Sunshine Momma

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Bunny Tracks – A Spring Puppy Chow Recipe

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I spent my entire life thinking that puppy chow was incredibly difficult to make. Now I know what I’ve been missing out on all these years by NOT making it! 

I’m serious, this spring puppy chow recipe took me maybe 30 minutes total and that is with a preschooler and a newborn “helping”. 

Bunny Tracks - A Spring Puppy Chow Recipe

SPRING PUPPY CHOW 

Do you call it puppy chow or muddy buddies? Everyone I know calls it puppy chow but I see it called muddy buddies on the internet way more than puppy chow. Maybe it is a regional thing? Kind of like coke and pop. 

Anyways, I get into these random moods where I like to make themed treats. I don’t bake all the time, but every now and then I get in the mood and go all out. 

Bunny Tracks - A Spring Puppy Chow Recipe

Well, this “mood” led me to a spring puppy chow mix. It would be super cute in little gift baggies for friends or for a delicious Easter treat!

The best part is that it takes minimal effort so us busy moms can pretend to be Pinterest superstars with our themed desserts.

Bunny Tracks - A Spring Puppy Chow Recipe

HOW TO MAKE EASTER MUDDY BUDDIES

You just need a few ingredients for this recipe, white chocolate chips, rice Chex, peanut butter, butter, powdered sugar, and spring colored m&ms. I even cheated and made my life even easier by ordering all of it using Walmart’s grocery pickup. 

Bunny Tracks - A Spring Puppy Chow Recipe

First, you combine the butter, peanut butter, and chocolate chips then put it in the microwave for about a minute to melt. Once that is melted to a liquid consistency you pour the mixture over the top of the rice Chex and stir until all of the pieces are well coated. 

After all of the rice Chex is coated with the peanut butter/chocolate mixture you then pour powdered sugar over the top and stir until the Chez is completely covered. I don’t measure out the powdered sugar at all. I just pour a little, stir and repeat until it is coated to my liking.

Bunny Tracks - A Spring Puppy Chow Recipe

After that, you can pour in the Easter colored M&M’s or any other candies that look Easter-like to make the puppy chow recipe more fun and themed! 

30 Day Slow Cooker Meal Plan

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When life gets insanely busy my go-to for dinners are (of course) slow cooker recipes!

They take little prep, little cleanup time, and are incredibly delicious.

30 Day Slow Cooker Meal Plan

To save you (and I) a ton of time I have gathered an entire month of slow cooker recipes and have even created a meal plan menu that you can print out and use at home!

This is to make life easier for both you and me. Several of these I have tried but there are a few that we haven’t and I can’t wait to put them on our meal plan for the month!

30 Easy Slow Cooker Recipes

All of these recipes are intended to be made in the slow cooker and a lot of them are “dump recipes” where you can freeze all of the ingredients in a ziplock bag, then dump them into the crockpot!

Garlic and Lemon Chicken Dump Recipe

Slow Cooker Creole Chicken and Sausage

Slow Cooker Ham and White Bean Soup

Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Classic Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Slow Cooker Chicken Tetrazzini

Slow Cooker Korean Beef Tacos

Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken

Slow Cooker Honey Dijon Mustard Chicken

Slow Cooker Beef Noodles

Crispy Slow Cooker Carnitas

Skinny Veggie Crock Pot Lasagna 

Crock Pot Mexican Stuffed Bell Peppers

Slow Cooker Chicken and Corn Chowder

Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas

Crock Pot Salsa Verde Chicken

Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup

Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

Slow Cooker Texas Chili 

Crock Pot Chicken Wild Rice Soup

Slow Cooker General Tso’s Chicken

Slow Cooker Baked Ziti

Slow Cooker Steak Fajitas

Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Pot Pie

Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef

Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice

Crock Pot Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Slow Cooker Shepards Pie

30 Day Slow Cooker Meal Plan

Here is a preview of the 30-day meal plan calendar that you can print out and use at home for yourself! I just bookmark this page with all of the recipe links and then print out the calendar for my fridge.

30 Day Slow Cooker Meal Plan

More Recipes You’ll Love

4 Ingredient Baked Ziti – this recipe is SO easy and one of my go to’s on busy weeknights!

Texas Chicken Spaghetti

Three Cheese Macaroni 

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf 

30 Day Slow Cooker Meal Plan

 

120+ No Sandwich Lunchbox Ideas

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Sandwiches are great, but they get boring pretty quickly. So I’ve done the dirty work for you and have found over 120 no sandwich lunchbox ideas that I know your kids will appreciate and enjoy. Have a great school year!

120+ No Sandwich Lunchbox Ideas

50 No Sandwich Lunch Ideas for Kids

Homemade Pizza Buns

TacosNo Sandwich Lunch Ideas

15 No Sandwich Lunch Ideas

Crustless Mini Quiche

Banana Dog Bites

No Sandwich Lunch Ideas

50 Lunch Ideas That Aren’t Sandwiches 

Vegetarian Sausage Rolls

Create Your Own Mini Pie 

No Sandwich Lunch Ideas

13 Lunchbox Ideas for Kids Who Don’t Like Sandwiches 

Applewiches

No Sandwich Lunch Ideas

9 Lunchbox Ideas (Sandwich Free)

13 Ways to Use Tortillas for Lunch

No Sandwich Lunch Ideas

Healthy Brown Fried Rice

As a bonus I wanted to add in a couple of links for some healthy breakfast ideas in case your kids are also getting tired of the breakfast choices at home 😉

Banana Berry Smoothie

Healthy Blueberry Muffins

Breakfast Sandwiches

Simple Morning Smoothie

More Back to School Ideas…

Back to School Teacher Gift Ideas

First Day of School Photo Ideas

 

NOW Foods 2018 Immersion Event

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This post was sponsored by NOW as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

Last week I was invited to Chicago to celebrate 50 years with NOW Foods at the 2018 NOW Foods Immersion Event!

Along with 15 other influencers, I was able to learn all there is to learn about NOW Foods and their expansive product line of over 1,400 products! I have been a fan of NOW’s products for years and had no idea that they offered so many products at such an affordable price. Not to mention, they are also high-quality, natural products that you can feel confident in giving to your families.

NOW Foods 2018 Immersion Event

NOW Foods 2018 Immersion Event Recap 

DAY 1: 

I was flown into Chicago on a nice, short flight and picked up by a car service that NOW sent for myself and a few other influencers who landed around the same time. I was lucky enough to be placed on a flight with a fellow Dallas blogger (Chandler)!

That is one crazy thing about being a blogger, most of my Dallas area blogging friends I have met on blogging trips to other states (even other countries!) and have never actually seen them in Texas haha!

NOW Foods 2018 Immersion Event

NOW Foods hosted us at the beautiful Englewood Resort & Spa where upon arrival they supplied us with a goodie bag of snacks to tide us over until dinner. They also were sweet enough to tell us that we were able to order whatever room service we wanted and to just charge it to them. I decided not to order anything because the snack mix they supplied us with was SO addicting that I filled up on it in just a few minutes…oops!

When I walked into my room I was surprised with two HUGE bags FULL of NOW products. I mean tons of awesome products…and you have the chance to win all the same products 😉

NOW Foods 2018 Immersion Event

NOW Foods 2018 Immersion Event

NOW Foods 2018 Immersion Event

We had a few hours of downtime and then the real fun started. We headed to the Cooking Skills Academy where we did something totally out of my comfort zone…an iron chef cooking competition! Like a real life, real judged, cooking contest using our favorite NOW Foods products.

Here, the CEO of NOW Foods joined us along with many of their amazing team members. I have never seen a company whose employees were so open, transparent, and welcoming to complete strangers. I honestly feel as if they are my friends now! They hung out with us the whole night and were SO much fun to be around!

Annnd….our team actually won 2nd place in the iron chef cooking competition! We used several of NOW’s products to create a holiday appetizer and “mocktail”. I have to give up the credit to my team members as they were WAY better at this than me, but I enjoyed helping them lead us to victory!

NOW Foods 2018 Immersion Event

DAY 2:

This is where the real fun started. At 6:40am we all met for a killer kickboxing class…that I did not participate in HAHA! Being 31 weeks pregnant I decided to cheer on my new friends instead of kill myself trying to kickbox for the first time. But it looked super fun and I actually am jealous I didn’t at least get to try it out.

After that killer workout, NOW Foods took us to a smoothie bar where we learned all about their Sports Nutrition line and were able to use their products in our own smoothies. I was super impressed with how knowledgeable the NOW team was on the latest trends in the sports nutrition industry. I learned a ton about how the supplement industry works and how hard NOW strives to be as pure and clean as possible so that we as consumers can continue to trust their products.

NOW Foods 2018 Immersion Event

After a quick shower and breakfast, we headed for the NOW Operations Facility to take a plant tour. This was so eye-opening to see. Not only did we get to see the processes that NOW uses to formulate and bottle their products, we also got to peek in on several of their labs where they can further test their products to make sure we are getting the best possible product.

NOW Foods 2018 Immersion Event

Then we headed for the NOW corporate offices to have lunch catered by Whole Foods and were introduced to NOW’s beauty line of products. Here we were able to learn about their personal care products and essential oils.

We even got to use several of their oils to create two of our own DIY natural beauty recipes!

NOW Foods 2018 Immersion Event

This trip was an absolute whirlwind and I had an absolute blast. We wrapped up the trip by the CEO of the company asking us what we think of their brand and then welcoming us back to visit anytime. I already loved their products, but after this trip, I am a lifetime user of everything NOW Foods and will continue to share their products with everyone I love!

NOW Foods 2018 Immersion Event

 

16 Easy Halloween Treats

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Halloween is close…well maybe not close, but close enough for me to start preparing for everything fall! So here it is, 16 easy Halloween treats for your next Halloween party!

Jump down a couple of recipes and you’ll find out how to make your own pumpkin spiced latte! YUMMY!

These Pumpkin Cheesecake Truffle Mummies are NO BAKE and easy to bring to Halloween parties for treats!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Truffles

Or bring some Pumpkin Pretzels as an appetizer for a Halloween party! I might make these for B’s October birthday.

Pumpkin Pretzels

I’m such a sucker for Oreos, these Halloween Oreo Cake Bars wouldn’t last more than a day at my house.

Halloween Oreo Cake Bars

Bones and Cheese Dip are certainly creepy enough for your Halloween dinner, and they are only 4 ingredients!

Bones and Cheese Dip

I’ve heard of regular dirt and worms for dessert, but I’ve never seen this graveyard twist on it!

Pumpkin Dirt Pudding

Tired of spending too much money at Starbucks? Make your own Pumpkin Spiced Latte in the crock pot with this recipe!

Pumpkin Spiced Latte

Host a costume party and serve these deliciously frightening Bloody Shirley Temples for drinks.

Bloody Shirley Temples

I am obsessed with all things that have ginger snaps in them so I will be trying these Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes ASAP!

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

This Candy Corn Punch takes only 3 ingredients and is a fun after school snack for the kiddos.

Candy Corn Punch

Here’s another recipe with yummy Oreos that I won’t be able to resist. I’m going to make this Halloween Bark with white chocolate!

Halloween Bark

These Easy Pumpkin Patty treats are no bake and easy to make!

Easy Pumpkin Patties

I am beyond excited about making these Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts. I’ve never stumbled across a homemade pop tart recipe, so I totally plan on utilizing this one!

Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts

Is there anything better than pumpkin and cream cheese in one recipe?

Pumpkin Bars

Strawberry Ghosts are perfectly themed for Halloween and super delicious!

Strawberry Ghosts

I’m not too sure that I am creative enough to make these Chocolate Covered Apples look this good, but it’s worth a shot!

Chocolate Covered Apples

And I think this one is my absolute favorite Halloween recipe, Mini Spider Pizzas!

Mini Spider Pizzas

Harvest Hash Snack Mix Recipe

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This post has been sponsored by Kraft-Heinz. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

There is nothing that gets me more excited for fall than this delicious Harvest Hash recipe.

Harvest Hash Snack Mix Recipe

This recipe includes delicious ingredients like PLANTERS Dry Roasted Peanuts, pretzels, and candy corn to put a fall twist on traditional cereal snack or trail mix recipes.

The sweet flavor of peanut butter chocolate candy and candy corn combined with the salty flavor of pretzels and PLANTERS peanuts make this an extremely addicting fall snack!

Harvest Hash Snack Mix Recipe

Fall Harvest Hash

It is also my go- to fall or Halloween party recipe since it is so simple to make. There is a Dollar General right outside my neighborhood that I can run to anytime to pick up the ingredients, which makes it really convenient to make since I am always preparing for things last minute.

Planters Peanuts are available for only $2.50 during the week of Tues 9/30 and Wed 10/28 at Dollar General! Perfect timing to get this recipe made before Halloween!

Harvest Hash Snack Mix Recipe

Also, look at these colors! I just about fall in love every time I make this because it gets me right in the mood for sweaters, pumpkin patches, and changing leaves!

We have this bowl sitting on our kitchen table full of harvest hash, and it makes for a good colorful fall centerpiece. Who doesn’t love edible decorations!?! Anyone can just walk on past and grab a handful for a quick snack, too!

Harvest Hash Snack Mix Recipe

But I’ll warn you now...it is SUPER addicting.

Making Harvest Hash

You only need a few ingredients to put this harvest hash recipe together:

  • Rice Cereal
  • Pretzels
  • PLANTERS Dry Roasted Peanuts
  • Candy Corn
  • Candy Corn Pumpkins
  • Peanut Butter Chocolate Candy
  • Butter
  • Brown Sugar
  • Vanilla Extract

Harvest Hash Snack Mix Recipe

The best part about this recipe is that it is super customizable to your liking. Just swap the ingredients out with something else you like if you find the recipe is too sweet or too salty.

I got all of my ingredients to make this recipe at Dollar General, which is not only convenient, but also so affordable!

Harvest Hash Snack Mix Recipe

Basically, to make this recipe all you have to do is preheat your oven to 275 degrees, toss the rice cereal, PLANTERS peanuts, and pretzels in the brown sugar/butter sauce, and bake for about 45 minutes.

I check in on it every now and then while it is baking and toss the ingredients around to be sure it isn’t burning on the edges.

Harvest Hash Snack Mix Recipe

Then, when that mixture is done baking, I add the candy corn and chocolate peanut butter candy to complete the recipe! This recipe makes A LOT of harvest hash, so be prepared to send some to the neighbors or to put some in little treat bags for your coworkers or for your kids to take to school.

Harvest Hash Snack Mix Recipe

I personally love making this recipe for Halloween parties!

Harvest Hash Recipe

Harvest Hash Snack Mix Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 box of rice cereal
  • 4 cups of pretzels (you can use any shape of pretzels)
  • 2 cups of PLANTERS dry roasted peanuts
  • 1 cup of Candy Corn
  • 1 cup of Candy Corn Pumpkins
  • 1 bag of peanut butter chocolate candy
  • ¾ cups of melted butter
  • ¾ cups of brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 275.
  2. Melt the butter in the microwave then combine with vanilla and brown sugar. Stir until combined well.
  3. Add rice cereal, pretzels, and peanuts to a large bowl and mix together.
  4. Coat the dry ingredient mixture with the butter mixture and stir until evenly distributed.
  5. Use parchment paper (or foil) to cover cookie sheets (I use 2 normally) and pour mixture in a single layer on each sheet.
  6. Bake for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally.
  7. After baking, let the mixture cool and then add your candy corn, candy corn pumpkins, and chocolate peanut butter candy.

Chocolate Dipped Halloween Rice Krispie Treats

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I’ve made chocolate covered strawberries many times, but have never ventured out to chocolate dip any other kind of treats so this weekend I decided to try my hand at chocolate dipped Halloween Rice Krispie Treats and they did not disappoint.

Chocolate Dipped Halloween Rice Krispie Treats

Halloween is just around the corner and these easy treats would be super fun for kids classroom parties or adult Halloween parties too! I am not a huge DIYer (even though I wish I was) so I bought the Rice Krispie Treats instead of homemaking them although I have made them before and it is super simple.

But pre-purchasing the Rice Krispie Treats just makes this recipe that much quicker and that much easier for us busy moms!

The box I bought came in these mini sizes and I thought that was perfect for these treats because they are SO SWEET. So in my opinion, bite sized is best.

Chocolate Dipped Halloween Rice Krispie Treats

Making Chocolate Dipped Halloween Rice Krispie Treats

So making this was incredibly easy and my 3 year old had a blast helping with them. All we did was melt two bars of white baking chocolate, roll the rice krispies in the chocolate until they are fully coated, sprinkle with Halloween sprinkles, and leave to harden on wax paper or a paper plate.

We put ours in the fridge to harden and even ended up leaving them in the fridge because they melted fairly quickly if left out. Not quick enough to where you couldn’t leave them out at an event or party, but you definitely want to store them in the fridge.

To make these more party friendly we bought treat sticks from the Halloween aisle at Target and stuck them in the bottoms to make them a little like cake pops!

Chocolate Dipped Halloween Rice Krispie Treats

Chocolate Dipped Halloween Rice Krispie Treats

Chocolate Dipped Halloween Rice Krispie Treats Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

1 box Rice Krispie Treats

2 bars of baking chocolate (white)

Halloween sprinkles

Halloween treat sticks

DIRECTIONS:

Melt the white chocolate at 30 second intervals in the microwave, stirring between each interval.

Dip the Rice Krispie treat in the white chocolate until fully coated.

Place on wax paper or paper plate to harden.

Place the treats in refrigerator until the chocolate is hardened, then enjoy!

Store in refrigerator.

Chocolate Dipped Halloween Rice Krispie Treats

Light Pesto Pasta Salad

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This post is sponsored by Barilla. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Being from Texas, the summers can get unbearably hot and when that time of year comes around I love to eat this light pesto pasta salad to fill me up without dragging me down.

I am a total sucker for heavy comfort food pasta recipes like baked ziti, but when it is 100 degrees outside I crave something light and refreshing like this easy recipe!

Light Pesto Pasta Salad

Simple Pesto Pasta Salad

For this recipe, I used Barilla Ready Pasta which cuts down about 10-15 minutes from your prep time. If you haven’t used Barilla Ready Pasta yet get to the store NOW. Each pack of Ready Pasta contains 2 servings of fully cooked pasta, so all you have to do is microwave the bags for 60 seconds, and the pasta is ready.

This pasta has seriously saved dinner multiple times just by being a time saver. It is something I keep stocked in my pantry for times when I need to whip up a quick dish.

Light Pesto Pasta Salad

Light pesto pasta salad is perfect for a light lunch, a side dish for dinner, or as a potluck item to bring to a BBQ this summer!

It took me about 10 minutes from start to finish, the longest part being to chop the cucumber and tomatoes which still hardly took any time.

Light Pesto Pasta Salad

Light Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe

First, you’ll want to chop your veggies. I made a family sized portion of this pasta so I used about a cup of cherry tomatoes and sliced them in half, but feel free to add more or use less if your family prefers something different.

Then I sliced 1 whole cucumber up and then diced them into smaller pieces. You can also feel free to alter the amount of cucumber in the recipe.

Light Pesto Pasta Salad

Heat your Barilla Ready Pasta up for 60 seconds in the microwave. I used 3 packages of the Ready Pasta because I wanted to make multiple servings. Each package comes with 2 servings so alter as needed.

Pour your pasta out of the packages and into a bowl, then add 1 jar of Barilla Basil Pesto Sauce, your cucumber, and your tomatoes.

Light Pesto Pasta Salad

For extra flavor, I added 1 tablespoon of bacon bits too!

My family really loves cheese so we added a full cup of parmesan cheese to our pesto pasta salad. Then to add some protein I used 1 package of Starkist Tuna and mixed all of the ingredients together.

That is it!! An extremely easy pasta recipe that your family will love!

Light Pesto Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

3 packages Barilla Ready Pasta

1 cucumber

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1 jar Barilla Basil Pesto Sauce

1 cup parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon bacon bits

1 package Starkist Tuna

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Slice cucumber and cherry tomatoes.
  2. Microwave Barilla Ready Pasta for 60 seconds (follow directions on package).
  3. Pour pasta into a bowl and add Barilla Basil Pesto Sauce, cucumber, tomatoes, bacon bits, and tuna.
  4. Stir then salt and pepper to taste.

ENJOY!

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How HelloFresh Makes Me a Better Mom

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Thank you HelloFresh for sponsoring this post!

I am no stranger to meal delivery services. I’ve tried many, but always find myself coming back to using HelloFresh!

The ingredients are always fresh, the meals are simple to cook, and so far every recipe we’ve been delivered is kid friendly.

How HelloFresh Makes Me a Better Mom

Why HelloFresh Makes Me a Better Mom

I know it sounds weird to say that a meal delivery services makes me a better mom, but I promise it does!

The main reasons why I believe this are:

  1. It frees up time in my day to spend with my daughter.
  2. It lowers my stress level when it comes to planning and cooking healthy meals for my family.
  3. It gives me something to bond with my daughter over.

How HelloFresh Makes Me a Better Mom

Cooking with HelloFresh

One of the biggest reasons why I love using HelloFresh is that it saves me a ton of time. I don’t have to search for recipes on Pinterest, I don’t have to make a grocery list, I don’t have to shop for the groceries, and lastly, I don’t have to meal prep!

As a business owner who works at home and has my daughter home with me full time, any time saved is extra time that I get to spend with her. Instead of me spending hours per week grocery shopping and prepping meals HelloFresh takes care of it all. I’d say HelloFresh saves me about 8-10 hours per week total because we typically eat at home every meal!

As my daughter gets older, she is way more interested in helping me in the kitchen. She loves to scoot her stool up and help me mix things or measure out spices. I love having her in the kitchen with me, but most days I am rushing from my office to the kitchen at the last minute and trying to rush through figuring out what we want for dinner. I have found that when I started using HelloFresh I am much more relaxed about dinner and am more patient with her helping me out in the kitchen.

It is a great way to spend some one on one time with your kids while still getting your house duties done. She loves helping me “read” the HelloFresh instruction cards and finding the right ingredients. It is some of the best bonding time we spend together now 🙂

How HelloFresh Makes Me a Better Mom

HelloFresh Recipes

The best part about HelloFresh recipes is that they are really great about introducing you to new recipes without going completely exotic. It is all stuff we would normally eat just in different kinds of recipes. Please tell me I am not the only one who has the same 10 recipes on repeat? My family was really getting tired of weekly spaghetti. Using HelloFresh we can keep it interesting without making foods that we wouldn’t normally eat.

We’ve used HelloFresh a few times now and have never made a recipe that my three year old wouldn’t eat. Now, that is a mom win if you ask me.

This week we received 3 recipes all of which were super easy to make and finished in under 35 minutes. All of the meals are super healthy too! None of the recipes exceeded 670 calories and were full of delicious veggies.

Before I started using HelloFresh I was worried about the quality of meat and produce that would be delivered, but I actually found that the veggies were super fresh and the meat was better than what I can normally find at my local grocery store!

This week we made Sesame Honey Beef Stir Fry, Sliced Steak Tagliata, and Chicken Pineapple Quesadillas!

If you are interested in trying HelloFresh you can use this link with the code sunshinemomma to get $30 off of your first box!

After you get it, be sure to write back to me and let me know how you liked it!

Life Changing Meal Planning Hacks

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This post was sponsored by AT-A-GLANCE as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

When I meal plan, my week goes so much smoother compared to when I don’t.

Life Changing Meal Planning Hacks

This is what my week looks like with no meal plan…

7 am: wake up

8 am: start working

1 pm: Think to myself “I should probably decide what we’re having for dinner”.

4 pm: “Dang it, I forgot to make the meat out of the freezer. Let’s order pizza”.

Or some other variation of this.

Now I know that there are a ton of different ways that you can meal plan/meal prep and I’m not put together enough to be at the point where I am cooking/prepping meals on Sunday for the entire week, but I have gotten pretty good about at least planning what we are having each day so that mealtime goes a lot smoother.

Life Changing Meal Planning Hacks

Use Pinterest

You probably already use Pinterest to find new recipes, but do you actually use Pinterest to plan your meals out?

Life Changing Meal Planning Hacks

On your Pinterest account, you can create boards for your weekly meal plans. I create them under “secret boards” so it doesn’t clog up my profile, but it works the same way if you make them public boards.

I title them “Meal Plan 10/15-10/21” or whatever days that plan is for. I keep them in the correct week’s board so that I can go back and find the recipe when I’m ready to cook it.

Make Your Grocery List

From my Pinterest board, I make my grocery list. I start by writing the specific meal in my At-A-GLANCE Notebook, underlining it, and then writing the ingredients needed below that.

Life Changing Meal Planning Hacks

Then I repeat for the next meals! Now, when I go to cook the meals I just have to grab my notebook (which I carry around for everything) and I can see what ingredients need to be taken out for that recipe.

Also, if I ever don’t have time for pinning and writing down new recipes I can always go back in my notebook and pull a grocery list from a couple of weeks ago and make the same meals! SO SIMPLE.

Plan Out Your Meals

After I get our actual meals planned for the week I write them down in my At-A-GLANCE Planner. If you are anything like me you need a lot of room to write in your planner and that’s why I love using At-A-Glace.

I’ve already got my 2018 planners, that’s how big of a planner nerd I am.

Life Changing Meal Planning Hacks

Each morning I check my planner to see what meal is on the schedule and I take out what I need, thaw the meat, or throw it in the crockpot that way when the evening rolls around I am already prepared.

Doing my meal planning this way has been a game changer. Evenings in our house are always so hectic with Braylee being tired and hungry, Brandon just getting home from work, and me trying to wrap up the house for bedtime so being prepared really changes how well our evenings go.

Repeat

Now the best part of doing your meal planning this way is being able to repeat/mix and match. You have your grocery lists in your notebook (write the dates at the top to make them easier to find!), your schedule in your planner, and your recipes in your Pinterest boards.

Once you have a few weeks built up you can start repeating the weeks or mixing around meals. The hard work is already done!