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Quick and Easy Week Night Meals

August 8, 2018 by Katie Haller

It’s that time of the year when kids are going back to school and life is getting busy. Cooking for your family is probably the last thing you feel like doing, yet you can’t wait around for mom to make dinner because guess what? You are the mom! That’s why today I wanted to share some of my favorite quick and easy meals that I like to make for my family.

There used to be a time when I enjoyed cooking, but now with a toddler, a full-time job and a blog that I like to keep up with, cooking is my least favorite thing… just behind cleaning my house. The problem is, we don’t like to eat out all the time. It can be really expensive and it’s not that healthy to always eat out in restaurants. Not to mention, going to a restaurant with a 2-year-old is not very enjoyable for us right now. We do go out to eat once or twice on the weekends, but most of the week we eat at home.

Every weekend, I try to put together a meal plan for the week. I typically go to the same 3 grocery stores every week. For my everyday shopping needs, I like Smith’s, because I’m familiar with the store, it’s convenient and they have great prices. I use their app to load up my mobile coupons and save extra on almost everything I buy. I also like to do my big weekend grocery shopping trips at WinCo. WinCo is great because they have great prices, unique local brands and ethnic foods. The only downfall for me is that WinCo doesn’t accept credit cards, which I earn cashback rewards for shopping at grocery stores, so I have to forfeit my points when I shop at WinCo. The last grocery store that I regularly shop at is Trader Joe’s. I look forward to my Trader Joe’s trips because I love that store! I usually spend a little more when I do a trip to Trader Joe’s, but it’s worth it, because they have so yummy frozen meals and premade meals, that they keep my family fed for a while.

Today, I want to share 6 quick and easy meals for you. No difficult recipes, just simple meals for you and your family.

Trader Joe’s Clam Linguini

This is a go-to meal for me. The frozen bag of Clam Linguini is really yummy and it takes under 10 minutes to cook. I always like to have a salad with my pasta and bag salads are the best to go with weeknight meals. I love this Chopped Mediterranean salad from Taylor Farms, but I usually just buy whatever is on sale. I usually make some garlic toast to go along with our meal, because my husband always likes it.

Trader Joe’s Turkey Meatballs

After making these Trader Joe’s meatballs, I don’t know if I’ll ever make homemade meatballs again. Well, maybe one day if I have a lot of free time, but these meatballs are delicious!! I just microwave them for 2 minutes and I serve them with angel hair pasta and marinara sauce. Again, I like to serve my pasta with a bag salad and some garlic toast. Since it’s only my husband and me who eat the salad, I split the bag so it will last us for more than one meal.

Avocado Pasta

Avocado pasta was one of the first Pinterest recipes that I ever tried. I love avocados and this is the perfect way to use them in a pasta. I’ve been making this meal for so many years that I have simplified my recipe. In my hand blender measuring cup, I add 1-2 avocados, depending on the size, 2 Tbs of Olive Oil, 1 tsp of minced garlic, a splash of lemon juice and some Morten seasoning. I blend it all up with my mixer and serve it over whole wheat spaghetti noodles, with salad and bread on the side. It’s an easy way to get kids to eat a vegetable too!

Mediterranean Chicken Wrap

I love Mediterranean food. This wrap is the perfect fix when I feel like some sort of chicken wrap. I buy all the ingredients at Trader Joe’s. This pre-cooked chicken breast is the best. It’s all-white meat, fresh and perfect for wraps and salads. I use hummus to line the pita with, then add chicken, feta, and tabouli. It makes for a nice fast summer meal. Plus there is no cleanup since there is no cooking involved.

Fish Tacos

I love fish tacos and these fish tacos are so easy. I buy the fish nuggets at Trader Joe’s. For a topping, I buy some kind of slaw in a bag. This Tahini, Pepita and Apricot Slaw Kit from Trader Joe’s was the perfect veggie toppings with these. For cheese, I usually like to use feta with fish. I made my tacos on a corn tortilla, but my husband prefers flour, so you can use either or depending on your preference.

Bean and Rice Burritos

This meal is pretty much poor college student food, but it’s so easy and it tastes good too. I use refried beans, Spanish rice, cheese, avocado and salsa. For this meal, I grilled my burrito, but if you want to make it really easy, you can just pop it in the microwave.

So there you have it. Those are 6 easy meals that you can make for your family within 30 minutes. Let me know if you try any of them. For more quick and easy meals, follow me on Instagram and watch my instastories where I will share more recipes as I make them.

*This post contains affiliate links.

Toddler Update + Outfit Post with PinkBlush

August 1, 2018 by Katie Haller

Today I’m talking about the 2 things that I always have on my mind; my toddler and fashion. I remember thinking that having an infant kept me so busy. Between the feedings, diapers, and lack of sleep, I thought that I never got a minute to rest. Now that Jack is 2, all that baby stuff seems so easy to me now. People always told us that some things will get easier as your child grows and other things will be harder. Boy were they right. Sometimes, being a toddler mom is so easy. When Jack gets engaged in something and is in a good mood it’s so great, but then there are the other times when I am just exhausted. Jack is so busy and he can be so demanding of my attention. It can definitely be challenging figuring out how to balance my home life, my full-time job, my blog, and social media all while trying to be a good mom. I’m constantly multi-tasking. What I’m finding out is that multi-tasking is just a part of being a mom.

People always ask me when are we going to try for another baby. I will say that I don’t even want to think about having another baby until Jack will sleep consistently through the night for a whole month. I’m pretty sure that Jack is the world’s worst sleeper. It’s gotten better, much better from the first year, but he is still waking up during the night. Now he just comes into our bed whenever he wakes up. I wouldn’t mind having him in our bed if he didn’t sleep sideways and toss and turn all night long. With as sick as I was for my first trimester with Jack, I do not know how I could get through a pregnancy with no sleep, a demanding toddler and still function at work. Hopefully, Jack will get better at sleeping, at least that’s what I’ve been telling myself since the day he was born.

Even though my little guy can be a total crazy person at times, he is also so adorable! I think God makes toddlers extremely cute for a reason. His little smile and laugh puts a smile on my face all the time. He is talking so much and forming sentences. We understand him and even other people are starting to understand him sometimes. I do have a lot of fun with him. One thing I’ve been trying to do more often is spend more quality time with him, by putting my phone in the other room and just playing with him. Sometimes I have too many distractions, but Jack is what’s important right now. Watching him grow and soaking in this toddler age before it’s too late.

This post is part of a collaboration with PinkBlush. All opinions are 100% my own.

Now on to the fashion! Every year around this time of the summer I start getting excited about fall fashion. Since we don’t really experience fall temperatures until late November, I usually get really into transitional fall looks. One trend I’m really loving right now are the front button tie tops. I’ve been seeing them everywhere. They are so cute and casual, plus perfect to transition into your fall wardrobe. This navy striped button tie front top is from my favorite boutique PinkBlush. I really love the ruffled sleeves on this top. I think it sets it apart from some of the other tops I’ve seen like this. I styled it for today’s look with distressed jeans and my slides, but it could easily be styled with jean shorts for summer or a nicer pair of jeans or pants and some flats for the classroom. I plan on wearing it to one of my professional development days this week at work.

To find more trendy tops like this one, be sure to head over to PinkBlush!

Summer Vacation Recap

July 9, 2018 by Katie Haller

Every year, the first week of July, I get a week off work. It’s always well deserved. We usually head back to Michigan for the week, but this year we have a big vacation planned with my husband’s side of the family this month, so we decided to postpone our Michigan trip until later in the year. We still were looking for something fun that we could do close by that wouldn’t cost a lot of money. We decided to spend a couple days in Mesquite, NV at the Casablanca resort. They have a really nice pool, and that’s pretty much all we were looking for was a nice pool to relax by. We also haven’t explored many places in Nevada outside of the Las Vegas valley, so we thought it would be fun.

This was the first time that we took a trip with Jack to an actual hotel room. In the past we have stayed at our families houses, which makes traveling with a baby a little more comfortable. This little trip was much harder than our trips of the past. Jack is so used to his schedule and routine, that he was so thrown off by our trip. It wasn’t the relaxing trip we had hoped for. We had to take breaks by the pool because for one it was 110 degrees and if we weren’t in the pool, I worried about Jack over heating. And also we had to get Jack down for naps mid day or we would have a nightmare on our hands by dinner time. When Jack is not at school, the only way I can get him to take a nap is by putting him in his car seat and going for a drive, so that’s what we did.

My husband kept comparing Jack to a dog that needs lots of space to run around and play and that was the prefect comparison. Jack brought out all of his toddler 2 year old behaviors. He tried running away from us through a busy casino, threw stuff at us and screamed when we were eating in restaurants and he tried running off into the pool on his own. He basically did everything he could to give his parents a heart attack. He acted like we have never taken him out in public before. My husband kept saying how nice it would be if we left Jack at home with someone. Yes, it would of been nice to spend one on one time with Kevin, but we are at this stage in our lives and we just need to embrace it. Does having a 2 year old make it hard to relax and enjoy yourself when you go out? YES! Do I wish it was just the 2 of us still? NO!

Even though things are harder with a toddler, he’s adorable and funny and we love him so much. He always makes us smile no matter what. I know that we will one day look back on our little mini family vacation and have happy memories. We will laugh at his two year old behavior and think it was cute (not yet, but one day). We will miss his little words that he tries to say and the way he acts out his videos that he watches on YouTube kids.

All I have to say is that if you are a parent, don’t let the fact that outings and trips are harder hold you back. Yes life was easier before kids, but you do what you have to do. Your toddler may not remember the trips you went on, but you will and it’s so worth it in the end. Now I’m only hoping that our California trip goes a little smoother.

Local Henderson Thrift Store

June 28, 2018 by Katie Haller

I’ve always loved to second-hand shop, but after moving out to Las Vegas, I’ve been doing the majority of my shopping at second-hand stores. For myself, I never seem to have a difficult time finding great finds, but when it comes to second-hand shopping for Jack, I don’t always have the best luck. One problem that I’m consistently running into while thrift shopping for Jack is a lack of selection and quality, especially when it comes to boy items.

*This post is part of a collaboration with Archer & Jane. All options are 100% my own.

Recently, I stumbled upon a thrift store that solves all my problems for buying my little guy second-hand items. The store is called Archer + Jane and it’s located on Water Street right in downtown Henderson. I don’t think a lot of Las Vegas locals even know that downtown Henderson exists, but it’s one of the few original downtowns in the Las Vegas area. Where I’m from back in Michigan we have lots of little towns with little local shops and restaurants and I really missed that when I moved out here to Vegas because everything is so new. Archer + Jane has all the charm of one of those little shops back in the Midwest.

Archer + Jane sells pre-loved goods for both children and moms. The owner carefully goes through each donation bag and carefully selects the items that she wants to sell in her store. The kid’s clothes are in perfect condition, even the boy’s clothes! Archer + Jane is also a great place to find baby gear like gently used pack-n-plays, baby carriers, booster seats, and boppy chairs, many of them are still in their original packaging. It’s a great place to find those extra items that maybe you didn’t get from your baby registry and you don’t want to pay full price for. You can also find brands like Noodle & Boo, Lil ‘O’ Blossom and Green Toys.

If you’re looking for a spot to recycle your baby products, Archer + Jane is the perfect place. Just drop off a bag of gently used baby, women or maternity items and you can earn store credit for more shopping!

As Jack gets older, I am always finding things around the house that I might need, but I don’t want to go to the store and spend full price. I’ve been looking for a booster chair for him for a while now, but I’ve had no luck finding an inexpensive one. I found this brand new Safety First booster chair at Archer & Jane for only $15. It had never been used and was still in the box. It retails for $30.

If you are a Las Vegas local or know someone who lives in the Las Vegas/Henderson area, I highly recommend checking out Archer + Jane. Head over to my Instagram page (HERE) to enter to win a $25 gift card to Archer & Jane. Giveaway will end on July 27th. Don’t forget to follow along with Archer + Jane on social media to see all the latest merchandise and sales! Find them on Facebook (HERE), Instagram (HERE) and Twitter (HERE).

Happy Thrifting!!

The Gift of Me-Time for Mother’s Day

May 3, 2018 by Katie Haller

Ever since I became a mom, my life has been dedicated to taking care of my little boy. I’m always thinking about him and what he might need next. I have this never-ending list of things I need to do in my head to make sure he is well taken care of and our home is running smoothly. No matter how hard I try, I still manage to forget something. From the time I wake up, until the time I go to sleep, my mind is on my family.

The truth is, I didn’t really think about the amount of time I would spend focusing all my energy on another human. Don’t get me wrong, I honestly love taking care of my little guy. I love being a mom. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without him. But I do miss the amount of time I used to have to myself. It makes me understand and appreciate my own mom more. There was a reason she would hide out in the bathroom away from us kids. She just wanted a little alone time.

*This post is part of a collaboration with Smile Brilliant. All opinions are 100% my own.

This year for Mother’s Day, I think all of us moms should give ourselves a little bit of me-time. I did a poll last week on my Instastories and I wasn’t surprised by the results. From what people told me, the majority of us mom don’t take the extra time on ourselves that we should. When I became a mom, I made a promise to myself that I wasn’t going to lose myself in motherhood. I wanted to still do the things that I enjoyed and still put myself together every day because that’s important to me. It makes me feel good to put together a cute outfit, do my hair and wear makeup. I still fall behind in a few things. I don’t work out the way I would like to, I only get to the salon every 6 months and my nails might have nail polish on them, but they only look good maybe 2 days out of the week.

One thing that I’ve been trying to do more often is to take care of my smile. Last summer I did a review on the professional at-home teeth whitening system, Smile Brilliant (Check out my post HERE!). I was really pleased with my results and it felt good to set aside a little bit of me-time. (Check out my results below!) Since then, I’ve been trying to keep up on whiting my teeth here and there. I think it’s really important to just take a little bit of extra time on yourself when you can. Teeth whitening is an easy way that you can do that. I like to whiten my teeth while my little guy is in the bathtub. He’s entertained with his bath toys and I can still be there if he needs me, but I also pay a little attention to myself.

I’m so excited, because Smile Brilliant wants to share one of their teeth whitening kits with one of my readers. They are giving away a $149 credit to cover the cost of your own professional at home teeth whitening system. Go HERE to enter! You can also use my coupon code thriftywifehappylife20 for $20 off! You don’t have to be a mom to enjoy some me-time with some teeth whiting, so make sure you enter!! The winner will be informed by e-mail!

How to Organize Your Time With a Planner

April 2, 2018 by Katie Haller

I mentioned earlier this year that one of my goals for 2018 was to organize my time better. Well, we are 4 months into the year, and let’s just say that organization is an ongoing goal for me. I have so much going on, that sometimes I struggle with getting all my thoughts out and completing all the tasks that I need to be done. Between work, taking care of my family, cleaning, cooking, and blogging…I tend to get overwhelmed.

*This post is part of a collaboration with Transcending Waves Planners. Although I was gifted this item, all opinions are 100% my own.

One thing that has helped me out a lot with staying organized and on task, is using a planner. I used a planner all through high school and college and it was always helpful. As an adult, I stopped using a planner. I guess I didn’t see a need for it. My husband is always trying to get me to use my phone to keep me organized, but there is only so much my phone can do for me. There is just something about using pen and paper and actually writing things down.

Recently, I’ve been using my Transcending Waves planner, and let me tell you, this planner is a game-changer. Earlier this year I bought a simple planner at TJMaxx and it was great. It had a calendar for each month and the weeks, but it was missing so much. When I got my Transcending Waves planner, I got really excited because it had all the features I was looking for. It breaks down the months, weeks, days, and even the hours. They have places to write down your goals and projects, what action steps you need to take, distractions to avoid, and even a spot to say what you’re grateful for. One feature I like the most is the morning plan page and the nightly review. It helps you make your plans and then at the end of the day, you can evaluate how productive you were and make changes for the next day.

So what kind of things do I use my planner for? I use it for pretty much everything in my life, but here is a list.

Meal planning
I find it so important to meal plan, especially with a full-time job. When I come home at night, I like to know exactly what we are having for dinner. Every weekend, I write down what I have in the house, and then I plan out my grocery shop list. Then I write down in my planner what I’m making for dinner each day. It’s very helpful.

Work Paper Work
I work for a Headstart Preschool program, which is funded through the federal government. If you have ever worked for a government agency you know that it’s a lot of paperwork. I do daily observations on the children, write individual lesson plans every week, lesson plans, keep behavior trackers, parent-teacher conference/ home visit reports 4 times a year, 2 screenings…my list goes on. So yes, it takes some organization in the classroom. I like to use my planner to plan what I’m going to do during my class time and my planning time after the kids go home. I try to break down the paperwork so it doesn’t pile up.

Workout Plans
After becoming a mom, I have become a total slacker with working out. With summer around the corner and bathing suit season approaching, I’ve been trying to make some changes and add a little exercise to my daily routine. I’m starting out slow, but I like to keep track of it in my planner to stay on top of it. I record what I did each day, so I know the next day what to work on.

Blog work and Social media
I love blogging. I’m passionate about it and it’s so fun for me. Now that I have been working with brands and using affiliate links in my blog, blogging has become much more than just a little hobby. It’s hard to keep up with all 4 of my major social media platforms, emails and promoting my blog posts. I use my planner to plan out what posts I’m putting out each month. Then I record where I’ve promoted my posts. I write down what sponsored posts are coming up and what brands I’d like to contact. It’s a lot to keep up with, but my planner really helps me with organizing all that.

Cleaning Schedule
Cleaning is my least favorite responsibility, but it’s one of those things that need to get done. I like to schedule out in my planner what rooms I’m going to clean every week. I try to keep a list of cleaning projects in my planner and I cross them off as I complete them.

Those are the things I write down in my planner. Do you use a planner to stay organized? You can use the code THRIFTYWIFEHAPPYLIFE to get 10% off of a Transcending Waves Planner. They are only $19.99, which I think is a pretty great price for all the features it offers. I hope you will check them out!!

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