Just Between Friends of Marysville-Mount Vernon Presale Sneak Peek!

This weekend is the Just Between Friends of Marysville-Mount Vernon consignment sale! Would you believe me if I told you that I shop for my two daughters' clothes just twice a year? It's true! The Just Between Friends consignment sales are all I need because there are literally thousands of items in all kids sizes that I can choose from in one place at amazingly low prices. Plus, I get to unload our outgrown clothes by consigning them as well!

So you can easily scan my blog to find out all the reasons why I love JBF, and one of my favorite things to do is make sure I get to shop early at the presale event by consigning. But don't worry - even if consigning isn't on your radar, the public sale is chock full of great stuff. Let me show you!

But first; my ever so sweet Ruby. Isn't she just darling? She admired herself in front of this vanity for a few minutes.

Tons of great babywearing gear at this sale! MeiTeis, a few woven wraps, Beco, Moby stretchy wraps and others.

And a kids wrap! Because babies wearing babies is the cutest thing ever.

Sorting through the books is one of my favorites. I always find something super old from my childhood and I feel like I need to rescue it.

Sports fan gear..need I say more?

And the girly stuff. Swoon! My wedding anniversary is on the 4th of July so I am always on the look out for cute patriotic outfits for the kids.

So many summer items. Mostly boys bikes this time, but I also snagged a plastic pool (you know the kind!) for my kids and their cousins to "whirlpool" in this summer.

So as you know, I have two daughters aged 5 and 3 and then baby boy is on the way for this summer. My 3 year old is lucky enough to get all of her sister's handmedowns from last summer, so I did very little shopping for her. My focus at this sale was bigger sizes for the 5 year old and adding to our growing stash of boy stuff.

One of my favorite things to do after a presale shop is to compare what I would have paid for my items if I had bought them in store and what I paid for them at JBF. It's ASTOUNDING.  I'm a fairly frugal person at heart, so spending a ton of money on kids clothing is really not my thing anyways, but I always give myself a pat on the back after shopping at JBF. Buying used clothes is important to me not only because of the cost savings, but because of the environmental impact as well. Think of all the resources we are using up because so few clothing items are passed on. And trust me, I'm a mom of almost 3 kids, I know that some clothes just can't be passed on. They've had a good life. And that's what textile drives are for! Most thrift stores that you can donate clothes to have an outlet for where their "unsellable" items get sent to and that includes textile recycling.

Anywho....

Taking a look at all the brands that I bought and running a comparison online, these same items for my 4T/5T daughter would have cost me $114 retail. Instead, I paid a whopping....

And SQUEEE! I got to venture into boy land for the first time ever! Our little Pierogie Boy has been immensely blessed by handmedowns from two families and our baby showers, so again, I don't have a ton of shopping to do for his arrival! But I had to pick up some cuteness at the sale.

The boy clothes blew me away.. $142! A few of the items I picked up were retailed a little pricier than I imagined.

And there you have it! So much to stock up on for this upcoming summer and beyond.

April 28 - 30, 2017

Skagit County Fairgrounds, Mount Vernon Wa

Find out more details on the full sale schedule here

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Just Between Friends of Marysville-

Mount Vernon. All photography and opinions are my own.

80 lbs of chicken - 9 ways

Fresh chicken breasts are only $1.69 / lb! Use promo code WAYBACK. Valid until 11:59pm PST 8/9/17.
 Sign up for Zaycon Fresh to get your unbelievably fresh meat!  

Often I am asked how do I save money for my family. Our food budget is something that I rarely skimp on because I think it's one of the best investments we can make for ourselves. However, there are a ton of ways to be able to save money without skimping on quality.

I learned about Zaycon Fresh a few years ago and am a believer! We order chicken breast, chicken fritters, pork tenderloins, wild Alaskan Salmon and a few other meat products. The chicken breast comes fresh and straight from the farmer, so it ends up being a lot fresher than what you buy at the grocery store. For example, my last case of Zaycon Fresh chicken breast had a bar code with a time stamp for the butcher date that was 3 days prior to my receiving it. I recently went to my local grocery store to see what their time frame is - and their chicken was 15 days old and also had 3% water injected. It's really not much of a discussion on which chicken I prefer to buy!

What is Zaycon Fresh? It's super easy. You sign up, enter in your zip code and it will populate "events" near you. Each event will bring fresh or frozen meets to an agreed upon place and time. You place your order for what you'd like and then on the day of the event you bring your order slip and they put your case of bulk meats in the trunk of your car for you. You don't even have to get out of the car! Throughout the year they will offer different products; such as delicious bacon, fresh ground beef, fresh chicken breasts, frozen breaded chicken fritters (I like to make this), select steaks, even turkey and ham! Our all time favorite is their salmon. They are constantly adding more.

When you sign up, they'll send you non-spammy newsletters letting you know what they're adding, great recipe ideas and you can refer friends to get credit for your next purchase. Truly, I haven't bought meat any other way for a long time now.

Ok but then the question comes up with what do I do with 40 lbs of fresh chicken breast? Friends, let me show you what I did for this last order, which I am using to prepare for Baby Boy due this summer.

First, when I receive my chicken I cut it down to different sizes to help spread the meat a little further. Each lobe of chicken breast becomes a cut of breast, a tender and I slice the breast to an even thickness and save the top portion as a "cheek," which is great as Chicken Parmesan Cutlets.  For our family of 2 adults and 2 small kids I package a dinner meal either as 2 breasts, 5 tenders or 6 cutlets. I also use a Foodsaver instead of freezer bags. For each of the recipes below I used 1/4 c of marinade per "dinner package." Some of the recipes are larger than others so adjust the ratios as you need. 

Without further adieu, here are my most recently used recipes:
Brown Sugar Balsamic Chicken

I used about 1/4 c of marinade per 2 breasts.

Lemon Garlic
Chicken TacosUsing a grinder attachment, grind your chicken breasts
taco seasoning recipe

Chicken Enchiladas
1 large can of enchilada sauce
directions: boil your chicken breasts, shred them either with forks or with the paddle attachment on your kitchen aid, pour the sauce in! Freeze the meat as is or prep into enchiladas and freeze individually.

Tangy Teriyaki:
2T of grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup Kikkoman Teriyaki Sauce
makes enough for 2 breasts

"Hawaiian Style"  / Moana1 can of sliced pineapple
2 cups of orange juice
4T ketchup
4T soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2T of grated fresh ginger
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c Balsamic Vinegar 

Tangy BBQ

1/2 c Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce

4T ketchup 

2Tbrown sugar

4T balsamic vinegar

1 cup chicken stock

Lime Sweet Thai Chili1 c stock
1 bottle sweet thai chili sauce

1/4 c lime juice

Spiced Rub with Apple Cider Vinegar2t paprika
1t chili powder
1t cumin
1t thyme
1t salt
1t garlic powder
1t pepper
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
Mix all of the ingredients, pour over 12 chicken breasts and rub it in. It should be a loose paste.

Ready to save some moolah? Sign up here! 

My hometown favorite - Just Between Friends Marysville - Mount Vernon Spring Sale

Hey Skagit Mamas!

My little family and I have officially lived in Skagit County for A YEAR and I am reminded of this because my first blog post last year about our move was also about the Just Between Friends Marysville - Mount Vernon Spring Sale! Since then we have gotten to know the community a lot better, have completed a year of pre-school, Awana, met local readers and found all the awesome places for kids to explore (especially to break up those winter blues and cabin fever).

Now that Spring is here, and I literally looked out my window for a break of rain and a hope of sunshine, I am ready to start prepping for warmer weather. I've been going through the girls' clothes - and in more exciting news; thinking ahead of our upcoming Summer Baby BOY - I am looking forward to this edition of my local JBF sale.

So you already know from following my blog that I love JBF for many reasons; it saves us money, it saves the environment and supports local families too. I've been a shopper and consignor for the better part of 5 years and my consignor check sort of rolls into the next sale for what I'm going to need to buy for the next size up for my kids. It's such a blessing to not have to worry about that sort of thing.

Over the years I've seen a ton of stuff for sale at these events and I am always surprised with something new. One year I got a play circus tent, which has been perfect for summer outdoor imaginary play. I've gotten tons of Disney Store brand clothing at a fraction of the cost. Keens & Crocs shoes are a staple in my house and I always am shopping for bigger sizes and consigning the smaller ones, because those shoes are seriously indestructible and work well in our climate for most of the year. "Standard" items in my two girls wardrobe is always leggings, long sleeve and short sleeves, Columbia style zippies and sweat shirts - also really easy to find and shop around for an awesome deal; usually $3-4 a piece. Pretty soon I know we'll be entering the arena for sporting equipment and from what I've seen the selection and condition are great at these sales.

Do I need to go on to show you just how pumped I am??!! 

The Just Between Friends Marysville - Mount Vernon team is partnering with me to get two winners an awesome prize package - each winner will get a PRIME TIME PASS + $10 JBF bucks to spend at the sale!! Woop woop! The prime time pass gets you in the door as early as Thursday April 27 from 3pm - 9pm, but if you can't make it that day you can shop anytime during the sale and still be able to use your JBF bucks. So check out the giveaway widget below; remember there are tons of ways to increase your odds of winning by coming back daily too!

Entry-Form

April 28 - 30, 2017

Skagit County Fairgrounds, Mount Vernon Wa

Find out more details on the full sale schedule here