actually did the free trial first, and I was really impressed that it didn’t end until we had read 14 books. That’s a ton of books that we got to read for free!

I have SO many things that I want to share with you about Bookboard. When you find something that is this effective (Darah BEGS to read more and more and more when we use Bookboard!) and that is this affordable (start with the free trial, and if you get hooked like we did, go for the 6 month subscription, which is only $4.99/month for all-you-can-read books! Bookboard has a HUGE assortment of books designed for children ages infant up to 12. The library of options you see is based on your child’s age and when appropriate, reading level.

Bookboard also encourages children to keep reading by unlocking new books for their library after the children read 2-3 other books. This is exactly why Darah wants to read more…unlocking a new book is pretty serious motivation for that kid!

In the coming months, I’m going to share with you some of our favorite reads through a curated collection of titles, and I’m also going to share with you more details on how the program works. But for now, I want to encourage anyone reading this with a tablet to check out the free trial. And then PLEASE come back and share your thoughts with me on the service and how your child or grandchild is liking it, or any questions you might have for the creators of this amazing service.