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Buffalo Chicken Salad Appetizers
Product was exchanged for this recipe on Buffalo Chicken Salad. All opinions are my own.

Super Bowl Sunday is coming! These Buffalo Chicken Salad appetizers have the perfect kick to kick off your party.

Super Bowl Sunday to me doesn’t mean watching football. To me, it means lots of good food that I don’t generally eat the rest of the year. Finger food days are some of my favorites. They usually require a bit more work to prepare, but once all the food is prepped, the rest of the day is left for digging in!

These Buffalo Chicken Salad appetizers are my favorite kind of “finger food”. With a layer of chips on the bottom and a bowl of chips for extra dipping, you won’t need any forks to enjoy this salad. The Creamy Ranch Buffalo marinade from Moore’s adds just the right kick to this salad bowl.

Not only does this salad have a nice kick, it’s super simple t make too! The chicken cooks up and shreds in the slow cooker, and with a prepared bag of salad, all that’s left to prep, are the cherry tomatoes and shredded cheese. I filled paper food tray’s I got from amazon with the salad, making this a great dish to hold while still cheering on your favorite team.
Buffalo Chicken Salad Appetizer

2017-02-01 09:29:58

Serves 6

Delicious salad for a Super Bowl Sunday

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Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

3 min

Total Time

3 hr 10 min
Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

3 min

Total Time

3 hr 10 min

Ingredients

1lb chicken cutlets

1/2 cup Moore’s Creamy Ranch Buffalo Marinade

2oz Cream Cheese

Bagged Salad

Tortilla Chips

1/2 cup Cherry Tomatoes, sliced

1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions

Mix chicken, marinade, and cream cheese in a slow cooker. Cook on high for 3 hours.

Remove chicken from slow cooker, and shred. Return to slow cooker while you prepare the rest of the salad.

Layer tortilla chips and bagged salad in individual dishes.

Top with shredded chicken, tomatoes and shredded cheese

By Home Maid Simple

Home Maid Simple https://www.homemaidsimple.com/
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February 1, 2017
Winter Car Emergency Kit
This winter car emergency kit has been made possible by meori. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

With winter, comes the potential for an emergency situation where you are stuck in the car. From minor accidents like fender benders to larger ones such as sliding off a slippery road and getting stuck in a snowdrift. With a winter car emergency kit, you and your passengers will have the comfort needed in any crises.

Thankfully I’ve never been in a terrible accident, but I have had my fair share of winter emergencies where this emergency kit would have been extremely handy. I’ve tried to keep things both practical and useful. After all, who wants to carry extra ‘stuff’ in their car all winter long. Not me! Four kids and all their ‘stuff’ that seems to end up in the car is more than enough extras.

So I’ve gathered everything you might need in an emergency – whether big or small – and compacted it into the meori foldable box with two compartments. I love that meori has CAR printed on it already, making it easy to see for everyone, including the husband, that this box belongs in the car.

So what do I have in my winter car emergency kit? Let me tell you.
- Blankets for each child
- Emergency sleeping bags
- emergency ponchos
- hand warmers
- first aid kit
- emergency whistle
- Water bottles for each person
- Flashlight
- emergency calorie food bars
- $10 in cash
We fit everything but the blankets into a backpack for ease of carrying if we actually have to leave the car somewhere. So far that has not occurred, thank goodness! The backpack itself then fits nicely inside one compartment in the meori box, while the other side fits 4 fleece blankets. Together it all fits snugly in the bag of my Honda Pilot. If you know anything about the pilot, the trunk space is probably the only downfall. Being able to store a fully loaded emergency kit with room leftover is quite impressive.

The meori box has proven to be quite durable. ait’s quality made and holds up well to a large semi-unorganized family. The car box has been fantastic, but that’s not all they have. I’ve used meori to organize inside the house too! Just check out these other uses for inside your home.

meori Filing Box

Winter Gear Storage
December 7, 2016
Paper Trax: The Toy Kids Will Love

I received Paper Trax for review. All thoughts are 100% my honest feelings.

Are you still looking for a gift that that the kids will just love this Christmas? Something that won’t take up tons of space, but will still create joy and excitement every time it’s played with? Have I got the gift for you!

The first time I heard of Paper Trax was when Lincoln found The Axel Show on youtube. I immediately fell in love with this dad/son duo and the wholesome real life experiences my son was watching. When they checked out the Paper Trax, we were hooked. Cardboard race tracks, that attach to the walls via command strips? It was perfect!

So of course, we had to try it ourselves. Those of you living in apartments know how bare your walls can seem. You either don’t want to, or can’t put holes in the walls, and that leaves some wide open blank spaces for kids coloring and fingerprints….hopefully you have better luck with that than I do…

The first thing I would say is before you start attaching the Paper Trax to the wall, have someone hold them up and test out a few cars. We still have a pretty sweet raceway, it just has a couple bumps in the road since we skipped testing it out before attaching. The nice thing, though, is we could take them down, attach new command strips, and replace them to create a more efficient track.

For now, we’ll leave it as is because the kids are having a blast seeing which cars will race the whole way, and which ones will jump track. Which reminds me, I need to install a basket at the end of the track to catch the cars as they fly off the ends.

Paper Trax just released their corner trax making this toy even cooler! Race around the whole room, or around hallways!

November 30, 2016
Help Your Preteen Organize Their Schedule with Mastervision

I received a Mastervision board for review. All opinions are 100% my own honest thoughts.

Preteens these days are busy busy busy. With afterschool activities, homework, and learning how to take care of themselves it’s important that our preteens learn how to stay organized and on top of their own schedules.

This year I’ve been trying to give Venice more freedom as well as responsibility for her own time. At 10 years old, and in 4th grade, it’s time that she takes control over getting her homework done, and letting me know any important messages and activities from school. Of course, I don’t expect her to do it all without any help from me. That’s why we’re learning together.

I saw the Mastervision 3-1 board and knew it was the perfect gift to give her space. She’d already hung up a paper calendar in her room, but the Mastervision has given her more space for all her daily activities, as well as extra space for reminders, artwork, or as she has used it for – a little Brain Quest practice.

As I’ve been thinking of the best ways to help Venice become more independent with her daily life, three keys came to mind. She needed a vision, a visual, and something hands on. Mastervisions 3 in 1 board has made space for all three. The whiteboard/calendar allows her to write down her ideas, and see what she needs to be working on each day.

Having a space to call their own, can really help a preteen start learning the necessary skills to take charge of their life. Next time they ask if they can hang out with a friend, or join another afterschool activity, they’ll be able to visually see what days they have open, and just how much time they can spend on a new activity or project. Get them some fun colored markers from Shoplet’s office supplies, and they’ll really take to their new responsibility.

How do you help your teen take charge of their schedules?

November 21, 2016
Kidloland Offers Entertaining App to Engage and Teach Kids

I received the Kidloland App download at no charge. All opinions are 100% my own thoughts.

I’m going to get real here. The last few months I have not been the kind of Mom I really want to be. Working and going to school, and going through a pregnancy that has been more physically draining than my previous four has left me well .. drained.

My friend told me about YouTube Kids, and how she lets her girls watch shows on there without worrying about the content they’re receiving. So I downloaded and loved it! At least, I did until I found I was using it to entertain for far too long, with not as much education value going on. Something needed to change.

Then Kidloland appeared. OK, I was skeptic, mostly of myself. Would another app make me feel any less guilty for the lack of time I am spending with my only child during the day? Probably not. It would at least be more educational directed during the busiest part of my day, and times where I truly don’t feel good.

Kidloland has seriously so much going on in it, that after a month I don’t think we’ve even touched half of the fun inside the app. With over 1000 Nursery Rhymes, Songs, Stories, Activities and Games every day offers something new to discover. The nursery rhymes are my favorites while Lincoln likes to hang out with the Dinosaurs and Trucks listening to songs and games featuring his interests.

While Lincoln hasn’t learned to read yet, he is learning the alphabet and has started associating that letters, put together, make words. Words that he likes to pretend he knows. The running words on the bottom of the screen during each song helps enhance his learning, even if he doesn’t realize it. Along with that, he can actually interact with the app. Touching different items during the songs cause them to do fun things or change colors.

November 17, 2016
Angels Above Cherished by Shannon Clark

I received an Angels Above product for review. All opinions are 100% my honest thoughts.

Our children are my world. Our faith is the basis of everything else we do. If I can teach my children that they are loved, more infinitely than just by me, as well as teach them to love others with all their hearts, that’s what I want to do.

We received the Angels Above Cherished Book, which is meant for the young and old. They also have Angels Above Blessed Baby for babies first book and angel. I wasn’t entirely sure my kids would be into the whole angel thing. We don’t believe angels have wings, but we do believe in heaven and our ancestors watching over us. The cotton angel was a great way to introduce this belief once again.

The book, however, quickly became dear to my heart. As it reinforces the notion to my kids that they are loved, and also that others are watching them. Are they making good choices? Are they being kind to friends in need? Angels Above is a cute story that takes the lessons I’ve been striving to instill in my children and brings them to life with the cotton plush angel that accompanies each book.

Lincoln attached himself to the angel more than I thought he would. With 3 older sisters, we have a lot of girl dolls and toys. He’s always trying to join in their play, but isn’t always fond of playing with the girl dolls. Having a little boy angel with removable wings has meant he can play with sisters without any fights from them on which doll he gets to be. It’s also allowed him a “friend” to play with when everyone else is at school and I’m working.

When you purchase an Angels Above book, 10 meals are provided to children around in need through the Children’s Hunger Fund and Story Changers. To me, this makes the Angels Above books worth so much more. I can give my child a book full of values while also giving to those less fortunate than myself.

November 15, 2016
Grab some Popcorn, Indiana then Watch these 10 Movies with Ties to Indiana

I received Popcorn, Indiana to sample. All opinions are 100% my own thoughts.

Have you ever heard of a little town called Popcorn, Indiana? Neither had I until I saw their Drizzlecorn® popcorn, and just had to try it!

Popcorn, Indiana is actually a small town in Indiana with a population of 42, according to the popcorn package. They grow their corn in GMO-free soil, and us no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives in the making of their popcorn. It’s a cute little town, from what the internet tells me, that I’m tempted to take an afternoon drive through someday.

When I got my Popcorn, Indiana bags I knew I had to watch something truly awesome with it. This wasn’t going to be just any movie popcorn snacking for me. So I did a little research and found these 10 movies with ties to Indiana. If my popcorn is coming from Indiana, I figured my movie should too! Here’s the list along with how they correlate to Indiana.

A Christmas Story – Set in the fictional town of Hohman, Indiana A Christmas Story is a classic everywhere. It’s the perfect movie to enjoy with the whole family while munching on the Dark Fudge Peppermint Drizzlecorn. You’ll shoot your eye out.

Hoosiers – Loosely based on the Milan High School 1954 state championship win, the title says it all. Hoosiers is set in the rural south-eastern town of Hickory, Indiana.

The Fault In Our Stars – A more recent movie, based off the best-selling book by John Green, we find ourselves in the heart of Indianapolis. As the main characters head out for a picnic at the epic Funky Bones, natives of Indianapolis can say they’ve been there too! Though, the bones were actually reconstructed in Pittsburgh for the filming with the help of the original artist.

Rudy – Another sports film based on the true story of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger. Rudy is both based in Indiana and filmed in Indiana. One of the few films Notre Dame has allowed to be filmed on campus. Rudy is inspirational, and a must see if you love sports.

A League of Their Own – Starring Tom Hanks, making it an automatic must-see from me, and featuring the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Many of the games featured were filmed at Bosse Field in Evansville, Indiana as well as the League Stadium in Huntingburg Indiana.

Transformers Dark of the Moon – Now this one does not take place at all in Indiana, however, filming took place on the Northern side of the state near Gary, Indiana to showcase Ukraine in the movie.

Pearl Harbor – Another local filming to show a location abroad, the filming of Tokyo’s Industrial section in Pearl Harbor is actually just the US Steel Works in Gary, Indiana.

The Music Man – While not set in or filmed in Indiana, you can’t help but feel a connection to the Hoosier state as the Music Man sings of his hometown Gary, Indiana.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind – While not filmed in Indiana, the main characters we follow on their journey of extraterrestrial encounters are from Muncie, Indiana.

Friendly Persuasion – Following a Quaker family in Indiana, they must decide if they should fight or follow their religious teachings of peace. Another movie to bring you closer to the history of local Hoosiers.

What Indiana, Popcorn® flavor will you try first?

Indiana, Popcorn has both classic popcorn and their drizzlecorn popcorn. With flavors from Sea Salt to Aged White Cheddar, and chocolate drizzled Caramel to Pretzel you’ll find a flavor to love, I guarantee it!

November 9, 2016
A letter to my Tween: Fuel Amazing

Our babies grow so fast, don’t they? My oldest turned 10 this year, and is now considered a tween. I’ve tried avoiding thinking too much about it, but it’s the truth. Have you ever written a letter to your children? Why not take a moment and share with amazing tween how much you care.

Yoplait wants YOU to write a letter to your Tween

Dear Venice,

I’m in awe at you this year. As my first child, I’ve had a lot of worries for you. Did I teach you enough in your younger years? Did I show enough love? Do you know no matter what just how much I love you?

Don’t mind me Venice, this is just your mom hoping she’s doing a good job. We’ve pulled you through a lot over your 10 years of life. I stopped counting the many moves we made. Every time, though, my thoughts and concerns were for you. Would you find new friends? Would the adjustment be short lived?

Finally, we seem to have settled in one place. For the first time in your life you’re at the same school for a 2nd year in a row! For a long time I did my best to always keep something constant. So every where we moved we looked for a dance studio. Oh how I love seeing your face light up and your confidence grow as you dance.

This year proved to be different though. We talked about dance, but then exciting flyers for school activities started coming home.

4 grade choir – “Mom I want to join the choir” you told me. So I said OK.

Pup running – “Mom I want to run” you said again. I once again said OK.

Spell Bowl – “Mom” I heard once more “I want to join the Spell Bowl”. This time, I hesitated a bit more, but eventually caved. Who was I to stand in the way of you trying anything your heart desired.

My dear girl, you have surpassed what I thought you could handle, and inspired me to keep dreaming and doing. See Venice, I know how much you love your sleep. With 2 of your activities this fall being an early morning activity – I knew how hard it was going to be to get you up.

Faithfully you have pushed through. You get up 30 minutes early 2 mornings a week with me, and every time with a smile and full of excitement. I have seen you blossom this past year into a strong confident young woman. You even blew my mind as you sat down and taught yourself after 1 simple lesson, how to play the piano.

Keep dreaming big Venice! I know that whatever you set your heart to, and take a passion for, will work out for you.

With all my love,

Your Mom

Right now Yolpait is encouraging parents of tweens everywhere to share what makes them amazing on their facebook page. Yoplait® just released their new Go Big pouches for amazing tweens and teens who need something to fuel their adventures.

The Go Big pouch has been the perfect addition to Venice’s early morning activities. Made with real fruit and just a touch of sweetness, it’s easy to rip top is great for the mornings when I sleep in and we’re rushing her out the door. Like I said, she loves her sleep, so there is no time for a hot breakfast on those mornings. With the large grip & rip puch, it’s also more than just an on-the-go snack for her growing body, and gives her the energy to get through the rest of the day.

Do you have an amazing Tween that’s crushing it?! Tell me all about them, and then don’t forget to share with other parents over on Yoplait!

October 18, 2016
Simple Honest Pure Lunch with Michael Angelo’s Seafood Meals

All ideas, recipes, & opinions are entirely my own, however, this is a sponsored post on behalf of Michael Angelo’s™.

When you go from feeding kids all day long, to only worrying about yourself and a little one for lunch – sometimes you can fall into a rut of pb&j and potato chips.

Once school started, and I found myself lacking energy from this pregnancy that is exactly what was happening. Little Lincoln was living off hot dogs while I was snacking on potato chips because they required nothing of me but to open the bag.

Please tell me I’m not alone in doing that!

Obviously, these aren’t terribly great lunch options and definitely weren’t helping with my lack of energy. So I decided to try something new. I’ve been needing to add in more seafood to my diet for cholesterol purposes, while at the same time limiting it for pregnancy reasons. I found the Michael Angelo’s new Seafood meals in the frozen aisle at my local Kroger’s and figured I should give them a try.

So I picked up every single variety to give them a fair chance of appeasing my weird pregnancy taste buds.

I started with the Stuffed Tilapia. The tilapia itself was perfect! It cooked up beautifully, and I could distinctly pick out all the ingredients in the stuffing. For me the spinach and garlic was a bit overpowering, but with a bite of Tilapia the flavors blended well. The whole 4 minutes it took to cook in the microwave I had to answer continuous questions from the kids about “What smells so good Mom?” and “Can I have some?”

Today I went for the Shrimp Scampi. Oh how I love a good shrimp scampi. Michael Angelo’s did not disappoint me. I was actually quite impressed with the garlic butter sauce. It was the perfect blend, and exactly what I needed this week after a few nights of rough sleep.

I find having one Seafood Meal a week is really good for me. Keeping Michael Angelo’s stocked in my freezer gives me one day a week I can ignore thinking about lunch, and get my weekly intake of delicious seafood. It will help me avoid making a mess in my kitchen that I know won’t get cleaned up because all my energy went into cooking.

I can’t wait until the next few weeks to try the Salmon Piccata and Seafood Primavera! Mark makes faces when I start talking seafood, but if I could, I would live off these delicious fish. Salmon and Shrimp followed by anything else from the sea – just yum! Who else feels the same?

Follow Michael Angelo’s on Facebook, and check them out in your local Frozen Food Aisle.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Michael Angelo’s . The opinions and text are all mine.

October 6, 2016
Life is Tough but So Are You

I received a Life Is Tough shirt from Cents of Style in exchange for this post.

Life is tough. I’ve come to accept that that is just how it will be. Sometimes life is easy, and we get to float through, but it’s the tough times that help us appreciate those easy times more.

I’ve had this bad habit through my life where I internalize most of my feelings. Unless positive happy joyful words are going to come out of my mouth, I keep it all in. Then I went through a lot of life changes. I became a Mom. I dropped out of school to raise my children. We dealt with many moves as a family, and job losses. I went back to school, while still raising my kids, and also began a business. I started saying YES to everything.

Not all the changes were bad, but some of them were stressful. Most of them were stressful. Everytime a new change was going to happen, I had to remind myself – You’ve made it this far, you’ll make it through this too. And so we have.

There comes a time though, when internalizing all the negative, and never letting anyone help you, can become detrimental. It is OK to be a happy and positive person. It is also OK to laugh through the tough times.

Do you know what else is OK? It’s OK to seek help. It’s OK to tell those around you when you don’t feel good. When life gets tough, it’s OK to take a nap. It’s OK to say “HEY! I’m not happy!”. Life is tough. Asking for help is tough.

But guess what – so are you! You are tough because you are still kicking your way through life. You are tough when you let other people see the real you. The struggling you. You are tough when you let others in to take care of you. You are tough because you know when you need to reach out.

September was labeled as Skirtember by a few of my friends. In an effort to raise awareness of Mental Illness, especially Prenatal depression. For those moms struggling to get dressed each day because mentally it’s too much – my friends were wearing a skirt every day. I tried to join in, and wore a skirt on the days I could.

Truth is, though, I’m struggling. Life got tough for me this month. Prenatal depression is real. On top of it I had some scares with the pregnancy, and physically this little one is taking a toll on my body I didn’t expect. Instead of continuing to smile through the pain though, I’ve reached out. I let people know, and I’m letting you know too.

I rewatched this video this morning and just cried. Life is tough, but as long as we hold on to hope and our Savior, we can be tough to, and we can make it through.

Check out the t-shirt Collection from Cents of Style!

Life is TOUGH! But so are you. So am I. Together we can create a community that helps and lifts each other through the tough times.

September 23, 2016