Winning Practical Christmas Gift Ideas for Mom: Grocery Shopping Services

November 2, 2016 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Practical Christmas Gift Ideas For Busy Moms

Earlier this year I wrote about how one of the biggest game changers for me in 2016 was that I pretty much stopped grocery shopping. Obviously my family’s need for groceries didn’t magically disappear, but services became available so that I could have other people actually do the shopping for me. If you are trying to come up with some practical Christmas gift ideas for your wishlist (I know your relatives are bugging you for some ideas!) or are looking for Christmas gift ideas for women, this is definitely the way to go!

You guys, it’s been nothing short of magical, and I think giving a mom the gift of grocery shopping on her behalf is pretty much the most awesome thing you could imagine for her. There are several different options that could work for her, just depending on where you live and what type of groceries you like to buy. I want to highlight some of the best options for grocery pick up, grocery delivery, specialty food delivery, and meal kit delivery, along with pros and cons of each service as I see it.

Walmart Curbside Pickup

This is perhaps the most universally available option, as there are Walmart shopping centers within a 20 mile radius of pretty much everyone in the United States. The program is still rolling out, though, so not every location is currently offering the grocery pickup service, though expansion is happening quickly. To use the service, you must spend at least $30.

The major pro of this service is that there is absolutely no fee to use it. You pay the exact same price that you would if you went into the store yourself, only now you don’t actually have to do that part. A Walmart associate will shop for you, picking out each item on your list and getting it ready for you to pick up.

The major con of this service is that the groceries aren’t delivered to your home and you still have to make the trek over to the store. Another con is that I’m finding it difficult, at least for now, to secure a pick up time that is on the same day that I place my order. I typically place an order early in the morning, and even then, my first available pick up dates seem to be 24 hours later. So this is not a good option if you need something quick. If you want a more detailed look at my tips with this service, check out my Walmart Grocery Pickup review.

Shipt

Shipt is available largely in the Southeast and in locations with a Publix, as that is this third party providers partner grocery chain. Shipt is how I got started with leaving grocery shopping to others, and it is a tremendous service. A $35 minimum order must be made

The major pro of Shipt is that the groceries come to you. It just doesn’t get any easier than ordering your groceries online and having them delivered right to your kitchen counter. This makes it one of the absolute best Christmas gift ideas for new moms you could possibly choose. Getting out of the house with a tiny baby is beyond overwhelming, and if the groceries can just come to you, that’s pretty huge.

I also like that the service is designed so that no money changes hands between you or your shopper; all of that is handled online (using your computer or your app) including any tip you might like to give. I typically can get my groceries the same day as I place my order, unless I place my order around 4pm or later, and then I might be out of luck until the following day. I have placed an order early in the morning on a weekday before and had the groceries on my counter within 2 hours. Score!

There are a few cons for Shipt, and they all have to do with cost. First, there is a $99/year fee to be a Shipt member. You pay that fee whether you use the service once or every other day for the entire year. Obviously the more you use the service, the more value you will get out of the membership expense. Second, the prices you see online when putting together your order are higher than what you would see in the store. There is a percentage added on to each item you buy, which is how the company makes a profit. The third con is that while you are not required to leave a tip for your Shipt shopper, you feel like a jerk when you don’t. I never know what to tip, and if I tipped using the same percentages that I use in restaurants, I simply couldn’t afford to shop with them. So I always feel like a semi-jerk even though I do tip, because I’m not sure if I really should be tipping more. Make sense?

Peapod

Peapod is available largely in the Northeast, and it is something I would save my pennies up for and splurge on during the winter months when we lived in Boston over a decade ago. Peapod has actually been around since before the internet went mainstream (1989!), and it delivers your groceries to you, same as Shipt. You can find a complete list of locations on the Peapod website. It seems that the service partners with just one grocery store in each area.

The major pro I see for Peapod is that when you are shopping online, you can actually use coupons! That’s amazing!!! You can look through coupons.com or any other coupon site you like, and you can even use the Ibotta app to help you save a little more. So if the mom on your holiday shopping list might not want to give up the grocery store because she saves money on the bill with coupons, that’s a non-issue with Peapod.

The other major con of Peapod is that same day delivery is also going to be a challenge.

Thrive Market

Thrive Market is an online only grocery store that focuses on healthy brands (largely organic, non-gmo stuff). I have been using Thrive Market for over a year now, and continue to love the quality foods we receive and the price point we pay. Shipping is always free on orders over $49.

The major pro of Thrive Market is that you have access to brands that most people can’t easily access, especially if they don’t live in large cities with specialty grocery stores. I would shop at Trader Joe’s every week if I lived near one, but I don’t, so I have to look elsewhere to find the type of peanut butter, honey, and even snack crackers I’d like to serve in my home. I did an extensive Thrive Market review including a price comparison with Amazon if you’d like to check that out. Another pro is that the company often offers a free item with a minimum purchase (the notification always comes in via email). I try to wait to place an order until there’s a freebie that I want, and that’s been a fun way to try out new products.

There are two major cons of Thrive Market. The first is that since it is online only and everything is shipped to you (via UPS), perishable items cannot be purchased this way. So a Thrive Market membership will not be sufficient for all of your grocery needs. The second con is that this, too, requires a membership ($59/year). The fee is similar to what you would pay for a Costco membership, and it is how the company is able to keep the costs lower than what you will find most anywhere else.

Amazon Prime Pantry

Amazon Prime has created a very cool online shopping option for non-perishable food and basics items you might need (everything from Cheez-Its to cat litter). You are eligible to use Prime Pantry if you already have a Prime membership.

The major pro of Prime Pantry is that you can now get many things delivered to your house at a reasonable price that used to be rather cost-prohibitive (such as cat litter, or perhaps inexpensive items that used to require a $25 minimum overall purchase to make it not a profit loss for Amazon). And in comparison to Thrive Market, This will offer a much wider variety of options (including things that are more mainstream) and it will still reach you in 2 days, whereas you’ll have to wait a bit longer for your Thrive Market box.

The major con of Prime Pantry is that you are stuck with a $5.99 shipping fee for each box you order. I’m not sure how much you can get into a box (they will let you know) but even with your Prime membership, shipping just isn’t free for these items.

Other Alternatives: Meal Kit Subscriptions

If you don’t want to go for a full grocery service option for the busy mom on your list, but you like the idea of making dinner prep a bit easier for her somehow, you might want to consider meal kit service subscriptions from Blue Apron, Home Chef or Hello Fresh. Price points per serving hover around $10, and in my experience, the meals aren’t necessarily quick or easy, but the food is quite good and almost every single item you need to put together the 3 meals that are included with each kit are on hand for you. It’s a nice treat to take the guess work out of what is for dinner, and it’s a nice treat to get to try something totally new, and that’s something you’ll be able to get with these particular subscriptions. It’s also nice to be able to create something with ingredients you wouldn’t normally buy and wouldn’t want to buy in larger quantities (for example, the pad thai dish below called for fish sauce, which I never use in cooking). Need a suggestion for which one to go for? My husband and I liked Hello Fresh the best but our kids ate the most of Home Chef, which was really nice!

Be a Hero This Christmas

If you are looking for a Christmas gift idea for mom then you should definitely consider helping her out with the chore of grocery shopping. Not having to go to the grocery store anymore honestly changed my life this year, so it very well could be her favorite gift of the year, or even the decade!

A New Halloween Tradition – Brick Or Treat!

October 31, 2016 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

by Alanna Peters

This past weekend I had the opportunity to take my family to the Brick or Treat nights at LEGOLAND California. What an awesome perk for being a LEGOLAND blogger!

I’m not going to lie, by the time Saturday evening rolled around, I was NOT in the mood for dealing with crowds and lines with fussy kids. We’d had a long day of school and art festivals. But, I had the tickets, and I knew the girls would love it. And surprise, it ended up being awesome!!!

I expected the park to be only minimally full since we were going after hours. I (incorrectly!) assumed that all the day-goers that did not have Brick-Or-Treat passes would already be gone. That didn’t seem to be the case, as many of them were still moseying their way out slowly over the next few hours.

It was a bit confusing and stressful when we first arrived, as we discovered there was a separate wristband we needed for Brick-Or-Treat, which we didn’t find out about until we were further inside the park. This was not communicated to us when we first entered the main gates which was a bit frustrating – especially since the Brick-Or-Treat entrance we went to was no longer giving out wristbands and we had to trek through the crowds to the other entrance.

Once we did get into the Brick-Or-Treat area though, everyone’s moods improved. We immediately found a treat station right inside the gate and the girls were thrilled!

The spooky LEGO decorations in the park were fabulous, and all the Halloween lights were awesome. There was a moving light display sequenced to music which happened to be playing Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” as we approached. (A family fave!) So fun!!! Halfway through the park we stopped at the castle where they were getting ready for a stage show. It was quite silly in my opinion, but the girls sat nicely through it – I think it was a welcome rest after a long day of fun! (And hubby found beer at the BBQ restaurant. Win.) We continued on to several other treat stations and enjoyed looking at all the Halloween surprises and costumes.

One other thing that was a little disappointing was the Pop badge challenge. When we got to the table where they were giving out badges, we were turned away because we hadn’t filled out our cards. What cards?! Apparently they were supposed to have handed them to us along with our wristbands but for some reason they skipped us. Not a huge deal for us though, since my girls hadn’t been collecting anyway.

We ended the night with some Bluegrass music in Heartlake City. These guys were awesome! Definitely a legit band. My girls had a blast dancing along and my husband and I enjoyed a chance to take a break and listen to music.

My big takeaways from the event:

• I would recommend either going for the rides OR going for the Halloween fun. It would be overwhelming to try to both in the evening. If you have the time to do it, I would go early and do rides during the day and save the dark for Brick-Or-Treat. The ride lines still seemed to be really long, which surprised me. (My kids didn’t even ask for rides though, they were having so much fun looking at lights and displays and finding treat stations!)

• I appreciated that not all of the treats were candy. There were Clif Z Bars, Honest juice pouches, and even a Frankenstein commemorative LEGO brick.

We all left the park in high spirits. I was pleasantly surprised that the crowds didn’t bother me at all. We did skip the treat stations in the Sealife Aquarium because that line was INSANE. I will definitely make an effort to go back next year! The Brick or Treat event does require a separate admission ticket ($45) unless you have the fancy pass. We have the standard passes though, and as passholders, we have the option to purchase the Brick-Or-Treat admission at at price of $5 or $15 (depending on which weekend we choose), which I think is well worth the money. This happens on Saturdays in October, so I highly recommend putting it on your October/Halloween To-Do list for next year!!!

Holiday Pet Safety: A Few Things to Keep in Mind

October 26, 2016 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

This post is sponsored by Royal Canin. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about Royal Canin’s veterinary-exclusive gastrointestinal diet, but all opinions are my own. Royal Canin is not responsible for the content of this article.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! We are just days away from Halloween festivities, immediately followed by Dia de los Muertos, which my family has started to celebrate, and then it’s full steam ahead to Thanksgiving and Christmas. This is a time for much joy and laughter and family time, and that usually means that folks are either traveling to see you or you are traveling to see them.

rose-royal-canin

As you make holiday travel plans for the upcoming months, I want to highly encourage you to take some measures to ensure the health and well-being of your pets. We had a very sick cat during the holidays last year, and in fact, we had to say goodbye to our beloved Rose the morning of the day we were leaving for our holiday vacation when the vet discovered that she had an incurable disease that she was already dying from. It was a horribly sad time, but we were thankful that our vet worked us in for an emergency appointment that morning because it ultimately meant that we were able to say our goodbyes and end Rose’s suffering and not cause our pet sitter to have to deal with a very sad situation while we were gone.

The holidays can be a very stressful time for pets. Many pets are keenly aware of when their owners are preparing to leave . If your pets experience separation anxiety, it can start even before you leave, with an upset stomach and diarrhea. But there are some steps you can take to help ease a pet’s anxious feelings and to help ensure their overall safety this time of year.

One important step you can take is to make sure that toxic pet foods are out of reach this time of year, especially the hazardous items like chocolate, unbaked dough and macadamia nuts. If your kids are going trick-or-treating, for example, it is SO important that they not keep their candy bags on the floor or on any other surface that a pet could easily access.

Another step to take is to be mindful of the impact your routine is having on your pets. The holidays often cause us to change our schedules, and sometimes rather dramatically, with trips and events filling up our calendars and our pets not seeing as much of us as they typically do. Take care this time of year to spend some special time with your animals and give them some attention and love, because they are missing you!

Should you notice irregular behavior with your pets, especially poor appetite or vomiting (or hiding all day in the case of cats; cats hide when they are sick), do not wait to take them in to the vet until it is almost time for you to go out of town, as it can lead to extra stress for everyone.

royal-canin_logo_bloggers

And finally, take particular care with the food you choose to offer to your pets. Royal Canin™ has a line of veterinary-exclusive Gastrointestinal™ formulas that provide multiple options for individualized nutritional solutions for cats and dogs experiencing gastrointestinal issues. If you know that your pets feel the stress of the holiday season, this is a great proactive step you can take to help ensure that the digestive tract is running smoothly. To learn more about GI issues, check out MyPetReference.com and you can ask your vet about Royal Canin.

hattie-royal-canin

I’m going to purchase some of this product specifically with my older cat, Hattie, in mind. If we leave the house for more than 24 hours, there’s pretty much a 100% chance that she will throw up while we are gone. I used to think of it as a weird little cat quirk, but now I realize that it’s evidence of the stress she feels while we are away. This product might help ease some of her physical symptoms while we are gone.

I hope your holidays are full of cheer this year! And I hope that your pets feel happy and at ease, too!

The Ultimate Perler Bead Hack: Lint Rollers for the Win!

October 24, 2016 · by Tiffany Merritt · 2 Comments

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #StickItToLint #CollectiveBias

Children tend to go through phases with their toys, and also with their arts and crafts preferences, I’ve noticed. The hot craft item in my house right now is perler beads (those small cylindrical beads you can melt together to create fun designs). I introduced them to the kids over the summer and it quickly became a favorite. My oldest likes to find cool new design ideas on Pinterest, and my 4-year-old enjoys sorting out the colors for us.

Both of them, however, LOVE to dump out the beads onto the carpet while they work, which makes mommy heave a big sigh because all I can see is hundreds of tiny little beads EVERYWHERE and no easy way to get them all up.

That, my friends, is where the Scotch-Brite™ Lint Roller come into play. Adding one of these bad boys to your perler bead supplies is a complete game changer, and I’m going to show you why! They are helpful throughout the entire crafting process, as well as the clean up that happens after.

You can find the Scotch-Brite™ 50% Stickier Lint Roller (70 sheets + 10 bonus sheets!) in the cleaning products aisle at your nearest Walmart. Many stores also have those fabulous Scotch-Brite™ Printed Lint Rollers (55 sheet), and since my store had both I picked up one of each. Who can resist that cute pattern on every sheet, and the call to a life with a little more creativity, right?

lint-roller-store-location

When your kids ask to play with their perler beads, show them how to incorporate the Scotch Brite 50% Stickier Lint Roller into their activity time. After a pattern has been selected, kids will start picking out the beads that they need. In order to keep them all in one spot, use a sheet of the lint roller paper to hold the beads in place. The sheets tear cleanly so there’s no need for scissors.

lint-roller-perler-beads-surface

This prevents confusion over which beads to use and helps keep what you need where you need it, instead of lost in the grooves of the carpet (or if you work on a table, it keeps the beads from rolling off the table which happens ALL THE TIME).

An additional perk of putting all of your needed perler beads on the Scotch Brite 50% Stickier Lint Roller paper is that your project becomes much more portable. If your child wants to move around a bit while they work, their beads can come with them easily. Check out how well they stick!

lint-roller-to-hold-perler-beads

They hang on really well to the paper, but they will also come off without a fight when you are ready grab them, I promise. No sticky residue is left on the beads, either. The original purpose of this product is to help remove lint and hair, but the Scotch-Brite 50% Stickier Lint Rollers can do so much more. It’s the perfect item to reach for the next time you need to quickly get rid of pet hair, sure, but also think of it for crumbs, sand, and even glitter. No need to have to take out the large vacuum cleaner!

perler-bead-craft-with-lint-roller

Once your project is finished it’s time to put all the unused perler beads away. I always think of the 80/20 rule when it’s time to clean up: you can get 80% of the beads cleaned up in about 20% of the time (by raking them into big piles and scooping them up). But that last 20% is going to take you 80% of your time because you pretty much have to pick them up bead by bead, one at a time, and you have to search forever because they seem to travel far and wide!

And once again, the Scotch-Brite 50% Stickier Lint Roller is going to save the day here, and make this part MUCH faster!

Simply take a sheet from the roller (or you can just re-use the sheets you already pulled off to hold your perler beads) and lay them down flat over the beads remaining on the surface. Then lift and rejoice!

lint-roller-hack

You can use the same sheet again and again, all over your carpet until it gets quite full. Then hand it over to your kids to scrape the beads off the sheet and back into your perler bead container.

I know this product wasn’t made particularly with perler beads in mind, but it sure does operate like it was made for them! So if you have these little beads scattered all over your house, or you don’t even want to introduce them to your kids because you know how messy they will be, just grab some Scotch-Brite Lint Rollers and relax because now you can have all the fun and not worry about all the mess.

Want more fun ideas for alternative ways to use these great products? Head on over to the Scotch-Brite Walmart page to get inspired! Love is messy, y’all. Let Scotch-Brite help you love more! 😉

Where to Find Halloween Movies and Halloween Shows for Kids on Netflix Instant

October 23, 2016 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

I’m a member of the Netflix Stream Team and as such, receive complimentary Netflix Instant streaming service. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Are you making the same mistake that I’ve been making and looking for Halloween content for your kids while still logged into your own profile? You can probably eventually find what you are looking for using that approach, but there’s a much simpler way, friends!

Simply log into the “Kids” profile option and then click on the “categories” button and look for Halloween Treats. That’s your fast pass to 57 different family-friendly titles that are perfectly spooky for family movie night!

My kids have probably watched most of the titles by now (#justbeinghonest) and as a family, we’ve found a handful of favorites that we’ve been watching each weekend this month. Here are my top 3 suggestions for a great family movie night this month if you are looking for something good!

1. Escape to Witch Mountain

Honestly, I forgot how much fun this 1975 Disney classic film is to watch. The scenes in the children’s rooms are delightful and that upside-down helicopter is everything. Every member of my family enjoyed it!

2. Room on the Broom

This one has been available on Netflix instant for a while now, but if you haven’t yet watched it, it is FANTASTIC!!! That cat, y’all. He is so unhappy about making room on the broom, and it cracks me up throughout the whole film. The witch is just as friendly as can be, though! This won’t take too much of your time (it’s just 26 minutes long) but it’s worth every second!

3. Hotel Transylvania 2

I did not expect to enjoy this one little bit. I thought it sounded like a silly sequel to a movie that was already too silly for me to watch. But I relented, and watched this one even before watching the original (which is totally doable, BTW) and you know what? I laughed and laughed from start to finish. It’s a big winner, so don’t discount it like I did, at first! Fantastic animation and hilarious (and different!) plot.

What’s your family watching this month to get ready for Halloween? Anything on the Netflix list you think we need to watch next?

The Best Holiday Gift to Buy Early (So Parents Can Play With it First!)

October 22, 2016 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Thanks to Nintendo of America for sending along review products. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

If you are a child of the ’80s, then you surely have more than a few Nintendo anecdotes. I still have a vivid memory of my older brother opening his first Nintendo console on Christmas morning, 1986. He let out a such a perfectly pitched and long-lasting scream that he sounded like a test of the Emergency Broadcast System!

And in the months (and years) to follow, I mostly had to watch him while he played because he didn’t want me to mess up his game. When he was feeling overly generous, he’d let me be Luigi on Mario Bros., but it didn’t happen all that often.

But 30 years later, I’ve finally got my own Nintendo (well, at least for 2 months until Christmas)!

This is the Nintendo 3DS XL and I am absolutely suggesting that parents buy this device right now so you can play with it before your kids unwrap it at Christmas.

Yeah, I said it. You get first dibs, this time!!!

I’m guessing I’m not the only kid from the ’80s who mostly watched other people playing video games, right? Here’s your change to get to play uninterrupted (even if it’s just in the carpool line, because #adulting) Or maybe you got to play video games all the time but now that’s more of a thing for your kids. The Nintendo 3DS XL is compact enough to easily fit in your purse or your work bag, which makes it so easy to sneak in a few minutes of game play here and there. You’ll have had plenty of fun by the time you need to wrap up the system and put it under the tree. Just think of it as getting everything warmed up for your kids! 🙂

This is also a great opportunity to go ahead and check out any games you have purchased to ensure that they are appropriate for your kids, and to get the system all set up with user names and parental controls.

I think the parental controls feature might be one of my favorite elements. If you are feeling unsure about unwrapping the device before your kids open it, I promise you that you really do want to set the parental controls up ahead of time. That way if a game is ever put into the device that is too mature for your kid (based on the game’s rating and the boundaries that you set) the game will not play and a note will pop up that a parent will have to override the system using their pin.

Kids love to swap games with each other and that means that your neighbor’s kid might be allowed to play games that your child isn’t, and vice versa. The parental control provide a way to keep your child safe and to avoid exposure to games that are too graphic.

Kirby is the game we received that I think my kids are going to enjoy quite a bit. As someone who never got to play video games too much, I appreciate getting tutorials at the beginning about the objective and how to use the controls. This will also help my girls who have been playing iPad games for years but who aren’t used to having controls to use. They are going to love it! 🙂 And I’m already making a list of other games I want to have lined up for the girls to try, a few of which will be under the tree, as well (I’m personally using this guide from Common Sense Media to help me pick).

I’m excited to be giving my own kids a Nintendo game console 30 years after I was introduced to one. And I’m even more excited that I got to play with it first! 😉

Fashion Friday: A Comfy Dress and That Scarf!

October 21, 2016 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Affiliate links included at no cost to you. Thanks, Cents of Style for sending review products my way!

One of my all-time favorite places to shop, Cents of Style, is having a fun sale this week on the Remi Swing Dress, which is a great little dress to wear all fall and winter long. It comes in a variety of colors (17 different shades, to be exact) and has a sweet, simple look (and it’s quite roomy so you can feel extra comfy in it!).

The dress is on mega sale today for $21.95 with free shipping (use code DRESS2016 at checkout) and I thought you might like to know about it! It comes in sizes small to 3XL (I’m rocking a large). Perhaps my favorite thing about this dress, besides how comfortable it is, is the fact that it makes the perfect backdrop for a showstopper accessory, like this fantastic Lori multi-color blanket scarf, also available from Cents of Style.

How I wish there was a way to reach through the computer screen and feel this fabric! It is SOOOO soft (it reminds me of alpaca, though of course without the alpaca price tag!) and the colors are so fun. Basically I put this scarf on and I just want to snuggle all day. And yeah, put it over my head, too.

I have no idea why I like to wrap stuff over my head like this, but I’ve been doing it since I was a teenager. Now you know something weird about me! 🙂 When I wrap something over my head that’s like my gold stamp, y’all. This scarf is such a winner, and the whole outfit is a perfect example of my favorite types of clothing to wear this time of year: cozy, comfy and rich with color. This scarf is going to be the piece that I wear with anything and everything this season. The fact that it has so many colors woven throughout it ensures that it goes with pretty much everything.

Definitely check out the hot new items on Cents of Style today. They have awesome sales on the regular, so it’s well worth signing up for their newsletters!

A Few of My Favorite Things for Fall

October 20, 2016 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx.com on behalf of Single Edition Media.

One of my favorite things about reading blogs is finding out about fun new products on the market. I rely on personal recommendations from people I know, either in real life or here on the internet to find great new things to try. Today I’m excited to share a few new products my family is enjoying this fall and that you might enjoy, as well. Let’s dig right in!

First, there’s simply no way to completely avoid the pumpkin spice obsession that Americans have for the last quarter of every year. It’s everywhere, so just go ahead and embrace it, friends. We LOVE the Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter from award-winning brand Peanut Butter & Co. I think this stuff is perfect right out of the jar, but you can also incorporate it into some easy recipes. For example, my girls LOVE chia pudding, so I made a pumpkin spice and chocolate chia pudding for them with bananas on top. It was gone before I got to have more than one bite, so next time I’ll double the batch.

I love that this brand uses non-GMO peanuts grown in the United States, and that trans-fats and hydrogenated oils are left out of the recipe, too. Want some additional recipe inspiration? Find it here! And if you want to get your hands on this yummy peanut butter treat, find your nearest retailer here. Before you head to the store, be sure to print out a $1 off coupon, too!

Also on the food front, I have been STRUGGLING to pull together satisfying meals on busy weeknights. It seems like a never-ending battle! Tastefully Simple has just launched Dinner Mixers to offer a short cut to time-strapped parents like you and me. In each kit you’ll receive a main dish and side dish recipe, as well as the pre-measured Tastefully Simple products needed to make both recipes. You just add the fresh ingredients and before you know it, you’ve got a tasty meal on the table. I made some great pork tacos with a yummy bean mixture on the side and delighted to see my oldest INHALE what was on her plate (as opposed to complaining about the food…something that is happening too often around here lately!).

The concept behind these meal kits is pretty cool, allowing for a lot of customization. You can select any combination of 3-5 recipes (my kit included 3, including one idea for using up leftovers, which I really appreciated!). The Tastefully Simple seasonings really do make a big difference, as far as overall taste goes. Everything was delicious! There are new Dinner Mixer options every month to keep things fresh and new. Want to give it a try? You can save $5 on your first Dinner Mixers purchase by using DINNERMIXERS at checkout (through 11/15/16)

And now let’s look at a few fun time savers I’ve been trying out in the kitchen. If you love Brussels sprouts but hate the prep time you have to put into getting rid of those hard sections of stalk, you might be a good candidate for the Twist’n Sprout by Chef’n. It’s a nifty circular device that gives you an easy way to carve out that hard part and leave your Brussels sprout in tact and ready to roast or saute more evenly.

And if you are more of a broccoli or cauliflower family, check out the StalkChop, also by Chef’n. This thing makes quick work out of removing your florets from those humongous stalks. I cut up this cauliflower in mere seconds! Chef’n tools are designed to help you get in and out of the kitchen faster, which I really appreciate because I’ve got other stuff to do! If you want to try Chef’n products, they can be purchased here and don’t forget to use code FALLPREP at checkout to save 20% and snag free shipping (not through 11/10)!

Now let’s talk about after school snacks. My girls come home from school STARVING like they haven’t eaten in days, and one of their very favorite snacks in the world is popcorn. So getting to try Popcorn, Indiana Sweet & Salty Kettlecorn has been a big treat for them.

Have you tried this yumminess, yet? It’s the absolute perfect blend of salty and sweet. I’m going to get a family-size bag for our next movie night, for sure. If you want to try it, you can find a full list of retailers here.

And finally, I am glad to have a supply of Wet Ones® Antibacterial Hand Wipes around to help with the aftermath of moments of artistic inspiration, like this one:

I keep a supply of these at the ready so that I can say yes more often when my kids simply ask to be kids and to go out and play in the dirt, smear paint around, or make a little mess in the kitchen. They are sturdy and effective and I like that they are antibacterial, too (especially important after some backyard play!).

So that’s the latest and greatest from my neck of the woods. Have you run into any awesome new products you think other busy parents might enjoy? I’d love to hear about it!

21 Day Fix Recipes Ideas for the Holidays

October 20, 2016 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

21 Day Fix Recipes Ideas

Hello there, sweet sister. If you aren’t a regular reader of mine, then you’ve joined the party because you decided to do the 21-day-fix program (kudos to you!!!) and have now realized, to your horror, that you will be going through the fix during some portion of the holidays. This is the time of year when gluttony seems to reign supreme and temptation is absolutely everywhere. How on earth will you make it through?

I’ll tell you how: with some advanced planning and with some recipe ideas that don’t leave you feeling totally left out of the celebrations. This is why I’ve put together a roundup of 21 Day Fix recipe ideas that will help you not just get through the holidays, but actually enjoy what you are eating during all those parties and gatherings. Bon appetit!