Dear Glade, will you be my Valentine?

Glade PlugIns Scented Oil Customizables

I am using the Glade PlugIns Scented Oil Customizables in the scents "Clean Linen", and "Sunny Day".

would first like to mention that I have used other plug in oil warmers from different companies in the past, most recently AirWick, which I will be comparing most of my review to.

I'm loving the Customizables by Glade. I'm using it on its lowest setting, as it has so much scent, more is not needed! I have this plugged into my master bathroom, and on it's low setting I still get whiffs of it in our bedroom, not too much that it overwhelms you when you walk in, but just enough to keep it smelling fresh. The AirWick scented oil that I had previously used was way too strong even on it's lowest setting. So strong, in fact, that I unplugged it before it was even empty.

The scents are so clean smelling, not too fruity or stuffy. I feel like the amount of time spent in the air freshener isle was around 10 minutes searching for the right scents, there was just enough to choose from! I can't wait to try new scents, however it is going to be a while due to the long lasting oil bulbs! The alternating scents is so nice, it's great having variety without having to do anything to accomplish it. I don't even have to remember to change the scent, it does it automatically!

I like the design on the warmer, much more appealing than the other brands. However, I wish it was just a tad bit lighter in color, more of a cream color than tan. Small sacrifice for the long lasting, awesome smell of this product.

I'm over the moon excited about the Glade Plugins Scented Oil Customizables, and I'm sure you will be, too, if you decide to give it a try!

Here's a coupon to try these new PlugIns! Let me know what you think!

Disclaimer:

I am a BzzAgent and received these products for free to try and review. I am not paid for my participation, and am giving honest reviews of the products that I try.

Dear Scentsy, I'm leaving you for Glade.

Glade Wax Melts

I'm a long time Scentsy user who has fallen in love with these Glade Wax Melts. And when I say love, I mean over the moon, want to change my middle name to Glade, can't sleep at night kind of love. 

I. Am. In. Love.

I spent at least 15 minutes in the air freshener isle trying to pick which scent I liked more than the others... It didn't work out for me. I ended up buying 3 different ones. 

Clean Linen

Liftoff (Spring Collection)

Lavender & Peach Blossom

I highly recommend all three of these scents, but my favorite, unfortunately, was the Limited Edition Liftoff. You all know what I'll be hoarding this spring... Bricks upon bricks of this stuff. It's the perfect mix between sweet (but not candy or bakery smelling) and refreshing. 

The Clean Linen scent is the perfect fresh scent that goes along with doing laundry (go figure, right?). I love popping one in when I'm cleaning the house. I feel like I have to do half the amount of work, because the scent makes my house smell clean. Amen to that!

The Lavender & Peach Blossom scent reminds me of a perfect summer day. Running through the meadow and plucking that perfect peach off of the tree. It's a great day time scent when you're feeling a little down in the dumps, it will brighten you up in no time.

I love the pressed, not poured, wax. The convince is kind of crazy. I didn't think that it would make that much difference, but I love it. It makes it so easy to just pop a new brick in.

I would say that it is true to the packaging with the "12 hours of scent per brick". Unfortunately, that is the only thing that I dislike about the Glade Wax Melts. I feel like other brands give me more scent for a longer amount of time. 

Overall, at half the price of Scentsy (it's biggest competition in my opinion), I will stick with Glade... Forever. The options of scents is remarkable, one for everyone (or two, or three, or four!), and the pressed not poured wax is perfect. Thanks, Glade!

Want to try some of these at a discount? Check out this coupon available for you to print and use!

Disclaimer:

I am a BzzAgent and received these products for free to try and review. I am not paid for my participation, and am giving honest reviews of the products that I try.

I'm back!

Miss me?

I'm sure the answer is yes. 

It is yes, right?

I've been super busy lately, and decided that I needed to bring something back into my life that was enjoyable, blogging. There is always time to blog.

Not only that, but blogging helps me keep my house organized and clean, food on the table, and fun things going on for Lil' Red and I. 

I've got all kinds of things on my Pinterest board that I can't wait to try out and share with you! 

So, what have I been up to? All sorts of things.

I started working again, part time, as a hairdresser. I work at a SmartStyle, inside of Walmart, with some of the most fantastic girls the industry has to offer. We prove that just because you get your hair done inside of Walmart, you will look great. I've been having a blast meeting a ton of new clients and sharing my expertise with them. Not to mention the extra money every month is very nice. I love having the money to spend on Mr. Red for Valentines day!

We've been working very hard on our back yard, I can't wait to show you! An all new fence, tilled up freshly planted grass, a giant gorgeous area for my garden, and we'll be adding a new deck shortly! I can't wait for this summer. Backyard BBQ's here we come! 

Sorry for the blurry picture, it's hard to catch a 

"Super Hero Girl" in action!

Lil' Red has grown immensely, and her hair is still as red as can be, with a temper to match! She turned 3 last month and is saying some of the cutest things that you could possibly imagine. Lately her thing has been to reply to your request for her to do something with:

"Okay, okay... Fine, fine..."

Sigh.

Another exciting thing I will be getting the chance to do is review some awesome products thanks to BzzAgent. Don't know what BzzAgent is? Click that link and it will send you to their homepage. Sign up and do some surveys to get the opportunity to review some awesome products for free!

Lately I've been much more of a homemaker. Making my own bread (way easier than I ever imagined), cleaning, you know, the whole bit. I've still got a long way to go, but I'm much better than I used to be!

So check back often and see what I have going on, I'm excited to be back!

Frozen Fruit

Hey everyone!

Ever get the craving for a whole half gallon of ice cream around midnight? Yeah... Mr. Red and I do, too. We had to find something to replace ice cream.

REPLACE ICE CREAM?!

Okay so we couldn't find anything that delicious, but we did find a fantastic compromise, frozen fresh fruit.

The best part about this stuff, besides being very close to guilt free, it's so quick and easy to prepare! You can use any fresh fruits that strike your fancy, or whatever is on sale at the market! The first time we made this we used bananas, strawberries, blackberries and grapes. We decided that the berries weren't as good as the bananas and grapes, but still loved it. So this last time we tried bananas, grapes and - wait for it - fresh pineapple... 

Oh my goodness, I love fresh pineapple. It's like, you spend all that time and effort cutting it up and you ask yourself why you're doing it, then once it's done you take one bite and it's all worth it. Mmmm.. That juicy pineapple, unbeatable.

Anyways, it turned out fantastic and we will continue to make it to cure our ice cream cravings. Here's how it's done.

Frozen Fresh Fruit

You will need:

ripe bananas

grapes

pineapple

berries

(any or all of the above!)

Next you need to:

Separate your grapes from the vines and place them in a strainer and rinse.

Cut up your bananas into 1/4 -1/2 inch pieces. 

Cut up your pineapple into bite size pieces

Mix your bananas and pineapple into your grapes.

Prepare a few cookie sheets or a pizza pan with wax paper (depending on how much you make, you may need two cookie sheets and the pizza pan, like me!). 

Spread your fruit into one even layer on your trays.

Place the trays in the freezer.

Freeze for at least 2 hours (I usually don't get mine in until after Lil' Red goes to bed, so I let mine freeze over night.)

Take trays out of the freezer and empty into a gallon size (or two!) Ziploc bag and place it back into the freezer.

Ta-da! All done. Easy, right? I love easy, guilt free treats!

Did you have a New Years resolution? If so, what was it?

Enjoy!

Healthy Chili Verde

First of all

Merry Everything 

and happy always.

Man, oh man. Those holidays kicked my butt.

But they are over. Almost. Lil' Red will be turning 2 in January, and once that is over, I can only hope that things will start to calm down. 

Mr. Red and I are having a weight loss competition to see who can lose the highest percentage of weight. If he wins, I have to go to an event of his choosing (like that's going to happen!), but if I win, he has to go to the event of my choosing. Needless to say, we will be attending a 3 day long country music festival that he will loathe every minute of.

So begins the healthy recipe kick for me! Here is what we're having for dinner tonight, already tasted and super delicious! I've never made chili before and I don't think I will ever make a different recipe.

Healthy Chili Verde

You will need:

1lb ground turkey

1 large red bell pepper

1 medium onion

1 Tbs minced garlic

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 16oz (or 2 8oz) jars of La Victoria green taco sauce (mild)

1/4 cup La Victoria chunky jalapeno 

1/4 cup water

2 15oz cans low sodium pinto beans

15oz can low sodium kidney beans

Preparation:

Cook turkey, bell pepper and onion in a large saucepan over medium heat, crumbling the meat with a wooden spoon, until the meat is browned, 8 to 10 minutes. 

Add garlic, cumin and cayenne; cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. 

Stir in hot sauce and water; bring to a simmer. 

Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. 

Stir in beans and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.

Top with plain non fat yogurt, or non fat sour cream, tortilla chips and/or cheese. 

Delicious.

This chili is very hot, and honestly I'm not sure how to make it more mild. We like it hot. 

Let me know what you think!

Enchilada Chicken

It's been a while...

Sorry I haven't been around lately, we've been so busy between Thanksgiving and the closing of our business. I did however want to jump on and let you know I'm still alive.

And I figured...

What better way to say hello than a Crock Pot recipe?

So today I have for you Enchilada Chicken.

I saw a delicious looking recipe posted by Chef in Training this morning and I was like "I so want to make that." so I went to my pantry and realized I had only two of the four ingredients it called for... And I was still in my pajamas (at 11am) so I decided to improvise. 

For this recipe you will need:
4-5 boneless skinless frozen chicken breasts

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can of drained and rinsed black beans

1 can of Rotel

1 package of enchilada sauce mix

Optional:

shredded cheese

baked tortilla strips

sour cream
tortillas

Spray your Crock down with Pam and lay your chicken breasts inside. On the side mix together the other ingredients in a bowl and pour on top of the chicken. Cook on low for 7-8 hours. Plate and top with the toppings of your choosing, or shred and fill tortillas.

To make fresh tortilla strips, cut up a flour tortilla into short strips and spray with cooking spray. Broil them for a few minutes until they are golden brown.

I cooked up some Spanish rice and we threw that into our tortillas as well. Mr. Red didn't even make it to the table to eat, he loved it so much he ate standing up in the kitchen while I was fixing up my plate! It was a winner at our house!

Enjoy!!

Organizing the Kitchen

As you may know, I joined the 14 week challenge over at A Bowl Full of Lemons. I'm moving very slow, but I'm so happy to say that my kitchen is complete. I owe a big thank you to Mr. Red for helping to keep me motivated. I'm so relieved to have a clean and organized kitchen. I love walking in there and I love cooking in there. I love it. 

So, wanna check it out?

Here is a few pictures of my overall kitchen before and after:
(on my behalf, I had been canning for three straight 12-14 hour days away from home, so I neglected the housework, and hadn't gotten the canned goods put away yet! Although I had no where to put them!!)

I got rid of the extra paper towel holder and all of the clutter has a place, now :) I even had room for my birthday present! A new KitchenAid mixer!! Love it!

Don't mind my little photo bomber! I got matching garbage cans, one for, you guessed it, garbage! And one for cans to recycle. I turned my little garbage can, that I was previously using for garbage, into a recycle bin. I'm hoping that will keep me from putting the recycle onto the table.

All of my Wildtree now has a home.

My Crock Pot now has a home in the cupboard above the stove, and my cutting boards are now inside the cupboard with the pots and pans.

I have a basket in my pantry for both chips and bread now, so that is off the counter. I also have a home for all of my drink mixes in the coffee cupboard, and a home for the recipe box inside of a cupboard :)

Here are some before and after pictures of drawers and cupboards.

 My utensil drawer, I used a few drawer organizers I found at Walmart, they were super cheap for packs of 3

My baking cupboard. Got rid of all the expired stuff and put things in order. Yes, I know I have two sea salts... I couldn't find the other one so I had to make a special trip to the store to get another... Now I know where both are!

Here is the liquor cabinet. Got rid of all of the mixes that I hadn't used for.. oh, 3 years...

This is our "junk" cupboard. You can't see it in the photo, but that garbage bag holder was sitting on the inside of the cupboard, not attached to the door (you can buy one here). and everything that was in there is still in there, just neat and tidy!

This used to be Lil' Red's baby food cabinet, now it holds our Wildtree products. 

Here is where I keep my pots and pans. It was pretty organized before, just straightened things up a bit. Also, after I took the picture I decided to get the cutting boards off the counter and they lean up against the side of this cupboard now.

This is the cupboard above my fridge. It now houses some of my extra dishes and appliances that I rarely use. We've always kept our paper plates up there, and now all of our kitchen appliance manuals are in envelopes for easy access.

 This was my favorite cupboard transformation, but I forgot to take a before picture... it is now our "coffee station" and it helped me make more space in our dishes cabinet. 

I can't wait to start baking my Christmas goodies!!

What do you think?

Stay motivated, and happy organizing!