Irresistible Eggnog Recipes for the Holidays by Fix.com

 

The wonderful people at Fix contacted me recently and told me that they had some really great eggnog recipes-including eggnog cupcakes, eggnog fudge, and a bunch of other good stuff-that my readers might be interested in. And of course, a bunch of super-cute infographics to go along with it all. Because who doesn't love a good infographic?

Here's a sneak peak at one of the recipes, the Ultimate Eggnog. If you like what you see, head over here to check out the whole article!

Love and eggnog,

*This is a sponsored post

Here are Some Affordable Babyproofing Tips that You have to Do

Here are Some Affordable Babyproofing Tips that You have to Do

There’s a common misconception that babyproofing a home is expensive. This is not true at all. While it’s true that you need to do a lot of steps to baby proof a home, most of these steps are very affordable.

Besides, you really have no choice but to do them anyway, affordable or not to ensure the safety of your kids. But you’re in luck since babyproofing a home has been proven to be very affordable.

Here are the More Affordable Babyproofing Steps

Here are just some babyproofing steps that are on the affordable side so you’ll have an idea how affordable babyproofing is:

• Secure furniture with straps.
• Furniture straps can be used on TVs and light furniture. You can buy a complete set for less than $10.
• Use edge bumpers.
• These are used to protect your child from sharp edges. A complete set complete with 20+ feet of edge bumpers can be bought for only $20.
• Use outlet covers.
• These are used to protect your child from electrocuting himself with an electrical outlet. A set of 24 outlet covers is available for around $5.
• Place pinch guards on doors.
• As the name implies, this can help avoid your child’s tender fingers from getting pinched. They’re available in sets priced anywhere from $5 to $20.
• Secure your cords using cord holders.
• Cord holders can help keep cords out of reach of children. They’re very affordable at less than $10 for a complete set.

As you can see, babyproofing a home is affordable. Yes, it’s true that the cost will add up since there are a lot of things that you have to do. But still, you can’t deny the fact that the benefits greatly outweigh the cost.

In addition, there are babyproofing steps that are free. Here are some of them:

• Remove dangerous house plants. You just need to do research if the plants in and around your home are potentially toxic. Remove if necessary.
• Never allow your child to play near the street. Let them play inside the fence. On that note, make sure to check for the integrity of your fence.
• Remove choking hazards. See what your child sees by going down on all fours and looking around for potential choking hazards.
• Unplug appliances when not in use. Keep the cords away.
• Keep hazardous materials out of reach. 
• Don’t leave pet food out. They can choke your child and they’re not designed for the consumption of children anyway.
• Don’t take your medicine in front of your child. This one is not too obvious to a lot of parents. Avoid sparking your child’s curiosity and take your medicine out of sight.

Other Babyproofing Steps

This infographic by ContractorQuotes.us has a total of 68 babyproofing steps, both affordable and not. As mentioned, you have no choice but to do them. You’ll thank yourself that you did. You can’t put a price tag on the safety of your child so as a parent, it’s your responsibility to follow these babyproofing steps. We also encourage you to learn more about fire safety.

This is a sponsored post

Zucchini Lasagna Rolls

Oprah and I have absolutely nothing in common, except for one thing:

via GIPHY

That's literally it, but I think it would be enough for us to bond over. But see, for me, it's not just bread. It's carbs. Anything gluten, and I'm in.

Little known fact: when I was 14, I went on a revised version of the Atkins diet and lost over 30 lbs. in about 2 months. Don't worry, though. As soon as I had babies, I made sure to put it all back on.

Also, Tim recently had kidney stones that landed him in the hospital for a few days. It was absolute freaking chaos. I missed the first day of work, had to beg friends and family to drop everything to take care of our kids, cried in front of a doctor, and there was always the constant threat of surgery, so Tim had probably one full meal over the course of those few days. Oh, and he blamed it all on my unhealthy cooking, so there's that. God forbid we consider genetics.

Back to bread. In a last-ditched effort to pretend I'm organic/crunchy/relatively healthy, I swapped the lasagna noodles on my regular lasagna roll-ups for zucchini. And you know what? It was actually really good.

If you had common sense and skimmed those first few paragraphs, let me summarize: it's good. You should give it a try. What do you have to lose?


Ingredients:

• 4 zucchinis
• 15 oz. Ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• Large can pasta sauce of your choice
• 8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
• 8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
• Garlic (optional)
• Salt and pepper
• Sharp knife (or, preferably, a vegetable peeler like this)

Directions:

Plan to grab an extra zucchini, because this ain't easy.

Cut off the ends.

Again, this next step is not easy. If you don't have a vegetable peeler, I highly recommend getting one like this one so that yours look better than mine. They aren't expensive, and it'll save you a lot of time (and zucchinis).

Cut as many thin slices of the zucchini as possible.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg.

Add the Ricotta cheese, garlic, salt, and pepper to the egg and mix well.

Spread 1/4 cup of the pasta sauce on the bottom of a 13x9 pan.

One at a time, lay out the zucchini slices.

Top with the Ricotta cheese mixture.

Sprinkle on some cheddar and mozzarella cheese.

Gently fold up the zucchini rolls.

Place in the pan on top of the sauce.

Top with the rest of the shredded cheeses.

Pour remaining pasta sauce over the cheese.

Bake at 350° for 20-30 minutes until cheese is bubbly.

Serve hot...and not with bread. Otherwise, what's the point of all this?


Love and Atkins,

Strawberry Dump Cake

Repeat after me:

DUMP CAKES ARE EVERYTHING.

Now that we've got the basics down, let's get into the dirty details. Dump cakes are amazing because they're versatile, cheap, fast, and mouth-watering delicious. They can be as complicated or as easy as you want, and there are a few different methods for making them.

For this particular dump cake, I didn't use pie filling because I was craving fresh strawberries. But hear me…there is no shame in using pie filling. It will be just as tasty, and much less work. We're just over achievers here at my house {note the sarcasm}. Another beautiful thing about this dessert is it can easily be made to be gluten-free, for those of you who have dietary restrictions.

Let's get started!


Ingredients:

• 1 box yellow cake mix {we used a gluten-free cake mix, but regular is just fine}
•  1/2 cup of butter
• 1 can pie filling {21 oz.} OR a small container of fresh strawberries
• 2 tbsp sugar {but only if you're using fresh strawberries}

Directions:

If you're using pie filling, you can skip the next few steps and head right to assembly.

We're going to start by washing and de-stemming our strawberries. If you need a tip on how to do that quickly, just click here to see my tutorial.

Next we're going to make the strawberries nice and juicy. You can always go the old-fashioned route and mash them by hand, but this is 100x faster. If you don't have a manual food chopper, these are cheap and save tons of time. I highly recommend getting one similar to this.

I kid you not, making this juicy strawberry mix took less than 10 seconds. Buy the chopper, people!

Put your strawberry mix {or pie filling} in a bowl.

Add your sugar and mix {unless you use the pie filling. No sugar needed for that}.

Pour strawberries or pie filling into a baking pan. I think 13x9 is preferred, but I used my round pan.

Top with cake mix. Spread evenly over strawberries.

Slice butter into thin pieces and layer over the cake mix.

Bake at 350° for 35-45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

Enjoy warm with vanilla ice cream.

Love and dump cakes,

Crock Pot Baked Potatoes

Easter is over, and that means one thing: leftovers. So many leftovers. I had almost an entire bag of red potatoes sitting unused in my fridge, and absolutely nothing left in my grocery budget. That leaves one of my favorite {and cheapest} dishes on the menu...baked potatoes!

I have a special love of baked potatoes. When I was really young, money was tight around my house {as it usually is with young families}. Every Sunday, my mom would make baked potatoes and we'd pick up Whoppers from Burger King, back when they were $.99 each. We had that every Sunday after church for years, and with the exception of a terrible case of food poisoning from a Whopper about 5 years ago, it remains one of my favorite meals.

I hope you enjoy these and make some of your own baked potato memories!


Ingredients:

• Potatoes
• Butter
• Salt and pepper
• Tinfoil
• Minced garlic {optional}

Directions:

Rinse potatoes well and remove any large "eyes" with a knife. Rip off pieces of tinfoil that can wrap around each potato. Poke each potato with a fork several times.

Melt butter and spoon some onto each potato.

Add some minced garlic, salt and pepper to each potato.

Seal each potato in the tinfoil and put inside crock pot. Cook on low anywhere from 5-9 hours, depending on how many potatoes you're making. The more potatoes, the longer it takes to cook.

Once potato is soft to the touch, remove carefully from the crock pot, unwrap, cut and add toppings. Serve and enjoy!

Love and potato memories,

 

REVIEW: Pillsbury Funfetti Gluten Free Premium Cake & Cupcake Mix with Candy Bits

*This is not a paid or sponsored post*

Judah has entered the land of gluten-free, and at first, I was in serious mourning. From what I had been told, gluten-free  is expensive, time-consuming and not all that appetizing. Add that in with a picky two-year-old, and I was convinced this was going to be absolutely miserable. Which, in a lot of ways, it has been.

When Easter rolled around, I was put in charge of dessert for the family dinner. There are a million great gluten-free recipes on Pinterest, but I selfishly wanted to make something that would appeal to all the kids in the group, including Judah. So, I hit up Walmart and found this Pillsbury Funfetti Gluten Free Premium Cake & Cupcake Mix with Candy Bits. It was a little over $3 for the box, but it said it would make 24 cupcakes, so I was sold.

As far as frosting goes, my ipiit app said that Betty Crocker Rainbow Chip frosting was gluten-free, and seriously...have you had this stuff?? They discontinued it for awhile, but it's back, and I'm so glad. It's the one frosting I could eat straight out of the container. I highly recommend it.

The directions for the cupcakes were very easy to follow and typical of most boxed cake mixes. It calls for water, oil and eggs, baked for around 20 minutes. Nothing out of the ordinary, which is exactly what I was looking for.

When the cupcakes were done baking, I noticed they were fluffier than most other cupcake mixes, which is a plus for me. The one box made about 20 cupcakes {as opposed to the 24 it claims to make on the box}, but I'm sure you could distribute it more evenly to make the full 24.

The final test was obviously the taste. When Tim got home, I gave him one without telling him it was gluten-free. He gushed over them, telling me how amazing they were. When I told him they were a special gluten-free mix, he was shocked and said he couldn't tell the difference between that and a "regular" cupcake. So I'd say it was a big success!

Overall, I highly recommend Pillsbury Funfetti Gluten Free Premium Cake & Cupcake Mix with Candy Bits. They taste fantastic, and the price was right.

Love and gluten-free,

Strawberry De-Stemming Tip

Spring is here! And that means that we finally get to indulge in fresh strawberries. The only thing I don't appreciate about strawberries is that I feel like I'm throwing away so much when I de-stem them. That's why I absolutely love this quick tip on getting rid of the stem and keeping as much of the actual berry as possible. Enjoy!


Ingredients:

• Strawberries
• A straw

Directions:

Insert your straw into the base of the strawberry, pushing out the stem at the end.

That's it-seriously! Enjoy your de-stemmed strawberries.

Love and strawberries,