Month: November 2011

cyber monday deals at eversave

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Eversave has a great deal today from Overstock.com. I’ve been an Overstock customer for many years and I’ve always been pleased with my purchases. They have amazing jewelry deals, so if you finished your shopping on Black Friday, maybe take advantage of this Save to pick up something for yourself!


 Overstock.com

Cyber Savings:$10 for $20 worth of high-quality, brand-name gifts on Overstock.com – plus free shipping!

They also have an entire page of special Cyber Monday deals, and if you use the code CYBER, you can get an extra $3 off. (Note:This code is only valid on the Cyber Monday deals — it will not work on the Overstock share.) Also, Save Rewards cannot be used on select Cyber Monday deals.

Disclosure: This is an affiliate link.

hartstrings black friday sale

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓

Photobucket

Do you guys remember the Hartstrings review I did a couple weeks ago? Well, the dress was a hit at the birthday party and held up well in the wash. I have since been eyeing an adorable Christmas dress for Laura. What do you think:

Photobucket
Obviously I love the traditional look for dressy outfits, but offers a variety of styles from classic to modern. And they are having an excellent — everything  on their webiste (including sale items!) is an extra 20% off. If you hop over there you’ll notice that many outfits are already discounted, so you can get 20% off on top of that.

If you haven’t already found holiday outfits for your children, Friday would be a great time!

on a rainy pre-thanksgiving day

Posted on by — No Comments ↓
(Get this cute free printable ateighteen25)

So, is everyone ready for Thanksgiving Day tomorrow? I have been prepping like crazy all day (and putting the kids to work, as well). All that’s left, really, is setting the dining room table.

My mother-in-law is bringing the stuffing, which I feel is the most work-intensive part of the meal, so even though I am hosting and cooking most of the dishes, I still feel like I got off easy. I also adapted my brandied cranberry sauce recipe to be diabetic-friendly and experimented with a raspberry-lime cheesecake (sugar-free, low-carb of course). I used muffin tins instead of making the cheesecake in one big pan and I think it worked great! I also got to taste one of the “ugly” ones and I’m pretty happy with the result. I will post both recipes next week.

I’m not making either of the desserts I originally planned, but that’s OK. There’s always Christmas!

If you’re heading on the highways today or tomorrow, I wish you safe travels (it’s such a hassle to have to call roadside assistance on a holiday, no matter how grateful you are that they’ve come to help). I’m happy we’ll just be home with family coming to us! No matter how you celebrate, enjoy your day!

thanksgiving menu

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

 

I’m going to be honest: Thanksgiving is stressing me out this year. It’s not because we have a ton of people coming over (actually, Drew’s mom and aunt will be our only guests, so it won’t be much different than a Sunday dinner). It’s because of the carb-fest potential.

I feel so conflicted about serving and eating certain foods, but I’m trying to let go and tell myself it’s a holiday. I’ve eaten crackers and stuffing and bread and pie for years. Am I being unreasonable to think that these foods are suddenly going to kill me just because I’ve read a few books* this year? Probably. One meal isn’t going to make a big difference in the grand scheme of things. And it’s not like I’m going to scarf down an entire sleeve of Ritz.

So, with that in mind (I suppose I feel like I have to justify the appearance of certain items on this menu, considering how I’ve been talking up a certain way of eating as of late), here’s what I’m planning for our Thanksgiving dinner.

Appetizers

  • shrimp cocktail
  • deviled eggs
  • crackers with homemade tomato jam and cream cheese

Dinner

  • roast turkey with pan gravy
  • cranberry-sausage stuffing (brought by my mother-in-law)
  • baked sweet potatoes with butter and cinnamon
  • mashed potatoes (just a small amount per the kids’ request)
  • green beans
  • cranberry sauce
  • cornbread
  • green salad

Dessert

While I’m at it, I’m also breaking my rule about serving food in canning jars. I think the exception to the rule is the small 4 oz. jars, which I’ll be using for the desserts. Not only are they admittedly adorable, but making the desserts in the jar will simplify refrigerator storage (because you can’t stack pie plates, my friends) as well as save me the hassle of finding dessert plates.

Hopefully I will be able to relax a bit about the food and be able to just enjoy the day.

* Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It, by Gary Taubes; The Paleo Solution, by Robb Wolf; Wheat Belly, by William Davis (OK, I haven’t read this entirely yet, but I’ve read excerpts and interviews to get the gist.)

friday favorite finds – meat dishes

Posted on by — 5 Comments ↓

It’s Friday! So that means it’s time to link up with Finding Joy in My Kitchen‘s Friday Favorite Finds.

Man, these last two weeks have been rough! Everyone in the family has endured some illness or another, plus life has just been generally busy (as it tends to be this time of year). But now that we are on the mend and I’m digging my way out from a pile of disorganization, I’m trying to be a better blogger (look, two posts in two days!).

Here are my Pinterest food finds for the week.

Philly Cheesesteak in a Bowl – I’d been thinking about a low-carb version of cheesesteak and literally the next morning I saw this recipe. I think it was meant to be!

 

Karoline’s Keema – I have a keema recipe marked “to cook”  in The Indian Slow Cooker, but this one just seems quick and easy. I’ll be making it soon.

 

Mustard & Cracked Pepper Roast Beef – I love roast beef, and this looks mouth-watering. I think it would be a nice change from ham for Christmas (but we’ll see… )

 

Chocolate Raspberry Truffles – And we can’t forget dessert! I am dying to make these clean-eating truffles. Dates, cocoa powder, jam… they sound too good to be true.

 

Be sure to head over to Finding Joy in My Kitchen and see what inspired everyone else this week!

hartstrings kids clothes review

Posted on by — 7 Comments ↓

Heartstrings Kids Review

Laura is a girly-girl. She loves getting dressed up. She loves fancy clothes. And she really likes picking out what to wear. So when I was offered the opportunity to choose an outfit from Hartstrings Kids to review on my blog, I knew that my little lady would want to have a say in it.

Hartstrings offers a selections of boutique clothing for babies, boys, and girls. I had such a hard time narrowing down my choices because there are so many outfits I loved. Ultimately, I picked my three favorites and then asked Laura which one she liked best. (She might be two and a half, but she definitely has strong opinions!) She loved the Long Sleeve Sweater Dress from this season’s Fair Isle Collection. I was kindly sent a pair of matching leggings to complete the look.

Heartstrings Kids Review

Shipping was speedy and the clothes were safely packaged in a plastic mailer. I ordered a size 2T for Laura. Typically she wears anywhere between a size 18 months – 24 months because she is a tiny little peanut, but I wanted her to get extra wear out of this pretty dress. I would say it is true to size. It is a little big on her, as I expected it to be, but not so big that it looks baggy. The knit is very soft and she was really comfortable. Actually, I had to bribe her with candy to take off the clothes and put her play clothes back on!

Heartstrings Kids Review

The clothes at Hartstrings are on the pricier side, but I think the prices are reasonable for special event or holiday clothes. Plus, as I browsed through the site, I noticed that quite a few choices were on sale. If the quality of the clothing I received is indicative of the rest of their offerings, I would (and probably will) order from Hartstrings in the future.

Heartstrings Kids Review

I think I’ve also seen Hartstrings specials on some of the daily deal sites, so you can always look for those too 😉 I know that we’ll get a lot of mileage out of this bright and cheery dress. In fact, Laura will have her first chance to wear it next week at her cousin’s birthday party!

Be sure to follow Hartstrings on Twitter and check them out on Facebook to be one of the first to learn about specials, deals, and new items.

Disclosure: I received free products from Hartstrings for review as part of my participation in a campaign by MomSelect.  I did not receive any financial compensation for this post.  This disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

christmas lists

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

So I’ve been trying to get the boys to tell me some things they might light for Christmas. Jake wants some crazy video spy watch, while Noah seems fixated on this scooter-backpack thing he saw a commercial for back in the summer before we got rid of cable. I had no idea what he was talking about — was it like a regular backpack and a scooter came inside it? After much searching I finally found it (confirmed by Jake) and this crazy thing is like $100! And not at all anything that a little boy Noah’s age needs. It might be fine for a college student or a bike messenger but… he’ll have to think of some other ideas.

ah, sunday

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Yes, you know it’s a relaxing Sunday when you head out to do a little shopping and see some macho cowboy wearing the right to bear arms t-shirt. Stay classy, Kingston! Anyway, my shopping trip was very limited today. I don’t know if it was due to the time change, the cold weather, or what but everyone seemed irritable and as soon as I returned my yarn I was ready to head home.

I woke up with a cold (woe is me, I know) and I’m just ready to call it quits today. Unfortunately for me, I really have to finish up these final crochet hats. I am about halfway done with #8, and then there is just one more to go! I will be so happy to ship these out on Tuesday or Wednesday. Of course, then comes a slew of holiday crafting. But at least I won’t feel so pressured to get it done!

csa 2001: end of the season

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

DSC_0141

It occurred to me that I never put up my CSA post from two weeks ago (life is crazy, and blogging has obviously not been a priority – sorry!). So I’ll just add the photo in with this post.

Yesterday was our final pick-up of the season from Sisters Hill Farm. It was so strange trudging up to the barn wearing snow boots! I wasn’t expecting much, but I think that our last share is pretty great: one carnival squash, two butternut squash, two celeriacs, potatoes, onions, carrots & parsnips, garlic, green tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, and lettuce.

Here’s the second-to-last share:

DSC_0112

Broccoli, butternut squash, onions, sweet peppers, one hot pepper, radishes, garlic, parsnips, sweet potatoes, mixed greens, PYO tomatillos, and sweet potatoes. I canned a few jars of salsa verde with all those tomatillos. I think that partnered with the tomato jam I made a couple months ago, they’ll make pretty Christmas gifts!

If I get my act together and mail in my subscription form by early next week, we’ll be able to pick up the bonus Thanksgiving share so there is a possibility of one more CSA post this year!