organic food

Real Mom Roll Call
LifestyleParenthood

Real Mom Roll Call

by Jill
written by Jill

“My name is Jill.
I have 4 kids.
And 5 places to be at the same time…… OMG one just pooped up his back, why does that always happen in the exersaucer?
We’re always late.”

Real mom roll call!

I felt compelled to make my own real mom roll call after watching these from Good Food Made Simple’s new campaign, which nails what my motherhood looks like right now.

I think this fist full of mints one is my favorite.

But the 5 am wake-up call is also my current reality.

Good Food Made Simple is paying for this post so I can tell you all about 1. their delicious frozen food and 2. their Real Mom Roll Call fan promotion where they are giving out BOGO coupons and giving you a chance to win $1,000! More details below. 

Speaking of real life, here is an actual scene from my Sunday-

First of all, the kids were mad we didn’t make a “fancy” breakfast this weekend. Scott usually makes pancakes and eggs and bacon Sunday morning, but this weekend has been bananas- and not banana pancakes, unfortunately.

But lo! We have frozen blueberry pancakes from Good Food Made Simple, so we popped those in the toaster and had “fancy” breakfast in minutes.

Please note how I got the white plate out because I was like, “Oh, I need to take a picture of this!” But then I checked myself and was like, “Jill, this post is about Good Food Made Simple saving your real-mom butt, and let’s be totally honest. You’re serving these on paper plates.” 

Then it was time to run off to a birthday party a few hours later. I hadn’t eaten yet. There weren’t enough waffles go around this morning, plus breakfast isn’t really my thing, so I found myself at 1:30 fighting off the hunger shakes and needing to leave in 15 minutes. We all know you don’t want to show up at a child’s birthday with the hunger shakes.

Enter a little hatch chile mac, which is worlds better than what I usually end up shoving down my throat when we’re in a hurry- dry cereal, food left on plates from the previous meal, fists full of mints.

And you know I ate that right out of the microwavable paper bowl. I am not here to stage Instagram-worthy lifestyle shots of my perfectly plated meal. I was too busy yelling at Kendall to brush his teeth before we had to go, and then trying to remember if I had brushed mine yet.

Good Food Made Simple sent me a box full of their frozen burritos, entrees, and breakfast foods at the beginning of the week, and it has been a joy to open my freezer and quickly heat up a wholesome meal or snack with good, simple, clean ingredients. What I pull out of the microwave is not the greasy, salty sludge of some frozen meals, and not the flavorless, dry slop of others. It is, simply, good food.

Good Food Made Simple never uses artificial preservatives, flavors or colors and their meats are nitrate-free and antibiotic-free.

I know I’m not alone in this busy-parent struggle. I know I’m not the only one picking sandwich crusts off of paper plates, washing it down with coffee I’ve reheated 3 times, and calling that lunch.

So here’s the fun part- pick a Real Mom Roll Call video that resonates with you the most, or one you think your friend will find hilarious, and share it with them via email from this site. When you do that, everyone you email to (and you can send as many as you want, even to yourself) will get a BOGO coupon for a Good Food Made Simple meal. Then you will be entered to win a $1,000 American Express gift card.

Wondering where to use that coupon to get your meals? You can check out their store locator here. Our Target and Kroger carries them.

Here are the other 2 Real Mom Roll Calls. High fives to anyone who’s ever had the balls to do the gas station blueberry muffin trick in real life.

Don’t forget to GO HERE to choose your favorite Real Mom Roll Call video and email to a friend… all your friends.. and yourself. You want that BOGO coupon. Trust.

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No Longer An ALDI Newbie- What I Learned & Love About The Store
Dallas/Ft. WorthFood & WineParenthoodReviews

No Longer An ALDI Newbie- What I Learned & Love About The Store

by Jill
written by Jill

Let me tell you a story about the first time I went grocery shopping at ALDI. It began as I’m sure most trips do there- at the grocery cart coral, as I tried to figure out how to retrieve my cart after inserting a quarter to, essentially, rent it. Momentarily, I felt really stupid and a little frustrated. That is until a kind older man approached me with a smile on his face, “You trying to get that buggy out?” “Yes, I’m new here. Obviously,” I smiled back. He showed me how it worked and gave me a knowing “we’ve all been there once” look.

Now, this sponsored post is supposed to be all about my experience in the store, buying, and using the products, and I’ll definitely get to that, but I think it’s worth noting that so much of my first trip through those aisles was peppered with genuinely kind interactions with other customers and store employees. And, no, nobody knew I was there to report back to all of you.

So, as I mentioned in my last post about ALDI, I know a lot of my friends and family and readers are big fans, but despite one opening near us not too long ago, I just never got around to visiting our local ALDI. Safe to say, though, I’ll be going back regularly now.

I mean, you guys, even just for the savings on stuff we pack for the kids’ lunches! We make 13 school lunches a week, and stuff like organic fruit snacks really add up when we shop at other stores.

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Who am I kidding? Like these are only for lunches? The kids go through fruit snacks and cheese sticks like water, especially when their friends are over.

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I was also so happy to see organic milk for much less than we’re paying for it at any other store in our neighborhood because we go through a lot of that, too.

I wound up getting nearly a week’s worth of groceries for just a little over $100. We already had meat for the week and some produce, so I didn’t have to spend on that, but I did stock up on a lot of pantry staples like sugar and muffin mixes for breakfast. Um, and also some chocolate candy. For me.

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Quick newbie note- in addition to needing to bring a quarter to “rent” your cart (you get the quarter back when you return the cart), you’ll either need to bring your own bags or pay to buy theirs.

Per usual, I forgot my own bags because my brain is practically pouring out of my head lately (it’s like pregnancy liquidates the cells), but I was able to buy paper bags for a nominal cost. You do have to bag your own groceries, but there was a convenient area right near the checkout in my store.

A reader actually had a great suggestion to bring laundry baskets with you. I will definitely have to (try to remember to) do that next time.

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The Creamy Pasta With Broccoli and Chick Peas was a hit with our whole family. Click through for the recipe.

I’ve said before that I don’t like to sacrifice the quality of our food to save money, and I really don’t think that I have. We’ve been eating what I purchased at ALDI all week, and I haven’t noticed a difference. Their sparkling water is a perfect substitute for my (other fancy name brand sparkling water) addiction! We are going to save sooooo much money.

In some ways, the quality of the food is probably better than the name brands we’re used to purchasing. Their SimplyNature line is free of 125 artificial ingredients, all organic and non-GMO.  Plus, ALDI is continuing to expand its organic options and is removing all pesticides and growth hormones from their private label products.

So yes, we will be back! Often. I’m glad I finally got through those doors to give it a try, and that next time I’ll be a pro at renting my cart and bagging my own groceries. Now, if you’re an ALDI fan, you need to tell me what I absolutely have to add to my next shopping list. Go!

This post was sponsored by ALDI, and product was provided at no charge. All opinions are my own, and not representative of ALDI.  You can follow ALDI on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

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