Nanny to Mommy

 It is Black History Month and I recently saw someone say that Black History is redundant and the reason he said this was because simply, Black History is American History and we should be teaching it all year long. We have been teaching a filtered version of our history to make it sound nicer, but the only we can do better is to teach our children the truth so we can actually learn from mistakes and do better.

Today I'm sharing some books to help teach and celebrate Black History Month not just in February, but all year long.

 I don't make my kids hug or kiss anyone they don't want to. I was never forced to as a child because different experiences that my mother had growing up. I was always thankful that my mom never made me because I would go through phases of being shy.

Quite a few years ago now, my husband's family had a Christmas party and my husband's Aunt told my daughter to come give her a hug. My daughter looked at me timid and I told her she didn't have to do anything she didn't want to. So she didn't hug her and just said, "Merry Christmas". Later, my mother-in-law confronted me about how she thought this was rude and "It was just Aunt [name redacted]". This was an uncomfortable conversation since I don't like confrontation, but it needed to be said. It wasn't about undermining or embarrassing anyone, but educating. I told her that I would never force my children to be hugged or kissed by anyone even if that person is their Great Aunt because it's their body. I also mentioned how they don't know her very well because they don't remember seeing her at all. I don't know what changed my mother-in-law's mind for sure, but she no longer expects the grandkids to hug anyone that they don't want to.

The reason I have this rule is simply, I don't want my kids to be groomed for sexual abuse.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Shake by IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

I have considered myself a content creator for a few years now. Have you ever thought about starting your own business in the field of Creative Influencer Marketing? It has been a great way to work from home and provide for my family while creating my own flexible schedule. But it is still a very unknown field with many different variables. How do I monetize my content? How do I find people willing to pay for my work? What if no one notices me? What are other creators charging? This post isn't about how to start your own blog, but this is a revolutionary way I have found to get you on the track to monetizing your creative content.

I have just come across a new marketplace for creators hosted by IZEA that takes so many unknowns out of the equation. It's called Shake. The platform helps individual influencers, photographers, writers and musicians collaborate and transact with marketers. How it works is you can create a profile on Shake with all of your optional services, rates, example work, basically like a resume! You can share what you have to offer, whether that is Instagram posts, content writing, photography. Creatives list “Shakes” on the site and Marketers buy creative deals through a streamlined chat experience, assisted by ShakeBot™. Plus you can find other creators that are similar to you and see what they are charging as well. Then brands will notice you, what you have to off, and hire you based on your rates.

I received this product for free from Moms Meet to use and post my honest opinions. Compensation for this post was provided and this page may contain affiliate links.

So since my kid's no longer have their "school stomachs" and snack all day long, I have been on the hunt for healthier snack options that they will actually enjoy. Although we don't go as many places as we use to, I also still like to have easy on-the-go snack ideas that I can throw in my purse and head out the door with.

My family and I recently had the opportunity to try out LOVE CORN. They are savory, crunchy corn kernels. Popular in the Mediterranean, LOVE CORN is made with plant-based ingredients, and are vegan, gluten free, Non-GMO Project Verified, kosher, and sugar free. I was in love the package they sent to us. It had all the flavors to try.

 I have been having a few people comment on my blog saying that they are having trouble unsubscribing, the issue is usually coming from non-Google emails subscribers. I have always used a RSS feed called FeedBurner to share my posts through emails. They are just sent as I post, which I understand some people may not enjoy. I also understand that if you only subscribed as part of a giveaway and you no longer enter them, then you may want to unsubscribe. Or you may no longer enjoy my content, no hard feelings. Anyway, I wanted to send this out and hopefully the ones who are having issues will see this and can finally successfully unsubscribe.

If you don't have a Google email, then you should see a unsubscribe at the top instead of at the bottom. It should be (at least in Yahoo) above the email address lines. This is the only way I know how to unsubscribe. If you are still having issues, then you may need to contact Google directly about this issue. I apologize for the inconvenience, but there is not way for me to manually go in and take you off the mailing list. I have had more blog for over 10 years now and have since drifted away from using FeedBurner.

When I click unsubscribe, I see the image below. And have successfully unsubscribed to my own site. If you do not see this screen below, then you may have to contact Google directly. 

As of now the only other way to subscribe to my posts (which is more efficient if you like everything in one nice email) is BlogLovin. Thank you for following along all these years and I'm sorry again for the inconvenience.

****UPDATE****

If you wish to be unsubscribed from my FeedBurner email list, I have figured out how to remove you manually. But to do this, you must email me (diana.n.chastain@gmail.com) as I can't see your email address when you comment here. Thank you so much!

 Since I have came across White Chicken Chili, my entire family has loved it! I have adapted it quite a bit though to make the process easier for me and have more flavor so I thought I would share my updates. This dish is a fairly low calorie dinner option that will leave you full and satisfied especially on those cold winter days. I personally love slow cooker meals because I just throw everything in the pot and then by the time dinner rolls around it's ready to go.

For the past two years, this recipe has tied for second in our HOA's annual Chili Cook Off. I might have won this past year if more people voted/participated. But I like to make this because I don't mind if there are leftovers (there never is). My entire family enjoys it and it's highly asked for!

This recipe also makes a great freezer meal! There is so much that if my husband doesn't want to take it as leftovers, I can throw it in a glass Tupperware container with the date in dry erase marker and have saved it for a later night when I didn't have time to prep anything.