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Perfectly Imperfect Hassle-free meal kits for busy moms

May 4, 2021 by Rachel 27 Comments

I used to think that babies made my life hectic. But, with the older my kids get, the more their schedules (and my own schedule) gets bogged down with commitments. Weeks will be go on where my meal-planning is spot-on; and, yet, others where our meals are in desperate need of help. Perfectly Imperfect hassle-free meal kit are the absolute saving grace — especially for busy moms.

What is Perfectly Imperfect

Perfectly Imperfect Produce boxes are a subscription-based produce boxes. Perfectly Imperfect takes produce that would otherwise be wasted (this is mostly due to superficial flaws), and make sure it isn’t. And, while these veggies may look “different,” they aren’t! Perfectly Imperfect Produce is still just as delicious and deserves to be used and enjoyed.

By eliminating food waste, we are helping to eliminate the 6 billion pounds of produce that is wasted due to ‘imperfections.’ And that’s a mission I can get behind!

Diced + Easy: Ready, Set, Cook!

As someone who has cooked her little tail off for the last 12 + months, I’m completely burned out. I’ve created and cooked dozens of new recipes. But, everyone needs a helping hand sometimes! Especially when that helping hand is delivered right to your door.

Diced + Easy Red Cabbage and Rice

Luckily, time can now be saved with Perfectly Imperfect Produce Diced + Easy Meal Kits. Diced and easy kits can be customized to accommodate families of all sizes. Plus, these meal kits can be customized for the types of cuisine you and your family like!

This brand new meal kit is super exciting for a lot of reasons. First, everything is already sliced, diced, and ready to go. Second, all of these rescued meals are very ‘veggie forward.’ Meaning, they aren’t vegan necessarily. But, if you’re a flexitarian like me, these are perfect.

Our first box had everything prepped and ready for the week. Lunches, dinners, and healthy snacks were all ready. Nothing else required. Well, it was perfect!

Perfectly Imperfect Hassle-free meal kit

Perfectly Imperfect Hassle-free meal kit recipe sneak peek

All of the food has been delicious, but the standout to me was the roasted cauliflower tacos. We make a lot of traditional tacos in our house. But veggie tacos weren’t something I had tried before.

Perfectly Imperfect Hassle-free meal kit

I seriously whipped this up in 5 minutes of prep work. Everything but the avocado and lime were already diced and ready to go. And, oh my goodness, my family is obsessed with these now.

I’m sharing the recipe with you below so you can try it at home. But I encourage you to try a Diced + Easy meal kit of your own. Save on your first box by using code ITSAHERO20 .

Roasted Cauliflower Tacos

Roasted Cauliflower Tacos
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • Cauliflower florets (12 ounces)
  • Garlic, 2 cloves
  • Red Onion, 8 ounces
  • Romaine Lettuce, chopped, 16 ounces
  • Radish, sliced, 8 ounces
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • Avocado, one whole
  • Lime, one whole
  • 1 teaspoon of chili powder + 1 teaspoon of cumin
  • Vegetable oil, 3 ounces
  • Mexican cheese, 4 ounces
  • corn tortillas, 12

Instructions

INGREDIENTS -

ingredients

STEP 1 -

Preheat oven to 450 * F.

STEP 2 -

Place cauliflower, garlic, and red onion in a large bowl.

Whisk together oil and spice blend (cumin/chili powder). Drizzle over cauliflower and toss to combine. Season with salt and fresh black pepper. 

STEP 3 -

Spread cauliflower out onto sheet pan and roast for 20-25 minutes.

STEP 4 -

Heat a large skillet and, in batches, heat corn tortillas until warmed through. 

STEP 5 -

Top tortillas with roasted cauliflower mixture, and top with romaine, radish, avocado slices, Add lime and cheese garnish as desired.

STEP 6 -

ENJOY!

© Rachel

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Filed Under: #MomLife, brews + food, easy recipes, tips + tricks Tagged With: #MomLife, brews + food, easy recipes, recipes

How to build consistency in your homeschool routine

March 14, 2021 by Rachel 12 Comments

One area that many homeschool families struggle is with consistency. Even from just doing this for a short period of time, I know it’s true. Being constant with our schooling is an important factor in keeping things going smoothly. And also for reaching their educational goals and milestones. Building consistency in your homeschooling routine can help build consistency in your everyday life, too! Here are a few ways you can help to build consistency in your homeschool routine.

Prioritize the must-dos

Choose a few subjects that absolutely must be done daily. For most families, this will include reading and math. If you do nothing else, do those two (or three) subjects. Build up the constant habit of daily reading and math time with your children as early as possible. These easy tasks will lay the foundation that will help keep your days running smoothly. Even if your homeschool day is a short one.

Healthy Habits build routines

Building consistency is all about building healthy habits. Create a new habit each month and add it to your family’s day. These tiny changes will turn into healthy habits that will stick around.

How to build consistency in your homeschool

Healthy habits, like incorporating walks, extra outdoor time, hikes, or art time, will help the kids and you. Knowing these things are built into your homeschool day will make everyone more willing to do the less-than-fun things.

Don’t overload your days

Something I learned early on is that it’s really easy to overload your homeschool day. You’ll think you’re not doing or teaching enough. So you’ll add more and more tasks on, but it doesn’t get done; nor does it make your day any easier. Overloading your day will only overwhelm you. And, honestly? You’re less likely to get anything done that day.

How to build consistency in your homeschool

Instead, plan the minimum you need to get done and if everyone is up for more or wants to explore something new pull out the extra work and get ahead. If you do plan out a full schedule try not to look at it for the day until you and your children are ready to dive in to prevent that feeling of overload.

Set rewards for consistency

We decided, as a family, to set rewards for a straight week of consistency. We track our consistency on a chart, earn rewards individually, and as a group. It helps to keep us all accountable. These goals can be things like a family trip to Target on a Sunday morning (the kids personal favorite). But having bigger, monthly goals is helpful, too. Plus, it gives us something to look forward to. This will help fuel each days efforts — even on days where not everyone is feeling the lesson plans.

Track your progress

Truly seeing progress in your child’s learning can be a big encouragement to stick to consistency day after day in your homeschool. It’s true for both the teacher (mom or dad) and the kids. Personally, I wasn’t sure my Pre-K daughter was learning enough. Day after day of sight words seemed to just be hum drum. But that consistency? It paid off the moment she said the first word before I had a chance to say it!

How to build consistency in your homeschool

It was a game-changer. Honestly. I felt like we had been in an endless loop of sight cards. And then one day it just clicked.

Plan intentional days off

When burn out starts to kick in it is easier to stick with it when you know you have a break coming up. Be sure to plan regular breaks at regular intervals with your family. These breaks can line up with your local schools so that your kids can spend time with friends; or you can do your own thing on your own schedule!

When all is said and done, just make homeschooling a priority and have semi-set hours. Flexible and consistent is key. Make priorities, stick to those priorities, and find consistency in the rest.

Tell me — what’s your key to staying consistent with homeschooling?

Filed Under: #MomLife, homeschool, parenthood, parenting, tips + tricks Tagged With: #MomLife, homeschool, motherhood, parenthood

Why You Should Try Homeschooling During COVID19

November 27, 2020 by Rachel 5 Comments

So many friends are asking me about homeschooling these days. The pandemic seems like the perfect time to start homeschooling. If you’ve been on the fence about homeschooling for a while, now is the time to give it a try. Your risk is low and the benefits of homeschooling during COVID19 are many!

Why You Should Try Homeschooling During COVID19

When the pandemic first became a thing, we had just enjoyed a nice bonfire with friends. The next day the entire United States suddenly realized that COVID19 was real and present danger. The realization literally hit us overnight, didn’t it? Parents and schools everywhere started grappling with the question – what do we do now? And for many of us, at least some of the answers to that question have been dictated by our state and local governments. Schools went virtual, sports seasons were canceled, graduation was a drive-thru event, and working parents have had to wrestle through massive shake-ups in child care.

As Fall approached, the reality that COVID19 is not going away any time soon sat in. Schools started virtually in the Fall, and for many of us, that’s not going to change for a while. Virtual school is a challenge even with training, but mass training staff has proven too much for many school districts. So far, virtual schooling has been a disappointment for many.

Homeschooling During COVID19 is on the rise.

In the meantime, homeschool enrollment across the United States continues to rise. Parents have watched their peers homeschooling for several decades now. It’s starting to sink in among the general public that homeschooling is neither fringe, nor weird, nor ineffective. In fact, homeschool education has proven to be just the opposite. More mainstream than ever, homeschooled students are excelling in colleges and in their social lives in spite of the prejudices faced in the past.

So why is now a good time to try homeschooling?

Homeschoolers Face Less Prejudice During COVID19

Well, let’s start with prejudice. With so many new homeschool families in the United States, prejudice from friends and neighbors is becoming a thing of the past. In most cases, you can begin homeschooling today with the support of your family and friends because they’ve been experiencing Covid19 school and have been wondering about homeschooling themselves. Now’s your chance for a no-judgment beginning.

homeschool at zoo

You Can Start Homeschooling Slowly During COVID19

Another great reason to start homeschooling during COVID19, you can take a “soft start”, and still know that your child is getting more than they were last week in virtual school. Now, I know that many local schools are doing okay with virtual school, but not all. And furthermore, I am aware that many teachers are working like crazy to figure this thing out. I get it.

Why You Should Try Homeschooling During COVID19

But, I also know first hand the power of having one-on-one time to teach your kids, reading and writing, and arithmetic. Life can’t stop during COVID19 and neither should education. With homeschooling, you can make the next year count in a big way.

Homeschooling During COVID19 will Save You Time.

Homeschooling is going to save you time. You’ve already realized that keeping your child focused on a screen, and on track with assignments is way harder than it should be. You may be working from home, or managing your child’s virtual school experience after a long day at work. Either way, homeschooling will help. What takes eight hours a day in public school will only take about three hours a day at home (for elementary school).

Why You Should Try Homeschooling During COVID19

You and your child can spend less time in front of a screen and more time experiencing life together. Taking walks, exploring parks, cooking, and playing games are all great ways to spend time at home after school work is done.

Experience Incredible Homeschool Support during the pandemic.

Support for homeschooling is off the charts right now. If you choose to start homeschooling during the pandemic, you are going to find that local homeschool support groups, homeschool publishers, and homeschool organizations across the country are ramped up to help you. You can find local, state, and national social media groups to help with any homeschool challenge you face, from legal requirements to special needs homeschooling. The homeschool support atmosphere has always been incredible and has only gotten better as so many new families join the movement.

Provide Your Kids with a COVID19 Emotional Safety Net through Homeschooling

Homeschooling provides many opportunities for you to reassure your kids that everything is going to be okay. As kids see COVID19 dragging on and on, they cannot help but worry. Kids might not be communicating their fears, but fear is there lurking. One of my kids spent most of the morning frustrated and sad today. He was unable to really explain why everything was just so hard. The emotions of pandemic life were getting to him. Instead of having to sit in front of a screen visible to his friends with tears running down his cheeks, he was able to sit next to me on the couch and talk it out.

hiking for homeschool

We were able to take breaks – long breaks – and give him room to breathe and process emotions. We aren’t going to get around to his science lesson today until after supper, and you know what? That’s okay because as the homeschool mom I set the pace. And today the pace was all about dealing with big emotions because progress can come later. Reassurance for his precious worried heart is more important in the long run.

As many families across the United States are learning, homeschooling is a great way to manage the education of your kids during this pandemic.

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Filed Under: #MomLife, family, homeschool, tips + tricks Tagged With: #MomLife, family, homeschool, tips + tricks

Tips for Specialty Diet Shopping at Walmart

October 8, 2020 by Rachel 8 Comments

bit.ly/3kSzTsOWhen I first became I mom I truly thought I was prepared for everything. I naively thought that sleep issues would be the hardest. Sure, sleep issues were (and are still) difficult. But what really threw me off was finding out that all three of them had dairy intolerances. I had to get inventive with the food we were all eating. I’m going to share all of my tips for specialty diet shopping at Walmart.

Tips for Specialty Diet Shopping at Walmart

Yep, believe it or not, you can do all of your regular shopping and specialty food shopping at Walmart. Here’s how to save money and find all of your favorites at Walmart.

Do your research

I know so many people who think to themselves, “I could never be dairy free / vegan / flexitarian because I’m too busy to make meals from scratch.” Newsflash: there are plenty of ready-made options for you to choose from. Companies like Marie Callender’s, Amy’s Kitchen, Good Food Made Simple, and So Delicious make it easy to grab-and-go for the whole family. And, yep — they can all be found in your Walmart freezer section.

Shopping at Walmart

Don’t get overwhelmed

For many people, trying to dive into a specialty diet can seem overwhelming. Want to try and cut out meat? Do it! But that doesn’t mean you have to eat only raw veggies. Meat free options have come a long way in recent years. For instance, Marie Callender’s famous pot pies are now available with Gardein Plant-Based Chick’n! So you’ll get the same flavors you know and love, with the perfect meat substitute. Of course having veggies as a side is always a good idea. But, at least with these feel-good and convenient items, you can feel less overwhelmed about the changes you’re making in your food choices.

Tips for Specialty Diet Shopping at Walmart

My kids don’t even know that their Good Food Made Simple French Toast is whole-grain. They just love the flavors! The Cauliflower Kung Pao is also gluten-free. And don’t even tell them my secret about Amy’s Kitchen Pizza (shhh — it’s made with a veggie crust!) or Amy’s Mac N 3 Cheese with Cauliflower!

Enjoy a stress-free dessert

Once you start looking at food labels, you’ll find that many of the items you *thought* were off limits actually are not. When the kids and I went dairy-free, I was really worried about dessert options. Ice cream is a go-to for most kids (and adults). These days the options for dairy-free desserts are endless. Our go-to frozen snack are the So Delicious® Dairy Free Salted Caramel Frozen Dessert Bars from Walmart. Super creamy, flavorful, and you would never even guess they don’t contain dairy!

Save money whenever possible

Going vegan, dairy free, or even as meat-free doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, I do all of our weekly shopping with Walmart.com and use their convenient pickup options. That way we always have our favorite pizza’s, snacks, and dinners without breaking the bank.

Tips for Specialty Diet Shopping at Walmart

Tell me — what’s your favorite way to save money with Walmart on your specialty food items?

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PIN ME - I'm going to share all of my tips for specialty diet shopping at Walmart. Yep all of these are from Walmart! #ad #meatless #amyskitchen
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Filed Under: brews + food, money saving tips, tips + tricks Tagged With: brews + food, money saving tips, tips + tricks

How Lexington Law is Helping Me Recover My Credit

September 30, 2020 by Rachel 20 Comments

I remember my Senior Year of high school like it was yesterday. The excitement and anticipation of what was to come was a total rush! At the time, every impressionable adult in my life urged me to go to college, despite being ‘undecided’ on a major. My guidance counselor urged me and my parents to take out student loans because, in her words, the return on the investment would be worth it. And interest rates were so low, right?! Well, that’s not exactly true. But even years after my college graduation, Lexington Law is helping recover my credit from student loan debt.

ABOUT LEXINGTON LAW

I’ve talked in great detail about my credit journey. Well, I’ve been a college graduate for nearly 14 years, and I am embarrassed by the amount of student loan debt still looming over me. Despite making monthly payments on all of my student loans, I could never seem to get ahead. Did you know that despite the ‘low interest rates’ your actual amount due over the principal will grow and grow and grow?! It’s honestly insane how much money I was throwing away towards interest.

How Lexington Law is Helping Me Recover My Credit

That’s where Lexington Law comes in. As a law firm, they have actual lawyers to drive the credit repair process and intervene as needed. They take questionable negative items, which are things in your credit history that could lower your score, and they challenge them.

How Lexington Law is Helping Me Recover My Credit

Lexington Law are trusted leaders in credit repair for a reason. They use a three-step process which is proven to help repair credit. The first step is to analyze your report to identify any questionable negatives impacting your score. The second step is to address these items by challenging them with creditors. And the third step is to accelerate by keeping the process going to get individual clients to their goals!

HOW TO GET STARTED

When you first call Lexington Law, a credit advisor will pull a TransUnion Summary Report and FICO Score for free. While it only shows the first 5 of your negative items, it’s enough to get an idea of where you stand credit-wise and how it’s impacting your current situation.

How Lexington Law is Helping Me Recover My Credit

From there, should you decide to use Lexington Laws services, you’ll be charged a one-time fee of $14.99 to pull all of your reports and histories. From there you’ll be charged a “First Work Fee”. This First Work Fee helps get your case started. Their advisors will start analyzing reports and start the credit repair process.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO USE LEXINGTON LAW

As a young 17-year-old headed off to college, I had no idea how those massive student loans would haunt me for years to come. But calling Lexington Law has helped me go from feeling defeated to feeling hopeful. Now there’s a plan in place and I have trusted leaders on my side. And now I spend less time worrying, and more time with my family.

family

So call Lexington Law today and kickstart your credit repair journey. Because your credit is not written in stone!

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How Lexington Law is Helping Me Recover My Credit

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Filed Under: #MomLife, finance, money saving tips, tips + tricks Tagged With: #MomLife, finances, money saving tips, parenthood, tips + tricks

Making the most of Quarantine Halloween

September 28, 2020 by Rachel 21 Comments

Twenty-twenty will forever go down as the worst phrase of our generation. As a mom of young kids, one of the worst things ever is knowing that my kids know that something is going on. I mean, my 7 year old and my 4 year old both keep saying “…when COVID-19 is over, can we….?” And it absolutely breaks my heart. But we’re all doing the absolute best that we can given the circumstances. So I have made it my personal mission to let my kids know that Covid doesn’t have to stop the fun. And that’s why I’m making the most of quarantine Halloween!

trick or treat

Trick-or-no-treat?

Our city is still very much on the fence regarding trick-or-treating. But I am not. Our neighborhood gets really busy — which we have always welcomed. But this year I am less than thrilled about the potential for kids coming and going and pushing around. With a heavy heart we decided against traditional trick-or-treating this year. And, honestly, I think that’s what’s best. My kids will have another Halloween and trick-or-treat. But, Covid is a wildcard. And I couldn’t live with myself if something happened.

So what should we do?!

There are so many ways to make the most of Halloween. Kids don’t really care about trick-or-treating. Heck! My kids usually only last 15 minutes! But they do love celebrations — and candy! So that’s what we will do.

Making the most of Quarantine Halloween

How we’re celebrating

We will still dress up. I will admit — I don’t like how much adults ‘love’ Halloween. I’ve always hated the idea of adult Halloween parties. But I will dress up this year for my kids. We will have a big at-home party! My kids and I will be setting up the most perfect candy charcuterie board for Halloween.

Making the most of Quarantine Halloween

What you need for a candy charcuterie board

Assorted candies
Small containers
Large cutting board or platter

Charcuterie Board

Candies may include:

Twizzlers
M&Ms
Candy Corn
Candy Pumpkins
Jelly Slugs
Halloween Pez
Bloody Bites
Spooky Lips Lollipops
Assorted snack size candies, wrapped or unwrapped

  1. Choose a board or serving dishes for the charcuterie board.
  2. Place loose ingredients (small candies, loose candies, etc.) into bowls or individual dishes. Place those bowls on the board or buffet first.
  3. Arrange other candies around the bowls.
  4. Add assorted tongs or Halloween decorations.

Tell me this…

How are you planning on making this the BEST Halloween ever for your kids?!

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Filed Under: #MomLife, children, crafty, creative, desserts, family, Halloween, mommyhood, parenthood, parenting, tips + tricks Tagged With: #MomLife, children, crafty, creative, desserts, family friendly, halloween, holidays, motherhood, parenthood, tips + tricks

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