In the last year or so, the number of “deal/frugal bloggers” has exploded exponentially!  I started Atlanta’s Frugal Mom as a means to share my money-saving strategies with my continuously growing reader base.

However, as happens, life seems to slow down the pace of the blog.  The idea of AFM was born shortly after my daughter was born, and became a reality about a year thereafter.  In the meantime, -well- life continued to happen.  I started teaching preschool, and then found out our cozy family of three would be expanding, along with my waistline.  ;o)  With pregnancy and then the birth of my son, the blog simply had to take a backseat.

While I feel like I’ve learned much about myself and about blogging in the process, as well as met many incredible bloggers -many of whom I am now proud to call my friends- I feel like I fell behind the times a bit, so to speak.  I’ve given careful consideration to the direction AFM needs to take, in order to continue to stay relevant in a world over-saturated with deal/coupon blogs.  I have no intention of discontinuing what I’ve been doing, on the contrary!

I do, however, plan to shift my focus slightly.  There are, after all, three components to Atlanta’s Frugal Mom:

1. Atlanta — events and opportunities in and around the metro Atlanta area;
2. Frugal – frugal living, including but not limited to, coupons and money-saving advice and deals;
3. Mom – parenting advice, “frugal parenting”, little nuggets of sage wisdom (hee hee!), and my own observations, lamentations, and curiosities relating to being a mom.

In addition to shifting my focus, I am rather excited to get to start bringing you all many giveaway opportunities, as they become available to me.  With my “bloggers circle” expanding, comes more networking, which has opened many new doors for me.   I have partiicpated in quite a few giveaways within the last six months — some being fantastic opportunities, other -eh- not so great.  But with each experience comes new lessons and ideas, and I learn to be a bit more discerning about with whom I choose to work.

I digress.  My mission statement is shifting, as I alluded to earlier.  I will always continue to bring my readers great deals, but I must also focus on the other two pieces: Atlanta and parenting.  After all, I would not be who I am if I was just “frugal”.  :o)

I’m still salivating just thinking about the event I attended a few weeks ago: a sampling of Applebees Under 550 Menu!  I was treated to five of their dishes, all of which are under 550 calories, and was delighted with the rich flavor of each.  We also had the option of sampling two of their cocktails, each around 100 calories each. (Being a nursing mother only 4 weeks post-partum, I simply could not partake.)  I’m providing you my account of each dish below.

Before we adjourned, we were further treated to “punch cards”, good in the greater Atlanta area Applebees locations only:   You get a “punch” for each Under 550 OR Weight Watchers item you purchase.  Once you get 5 punches, you get a FREE under 550 or Weight Watchers menu item!  How cool is that?  I have two of these cards to share with my readers.  If you’d like one, email me with the subject line: Applebee’s Punch Card and I will mail to the first TWO people who respond.  :o)

Sizzling Asian Shrimp & Broccoli – Sizzling, blackened shrimp with rice, broccoli, red peppers, sugar snap peas, water chesnuts, mushrooms and bok choy, atopped with a sweet and spicy sauce.  (Let me interject here and warn you, I do NOT eat shrimp; therefore, my dish was all of the above, minus the shrimp.)  Every one of us cleaned our plate with this dish!!  The sauce was lightly spicy, and not too much sauce to take away from the taste of the veggies, but enough to give it a nice kick.  Again, I did not eat any shrimp, but I -along with the other participants- cleared our entire plate!



Roasted Garlic Sirloin – A 7 oz sirloin, served with sauteed onions, a portobella mushroom stuffed with creamed spinach and a dash of Parmesan to top, and a side of herb potatoes.  Okay, let me just say, I can count on my one finger the number of times I have voluntarily eaten steak until this meal — it’s normally just not my cup of tea.  However, I thoroughly enjoyed this steak!!  it was juicy, tender, and quite flavorful.  I wasn’t a fan of the onions, as I prefer mine to be sauteed a bit more; otherwise, this dish was to die for!  Again, I cleared my plate!


Grilled Dijon Chicken and Portobellos – This was a creamy and delicious dish, which again beckoned me to enjoy!  I’ve had my share of chicken dishes that were healthy but just …blah.  Not this one.  It was a creamy balance of taste and good for you.  Were I eating this as a dish all on its own (and not after sampling two other dishes) I would easily clear my plate!


Signature Sirloin and Garlic Herb Shrimp – In all honesty, by the time I got to the fourth dish, I was already pretty stuffed!  I’d already had the equivalent of one FULL dish, but trudge through I did, all in the name of sampling, right?  ;o)  I must say I didn’t like this steak as much as the first steak dish.  Again, I’m not a steak person, but this one just -hmm- lacked the full flavor of the first dish.  And -as before- I declined the shrimp.  Although I didn’t dislike this dish, it simply wasn’t my favorite.  The 7 oz sirloin was topped with shrimp in a cream sauce, served with herb potatoes, veggies, bruschetta, sliced almonds, and parsley. 


Sizzling Chili Lime Chicken – The final dish was met with a little less enthusiasm, simply because we were all pretty stuffed by then.  However, this one was certainly packed full of flavor as well.  Tender, juicy chicken pieces were paired with a spicy chili sauce; served with steamed veggies, rish, fresh cilantro, and a hint of lime juice.  The dish came together with a nice kick to it — I would certainly order this again!


Oh, and there was the opportunity to sample their SkinnyBee Margarita (around 100 calories), however, being only 4 weeks post-partum, I thought it best not to indulge.  But the gals who did said they were not disappointed.  


While attending the tasting, we were informed of three new dishes joining the Weight Watchers/Under 550 menu: Cabernet Mushroom Sirloin, Creamy Parmesean Chicken, and Grilled Jalapeno-Lime Shrimp.  How delish do they sound?!!  Coming February 20, 2012!


Remember, if you’d like a “punch card” good for a free meal after you purchase five, send me an email with the subject line: Applebee’s Punch Card and I will mail to the first TWO people who respond.  :o)


Thanks, again, to Applebee’s of Atlanta for hosting such a great event!!


Keep on saving!  :o)

Take a moment and look at this snippet from this week’s Walgreen’s ad.  What do you notice?

Keep on saving!  :o)

The folding, padded potty seat

As you may recall, I just recently finished a successful (and short) stint potty training my two-year old daughter back at the end of May.  She took to the task like a pro, which gave me the confidence *I* needed to take her out and about, and know we could minimize accidents.  However, my biggest hang-up had long been the dreaded public restroom.


Need I say more?  A curious toddler’s small hands simply can’t contain themselves in a new environment, and -well- the nastiness that you likely conjured up at the mere words “public restroom” are enough to send one sprinting for a can of Lysol, right?

The bulky “on the go” potty seat — BOO!

Furthermore, any mother will attest to the amount of STUFF one must lug around, even with a potty-trained child: your own purse, a (former) diaper bag, and miscellaneous other bags, depending on the occasion and the circumstances.   For me, shopping entailed the addition of my bag full of reusable shopping bags AND my coupon binder bag.  Oh, plus one highly-active and surprisingly fast red-headed toddler.  Need I say my hands were already quite full?


So, to add ANOTHER bag to the mix seems rather silly.  However, when potty training commenced, we had only the regular (unfoldable) potty seat (see pic to your left), which I kept in a reusable shopping bag, along with a pack of sanitizing wipes.  To say this was a bit much is an understatement!  


But not bringing a potty seat was NOT an option.  We’d tried that ONCE on an early post-PT outing, and her tiny little boopah simply proved too small for the grown-up potty seat, even with me holding her hands for balance and support; therefore, she couldn’t get comfortable enough to go.  :o(


Enter: the FOLDABLE, padded potty seat!  I’d had my eye on this for a while, and had been unable to find anything comparable in the stores.  (The closest I’d found was a foldable, NON-padded plastic potty seat; but all the reviews I’d read suggested they were flimsy and a waste of money.)  By chance I saw it being featured one day on My Precious Kid‘s Facebook page, and decided it was time.  The more I saw it, the  more I was convinced this folding, padded potty seat was precisely the answer to my daughter’s potty prayers!  


When it arrived, I first marveled at the small size of the entire shipping package!  Upon opening it, I simply couldn’t contain my excitement — I eagerly opened it up, and showed my daughter her “new potty seat!”  We hadn’t anywhere to go that evening, but I insisted we go out.  Out we went, with our “new potty seat” in tow, which fit rather neatly in her (former) diaper bag.  (Big plus, right there!!)   Did I mention it comes with a washable bag?  It also holds a travel-size pack of wipes, too.  


Lo and behold, we hadn’t been at Tar-Zshay for more than a few minutes, when my daughter uttered those famous words “I go potty.”  


For the first time EVER, I eagerly dashed to the public restrooms -skipping almost- as I told my daughter how we were going to get to try out her new potty seat.  My excitement was contagious!  From the first time we used it, it has been a gem — it folds easily, it sets up easily, and with a row of toilet paper or a toilet seat cover between the “new potty seat” and the regular one, it offers this germ-a-phobe significant peace of mind!  And to be able to pack it all away in a tiny bag, which fits nicely in her (former) diaper bag is just icing on the potty-training cake!


We’ve had it for a little over a month, and I dare not leave home without it!  It certainly fits in just about every toilet we’ve used, save for the old rickety one at the Atlanta Zoo, but that’s a whole ‘nother ball of wax…  We had but one “accident” with the new potty seat, where I think I simply didn’t have it fitted properly inside the toilet seat.  No big deal though, since I was squatting right next to my daughter — she actually just giggled about getting her boopah a little wet.  


Her enthusiasm for the seat is still in tact, too.  Many times when we merely walk in to the public restrooms, she’ll grin and excitedly declare “new!  potty!  seat!” — as I breath a sigh of relief knowing my daughter has the comfort she needs to “go” on the go, while I have the peace of mind knowing that we CAN take extended excursions and she’ll be accommodated, just about anywhere we go.

My personal thanks to Kay Green, of My Precious Kid, for providing me with the opportunity to review this awesome product; as well as for her sage words of wisdom, with all things related to child safety and potty training!  (As well as my sincerest apologies for not posting this review ina much more timely manner!)  


The foldable potty seat is available here, for only $11.99, plus shipping.  Use the promo code 2SEPTEN for an 10% off!  (Also, you can enjoy free shipping for orders over $100, by entering promo code FREESHIP100.) While you’re there, check out the entire website, for a vast array of products devoted to child safety and wellness! 


Next up in the series, I’ll discuss items I highly recommend for potty training, as well as items that aren’t essential, but can make life a whole lot easier.  If you have any items to suggest for this, feel free to contact me.  :o)




Keep on saving!  :o)

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