About Toni

Family meals are important. Iʼll show you easy ways to spend less time and money at the grocery store, less time in the kitchen and more time with your family.

Author Archive | Toni

Wine Work

Creating a master “to-do” list, scheduling pediatric dental appointments, paying medical bills, filling out field trip permission slips, planning birthday parties, locating the receipt for the dress I need to return, responding to emails and organizing my purse are just a few of the many jobs I include in my “wine work”.

 

Toni Spilsbury, blogger

Messy office in much need of “wine work”

What Is “Wine Work”?

A simple iPhone autocorrect is responsible for a new term that I like to use to answer that time-old question, “What are you doing?”, on days that I’m doing my dreaded busy work which never before had a name.

On a recent sluggish weekday morning I was weeding through the pile of paperwork and sticky notes on my desk when I decided to text my friend, Vanessa. You see, on my “to-do” list, was “schedule lunch with Vanessa” because it had been months that my dear friend and I were trying to carve out time to catch up.

Mommy Blogger

“Wine Work” supplies

“What are you doing?”, I inquired on text, hoping we could connect for that long overdue lunch date.

“I’m in sweats doing wine work.” she replied.

Voila! There it was! The perfect name for work that once had no name. Oh how clever that Vanessa can be.

Later, however, I would find out from Vanessa that she’s not sure what she actually typed because she’s never heard of “wine work” and therefor it must have been autocorrected on her iPhone from her original message. Even more brilliant.

I’m not the only woman out there doing wine work today. In fact, countless women across the globe are going through their agendas, purses, cars, mail and emails to prioritize their wine work before picking up a call and trying to answer the question, “What are you doing?”

Wine Work blog by Toni Spilsbury

Some Myths About Wine Work- True or False?

Myth #1:  Wine work is not work. FALSE. Wine work is crucial for women, especially moms, who don’t want to live a frantic, hectic, unorganized and uninspiring life. Wine work is the work that we must get done and out of the way in order to allow new and inspiring work into our lives.Toni Spilsbury, blogger

Myth #2:  You must drink wine while doing wine work. FALSE. Although, I do highly suggest it. A bubbly Prosecco or light rosé is perfectly paired with waiting on hold with your insurance company to check the status of your claim.

Myth #3:  You can do wine work with a friend. FALSE. Wine work is best done alone and in sweats… with a messy bun…. and no makeup….. wearing fuzzy socks or Uggs.

Myth #4:  You must schedule time to do wine work. FALSE. You’ve got to feel like doing wine work in order to do it effectively. If you don’t feel like getting your wine work done, it will feel like a chore and take forever. You’ll know when the time is right to get your wine work done. The planets and stars will align perfectly to allow you that window of uninterrupted time when you feel most inspired to do it. Trust the universe. It has never let me down.

Wine Work

Some Tips to Doing Wine Work

  1. Light a candle.
  2. Exercise beforehand to get the brain running.
  3. Turn off the television.

    Wine Work

    “Wine Work” Lunch

  4. Wear comfortable clothes.
  5. Don’t answer the phone to friends who’ll want to gab for a long time.
  6. Do answer the phone to people on your “to do” list.
  7. Keep healthy snacks nearby.
  8. Don’t slow down your adrenals by eating candy or potato chips.
  9. Don’t get sidetracked by surfing the web (darn you Pinterest!).
  10. Reward yourself for a job well done…. with wine, of course.

 

This post is dedicated to all the ladies out there getting their wine work done today.

 WineWork

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Summer Recipes: Spanish Chicken & Seafood Paella with Hunt’s Tomatoes

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser.

Summer Recipes

Some of my favorite summer recipes are one-dish meals with summer vegetables like tomatoes and bell pepper. Whether I’m entertaining or cooking up a tasty dinner for just my family, this recipe for my Spanish Chicken & Seafood Paella always comes to mind.

It’s simple to make and comes out even better when cooked in a traditional paella pan.

Hunt’s uses a unique flashsteam peeling method for their diced tomatoes, so I chose Hunt’s Diced Tomatoes with Rosemary & Oregano for an extra garden flavor in the tomato sauce section at Walmart.

Hunt's Tomatoes

 

 

Spanish Chicken & Seafood Paella with Hunt’s Tomatoes Recipe

Ingredients

bellpeppers

  • Chorizo- 1 lb
  • onion, yellow- 1 medium, diced
  • red bell pepper- 1, diced
  • green bell pepper- 1, diced
  • long grain rice- 2 cups
  • Hunt’s Diced Tomatoes with Rosemary & Oregano- 1 14oz. can
  • Hun’ts Tomato Paste- 1 can
  • chicken broth- 1 quart (32 oz.)
  • cooked chicken, chopped
  • cooked shrimp, medium- 1 lb, tails removed
  • olive oil- 3 tablespoons
  • spanish saffron- a pinch

 

Directions

  1. Heat a oil in large heated deep skillet or paella pan over medium-high heat.
  2. Add bell peppers and onions along with chorizo to sauté until peppers are tender.
  3. Add rice, diced tomatoes, tomato paste and saffron to sauté for another minute.
  4. Add chicken broth and bring to boil.
  5. Once boiling, lay chicken and shrimp on top then cover the pan (if you’re using a paella pan without a lid, you can use aluminum foil to cover), reduce heat to low.
  6. Simmer until rice has absorbed liquid, approximately 25 minutes.

 

Spanish Paella Recipe

Spanish Chicken & Seafood Paella with Hunt’s Diced Tomatoes

 

More great recipes with tomatoes and information can be found at hunts.com and readyseteat.com. You can also follow Hunt’s on Facebook by clicking here: Follow Hunt’s on Facebook or by following our campaign at #DinnerDone and #CollectiveBias.

 

Hunt's Tomatoes

Hunt’s Diced Tomatoes found in Tomato Sauce section at Walmart

 

 

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popROCKScorn

Pop Rocks Popcorn…. Popcorn with a “Pop”

A variation of this recipe can be used for just about any occasion. For the upcoming 4th of July celebration, I took my traditional chocolate popcorn recipe and added some “pop”… Pop Rocks candy, that is!

popROCKScorn

popROCKScorn

Ingredients

  • buttered popcorn
  • Wilton white candy melts or white chocolate
  • Pop Rocks in red and blue

Instructions

  1. place buttered popcorn in large bowl
  2. melt white candy or chocolate in double-boiler
  3. drizzle melted candy or chocolate over the popcorn
  4. use hands to loosely and carefully toss to melted chocolate throughout popcorn
  5. top with Pop Rocks
https://tonispilsbury.com/poprockscorn/

 

IMG_3941

 

poprocks popcorn recipe

 

poprocks popcorn recipe

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My Morning Coffee Journey with Millstone coffee & Mr. Coffee GIVEAWAY

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias, Millstone® Coffee, and Mr. Coffee®. 

My morning coffee is a trusted travel companion throughout my morning journey. From sunrise meditations and getting dressed to packing lunches and getting kids ready for school, the journey is quick but can be full of unexpected challenges (okay, we’ll call them surprises). The best coffee maker combined with some flavored coffee helps me through these surprises and on to an even brighter day.

Millstone coffee

#CoffeeJourneys Giveaway

This week, I’m helping one lucky winner with their morning journey by giving away my favorite drip coffee maker, Mr. Coffee® 1-cup Optimal Brew™ Coffee Maker along with two bags of flavored Millstone® coffee in Caramel Truffle and Chocolate Velvet flavors from Walmart. The contest runs through May 16th and one entry on Twitter is allowed per day. The winner will be mailed the Coffee Maker and coffee directly from me via US Mail. It’s easy to enter and only takes a minute!

To Enter:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mornings are a journey in my home and a sacred part of my day. Here’s an Instagram video of just one of my many #CoffeeJourneys, so be sure to share yours on Instagram with me!

Good Luck!

 

 Share Your #CoffeeJourneys

Is your coffee journey sometime other than during the morning? Do you have a special coffee journey you would like to share? Upload your #CoffeeJourney video to Instagram or leave a Comment below, or follow #CoffeeJourneys and #CollectiveBias on Twitter to share your coffee journey with me!

#CoffeeJourneys

My Mr. Coffee® 10-cup Thermal Coffee Maker was found in the Housewares department at Walmart.

#CoffeeJourneys

Mr. Coffee 10-cup Optimal Brew Coffee Maker found in Housewares at Walmart

 

Millstone coffee

Millstone coffee found in Coffee section.

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