Archives for 2016

Chocolate Banana Oatmeal Cookies & Carnation Breakfast Essentials

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CarnationBreakfastEssentials #CollectiveBias #sponsored
chocolate-banana-oatmeal-cookies-and-carnation-breakfast-essentials

When I was in college, I used to walk in to my early morning classes with my coffee cup in hand, but I wasn’t sipping a latte or cappuccino, I was sipping a Carnation Breakfast Essentials breakfast drink!  To this day, I still enjoy starting off my morning with Carnation Breakfast Essentials, mixed in milk or  milk and fruit for a quick and delicious smoothie.  Today I’m going to tell you a little more about the breakfast drink I love, and I’m going to share a recipe that uses Carnation Breakfast Essentials in a whole new way.  (If the idea of eating cookies for breakfast sounds good to you, keep reading! I have some Chocolate Banana Oatmeal Cookies you will love!) [Read more…]

Celebrating College Football with Dr Pepper® and HOT POCKETS®

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

celebrating-college-football-with-dr-pepper-and-hot-pockets

I love this time of year.  Where I live, the temperatures were in the upper 80s and low 90s throughout September, so it didn’t feel like fall weather, but football season is definitely in the air, and that is a great thing! Dr Pepper®  is a sponsor of college football and the college football championship, and they are teaming up to offer shoppers great deals at Publix for all their football watch party and tailgating party needs.  Since our Saturdays are filled with football, family, and food, I have to keep a lot of drinks and snacks on hand, and I’m always happy to find deals on the snacks we love.  Today I’ll be sharing a few of my ideas for how you can take advantage of these great deals at Publix and make Dr Pepper and Nestle HOT POCKETS® brand sandwiches a part of your football celebration.

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Prepare to take your college football experience to the next level! Dr Pepper®, DIGIORNO®, HOT POCKETS®, EDY’S® and STOUFFER’S® are giving you the chance to win tickets to the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship game in Tampa, Florida! Three lucky winners will receive two tickets to the game, airfare and hotel accommodations! In addition, Publix gift cards will be awarded to several other lucky winners. Don’t miss out! Visit CollegeFootballChampSweeps.com for your chance to win. Enter between 10/1/16-10/21/16.

Dr Pepper can be found in the drink aisle at Publix. Be sure to be on the look out for the special limited edition 2016 College Football Packages. Publix also has great deals on HOT POCKETS® and other frozen snacks from Nestle.  Look for these in the freezer section.

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You will be the star of your own football party when you create your very own Dr Pepper Floats Bar.  This is such a fun and delicious idea!  You’ll of course need some and a couple of flavors of ice cream for the main ingredients of the floats.  Here I used French vanilla and butter pecan, but I have to tell you that chocolate ice cream is great for  Dr Pepper  floats as well!

And of course, you will need glassware.  I like to put out a couple of different sizes and types of glasses out, simply because in our family one person may want a large float, while someone else may want just a small serving.  You should also have some toppings and add-ins like chocolate syrup, whipped cream, cherries, and candy toppings.  And if you’d like to give your guests the option of blending their float, you should have a blender or hand blender on hand.

As you can see, it is a very simple, yet nice and presentable set up.

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Apart from floats, I absolutely love blended floats and shakes.  Today I’ve got a very simple recipe for Dr Pepper Shakes.

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Recipe for Dr Pepper Shakes

Ingredients:

1 cup french vanilla ice cream (or other flavor of your choice)

2/3 cup milk

1 tablespoon chocolate syrup

1/2 cup Dr Pepper

splash of Dr Pepper to create foamy top (optional)

Directions:  Blend together ice cream, milk, and chocolate syrup.  Mixture should be pretty thick; if it seems thin, add additional ice cream and reblend.  Next blend in your Dr Pepper.  Pour shake up into a glass and add a splash of Dr Pepper to create foam at the top.

Other Topping Options and Substitutions:

  • Whipped cream and cherry.
  • Whipped cream and a drizzle of chocolate syrup.
  • Whipped cream with chopped candies or sprinkles.
  • You can also leave the chocolate syrup out and go with plain vanilla, or use other syrups like caramel, butterscotch, and strawberry.
  • To change this recipe from a shake to a blended float, leave out the milk and add extra Dr Pepper.

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hot-pockets-bar

Just as the Dr Pepper can be used as part of a float bar, the HOT POCKETS® brand sandwiches can used in a bar of their own.  This works out great for us, because we  like to put out a number of finger foods and snacks so that everyone can come, eat, and go, as they please, and making your own HOT POCKET® is as easy as you can get!

Simply lay out a few of your favorite HOT POCKETS® flavor options.  I love Ham & Cheddar, but the rest of my family love the Cheddar Cheeseburger and the Pepperoni Pizza varieties.

Then add a few dipping sauces to add on the side.  A few suggestions I have are ranch dressing, ketchup, mustard, honey mustard, and barbecue sauce.  You’ll also need some ramekins for your sauce, food plates, and forks.

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In about 2 minutes anyone can fix up their own snack. (That means it can even be done during the commercials!)  And the best part is that you don’t have to spend a lot of time in your kitchen cooking while everyone else is enjoying the games.

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For more fun ideas for the college football season from Dr Pepper and Nestle, check out visit this site.

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Fun with Friskies Pull ‘n Play #MostPlayfulCat

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Purina®. The opinions and text are all mine.

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As you know, my dog and cats aren’t just pets, they are members of the family and the Simply Sweet Home team.  If you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed that we recently added a new member to the family, a little black and white kitten named Mina.  Today I’m excited to let Mina make her blogging debut and do her first product review and feature.  Together she and I will be telling you about a product that every toy and treat loving cat should have: the Friskies® Pull ‘n Play. [Read more…]

Friday Favorites Linky Party – Week 340

Hi everyone. Welcome to this week’s Friday Favorites party. We have another great round of festive fall decor and comforting fall foods.  Hope you enjoy them.  And as always, I welcome you to join us for this week’s party and promote your latest posts!

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Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:

Jerri at Simply Sweet HomeTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Christine at Light and SavvyTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Jen at Creatively HomemadeTwitter | G+ | Pin

Dawn at LeroyLimeTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

Maisy at Becoming AliceFB | G+ | Pin

Sheree at Stage PresentsTwitter | FB | Pin | Inst | Inst

Lisa at Condo BluesTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Amy at A Day of Small ThingsPin

Penny at Penny’s PassionTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Kelly at Under a Texas SkyTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

If you are featured this week, be sure and grab a featured button for your blog!

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You can show your love for this week’s favorites by going over and commenting on the posts and by pinning or sharing!

And if you love all of this week’s favorites, please pin, share, and invite your friends to this week’s linky party! [Read more…]

Skinny & Co. Coconut Oil Feature and Coupon Code

skinny-and-co-coconut-oil-review

As you know, I love sharing helpful hints and products for healthy and beautiful living.  One thing I am always interested in learning more about is natural and organic beauty products and solutions.  One thing I’ve been hearing about for a while is the wonders of coconut oil, and recently I had the opportunity to try a number of coconut oil products from the folks at Skinny & Co.  Today I’m going to give you a quick rundown on those products, and I’m also offering you a coupon code for 15% off everything on their site.  The coupon code is SKINNYCO15.

Skinny & Co has a number of products including original raw coconut oil, body butters, sugar scrubs, raw soap, and more.  I’ve been able to check out 5 of their products and have been very pleased with their quality. [Read more…]

Steps to Maintain Your Car

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

steps-to-maintain-your-car

We recently got a car for our 16 year old, and from school to work, to back home, and everywhere in between, he’s already put a couple thousand miles on it.  Then we have a family car that my husband drives to work and we use for shopping, and running errands. (And till this year, it was also the car I would drive to take Noah to school.)  Needless to say, having our cars in tip top shape is very important to my family.  Luckily my husband is an expert of fixing practically anything, and he’s great at working on cars.  Today I’m going to discuss a few steps that you can take to make sure your cars maintained. [Read more…]

Friday Favorites Linky Party – Week 339 – Fall is Here!

Hello everyone.  Happy Fall!  And Happy Friday!  Thanks so much for coming by for this week’s Friday Favorites.  We have another fun array of fall ideas this week.  I’m featuring a yummy Cinnamon Crumble Maple Cheesecake from Quirky Inspired, and we have other great fall recipes and decor products that are simply inspired!  I hope you enjoy!  And always I invite you to join the fun this week and share your ideas with us!  If we like your post, you could be featured on all of our blogs next week.

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Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:

Jerri at Simply Sweet HomeTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Christine at Light and SavvyTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Jen at Creatively HomemadeTwitter | G+ | Pin

Dawn at LeroyLimeTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

Maisy at Becoming AliceFB | G+ | Pin

Sheree at Stage PresentsTwitter | FB | Pin | Inst | Inst

Lisa at Condo BluesTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Amy at A Day of Small ThingsPin

Penny at Penny’s PassionTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Kelly at Under a Texas SkyTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

If you are featured this week, be sure and grab a featured button for your blog!

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You can show your love for this week’s favorites by going over and commenting on the posts and by pinning or sharing!

And if you love all of this week’s favorites, please pin, share, and invite your friends to this week’s linky party! [Read more…]

Friday Favorites Linky Party – Week 338

Hi all. Thanks for stopping by for this week’s Friday Favorites linky party!  If you’re like me and are ready to fall in to fall, then you will love this week’s party.  I’m featuring a lovely piece of printable art for fall from Comfort Spring.  We also have some really cute fall craft projects and decor, plus other fun and exciting DIY projects.

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Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:

Jerri at Simply Sweet HomeTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Christine at Light and SavvyTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Jen at Creatively HomemadeTwitter | G+ | Pin

Dawn at LeroyLimeTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

Maisy at Becoming AliceFB | G+ | Pin

Sheree at Stage PresentsTwitter | FB | Pin | Inst | Inst

Lisa at Condo BluesTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Amy at A Day of Small ThingsPin

Penny at Penny’s PassionTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Kelly at Under a Texas SkyTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

If you are featured this week, be sure and grab a featured button for your blog!

 photo Friday Favorites Featured Button.jpg

You can show your love for this week’s favorites by going over and commenting on the posts and by pinning or sharing!

And if you love all of this week’s favorites, please pin, share, and invite your friends to this week’s linky party! [Read more…]

Clog 101: Tips to Prevent and Fix Clogs

Disclosure: Today’s post is written on behalf of Roto-Rooter. The opinions are my own.

clog-101-tips-to-prevent-and-fix-clogs

Here on the blog, we’ve discussed a lot of tips and strategies to make housekeeping easier.  Just in the last month, I’ve shared tips and along with printable checklists for cleaning your kitchen and your bathroom. One thing that can quickly throw a kink in having a clean kitchen or bathroom is a clog in your sink, bathtub, or toilet.  Today I will be sharing tips to prevent and fix clogs in these important areas. [Read more…]

10 Tips for a Bright and Youthful Eye Appearance

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

10-tips-for-a-bright-and-youthful-eye-appearance

Throughout my life, the number one thing people have always complimented me on has been my eyes.  Like most people, I always welcome a nice compliment and cannot help but smile about this.  As implied in my blog title, I’m a simple kind of girl, and I’m definitely not a “glam girl.”  However, as a woman, I believe it is important that we do what we need to do feel good about ourselves and feel confident and comfortable in our own skin. I, for one, feel dramatically happier and more positive about myself when I’ve taken 10 minutes to get dressed and do makeup versus spending the day in my pajamas.  And it is amazing how this extra bit of effort improves my confidence and my overall attitude as I go through my day.  And as I go through my day with a positive attitude, I am able to affect others in a positive way.

Achieving that bright and youthful appearance isn’t always that simple.  In fact, for many, it is a daily struggle, but it doesn’t have to be.  Today I’m going to share 10 tips for a bright and youthful eye appearance. [Read more…]