Costume Squad T-Shirts Review

In my husband’s line of work, he goes through a lot of T-shirts.  We buy a lot of them at the thrift store, so he was thrilled when he got to choose a shirt from Costume Squad that he actually liked!  He loves this Find x shirt. 

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Druid City Art's Festival - Tuscaloosa, AL

Last weekend we were in Tuscaloosa, AL and had the chance to go to the Druid City Arts Festival.  Although there weren't very many people there, it was a great festival and Little Miss had a wonderful time!

There was rain threatening the entire time we were there (which might explain the low attendance).  However, we were able to park less than 1/2 a block away so we weren't too worried about it.  

Little Miss spied the bounce houses as soon as we got there.  Fortunately, there weren't many children in them yet so she got to have a great time playing before the older kids got there and it got too rough. 

This bounce house also had a slide, which she loved!

Later, some older children got in and actually RAN OVER Little Miss while she was waiting on her turn to go down the slide.  I scolded the children when they went to get back in the bounce house again since the mother either didn't see it or didn't care.  Is that okay to do?  In my opinion if you do something that puts my child at risk I'm going to say something to you!  

After the bounce house we went to the craft area, where we did some coloring and sidewalk chalk.  We also got to play with bubbles!

There was great music the entire time we were there, and artist booths were set up around the perimeter.  We listened to the music while we ate lunch.

All in all a great, family-friendly festival!

What's Blooming Wednesday - Blog Hop!

Here are some of the things that have blooming here lately!

Amaryllis blooming in the back yard.

The azaleas are blooming too!  

They will only be here for a short time, but they are so pretty right now!  

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Somersault Snacks - A Review and a Giveaway

We all need healthy snacks for when we’re on the go.  I love high protein snacks, because 

they’re great for giving you energy which is usually what I need if I’m eating snack food!

At the Somersault Snack Co., making simple, all-natural snacks that satisfy is what they are all about. To create Somersaults, they took toasted grains, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and a sprinkle of spices and baked these nuggets into roly-poly goodness for your whole family to enjoy. Balanced with the perfect amount of protein, fiber and nutrients, Somersaults will keep you going on the trail, in the car—even at your desk.

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Guest Post - What I Love About Photography

Today I am thrilled to have Patti, the owner of P.S. Portraits and a Gulf Coast Photographer doing a guest post for me!  Patti is not only an amazing photographer, but an amazing person as well.  If you're vacationing on the Coast and want to get some great photos done while having fun at the same time give her a call!

Hi! My name is Patti and I am a local photographer, specializing in families and lifestyle portraits.  

I met April (Frugally Green Mom) last fall when she found me on Craig’s List. My husband had been putting my site on the “List” without my knowledge... I was mad when he told me, but now I am glad it brought April and her wonderful family to me...

When April asked me to do a guest blog post to explain some of the buttons on the digital camera, or give advice on what is a good picture vs. a bad picture, I accepted whole heartedly... Wanting to do my best and share with you a little camera know-how.

Well... I agonized over what to say, how to say it and struggled with coming off as snooty or as a know it all... I wrote this a million times in my head, and three times on the computer... I tried several angles from the technical side of “know your camera” to how to “FEEEEEEL” the shot... Ya know what???!! It was horrible! All of it! So I made the choice to share with you, why I love photography and how the camera is not only a business tool, but also a window to life. 

Why do I love photography? Photography has helped me live the best life I can live...I have anxiety. Sometimes its crippling.. Being in a crowd makes me nervous, Going to new places make me nervous, Meeting new people make me nervous, BUT when I have a camera in my hand, I can do anything. I feel like I have a mission, I can focus (no pun intended) on getting the perfect shot. I can smile at a new face and say Hi, I am Patti your photographer. I love being able to give other people confidence when I take their picture.

One of the most rewarding photo shoots for me was of a little pre-teen girl, who was very self conscious, she was nervous to have my camera pointed at her. 

I understood how she felt, I feel that way too! I told her, you’re beautiful. Lets play Model. Pretend you are in a magazine photo shoot. I acted like the photographers she has seen on T.V. and movies, telling her “work it” “move it” yeah! Yeah! Like that!  Before we knew it, we were laughing up and having a great time, and we got this shot 

Being able to capture real smiles..

or real tired babies 

is what gives me the motivation to get over my anxiety, and get out into the world. 

Photography has been a window to success as well. I spent many years in a profession that rarely had any good news or happy people. It got to be too much for me. I was always in a crabby mood or upset. When I thought I was at a breaking point, my husband gave me the best gift in the world, photography lessons. I spent one on one time with a private teacher, learning the in’s and out’s of “What makes a good picture”.  I spent all my time swimming the world of photographs, soaking up as much as I could. It was wonderful. I started doing photos for friends, then they would tell their friends, and before I knew it, I was happy and excited about the world around me again. I was also building a business doing something I love!! What an amazing feeling!!! I never knew this could be my life! I am excited and full of joy; I can be creative and still provide for my family.

 
If you have a camera in your house, pick it up. Start taking pictures! Get creative, think out of the box. 

 I hope you enjoyed this post, and feel inspired to start clicking!

Easter is Almost Here!

Can you believe that Easter is almost here?  My how time flies!  I love Easter – the hopeful reminder that we can renew our spirit, combined with all of the new growth from Spring just makes my heart happy.  Here in the Panhandle, the weather is always nice, flowers are blooming, and the oppressive summer heat hasn’t set in yet. 

Little Miss in her Easter Dress last year

We love spending time hiding eggs for Little Miss in the yard.  She’s at the age where it doesn’t take much to hide them, and we’ll do it many times Easter weekend!  Last year she got to dye eggs at her Grandma’s house – I think we’ll be doing it here this year, and I’m really looking forward to having that fun activity to do with her!  I still remember how much fun I had dying eggs when I was little.

Of course, there is the visit from the Easter Bunny as well.  Little Miss will get two visits.  Saturday we’ll spend with her grandparents and I’m pretty certain the Easter bunny will visit there, then on Sunday he’ll visit again at our house!  I was actually smart last year and went ahead and got her some stuff on clearance last year, so we’ll just have to add a few candies or other sweets and we’ll be good to go! 

Taking a break from hunting eggs!

Our Easter weekend is always busy with friends and family.  After spending the day on Saturday with the grandparents eating and hiding eggs and maybe playing some croquet, we’ll spend Sunday after church out on the beach with friends for a big potluck dinner.  A friend of ours has a condo out there, and always hosts a great potluck lunch for Easter.  We’ll get to eat, spend time with our friends, and enjoy the beach!  Does it get any better than that??  I bet we’ll even hide some eggs there too, so it does get better! 

Despite all of that fun – we’ll also keep in mind the true gift of Easter – that Jesus sacrificed everything for us because He loved us so much.  I never could imagine that kind of Love until I had my daughter, now I imagine it’s like that but even stronger!  The dogwood blooms and new growth everywhere are a wonderful testament of the beauty of God’s Creation, and shows me how much he cares for each and every one of us. 

I hope your Easter is full of Blessings and you have a year filled with hope and new opportunities!

**I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Hop blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Polenta Two Ways

Recently I decided I wanted to make something with polenta.  I had a ton of grits, and I’m not a big grits person, so I thought polenta would be a great way to use them up.  I found this recipe and decided to use it, adding some Italian seasoning and sun dried tomatoes.  It turned out pretty good, even better with this wonderful Italian topping.

Recipe One:  Italian Sauce

• One 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• One onion, chopped
• One red pepper
• One can artichoke hearts, drained
• 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
• 1-2  veggie sausage, sliced
• 2 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

1. Sauté onions and garlic in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes. 
2. Add mushrooms and red pepper flakes, sauté five more minutes. 
3. Add tomatoes, artichokes, and sausage.  Bring to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes. 
4. Serve on top of the polenta. 
5. This makes a great pizza topping as well!

However, after the first evening it wasn’t quite as tasty.  I sliced the polenta and warmed it up on a skillet, but it still wasn’t the same as the first time, since the polenta lost that crunchy/creamy texture.  I decided I needed to do something entirely different with the rest of the polenta, and came up with this second great recipe!

Mexican Polenta

• One onion
• 2 Cloves Garlic
• One can refried beans (I used low fat with jalapeno’s) – be sure to check the label and make sure there is no lard!
• One can green enchilada sauce
• Leftover polenta, or a tube of store-bought. 
• Mexican Cheese (about ½ cup)

1. Sauté onions and garlic in a little EVOO.  After 5-10 minutes, add the can of refried beans and ½ of the enchilada sauce.  Heat until sauce is bubbling.
2. Slice the polenta into ½ inch thick slices and lay down in a 8x8 glass pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. 
3. Top with the bean mixture.  Pour the remaining enchilada sauce on top, and cover with cheese. 
4. Bake at 350 until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

There really is polenta under this creamy topping - you just can't see it!

This was SOOO delicious!  I thought the Mexican flavors went perfectly with the polenta, plus the creaminess of the topping was a great contrast to the heftiness of the polenta.  And it was so quick and easy to put together!  I’m sure you could make the beans and sauce yourself and make it much healthier, I was just short on time.  

Be sure to check out the post below this one for a chance to get extra entries into an upcoming contest I'll have - I'm giving away an Instant Pot - rice cooker, pressure cooker, steamer, and more!

Submitted to:

MMMM
Veggie Converter
Just Another Meatless Monday
my meatless mondays
Hearth and Soul
Tasty Tuesday - Dr. Laura
Tasty Tuesday - FTLOB

I'm so excited!

Just got my Instant Pot - it came in the mail on Friday, but I was out of town so I just got it today.  One of my friends was nice enough to hide it on my back porch for me so no one could steal it. : )

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Beach Days

Last weekend we were able to get in a little beach time.  While the water is still cold, it is warm enough to go out and enjoy the sand and sun!

Daddy and Little Miss even played in the surf some!

Don't you just love her surfer pose?  

How to Grow Your Own Sprouts

Spring is here in the Florida Panhandle, and Spring always reminds me of sprouting.  Sure you can sprout anytime, but it seems ideal during the new life and hope that Spring offers.  I love sprouts!  I use them on top of my (veggie) burgers, and even make salads out of them.  They're also great on top of a stir-fry, or instead of lettuce in a taco.  The possibilities are endless!  Sprouts are really good for you too - read about just some of the benefits here!  

These sprouts are ready to eat!

If you haven't sprouted before, it's really easy!  I only sprout 1 tablespoon at a time, since it's just me eating them.  I also have a Easy Sprout Sprouter , which I highly recommend, but you can make your own with a glass jar and some cheesecloth if you'd like.  Sprouting seeds can usually be bought at your local health food store, or ordered online.

1. Put your seeds in the bottom of the jar, cover with plenty of filtered water, and soak overnight.  I think it's important to use organic seeds when you're sprouting, as well as the cleanest water you can get.
2. The next morning, drain the water (that's where the cheesecloth comes in - you can attach it over the mouth of the jar with a rubber band).  Rinse the seeds with fresh water and drain again, getting as much water out as possible.  
3. Continue the rinse/drain cycle every evening and morning for 3-5 days (depending on the temps in your house).  During this time I try to keep them out of the sunlight.  I sometimes give them an additional rinse/drain around noon.  
4. You'll know when they are ready when the leaves start to emerge (about 3 days) - I like to put them where they can get a little sunlight at this point!  This greens the leaves up, but don't let them get hot or sit in the sunlight for too long (usually a few hours on a sunny kitchen counter will do).  
5. After they are ready, I put the sprouts in a big bowl of water to get a lot of the hulls out.  Most of the hulls sink to the bottom.  The ones that float are pretty easy to scoop out.  
6. Drain the sprouts well and store in your fridge in a breathable container!  Enjoy!

Hulls of the sprouts left in the bowl - most fall to the bottom!

I hope you'll try sprouting if you never have before - they are tiny little powerhouses of nutrition!

A yummy sprout and apple salad

The container I use for sprouting.

"42 Ways to Recycle" Free eBook

This little book has some great ways to recycle old things into crafts!
It's divided into sections:  Paper, Plastic, Metal, Glass, Clothing, and Miscellaneous.

Here is the link to the PDF - once you go here, just save it to your computer!

They have a bunch of Easter crafts in there too!  I loved the bunny napkin rings!

Do you have a favorite recycling craft?

What's Blooming Wednesday - Blog Hop!

Here are some of the things that have been blooming here lately!

I can't remember the name of this tree, but we planted it a few years ago and have been enjoying it's blooms ever since!  The bees love it too.  

The Camellias are ending their season - they will be missed!

I love this Camellia bush - it reminds me of roses!

Pretty in pink!  

This is a blog hop!  I'd love for you to link up pictures of your flowers, but anything else will do to!  Feel free to grab the code and share it on your blog - let's make this a great hop!

Tyndale Publishing Contest!

In honor of Tyndale launching its new book club e-newsletter they are running a 30 day giveaway on our website. The Book Club Hub Newsletter will be an email newsletter geared towards people who are in or are running book clubs. It will feature suggestions, discussion guides and great ideas for your book clubs. You can see a preview by clicking here.

To enter the giveaway you just need to visit the contest page and click on the book you’d like to sign up to win. You can even go back and sign up for both books. Each day is a new giveaway so you can return to the site each day and try to win. Every few days the books change, so check back!

**In return for posting this, I will have the chance to win The Holy Bible Mosaic

E-Cloth - A Review and Giveaway

We all know how important it is to keep toxic chemicals out of our home as much as possible.  What if you could do most of your cleaning with just water?  Just think, you'd rid your home of chemicals making it more healthy, and you'd save money by not having to buy all of those cleaning products!

When I first heard about E-cloths, I admit that I was skeptical.  How can a cloth get things clean with just water?  Well seeing is definitely believing!  

Our embarrassingly dirty window

I tested the window pack out on the most difficult thing in our house – our back door.  We have an inside/outside cat and he’s always managing to get the back door incredibly dirty.  Normally I use Method window cleaner and a lot of newspapers to get it clean, but the E-cloth cleaned it up with just water! 

After E-cloth, water, and a touch of elbow grease

How does it work?  Each fiber is 1/100^th the width of a human hair and is split into 16 fiber strands.  This gives it a huge surface area to pick up dirt.  As someone who used to manufacture carpet fiber, I’m well aware of how maximizing the surface area draws in the dirt – that is how we hid the dirt in our carpet.  Not only does the cloth pick up dirt, but it picks up any bacteria as well!

For big messes, you can wet the cloth if you’d like, but I have found the squirt bottle always does the trick for us.  You may use the clothes with cleaners, but I would recommend trying them without them at first – I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised! 

Little Miss loves to help out around the house, so this is perfect for us!  I don’t have to worry about her being exposed to chemicals, and she can clean as much as she likes.  The only thing I have to worry about is her getting too crazy with the squirt bottle!  

After the cloth gets dirty, simply throw it in your laundry.  I've found since I have the E-clothes I tend to use them for minor cleaning until I am about to do a load of laundry.  I then find a nice dirty spot to clean and toss the cloth in with the laundry.  My back window hasn't gotten that disgusting again since having the cloth - it's now easy to give it a quick swipe every day or so!  


BUY IT:  You can buy E-Cloths here - they have great packages for all of your cleaning needs.  Also, each cloth is labeled so if you forget what it's best to use for, just take a look at the tag.  They offer free shipping to the United States, and their prices are great!  


CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNER - Comment 129!

Alicia C. said...129

I like you on FB

Don't forget to check out my other giveaways here!

**I received a kitchen kit and window kit from E-cloth for review purposes. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.  The winning comment will be chosen by random.org.**

Spring Rolls - Meatless Monday

Spring rolls are one of my favorite foods, but for some reason I thought that they must be incredibly difficult to make.  Then one day I saw a post on Mi Chiamo Candace talking about how easy they were to make, and I knew I had to try making them myself!  She was right, they are very simple!

First I cooked my rice noodles.  I then tossed them with a touch of sesame oil and some random fresh herbs I bought at the Asian grocery store.

I then assembled the other ingredients I was using.  I used avocado, broccoli slaw, and the rice noodle mixture in mine, but the possibilities are endless!  I think some red peppers would be lovely, or some thinly sliced strawberries!

After assembling your ingredients, get your rice paper ready and a shallow bowl of warm water.  My bowl was a little smaller than the rice paper, which made things a little difficult.  Next time I'm getting the smaller size of rice paper because I think it will be a lot easier!

Now you're ready to roll - quickly swipe the rice paper through the water, then lay it down and put your ingredients in.  I put mine down on rice paper, and since this was my first time I didn't worry too much about making things pretty.

Then you just roll it up like a burrito! As soon as the rice paper touches itself it will stick.  Roll as tightly as you can - I'm still getting this part down!

Your spring rolls are ready for dipping!  I just used some Hoison, Bragg's, and  Sriracha for my dipping sauce.  You could also make a peanut sauce or sweet chili sauce.

I stored all the leftover fillings in small bowls, and made new spring rolls every day until I ran out of filling. This worked better than making the rolls all at once, because as they dry out the rice paper can get tough.  When only making one or two rolls, I just ran the rice paper under the faucet quickly.

Little Miss joined in on the fun with her own bowl of water and rice paper!

I hope this inspires you to try making your own spring rolls!

Submitted to:

MMMM
Veggie Converter
Just Another Meatless Monday
my meatless mondays
Hearth and Soul