Johnny Mazette

I never really feel old. I mean, my back hurts sometimes, or my knees hurt if I sit on the floor too long. But I don't "feel" old. And I have never really looked at my age as a sign of getting older. But when I notice some heartburn after I eat certain foods I can't help but laugh at myself a little and feel that I am "getting old"... Plus I have a 14 year old that likes to tell me I am old too...

And I hate having to pass on my favorite foods because of heartburn. It seems like a silly thing to do and I love foods like Johnny Mazette so I would rather take something for my heartburn than live without it!



PEPCID® is great because it helps relieve my heartburn fast! And with all the candy because of Halloween, and the amazing feasts you will be eating next month for Thanksgiving, you should definitely head to Walmart and stock up on everything to help Tame Your Tummy Troubles!

What foods give you heartburn?

• Chocolate


• garlic


• raw onion


• vinegar


• fried/fatty food


• ketchup/mustard


• tomato/tomato sauce

Even caffeine and alcohol can give you heartburn!



So now that you are prepared to subside heartburn, let's talk dinner!

Start with butter in your pan. I use a larger pan because it ends up being a lot of food!



And Saute your peppers, celery and onion



Add in your beef and brown.



Stir in olives, mushrooms (with liquid), soup, sauce and water chestnuts. Cook for 5 minutes





Boil noodles, then drain. (Yes, I used 2 different kind of noodles because that is what I had!)



Add drained noodles to burger mixture and stir well.



Pour it into a baking dish and sprinkle with cheese. I put a little less in my 9x13 pan so I could make an extra dish to give to someone!



One thing I love about Johnny Mazette is that it is great to make ahead to freeze! Just use a tin baking dish and you can make them quite a head of time! When I was pregnant with both Tyler and Summer I made a couple of these ahead of time so that once I had the baby at home and Travis was back to work I could just grab one out of the freezer and pop it in the oven and it was one less meal to worry about!

• 2 C. chopped green pepper


• 1 C. chopped celery


• 2 C. chopped onion


• 2lbs. ground beef


• 1 C. butter


• 2 C. grated cheese


• 1/2 C. chopped olives


• 1 (4oz) can sliced mushrooms (with liquid)


• 1 (10 oz) can tomato soup


• 1 (16 oz) can tomato sauce


• 3/4 lb. egg noodles


• 1 can sliced water chestnuts

1. Saute peppers, celery, onion and beef in butter.


2. Add salt (just a dash) Reduce Heat and cook for 5 minutes.


3. Stir in olives, mushrooms (and liquid), soup, sauce and chestnuts. Cook 5 minutes


4. Cook noodles, drain.


5. Add mixtures too noodles. Stir well.


6. Pour into a 9x13 baking dish and sprinkle cheese on top


7. Bake on 350° for 35 minutes.

Visit Walmart.com/digestivehealth to learn more and shop these brands to feel better from top to bottom!

Look for a digestive health coupon in your 11/6 Sunday paper to save up to $3 on IMODIUM®, PEPCID® and LACTAID®!

Tyler's 6th Batman Birthday Party

Last week Tyler turned 6. I don't know where the time goes but he is so big!

This year Tyler and Summer wanted separate birthday parties and because they have had joint parties for the last couple of years (farm party, carnival) I thought we'd go with it.

And since practically every little boys is obsessed with Batman, that is what he chose.



It all started with an invite I found online and attempted to make my own.



I found all sorts of cool ways to arrange balloon on Pinterest.... and then I ran out of time and thankfully my 14 year old son helped me put them up.... at least they're up!

Everything had to be Yellow and Black and was EASY to put together.





We had lots of fun and this kid was so excited about his cupcake! He picked out the blue frosting because it was "so cool"



I wanted to make a light lunch/snacks and it all worked out great. It was the perfect amount and I think the kids enjoyed the treats!



Bugles = Cat Woman Claws



Sandwiches = Bat Wiches



Pigs in a Blankets = Robins Roll Ups



Boneless Wings = Bat Wings



Hawaiian Punch/7up = Joker Juice



I wanted to make masks and capes as well. I attempted to make these masks with my Cricut but I had some trouble with it cutting felt! That is a setting I have never tried before and I should have practiced before hand! I also made THESE CAPES that turned out great and the kids loved them!



Cutest little bat girl around!



I used poster board and attempted to make a Batman. Don't judge! haha! I painted it up then I used my cricut to cut out little bats that the kids used to "Pin the bat on Batman". Sorry for this terrible grainy picture! Tyler's party day turned out to be a rainy mess of a day and I was glad that I had planned for it to be mostly inside!





Love all these little Bat kids! So grateful for friends taking time from their day to celebrate my Tyler turning 6!!



And I made this fun picture to put in a frame on the table! And it is a PRINTABLE! Click the picture to get the downloadable link!



Tyler had such an awesome 6th birthday!

Home made No Sew {Superhero} Capes

When Tyler said that he wanted to have a Batman Party I knew there had to be masks and Superhero capes but I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to go about it.

I got started on his party kind of late and I didn't want to spend all day sewing capes. I googled "no fray fabric" and found that fleece didn't fray! Who knew?



I looked online to check prices and it looked like Joann's was the place to go as their fleece was 50% off. I wasn't sure how much to get and no matter how much math I did I still wasn't quite sure. Because let's be real: I am THAT terrible at math! I bought 7 yards. (which by the way was insanely too much fabric!)



Next I needed to make a template for the part that would wrap around the kids necks. After drawing several terrible pictures with shaky lines I finally got one that looked okay enough to cut out. This one isn't perfect, but it does the trick! Click the picture for the printable version of this cape template. 



Next I cut out my pieces. I cut them in 20x30 sections. So they were 20 wide and 30 long and that worked perfect for me to get 3 capes wide!



Next I folded my cape and half and cut out my template and laid it down on my fabric. This is important: You want to make sure that your fold is on the same side as the "center" of your template. Otherwise when you cut you will have 2 pieces! And you don't want that!



Then cut it out!



When you open it up it should look like this!



Then I used this Iron On Velcro on the end pieces to keep it together!



 

So here is how it looks front and back!



They were perfect. The kids don't need anything fancy and loved these capes and the masks that went with them!

Chicken Salad Wrap

How many nights per week do you sit down as a family and have a meal together?

Family dinners are important to me. Maybe more so because when I was a kid my dad worked out of town a lot and so dinner as a whole family didn't happen all the time. So for us, we typically eat as a family 7 nights a week. Occasionally one of us might be out, or Zach at a friends or something like that. But we eat together almost every single night.

That is part of the reason that I am always on the look out for a new recipe to try. With 3 kids there is always something that they don't like, right? I am sure more than a few people can relate.  However, I do try to expose my kids to all kinds of foods. Believe me, my husband will tell me if he doesn't want me to make something again!

And who doesn't love finding a New Comfort Food?



 

THE NEW COMFORT FOOD IS:
1. Using mostly local, seasonal ingredients
2. Minimal ingredients in the recipe
3. Quick, easy steps and fast prep time

So today I thought it would be fun to do a Chicken Salad Wrap. I knew the tortilla being a spinach wrap might push the limits of the kids because they haven't liked them in the past. But otherwise I was pretty sure that this would be a hit!

I ran to the store and grabbed some Foster Farms Simply Raised Fresh Chicken. I love it because it is locally grown (Pacific Northwest Grown), antibiotic-free chicken. I only needed a few other things, so I got everything I needed and headed home to make a delicious Chicken Salad Wrap.



I got so excited to get home and get started that I ripped my chicken open without a picture first! So here is one of the package partially ripped off!



Next, I seasoned it with my favorite 21 Day Fix seasoning and added a cup of water and poached it.



While I was poaching the chicken I cut up lettuce, avocado, tomato, mango and I put the juice from half of a lime into the chicken. I also added just a bit of mayo and mustard into my chicken and gave it a good stir.

Last, I just layered it all onto the tortilla shell and wrapped it all together. It was a hit and the kids even liked it! So I guess we have a #newcomfortfood to add to our list!



Ingredients:

• Foster Farms Simply Raised fresh Chicken


• Spinach tortillas


• 2 Tbsp. each mayo/mustard


• sliced tomato


• sliced avocado


• chopped mango

1. Cook your chicken via your favorite method.


2. Chop anything you want for your wrap (lettuce, tomato, avocado, mango, etc.)


3. Mix chicken with mayo if you want it


4. Lay all ingredients out onto your tortilla and wrap it up

Check out more from Foster Farms here ---> https://www.fosterfarms.com/the-new-comfort-food/

What are some of your favorite comfort foods?

DIY: Baby Shower Gift Basket Parents will actually Use

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BetterBottles #CollectiveBias Gift Basket

I'm just going to say it: I am a good parent. I am an expert at what I do.

Ha! That is a joke, right?

I am no expert, but I will say I am a good parent. You guys, I have a TEENAGER! And whether you have a brand new baby at home, or kids grown up and moved out of the house, those kids do not come with a hand book! And parenting is hard but that doesn't mean that you can't do YOUR best. I frequently tell my kids "You don't have to be THE best, you need to be YOUR best". That doesn't mean that I don't want them to ever be the best at something, it just means I don't want them to ever think they have to be perfect.



I remember the day we took Tyler home from the hospital. After we signed our discharge papers Travis looked at the nurse questioningly and she asked if he had a question. He said, "That's it? You're just going to let us leave with him?" I was embarrassed as she looked at him like maybe she shouldn't be letting him leave with a baby! But of course, she said that Yes, we were free to go. And that no handbook was provided.

When I brought my first baby home the experience was so incredibly different from the second. You can read all my birth stories here, here and here.

With Zachary I pumped and after a couple of months I formula fed. With Tyler it was so different because I was only breastfeeding and really had no idea what I was doing. Not to mention that it was uncomfortable. And with Summer, I finally had it down. Luckily, no matter how you look at it, the baby was fed!

These days the only baby shopping I am doing is for friends and family. We are done having kids so I enjoy buying for others. Since I have done this 3 times, I'd like to think that I know what things work and what doesn't. However, I know from experience that what works with one doesn't mean it will work with another. Zachary hated baby swings, Tyler loved it and Summer didn't care either way. So I get it!

But I try to put together fun gifts and baskets full of things I think work.

So I headed to Walmart one-stop shop for baby and the #1 place for baby registries. They have everything I need to put together my latest basket. I ALWAYS give a blanket. Made by me of course! Sometimes I crochet them and a couple of times I have made quilts, but they are always home made. And I always add a "stuffy". Mainly because my kids have a ridiculous amount of them and I re-gift them. (#noshameinmygame).

Whether you plan to breastfeed or bottle feed, it is never a bad idea to have a few bottles on hand. You don't know when something might come up and you need one.





So here is what is in my basket:

1. Playtex Baby™ Nurser® with Drop-Ins® Liners


2. Most Like Mom® NaturaLatch® Nipple


3. Door knob safety covers. I get that you might not need them on day one, but you will need them!


4. Playtex Baby™ Nurser® with Drop-Ins® Liners


5. Baby Wipes


6. Diapers


7. Stuffed animal


8. Outlet covers


9. bibs


10. coffee gift card


11. baby blanket

Every new parent can use a coffee pick me up, right?



The reason I chose Playtex® Nurser with Drop-Ins® Liners is because it supports baby’s own natural feeding pattern and supports breastfeeding. The unique Nurser System allows baby to feed with the same natural suck, swallow and breathing patterns as breastfeeding. Pre-sterilized disposable liner system allows baby to feed in a coordinated rhythm that mimics breastfeeding and allows Mom easy one-handed prep and clean-up.

The liners are easy to use. Match the liner size (4oz or 8oz) to the size of your bottle. Place liner into Nurser bottle and fill with milk or formula. The convenient disposable liner collapses like the breast as baby drinks, preventing air from getting into milk and mixing with baby’s tummy.

The Most Like Mom® NaturaLatch® Nipple has a natural wide shape and a raised texture which helps baby latch on naturally. It is available in Slow, Medium, and Fast flow and is always BPA Free.



Every parent has their list of essentials, did any of ours match?

Right now get $3 off eligible 3-packs of Playtex Baby™ Bottles, including the Playtex Nurser 8oz., VentAire 9oz., and VentAire Colors.