Archives for October 2013

Smoked Salmon Flatbread

10/25/2013 by Tiffany

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

I seriously heart smoked salmon. Like borderline addict love it. This oh-so-fancy smoked salmon and arugula flatbread is one of my favorite dishes to order when we manage to sneak out to a nice restaurant without kiddos. Unfortunately, that happens ~~never~~ like twice a year, and that’s just not often enough for me. Did I mention how much I love smoked salmon?

Anyhow, after making the ghost pizzas with the kiddos for Halloween, I realized there was a leftover tube of pizza dough, and I had a smoked-salmon-withdrawal-induced stroke of genius. I could just make my own flatbread at home! Duh, right? I’m super cheap and make copycat restaurant meals all the time, so why this never occurred to me, I don’t know.

It’s awesome. You’ll love it. I promise.

Smoked Salmon Flatbread

Ingredients:
1 tube prepared pizza dough (in the canned biscuit aisle)
8 ounces cream cheese (whipped is easier to spread)
1 Tbs minced garlic
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 Tbs chopped fresh dill
2 cups arugula
2-3 ounces smoked salmon, torn into small pieces
2 Tbs chopped red onion
2 Tbs capers
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Unroll pizza dough and spread out onto a large cookie sheet
3. Bake until lightly browned and cooked all the way through
4. Remove from heat and let cool
5. Mix together cream cheese, lemon juice, garlic and dill
6. Spread evenly over cooled flatbread
7. Top with arugula, salmon, onions and capers
8. Season with salt and pepper as desired
9. Cut into squares and serve immediately

Printer friendly version of Smoked Salmon Flatbread

This smoked salmon flatbread is the perfect finger food for parties. Or delicious for lunch if you want to keep the whole thing to yourself. I won’t tell anyone if you eat all of it in one sitting. As long as you don’t tell anyone that I did the same thing. 😉

Keep on saving! :o)
--Barbara
**Remember, y'all, this post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

Filed Under: recipes

Why You NEED to Sign Up for Amazon Prime NOW!

10/22/2013 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

You may be familiar already with all the super-awesomeness that is Amazon, but with the holiday rush *just* around the corner, now is a great time to get a head start on all you holiday shopping, AND take advantage of a FREE 30-day trial of Amazon Prime.

Why join? The “official” benefits:

FREE Two-Day Shipping on millions of items
No minimum order size
Unlimited instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with Prime Instant Video
A Kindle book to borrow for free each month from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library

Try Amazon Prime for free for 30 days. Cancel at any time, or sign up for just $79/year if you decide to keep your membership. Seriously, you can’t lose with this great FREE trial!

Need more reason to join Amazon Prime?

Did you know you can add up to 4 family members to your Prime account? That way you can each reap the benefits of an Amazon Prime membership, and split the cost, too!
No more “padding” orders. Amazon just upped their minimum order for free shipping from $25 to $35; thus making it even trickier to reach that minimum amount. Plus, with Christmas “lightning deals” coming up, you have to act fast for those deals, and trying to either put together enough for free shipping – or paying for shipping on items that would cost more to ship – isn’t an issue with an Amazon Prime membership. When you’re not trying to find “filler” items, you spend less, thanks to Amazon Prime.
If you live in a rural area, or if you just find it difficult to make it to the store, ordering with Amazon Prime’s free shipping saves you time and gas money. Order with the click of a mouse, or lug a little baby in to the car and drive to a store? There’s just no contest there!
Hook up your media player device and stream countless shows or movies – finally, a good cheap way to ditch cable!
Two. Day. Free. Shipping. What more do you need?

What’s more? Combine your Amazon Prime

membership with either your Amazon Mom

or Amazon Student

membership, and reap even more benefits!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

LeapFrog LeapReader™ “Ready, Set, Read & Write!

10/18/2013 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

Disclosure: I received free LeapFrog LeapReader™ products in order to host the LeapFrog sponsored MommyParty. The opinions expressed here, as well as (some of) the cute kids are all mine.

When a big ol’ box of LeapFrog LeapReader™ products showed up at my door recently, I literally did the happy dance. (…and just be glad no one was around to see that sad mess…) I had the distinct pleasure of being chosen to host a LeapReader™ party, a privilege given to only select bloggers, as I later learned! Included in my party kit were:

(2) LeapReader™ Reading and Writing Systems – each includes a LeapReader™ device, pre-loaded with books and learning apps, as well as two USB cords for charging the devices
Disney-Pixar’s Monster’s University 3D book (and 16 pairs of 3D glasses!)
Get Ready for Kindergarten book
Talking Words Factory flash cards
(2) LeapReader™ sampler book
LeapReader™ Write It! Talking Factory Writing Workbook
LeapReader™ Write It! Learn to Write Letters Writing Workbook
audio book apps, including Ozzie and Mach, and T. Rex’s Mighty Roar
LeapFrog Learning Songs music app
Animal Facts trivia challenge trivia app
a plethora of activity sheets [Read more…]

Filed Under: books, product reviews, sponsored post, Whatcha Reading

Marinated Zucchini and Chickpea Salad

10/05/2013 by Tiffany

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

I don’t eat a lot of meat. I like meat, it’s just that my body is not a big fan of it. Maybe I’m missing some important enzyme or something that helps me break it down. That would be my luck. Anyhow, I tend to eat very little meat to keep from having a crazy, messed up gut all the time. Well, except for bacon. Because it’s bacon, duh.

So since I don’t eat a lot of meat, I get my protein from other places. Like chickpeas! Of course, I don’t just eat them plain (boring!), I like to mix them in with different dishes. I threw this particular salad together the other morning to have for lunch, and ended up eating it for 3 days! It makes a lot more than you would think. 🙂

Marinated Zucchini and Chickpea Salad

1 medium zucchini, halved and sliced
1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
2 cups chickpeas (if canned, rinse well first)
2 roma tomatoes, sliced into strips
1/4 cup chopped roasted red pepper
2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp sugar
salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together and marinate for at least six hours in the refrigerator before serving. Don’t forget, the longer it sits, the more delicious it tastes!

That’s it! Short, sweet and to the point. Unless of course, you want me to ramble on and on about chickpeas. Which I can totally do, by the way. No? Fine. Jeez.

Here’s a video about chick peas instead, just because I find it hilarious.

Look –> Dancing and informative cartoon chick peas!

Filed Under: recipes Tagged With: Recipes

Chicken Saltimbocca from eMeals

10/03/2013 by Tiffany

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

If you haven’t heard of eMeals, you are SO missing out! It’s a meal planning service that makes my life so much easier on busy days. I’m lucky enough to be working with them as an ambassador, so I get to share some of the awesome food we make along with the recipes so you can try them out at home!

Each week you get a new set of recipes emailed to you, complete with a shopping list and easy-to-follow directions. They have an awesome app you can use that makes the shopping and preparation fast and simple. No need to print anything or make a list on a separate sheet of paper! eMeals offers 12 different dinner plans to choose from, and you can even customize them specifically for the store you shop at the most! We’re currently using the Mediterranean plan, though I’ve tried out Clean Eating, Classic, and Simple Gourmet in the past as well, and they’ve all been fantastic. It’s less than $5.00 a month for the yearly membership, and trust me, it is so worth it with the time you’ll save planning out meals and shopping trips!

Tonight we had the Chicken Saltimbocca and it was absolutely amazing. The kids loved it and so did we. It’s definitely going on my list of things to make on a regular basis. I know you’re going to love it too!

Chicken Saltimbocca

Ingredients:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
12 thin slices prosciutto (about 3 oz)
10 oz package chopped frozen spinach, thawed
1½ cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup olive oil, divided
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter

Directions:
1. Cut each chicken breast half in half again horizontally to make 12 cutlets.
2. Pound cutlets to about ¼-inch thickness; sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Top each cutlet with 1 slice prosciutto.
4. Squeeze excess moisture from spinach; divide spinach evenly among cutlets.
5. Top each cutlet with 2 tablespoons cheese.
6. Roll up; secure with wooden picks.
7. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
8. Add half of cutlets to pan; cook 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until done.
9. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and cutlets.
10. Set cutlets aside and keep warm.
11. Add broth and juice to pan; bring to a boil.
12. Cook until reduced to ¼ cup; remove from heat and stir in butter.
13. Serve sauce over cutlets.

This post contains affiliate links. As an ambassador, eMeals has provided me with a free membership in exchange for sharing how awesome I think their service is. And it really is awesome y’all!

Filed Under: recipes Tagged With: emeals, Recipes

First Watch Comes to Dunwoody!

10/03/2013 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

If you’re in or near the Dunwoody area, brace yourself: there is an amazing new restaurant opening up that will blow you away! Earlier last week, I had the pleasure of getting a “sneak peek” dining at First Watch in Dunwoody yesterday, and -well, yum!

I met up with Diana, my blogger pal over at Sandy Springs Macaroni Kid, and had my toddler son tag along as well. We were kindly greeted upon entering, and promptly seated, with a high chair immediately produced for my son. Our server, James, was patient and kind. Patient was a must for me, not only because I had a toddler with me, but because I just couldn’t’ decide what I wanted — there were SO MANY tasty options from which to choose!

You see, at First Watch, the menu is chock full of fresh, healthy dishes prepared made to order. It’s a breakfast, brunch, and lunch place, so there’s plenty of dishes that offer an egg white options (all cage-free) at no charge, as well as fresh seasonal produce from local growers whenever possible. Since I am a sucker for breakfast foods, I sat staring at the long list of delicious entrees, including ten different omelets, wraps, crepes, skillet hashes (five choices!), and drool-worthy pancakes, french toast, and much much more! Many of these dishes were served with a cup of fresh fruit, too. Oh, and all patrons are welcome to complimentary Sunrise Select Premium Blend coffee.

This was Diana’s meal – most of which went home in a box!

Their lunch menu includes a variety of fresh spring mix salads, sandwiches, and soups. To entice you even further, they offer a “2 For You” lunch option: pair any two 1/2 salads, 1/2 sandwich, or a cup of soup.

I was treated to delicious sweet tea. As a Southern girl, that was essential. My tea was so delicious, I think I got two refills, and then asked for a to-go cup! They also offer your standard gammer of beverages, sodas, juice, milk, hot chocolate, San Pelligrino water, and herbal teas. And don’t forget that complmentary coffee, too.

Remember my son was with me? So I got to test out the kids menu as well. I’m seldom really impressed with kids’ menus: they tend to offer standard not-so-healthy options that my kids don’t even eat anyways. (Seriously? My kids don’t care for chicken nuggets or mac and cheese, and I’m ok with that.) I digress. The kids menu, which was presented on a placemat with crayons for my son to color upon (or -um- nibble on the crayons…) offered simpler versions of the dishes on the regular menu, including pancakes, waffles, ham sandwich, turkey sandwich, french toast, fresh fruit crepe, or a simple bacon and egg. All served with a cup of fresh fruit, and a beverage of choice – all for $4.99.

This is the french toast he was served… YUM!

I was amazed how accommodating the staff were. My son took a strong liking to the fresh fruit, particularly the strawberries and blueberries. He gobbled up all of his, then mine, and Diana offered some of hers as well. During one of the many check-ins the staff had with us, they noted he liked the blueberries and strawberries. Next thing I knew, they brought him out a big bowl filled with strawberries and blueberries. He was in berry heaven, and did a great job gobbling them up with his spoon!

All in all, I was super-impressed with my entire experience at First Watch. I can’t wait to take my husband and daughter with us again very soon. And my parents. And my in-laws. And neighbors. And -well- you get the drift – now go see for yourself! 🙂

Also, when you sign up for their Sun eClub, you will get specials and coupons delivered right to your inbox, including BOGO coupons, as well as a free entree on your birthday!