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Last Minute Christmas Present Ideas

By Toni on December 17, 2013 in Sponsored

Best Gift Ideas

After making my list and checking it twice this week, I realized I had a few more Christmas presents to purchase. With most of my holiday shopping already done, I still needed a present for my teenage niece. It’s not always easy to think of a perfect gift for a fifteen year old girl. Years ago, a trip to the toy store would always yield something she loved, but I don’t think that a holiday Barbie or stuffed unicorn would be appropriate this year.

With no concrete gift ideas in mind, and a list of more family and friends to shop for, I headed off to Walmart with my helpers to see what last minute Christmas presents I could find.

Best Fragrance Gift Sets

Let the hunting begin, I thought, as I headed toward the holiday gift section of Walmart. Immediately my attention was caught by the display of the best holiday fragrance gift sets. This was it. The answer to my last-minute Christmas present dilemma came in the form of these great perfume and cologne gift sets, and at an amazing price!

My niece is a huge Justin Bieber fan, and before I could grab the box of Someday by Justin Bieber Perfume Gift Set, my helper was a step ahead of me.

And at only $19.88 for the set, I still had room in my budget to get her another gift.

Free Celebrity Voice Ringtone

My daughter was the first to point out that a free celebrity voice holiday ringtone came with each fragrance gift set. The ringtone redemption code is located inside the gift set. Now, my niece will think of me each time Justin Bieber’s voice lets her know that she has an incoming phone call.

For a complete list of holiday fragrance gift sets available, visit www.scentsavings.net.

Holiday eGuide

For more last minute holiday gift ideas, check out this eGuide for some amazing ideas.

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A Mom’s Guide to Planning Ahead & Being Prepared This Holiday Season- Family Size

By Toni on December 10, 2013 in Busy Mom Living The Dream, Sponsored, Survival Guide for Busy Moms

Who Knew A Family Size Lasagna Could Make A Difference This Holiday? – This Mom Does 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 advertiser. Each year my holiday wish list is the same:

I wish I had more time.
I wish I was more organized.
I wish I were better prepared.

In the past, this is the time of year for me when my best intentions give way to just getting through the holidays. It’s also the time of year when I want to schedule that holiday play date for my kids best friends, or invite my friends over for a girls night. But when “just getting through the holidays” becomes the best you can do, next thing you know it’s February and time to wish for a more organized next year. This year, I’ve decided to plan ahead and share my guide to being prepared this holiday with the help of Nestle #PlanAhead solutions at meals.com. So, for all my fellow busy moms out there who want more time to enjoy the holidays with friends and family this year, I’m sharing these simple steps.

Step 1:

While decorating for the holidays early in December, set out all of your most festive serving ware as if you were decorating for a party, and keep it that way throughout the month. I always like to have my table and buffet set with my best holiday party dishes.

Step 2:

Keep easy and delicious meals in the freezer so that at a moments notice, you can have hot and healthy food to serve to guests. No more planning a menu for that play date or cocktail party, or running by the grocery store on your way home from work or dance class to pick up days-old veggie trays. Here are a few items I picked up at Walmart to keep on hand this year:

Stouffer’s Party Size Macaroni & Cheese

Stourffers Family Size Macaroni and Cheese

For more #PlanAhead ideas, visit meals.com

Stouffer’s Party Size Lasagna with Meat Sauce

for more Family Size meal ideas, visit meals.com

Digiorno Rising Crust Pepperoni Pizza

For more Family Size ideas, visit meals.com

Dreyer’s Slow Churned Light Ice Cream in A Very Merry Eggnog and Peppermint Wonderland

For more #PlanAhead meal ideas, visit meals.com

Step 3:

Serve food on your most festive holiday platters, plates and bowls. The table and buffet are already set with your best holiday dishes, so why not use them? This is the one time of year to use those beautiful red glasses, so go ahead and get them dirty!

For more #PlanAhead meal ideas, visit meals.com

The desire to be prepared during the holidays is something I share in common with every mom I personally know. The old saying “a stitch in time saves nine” has always resonated with me because I know that just a few simple steps to plan ahead will create a ripple effect that saves me nine times that in the end.

Walmart shopping trip to #PlanAhead

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Losing The Blogging Weight with Mangodrin

By Toni on May 7, 2013 in Busy Mom Living The Dream, Sponsored, Survival Guide for Busy Moms

You’ve probably heard of women trying to lose the “baby weight”, and may have fought the battle yourself to shed extra pounds that stick around way too long after the birth of your youngest child.

Not me.

Losing the baby weight was easier for me than losing the blogging weight. After giving birth to three babies in two years, the only time I ever sat still was to nurse or rock them to sleep. I was regimented in my nighttime routine of bathing and getting the babies off to sleep by 7:00PM before collapsing into bed myself by 9. So even if I woke up for feedings at midnight, I still had a good three hours of sleep under my eyes.

When my baby girl turned four I began blogging, and that’s when the weight came on. Routine bedtime became a thing of the past for me while I stayed up writing until 2 in the morning with potato chips beckoning me from the pantry.

My constant state of motion turned sedentary and food companies began sending me samples of the latest products to review for my blog.

Although I may not be considered “obese”, at 127 pounds I’m well over my target weight of 115. Fortunately, the ladies of RECESS are giving me a jump start on my plan to get lean for bikini season with their #MangoChallenge 30-Day Challenge to “lose the blogging weight”. At a recent Blogger Event at our local GNC Store, I discovered that I’m not the only blogger with this problem.

RECESS Blogger Event for Mangodrin at GNC

I heard about the African Mango first on the Dr. Oz Show and thought about trying it out. Mangrodrin is an all-natural patented formula made by a local nutraceutical company truDERMA and promises that I’ll lose “up to 28 pounds in 10 weeks”.

I’m in.

Follow me during the month as I work towards 115 pounds with Mangodrin’s #MangoChallenge. I’m one of about twelve bloggers participating in the weight loss challenge, so if you want to check in on their progress or read about their individual struggles, head over to RECESS.

Join The #MangoChallenge

I love it when businesses want to share discounts and coupons with my readers. During my #MangoChallenge I’m passing on a special discount for 30% off your entire order of Mangodrin. This is a great opportunity if you would like to join me and share your results along the way. This promotion is for online sales only by using THANKYOU in the coupon code section during checkout.

use coupon code THANKYOU during checkout for 30% off your entire purchase

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Organic Coconut Chocolate with Pyure Organic Stevia Sweetener

By Toni on October 18, 2012 in Dessert Recipes, Recipes, Sponsored

I’ll never buy chocolate again. This recipe for Organic Coconut Chocolate made with Pyure Organic Stevia Sweetener takes minutes to prepare and can cure the biggest of chocolate cravings without the guilt.

Pyure Organic Stevia

Organic Coconut Chocolate Recipe

Organic Coconut Chocolate with Pyure Organic Stevia

Ingredients

organic virgin coconut oil- 1/2 cup
organic unsweetened cocoa powder- 1/2 cup
Pyure Organic Stevia Sweetener- 6 tablespoons
organic vanilla extract- 1 teaspoon

Instructions

Mix together coconut oil and cocoa powder until smooth.
Add Pyure Organic Stevia and vanilla then stir until smooth.
Pour into individual molds or shallow tray.
Transfer to refrigerator to hardened.

https://tonispilsbury.com/organic-coconut-chocolate-recipe/

All Natural and Healthy

Over the past three years, I’ve consciously worked to lower sugar in my diet. Aside from the history of diabetes in my family, I’ve come to understand the overall negative side effects of a diet rich in sugar.

Pyure Organic Stevia Sweetener is an all-natural sweetener derived from a plant. Instead of a sweetener substitute, stevia can actually be termed a supplement with many reported health benefits including lower blood pressure and blood sugar.

Stevia is gluten-free and calorie-free making it a preferred sweetener for many dieters or people managing diabetes.

Coconut oil is another healthy diet supplement with reported health benefits including increased metabolism for weight loss, lowering of cholesterol and immune system support.

With my Organic Coconut Chocolate Recipe using Pyure Organic Stevia, next time I’m craving chocolate, I’ll be guilt-free knowing that this chocolate is actually healthy for me.