Good Morning! How was your weekend?

This was the second three day weekend I got to enjoy with my husband, which was so nice!  

He works away from home, and we really haven't gotten to see much of him these past few months.  

Unlike most of my friends, who seemed to be busy cleaning their houses and cooking out this weekend, we really didn't do much of anything other than spend quality time with the family.  My husband got to eat some crawfish on Saturday - he even taught Little Miss how to pull the heads off of them!  Cajun Specialty Meats is walking distance from our house, and they just started serving dinner.  We walked down since the weather was nice, and we were amazed by the cool breeze that came through their patio!

The patio area had a children's table that Little Miss loved, and she also loved having good music to listen to and plenty of room to run around in!   Every time someone who worked there walked by, they had something nice to say to Little Miss.  She even got to see a real live crawfish!

Little Miss took this picture of Snoopy

Snoopy enjoyed playing with Little Miss, she sure has grown a lot!  Little Miss enjoys Snoopy's company most of the time, but occasionally gets tired of her puppy antics.  They are so much fun to watch together!

Snoopy took a swim in the pond this weekend - it was the first time that had happened!

On Sunday we headed to Harry T's for some brunch with Brian's parents.    It was good, but a little too hot since there wasn't much of a breeze where we were sitting.  Their menu is pricey, but if you sign up for their rewards program they always send a lot of coupons, which makes it more reasonable.  

Monday we relaxed, got some grocery shopping done, and then Little Miss and I headed to the beach for a cookout after Dad left to head back to NOLA.  She did NOT want to go home when it was time, but other than that we had a great evening cooking out and seeing friends and puppies!  

How did you spend your weekend?  I hope it was a good one!

Bluapple - A Review and a Giveaway

If you’re like me, a lot of your grocery bill each month is dedicated to fresh produce.  For me, it’s a two-edged sword.  I like to keep a variety of fresh produce around (if it isn’t there, you definitely won’t eat it!), but I also don’t want to waste food.  Since it’s often just Little Miss and I, a little food goes a long way! 

Three things help keep fresh fruits and vegetables at their best:

• Temperature:  We all know that keeping our produce cool lengthens its lifespan!
• Humidity:  This is why most things come in vented bags – they need a moist, but not wet, environment
• Ethylene Gas Management:  All living plants give off ethylene gas, which is a chemical signal to speed along ripening.  When we put produce in our fridge to take care of the temperature and humidity, gas builds up with nowhere to go! 

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Five Question Friday!

TGIF!  I'm so glad it's Friday!


We don't have any real plans for the weekend, although I imagine we'll see my husband's parents at some point.  I liked the 5QFriday questions this week, so here they are!

1. Do you apologize to your kids?  

I do!  I think it's really important to let your children know that WE ALL make mistakes and WE ALL should apologize for them.    If you can't respect your children, how can you expect them to respect themselves?  

2. What color are your nails right now? 

The color they grow out - I don't paint my nails, they get chipped too easily.  

3. When you were growing up, how difficult was it for you to stay home from school 
sick? (As in, did you have to vomit or just say "I don't feel good".) 

I actually liked school, so I imagine if I said I was sick I could stay home.  I don't recall trying to "pull one over" on my parents, and I don't recall a time when I was sick but they forced me to go.  

4. When is the last time you bought a new comforter for your bed?  


Wow, it's been a long time.  Probably 7 years or so.  We bought a really nice one, and have a couple of different covers for it.  Plus, we don't use it in the summer, so I imagine we'll have it a while longer!

5. Favorite website(s)?  


There are so many!  Amazon, Woot, all of the different blogs, lots of vegan cooking sites - I'm a web junky!

Wanna join the hop?

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Do your children like to bowl? Great deal at AMF Centers this summer!

Fun. Active. Social. Local.  

AMF's Summer Unplugged is this summer's best bowling deal!

Zip, Zero, Zilch for Kids 16 and Under

• At select AMF centers, two free games of bowling per day for kids 16 and under. (Shoe rental not included, but they’re worth paying for.)
• Time: open until 8:00PM, 7 days a week.
• Dates: Monday, May 30 (Memorial Day) through Monday, September 5 (Labor Day).
  
• Parents go to http://bit.ly/AMFfree to select a participating center (over 200 locations) and complete a simple registration form.
• Free game coupons emailed every Sunday starting May 29 for the following week – it’s that simple!

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Wordless Wednesday - Beach Pictures with Linky!

I realized that I actually did have a few pictures this weekend!

Enjoying an after-lunch treat.

Beach Bird - it enjoyed eating our leftover nachos!

Playing in the waves.

Beach flowers.


Thanks to McCrenshaw for the link-up!

Beach Weekend

How was your weekend?  Ours was fabulous!  We got to house-sit, which means staying on the beach for the weekend. 

Little Miss loved splashing in the waves, and we even took a little boat trip out to Ft. Pickens.  There was only one other boat there, and we had a great time splashing in the water and looking for shells.  We discovered that Little Miss does not like hermit crabs!  We tried to get one to come out and say hi, but they all stayed tightly in their shells.  We pointed out the part of the crab you can see, but she’d have nothing to do with it. 

She did, however, enjoy watching the minnows and helping me look for sand dollars that were washed up on the shore.  We also took a trip to Paradise Bar and Grill, a local hang-out that we frequent where the parents can eat while the children splash in shallow water only a couple of feet away.

This is actually an old pictures, but it's from Paradise!

She even got in some pool time while we were there, courtesy of my old roommate and her fiancé.  It really made me miss the year I spent living at the beach, and if it turns out that we end up staying here longer than expected we’ve decided to work towards getting a place out there once again.  I would love to give that gift to Little Miss! 

We also got to grill some delicious food and watch a beautiful sunset.  The best part about it for me was that my husband was here Friday through Sunday – I can’t remember the last time that happened!

Sorry we don’t have many pictures, too much time was spent having fun – the cameras got forgotten!

Five Vacations Every Child Must Experience

We’ve already started talking about the places we want to take Little Miss as she grows up.  There are so many things we have great memories of, and many things we haven’t experienced yet that we can’t wait to share with her!

Disney :  We’re looking forward to the day we’ll take Little Miss to DisneyWorld!  I can just see the look in her eyes as she sees all of the Disney characters she’s come to know in “real life”.  We hope to spend at least a couple of nights at the park itself, to get early entry and special meetings with some of the Disney characters.  I never got to go to Disney as a child – my first trip there was when I was in high school, and I remember even then it was magical!

Grand Canyon:  I’ve always wanted to see the Grand Canyon, and one year we plan on doing a travelling Out West adventure to see all of the amazing things that the West has to offer.  My husband says he can still remember when he saw the Grand Canyon, even though he was very young.  I don’t know if he’ll be looking more closely at my reactions or Little Miss’s!  I’m sure we’ll both be amazed.

A Week At The Beach:  We’re fortunate in that we’ve already been able to do this multiple times.  There isn’t much better than a relaxing trip to the beach, where your biggest concern is remembering your sunscreen.  Little Miss just loves spending time at the beach, and it’s so much more relaxing when you can spend multiple days there instead of heading out just for the day.

Camping in the Blue Ridge Area:  If you’ve never been down the Blue Ridge Parkway, you’re really missing out.  Adults and children alike are amazed by the beautiful scenery, waterfalls, and multiple hikes available.  This trip is best for older children who can really enjoy lots of hikes.  I think camping is the best way to experience this “Back to Nature” area, and there is plenty of camping all along the parkway.  We hope to one day ride down most of it, camping in different areas to experience what that particular spot has to offer.

Discovery Cove:  This was the first “real” vacation my husband and I took together, and we loved Discovery Cove!  You get to get “up close and personal” with all types of aquatic life!  We swam with dolphins, snorkeled through a coral reef, and relaxed on a lazy river surrounded by tropical birds.  I know Little Miss would absolutely love going here one day!

Where are your dream vacations for you and your children?  There are so many amazing to see and share with our children!  

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

Review: Part-Time Vegan: 201 Yummy Vegan Recipes That Put the Fun in Flexitarian

These days, you hear the term Flexitarian a lot.  For various reasons, many people are feeling the need to eat vegetarian or vegan meals at least some of the time.  The Part-Time Vegan: 201 Yummy Recipes that Put the Fun in Flexitarian is a great book for someone who is looking to incorporate some vegan meals into their diet. 

I enjoyed the light-hearted tone of the entire book.  This is definitely one of those cookbooks that you can read cover to cover.  It starts off with a chapter called Vaganism 101, which has a ton of helpful advice for people who are not familiar with veganism and some of the ingredients involved in vegan cooking.  The recipes are helpfully divided into chapters : Dips and Appetizers, Easy Breakfasts, Salad Dressings, Salads, Super Soups, Vegetable Dishes, Rice, Pasta Dishes, Grains, Tofu, Seitan, TVP, and Tempeh, and Dinner Plans (which plans your meal of appetizer, main course, and dessert), and Desserts.

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Charlie's Soap - A Review and a Giveaway!

When Little Miss was born I went on a quest for new laundry detergent.  I’d always used various “free and Clear” brands, because the perfumes in most laundry soaps made my skin itchy.  They recommend to NOT use the “free and Clear” versions on cloth diapers, because it leaves a deposit on the diapers that makes them not as absorbent.  After a lot of research, I finally decided to try Charlie’s soap.  I wasn’t expecting much, since I had not been exactly thrilled with the way my current detergent worked.  However, Charlie’s worked great – I was hooked!  We’ve been using it ever since.  I love that it not only cleans great, but it doesn’t take up much room since you only need a tablespoon for a normal load.  

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Carapelli Premium 100% Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil - A Review

I love using olive oil to cook with.  Researchers at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in Spain found in a study that a diet rich in extra virgin olive oil helped to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and, perhaps more importantly, stimulated an increase in HDL (good) cholesterol.  I also love hearing the stories behind where these olive oils come from.

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What's Blooming Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday!  How are you doing?  We've been so busy and have so much going on.

Little Miss and I went to Art in the Park this past weekend.  We saw these flowers on the way and took a picture.  Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures once we got to the park!  They had some really neat art cars there, but the children weren't in the mood to hang around while the adults took pictures.  

These are the flowers at my Mom's house.  We went for a short visit last week and met up with my cousin (Merry With Children) and her little boy.  It was so good to see the cousins playing together, they got along so well!

Here is a picture of all of us after a busy day!  

Bossypants - Laugh Out Loud Funny!

To be honest, when I agreed to review Tina Fey’s book, Bossypants, I knew very little about her.  I had watched some of her Sarah Palin spoofs, but that was about it.  I had no idea that this book would have me laughing out loud nearly the entire time I read it! 

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It's Road Trip Season!

Our family loves road trips.  There are so many great things to see while you’re on the way to your destination, it’s a great way to explore new areas!  We probably won’t be able to take a vacation this summer, but we often go to Asheville, North Carolina.  We love it there! 

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Chocolate Banana Bread

Have you ever heard of Xylitol?  Me neither, until the friendly people over at Emerald Forest asked me if I would be willing to try it out in a recipe.  I'm not a fan of artificial sweetners, but xylitol is all natural - they make theirs with North American Birch.  To me, it tasted just like sugar, but it has 40% fewer calories and 75% fewer carbs.  What a great sugar substitute for people who can't have sugar or who are looking to cut back on calories!

I made a chocolate banana bread with mine, and it turned out delicious!  Sorry I don't have a picture : (.  It got eaten too quickly!

Chocolate Banana Bread

3 mashed bananas

3/4 cup xylitol

2 T ground flax combined with 6 T water (or 2 eggs)

½ cup butter, melted

1 ¾ cups flour

¼ cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325.  Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a loaf pan.

In a large mixing bowl whisk all ingredients together.  

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.  

Bake for about an hour, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

**I received xylitol for free in order to try it in a recipe.  I was under no obligation to post about it, and all opinions expressed are 100% my own.  

Happy Weekend!

We've been REALLY busy lately, so no blog posts from me - I have a lot of great stuff coming up, though!


Here's a cute picture of Little Miss being silly.  

We're not sure what we're doing today, but I think we'll end up pretty busy!  Tomorrow we're going to Perdido.  


If you haven't entered my Tropical Traditions Giveaway, it ends today and has VERY low entries! 


Happy Weekend! 

What's Blooming Wednesday

Not much blooming here except the Hydrangeas, which are lovely.

And my after Ivan flowers.  They appeared after Ivan, displaced by the hurricane from someone else's yard.  They're in a portion of the yard that no one really sees, and I've tried to transplant them, but apparently they like it back there and no where else.  It's the only shady area!

And here is the carnation I got when we went to Mother's Day brunch.  We tried out a new place called Vic and Ike's since I got to pick, and man was it good!  I was sad that I forgot my camera, the food was just lovely.

Little Miss loved the carnation, and broke off most of the stem playing with it, but there was enough left so I could put it in a little vase when we got home.  

Crawfish Days

Down here on the Gulf Coast, it's crawfish season.  Personally, they aren't my favorite things in the world, but I do enjoy them if someone has done all of the work of getting them out of their shells!  

This one is still putting up a fight!  Little Miss thought the fighting crawfish was the best!

She's calling a friend to tell them all about it.  

B after he got to enjoy a nice basket of crawfish.  Can't wait until he's home again and he can enjoy them with us more often!!  

Vegan Buffalo Wings

This past year I've been working on getting rid of the processed foods that I use and replacing them with whole foods.  I realize that those frozen veggie patties, while convenient, are not that good for me and very expensive!  

Slowly I've been replacing my freezer items with homemade alternatives.  I love having items that can just be grabbed out of the freezer for a quick meal!  One thing that I've been hanging onto, however, is Morningstar's Buffalo Wings.  I just wasn't sure I could reproduce it!  After seeing several vegetarian recipes online, I decided to attempt a vegan version.  I'm so glad I did!  These are so delicious!

   

The texture isn't the same as the frozen version, but the taste is even better.  This makes a very wet mixture - that's okay.  As long as they'll hold together enough to get them on the baking sheet, they should firm up with cooking.  And the more buffalo sauce cooked in there the better in my opinion!  

Vegan Buffalo Wings

3 C (2 15 oz cans) Garbanzos or Peas

1/2 cup oats (process half in small grinder)

3/4 cup vital wheat gluten ( I use Bob's Red Mill Gluten Flour)

1/2 cup whole grain unseasoned bread crumbs

1/2 - 3/4 cup buffalo sauce

2 garlic cloves

1/2 cup onion, chopped

Directions

Drain and rinse the beans, mash in a mixing bowl. Can leave a few half beans for texture but no whole beans. Add all other ingredients and mix with fork and then knead with hands until firm and uniform.  You may need to add more vital wheat gluten or breadcrumbs.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Divide into patties or smaller “wings”.
Bake at 375 on a Silpat (or baking sheet sprayed well with oil) until firm and heated through, about 45 minutes. Turn once during cooking.


Submitted to:


MMMM
Veggie Converter
Just Another Meatless Monday
my meatless mondays
Make Food-E Friends Mondays
Hearth and Soul
Tasty Tuesday - FTLOB
What's Cooking Wednesday Full Plate Thursday

Happy Mother's Day!

Tomorrow is Mother's Day!  How do you plan to celebrate?  We aren't sure what we will do, but I imagine it will include a nice lunch!  

Have you heard Tina Fey's Prayer for her Daughter?  I thought it would be fun to share for Mother's Day!

Five Question Friday!

It's time for some more Five Question Friday!  I haven't participated in a while - I love the questions this week!  I hope all of you mamas have a wonderful Mother's Day!   

1. Have you ever had roommates?  

I've had a lot of roommates!  All through college I had them, and even for a while after getting my "real" job.  I think it's a great way to learn about other people, save money, and make new friends!  

2. How many names do you/your children have? (i.e. Prince Charming William Phillip Arthur Louis John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt)  

Little Miss just has three names - first, middle, and last.  However, we called her Moon Geranium until she was born!

3. Did you watch the Royal Wedding?  

Not live, but I did watch it!  I kept it on the TV in the background most of that morning.  I LOVED her wedding gown!

4. What is the messiest room in your house?  

Our "closet room" (and yes, it is an actual room).  Thank goodness others can't really see it!

5. What is your ideal mothers day?  

Sleeping in, a yummy breakfast, and relaxing with my family.  Oh, and having the magic fairy come and clean the house for me!

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No-Work Spanish Review and Giveaway!

Before we even had children, we knew we wanted to expose them to different languages at an early age.  Even if they didn’t learn the language, we wanted them to have enough familiarity so that they could understand enough to get by.  I love travelling, and I think it’s so much easier to travel when you have at least a grasp of the language spoken in the country you’re in.  That’s why I love the concept behind No-Work Spanish.  They are CD’s that tell stories – first with a sentence in English followed by a sentence in Spanish, then with the entire Chapter read in Spanish.  As you listen, you quickly learn the basics of the story.  This helps you to start associating the Spanish words with the English words. 

We’ve listened to the CD’s a few times in the car, and I found that it didn’t take me long for my Spanish to come back and I could understand what they were saying.  I’ve also been playing the CD’s for my daughter at night when she goes to bed.  Why?  My hope is that using these CD’s will engrain a certain amount of understanding of the Spanish language in her.  That way when she’s older and taking formal classes it will be easier for her to pick up and just maybe she’ll learn some of it before then! 

Little Miss hasn’t started speaking in Spanish on her own yet, but she’s still learning the English language so I’m not surprised.  I’m certain that these CD’s are giving her a strong base in the Spanish language.  Although I know they won’t replace formal study, I think they are a great way to reinforce comprehension of the Spanish language.  They’re also a great way to brush up before visiting a Spanish-speaking country!

Visit No-Work Spanish and request three free chapters if you’d like to give it a try yourself!  You can also like them on FaceBook here.

BUY IT:  You can buy No-Work Spanish here.  

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

Congratulations to Comment #8!

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** I received a free copy of two No-Work Spanish books for review purposes.  All opinions expressed are 100% my own!  This is a MamaBuzz Review.