Bertolli challenged bloggers to make a weeknight meal special and sent two coupons for their new Bertolli Meal Soups so we could try them out. Like most working parents, getting a meal on the table is hard enough, making it special seems impossible. But weeknights are usually the only time all four of us sit down together to eat dinner together so I had motivation to accept. They gave us an hour prep time limit but I was actually able to shop, put the meal together, and have it on the table in under an hour. Awesome eh?

I took my coupons to the store and checked out the selection (you can find the Bertolli Meal Soups in the ready made dinner section right next to their pasta meals; to locate a store that carries them pick Bertolli Meal Soups on their product locator.) Since my husband has blood pressure issues, I am always careful to note the sodium on any product. The Bertolli Meal Soups obviously have a higher sodium count than homemade soups and stews but the milligrams were lower than the frozen pizzas we often resort to.

For our dinner, I selected the Chicken Minestrone, which is their lowest sodium soup, and the Tuscan Style Beef and Vegetables. To go with them I made easy cheese twists, which literally cook in the time it takes the soup to heat up. They make the perfect pairing soups and are super simple since they use low fat. You can check out how I make them in this You Tube video.

Overall, we gave four thumbs up to the soups. The big winner was the chicken minestrone soup. My husband may have mentioned something about it being better than my homemade version but surely I misheard that right? Okay, I admit. It was better and took way less time. Though we really liked the flavor of the Tuscan Style Beef and Tomato (the broth is out of this world), I wasn’t a fan of the toughness of the beef. It’s so hard to get stew beef right and I am a tiny bit happy that even powerhouses like Bertolli have trouble with it.

We will definitely be giving these a try on those nights when we want something special to sit down to together when we are short on time. Going the extra step to make a side dish and get the table set was totally worth it. And since it took me such a short amount of time I sat down completely relaxed. That may have been the most important element!

Thank you to Bertolli for giving me a chance to try their new line and for compensating me for my time. Betolli can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and of course their website.

Chocolate, how I love it. But as I have gotten older my taste buds have gotten snobby and decided that the regular old drugstore candy bar just won’t do. Luckily gourmet chocolate has gone mainstream and there are tons of options to please my picky taste buds. In honor of Valentine’s day I thought I would share some of my finds with you.

First off, Angell Organic candy bars. I received some of these to review in December and planned to share them with visiting family. The only problem was, I couldn’t stop myself from scarfing them down. But really, can you blame me. I mean they are almost healthy really. They only have 5-7 ingredients per bar, all of which you can actually pronounce. And there’s no GMO products or corn syrup. Best part? There’s less than 200 calories per bar. And no guilty conscience: Angell candy bars are fair trade.

All flavors are kosher and the Angell Crisp is gluten free and the Dark Angell is vegan. You can find them at a store near you as well as online. They are around $2 each.

Suffice to say, I am a wee bit into green living. So I jumped at the chance to test out Tide Coldwater. We almost always wash our clothes in cold water but I haven’t used a detergent made specifically for cold water laundry. I love my natural detergents but I admit that they don’t always tackle the stains that two five year old girls leave on their play clothes.

And it totally came through. Even without any kind of pre-treatment. I am so looking forward to pulling that off of my laundry shelf and adding less plastic to our garage stash.

Disclosure: I received a product sample and was compensated with a $50 gift card.

This week’s question: what talent does your child currently posses?

Desmonda Drama obviously inherited her father’s musical talents rather than my onw tone deafness because she regularly amazes us with the songs she creates. She will riff on a familiar tune, making up her own words, often. But she also makes up completely original melodies. We really need to get her into music lessons stat.

Calamity Jane is a bit harder to pin down. She’s pretty funny but I son’t know if that counts as a talent. The thing that stands out for me right now is her amazing memory. She remembers EVERYTHING. For example, she put on a hat today and mentioned that the last time she had worn it was when she went ice skating (over a year ago.)

One thing I love about the lists are the reminders to do things like work on your kids’ scrapbooks and baby books. Because we have no scrapbooks and the girls’ baby books are close to empty. Of course now that they are four I need some prompts besides first tooth and the date they first laughed (like I am going to remember that.) Hence this brand new bloggging series, The Lazy Parent Baby Book. Each Sunday I will be listing a prompt and writing a blog post based off it. Because after all, aren’t blogs the modern scrapbook?

I hope you will leave a comment if you join me. I would love to see what you write!

This week’s prompt : Is your kid a collector? What do they like to amass multiples of?

When I was a kid, I was very into collecting things: matchbox cars, Strawberry Shortcake dolls, rocks, roly poly bugs, stickers, coins. So I thought my kids would be the same way. I don’t know if it’s a function of being twins and sharing most of their toys or that my adult anti-pack rat habit has rubbed off on them, but the girls really aren’t in to collecting things.

They only have a couple of possessions that are favorites (their blankets and the Pook-a-Look Minnie and Goofy we got them at Disney Social Media Moms last year.) Besides those items, they are much more into pure imagination (the couch cushions are their favorite “toys” much to my husband’s dismay) and art than toys.

Usually this means is useless to try and buy them theme presents. Often by the time they got something they like they have already moved on to something else. And sometimes I wish they did collect something just so I would have a ready made gift idea. But most of the time I am just happy there’s not more stuff in my house!

I am not sure what has got me so down this year. I woke up grumpy yesterday and begged my husband to take the girls to his parents for the new year weekend. Instead of utilizing focus moments and therapy techniques, I rolled my eyes and told the girls to get over it when they fought. Instead of leaving the tree up until New Year’s Day like usual, I started pulling the tinsel off.

Post Christmas Depression is the armchair diagnosis but that’s not it. Christmas was pretty great. We hosted and though I was secretly in agony from a bad flare up, I muddled through by just forgetting everything else that I had to do (sorry local blog, sorry niece who never received last Christmas gift, sorry relatives and friends who usually receive cards from me) and concentrating on family. We hosted my husband’s family for the first time and I think it went well. Christmas dinner was kind of a bust but everyone skimmed over that and just drank more wine instead, hurrah.

And usually I love this post Christmas week. I hit all the sales, go crazy cleaning the house, sit by the lighted Christmas tree finishing off the last of the holiday booze and goodies so I can start the new year off fresh and sober like, and spend way too much time composing my (never to be done) resolutions.

But this year I just want to sit under the blankets and eat chocolate covered potato chips. Which just end up making me feel yucky.

A note about those chocolate covered potato chips. I am an extremely hard person to buy gifts for. It is a burden for my husband. Two years ago he bought my chocolate covered potato chips from our local candy store. I ate a few and liked them and now I get them every Christmas in my stocking. They are not as good when you have to eat the entire bag. They put the chocolate on too thick and they make me feel sick (rhyme intentional.)

Yet under the blanket I sit eating them. I think I have SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) or DOWD (Dread of Winter Disorder which I just made up). This makes no sense as I lived in Minnesota for a year and frackin** loved winter. I loved the snow; I loved my down coat that kept me warm in twenty below; I loved walking through tunnels to get everywhere; I loved it all. Besides the fact that it nearly turned me into an alcoholic (it gets dark at like twelve thirty and obviously when it’s dark you should start drinking), there was nothing I hated about the great frozen North’s winters.

But the Midwest winters depress me. It’s nothing but coldish (over thirty, under fifty) weather that makes you shiver but is not enough to warrant wearing a down coat (unless you want people to mock you), dead snowless grass, and pointless snow days where the streets are clear by nine but my kids are still home with me all day bored out of their little skulls. Let me point out that in Minnesota there was NOT ONE snow day and children in the elementary school across the street routinely (ROUTINELY) played outside in frigid weather. I observed them safe behind my window as I sat on the radiator drinking my one o’clock hot chocolate with Kahlua.

So instead of doing my usual new year prep routine of eating/drinking, cleaning, and resoluting I am instead just laying in bed under blankets doing the first one. I consider this to be okay since I am a bona fide suffered of DOWD. Tomorrow I will plan my nervous breakdown.

XOXO
Guava

*Yes that was a Game of Thrones reference. Over the past year I have morphed into a total nerd.
**Confirmation of above, BG reference.

Steve Jobs: Unless the recepient lives under a rock, they are probably intrigued by Steve Jobs. Which makes this biograpgy the perfect book for anyone from 16 on up. It delves deeeply into the psyche of the genius behind Apple. Who wouldn’t want a peek into his mind?

Brave Irene: The kid on your list is probably a smidge too young to see Iron Lady but they will love this book read by Merly Streep. Brave Irene by William Steig is the story of Irene a dressmaker’s daughter who takes on a journey to deliver a dress in time for a fancy party. It takes place during a snow storm making it the perfect winter book. The gift comes with the bonus of pleasing the parent of the kiddo you give it to. Books on CD are perfect for car trips. They can be played when it’s dark out and make a great diversion during the day since kids can follow the story through the pictures.

My Teenage Werewolf ” target=”_blank”>My Teenage Werewolf: Got a mom on your list? Any mother will be fascinated by this account of a mom, inspired by the tough relationship with her daughter, who puts on her journalist hat to delve into the primal relationship between teenage girls and their moms. Even though my twins are only four, I found myself totally enrossged in this book. I also immediately started as therapy and spa vacation fund.

300 Best Rice Cooker Recipes: Let’s admit it, we all have a spare kitchen appliance hanging around that we’re not sure what to do with. And half of those are rice cookers. This book will have your friends cooking full on meals from that rice cooker languishing in the back of the cabinet. Hopefully they will be so grateful that they will have you over for dinner.

The advent of the digital age has made me much more ruthless about deleting bad and random pictures. But I have a much harder time doing that with actual prints. Someone’s eyes may be closed but I can’t bear to part with it because it is the only version I have. So I hang onto them and they languish in envelopes along with school pictures, faded prints from my parents, and old Polaroids.

Yes, I know I could scan them but that plan was how they ended up in the envelope. I keep thinking I will get to them on a rainy day but when that rainy day comes I end up snoozing on the couch instead. I dream about just boxing them up and having them neatly presented to me in digital form, ready to share.

Sometimes dreams come true. I’ve been given the chance to do just that by Live On. Their Live On Rewind service sends you a secure, shipping box, prepaid postage back, shipping instructions, zip lock bag for secure storage during transit. Then their specialists convert all your media and send it back along with a DVD of the preserved media.

The best part is that they also provide online access to your newly digitized memories at LiveOn.com. I wrote last month about how much I love the interface on their site. It goes way beyond a digital album. I can’t wait to start adding my own memories to the pictures I am having scanned.

This year is about making new memories with our daughters and our family. I am so glad that I will be able to put side by side pictures of these moments with the ones from my own childhood. The next time I am at my parents I plan to gather up their photos and send them in as well. I think it would make a fantastic gift. If you would like to gift someone with the service (or use it for yourself) you can get 30% off the service with the coupon code HOLIDAYREWIND. Now that’s a gift that keeps on giving!

Thank you to LiveOn for sponsoring this blog post. Please LiveOn to learn more about sharing and preserving your most important memories. I was selected for this sponsorship by Clever Girls Collective. Although story ideas were provided, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This year of time gets a bit stressful doesn’t it? There are parties, school events, shopping, etc. Too often, dinner times rolls around and I am completely unprepared. At the same time we are eating way more treats than normal so I want to make healthy dinners. That means avoiding my usual go to of take out or frozen pizza.

Right in time for my holiday food crunch, I was given the chance to review the Simply Dressed line from T. Marzetti. I am always a bit skeptical of store brought dressings. I usually make my own since my dressing are full of preservatives and colorings.

But this line isn’t the “French” I grew up eating on my iceberg salads. The Simply Dressed dressings are all natural, made with extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and canola oil. They don’t contain preservatives, trans fat, high fructose corn syrup, MSG or artificial flavors.

They make several awesome sounding dressings but I ended up picking the Ginger Sesame version to try out. I have never been able to master dressings with an Asian flair. And the ginger ones I am addicted too always have artificial coloring which I try to avoid with the girls.

When I first poured out some to try, it looked like the “Italian” dressing I grew up eating on my mom’s classic pasta salad. But when I dipped some broccoli in, there was no comparison. I was immediately struck by the ginger flavor. It’s sharp with out being over powering. It’s a great balance since both me and my girls loved using it as a dip.

I ended up incorporating the dressing into two quick and easy meals that are not only a snap to prepare but are also a welcome respite from the heavy foods of the holidays.

Asian Wrap

• rotisserie chicken
• slaw pack (or shredded carrots and broccoli)
• Simply Dressed Ginger-Sesame dressing to taste
• flat wraps

For each wrap use about a half cup of chicken and half cup of slaw pack, then drizzle one fourth of a cup of dressing over before wrapping. These are great for lunches, just wrap in plastic and eat within twenty four hours (refrigerate of course!)

Sesame Noodles

• 8oz whole wheat linguine
• one zucchini
• two carrots
• two stalks celery
• 1/c peanuts, crushed
• one cup Ginger-Sesame dressing

Cook linguine according to directions. While it is cooking, matchstick the carrots, celery, and zucchini. Drain the noodle, combine immediately with chopped veggies, toss with dressing, and top with crushed peanuts. Makes four servings with a bit leftover for a lunch.

Now I am dreaming up ways to use the rest of the Simply Dressed line. Because why stop with salads when you can shortcut your way into dinner?

I was one of the bloggers selected by T. Marzetti Company and Clever Girls Collective to host a Marzetti Simply Dressed review. They provided me with product to test myself and compensation for my time. However, my opinions are entirely my own.

1. Georgetown Cupcakes: You may have seen these cupcakes on TLC’s hit show Dc Cupcakes. Very rarely do things live up to the TV hype but these cupcakes are just as dacadent and delicious as they look on the small screen. You can get a dozen of their adorable holiday cupcakes shipped over night for $55.

2. Debbie’s Rugelach: My mom used to make rugelach from her mother’s recipe and it just tasted like Christmas. I have never recaptured the magic in my own renditions. So I was thrilled to discover Debbie’s Rugelach. Every batch of this old world handmade treat is crafted with all natural ingredients. Not only is there nothing artificial, there are also no jams, no spreads, no pastes, and no fillers. Debbie combines fresh cream cheese and real butter to make the flaky pastry which is then rolled around generous fillings of dark chocolate chips, juicy currants and crunchy walnuts, or plump dried apricots, surrounded by a sweet cinnamon and sugar filling. They are super delicious.

3. Plush Puffs: Forget the stay puffs you are used to. These gourmet marshmallows literally melt in your mouth. And the flavors are out of this world. You will happily gobble flavors like caramel swirl and toasty coconut straight from the box but save some for hot chocolate. It takes a mug of hot cocoa to a whole other level. And they have an amazing sounding Smores Box that pairs four of their flavors with organic graham crackers and Ghiradelli chocolates.

4. Topsy’s Popcorn: Those giant popcorn tins have always scared me a bit. Until I received a tin of Topsy’s Popcorn. The cinnamon, caramel, and cheddar mix we received was gone with two days. If all popcorn was this good, Santa would be eating it instead of cookies. If you’re lucky enough to live in the Kansas City metro area you head to one of their retail locations but they are also available for order through their website.

5. Frangelico Chocolates from MarieBelle: Soon after MarieBelle started, I was lucky enough to taste their gourmet chocolates. The word artisan gets knocked around a lot but there’s truly no other way to describe the delicate truffles MarieBelle makes. This year they have partnered with Fragelico liqueur to make the perfect holiday truffle. The hazelnet flavored liqueur is the perfect pairing with MarieBell’s dark chocolate. The four box set is $15 and would make a great teacher or Secret Santa gift.