Life, Family, and Home - Simplified & Sweetened
Today we’re taking an inside look at my latest trip to ALDI. I bought a lot of the items I’d typically buy on a trip to the market, including milk, cheese, meat, can goods, baking ingredients, and snacks. The grand total for my entire trip was $85!
That probably doesn’t sound like a lot of money to spend on groceries, but if you look below, you’ll see just how much groceries I was able to get for this amount at ALDI.
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Carton Smart for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
A little can go a long way when it comes to helping the environment. Tetra Pack places their foods in carton packages designed for maximum efficiency and environmental friendliness. Purchasing their foods is one small change you can make to make your home more environmentally friendly.
Their packing is made up of 70% paper, a renewal resource and the cartons use 1/3 of the packaging cans do. Their unique packaging also preserves the taste and nutrients in the food without using preservatives. Become Carton Smart by checking out more information at becartonsmart.com and by taking a look at this infographic.
This holiday season you can get great staples that you'll need for your Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. These include Pacific Foods Chicken Stock;
Pumpkin Puree:
and Cranberry Sauce:
I received these products for review. I was most excited to get the Pacific Foods Chicken Stock, because I often use chicken stock to make soups, casseroles, and of course dressing! Today I'm sharing one of my favorite go-to recipes,which I was able to make using the Pacific Foods Chicken Stock in place of other brands I've used in the past.
I've shared my Chicken Poulet on the blog before, but since it's one of my favorite recipes, it seemed like the perfect one to share again for this project. It's also great because I often make this around Thanksgiving because it is basically like chicken & dressing, but it's a lot easier, and it alwas comes out perfect. Here's the recipe:
Chicken Mixture:
2 1/2 c. cooked chicken, chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Other ingredients:
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cans cream of mushroom OR cream of chicken soup
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
Directions: Spray 9×13 casserole dish with cooking spray. Make chicken mixture in one bowl and set aside. Mix together stuffing mix and chicken stock. Melt butter, add to the stuffing mixture, and stir until combined. All stuffing crumbs should be moist. Layer stuffing, chicken mixture and then stuffing mix again. Beat eggs and add milk. Pour over casserole (do not pack or smooth down, leave loose). Let chill in refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight. Before baking, pour cream of mushroom soup over top and bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Take out and sprinkle cheese over top of casserole. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Be #CartonSmart and follow Carton Smart on their social network sites:
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What other things can you do this holiday season to be #CartonSmart?
Last year I hosted a Six Weeks of Christmas Treats event with some guest posts from our friends, and I kicked off the event with a little round-up of Christmas recipes and linky party so you can share your own recipes with us. The post turned out great, and I had 60+ recipes linked up, so I decided to kick off this year’s event with another round up and linky party.
For last year’s post, I shared cookie recipes, decorated cookies, bars, and candy (4 of each). For this year’s round up, I decided to do something a little different. I looked for Christmas treats with a fun twist or cute presentation suitable for Christmas parties. Check them out below, and then feel free to link up your own Christmas treats.
The linky is open to any Christmas treat recipes: cookies, bars, cakes, pies, drinks, appetizers, etc. Pretty much anything goes!
Marshmallow Coffee Cups from The Party Wagon
Lil Meringue Mice from BHG
Twas The Night Before Christmas Treat from Catch my Party
Cupcake Wreath from Yummy Food Drink
Snowmen Cupcakes from Devian Art
Peppermint Lollipops from Munchkin Munchies
Teddy Bears on Sleds from It’s All About Us
Mini Sausage Wreaths from Free-N-Fun Christmas
Santa Hat Party Mix from Cookies & Cups
Snowman Cheeseball from Karla Dornacher
Reindeer Appetizer from Project Denneler
Hot Cocoa Cupcakes from Lick the Bowl Good
Rice Krispie Treat Tree from Cookies & Cups
Very Merry Cookie Wreath from Very Best Baking
Chocolate Covered Pretzel Wreath from Old Fashioned Homemaking
Need more treats? Check out all the recipes I featured last year, plus 64 others linked up by other bloggers! Here’s the link to last year’s party.
Got a holiday treat recipe to share? I’d love for you to link it up below. You can link up cookies, candies, appetizers, drinks, & more! This linky will be open throughout the holiday season.
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sudafed.
The fall is my favorite season. It’s such a fun and festive time, and I also enjoy the weather, the fashion, and the decor, but the fall and winter seasons can be the worst when it comes to sinus pain and pressure! There’s the coughing, the stuffy and runny nose, sneezing, and headache pain.
Do you suffer from allergies or frequent colds? What is your most bothersome symptom?
For me personally, the thing I hate worse about cold and allergy season is getting a stuffy nose. It is so terrible not being able to breathe and constantly needing a tissue, and it is even worse at bed time when you are trying to sleep and cannot breathe. I try to use medicine such as Sudafed, and I prop myself up with pillows and try to breathe through my mouth, but it can still be very bothersome.
And the other thing I hate is the headaches that can accompany sinus pressure. I already suffer from frequent migraines, and so sinus pressure can easily bring on a pounding headache for me, which makes it even more difficult to sleep or get any work done during the day.
Check out the infographic below to see what sinus sufferers had to say about their sinus troubles.
Sudafed cares about allergy and cold sufferers and wants to know what you think. Sudafed invites you to join the discussion about Sinus Pressure and Pain on their Facebook Page. How does sinus trouble make you feel? How do you find relief? Go over and like their page to share your thoughts and find out what others are saying.
While I was there I found a few useful tips such as taking a hot shower, placing a hot towel on your head, and keeping a humidifier in your room.
While you are there you can also “open up” about how sinus pain and pressure makes you feel with Sudafed’s OPEN UP™ App. Using the app, you can create a picture of how colds and allergies make you feel, and then you will get a money saving coupon for Sudafed!
Here’s a screen shot of the picture I created:
Check out your local retailers for Sudafed products for children and adults and “open up” your sinuses this fall.
Sudafed knows that suffering from sinus pressure and pain can leave individuals feeling crushed, beat down, congested and even squeezed, desperately looking for a way to OPEN UP. Serious sinus sufferers are invited to creatively share how their sinus pain and pressure looks and feels to them by using Sudafed’s OPEN UP™ application on Facebook.
Then, beginning on December 2, the Sudafed Facebook community will vote for one of five finalist sketches that best illustrates the pains of sinus pressure. The winner will receive $5,000 and a chance to have their work included in a Sudafed advertising campaign. For more information, visit the Sudafed Facebook page.
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sudafed.
As you may have noticed, I’m gearing up for the holiday season here at my blog. And I’m also excited and looking forward to a great holiday season over at my Etsy shop. I have a lot of great selections in pendants and hand stamped jewelry, including a new line of sports jewelry which you can get personalized with your team name and colors. And as always, I have a great assortment of name necklaces and couples jewelry. [Read more…]
Looking for a practical, but fun gift idea? You should consider Prize Candle. Like other candles, a Prize Candle makes a lovely accent piece and gives off a wonderful aroma when burned, but what makes a prize candle different from other candles is that it contains a ring inside. Each ring is valued anywhere from $10 to $5000.
All you have to do is burn your candle, and then use tweezers to pull your ring packaging out of the candle. Inside the packaging you will find code. Enter the code on the Prize Candle website, and it will tell you how much your ring is worth.
I received a 9 oz soy candle in the Blue Cypress scent. I really enjoyed burning this candle because it had a very clean smell to it. It was very nice and not too overwhelming. And of course, I was very excited to get my ring.
The ring I received features a large dark blue stone, and it is just beautiful. The ring itself was just a $10 ring, but I still love it. It’s very stylish, and it will go with a lot of different outfits.
Disclosure: I was sent a Prize Candle for review. However, the opinions are my own. If you’d like to advertise on my blog or be included in holiday gift guide, please send an email to simplysweethome@hotmail.com for details.
Happy November! Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Favorites! I’m very excited to have kicked off the holiday season here this week. You can join the fun by entering our Holiday Day Gift Guide Giveaway! The giveaway features a computer and about 50 other great prizes!
I also want to announce that next week I’ll be kicking off my Six Weeks of Christmas Treats Event. During the event I’ll be posting several great holiday recipes, and we’ll have guest contributors sharing their recipes here. And there will also be a round up post here on Monday with a linky included. The linky will be open throughout the holiday season for you to add your recipes. Hope you check it out and share something with us!
Now check out this week’s featured posts: 5 Chili Recipes!
This week I’m sharing a classic Southern recipe. Pecan Pie is a quintessential dessert for Thanksgiving and Christmas here in the South. I recently made my very first Pecan Pie. I’d never made it before because I’m usually more of a chocolate fan, but the pie was requested, so I gave it a whirl. It was way easier to make than I imagined it would be, and it turned out really great!
It’s been a while since I did a post featuring printables. Since we’re kicking off the holiday season this week, I thought it would be the perfect time to do that. I started out looking for recipe cards and coordinating tags suitable for gift giving or cookie exchanges, and then I also have found some fun invitations, gift tags, and full party packs for you. Hope you enjoy! [Read more…]
Each month or so I look forward to changing out the wreath on the door and wreaths in the house. Creekside Farms has a fantastic selection of wreaths for every season. I was very excited when they offered to send me their Fall Abundant Wreath. This is a very large wreath at 22 inches in diameter, and they certainly named it right! [Read more…]
