Chocolate Caramel Molten Lava Cakes

July 20, 2016December 26, 2016 - Mama Leave a comment

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #WhatMattersToU #CollectiveBias

Give into your chocolate cravings with these molten lava cakes... chocolate, caramel, more chocolate, it's sure to make you feel better anytime you need a chocolate fix (especially that time of the month!) #WhatMattersToU [ad]

Real talk… that time of the month SUCKS, doesn’t it? I mean, we’re basically walking around trying to pretend life is totally normal, taking care of the kids, spending time with friends, doing all of the normal life stuff, all the while our body is screaming at us, cramping, and generally making us feel sucky. It’s like the main event isn’t enough, we have to throw in soreness, crabbiness, and bloating… ughhhh.

How to Throw a Spooky Sweet Brownie Pizza Party this Halloween!

October 9, 2015January 13, 2017 - Mama Leave a comment

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SpooktacularSnacks #CollectiveBias #Ad #Sponsored #GetYourBettyOn

I love a good Halloween party. You can probably tell, because I’ve been sharing a lot of my favorite Halloween treat ideas lately. You see, I look at Halloween as the first major “food holiday” of the fall season– a time to get together with family and friends and enjoy good conversation, and of course, delicious food. But nothing strikes my fancy quite like a sweet treat sort of party, a soiree meant for sweet tooths. And that’s why I really love the Halloween party I’m sharing today– it’s all about sweet treats, and even better, it’s all about gathering around for topping your sweet snack to satisfy your own taste buds! We’re talking a brownie pizza party… seriously.

The Power and Insanity of a Multi-Tasking Mom (Plus, Orange Dream Cooler Recipe)

July 31, 2015January 13, 2017 - Mama 1 Comment

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #WaterOnlyBetter #CollectiveBias

What is it with moms and multitasking? It seems like we can never get a spare minute to ourselves anymore! Do you find yourself doing your face mask while you clean the bathroom? You might be suffering from not enough mom time... so read this, and relate. #WaterOnlyBetter #ad

It started after Zach was born. I had never really noticed it before, but when he was born, it really did start. Late nights spent breastfeeding meant late nights where I’d just be… awake. So, I did something I swore I would never do. I got hooked on reality TV. See, my mind wasn’t awake enough for reading, and it really couldn’t handle TV with actual plot, either, so there I’d be, lying there awake after Zach had drifted off to sleep, realizing I needed to be doing…. well, something. Anything. if I wasn’t sleeping.

Salted Pepperoni Chocolate Bark

March 11, 2015January 13, 2017 - Mama 8 Comments

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PepItUp #CollectiveBias I’m not exactly sure who started this whole sweet and savory chocolate covered meat trend. I’ll be honest– I was even skeptical the first time I tried chocolate covered bacon. After that, it seemed people moved on to chocolate covered beef jerky, and now, well, I’ve found the next logical incarnation of the trend. A new season means it’s time to ditch the old chocolate covered meat we’ve come to know and love and try something new… and that something new? It’s Hormel pepperoni. Read more

Must-Make Lemon White Chocolate Toll House Cookie Bars

March 10, 2015January 13, 2017 - Mama 15 Comments

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #EasterEssentials #CollectiveBias

The Easter season is upon us. Can you believe it? I certainly can’t– this year is flying by! One of the things I love about springtime, and about the Easter season, is that the weather is nice and you can finally get out. No more snow to hold you back from visiting friends and neighbors or just enjoying the great weather. But between egg hunts, time with family, and those drop in guests, the Easter season is busy. Who has time to bake during all of that craziness? You. That’s who. Because these awesome lemon white chocolate bars are semi-homemade using NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® White Chip Lemon Refrigerated Cookie Dough, making them quick and easy to prepare (especially if you have unexpected company)!

An Open Letter To My Son: I Will Protect You

February 9, 2015February 10, 2015 - Mama 3 Comments

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #LoveAndProtect #CollectiveBias

Zach, do you remember that time you climbed that tree? I knew you were climbing too high, I just knew that you’d fall, but you urged me to let you, begged me to let go of your hand so you could reach the next branch. And you know what happened? You made it. You reached it. You didn’t fall. I let go, and you stayed safe. It’s in my nature to be a little bit overbearing at times. I’ll always have worries– am I raising you the right way? Are you growing the way you should? How much life insurance should I have in case something happens to me? What sort of things do you need to know before you prepare for kindergarten?

I want to tell you right now that I don’t have all of the answers, but I do want to make you some promises.

How My Family Celebrates Chinese New Year (And Why It Matters to Us)

February 5, 2015January 13, 2017 - Mama Leave a comment

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #NewYearFortune #CollectiveBias

After nearly a decade of hosting foreign exchange students, my family is no stranger to sitting down to dinner not knowing who will be there and how many cultures might be represented at the table. It’s opened our eyes to new celebrations (like when our first student taught us all about St. Nicholas Day), but our family, having yet to host a Chinese exchange student, has never gotten the opportunity to celebrate Chinese New Year. We decided to change that this year. And, what better way to celebrate than with some appetizers that are restaurant-inspired and totally delicious?

Managing Car Care (When Your Toddler Won’t Cooperate) with Pennzoil

January 20, 2015January 20, 2015 - Mama 5 Comments

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #DropShopandOil #CollectiveBias

Having a toddler is not at all what I expected. While I do truly savor every minute of it, I also cannot figure out how to squeeze in things like breakfast, or shaving my legs, or, y’know, oil changes, on a regular basis. At the same time, as a mom, I’m not satisfied with my car maintenance not being taken care of when it should– an unsafe car is NOT an option when you have a child riding along. Short of hiring a sitter so I could get an oil change, I was really clueless about what to do…

Cranberry Pecan Tea Cake Bars featuring Bigelow Tea and Truvia Natural Sweetener

January 19, 2015February 10, 2015 - Mama 6 Comments

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SweetWarmUp #CollectiveBias

It’s no secret that I’m quite the coffee addict. And with coffee comes a very strong-handed pour of flavored creamer, which, you know, has all kinds of sugar… and calories… and other fun stuff that is far from healthy OR natural. As I’ve worked really hard to lose some of the weight I put on over the past couple of years, I realized I had to make some changes. That meant cutting back on coffee (it’s just too hard to drink it without the flavored creamer) and cutting back on my sugar intake, too. That’s where Bigelow Tea and Truvia zero-calorie natural sweetener come in. And what’s tea time without a delicious, low-sugar treat? That’s where this delicious cranberry pecan tea cake come in! Made with Bigelow Tea and Truvia natural sweetener, you’ll not even believe me when I say it’s low-sugar, because it doesn’t taste like it!

Mama Plus One

Making Life Easy So You Can Get Back to What Matters Most

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