Coffee It Forward with Seattle's Best Rubi Coffee Kiosk #shop #Rubi2Go

My day starts like most Moms. I have my to do list, my child and there never seems like there are enough hours in the day to get it all done. On my days off from work I try to get as many things done to be productive with my time. What fuels this tired working and blogging Mom is coffee! I would be a mess without it. Normally I start the day with a cup at home with my husband then I grab another cup of coffee from a drive-thru of some sort. I have tried the cheap convenience coffee and the high end coffee that cost way more than it should as well. I do prefer quality fresh ground coffee so I end up spending more money than I want to and time spent in line at a store or drive-thru.

Recently while shopping at Save Mart I noticed a Coffee Kiosk that was brewing Seattle's Best coffee. I pondered for a bit if coffee from a machine would be good. I can recall from my childhood old brown square shaped machines that black thick gross coffee would come out of and I thought this is 2013 I am sure it has improved! Knowing that Seattle's Best coffee is a high end coffee, I decided to try it.

Celebrating 12 Years of Marriage with Fresh Finds from Save Mart Supermarket #shop #FreshFinds

This week my husband and I will be celebrating our 12 year wedding anniversary. My husband is a former chef and can make fabulous food! I am blessed to have him as a stay at home Dad that cooks and cleans but this means for me on a special occasion I like to cook for him.

After getting the weekly ads for grocery stores in the mail I decided to head to Save Mart Supermarket to shop for the ingredients I need for my Italian Romantic Pasta Dinner. My husband and I were married in Lake Tahoe and honeymooned at Caesars Palace. We had the best pasta and caesar salad for dinner there.

I plan to make a Vegetable Pasta Casserole full of fresh veggies and fresh refrigerated Pacific Coast Selections Pasta Sauces from Save Mart. My husband and I have been eating so much BBQ this summer that I wanted to have a special occasion with a meatless option. I shopped for fresh pasta sauce, zucchini, red bell peppers, onions, olives, mushrooms, a salad kit and carrot cake for dessert. Its a yearly tradition to eat Caesar Salad on our anniversary to remember Caesars Palace.


Vegetable Pasta Casserole Recipe 

2 containers (26 oz.)  Pacific Coast Selections Marinara Sauce
1 pkg.  (7 oz.) Shredded Cheese
3 cups  pasta, cooked
2 large  red peppers, cut into thin strips
2  zucchini, halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced crosswise
1/2 lb.  mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 cup of sliced olives
1/2 large onion, thinly sliced

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Boil pasta while chopping up the vegetables. 

Set aside 3/4 cup of the cheese.

Combine all vegetables, pasta sauce and remaining cheese in a bowl. Mix together. Spoon in mixture to baking dish. Top the mixture with the cheese that you set aside.

Bake 20-25 minutes until heated through. 

Through the years my husband and I have been married sitting down to eat a meal together each night has done wonders for our marriage. No matter what kind of day we had, what ups and downs there are we always like to share a meal together. Food can bring back memories of good times and help you create new memories. I am so happy we decided to spend our anniversary dinner having a romantic dinner for two at home with something I made just for him from Save Mart.

My husband and I shared a delicious meal, laughed about the the many things that have happened over the last 12 years and ended the night watching movies together. It was a perfect way to celebrate our anniversary and enjoy a healthy fresh meal.

What meal reminds you of your wedding day?

Day at the Lake with Save Mart Cantaloupe #FreshFinds #Shop #cbias

*I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client. #FreshFinds #shop #cbias All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

This summer has been filled with fun times. We swim at the pool, have BBQ dinners, attended festivals and even met some new friends. This year we decided we wanted to take our son for his first lake trip. He has swam in pools and dipped his toes in the river but we have not made it to the lake. When I saw the great deals at Save Mart for the food I would need to plan a picnic I knew we had to go. I have been wanting to try a new recipe for Cantaloupe Berry Fruit Salad that has a lemon yogurt and cinnamon dressing.

We made a list for our day at the lake using the Save Mart ad and divided it in half. My husband and I planned to divide and conquer in the store. We had a busy day planned and knew this would be fast. My son went with me since I had the "cool" racing cart. We ended up with 44 items all together and saved $36.86. Great shopping trip! You can read about our shopping trip in my Google+ story.

I found many fresh finds at Save Mart. Everything I need for my Cantaloupe Berry Salad, honey mangoes to snack on while I cook, watermelon to slice into wedges for the kids to eat and red bell peppers to add to the pasta salad. Thankfully my son loves fresh fruit and ate almost half the containers of strawberries and blueberries while I was preparing the fruit salad. I had to hide them or he would have eaten them all!

The sweet scent of fresh fruit filled the kitchen as I was preparing the salad. I always look forward to California summers that are filled with local fresh fruits and veggies. I often just set our a big bowl of cut fruit to guest to snack on. I wanted to fancy up our fruit for the day at the lake so I made a cinnamon lemon yogurt dressing.

Cantaloupe Berry Fruit Salad Recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup low fat lemon yogurt

2 tsp. lemon juice

2 tsp. sugar

1/8 tsp. cinnamon

2 cups sliced cantaloupe 

2 cups sliced strawberries

2 cups blueberries

Preparation:

In small bowl, mix yogurt, juice, sugar, and cinnamon and blend well with whisk. Combine remaining ingredients in salad bowl and drizzle with salad dressing. Cover and chill until serving.

We packed up the fruit salad, pasta salad, watermelon slices, fresh corn that we planned to grilled in the husk, the meat to BBQ and all drove to Folsom. The kids were super excited to be going to the lake. For a few of our friends this would be their first time at the lake, just like my son.

The food was delicious. The fruit salad was a big hit, some of the kids even asked for seconds! We ate so much I wanted to make sure the kids waited for a bit before heading back to the water. I did not want to sound like a cliche so I did not want to say "You have to wait 30 minutes before swimming" so I had them talking and playing with balloons I brought. We played balloons and had fun for about, 30 minutes lol. If its true or not about waiting to swim I still like to have them settle their tummies before swimming.

One of the benefits of serving fruit for a day at the lake dinner is we were all hydrated and full of antioxidants while we enjoyed the summer sun. Some people like to make things like S'mores but for us on a hot summer day fresh fruit is what we love. We all headed to the water to swim and build sand castles. We had a perfect summer day!

My son loved swimming in Folsom Lake. He wanted to stay as long as we could, the only way I could get him to leave is by promising he could have more fruit and swim at the pool when we got home.

You can find great recipes and see what items are on sale to plan your next summer adventure on the Save Mart website, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

Heart Healthy Recipe for Summer Tailgating with Save Mart Supermarket #FreshFinds

*I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client. #FreshFinds All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

My son thinks race cars are cool. He loves the Cars movies and the first time he saw a race on tv he yelled "Wow Mom thats so cool!" We have had friends tell us about the races in Sonoma but we have yet to attend one, perhaps when our son is a little older so he can actually stay in his seat we will attend a race. For now we are happy to have a home tailgating party and watch races on tv. 

We headed to Save Mart Supermarket to buy food for our Race Party for the Save Mart Toyota 350 race. We are planning a heart healthy meal to health promote the cause of Nascar driver Jeff Burton who is raising money to help fight heart disease. At times tailgating and home tailgating can turn into a bunch of junk food and goodies but we are planning something delicious and good for you.

I made my menu list based on items that are heart healthy and on sale at Save Mart. I plan to serve one of my husbands favorite drinks I make, Wine Fruit Punch. It is like a Sangria without the traditional brandy in it. To contrast the sweetness of my drink I am serving Chicken Tacos, Sauteed Veggie Skewers and Cheese & Olive Bread Rounds with Guacamole. 

  I am planning to serve food that is hand held and easy to eat while watching the races. I like to serve food with skewers and toothpicks. Its fun to eat and less messy! I am making potatoes sauteed in olive oil with red onions and red bell peppers. My mom has made sauteed potatoes for many years. I love them so much I make them all the time. So much healthier than a deep fried potatoes.

I love cooking with my family. We get to bond while we make a meal. My son was having a hard time not eating things while we waited for friends to arrive.

Simple to make! These were a huge hit with our friends that came over for dinner. 

I want an appetizer that is not cooked. On a hot day like this one at 108 degrees we need something cold and light. Many times at a party we put out bowls of chips or other salty snacks. For the summer we like more of a lighter and healthier snack. In the intense heat with salty junk food can make you feel even more drained, not a fun way to have a party. I made my appetizer with bread rounds, cheese, guacamole and olives. My son really liked these, I was surprised since he can be a picky eater. 

For the main course I made chicken tacos with cilantro, red onion and cherry tomatoes. These were one of the best tacos I have made. I made them with boneless chicken breast. I left the skin on to cook topped with taco seasoning but then took of the skin before I cut the chicken to serve it in the tacos. It was a perfect flavor! 

This is a great way to serve a drink for grown ups that is not heavy like a beer. Typical tailgating usually involves beer but for us we like to have a sweet and refreshing wine punch. I make mine with different fresh fruits and juices to change the flavors. I selected strawberries, cantaloupe, kiwi and oranges with Mango Lemonade & Sierra Mist Natural for this party. I made the kids a non alcoholic version using blueberry lemonade.

Sweet, fresh and so tasty! 

We had a fun time at our Save Mart Race party! We enjoyed good food as we watched some older races on tv. I am excited that Danica Patrick will be racing this year. After the day cooled off from the 108 degree weather we went to the pool to cool off, after waiting at least 30 minutes to swim after eating. That is what they say right?!? :)

You can see my shopping trip to Save Mart and the live lobster tank by reading my Google+ story. 

Connect with Save Mart for other Heart Healthy Recipes for your Summer Parties on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.