Food Fun Family

How I Am Reducing Holiday Stress

Lolli — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 21:18:13 +0000

This post has been sponsored by SheSpeaks, Inc. and The Coca-Cola Company. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love the holidays. All of them. I love finding the perfect gifts for my family and friends. I love decorating my house (despite the fact that I’m challenged in the home decor department). I LOVE baking. And I love hosting big gatherings for family and friends.

The fall to winter season makes me happy…in all ways except for one. Holiday shopping crowds give me a headache. Even when I’m heading to the store for something as simple as sodas and bread (which, for a family like mine is something we need to restock every few days), the lines and the crowds can be overwhelming. As far as the holiday spirit goes, crowds are a buzz killer for me.

I’ve tried all sorts of things to make my life easier and less stressful, especially around the holidays. I’ve tried shopping early in the season or during less busy hours. I’ve made well-planned and detailed shopping lists so that I could reduce the number and length of trips out. But hiccups seem to always happen to even the best-made plans.

As we enter another holiday season, I’ve discovered my new favorite holiday helper: Club Pickup at Sam’s Club. Now, whether I need to shop for gifts, stock up on soda or lunch snacks, or re-fill our kitchen essentials like bread, I can order online and pick all of my items up at Sam’s Club – for no extra charge. Club Pickup is free for all Sam’s Club members! That means a full cart with no lines and a lot less time out of my busy schedule. And THAT means more time to spend in the kitchen making my famous caramels and toffee and cookies!

Here’s how Club Pickup works: I shop online or on my Sam’s Club app. A Sam’s Club employee does the shopping for me. I get a notice when my order is ready for pick up, and I drive over to the club. I can either pick up my order inside or just drive my car up to the Club Pickup area. I check in on my Sam’s Club app and they’ll bring my items out to my car for me. This is an especially handy feature when you’re shopping for heavier items like cases of Coca-Cola® products for the party you’re hosting.

This past week, I used Club Pickup at Sam’s Club for the first time and was blown away. Not only did I get to spend my time preparing a nice dinner for the family instead of standing in a line, but I was able to take advantage of Sam’s Clubs’ awesome value on my favorite Coca-Cola® products, like Coca-Cola® Mini Cans and Sprite® Mini Cans, Dasani® Bottled Water, Gold Peak® Sweet Tea, and Diet Coke®.

I’m definitely going to appreciate Club Pickup when it’s snowing outside and I’m rushing to get back home to host a big dinner for family and friends. On second thought, I think I’ll send my husband or son out to do the Club Pickup run for me while I stay at home to cook (and sip on my ice-cold Coca-Cola®). Learn more about these products at Sam’s Club here.
What will Club Pickup at Sam’s Club help YOU do (instead of standing in line) this holiday season?

Connect with Sam’s Club:

Twitter: @SamsClub
Facebook: @SamsClub
Instagram: @SamsClub

Instant Pot Spinach Artichoke Dip with Peapod

Lolli — Sat, 31 Dec 2016 21:58:23 +0000

I’ve partnered with Peapod to create this content. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

The holidays wore me out. Between Christmas shopping for my big family to all of my holiday baking, decorating, Christmas cards, etc…not to mention our enormous kitchen remodeling project that started the day after Christmas, I haven’t had the time to do my normal meal planning and grocery shopping like I normally would. Don’t get me wrong. The holidays were fantastic. But have you ever had so much going on that the normal, every day things felt like they were too much to handle?

Peapod was particularly handy for the week between Christmas and New Years. Thank goodness for a quick and easy solution that helped me avoid yet another trip to the store!

About Peapod:

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Get tasty recipes from Peapod’s recipe site: https://fromthepod.com/. Not only will you find delicious, family-friendly recipes, but you can place ingredients straight into your shopping cart. No need to bookmark a recipe and write down a grocery list when you head to the store.

We were invited to a New Years Eve party with friends and I knew I wanted to bring an appetizer, but I also knew that I wasn’t going to have much free time before the party. I clicked over to Peapod.com, loaded my cart full of staples and the ingredients I needed for my dip, and then I went about my business cleaning up from our kitchen remodeling project. At check out, I was able to select when I wanted to have the food delivered to my house, or I could choose the store pick up option as well.

I’ve always loved a good hot, cheesy spinach artichoke dip, and I was eager to try making the dip in the pressure cooker (since I’ve been trying more and more recipes in my Instant Pot).

The dip was a hit at home, and I know it will be a hit at the New Years Eve party, too!

I added the hot dip to a hollowed-out bread bowl and used the removed bread for dipping. Note: I would highly recommend getting two Sourdough bread bowls to serve with this dip, or serve on a platter with half bread cubes and half tortilla chips.

Yum

Instant Pot Spinach Artichoke Dip with Peapod

Ingredients

4 cups fresh chopped spinach
2 (14 ounce) cans artichoke hearts, drained well and coarsely chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp Sriracha sauce
Dash of salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl; spoon mixture into a small oven-safe baking dish that will fit comfortably inside the cooking pot of your Instant Pot. Cover baking dish with foil.
Place Instant Pot rack in the bottom of your cooking pot, then place two 18”-20" strips of aluminum foil (that have been folded in half and then in thirds) crossing each other in the bottom of the post. This foil "sling" will make it easier to remove your hot baking dish when it's done. See photo.
Pour water into the bottom of your Instant Pot so that the water comes just below the rack.
Place foil-covered baking dish on top of the foil X inside your Instant Pot. Fold the tops of your foil sling down so they don't get in the way of the Instant Pot lid.
Place the lid on the Instant Pot and make sure that the valve is set to "sealing." Select High Pressure and set the timer for 12 minutes.
When Instant Pot beeps at the end of the pressure cooking time, press cancel/off and use quick release to release pressure. When valve has dropped, carefully remove the lid.
Serve dip warm inside a sourdough bread bowl with bread cubes for dipping, or simply serve hot in a bowl with tortilla chips.

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If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can bake the dip in an oven-safe dish at 375° for about 15 minutes. And then I highly recommend that you consider getting yourself an Instant Pot! You won’t regret it (Amazon link).

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3 Tips for Enjoyable Outdoor Entertaining #EnbrightenLife

Lolli — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 17:03:37 +0000

This post is sponsored by Enbrighten Café String Lights by Jasco. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The past 2 months have been a blur. I helped my daughter plan an out-of-state wedding and wedding-day reception in April, which was beautiful. Everything went so much more smoothly than I could have expected.

But after the first reception was over, I was ready for a break. The thought of planning a local casual outdoor reception for May was causing me some unnecessary anxiety. Luckily, my husband stepped in and asked a caterer friend to be in charge of the food and again everything turned out better than I could have expected.

If you’re planning any outdoor entertaining this year, whether you’re having friends over for a barbecue or kids over for a birthday party, I’ve got 3 tips for making your get-together as enjoyable and headache-free as possible.

3 Tips for Enjoyable Outdoor Entertaining

Keep things simple – the most important elements for a successful outdoor party or get-together are good food and good friends. If you start with a good foundation, then it’s almost guaranteed that everything else will fall into place. And if it doesn’t? If the weather doesn’t cooperate or the food doesn’t turn out the way you’d hoped? The most important thing is time with friends.

I try to remember to keep my priorities straight and my expectations reasonable. For outdoor entertaining, I always try to plan foods that are easily eaten while standing around chatting. But most of all, when I keep things simple, I stress less, which makes everyone happier (but mostly me….and the host sets the tone for the whole party!)

Prepare for Mother Nature – when planning for a get-together outside, it’s hard to predict what Mother Nature will be up to. Scratch that. It’s impossible to know what the weather will be like. Whether you end up with the perfect summer night, you (and all of the food) is melting in the heat, or you’re running for cover when the rain hits, it’s important to have a back up plan and be flexible.

I like to keep foods and decorations ready to move at any time. When it’s hot, foods can be kept cold by placing smaller bowls inside larger bowls or tubs filled with ice (note: you’ll need to be prepared to refill the ice when it melts). Rainy evenings outside can still be enjoyable as long as you’ve got cover overhead.

Set the right ambience – just like I believe that foods should be kept simple, I am a fan of simple decor. But in the same token, a few simple decorations can set the mood and get your party started off on the right foot. My daughter’s casual outdoor wedding reception last month was held at a friend’s house. They’ve got a huge space – with an entire covered pavilion that is perfect for rain or shine (luckily, we had shine the entire night, until we cleaned up – and that’s when the rain started pouring!).

Because my kids have grown up having BBQs, pool parties, and summer camps at this same pavilion, I wanted to do a little something to dress the space up. I started by printing some pictures from their wedding just a few weeks before and hanging then on twine with clothespins. The second thing I did was hang LED café string lights along the ceiling of the pavilion. When the sun went down, the café string lights lit up the area perfectly and set a warm, inviting mood.

Enbrighten LED Café String Lights by Jasco are my new favorite instant-ambience tool! They can be hung indoors or outdoors…in fact, they are built to last year round with continuous outdoor use. They’re energy efficient and you never have to replace a bulb. And I can attest to the fact that they are sturdy!

I was slightly nervous about my teenage son and a friend putting the string lights up and taking them down on their own, but the claim on the box that the acrylic bulbs are impact resistant held true for us (ie, you can drop them, step on them, or leave them out in severe weather and they’ll be just fine).

Where would you use Café String Lights? Do you have an outdoor space that you would like to spruce up, or are you perhaps planning a bedroom makeover? Or maybe you’re having an outdoor get-together this summer like I just had last month. Whatever the occasion, Enbrighten LED Café String Lights by Jasco will be perfect. And guess what? You can win your very own set OR a room makeover by entering the contest on the widget below. See the widget for giveaway details…and good luck!

Find out more about these Café String Lights by Jasco at www.cafelights.com/ and follow them on Twitter and on Facebook

Enter to Win!

Cafe Lights Giveaway

Game Day Mini Corn Dog Muffins with Beef Lit’l Smokies® Sausages

Lolli — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 12:00:09 +0000

Mini Corn Dog Muffins with Beef Lit’l Smokies® sausages are a perfect recipe to enjoy on Game Day or any get together! What’s better than a kid-friendly finger food that tastes delicious?

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Hillshire Brands Company. All opinions are entirely my own. Check out hashtag #deliciousgametime for more great Game Day ideas!

There is only one thing more important than the Big Game for enjoying a Game Day get together, and that is the food. Am I right? Great-tasting food is an integral part of my Game Day entertaining, so it’s critical to get it right.

When I’m planning my Game Day spread, I consider a few things:

How easy is the food to prepare?
How will the food go over with a crowd that varies in ages?
How easy is clean-up going to be?
Finger foods and foods that can be eaten while standing/sitting on the couch are a huge plus!

I know that Game Day means lots of people in a small space. The kids are running around. The adults are jumping up out of their seats when their team scores. The last thing I want to do is plan a nice, sit-down meal when everyone really wants finger foods and treats that they can grab on-the-go.

It can be a challenge to find a good balance between easy and delicious, but I think I’ve found the perfect solution. These Mini Corn Dog Muffins with Beef Lit’l Smokies® sausages scored BIG at our house!

How to Make Mini Corn Dog Muffins with Beef Lit’l Smokies® Sausages

Game Day Mini Corn Dog Muffins with Beef Lit’l Smokies® Sausages

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

20 mins

Author: Lolli

Recipe type: Appetiser

Cuisine: American

Serves: 24

Ingredients

12 Beef Lit’l Smokies® sausages, cut in half
Vegetable oil
1 cup yellow cornmeal
½ cup self rising flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 large egg, beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1¼ cups buttermilk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425° F. Drizzle oil in the cups of a mini muffin tin and place into the oven while you mix the batter, or about 10 minutes.
In a medium mixing bowl, stir together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Beat egg in a separate container; add egg and melted butter. Pour in buttermilk, a little at a time, until you have a thick batter. You may have to use a little bit more or less buttermilk to get the right consistency. Pour batter into a large measuring cup with spout for easy pouring.
Remove hot muffin tin from the oven and immediately pour batter into cups. I like to fill cups to just below the top. Add half of a Lit’l Smokies® sausages to each cup.
Tip: drizzling the muffin pan with oil and heating the pan before adding the batter will result in wonderfully crispy edges on your corn bread muffins, similar to my favorite part of a corn dog. You don’t want to skip this step!
Bake at 425° F for about 12 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes or so, and then remove by running a butter knife along the sides of each muffin.
Note: my mini muffin tin makes 18 muffins at a time, and this recipe makes about 24 mini muffins. Once I removed the first batch of muffins from the tin, I quickly wiped out the pan, put some additional vegetable oil in the pan, heated it again for 5-10 minutes, and used the rest of the batter.
Serve hot or room temperature with mustard and ketchup.
Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.

Time-saving tip: instead of making the corn bread muffins from scratch, you can pick up your favorite corn bread mix at the store and add Lit’l Smokies® sausages to the middle. Easy peasy!

Lit’l Smokies® sausages are found in the refrigerated section of your grocery store! You can pick up all the above ingredients at Walmart!

Looking for more Game Day recipes and ideas? Find other great Game Day recipes at www.talkaboutdeliciousmag.com and on the Talk about Delicious Gametime Pinterest Board.

Chilled Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Jody — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 14:54:05 +0000

Do you love spinach and artichoke dip as much as I do? This classic recipe is not only easy, but it’s guaranteed to be a hit at your next get-together!

Football, particularly the Big Game that’s coming up later this month – or any other excuse to have a big family and friends get together – is pretty important in my house. As the hostess and master of food ceremonies in my family, most of the cooking for the day falls to me. I love to cook for a crowd, but I also love to have some free time to actually enjoy the festivities.

I like to take a few shortcuts and give the oven (and myself!) a break now and then but still put out tasty and full of flavor snacks. One of my go-to favorites is Spinach and Artichoke Dip. Thick, creamy, and loaded with yumminess, it is always a hit with crackers, chips, bread, and veggies! If you want to bring a prize-winning dish to your next party that won’t keep you chained to the stove for hours but tastes delicious, this Spinach and Artichoke dip is the perfect option.

How to Make Classic Spinach and Artichoke Dip

5.0 from 1 reviews

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Author: Jody

Recipe type: Appetiser

Ingredients

½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup Sour Cream
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
14 oz. can of artichoke hearts, drained
1 10 oz package spinach, thawed and drained
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
a pinch of sea salt

Instructions

The easiest and best way I have found to mix all my ingredients well and so that they end up very smooth and creamy is to toss all the ingredients into the bowl of my stand mixer.
Mix on a medium-high speed until spinach and artichokes have broken down well and all ingredients are completely combined.
Transfer to your serving bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least one hour. This allows your flavors to blend very well. You could also put it in a hollowed out bread bowl for an edible container (and less cleanup!).
Serve with crackers, tortilla chips, fresh veggies, or bread.

Note: the following contains Amazon affiliate links so I can share some awesome products and fun football finds with you!

Make your Spinach and Artichoke Dip stand out even more by serving it in a football stadium chip and dip platter (this is too awesome to pass up!) or decorate the table with general football serving dishes and decorations or go all out for your team by decorating everything in team colors. Have fun with family and friends as you enjoy the Big Game!

Sparkling Mint Cranberry Mocktail Recipe

Lolli — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 02:30:10 +0000

This Sparkling Mint Cranberry Mocktail Recipe is sponsored by DASANI Sparkling Water through Acorn: An Influence Company. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

There is something about a festive punch or a fancy glass filled with a colorful, fruity drink at a holiday get-together that sets the tone for the entire gathering. The only problem – in my case, at least – is that I don’t drink alcohol. It’s rare for me to find a fancy non-alcoholic drink at a party, so I thought it would be fun to come up with a festive party-worthy mocktail for those like me who chose to skip the alcohol.

Let me tell you – I have had a blast experimenting, and I think I’ve come up with the perfect light-but-flavorful drink. It’s so delicious that I couldn’t stop sipping it all day after I made it. And my husband gave the drink two thumbs up as well. He was particularly happy to have a drink made with real ingredients (and not a bunch of unknown chemicals).

I love how colorful and festive this drink is – it’s delicious enough for a holiday party but it’s easy enough for everyday sipping. My inspiration for this sparkling mint cranberry mocktail was berry flavored DASANI sparkling water.

DASANI Sparkling Water is available at Walmart in 12 packs of 12 ounce cans and comes in four delicious flavors: Lime, Berry, Lemon, Black Cherry. DASANI sparkling water is the perfect mixer because it has ZERO calories, no added colors or sweeteners, is caffeine-free and naturally flavored.

Sparkling Mint Cranberry Mocktail

Yum

Sparkling Mint Cranberry Mocktail Recipe #SparklingHolidays

Ingredients

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup chopped cranberries
3-4 chopped fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons cream of coconut
3 (12 ounce) cans of DASANI sparkling water, berry flavored
mint leaves for garnish

Instructions

Add sugar and water to a small sauce pan; stir and heat until sugar is fully dissolved and mixture starts to thicken slightly.
Remove from heat and stir in chopped cranberries, chopped mint leaves, and cream of coconut.
Spoon this mixture into ice cube tray, dividing evenly among the ice cube sections. Freeze.
Just before serving, divide ice cubes among individual glasses and pour DASANI sparkling water over the fruit cubes. The cubes will dissolve on their own, but you may want to stir a little before serving. Garnish each glass with a mint leaf.

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Note: the number of glasses you use will depend on the capacity of your glasses – my glasses held a max of 9 ounces, so I couldn’t fit a whole can of DASANI sparkling water into one glass. When I made this recipe, I got 5 servings.

You could also simply add all of the cranberry “cubes” to a glass pitcher and pour 3 cans of DASANI sparkling water over all. If you’re planning on serving this drink in a pitcher, I might recommend doubling the recipe.

A few additional notes: the longer you let the cranberry-mint mixture sit in the sparkling water, the more the flavors will blend. Yum! Also, the cranberry mint cubes will not freeze solid but will be thick and gooey (the best word I could come up with!). That’s normal and actually makes the cubes dissolve faster in the sparkling water.

Do you have any favorite non-alcoholic drinks that you enjoy making during the holiday season? I am totally hooked on this simple drink – it’s light and refreshing and doesn’t feel heavy, since it uses natural, unsweetened (and zero calorie!) sparkling water as its base. There is SO MUCH you could do with DASANI sparkling water! I can’t wait to try a new recipe with the lime sparkling water (I LOVE lime flavored drinks).

The kids would probably appreciate it if I strained the cranberries and the mint before serving…but I think that’s even more reason to leave them in the drinks. More for me!

Love festive drinks like this mint cranberry mocktail? Then you’ll love out this Pinterest board with more Easy Party Drink Recipes and Ideas. Be sure to check out Dasani’s website for more information.