Busy Mom Reviews

This is the second week of the "Pork: Be Inspired" project from Publix and the National Pork Board.

For the next few weeks, Publix is featuring a different cut of pork on sale in their stores, and part of this project is to make a healthy meal from the featured cut.
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Last week, I made Sauteed Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Lemon-Garlic Sauce.

This week's challenge was to make something for game day with boneless pork loin chops, so I chose Game Day Pork and Chile Wraps:

Ingredients:

Calories 290, Total Fat 10 g, Saturated Fat 1 g, Cholesterol 60 mg, Sodium 310 mg, Carbohydrate 26 g, Fiber 4 g, Protein 23 g

I made them tonight, and they turned out great (even if I did eat the leftover avocado). They were really easy to make, and it's something a little different you can feed the crowd:

For information and other great recipe ideas, be sure to check out Pork Be Inspired and the Pork Be Inspired Facebook page.

Also, don't forget to follow @AllAboutPork on Twitter and the hashtag, #Publix4Pork.

Check out the sales on pork at a Publix near you, and see what kind of healthy meal you can create!

Disclosure: This campaign is in conjunction with The Motherhood and Publix, I received gift cards to purchase my recipe ingredients and am being compensated for my time. All opinions are 100% mine. We like pork, and I thought you might, too.

Are you tired of going to the store and wondering if you got the best deal?

On Februrary 1, 2012, jcpenney introduced a completely new pricing structure that will do away with coupons completely, sales, and create a fair and square pricing structure so you know that no matter what day you are shopping at jcpenney you are getting a fair price.

Imagine it. You don't have to wait for sales, scan websites, cut coupons or make a special trip to get a great deal.

Here's how it works:

There are 3 Fair and Square prices:

-Everyday, regular prices: which are always great;
-Month-Long Values: even better prices on the things you need now; and
-Best Prices: jcpenney's lowest prices, which always happen on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of every month.

Additionally, jcpenney unveiled a new logo and their stores will be updated, and reorganized featuring lots of brands you love.

Disclosure: jcpenney will be providing me with a gift card for me to check out the new way to shop in person.

I haven't checked in in a while regarding Busy Boy's Invisalign Teen treatment.

He's nearing the end of treatment, I think there's only a few more aligners to go! He's done such a great job with it because it does take some dedication to wear them. I sometimes forget he has them and then I panic until I find out he can take care of them just fine without me.

Actually, he can take care of quite a few things without me, now that I read that, I think it's my own issues at play here. Kidding. Mostly.

At any rate, he's been at this for just over a year, and I really didn't realize how far he'd come until the orthodontist showed us an animation depicting how his teeth had moved since the beginning of treatment. There's a big difference, and I was just noticing tonight how good his teeth look.

Here's a video we made (my hair is a disaster, be warned) from a while back with a little of his perspective about wearing Invisalign Teen:

Disclosure: I am a member of the Invisalign Teen Mom Advisory Board. My son
has received complimentary treatment from Invisalign, but all opinions expressed are
my own.

As many of you know, I'm getting ready to send my first kid to college in the fall.

She's looking at several different places, some that are several hours from home. Actually, in the next few years, I'll have 2 kids living away from home, possibly in apartments.

Because I'm me, I'm already worried about the logistics of then living away from home. College students move frequently, and come home for extended periods of time, so you have to balance whether or not you need to rent a truck or see a storage company to have a place for their stuff between moves.

If you do decide you need a storage facility, it's nice to know that companies like Uncle Bob's have lots of different locations near lots of schools (since we still don't know what school she'll choose).

I have no idea the adventures in moving that await me, do I?

If you've read Busy Mom Blog for any length of time, you know we're in serious need of a new mattress. It's gotten hard to sleep, and I've had mornings I could barely move, so it's time.

In the morning, I'm headed to Las Vegas to the Ashley Furniture Showroom at the World Furniture Market, to learn about Ashley Sleep mattresses and their “Seize YOUR Day” Campaign:

Ashley Sleep believes you should always be getting a great night’s sleep and that a great mattress can help you do that.

If you are getting a proper night’s sleep, who knows what you will be able to accomplish the next day?

Ashley Sleep was introduced in 2008, and is manufactured by Ashley Furniture Industries, the largest furniture manufacturer and #1 retail furniture brand in the world.

All of their mattresses are built with comfort technologies normally included in mattresses sold at much higher prices, and each mattress passes over 200 quality control tests before leaving the manufacturing facilities.

So what does it mean for me? I'm getting ready to find out when I go to LasVegas and choose a mattress that's right for me.

Stay tuned!

Be sure to follow Ashley Sleep on Facebook for stories and tips on making the most of your day!

Disclosure: I will receive the trip and a product sample from Ashley Sleep as described above. I am free to (and, I will!) write about my experiences as I wish.

One of my plans for the new year (notice I didn't say "resolution") was to try to find some different things to make for dinner as we seems to have gotten in a pasta with different color sauce rut.

Not only would it help with variety, I figured if I tried a little harder, we could eat healthier, too.

One thing we love, and I somehow end up "forgetting about" is pork.

So, when good folks at The Motherhood asked me if I wanted to be a part of the “Good and Good for You Challenge” from Publix and the National Pork Board, I thought it was great timing!

In order to inspire healthy diets in 2012, the National Pork Board is hosting a “Good and Good for You Challenge” from January 26-February 22nd, 2012 and they are asking people to pledge to eat healthy throughout the year.

For each of the four weeks of the challenge, Publix will be offering a sale on a select cut of pork. This week, pork tenderloin is on sale.

I made Sauteed Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Lemon-Garlic Sauce:

Times
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Makes 4 servings

For information and other great recipe ideas, be sure to check out Pork Be Inspired and the Pork Be Inspired Facebook page.

Also, don't forget to follow @AllAboutPork on Twitter and the hashtag, #Publix4Pork.

Check out the sales on pork at a Publix near you, and see what kind of healthy meal you can create!

Disclosure: This campaign is in conjunction with The Motherhood and Publix, I received gift cards to purchase my recipe ingredients and am being compensated for my time. All opinions are 100% mine. We like pork, and I thought you might, too.

We've been in our house for 20 years this year, that's hard to believe!

We have an old house, and we worked hard to fix it up way back in 1992. As much as we love it, it's starting to look a little dated.

At the time, the house had only 1 bathroom, and we had to completely start over on it. We eventually added 2 other baths upstairs a couple of year later, though.

Our house has a lot of character, and at the time we were re-doing the bathroom, the contractor kept wanting to put in antique-looking fixtures. Those types of things were so NOT our taste, but we did agree on a pedestal sink downstairs. The upstairs bathrooms don't really have anything as interesting, they're more utilitarian, I suppose.

Forward this many years later, even though it feels like it was just yesterday when we did all that work, it's been a while. We've recently discussed the need to go one room at a time and update and detail them, lest we become the people with the musty, dated house.

The bathroom is actually going to be first, and we'll probably start by looking at 2012 bath vanities and removing the wallpaper. Places like Modern Bathroom are good for that type of inspiration.

It's sort of an oddly-shaped room (old house fun!), so that makes it a challenge, but we're up for it. I don't know exactly what we'll end up doing, or when we'll get started, but I'm looking forward to freshening things up and getting rid of clutter.

However, we have kids, so I'm not sure the "clutter" part will ever be resolved, but we can try!

Did you know Tropicana has a line of juice beverages with 50% less calories and sugar and no artificial flavors?

If one of your New Year's resolutions is to cut down on sugar and calories (I know mine is!), Trop50 might be able to help. One of my favorite flavors is the Trop50 Raspberry Lemonade, you should check it out!

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So, what are you waiting for?

Go on over and enter Trop50 True Resolutions and try Tropicana Trop50!

Disclosure: I am a Tropicana TropiMomma.

A couple of years ago, I suddenly developed a problem with my eye make-up ending up under my eyes, giving me dark circles.

I hadn't really done anything different with my make-up routine, so the issue was baffling.

I've always enjoyed watching make-up tutorials to try to pick up new ideas and learn some stuff, so I looked for an answer there, but didn't really find anything.

One thing I did notice, however was that the people who were really good at eye make-up used brushes. I'd always wanted to try them, but wasn't really ready to make a commitment to them since make-up brushes can be a little spendy.

But, I noticed that e.l.f. makes several affordable makeup brush sets, and since I thought my eyeliner might be the culprit, I tried to figure out how to do it with a make-up brush.

After a little trial and error, I figured out how to do liner using a brush and my regular dark eyeshadow, and the problem went away!

I had thought that brushes were for people really skilled at doing makeup, but I learned that I probably should have been using them all along!

My next project is to learn to do foundation, and check into the mineral makeup that's so popular (hey, I didn't say my skills were cutting edge) and try using mineral makeup brushes. So, back to the e.l.f. section at the store I'll go.

So, eventually I'll figure out what "all those makeup brushes" actually do, and I'll be a professional in no time!

As an only child, I spent a lot of time with my parents, and games were many of the fun things we did together.

Trouble was one of my favorite games, and I liked Don't Spill the Beans. I always wanted Operation, but somehow I never ended up with it. Perhaps it was the 5,672 little pieces that my mother didn't want to deal with? Who knows?

Anyway, I've enjoyed playing Trouble with my own kids, and Hungry, Hungry Hippos and Puppy Racers are big around here, even as my kids have gotten older.

I have 3 kids of different ages and personalities, and while it doesn't always end well when they play games together, I've always tried to make sure they get time with us to play their favorite games just like my parents did for me.

How are board games a bonding experience for your family?

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of LEGOSystems. The opinions expressed by me do not necessarily reflect the view of the LEGO Brand. Official Contest Rules

The weather's getting colder, and the holidays are coming up, so it's the perfect time to slow down a little (after shopping, that is!) and relax a bit with family and friends.

Holiday comforts can mean a lot of things: a comfy couch, good music, warm drinks and a fire in the fireplace.

But, comfort isn't only physical. There's a certain psychological comfort in family holiday traditions, as well.

When I was growing up, my grandparents always came to visit at Christmas, and I couldn't wait because I always helped my grandmother make the dressing for the Turkey.

We'd always listen to certain holiday music and we opened the wrapped gifts on Christmas Eve while Santa brought his gifts on Christmas morning. Dessert was always vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce because that was my grandfather's favorite.

Now that I have my own family, we've made traditions as well. But, as we all know, the life of a grown-up during the holidays is different than when we were kids. There's a few more things to do besides open gifts.

Holidays can be hectic and exhausting, and it's important to remember to take the time rest and relax and enjoy the fruits of your holiday labor.

One of my favorite holiday comforts to help me remember to relax is my winter penguin pajama pants. They are comfortable and festive, and great for just hanging out (no, I'm not the person who wears them to the grocery store, don't worry).

It used to be that when I got them out to wear, the holidays had officially begin for me.

But, now I don't actually put them away because I like them and they make me happy. They're a little way to extend the comforts of the holiday season year-round. I bought them several years ago on my annual girls trip to the beach, so they remind me of being with friends, too.

They are unfortunately starting to show their age, but they still go everywhere with me, bring holiday comfort to even the unexpected locations:

Comfort is the perfect gift for everyone on your holiday gift list, so be sure to take advantage of Tempur-Pedic's Buy 2, get 1 free pillow offer! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective