Tag: kitchen

  • Asparagus and Pork Stir Fry

    Asparagus and Pork Stir Fry

    This has been a very long, very straining week. So I did what I don’t normally do, and made a very easy meal, and am now going to share it with you. Please visit my co-host Diane on her blog Simple Living and Eating, for another great recipe!
     
    Asparagus and Pork Stir Fry
    When I’m short on time and ingredients, one thing I can always count on to be in my pantry is a bag of rice. The addition of vegetables, meat, and a bit of soy sauce will always turn out a winner at my house. 
    Stir Fry is a great way to use up leftover meat as well. In this one, I’ve used pork spareribs, but chicken, beef, and turkey will all work! Of course, if you want to go meatless, that is always an option as well. I often scramble in a few eggs, but again not absolutely needed. 
    What really makes this dish easy though is the use of frozen vegetables. Admittedly not my favorite way to make stir-fry, but it saves time and comes together quickly when you’ve had a long day.
    Asparagus and Pork Stir Fry
    Quick and Simple use of leftover Pork
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    Ingredients
    1. 2 cups Minute Rice
    2. 2 cups Water
    3. 2-3 TBS Olive Oil
    4. 1 bag Flav-R-pac Asparagus Stir Fry*
    5. Leftover BBQ Pork Ribs**
    6. Soy Sauce
    7. .
    Instructions
    1. In a wok, or large frying pan, heat the oil. Once the oil sizzles with a little water droplet, add the Asparagus Stir Fry mix, and pork.
    2. While the veggies are cooking, heat the water in a medium saucepan. When it begins to boil, add the rice. Cover, and remove from heat.
    3. Once the Veggies and meat are heated through, remove from pan. Serve over the rice with a little soy sauce dribbled on.
    Notes
    1. *If you prefer to use fresh veggies, the mix contains asparagus, carrots, celery, green beans, and cauliflower. Julienne the carrots and green beans. Chop the cauliflower and celery into bite size pieces. Cut the Asparagus into long strips, almost like Julienne, but leave the stalk intact.
    2. **The meat can be left out. I always enjoy a little added meat to our dishes though. For an extra boost of protein instead of meat, you can use some scrambled eggs. They would also be delightful in this dish
    Home Maid Simple https://www.homemaidsimple.com/
     


    ~FEATURES~ 
    from Cook With Sara
    This would be the perfect twist to plain old coleslaw.
     
    from Peace but not Quiet
    This dressing will go well over any of your summer staples – salad, chicken, tacos. Yum!
     
    from Something Sweet Winnie’s Blog
    I’m in heaven. These are the perfect treat for a long week. 
     
    Did you know? I have a pinterest board dedicated to all the Foodie Friday Features(plus ones I really really like, but didn’t feature).
     

     

     
  • Applie Pie Burritos #FoodieFriday

    Applie Pie Burritos #FoodieFriday

    BWS tips button

    Please visit my co-host Diane at Simple Living and Eating.

    Today’s recipe is brought to you by my husband Mark. He surprised me periodically with his creativity in the kitchen. Especially when what he is saying, doesn’t sound all that appetizing to me.
    If you recall I’ve attempted, not once, but twice, to make mini Apple Pies using puff pastry, and failed both times. So we had a nice bowl of Apple Pie Filling sitting in our fridge. I knew I needed to use it, I just didn’t know how.

    Then in comes Mark and he says
    “Hey, you know that Apple Pie filling in the fridge?”
    yes?
    “I was thinking, let’s wrap it in a tortilla, and drizzle butter, cinnamon and sugar on the top.”
    really? That sounds….not so great. But what the hey, let’s give it a go.

    An hour later (with a small twist of chocolate and ice cream by me) – “Holy Moly! This is good! I need more apple pie filling!”
    And that my dear readers is the story behind Apple Pie Burritos. A little late for Cinco De Mayo (my bad), but that’s OK because these are good anytime, anywhere.

    Apple Pie Burritos

    Ingredients
    4 flour tortillas
    1 TBS melted butter
    1 tsp Roasted Saigon Cinnamon
    2 tsp sugar
    Chocolate syrup
    ice cream
    Directions
    Warm the apple pie filling up in the microwave. About 2-3 minutes (stop periodically and stir).  Spoon 4 TBS filling (or your own desired amount) of filling onto a tortilla. Roll the tortilla up. Repeat with each tortilla. Drizzle melted butter across all 4 tortillas.
    In a small bowl combine Cinnamon and Sugar. Sprinkle over the tortillas. Top with a few scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream, and drizzle on some chocolate syrup.
    Eat, Enjoy, Make some more. 
    ~FEATURES~
    peanut butter pasta recipe
    Peanut Butter Pasta
    from Confessions of an Overworked Mom
    It seems strange at first, but it’s another great way to get the Asian inspired peanut flavor into pasta. 



    Very Berry Spinach Salad
    from Ashley’s Dandelion Wishes
    I love how simple this salad is, while still popping with pretty colors.



    Pile-On-Tops
    from A Handful of Everything
    If your still looking for a Mothers Day Breakfast, this would be perfect!

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  • Weekend Baking {Menu Plan}

    Weekend Baking {Menu Plan}

    I’ve never spent quite so much time in the kitchen as I did this last weekend. Maybe it was because I finally got some major cleaning done during the week, or maybe I was just really excited about some of the ideas I have cooked up for you. I don’t know. I do know, that by the end of the day yesterday my feet were killing me!

    Here’s a little run down of what I made:

    Sourdough bread.  I made my first starter ever last Sunday, and was itching the whole week for it to be ready to use. Unfortunately my bread machine decided it can’t sit still anymore, so it pulled it’s own cord partway through rising. Thankfully my mom taught me bread making as a child, so I easily adapted and oven baked it.

    Mini Apple pies. I tried making these a month or so ago and they failed. They failed again. I don’t think I’ll be attempting apple pie with phyllo dough anymore. It’s just too tricky to work with.

    Chocolate Butterflies. These were so fun to create, and turned out so pretty. Although Mark’s reaction to the books in the fridge will be right up there on things I will never forget – “Umm, did you know there’s a couple of books in the fridge?” Yes honey, I put them there.  Find the tutorial at We Lived Happily Ever After.

    Chocolate chip Banana Muffins and Yogurt Oatmeal parfaits.  I’ve made these before, and whipped them up quick Saturday so I could do a little photo shoot. I even bought some pretty flowers just for show (and really I love having fresh flowers in the house!)

    Nutella Banana Fudgesicles. This happened. It oh so happened. Mark bought our very first jar of Nutella and I went wild! Last Sunday it was nutella no-bakes (just switch out the peanut butter in this recipe with nutella). This week it was fudgesicles and sandwiches. The girls loved their Nutella and Honey sandwiches.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     
    This week’s Menu
     
    Monday – Steak and Egg Burritos
    Wednesday – Pancakes and Bacon
    Thursday – Lasagna
    Friday – Pizza night
    Saturday – Leftovers
    Sunday – Hawaiian Ham Skillet

    May’s Freezer Cooking:
    Italian Beef and Beans
    Beefy Enchiladas
    Chicken Tucson
    Spaghetti Casserole
    Ham and Corn Casserole

    
  • Nachos – Made for Dinner

    Nachos – Made for Dinner

     After indulging in my Nachos made for dinner, head on over to my cohost Diane for some delicious looking Carrot Chickpea Soup!

    Mark has requested a few more manly type meals. In truth he doesn’t request much, but he came home one day with a bag of chips and a #10 can of Nacho sauce. The challenge was on!

    He of course only expected chips, cheese, salsa and sour cream. He was not expecting what he came home to – a high pile of chips, shredded chicken, beans, cheese, tomatoes, green onions, sour cream and guacamole.

    I could not in good conscience serve my family nachos as a meal. Unless of course I found a way to balance it with a slightly more healthy take.  This my friends, this was good. I even had some as leftovers for lunch one day.

    Nachos
    Manly Nachos made for dinner
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    Ingredients
    1. 2 chicken breasts
    2. 2 tsp Wildtree Fajita Seasoning
    3. 1 cup water
    4. 1 bag tortilla chips
    5. 1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
    6. 1 cup cheese sauce, divided
    7. 1 avocado
    8. 1 TBS Wildtree guacamole mix
    9. 1 tomato , chopped
    10. 4 green onions, chopped
    11. sour cream dollops
    Instructions
    1. Place the chicken, fajita seasoning and water in your crockpot on high for 3-4 hours. Once the chicken is cooked through, use forks to shred the chicken. Set it aside.
    2. On a large baking sheet (a 9×13 baking dish would also work well) spread out half of the tortilla chips. Spread half of the chicken, and half of the pinto beans on top of the chips. Pour 1/2 cup of the cheese sauce over the first layer. Repeat the layer of chips, chicken, beans and cheese.
    3. Place your nachos in a 350 degree oven (can be preheated or not), for 30 minutes. While the nachos are heating up, cut the avocado in half. Remove the pit and peel. Mash the avocado with a fork, and stir in the guacamole mix. Place in fridge.
    4. Remove Nachos from oven. Top with tomatoes, green onions, and dollops of sour cream and guacamole. Enjoy!
    Home Maid Simple https://www.homemaidsimple.com/
      
    And if you’re wondering – this recipe makes enough to serve a small army…I’m not kidding, it’s a lot and pretty filling. Mark’s only “complaint” was not enough cheese.
     
     

    ~FEATURES~

    Banh Mi Asian Burgers
    I have never heard of Banh Mi before, but she had me at “drippy eggs”. I will do about anything for a nice soft egg yolk.
     
    Anyonita Nibbles: a trio of white chocolate & maple caramel eclairs with orange & star anise cream & chipped almonds
    White Chocolate and Maple Caramel Eclairs with Orange and Star Anise Cream and Chipped Almonds
    Have you noticed anything yet? If it has maple, I’ll probably feature it. If it’s got maple and caramel, there’s no way I’m passing it up!  I’m headed to a food coma just looking at these…someone pull me away from the screen!
     
    Lightened Strawberry Rhubarb Cake Food Done Light #strawberrycake #rhubarbcake #strawberryrhubarb #lightcake
    Strawberry Rhubarb Cake
    Guess what I found growing in my backyard this week? RHUBARB! This cake will be making it’s way into our house this summer.
     
     
     
  • DIY Repurposed Roller Shade: Instant Kitchen Facelift

    DIY Repurposed Roller Shade: Instant Kitchen Facelift

    If you look really closely at the left side of my shade here, you’ll see a speck. It’s no ordinary speck. That my dear readers is a squashed mosquito. Very flat too. I have no idea how long this bug was a part of the kitchen decor, but upon buying this home I knew it needed to go.
    I LOVED the roller shade though. Personally I think they are the best kinds of blinds because it eliminates dangerous cords, and they are extremely easy to pull up and down.  I digress though.  Let me tell you how I turned this into that for an easy DIY Kitchen Facelift.
     
    

    I’ll try and break down into easy steps for you – but please leave a comment or email if you have any questions.

    Measure – You’ll want to start by doing a lot of measuring. First measure the height of your window, and how far you want the shade to reach down. Then you’ll want to unroll the current shade and measure the width.  Next you’ll pick out your fabric and measure. Give yourself a 1 1/2 inch seam allowance on the sides, and a few inches on the bottom.

    Cut –  Cut out your fabric.  Next you’ll want to roll your shade onto a cutting mat on the floor. Anchor the roller so it doesn’t get in your way while you do this. Measure from the very top of the shade down to where you want the shade to end, and then give yourself another 1-2 inches (just for good measure). 
    DO NOT do what I do, and just cut off the bottom. First make sure you’re shade is straight both up and down and side to side. Then go ahead and cut off any extra of the current shade (my shade reached almost to the kitchen floor. I didn’t need that much, and I wanted to get rid of the smooshed bug).


    Iron, Fold, Pin, Hem – Go ahead and leave the old shade for a bit now. Take your piece of fabric and measure out the seam allowance. Fold at the 1 1/2 inch mark, and iron it down. This will create an easy line to follow for a finished hem. After ironing the seam, unfold it. Now you will fold the edge back in, but just so it lies on the ironed crease. Fold over again, and you have a nice finished edge.  You only need to do this on the 2 sides and the bottom. The top can be left a raw edge. Pin the folds as you go. In the corners, turn the bottom edge in at a 45 degree angle to get a more clean and professional look – just make sure the pin goes through both edges to hold it in place.

    Now you’re ready to hem it up. You’ll be sewing blindly. Just make sure you know where your 3/4 edge is on your machine, and you’ll be good to go. For my Husqvarna Viking, that put my fabric right on the edge of the presser foot.

    Position Fabric and Glue it on – You are almost done! With your roller anchored still, position your fabric on to the front of the shade (you would hate to hang it up, and realize you put the pretty fabric on the wrong side, wouldn’t you?).

    The side edges will go right up against the side of the old shade. Only the bottom will fold under to the other side. Once you have the fabric positioned, make sure it’s laying out flat. You’ll see why a little further down…

    Start with the top edge and using fabric glue, glue the edge down. Let it dry before moving down the rest of the shade. If you want, and I think if I ever do this again I will do this, use a sponge brush and smear fabric glue across the rest of the old shade. Lay down your new fabric and press flat. Let dry.
    Or do what I did do, and just glue the edges…

    Once the front if completely dry, flip your shade over, and turn the bottom edge over. Glue down.

     
    Reattach the original, or add a new pull ring for easy up and down action.
     
    Voila You’re Done!
    Unless of course you made the mistake I did, and you now have a bubble of fabric after rolling the shade up.
     
    If this happens to you, find a coordinating fabric and add a decorative strip to cover it up. Just use the fabric glue sparingly here, or you will end up with some spots (DOH!)
    
     
    I hope you found the tutorial helpful. If you have any questions on this tutorial please leave a comment or send me an email.
     
    I would love to have you join me on Facebook and Twitter, where I frequently talk about other home designs, and share photos of in progress projects.
  • Sweet Onion Cheddar Potatoes {Foodie Friday}

    Sweet Onion Cheddar Potatoes {Foodie Friday}

     
    BWS tips button
    Make sure you visit my co-host Diane at Simple Living and Eating. She has a Dirt Cake for you this week in honor of Earth Day. 
     
     Welcome back to another Foodie Friday! Would you believe I’m feeling on top of things this week?  In one week alone, I have come up with 4 recipes to share with you. Normally I feel like I’m scrambling to put together a recipe (hence the no recipe, just features last week). It’s amazing what can happen when you need something to keep yourself busy. This week there was a lot weighing on my mind, so I busied myself in the kitchen, cooking, baking, and trying not to think too hard.
     
    I hope you enjoy this week’s side dish

    Sweet Onion Cheddar Potatoes

     



    Ingredients
    5 medium russet potatoes
    1/4 cup butter
    1/4 cup milk
    2Tbs Homemade Ranch
    2Tbs Wilidtree’s Sweet Onion spread
    1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
    1 cup bacon bits

    Directions
    Peel and wash the potatoes. Chop them into quarters, and put in a large pot.  Fill the pot up with water until the potatoes are just covered.  Boil on medium to high heat until the potatoes are soft. You can test by sticking them with a fork.

    Drain the water from the pot, leaving the potatoes inside. Add the butter, and start mashing the potatoes. Slowly start mixing in the rest of the ingredients, while continuing to mash, and stir. Serve and Enjoy! 

    ~Features~

    Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll Cake
    I love that this is completely made from scratch!
     
    Artichoke Parmesan
    I love how pretty these artichokes look! Almost too good to eat.
     
    Monterey Ranch Chicken
    Chicken is a great meat to eat on a budget, but it doesn’t have to be bland! This looks so yummy!
     
     

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  • Conserving Water In the Bathroom

    Earth day is fast approaching – next Monday to be exact – so let’s talk Water Conservation.

    Why Water Conservation?

    Water is a necessary part of survival for all living things. We need water, animals need water, and plants need water. Without it, we would all shrivel up and die.  Gosh, that’s a little extreme isn’t it? Don’t we have a lot of water on this earth?

    Well, sure we do. Take a look at this fun comparison of the size of the earth to the amount of water though. I was actually quite surprised

    Picture of Earth showing if all, liquid fresh, and the water in rivers and lakes were put into spheres..
     
    Crazy right?  I mean I thought there was a whole lot more water than that. The large blue circle is showing all of earths water, with a diameter of 860 Miles. To learn more just click on the Source link under the picture.
     
    One of the first things I remember my mom teaching me about food storage, is water storage. We were always storing 2 liter soda bottles full of water in our basement. I remember thinking we were pretty crazy when we had close to 100 bottles. I tell you what though, those came in handy when we lost power, and had no water to flush our toilets – because we still did! We just had to manually add it from the 2-liters. 
     
    Living in the desert, with what seems like a constant drought here, our cities are very particular about how much, and how often we can water our gardens. Turns out water isn’t such a ready source, that will always be around. Who knows when we’ll see the opposite of Noah’s time, and find ourselves drying out.  Fact is, if we don’t take charge, we could be doing this to ourselves.
     
     

    What can we do?

    

    I would say in terms of wasting water, our bathrooms, mixed with 3 kids, is the biggest culprit.  I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve gone to check on the girls only to find them all in the bathroom filling buckets and toys full of water to go dump somewhere else in the house. It’s gotten so bad, that at one point we completely shut off the water to their sink. Since it is also our only bathroom while we remodel our master, it meant a bit of inconvenience for everyone to wash hands and brush teeth in the kitchen. But it worked to keep the water use to a minimum, and our carpets dry.

    Alright, so maybe you don’t have the same problem with your kids and water.
     
    Perhaps you do suffer the problem of kids (or maybe even yourself!), leaving the water running while you brush your teeth, do your hair, husband shave their face, or whatever else you may use the water for. Perhaps you’re one of those people that need ultra privacy while using the toilet, that you run the sink water to mask any sounds (can’t say I’ve never done this…).
     
    Did you know that turning the water off while you brush your teeth can save 3 gallons EACH DAY!  That’s a lot of water per day. You can also save up to 700 gallons per month by shortening your showers by one minute! Imagine the savings if you shortened them by more.
     
    Another way we can conserve water is by purchasing faucets designed specifically to save water, and be eco-friendly.  Pfister is certified by the Environmental Protection Agency to “meet and exceed the highest standards of efficiency”. 
     
    We’ve been remodeling our guest bath into our master bath, we completely gutted it, and are replacing every fixture in the room. There’s no better time than now for us to replace our old water guzzling fixtures (I kid you not, these sprayed everywhere with the water pressure, and lack of quality design). We have been looking at faucets for months it seems.  I absolutely love the look of Jaida and Ashfield bath faucets from Pfister. The design matches the flow of our tub faucet, and the plus side is these are both part of Pfister’s WaterSense certified line.
     
    Which would you choose?
    

    Pfister wants to Help you Conserve Water!

    In celebration of Earth Day, Pfister is giving away 20 Faucets this week. 2 faucets each day to some very lucky people.
     
    You don’t have to be remodeling your bathroom or kitchen to replace faucets – although that’s a good time to do it. Replacing the faucet is a simple change to the whole style of your room, and for those on a tight budget, can be the one change made that makes your house feel more like a home.
     
     
     
    *I am a Friends of Pfister blogger. All thoughts and opinions are my own here. I was not compensated for this post, although I will use it as an entry to win my own Pfister Faucet.
     
  • Spring Cleaning Day 1 – Kitchen

    Spring Cleaning Day 1 – Kitchen

     Welcome to Day 1 of the Spring Cleaning Challenge!

     Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to Deep Clean the Kitchen.
    Begin by printing off this checklist.
     

    Before I can ever get to Deep Cleaning, I have to do the surface cleaning. Any towels and dishrags I toss in the washer, then I take all the dirty dishes (you know there are always some dirty dishes), and either hand wash, or stick them in the dishwasher.

    Then clean off your table. You’ll use it for storage while you deep clean the rest of the kitchen. Move any appliances you keep on the counters to the table. Next is the real deep cleaning.

    Cabinets and Cupboards
    I suggest a ladder or tall step stool. Or if your kids are tall enough they can stand on the counters. Start with the very top of your cabinets. Of course if you’re lucky enough, your cabinets reach to the ceiling and there is no space up there to clean. If you’re like me, though, you’ve got some cleaning to do!  From there, you want to move down the cabinets. Start with one cabinet, and move everything out to the table, or another side of the counters. Start with the top shelf and wipe down, moving any crumbs from the top to the bottom. Finish one cabinet, and move to the next.  Once the cabinets are finished, wipe down the countertops and the walls behind them. Finally move to the cupboards. Do the same thing, pull everything out, wipe down top to bottom. Finish off the cabinets and cupboards by wiping down the doors.
    Before putting items back in the cupboards and cabinets – check expiration dates.  Toss out any bad food. This is also a great time to go through your Tupperware. Any lids without bottoms toss. Bottoms without lids can be tossed or re-purposed for organization in the pantry.

    Along with the counter tops, clean off the top of the stove. If you have a glass top, a product like Affresh Stove Cleaner is amazing! It’s made specifically for glass top stoves and cleans them beautifully!

    The Oven
    Now that the brunt of the work is done and the top of the stove is clean, go for the oven. If you have a self-cleaning option I suggest using it. Open up all the windows and turn your heaters down as well. It’s going to get hot!

    In a disposable bowl, pour 1 cup of ammonia. Set it in the oven and let sit all day long (or overnight).  Then wipe the grime away. For hard burned on food, you can also try baking soda and vinegar. It’s an easy, safe way to clean (and works on virtually everything).

    Fridge and Freezer
    Now the fun part! Again let’s work top to bottom.  Start with the freezer. If you have a deep freeze or second freezer somewhere, move everything from your kitchen freezer to that one. If you don’t have that option – work fast.  Take everything out of the freezer, and set on the counter. Don’t bother going through it at this point.  Once everything is out, use some hot – very hot- soapy water to wipe the inside down. 
    Once it’s wiped down begin putting the food back in.  As you do this, check for expiration dates, and freezer burn.  Toss anything out that is bad. 
    Then move onto the fridge.  Once the food is out, wipe down the shelves.  Remove the cooler drawers and give them a good scrub. Don’t forget to wipe out the bottom of the fridge before putting the drawers back in. 
    Next get a strong person or two, and move the fridge and oven from the wall. Sweep and mop behind them. Behind these two large appliances are some of your biggest fire hazards!  Don’t skip them!

    Now, make tonight leftover night.  You want to start spring off with a fresh fridge full of fresh food.

    Dishwasher
    Now that you’ve emptied a bunch of dishes, you may have a full dishwasher. Run it! Once your dishwasher is empty of clean dishes, run another cycle with a cleaner. Since it’s deep cleaning time, I suggest using something like Affresh Dishwasher Cleaner.
    Now that the counters and dirty dishes are all taken care of, move all the appliances back to the counter. Wipe them down as you go. My appliances tend to get pretty dirty on the outside, but don’t always get a good cleaning.

    Floor and Garbage
    We’re at the end of the day. Take out the trash, wipe down the inside and outside of the garbage can. Put in a new bag.
    Last thing to do is clean the floor. Move out chairs, table, microwave stand – anything that moves. Sweep and mop.  My favorite way to mop is on my hands and knees, with a bucket of hot soapy water.  I add 1 capful of ammonia to 2 gallons of hot water.  On my knees, I can see every spot, reach every corner, and really get spotless.

    You Did It!
     

    I’m also going to suggest at this point, using paper products the rest of the week. We’ve got a lot more Spring Cleaning to do, and keeping the kitchen looking nice will keep your motivation up through it all.

  • Sale on Little Girls Aprons

    Sale on Little Girls Aprons

    We bought some of these aprons for the Princesses for Christmas. I absolutely love seeing them in their cute aprons, helping me in the kitchen.  And we do spend a lot of time in the kitchen!

    Flirty Aprons is having a 30% OFF Little Girls Aprons plus Free Shipping Sale, now through March 7th (tomorrow)!  They have a good selection to fit you and your child’s style, so go check them out!

    Use Code
    GIRL30
    at checkout

    *This post contains affiliate links
  • New Flirty Aprons 50% Off

    New Flirty Aprons 50% Off

    Classic Damask Red
     
    Check it out!
    Flirty Aprons is having a 50% Off Flash Sale now until February 9th (or they run out)
     
    Just enter code NEWAPRON50  at checkout
     
    when you vuy either the Classic Damask Black or Classic Damask Red
     
     
    Flirty Aprons
     
    *This post contains affiliate links.