We exchanged emails and I thanked her for her linking kindness. Then one day I found out that she was heading to the same blogging conference I was in Nashville, Blissdom. I also found out that it was her first conference and she knew no one personally. So I adopted her. Oh, and I am so glad that I did.

Turns out Stephanie is a wealth of knowledge, energy and encouragement. We talked things that bloggers talk and had fun living it up at the conference. We were fast friends.

But why do I go on and on about Stephanie to all of you? Because she has a great ebook that she just released and I think it will be right up YOUR alley. It is From Your Freezer to Your Family, Slow Cooker Freezer Recipes. That is totally something you are interested in, right? Of course it is!

The ebook is packed with recipes and suggestions for doing some easy freezer meals that can go from freezer to slow cooker to the dinner table. It also has a focus on whole food recipes so no worries about artificial or processed ingredients either.

From Your Freezer to Your Family, Slow Cooker Freezer Recipes is $5.99 and includes 20 recipes, grocery lists and even labels. Be sure to get your copy today!

Samples of some recipes you will find in this eCookbook include:

• Cumin-Cinnamon Beef Stew
• Summer Veggie Soup
• Thai Chicken Curry
• Stephanie’s Goulash
• Cranberry Chicken
• Italian Beef
• Chicken & Cherries
• Peanut Stew
• Orange Beef
• Healthy Mama BBQ Chicken
• and much more!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

SIGN ME UP!

This is not a paid opportunity (although I wish it was) but a necessary function in the life of this blog. And a service that helps make great menus free to everyone. If you are interested in finding out more about the details of being a test cook you can read more here. If you have signed up in the past you MUST sign up AGAIN for this session. We are currently looking for cooks for June through December of 2012. We like to keep our records up to date and accurate so we create a new survey or pool of test kitchens every 6 months.

You do get to indicate which menus you are most interested in, taste preferences and availability. And I will contact test cooks on a month-to-month basis and you are able to decline if you find out you are unable for that month. So don’t worry that you have signed your life away.

We appreciate our test cooks and thank you in advance for signing up!

I took some time to outline great ways you can freeze some of her tastiest meals. We looked at Spinach Lasagna Rolls, Healthy Baked Chicken Nuggets, Turkey Burgers. So many readers are asking about other Skinnytaste recipes that I thought I would help point you in the direction of menus that have featured Skinnytaste recipes in the past.

Here are a few other favorite Skinnytaste recipes to have ready in the freezer at a moment’s notice. (To see how we chose to freeze these recipes, you will need to visit the listed month’s menu and proceed to the “printable recipe cards.” There you will find how we best suggest freezing for optimal Skinnytaste.)

• Chicken Rollatini with Spinach Alla Parmigiana (Diet April 2012 Menu)
• Cheesy Zucchini Enchiladas (Vegetarian February 2012 Menu)
• Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili (Diet February 2012 Menu & Diet October 2011 Menu)
• Spinach Lasagna Rolls (Diet September 2011 Menu)
• Lighter Baked Macaroni and Cheese (Diet October 2011 Menu)
• Mexican Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas (Whole Foods August 2011 Menu)
• Balsamic Chicken with Roasted Vegetables (Gluten Free Dairy Free August 2011 Menu)

No, we don’t have a menu that is all Skinnytaste recipes but we do regularly publish (on the 1st of the month) menus in the following categories: Traditional, Whole Foods, Diet, Gluten Free Dairy Free, Vegetarian, and Baby/Toddler. In addition, on the 5th and 10th of this month we have Traditional Mini Menus and as an added bonus this month we have two Specialty Mini Menus coming out. On the 15th we have a Diet Mini Menu and on the 20th we are featuring a Paleo Mini Menu.

It really is easy to get started and I guarantee you won’t regret the time, money and waistline that you save! Be sure to subscribe by RSS or email or to follow us on Facebook so you can stay up to date on all the happenings and good freezer eats.

I have spent the last several weeks getting to know these fine ladies. They are a wonderful crew and I am beginning to wonder how I have ever lived without them. They really are making my time in the kitchen more efficient. I simply had no idea!

I have been pouring over their owners manuals, polishing their edges, testing out their features and getting to know each and every one on a personal level. I’ve even decided to share with you their names. Yes, they have names. Any good kitchen staff does! This one is no exception.

First there is Greta. She is a beauty. She gets her name as a derivative of Gretal. She is so named because she is so cavernous that my children could easily fit inside her. (Don’t worry, there is no chance that will happen). You get the idea, she is spacious. I plan to give you a run down of all of her details very soon but for now you should note that she is the top-of-the-line, double oven range with 5 gas burners that make me sing as I make supper. No lie. She is a beauty. Greta.

Next, there is Big Bertha. Oh Big Bertha, how did I ever live without your many shelves, special produce drawers, ice maker, water dispenser and deli drawer? She is so named because she is deep and wide and bigger than any refrigerator I have ever used. She is large and in charge and she is one of the most beloved members of my new staff.

Then there is Tacy. Tacy means “silent”. And there isn’t a better word to describe her. She has some amazing features but none greater than the fact that you can’t ever tell if she is running. And I am not exaggerating. I turned her on the other day before a friend arrived for dinner. We spent time talking in the kitchen and having dinner. After dinner I said, “By the way, the dishwasher is running”. She didn’t believe me. Tacy is that quiet.

I am kind of stumped for names for our last staff member though. Do you think you could help me out? It really isn’t kind to have staff without names. Nothing has just popped out at me though.

The beautiful microwave. She needs a name that means “sensitive”, or “feeling”, or something of that nature. She is a beauty. Nice and big, yet gentle and kind. She senses the food in her belly and adjusts accordingly. She makes popcorn to perfection, cooking each kernel without burning the multitude. She defrosts with ease. Got any good names that say all that? I hope so. I am stumped.

Again, I will tell you a bit more about each of them in the coming weeks. They are amazing and I couldn’t be more thrilled nor feel more blessed that they have joined our family.

Disclosure: KitchenAid provided me with these appliances. I was not compensated for this post nor was I asked to name my appliances, I’m just that corny. All the opinions in this post are mine. Want to know more about how I facilitate reviews, view my full disclosure policy!

**This post is part of the Get Real series. Please remember that this is meant as a learning community. We know that many of you are passionate about what you do and we want you to express that, just please do so in a way that will be an encouragement and aid to others making a transition. We want this to be a “safe space” for participants to learn. For that reason, we reserve the right to delete any comments that are not handled in this manner.

We are 4 months into our real foods journey and our family is really embracing the changes. Some have been more of a struggle than others but most  have been very positive. I was excited as we approached this month and our focus on fruits and vegetables. Excited because I love fresh produce but really do struggle with this aspect of our real foods journey as much as I do with giving up caffeine. I struggle with making the right purchases, how to move growing our own produce and solutions for those items we can’t grow.

I KNOW the dirty dozen and the items I really need to focus on buying organic; but I when push comes to shove at the grocery store, if faces with .99 cent a pound apples and $1.99 a pound organic apples I have trouble choosing the organic. My wallet starts screaming at me to PUT THEM BACK AND GO CHEAPER! Yes, I know the benefits and the cons but it is still a hard decision when faced with the choice. So what is a mama to do?

Since starting our journey I have bought less of my produce at the conventional grocery store and instead purchased most of it at the local farmer’s market. The reason being that when I am at the market I am given organic and local options. Either one of those is a better choice than conventional for our real foods journey. I am not presented with the alternative so I don’t hear my wallet screaming at me. This has helped a ton.

As for gardening, we just don’t seem to have a good spot for it. Several years ago I did square foot gardening but our back yard has a lot of afternoon shade and isn’t close to a water spout (don’t ask). A couple years in a row we used the front flower bed as a vegetable garden but it doesn’t end up being the prettiest look on the block (not that that is a huge concern). We also were attempting to sell our house last year so we landscaped that area. During this time we invested in a CSA program.

I loved the CSA program because I was introduced to new fruits and vegetables, was taken out of my comfort zone in cooking and received great fresh produce. After two years with that particular program/farm, I found the system a bit cumbersome and I was experiencing a lot of waste with produce we didn’t care for but I wasn’t able to decline.

This year we found a PERFECT solution! Green B.E.A.N. Ohio. If you live anywhere in or around the Columbus, Dayton, Cincinatti Ohio area you must check them out! What I love about this CSA is that I can choose every week or every other week. I can go in each time I have an order and adjust my order to the produce I want and don’t want. I can upgrade my box or downgrade my box. I can order groceries and meats as well from the various partner vendors. And even greater, I can start or stop it at any time and even choose to pause it while I am on vacation! Amazing! And they don’t require a deposit. I am utterly and totally in love.

Lately, I have also gotten quite a few questions on the cost comparison. I am always quick to indicate that I didn’t sign up for this CSA because I wanted to save money, but rather, I wanted to focus more on organic produce and keep myself away from store choices I feel aren’t as good for me. So the price hasn’t really been a factor for me. But it did get me curious so I decided to do a cost analysis of my most recent produce bin.

The cost of my bin was $35 and I received the following:

• 12 ounces asparagus
• 1 bunch broccoli
• 4 lbs of Yukon Gold potatoes
• 10 ounces snow peas
• 1 pound green beans
• 2 each Pink Lady apples
• 2 each Bosc Pears
• 1 each Murcott Mandarin
• 2 each avocados
• 1 pint grape tomatoes
• 1 each romaine lettuce

April Get Real:

Please take a moment to thank our guest authors by clicking over to their sites and/or liking them on Facebook and/or Twitter.

Disclosure: I did not receive compensation from Green B.E.A.N. Ohio, I do however earn a discount on my order if you put my name in. All the opinions in this post are mine. 

What better way to do that then to have some homemade freezer meals ready and waiting. Of course there are the Once A Month Mom monthly menus but you might just want to put a few favorites away too. Here are a few (giggle) of our favorites for Spring!

Recipes marked with ** are easy to assemble or require minimal cooking to prepare.

Spicy BBQ-Stuffed Chicken

Dinners

1. Ham and Potato Pockets
2. Chicken Macaroni Bake**
3. Cheddar Butter Burgers**
4. Slow Cooker Mango Pork**
5. Garlic & Herb Chicken**
6. Mango Chicken and Vegetable Bake**
7. Buffalo Bleu Cheese Burgers**
8. Buffalo Stuffed Chicken
9. Italian Flank Steak Pinwheels**
10. Tangy Marinated Steak**
11. Bacon & Bleu Burgers**
12. Sicilian Meatloaf**
13. Tomato Basil Burgers**
14. Chicken & Broccoli Casserole
15. Turkey Burgers**
16. Slow Cooker Pineapple, Pepper Chicken Stew**
17. Cheeseburger Boat**
18. Easter Pork Loin**
19. Ham, Broccoli and Cheddar Roll**
20. Baked Chicken and Artichoke Penne
21. Teriyaki Honey Chicken**
22. Chicken Ranchero Chicken over Rice
23. Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi
24. Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken**
25. BBQ Chicken Pizza
26. Mexican Verde Casserole
27. Gluten Free Dairy Free Chicken Kabobs**
28. Fire Roasted Vegetable Pasta
29. Cheddar Stuffed Portobello Burgers**
30. Roasted Vegetable Quinoa
31. Healthier Pork Chops with Pineapple Salsa
32. Buttermilk Herb Chicken Breasts**
33. Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken**
34. Spicy Bbq-Stuffed Chicken Breasts**
35. Gluten Free Dairy Free Bombay Chicken**
36. Cheesy Potatoes and Ham
37. Chicken and Broccoli Bake
38. Easy Ranch Chicken**
39. Ranch Cheddar Burgers**

Shrimp & Orzo Bake

Lunches

1. Corn Dog Muffins
2. Hot Dog Croissants
3. Tacos in a Sleeping Bag
4. Buffalo Chicken Wraps**
5. Pizza Croissants
6. Broccoli and Cheese Twice Baked Potatoes
7. Chicken Curry Wraps**
8. Healthy Tuna and White Bean Pita**
9. Healthy Mushroom Barley Soup**
10. Healthy Citrus Chicken Strips**
11. Artichoke Bread
12. Cheesy Ham Biscuit
13. Lentil and Wild Rice Soup**
14. Gluten Free Dairy Free Pizza Muffins
15. Black Bean Salsa Quesadillas
16. Chicken Broccoli Roll Ups
17. Ham & Cheese Egg Rolls
18. Potato Kale Soup**

Raspberry Kiwi Smoothie

Breakfasts

1. Homemade Pop Tarts (using your favorite seasonal jam)
2. Toddler French Toast Sticks
3. Frozen Fruit Cups**
4. Frozen Yogurt Fruit Cups**
5. Frozen Fruit Burritos**
6. Ginger Yogurt Parfaits**
7. Pear, Pineapple Mini Gelatin Cups**
8. Low-Fat Rhubarb Muffins
9. Raspberry Kiwi Smoothie**
10. Strawberry Chocolate Chip Scones
11. Strawberry Orange Smoothie**
12. Gluten Free Dairy Free Granola Bars
13. Chocolate Raspberry Muffins
14. Strawberry Banana Breakfast Popsicles**
15. Gluten Free Dairy Free Strawberry Scones
16. Cream of Wheat Muffins
17. Fat-Free Lemon Berry Muffins
18. Lemon Poppyseed Waffles
19. Green Supreme Smoothie**
20. Fruit and Yogurt Smoothie Bags**
21. Homemade Cereal Bar Cookies
22. Light Southwest Breakfast Pizza

Yogurt Tubes (Go Gurts)

Side Dishes

1. Baked Beans**
2. Freezer Coleslaw
3. Pickled Beets
4. Veggie Pizza
5. Easy Garlic Bread**
6. Garlic Knots
7. Homemade Cheesy Rice
8. Freezer Bread and Butter Pickles**
9. Homemade Salsa Verde**
10. Hamburger Buns
11. Frog Eye Salad
12. Sweet Broccoli Pasta Salad
13. Sauteed Carrots with Sage**
14. Refrigerator (Crescent) Rolls
15. Freezer Dinner Rolls
16. Strawberry Freezer Jam**

Snacks/Desserts

1. Homemade Yogurt Tubes (Gogurt Fakes)**
2. Rice Krispies Ice Cream Sandwiches**
3. Lemon Raspberry Delight
4. Sugar Free Fat Free Mocha Popsicles**
5. Skinny Monkey Cookies
6. Balls of Energy

They began with their “starter” home and gratefully accepted hand-me-down appliances to get them started. Several years passed and their family grew.

And thus was born a small little freezer cooking website as a hobby to help other busy moms out.

The blog grew, and so did the once a month cooking expeditions in this tiny little “starter” home kitchen.

The refrigerator started to groan in protest over its heavy loads. Leaking water throughout meant a makeshift catch bowl was needed internally to keep ice pools from forming. There was no working ice maker, so they filled tray upon tray daily.

The oven was functional but a tad bit off temperature. And the dishwasher sounded like it was competing with the toddlers for attention.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

And so the happy couple, drunk on their love and their small family of four, pined for a time when they might be able to have “big people” appliances. And the hobbiest blogger turned small business woman struggled through massive dishes to bring good treats to all that wished to indulge.

Until one day, the appliance fairy godmother called with some exciting news! With the wave of a wand and a click of a url; this bloggers dreams were going to come true.

Bright, shiny, new, state-of-the art appliances as only she had seen in far off places before.

All hers. Well, theirs.

And even though this blogger is about to enter into kitchen paradise, rest assured that this story is not yet over. As time carries on you will see, hear and maybe even touch these beauties. You will get to see what happily ever after looks like.

Disclosure: I was provided with appliance courtesy of KitchenAid. All the opinions are mine. All the opinions in this post are mine, want to know more about how I facilitate reviews, view my full disclosure policy!

Vicks is working with Jessica Seinfeld’s Baby Buggy charity, a non-profit dedicated to providing U.S. families in need with essential items for their children. YOU CAN HELP by going to the Vicks Facebook page and clicking “share” to distribute this video through your own FB page. Every share that happens to this video, Vicks will donate a Behind Ear thermometer to a family in need. Isn’t that a good thing? How many of you would have benefited from having one of these thermometers? I know I would have!

It only takes a minute so please SHARE!

Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post nor did I receive any products to review, I am doing it out of the goodness of my heart. All the opinions in this post are mine, want to know more about how I facilitate reviews, view my full disclosure policy!

The first conference I ever attended was Blissdom in 2009; one week after I started Once A Month Mom. In fact, I started Once a Month Mom on February 1, 2009 so I would HAVE a blog to represent at the conference. It was crazy but it worked out quit nicely. And this year, I attended Blissdom with a friend who doesn’t have anything but a personal blog but was inspired to create a new blog after attending. THAT is why I go to conferences!

Regularly I might think that I don’t know how many of my readers really have blogs BUT I have been asking you to link up lately and it is CLEAR that many of you do have blogs. Big and small. So have you ever attended a conference? Why or why not?

The next conference I am attending will be Type A Parent Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina June 22-24, 2012. I have never attended the conference but I have heard so many good things about it that I can’t wait to go. I think they named the conference after me anyway. You can’t really get much more Type A than me! And how can you go wrong with the South in the summer?

If you are a Once A Month Mom reader attending you MUST let me know so we can meet up. If you have been contemplating attending, I have some good news for you; there are still tickets available and I have a code for you to get 20% off. The early bird pricing (plus you can use your discount code found below) are good through March 31, 2012. The thing I love is that you can attend by yourself or you can purchase a family pass and make it a family weekend.

Get your ticket now! Early Bird ends March 31, 2012. Use code ONCEAMONTHMOM to get an extra 20% off!

There is nothing like the first signs of flowers popping through the dirt, the smell of a fresh rainfall and a sunny day to brighten my spirits and inspires me to fire up the grill! I can hardly believe we have a week of 70 degree whether in March in Ohio. I am prepared that it could snow in April though. Living in Ohio is extremely unpredictable.

We decided to try out a new recipe courtesy of Hellmann’s® Chicken Change-up going on right now. From now until April 30, 2012, you can participate in the Hellmann’s® Chicken Change-up by trying one of the featured Hellmann’s® chicken recipes, sharing your recipe reviews and providing their own advice for managing dinnertime obstacles.  After participating, you can enter into a sweepstakes for the chance to win a $5000 grocery store gift card and other daily prizes. Sounds good to me! Creating food that can win me prizes. Sounds like a win/win.

Here is a look at my time saving tip for you too!

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Hellmann’s Creamy Adobo Grilled Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Hellmann’s® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 Tablepsoons lime juice
• 1 teaspooons dried oregano leaves, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1.25 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

Directions:

In medium bowl, combine all ingredients except chicken. Reserve 1/2 cup mayonnaise mixture. Grill or broil chicken, brushing frequently with remaining mayonnaise mixture, until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Serve with reserved mayonnaise mixture.

Freezing Directions:

Cook/grill until slightly underdone or just done. (You will be reheating after freezing and it will cook the rest of the way). Allow to cool and flash freeze. Place in a gallon freezer bag and freeze. To serve: Thaw. Reheat on grill, in pan or in microwave until cooked through.

Servings: 4

**conversion chart image provided by Erik Spiekermann

Disclosure: Hellmann’s product and was compensated for this review. All the opinions in this post are mine, want to know more about how I facilitate reviews, view my full disclosure policy!

So we rallied the troops (Amy & Debbie)  and came up with a game plan for a wonderfully long weekend girls getaway to attend Blissdom. There was just one problem. (Well, one of the first world problem variety). The only transportation we had available were a couple of 10 year old sedans and some mini-vans. Nothing says girl’s weekend away like rolling up in an Odyssey, right?

So I contacted the powers that be (the ones that send me SWEET cars to review) and told them about our upcoming adventure and our “need” to arrive in style. Girl style. And oh my, they DID NOT disappoint. They sent over an 2012 Acura MDX. I was just excited looking at the specs, little did I know that my mind (and my tush), were going to be blown away in style all the way to Nashville!

In my 36 years of life I have never been in a vehicle as classy as this one. It had those fancy features that remember your seat settings, had a drivers and passenger seat that warmed or cooled, and drove like a dream. And really, “like a dream”, is a bit of an understatement. I kept saying “it drove like butter” which really doesn’t make sense if you aren’t a cook, right? I really just meant that the ride was as smooth as butter. I could have driven days in this vehicle. (And I thought about it so I wouldn’t have to return it).

We had 4 women’s luggage for an entire weekend away and I was a tad concerned about the space. I shouldn’t have been. We easily got our goods in on the way down and I had plenty of room to see out the back window. Sweet.

There was also a third row seat. We clearly had to put it down for our trip to the conference but were able to get some use out of it when we decided to leave the Gaylord Opryland Hotel for dinner one evening. We made two new friends and invited them along! Sweet, our SUV just came in real handy! We didn’t have to take two vehicles. Those riding in the third row seat did mention that there wasn’t much leg room but that for shorter trips it would definitely be just fine.

I was also absolutely floored when I went to use the cruise control. Have you ever been in a vehicle that has automatic cruise control? When turned on, if you get too close to a vehicle in front of you (cleared assured distance) the car SLOWS DOWN on it’s own! When you pass them or get to a clearing (they move over) the vehicle goes back to the set speed. Crazy! It was as if the MDX was driving itself. Love. Absolutely in love.

The real challenge for this vehicle was clearly going to be the return trip. To explain, when our bellman came to the room to pick up our stuff with TWO luggage carts his first question to us was, “How many vehicles did you bring?” Oh how we laughed. And laughed. And laughed. When we told him one but it was an SUV he seemed only mildly relieved. It didn’t take too much longer for him to inquire as to which type of SUV it was.

Thank goodness the valet helping us to pack the trunk had more confidence. And as you can see, we got it all in! And it is a good thing because I was clearly ready to leave Amy behind and not my large stash of GoGoSqueeze. :0

We drove home in luxury again. Like princess’ returning from the ball. But not the princess’ whose pumpkin expired.

I got to drive it around a few more days with the kids and try out some other features of the vehicle as well. Here are some of my other favorite features:

Key Features I Loved:

• Seat/Driver memorization
• Heating AND cooling in the seat – that took 30 seconds to change mind you.
• There were “blind spot” lights near the mirrors that came on when there was someone in a blind spot. It was so cool! I loved that safety feature!
• The automatic cruise control.
• Speed-sensing, variable intermittent windshield wipers.
• Automatic day/night rearview mirror with rearview camera display
• The cool “secret” compartment in the floor/dash area on the passenger side.
• The third row seat option.
• The remote opened trunk.
• The entertainment system for the kids.
• The navigation.

Features I felt it was lacking:

• More drink holders for the driver. I know I have an obscene obsession with cup holders but it needed to be said!

Really, the car was a dream for any driver. There isn’t too much I would even dare change about this amazing vehicle. Thank you so much to Acura for sending us to Blissdom in style. The whole conference was an amazing experience made better by traveling with three of my favorite moms.

Disclosure: Acura provided me with this vehicle to review for a week. I was not compensated for this review. All the opinions in this post are mine, want to know more about how I facilitate reviews, view my full disclosure policy!

In case your mind needs a little refreshing (mine usually does), here are the outfits that I asked you to weigh in on for my attire. I needed to select 3 day-wear outfits, 1 evening out outfit and 1 girls night in outfit. You all voted, and for the most part, I took your advice (if it was available) and selected those outfits.

I thought it would be fun to share with you what you chose for me, what I ended up looking like in the outfit, what Land’s End items were involved and what I thought/felt about the outfit. I am also doing this because several of you were asking me about what items I was wearing as I was sharing with you my fashion on Facebook. Oh yea, and I have a $100 Land’s End gift cards to give to 2 lucky readers that care to weigh in at the end of this post on what they loved most!

Chosen Outfits (also linked below so that you can compare how they turned out on me):

Land’s End Blissdom Conference Attire Pinterest Board

So here we go:

Outfit #1 – Day Wear #1

Originally, I was thinking that I was going to be at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel for the day and then into the evening reception and I needed something that I could wear all day. What I failed to remember is that the evening reception is a bit dressier than day wear so I felt a little under dressed for the evening gathering. Over all, it wasn’t a huge problem, just a bit of poor planning on my part.

I liked the outfit well enough but it wasn’t my favorite. I was super comfortable which was really important to me but I think that I am girl that needs to stay away from stripes. Several of you thought this didn’t show off my petite figure and I have to agree, especially after you see all the other outfits. Again, really comfortable and stylish but not 100% me.

Oh, and that tote! I got the small one thinking I would just carry the iPad around in it and leave my laptop in the room but I quickly discovered my 15 inch laptop fit in it as well! Actually, both devices fit in it. I loved the little pockets and plenty of places to keep my cards handy too. Definitely a fun spring/summer bag.

Items I am wearing:

• Women’s Regular Starfish Long Sleeve Stripe Cotton Modal Terry Drape Cardigan
• Women’s Regular Chambray Straight Leg Pants
• Women’s Regular Lightweight Jersey 3/4-sleeve Pleated Scoopneck Top
• Women’s Lila Piped Ballet Shoes
• Women’s Small Kinzie Linen Tote Bag
• Women’s Skinny Leather Belt

Outfit #2 – Day Wear #2

Oh yes, now we are talking! THIS my friends made me feel like I wanted to feel. Sassy, business-like without being too much business, sexy, confident and comfortable.

As I put on this outfit I was extremely concerned that the shoes were going to be too much for the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. Have you been to that place? It is mammoth! Our room and the conference center were on different ends so I had reason to be concerned. I was pleasantly surprised that my feet didn’t object to wearing these gorgeously fabulous shoes all day. They were not only super cute they were comfortable as well. The wedged heel really helped.

And after my husband’s prompting this dress will be making frequent appearances in my wardrobe this spring.

Items I am wearing:

• Women’s Regular Short Sleeve Cotton Modal Wrap Dress
• Women’s Valerie Flat Two-piece Sandals
• Women’s Small Kinzie Linen Tote Bag

Outfit #3 – Evening Wear #1

The original dress that you picked wasn’t in season so we had to choose an alternative. I was going to get the teal version to be close to your choice BUT my friend Amy was going and had the teal version so I wanted to make sure we weren’t twinsies for the conference. Not that I would have minded.

Let’s just say, when I tried this outfit on at home my husband was quite skeptical about letting me out of the house in it. I loved the dress because it was super comfortable yet dressy. I can definitely say that I am also going to get a lot of use out of this dress this summer as well.

And the shoes? I was so worried about these shoes because I wore the other heels earlier in the day and I was worried about my feet. I was pleasantly surprised that these shoes were even more comfortable than the ones I wore during the day. Seriously. I am not lying! They were super comfortable.

Items I am wearing:

• Women’s Regular Sleeveless Solid Cotton Modal Fit and Flare Dress
• Women’s Elizabeth Buckle Sandal
• Women’s Regular Fine Gauge Supima Crew Cardigan

Outfit #4 – Day Wear #3

If I was happy with the outfits up until now, I was euphoric over this outfit. I was so skeptical because prior to this day I had NEVER put on a pair of skinny jeans. I also had NEVER worn a pair of boots OVER my jeans. This was all new territory for me. Oh my, I am so glad that I did!

I got so many compliments on this outfit. It was perfect and comfortable and one that I can’t wait to wear over and over. I loved the scarf they sent too, it is my favorite color to wear. And those skinny jeans? They are actually cropped skinny jeans so i am going to get to wear them all summer long too. I am super excited about that.

Items I am wearing:

• Women’s Regular Long Sleeve Cotton Drape Cardigan
• Women’s Regular Lightweight Jersey 3/4-sleeve Pleated Scoopneck Top
• Women’s Petite Colored Denim Ankle Pants
• Women’s Diana Low Heel Riding Boots
• Women’s Crinkle Scarf (Land’s End Canvas)

Outfit #5 – Girls Night In #1

Nothing beats the end of three days of fun like a Girls Night In. And I was DEFINITELY going for comfortable for this outfit. The thing is, I was comfortable the whole conference! My favorite part of this outfit was undoubtedly the Starfish pants. Who doesn’t love a pair of pants that you can wear in public that feel like pajama pants. A win/win. When I am feeling like I want a pajama day (ahem, ahem, every day) but still have errands to run I can have the best of both worlds in these pants.

Items I am wearing:

• Women’s Regular Half Sleeve Starfish Stripe Scoop Top
• Women’s Regular Starfish Refined Stretch Pants
• Women’s Regular Long Sleeve Cotton Drape Cardigan
• Women’s Gatas Canvas Slip-on Shoes

And now for the real reason you read this far, you want some Land’s End goodness for yourself! Here is how you enter to win:

CONTEST CLOSED – Winners – Sharon Rooney and Teresa (t.fetch)

1. Leave a Comment telling me which of the new Land’s End apparel items you most want for spring/summer.

Additional ways to enter:

2. Follow @landsend on twitter.

3. Tweet this contest – use @onceamonthmom & @landsend. (Maybe something like: I want to look as good as @onceamonthmom this spring/summer courtesy of @landsend - http://bit.ly/ysRaDN ) And don’t forget to leave a comment below stating you have done so.

4. Subscribe to the Once A Month Mom blog via RSS or email. Let me know that you have done so. Of course, if you are already subscriber make sure you leave that too.

This giveaway ends Monday, March 12th at 5 pm (EST).

Disclosure: Land’s End provided me with my attire and compensated me for my representation of them at Blissdom. All the opinions in this post are mine, want to know more about how I facilitate reviews, view my full disclosure policy!

So it got us thinking, what could we do to celebrate freezer food? Put out a free freezer cooking menu? No, we already do that. Tell people how to get started freezer cooking? Nope, we already do that. Give you a great recipe perfect for freezing? Nope, we already do that too. Hmm, what else could we do?

Given that Pinterest is all the rage these days we thought we might celebrate Pinterest style with a little help from you. So here is how you can play along with us:

1. Go to your freezer – what recipes do you have lurking in there? If you want, share a picture and/or the written contents with us on Facebook – right here to be exact!
2. Pull out a freezer meal for dinner!
3. Have you been procrastinating freezer cooking? How about choosing TODAY to get started!
4. In the comments section below OR on THIS FACEBOOK STATUS give us the link to YOUR favorite freezer cooking resource, recipe or product. It DOES NOT have to be from THIS website (although we would be flattered if it was).

We have created a Pinterest board and as you give them to us we will pin them to our board so that at the end of this day of celebrating we have a HUGE resource of freezer recipes from across the web.

Later in the afternoon we are going to play “guess that freezer” on the Once A Month Facebook Fan Page too. Stay tuned for lots of fun!

Sound fun? I hope you will join us in the celebration – now get linking so we can get pinning!

Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

This is a compilation of several recipes that we have come to love over the last season. Three of the five have no meat so I think that you will find this to be a budget friendly menu and perfect for the Lent season. If your family likes a little more meat in their dinners, just add either cooked ground beef or chicken, whichever happens to be on hand. I hope you like my choices and that you are finding these mini menus to be of help in your freezer cooking journey.

What are Mini Menus? Mini menus are a fraction of the meals you would see on a normal menu and can be completed quickly and efficiently in a few short hours, in the evenings when you are preparing the meal for dinner or during small bursts of times like naps. Mini meal plans are designed for the busy family who wants freezer meals in their freezer but doesn’t have time to do a full months worth of meals. If you are new and not sure how to get started we have a wonderful series starting with 5 easy steps to get you on your way to once a month cooking. Good luck!

**Stay tuned on the 10th of March as we have another 10 Day Mini Menu coming out then that you might also enjoy.

Menu

• Below is a linked list of items we have hand selected for this menu. The links below are to the original recipe. We include these so that you can get a look at what you might be preparing and to give these wonderful blog authors some traffic (they work hard to create great recipes). However, to see our freezer cooking adaptions and to alter the servings to meet the needs of your family you will need to VIEW and PRINT the printable 5 Day Mini Menu March 2012 Recipe Cards.
• This plan gives you 5 recipes that you will make for a total of 5 meals. If you want to turn the 5 day plan into a 10 day plan, you can do so by simply doubling the number of servings you enter into the yellow box. For more details and examples please see the printable 5 Day Mini Menu March 2012 Recipe Cards first page, instructions.
• Having trouble using the Recipe Cards or YELLOW BOX? See this post!

Honey Spiced Chicken Thighs

Dinners

• Rosemary Pot Roast
• Bean Enchilada Casserole
• Spinach Ricotta Stuffed Shells
• Potato Soup
• Honey Spiced Chicken Thighs

• printable 5 Day Mini Menu March 2012 Recipe Cards

**Indicates meals that require NO COOKING on your OAMC BIG DAY aka “throw and go” meals, perfect for the family who needs to adjust to just do the quick meals!

Grocery List

• Included in this spreadsheet you will find a listing of all the items you will need to complete your 5 Day Mini March 2012 OAMC BIG DAY by area of the grocery store. For more instructions on how to use this, go here.
• 5 Day Mini Menu March 2012 OAMM Grocery List

Instructions

• These are the step-by-step instructions you will need to quickly and efficiently approach your OAMC BIG DAY. After all, if you are going to be in the kitchen for awhile, you best make the most of your time.
• 5 Day Mini Menu March 2012 OAMM Instructions

Labels

These customized labels are designed specifically for this menu. They contain the name of the dish and serving instructions for preparing the dish on your serving day. They make preparation of the dishes hassle free and staying to your eating plan a cinch.

These labels are designed to be printed on Avery 8163 or equivalent! Readers who didn’t have labels available suggested just printing them on paper and taping them.

• 5 Day Mini March 2012 Menu Printable Labels

Pinterest:

Are you a person that likes to see the menus visually? Perhaps you should check out the March 2012 5 Day Mini Menu via Pinterest to see the yummy goodness you will be cooking up on this menu. Not sure what Pinterest is all about, check out what Once A Month Mom has to say about it.

Facebook Fan Party:

OAMM Facebook Fan Page Party – Month March 11th 2012, 9:00 pm – 9:30 pm EST – We will be able to chat via video AND messaging during the event through FACEBOOK! How cool is that? We will be talking about the current month’s menus, answer your burning questions about freezer cooking and have fun getting to know one another. You can also see other past recordings from that tab as well. This is a great way to meet fellow Once A Month Mom’s or get your questions answered as you get started.

Instructions for viewing live-stream:

• Go to the Once A Month Mom Facebook Fan Page.
• Click on the “FB Fan Night” Tab on the left side margin.
• Hit “view live recording” – If I am live streaming it will show you what is happening in progress. If I am not live streaming at the time, you will have the option to click through other videos that I have recorded in the past.
• Enjoy!

Test Cooks

Each month we have some wonderful volunteers who “test” out the menu prior to publication. They do an amazing job of helping to eliminate confusion and mistakes. They may not catch everything but they sure do catch A LOT! If you are interested in test cook, feel free to volunteer. Here is a little bit about this month’s test cooks:

• Rete St. Germain – I am a wife and mother of a 10-year old girl, and another one the way! I work full-time outside of the home for a state government agency and am trying to start a quilting business from my home. I am always looking for ways to make the daily cook ing easier and quicker to give me more time for my quilting and family, especially since we’ll be adding a new baby to the mix in June. I also blog at www.retequilts.com.

Get Started

Are you new to Once A Month Mom or once a month cooking (oamc) in general? If so, you might want to spend a few minutes (or hours) on the Get Started Series. If you are in a real hurry to catch on we have written some simple steps for getting started. Welcome!

If you are feeling abundantly blessed and generous feel free to donate.

• Included in this spreadsheet you will find a listing of all the items you will need to complete your 5 Day Mini March 2012 Once A Month (OAMC) Mom BIG DAY. You can make a copy of this list and customize it for yourself and your family or use it as is.
• Printable 5 Day Mini March 2012 Grocery List

Having trouble using the Grocery List or YELLOW BOX? See this post!

Designed to be printed on Avery 8163 or equivalent! Readers who didn’t have labels available suggested just printing them on paper and taping them.

• 5 Day Mini March 2012 Labels - Rosemary Pot Roast, Bean Enchilada Casserole, Spinach Stuffed Shells, Potato Soup, Honey Spiced Chicken Thighs
• Blank Labels

Google Document of Instructions – 5 Day Mini March 2012 OAMM Menu

Instructions

Meat used:

• Pot Roast – it can be frozen beforehand if handled properly (Rosemary Pot Roast)
• Chicken Thighs – it can be frozen beforehand if handled properly (Honey Spiced Glazed Chicken Thighs)

Thaw (in refrigerator)

• Pot Roast – it can be frozen beforehand if handled properly (Rosemary Pot Roast)
• Chicken Thighs – it can be frozen beforehand if handled properly (Honey Spiced Glazed Chicken Thighs)

Night Before:

• Optional (but HIGHLY recommended) – chop up all vegetables. (See Chopping Amounts sheet on Recipe Cards)
• SEE STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS BELOW

Day of:

Here are a few things that you should keep in mind:

• Use BUTTER don’t substitute margarine. There is a chance that if you are substituting margarine that they aren’t holding up as well because of it.
• It doesn’t matter whether you measure whole oats and then grind or measure already ground oats. I have done it both way with equally good results.
• Well ground oats are easier to work in then whole oats.
• You can grind oats in your food processor, blender or magic bullet if you don’t have a mill.
• Work your dough until it is one giant ball before proceeding to dividing among muffin tins.

Without further ado:

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Next in line after my obsession with buffalo wing sauce and sun-dried tomatoes would be my love for pesto. I’m not sure exactly what it is about it that makes me want it so much but I do crave it on occasion. So when I saw some of the pesto recipes floating around Pinterest I knew I needed to add them to my menu.

I also have gotten A LOT of questions over the last year about flash freezing. This is a pasta recipe that is easy to flash freeze and keep on hand for when you want a quick lunch or an easy dinner. So I have created another video for you to see how to flash freeze these shells for a rainy day. Enjoy!

Chicken Pesto Stuffed Shells

Author/Source:

Tricia @ Onceamonthmom.com

Ingredients:

• 12-16 jumbo pasta shells
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 6 Tablespoons pesto #1
• 2 cups chicken, cooked and diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 Tablespoons pesto #2
• 8 ounces Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

In a large pot boil water and prepare pasta shells as directed on package. Cook pasta shells only until al dente. Drain the pasta shells and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, pesto #1, chicken and garlic. Fill the pasta shells with the filling and place in a baking dish or flash freeze (see video).  Pour over pesto#2 if you are freezing in a baking dish, sprinkle Mozzarella cheese over filled shells.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake shells uncovered for 30 minutes or until shells are hot and cheese melts.

Freezing Directions:

Prepare shells as directed above but DO NOT BAKE. You can put the dish together by placing pesto #2 in the bottom of the pan and covering with Mozzarella. Cover with foil and freeze. OR if you would like you can follow the video to flash freeze them so that you can use them a few at a time. To serve: Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes (from frozen state) or until shells are hot.

Servings: 4

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**conversion chart image provided by Erik Spiekermann

This Post will be linked at:

• Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home’s
• Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
• Friday Potluck at EKat’s Kitchen
• Grocery Cart Challenge at Grocery Cart Challenge
• I’m Lovin’ It at Tidy Mom

What am I talking about? The new Chiquita Moms community, that’s what! In an effort to bring like minded moms together Chiquita has brought together some fabulously talented bloggers (Katie, Vanessa, Angie, Natalie and for some reason ME) to this community to lead you in everyday conversation about the comings and goings of raising your family in a healthy way.

We all know that this journey of being a mom can be a tough one. A rewarding one, but a tough one. Chiquita is here to provide you a community where you can engage with other moms traveling on this journey with you. And from what I hear there are going to be some great perks to being a part of this community (other than reading about the “real” me as a mom). So don’t hesitate – go join NOW!

Oh wait, before you go, here is a little bit about my trip to Chiquita headquarters recently and some more about the other great moms behind the new Chiquita Moms community!

Chiquita Moms Meeting of the Minds

The current Chiquita headquarters isn’t too far from my neck of the woods in Cincinnati, Ohio. This is where the meeting of the minds began. I had the privilege of meeting some of the staff from Chiquita as well as Empower, companies that I am quickly falling in love with. I also got to meet some of the other great bloggers that are going to be a part of this new project but more about them later.

We spent an evening together getting to know one another and eating. And eating. And eating. I had NO IDEA so many tasty Chiquita bananas in one meal! And really, the main thing you care about is the food I was served, right?

So without further ado. . .some food porn.

The Other Chiquita Moms

I love that the team for this project is so diverse in their writing style and area of expertise. And have I mentioned that they are all wonderfully delightful to be around? Because they are!

Left to Right: Katie, Vanessa, Fernando (Chiquita CEO), Angie, Natalie, Tricia

First up, Angie! After a long conversation of “Do you know ___?” we finally figured out that we *knew* each other from the ConAgra/The Motherhood campaign that we did together almost a year ago. Fun times. Angie was so sweet and I loved hearing stories of her squirrly family. She is like the mom next door. (The one you can borrow sugar from in a pinch, not THAT one!)

Next up, Katie! Katie started a mom’s play group community in Charlotte, NC and is a fitness enthusiast. She also makes quite a first impression! Poor Katie. I’m looking forward to getting to know her more and hear her great ideas on how I can get my sad shelf in shape.

Vanessa, the crafty. I say that like she is a notorious for her crafting skills, because she is! And because I am in awe of anyone with a crafty bone in their body. I can most definitely think up the projects but making them come to life is NOT my cup of tea. I’m planning to be sure I am good friends with Vanessa.

And last but not least, Natalie. Honestly, I didn’t get to chat with Natalie too much because of a travel snafu she experienced. I hear she is going to be at Blissdom in a few weeks though so I am hoping that we can remedy that!

Okay, get on now. . .get to the Chiquita Moms community and get yourself on board. You don’t want to miss out!

Disclosure: I am compensated for my role with the Chiquita Moms community. All the opinions in this post are mine, want to know more about how I facilitate reviews, view my full disclosure policy!

This is a guest post from Sue Becker of Bread Beckers, our February product sponsor. I have met Sue on several occassions and am always drawn in for her passion for whole foods and educating the public on their benefits. Well, I will let you see for yourself. . .

It is very difficult for me to condense into a few words what I would like to share about a subject that I have studied for more than 20 years – the nutritional benefits of real whole grains.  As I struggled to choose the most important nuggets of truth, two words kept coming to my mind, hope and encouragement.  I meet so many people who are very discouraged and have lost hope, mostly because of health challenges they are facing.  As Americans, we live in the sickest, yet most affluent nation in the world.  Most of us have friends, loved ones, family members or even ourselves who are struggling with serious or even life threatening health issues.  Many of us have children who are chronically ill and seem to live from one doctor visit to the next or perhaps we have the common complaints, such as reflux, sinus congestion, or bowel issues that are just considered part of life these days.

I understand.  I have been there. As a wife for nearly 37 years, mother of 9 children and grandmother to 6 (so far), I have faced many challenges.  But I have learned that chronic sickness does not have to part of everyday life.

Twenty years ago I was introduced to a healthy eating concept that radically changed my life and the health of my family.

I learned that:

• Whole grains are the most nutrient dense food we have been given
• Real whole grain flour spoils quickly
• Only when whole grains are freshly milled do they contain all their life giving nutrients
• Prior to the 1900 most bread baked in this country was made at home from freshly milled flour
•  100 years ago America was the healthiest country in the world
• 100 years ago, our ancestors, ate a diet consisting mostly of whole grains and real fruits and vegetables
• 100 years ago, Americans did not suffer from the cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity like we do today
• The common diseases that plague most of us are directly related to our consumption of commercially milled flour and processed grain products – even products labeled whole grain

With a degree in Food Science and background in physiology and biochemistry, I was surprised that I had never put these pieces of the health puzzle together.

I was introduced to the concept of milling my own flour at home to make all the bread for my family.  I purchased a small in- home grain mill and began to mill my own flour to make all the bread, muffins, pancakes, cookies for my young family.  I had 5 young children at the time.

photo credit: Nadia_a Stock.xchng

This was the only change I made to our diet at the time.   The health benefits were immediate and very noticeable.  In the first day alone, my own bowel issues were resolved and I had a noticeable increase in energy.  By the end of the first month, not only had my constipation been relieved and energy levels increases, but also my sugar cravings had greatly diminished, my frequent headaches were gone, and my dependence on antihistamines eliminated.  The overall health of my children was drastically improved.  No more snotty noses, chronic sniffles and ear infections, or catching every “bug” that came around.  Even one of my children’s warts went away.  If we did get sick, we got well more quickly with no need for medical intervention.  In fact in the past 20 years my children have only needed to visit a doctor 4 times for an illness.  We have not needed an antihistamine or decongestant of any kind in the past 20 years!  That alone was worth the endeavor, BUT the bread was also delicious!  In fact it was the best bread I had ever tasted.

My kids loved it.  This was healthy food my entire family would eat and enjoy.

Needless to say, I became very excited.  I began to share my delicious bread with others.  As I shared, one by one, others began to notice improved health as well.  One by one, they asked me “where can I buy a grain mill” and “will you teach me how to make bread”.  In November of 1992, the vision of teaching others to make bread from freshly milled flour was birthed in my heart.  My husband and I started The Bread Beckers, from our tiny 1300 square foot home with a customer base of 4 and now six young children.

As others shared their own testimonies of improved health with me, I would study my physiology and biochemistry books to discover what was in whole grains that could produce such noticeable and varied health improvements.  I began to share the truths that I learned.  My lectures on bread grew longer and longer as I put the pieces of the health puzzle together.  As I shared my finding with others, it was like scales dropped from their eyes, and they could see the truth as well.

Bread Beckers Getting Started Video Class Online

Our business began to grow mostly from my teaching and the testimonies of others.  Today The Bread Beckers, Inc. occupies 18,000 square feet of retail/warehouse space in Woodstock, GA.  We are both a grain and whole foods supplier as well as a kitchen store.  We have over 100 grain co-ops that we serve every quarter through out the eastern United States.  We teach healthy cooking classes that are taught both live in our store and web streamed.

In 2005, our older children bought a bakery, with a passion to make real whole grain bread more readily available.  They grind the flour fresh the day they make the bread.   Visit their bakery online at www.realbreadcompany.com.

Over the years, we have seen countless lives changed and health issues resolved.  I have been committed to healthy eating for more than 30 years.  I have never seen one dietary change bring such immediate and noticeable health benefits. Over and over the words we hear, as people share with excitement, are, “all I changed was the bread…”.  So if you want to radically change your life and the health of your family, all I can say is, “Buy a GRAIN MILL”.

You may be thinking this seems to hard or extreme.  But we at the Bread Beckers are committed to come along side you and help you in your journey.
Please visit our website www.breadbeckers.com.  Be sure to request a copy of my free 90 minute CD on the health benefits of freshly milled whole grains.

February Get Real:

Please take a moment to thank our guest authors and sponsors by clicking over to their sites and/or liking them on Facebook and/or Twitter.

There is nothing my children love more than spending time with me in the kitchen. They also love when their food takes on new and fun shapes and sizes that delight and surprise them. That is why when a holiday roles around you can most likely find us in the kitchen. It is one of our favorite places to be as a family.

One of the other reasons that I like this tradition is that our American holidays all seem to have an overload of candy associated with them. Candy hearts, boxes of chocolate, cinnamon hearts and more. Our children are 2 and 3 and I don’t feel that I want to start their lives overloaded on sugar in response to a holiday. So making a fun food is our way of celebrating in a more healthy yet fun way.

And what is Valentine’s Day without some red hearts? And in an effort to stay away from red dye I thought we would create a little red with our fruit! Typically you might see strawberries paired with Chiquita bananas but in our house strawberries equal anaphylactic shock, so we stick with the “other” red berry; raspberries!

Raspberry Banana Valentine Pancakes

Author/Source:

Tricia @ Onceamonthmom.com

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 0.25 teaspoon baking soda
• 0.125 teaspoon salt
• 1 small, ripened Chiquita Banana
• 1 cup raspberries, mashed
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup milk
• 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
• vegetable oil for pan
• 0.5 cup raspberries for topping
• 2 Chiquita Bananas for topping

Directions:

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk to blend. In a separate medium bowl, mash the raspberries and add the sugar. Mix to combine. Allow the raspberries and sugar to sit for 5-10 minutes so that raspberry juices appear. Combine the mashed banana, egg, milk, and butter with the mashed raspberries. Whisk to blend. Your child can help with the dry ingredients and whisking, just brace yourself for a little spillage.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just blended. The batter should be thick.

Heat a skillet to medium high heat with a bit of vegetable oil. (You may also use a griddle set to 350 degrees and skip the oil, although spraying with non-stick spray will help). Add 1/4 cup of the batter into the skillet. Cook until golden brown and bubbles form on the top. Flip the pancakes with a spatula and continue cooking until cooked through, about 1 to 2 minutes longer. Transfer the cooked pancakes to a plate and place them somewhere warm.

When the pancakes are finished and ready to serve, cut each pancake with a heart-shaped cookie cutter, or simply cut your own heart shape using a butter knife. Or if the kids want to be involved, let them do the cutting. Save or discard the scraps. Stack two pancakes on a plate. Add raspberries and heart shaped Chiquita Bananas to the top for extra fun.

Note: You can freeze the scraps or extra pancakes you have made for a later date or if you want to make these ahead of Valentine’s Day and have them ready that morning. Simple allow them to cool after making them, place them in a gallon freezer bag with a sheet of wax paper between each to keep them from sticking together, seal, and freeze. When you are ready to serve them simply take one out of the bag and microwave until heated through (30 seconds – 1 minute).

Freezing Directions:

Prepare as directed above. Allow to cool and stack together with a piece of wax paper between each to prevent sticking. Place in a gallon freezer bag and freeze. To serve: Warm in a microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Servings: 12 pancakes

Lest you think I am joking, we have to buy the SAME cereal bars with the GREEN shiny package as that is his favorite color. (Seriously. The child picks his breakfast food on the color of the wrapping!) Then to take it even further it has to be served on a paper towel. A WHOLE paper towel. Did you ripe a corner off the towel? PUT IT BACK! It won’t do. No plate, no bowl, not off the table. On a WHOLE paper towel. Then, we must unwrap the cereal bar for him. If there is a CRACK or god forbid, a BREAK the whole morning is ruined. It simply won’t do.

Now before you go lecturing me on giving in to such crazy demands, note that I do not always play along. Most times we force him to eat broken or cracked ones anyway and occasionally we push him on the towel issue. I do admit that I am aware of his sensitivities and on most days I go along with this one. Let’s face it, I am not ready to do battle at 7 am. It would not start the day out on the right foot. And I also choose my battles, more often than not, this is NOT the one I choose.

I digress. So as you can imagine, coming up with a replacement cereal bar was going to be a challenge for me. I started buying Barbara’s cereal bars first as I wanted to see if he would go for a cereal bar that was better for him, without shiny green packaging. If you have never had Barbara’s Apple Cinnamon cereal bars you might not know that their packaging is mostly brown with one small green strip. I presented the cereal bars to him (without the others present) and he actually was convinced to take one and try it. I was impressed. Then he ate it. And LIKED it. Another win for me.

From here I added some of the shiny green cereal bars to the cereal bar basket we have because we needed to use them up and I wanted to see what he would choose. (Yes, I experiment with my kids, don’t you?) What happened next SHOCKED me. He chose the Barbara’s cereal bars over the shiny green one. He continued this until they were gone and all that were left were the shiny green packaged ones. And then he did something I NEVER would have dreamed, he yelled at me because I didn’t have the kind he liked! SCORE! And score one for Barbara’s too!

As much as he loved the Barbara’s they are still expensive. I also wanted to find a way to make them myself. I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to make a bar because the only way to do that would be to cut the bars and then my son would view them as “broken” so I decided on a cookie using my muffin tin. I slaved away one day praying over them as I went.

I presented them to the kids at breakfast as an alternative to their cereal bars. To my shock and amazement they LOVED them. I mean really LOVED them. As in every time they want a snack now Isaac will say, “I have a good idea, how about a blueberry cereal bar COOOOOOKKKKKIIIIIIEEEE!” And I am all dancing to the kitchen on my happy euphoria cloud. This child and that food item were my greatest challenge and I just defeated Goliath. It is an AMAZING feeling. I hope that your kids love these as much as mine do!

Homemade Cereal Bar Cookies

Author/Source:

Tricia @ Onceamonthmom.com

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1. 5 cups oats, ground (or oat flour)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour (I used fresh milled hard red wheat)
• 1 cup white flour (I used fresh milled hard white wheat)
• 1 cup sucanat (brown sugar if whole foods isn’t your gig)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1.125 cups (9 ounces) organic jam (I used blueberry and apple)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the ingredients, except the jam, together in a large bowl. It is easiest to do this with your hands. Go ahead, get a little dirty! Once it is mixed well together (there should be no dry ingredients dust, but well incorporated) add half of the mixture to each of 18 muffin tins. Press the mixture into the muffin tins creating a bit of a lip as you would for a pie. Add in 1 Tablespoon of jam on top of each “crust”. Next, with the remaining mixture create 18 equal size balls. Smash each of the balls into a circle large enough to cover the top of each “cookie”. Add the disc to the top of the “cookie” and press the edges to meet the sides of the bottom dough. Bake for 20-25 minutes until slightly browned. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 5-10 minutes and then gently remove to a cooling rack. (I inverted a cookie sheet on top of the muffin tin, flipped the muffin tin and then turned the cookies over to cool a bit longer. Be warned, they are very soft when warm).

A step-by-step tutorial for making these cookies with success!

Gluten Free Dairy Free Version

Freezing Directions:

Follow directions above but allow to cool completely. Add to a gallon freezer bag and freeze. To serve: Allow to thaw overnight or place in a microwave and heat for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Be careful as internal contents will be very warm.

Servings: 18 cookies

Disclosure: I was not compensated nor was I asked to write about Barbara’s cereal bars. My family has found them to be enjoyable and I just thought I would share.

Kelly is still off snuggling her newborn so I told her to be confident in letting me take the reigns this week as we get started with grains/breads. I am not the keeper of the knowledge but I am a newbie to this process like many of you. I am learning, learning, learning and sometimes that is the best place to be to “teach” and encourage.

Homemade Pizza Dough

You may or may not be like me. You might be like me if the mere mention of using yeast in culinary pursuits causes you to break out in a cold sweat. Yeast? Oh no, I can’t do that! I mean, it doesn’t like me. In fact, it hates me. It just plain scares me. Yeast is the one ingredient in my kitchen that gives me nightmares. A baker I am not.

But a few months ago when we decided to take this journey for Get Real I realized I was going to face my fear. But what should I start with? Nothing too complicated and nothing that was going to cause me to take the fetal position in tears if it didn’t work out too well. Kelly suggested pizza dough. I thought, I *might* be able to handle that. So I went for it.

Turns out, it was a SUCCESS! Score! I actually was able to make yeast rise! And the dough? The dough and the pizza were amazing. I was ready to conquer the world of bread baking. Okay, maybe not, but it did give me the confidence I needed to continue trying out increasingly more difficult breads.

And that is what you need to! If you are nervous about your bread making abilities it is time to tackle them head on. And think outside the loaf to begin with. There are so many variables in creating a loaf bread that I think it is best to tackle something easier to start. Let me first mention, that if you have older ingredients, several months or more, you should go buy NEW! If there is one thing that I have learned it is that I can not find success with stale ingredients. And most of the ingredients needed in these recipes are dependent on being FRESH!

Homemade Tortillas

Here are a few suggestions on items to get under your belt apron:

• Homemade Pizza Dough -
• Homemade Pizza Dough
• Gluten Free Pizza Crust
• Whole Wheat Pizza
• Tortillas -
• Homemade Flour Tortillas
• Whole Wheat Tortillas
• Tortillas
• Whole Wheat Tortillas
• Sweet Bread -
• Gluten Free Banana Bread
• Pumpkin Walnut Bread
• Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Now, some of you have likely already conquered your inner bread baker. Congrats! That means that you get a little bit of a break this week as we ease ourselves into bread making. Perhaps you would like to get ahead a little and start tackling some of the resources that our blog partners have available for you to discover. A little later this week we will begin discussing the nutrient differences in already milled flours versus fresh milled flour, the different types of whole grains that can make up bread grains (and how not to pull your hair out in confusion), we will talk about gluten-free breads, and we will dabble a bit in sprouting and soaking and all that jazz. It is an action-packed month!

Some other resources you might enjoy. (Just be careful not to overwhelm yourself with information. Be comfortable in knowing where you are at and moving up 1 level for right now. You will experience more confidence and more sustained learning in doing so. When you are confident at that level you can begin learning and start moving to the next).

• Is Your Flour Wet? Soaked, Sprouted and Soured guide from Kitchen Stewardship
• Sourdough A to Z eCourse from GNOWFLINS

February Week 1 Action Item:

February Get Real:

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Yes, I know that I don’t need to dress to impress but let’s face it, it will be nice to get out of my missing knee jeans, bacon stained t-shirts and crocs for a few days. And I would really like to feel confident and stylish when I do so.

Thankfully, Lands’ End has seen fit to be my style savior for this particular event by sponsoring me to the event (EEEK! So excited). And I would like to make them proud to have clothed me for the event. And well, have I mentioned that my fashion sense is a bit lacking? Okay, but it bears repeating!

So here is where YOU come in! Want to pick what I should wear to the conference? Come on you know you want to! Please! Lands’ End is providing the duds so I enlisted my good friend Amy to assist with the pairing of ensembles. She has done an amazing job putting some Lands’ End outfits together on Polyvore and we have posted those to a Lands’ End Blissdom Conference Wear Board on Pinterest. Here is what I would LOVE for you to do:

1. Go to the Lands’ End Blissdom Conference Wear Board on Pinterest. (Not on Pinterest? Send me an email that you need an invite and I will send you one).

2. Like up to 3 day wear outfits, 1 evening outfit, and 1 girls night in outfit that you think I would look good in. And feel free to leave comments as well.

3. If you are super creative and are already on Polyvore, feel free to throw together an ensemble and send me an email with the link and I will pin it to the Pinterest board for others to vote on.

That’s it. Early next week I will take a look at your favorites and make my final selections. I will report to you what seems to be the most popular and then when I am at the conference I will chronicle my fashion while at the conference. It will be like you are right there with me! And who knows, maybe I will feel generous with some Lands’ End gift cards and share the love with some randomly selected participants.

Sound fun? I hope so! I really do need your help!

In case you need to know a few of my “vital” statistics when it comes to fashion, here they are:

• I am about 5 foot 1.5 inches and petites are usually a must in most things.
• I’ve got the standard “mommy middle”.
• My favorite colors to wear outside black, brown and grey are dark green and salmon.
• I will wear heals but you will most often find me in flats or a slight heal.
• Anything else you need to know?

Disclosure: Lands’ End is compensating me for my attendance at Blissdom and is providing me with some of their clothing line to review; however, this idea for involving YOU and PINTEREST  is totally my own! I hope you enjoy it. All the opinions in this post are mine, want to know more about how I facilitate reviews, view my full disclosure policy!