Home Maid Simple

Category: Promotional

Holiday Baking with the Love Cooking Company + a Discount

I am a member of US Family Guide Bloggers. I will receive product in exchange for this post.

Love Cooking Company has set out with a mission to make baking a simple task. Partnered with some great names in the baking and entertainment industries, Love has crafted bakeware that helps you easily achieve the best-looking baked goods on the table, from filled cakes to bite-size desserts and more. These pans will make your holiday desserts stand out!

The PushPan is a 100% watertight and leak-proof cake pan with a patented silicone-lined removable base making it perfect for cheesecakes, pies and more! You all KNOW how much I love cheesecake right? Would you believe I don’t own a spring form pan, though? Love this!

The Mrs. Fields Cutie Cakes pan creates 48 bite-size cakes when you need a small amount of something sweet. It’s ideal for savory options, like mini corn dogs or potato pancakes.

The Mrs. Fields Fill N Flip is the easiest way to make a layered cake and create a surprise center that everyone will love. Once you bake your cake, add filling to the side with the large opening, place the non-filled layer on top, and enjoy! I’m pretty much in love with this pan. It will make a raspberry filling look so much nicer.

DISCOUNT!

For a limited time Love Cooking Company is offering 10% Off your entire order on with the promo code LOVE10.

Get Details and other offers

Stay Connected with Love

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October 26, 2015
Fuel Their Adventure + Free Coloring Page

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

Every day should be an adventure, but getting the right start, and putting your best foot forward aren’t always easy. Thanks to Dannon® Danimals® Smoothies I’ve found a way to start the day with a smile, and give my kids an adventurous day.

It’s 6:30 AM.

I drag myself out of bed, because after 4 kids, working from home, and trying to go back to school, I’ve become a night owl instead of a morning person. Somewhere around 6:45-7:00, Little Prince awakes. He seems happy, until I pick him up. It is then he shows his true morning feelings.

“NO! Don’t put me down! No!”

“Buddy” I say, “I have to get sisters up. I have to make breakfast. I have to get dressed!” But he’s inconsolable; all he wants is me to hold him until he cane make sense of this time called morning. Then I found it, his key to a morning smile – Dannon® Danimals® Cotton Candy Smoothie, and a special coloring page.

Download this fun Morning Sunshine Coloring Page to pair with your Dannon® Danimals® Smoothie for a kid happy morning

Hoping this wasn’t a fluke of a morning, we went back to Walmart to stock up on my morning sanity saver. I had all the kids with me on this particular grocery shopping trip, so the girls were telling me all about how if we found the Golden Bongo in our Dannon® Danimals® their school would win a Play 60 NFL Field Day with the pros. Make sure you grab the specially marked packages in your search for the Golden Bongo

Having stocked up on Dannon® Danimals® smoothies, the kids all thought they’d be great to have for breakfast, lunch, and after school snack. While I generally try to limit their snacks, this is one I’m OK with more frequently as it’s full of Only the Good Stuff® – no artificial colors/flavors and no high fructose corn syrup – it’s also full of calcium and Vitamin D.

Usually twice a week Little Prince and I get together with my sister-in-law and her little boy. These 2 boys have so much fun, but with all that energy comes big appetites too. Rather then let them raid our pantry and fridge, this week I put together some Adventure Snack Packs ahead of time. All I had to do was grab one of their favorite snacks – graham crackers – and pair it with their favorite drink – Dannon® Danimals® Smoothies – and they were ready for an adventurous day.

It was now 7:00 PM.

I slowly backed out of Little Prince’s room with a smile on my face. Hugging his favorite book, and already deep in sleep, I knew we had a successful day. From coloring to outdoor play, it truly was a day of simple adventures. I can look forward to bright mornings again, because I’ve got my stash of smoothies.

How do you fuel their adventure? Check out more on-the-go fun from the Dannon® Social Hub.

September 8, 2015
Snowflake and Olaf FROZEN Grapes

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

If you’re kids love Disney’s FROZEN, they will love eating healthy with these Frozen Snowflake Grapes and Yogurt Olafs. They are so easy to make, and of course fun to eat! My kids are asking for snowflakes after school every day now!

Years ago, or so it seems, when Mark was teaching band he introduced me to frozen grapes. The night before their first parade march found us skewering grapes and sticking them in the freezer. I was skeptical to say the least, but 24 hours later on a hot summery day – frozen grapes ya’ll! They’re amazing!

Jump a couple years, and without marching band, I kind of forgot about our frozen grape treats until walking through Walmart and I saw FROZEN Grapes! They were obviously just calling to me to freeze as an after school snack. I then found myself wandering all around the store dreaming up all kinds of ways to make frozen grapes a bit more fun for the kids – Snowflakes! Olaf! drink toppers!

These were super simple to put together one afternoon while the kids were at school. Little Prince and I pulled out a clamshell of FROZEN grapes, vanilla yogurt and our trusty toothpicks. I got to work skewering grapes to look like snowflakes, while the little prince turned his into “Cars! See mommy, I made a car”.

I used 6 toothpicks in total for each Snowflake. Taking 1 grape insert 4 toothpicks on each side. Skewer 2 grapes onto each toothpick. Taking 2 more toothpicks skewer diagonally all the way through the center toothpick, and add 4 more grapes, one to each side end sticking out. While not terribly hard to create, perhaps you want something simpler – in that case skewer 2 grapes to a toothpick, and dip it in vanilla yogurt to create your own Olaf.

Once all the grapes are skewered and covered in yogurt as desired, I toss them on parchment lined cookie sheet, and place in the freezer. Do not forget the parchment paper! Otherwise the grapes will freeze to the pan, and then you’ll have sad kids with no frozen grapes, and no one wants that.

After about 2 hours you’ll have sufficiently frozen FROZEN grapes, but I like giving them a good 24 hours for a nice freeze. I served our frozen snowflakes and yogurt Olaf’s alongside a bowl of vanilla yogurt for extra dipping fun.

Yesterday was probably the hottest and most humid day we’ve had since moving to Indiana. Despite that, I still walked the kids to and from school. When it’s right around the corner I have a hard time justifying putting them on the bus. It was so nice to have this cool treat waiting when we got home from our afternoon walk. Princess R was not expecting just how cold and delicious these would be though. She let out lots of Ohh’s and Yum’s – Mommy Success!

Have you seen the new FROZEN packaged Grapes? Months ago we saw them on apples, and now my kids LOVE eating apples and grapes! What fresh produce would you like to see Disney help market next?

September 4, 2015
Learning to Live Without and Save Money

This is a sponsored post; compensation was received. All thoughts are my own

Sometimes I look at my life, and I wonder, how do I do it? How have we continued to make it despite the constant struggle for employment that will cover the cost of living? I’ve been reflecting on that as we begin a new adventure in a city that is literally close to everything you could ever want. The answer for us has been simple

Live Without.

You Don’t NEED things. You can live without, and still survive. People do it all the time around the world. There are of course a few basics every human should have – food, clothes, shelter. After that, though, the rest is just to add comfort and adventure to our life. The great news is, you can find comfort and adventure without spending a fortune. In fact, you can get those things while saving money at the same time!

So I’m here today to tell you how you can save money, and learn to live without, while still enjoying life.

Skip the Treats.
This is probably the biggest for us. When it comes to our grocery budget I’m tight. Very tight! People are always asking me how I manage to feed us with our limited budget, and most of the time I honestly don’t even know. One thing though is we skip the desserts and treats. Periodically we indulge, but they are not common in our home. If we have treats, it’s most likely homemade from scratch, like my apple pie burritos.

Free Entertainment.
One thing I love to do is find free entertainment. When you’re living on a budget, memberships to gyms, museums.and zoos just aren’t going to happen. So instead, we walk around our local farmers market, take in some free concerts in the park, and get out in nature. Mostly, though, we enjoy hanging out in the backyard, finding new bugs, and swinging on the tree swing.

Money saving apps.
Then there are the apps. I love Checkout51 and Ibotta the most. The key to using these apps is not to let it sucker you into buying extra things just to get the money back. Just like coupons, I only use them if it’s something I’m already buying. So I may not have high returns, but every little bit adds up.

Giving Assistant.
A new favorite discovery of mine, is Giving Assistant. After living in North Dakota I finally caved to buying more things online out of necessity. With Giving Assistant, I can do my online shopping through places like Amazon (my personal fave!); get cash back, AND donate to charity! You can choose how much of the cash back you get and how much goes to charity.
Now besides shopping my favorite site, I noticed they also have a deal with Thred Up. I’ve never personally used ThredUp, but I know it’s a way to save money on clothes. What makes that better, oh just getting cash back by shopping through Giving Assistant.

What have you learned to live without? How do you save money?

July 14, 2015
The Power of a Smile

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

Have you ever noticed how one person’s smile can change your day? It could be from your neighbor, your friend, your children, your mother to the cashier, waitress, or mailman. Smiles are truly powerful little muscles on our face.

A smile can say many many things, but here are 4 powerful messages I read in a person’s smile.

LOVE

When someone smiles at me, I feel loved. To me a smile is like giving a hug. We can’t go around hugging everyone that needs one (though you would be awesome in my book if you did), but we can give smiles out freely.

STRENGTH

A smile gives someone strength. We have this greeter at Walmart who always welcomes us with a smile and stickers and suckers for the kids. His smile gets me through the store in one piece, especially when I’ve got all the kids tagging along.

COURAGE

Smile’s are often given out, but by giving yourself a smile. Working those muscles out for you, you giving yourself courage. There’s the phrase “grin and bear it”, which tells us exactly this.

SAFETY

A smile from a loved one, reminds me that I’m safe with them. I can talk to them and be myself. When you give a smile, you let someone know they can feel safe around you.

See, I told you smiles are powerful! Sometimes though, we may not want to open up because we’re embarrassed. We may feel our smile judged like Yzma’s was by Kuzco. By nature humans have a tendency to judge, and the last thing we want is our powerful smiles to be in this spotlight. I took Colgate® Optic White® Express White toothpaste for a test drive, and WOW! With 2x more whitening power (vs Optic White® Sparkling Mint® TP), I was blown away with the results.

Whose teeth are these?! As you can see, I don’t have the straightest teeth in the world, but I came to terms with that a long time ago. The yellow however, often had me closing my mouth, too scared I would offend instead of uplift.

I know the power of smiles, so it’s time we use that! I printed out some of those SMILE cards above, and we headed back to Walmart to spread some love. Princess R helped me, and we left some smiles around for other customers to find. We started of course with our greeter, and ended sharing more than just smiles with some kids in need.

After Walmart we headed out to give one more smile to someone unexpectedly. Mark eats a lot of microwave noodles for lunch, and sometimes it’s soda and a poptart. We sent a quick text “Are you busy? Do you want a sandwich? We’re Outside!” He ran out to meet us with a big grin, and we reciprocated with a smile, a card, a sandwich and an apple.

Spur of the moment world changing power going on right there folks! Honestly I really should be better at sending him with lunch…we’re working on that.

Next time you’re at Walmart, spread some smiles, and pick up your own bottle of Colgate® Optic White® Express White. On 2/28 select stores will have roaming demo’s and $1 Off coupons – see if your store is on the list.

How will you change the world with a smile today?

February 25, 2015
TWIX Bites Trail Mix #EatMoreBites #shop
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. #EatMoreBites

We wanted to go hiking over Memorial Day Weekend, so I wanted to have something to keep the kids energy up, but that they wouldn’t complain about either. We headed to Walmart to pick up ingredients for our own trail mix. I could not resist grabbing a couple bags of TWIX Bites to toss in the mix. I had to reach way back in the shelf, since everyone else seems to like TWIX as much as I do.

I almost grabbed some UNO too…but remembered we already have it.

Now in case that picture of shelves and shelves of candy has you running to the store before you get down to the recipe….WAIT. Grab one of these coupons first!

Or head to Coupons.com and grab one of these offers

Save $0.50 Off any two (2) MARS Brand Bites, 2oz. or larger. Includes TWIX®, 3 MUSKETEERS®, MILKY WAY® Simply Caramel, MILKY WAY® & SNICKERS®.

Save $2.00 Off any two (2) MARS Brand Bites, 6oz. or larger. Includes TWIX®, 3 MUSKETEERS®, MILKY WAY® Simply Caramel, MILKY WAY® & SNICKERS®.
TWIX Bites Trail Mix

2016-01-20 09:05:52

Up your trail mix with TWIX Bites and Chocolate Covered cereal.

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Ingredients

4 cups corn square cereal

1/2 cup dark chocolate peanut butter

1 TBS butter

1/8 tsp Almond extract

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup chocolate covered craisins

1 1/2 cups mini pretzels

1 cup roasted garlic rye chips

1 cup raw peanuts

2 6oz bags TWIX Bites

1/4 sunflower nuts

1/2 cup freeze dried raspberries

Instructions

Combine the peanut butter, butter and almond in a small bowl.

Microwave for about 30 seconds on high.

Pour over corn square cereal and mix until all the cereal is coated.

In a paper bag, combine chocolate covered cereal and powdered sugar.

Close the bag and shake until well powdered.

Pour cereal into a large mixing bowl.

Add the rest of the ingredients and toss like a salad.

Divvy into individual servings and head outside for some summer fun.

By Home Maid Simple

Home Maid Simple https://www.homemaidsimple.com/
We ended up driving up the Uinta Mountains to get to Cascade Springs for our hike. It’s so beautiful up there, but there was a sign asking us not to bring food onto the trail. So after the hike the kids were thrilled to have a chocolatey treat. I’m pretty sure all the TWIX Bites were picked out first while the peanuts were mostly handed back to me…

Really I think she was saying “Mom just let me eat it!!” After chasing Princess R around the springs, I know all I really wanted was to grab my bag of mix and eat it.

Where will you take TWIX Bites Trail Mix this summer?
June 6, 2014
Saving Money with LED Power #LEDSavings #shop

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. #LEDSavings

Ever since my brother told me he’s moving his family to Belgium this summer, I’ve been determined to make a trip back East to see them before they go. I’ve been racking my brain for ways to cut our monthly costs back. I thought I had done everything I could, without starving my family (I promise we eat a nice balanced diet) when I came across LED power.

LED lighting has been around for awhile, but they aren’t cheap upfront, and it’s not something I’ve seen or noticed in a lot of homes. Since I was unfamiliar with it, I wasn’t so sure the initial cost would really save us money. I’m one who won’t buy a store membership just to get a little savings – so buying a single LED powered bulb for what I would normally get 2 or more bulbs for wasn’t too convincing at first.

That would be like judging a book by it’s cover though, so I did some more research into what kind of savings I would get by purchasing the LED light bulb. Check out the types of savings I found – not just for me, but the environment as well!

Infographic sources – GE Energy Consumption calculator

MSN Real Estate

15X Longer than incandescent Bulbs!!! Let’s look at that one a little bit closer – I buy incandescent bulbs for around $3-$5/bulb. One GE LED Energy Smart is on average $10/bulb but can get up to $15 for a regular indoor bulb. To buy one LED I’m spending 3X the money up front. However, if I buy the incandescent, it’s going to burn out a lot sooner than the LED – 15x sooner actually. Let’s do a quick life cycle cost analysis shall we?

$5×15 = $75

or

$15×1 = $15

You all see what I did there right? Over the lifetime of 1 LED bulb I’m saving $60 in bulb replacement costs. That would equal to filling up with gas once. Alright, I’m feeling a little more sold on my upfront costs so I bought a couple at my Walmart to try out.

Now what’s this about the trees? You can head over to GE’s website and input the number and style of bulb you are replacing in your home and it does a couple calculations for you. I’m a tree lover, and that number just astounded me! I decided to start with just replacing the 4 bulbs I bought, and see what kind of savings I was going to get.

With just 4 bulbs replaced I’m lowering our energy bill by $20/year, and reducing the co2 as if I planted over 3 million acres of trees! The savings would cover almost 1 full bill in the summer, leaving me a little extra for our trip back east.Later I input enough bulbs to replace all the lights in my home which is where the 15 million acres of trees comes from on the infograph above, but my yearly savings also jumped up to just over $80. That’s a good winter’s energy bill completely eliminated, and in two years will have more than covered the initial cost of all the bulbs.

Finally, did you see the savings cost on a typical household energy bill? Pretty impressive. I’d love to lower my yearly costs to only $26! Put that other $238 in my pocket. What I love about this, besides just the monetary savings, is that the LED lights are designed to improve lighting performance, while also eliminating the wasted heat.Ever turn off a light and try to change the bulb? CFL’s get hot quick! While playing around with the LED and CFL’s, I found I could leave the LED on longer, and remove it immediately after turning off the light, while the CFL after just a few seconds got way too hot to touch. Disclaimer: please please always do a quick touch to any lightbulb before grabbing hold so you don’t burn yourself. The bottoms of the LED lights do get hot.

Grab this tutorial for a Clarinet Lamp

So remember how I said I wanted to head back east this summer, but I didn’t know what else I could cut from our budget? Look what the GE LED Energy Smart lightbulbs just saved me –

$60 in bulb replacement costs

$80 from my energy bill (but can be up to $238 for the average household)

That gives me an extra $140 to spend on our vacation – we could actually get a nice hotel for that!

What would you do with the savings from a GE LED Energy Smart bulb?

For more Savings info, and to keep up with GE Lighting Follow them on

Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

Sarah Mock from How I Pinch a Penny put together this amazing video on the GE LED lights that is just FAB! Watch the video to see how she is saving

April 14, 2014
2 Sandwiches with Bagel Thins and Sandwich Thins
*This post is sponsored by Sandwich Thins®, Pocket Thins® and Bagel Thins ®. They provided me with coupons and a gift card to try the products mentioned. All thoughts are my own*

I was so excited when I heard about Bagel thins, Sandwich thins, and Pocket Thins. The gears in my head started turning, as I dreamed up this bagel sandwich with ham, asparagus, eggs and hollandaise sauce. I could practically taste it before I ever bought the ingredients.

Then I started thinking about the Sandwich and Pocket Thins, and I was brought back to my childhood. I remember my mom stuffing sprouts into a pita pocket with my ham and cheese. I thought it was the best thing ever. I haven’t put sprouts on my sandwiches in forever, so I knew I was creating a treat to take me back home.

Unfortunately I couldn’t locate the Pocket Thins in any of my local stores *sad face*, so I decided to make do with the Sandwich Thins. These are great because they contain zero grams trans fat, are cholesterol free, and have no high fructose corn syrup. Plus my favorite thing about them is their thinness. I mean I love sandwiches, but sometimes the bread takes over from being able to taste all the other yummy goodness, am I right?

I hope you enjoy my adult version of my childhood favorite!

Start by gathering all your ingredients:
- Sandwich Thins: Healthy Multi-grain Rolls
- Stonemill Kitchens Artichoke & Parmesan
- Deli meat – whatever your preference is
- shredded cheddar
- shredded Romaine
- sliced tomatoes
- Alfalfa Sprouts
I was a little worried pulling the top and bottom apart, but they came apart very easily. Next spread 1 tsp of the Artichoke Parmesan on the bottom half.

Add sliced tomato, followed by your choice of deli meats. I used Honey Turkey and Chicken.

It’s looking so yummy! At this point, layer with shredded lettuce and cheese – as little or as much as you desire.

Now you’re ready for the finishing touch, and highlight of the sandwich – Alfalfa Sprouts (or whatever sprouts you prefer). Be generous.

Top with the other half of the Sandwich Thin, and then sit down, and really enjoy.

Sandwich Thins and Pocket Thins come in a variety of flavors including

100% Whole Wheat, Healthy Multi-grain, Honey Wheat, Flax & Fiber

Connect with Sandiwch Thins on Facebook and Weight Watchers

Ready for the next Sandwich? This one uses Thomas Bagel Thins. It wasn’t until I pulled the mix for the Hollandaise sauce out that I realized my idea wasn’t that original. I was making basically Eggs Benedict. When I researched what exactly Eggs Benedict was though, I came across a list of variations. My sandwich wasn’t exactly any of the variations either, so I combined two to give this sandwich it’s name – Oscar Eggs Benedict.

This was some serious yum. It was hours later and I could still taste the melding flavors from this deliciousness. I hope you enjoy.
Oscar Eggs Benedict

2016-01-02 04:54:26

Serves 1

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Ingredients

1 Plain Bagel Thin (they also come in 100% Whole Wheat, Cinnamon Raisin, and Everything)

1 slice of Ham

3 Asparagus Spears

1 egg

Knorr’s Hollandaise Sauce

Stonemill Kitchens Artichoke Parmesan

Garlic Pepper

Instructions

Open your Bagel Thin and spread 1 TBS Artichoke Parmesan on the bottom half. Set aside

Heat 1 TBS Olive Oil in a medium frying pan.

Break the Asparagus Spears in half and add to the oil.

Sprinkle with a dash of Garlic Pepper.

Fry for about 5 minutes. Remove asparagus, and set aside.

Break your egg into the pan, and add the slice of ham as well.

Fry your egg however you desire. I prefer a soft yolk, but others don’t. If you want it more Benedict traditional, poach your egg. I was going for quick and easy.

Meanwhile cook the Hollandaise sauce according to package instructions. Or make your own – The Pioneer Woman’s recipe looks pretty simple.

Place the ham on the Bagel Thin, top with asparagus, egg, and Hollandaise sauce.

Add bagel top and enjoy.

By Home Maid Simple

Home Maid Simple https://www.homemaidsimple.com/
Serve with a Fresh Fruit Smoothie for an extra burst of yummy.

Thomas Bagel Thins are 110 calories and cholesterol free.

These along with the Sandwich and Pocket Thins are only 3 Weight Watchers Points – as for adding the rest of the ingredients, I couldn’t tell you what the points are.

Connect with Thomas Bagel Thins on Facebook and Weight Watchers

Giveaway! *EXPIRED*

1 winner will receive a $25 Visa gift card and Free Product Coupon. Plenty to make both of these sandwiches!

Open to US residents only. Enter on Rafflecopter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
March 12, 2014
Easy Meals for Busy Nights with #KraftRecipeMakers

Ever have those nights where you’re running around, picking kids up from school, dropping them off for sports, music, and other extra activities. Then you’ve got a movie date with your spouse, and still need to get quick family meals on the table. I recently came across Kraft Recipe Makers thanks to another blogger, and had to pick up a couple. These are the BEST easy meals I’ve ever come across, that I still feel good about serving up.

It was about a month ago I came across a recipe using the Kraft Recipe Makers. I had never heard of this before and wasn’t even sure what I was looking for when I went to the store the first time. When I found them though, I got pretty excited about the variety of flavors. That first time I picked up a couple different varieties and used the Sweet and Sour Chicken that night to create a kid favorite!

The other night Mark sent me a message about a fun family activity going on that night at the library. It looked fun, but left little time to put dinner together. I was so glad I had the Chicken Bruschetta Pasta on hand. This meal kit was absolutely delicious, and fit right into the time frame I had.

I loved the easy to follow directions and photo’s on the back of the package. Have you ever actually measured your pasta before? Normally I dump the whole bag into some water, but decided to follow measurements this time.

My family are big pasta eaters, so I was worried it wouldn’t be quite enough, but it was plenty. Once I had the pasta going, I moved onto the chicken.

Next time I make this (because we will be making it again!), I’ll make sure to cut the chicken into a bit smaller pieces. Simmering the chicken in the Basil Garlic sauce, made our house smell divine!

Once the chicken and pasta are cooked, you combine them add the finishing sauce and some Parmesan cheese. Voila, dinner served! I didn’t time it exactly but I’d say it was close to a total 30 minutes from start to finish. Quick easy meal served!

The only thing I wish I’d done different was seen this tip while still at the store. We were out of croutons, but I have a feeling they would have been the perfect addition to this pasta! Since I missed grabbing some croutons I tossed some garlic toast in the oven to add to the canned green beans on the side. A perfectly balanced meal in my book.

Not only was this an easy meal to prepare, but the kids loved it too – especially Prince L. Just check out the smiles he gave as the pasta was shoved in his mouth.

We had just enough leftover for my lunch today (my lunch, not the kids..). I should have expected it, but Prince L’s sandwich was tossed on the floor and I found him on my lap stealing pasta. He knows where the good stuff is.

The debate is on now – Asian Fish Tacos next, or Verde Chicken Enchiladas? We don’t have many crazy busy nights yet, but I know they’re going to start creeping up on us. I’ll be keeping a couple Kraft Recipe Makers in the pantry for an easy meal maker.

Keep up to date with new Kraft products by visiting their Facebook page.

October 15, 2013
Choosing the Right Lighting

The end is near! We finally closed on our house just before Christmas. It has made moving a bit of a nightmare, but the house is ours, and it is time to turn it into a home.

Today I want to talk a little about lighting. Finding the right lights, creating the right mood with lights, and not over lighting or under lighting any area of your home. See I have a problem. Our new Front Room is very much under lighted. I’ve been browsing some of the Kartell lighting over at LBC Modern.

Under Lighting

Here is a snapshot of our front room (ignore Christmas…)

It’s a fairly small room, and the only lighting is that old antique light hanging from the corner – which by the way, doesn’t work. So now our only light in this room is the big picture window facing north. I mention that because the north side of the home gets the cold, and not as much sun. Leaving our lighting pretty dim here.
I want this room to be welcoming, which means it needs the right lights. I’m thinking a bourgie table lamp next to a small couch would look pretty nice.

Above the shelf I would like to add some recessed can lighting as well, to spotlight any decorating I do or pictures we may hang there.

These small lighting additions would bring this room up to the perfect lighting atmosphere to be welcoming, but not overly lit or gaudy.

Over Lighting

Our new kitchen has had the opposite effect with over lighting. The kitchen is a small little space in this home (yes another remodel is on the horizon!). My current issue, however, is the overabundance of lights, and the separate switch for each one. I think I counted 3 or 4 different switches in the kitchen, and each one only turned on one single light. It’s enough to spin me in circles trying to get the right light on. There is a dining area light, an above the sink light, and a laundry light. With the way it is set up right now, the laundry light is needed. It could easily be changed, though, to have one longer light in the kitchen that would give light into the laundry side of the room and extend to the dining area. This would especially work as the dining side could use the light from the south facing window it sits next to. Again, south side of the house, you’ll be getting more sun, and therefore, don’t need as much lighting.

Use Lights to Set the Mood

Lighting truly affects our moods. The more light, especially natural light from the sun, the happier we are. I strive for joy and happiness in our home, something I think we all probably do. So I love tossing open the curtains and blinds and letting in the sun. There are some areas of a home though, that don’t get the natural lighting. Areas such as a basement. They tend to be dark. By finding the right lights, you can create a joyful area in the basement, despite its lack of sun. I would go with bright lights and soft shades for a table lamp. If the ceilings are tall enough in your basement, hanging overhead lights can give off more light than those closer to the ceiling.

If you’re creating a space for kids, though, you may want to try different colored lights. They can spark creativity and a joyful mood for your children. I personally love these Pablo Tube Lights I found. Not only would my kids love the colors, but they are also dimmable lights, so I can adjust them to just the right amount of light we need.

Well, I’m off to pack some more boxes, and daydream of the future remodels in our new home. I can’t wait to show you pictures of what we do!

*This sponsored post was made possible by SheHeard. I have been compensated for my time and work on this campaign, however, all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

December 27, 2012