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