Saving Money for England with Walmart Family Mobile #MarchIntoSavings #Ad #cbias

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

In September 2013, I took a most amazing trip to England. I toured lots of Austenish sites and visited the beautiful cities of Bath, Winchester, and London. This fall, I'm going back and taking Lynzie with me. As you can imagine, this is going to be one spendy vacation. One of the ways I'm saving for it is by cutting costs in our family budget. Lucky for me, Walmart is all about the green this St. Patrick's Day with a great solution to a problem I inadvertently created with all my cost-cutting!

I cancelled our cell phone plans a few months ago, saving us over $200 each month. However, we were then faced with a dilemma. Jamie commutes to work each day and also works on-call shifts periodically. Communication during these times is very difficult without a mobile phone. He also used his phone for keeping track of important meetings and contacts and has been struggling to find a new organizational system that feels comfortable to him.

When I found out about the Walmart Family Mobile plan, I knew it was the perfect solution for us. 

Disclaimer: All prices for phones and plans included in this post are accurate as of the date of posting; however, these prices are subject to change. Please refer to http://cbi.as/aafid or your local Walmart for current pricing.

I chose the Alcatel Evolve 2, on rollback for $39.83 (was $59.88). In addition to the phone, I needed this $25.00 starter kit---located right next to the phones.

It's easy to get started using your phone. Once you've chosen your phone, make sure to grab a starter kit for each line of service. Then, either take the phone and starter kit to the counter to activate in-store, or purchase and bring home to activate on-line or by phone.

The Walmart Family Mobile service plan costs $29.88 per month for the first line with discounts for additional lines on the same plan. You get unlimited talk, text & data, including up to 500MB of 4G LTE data.

Jamie is thrilled with our new phone and I'm glad we can solve our problem at a price that is manageable. Now, back to planning for England. I wonder if he's got anything great in the garage I can sell...?

Cool Ranch Avocado Lime Dip for Tacos and Taquitos #DelimexFiesta #ad #cbias

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

It's basketball season and warm weather has arrived just in time! Our family is having a great time getting together with friends to shoot hoops and enjoy delicious snacks and fellowship. One of our favorite snacks is the taquitos and rolled tacos from Delimex. They cook up quick and taste great---especially with the Cool Ranch Avocado Lime Dip I mixed up this week. It was the first time we'd tried the dip with our favorite Mexican lunch food and it became an instant favorite.

This dip has just the right amount of zesty and tangy and goes excellent with the many frozen products Delimex offers, like taquitos, rolled tacos, and tamales. In addition, the dip is really nutritious---especially when made with homemade ranch dressing.

The kids love to have taquitos and rolled tacos for lunch and they're great for a game day snack table. We're keeping them in mind for the next birthday party as several of the kids have mentioned having a Mexican Fiesta for their birthday celebration.

We found our Delimex products at Walmart in a center aisle freezer case. We chose Chicken Taquitos and Beef & Cheddar Rolled Tacos. 

Make sure to grab a coupon for $1 off on any TWO (2) Delimex® Frozen Taquito products (Excluding Fruit Taquito Products) at Walmart.  (Coupon valid through 4/7/2015)

My Cool Ranch Avocado Lime Dip comes together in minutes and features a handful of fresh, nutritious ingredients. I like to use homemade ranch dressing so I know what's in it.

To remove the insides of the avocado with less mess, I cut off one end and run a spoon around the inside to dig out the flesh.

I like to use this fine grater to zest my limes---it's great for chocolate too! (But not in the dip...yuck.)

To chop up the parsley, I lay it on a cutting board and whack it quickly with a knife. Slow slicing makes a mess everywhere but a quick "tv chef" whacking does the job nicely.

Once all my ingredients are prepared, I mash them all together in a bowl and chill the dip until it's time to enjoy it. So easy---and super yummy!

Cool Ranch Avocado Lime Dip

1 c. ranch dressing

1 avocado, mashed

1 TB. cilantro

1 tsp. lime zest

Mix everything together well and chill until ready to serve.

Ready to try out this great dip with some Delimex snacks? Don't forget the coupon for $1 off on any TWO (2) Delimex® Frozen Taquito products.  Also, check out the further shenanigans of #TaquitoBoy in this short Instagram video. Here's part one, if you missed that last summer.

Barbeque Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Cherry Coke #FinalFourPack #Ad #cbias

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #FinalFourPack #CollectiveBias Coca-Cola is a corporate champion of the NCAA®. 

It's NCAA® March Madness time and these basketball fans have a blast hanging out and shooting hoops together. They try to get together at least once a week---this photo is from our homeschool co-op day yesterday. The teens always get a chance to play a little ball and chat before we get started with our classes.

A few days ago, Lynzie and I picked up some Coca Cola NCAA® Final Four Packs available at Walmart. We found a large display near the soda aisle with these great basketball-themed cans. Our local store in Jane, MO has the special Coca-Cola NCAA® Final Four Packs for $1.25 each, so we grabbed two Vanilla Coke (Lynzie's favorite), one Cherry Coke and one Coke Zero. I had a couple of recipe ideas I wanted to use them for, and we thought we'd take a few to share at our homeschool co-op later in the week.

Everything (well almost everything) is better when it's shared, so Michael passed out Cokes to his basketball buddies, Devante and Larenz. What better way to make friends than to hand them a cold drink, right?

The night before, I tried out one of my recipe ideas: Barbeque Pulled Pork. We have this often, but this time I changed it up by using a can of Cherry Coke in the mix. I cooked it all day in the slow cooker and it was so moist and tender when Jamie came home from work. I toasted the homemade buns and added cheese to the sandwiches for a hearty sandwich---just the right thing for a guy who has been working all day. 

In addition to the sandwich, he was super excited to snag to a Vanilla Coke. The good stuff goes fast around here and sometimes Dad is the last to know when there is (or has been) a treat in the house!

This pulled pork is super easy to make. It goes together in minutes in a slow cooker and cooks all day for a perfect dinner or game time meal. It would also be great on smaller slider buns for a basketball game day snack. 

Start with a 3-4 lb. boneless pork loin roast, a package of BBQ pulled pork seasoning mix, a can of Cherry Coke, and a half cup of brown sugar if you like a sweeter sauce. Spray the slow cooker with oil and mix the sauce ingredients together in a bowl.

Set your roast in the pot---cutting to fit, if needed, and pour the sauce over top. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Then pull it apart with two forks and serve on buns. I "toasted" the insides of my homemade buns by buttering them and cooking them, butter-side-down, in my skillet on the stove top (think grilled cheese sandwich). Then I set a slice of cheddar cheese on the toasted bottom bun and let it warm in the oven for a few minutes until the cheese melted a bit. The guys and Lynzie really liked them this way.

Barbeque Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Cherry Coke

3-4 lb. boneless pork loin roast

1.6 oz. pkg. BBQ pulled pork seasoning mix

1 can Cherry Coke

1/2 c. brown sugar (optional)

8 slices cheddar cheese (optional)

8 hamburger buns

Spray the slow cooker with oil and mix the seasoning mix, Cherry Coke, and brown sugar together in a bowl. Set the roast in the pot and cover with the sauce mixture. Cook on low, 8-10 hours. Pull meat apart with two forks and stir well to mix all the sauce in. If desired, toast buns and add cheese before placing a large scoop of pork mixture on each bun. Eat with a knife, fork, and lots of napkins!

Are you excited about NCAA® March Madness? Check out the National Coke Zero Final Four Selfie contest. Just upload a selfie with a Coca-Cola product on the site below, and be entered to win 2016 NCAA® Final Four tickets. Then, go on the site to find your selfie and see all of the others!

For more from Coca-Cola, visit them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. For specifics on Coke Zero, visit them on Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. Coca Cola #FinalFourPack Walmart Sweepstakes - $1,000 in Prizing

The {Not Just} Homemaking Party

Welcome to The {Not Just} Homemaking Party! This week, Lynzie and I are busy sewing, crafting, and baking to fulfill orders from sweet friends who are helping us get to England this fall! Lynzie is making crocheted gloves for Easter gifts and I've got an order for some delicious fudge to deliver tomorrow. It's a busy week, but I'm thankful and happy. How's your week? Thanks for stopping by The Homemaking Party!

Skittles Crispy Cupcakes #SkittlesTourney #Ad #cbias

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

Skittles is a great treat during March basketball season and I've come up with a fun way to share them with your biggest basketball fans. Our family loves to mix Skittles in with our favorite treats like popcorn for a fun movie or game night, so I figured---why not expand on the idea and try them in other goodies we enjoy? Check out my easy tutorial below for Skittles Crispy Cupcakes.

We've been snowed in off and on the last few weeks, but it looks like warmer weather is about to make it's appearance. The kids can't wait to get outside and play all their favorite sports---like basketball! In the meantime, it's fun to follow the tournaments online and our family loves to make basketball sweeter with a fun treat made with Skittles.

I found a pallet of 54 oz. bags of Skittles at Sam's Club last week. I love buying bulk candy at Sam's Club---they've got great prices for buying large quantities.

This is such a fun and easy treat and looks great on a party table. Even better, they don't crumble like cupcakes so they're way less messy!

I started with simple ingredients to make the "cupcake": crispy rice cereal, marshmallows, and butter. I prefer to use real butter, instead of margarine, because there's not a lot of water or oil to make the cereal soggy.

I melted the marshmallows and butter together in a saucepan. I cut up the butter so it would melt faster and tried to make sure it was coating the bottom of the pan so the marshmallows wouldn't stick too badly. I recommend using a double boiler, if you have one, to keep the marshmallows from scorching. Otherwise, just stir the whole time and you'll be fine.

After the mixture was smooth, I stirred in the cereal and Skittles. I waited until the cereal was mixed in almost all the way before adding the candy. This allowed it to cool a bit and keep the colors of the candy from running.

Finally, I pressed the mixture into a greased muffin tin and rounded the tops a little for frosting. I let them cool about an hour, then removed them from the tin, frosted them, and decorated with Skittles. 

These guys served as my photography crew so they got to be the first taste-testers. They all declared them fruity and delicious! 

Come on Spring! These boys are ready to quit just talking about the game---and start playing it! 

Let me know if you make this slam dunk treat for the basketball fans in your life. I'd love to hear how your family celebrates March tourney fun!

Skittles Crispy Cupcakes

1/4 c. butter

10 oz. marshmallows

6 c. crispy rice cereal

1 c. Skittles plus extra to decorate

frosting

Grease two muffin tins and set aside. This recipe makes about 18 cupcakes, so if you only have one tin, grease a small pan to press the rest of the mixture in. Measure cereal into a large bowl and set one cup of Skittles aside. Melt butter and marshmallows together on medium heat, stirring until smooth. Pour over cereal and stir until almost combined. Add in Skittles and mix well. Press into muffin tin cups, forming a little dome on top. Let cool an hour or so, then frost and decorate. Store covered at room temperature.

Check out Skittles on Facebook.

Discovery House Bible Atlas ~ A Great Homeschooling Resource #FCBlogger

This is a compensated campaign for Family Christian. All opinions are honest and are my own.

A great scene from the movie, Sense and Sensibility, is when Margaret is hiding under the library table with her atlas and Edward tricks her into coming out by offering incorrect geographical information. She knows that atlas inside and out and she just has to set him straight. 

An atlas, alongside a set of encyclopedias, is really all one needs to teach basic geography in a homeschool. Geography is a subject our family loves, but hasn't spent a lot of time on lately. Family Christian sent me this Discovery House Bible Atlas and I am excited to use it in several of our homeschool studies throughout the years.

I love it's "textbook" style---great pictures alongside in-depth and informative text means I can use this book as a base to create some really fun lessons for us, not only in geography, but also in history, social and political studies, science, and more! It will be a great companion to our world history studies using The Mystery of History.

We're currently reading through the book of Ruth and the little girls enjoyed looking at the photos and reading about this real life land of Moab. When we imagine Bible stories happening, I think we all just picture a bunch of robed people hanging out in a dry, flat desert. With this gorgeous photo atlas, we can imagine bright blue rivers, lush palm trees, and more!

I love teaching one lesson to the family and then giving assignments to each child, depending on their abilities. I think this is going to be a great resource for that style of teaching. With so much interesting information, I might get caught up reading it myself and refuse to share!

Fudgy Yogurt Parfaits ~~ A Sweet Treat for Mom! #MullerMoment #ad #cbias

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

I'm really excited about this deliciously indulgent dessert I came up with this afternoon! I've been looking forward to trying out this new product, Müller® Ice Cream Inspired Yogurt, and had the opportunity today to try all three flavors in a sweet treat that's perfect for some "me time!"

Do I really need to explain the need for "me time" around here? Ha! Seriously, I cherish my family and do my best to give them my all. However, homeschooling with so many different ages and interests keeps me hopping all day. By the end of the day, sometimes, there's only so much I can take before it's time to give them all a kiss and head for the bedroom, jump under the covers, and stick my nose in a book. It's not long, though, before I sneak back out to grab a snack and some tea.

These new flavors of yogurt are reminiscent of favorite ice cream flavors---Raspberry Chocolate Chip, Vanilla Bean, and Mint Chocolate Chip---without quite as much guilt! With less sugar than other yogurts, this is a nutritious source of protein and a great alternative to ice cream. 

I found all three flavors in the pudding section at Bentonville Walmart this morning. If you're local to Northwest Arkansas, make sure to check out the in-store demos at Bentonville on March 13th and Pineville, MO on March 15th. If not, look for a possible demo in your store March 12th-15th.

With just a few added ingredients, I took the indulgence up a notch and created these Fudgy Yogurt Parfaits. These are the perfect treat to keep in the fridge for my secret get away times!

Fudgy Yogurt Parfaits

1 tsp. butter

2 TB. graham cracker crumbs

1/4 c. chocolate chips

1/4 c. sweetened whipped topping

1 5.3 oz. container Müller® Ice Cream Inspired Yogurt

Step One: Melt the butter and stir in the graham cracker crumbs. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 4-6 oz. dessert cup.

Step Two: Melt the chocolate chips, stirring until smooth. Mix in the whipped topping and stir until all melted and mixed well. Pour on top of the graham cracker crumbs and cool in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Step Three: Fill the rest of the cup with your choice of yogurt and enjoy!

This recipe works well with all three flavors, but my favorite was the Raspberry Chocolate Chip. With a yummy treat like this, who needs to feel bad about eating dessert first? How do you like to spend your "me time?" Let me know in the comments below!

Love Müller®? Visit www.Mullerquaker.com to sign up on for their mailing list and receive the latest news and offers. As a thank you, you'll also get a coupon to use toward your next purchase.

Müller® Ice Cream Inspired Yogurt is just the right amount of wrong. Whether it is a touch of indulgence to start your morning or an indulgent break in the afternoon - go ahead and indulge because you deserve it!

Visit Müller® on Facebook and Twitter. Also, make sure to attend the Twitter Party on March 11th at 2:00 CST. Participants could win one of five $100 Walmart gift cards or one of two $200 gift baskets!

I Survived Ballet Night, Thanks to Snapple® #teastraightup #ad #cbias

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

As much as I really want to be that mom who is super attentive to every little thing her child says and does, who never forgets to write down the funny kid-ism that she doesn't want to forget, who always has her kids' hair and clothes arranged just perfectly before going out, I'm finding that to be pretty much impossible. There's not enough of me to be that---I don't think anyone can be.

For years, I've avoided being the Mom Taxi. Partly because our life was already so busy that I didn't want to add a bunch more things into it and partly because we didn't want to do anything outside the house unless we could do it as a family. Now that our kids range in age from teen down to toddler, we're finding that not everyone has a place in things like ballet or Bible quiz team. Jamie and I are doing pretty good tag-teaming the taxi thing, but I'm finding that I'm not so opposed to my kids getting their driving licenses anymore...

Tuesday and Thursday nights are ballet nights for us. Tuesdays it's just Lynzie so I take her to class and then spend the evening somewhere with wifi, writing and having a quiet dinner or tea. Thursdays it's all three girls and I've got just enough time in the afternoon to pop dinner in the oven for the rest of the family before we race out to be gone from late afternoon through well past dinner time. While I usually pack them pb&j and some trail mix, I never get around to making myself something to take along and, by the time we're half way through practice, I'm feeling pretty wiped out!

This is why I'm super excited about Snapple® Straight Up™ Tea in the new plastic bottle. I love buying drinks in bottles because they're so handy to just stick in my purse. Paired with my favorite flavor of Kellogg's® Nutrigrain® bar, strawberry, it's a great snack to tide me over while the girls are practicing.

I found Snapple® Straight Up™ Tea at Walmart in the self check out aisle on top of the cooler of cold drinks. 

See more reasons to love Snapple® Straight Up™ Tea on the Snapple® Straight Up™ Tea social hub. You can make sure the product is available at your Walmart and download a coupon for your next Snapple® Straight Up™ Tea purchase.

There are three levels of sweetness---Unsweetened, Sorta Sweet, and Sweet---but you know I love the sweetest Sweet the best! With a real brewed tea taste, you can pick your sweet and enjoy on the go. 

In addition to being great snacks for ballet night, I'm thinking I could store some tea and cereal bars in my car for spring flea marketing days. I never want to stop to eat when I'm hopping from shop to shop so these would be great to keep around for my weekend thrifting get-aways!

Do you ever find yourself too busy to grab something to eat? Tell me about it in the comments below!

Chocolate Mint Creme Drops for St. Patrick's Day

Welcome to the Homemaking Party! A few weeks ago I shared my recipe for homemade creme drops. I decided to change it up this week and make them chocolate mint flavored for St. Patrick's Day!

The flavors of chocolate and mint are irresistible to me---and these are so easy to make!

Love St. Patrick's Day treats? Check out these:
Chocolate Vanilla-Mint Fudge
Irish Buckeyes
Cucumber Dill Appetizers

Chocolate Mint Creme Drops

1 stick butter

8 oz. cream cheese

2 lbs. powdered sugar

peppermint extract and food coloring

1 pkg. chocolate almond bark

Allow cream cheese and butter to soften on the counter for a few hours. Then mix them together well and mix in powdered sugar, food coloring, and extracts. If the mixture is too dry, add a couple tablespoons of milk to make it the consistency of creme filling. Drop balls of filling onto a tray lined with wax paper. Allow them to harden in the freezer about one hour. Dip into melted chocolate and let them harden on the counter. Store in a covered container. 

FitTea Post-Natal Fat Burner #PostNatalFatBurner

This is a sponsored post for Markerly and its sponsor. All opinions are honest and are my own. #PostNatalFatBurner

 

With 10 pregnancies in 13 years, it's always been difficult to lose all the pregnancy weight before the next baby comes along. I do my best with exercise and eating (somewhat) healthily---but sometimes it just feels like I can't keep up. I know that part of having a healthy pregnancy is making sure I'm healthy physically, mentally, and emotionally. Carrying around extra weight adds more than pounds---it adds stress and body image issues that make it even harder to get motivated to lose weight and inches.

I'm always looking for good ways to help lose the baby fat during my postnatal months. I've joined weight loss groups, I've made resolutions and charts, I've joined challenges with friends and made up challenges for myself. All these things really work well for me, but I feel like I just need a big boost to get me started this time around. Lynzie and I will be going to England in the fall and I want to feel pretty, as well as in shape for all the walking we'll be doing!

Today I was made aware of FitTea's Post-Natal Fat Burner and I'm thinking this herbal supplement might be worth trying out! The very first thing that got me excited about FitTea is that it's safe for pregnancy and nursing. In fact, it can even boost lactation. Of course, it's always important to check with your doctor to make sure she thinks it's right for you. The fear of taking something that would harm a future pregnancy is always one of the big reasons I stay away from supplements, but this one was designed with that concern in mind!

FitTea's Post-Natal Fat Burner uses 100% natural ingredients, supports weight loss, and increases fat burning. I've seen ads for this before, but have never really taken the time to read up on it until today. I'm looking forward to checking it out!

Do you want to try FitTea's Post-Natal Fat Burner? 30 winners will get to try some free so check out the giveaway widget below to enter to win! I'd love to hear about your weight loss goals. What kinds of things have you done to get rid of the baby weight after pregnancy? Let me know in the comments below!