My work had their annual ‘snack day’ last Thursday. It’s a 60 person pot luck which equates to an all day eating feast!
I brought in cranberry white chocolate cookies that I’ve made for years because they’re delicious & look festive for the holdiays.
There were lots of biscuits, cookies, cupcakes, donuts, sausage balls & meatballs. But what stole the show for me was the two recipes below. I begged for the recipes before 10 am & just had to share {plus posting them helps me remember the recipe}!
Fiesta Dip
8oz cream cheese, softened
16 oz sour cream
11 oz can sweet yellow & white corn, drained
15 oz can black beans, drained & rinsed
10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained
1 1/2 tbsp taco seasoning
2 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese
I love the easy directions. Just dump it all together, mix it up & cover for at least 24 hours. It can be served cold or warm with tortilla chips. It had just the right hint of spicy to counter all the sweet dips & cookies I’d eaten that day. Perfect for any event.
Chicken Salsa Wraps
1 can chicken, shredded
1 container garden veggie cream cheese
1/2 c thick & chunky salsa
tortillas
Mix the chicken, cream cheese & salsa together in a small bowl. Spread thin layer on tortilla. Roll up the tortilla & slice in approximately 1 inch pieces. My coworker served them with extra salsa on the side & red & green tortilla chips!
We braved the mall crowd the first Saturday in Dec to have the babies meet Santa for the first time. My MIL came with us to help & check out the photos.
Lucy & Zach taking it all in.
This was the first time they’d been to the mall & their first time in a side by side stroller. Santa arrived at 11a. We planned to show up then, but Lucy girl pooped twice {just as we were leaving the house & again in the van on the way over} but thankfully didn’t get anything on her outfit.
Jason, L & Z with Santa decorations {& the super excited kiddo in front of us in line photo bombing}.
They did great waiting in line for about an hour ~ they smiled at us, the decorations, the others in line.
Then we got up to Santa. Zach was fascinated with the big guy & wouldn’t take his eyes away from him. Lucy was fascinated with his outfit, until she discovered his {real} white beard. She grabbed onto the beard & didn’t want to let go! There were no smiles for us {& the camera lady}. But there were also no tears!
Zach & Lucy, meet Santa!
And we got great memories of it all digitally thanks to my MIL.
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.
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.
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}.Â
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.
