Tired of cooking? #welcometomoes #moeschimi #ad

* This is a sponsored post and giveaway hosted by me on behalf of Moe's Southwest Grill. As a member of Moe's Blogger Advisory Council I was provided with several gift cards to give away. *

It's early December, and so many of us are tapped out of meal ideas. I mean, it is the end of the year, we're nearly hitting that 365 mark of meal prep and designing that exhausts us all. It's okay to skimp a little at the end of the year. You'll be doing enough home-cooking and eating soon enough. You can go out to eat and cut yourself some slack ...

So, my question is, have you been to Moe's lately?

You'll want to head over soon and check out the new Chimichurri burrito.

Moe's new Chimichurri burrito is available for a limited time and is made up of grass-fed steak, grilled mushrooms and peppers, pico de gallo and seasoned rice. Smother that with their new cilantro chimicurri sauce and I have a feeling you'll quickly find yourself enjoying a meal that's popping with flavor.

Stay tuned, you might be a winner and be able to get your own Chimichurri Burrito FREE! I'll have a few gift cards up for grabs at the end of this post.

Besides their variety and new menu items, something I really love about Moe's is that I can adjust my meal to make healthy choices. I can up the tomatoes and pico and ask for less or no cheese. And if I'm trying to be really proactive I can head to their website before I go and check out Moe's menu's nutritional information.  I'm not always that on the ball, but I like that I can be - or I can bring up their website on my smartphone and do it before I order. As we head into the new year and many of us are looking at a fresh start, Moe's can be a great place to head to grab a quick and healthy bite!

Now - for the fun part - I've got a few $5 gift cards up for grabs, so enter today and you might win one.

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Holiday Saltine Toffee Treats #SeasonsEatings & Pin To Win with #HarrisTeeter

* I have been compensated for this post and was provided a gift card to give away to one of my readers. The content and images are my original work and entirely my own. *

It might be surprising how much I enjoy baking holiday treats. Or not baking them.

It's no surprise I love eating them. They're good stuff.

So I'm sharing a favorite recipe I stumbled across online last year and tweaked to turn into a Good Girl Gone Redneck creation.

It's saltine toffee.

Have you not heard of this?

Have you not tried it?

It's so goooooood.

And easy. I'm no master chef or baker, but I can do this and make loads of them. And it doesn't have to be perfect, so it's even better because of that.

You'll need a pot for boiling and a cookie sheet for baking.

Holiday Saltine Toffee Treats

Ingredients: 

* package of saltine crackers (name brand NOT required)

* stick of butter

* 1c brown sugar

* 2c semi-sweet chocolate chips (feel free to be more generous with this ingredient if you so choose)

* 1c holiday M&Ms (or other candies) - totally optional, but way prettier

Preheat oven to 400* for future use. 

Layer crackers on cookie sheet. 

Combine sugar and butter in pot and bring to a low boil. Boil for 3 minutes. This part is serious. I've tried to do some of these boiling timing things and messed them up. 3 minutes is like the magic number or something. Stir and pour quickly over crackers (on cookie sheet, of course!). Spread to cover entire sheet of crackers. 

Bake at 400* for about 5 minutes or so. It's unfortunately less of a science, but I promise you'll totally KNOW when they're ready. They smell SO good. The sugar combo will be bubbling up a bit. 

Pour chocolate chips onto cracker/toffee combo and let melt. 

Use a spatula to gently spread chocolate across entire tray. Cover all spots. 

Scatter holiday M&Ms across in random patterns. Or have your kids carefully help and make designs. Whatever makes you most happy. 

Completely cool in refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. You'll be able to check and see if you need more or less time. Once completely cooled break up into pieces. You can try for perfect squares but you probably won't make them. And that's okay. These things are so good. I kind of want some right now. 

Enjoy it all for yourself or share with friends and family. 

Or proceed to eat entire batch and repeat immediately. 

Or not. 

Now, as if that recipe wasn't enough joy for you this holiday season, I've got a giveaway and some great info on an awesome giveaway from Harris Teeter for you. 

Harris Teeter has an awesome giveaway happening right now and all you need to do is play around on Pinterest. And who doesn't do that this time of the year? 

And, making this an even more exciting post, I'VE got a giveaway for you, too. 

Harris Teeter has provided me with a $25 gift card to give to one of my readers. And if you don't have a HT near you and want to win to donate to charity, I can help you with that, too. So enter today, and good luck!

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* This post has been written entirely by me. I was compensated for this post and received a gift card to give to one of my readers. * 

Chanukah.

The holidays are coming. Chanukah is literally tomorrow.

I mean it. It's tomorrow.

Talk about giving me no space whatsoever, right?

It's going to be so rough this year.

My father has always been the driving force behind the holidays. Whether he knew it or not, he was. Is. But isn't. Isn't here anymore to visibly and audibly be a part of it.

Yes. Audibly.

You might not know that my dad had the most beautiful voice.

You've probably never heard him sing the blessings over the candles.

You've surely never seen him stand up at temple and sing words you might not have ever understood but still - you knew - know.

You watched him practice them over and over and over again.

You heard him sing them at the kitchen table. Glasses perched on his face. Red covered book - where is that book - in his weathered hands.

And his voice.

So many times we laughed. "Da, what are you doing? You already KNOW it. How many times are you going to sing it before tomorrow?"

What I wouldn't give to hear him sing again.

To see his eyes twinkle. To hear him over the phone as we lit our own candles. If you know me, you know that's been tradition. Every year. And now. This year. We'll have no voice to urge us on.

We'll have no leader to lead.

It will just be us. With no Daddy to sing with.

I'm not sure how it's going to go. I just know that today stings like a son-of-a-gun. And then some. But I'm trying to be ever-so-slightly proper for the moment.

Ah, screw it. It hurts. It hurts like hell.

There seems to be an unlimited supply of tears. Completely unlimited.

Turn them on and they keep coming until suddenly you realize you're so drained and dry that your lips are chapped and your eyes are puffy and your face is red and dry and cracking and tomorrow is Chanukah and your dad isn't here anymore to enjoy it.

And it sucks.

A lot.


* Linking up this week with Shell for Pour Your Heart Out. 

The First Phone Call From Heaven, by Mitch Albom ~ book review

* I was provided a copy of this book from TLC Book Tours. All expressed opinions are strictly my own. I was not compensated for posting this review. *

So. Here we have it. The First Phone Call From Heaven. 

This book arrived in my mailbox on October 11th. 

My husband and I had just loaded the car, ready to head to New York. I ran to the mailbox since I knew that there would be stuff in there and we'd be away for a bit. 

I got into the back of the car, next to my daughter, the two of us wiping tears from our eyes. We were headed to New York because my dad had passed away earlier that afternoon. 

I pulled the book out of the packaging, raised it up to my husband in the rearview mirror and said, "REALLY?"... 

So. Here we have it. The First Phone Call From Heaven. 

I don't know each of you individually. I don't know every one of my readers super well. I don't even know every single one of my incredibly supportive blogging friends super well. But I do know myself. And I do know that when this book was in my hand at that moment? I looked up, rolled my eyes, and decided I was not even remotely ready. 

But I also kind of tossed out a 'Thanks, Dad,' and moved along. 

Mitch Albom is no stranger to incredible writing. I've been a fan of his books since Tuesdays With Morrie. Have you read that one? If not, get thee to the library or bookstore, stat! Seriously. STAT. 

I've also read The Five People You Meet in Heaven, so I was no stranger to the power of his words. Obviously when I requested to be on this tour I had no idea how much it would mean to me. How even more powerful the sentiment would be. How close to my own grief and pain. 

Albom takes us to the town of Coldwater, where several people have started receiving actual phone calls from their deceased loved ones. Phone calls, happening only on Fridays, where they answer and the voice they hear is one they haven't heard in quite some time. Months. Years. Time lapses that they could tell you by the pain and grief and loss in their hearts. 

But the voices. 

The calls. 

Tess heard from her mother. Katherine from her sister. Jack and Doreen from their son, Robbie. 

There were more, but these are the ones that stand out throughout the story. 

Skeptics. Believers. Protesters. Prayers. 

We start our story meeting Sully, a newly released prisoner who nearly lost his life in a plane crash determined to be his fault. We know Sully's wife Giselle has died, and his young son has hopes of hearing from her. We know Sully was a military man. A pilot. 

His story unravels before us as we make our way through the book, Coldwater and stick with him as he returns home. 

Sully doesn't believe. He wants to protect his son. More than ANYthing he wants to protect his son. Slips of information, a toy phone. Jules isn't meant to hear any of this. Not meant to be misled. He, WE, don't want the boy to believe his momma is going to call him. We don't yet know what's true and what's not. We know we want to protect a small child, and we respect his father's desire to do so, too. 

Connections are made. Katherine becomes close to Amy, a news reporter looking to make a name for herself with this story. Jack and Tess, they find their way to one another. (Doreen is his ex-wife, for those of you who were following along really well this far!) Sully meets Liz at the library and her connection to his son is just what the boy needs. 

So. Here we have it. The First Phone Call From Heaven. 

Do you believe? Would you accept what these people were claiming? Or would you question it? Would you WANT to accept it, want to experience it for yourself? Would you doubt? Or ignore? 

It's impossible to know, I think. I know I'd love to hear my dad's voice again. As in RIGHT NOW. Immediately. But would I want a phone call? Would I believe it? 

Hell, yes, I'd want a call. But would I believe it? I just don't know. 

As for what happens in Coldwater, I'm going to suggest you grab yourself a copy of this book to find out. It's an easy but powerful read. I think it's worth it. Let me know what you think. 

* I've received a copy of this book to facilitate my review from TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for this post and all expressed opinions are my own. 

 

A new series? Amazing reads.

I think I might have stumbled onto something here. I often link out to friends and their blogs, but I liked how last week's post went for me. I liked sharing the good peeps and I liked how it made me feel doing so. So, maybe it's a little bit selfish, because I also liked not having to delve into my head and heart and write and write and write.

And this morning I'm feeling similarly.

I'm a little extra emotional. I wake up with puffy eyes and I'm tired.

I have plans for dinner out with friends tonight that I am so excited for. A dose of girlfriend love and laughter is exactly what I need.

But I also enjoy finding that every day on the wide ole' Internet. Am I the only one who almost always wants to call it the Internetz? Interwebz? I like that "z" though I can't say exactly why.

Anyway - here's what I was reading this week:

I reconnected with NJ over at A Cookie Before Dinner and absolutely loved her post about envy and competition in blogging. The title alone sums up so well what we all should be doing. So head on over and check out Why I'm Blogging Like A Horse with Blinders On. Remind yourself that comparison really and truly is the thief of joy. And don't let it rob you. Blog and be you. Share of yourself. Appreciate and celebrate others. It's all good. It's how we need to be. It's how I want to be.

My beautiful friend Tracie talked about family over at her place this week. She's blogging for NaBloPoMo or some sort of acronym I always mix up and so she's writing regularly and if you want someone to read that makes your mornings worthwhile pour yourself a cup of coffee and head over to her place. I haven't commented yet, but her post titled Family Feelings truly stirred up some stuff in me.

LawMomma had a powerful post up this week, as well. It struck a chord in me and reminded me how much we, as parents, can focus on the negatives we experience with our children, whereas for them it's a whole different experience. We're missing the beauty they see and thankfully help us feel. Her post, Flipping the Switch, is a short and sweet one you won't want to miss.

Another important read for me this week comes from Charity over at Our Giggles and Grimaces. What I Can't Have jumps straight into the struggles with wanting a medication-free life that I think anyone who has taken meds for one reason or another has felt at some point. Her words are so powerful. If you're taking medications regularly, or know someone who is, go read it. It will give you a few moments in their shoes. Or mind. Or both.

I'm going to wrap it up here with a link-back to my post from last week that gives you a handful of amazing peeps to check out, as well. Amazing Reads - Part I. with Good Girl Gone Redneck. Ha! Maybe it WILL be a series? I kind of like it and might just run with it.

Enjoy meeting new peeps and I'll talk to you all this weekend. TGIF!