March 30 Days of Lists: Finished!

So yesterday wrapped up March's 30 Days of Lists! I used an app called Rhonna Designs to create these cool pictures (I think they're cool so :-p). Anyway, I ended up printing them and making a little booklet out of them, but these are the finished pictures/lists.

Mazola® Blog Part 2: The Food!!!!

In an earlier blog, I posted about March's amazing AllStars sponsor: Mazola®. They sent us corn oil, a nifty little measuring spoon with 4 different measurements (I originally posted it had 2 and someone corrected me so thank you, I missed those other two), and an awesome pan that arrived yesterday! Check out the pan below. It's beautiful and heavy duty too!

On to the goodies! We had to use the Mazola® corn oil to create two specific recipes. These can be found here: Sweet and Spicy Salmon with Grapefruit Salsa and here: Pork Carnitas with Cilantro Tomatillo Sauce. Let's discuss the recipes.

Sweet and Spicy Salmon with Grapefruit Salsa

This was my favorite out of the two. I will have to say that I only gave it 4 stars on the website instead of 5 because of the grapefruit. We're not grapefruit people. I honestly don't personally know many people that are grapefruit eaters. Many of them eat it because they must. The flavoring on this salmon however, setting aside the grapefruit was really tasty. It had a smoky sort of flavor to it which you obviously usually don't get unless you smoke it or use liquid smoke. This merely consists of a dry rub and baking it. It would also be great on chicken. Something else about this rub that surprised me is how it covered the fish taste. I don't care what kind of fish you cook, there's always a fish taste if you don't know how to disguise it. Well this does the trick. If anyone is looking for a healthy option but you don't like fish, this will definitely work for you because you can't even tell you're eating fish. However, as I was discussing earlier, the grapefruit didn't really work. It gives it a bitter taste with every bite. I pretty much tried it with the grapefruit and then flicked the grapefruit off. The rest of the salsa however was tasty on the salmon and it paired really well with yellow rice. Next time we eat this I might try pineapples or some other fruit that has a sweet but not over-powering taste. Then again I might just leave the fruit out of it. The rest of the salsa was good.

Pork Carnitas with Cilantro Tomatillo Sauce

Oh how I did not like this recipe, let me count the ways. I'm not really sure about the seasonings to begin with. chipotle chile powder, chili powder and garlic powder? That didn't sound appetizing to begin with but alas we are a family of experimenters (in the kitchen anyway). I will also say that corn tortillas are the devil! Unless you decide to bake them and turn them into friggin' taco shells, they break! I broke like 8 soft shells before getting them to just curl without breaking. Flavor: well... personally, biting into it and having flavor, there was none until I swallowed. Then it felt like I was breathing fire and I still got no flavor! The sauce or what I would consider salsa in this case also wasn't for me. I don't really care for tomatillo. It much like the grapefruit from the first recipe also has a bitter flavor. It was the only thing with flavor. This is probably a recipe I won't repeat. None of the family cared for it too much.

These were interesting recipes to say the least and nothing we would have tried our own. However, as stated, we did enjoy the salmon so that'll be a repeat at some point in the future. I would like to thank Mazola® for the opportunity to try these recipes though and for the goodies they sent!

Disclaimer:

I am an AllRecipes AllStar Brand Ambassador. This is a voluntary position which I am not compensated for.

Mazola® Blog Part 1: The Goodies and Facts

The AllStars are back in action! Oh how I have missed having a preset list of things to cook. Since the AllStars program slowed down and school picked up and my boyfriend ripped my kitchen apart for renovations, I haven’t really been into cooking lately and I basically stopped meal planning. I do indeed miss this. I miss knowing what’s on the menu for dinner every night as well as what I need to be purchasing for said dinner menu. We’ve been eating out a lot! This is made me realize quite a few things. First off, it’s incredibly expensive to dine out, even when eating at the CHEAP joints. I mean, a family of four, even if we all ate the $1 menu from McDonald’s, comes to $12 a day for ONE MEAL or around $360 a month! I can get $600 worth of groceries at the store for that much with coupons and sales, and feed my family for 3 months!!! That’s including breakfast, lunch and dinner!!! It’s also lead me to realize that all of that eating out, even if we eat salads, is unhealthy. Cooking is way better because you can control what goes in the food. You KNOW what you’re putting into it. For those of you going “oh but if you’re buying oils, and canned goods, and food from companies, how do you know it’s healthy still?” READ YOUR LABELS PEOPLE. DO YOUR RESEARCH. If you’re just self-conscience about what you’re buying, you CAN eat healthy.

This month, for ALL of the AllStars, our sponsor was Mazola®. They sent us a 40oz. bottle of Corn Oil and a pretty nifty two sided measuring spoon with two of the most common measurements, 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon. I like it because you don’t have to dirty two spoons or hunt for two spoons if you have a less than perfect kitchen (raising my hand here).

Moving right along to the healthy part of this post!

Being healthy is something that we seriously need in my family. I’m overweight. My boyfriend is overweight. I have a 10-year-old son that I don’t want to be overweight and my father has suffered serious heart attacks and a stroke so clearly, it’s important that we eat healthy. I do try to cook a little healthier these days. I grill or bake more than I used to and I have recently been experimenting with various health conscience foods such as organic, fat free, cholesterol free. Don’t get me wrong. We haven’t gone to eating strictly cardboard, and we do still eat some foods considered unhealthy. I’m trying to promote a more healthy and HAPPY lifestyle in my home. This means eating things we like. What’s the point of eating if we hate the way it tastes??? We can eat healthier and still enjoy the taste of our food. Most cooking oil labels say the same thing. My mom always used canola oil because she said it was better for you but then after my boyfriend moved in he was partial to vegetable oil and after reading the label, there wasn’t much difference so we switched. He claims it tastes better. I can’t tell the difference. However, after receiving this Corn Oil from Mazola®, I read some more labels and did some more research and maybe just maybe I can get my boyfriend to switch to corn oil now. Research has shown that Mazola® Corn Oil lowers cholesterol more than Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO). My father is on pills for cholesterol so this could be a step in reducing some of the meds he has to take. Healthier lifestyle equals less artificial lifestyle (that’s what I think of medication). Corn oil has shown to lower LDL cholesterol by 10.9% compared to EVOOs 3.5%. Mazola® Corn Oil is cholesterol free and 100% pure. Seriously! This is the factoid label!!!

More about the study Mazola® conducted as well as health benefits can be found at Mazola.com (http://www.mazola.com/) and you can also check them out on Facebook here (https://www.facebook.com/MazolaBrand).

For our Mazola® assignments, we had to create, rate, and review two recipes which I have regrettably not been able to do yet, however, they will be done shortly! So stay tuned for Mazola® Blog Post #2 to see all the deliciousness of the recipes!

Disclaimer:

I am an AllRecipes AllStar Brand Ambassador. This is a voluntary position which I am not compensated for.

Plant Pot Makeover

So I have an obsession with making something new out of something old. I also tend to change my mind a lot so I either never finish a project, or if I do finish a project, by the time I’m done, I’ve changed my mind and moved on never utilizing the finished project. That’s why this post comes at least 6 months after the completion of what I’m calling a “plant pot makeover.”

For Mother’s Day 2013, my amazing fiancé bought me an orchid. These are my favorite flowers and are often hard to find as they are seasonal and must be searched and scoured for where we reside. For some reason, someone decided it would be a great idea for Wal-Mart to sell these single potted plants for Mother’s Day (they did the same thing this year for Valentine’s Day). Anyway, he bought me one because he knew I’d love it. I unfortunately do NOT have a green thumb at all. It’s more black and crusted over. I can’t keep anything alive. It’s seriously a wonder my son is still kickin’. It’s probably a good thing he can bathe and feed himself! I am totally kidding but you understand. Anyway, sadly orchids also require specific light, watering, etc. so… it kind of died. It’s a good thing that he realized, that I realized, that it was the thought that counts and I really did love my present. I have pictures of it and I even pressed a petal and laminated it so it would never be completely gone! Yea, I’m sentimental like that. I loved the size of the pot though and didn’t want to throw a perfectly good pot so, I decided to give it a makeover. This was trial and error and while it took forever and so much work for something so simple, I’m still very happy with the outcome.

This was the outside of the pot before I started and the inside after I painted it silver. The inside was already rough so it didn’t require sanding. That’s tape across the top because I didn’t want the inside and the outside the same color. Barriers!

So I didn’t sand it to begin with. I figured I could use the paint that allows you to paint over something without roughing it up. Yea. Didn’t work so well. Paint was runny and drippy and while that can be a cool look, it wasn’t what I was going for. So…alas I had to sand.

and sand some more… don’t hate on my sexy mask and sunglasses. I didn’t have goggles so my shades were the next best thing.

I suppose it paid off though because after I got the outside VERY WELL SANDED, I spray painted it black and one thin coat at a time (that’s the key) and voila. We have this beautiful coat of black paint on the outside.

and the inside again…

Then I took my trusty silver paint pen and drew awesome designs on it. After that, I spray painted it with clear coat, inside and outside and BAM, I have a new pen/pencil cup! I also have a thing for black/white and black/silver. Can't ya tell?

I constantly change my mind about things I want to use but this one’s been going strong since I made it over 6 months ago and I have to say, I STILL LOVE IT! I really do. I change my pens out occasionally to suit whatever I’m feeling (I have a pen box bigger than my boot shoe boxes). This drives my fiancé crazy but oh well!

March 30 Days of Lists: Intro

So I was originally going to create an entirely new blog for 30 Days of Lists since this is my first time blogging it, however since this particular blog is for sharing with the world all of my food stuff, recipes, goodies, and fun, I figured I'd go ahead and just post it here for the world to see (even though I have no followers! lol). This year I said I wanted to be a better writer or at least a more active one. Last year I participated in the 30 Days of List twice, once in September and once in December (yes, December has 31 days but it was quite of an impromptu thing, so I added in a list of my own at the end). I have fallen in love with doing the 30 Days of Lists! The problem is, I find myself lagging in completing it and getting a journal or book together so starting off 2014, I have decided that this year I’m going to blog them. I actually finish the lists, I just like to embellish the pages and make them creative, however, that seems to take forever! After all, I JUST finished all the touches on my December book on February 10! I figure if I do the blog, I’ll get it finished, no embellishments and I can also add in pictures if I want to without having to print, cut and paste them. The beauty of this is that I can also turn it into a Blurb book or I can print it myself and get all creative later. At least this way I can get it done daily! Well here goes nothing!

Update - 3/3/14 - So one of the girls in the listing group posted what I thought was the neatest thing! I asked her about it and apparently it was an app on the phone. So..... I went and downloaded it. What I love about this app is that no matter what you do, you will never perfectly copy someone else's so there's no chance of us posting anything similar. I love that I can take pictures of ANYTHING, put words over it and BAM. Now I know where all those Facebook posts of pretty pictures and words are coming from! lol. Anyway, I decided to use that as the basis for my lists now. PLUS, once I'm done, I can actually take THOSE pictures and make my book. It'll be so much better than a plain book! Here's my cover!!!!

Mistakes Are Only Made Once, It's on Purpose Thereafter

One of my friends posted something online a few days ago about how people don't make mistakes. I beg to differ but I understand where she's coming from. I do think people make mistakes, such as using salt instead of sugar, or vice versa. However, she was referring to more serious things, like cheating on people, causing a car accident, or something of that nature. I agree with her in this aspect, for the most part. Take for instance, my relationship with Antonio. I keep wondering if I've made a mistake by being with him but I knew what I was doing when I got into this relationship, or at least I thought I did. I should have seen the little things. I keep telling myself that he wanted to be with me and that he used to be so caring and loving but really, I think I was imagining it. For instance, if I couldn't find him, he'd come up with an excuse as to why he wasn't answering the phone. It took him over a month to sleep with me because I really don't think he wanted to. I think I kind of talked him into it or persuaded him by doing......other things. Either way, there are plenty of things that happened or didn't happen rather, that should have showed me that he wasn't interested in the beginning. I'm still unsure of why he moved in. I'm unsure of why he stayed. I want to believe it's because he loves me but in the last two years, he's managed to get tons of money out of me, whether it was in the form of taking off my stuff as scrap, selling good stuff we had or flat out receiving money from me. He also uses my vehicles with my gas money and I pay for all the maintenance. 

He wants me to trust him. He wants me to stop snooping through the phone bills and investigating phone calls and texts. It's hard to trust him when he tells me he's not talking to someone anymore and then there are hundreds of calls or texts on the bill. Just like with this Farrah chick. He first told me her name was Kesha. Then he said it was the one from Orangeburg. She even went along with it saying her name was Keysha (correct spelling, as she so put it). Then, when he went to court, I blocked my number and called her phone and come to find out it's the Farrah chick that another supposed Cooda Gal is constantly telling him to call. He also claims that the other name, Kim, is he same person as Farrah. Obviously I don't believe that. If you call somebody by one name all the time, then that's what you're always going to call them. However, in some messages I've seen in his phone, she's saying "call Farrah" and in others, she's saying "call Kim." Why use two different names? I also unblocked all the numbers on the line and surprise surprise, there are ALREADY three calls on the bill to or from Samara. They just couldn't wait to talk to each other again. I don't understand why you would want to talk to two women who don't want you to be with the one you're with. They clearly do not want me and Antonio together and they have had no problems telling him AND ME about how crazy I am and how we shouldn't be together, but he continues to talk to them. He wants me to trust them but he never tells me the truth about talking to them. It just pisses me off. Everyone in my life that was using me and telling me that Antonio was no good for me, I quit talking to them. I left them alone and I have nothing to do with them anymore. If I still talked to them, I'd be even more skeptical about mine and Antonio's relationship. 

I honestly don't know what to do sometimes...

November Thankfuls

So I'm aware that we should be thankful EVERY day, but does anyone else do the November Thankfuls? I do because while I am thankful every day for various things, one month allows us, or me anyway, to really sit down and think about something we're thankful for every day. Something specific. I compiled everything into my list so here goes! Forgive me as some are materialistic but hey, it happens! lol

Day 1: Thankful for being able to enjoy a good day with my family!

Day 2: Thankful I woke up this morning. It was a rough one but at least one person didn't wake up today.... I'm glad I had another day to see my family, hug and kiss my son, talk with friends and just breathe....

Day 3: Thankful for all of our service men and women home and overseas. They are no longer forced to fight for this country but they willingly signed up and do so anyway. We may not be the greatest country anymore (unfortunately) but at least we still have wonderful people willing to fight for what's left.

Day 4: I'm thankful for fake mofo's! They make it easier to appreciate the REAL friends one has. Never take for granted the real people in your life, the ones who won't run and tell your shit in a backwards manner and if they do repeat what you said, at least they have the decency to GET IT RIGHT!

Day 5: Thankful that I get to be a SAHM for now. It's trying at times but I love it because that means I get more time with my baby and I can do things at the school with him and FOR him. I love being able to do things for him and his friends! Just ordered stuff for goody bags for his classmates! I may have outdone myself but their Halloween bags were pathetic.....Gotta make up for it somehow!

Day 6: You know. I should be thankful everyday for various reasons. I am happy I woke up this morning. I'm happy my son is alive and well and my father too but today I'm having a real hard time being thankful for one particular thing. Seriously. I guess today, in particular, I’m thankful for the time I spend alone. It makes me realize just how independent my mother raised me to be and shows me that I can do things on my own even if I don't want to. I'm a strong independent woman even when I feel like breaking and giving up.

Day 7: So thankful for such an amazing pastor! No matter what he's doing (unless he's helping someone at the time), he'll drop it or come to you ASAP if you're in need or just want to talk. He'll pray with you anytime day or night, in person or on the phone. I called to let him know about the time change with dad's surgery and he prayed with me over the phone for save travels for all tomorrow as well as a safe surgery. He truly is an awesome pastor and person in general!

Day 8: Thankful for the wonderful staff at Trident, the amazing lady who transported dad today to and from the hospital and the wonderful staff at UniHealth. Without all of these individuals dad would not have had such a successful surgery today. He is doing very well. No more kidney stone. No more stint.

Day 9: Thankful for a man who CAN cook and is willing to occasionally. If it weren't for Tony tonight I'm not sure we'd be having dinner tonight. lol. It would be leftovers or pantry grab because honestly all I want to do is go to bed. Waiting on dinner then probably heading to bed. Thank you baby - Antonio

Day 10: I do have the tendency to complain about this house at times, and with good reason, but I am truly thankful for my warm bed tonight which I am heading to now!

Day 11: Thankful for Keegan. He can be an attitudinal pain sometimes but I love him just the same and tucking him in at night and saying our bedtime prayers is amazing.

Day 12: Thankful for my stove even if the oven is being wonky! I just baked 13 dozen (plus a couple extra for taste testing) mini cupcakes and they're all yummy! Icing will come tomorrow. Any takers? For icing them, not eating them! lol. They're spoken for!

Day 13: I'm so thankful for the wonderful youth at Berea Advent Christian Church! They wrote messages in and signed 705 Christmas cards for me to ship out to the Soldiers' Angels (Official) warehouse for them to send to troops stateside and overseas! You guys are amazing and I know the troops will love each and every card! They are now boxed and ready to be dropped at the post office! Thank you so much!

Day 14: Today I'm thankful for my quick thinking and creativity that I got from my momma. My life has been lived in the fast lane for quite a while now with Keegan growing so fast, dad's illness and me in school but I manage to come through it all on top because I'm quick on my toes.

Day 15: I'm thankful for the 24 years I had with my mother and the 4 that my son had with her. Today marks the 5th anniversary of her death and I miss her everyday. I know she's watching us and guiding us though and that helps keep me going.

Day 16: Thankful for motrin....

Day 17: Thankful for a working washer and dryer! I remember having to go to the laundry mat and I was glad I was able to finish washing and drying clothes today in my own home!

Day 18: So thankful for my big sister Denise! We may not always see eye to eye and over the years there have been plenty of moments where we've wanted to kill each other, but she's always there for me no matter what. Even when she's not thrilled about my decisions and choices, she supports me and always tells me to do what I think and feel is right. She's a lot more like momma than she realizes. I love you Denise and we can't wait to see you next week!

Day 19: Thankful that I can handle stress. Didn't say I could handle it well, but I can handle it.

Day 20: Thankful for punishment. Weird right. Too many kids these days, mine included, are spoiled rotten and would rather play video games or hang with friends over spending time with their family. Well Keegan is on total technology and friend punishment for getting in trouble in school and failing social studies. Lack of anything else to do has left us doing more together. We do spend every Saturday together as mommy son day but it's been nice putting down the school work and making bracelets or coloring with him and him WANTING to. He even WANTED to do social studies work sheets today. Although I'm guessing that's so he can get good grades and get off of punishment. Lol.

Day 21: Thankful that Keegan is so smart. Hopefully he'll use those smarts to go far in life.

Day 22: Thankful for such a small amazing school that my son is part of. They always make me feel welcome when I walk through the door and they are always seeking ways to get parents involved. Loved working at the fall festival today and getting to see all my babies!

Day 23: Thankful for rest and relaxation (sorta). I was so exhausted and in so much pain last night when we got home. Today my feet feel so much better and I got much needed rest. I was so tired I never heard Tony come in last night nor did I hear him snoring. That's if he came in when he said he did, lol

Day 24: Thankful the weekend is almost over…. Thanksgiving is next week and Keegan gets to go to his dad’s and he’s driving me crazy to get there! lol

Day 25: Thankful Nathan wanted Keegan. I love this kid but he’s been constantly asking when he’s going to his dad’s again and they are getting him today!

Day 26: Peace and quiet…… for now

Day 27: yummy potato salad! Made potato salad today for tomorrow and it tastes just like my papa’s did

Day 28: thankful for family and that dad is home for Thanksgiving

Day 29: Thankful to have my midget back home

Day 30: Thankful for date night! Hoping it goes over well and there’s no arguing. hmm

Meat and Potatoes oh my!

Meat and potatoes sounds like every man's dream meal or at least where I'm from. Down south we love us some meat and potatoes. Yes, I did just go all country in the blog. This month our lovely sponsors were Johnsonville® again and Ore-Ida. Johnsonville® may seriously be the greatest sponsors ever. If we look back, we'll see this is the same company that sent us $60 worth of nesting casserole dishes, FREE! This time around we all got free Crock Pots! No lie! Greatest sponsors ever! See! Now I already had a crock pot that I love, however, I'm a firm believer that you can never have too many kitchen appliances! Crock pots are amazing too because you can have several things cooking at once that you DON'T HAVE TO WATCH! Busy moms say heyyyy!

Now, down to the even better stuff: FOOD! March was the first month that we worked with Johnsonville® and one of my recipes that month to makeover was spaghetti. Instead of using ground beef, we used sausage. It became a favorite in our household and from time to time we have spaghetti with sausage instead of ground beef. This month I used sausage to make spaghetti, however, instead of cooking in separate pans, this recipe calls for cooking it all in one pan which was a lot easier and the whole dish had more flavor. Perhaps it was because the noodles actually cooked in sauce instead of just water which allowed them to absorb more flavor. Either way it was much better this time around! Check it out for yourself at: Johnsonville® One-Pan Italian

Second up was a meatloaf recipe that my family was not a huge fan of. It was ok. It had a lot of flavor but it wasn't exactly a flavor my family liked. We've become huge fans of a cheeseburger meatloaf I make so it took some bribing to get them to try this. Our firm feelings are, there were too many elements in this. Corn, peppers, spinach, cheese.... it was all just too much in a meatloaf for us. We also don't care for ketchup in our meatloaf and the chili sauce tasted a lot like ketchup. Feel free to try it yourself though. The recipe can be found here: Italian Sausage Market Meatloaf

Last but not least was another not so favorite but still tasty. This particular recipe was called: Johnsonville® Italian Sausage and Pepper Skillet. Now my reasons for disliking this one had NOTHING to do with the sausage. Let me reiterate. I LOVE Johnsonville® sausage. I really do, but I think my problem with this one was that it came out more like a soup or stew than a saute' or skillet meal. Perhaps the tomatoes were supposed to be drained. Perhaps there was too much oil added. I'm not positive but I know it came out like a stew. This made it great to eat with something like rice but not so much on it's own or with a side dish other than rice.

Our other sponsor as previously mentioned was Ore-Ida®, the famous potato people! I love their fries. Essentially, you would think that all frozen potatoes would be the same and taste the same but honestly, they don't. Ore-Ida® really does have the best frozen potatoes. Our tasks for them this month was help pair these products with family meals or create our own dish with them. I created two hash brown casseroles, one using the julienne hash browns and one using the diced version. The first casserole was more like a macaroni and cheese with hash browns instead of noodles. The second version had soup, sour cream, cheese, butter and some other yummy ingredients. These could both be eaten alone but are great side dishes for something meaty and heart!

The final dish I made with the products were chili cheese fries. These are a staple in our home and we often eat them as a dish or we have them with chili dogs. That way we can use the chili for two different items at once!

Disclaimer:

I am an AllRecipes AllStar Brand Ambassador. This is a voluntary position which I am not compensated for.