Monkey Mat: Product Review

I'm that girl who keeps a stack of blankets in her trunk. I mean, you never know when the mood to hit the beach, watch some fireworks, have a picnic, or see a concert might strike—and I believe in being prepared. That's carried over from young adulthood to slightly-older adulthood. However, we're not always in my car when that happens. Or maybe we are and, as much as we love them, just don't feel like lugging out the big blankets.

Yogurt Chia Pancakes

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Greek Gods® Yogurt. All opinions are my own.

If I ask my kids what they want for breakfast, 9 times out of 10, their answer will be (or include) pancakes. It was probably the same in my household when I was kid. Perhaps pancakes are the universal language of love. It's not difficult, but to see mom in the kitchen scooping, measuring, and stirring ingredients together means something.

I'm not sure if this extends beyond American households (since pancakes differ across the globe), but I know that the pancake process is a rite of passage in these parts. It starts with the small, neatly cut squares of pancakes scattered on the tray of a highchair. As a toddler, you want to drag a chair up to the stove while you watch the bubbles burst on the pancake dough and then help mom by flipping each and every pancake in the batch.

Satisfy Hunger On-the-Go with Ready, Snack, Go!

Thank you Smithfield for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own.

I've come to the conclusion that life is never going to slow down. I used to think "next week" or "next month" I'll have a little down time. Then I blink and it's next year. As the kids get older, our schedules only get fuller, so instead of fighting it, I've decided to embrace it. In the midst of all the madness, I've found that's it's really easy to eat mindlessly. Unfortunately mindless eating usually doesn't satisfy or nourish, so I swiftly wind up feeling more exhausted than I did before I ate.

Honey Balsamic Roasted Sweet Potato with Collard Greens

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Marzetti® Brand. All opinions are 100% mine.

I am basically the worst at making sure there is a good, healthy side dish at every meal. I hate to admit it, but it's true. I tend to focus all of my energy on making sure we have a delicious protein on the table, only to realize that I haven't prepared anything to serve alongside that protein as I'm about to put it on the plate. You'd think that since I know that I do this, I could easily change it...but it hasn't happened yet.

So, I usually wind up scrambling to cook whatever veggie I have in the crisper drawer or the freezer. The problem with this habit is that it usually produces boring veggies. Recently I was introduced to a new product that I have to believe was developed with people like me in mind, Marzetti® Veggie Drizzle™ Finishing Sauce, which is made for adding a splash of flavor to any cooked vegetable AFTER it has been cooked!

'Karma Effect' Upcycled Carafe and Glasses, a NOVICA review

I have a thing for recycled glass water carafes—I always have. The funkier and more original, the better. Which brings me to the one you see featured here today. When I shared my thoughts and past experience shopping at the online global retailer NOVICA in November, I mentioned that I'd be back with a review of another of their beautiful handcrafted products. After much browsing and saving of items, I decided that this fun Recycled glass carafe and glasses set titled 'Karma Effect' was what I needed in my life right now.

The carafe and drinking glasses are crafted by upcycling sparkling water bottles that would otherwise pollute Bali. The artist/shop that it comes from within NOVICA is Peduli Bali, or Bali Recycling, founded by Olivier Pouillon (born and raised in Washington D.C.) and his Indonesian business partners. As a firm believer in karma, the names etched into the set and fact that contributing to the preservation of the environment were a big factor in my choice.

Whole Roasted Duck

Aside from my love of cooking, do you want to know two things that inspire me in the kitchen? Beautiful ingredients and beautiful cookware. Today I'm sharing a recipe that is special enough to grace any holiday table, yet simple enough to prepare on any given Sunday. Plus, when it's in the oven, it fills your house with scents of warmth and comfort. I had to run to the store while it was in the oven and opening the door to the scent of this and freshly cut pine was intoxicating.

Let's start with the ingredients. I've been in the mood for duck lately. I used some duck sausage to make sausage rolls a few days ago, but I had a Maple Leaf Farms All-Natural duck raised without antibiotics just calling to me from the fridge. The duck, some sunny orange clementines and some fresh green herbs were just the ingredients that I needed to inspire me.

Mashed Butternut Squash and Potatoes w/ Roasted Garlic, Smoked Gouda & Bacon

There was a time when I did all of my potato-mashing by hand...and then I discovered the hand mixer method. At first I was resistant, perhaps even a little indignant. I gave my friend the cautious side-eye as she plunged the beaters into a pot of drained potatoes. I'd been mashing potatoes with the pure power of my arm for 22 years (okay, I didn't mash potatoes straight out of the womb, but it was close), why did I need a machine to do it for me?

I didn't say anything then, I just tucked that novel idea into my back pocket for another day. You know, a day when I actually owned a hand mixer. Fast forward a few years to dinner preparation in my own kitchen, steam rising up from a giant pot of potatoes that were ready to be mashed with warm butter and milk.

Silky Parsnip-Potato Soup with Bacon

Although I'm a year-round soup kinda girl, I'm especially happy to enjoy a bowl of warm comfort during the seasons when my fingers and toes never seem to lose their chill entirely. In other words, right now. After a month-long flurry of planning, prepping, and eventually enjoying my favorite meal of the year, all I really want to do is make a big pot of soup and relax with a good book (or movie or tv series).

Today I want to share not only a perfect bowl of soup, but also the perfect pot in which to make it. I've mentioned the fact that, as a whole, All-Clad makes my favorite pots and pans. If my kitchen could be stocked with them, life would be so much easier. I'm working towards that goal. While I did receive the soup pot that I'm sharing with you today at no cost, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

Stylish On-The-Go Thermos Choice, a Libre Tea Glass Review

Last month I introduced you to the Libre Tea Glass, a pretty, practical, and convenient on-the-go glass with a removable filter for leaf tea. It's 100% BPA free, has a glass interior, and keeps drinks hot or cold. Today I'm going to share my thoughts on the glass after using it for a couple of weeks.

Appearance: It's definitely a looker. I ordered their 14-ounce Classic Glass Tea Infuser. It's very sleek and sophisticated with shades of tan, gold, and silver. The outer material is a durable poly, while the inside is glass.

Feel: Substantial...and this is a good thing. The glass has a bit of weight to it, which in my mind means that it's not going to flip over or blow away if I'm outside in the park, at a ball game, etc.

Libre Tea Glass: feature + discount code

[sponsored conversation]

Most of us want to lead healthy, active lives and inspire our families and friends; now we can enjoy a tea moment anywhere anytime with the stylish and convenient solution for teas, herbs, and fruit infusions on-the-go.

The Libre tea glass is a pretty and practical choice for convenient leaf tea on-the-go. Its removable filter keeps all the leaves, or the bag, in the glass away from your mouth; also great for fruits or soothing herbal elixirs. You can create your own flavorful beverage and enjoy. Wonderful herbal teas are a great way to wind down at the end of a long day. The "how to" video (at the bottom of this article) shows three ways that you can use the Libre tea glass.

The 100% BPA free Libre tea glasses keep drinks hot or cold, are durable, and ensure a fresh taste every time due to their easy-wash glass interior - it's the only to go thermos you'll need at the soccer field, yoga class, on a hike, the morning dog walk, or curled up on the couch. We love to inspire tea moments anywhere, anytime - take a sip, watch your tea leaves dance, and enjoy relaxing tea moment for yourself.

This holiday, give your friends and family an inspired and unique gift you can use all year round. Choose from their Classic Collection - sophisticated metal trim with gold detailed lids, or their Libre Life Collection. They have great deals on 6-piece Holiday Gift Paks for all the tea lovers on your list. My readers get to save (great for holiday gifts, calm moments, and traveling)!

Get 10% off until November 15, 2015 by placing your order HERE and using code: USAMoms10.

Read my Libre Tea Glass review!

Save on a new ECOCENTRIC MOM Box Subscription!

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Ecocentric Mom is a subscription box discovery service created just for moms. As a mom-owned business, we know how busy you are. As much as you care, you don't have time to research and shop for the healthiest and best products for yourself and your family. Each month, we will introduce you to brands and products that we know use only the best ingredients and none of the worst. You'll receive home care items, kid-friendly snacks, wellness and green beauty items that we think are both useful and fun. Plus, every box has a "keeper" item that you will use again and again rather than 'use up'- what's more eco than that?

Subscribers choose between the pregnancy, mom & baby, and mom subscription box, and switch to the next box when they are ready. The pregnancy box features pregnancy care items, as well as items to help you prep for the big arrival - and doesn't contain anything that is potentially harmful to your growing bump. The mom and baby box includes goodies for the new mom and her little, and is a great solution to navigate the demands new mommyhood from your sleep-deprived fog. The mom box is mostly about pampering you, mom, and a little bit about helping you pamper your family.

Your Ecocentric Mom subscription is about more than helping you be "green" or be a mom - it's about making you feel special each month. We think it's time someone takes care of mom for a change!

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Check out my review of the Ecocentric Mom "Mom" Subscription Box HERE!

Sloppy Totchos

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Manwich. All opinions are 100% mine.

Growing up, I always looked forward to Sloppy Joe night at the dinner table. Whenever I saw a couple pounds of ground beef on the counter next to a couple of cans of Manwich, my stomach started to growl. Not only did all of us kids actually like them (which can be a rarity with any more than one child, let alone four), they were also fun to eat. I mean, what kid doesn't enjoy getting a little messy? We almost always had potato chips alongside them, and I would scoop up all of the meat that escaped the bun with my chips to finish it.

Who am I kidding? I still do that today. Back then, we always ate them as a sandwich. Or should I say a meal? (You know, because "a sandwich is a sandwich, but a Manwich is a meal".) Never really thought to eat them any other way. And honestly, that's the way I serve them most often to my own kids. There's nothing like covertly making sure that they are entirely present at the meal by making them use both hands. Am I right?

Tangled Apple, Pistachio, and Golden Raisin Salad

It's transition time in the world of food. Peaches, corn, tomatoes and zucchini battle apples and pumpkin for our attention on food blogs, twitter, and pinterest. And I'll be honest—I'm torn. I'm totally an autumn kinda girl, willing the cooler air, football games, and apple orchards in with all my might. But, there's still about a month left of summer, and now is the time for trying to keep up with the summer harvest.

There are worse dilemmas to have.

I think August and September just have to be transitional months. A little bit of summer and a little bit of fall. That's a compromise I can work with. Today I'm looking forward to fall with a fresh, simple apple salad that lends itself nicely to cool weather lunches and potlucks.

Fruity Popsicles in Moscato

Aaaaah, the lazy days of summer. What are those!? I vaguely recall, but can't remember the last time I had any. Sadly, I think it's a bygone term in the rushed, plugged-in world of today. Since lazy days are rare, I try to recognize and embrace the lazy moments instead; celebrate down-time!

I don't live extremely far from my mom, brother, and two sisters, but I do live far enough that we don't see each other often enough. One or two of the "big" holidays each year, and then once or twice beyond those, if we're lucky. Needless to say, when we do finally get together, we try to make the most of it. We don't meet up at theme parks or campgrounds, we chill out at home, sit around and talk, and maybe hit up the market so we can make and enjoy some food together. If the mood strikes, we may hang out at a nearby beach or park. We're a fairly laid-back bunch when it comes down to it.

Satisfy your sweet tooth on the go with #OREOmultipack!

I remember the days when summer break meant that I was in for a couple of months of semi-relaxation. Since my kids have gotten older, that's no longer the case. I actually think that my family is just as busy (if not busier) during "break" than during the school year. As a family who often finds themselves on the go, we often find our stomachs rumbling in the car, at an appointment, or on the sidelines at a sporting event.

Since nobody likes just going hungry, I've become a master at packing not only snacks and nibbles, but also meals on-the-run. It's hard to gauge one's level-of-hungry beforehand. Though I don't think that always eating while out is ideal, it has become a necessity in today's "GO!" world. So, when products come about that can make my life even a little bit easier, I usually grab on.

Such is the case with OREO. This past May, OREO launched a convenient 2-pack grab-and-go snack designed precisely for today's busy schedules. Each pack contains the perfect serving size to satisfy your sweet tooth when you're on the go! The 2-pack multipacks are sold in packages of 18 and can be found in the cookie section at grocery stores (also available in Nutter Butter).

Mixed Seafood Fried Rice

In case you hadn't noticed—maybe you haven't been here in a while or maybe this is your first time visiting—I'm craving fish and seafood hard lately. I can't seem to get enough of it. While I am happy to eat it absolutely any time of the year, there's something about the Lenten season that brings it to the forefront. I'm sure it's the fact that I watch too much tv, and all the fast food places are advertising their fish sandwiches at every commercial break (because I'm not Catholic). Whatever the reason, I'm taking full advantage of it and working daily to satisfy that craving.

The other day at the market, I was passing a little freezer case, one of the kinds that's open like a table, not shelves enclosed by doors. There amongst the packages of frozen mussels, clams, and lobster tails, there were a few packages of a cooked seafood mix that were labeled as "paella mix". It included individually quick frozen octopus, squid, mussels, shrimp, and surimi (aka fake fake crab legs or pollock). This triggered a memory of seeing Nigella use a bag of frozen seafood to make a speedy seafood supper once upon a time. I remember wanting to make that; into my cart it went. Okay, into my cart went 2 packages, because if you're gonna do it, you might as well do it right.

One package is still hanging out in the freezer awaiting it's seafood supper fate a la Nigella Lawson. The other package made its way into a big batch of fried rice. Does that sound strange?

Tuscan White Bean Soup

I received samples from Swanson® for review purposes. The opinions stated in this post are my own.

My attention is being steadily averted by the window to my left. It's mid-November, therefore the fact that fat, lazy snowflakes are falling steadily from a pale sky should not be surprising. Yet here I sit, shaking my head in disbelief at the six inches lining the shoveled path in front of the house. I wasn't ready for it. Honestly, it seems like last year's snow just finished melting.

My initial reaction aside, it's kind of comforting. I mean, as a child of the Midwest, a good snowfall does conjure up images of crackling fires, piles of cozy blankets, steaming mugs of hot chocolate, and big pots of soup to warm your bones after a day of sledding, fort building, and snowball fights.

So, when the folks at Swanson contacted me to see if I'd be interested in trying an assortment of their products, I was more than happy to put the broths and stocks to use warming up my kitchen. Swanson is a name that already appears on containers and cans in my pantry, so I was already a fan of their products. I use a lot of stock and broth, and while I do make my own, I don't make enough to keep up with what I go through. I especially like their seafood stock, since that's something I rarely make myself.

Veggie Lovers Lasagna

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Dreamfields. All opinions are 100% my own.

Today I'm partnerting with Dreamfields Pasta to celebrate National Pasta Month. I can think of no better way to celebrate than with a pan stacked with wavy lasagna noodles that are layered with tons of veggies, and accented by a light cream sauce that has been flavored with sundried tomatoes. I'm pretty sure that even the carnivores in your life will be sated after eating a slice of this meatless lasagna.

So, I know lasagna sort of seems like a weekend dish. A dish that you need some time to prepare. But really, once you have all of your components ready (noodles cooked, sauce stirred, veggies chopped)—it's just a matter of layering things into the pan. Hands-on time is only about 20 minutes. Once that part is complete, the oven does all of the work while you finish up some homework, throw in a load of laundry, or set the table and wrangle everybody to the table. I'd say it's very possible to make lasagna a weekday meal.

Since this week of National Pasta Month with Dreamfields is all about vegetarian meals, I left out the meat sauce and loaded up on the veggies. I wanted to use a white sauce, but drenching it in Alfredo didn't seem quite right, so I chose a light Alfredo (if you're making it at home, use skim milk) and then fortified it by swirling in a little sundried tomato pesto; basically a creamy flavor-bomb.

Mission Organize Pantry: a #POPtober Challenge

I organize. I am an organizer. I feel better when things are organized. Order feels better than chaos. My inner hippie-chick is frowning. She wants to be carefree, to go where the wind carries her. Fortunately (I guess), outer responsible-adult usually quashes those notions of yesteryear.

However, just because being organized makes the world seem a saner place, it doesn't mean that I actually am organized. There are not enough hours in my day, nor room in my "cozy" house to make it so. I do my best, but...well...you know how life usually has its own ideas. So, when OXO and The Container Store issued me a challenge to (re-)organize an area in my kitchen, I took it as a sign. Challenge accepted.

Oh crap. That meant facing something very scary, something insanely out of control, something overrun by a few too many months of neglect {duh duh duhhhhh!!!!!} — my pantry. I'm embarrassed to show you this, and you may want to brace yourself. Are you ready for it? Okay, here goes....

Spicy Carrot-flecked Chicken Sliders

This is one of those times that the photos just don't do the dish justice. That's my fault. I've been so preoccupied this week. That always happens when I return from a trip—it takes me a few weeks or so just to get my brain and my surroundings back on a schedule. But despite the lousy pictures, these sliders are too tasty, too perfect for game day, and too simple not to share with you during our #10DaysofTailgate event.

Basically, they're just chicken meatballs. You could make them a bit smaller and crowd them onto a long crusty bun for a buffalo sub. Or just take one and center it on a slider bun for easy grab-n-go bites. Okay, I know it looks like even the slider bun is too big for these little guys, but once you actually give 'em a smash down to prepare them for a bite, the meatball spreads and fills up that extra space you see.

These could be made using your favorite hot sauce, but if you can get your hands on a bottle of Carrot Karma Hot Sauce by Intensity Academy, that is without a doubt, the way to go. Made with only a few natural ingredients, it is carrot-based, and therefore leaves beautiful orange flecks of sweet heat (there's also habanero in there) throughout the chicken and on the bun.