a guest post & a tweet up {no peek stew}

gah! how excited am i to post this guest recipe post from Alana? words cannot describe! but i will try. and it's not just because i have a weird thing for stew, either. that would be inappropriate excitement. but my excitement is appropriate because in addition to the stew-love i am meeting up with Alana this weekend at the Sanctuary resort in Scottsdale (our first time meeting, aren't we fancy pants?) for a weekend of sunshine, cocktails, snacks, pool swims, hot-tub sits, cupcakes, bad tv, massages, chit chat, and naps! how do you spell heaven? wait... that joke only works in spoken word. anyways...

i can't wait to share pics of this heavenly meet-up with you guys in my next post. in the mean time catch me and alana on twitter where i'm sure we'll both be jabbering away all the while about our adventures!

and without further ado... stew! ps. I had to edit a bit because this was supposed to run a couple weeks ago while we were on vacation but due to technical difficulties got postponed until now.

Thank you to Lindsey for having me guest post today! I adore this lady and am so glad I could do her a solid and post something while she is off on vacay in freaking Scottsdale! soaking up the sun and drinking yummy drinks by the beach pool with her hubs me! Sounds horrible right?!?! Who likes to sit on the beach in a lounge chair and not worry about changing a diaper, cleaning dishes, or folding laundry? Not me! {insert sarcastic tone} All kidding aside I am thrilled to help her out and offer up a yummy recipe that is so easy to make and will be your go to for a quick, yummy, comfort food!

I am constantly on the look out for super yummy, easy to prep, and cheap to make dinners now that I have a 15 month old! Time is short chasing a toddler! I am a huge fan of stews. I love them any time of the year. Meat and potatoes taste just as good in the winter as they do in the summer in my opinion! Imma meat & potatoes gal!

This is my grandma’s recipe for No Peek Stew. I have such fond memories of her prepping this meal as I ran around her kitchen. This stew was a go to meal when I spent weekends with her which was often! Every time I make this I think of her and all the fun we had together. She is no longer with us but I like to think she watches over us when we eat this and is proud that I make her recipe for my own family!

No Peek Stew

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Your ingredients:
1-2 pounds of stew meat
1 can of Cream Of Mushroom Soup
1 small can of Mushrooms (Stems and Pieces) *I didn’t add this to my recipe because Mushrooms and I are not friends these days*
2-3 (depending on size) potatoes
1 Package of Baby Carrots
1 Package of Lipton’s Onion Soup Mix
1/4 Cups Water
1/2 Cup Red Wine
Salt and Pepper to flavor

I usually dice the meat into smaller pieces depending on the amount I purchased.

Dice up the potatoes and add the baby carrots.

Add the can of Mushroom Soup, Lipton’s Onion Mix, water, red wine, salt and pepper. There is ALWAYS red wine in our house so I use whatever we have open.

Mix all of the ingredients together.

Cover with foil and cook for 3 hours until meat is tender.

See how easy that was! I usually serve this with biscuits or crescent rolls!

Enjoy!

***I often mix everything together in the morning when the baby is napping and put in the refrigerator until it’s time to cook it.***

{Guest Post} Baby Blackbird's Vacation Stylings for Mr. O

Brandy from Baby Blackbird is one of my favorite blog mamas and I stalk her site on the daily to get fashion ideas for my little man (and myself). Brandy is the cutest thing (fashionista extraordinaire) and she dolls her kiddos up in the perfect mix of hipster modern, etsy awesome, her own creations, & vintage wassup. I always say she's like Rachel Zoe for kiddos! While I was on vacay last week, Brandy was cool enough to do this special guest post! But then (womp womp) blogger froze for a couple days and I wasn't able to schedule it in time. Boo! Luckily it's cuteness doth not require me to be on vacay so I'm running it today. pssssst, after you're done drooling over this cuteness (I so went bulldog slobbery when I saw this), then you should clean yourself up and go check out Brandy's awesome blog. Thanks, Brandy!!! xoxo

Hi there, I'm Brandy from Baby Blackbird | The Kids's Fashion Destination, I'm a fashion designer by trait and a mommy to two little kids. Baby Blackbird is about all things fashionable for kids, fashion trends, kids' street style, and so much more...come by some time and have a look around!

The lovely Lindsey let me crash Otto's Mom Blogs while she's vacationing it up in the sun. I thought I'd put together a couple outfits for Otto. I know Lindsey is on this vacation Otto-less {this time} but IF Otto was laying on the beach with Mom and Dad, this is totally what he'd be wearing:

1.Crewcuts kids aye aye baseball hat 2.Crewcuts kids classic Kway jacket 3.Crewcuts boys stripe lobster tee 4.The Gap retro aviators 5.Crewcuts boys contrast swim short 6.Havaianas boys flip flops

Daytime on the beach, wouldn't this outfit be perfect for Otto?

1.77kids woven panama hat 2.The Gap convertible plaid shirt 3.77kids wayfarer sunglasses 4.Crewcuts beaded leather cord bracelet 5.Crewcuts slim fit chino 6.Crewcuts kids Sperry slipons

Evening out for dinner, how cute would Otto look in these duds?

I hope Lindsey is having a great time sunning it up, come by Baby Blackbird some time, check out some cute kids's street style and some of the hottest kids fashion trends.

Guest Posting at Eisley Rae & Some Oregon Pics

First things first:

I... am... an asshat. My awesome friend Alyson (aka @EisleyRae) asked me to guest post for her one day while she's on vacation. She is so on top of it like that. But! I didn't realize the post was running today (Thursday) so I failed to plug it at all properly. So PLEASE swing over to Alyson's blog if you have a sec, it's a flashback illustrated post about a day that brought me so many belly laughs I wanted it to live on in the modern day...

Second things second:

Rob spent pretty much the whole day today exploring Eugene, OR (my maybe future hometown *she says with fingers crossed*) and I just wanted to share because these pictures have me droooooooling over this charming lil city up north...

While there is still a possibility that we'll be in Seattle (another rad town) instead, I think my heart may already belong to this lush lil Oregon town. Can you blame me? It's like pretty pretty paradise.

xo,
Lindsey

Guest Post! Chicken Taco Soup Slow Cooker Recipe by Lindsay (aka The Happy Housewife Blog)

I'll make my intro short so we can get down to soup, pronto.

Lindsay (with an "a") from the Happy Housewife Blog agreed to guest post for me while I'm out of town for a few days. Thank you, Lindsay, you and this recipe rock!!! Extra cool because me being a Lindsey (with an "e") we are technically supposed to be sworn enemies. Moment of silence for Soup & Blogging which allowed us to see past our (ahem) major differences. You can chat this rad mama up on Twitter too (I do). This recipes sounds insane crazy good and I can't wait to christen my slow cooker with it when I get home. Without further ado...

Chicken Taco Soup

Chicken Taco Soup is that one recipe that my family begs for. Every time I make it my dad is banging at the door making sure he gets a big bowl full (and extra for the next day). Plus with a little one I love anything that I can cook in a crock pot that will also make my house smell like I should work for the food network. So after much discussion on Twitter here is the recipe. I hope you make it, enjoy it, and worship me for it!

1.) So these are the things you will need to make this recipe -

2 cans of Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies
2 can of chili beans
1 or 2 cans of Whole Kernal Corn (depending on how much you like corn)
1 can of Black Beans
1 package of taco seasoning
1 can of tomato sauce
3-4 pieces of boneless skinless chicken breast
And a crock pot!

2.) Add your chicken breast to the bottom of your crock pot

3.) Then add all the ingredients to the top of your chicken making sure the chicken is totally covered. I don't drain any of the cans. And I also add a lot of corn because the hubby LOVES it but you may not want to add so much.

4.) This is what it should look like after all the ingredients are added and stirred together.

5.) Now cook this on high for about 7-8 hours. About two hours before you want to serve it take the chicken out and shred it.

6.) And then stick the chicken back in, stir it, and cook it for another two hours so the taste really gets into the chicken.

7.) After another two hours it will be totally done. You can serve it with taco shells, shredded cheese, and sour cream. Or just by itself. And what I love is that it makes enough for lunch and dinner the next day. My hubby loves it so much he can eat it for two days and not get tired of it.

I would love to know if you made this recipe! And maybe any crock pot recipes that you have of your own!  

So Major! Today I'm Guest Blogging at "Life on the Mom List"!!

I'm so excited/scared/nervous (even a little pukey nervous) about my first guest blog and couldn't be happier that it's for my awesome mama friend Alana! Alana just launched her blog "Life On The Mom List" a few weeks ago and it's already a big big favorite of mine. I feel like I grew up with this girl, even though we only met this summer, bonding on Twitter over mom stuff, ab workouts & the Rachel Zoe Project. And that's what my guest blog is all about!

Please go visit the post and while you're there check out the rest of Alana's blog & give her a little GFC lovin! I promise, she's a dolly doll doll! As is her chubby cheeked munchkin, D.

Here's a link to the guest post:

#ZoeMG! The Magic of Rachel Zoe and by the way This Twitter/Blog Friendship Stuff is Bananas!

-Lindsey