Trader Joe’s Hacks: Low Carb Car Lunches

Tired of pulling through yet another drive-thru trying to make the best choice? I came up with these four SUPER EASY + HEALTHY lunches from TJ’s all made and eaten in my car ! I call this one… carb-pool kitchen?

First up is the Trader Joe’s buffalo chicken wrap. This guy comes in at 54g of carbs! We can do better than that, sister.

Low Carb Buffalo chicken wraps
Buffalo chicken Dip
Celery Sticks
Cauliflower Slims

TJ’s cauliflower slims come in at just 1 carb for two pieces! Our “diy” buffalo chicken wrap is made with 2 cauliflower slims, their buffalo chicken dip, and celery. It comes out to less than 5 carbs. She’s not going to win any beauty pageants, but she’s delicious.

Next up is TJ’s vegetable burrito with 72g of carbs. Why do that when you can make my low carb vegetarian option?

Egg Salad Lettuce Wraps

Romaine hearts
Egg Salad

My own version comes in at just less than 3 carbs. I added the egg salad to my Romaine hearts and added their famous “everything but the bagel seasoning.” You are going to be keeping that seasoning in your glove compartment, and it has ZERO carbs!

Get this- their tuna salad wrap has 50g of carbs. Here’s my solution.

Tuna and Guacamole wraps
Cauliflower Pizza Crust
1 can of solid white albacore tuna
Guacamole to go

Take the cauliflower pizza crust, some guacamole, the tuna, and that delicious bagel seasoning. It tastes incredible!

Instead of their boxed salads, try this. It’s a healthier AND cheaper alternative.

Salad in a Bag
Pomodoro Cremoso Salad Kit (toss the crouton packet)
Genoa Salami & Provolone Cheese packet

Grab their cheese and salami packets along with their lettuce kit. This is a lot cheaper than banking on their boxed salads, and it’s a LOT more food. Toss those croutons that come in the kit, and add the extra protein, bagel seasoning, and even the dressing. A serving of this salad is only 8 carbs!

Which one sounds the best to you? Comment and LMK! Make sure to check out the linked product for my car steering wheel table- it makes eating in your car even easier when you’re on the go.

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The Best Super Bowl Food Hack

Just in time for the big game! What’s your favorite Super Bowl food? Why choose? I’ve combined 2 of my favorite savory treats into one crazy good handheld appetizer, and I can’t wait for you to try it! This game day snack hack is a winner and great to bring to any party?

Start by whipping up a batch of my easy Marie Callender’s cornbread copycat.

Marie Callender Copycat Cornbread
1 box yellow cake mix (I use Duncan Hines, any 15.25 oz yellow cake mix will work)
1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix (8.5 oz)

To make this guy, follow the box recipe for each then combine the batters. Now we are ready to make cornbread cupcakes!

Start by preheating your oven to 350F. After scooping the filling into your muffin tin, try this hack: Place your muffin ban on a baking sheet in the oven to keep from burning. Bake for 18 mins (Baking time will vary based on your oven)

Next, we are dolling up these cupcakes. Start by making the “frosting.”

“Frosting”
2 bricks of cream cheese, brought to room temperature (8 oz. each)
1/4 cup honey
5 -8 drop of Tabasco

Using a mixer, mix until well combined and smooth. When it comes to the hot sauce, do whatever you feel will work for your tastebuds.

This last step is what makes this the greatest game day snack hack EVER! Any wings work here so go with your favorite flavor. I used frozen, but you can make your own or pick up premade. Simply top your cornbread cupcakes with those wings! I added honey on top for an extra touch.

If you had to pick one game day favorite, would you rather have the cornbread cupcake or the chicken wing? Comment and LMK! I’m going with the cornbread and honey cream cheese ?

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Costco vs Trader Joe’s: War of the Roses ❤️?

Would you rather spend money on flowers or chocolates? ?? Honestly, both are way up this year, making Valentine’s Day more expensive than ever! The average cost of 1 dozen roses delivered nationwide is over $80. ? Luckily, there is a way to save big wherever you are if you’re willing to pick them up or order online. Here’s where you’ll find the best looking roses and where you’ll find the best price ?

For this challenge, I stopped by three popular grocery stores and arranged them all the same way. I stopped at Trader Joe’s, ran to Safeway, and also stopped at Costco. I picked up 24 roses at each location.

Here’s the price breakdown for 24 roses:

Costco: $19

Trader Joe’s: $20

Safeway: $30

When you see ’em together, there’s a HUGE difference. Trader Joe’s gets my rating for “good” because of the short stems and affordable price. Super tight buds and best price makes Costco a better choice. Best in show goes to Safeway, which is also Scooter’s choice!

I found an amazing deal at Costco that Scoot might want to try out. This deal is online only, but you get 50 roses for just $65 and they deliver!

Notes: If you’re not a Costco member, there is a 5% price increase, making them around $68.25 instead of $65. still a huge deal! Make sure to place your order by Feb. 12 for delivery by Valentine’s Day ?

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Money Saving Grocery Store Hacks: Cereal Edition

Have you noticed how crazy expensive cereal is?! Captain Crunch alone has gone up by over 40% in the past couple of years ? To give you a quick idea of how bad it’s gotten, I decided to compare Americas top selling cereal, Cheerios:

When you factor in the shrinkflation AND the price increase over the past 2 years, you’re paying 16% for 7% less cereal = which is equivalent to a 25% price increase! ?
That means we’re loosing 22.5 bowls a year! Over 3 weeks worth of breakfasts! And that’s just for 1 person!

✳️Here’s how and where to save

Coming in first is Costco and Sam’s Club. If you’re lucky to have a membership at either of these stores, they have the best deals.

Coming in second is Walmart. Walmart has the best selection of all of the stores. Your best buy here is their 2 pound bags! In general, the more you buy the more you are going to save. Buying in bulk is key! The smaller box almost always cost more in the long run.

The best deals might not even be at the grocery store. Surprisingly, drugstores have really good deals on cereal. Especially if you coupon stack, you can have up to 40% off!

✳️ How to store

Here’s the rundown: you’ve got 3 months to eat opened cereal and up to a year if you store your unopened bags. Store your bulk bags in a cool, dark spot to make it last.

✳️ How to revive stale cereal

If your cereal is past its prime time, here’s a hack to revive it! Spread your stale cereal on a cookie sheet and bake at 350F for 5-10 minutes. Good as new!

✳️ My FAVORITE SECRET CEREAL HACK of all time…just don’t tell the kids this one ?

A great hack to save some money is to mix name brand with the generic. Your family is never going to know, and you’ll save around 25%! Generic cereal brands cost 20-25% less.

Always HERE FOR YOU, sister! ? Stick around for more daily tips + tricks ?

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LORAfied On-the-Go Grocery Store Hacks: Low Carb Costco Food Court Hack

Have you ever struggled to find a “healthier” option at a food court? With kids usually by my side begging for the ice cream and chicken cheese bake it’s hard to always make the best decision when that new Costco cookie is starting at you from the checkout line ? If you’re a carb counter like I am, you’re going to love this! Honestly, it’s so much food you could split it! And it makes the perfect on-the-go lunch! Finally, a way to enjoy the food court once in a while without feeling guilty ❤️

You guys will never believe this, but I made a low carb chicken parmesan at the Costco food court. It’s one of my favorite LORAfied creations- here’s how to make it!

I picked up 1 chicken Caesar salad and 1 slice of their cheese pizza. For the chicken parm base, we are going to use the chicken from the salad. Separate it and place it on a separate plate. And get this, the chicken adds 0 carbs!

Here’s where things get a little crazy. Scrape the cheese and sauce off of the pizza and top the chicken with it. I also topped mine with the shredded cheese from the salad! This entire plate comes out to 8g of carbs, and it’s absolutely delicious.

Now i’s time to hack the salad. First, we are gonna toss the croutons and dressing. Instead we are going to order the free side of onions. They come out at 2-4g carbs and make a great topping. Another free add on is the mustard and adds 0g carbs. It makes a delicious dressing, trust me!

Finally, a way to enjoy the Costco food court once in a while without feeling guilty! Stick around for more easy tips.

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Huge Money Saving Candy Hacks

? 2 HOLIDAYS = $20 ? Have you noticed how crazy expensive candy is?! Even small bags of kisses are almost $7 ? I know this might seem a little early, but if you BUY NOW for both Valentine’s ? AND St. Patrick’s Day ? you can save at least 75%!! ?? Plus, I have a super CUTE AND EASY treat you can make in minutes with your bargain bonbons ?

So get this sister. While Valentine’s candy is full price, if we run around the corner, Christmas candy is 75% off ! You might be wondering… what are we going to do with Christmas candy now? You can use the red candy for Valentine’s Day, and save the green for St. Patty’s Day. No one’s going to know ? After all, it’s the same candy, just different packaging and pricing!

After separating the reds from the greens, we are going to bag ’em up. I found these cute Valentine’s Day baggies for the red candy and stored the green ones in zip lock baggies to save for March. My ziplock baggie stand is one of my favorite kitchen gadgets and worked perfectly for this hack.

Next up, I’m sharing my favorite candy hack. Don’t forget to grab some candy canes at the store! We are gonna turn these guys into hearts. Place them on a cookie sheet with parchment paper and bake at 300F for 3 minutes.

After taking them out of the open, pinch the little ends together to make sure the heart stays in tact. Next, melt down some of your Christmas candy in the microwave and use it to fill the middle of the hearts. I added some extra sprinkles for fun. Aren’t they just darling?! They are so easy to make and SO cute.

Stick around for more money saving hacks!

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Kitchen Hacks: Free + Easy Game Changers

Do you have a dishwasher? If yes, then how often do you find a flipped over item full of water in the top rack? My answer used to be ALL THE TIME! It’s so annoying, right? We’re going to fix that once a for all! And if you’re a fan of having fewer dust collectors taking up valuable cabinet space, you’ll love what happens with a cookie sheet and some scotch tape ? Oh, and I toss in one you don’t need to waste your time on ???

Let’s start with the hack we can all use… the dry dish hack! Are you tired of finding water in your clean dishes? Here’s an easy hack to fix that.

Take your baking rack and place it on top of your dishes. This guy will weigh your dishes down so they don’t flip around and fill with water.

This next hack is my personal favorite. We are making a DIY cupcake holder. And the only things you need? A cookie sheet and some scotch tape. With kids still at home, I find myself still needing a way to transport them from time to time, but honestly, not enough to store an oversized cupcake holder. This is a great alternative.

We are going to make a grid on the cookie sheet with your scotch tape. By the way, the tape won’t hurt your cookie sheet. Making a grid will create a square for each cupcake to sit inside of. The best part? This hack saves you from the hassle of buying and storing those store-bought cupcake holders.

And now… for my fail. I was SO excited about this threat the needle hack using a toothbrush. The bottom line? Skip out on this one. The only good news was that the toothbrush was clean.

2 out of 3 successful kitchen hacks is a win for me! Stay turned for more easy and helpful hacks.

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As Seen on the Today Show: Rotisserie Chicken Hacks to Debone FAST

Have you ever struggled to get all the meat off a rotisserie chicken? Raise your hand if you’ve thrown some of it away because you just couldn’t get it off the bone after it had set in the fridge?‍♀️ Good news, sister, those days are over! Here’s one of the fastest hacks out there that will have you saying “Winner, winner, chicken dinner!” ??

Tip #1: Go through the chickens and compare the weight. Some guys will be a lot heavier than others! The heavier chickens stay more moist under those heat lamps and will be the juiciest. Head home and get ready for a hack that’s going to blow your mind! Fastest way to debone a chicken EVER.

All you need is an extra-large baggie. Stick your warm chicken inside, zip up the bag, and just start squishing. That’s right! That chicken will slide right off, with none going to waste.

Then, remove the bones into a pot. Divide the chicken into containers and refrigerate for the easiest meal prep ever.

See below for how to use those bones to make bone broth!

Easy Bone Broth
Bones from 1 chicken
12 cups of water
4-6 celery stocks
Large handful of carrots
Bunch of parsley (either flat or curly works)
1 onion (just remove the skin, you can leave it whole)
10-15 garlic cloves
Salt (to taste)
1 Tbsp Peppercorns

Put everything in a large pot, bring to a boil then simmer for 1-2 hours, until it reduces down by about 1/3 or so. Strain before storing in the fridge ?

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Target vs Walmart: Which is BEST FOR YOU?

Where do you tend to shop more, Target or Walmart? I used to think they were pretty interchangeable and would just stop at the one closest to when out running errands. Turns out, depending on where you are in life, one may be a much better fit. If you’re still deep in diapers or stocking up to feed a family every week, one is the clear winner! Same with fashion and beauty, one is far superior! For me, I need both of these stores ?

Target vs Walmart⭐️?

I headed to the cosmetics section first. At Target, they are going to accept cosmetic returns, even the opened products! Although you can’t return open cosmetics at Walmart, this is the spot for great prices on personal products like shampoo and body wash.

If you’ve got kids, Walmart is the place to score better deals on quality diapers.

I found that the Walmart food section is also superior. They have a bigger selection of groceries for much better deals!

Overall, Walmart is cheaper, more convenient, and has more quantities.

On the other hand, Target has fewer items that are a little fancier with those designer collaborations. Home goods aren’t just cuter at Target, but they are also more durable.

While Walmart’s clothing selection has come a long way, Target is the place to go for cute and affordable fashion finds.

Something silly I noticed is that Target’s shopping experience was just superior! They have bigger isles, better lighting, and the store is overall just more aesthetically pleasing.

The Bottom Line?

Walmart is great for the things you need. It has better deals on the essential items, with more quantities available.

Target is better for the things you want. It has a great return policy, and the clothing and home selections are superior.

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Holiday Hacks on Today With Hoda & Jenna

Click ➡️ HERE ⬅️ to watch the episode!

WOW, sister, just WOW! To say it was an honor to share some of my favorite Holiday Hacks on @hodaandjenna with @hodakotb & @jennabhager wouldn’t begin to cover how I feel. My heart is especially full and let’s just say Scooter has finally stopped calling my full-time job a hobby ?

Have you ever put your dream on hold to raise your kids? Support your spouse? Care for a loved one? Or maybe you couldn’t take a chance on it because you had to keep food on the table and dreams are risky and certainly don’t pay the bills right away. I GET YOU! My career highway has been dotted with ?? road signs, telling me to slow down, pull over, even suggesting I just simply ✋!

Some of my speed bumps include: Having Kid 1 when I was 22 and married to the wrong guy for me. Being a single mom for a decade never saying no to a news live shot because being a divorced parent is expensive. Then finally getting a break at the network when I meet Scooter. While I really tried to continue working after Kid 2 came along, it became clear both Scoot and I couldn’t be on the road at the same time, so I hung up my cleats to be at home with Kids 2 & 3.

But I’m going to be honest, and anyone who knows me knows this, I missed my career, I missed the gathering of information, the research, the sharing what I had uncovered.

3 years ago, during a routine yearly checkup, my doctor told me I had to figure something out…meaning he could tell my normal peppy spark was dimming…it’s because I had been suppressing my goals, thinking they’d just go away, it was that obvious ? And here’s the kicker: I was 50 years old at the time (now 53!) What in the world could I possibly start?

For the love of LORAfied, sister THIS IS YOUR SIGN ?

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How to Make Cookie Cutter Whipped Cream Toppers

Are you looking for a fun (and tasty) way to get into the holiday spirit? Then this hack is for you! Introducing cookie cutter frozen whipped cream toppers…to compliment any hot drink from hot coco to coffee, or even tea. They’re cute, festive, and melt into your drink!

☕️? Holiday Hack: Frozen Whipped Cream Toppers ??

What you’ll need: you can use any whipped cream, even Cool Whip works! Basically any topping you can freeze. You could even do little dollops out of a can onto parchment paper and freeze those.

What to do: top with candies for extra fun… Anything that’s going to melt in a hot drink. Think M&Ms, red hots, chocolate chips… And, of course, sprinkles, any kind of sprinkles! We’re going to decorate these guys like cookies, and then stick them in the freezer.

Once they’re frozen, pull them out and let them sit out for a minute or two, then use cookie cutters to cut them out. Once your shapes are cut out, any unused shapes can go back in the freezer!

What’s your favorite cozy winter drink? Comment and LMK!?

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Cake Hack: 6 Ingredient Holiday Bundt

EASY + 6 INGREDIENT = SHOWSTOPPER ? Plus this beauty is AFFORDABLE…it only LOOKS EXPENSIVE!

If you were Santa, would you welcome a slice of cake or another cookie? ??? Although I’m a HUGE fan of frosted sugar cookies, especially the soft ones cold, straight out of the freezer, this cake is a STUNNER and it’s DELICIOUS! And you can make this any color for any celebration ?

?? CAKE HACK: HOLIDAY BUNDT ❤️?

Ingredients:

1 white cake mix (15.25 oz) I used Duncan Hines 1/2 packet instant vanilla pudding (3.9 oz) 1 cup sour cream 4 egg whites 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup oil, I use avocado oil , but any will work

✳️ DO NOT PREHEAT the oven ✳️

Pour all ingredients in a large bowl and mix until well combined. Divide batter in half, setting one half to the side. Take the other half and divide in half again, leaving you with 3 bowls of batter: 1 bowl will have 1/2 of the mix, the other 2 will have a 1/4 of the batter each.