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❤ Make a Heart Healthy Dinner at Home for your Valentine with Ungraded Produce @ungradedproduce

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Disclaimer: I received a complimentary box of goodness from Ungraded Produce in exchange for my honest review.

Did you know that February is Heart Healthy Month? Time to focus on keeping our hearts healthy through exercise and healthy eating habits. You know the saying..Happy Wife,Happy Life. Well this month, we’ve remixed that saying to ..A Healthy Husband and Wife leads to a Happier & Healthier Life. So I’ve partnered with Ungraded Produce to share a healthy husband and wife meal idea just in time for Valentine’s Day! ❤

■ Ungraded Produce…Who Are They?

They are a produce delivery service that provides customers with an easy way to fight against food waste. Fact: 1.2 million tons of food go to waste in NC each year! Founded in June 2015 by Courtney Bell, Ungraded Produce saw an opportunity to connect consumers with a supply of delicious but imperfect looking produce at 30-50% cheaper than supermarket alternatives!

■ What Do They Do?

Fact: 20% of the produce grown in the US gets left in the field or tossed for being “ugly”.

Ungraded Produce is working to fight these statistics by rescuing produce, packing/delivering it to the customer’s door and making an edible impact against food waste!

■ How Does It Work?

Fact: 40+ million Americans lack access to a convenient and affordable source of fresh produce.

With Ungraded Produce you get farm to door service when you get a subscription. Boxes ranges from 5-15 pounds and you have the option of weekly or biweekly delivery options. At any time you can cancel,pause or change products at any time!

*SobeSavvy Tip: New Customers SAVE $5 on your first box with promo code (HEALTHYNC)

Register at www.ungradedproduce.com

With your subscription, you are joining in the fight against food waste! Note: They deliver to most towns that border Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill only.

■ Why Should You Subscribe?

Make your health your wealth and priority this year. Treat yourself and family to affordable, easy, sustainable fresh fruits and vegetables. It is also very convenient to receive this special delivery right to my door! In my Large Mixed Produce Box, I received 15 lbs of FRUIT|honeydew melon, apples, tangerine mandarin oranges, bosc pears + VEGETABLEs|vidalia onions, spaghetti squash, poblano peppers, carrots, brocolli, tomatillios

■ How do I plan to use my box?

So far, I have made fresh juice from carrots and oranges in the morning!

My husband has entertained us with his Ungraded Produce juggling pre-dinner show…

…and together we have made a romantic dinner at home using all the unbelievable goodness from Ungraded Produce. Want to make a heart healthy dinner for your Valentine? ❤ Check out what we made using Ungraded Produce.

SANGRIA | Red wine in moderation is healthy right?! I added pears,apples,honeydew melon and voila..you are ready to raise a glass and toast to your Valentine.

DINNER | With the help of my friend Google, I mashed up a couple of recipes and came up with a delicious and healthy entreé to serve for our romantic dinner at home. First the sauce…

ITALIAN GREEN TOMATO SAUCE..inspired by this recipe>>here. After roasting the tomatillos, I added them to a blender to make a sauce to use for my spaghetti squash pasta.

SPAGHETTI SQUASH PRIMAVERA inspired by this recipe>>here. First let me say thank you to whomever came up with idea to put the directions on how to make spaghetti squash in the microwave right on the label! Such a time saver.

After washing, dicing, slicing, sauteing, seasoning the veggies, it was time to add the green tomato sauce, the parmesean cheese, the spaghetti squash and L-O-V-E ❤!

The table was set for a night and meal he’ll never forget. I took a cue from Johnny Gill and ..🎶 put on my red dress, slipped on some high heels, and some of that sweet perfume 🎶..and My, My, My our meal was so good tonight! We enjoyed our romantic dinner at home made with Ungraded Produce. I hope you are inspired to subscribe and make something healthy and special for your Valentine too! ❤

■ Do you plan to dine in or out for Valentine’s Day?

■ Have you used Ungraded Produce service before?

Let me know in the comments below. Thanks for reading! ❤

Disney Princess Pleybox by @MyPley|Unboxing with #outandaboutAva #Disney #BeautyandtheBeast #pleybox 

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Disclaimer: We received the introduction box complimentary for review, however all opinions are my own.

April Showers bring May Flowers but it also brings lots of indoor play time for my daughter. With her being an only child, she has found creative ways to use her imagination and make indoor playtime fun. However, sometimes even #outandaboutAva gets bored with the same toys. So when I heard PLEY.com had launched Disney Princess Mystery Box service, I knew we had to try it! 
As the leading subscription toy company,  Pley.com is expanding its popular toy service by introducing a Disney Princess mystery subscription box line. The Disney Princess PleyBox subscription service will magically arrive every two months and includes a mix of toys, t-shirts, accessories and other goodies. The service is kicking off with a one-of-a-kind package inspired by Disney’s animated classic film Beauty and the Beast.

My daughter was very excited to unbox her very first Disney Princess Pleybox and couldn’t wait to explore the activities and discover the many fun surprises inside. Here is what you get for just $24.99:

  • a mystery box containing between 4-8 Disney Princess toys
  • activity book
  • fashion accessories (The Beauty and the Beast box includes a t-shirt, and role play item..this gorgeous gold crown!)
  • Each bi-monthly box tells the story of a new princess and, like a rags-to-riches princess story, the shipping box magically transforms into a castle, boat, or tower that can be decorated and played with, both reducing waste and increasing play value

Earth Day was just this past Saturday, so I appreciated this innovative, eco-friendly packaging that turned into a castle. I also liked the convenience of having cool toys delivered to our door without the  expense, waste,mess or stress. My husband was happy to have some Daddy -Daughter time by helping to put the castle together!

“Instead of throwing the packaging away, our physical shipping boxes become a part of the princesses’ story. Each box has instructions that transform the shipping box into a playable toy such as a castle, boat or a carriage that can be decorated and played with,” explains Pley CEO Ranan Lachman. “We call it ‘Pleycycle,” and are proud to be a leader in reducing the environmental footprint of toy packaging.”

Available now, the Disney Princess PleyBox subscription service will bring the stories of the brave, kind and adventurous Disney Princess characters to life in a unique and interactive way. Designed to empower girls, this mystery box is an ideal gift for kids who love the Disney Princess characters and their unique stories. The Disney Princess PleyBox delivery service can be ordered at https://www.pley.com/disney-princess. This box will be offered at a limited quantity, so make sure you order yours for your favorite little princess today! 
For more information visit: http://www.pley.com

Want to see more of  #outandaboutAva ‘s unboxing? Check out video slideshow here.

Do you use toy subsription box servives or subscribe to any subscription services? If so, share below!

#TastyTuesday Spotlight on @HelloFresh Family Meals ! Check out these #HelloFreshPics ..#YUM

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DISCLAIMER: This is a sponsored post. I received a HelloFresh box for review, however 100% of the opinions are my own. 

Hello November! It’s time to start preparing for the holidays. Some feel this time of year can be stressful and expensive, but it does not have to be. Something I like doing to relieve stress is cooking with my family and for my family. So when I heard of HelloFresh offering a convenient and easy way to cook healthy meals at home, I wanted to try it.

What is HelloFresh ?  It’s a weekly recipe-kit delivery service where you get to choose from delicious recipes and receive a box full of fresh ingredients at your door for you to cook at home. Here is what my box looked like:

*Surprise..A lovely apron was included!

You can choose from 3 Meal Plans: Classic, Veggie or Family Plan, which is what I received,  filled with family friendly ingredients. It came with the following 3 handpicked recipes: 

…and a cocktail recipe card was included also! 

Each meal recipe card is yours to keep. It gives a description on the front and list of ingredients, recipe details and nutrition per person info on the back. I liked the size of the cards which makes reading the recipe easy. 

Now let’s talk about the dishes. First meal made was the Shrimp Lo Mein. Out of all 3 recipes, this was the families favorite. It had all the flavors of Chinese takeout without the high fat and sodium. Plenty of shrimp were provided and fresh produce. They say variety is the spice of life but I say sauce is the spice of life!  I really enjoyed the soy and hoisin sauce in this dish giving it a balanced sweet and salty flavor.

Next meal was the Baked Parmesan Chicken Strips. This one was a good one to get all family members involved. I had my daughter washing produce and my husband chopping while I breaded the chicken strips with toasted panko and parmesan cheese. My least favorite thing about this meal is that string beans were being repeated. Since they were already featured in the Shrimp Lo Mein meal, it would have been great to pair with a different green vegetable. This meal was adult and kid approved because we all loved the rosemary potatoes and dipping the chicken strips in the homemade honey mustard dressing was fun. Here is a fun video we made of our Hello Fresh Meal #2 : https://www.instagram.com/p/BMRutuVAH_F/

Lastly, we had the Honey and Orange Chicken Jambalaya.  This Creole dish is served with tomato rice and was given a burst of citrus flavor by adding orange zest. My daughter thought it was too spicy, so this was her least favorite. All the meals were nut free and took about a total of 45 mins to make. 

HelloFresh encourages us homecooks to share our masterpieces on social media. Take a look at #HelloFreshPics and follow HelloFresh on Instagram, Twitter and FaceBook to get inspired!  

Savvy Tip:  Get $40 off your first box here