Categories
Everything Else Food

Tuttorosso Tomatoes {review & giveaway}

You know you love tomatoes & have had a bit of a love affair with them when a tomato company finds you!

I was contacted a little while ago from a rep from Tuttorosso tomatoes. She’d seen my Make Ahead meals and wanted to send us some tomato products to try.

The Tuttorosso package arrived just in time! My Mom has been down to help the last couple weekends & she’s cooked!

This Sunday we took The Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe {from her latest cookbook} & switched it up a little {my Mom’s adventurous like that}. We made it in the crockpot, boiled the chicken breasts before shredding, & just tossed in a little less of the spices {probably could’ve done more}. We also subbed a big can of Tuttorosso crushed tomatoes instead of the little bit of tomatoes & didn’t include most of the water. The Tuttorosso tomatoes were delicious! We topped the soup with cheese & have had it for three meals this week.

PW’s Chicken Tortilla Soup; Tuttorosso style

My parents’ stayed in town Monday to help take care of sick Zach. Mom took ingredients we had on hand, chicken, breadcrumbs, cheese, red peppers, mushrooms & Tuttorosso tomato sauce & created baked Chicken parmesan while Zach napped. The tomato sauce was so yummy. And a perfect warm dinner to come home to after a long day of work Monday night. The Chicken Parmesan with the sauce made for great lunch leftovers too.

Mom’s Chicken Parm topped with Tuttorosso tomato sauce

You can purchase Tuttorosso tomatoes at your local Koger. Or even better, one of you can win your own Tuttorosso tomatoes prize package. Perfect for you to make your favorite tomato dishes to warm up the cold winter nights!

Enter by leaving a comment on what’s your favorite tomato based dish. I’ll close the giveaway next Thursday the 27th & announce the winner Friday morning.

Tuttorosso is also having daily giveaway’s on the Tuttorosso Facebook page leading up to Christmas. Feel free to check it out if you’d like. A little bird told me that today’s winner will get a gift pack of Tuttorosso products and recipes. Friday’s prize will be a utility Set {4 piece} by Wusthof knives, & they’re ending it Saturday with a Tumbleweed Ceramic Tomato Dip Dish {set of two}.

Good luck!
I received the canned tomatoes, some recipe cards & a cute pot holder for purpose of this review from Red Gold/Tuttorosso tomatoes. I was not otherwise compensated for this post & all opinions are genuinely my own.
Categories
Babies Everything Else

itti*bitti cloth diapers

I’ve mentioned before that we’re cloth diapering the babies & even that we’re using cloth diapers at daycare. Over the last 6 months of using cloth, we’ve found a few favorites. I shared my AppleCheeks love a month or so ago. I’m posting my itti*bitti diapers love today.

I was first introduced {& given} a itti*bitti small d’lish AIO in saffron at BlogHer11. Then I found my local cloth diaper store had a papaya small d’lish SIO {snap in one} on clearance & I bought it up while I was pregnant.

The babies have worn these two itti*bittis so many times. They’ve been on multiple wears per week rotation both for at home & daycare. Daycare, I’m sure, loves it’s just one row of snaps. I love how trim & fit they are. They’ll work under the most fitted baby clothes which works well if you’re like me & like to get just one more wear out of that favorite but probably outgrown outfit.

I also love that these soft & fuzzy dipers wash & dry really well. Unlike other diapers that I have to put together & stuff because others can’t match, itti*bittis snap inserts are color coded which makes getting them from dryer to baby very easy.

6 week old baby Lucy in the papya itti*bitti d’lish SIO

The size small has worked well for my preemies for a long time. Itti*bitti says the size small goes up to 16 pounds & I’d say that’s accurate. Lucy no longer fits in our beloved smalls. But Zach still does. Here’s him this morning in the d’lish AIO.

Zach {& ever present monkey wubba} in the small Saffron itti*bitti d’lish

 

Happy Zach & his itti*bitti d’lish

 

Zach showing how the d’lish is trim fitting enough for his 3-6 mo onesie to still fit.

 

About a month ago, I reached out to itti*bitti. I shared my love of their diapers & wanted to try a size medium d’lish {fits 14-26 pounds} &/or one of their one sized bitti tutto diapers.

Just a bit later, I received a medium d’lish SIO in Chocolate & a tutto in Zeebra to add to our itti*bitti stash. I immediately washed both & put the Chocolate diaper on Lucy the next day {the rise & overall fit was much better than the too-small small for her}.

I was wondering if we’d need to wait for them to fit into the one sized tutto, but I was happy to see that one the smaller snaps, the tutto fit great for Zach & Lucy. The cool thing about the tutto is that the inserts can be used in a bunch of ways. So far, I’ve been using the shorter insert with a soaker pad attached & it’s worked great. No leakage issues & their “poop fence” definitely lives up the the hype. This diaper is supposed to last up to 44 pounds & I hope so!

My busy bee Lucy paused for just one minute while playing on the floor after daycare in the itti*bitti OS tutto in Zeebra.

Itti*bitti also sent us a Zeebra wetbag saying I’d find a multude of uses for it. They were right. My favorite use for the wetbag so far is that I’ve thrown it in my purse with a few clean diapers & a grocery bag for a quick trip out. The print is bright & fun, & the wetbag is compact yet still roomy enough for four diapers.

I think itti*bitti diapers are great choices for those looking for cloth diapers that are trim & hold up well over multiple uses, washes & through the dryer. Especially for those wanting to stay away from pockets. We’re big fans in our household for sure!

I received three of our four itti*bitti diapers for review purposes from itti*bitti, but I did not receive other compensation. All opinions expessed are honest & my own.

Categories
Babies Family/Travel Travel

Babies First Thanksgiving

This post is embarassingly late. But that’s me lately when it comes to downloading & uploading photos & often for social events too. I hope the ‘hello, I have two babies’ will work for a little bit longer.

While we’re still in the land of sick babies, so far today is our first fever-free day. And I thought I’d post Thanksgiving before we got into Christmas week. 😛

My entire extended family {us, my parents, brother & SIL, my mom’s sisters & my grandfather} arrived in OIB {where my Dad’s parents live} Wednesday night. We all gathered together first for a Thanksgiving church service on the beach Thursday morning.

Lucy & I had seen it become daylight that morning ~ what a way to be thankful~ to see the sun rising over a canal while holding your baby girl. I was also thankful a few minutes later when my Nana & Pawpaw woke up, took over Lucy duty so I could get another hour’s sleep before Zach woke up.

After church, we chilled, watched the parade, enjoyed a delicious brunch, then my SIL, Mom, aunts, Nana & the babies & I headed off to the two little local shops open Thanksgiving day. We bought a few birthday/Christmas gifts for each other then arrived back at the beach house in time for me to nurse & the others to finish up cooking dinner. My thanksgiving meal was interrupted by a big Lucy poo {not the last meal interruptedfor that reason of that I can be sure}. 

Friday, we took Z & L with us for their first black Friday shopping. They were a hit in all the stores & we all found a few deals too. Friday night, we went out to dinner at Inlet View. The food & company was great!

Saturday was more of a chill day, watching football, playing with the babies on the floor. We all bundled up & went to watch the OIB floatila Saturday evening. It was great. Lucy was snuggled on me in our Ergo & slept through it. Zach watched it from my Dad’s lap; one of his favorite spots. Overall, a great thankful weekend.

Categories
Babies

Yesterday

Two big things happened yesterday.

Lucy was officially diagnosed by our pediatrician as having Hand Foot Mouth. And an unrelated eye infection requiring antibiotic drops to boot. She’s handled the blisters & rashes on her feet, toes, ankles, bottom & fingers well. We haven’t seen any in her mouth, thankfully. She’d been fever free until last night when it spiked pretty high & it’s around 100 now. Poor girl. She’s getting lots of cuddles from me & her Pops.

Were also thankful that so far Zach hasn’t showed any symptoms of getting sick. My dad drove down Wed night to help since J had two big days at work yesterday & today. That’s been great, so I didn’t have to drag Lucy out while still taking Zach to & from daycare.

Our second discovery happened while getting Zach yesterday evening. He was finishing a bottle when I arrived, I burped him & as I was wiping away a little spit up, I realized a little spit up wasn’t wiping away on him bottom gum. Holy crap, y’all. To my surprise, he has a tooth! ! I knew there were buds down there but didn’t think it’d happen so soon. Nor did I notice any extra fussing from our super smiley lil guy. He’s shy about showing off his new tooth, but I was able to catch it {very blurrily} this morning to share.

Categories
Everything Else

Thirty One

::attention whoring ahead::

Today’s my birthday! At 9p tonight {I think}, I’ll officially turn 31 years old.

Last year, I was ‘all 3-0! Yay! Thirty’s the new twenty & I’m young, & hip & fun & pregnant with triplets! Woohoo!’

And now, I’m 31. Not quite as exciting as 30. But I swear I’m still young & hip & fun. But I’m not sure if “hip” if a cool word anymore. And I now sport dark circles, new wrinkles, & since I haven’t been highlighting my hair this year, a few grey hairs.

The past year has been wild but wonderful! And I’m so happy for the battle scars that I’ve earned.

Thirty one equals mid-thirties? Or early thirties? Either way, I say bring it on!

We celebrated with family the Friday after Thanksgiving, again this weekend wiht my parents, with friends Sunday night & I had a birthday breakfast break with my coworkers Monday morning. I think this might be my most chill actual birthday yet, but that’s perfectly fine. I’m asking the babies to give me a silent night {keep your fingers crossed for me, k?!}.

Oh & my birthday means it’s exactly two weeks til our babies first Christmas!!