Dinnertime can be a straight up struggle around my house these days. The hour when food needs to be prepped for our evening mealtime seems to align perfectly with official toddler meltdown hour. In an effort to avoid a matching mom-meltdown, I keep a few tricks up my sleeve for speedy dinners. One of them, is adding a cooked rotisserie chicken to my grocery order from Peapod, and repurposing it in a few different meals throughout the week. I thought I’d share a few of my favorite quick-fix ideas for using up leftover rotisserie chicken in the fridge today, as well as a brand new recipe I added to the mix recently while we’re on our New Year’s healthy eating kick. Each one of these ideas uses up about half a chicken, so you can pick two to mix and match for your weekly meal plan:
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This little Q+A experiment was such a fun thing to work on! I put out a call on instagram for any burning questions that readers might have about my experiences blogging over the last 8 or so years. I was at first surprised anyone actually filled out the submissions form for questions, and I was even more surprised that my siblings had the self-control not to submit dozens of silly/fake questions (good job guys!). What surprised me even more was how many of the same questions popped up repeatedly; it means everyone is curious about the same things: photo styling and editing, blogging as a job (and as a mom!), and advice for those who are just starting out. Scroll down to read all of my answers, and if you have other questions leave them in the comments! 
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That healthy eating momentum is still going strong in our household (minus a few boxes of Girl Scout cookies that seem to be disappearing alarmingly fast from our freezer). I am so used to defaulting to carb-heavy sides like rice or pasta or potatoes to pair with dinner proteins, so coming up with low-carb veggie side dishes has been a challenge — but a fun one to experiment with.
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I sent a text message to my mom and sister this weekend, along with the picture below, to confirm with them that I am indeed a crazy person. Only a crazy person would feel this much joy over a newly organized closet. I spent some time over the long weekend turning an empty closet in our guest bedroom into a linen closet. The space was empty because when we first moved into our house, we actually used this guest bedroom as our master bedroom, and the closet held my husband’s clothes. Once we completed a renovation in our new master bedroom (which included turning an old in-law kitchen into a wall of closets!), we moved all of our clothes from various spaces throughout the house into our his and hers closets. That left this space empty and perfect for some much needed storage!
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Please note: This post was created in partnership with Marshalls; all opinions are my own.
I am currently suffering from a major case of wanderlust, and have been browsing flights, daydreaming of new destinations, and mentally packing my bags for a new adventure. I don’t exactly have the vacation booked yet, but once we decide on where we’re going, I’m going to be ready! When it comes to prepping for a trip – big or small – I have developed my own system for staying organized and making packing a little bit less of a hassle.
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When Valentine’s Day falls mid-week, I tend to be in a bit of a scramble to come up with a special weeknight treat to celebrate the occasion. With just about every special event, my celebration-style always revolves around food. I make special dinner, pick up a favorite beer or wine depending on the menu, and of course we need something sweet to cap off the meal. This year I decided that I would find a way to dress up a boxed brownie mix for a quick-fix dessert that still feels celebration-worthy.
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The last time I shared a Jane update was at 6-months, and it’s amazing how much can change in such a short period of time. Jane turned one a little over two weeks ago and it feels like the perfect time to share another big update, mostly because I love having these posts for myself to look back on and see what she was like, and because I always find it so interesting to hear what other kids and moms are going through at different ages. For starters, I can’t believe she’s actually one. This was simultaneously the absolute longest year of my life, and the fastest that time has ever passed; the first year of parenthood is a full-fledged time warp. At Jane’s birthday party a few of my girlfriends gave Mike and I presents (wine) to celebrate surviving the first year. It was the nicest acknowledgement because ohmygod some days it feels like will we actually survive? Now that she’s officially in toddler mode, I feel like we have our footing and are, in fact, surviving. Yet, everyday is a totally new ballgame with her. Infant life was all about nighttime exhaustion, the “will she sleep?” gamble every single evening as the sun sets. Toddler life is much more about daytime exhaustion; constantly running after her and saying on repeat: “Don’t touch that! Don’t put that in your mouth! That’s a no-no!” I joke, but it’s actually so much fun at this age to see her mind moving at lightening speeds as she’s figuring things out. 
Can I tell you my new favorite thing? Polls on instagram. They’re the best. I’ve done a few informal polls recently to figure out exactly what my followers want more of, and the answers have been incredibly helpful. The biggest takeaway I’ve gotten is that dinner is clearly a struggle in lots of households (often at our house too!). Quick, easy, and healthy-ish dinner ideas are in demand, so I’m doing my best to come up with some fresh ideas to fulfill the need!
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I am compensated by Keurig Green Mountain® for sharing my view; all opinions, images, and content are my own.
I’m a total Valentine’s Day nerd, I love the pink hearts and the sentimental cards, and I really love the excuse to indulge a little bit with some sweet treats! It seems that over the past few years, the idea of a “Galentine’s Day” party, to celebrate with your best girlfriends, has become almost more popular than the actual Valentine’s Day occasion. I get it, my girlfriends are way more into flowers and cute cards and heart sunglasses than our husbands likely are. Why not celebrate with them? I have some sweet ideas to get you inspired to throw your own Valentine’s Day coffee and cookies party with your best buds or your own sweetheart!
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Last week I had a few gals over for a Valentine’s Day craft-session and some cocktails. It was on a Monday night after dinner, so I just had a cheeseboard out to nibble on and decided we needed something deliciously indulgent and sweet for the Valentine’s Day theme. I’ve been toying around with an “everything-but-the-kitchen-sink” cookie recipe idea for awhile, and thought this was the perfect occasion to make them with a Valentine’s Day twist. The cookie recipe has all of the basics elements of a big gooey chocolate chip cookie, but takes it to the next level with a variety of delicious mix-ins. I put toffee bits, crushed pretzels, dark chocolate morsels, and a few different kinds of seasonal M&Ms inside these. You could easily swap in nuts, caramel chips, any kind of chopped up candy bar or chocolate. They were good, like, I had to hide them from myself and my family (mostly Jane) level-good. Make up a batch this weekend and find some valentine’s to share them with! Get the full recipe below: 
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