eMeals: Fourth of July Easy Baby Back Ribs Recipe #Sponsored

Are you an eMeals member? If so, be sure to log-in to your account and download the free Fourth of July meal plan, featuring 6 delicious recipes. Any new members can also get this additional meal plan upon registration.

Easy Baby Back Ribs Recipe

Ingredients

• 5 1/2 lb baby back pork ribs (3 slabs)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
• 18 oz bottle favorite barbecue sauce 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Remove thin membrane from back of ribs by slicing into ribs with a knife and pulling membrane off with paper towels.
3. Combine salt, garlic powder and pepper; rub all over meaty side of ribs.
4. Cut racks in half, if desired. Arrange ribs in a large roasting pan. Cover tightly with foil.
5. Bake 3 hours or until very tender. 
6. Uncover and cool 15 minutes. Drain. 
7. Preheat grill to medium-high. 
8. Place ribs, meaty side up, on grill rack rubbed with oil. 
9. Baste generously with barbecue sauce. 
10. Grill, covered with grill lid, 10 minutes. 
11. Baste and grill 5 to 10 minutes longer or until sauce clings to ribs.

KitchenAid Giveaway with Pretty My Party

I teamed up with Pretty My Party and several other bloggers and businesses to giveaway a KitchenAid Artisan 5 Quart Mixer! This giveaway is open to everyone worldwide that is 18+ years old. Giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. Friday, June 28. To enter, please visit Pretty My Party.

Please be sure to visit the following bloggers and businesses that helped make this giveaway possible: Tikkido, Pink Cake Plate, Cupcake Diaries, Measured By the Heart, Cherries n Berries, The Frugal Navy Wife, Mommy Octopus, Tickled Peach Studio, Wrong Way Peach Fuzz, From Me, With Love, The Doodling Bug, inkhappi, Bonggamom, Bowbows Boutique, The Nest Effect, Daddy Mojo, Ann-Kay Design, The Alison Marie Blog, The Geeky Hostess, Three Little Monkeys Studio, The REAL Housewives of Riverton, A Delicate Gift, Taradara Made It, Vegas Family Guide, On the Way Home, Saving By Design and Owlanthas

2013-2014 Monthly Chevron Calendars, a Giveaway, and a Sale - Ends 6.22.13

Last night I uploaded the latest to my Etsy store: 2013-2014 monthly chevron calendars! June 2013 through December 2014 are included in this set, as well as two versions -- one with a Monday start for the week, and the other with a Sunday start. This item is an instant download, like most of my documents in my store. {Did you know that Etsy now lets sellers do that?!}

Prizes: 2013-2014 chevron monthly calendars {PDF file}

Number of Winners: three

To Enter: You must use the Rafflecopter widget below. It's really easy to use and makes giveaways a lot easier for me to manage. The widget will tell you what your commenting topic is! (mandatory)

Giveaway Ends: Sunday, June 23 @ 12:00 a.m. (Eastern Time). Three winners will be chosen using the Rafflecopter widget. The winners will be announced on the widget and will be emailed to claim their prize. The winners have 48 hours to respond to my email to claim their prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway Rules & Disclosure:

• You must be a follower (through Twitter, FB, GFC, or RSS/email) of The Nest Effect to win.
• The winners will be chosen by rafflecopter.com.
• This giveaway is open to readers everywhere.
• Please make sure your email is either linked in your profile or on your blog OR that you include it in your comment. If I can't find your email address, I can't contact you as the winner.
• You must comment as your first, mandatory entry. All entries will be verified when the winner is chosen.
• This giveaway is not sponsored by a company. These are my files that I sell on Etsy.

To celebrate summer, I'm offering 40% off of everything in my Etsy store through Saturday, June 22. Use coupon code SUMMER40 at checkout to receive the 40% off discount.

I will not apply the discount code after checkout. Please do not purchase, then send me a message saying you couldn't figure out how to use the code. It's honestly a hassle to do partial refunds on Etsy for discounts. 

To use the coupon: on the cart page there's a TEXT link that says "Apply shop coupon code" {see image below for example}. Add the coupon code in the box that appears. Make sure there isn't a space after the coupon code in the text box. If you have any questions, please contact me before purchasing!

Summertime Bucket List - June 2013

I've been out of school for summer break since last Wednesday. I've been busy working at school - cleaning and organizing for next year - as well as working on my teacher planner and updating some files in my Teachers Pay Teachers and Teachers Notebook stores.

Next month, I'll be traveling to Pennsylvania to spend time with family all month. I cannot wait. A long awaited vacation. =]

I feel like I have a ton to do this summer, and at the top of my list is getting in shape and eating healthy. The Color Run in SLC is coming up in August and I'm determined that I will be in shape for this event. {If you live in SLC and want to join in, use the code COLOREFFECT for $5 off your reigstration! If you don't live in SLC, but are interested in participating in a local Color Run, you can use the code COLOR5OFF to receive $5 off your registration fee in your city!}

I've amped up my water intake to over 9 cups a day {I drink 3 bottles from my Camelbak water bottle, which is 750 mL.} I've increased the protein in my diet as well, and cut carbs and sugar as much as possible. I've found a new love for veggies - especially red bell peppers - and feta cheese, and tried egg whites for the first time, also falling in love. I've read in several different places that drinking water consistently helps with weight loss because your body confuses dehydration with hunger. I'm sure to drink a lot of water before each meal, which helps me not over eat. I haven't found myself to be hungry at all because of this either. I'm exercising 6 days a week, alternating between cardio and core training.

I'm working on updating 2013-2014 calendars for my Etsy store, and updating sets that I currently sell. I'm planning for blogging, hoping to find a way to better manage my time so I can blog more often.

I'm searching for more things to sell online this month to simplify my life and make some extra money to pay off student loan debt.

I have a professional development course the last week of June for 3 full days. I'm excited to learn more about language arts.

This is a lot to accomplish in the next 2.5 weeks, but I'm totally motivated and ready to go.

What is on your bucket list for this month?

eMeals: Father's Day Caramel-Brownie Chunk Milkshake Recipe

Are you an eMeals member? If so, be sure to log-in to your account and download the free Father's Day meal plan, featuring 6 delicious recipes. Any new members can also get this additional meal plan upon registration. Use coupon code DADS for 15% off a membership.

Caramel-Brownie Chunk Milkshake Recipe

Ingredients

• ½ cup milk
• 4 cups vanilla ice cream
• 3 store bought or homemade brownies, chopped
• Caramel or hot fudge topping (optional)

Instructions

1. Place milk in a blender.
2. Add ice cream; blend until smooth.
3. Add half of brownies to blender; pulse until brownies are blended.
4. Spoon into glasses; drizzle with desired topping.
5. Top milkshakes with remaining brownies.