Prep and freeze for easy dinners later: Freezer Meals!

Within the next two weeks, my sister will be Mom to a two year old and a newborn! We are very excited to meet another sweet nephew. I have been scouring recipes for some meal ideas that I may bring her after the extended family leaves. Here are some of my top choices from two of the absolute best food bloggers - The Pioneer Woman and Six Sisters' Stuff.

The first two are fast and easy to prepare, which is important to me as an at-home working mom with two kids of my own. So many of the freezer meal recipes are really complicated to prepare, requiring an hour or more of my time. Unfortunately, I'm just not that kind of cook. I need quick and easy - but with some flavor.

click link below for full recipe

Six Sisters' Stuff: Black Bean and Corn Salsa Chicken
click link for original location & full recipe
This recipe is slow-cooker ready. Beans, corn, salsa, and chicken breasts with taco seasoning. You freeze it up (sealed in large freezer bags) and it's simply ready to add to a slow cooker one morning. Just remember to thaw it overnight in the fridge the day prior. I like how this recipe can be versatile once cooked; you can shred it and add to tortillas, dump into greens and a taco shell bowl for a southwestern salad, or eat the chicken breasts whole smothered with the beans and sauce over rice.

Six Sisters' Stuff: Beef Stew
click link for original location & full recipe
This recipe is also slow-cooker ready. Beef stew is a feel-good and hearty fall meal for family. This recipe uses both onion soup mix and cream of mushroom soup, so you know it will be flavorful.

Snips and snails and sugar and spice? #kids

Do you remember "sugar and spice and everything nice" and "snips and snails and puppy dog tails"? Cute rhyme, but my sweet girl and baby boy are so much more.

My boy is made of grins and squeals and lots of meals. He loves to laugh and make others laugh. He has about twenty face/body movements that will crack the grumpiest of grumps. He runs everywhere with pounding little feet and squeals with joy all day long. He also eats a lot. Meals and snacks and more meals and snacks for that guy!

My girl is made of stories and flips and clever quips. She is a writer and teller of magical tales. She spends a lot of time moving, flipping and bouncing in her own hilarious ways. And she has a quick wit that gives us the giggles out of nowhere.

Kids are the best little creatures on earth, aren't they? They simultaneously make me happy and exhausted, and I cannot imagine what I ever did without them!

What's it like in your house? What would your poetry be for your child?
 

Thrilled to be a #BeachesMom again!

About two months ago, I clicked into my email and happily read this subject line:
You're Invited: Beaches Resorts Social Media on the Sand

I am honored and extremely excited to have received the coveted invite once again. I will be attending the second annual Social Media on the Sand conference at the glorious Beaches Resort Turks and Caicos!

Our 2014 experience at Beaches Turks and Caicos was one of luxury, impeccable service, and amazing natural beauty. The conference was inspiring with great sponsors and influential speakers including highly successful working moms, beloved bloggers, and the CEO of Sandals Resorts himself, Adam Stewart. Last year, I was thrilled to be able to travel with my husband and daughter (baby boy was only 9 months old and had a great time with grandparents at home). Seeing Beaches through a child's eyes really makes you fall in love with the fantastic vacation experience.

I will be traveling without family in 2015, unfortunately, as it just did not work out this year with timing and finances. I look forward to focusing on the valuable conference content and seeing the resort through adult eyes this time! I am seeing more rum punch and extended relaxation by the pool for this busy mama!

If you want to check out Beaches Resorts for your next family vacation, I do highly recommend it. It is comparable to a cruise in many ways and actually so much better in others. Huge resort rooms, non-stop service with genuine smiles, and everything you could ever need is included in the original price. If you are a social media influencer, you can learn more about the Social Media on the Sand Conference and sign up for more information and a chance to be invited next year.

Turks and Caicos, Beaches Resort, and fellow #BeachesMoms and #BeachesDads.... see you in a few months!

10 reasons: I wish to be a kid again

Who has it better, adults or kids? 

While adults get to stay up late and basically eat whatever they want (like a milkshake for dinner), I think I'd like to be a kid again. 

 

Why it's better to be a kid...

• You have a chauffeur
• You have a chef
• You have a maid (sometimes, anyway)
• You have a nurse when sick
• You DON'T have to navigate office politics
• You DON'T pay taxes
• You DON'T need money for gasoline
• When you feel like crying, you cry. 
• You get summers "off"
• You get more gifts for birthdays and holidays 

If my daughter and I could switch places for a day, I would request a lot of snacks, talk almost non-stop, eat dessert after dinner, and leave Moon Dough crumbs all over the floor. Then I'd ask to read books at night and sleep with a soothing sound machine and one dozen stuffed animals. 

What do you think, grown-up or kid?

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Linked up to Mama Kat's Writers' Workshop at KatBouska.com - prompts each week and link-ups every Thursday!