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Best in Show Nominees and a Blog Hop

*Not "Baaad" Sundays blog hop below - extra special Sunday AND Monday edition because I don't feel like blogging on the 11th (my BIRTHDAY!) Now, where did I leave my cane...?

 What an impressive bunch of bloggers the Not "Baaad" linky attracts! Every week, it becomes more and more difficult to narrow down a handful of nominees for the Best in Show award. Case in point, allow me to introduce you to this week's fifteen (a record!) nominees:


(these muffins are made with red bean paste!)









(Right at home during Not "Baaad" Sunday, don't you agree?)





Nominated? Congratulations! Please help yourself to one of my exclusive bloggy buttons (below) and, of course, be sure to vote for your favorite post in the right sidebar. Voting will run until next weekend, when the victor will finally be able to claim the coveted Best in Show award!

To post this week

To post forever

Want another chance to win? Let's hop!


Reader-Favorites:

Chemical Peel Before & After

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Chemical Peel Before & AfterSince posting my chemical peel photos, detailing the stages of the process, and writing my chemical peel blog review back in 2013, I've had quite a few Jessner peels (my favorite) and TCA peels. However, I've saved a ton of money over the past 6 months by doing my own chemical peels at home. 
At my last professional peel, I made a note of the product being used and did some research when I got home. I was able to buy the exact same one, Dermalure Jessner Solution Acid Peel 14%, from Amazon for less than the cost of a single peel. 

(2/23/19 Update: I've switched to Dermalure 30% TCA Peel for my at-home treatments. It's nothing against their Jessner solution - both are fine. This one was just on sale when I ran out of the other.)
I also use Dermalure's AHA/BHA Acne Cleanser, which I apply before the Jessner. The product is self-neutralizing, despite what the Amazon listing says, and couldn't be simpler. 
Side note: There's current…
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Cake Mix Pancakes (No Eggs!)

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When making Cake Mix pancakes, the scrumptious possibilities are endless. Red Velvet pancakes. Chocolate pancakes. Butter Pecan pancakes. Funfetti pancakes. (Yes, Funfetti pancakes!)
With this 2-ingredient recipe, you can turn your favorite cake mix into your favorite pancakes.
Cake Mix Pancakes Closeup of the best napkin ever. You're welcome.

It's Sunday morning and you're planning to do all the things today - scrub those grody baseboards, polish your quartz countertop that was supposed to be low maintenance but actually isn't at all, sort through the disaster that is the freezer. 

While on your superhuman kick, you think I'm going to make my family pancakes for breakfast. Not just any pancakes - the best pancakes ever. I may even serve them as breakfast in bed! Yeah, you're awesome sauce. 

But oh no! You're out of eggs. No pancakes today, right?

I was once like you (minus all that junk about cleaning and organizing), dreaming of pancakes that could never be. We…
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Grilled Stuffed Burrito

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SN will be quick to tell you that there are pros and cons of being married to a blogger. This CopycatTaco Bell Grilled Stuffed Burrito recipe (courtesy of an actual Taco Bell employee) is a perfect example. I know I'm getting my fast food chains mixed up here, but let's supersize it and make ours XXL!

On the plus side, I love to cook up tasty new foods to post on my blog. He never seems to mind this part. Can we make Grilled Stuffed Burritos at home? Sure, why not.


Taco Bell Grilled Stuffed Burrito Copycat

 (Waaay better than the fast food version - healthier, less expensive, and you don't risk ticking off the drive-thru girl.)


On the other hand, I may occasionally give my husband something tasty to eat, like a hot-off-the-grill burrito...



...and then steal it away before he can take a bite. Hey, I have to get photos for my blog, right?



SN should have known better than to try to eat his burrito before I was finished. Don't feel too bad for him. These things stay hot forever!

F…
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My Instant Pot Explosion!

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While you're here, check out 36 Best Instant Pot Recipes, each with a 4.5-star rating or higher.
(I promise none of these recipes will explode!)
Like many new Instant Pot owners, I've wondered, How many Instant Pots have exploded? 

(Eeek!)

I'm happy to report that my research on Snopes and other sites has shown that these do not explode, at least not when used properly. There is a lawsuit between a woman in Texas and the Instant Pot manufacturer, but she admits she had thrown a towel over the steam vent. Do NOT do this. 

Still concerned? Consider that on Prime Day of 2018, Amazon sold more than 300,000 Instant Pots. That's more than a quarter of a million sales in only 1 day! If these things were not safe, you would see news stories every day about someone being injured.

Still, things can go wrong.

We love our Instant Pot, the digital pressure cooker that seems to suddenly be in every home. You can't mess up - just throw in random ingredients and you'll get something …
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Hello Fresh Complaints

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Update Since posting my Hello Fresh complaints yesterday, here is a message I have received:

"I did order from HelloFresh previously and was not charged what I was originally told (or thought I was told). Also, the food from them was anything but fresh and they refused to do a refund, only doing credit - even for the overcharges! So basically I ended up being out of money thanks to them."

Original Post

Hello, my bloggy friends. I have a HelloFresh complaint and believe they are pulling a scam. Yours truly came *this close* to falling for it. 

Maybe scam is too harsh of a word. Sneaky? You can decide for yourself.
Hello Fresh ComplaintsWhy I Think Hello Fresh is Dishonest/Misleading:
An ad from HelloFresh appeared in my Facebook feed. (I'll post it here if it appears again. I keep scrolling and scrolling, searching so you can see it.) The offer sounded too good to be true, so I read through the comments. 

People were asking questions and the ad moderator was replying that they s…
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Our Dream Home

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We've finally broken ground on our dream home! Can you believe it? (You can follow our construction progress here, along with lots of construction drama - the neighbors building their fence on our property, discovering we'd placed our house on a bunch of expensive rocks, our concrete footings being destroyed by a freak hail storm, etc.) Even more surprising than finally building the house we've dreamed of for years, we actually managed to work a good chunk of our ridiculous wish list into the actual design.

*Update*
Construction is finished! It took longer than expected and cost more too (that's how construction works, right?), but we are finally living in our mountain dream home and it's even better than I'd hoped! Here is a photo of our new kitchen and living room. 
Our Dream Home Believe it or not, our budget was meager. Really! My husband built the coffee table from an olive trunk and did the thin brick backsplash himself. Eventually, he's going to take the…
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Trader Joe's Masala Simmer Sauce

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*Update*
Since posting this, I have found a way to modify the Trader Joe's Masala Simmer Sauce recipe from the bottle into something yummy. Click over to enjoy that recipe instead. It's even better than the Mini Masala Meatballs recipe from the Trader Joe's website. (Unless you enjoy lemon in your meatballs - yuck.)

What the heck is a masala?

(Google and you shall receive. It's 'any of a number of spice mixtures ground into a paste or powder for use in Indian cooking.')

I wasn't in the mood to prepare anything elaborate tonight, so it seemed like an ideal opportunity to try the Trader Joe's Masala Simmer Sauce that has been sitting in our pantry.

I poured the contents of the jar, some small pieces of chicken, and a cup of water into a pot and covered it, then let it heat on the stove. Easy enough.

I also added some carrot, celery, onion, and peanuts.

Sexy Nerd made some instant brown rice to accompany our meal.


The finished product, which looks better than it t…
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It's a Girl! It's a Pit Bull Puppy!

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After the sudden, unexpected loss of the best dog ever, Pica, I was lost. I'm pretty sure my boss was worried I was going to kill myself. You can't kill yourself over a dog though, right? Everyone knows dogs don't live forever.

After several dark weeks, SN insisted we go look at puppies. Ridiculous! Still, they did look awfully cute online. We would only get one if it was from a shelter, so it would be like we were saving a dog's life...and isn't that what Pica would have wanted? Maybe we could even find another Jack Russell. 

Funny enough, we always insisted when Pica was alive that we would never want another Jack Russell, which should really be called a Jerk Russell. She was a stubborn, jealous, destructive handful. There was no stopping her from barking. (At nothing!) She was such a greedy little piggy that we had to feed her with a jar inside her food dish, as it was the only way we could stop her from swallowing the entire bowlful in one gulp. And she shed like…
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Amerisleep Mattress Reviews (8 Year Update!)

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Updated 5/9/20 Best Amerisleep Coupon:1. Save $250 on Any Size Mattress with Promo Code KITTY
2. Save 30% + Extra $50 Off with Promo Code AS30 (exclusively through this link) ***All Promo Codes Include Free Shipping Both Ways***
Amerisleep Mattress Reviews We've been happy Amerisleep customers since purchasing our first AS3 mattress more than 8 years ago. With chronic insomnia (yes, even as a baby - my family insists I was a nightmare), the struggle to improve my sleep is my life.
My husband, the overly-analytical mechanical engineer, was initially skeptical of a mail-order mattress, but he was quickly won over.


What you'll find in this Amerisleep Mattress Reviews blog post (in order): Amerisleep Promo Code (above)Amerisleep VS Tempurpedic: The Iconic Wine Glass TestChoosing Between the AS2, AS3, and AS4Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)Mattress Longevity: The Level Test(featuring cute dogs!)Feedback From Real People Who Ordered an Amerisleep After Reading My ReviewsThe Trouble with T…
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Anonymous Flower Delivery

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Anonymous Flower DeliverySexy Nerd and I came home from a day of running errands on Saturday to discover an odd message on my phone. It was a girl from a flower shop calling to confirm my address for a delivery. 

I called and said there must be a mistake, as I wasn't expecting any flowers, to which she pointed out that people don't usually expect flowers. Oh, of course. 

As nice as it would be to have someone send me flowers, it seemed unlikely. Sure enough, she was unable to find any orders for me when I gave my name.

She did have a Danielle though, and asked if there might be a different last name. I told her my maiden name. There really were flowers waiting for me! 

She confirmed the delivery address - the rental house Sexy Nerd and I lived in 3 years ago. I updated my address and ended the call, anxiously waiting to see who would send me flowers.


Who sent me flowers from FTD?

My mysterious stalker has beautiful taste!
Strange? I had no idea how strange! Here is the message that c…
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