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Grilled Fruits and Vegetables and an Easy Marinade Recipe

March 21, 2020 by Sandra 9 Comments

It’s springtime, and summer will be here before you know it. That can only mean one thing.

It’s time to fire up the grill!

We recently fired up our grill and had a full, delicious, healthy, satisfying meal with ONLY grilled fruits and vegetables. Is that really possible? Yes, it is possible when you can get a variety of fresh, quality, produce from a store like Mariano’s. Not only does Mariano’s have a huge variety of organic fruits and vegetables, but they also carry locally grown produce. I love that they support local farmers.

Mariano’s made it easy to create a nutritious meal of grilled fruits and veggies.

I simply…

Decided on a menu of foods to grill
Wrote out a grocery list
Headed to Mariano’s to pick up the fruits and vegetables on my list
Used my Mariano’s rewards card at checkout
Then came home and created a meal my doctor would be proud of 🙂

I thought that instead of explaining the dishes we made, I’d show you in pictures. This way, you can get ideas for yourself and see just how easy it is to create a full fruits and veggies meal.

Here’s the first drool-worthy dish.

You can put a variety a vegetables separately on skewers and grill that way. (Be sure to soak your skewers for 30 minutes before putting them on the grill.)

Then toss them together in a bowl to bring the veggies together. Grilling your vegetables separately is a good idea if you’re grilling tomatoes, because they cook so quickly.

You can grill your veggies huddled together on a skewer, sans tomatoes.

Grilled asparagus is so good on the grill. (It’s great in the oven, too.)

Portabella mushrooms are juicy and delicious. Wow!
We will definitely be grilling these again.

And finally, grilled mango makes a healthy dessert. Yum! (We also grilled watermelon with honey drizzled on top, but it was not a family favorite.)

We used an easy marinade recipe that was perfect for our grilled vegetables. Feel free to double or triple the recipe depending upon the amount of veggies you’re grilling. (A big thanks to my hubby for coming up with this recipe! He’s pretty great in the kitchen. :))

Here’s the recipe:

Vegetable Marinade

Ingredients

1/2 cup extra-virgen olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

Add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend for approximately 1 minute.

https://thesensiblemom.com/2020/03/grilled-fruits-and-vegetables-and-an-easy-marinade-recipe/

I’m looking forward to our next fruits and veggies cookout. I’m sure we’ll be enjoying a lot more of these cookouts for months to come!

Have you ever created an entire fruits and veggies meal on the grill? What’s your favorite veggie to grill?

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 Mariano’s. #MyMarianos #cbias #SocialFabric

This blog post was originally published in April 2013.

Why I want to attend SoFabCon: An Amazing Conference for Bloggers

January 30, 2014 by Sandra 6 Comments

Last year, I had the opportunity to attend SoFabCon 2013. It’s a blog conference organized by Collective Bias, so that bloggers have the opportunity to connect with brands, learn from their representatives, and master how to become highly-skilled professional bloggers.

We made the trip to Arkansas to attend the conference a family road trip, and it was a lot of fun. Ruben took care of the kids while I attended sessions and did some networking. In between sessions, I’d head to our hotel room to nurse Elisabeth, and hang out for a little while before the next session.

During one break, I even prepared a meal for my family. I was working on a campaign for Collective Bias and created these super easy chicken sandwiches:

Prepared and photographed in our SoFabCon hotel room. 🙂

All that to say, I’d love to attend SoFabCon again this year.

Why? Because first and foremost, it’s an outstanding conference. Collective Bias ‘gets’ bloggers AND brands. This is so incredibly important, if blogging is more than a hobby for you, and you consider it your career.

Secondly, I need to get away. Life has been rough these past six months because of David’s illness, and I’d love just a few days to be able to slip away to a place where I know SO MANY of the people who’ll be there. My favorite part of the conference last year was meeting new people and getting to know them and their blogs.

SoFabCon = The best place for networking among bloggers

What Attending SoFabCon This Year Would Mean to Me
Going to Bentonville, Arkansas to the Social Fabric Conference would mean a time of refreshing for me. It would mean that I’d get to spend time with people who understand what I do in this online space. It would also mean that I’d have time away from home, by myself. I need a little of that right now.

What the Experience Would Empower Me to do Afterward
If you do pretty much anything online, you know that things change. This is definitely true when it comes to blogging. There are new things to be learned and new opportunities out there.

Going to SoFabCon would give me the tools I need to be a better blogger and business owner. It would enable me to become a more fabulous Social Fabric member, and the experience might even push me just a little further out of my introverted shell. 😉

I’d love to attend SoFabCon 2014!

#CollectiveBias is giving six bloggers the opportunity to win a trip to #SoFabCon14. This post is my entry, and I’m entering because I #LuvSoFab14.

A Tablet That Fits into My Work-at-Home Mom Life – The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3

November 23, 2013 by Sandra 2 Comments

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.

I’m a work-at-home mom.

Technically, I also work from the library when I need to get away and write or design without a baby on my lap or a little person needing me. Those days, I’ll go to the library and check out a room, so that I can have peace and quiet and just write, return emails, check social media, and do the other things I need to do to keep this little online business of ours moving forward.

Even in the midst of all that’s going on with David, I still have to work, and I’ve been lugging around my crazy-heavy laptop bag filled with everything I need to work while I’m sitting in the emergency room again or spending time with David during another hospital stay.

Decisions, decisions…
I finally decided to stop the madness and get a tablet (for myself), so that I don’t always have to lug around a cumbersome laptop bag.

We trust Best Buy and have made several device purchases there in the past (plus I’m a fan of their warranty program), so we headed there to check out tablets. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 caught my eye. It has a powerful Intel processor (just what I need), and it’s sleek and lightweight, which I love.

The Best Buy Experience
The employees at Best Buy were incredibly helpful and knowledgeable when it came to the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3. They answered all of my questions, and explained the benefits of owning an Android tablet. They made me feel confident about my decision, and I walked away a happy customer.

How I Use the Tab 3
Now that I’m officially a tablet owner, I’ve stopped lugging around my laptop bag every.single.time. we go to the hospital. David had 8 appointments (yes, EIGHT) to go to this past week, and instead of bringing my laptop with me, I left it and simply slipped my tablet into my purse to take along on our adventures.

Whether I’m at home or in a waiting room, I can write posts and manage my blog on my tablet.

I also use it to check email and social media, listen to my favorite radio station, take pictures, and I even allowed my kids to install ONE game app on it. 😉

In the past, I’ve ever-so-carefully placed my laptop on the treadmill, so that I could walk and work at the same time. I love that I can now easily do the same things I did with my laptop on the treadmill but instead use my lightweight and portable tablet.

Across-the-board, I feel like this tablet is just what I need to be more productive as I juggle being a work-at-home mom with all of my other responsibilities. I know I’ll be using it a lot over the next few months, and I may even use it to create videos to share with you when David is in the hospital next month.

Yes, I do think this tablet will become my new supertool.

Have you ever used a tablet? In what ways do you think it could streamline an area of your life?

Learn More & Be Social
You can learn more about the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 at Best Buy & receive Best Buy updates when you follow them on Twitter.

You can also stay up-to-date with Intel when you follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Chicagoland: We have a NEW Mariano’s Store

November 2, 2013 by Sandra 8 Comments

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. #MyMarianos

I’ve talked a lot about how much I love shopping at Mariano’s, so you can imagine how excited I was to find out that there was a new store being built closer to my home than any of the other locations.

I know. I know. It might sound a little crazy to want to smile wide and high-five the person closest to you when you hear that there’s a new grocery storing being built near your home, but Mariano’s is unlike any other grocery store. Just ask the people that shop there. They. love. it.

Why do we gush about a grocery store?
Because when you visit Mariano’s, it’s so much more than just your average, mundane trip to the grocery store. It’s an experience. You can literally stop in to get a few items on your grocery list, whip out your rewards card, check out, and leave…or you can bring your entire family, enjoy a delicious hot meal, grab a latte while the kids enjoy gelato, and then while the kids make a craft, you can finish your shopping.

Some customers spend 3 or more hours at Mariano’s.

Yeah…it’s that awesome.

The New Location
The latest Mariano’s is located in Wheaton, Illinois. And while I could write all about what’s featured in the store, I think it’s best to show you. I was there on opening day and had the opportunity to snap lots of pictures of the different areas that make this store special.

To begin, there’s a smoothie bar that serves up nutritious and delicious smoothies.

Then there’s a Trail Mix Bar that offers a large variety of options to create a trail mix that’s just right for you and your family.

I have to say that the trail mix bar is one of my favorite areas of the new Wheaton Mariano’s.

Along with the gelato…

And the lattes…I just tried their pumpkin spice latte. So good!

The sitting area is like nothing I’ve ever seen inside of a grocery store. I love it. It’s green and beautiful.

There’s a beloved Todd’s BBQ that serves up hot, tummy tempting barbecue. If you don’t live in Illinois but come here to visit someday — definitely try to make it to a Mariano’s store that serves up Todd’s BBQ.

Oh, and one of my absolute favorite things about this store (besides the other favorite things I mentioned) is their labeling system. With the labeling system at Mariano’s, you know when a food item is gluten-free, organic, vegan, etc…

I really love the labels. It makes shopping for certain categories of food even easier. It’s also a huge help to families with food allergies.

More about the Wheaton Mariano’s
This location also has a huge assortment of organic produce, a sushi bar, an amazing assortment of hot and cold at-the-ready foods, a bakery you must see to believe, caramel apples made while you watch, and so much more. I feel blessed to have a Mariano’s “in my backyard.”

And I can’t wait to go back. 🙂

Have you ever been to a Mariano’s store? What’s your favorite area in the grocery store?

Did you know? You can find great recipes and ideas from the Mariano’s Community. And you can follow Mariano’s on Facebook and Twitter for their latest updates.

#cbias

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