Christmas Tree Shopping

Let's talk Christmas Trees!  Do you put up your Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, sooner or later?  We usually put up our Christmas Tree and decorations the day after Thanksgiving.  Although I love Christmas and all the decorations, I like to give room for Thanksgiving and Fall to be celebrated.  I came across an article how people who decorate for Christmas earlier are happier, after reading that I did try to convince my husband to put up our tree a little earlier this year, but he was not having it.  He was eager to remind me how it works better for us to decorate Thanksgiving weekend since he is off of work and the kids have no school, so I have plenty of help putting out all the Christmas decor so we waited until the day after Thanksgiving to start decorating.

This Christmas will you have a real Christmas tree or an artificial tree?  In our first years of marriage we always purchased a real Christmas tree, after we had our second born son, we switched over to an artificial Christmas tree.  For quite a while now we have had two artificial trees, but last year the lights in one of our artificial trees went out so I mentioned to my husband that I would like to purchase a real tree and have one of each this year.  I think it is great for the kids to experience a real Christmas Tree, the entire experience, finding the right one, bringing it home tied to the top of your car, enjoying the smell of Christmas, watering and decorating the tree.  

I love seeing pictures people share of cutting down their very own Christmas tree or visiting one of those festive Christmas Tree Farms and although that looks like a lot of fun and a great memory to create with your family.  If you are not up for cutting down your own tree, it is a nice convenience to be able to pick up a real Christmas tree at your local grocery store.  Did you know you can find great quality Christmas trees at your local Lucky Supermarket?  As well as any of the Save Mart family of stores here in Northern California, including FoodMaxx, Lucky, and Savemart.  

We purchased our tree at a Lucky Supermarket and we were pleased with the convenience, we visited the lot in the grocery store parking lot and selected our tree.  Each tree has a tag on it, you take the bar code portion into the store and pay for your Christmas tree.  It was nice to be able to pick up eggnog, holiday treats and our Christmas tree all at one location.  

It has been a while since I had a real Christmas tree I had forgotten how wonderful they smell.  It smell's like Christmas!  I told my husband we may have to have one of each from here on out.  Our artificial tree is a nice one, but after purchasing this real tree, there is quite a difference, the real tree is so nice and full and that Christmas smell, is my favorite part.

I do highly recommend you purchase your real Christmas tree early!  You will be able to enjoy it longer and get the best pick. At the Lucky Supermarket we visited they had real Table Top Christmas trees for $19.99, 6-7' Noble Fir Trees for $49.99 and 6-7' Douglas Fir Trees for $29.99.  We went with a Noble Fir Tree, I love it!  I called ahead to make sure my select location had trees, that is a great tip too, call ahead and make sure they have trees and have not sold out.  

There is something special about having the smell of Christmas, lights aglow and the tree adorned with ornaments full of memories.  It makes your home feel cozy and bright.  We were so excited to get our tree home and decorated.  We put on our favorite Christmas music while we decorated and then enjoyed the evening together watching a Christmas movie, these are special memories I will hold dear to my heart as my children are growing up so fast.  

Remember you will need a Christmas tree stand for your tree and while you are picking up your Christmas Tree at your local Lucky supermarket check out these great deals as well, you can get your grocery shopping done and Christmas tree all in one stop!

You can save time at the grocery store by using Lucky's new ClickCart online ordering with curbside pick up this is a huge time saver.  You can read more about that here: http://bit.ly/2NqBdWF.

I selected the newest ClickCart location (5000 Mowry Avenue, Freemont, CA) to look at the weekly ad.  You can find their weekly ad by clicking the image below or here: 

https://www.luckysupermarkets.com/weekly-ad 
Their ads run Wednesday through Tuesday, this week’s ad is for November 28, 2018-December 4, 2018.

My favorite deals this week:

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts or Thighs $1.69 lb.
Roast Sale $3.99 lb.
Fresh Cooked Dungeness Crabs $4.99 lb. -They will crack and clean for free!
18 ct. Market Essentials Large Eggs 2/$5
California Pizza Kitchen Pizzas $4.99
Buy Two Las Palmas Enchilada Sauce, Get One Free Mission Tortillas 10 ct.
Free Bayview Farms or Sunnyside Farms Gallon Milk when you buy any 4 participating General Mills Cereal or Nature Valley or Fiber One Granola Bars which are 2/$5
Pillsbury Small Biscuits or Cinnamon Rolls 5/$5 select varieties
Capri Sun Variety Pack 30 ct. $6.99
Bartlett, D'Anjou, Bosc or Red Pears $1.49 lb.
Red, Green or Black Seedless Grapes $1.49 lb.

3-Day Sale (November 30-December 2) 
These are my favorites, check out the ad for more info!
Pork Shoulder Butt Roast .99 lb.
Maseca Instant Masa Mix 2/$4 (limit 2) Just in time for tamales!
Sunnyside Farms Butter $2.99 each
Lofthouse Cookies 2/$5 select varieties

For more information or to sign up for Save Smart/Lucky You rewards programs, please visit their banner websites-Save Smart Rewards at https://www.savemart.com and Lucky You Rewards at https://www.luckysupermarkets.com.

This is a paid sponsored post in collaboration with Lucky Supermarkets although I receive these benefits all opinions are my own.

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Global Winter Wonderland | Sacramento, CA

I love Christmas lights, it is one of our favorite things to do during the Christmas season is to look at all the Christmas lights.  I am so excited to check out Global Winter Wonderland at Cal Expo this year I have not visited before.  I will have a giveaway here of 4-Tickets, be sure to check back here on the blog and on my social media channels to enter to WIN!  You can also see all our fun when we visit on my Instagram Story.  After we attend I will be sure to share with you about our visit here on the blog.  Global Winter Wonderland will be here through January 6th, be sure to plan a visit and enjoy this multi-cultural holiday festival!  

Global Winter Wonderland – world renown Chinese Lantern Festival, returns to Cal Expo for the fifth year beginning November 23rd through January 6th. Tickets are on sale now at GlobalWonderland.com/Sacramento. Global Winter Wonderland hosted their first Chinese Lantern Festival at Cal Expo in 2014 and since then it has launched in Santa Clara, CA, San Diego, CA, and Las Vegas, NV. “Global Winter Wonderland is a highly anticipated and must-see event for the holidays," says Rick Pickering, CEO at Cal Expo. “We are honored to again host this spectacular multi-cultural event for Northern California." “I wanted to bring the best of the world to families right here in the Sacramento region,” said Lulu Huang, president of the International Culture Exchange Group, the organization producing the Global Winter Wonderland event. “When people learn about each other’s cultures, and more importantly, are invited to share in those cultures, real international understanding takes place.”   This year Global Winter Wonderland will build their Chinese lantern light displays highlighting Dessert Dinosaurs, Penny's Polar Village, Santa's Village, Winter Wonderland, and new this year, 12 Days of Christmas. Enjoy the night with family entertainment, carnival rides, holiday shopping, a daring motorcycle show, and “The Ultimate Laser Adventure” Laser Tag. In addition to Santa and Penny the Penguin, this year you can meet other Global family members, including Snowmen, Gingerbread people, Elves and more! For Global Winter Wonderland complete schedule, hours and tickets, visit their website at GlobalWonderland.com/Sacramento. You can also visit CalExpo.com/Calendar-Events for more information. About the California Exposition & State Fair Cal Expo is dedicated as a place to celebrate the best the state has to offer in agriculture, technology and the diversity of its people, traditions, and trends that shape the Golden State's future. The California State Fair is an international award-winning fair, receiving top honors at the International Association of Fairs and Expositions out of more than 1,100 fairs worldwide. Join us for the 2019 California State Fair, July 12 - 28. Disclosure: This is a sponsored post, I received complimentary tickets to attend and to giveaway in exchange for my time and efforts in reporting my opinion within this blog.  Even though I receive these benefits, I always give an opinion that is 100% mine. Thank you for reading if you’ve enjoyed the content you’ve read above please share with your friends. www.BlogAboutItAll.com.

Thanksgiving Week Thankful Challenge

With Thanksgiving being this Thursday I wanted to share some resources you can use with your family this week emphasizing gratefulness.  Researchers have found that grateful people tend to be happier, healthier, more optimistic and less stressed. 

At our church this past Sunday, we were issued a Thankful challenge with two assignments.  Assignment number one we are to start each day this week with a text or a phone call telling someone special in our life that we are grateful for them and why.  

This is so important, too often I think we are grateful for the people in our lives, but unfortunately, do not express it.  It is unfortunate that many times it is not until a funeral that people verbally express how that person has touched or changed their life.  I am excited about this task, I know how it has made my day when someone has expressed their gratitude to me.  I know even when my kids take the time to say thank you for a small or simple thing, it makes me smile, it warms my heart.  

I also know that it is so easy to get busy in life and forget to let people know how much they mean to you.  I have heard from others who had someone close in their life commit suicide they often feel so sad that the person did not know how much they were loved and needed.  When I have heard of a celebrity or if you are watching the show "A Million Little Things" it has made me think, does my husband know how much I love him, do I tell him enough.  Do I notice the people around me that are hurting or lonely?  In the show "A Million Little Things", the friends who were close had no idea that John was going to kill himself.  The friends and spouse of Rome had no idea that he also was going to kill himself when he received the call that John had committed suicide. There are hurting people all around us, there are people going through tough times, there are people who have work stress and pressure, do we notice.  Do we let them know we care, we see their hard work and effort?  Think of mom's, working mom's who I don't know how they handle it all, I am a stay at home mom and feel like there is so much I don't have time for or get done, I can't imagine having to work full time outside of the home and take care of my family.  At the same time, think of the stay at home mom's who can feel alone, who can feel unnoticed.  Who their life revolves around taking care of little ones and being a taxi driver and who often don't get five minutes to themselves, who are so busy they forget to eat, or only end up eating off their kids' plates what is leftover.  Think of grandparents you know who are raising their grandchildren, think of adults you know who are caring for their small children and caring for their ailing parents.  My point is we need to notice those around us, recognize everyone has things they are facing, even sometimes good things can be overwhelming, having a new baby, getting that new promotion, with added responsibility, it is not just hardships, but also good things.  It is important to express appreciation for the people in our life.  Even appreciation for things like the delivery person, who delivers our mail and packages, appreciation for our lawn care person, imagine the difference we can make if we not only this week but all year long, sent a text or call to someone telling them we are grateful for them.  Grateful to our kids' pediatrician, grateful to the local business owner who makes the donuts my kids love, grateful to the tire shop owner who recently fixed my tire, grateful for the person who collects the carts from the grocery store parking lot.  There are so many people we can say thank you to.

Assignment number two in this challenge is before you go to bed each night write down three things that you are grateful for.  I have done this at different times in my life and there is something about taking the time to write it down.  Not just think about what you are grateful for but pausing and reflecting.  It makes a big difference in how you feel and your outlook on life.  Which in turn affects the way you feel and the way you treat others.  I find when I have an attitude of gratitude when I am in a grateful mood, I am more patient, I am more compassionate.  

I think these are great things we can do all year long, it is amazing what a difference it makes in your life when you have an attitude of gratitude.  

With the fires here in California it has me thinking and discussing with my children the everyday things we take for granted.  We all have so much to be grateful for, even if you are having a rough season in life, there is always something you can find to be thankful for.  

At church, they gave us these Gratitude printables from Focus on the family.  There are so many great quotes on them, there is a list of the outcomes of Thankfulness and seven tasks to do this week, ways to stay thankful even after the turkey and pie.  

You can download your very own gratitude placemat and 7-days-of gratitude devotional to do with your family here http://bit.ly/2KdVIlk.

I hope these tools help you cultivate gratefulness this week and beyond.  I pray you and your family have a blessed Thanksgiving. I hope even with the busyness of the season you will slow down and enjoy your loved ones, enjoy the simple moments and take time to pause and express gratefulness.   

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www.BlogAboutItAll.com.

Thanksgiving Turkey Talk and Thanksgiving Deals with Lucky Supermarket 11/14-11/20

With Thanksgiving only eight days away, I'm talking Turkey.  Do you already have your turkey?  Are you waiting to make your purchase until it is closer to Thanksgiving?  Are you buying a fresh or frozen turkey?  Do you have room in your refrigerator for your turkey?  I will be cleaning out my refrigerator today in preparation for Thanksgiving.  

If you are purchasing a frozen turkey, be sure to have a plan in place to thaw your turkey safely so it is ready for your Thanksgiving feast.  

The best way if planned properly is to thaw your turkey slowly and safely in the refrigerator.  It will take approximately one day to thaw up to every four pounds.  Be sure to place your turkey on a tray or in a disposable foil container.  You can keep your turkey in the refrigerator for up to four days before preparing it.  

If you happen to forget to thaw your turkey in a timely fashion you can thaw your turkey using cold water.  Be sure your turkey is fully submerged in the cold water and change the water every thirty minutes.  It will approximately take thirty minutes per pound to thaw.  

If you are not up to cooking your own turkey this Thanksgiving you can order a complete Holiday Meal, either with a fully cooked ham or fully cooked turkey for only $49.99 visit www.luckysupermarkets.com for more details. 

I recommend shopping for as much as possible ahead of time to avoid the crowds.  You can also beat the crowds and save time at the grocery store by using Lucky's new ClickCart online ordering with curbside pick up this is a huge time and money saver.  You can read more about that here: http://bit.ly/2NqBdWF.

I selected the newest ClickCart location (5000 Mowry Avenue, Freemont, CA) to look at the weekly ad.  You can find their weekly ad by clicking the image below or here: 

https://www.luckysupermarkets.com/weekly-ad 
Their ads run Wednesday through Tuesday, this week’s ad is for November 14, 2018-November 20, 2018.

My favorite deals this week:

Zacky Farms California Basted Turkey 12-22lbs., frozen - .39 lb.
Honeysuckle White Basted Turkey with Timer 12-22lbs.- .99 lb.

Zacky Farms Antibiotic Free Turkey 12-22lbs., frozen - .99 lb.
Zacky Farms Organic Turkey $1.99 lb.
Holiday BOGO Meat Sale Mix & Match

Farmer John, Hormel, Smithfield Spiral Brown Sugar or Cook's Spiral Sliced Half Halm Brown Sugar or Honey $1.97 lb.

Fresh Pork Shoulder Bone-In $1.99 lb.

Pork Shoulder Country Style Ribs $2.49 lb.

Fresh Baked Apple or Pumpkin Pie Buy 1 Get 1 Free

Cuties 5 lb. box $3.99 

Halos 3 lb bag $3.99

Lays or Kettle Cooked Chips $1.99 each when you buy in multiples of 2

Nabisco Snack Crackers $1.88 each

Sargento Cheese, Kraft SHreds or Natural Slices 2/$5

Philadelphia Brick Cream Cheese 3/$5

Ocean Spray Cranberry or Motts Apple Juice Blends 2/$4 

Pillsbury Crescents or Cinnamon Rolls 2/$4

Knudsen Sour Cream $1.89

Reddi Whip Cream 2/$5

Kraft Cool Whip 8oz. .99 

Marie Callender's Deep Dish Pie Shells 2/$5

Bridgford Parkerhouse Style Rolls $2.49

Swanson Broth .79

Campbell's Soup 10/$10

7-Up Products 2-Liters .79 each when you buy in multiples of 3

LaCroix Sparkling Water 3/$10

Yams .88lb.

Spend $25 and use all these coupons from the ad:

Market Essentials Sugar 4 lb. (limit 2) .89 each

Market Essentials Large Grade AA Eggs 18 ct (limit 2) $1.99 each

Oscar Mayer Bacon $2.99 each (limit 4)

Celery .49 each (limit 2)

Creme Pies select varieties $3.99 each (limit 1)

3 Day Sale November 16th through 18th

Rotisserie Chicken $4.99 each

Jumbo Raw Shrimp $6.99 lb.

Sunny Select Frozen Vegetables .99 each

For more information or to sign up for Save Smart/Lucky You rewards programs, please visit their banner websites-Save Smart Rewards at https://www.savemart.com and Lucky You Rewards at https://www.luckysupermarkets.com.

This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Lucky Supermarkets. All opinions are my own.

Thank you for reading if you’ve enjoyed the content you’ve read above please share with your friends. 

www.BlogAboutItAll.com.

Studio 40 Live | Thanksgiving Segment

Today I was on Studio 40 Live sharing Thanksgiving treats and thankful activities you can do with your family this November.  You can watch the segment here http://bit.ly/2qLY6qu.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner here are some tips I hope will help you prepare and enjoy a stress-free holiday.  

Make a to-do list!  Do a little off the list every day leading up to Thanksgiving, check off items as you go.  

Clean out your refrigerator now making room for your Turkey and all your Thanksgiving groceries.  

Prepare as much as possible ahead of time.  I love to prepare all my appetizer dips ahead of time, this saves you time on Thanksgiving day and I feel enhances the flavors.  
Peel and chop your potatoes ahead of time for mashed potatoes, place them in water in the refrigerator.  
I like to make my sweet potato casserole ahead of time and just pop it in the oven on Thanksgiving day to brown the delicious topping.  You can even prepare your pies ahead of time and put them in the freezer, then pull them out to bake after you are done cooking the Turkey and other items.  When everyone is done eating you will have nice warm pie! These mini pies are easy to make ahead, freeze and pop them in a zip lock freezer bag.  

Use your crockpot to keep your mashed potatoes warm and make more room on your stove top for other dishes you need to cook. 

Let others help!  If you having friends and family over, let them bring something to contribute, have them bring their favorite dessert, or bring sides, drinks or rolls.   

Make a cooking timeline, so you know what dish takes longer and what you can wait to put on the stove or in the oven.

Last but not least, enjoy your friends and family, it does not matter if your table is Pinterest perfect, we have so much to be thankful for.  With the thankful activities I shared, I hope to remind myself and our family of how much we have to be grateful for all month long not just on Thanksgiving day, even more so with so many here in California affected by the fires.  It is so sad to see the devastation the Camp Fire and other fires have had on our surrounding communities.   

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by family and friends.  

Here is the link with directions for the Mini Pies I shared http://bit.ly/2Pq6ElV.

Here is the link for the cheese stuffed pumpkin shaped bread rolls http://bit.ly/2K03Zct. You can prepare these biscuits ahead of time with the kitchen twine and then just put them in the oven before you are ready to serve, you'll have festive, warm rolls with delicious melted cheese in the middle.  

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Pumpkin Shaped Bread Rolls

I received an e-mail from Better Homes and Garden with a recipe link for these adorable Pumpkin-Shape Meatball Biscuits.  Although they looked so festive and delicious I know I do not need another appetizer this Thanksgiving, we always have too much food.  

I thought I could still make these without the meatball and just have them as festive pumpkin shaped rolls to go with our Thanksgiving meal and not as another appetizer.  I love the way they turned out.  

These pumpkin shaped bread rolls are easy to make, I used string cheese in the center of mine and although Thanksgiving is two weeks away, I tried these the other night with our dinner and my family loved them.  That is a great tip if you want to try a new recipe don't wait until Thanksgiving day, do it now.  You get the practice to make sure it will turn out as you hope and a taste test to see if it is a hit with everyone else and if you really want to serve it on Thanksgiving.  

These do require a little patience, it takes a little time to tie the string around the biscuits but I still think it is worth the effort.  These would be great to bring to a Friendsgiving party or even make for any weeknight meal with your family during the Fall season.  

What you need:
1 can of jumbo refrigerated biscuits (I used the 8 ct. of Pillsbury Biscuits)
String Cheese Sticks
Kitchen String
Parchment Paper

Directions:
1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  
2. Prepare your kitchen string, buy cutting into pieces.
3. I cut each string cheese stick into 4 pieces.
4. Use the palm of your hand to flatten one biscuit.  Place the cut piece of string cheese stick in the center of the biscuit and fold all pieces up.  
5. Loosely tie the kitchen string around the dough to resemble sections of the pumpkin.
6. Place seam side down on baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Cool five minutes, carefully remove the string and top with a pretzel to resemble the stem of the pumpkin. Serve warm.

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Thanksgiving Mini Pies

Every Thanksgiving I want all the pies!  There are so many delicious pies to enjoy Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Pie, Cherry Pie, Apple Crumb Pie, and don't forget pumpkin cheesecake and all the other desserts that come with Thanksgiving.  How are we supposed to enjoy all the delicious foods of Thanksgiving and save room for all these yummy pies?  Bake mini pies!!!

Baking mini pies is a great way to enjoy all the delicious desserts and not overdo it.  They also look cute and are easier to serve.  Your guests can pick one up and enjoy, you don't even need plates and forks for these mini pies. When foods is bite-sized it looks even tastier, I think because we somehow know we can enjoy more.  

These mini pies are the perfect size for little ones as well.  Too often at our home, when we host Thanksgiving or any party, I find the kids plates left with half-eaten food, and we end of up throwing away so much food.  With these mini pies, the kids are sure to gobble up all their pie, leaving nothing to waste.  

If you have a pie crust recipe you love you can use that, I used store bought pie crust and can cherry and apple pie filling.  I will list ingredients below for the mini pumpkin pies.  

What you need:
Pie Crust (I used Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust)
Pie Filling of your choice (apple, cherry, blueberry, pumpkin)
1 egg whisked
Non-Stick Cooking Spray
Muffin Tin

Crumb topping for Apple Pies:
Flour
Brown Sugar
Oatmeal
Butter

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 and grease muffin cups with cooking spray.
2. Lay out a single pie crust on a flat surface.  I used a glass for my circular cut-out, you can use a mason jar or biscuit cutter if you have one.  
3. Press each dough circle into the bottom of the muffin tin cup.
4. Fill each cup with pie filling.
5. Use the remaining dough to create a top crust, you can make a lattice, using a pizza cutter to cut thin strips then lace together to form a lattice.  You can use a mini cookie cutter, I used a mini heart on some of my mini cherry pies.  I made a crumb topping for the apple pies.  
6. Brush the tops of each pie with the whisked egg, then bake 30-40 minutes or until the crust is golden.
7. Remove from oven and let cool for 20 minutes then with a knife loosen the edges and gently lift out.  Serve warm or cover and refrigerate.  

For the mini pumpkin pies, I used my mini muffin tin, not the regular sized cupcake tin. These are literally bite-sized.  I combined all the ingredients below, used non-stick cooking spray on my mini muffin tin and then after pressing the pie crust into the mini muffin tin, I used a tablespoon of the pumpkin pie mixture for each mini pie.  

Ingredients for the mini Pumpkin Pies:
1 15 oz. can of Libby's Pumpkin Puree
3/4 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 egg
4 oz heavy whipping cream (most recipes call for evaporated milk, I used what I had on hand)

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