Three New Easy Dinner Ideas

At my house we tend to eat the same things over and over again for dinner and that gets boring quickly. Recently however I found three new recipes over at Kraft Foods that were quick and easy to make and were a big hit with everyone.

First we tried a Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie. I modified this recipe a little bit and used a tad bit more chicken and veggies and I also added two extra cans of soup. I do recommend cooking the frozen veggies first or using can veggies instead as the uncooked frozen veggies still seemed a bit tough. Otherwise this tasted great and my kids ate their veggies with no fuss.

Next we tried Layered Fiesta Casserole. This was probably our favorite of the three new recipes we tried. All the ingredients came together nicely for a great Mexican flavor. This recipe is low calorie and and is a good source of calcium and vitamins A and C. This casserole was great served with refried beans and sour cream.

The last recipe we tried was the Deep-Dish Pizza Casserole. I did modify this recipe a bit though and doubled the macaroni and cheese and used two cans of pizza sauce and I added in some pepperonis and olives as well. Basically any kind of topping you enjoy on pizza would be great in this casserole. Next time I may add in some mushrooms as well as an extra can of pizza sauce. This casserole was great served with mozzarella stuffed bread sticks.

I've found many other great recipes over at Kraft Foods that I'm excited to try like the Velveeta Cheesy Bacon Brunch Casserole. Most are quick and easy to make and look delicious, perfect for our busy lifestyles. Check some of them out and tell me if you've ever tried any of these recipes or which ones you think you might like to try.

Oliver's Farm Lapland Sami Reindeer Leather Bracelet Review and Giveaway

Oliver’s Farm is an online boutique that specializes in unique, luxurious, handmade, beautiful gifts and products for mother, baby, and the home. Oliver's Farm was created by people with a love for handbags, accessories, home decor and all things unique. They scoured the world searching for products which you will not come across everyday. From their South African collection of Luxury Handbags to their Natural Hides, Sheepskin Rugs and Sami Lapland Reindeer Bracelets, they are constantly adding to their growing range of products.

Oliver's Farm prides themselves on being able to offer a luxury range of leather, cowhide and springbok handbags, luxury sheepskin rugs, and Sami Lapland Reindeer Bracelets in addition to ladies soft leather gloves and children's sheepskin boots, baby booties, hats, gloves, mittens, and toys. Their handbags are all individually handmade and crafted to a high standard in South Africa and all the hides used to create their bags are obtained by the government approved humane culling programs and it's important to note all the leather and hide used is a bi-product of meat demand as both Nguni and springbok are aingenious and part of the African diet. The Sami people who used to be called Laplanders, are the natives of the Nordic countries, and for many centuries they have been making  jewelry from reindeer leather, pewter and shed reindeer antlers. The beautiful Sami Lapland Bracelets are handmade from high quality, genuine, vegetable tanned soft (caribou) reindeer leather with nickel free, pewter braid, (the pewter braid is an alloy with 4-5% silver spun around a strong synthetic thread) and striking buttons made from shed reindeer antlers. Their luxury sheepskin rugs are made using an environmentally friendly and safe tanning process. Their sheepskins truly are a luxury product perfect for baby, nursery, or anywhere in the home. If you see any item on their site that you would like to have in a different color, hide, pattern, or size, you can get in touch with them and they'll do their best to source the item or have it made for you. 

You can visit Oliver's Farm on the web at www.oliversfarm.com and you can also follow Oliver's Farm on Twitter and/or Facebook to find out more about them and the products they carry. 

I was given the opportunity to review one of Oliver's Farms Sami Lapland Reindeer Bracelets in cognac, which are also available in sand, grey, white, lavender, fuchsia, turquoise, and berry. These bracelets retail for $75 each and are made from reindeer leather or lamb skin (depending on color) and the clasps are made from shed reindeer antlers. They are made to fit snugly and look great stacked.  They should be removed before swimming or showering and can be cleaned easily with a damp cloth.

I found this bracelet easy to put on and take off by myself without help and it never accidentally came undone while wearing. It did indeed fit snugly. The leather/skin was very smooth and soft against my wrist and this material did not irritate my sensitive skin in any way whatsoever. This bracelet seems to be very well made and you can tell that someone worked really hard making it and they paid great attention to detail as the wire-type design is flawless. Overall I think this is a very gorgeous, unique bracelet and I've gotten compliments on it already. It has a very casual look and feel to it and looks great with jeans and a T-shirt, yet would still look great when worn with a more dressier outfit for a special occasion.

Shoplet Duck Tape Review

Shoplet.com sent me a nice selection of  Duck Tape products for my next review, including Duck EZ Start Premium Packaging Tape, Duck EZ Start Premium Packaging Tape w/ Dispenser, and Zebra Printed Duck Tape. 

The Duck EZ Start Premium Packaging Tape is sold in packs of three and comes with two dispensers. I found it very easy to open and close the dispenser, although it didn't seem to be really durable and had sort of a cheap feel to it like it might be easily broken. It took me a minute to figure out how exactly to get the tape started through the dispenser however as there were no instructions on how to do this but once I was able to figure it out I was able to use this dispenser with just one hand.  It rolled quietly and smoothly with no problem. When I was done I was able to use the dispenser to easily tear the  tape. Overall I really liked using this dispenser as it was very easy to operate. The only con to this product was that they assumed everyone would know automatically how to use it because no directions of any sort were included.  

The Duck EZ Start Premium Packaging Tape w/ Dispenser was easy to operate after it took me a minute to figure out how it worked because there were no instructions of any sort included and the rolling mechanism on the dispenser threw me off a bit. It fit into my hand very nicely and I only needed one hand to operate it. It rolled quietly, smoothly, and quickly. When I was done taping, I was able to tear it off easily using the dispenser, again only using one hand. I really liked using this dispenser as it was easy to use and it helped to get the job done much quicker. The only con was that there were no instructions included as how to operate this. 

The newest addition to the Duck Tape family is the Zebra Printed Duck Tape. I found this duct tape to have the high quality strength and adhesive characteristics as the original gray duct tape but I realized right away that this printed duct tape would not only be excellent for repairs but also crafting and artistic projects such as turning a cork bulletin board and a picture frame from bland into glam. Even though this duct tape is very durable, I was able to tear is off easily by hand without the help of scissors. I absolutely love this Zebra Printed Duct Tape and it's definitely a product that I'm excited to buy more of to help me add a little bit of fabulousness to my office area. I hope to find printed Duck Tape in more colors/designs/patterns because I want to try them all.    

Check out this fun YouTube video to find out more ways you can use Duck Tape.

DISCLOSURE:  Shoplet.com provided me with free samples of Duck Tape products in order to do this review; however, all opinions expressed are my own. 

My First Birchbox

I told you a short while ago that I subscribed to Birchbox and would be receiving my first box soon. Well it came yesterday and I couldn't be happier. Inside my box was:

• Color Club | Nail Lacquer in He Loves Me
• Harvey Prince | Ageless perfume
• Jouer | Luminizing Moisture Tint
• Orofluido | Beauty Elixir 
• stila | Smoky Eye Card
• Tea Forte | skin-smart Teas

I think this was well worth the $10 I paid. The Ageless perfume smells amazing. I loved the way the moisture tint looked on my face and I loved the way it made it feel. The eye shadow gave my eyes a nice smoky look. I definitely can't wait until next month's box. If you'd like to sign up for Birchbox you can use my link http://www.birchbox.com?raf=6c1td to get started or you can check out my Follower Appreciation Giveaway under giveaways section where one lucky follower of mine will win a free 3 Month Subscription to Birchbox.

Buy 3 Zoya Nail Polishes and Get 3 Free

Add some color to your look this spring with Zoya Nail Polish. Until 11:59 p.m. EST today when you buy any 3 Zoya Nail Polish colors, you will get 3 free. All you have to do is add at least 6 Zoya Nail Polish colors of your choice to your shopping cart, enter code SPRING3 into the code field in your cart and press "Apply Code", and complete check-out process, review, and submit your order. Visit here for full details and restriction.  

Wordless Wednesday - Words to Live By

Personally Packaged Gift Baskets Review and Easter Giveaway

You might recall me recently talking about a gift management company called Personally Packaged but in case you missed that post you can check it out here. Pamela, the owner of Personally Packaged, is currently updating her website  but that doesn't mean she's stopped  making her fabulous gift baskets, carepaks, or careboxes. You can contact her via Facebook and/or Twitter to find out how you can place an order. And remember, any basket, carebox, or carepak can be customized upon request. You can also check out the Personally Packaged blog.

Recently, Pamela has been kind enough to send me two of her lovely creations for review. The first item I received from Personally Packaged for review was a "Movie Nite" gift basket, which was perfect because my family and I love watching movies together. This gift basket arrived via FedEx very, very well packaged. There was no way this was getting damaged during the shipping process. The items inside the gift basket were secured well also. Arriving just a few days before Christmas, I loved the festive look of the basket. I also loved the basket itself, which was of good size and sturdily made. Included in the basket was everything and more you'd want for a family movie night, including some soda, popcorn, pretzels, cookies, crackers, and different kinds of candy. Pamela even added a personal touch to the gift basket and included a few personalized "tickets for admission" to family movie night, which I absolutely loved. At my request, there was no movie included in this gift basket but normally either a movie or a gift card so that you could purchase a movie would be included.

Overall my family and I really enjoyed this gift basket and thought it was a great addition to our movie night. We usually just have popcorn with our movie but this was a real treat and made movie night even more fun. There was more than enough popcorn, snacks, and candy to go around with plenty left over for another family movie night or to just snack around on anytime. There was a big variety of snacks so there was something that everyone loved. I really like the basket that all these items came in and since it's so well made I'm going to eventually put it to good use in my home or office. This would be a great gift basket to use during family movie night at your house as well....or surprise your kids with this basket when they have friends over for a sleepover....or surprise your man and his friends and give it to them during the "big game"....or give it to Grandma and Grandpa when they are keeping the kids for the night as a special treat for all of them. There are so many occasions that this gift basket would be great for. 

The next item I received from Personally Packaged for review was a St. Paddy's Day carepak. This carepak came very well packaged also. My family and I thoroughly enjoyed this carepak. It's full of fun St. Patty's day themed stuff packed into several stacked St. Patty's Day hats. That's right, I said several hats. Just when my son and boyfriend were playfully debating over who was getting the hat, I discovered there were three of them there so plenty to go around. Some of the fun stuff inside included candy, rubber bracelets, buttons, beaded necklaces, two of which had plastic shot glasses hooked on them, other St. Patty's Day themed items, and last but not least two 50 mL bottles of Jameson Irish Whiskey. My son was most excited about one of the hats and my step-daughter was loving the bracelets and necklaces. This carepak really brought out the kid in my boyfriend and I and yes we both wore a hat around the house. My favorite things were the bracelets and there were two decorative artificial flowers that I really liked as well. You might be able to guess what my boyfriend's favorite thing in this carepak was....the Jameson Irish Whiskey!

Overall this carepak was just plain fun to receive and like I said it brought out the kid in my boyfriend and I. I think this carepake would put a smile on anyone's face receiving it and bring out the kid in them also. It's a great excuse for adults to act silly and cut loose after a long day, even for just a little while.

Giveaway

One Precisely Mine reader will win 25 Mini Easter Baskets from Personally Packaged to pass out at their kids school or at church (similar to baskets pictured above). These mini baskets are very kid friendly and contain an activity book, plush toy, rubber Easter stamps, an Easter picture frame, a chocolate chick, and a candy filled egg.