May Goodies Box

got my May www.goodies.co box in the mail on Saturday.  Wow.  Really impressed.

• Dorval Sour Power Straws & Sour Power Sortz
  Looking forward to these. I ❤ sour candy.  Pretty Good.  Typical Sour candy. (updated 5/23)
• Kathie’s Kitchen Super Seedz (1 oz. snack pack)
  Pretty good.  Almost like sunflower seeds.  Not much flavor, since I had the seas salt flavor.
• Beanitos Nacho Cheese White Bean Chips (1.5 oz. pack)
  
• California Olive Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil (2-12mL sample pack)
• Numi Organic Tea (1 Moroccan Mint tea bag & $1 off coupon)
• Bronco Bob’s Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce (2.5 oz. jar)
• Zico Natural Pure Coconut Water (1 liter)Have had this many times before.  LOVE IT.  The fact that the box came with a whole liter is amazing!!
• Wholly Guacamole (Coupon for FREE product up to $6.50 and a chip clip)I love Wholly Guacamole.  The coupon does not expire to the end of the year and I look forward to more products.

These are the items included in the box.  I will update the others as I try them.  I think I will continue this for another month or so.  It is a box that is put out by the Wal-Mart company, so I really hate to give them even more of my money, but can’t resist waiting to see what is next.

Advertisement

Love with Food May Box

Happy Monday Everyone!  Not really.  I REALLY dislike Mondays.  But this is the last Monday I have to work for at least 2 weeks.  I am on vacation next week. WOOHOO and the following Monday is Memorial Day (so I should have off).

So I have 4 more days to get through.

Last month I decided to sign up with the Love with Food foodie box and I got my very first box on Friday.  I got this box for free, thanks to a coupon code.  Well I still had to pay the $2 shipping and handling.  It’s interesting. Looking forward to trying all the items and updating this post as I try them.

(dang it,  I went and tagged all the items but I don’t think it is working.).

Anyways the box came with:

• Great Full Cookie from The Cookie Department, Inc.
  REALLY good.  Tastes like a sweet potato pie.  YUM!
• Strawberry Preserves from Bonne Maman
  
• Hand Drip Coffee from Caffe Borsa
  
• Original Cajun Seasoning from “Slap Ya Mama”I have tried this seasoning lots of times and a container of it is sitting in my cabinet right now.  It is AWESOME on chicken or fries.
• Tomato Crunch from Snapz Crisps
  
• Authentic Almond Biscotti from Biscotti Bari
  Tasted ok.  Not nearly enough almonds.
• Latte Candy from Bali’s Best
  Tasted ok.  I have had other coffee candy that tasted better.  

 

• Mrs. May’s All Natural Pumpkin CrunchReally good.  Kinda like a loose and dry granola bar.  Would buy again if I saw it in a store.

Another Sunday….

Today was just another typical Sunday.  I spent the day doing almost nothing.  I did pay a few bills and cleaned off the top of my craft desk.

I was going through my phone pictures and found some that I took at work the other day.  When I have lunch with others at work, I usually have to answer a lot of questions. 

I usually have this and more in my lunch bag on a daily basis.  I have the big bowl filled with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and cucumbers.  The small bowl with the blue lid is grilled chicken, the pint jar is cubed mango, the small mason jar is mango-jalapeño ranch dressing (made my own with bottled ranch, mango juice, & diced jalapeño), and the small silver container has some sugared almonds/walnuts.  Then a bottle of cucumber water.

Here is the finished product:

Well….on to today.  I really did not eat anything today.  My stomach was hurting and I did not feel hungry.  But I had this on todays menu, and I was looking forward to it.  Grilled chicken, pineapple, & red onion skewers with brown rice and some black bean fiesta mix.  The only thing that I did not like is that the beans were watery.

Here’s hoping to a good week next week.  At least I get off early on Friday!

BUSY Weekend

It has been a busy, busy weekend.  It all started Friday after work when a group of us went out to eat dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  I love that place.  I made some good choices and some bad choices.  I had a small steak, salad, and vegetables.  NO FRIES!  But I could not resist the bread, and a Jamaican Cowboy.  That is one of my favorite mixed drinks.  Then it was time for bowling.  I am an AWFUL bowler, but I rocked the shoes.

Then we decided that we wanted to go downtown.  We went to Cape Fear Beer & Wine.  It was my first visit here and it was awesome.  I tried 2 new beers (but I think one was actually a cider).  Kasteel (had a good cherry taste) & Floris Apple (tasted like green apple Jolly Ranchers).

Had some fun waiting in line for the bathroom. 

Late night = fun night.  Which isn’t bad but I had plans for an early morning Saturday.

 

A group of us decided to go to the Pleasure Island Chowder Cook Off.  Now I have only had chowder one other time, and that was at Red Lobster.  The Chowder Festival gave me the perfect opportunity to try a lot of chowder for the low price of the $5 entry fee.  YUM.  We all voted for our favorite and then came time to decide where we wanted to go next.

 

We ended up downtown at the Azalea Festival Street Fair for a few hours, then out to dinner, and back to my friends house for a few hours of Cards Against Humanity.  This game is so AWFUL, but so fun.

Like I said, it was a busy weekend, but so fun.  About to sign off…I really need more vegging out time before a week of retail fun.

Time flies….

when you’re working hard.  At least that is what it seems like.  I cannot believe that it is already April!! 

Thanks to a wonderful sale at the local grocery store, Asparagus $1.47/pd, we had a great dinner last night.  Grilled chicken with BBQ sauce, parmesan couscous cooked in Trader Joes Vegetable broth, and Margarita Asparagus a la Roni. Everything was so good.  I am surprised that I didn’t wake up this morning looking like a stalk of asparagus.

I made my brother try the asparagus, and it was like making a 3 year try something.  The whole nose scrunching and everything.  That boy is so picky.

The great part of the whole dinner was that I had enough asparagus left over for this beauty for breakfast.

Egg white omelet with sautéed portabella mushrooms, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, and kalamata olive goat cheese.  Wheat toast on the side.  I have been splurging on different types of cheese lately, and not just eating all the fat free varieties.  I would much rather spend the points on awesome tasting items then just things that taste ok.

I always eat breakfast super early and I do not get lunch until 1:00 pm and this kept me full until lunch. 

I have the luxury off working next to a grocery store, and today was SUSHI WEDNESDAY!  I love the sushi from here; the guy that makes it is super sweet.  I usually go for the Spicy Tuna, but today I decided to go vegetarian and picked the Veggie Roll.  Pretty good and only $5.00.

Topped with wasabi and pickled ginger.  Yummy.  If I plan on taking pictures at work of my lunch, I really need something to cover up that garish plastic tablecloth.

 

That leads us up to tonight’s dinner.  My grocery store always has Chuck Tender Steaks really cheap.  It’s not a great cut of meat but it’s ok if you marinate it.  So tonight we had steak, baked sweet potatoes, and frozen veggie mix with cheese.

P.S. I really hate these plates.  I have loads of smaller plates that are different but only 1 or 2 larger plates.  These Corelle plates just will not die.  They are older then the hills, and extremely hard to break.  My brother just does not understand my need to get rid of them.  I plan on visiting my usual haunts of World Market and Pier One this weekend.

It’s almost time for my Wednesday night show.  Night.

One day closer to Friday…

That about sums up my day.  I have a lot of work to do in a short amount of time, but I have come to accept that is life.

I started today off with an AWESOME loaded omelet using some of the leftover peppers and onions from last night’s fajitas.  I also added some baby bella mushrooms; ever since the Trader Joes opened up in Wilmington I buy these all the time, super cheap.  Then an omelet is not an omelet without cheese and bacon (I used a 2% cheese slice and some real bacon bits).  A couple slices of Natures Own Double Fiber wheat toast and my meal was complete.

I’m really lucky to have a job where I get 2- 15 minute breaks and 1- 30 minute lunch.  It gives me time to unwind and grab something to eat or drink if I need it.  So during my morning break I had a V-8 and for my afternoon break I tried this new (to me) flavor of coconut water.  This one has more calories then the plain, but it was so good.

I have to say that the peach/mango flavor is so much better the the tropical fruit one I had yesterday.  I had to add that one to my huge bottle of water to finish it. 

Lunch today was the usual salad but today I added some leftover chicken, peppers, and onions from last nights dinner. 

Tonight’s dinner was oven-baked chicken, baked potatoes, and Brussels Sprouts.

 

I should really sign off and watch the wonderful Wednesday night shows.  Love when The Middle, The Neighbors, and Modern Family are all new.  Love them.

Fajita Time

Tonight’s dinner is thanks to a website I found while playing around on the net.  love, Laina has some good recipes and I hope to try more of them.  I did change a few things, since I have a REALLY hard time following recipes.

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil (I used Olive Oil)
2 tsp. chili powder (I used 1 TBSP.)
1 1/2 tsp. cumin (I used 2 tsp.)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder (I used 1 TSP.)
1/2 tsp. dried oregano (I used 1 tsp. cilantro)
1/4 tsp. seasoned salt  (I used 1/2 tsp.)
1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes with green chilies (Rotel)
1 medium onion, sliced (I used about 3 medium, we love onion)
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into strips (I used 1 whole red)
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into strips (I used 1 whole yellow)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken strips in a greased 13×9 baking dish.
In a small bowl combine the oil, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, dried cilantro, and salt.
Drizzle the spice mixture over the chicken and stir to coat.
Next add the tomatoes, peppers, and onions to the dish and stir to combine.
Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are done.

THANKS Laina.  This was a great dinner.

New Food Time…

There was a time where I would never try anything new.  I didn’t even like tomatoes until about 10 years ago, and would usually eat iceberg lettuce salads with nothing else added.  But in the last few years or so I have developed the philosophy of trying nearly anything (I draw the line at liver or gizzards).

I have been meaning to try Brussels sprouts for the last year or so but just have not followed through.  So during a trip to Costco this weekend a bag of Brussels sprouts found their way into my cart.  So after some deliberation I decided to skip the whole lets boil them process and roast them.  I tossed these with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.  Then I tossed them in the oven at 450 for 30 minutes stirring them every 10 minutes until brown.  OMG.  These are little browned balls of yumminess.  I paired them with some chuck tender steak, a huge baked potato, and a slab of onion.

Vacation Burnout

I have been on vacation this week and it has been nonstop since Sunday.  We left Tuesday for Myrtle Beach and it was 3 days/2 nights of shopping, walking, and eating.  I made good choices sometimes and bad choices the others. 

I had an AWESOME salad at Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville.  Here is a picture from online but mine looked so much better.  The chicken was in larger grilled chunks.

It was mixed greens tossed with mangoes, sugared pecans, tomatoes, cucumbers, and jalapeño-mango ranch dressing. Topped with grilled chicken.  This was so good, and I just HAD to have a margarita with it.

Then back at the inn I had a few drinks thanks too my brother and the local ABC store.

The next day we had more shopping and by mid-day we were starving so we stopped the closest restaurant available, and that was Texas Roadhouse.  So different then the one at home.  This is the bad choice.  A grilled chicken sandwich with lots of cheese, fries, and part of a blooming onion.  Oh….and another margarita.  More walking…more shopping…then back to the inn to rest some.

We made the mistake of staying at the Hampton Inn near Broadway at the Beach.  We LOVE it there but it was REALLY close to Margaritaville…which meant another trip down there for a drink.  I tried a Loaded Landshark, this is a Landshark beer with a shot of Tequila.  It was ok.

Today we made our way back home, and its almost back to the real world.  I have to work on the menus and the grocery list for the next few weeks.  Then it is back to work on Monday.

Pizza Night…..

Tonight was pizza night, but instead of running into Little Caesars and buying a $5 pizza tonight we made our own.  I love this because EVERYONE can have exactly what they want and we can pretty much use anything that is in the fridge. 

My pizza had a whole wheat crust, a little tomato sauce, onions (lots), baby bellas, the last of my Trader Joes goat cheese with kalamata olives, and some turkey pepperoni.  This was awesome. One thing I did was to add a little honey on top…that tot tally brought it over the top.

This is a awful picture.  The light in my house SUCKS.  I do have some lights and a light tent.  I think I need to drag it out of the craft closet.