Valentines Day with my Little Loves - #LMDConnector

As with most of the holidays now that we have children it has mostly become all about them.  Hubby and I didn't get each other anything for Valentine's Day and we're ok with that as we decided to have a "date night" on an evening in the near future.  Since he worked on Valentine's Day I decided to make it a special day with the kids.  I started out by making french toast with hearts in the middle.

I gathered the eggs, bread, food coloring and milk though the milk isn't pictured.

I mixed 4 eggs with about 1/4 cup of milk into a bowl then poured a little less than half into a smaller bowl and added 2 drops of red food coloring.

Using my heart shaped cookie cutter I cut the middles out of about 6 pieces of bread.  Then I dipped the outside into the regular eggs and the heart piece into the colored eggs.

 
After that I assembled into the frying pan and cooked it the same and one would make regular french toast.

This is the final results.  Very yummy and a huge hit with the kids!  I did find the later pieces didn't look as presentable as the first few pieces though.

Later on after dinner using confetti cake mix with homemade icing and rainbow sprinkles we made these cupcakes.  I taught the kids how much fun it is to lick the bowls and they loved that part!  I also made some heart shaped peanut butter and jam sandwiches for the preschool Valentine's party the next day.  All in all we had a fun day together with yummy food!  How did you spend Valentine's Day with your loved ones?

"Disclosure - I am part of the Life Made Delicious Blogger program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group.  The opinions on this blog are my own."

New Peanut Butter Cheerios and a Giveaway! #LMDConnector

I love peanut butter!  I have no problem just eating it off a spoon straight from the jar but I think my favorite way of enjoying peanut butter is on toast with honey.  Now imagine tasty peanut butter mixed with the wholesome goodness of Cheerios.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Well new Peanut Butter Cheerios will be hitting store shelves across Canada on March 4th for a limited time only.  On Feb 4th on the Life Made Delicious Facebook page a coupon will be released to try these new Cheerios for free with another Cheerios purchase (Banana, Apple Cinnamon or Chocolate).  Coupons are expected to be scooped up quickly and can then be redeemed only on March 16th and 17th.  

I can't wait to try these for myself and in celebration of the release I'm pleased to offer my readers a chance to win a $50 Peanut Butter Cheerios kit!  Contest is open to Canada only and ends Feb 28th.  For the main entry please comment as to how you like to enjoy peanut butter.  For additional entries (leave a comment for each):

1.  Subscribe to my blog by email (or just comment if you already do)

2.  Like my blog on facebook 

3.  Like the Life Made Delicious facebook page

"Disclosure - I am participating in the Life Made Delicious Ambassador Program by Mom Central Canada on behalf of General Mills.  I received compensation as a thank you for participating and for sharing my honest opinion.  The opinions on this blog are my own." 

Meal Plan for the Week

I'm always looking for new and easy recipes for my family as well as healthy ones for myself that the kids might not eat such as salads.  My new favorite thing is using cilantro!  I love it and it pretty much makes any salad taste so much better as well as mexican type foods.  I think cilantro is one of those herbs that people either love or hate.  So the plan this week is:

1.  Beef and bean taco casserole
2.  Black bean, quinoa and citrus salad - this is an interesting combination for food but SO good and always looking for other things to make with quinoa
3.  Slow cooker salsa chicken - quick and easy and would be delish topped with cilantro!
4.  Tortellinis already made and frozen
5.  Pasta with bean sauce - my kids LOVE this and basically just macaroni, sauce, cheese and kidney beans instead of meat
6.  Tuna casserole - I think from a cookbook and differs from regular tuna casserole by using lots of veggies

Happy Holidays!!

Burt's Bees Intense Hydration Review

I have combination skin but in the winter it becomes really dry in the cheek area especially.  It's flaky every morning which doesn't provide a good foundation for makeup and not matter what moisturizer I have tried over the last few weeks nothing has worked.  I was very excited to try the Burt's Bees Intense Hydration line of products.

The Intense Hydration line includes a cleanser, day lotion, eye cream, night cream and hydration mask.  The products were developed to fight dry skin and the signs of aging.  They contain an ingredient called Clary Sage which is a tough plant that thrives in the harshest of conditions with the ability to retain moisture.  I was sent the facial cleanser and night cream to try.  I was looking forward to the night cream as I've been one the search for something that works.

I really like the subtle flowery scent of the cleanser and it goes on so nice and smooth then rinses easily and completely away leaving my skin refreshed and clean.  The night cream was definitely everything I thought a night cream should be.  It's thicker than a regular day cream but not too thick and goes on nice and smooth soaking into the skin immediately and leaving no residue.  Since using these products I no longer have burning, flaky skin and instead get to wake up to smoother soft skin every morning.  My facial redness has lessened too!  Overall I definitely will be purchasing these two products again and maybe others from this line of skincare.  

The Burt's Bees Intense Hydration line is available at Shopper's Drug Marts and Walmart stores across Canada.

"Disclosure - I am a BzzAgent and was sent these products free of charge for the purpose of reviewing and spreading the word.  All opinions on this blog are my own."

Yummy Christmas Treats! - #LMDConnector

I don't bake a whole lot throughout the year but it's my tradition to go all out at Christmas!  Starting Dec 1st I make my baking list, collect my ingredients then start baking!  We always have some family favorites then I try to add a new recipe or two.

This year I decided on cowboy cookies, chocolate chip shortbread mounds, walnut chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cranberry oat bars, sugar cookies and the new recipe is peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies.  My kids are still young so I did end up doing most of the baking myself but they did help me with the sugar cookies.

I prepared the dough ahead of time and chilled it in the fridge overnight.  I think for this year I'm just too scared to let my kids help with the mixing and adding flour and such as I've seen what my one year old does when she gets hold of sugar and it's not fun.  This is the first two pans fresh from the oven.  I did the rolling and had the kids pass the cutters and help me push them into the dough.   After the first two dozen or so my three year old got bored and left but my daughter stayed the whole time playing with the cookie cutters and the dough.  

Usually I would also ice and decorate the cookies but again due to not wanting a huge mess on my hands I'll save that until the kids are a little older.

So far this year I've made 23 dozen cookies and counting!  As I write this there's a batch of cowboy cookies in the oven, yum!  We enjoy eating them as well as giving them away.  Because I make so many cookies I tend to freeze them in large freezer bags and take them out for snacks, lunches, desserts or when we have people over.  I look forward to many more years of baking with my kids and continuing on with old and new Christmas traditions.

"Disclosure - I am part of the Life Made Delicious Blogger program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group.  The opinions on this blog are my own." 

Finish Quantum Trade-In Event at Walmart #FinishTradeIn

I have had a dishwasher for many years now and tried different detergents usually opting for the cheap one.  Finally about a year ago after listening to hubby complain about the spots on the dishes or the dishes not being clean we decided to give Finish Quantum a shot as I had a coupon for it.  What a difference!  The dishes are actually clean and spotless and it's by far the best tablets or detergent we've ever used and I'll never use anything else.

At participating Walmart locations across Canada between Dec 7th and Dec 9th you can bring your empty dishwasher detergent box and trade it in for a specially marked box of Finish Quantum and see for yourself how wonderful it is.  The box will have a mail-in rebate for full refund making it FREE!  Take a chance and head down to a participating Walmart this weekend and take part in the #FinishTradeIn event.

"Disclosure - I am participating in the Finish Quantum Trade In Event Blog Tour by Mom Central Canada on behalf of Finish.  I received compensation as a thank you for participating and for sharing my honest opinion.  The opinions on this blog are my own."