I Heart Contributors

Oh my Oh my! I have been waiting to share this news with you for quite some time. Blissful and Domestic has some fabulous contributors now. These seven ladies rock and I am so thankful to get to work with them. They are going to be a great addition to this lil' ole' blog of mine. Each of these seven ladies brings something different to the table. I want B and D to be a well rounded blog, where ladies can come and be inspired, no matter what season of life you may be in. From recipes, to crafts, to fashion. They all do a little bit of everything. Want to meet these fancy pant ladies? Here they are. Click their pictures to go to their blogs. Share a little comment love with them. 

Aren't they fabulous? You will be seeing a lot more of these ladies around these parts. I can't wait! Have a fabulous Friday and don't forget to link up to the Feature Friday Linky Party.

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Feature Friday #51

Happy Friday Lovelies! Have you all given your 2 cents for this weeks Blissful Exchange topic? We are dishing about makeup. How do you wear it, save, etc? Check it out HERE. I also have some pretty exciting news! Starting next week you will start seeing some fantastic ladies here on B and D. I have added 7 new contributors to this lil' ole blog of mine. Tomorrow I am going to introduce each one to you. They rock and I am so happy to have them join my team!

Tonight I decided to try something new with features, which is why this party is just going up at 10pm. I decided to feature you all in different categories..... an award of sorts.  You guys link up wonderful stuff every week and I try to constantly think of ways to feature you. This week we will try awards. Check these ladies out they are awesome. If you were featured snag a featured button here.

So here we go.......

 
Best in Tips and tricks was a three way tie. I just couldn't decide! The lovely blog Domestic Randomness had perfect tips for doing a vacation on a budget.


I love Inspired by Family Magazine's Modest is Hottest post. 
Modesty rocks!


I also loved this thrifty post by Playing House. 
Great Thrift Store Shopping tips!

I want to play kitchen with this felt food from Bear Rabbit Bear.


This Boy's Potty Redo from The Thriftiness Miss is too perfect. 




My favorite DIY was from Inspirations by D. I just love these scrapbook flowers for your hair.




The best refashion is from Cox's Corner. How adorable are these T-Shirt Baby Sandals?

Best in Beauty goes to Polish and Sugar.
 I am in love with this nail polish!




The yummiest link is hands down Garlic Monkey Bread from Adorned from Above. I already pinned this one!

Now that we are all caught up and the awards have been given, let's party!

I updated all my other buttons

You can find them HERE.

http://www.blissfulanddomestic.com/p/buttons_23.html

 The Rules: 

 Follow Blissful and Domestic (Grab a button or add a link.) 

Link up YOUR recipes, crafts, ideas, projects or fun posts to share. Please no etsy shops, giveaways or advertisements.

 New or Old Post Work! Link up to your post, not your main blog. Visit some of the other links and HAVE FUN!

The Blissful Exchange: Makeup

  The Blissful Exchange is an exchange of ideas, and thoughts. It is not a debate, but a way to share. Each week I ask you all a question. Then it is your turn. In the comment section we can start a forum. A way to discuss different ideas, recipes, tips, and tricks. You can truly get to know all the readers of Blissful and Domestic this way. I know that many of us are in similar seasons of life. Our days are busy. They are full of children, laundry, chores, hugs, kisses, boogers, jobs, cooking, cleaning, and everything else that goes along with mommyhood and just being a woman. Let's inspire one another, since that is what Blissful and Domestic is all about.

This week's topic was inspired by an e-mail I got from one of you lovely readers.......

"I am officially addicted to your blog, it's proving to be a huge help
for me. I am 21 years old, and new to living out on my own and I am
trying my best to budget every penny that I have coming in, and living
within my means. But there is one thing that I am completely addicted
to... Makeup! I have finally managed to ween myself off of name
brands, and totally do it all in drugstore brands. Still, it adds up
and if I run out of a product I justify buying a product as an
emergency (See? Addicted! lol) and it really messes up my budget.
$8.00 per product adds up a bit too fast. So my question to you is..
What brand of makeup do you use? When you shop for it do you use
coupons? Do you only buy some if it's on sale? Do you set aside a
little bit of money for a makeup budget each month? Any tips you have
will be great!"

So what do you think can we help this chicka out? I want to know what you all do to save on beauty products. I will put my answer in the comment section.

So lets get started.....

Also you can still add your two cents to other 

Blissful and Exchange topics HERE.

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Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Legs

BBQ is on my brain lately. Oh so tangy and yummy. Here is a recipe I made up last week. The whole family loved it!

5 Chicken Legs

 1 (17.5 oz) of BBQ  Sauce (or go homemade)

1 (20 oz) can of Pineapple Chunks

reserve 1/2 cup of the juice

Lawry's Seasoning Salt

4-5 Russet Potatoes (chopped)

Place chicken in a greased baking dish. I used a 9x13 dish. Place cut up potatoes around chicken. Pour reserved pineapple juice over chicken and potatoes. Sprinkle with Lawry's Seasoning. Pour BBQ sauce over chicken. Place pineapple chunks over chicken and potatoes. Cover dish with aluminum foil. Bake @ 325' for 2 hours.

Slow cooked yumminess.

Print the Recipe HERE

You can also make your own BBQ sauce.

Homemade BBQ Sauce

This is a great substitute for store bought sauce.

1 onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons butter

1 can tomato sauce (8 oz.)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons molasses

1 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp chili powder

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 tablespoon water

Sauté onion in butter until soft. Add remaining ingredients and stir to thoroughly combine. Let simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

XO Danielle

Hand Print Fish

Hi there! So how is everyone doing now that school is officially underway? For us we have actually been in school for two weeks. I got a little excited and decided to start two weeks early. A benefit of homeschooling. Here in Nevada all kids are officially in school this week. I am sure homes are a whole lot quiter right about now as munchkins make their way to their exciting new classes. For all you Mamas out there, with little ones still at home, I have a fun craft to help you out today. My kids loved making these fun hand print fish. This is a great, simple activity for all little hands. I have included some fun read along books for you as well, at the end of this post. I was able to find all of them either in our own book collection or at our local library. Have fun creating with your littles today!



You Will Need:

Crayola Washable Kid's Paint (6 Assorted Colors) 2 oz Each
Paint Brushes
Googly Eyes
White Card Stock or White Construction Paper



I try to let my munchkins do as much as they can. My kids are 7 and 5, which makes this a little bit easier.



Step 1- paint those little hands

even go multi-colored if you feel festive!

Step 2- Allow all the hand prints to dry

Step 3- Next cut them out and add googly eyes. Super simple!
You can make all sorts of fish and even an Octopus too!

Easy Peasy right?

Here are some fun read alouds to go with this activity

      

I hope you get to make some colorful hand print fish today with your littles. Have fun creating with those munchkins of yours and I will see you all tomorrow. Hopefully you all will have survived the first day back to school :) I will keep my fingers crossed for you!

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Meal Planning & Shopping List: Week #4

This week I have a new meal plan for you  Some are my recipes and some are yours. I can't wait to get cooking this week and hope you all enjoy the easiness of Blissful and Domestic Meal Plans. Keep up the good work! You all rock! Before I get into this week's menu plan, I just want to remind you of something real quick. I do shop for the month, but I break down my meals into a weekly plan. I have a master list for the month that I pull meals from. When you look at the grocery lists, which I include in each Menu Planning post, always shop your pantry first. Cross the stuff off the list that you already have on hand. Once you have done that, you will be ready to go grocery shopping.

All right I have included this weeks menu plan here in the post, with links, and then again in a printable format. I have included 6 days of meals, with Sunday being a day for leftovers. On Sundays, when we come home from church, everything leftover from the week is fair game. I heat up our meals and we all enjoy our favorites from the past week. Sometimes I have to add some extra veggies, yogurt, or fruit to round out our leftovers night.

Most meal recipes do not include a side dish, unless otherwise linked and noted. 

I am leaving that one up to you :) I also serve all my meals with a vegetable or fruit.

Menu Plan #4

Monday- Santa Fe Meatloaf

Tuesday- Sour Cream Pancakes with bacon

Wed- Deli Sandwich Night with my basic dinner rolls

we have sandwiches with different salads. simple and yummy!

Thur- Caramelized baked chicken Legs with veggies

Fri- Chicken Bake

Sat- Crockpot Cube Steak and Gravy

Printable Versions

Shopping List

Weekly Menu

Now Your week is all prepared and ready to go. I hope this helps ya'll out this week. Let me know if you have any questions. You can find more recipes in my Let's Eat section and money saving tips below.

Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half

Freezing Your Milk

Living on $14,000 a year

How Does She Q and A

Breakfast and Lunch: Meal Planning and Saving Tips 

Fresh Produce All Month Long   

Save Money at Costco

Weekly Menu Plans + Printable Shopping Lists 

Dressing on a Shoestring Budget

Happy Meal Planning!

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Santa Fe Meatloaf

 

It is Saturday and boy am I excited. It has been a busy week and I am thankful for a morning of pajamas, sewing, cartoons with the littles, and possibly a family outing in the afternoon. Relaxing. Just the way a Saturday should be. This past week I tried out a few new recipes. I decided I needed to start making up my own recipes. I am great at taking others recipes and making them work with my pantry, but I really want to try a little bit harder at creating my own yumminess from scratch. The other day I decided I am going to write a cookbook someday. Shhh! Don't tell anyone though. I am still a tad bit insecure on the whole thing, but am growing more confident each day. I want my cookbook to be simple family friendly, kid tested and approved recipes. Just the way recipes should be right? I am always so inspired by all the e-mails you all send me. Every comment about how you are using my staples list, budgeting, and saving. It is so inspiring and makes me want to do more and share. That is where the cookbook idea came into play. I need to build up my online recipe box first, but the dream has been dreamt. I try to live everyday as frugally as I can and I want to share frugal recipes with you all. So that being said, hopefully you will be seeing more original Blissfully Made recipes. I already named my book. Cute right? Ok now enough of my dorkiness and dreams, although I thank you for letting me share, let's get to today's recipe. Print this one out. It will be in this upcoming weeks meal plan.

Santa Fe Meatloaf

1 lb. ground turkey 

1 cup salsa 

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 

1 can of corn 

2 eggs 

½ cup breadcrumbs 

2 tbl taco seasoning 

 Blend in mixer. Put in 9x9 baking pan or bread pan.

 Bake @ 350 for 40-50 minutes or until cooked through. 

Check with a meat thermometer.

We served ours with rice and cauliflower.
Join the Blissful Exchange to see 
what others are serving as side dishes

Here is a printable version for you. Enjoy!

Santa Fe Meatloaf

Need help meal planning? Check out my free  Weekly Menu Plans 
and my Let's Eat Section. I also have great posts to help your family save money!
Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half
Freezing Your Milk 
Living on $14,000 a year 
How Does She Q and A 
Breakfast and Lunch: Meal Planning and Saving Tips  
Fresh Produce All Month Long  
 Save Money at Costco
Menu Planning: Pantry Staples List 
Weekly Menu Plans + Printable Shopping Lists

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