A Little Tipsy

Creative Tips & Ideas

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Freezer Meals and Plentiful Pantry Giveaway

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I am in full nesting mode. I spent the last two weeks preparing freezer meals to have for after the baby comes. I have just made double batches of everything I make for dinner and freeze half of it. It is so easy. Why have I not been doing this all along?! So far I have a whole shelf full of freezer meals. I have a side by side fridge and freezer so the shelves are small, but hey it makes me feel good to have something ready. Someday my freezer will look like this…

http://img4.southernliving.com/i/2003/08/freezer-meals/freezer-m.jpg?300:300

Here are a few of the recipes I used to freeze:

Picky Palate’s Baked Ziti
Pumpkin Soup
Simply Lasagna
Beef Stroganoff (from Betty Crocker Red Cookbook, sorry could not find a link and was too lazy to type the recipe in)

Taco Soup
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can corn
1 can black or kidney beans
1 package taco seasoning
1/4 chopped onion
1 lb. ground beef

Brown ground beef with onion. Do not drain the cans. Add all ingredients to large pan. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes.

I put the soups in freezer bags and laid flat to freeze so I could store them like files and the ziti and lasagna in to those disposable foil baking dishes.

I was also contacted by Plentiful Pantry to review some of their items. Their products are great because you can store them on a shelf and grab them when you need something quick. You just have to add a few ingredients to each.

First, we tried the Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars. Is that not the cutest packaging ever?! I could not bear to throw it away! These were so easy, just add hot water, cream cheese and butter and chill. We added caramel sauce and whipped cream the first night and it made them really sweet! We actually liked them better the second day after they had set up more and the flavors had more time to mingle. The box says it makes 16 bars, but I would say more like 12. We like dessert. 😉

Next, we tried the Chicken and Dumplings. I was totally skeptical about this one because I did not request it and I do not like anything soggy. Also, it called for canned chicken which I am not a huge fan of. I have to tell you though, I am converted. I broke the chicken up and it was just like shredded chicken and the dumplings were like little biscuits, completely cooked and non-gooey inside. I was amazed. I thought for sure bread cooked in soup would be a ball of yuck, but it wasn’t at all.

Next, we tried the Apple Bread. It’s just like making a cake mix add oil, eggs and water. The smell alone was worth the minimal effort. I wanted to bottle that divine scent. Again love the cute box and how beautiful is that loaf?! I even forgot to use the high altitude directions and it turned out wonderfully. I was expecting it to be sweet when I bit in to it, but it is a bread not a cake. It tastes really yummy, just not super sweet. Don’t let the streusel on top fool you.

We still need to try the Pumpkin Cobbler and the Artichoke Dip, but if they are anything like the first three I’m sure they will not disappoint.

Now, Plentiful Pantry wants to give you the chance to try them out and see for yourself. They are giving away a Pumpkin Cobbler to one lucky reader!
Pumpkin Cobbler
To enter: Visit Plentiful Pantry and let us know in a comment on this post what product you would like to try.

Giveaway closes Thurs, Nov 4th.

And don’t worry, if you don’t win you can still try out Plentiful Pantry on a discount! They are offering 25% off their entire product line for Tipsy readers until November 15th!
Just use code: ALTIP25

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YW in Excellence Super Values Skit and Slideshow

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You asked for the 8 Super Values skit and here it is. The skit was written by two of our Beehives. If you missed the first post about our Superhero themed YW in Excellence be sure to go back and check it out!


Click images to enlarge

As another little bonus, here is what we did for our program. They were printed on gold and red cardstock and left on the tables. We used the blank shield from the first post and just filled in the YW in Excellence outline. Super simple!

We had the most amazing super hero movie/slideshow that I wish I could share. It had amazing graphics and awesome music put together by a professional composer who also happens to be in our Bishopric and married to our YW President, but it involved lots of pics of the girls and their names so I thought it would be a privacy issue to post it.

Here is the text from it so you can get the idea. Each line is a new “slide”

The World (Pics of darkness and lightning)
Dark
Dangerous
Deceptive
Many search for hope
for light
in a world of darkness
Are there heroes in our day?
Do you know where your cape is? (pic of cape)
It’s time to put it on
Be strong and of a good courage; (pics of heavens)
Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed:
For the Lord thy God is with thee…
withersoever thou goest
Joshua 1:9
These are the heroes
(pics of the girls from the last year, ending with each of those who got their young womanhood recognition)
(a few pics of a big city)
The hero is within you (pic of red telephone booth & superman theme playing)
Your cape is waiting
Rise above
Now is the time
Be strong and of a good courage
for the Lord thy God is with thee
withersoever thou goest
(showed each of the girls names one at a time)
(a few pics of Christ’s life)
Heroes needed
One size fits all (pic of a bunch of homemade capes that looked like ours)

Funny that I googled to find the image and it came from my friend Vanessa’s blog.

This in no way does the movie justice, but I had to share something from it. It added so much to the evening!

Wish I had pics to share, but of course I forgot my camera. What kind of a blogger am I?! Let me know if you use this theme or come up with additions of your own. I would love to hear your ideas!

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Fresh Produce Clothing Review

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Yep, it’s that time. The time when the weather takes a turn and fall fashion is at it’s peak. When Fresh Produce contacted me to review their women’s clothing I was excited especially because I have two weeks left until due date and then I can fit into real clothes. I was excited to have something fun and new to wear after all these months of maternity clothes!

I chose the Malibu Maxie Dress and Shorefront Cardigan. One because they are super cute and two because I thought they would be great transition pieces for the fall season and my soon to be changing size.

I wish I could wear the dress all carefree and on the beach, but thus that will have to wait. Here it is raining with a high of 50 degrees so I combined the two pieces. Yes, I braved the non-maternity clothes and pulled them off quite nicely. I tied the cardigan in front to emphasize that there is a narrow part to me still. 😉

I love the gray dress! I seem to choose a signature neutral each year and gray has definitely been the go to lately! I actually already own a gray maxie dress from Target, but I love the hand dyed Fresh Produce color so much more (the Target one is heather gray). My Target dress has also begun to pill which is not great. The fabric on the Fresh Produce dress seems to be much higher quality, softer, and more durable.

I combined the maxie dress with a fun scarf to add warmth and color. The dress is so comfortable, though you will notice that there is quite a length difference from the model’s picture. She is not a 5’6″ 8 1/2 mo. pregnant girl in boots with heels.

So, what should we wake up to this morning but SNOW!!

I pulled out my cardigan and paired it with a T-shirt and jeans. Perfect for my trip to the dr. office this afternoon. Warm enough for snow with the long sleeves, but light and cool enough to sit in the waiting room with my internal oven. The cardigan is much lighter than I expected. I thought it would be jersey, but it is really lightweight and almost sheer.

I love that Fresh Produce combines style with comfort. At this point in my life, I have a big need for comfort, but don’t want to be running around in a sweatsuit. These pieces help me look cute while feeling relaxed. A big thanks to Fresh Produce for these fun items!

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