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Dr Pepper Barbecue Sauce Grilled Chicken + Tailgating Tips

August 30, 2017 by Abby

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GrillGatingHero #Grillgating

Dr Pepper® Barbecue Sauce Grilled Chicken is a fun, unique twist on a favorite game day dish. This sweet and tangy sauce is guaranteed to be the MVP of your tailgate.

Dr Pepper Barbecue Sauce Grilled Chicken is a fun, unique twist on a favorite game day dish. This sweet and tangy sauce is guaranteed to be the MVP of your tailgate.

I love just about everything about fall, but I especially love that it brings college football season. This is The South, so you know we value our football as much as we value our food. In fact, I’d say the two are synonymous for a lot fans. Any self-respecting southern college football fan has been to, and likely hosted, a tailgate. It really isn’t too hard, but it’s important to strike that balance between having enough fun, football-worthy food and doing so much that you don’t get a chance to enjoy your own party.

Dr Pepper Barbecue Sauce Grilled Chicken is a fun, unique twist on a favorite game day dish. This sweet and tangy sauce is guaranteed to be the MVP of your tailgate.

Today I’m spilling all my best tried-and-true tailgating tips, including my recipe for – gasp! – Dr Pepper® Barbecue Sauce Grilled Chicken. You might be tempted to scroll right to the bottom for that gem, but I promise you there’s plenty of goodness up here, too.

Tailgating Tips and Tricks

Don’t underestimate the power of simple sides

A few more time-consuming sides, like Brown Sugar Bacon-Wrapped Sausages or Cheesy Mexican Corn Dip, are great. Don’t forget to rely on the classics like carrots and Hidden Valley® Ranch or sliced cheese and RITZ® crackers. They’re both classics for a reason, and your guests won’t care that they required minimal prep time.

Dr Pepper Barbecue Sauce Grilled Chicken is a fun, unique twist on a favorite game day dish. This sweet and tangy sauce is guaranteed to be the MVP of your tailgate.

MVP Tip: Top RITZ crackers with shredded Dr Pepper Barbecue Sauce Grilled Chicken (recipe below) and a drizzle of extra sauce. The combination of the salted cracker and the sweet and tangy sauce is a certain touchdown.

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Toasted Peperoncini and Tomato Pesto Pita

July 30, 2017 by Abby

Need a last-minute appetizer or a quick lunch? Toasted Peperoncini and Tomato Pesto Pita, with two kinds of pesto, plump tomatoes, and the unexpected brightness of peperoncini, is the perfect easy recipe.

One of the first vegetables I remember falling in love with is peperoncini. There were other veggies I ate, of course, but I don’t remember the first time I tried them. Peperoncini, though, I first tried on my sandwich at a popular sub shop. I immediately loved the mildly spicy flavor and the hearty crunch.

Now, I don’t order a sub sandwich without them. In addition, I always have a jar of Mezzetta peperoncini in my refrigerator. I love to eat them on salads, in omelets, and on these Toasted Peperoncini and Tomato Pesto Pita. Basically, I’m constantly looking for new ways to eat them. I even have a recipe that uses the liquid from the jar because I’m not about to waste even one little bit. Don’t worry, that won’t be a problem now that you have this recipe on hand.

Need another reason to love Mezzetta? They’re currently offering a sweepstakes with Chef’d to give away 52 meal kits! Plus, all entrants get a 10% off coupon.

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Tips for Easy School Lunches

March 1, 2017 by Abby

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #2Good2Bear #CollectiveBias

Does packing your kids’ lunches fill you with dread? It doesn’t have to! Check out these tips for easy school lunches.

Does packing your kids' lunches fill you with dread? It doesn't have to! Check out these tips for easy school lunches.

My two oldest kids started school this year. I went from only worrying about my own lunch to being responsible for the three of us (full disclosure: J makes their lunches sometimes, too). I started the school year with big ideas about what I’d pack them and how I’d make the process easier. Some of those ideas panned out, some of them flopped, and some have been tweaked to create what I consider to be a pretty streamlined system.

Tips for Easy School Lunches

Prep for the Whole Week on Sunday

Maybe you can relate to this: Sunday night brings the best intentions regarding school lunches. You’re going to pack well-rounded meals every day. Monday goes well, and Tuesday isn’t bad either, but things go downhill. By Friday, you’re raiding the pantry for combination of items that won’t draw judgment from you kids’ teachers.

Here’s my best tip for overcoming that weekly slide: do as much prep work as possible on Sunday. This can include slicing cheese, making sandwiches, cooking a batch of chicken nuggets or pasta and portioning it into containers. Basically, do in advance anything you can. Not only does it take little additional time to make five sandwiches instead of one, you’ll also save yourself the headache of doing the same chore four more times during the week.

Turn to Ready-Made Treats

I’d say at least 80 percent of what I send in my kids’ lunches is prepared in our home. I’m not talking homegrown produce or from-scratch bread, but instead of prepackaged cheese and crackers, we buy a box of crackers and a brick of cheese. We do this to save money and to make sure our picky eaters get meals we know they’ll eat.

Does packing your kids' lunches fill you with dread? It doesn't have to! Check out these tips for easy school lunches.

There are times I turn to store-bought snacks, though, because they’re convenient and because my kids love them. One of our favorites is TEDDY SOFT BAKED Filled Snacks. My kids love that they’re shaped like bears, and I love that they don’t contain artificial colors, artificial flavors, or high fructose corn syrup. They’re made with ingredients I’m familiar with, like eggs and milk (and, of course, chocolate!).

Don’t forget to use ibotta to earn cash back when you purchase TEDDY SOFT BAKED Filled Snacks. I grab them in the cracker/cookie aisle at Walmart when I’m stocking up on other school-lunch necessities. If you were there February 23, you might have noticed a fun demo featuring TEDDY SOFT BAKED Filled Snacks and GoGo Squeeze.

Use Your Freezer

A long time ago, before I had kids, I saw a tip about making and freezing peanut butter sandwiches. I thought it was ridiculous because peanut butter sandwiches are crazy easy to make. Then I had kids, and those kids started school, and I learned how naive I’d been. Sure, making a peanut butter sandwich may take two minutes, but that’s sometimes two minutes you don’t have.

Now, I buy a loaf or two of bread and use all the slices to make peanut butter sandwiches. I half them, freeze them, and pull them out one at a time as needed. I also use the freezer for berries purchased fresh in season and for pureed vegetables used to make our own pouches.

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Potty Training Made Easy

April 30, 2016 by Abby

It seems I’m no good at potty training.

The entire process went poorly with G. At the time, I chalked it up to inexperience on my part and resistance to change on his part. Some kids are more difficult to potty train than others, I told myself.

And then it was time to potty train B. I’d say it went slightly better than it did with her brother. Part of that is because we had more experience under our belts, and part of that is because I got a little bit wiser.

Before I had kids, I wasn’t going to be a mom that bought Pull-Ups® Training Pants. I thought they were an unnecessary step between diapers and underwear. I thought they just prolonged potty training and confused the child about what the goal was.

I was wrong.

It turns out toddlers thrive on consistency and diapers don’t teach potty training skills like Pull-Ups do. Plus, they look and fit more like underwear, giving your child the independence to slide his pants on and off.

By the time we started the potty training process with B, I’d learned my lesson. With her, Pull-Ups were a big part of the process, and they were also why it was easier on all of us. We used Pull-Ups to help B make the transition from diapers to underwear. Thanks to Pull-Ups, B felt like a big girl because we no longer had to change her diapers, but J and I didn’t have to worry she’d have an accident while we were in public.

Pull-Ups are super easy to put on and take off; the stretchy sides make them way more convenient than any other options we tried. Even though we’re grateful we discovered them in time to take a lot of the stress out of potty training B, that doesn’t mean the process was without hiccups. She’s a super stubborn kid- strong-willed, we like to say- and she can’t be easily coaxed into doing anything she doesn’t want to do.

All of the mistakes we made potty training G and B have solidified my desire to do a better job when it’s time to train baby number three. Luckily, I found the Pull-Ups website, and it’s full of resources to help make the transition from diapers to underwear as smooth as possible for both parents and toddlers. Specifically, I found three resources I’m absolutely going to take advantage of next time around.