Mommy Musings

This post is sponsored by Pop Secret , but my opinions are all my own. Family movie nights have been a regular occurrence around here since Emmy was little.  Though the day changes with Skip's schedule, we have them almost weekly.  As parents, we know that our time with our kids is fleeting and so precious.  Because of this there are few things I love more than snuggling up on the couch with them and watching a movie! We always make sure to have a kid-friendly movie queued up to go.  Charlie has her milk, Emmy her juice, and the best part?  Snacks a plenty!  Chocolate, gummy candy, and Pop Secret Popcorn are a must.   But nothing ruins movie night more than burned popcorn... am I right? The downside to trying to achieve the perfect bag of popcorn is that someone { usually me}  has to stand in front of the microwave while it's popping, attempting to count the pops or something to make sure it doesn't burn.  And I don't know about you, bu...

I just wanted to write up a quick post about our experience with food allergies in Disney.  As the parent of an epi-pen kid, new experiences, especially restaurants, can be a bit unnerving.  You're not sure of what possible allergens they serve, how accommodating they will be, or how much of a risk cross-contamination with be. I'm here to tell you that if you're planning a trip to Disney, then allergies are not something you need to worry about at all.  Disney was so wonderful  in making sure Emmy was safe from all peanut products. First off, if you are making any dining reservations for a sit-down meal, there is a spot to include any food allergies in your group.  We made sure to make note of Emmy's peanut allergy in each spot.  That info was then on all of our paperwork from Disney....itineraries, etc. Our first meal at Disney was a sit-down lunch at Cinderella's castle.  As we were checking in we mentioned about Emmy's allergy to the woman.  Sh...

I don't know about most people, but I really enjoy meal planning.  I've always liked knowing what I'm eating dinner each night.  I love that meal planning saves me money and makes me super organized.  Sounds like I've been meal planing every week for years, right?  Ehhh, not so much. See the problem lies with Skip's work schedule as a cop.  He's only home for dinner every other week at most .  And while the girls and I are still home and eat together every night, it gets harder for me to get motivated to meal plan without Skip there.  I just end up throwing something together for the three of us, pasta with butter, mac and cheese, sandwiches, breakfast for dinner, etc.  Which is silly  really as they deserve a wide variety of food every  week, not just when Skip is home. Thankfully eMeals contacted me and has stepped in to save the day.  With eMeals, the girls and I can have healthy, delicious meals planned for each night of the ...

Thanks to Yoplait for sponsoring today's discussion... Bikini season is just around the corner, and add in our upcoming vacation to Florida, I am really stepping up my healthy eating habits.  I already work out a ton, but as they say abs are made in the kitchen.  So these days I'm back to eating a yogurt every day with my lunch.  It's something I used to do back in high school in college, and as I would love to have this abs back, I'm trying to replicate my eating habits of those days as best I can! One thing that has changed since high school is that I've learned how much better greek yogurt is than regular yogurt.  It is also really helps all the stomach problems I've been having recently.  But if I'm going to commit myself to eating the same thing every day, I want to make sure I'm eating The Best Greek Yogurt there is.  So I jumped at the chance to try the Yoplait Greek 100 Strawberry and Chobani Simply 100 Strawberry Taste-Off. I was excit...

Happy Monday everyone..and a very happy St. Patrick's Day! Thankfully we're not getting any snow up here today, though the real feel outside is about 9*.  Not quite normal for the middle of March. Needless to say we're still eating a lot of comfort food around here still.  I was going to make the every favorite Spicy Sausage Pasta the other night, but halfway through I realized I was missing a few ingredients.  Not to be deterred, I made a few substitutions and was not only able to save dinner, but came up with something really delicious!  So if you're looking for something quick and easy, come check out my: Cheesy Tomato Pasta Ingredients: -1 medium onion chopped - 3 cloves of garlic chopped {or however much you like - 1/3 - 1/2 cup tomato sauce {homemade or jarred kind is fine} -2 cups of chicken broth -1/2 cup of cream -1 lb pasta -Salt and pepper to taste - 8 oz pepper jack cheese shredded {see, all very similar to the SSP, but without the sausage....or s...

In my mind, there are few things better in this world than a really good brownie .  Best case scenario, they are covered in ice cream, but a chocolate-y stand-alone brownie is just as good.  I was craving such gooey, chocolate-y goodness last week, so I headed into the kitchen to play around a bit.  And what I came up with was absolutely amazing if I do say so myself.  I present to you Double Chocolate Oreo Brownies. And not only do they taste amazing, they're super simple to make too!! Ingredients - One box of brownie mix {I used and prefer one with milk chocolate chips in them} - Egg as lasted on the box - Water as listed on the box - Instead of oil listed on the box, use an equal amount of melted butter {trust me} - Two really big handfuls of white chocolate chips - 1/2 a box of Oreo cookies {double stuff only.  Don't insult these brownies with anything less} Directions - Preheat over to whatever temperature it says on the back of the box.  Normally aro...

So for months now I've been hearing a lot of you ladies on Twitter talking about this Spicy Sausage Pasta recipe.  Apparently it was amazing and families gobble it up like there's no tomorrow. I like to follow the crowd once in a while, so I thought I'd check it out.  I found a recipe on Pinterest , which was adapted from The Best Simple Recipes cookbook.  Last week I actually managed to check the recipe before I went food shopping, so I got everything I needed.  The verdict?  OMGthisrecipereallyisasdeliciousaseveryonesaidifnotmore.  {that's me talking really fast like I'm excited}  Seriously, so so good .  I'm pretty sure I ate a whole plate's worth before I was even done cooking it.  Skip also, HUGE fan.  We didn't try and give it to the girls mainly because I refused to share with anyone else . I'm including my recipe below, because I tweaked and changed a few things. Spicy Sausage Pasta -Olive oil -1 lb of smoked sausage {which I h...

Well, here we are, knee-deep in the second week of school.  Things definitely aren't smooth sailing yet, and we're still very much in an adjustment period.  Emmy is thriving and absolutely loving her class, but it's me who's struggling.  It's just really hard to get back into the swing of things after a relaxing lazy summer. For months we had all been sleeping in till 8:30, taking our time getting ready, and leisurely planning out our day.  We ate a later dinner since bedtime could be a little more lax.  If I was ever stumped for meal planning, we'd just throw some burgers and hotdogs on the grill and call it a day. But now all of that is different.  We're all up and getting ready by 6:30 am.  There's lunch to be made...papers to sign...cuddly toys to remember.  And that's all before we drop Emmy off at 8:00.  The rest of the day is spent in a mad dash to get all the things done while Emmy is at school.  Once we get her and get home aro...