Rain Barrel Rebate Program in San Diego

February 9, 2014 by

rain barrel rebate program drought san diego

With our city in an ever constant drought, we’ve taken quite a few steps over the years to reduce the amount of water we use in our home. But with the addition of two children in our lives, it’s been hard to stick with the conservation efforts we’ve made.

So when we heard about the rain barrel rebate program through the City of San Diego we knew we needed to investigate further. And we were so glad we did.

Then we found out that Dixieline was running a sale on 60 gallon rain barrels for $90. So our $75 rebate and $90 sale price meant that we were paying $15 out of pocket for each barrel. Now that rocks! We picked up two for our home and are considering going back to get two more (limit of 4). [Read more…]

Filed Under: eco-friendly, For the Home, Home Improvement, San Diego, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , ,

Outshine Funny Face Frozen Fruit Bars

February 8, 2014 by

I created my healthy #Outshine Funny Face Frozen Fruit Bars as part of a sponsored post for Socialstars by Crowdtap.

funny face frozen fruit bars #outshine

You know that time in the day that you just start craving something sweet or salty? Because I know it isn’t just me! There’s some time either right after nap time and before my husband gets home or after the kids are in bed that I just crave something bad.

And since I’m on Weight Watchers and trying to watch the mindless snacking, I’ve been trying to find alternatives for my old go-to’s as well as healthy snacks that the kids can enjoy with me as well. So when I found these deliciously tasty looking frozen fruit bars on my most recent grocery trip I knew I had to try them.

60-70 calories each and no fat?! Sign me up! Plus I knew the perfect way to make these bars the ultimate after school snack for the kids. Put funny faces on them! What kid could resist awesome funny face frozen fruit bars? Not mine. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Desserts, In the Kitchen, Recipes, Snacks, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Movie Night Ideas: Jungle Book Inspired Chicken Skewers Recipe

February 6, 2014 by

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This #JungleFresh shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for #CollectiveBias and its advertiser.

movie night ideas jungle book dinner

With the Blu-Ray/Combo Pack Diamond Edition release of Disney’s The Jungle Book coming out next Tuesday (2/11), I thought it’d be nice to celebrate with a Jungle Book inspired family dinner.

I wanted something healthy yet delicious that would please the whole family so I headed out to Walmart to get some inspiration for my dish. And of course as soon as I walked in I found myself in the produce department.

Fresh fruit was the perfect place to start planning our meal. So I decided we’d make some fruit skewers ala Baloo in The Jungle Book. Remember the scene when he turns his finger nail into a fruit skewer? Yeah, that one. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Dinner, Disney, DIsney Movies, Entertainment, In the Kitchen, Recipes, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

Creamy Tomatillo Avocado Sauce

February 2, 2014 by

I created this delicious #SauceSquad creamy tomatillo avocado sauce as part of a sponsored post for Socialstars by Crowdtap #BottledAwesome

creamy tomatillo avocado sauce with chips #SauceSquad #BottledAwesome
I love Mexican food. Like LURVE it! So when I was asked to create a delicious dish inspired by the new Taco Bell sauces my mind started to go into a thousand different directions before I found the inspiration to create this creamy tomatillo avocado sauce.

What I love about this sauce is that it pairs perfectly with my tequila lime pork tacos. The tomatillos and green chilies in Taco Bell’s salsa verde match the flavor combo found in my tequila lime marinade. And how can this pork not taste amazing coated with this creamy sauce and nestled into a tortilla of love.

And if you have any left overs or want to serve it to a crowd, feel free to serve this sauce as a dip. Because its great as both a sauce drizzled over your meal or as a dip on it’s own. I’m even considering using it as a salad dressing this week with a nice squeeze of lime on top.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Appetizers & Sides, In the Kitchen, Recipes, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , ,

Hawaii-Inspired Pasta Puttanesca with Seared Ahi Recipe

February 2, 2014 by

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for #CollectiveBias and its advertiser. #ChooseSmart

pasta puttanesca with seared ahi

February is the month of love. And this month I plan on making sure my husband knows exactly how much I appreciate him. While we don’t have a lot of time to go out together one-on-one anymore, I can create a great evening just for the two of us with a special recipe inspired by our favorite places to travel: Hawaii and Italy.

We’ve both loved Hawaii since we were dating and took a trip there with my family. Then we went again for our Honeymoon. And again with our two kids two years ago. The culture, the ambiance, the relaxation. It all screams the perfect vacation to us.

We’re also very interested in exploring and going on adventures and Hawaii is a great place for just that. But so is another country I’ve come to love after traveling there together when I was pregnant with our son. That special place is Italy. So in the spirit of the month of love I’ve combined our two favorite places to travel into this one dish. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Date Night, Dinner, In the Kitchen, Parenting, Recipes, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,

Social Fabric is Like a Lasagna Recipe #LuvSoFab14

January 29, 2014 by

lasagna recipe social fabric layers

Sometimes it takes a while to find out where you belong. What you want to do when you grow up, who your friends are, how you better yourself on so many different levels. And I think I’ve finally succeeded on figuring these out with the help of Social Fabric and Collective Bias.

Friends, community, support. These are the words that come to mind when I think of Social Fabric and what the SoFab community has done for me.

Now I have the chance to finally meet the SoFab family I’ve come to love in person at SoFabCon’14 in Arkansas this May.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Dinner, Life, Recipes, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Big Game Party Ideas: Creating the Perfect Football Party

January 26, 2014 by

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big game party ideas

Last weekend I hosted an awesome playoff party for family and friends in celebration of getting our new, amazingly awesome big screen from Best Buy the week before. We wanted to celebrate the playoffs while talking about our new electronic devices with family and friends.

With the geek squad setting up everything for us, the only thing left for my husband to do was mount the screen to the wall. And invite his friends and family over so we could celebrate! The rest was left up to me. And I was up for the challenge!

I love hosting parties and celebrating just about any occasion. So this party was a blast to plan and put together. We used a few things we already had from past years celebrations and mixed them in with some new editions. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Crafts/DIY, Party Ideas, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

How to Make A DIY Football Pennant Banner

January 24, 2014 by

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DIY Football Pennant Banner

Last weekend we hosted a playoffs party for our family and friends and in the excitement of the game I went all out with the decor. That includes this awesome diy football pennant banner. It was so easy to make and, in my opinion, much cuter than the stuff they had at the store!

Plus if you have most of the supplies lying around it costs next to nothing to make!

I enjoyed working with this cute sparkly corrugated paper from Jo-Ann’s and thought it gave a slightly feminine touch to this masculine party.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Crafts/DIY, Party Ideas, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , ,

Celebrate the Big Game with Mrs T Pierogies Recipes

January 22, 2014 by

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Millennial Central Consulting for Mrs. T’s Pierogies. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

Mrs T Pierogies Recipes

This past weekend I hosted a playoff party for our family and friends and at the top of the line up of appetizers were these delicious Mrs. T pierogies. After making them for a girls night in a few weeks ago I decided they’d be the perfect addition to our game day meal.

I kept it simple and grabbed a box of my favorite low-fat potato and cheddar pierogies and some frozen fire roasted onions and peppers from Trader Joe’s (a freezer staple in our home) and cooked them up in some olive oil.

These were such a hit! Our friends loved them and they paired perfectly with the other dishes we served. They also tasted great with a beer in hand!
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Appetizers & Sides, In the Kitchen, Recipes, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,

Simple Success with the Weight Watchers Simple Start App

January 20, 2014 by

I was given a free one month subscription to Weight Watchers to try their new Simple Start plan and write about my experience.Though I was compensated for my time and commitment, all views, positive and negative, are my own.

Weight Watchers Simple Start App success #SimpleStart

Over the past two weeks I’ve jumped back in to the Weight Watchers lifestyle with the help of the Weight Watchers Simple Start app. And during these two weeks I’ve learned a lot about myself and what I’m capable of.

Now I’ve never had problems losing weight. it’s sticking with a weight loss plan/healthy lifestyle that I have trouble with. But luckily I’ve found over these two weeks that Simple Start is my answer to this problem.

Whenever I get tired of counting points I can simply switch to Simple Start for two weeks to reset myself and focus on eating until I am comfortably full and satisfied while still trying to get the good health guidelines in. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Health & Wellness, Uncategorized, weight loss, Weight Watchers Tagged With: , , , ,


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