An apple a day.....

Without a doubt my son is a picky eater. It started around the time he turned two and it hasn't gotten much better! It is so bad in fact, that presentation can determine whether or not he will eat a particular food. Earlier this week I prepared banana muffins and he loved them. But since I can only cook 6 at a time, I simply made one batch and also made a small loaf of banana bread.  Well, although he agreed to take muffins to school for lunch, he refused to touch the bread when the muffins were finished! He didn't touch the bread until he was completely starving for a snack!


See what I'm dealing with? 


Luckily enough, I can usually get him to eat a few staple fruits and veggies. And apples fall into that category. Although my favorite type of apple is Delicious, he pretty much will eat any type of apple, including granny smith. We were sent a sample of apples this week that I've never tried or heard of for that matter, SweeTango apples. And with good reason, it is a new apple that was first made available for the first time last fall. 


I have to say that this is one of the tastiest apples I have every had. It is sweet but not as sweet as the Delicious variety. My son loves the apples and has taken one to school every single day. I actually was going to prepare a recipe with the apples but sadly we devoured them before I could make something! 


These apples are available now at Walmart and I know I'll be headed there to get some more! 


Disclosure: I am a Walmart mom and was compensated for this post. As usual, all opinions are my own.

Breakfast for dinner!

I am the mother of a four year old and he is an extremely picky eater. I believe that he must of inherited this trait from his dad (joking, well kinda) because his dad is picky too. There are only a few things that they will eat at any given time and when they tire of it, another "meal" is on rotation. Needless to say, my son is ecstatic when dad is cooking dinner because it is breakfast for dinner and who doesn't love that? In a perfect world Dad would cook gourmet meals but his former life as a Chef has left him less than enamored with cooking!  In my kitchen I generally cook a meal for myself and prepare whatever item my son is eating that particular week.  How is Dad in your kitchen? My best friend's husband is a beast in the kitchen and I'm always thrilled when he cooks! Do you have a dad that is a kitchen master? Check out the latest video on Mom's the Word on Dinner - 




Disclosure: I am an ambassador for Ragu's "Mom's the Word on Dinner" and this is a sponsored post. As usual, all opinions are 100% my own! 

Million Moms Challenge

I'm so excited to be one of the Million Moms Bloggers! For the first 100,000 people that joins the challenge, Johnson & Johnson will donate $1.00 to help support healthy pregnancy and mothers worldwide. Here is an excerpt from my first blog post:

"I think the most common feeling related to pregnancy for most women is worry. When we are intent on becoming pregnant we worry if it will happen. Once we are pregnant we worry about things like will my child be healthy? And in my case, I worried about if I would carry my baby to full term. I had a difficult pregnancy, early on I experienced pain as my muscles stretched, the year prior to my pregnancy I’d had a myomectomy (the removal of fibroid tumors) and the scar tissue was uncomfortable as my baby grew. And around week 24 I experienced something that I will never forget, while at work I began pre-term labor. "

To read the rest of my post and join the challenge, click HERE

Game Day Treat!

Well, football season is in full swing and I am pretty sure that I am one of the few Americans that is NOT interested in the sport. Living here in the South, football rules - from high school to professional, folks are into football. Tailgating parties abound and Sundays are spent in front of televisions or if the home teams are playing and you are lucky, at the stadium! 


In honor of football season, as a Walmart mom I was challenge to create a favorite treat for game day - in the shape of a football! Honestly, my favorite meal that I can associate with football is buffalo shrimp - simply delicious but there was no way for me to arrange it in a football shape that made sense. So, I decided to make some football shaped cookies. 

Since I love baking, these cookies were a natural and although I made them without the help of my four year old, this is certainly a recipe that he could have helped with. I simply made sugar cookies by whipping up the batter in about 5 minutes.  I honestly think that making things from scratch doesn't take that much more effort than using pre-made dough.

After mixing the dough I took about a tablespoon and shaped them by hand into football shapes. As the first batch of cookies baked I prepared the chocolate frosting. This is REALLY simple and takes melted butter, cocoa and confectioners sugar. I don't think I'll ever use pre-made frosting again unless absolutely necessary! 

After letting the cookies cool for a few minutes, I spread the chocolate frosting. I found the the frosting was easier to manipulate when it was warm and I held each cookie in my hand to frost it. The final touch was adding white frosting trim to make the football laces. In this instance I did use pre-made Betty Crocker frosting in a cookie decorating tube. It was really convenient but if I plan on doing more cookie decorating in the future, I will just invest in a cookie decorating kit with different size nozzle attachments.

Although I am no artist, I am happy with the way my footballs turned out and I am sure they would be a welcome addition to any football celebration! Of course, these are not the healthiest treat around so I've been dispersing them to my friends that are football fans to get them out of my house! 

Disclosure: I am a Walmart mom and some of the products used were provided by Walmart and I've been compensated for this post. 

Faithful Place- Book Review

The book Faithful Place by Tana French tells the story of a 20 year old mystery of a missing girl Rosie who was thought to have run away, leaving her lover Frank standing roadside waiting all night for her. Faithful Place is the name of the street in Ireland where Frank and Rosie grew up. It is composed of characters that keep their cards close to their chest and the tale of the missing girl is never shared with the police until her body is found 22 years later in an abandoned home on Faithful Place.

Read the rest of the this review on BlogHer

Dinner on a Budget

There was once a time when I cut coupons like a champ and everyone in line cheered as they watched my grocery bill go down $50 - $100 as a result of coupon clipping. This was about 6 years ago when there were far more limited resources for thrifty shoppers like me. Sadly, when my economic situation improved my utilization of coupons diminished. 


Now, dinner on a budget for me means cooking a large meal a couple days a week and having leftovers during the interim. This is probably not the best method for saving money so I'm going to check out the ideas from my fellow Ragu Mom's The Word on Dinner Ambassadors.  In this episode they are discussing Dinner on a Budget and if you have any tips, be sure to chime in on the facebook page! 

Disclosure: I am a Mom's The Word on Dinner Ambassador and have been compensated to spread the word about this program. 

I'm a fan of Reality Shows

but when the shoe fits....

photo courtesy of Random House on facebook

I read daily to my son and I am an avid reader myself. I am also a fan of reality shows and any of them can take the place of Jersey Shore in the above caption. Although I occasionally enjoy mindless entertainment occasionally I ensure that I supplement it with things that stimulate my brain and I seek to do the same for my child.  

Recommitment - Running and fundraising for LLS

It has been awhile since I've talked about health and fitness here. During my journey to healthy living I provided an update weekly and I stopped doing that lately. And without accountability I must admit that I have not been exercising or eating healthy on a consistent basis. I've actually returned to some of my old habits and that has caused me to gain weight. But today, I am recommitting to being the best me that I can be.  


I will be running the Savannah Rock n Roll 1/2 marathon on November 5th and raising $1500 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society while I train. I had 12 weeks to do this and now I only have about 4 but I am determined! I am running in honor of my friend Melissa, 

a mother of 3 who is currently kicking non-hodgkins lymphoma's ass! I told her I was doing this and I am! Please be on the look out for weekly updates on my training and I'd really appreciate your support for my fundraising efforts!  


As difficult as it is to admit a setback, I am doing this loudly because I know I can get back in my grove and live a healthy life! I hope you will join me on my journey, I certainly can use your support! 

Nice Save!

Walmart has a new application on Facebook called Nice Save.  Walmart will be featuring a new challenge to help you save money and you can share you ideas too! This week's challenge is Game Day! If you don't know, this past Sunday was opening day and I know tons of people were in front of televisions taking in all three games! My fellow Walmart mom Tara is presenting her Nice Save for game day and you have until 9/18 to add your idea for an under $50 game day to the mix. The idea with the most likes will be featured in a video on Walmart's Facebook page. What are you waiting for? 



Disclosure: Walmart has provided compensation for my time and efforts to create this post.  All opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.  Check out Tara’s challenge and the other Walmart Moms who host in the future weeks!

September 11th 10th Anniversary

I wrote this post three years ago and feel it is only fitting to revisit it on the 10th anniversary of this fateful event. My memories of that day are still vivid in my mind. 

It is hard to believe that 9/11/01 was seven years ago. If I let my mind return to that day I recognize that it was the beginning of a short period of madness for me. I literally lost my mind that day.


You see I was one of the people working in the vicinity of the Twin Towers. My building was a mere four short blocks away – for those of you unfamiliar with urban terrain – I was about a quarter mile away.


That day the morning sun shined brightly in a sky of sparkling blue. It was a perfect day for my morning run. So I left for work on a later train – a blessing in disguise. As I walked up the stairs of my subway stop I heard people saying “a plane hit the TwinTowers.” I said to myself it could only be a Cessna, a prank gone awry.


But the sight that greeted me when I surfaced was one I will never forget. The towers were burning and my first thought was – the firefighters, they are going to lose their lives trying to save people. I wanted to drop to my knees and pray in the street but instead said a silent prayer and proceeded to my building.


My office on the 17th floor had a clear view of the drama unfolding and when I entered I was met by two co-workers both near hysteria. One said "I heard it! The plane, what’s happening?" And I calmly responded “Terrorists.”


My statement was based on the facts. One plane is an accident, two planes - intentional.


I placed calls to loved ones. I reached my boyfriend in Philly but not my mother in NYC. The office administrator called in and I told her what was happening. As we were speaking I looked out of the window at the fiery inferno.


The sight of a jumper free falling put me into gear. I hung up the phone quickly and told everyone to evacuate. We shared our plans to leave the area and wished each other well.


I ended up with the receptionist. He was a handful. I am calm, cool, and collected in the face of danger. He absolutely is not. I had to threaten to slap him silly and leave him before we were able to proceed.


You’ve seen the rest of the story –we ran through the streets, when we finally looked back we saw a solo tower and later none at all. We made it to midtown where I ditched him. I needed to care for self and we were out of immediate danger.


I went to Macy’s searching for a phone. None worked. The Pennsylvania Hotel – hoping for a room, none available. And it was there that I realized the extent of the attack. I stood in the lobby shaking from adrenaline and fear; people asked if I was okay but had no remedy when I responded in the negative.


I walked the streets in search of luxurious accommodations - if this was the end of days I wanted a Jacuzzi bath and champagne for company.


The best I could do was a couch in a fully booked Bed and Breakfast owned by a stranger from my hometown.


I went back to Penn Station in hopes that a train could take me home. If that didn’t work my alternate plan was to walk to Harlem. My thinking, “Terrorists won’t bomb Harlem.”


As the sound of fighter planes flying overhead reached the gathered crowd somehow I heard above the din – “first train to L.I.” – on my line. I raced to the train, prayed for safety and arrived home physically unharmed.


But the madness hung around for awhile. I stayed in my bed for the full week following the event. Finally turning off the TV when the images flashing across the screen became too much to bear. From my window I could see the smoke of the smoldering buildings, so I had no view. Sleep occupied my time. When I finally returned to work I donned a surgical mask as did all that walked the streets surrounding ground zero. And on a daily basis I had a birds eye view of the rubble that was once the Twin Towers.


At that time I realized my mortality and pressured my boyfriend to marry me – I even designed and purchased a ring for myself. He talked me down. Returned the ring.


After months of therapy I was in a better place. But the images will never leave me. And that day will always haunt me.

This is in memory of the thousands of people that lost their lives on September 11th, 2001.

May they never be forgotten.

Challenge: Recreate Runway Look

Everyone who knows me pretty much can tell you that it is rare to see me without make-up. I just love adding a dash of style to my daily look but changing up lipgloss, eyeshadow and even mascara. Maybelline challenged me to recreate a Runway inspired look using their products for under $25.00. They sent me the tools I needed to try Jessica White's look - Silver Diva. 

Clearly, I am no Jessica White but with the right make-up I think I did a pretty good job of playing up my eyes and having a nude lip. 

I was going to post a before picture but really do you need to see that? I think not! I am actually very pleased with the final look that I achieved. I think if I were to do it again, I'd add a little more of a gold shimmer on my lids but overall I think I can wear this for both day and night time outings. Here are the Maybelline products I used to achieve the look:


Volum' Expres Falsies Flared Washable Blackest Black: $4.97
Expertwear Eyeshawdow Quads - Mocha Motion $4.97
Unstoppable Eyeliner - Pewter $4.97
Superstay 24 Color - So Pearly Pink $7.94


All of these prices are available at Walmart and I'm sure that this look will be a staple for me. I am loving the mascara, I don't think my eyelashes have ever looked so good! 


Disclosure: I am a Walmart mom and was provided with the Maybelline products for this challenge and compensated for writing this post. All opinions as usual are 100% my own!