#cbias, Recipes, Sponsored Post

Foolproof Shopping with the New Health Key™ System at #MyCopps + Crock-Pot Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

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#cbias #shopWell, here we are, the 5th of January and I’m sure you are all wondering how our clean eating is going so far this year.  I have to admit, I thought it was going to be really hard but so far, we are doing pretty good.  This past Friday night, Alex and I thought it would be best to take an hour to ourselves and head to Copps to stock up on the basics for a few meals since we are experiencing some severe weather here. Who wants to leave the house when it is going to be -20 to -55* F outside? Not this mom!

Since we are eating clean these days, the new health key™ system at Copps makes it easy for us to locate the products we need.  I am doing my best to shop for items that are organic, gluten free and stocking up on as much fresh produce as possible.

The new health key system makes it so much easier to shop for the products that your family needs. Since our family is trying to eat cleaner, we look for items that are fresh, organic and sometimes even gluten free and vegan. I am also a huge fan of the new system because it makes it easier for Alex to go to the store and pick up the items on the list as well….it’s foolproof!

Not only does the new health key™ system at Copps make shopping easier, it also helps us make better choices and stick to our plan to eat clean in 2014.  To be able to walk up and down the aisles and see products clearly labeled means I don’t have to sit and read ingredients on bottles anymore!

Since we are freezing here in Wisconsin, we decided to create some dishes that will keep our family warm over the next few days.  When we get cold, we like to turn to a nice warm bowl of soup to warm us back up and soup is also a dish that the whole family enjoys.

With some fresh, organic produce from Copps along with some organic spices and free range chicken, Roundy’s Organic Rotelle pasta (and a few other items) we created some delicious Crock-Pot Chicken Noodle Soup that the entire family LOVED!

You can easily recreate this dish in your home by grabbing the recipe below and hitting your local Copps store for ingredients!

[yumprint-recipe id=’32’]

For The Love of Blogging

2013: Our Year in Review

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2013 was a crazy year for our family and a successful year for the site.

Let’s start back in January where all the craziness began when we learned we were expecting baby #5!  I think I am actually still in shock about this life event which is crazy because we’ve already had 4 amazing months with the little guy.

When February arrived, I was still dealing with the shock of the pregnancy while dealing with all of the nausea and exhaustion that came with it, we celebrated Zack turning 14 and we ended the month with a trip to Disney on Ice, 2 littles with influenza, 1 with an ear infection and 1 teenager with a dislocated shoulder and the other with a concussion.

In March, we kissed cable goodbye and said hello to more money in our pockets.  Alexander turned 5 and we celebrated with a trip to Chuck E Cheese and a Power Ranger Party at home. Right before Easter, we made a trip to Sneak-A-Peek, a local ultrasound studio to find out the sex of Baby Peanut. We also made our first official family trip to the National Railroad Museum here in Green Bay to attend The Great Bunny Train.

April came and with it came a stomach bug that kept Alexander home for more than a week, I made it to the half-way point in my pregnancy and Alexander finally started earning his keep around here.  April also brought some scares our way as well when we had an abnormal scan with Peanut.

We kicked off May with the start of our big baby shower event which gave us the chance to check out and share some amazing baby products, we celebrated Alex’s birthday with a delicious new treat, the Fairy Hobmother paid us a visit and left us a little gift.

June welcomed the end Alexander’s first year in school, Zack finished his last year of middle school and Libby was promoted to 8th grade.  With June came another stomach bug amongst the kids after a day of fun along with a little health scare for me.  We celebrated Father’s Day with a trip to Point Beach where the kids enjoyed playing in the sand and Lake Michigan.

When July arrived, we received some amazing news about our little Joey in addition to some awesome pictures of him in utero.  Things got even more exciting a few days later when Alexander learned how to ride his bike without training wheels.   Of course, there was also that day that Alex had his SECOND vasectomy.

August brought Baby Watch 2013.  Since my contractions had started in June and become pretty regular in July, there was A LOT of waiting.  There were a lot of false alarms and we were left feeling very, VERY frustrated.  Then, early on the morning of August 18th, I woke up and my water broke.  2 hours and 44 minutes later, Joey was here!  Needless to say, everything was worth it in the end!

In September the kids returned to school.  Zack started high school, Libby went off to 8th grade and Alexander started full day kindergarten.  Mid-September, we made our way down to Sheboygan where Alex participated in the Legend Larry’s Wing Eating Championship Competition, which of course, he won.  

With October, the cooler weather arrived and thanks to our friends at Pampers, we were able to help out a friend in need.  Zack attended his first Homecoming Dance, we all continued to fall more in love with Joey and I dealt with a little Postpartum Depression and Alex and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary.  On the 25th, Joey underwent surgery to repair his umbilical hernia and it was an absolute success!

When November entered, I finally realized it was time to start preparing for the holidays at home, in addition to my holiday gift guide.  Things got busy around the house and the kids demanded a little more of my time. Joey hit a huge milestone and started laughing and I finally found a moment to share some new pictures of all of the kids.

Before I knew it, December was here and it was time to really get things moving and finish my holiday shopping and plan Ellie’s 2nd birthday.  So Ellie turned 2 and I turned 35 and boom….it was time to enjoy the holidays with the family.

We had a great Christmas and enjoyed our time together and we are looking forward to kicking off the New Year! I’m going to continue enjoying my little vacation and the extra time with the kids.  I’ll see you on the 2nd when the kids head back to school.

I hope you all have a Happy New Year!

#cbias, Recipes, Sponsored Post

Eating Right with the Pick ‘n Save Health Key System + Chicken Veggie Slaw Recipe

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As I mentioned earlier this week, we, as a family, are dedicating 2014 to getting healthy.  Planning meals and shopping for the neccessary items and ingredients can be a very daunting task when trying new things.  For me, I have always had a hard time trying to dechipher which product was better than the other among the varieties sitting on the shelf in the grocery store.  Thanks to Pick ‘n Save and their new Health Key System, our shopping trips are much easier and we are able to make better food choices.

The Pick ‘n Save Health Key System makes it easier for you to find what you are looking for and make better food choices by clearly labeling items throughout the store so you know if they are Organic, Vegan, Gluten Free and more including products marked as Low Sodium, No Lactose and the list goes on.  

I really like the new labeling system and find that it not only helps me make better choices when shopping but it also saves me a lot of time when picking and choosing products that are right for our family.

In addition to the Health Key System, Pick ‘n Save has also made shopping easier for us with their Fresh Every Day initiative. Knowing that we can get fresh produce every day from our local grocery store makes this mom very happy and I’m even happier when some of it is locally grown!

On our most recent shopping trip, we picked up some fresh produce along with some Roundy’s Fresh All Natural Hand Trimmed Chicken Thin Sliced Breast Cutlets and some bottles of vinaigrette to whip up a fresh and healthy dinner for the family.

Our dinner started with dicing up a red onion, cucumber, 2 roma tomatoes and 2 avocados. From their, we tossed all of the fresh diced veggies in a bowl while grilling up our thin sliced breast cutlets on our George Foreman grill.  Once the chicken was done, we diced that up as well, laid out a bed of fresh greens, sprinkled on some of our Chicken Veggie Slaw along with a drizzle of vinaigrette and our dinner was born!

This meal was easy to make and there was more than enough for our entire family.  I love that it is such a versatile dish that it can be eaten on a bed of greens, in a tortilla or pita or you can even eat it as a dip and use crakers or chips.

Connect

You can now connect with Pick ‘n Save on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Grab the recipe below to make this delicious dish for your family!

[yumprint-recipe id=’31’] 

Eating Clean in 2014

Eating Clean in the New Year with eMeals

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*This post is made possible by eMeals. I received a promotional item in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post may contain affiliate links.* 

As we look ahead to the New Year, our family is looking to make some major changes.  Now that I am no longer pregnant {thank goodness} and am cleared for diet and excercise, 2014 is the year I am taking control of my life and my family is going on this journey with me!

2013 was going to be the year in which I planned on losing 100 pounds, however, after losing 13 in the first 2 weeks of the year and then discovering we were expecting baby number 5, all of those plans were put on hold.  Since the birth of Peanut, I have lost 58 pounds and am definitely proud for that amount of loss in such a short time.  I may not have lost 100 pounds in 2013 but losing 58 is an amazing start.  I credit watching what I eat and breastfeeding….Peanut is a big fan of eating!

Since 2014 is about changes for our family as a whole, we have decided that we will be focusing on eating clean.  Yes, I am aware that clean eating is a challenge and yes, it scares the heck out of me, but thanks to our slow cooker and our friends at eMeals, we are armed with weekly recipes that will help us turn over a new leaf.

eMeals offers a variety of plans and there really is something to fit every families needs.  Since we are planning on eating clean, we chose the eMeals Slow Cooker Clean Eating menu plan.



 eMeals is an affordable menu planning site that has something to offer for everything and if you decide that the plan you chose isn’t for you, you can change to a different one.

Now that we have found a plan that fits our needs, I am excited to kick off the New Year!

Be sure to subscribe to updates so you can follow our family on this journey.

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