One of my good friends is a vegetarian, and I always have to get creative when she comes to town. Obviously meat and potatoes isn’t going to go over well (not that she would mind that much if we ate it, she would probably just be pretty hungry.) So when she was visiting for the weekend during Aliceana’s birthday I came up with this garden baked ziti.

I got to work and chopped up some fresh bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, onion and garlic. Looks great, right? There is basically nothing better than vegetables straight from the Farmer’s Market. Well, except maybe the homemade donuts that we buy each Saturday at the Farmer’s Market, those are absolutely the best. Is it Saturday yet?

Then I added whole wheat pasta and my homemade marinara sauce. Oh and cheese, lots and lots of cheese.

We all had seconds, Aliceana had thirds and fourths. She really loved it. I have the weird (in a great way, of course) vegetable loving toddler.

We loved the combination of vegetables, it gave the dish such great flavor.

Despite the fact that I had no time in our extremely busy Summer schedule (as you’re reading this AJ and I in California for a business vacation,) I some how managed to pull together Aliceana’s puppy dog themed birthday party. Phew! Last year I went way overboard and I wasn’t able to enjoy myself at all, so this year I definitely toned it back, a lot. Instead of DIY everything I cheated and used the party outlet and the dollar store to help me out with the theme. This year every one had a lot more fun, and Aliceana was completely spoiled! (I’m pretty sure my Grandma bought her every single Frozen toy that’s out there, and we splurged and bought her a Nabi 2 kids tablet.)

I did make her cake though! I made this funfetti cake from scratch, and I topped it with my favorite whipped buttercream frosting recipe and some colorful heart sprinkles. I loved this frosting, because it’s so fluffy that you don’t have to worry about the frosting looking all pristine and uniform (I hate decorating desserts!)

I went overboard on cupcakes too. They were devoured extremely quickly. I made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting and topped them with Reeses Puffs cereal so they would resemble dog food.

I think they turned out pretty cute!

I made lemon cupcakes and put chocolate chips upside down so they would look like dalmatian spots.

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I love carbs, and carbs are so much better when they’re covered in a delicious sauce. I’ve been making my own tomato based sauce for months, and recently I added sugar as an ingredient to turn it into a marinara sauce and I’ll never go back. Seriously, homemade easy marinara sauce recipe is the best.

One of the reasons why I love this easy marinara sauce recipe so much, is because it’s so versatile. I use it as a pizza sauce as well as a pasta sauce. It would be great for dipping too.

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #JuicyFruitFunSide #CollectiveBias

I love chewing gum, it will always take me back to my rebellious grade school days, when we would have to sneak gum from the teachers, even though they almost always caught us. Back then one of our favorite gums to chew was always Juicy Fruit. Juicy fruit has grown up quite a bit since then and it’s now available in some really fun forms!

I’m in love with these little bottles, it makes the gum so easy to share and so easy to transport. These bottles have your gum ready to store in the car, home, or office.

I put together a list of some of the most important times when Juicy Fruit gum will come in handy.

Chew Juicy Fruit on Airplanes!

I know I’ll be packing Juicy Fruit for my trip to California this week. You don’t want that unpleasant feeling of having your ears “pop.” Fun fact: This will only be my second flight ever! So I’m a little bit nervous. How great is Juicy Fruit Bubble Gum for plane rides? The flavor that you love in chewy bubble gum form, you better believe that this will be on hand!

Bring Juicy Fruit to the beach.

This adorable Juicy Fruit packaging is just begging to come along to the beach, don’t you think? I think the Groovy Fruity flavor will be just perfect while we’re relaxing on Carmel Beach. I can easily fit the container in my bag for sharing on our mini-roadtrip.

In your purse or diaper bag.

The other day I had a chiropractor appointment, and right as I was stepping into their office I realized that I probably should have brushed my teeth. I hate that feeling more than anything. I need to have gum on hand to get myself out of those sticky situations. I’m always wishing I had gum when I take Aliceana to the park, now I can stick it in her diaper bag and I’ll always have it with me.

Would you like to try the new Juicy Fruit flavors? Juicy Fruit demos at Walmart stores across the country.

The demo dates are:
July 25-27, 11:00am-4:00pm
August 1-3, 11:00am-4:00pm on Friday/Saturday and 1:00-6:00 on Sunday

I purchased Juicy Fruit at Walmart and you can too!

Want to know more about Juicy Fruit and all of their fun flavors and packaging? Check Juicy Fruit out online.

This post is part of a sponsored conversation on behalf of Mom it Forward and Pepcid, all opinions and words are my own.

I went 23 years before experiencing heartburn. It was our babymoon/early 1 year wedding anniversary, I was very pregnant and we were out to dinner and my first case of heartburn struck me hard. I never knew how terrible heartburn was until that moment. My pregnancy with Aliceana definitely helped bring on my first ever heartburn, but now, two years after being pregnant I still get heartburn!

I find that fried and/or spicy foods are what normally triggers my heartburn (and pizza lately,) but there are lots of triggers! Some of the most common heartburn triggers are; tomatoes, fried and fatty foods, chocolate, garlic, raw onions, mints, vinegar, citrus fruits or juices, spicy foods, ketchup and mustard, and coffee. Those are some of my favorites! So this foodie needed a heartburn solution.

I love using Pepcid Complete. You use it at the first sign of heartburn for relief, which is perfect. I don’t experience heartburn enough to have to take a daily dosage, so I love knowing I have Pepcid Complete for those nights that heartburn sneaks up on me. Only 1 tablet is needed to treat your heartburn and acid indigestion symptoms all day or night, and it only takes seconds to kick in. I think that means it’s time to order a pizza (maybe even a side of spicy wings) to truly enjoy without worrying about heartburn.

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This is a sponsored post on behalf of Choose Cartons. All words and opinions are my own. 

My family loves to make eco-conscious purchases, whether it’s groceries or cleaning products. I love buying grocery items in cartons instead of cans.

Not only are cartons eco-friendly, they’re also so convenient. They keep food fresh (and a lot of times you can reseal for up to a week after opening!) They take up way less space. They’re also recyclable and renewable. Our family absolutely loves cartons.

During the month of July, you can help donate a tree just by tweeting! The folks at the blog, Choose Cartons , are partnering with Trees for the Future to donate a tree each time the hashtag #shopcartons is mentioned!

By partnering with Trees for the Future, Choose Cartons, an Evergreen Packaging initiative, aims to help replant as many of the valuable resources they use for their packaging as possible.

In fact, they are donating up to 10,000 trees during the month of July. All you have to do is tweet.

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