NurturMe’s "Be My Valentine" Apple Rice Crisp Treats Recipe


Have you heard of NurturMe? NurturMe is the first and only certified-organic, all natural and gluten-free baby food made from nutrient-rich, quick-dried fruits and veggies.  Now it’s quick and easy to add fruits and veggies to recipes, hide it in mac n cheese, or throw it in a smoothie.  How great is that?  Here is a recipe to try out:
NurturMe’s “Be My Valentine” Apple Rice Crisp Treats
Yields 15-20 Mini-Valentine Hearts
Kid Friendly- no heat required
Ingredients:
3 cups brown crispy rice cereal
1NurturMe Crisp Apple pouch
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)
Directions:
In a large bowl, mix brown rice cereal with peanut butter
In another bowl, add 3-5 tablespoons of water to crisp apple pouch
Stir honey and vanilla into the puree
Pour into the dry ingredients
Mix well
Press into one large or two small glass trays
Have fun and shape into mini valentine’s day hearts!
Optional: Decorate with frosting, powdered sugar, red sprinkles…be creative!!!
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Enjoy! 

Veggie Tales Goodies {A Giveaway}

We heart Veggie Tales in my home.  I cannot tell you how many times I have been struggling in some area and I hear such amazing wisdom in Veggie Tales while my kids are watching.

I always know that the messages are good and trustworthy.  They build up my kids and speak truth to their sponge-like hearts.  That and they are super entertaining!  Who knew that talking veggies would be such a hit?!

I would love to share some Veggie Tales goodies with a Mommy Kudos reader.  One lucky winner will receive a box full of Veggie Tales goodness.  It will include:

  1. 25 Favorite Silly Songs CD
  2. Veggietales: Royalty Collection DVD (3 Full Length Shows including: King George and the Ducky, Esther, & Madame Blueberry)
  3. Veggie Tales: A Snoodle’s Tale DVD
  4. A Veggie Tales Wall Clock

To Enter fill out the Rafflecopter form below (if you are reading this in email or a feed reader then click here to enter).

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclosure: All opinions expressed are my own.  I have received free Veggie Tales products to pass along to you for previously reviewing new Veggie Tales DVD’s. Affiliate Links included in this post.

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Newborn Snuggles

This week I’ve been out of town loving and snuggling this little guy.
Isn’t he precious?!  He is my new nephew that was a week and 2 days overdue (he waited for me to get here to be at his birth.  I feel so loved.).
My amazing sis did a beautiful job bringing him into the world and it was thrilling to be there.
He reminds me of all the things I love about newborns.  Sweet coos, tiny feet, soft skin and snuggles top the list.  
Makes me wish I always had a newborn around to cuddle all of the time.  I actually kind of feel like a pro in getting newborns to settle down too.  I guess that comes after having so many myself but it is a lovely talent to have when you have 9 brothers and sisters and LOTS of nieces and nephews to come (I am the oldest girl in my family and only 4 of us have kids yet).
So how has your week been?  Any little ones around for you to snuggle?

Ways to Save on Groceries: Salvage Grocery Stores

My husband likes to call me the deal queen.  I love the title because I work hard to find the best deals and save our family money.  This past year I discovered a salvage grocery store in  my area that helped me take my love of deals to a new level.  What’s a salvage grocery store you ask?  It’s a store that buys overstock or slightly damaged items from grocery stores or manufacturers and sells them at deep discounts.

I did some research online before I went and found out that the one near me has organic items and that did it, I had to check it out!   My local store’s website claims to save you 50% or more on everything in the store.

It was a bit of a treasure hunt as the isles are packed with lots of different items.  They did a good job of sorting by like items though. I was shocked and happily surprised to find a good amount of organic items and even gluten-free items.  Both types of items are usually twice as much as non-organic or gluten-filled items so it was awesome to be able to purchase some of these products at deep discounts. 

You do have to check dates at these types of stores.  A good amount of the items are past their recommended sale by dates.  That doesn’t always mean they are bad but you have to use your judgement as to what will still be good.  They had a plenty of items that were dated a ways out still but they may have been overstocks or the packaging was slightly damaged.  Again, use your judgement and check cans for rust and packages for holes. 

So what did I get? Here’s a list of what I found:

  • boxes of Cherrybrook Kitchen Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies for $.99
  • Garden of Eatin Blue Corn taco shells (12 packs) for $.69 each
  • Stonyfield Farm Organic YoKids Squeezers (8ct)Yogurt sticks for $.99
  • Ian’s Gluten-Free Chicken Nuggets for $1.49
  • Chebe Bread Cinnamon Roll Mix for $1.25
  • Kiss My Face Sudz Body Wash with organic ingredients for $1.49 (these are normally 7.99!).
  • Alba Botanicals Hand wash for $2.49
  • Amy’s Organic Tomato Soup cans for $.99
  •  I also found some gluten-free flours for $1.25

Some of the things I didn’t get but I was impressed that they had are Bob’s Red Mill cake and scone mixes, Kinnikinnick gluten-free bread and cake mixes, organic canned vegetables and soups, Annie’s Bunny Grahams, Kiss My Face tinted moisturizer, organic pastas, Earth’s Best Organic baby food and cereals, plus several other things.

Now, I cannot promise that all of these salvage grocery stores are going to have organic and natural items but it is probably worth a phone call to find out.  If you are trying to save money on groceries and trying to eat organic these kinds of places may be helpful. Even if you aren’t trying to go the organic route they have lots of name brand food items for really great prices.

For a list of Salvage Grocery Stores listed by state check out this website here.  The list was updated recently but make sure to call the store first to verify that they are still open and what their hours are.  Happy Saving!

Do you shop at a salvage grocery store?  What’s the best deal you’ve found?

TOMS Ballet Flats: Uber Cute

TOMS shoes just got cuter!   Introducing TOMS Ballet Flats. They just came out today I’m pretty thrilled about them!

I look forward to purchasing a pair.  It may be hard to choose which color though because they have an amazing variety to choose from.  If they are as comfortable as the classic TOMS shoes they will quickly become my favorites!

Remember that for every pair of TOMS that you purchase, they give a pair of shoes to a child in need.