Sponsored Archives — Bless this Mess

February 16, 2015

30 Minute Stir Fry with Crispy Shrimp plus this Week’s Meal Plan

30 Minute Stir Fry with Crispy Shrimp was a huge hit with my family and it will be with yours too. Here’s a little secret though, it’s super easy! I saved myself a whole lot of time and effort by using frozen SeaPak Butterfly Shrimp.

It’s super nice to have a few things in the freezer like this for busy nights. A rice cooker takes all the work out of making rice, Meal Prep Monday takes all the work out of the stir fry, throwing everything in a jar and giving it a shake takes all the work out of the sauce, and SeaPak Butterfly Shrimp take all the work out of the tastiest part of the meal. Really, this meal practically makes itself!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by SeaPak Shrimp & Seafood Co. When an offer came along to blog about shrimp I had to say yes or my kids would have kicked me to the curb. Shrimp is one of their very favorite foods! We’ve enjoyed SeaPak often (I can actually buy it in our little store!) and I already knew I loved their product. Thank you for supporting the brands I thoughtfully choose to work with!

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December 22, 2014

Leftover Turkey Taquitos

Christmas Eve is all about the appetizers and finger foods in our family. It’s a fun and easy way for everyone to bring a few little things and no one to be stuck in the kitchen all day. When your family owns the grocery store in town (and lots of them work there too), days like Christmas Eve are busy at the store. No one has time to make a huge formal Christmas Eve dinner. Plus, when you have a bunch of different dishes, there’s something everyone loves and eats. That’s a nice perk when you have a lot of little kids in the family. I’m planning on making my Honey Teriyaki Meatballs (made in the slow cooker, yes!), bean dip because we all love it, and hopefully these Leftover Turkey Taquitos (and if I’m careful they all can be gluten-free for my father-in-law). Plus some kind of dessert, which I haven’t decided on yet (any suggestions?).

If appetizers aren’t your Christmas Eve tradition, then plan on making these taquitos sometime over Christmas break. They are a really fun to make and eat and are excellent! Any kids home from school will be super impressed. Plus, they only take about 10 minutes to put together, plus frying time. Movie night taquitos are sounding really good to me! You can’t beat using meat that’s already cooked, too. No turkey on hand? Just about any shredded cooked meat will work- chicken, pork, or lamb.

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November 4, 2014

Birthday Room Reveal Update

Way back in August I showed you the birthday room reveal we put together for my daughter. It’s been a few months since then and I wanted to do an update on how things are going, specifically how the new furniture we got is holding up.

I picked out a few pieces of furniture from the Sauder’s website (this bookcase and this toy chest) and in the middle of the night we took down a baby crib and put together a whole new room for my daughter. We moved her from her old bedroom into her new one while she was sleeping and she woke up in her brand new room on her birthday. Actually that was the plan but it didn’t go quiet like that. You’ll have to read the first post to see what really happened. Regardless of where May woke up, it was such a great surprise and she has really enjoyed having a space of her own.

Here’s what the bookcase looks like and how we use it in her little girl bedroom. My friend Emily pointed out that the bookcase is much larger than the pictures make it look. It’s a big piece of furniture that has great storage.

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August 21, 2014

It’s time to Back-to-School Shop till you drop (with a 25% off coupon!)

This is my last post for Lands’ End and I just have to say this whole thing has been so much fun for my kids and I. It’s not every day that that some food loving hobby farmer (and her future little farmers) in the middle of no where get to be included in such fanciness. Thank you so much for enjoying the journey with me.

Here’s what’s in it for you. I hope that I’ve given you some knowledge about what Lands’ End in has to offer us mommas of school aged kids (great quality clothes that are a built to last, adorable styles that both mom and kid will love, sizes for all, and you can get almost anything that will take a stitch embroidered, school mascots included. Yes, I’m in love with the embroidery). And if any of that sounds good to you, you can take 25% off any of the clothes that I picked out for my kids by using the promotion code: FIRSTDAY5 and pin: 0818 at checkout.

You can see my pop up shop by clicking on the blue banner below. That shop will give you the details on the outfits I chose for my kids.

I had a friend come over yesterday with her four very busy kids and we got to chatting about this project of mine. We are both super excited to give the Iron Knee jeans for boys a run for their money and the fleece-lined hoodies are really nice while still being very practical. Take a look at those two items if you have a minute, they are our favorites.

And because we can. Let’s take one last look at my child models and those great clothes. Don’t worry friends, I know you aren’t as into pictures of my kids as I am, so I’ve squished all of the goodness into a few collages (the full post with lots of pictures can be found here).

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August 18, 2014

My kids are CHILD MODELS! You should come see :)

Sometimes my mother heart is just leaping out of my chest with excitement over the things my kids are doing. You know what I mean! Watching the ball soar on that amazing home run hit, the first time they sing a solo at church, or their tiny little voices at the school play. So rewarding. Well today is one of those days. I never wanted to have my kids be child models, but who doesn’t want their kids to be child models. #braggingrightsforyears

Ok, ok, so they aren’t really child models but don’t they look like it? I’ve just been dying to show you all these pictures! I had my friend, Ann, take these for me (she also did Paul’s newborn pictures and our family pictures). Isn’t she amazing?

Not only are these two rocking their back to school looks here on the blog, but all of the clothes that we picked out are available for 25% off on the Lands’ End blog! Keep reading, because I know you like to save money as much as I do.

See them on the Lands’ End website by clicking on the blue banner below!!!

Here are the kids in their “First-Day Faves”

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August 14, 2014

That One Time I went Back to School Shopping in my Robe

When we moved to the middle of no where a little over a year ago I knew that I would be sacrificing a few things in exchange for so many positive things. I left behind health food stores, museums, parks, and libraries. I gained land to grow a garden, a community like no other to raise my kids in, and a slower way of life that I am grateful for.

I’ve found lots of hikes, sand dunes, and our little town pool to fill our recreational need. The bookmobile (a mobile library of sorts) stops by twice a month to fill our reading needs, and I’ve gotten used to never eating out. But then there is the shopping. Oh the shopping. If I need anything more than groceries I have to make a 3 hour round-trip drive to St. George. I pack my kids up, we only make it to a handful of stores before the day is over and we are exhausted, and then I think of 37 more things I should have picked up on our drive pack home. Shopping has become a bit of a nightmare for me.

School shopping last year for one child was hard (with 3 total kids), thinking about shopping for two this year (with 4 total kids) is kind of like planning a personal torture day. Don’t. Make. Me. Go.

I’ve been avoiding and dreading the day for a few weeks now, because when you ignore things they generally figure themselves out right?! Wrong, but I thought I’d give it a shot. And then the heavens parted and the angels sang in the form of an email from Lands’ End. Would I like to work on their back to school campaign? Why yes, yes I’d love for you to mail me clothes that I sat in my robe at home to pick out. Match made in heaven indeed.

Here’s the beauty of it friends. You can do the same thing! You too can sit in your robe, pick out well made and adorable clothes for you kids, and they’ll be mailed right to your house. In fact, Lands’ End has some great discount codes and incentives to get you just as excited about back to school shopping (in your robe) as I am. Keep reading.

The longer I’m a mom, the more I realize that I’m better off buying quality things that are meant to last. This idea holds very true when it comes to kids clothes. Even if I have to pay a little more to get a better product, it is worth it. Plus, buying less clothes that are higher quality means that I have less things in my house to wash, put away, and manage. I’ve been a big fan of Lands’ End’s swimming suits for years. I just got a new one this year; the last one that I had lasted for 6 years! Sure I paid a little more upfront but that quality meant I paid less over time because it lasted.

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August 6, 2014

A Birthday Surprise worth Falling out of Bed for!

My daughter turned 7 last week and I had a grand surprise up my sleeve.

I’ve been wanting to change around our sleeping setup for sometime to better accommodate the needs of our family. It’s time for Macey to get her own room and for the little boys to share the bunk bed. My thinking when it comes to things like this is, if I’m going to go through the effort, it might as well be a gift or party. I decided to make the affair a birthday surprise that won’t soon be forgotten. Unbeknownst to Macey, I’d been prepping things for months, just in time for her birthday. I’ve been collecting little things like new sheets, frames, and a huge chalk board from a garage sale to add to the room, my mom mailed the quilt that I had on my bed as a girl to use, I ordered a few new pieces of furniture online from Sauder, and I pinned all kinds of inspiration.

The night before her big day we put everyone to sleep as usual. When the kids fell asleep we brought Kimball upstairs to sleep in our room, took the crib out of his room and got to work turning that space into Macey’s new room. The boys will now share the bunk bed in her old room and she’ll be a free woman.

We brought in the furniture, I made her bed, we hung up the chalk board, and prepped as much of the space as we could. When it was all put together her dad carefully carried her to her new bed and laid her down in it. I was so excited for her to wake up in new room on her Birthday morning. SURPRISE! I had a hard time not setting up some kind of hidden camera to record her reaction.

The next morning she was up early and came into my room while we were still in bed. I was so excited to hear what she thought but she didn’t say anything. So I asked her how she slept. She said, “It was so weird. I woke up on Kimball’s floor and I had to get back in my own bed last night!” After asking a few more questions I figured out that she had rolled out of the new bed sometime in the night, woken up, and just climbed back into her old bed. She hadn’t realized the surprise yet! So I told her Happy Birthday, got right out of bed, grabbed my camera, and asked her to follow me. We went into Kimball’s old room and then the light bulb clicked on.

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July 25, 2014

Herbed Tomato Bacon Pizza

Homemade pizza… there’s nothing better for a Friday night at home if you ask me! My mom’s homemade pizza was famous when I was a kid. I remember once when I was in junior high school I had a classmate over to work on a project (a solar system diorama I do believe). She happened to be around at dinner time and had Mom’s pizza with us. She was so shocked and amazed that people made their own pizza and then she was even more shocked when she tasted it. There’s just no match for homemade pizza!

Now that I’m a mom I’ve dedicated Friday nights to pizza night and it’s a tradition that my whole family loves. The kids help make the dough, they fight over who gets to roll it out, and they eat most of the pepperoni before it hits the pizza. It’s a tradition that we all love; life is good in the kitchen isn’t it?! This recipe for homemade herbed tomato and bacon pizza is a great way to use some seasonal tomatoes and garden herbs which are perfect this time of year. Add a little bacon and you really have a great flavor combo that the whole family will love. Plus, if you

And there’s more to this post than some killer pizza. You can enter to win an amazing fridge. Keep reading!

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May 29, 2014

Grilled Brown Sugar Bacon Wrapped Chicken Skewers

Grilled brown sugar bacon wrapped chicken skewers is a recipe title that pretty much tells it all. But in case you have any questions, let me explain. Wrapping things in bacon is great, except for when it isn’t. Bacon is meant to be crispy and delicious but way too often the wrap-job turns bacon into a chewy and overly flexible piece of salty fat. No thanks! But when you grill bacon, it crisps up nicely and keeps the chicken moist while giving it a just the right amount of bacon flavor. Add just a touch of brown sugar that caramelizes a bit when cooked and you have the perfect slightly sweet and salty main dish. And the best part? You didn’t even have to heat up the kitchen to make it because you let the grill do the work.

Bacon isn’t something that we buy a lot. We enjoy it on occasion, so I always have to put it on my shopping list when I’m planning meals because it isn’t something I just have in the fridge. I think it’s because it can be fairly expensive and if you are buying nitrate free bacon, it can be really expensive. But no fear fellow frugal friends, I was recently introduced to a pretty handy app that helps save money without spending hours cutting coupons (because ain’t no body got time for that!).

Favado is the app and saving money while shopping locally is it’s goal. You download the app and then you add the stores you shop at. So when you are searching by ingredient, say bacon, then it will compare the price of bacon at the stores you have entered and it will even let you know if there are any coupons available. Since I have to drive over an hour and a half to do major city-shopping this app is so handy. The kids have about a 4 store limit on our major shopping trips, so now it’s easy for me to find out which store has the best prices on the majority of what I’m looking for and I head there.

Now let’s take a look at those perfectly grilled chicken skewers, shall we?!

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March 24, 2014

Lightened Up Spinach Bacon Quiche

“This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Cooking Light and Real Simple, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #FreshandFab http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV”

Country life is a happy one but it isn’t without a few sacrifices. I’ve given up the convenience of restaurants, and I miss having neat places to take the kids once in a while like museums, aquariums, and parks. But do you know what I miss most of all? The library!

Libraries are so amazing to me. We have giant buildings where all kinds of knowledge in the form of books are stored and we can just walk in and borrow all of that knowledge for free! The town that we used to live in had a grand library. Sometimes after the kids were in bed and my husband was up late studying, I would take myself on a date to the library and check out stacks and stacks of books. I went plenty with my kids, but there is something magical about roaming shelves of books alone. I always felt like I was on a treasure hunt! One of my very favorite types of books to pick out were cookbooks of course! I loved going through them and copying the recipes I wanted to try, reading the tips and tricks, and learning new things.

In that library is where I discovered Cooking Light Magazine. At the end of every year, Cooking Light publishes a compilation cookbook of the years’ most popular recipes. I think that I had the 2011 Cooking Light cookbook out for months! Here’s what I learned about Cooking Light. They cook smart. They are big on using good quality, seasonal, flavorful foods so that you don’t even know you are saving calories. They don’t use weird things like calorie free sweeteners or turkey bacon to save on calories (bacon = pork). They are full of great tips and tricks. I love learning more about cooking, especially healthy eating.

Occasionally I’ll pick up a Cooking Light Magazine now and I’m always so glad when I do. If you are looking for a little spring pick-me-up in the kitchen then you’ll love the deal that Target has right now. When you buy the April issue of both Cooking Light and Real Simple (Cooking Light’s sister publication) then you’ll get a $5 gift card back. And you know that five more dollars to Target is never a bad thing.

I had so many recipes to choose from for today’s post and I decided to go with a deliciously rich and flavorful Spinach Bacon Quiche from the April issue of Cooking Light. I’m so glad I did; it was delicious! I love when I can have vegetables be part of a meal and no one even notices that they are there. All of the flavors are just perfect together.

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