Hello Fresh!!

I know. I know.

My blogging has lacked a lot to be desired lately. Forgive me friends. Perhaps spring will blow some inspiration my way and awaken my inner blogger. Lord knows there is so much I want to share. It just seems that nightly homework, writing assignments, and remembering to take out the recycling bin each Wednesday has been keeping me crazy biz.

BUT I had so many of you ask and message me about a recent pic I posted on Facebook, that I knew I had to whip up this post. When I find something amazing, I have to share it!

Hello Fresh.

Remember those words. Hello Fresh. I'm hooked ya'll.

So here is the skinny.

Hello Fresh is a New York based food delivery company that has just recently expanded their services to us folks in the Midwest. The Hello Fresh chefs create easy-to-make recipes that are both interesting and delicious, and along with a nutritionists, make sure they are part of a balanced and varied diet. Each week they send you a selection of five tasty recipes to choose from so you can pick the meals you want to make. This way you know what you’re getting and can plan ahead for your other dishes! They'll source high-quality and fresh produce for you, and introduce you to ingredients that you won’t find in your local supermarket. And they even play your personal sous-chef too, sending you ingredients measured out to the exact amounts you need.

Now comes the best part...

Hello Fresh will deliver your recipes and ingredients to your door every week, free of charge. EEEEK! Recipes typically take only 30 minutes or less and don't require fancy equipment. You can order a box that includes 3 meals or 5. Each meal serves 2 people but in all reality it is more like 3. Anyone can cook with HelloFresh. Really. Anyone.

So here is what I was thinking...

We had try it. And so we did. I signed up and picked my three meals: Chicken Quinoa Stew, Potato Crusted Fish with Fennel Salad, and Sesame Beef Pasta.

 Our box arrived on our designated day. It was packed very well in insulation and multiple reusable cold packs.

 Everything was amazingly fresh, bagged, and labeled well so we knew exactly which meal each ingredient went with.

 

How gorgeous are these recipe cards? 

All of the ingredients are measured and labeled. I mean really. The work is done. DONE I tell you! Love.

 We dove right in and chose our first recipe. Sesame Beef Pasta it was. We set all of our ingredients out. Mondo Mia was amped. Everything we needed was waiting. No shopping. No fuss.

 The ingredients were amazingly fresh. I mean you could smell them the minute you took them out. Not a single wrinkle or bruise was on the produce. It was bright and colorful.

  The meat was the same. It looked like it came fresh from the butcher! Gorgeous! No teenie portions here.

It was as simple as following our recipe card, using the ingredients provided, and creating an amazing and healthy meal in less than 30 minutes.

The finished product? All I can say is OMG. Yes. OMG.

 Yummy steak, fresh tomatoes and asparagus, scallions, fresh garlic, tossed with pasta, sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, and lots of spices. Delightful!

As you can see, the portions were huge. The flavors were amazing. It was beyond our expectations. And you know what else? It was so darn fun to make! Mondo Mia and I had a blast cooking together. Oh and wait, we still have two more meals left to make later this week! Did someone say stay-at-home date night? I think so.

Ok so let's get to the meat.

• A 3 meal box is $49 when you use the coupon code MJRKJK at checkout. This code will net you a $20 discount.
• That breaks down to $16 per complete dinner, or about $5.50 per plate if you feed three at each meal. You can't buy a large value meal at McDonald's for that!
• You don't have to order a box each week. You can pause or cancel at any time so you are never obligated. For us, this is ideal to order once or twice a month so we can try some new dishes with ease.
• The cost of each meal breaks down to less than what we would spend dining out, and comparable to what we would spend if we had to buy all the items at the store.
• The variety and uniqueness of items is amazing.
• The recipe kits are so detailed and easy to use!
• IT COMES TO YOUR FRONT DOOR!

I think this would be so fun to order to do an at home date night. Or if you are a couple with one or two small children, there is more than enough per meal to feed all of you.Or if you just need a little excitement and want to switch things up for a few meals, order a box. The experience alone is worth it.

Visit Hello Fresh here and see what all of the fuss is about! And don't forget to use the code MJRKJK at checkout to get $20 off your box!

3/1/13  UPDATE: 

We whipped up our second dish from our debut box and it just keeps getting better! The meal included potato crusted fish, a cranberry and fennel salad, and roasted potatoes. AMAZZZZING! Mondo Mia is really getting into this concept. In fact, we are feeling quite spoiled :) P.s...I tried to get artistic with my iPhone and take an ultra light photo. The jury is still out as far as if this worked or not.

Choices for next week's box look lovely...glazed salmon anyone?

$49 gets you started! Visit Hello Fresh here and see what all of the fuss is about! And don't forget to use the code MJRKJK at checkout to get $20 off your box!

Nuts for Nuturoli!

One of the super fun things about blogging is being able to share your opinions with others :)

The folks at NaturOli were kind enough to send me a sampling of their natural and eco-friendly bath and home products and I was so excited to tear into them. I mean, who doesn't love trying new things, especially if they have labels you can read and actually pronounce the ingredients? Me, I do, I love it.

My generous NaturOli assortment including their soap nut shampoo, soap nut liquid detergent, soap nut stain stick, soap nut cleansing bar, soap nut shampoo bar, and last but not least, a bag of soap nuts! What on earth? I was baffled for a minute. So my sister and I dove into this bag of nuts, and now, we are nuts about them!

For those of you who don't know what a soap nut (also called a soap berry) is, they are actually little "nuts" that grow on the sapindus tree, and produce a cleansing resin called saponin, which literally is a soap: the most natural soap on earth! NaturOli soap nuts are specifically of the Sapindus Mukorossi variety that grow in India and Nepal. They are USDA certified organic by EcoCert! I was very skeptical about how they would work on my laundry, but...they actually work amazingly well! Who would have guessed?!

Here is how we used them:
We placed a few soap nuts in the little muslin bag included with our order.

I did a cold wash, so I first soaked the bag in a few ounces of warm water for several minutes, then threw the bag with the water in the washer before our laundry. 

The bag can be reused about 4-6 times before changing the soap nuts, making this an incredibly economical choice for laundry!

You don't have to pull the bag out of the wash before the rinse cycle. Saponin cleans very well but, unlike most commercial detergents, is not so soapy or gummy that it will leave residue on your clothes.  In fact, if you leave it in for the rinse cycle it acts as a natural, non-irritating fabric softener.

I am still laughing that I am using nuts to clean my clothes, and that they WORK!

The other NaturOli products were naturally wonderful, cleansed perfectly, and were so gentle. They smell very natural, are sulfate free, use simple packaging, are cruelty free, GMO free, lanolin free, and are all around feel good products! I have kept them out in my family room for a few days for people to see when they come over and naturally they are very intrigued. It is such a simple concept that takes your brain a minute to wrap around, but once you do you will be hooked.

You can visit the folks at NaturOli here and give their products a try for yourself. I think you will go nuts, too!

Lucky 13 and the Dear Lucky Agent Contest

The number 13 is lucky, I think.

And since this is the 13th installment of the Writer's Digest "Dear Lucky Agent" contest, I am feeling fairly groovy. Fairly.

 

I have missed the deadline for this contest the last few years, either because my manuscript was still scribbled on water stained loose leaf papers somewhere or because life was just in the way. It is amazing the deadlines you can miss when you cable company is constantly sticking it to you or your family is going through three gallons of milk a week. You just get...behind.

But my manuscript is ready this time. Remember this beast? Gem? Sweet baby.

So we are going for it, man. I'm sending it off (well not all of it, just part of it...) to be entered into this year's event.  This rad contest is unique because it is open to manuscripts that fall into the sci-fi or young adult category. So it is very specific and narrows the field a bit. A little bit. I dig that.

I also dig that this contest has come highly recommended by literary super blogger Chuck Sambuchino and author himself, who writes the Guide to Literary Agents Blog that I have been slightly obsessed with going on six years strong. I feel like screaming into my computer I'm finally sending mine in, Chuck! Woo! But that would be weird. For everyone. So I will refrain.

Ok so let's talk prizes. Well the top three chosen win a critique of the first 10 double-spaced pages of their work, by the agent judge, and a free one-year subscription to WritersMarket.com.

Maybe this does not make your heart race like it does mine, but, did you know that past winners have ended up being signed thanks to this contest? And hey, the Writer's Market subscription is a $50.00 value. Three gallons a week we are going through here. Did I mention that?

Keep your fingers crossed kids, and may the literary gods decide that it is my turn.

Breathing Easier with Maty's: A Little Monday Inspiration

No one starts their own business during a recession.

Or do they?

When Carolyn Harrington's daughter Maty was born with a severe heart defect in 1996, she found herself in the center of a very trying time:

"It was a challenging time for our family. By age five she underwent three complex surgeries to repair her heart. Although her heart was mended, she was left with difficult medical issues and a weakened immune system. Her condition made her vulnerable."~CH

And while it may have felt natural to withdraw or want to run and hide from this mountain that has been placed in front of her, Carolyn chose otherwise.


"Desperate to help my little girl, I devoted my time to finding natural remedies that would help her get and stay healthy. Along the way, I uncovered many traditional natural remedies that were no longer widely used. I began to apply modern knowledge of nature’s healing agents to the age old remedies I was discovering. They became very popular with family and friends."~CH

And so there you have it. Maty's Natural Health products was born. Oh and that recession mentioned earlier? Well I guess when you have a solid product you believe in, it just does not matter. Maty's is quickly becoming a favorite amongst parents seeking natural alternatives to harsh medications that carry side effects and drug warnings.

I was lucky enough to be able to sample three of Maty's products myself: The Breathe Better Nasal Ointment, All Natural Baby Rub, and the All Natural Cough Syrup. These arrived just in time as the flu hit our household hard, so I was anxious to see what they could do. These products are food based and all natural, which is much different from products we have purchased in the past!

Cayenne pepper, buckwheat honey, and other fabulous ingredients are in these products, while drugs, menthol, and other unnecessary products are left behind. I am always so worried about giving my children the wrong dose or a harmful dose of medication and this time, I had no concerns. Because the cough syrup is food based, it can be added to warm drinks or even used on pancakes. When is the last time you could do that with your kid's cough syrup?

We were really please with the power these products packed, and I am really in awe over the Breathe Better Nasal product which really makes for a wonderful night's sleep. As far as price, Maty's products are comparable to that of other over the counter medications and I have even been able to locate printable coupons for them online!

To learn more, visit the Maty's website here, where you can find a store locator to help you find where Maty's is available near you! Walmart and other common drug stores carry this product and it seems simple enough to find. You will be so glad you have it on hand when the bug hits!

Congrats to the folks at Maty's, for turning their challenge into a way to help not only themselves but others. It truly is some Monday inspiration, isn't it?

*Maty's provided products for review for this post. They did not compensate me in any other way and my opinions are my own. Thanks!

Dropp it like it's hot. Laundry and a Giveaway!

Who doesn't love trying new things?

For some people this might mean a new restaurant, for some it may be an extreme sport. For me, my excitement is found in trying new cleaning products. Dork alert!

But why shouldn't I get amped over cleaning products? If I can find something to make the job easier, quicker, better smelling, and even better yet, good for our beautiful planet, why not!?

The lovely folks at Dropps Detergent sent me a sample pack of some of their laundry detergent packets, and I was so excited to try them. If you have not heard of Dropps before, let me just tell you, you have been missing out. Maybe you have heard of them, afterall this product WAS featured on Oprah, and ya know Oprah doesn't let just any riff raff onto her show!

A little background about Dropps...they are prefilled packets that will dissolve directly into your washing machine. What makes Dropps so special is a few things:

The packaging is very smart, no big plastic bottles and bulky lids. Their tiny size allows them to leave a smaller footprint on this planet.
They are 6x's concentrated so you use less and save.
Dropps are phosphate free, biodegradable, chlorine free, NPE free, and safe for septic tanks.
They smell AMAZING!
They are super gentle and ideal for children's clothing or reusable diapers.
They come in a variety of scents and all are packed with super cleaning powers.

I was fortunate to be able to try Dropps, and was pleased with the results. We go through laundry soap over here like it is water (which by the way, Dropps is not filled with water, there are no fillers in fact, just cleaning power!) and we are always looking for a great detergent. Dropps can be "dropped" right into the washing machine (softening packs are available too!) and left to do their thing! No measuring. No worrying. They dissolve completely so there is no worry of residue or gunk from undissolved packets. They smell great, they love the planet, and ya know what? They are pretty flippin cute just to look at.

Dropps are not available in all areas yet, so if you would like to give them a try, you can do so by clicking here! You can also use their handy store locator feature and see if there is a retailer in your area. Their price is comparable to most laundry soap packs, and they are worth every penny!

Wanna give Dropps a spin for FREE? Just make sure you have liked The Savvy Luna Bugg on Facebook, and leave a comment below! I will draw one random winner to give a sample pack of Dropps to! Contest ends Saturday, January 12th! Good luck!

*Dropps provided a free promotional package to me, but did not compensate me otherwise for this post. All opinions are my own. Thanks.

When a Food Chopper Equals an Animal Head.

Happy Monday kids! I am hooking up with The Flower Patch Farmgirl today for Money Shot Monday, so be sure to pay her a visit and see what all of the fuss is about!

Now that Christmas is just a distant memory, I am finding myself thinking about all of that "stuff" I wanted to buy myself during the holidays...but quickly talked myself out of since everyone knows you don't shop for yourself at Christmas. Right?

Right.

Remember when I told you I was finding myself suddenly obsessed with animal head mounts? Not the real ones exactly, but the glass and ceramic ones that were popping up in home stores? Well even after sleeping on it, I have been unable to shake this obsession. Animal heads are where it is at. Faux animal heads. Spread the word.

In the meantime I found this one at One Kings Lane that I went swoony over. And given that we are going to do a living room revamp soon, I knew it had to be mine. But for $49, I got all woozy. I'm cheap my friends. Cheapity cheapity.

You know how they say that in order to make room for the new you should clear out the old? Well we did. About a dozen trash bags to be exact. Gone. On the curb or headed to charity...except for a few odds and ends I saved for "the bay." That would ebay.

So I threw this pup on "the bay". A like new Pampered Chef food chopper, passed on to me by someone who probably realized that they too had too many choppers. I would have to say I know exactly how this happens. We have several. Chopping food is a blast. Maybe that is why we love these things and let them multiply over time. It sold with a buy it now option is less than 24 hours for $32!

Soooo.....Once that $$$ was in my Paypal I headed to One Kings Lane and snagged my very own faux animal head. I had a $15.00 credit to use so in the end, the piece. was. paid. for.

Boom.

I love a cheap, happy ending. And traded something I don't need for something I really wanted. It just works, ya know? What don't you need anymore? How can you make room for the things you really want?

Oh my goodness I can't wait til it gets here.

One Kings Lane is still running their $15.00 shopping credit promotion when you use this super special Savvy Luna Bugg invite so feel free to head over and snag your own faux animal head. I won't be mad.

Out with the old. In with the new. Trade in. Trade up. It is the way to go in 2013, kiddos. Happy New Year!


* SLB is a One Kings Lane affiliate

Day After Christmas Blues. Or Pinks.

There are very few things that could help me beat the day after Christmas blues.

Trees start showing up on the curb, some with strands of tinsel still on them. The music stops. The snow spots suddenly appear a tad annoying and dingy. No more random Christmas movies on at any given time of the day. Egg nog is pulled from the shelves along with Chocolate Charlie.

Are you crying yet? Crying into your snowmen covered dishtowels which you now feel compelled to put away for another year? Agony.

But today was different. This will be the only time in my life this will ever happen, that it will ever play out this way. So I embraced it.

Nothing, no nothing helps one beat the day after Christmas blues than seeing this:

Oh sweet baby. And he or she is all mine. Swoon worthy? I say so.

It wasn't Christmas carols I heard in my head when I laid eyes on this lil pup. I'm pretty sure it was vintage Della Reese...

Don't you know
I have fallen in love with you
For the rest of my whole life through

Don't you know
I was yours from the very day
That you happened to come my way

Little limbs, fingers in a frenzy, and heartbeat that sounded like a thoroughbred racing for his life. The day after Christmas, we were getting the very best gift yet.

Can't you see
I'm under your spell
By the look in my eyes
Can't you tell, can't you tell

Now, don't you know
Every beat of my heart keeps crying out
I want you so
Don't you know...


Perfect.

So now we wait.

It will be a hot hot day in June when this lil bugg comes our way. June 29th to be exact.

No Christmas blues today...well, not that kind anyways. But there are lots of visions of blues and pinks. Maybe a little yellow, a dab of orange. I always loved green on babies. Eeek. Time to start decorating.

Just another reason to look forward to next Christmas, when three lil buggs will be gathered around our tree.I can hardly stand it.

Hope you are all making it through December 26th ok...only 364 days until next Christmas!