Lunch with Friends

Today was our day out with friends. We went with Courtney and her daughter (and Tyler's gf) Laney to Midland so we could go to the little craft fair that they had going on. First we stopped by the Olive Garden for lunch and enjoyed their soup, salad and breadsticks and some raspberry cheesecake! The craft fair was a little bit of a let down. It cost $7 to get in and they only had like 30 vendors and everything was really expensive. And it was nothing I would really wear anyway.

It was a good day all in all. The kids behaved really well and we plum wore them out so they all slept good on the way home!

The picture above is of Tyler and Laney eating at the Olive Garden. Don't they make a cute couple?!?! lol

Yummy Spicy Shrimp Cocktail

Last nite was my special dinner that I had been planning for over a week. It went really well and I was really pleased with my cooking. My husband and I both agree that the winner for the nite was my Shrim Cocktail with homemade cocktail sauce! It was so yummy! I am thinking about going and buying more shrimp just so we can have more. It is so easy to make too!

Here is my Spicy Cocktail Sauce recipe:

1/3 cup Ketchup

2 tablespoons Prepared Horseradish (drained)

1 to 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed Lemon juice

a couple of dashes of hot sauce -I use Tabasco-

a pinch of sea salt and a dash of freshly ground black pepper

Mix ingrediants together in a small bowl. (You can make more if there is going to be more people...this recipe makes about 2 servings). And I get the shrimp that is de-vained and I just peel them. I then boil some water and I put in some creole seasoning and put the shrimp in until pink. I pull the shrimp out and put on ice to cool down and squeeze some fresh lemon juice on top. After the shrimp are cooled down I put some cocktail sauce in a martini glass and put the shrimp around the top and garnish with a wedge of lime! Enjoy!

Grilled Salmon

Tonight I made Grilled Salmon with Garden Mayo and Grilled Asparagus. It was so yummy! I thought I would share the recipe with you guys...

Salmon:

I sprayed a piece of tin foil with non stick cooking spray and placed the salmon skin side down. I then drizzled it with some white wine (not a lot..a little goes a long way) and then squeezed some lemon juice on top. I then ground some pepper and and sprinkled some sea salt on top. I cooked the salmon on the grill for about 10 minutes or until it is cooked thru.

Garden Mayo:

1 stalk of celery minced

1 green onion thinly sliced

1 tbs fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/3 cup mayonaise

Dash of pepper

I put the mayonaise, lemon juice and pepper in a small bowl. I then mince up the celery real small and thinly slice the green onion. I add the celery and green onion to the bowl and mix everything together.

After you plate your salmon you put the Garden Mayo on top!

Grilled Asparagus:

1 bunch of asparagus

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

I cut off about half of the asparagus and placed it on a piece of tin foil. I then drizzled it with EVOO (enough to coat) and then sprinkled the sea salt and ground the black pepper on top.

Hope you all enjoy!

Who says grilling is just for guys?!?

Tonight my husband was running late getting home from work so I got to grill! It was a lot of fun. I grilled some salmon, asparagus and my husband got a ribeye. And it was so beautiful outside today. I think out hight was 90*! There is nothing better than grilling outside while drinking a nice cold beer...yummy!

I Love Blogging

Katie over at Katie's Nesting Spot gave me this award today. She is such and amazing person. She is so sweet and any question I have asked about her crafts she has answered and I couldn't be more grateful. Her ideas are AWSOME! Here's to sharing many more wonderful ideas with each other!!!

The rules of this award are:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!

3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.

4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

{Here is goes}

1. Trina @ Fubulously Frugalicius

2. Jen @ Frugal Fabulous

3. Tanja @ On That Note

4. April @ Little April Big World

5. Kimm @ Reinvented

6. Amiee @ Under the Highchair

7. Lindsay @ Frugal and Fabulous

8. Shynea @ Penny Pinching Diva

9. Gayle @ The Grocery Cart Challange

10. Lori @ Taste with the Eyes

In the kitchen with Jacob

Jacob has recently learned that he like marshmallows so I thought it would be a good idea to make some rice crispy treats. So after we made dinner we made us some Rice Krispies!

Jacob had a blast making them. And I had a blast watching him. Every in a while he would stick his hand in the bowl and sneak some krispies.

In the end they came out so yummy and Jacob was picking little pieces off his shirt all night.

What girl doesn't love flowers?!?

I had to run by Albertson's today for some red radicchio that they did not have at HEB. Well I always look at the flowers because they are always so pretty...but I never get them because I have always hated them. But I have changed over the years and now love them!

As I was walking to the checkout I noticed a basket full of fresh flowers. I did not see a prce tag so I asked one of the cashiers if she knew if they were on sale or not. They told me the price should be on there. So I picked them up again and looked a little harder. I was shocked when I saw the price tag..... .99 cents!!!!!! I can not imagine what the regular price was....but wow! I was so happy to have found them for so cheap. I was so happy I ended up buying 2.

Oh ya, the red radicchio was marked $5.99 and the guy at the counter said he didn't want to look up the number so put in the cabbage number and it came out to .35 cents! WooHoo!!

When I got in the car I called my husband and thanked him for the flowers and was happy to tell him that they were super cheap. Now I have roses for our dinner on thursday.

In need of a new bag!

I am in desperate need of a new bag. Now that I have both kids with me when I am out and about I need a bigger bag to carry all of our stuff. I was using my purse which was not big enough and was not very practical. Then I found a messanger bag on sale so I picked it up but it has just turned out to be more of a hassel than a help so I am ready to move on.

I would love to hear which bag you use and get some suggestions on what my next purchase should be.

(Even after 2 kids i'm still clueless...lol)

Yay! I didn't have to cook tonight....

Because my sweet hubby took me out to eat! Every Sunday night we go out to eat with our friends...but their daughter was sick today so we had to go by ourselves. We went to Johnny Carinos and I am not sure if the food was just that good tonight or it was that much better because I didn't have to cook it or clean up afterwards (I think it was a little of both). I ended up having the Spicy Shrimp & Chicken and it was delicious (and it really was spicy). Tyler liked it too. All in all it was a nice to sit down with the family and have a yummy meal. Here are the boys on the way home from the resturaunt. They were both tired and ready for bed....as is mommy!

Dinner Invitation

As I posted earlier I am planning a romantic dinner for my husband and I wanted to make it extra special so I made him a special invitation to the dinner.

Here is the front cover. I just used some black ribbon to tie it shut.

And here is a picture of the inside.

I was really proud of the way the invitation came out. I think the craft fairy bit me on the rear because I have been full of ideas lately.

Food Storage

First of all I would like to thank my new friend Kimm @ Reinvented. Her frugal food storage idea was amazing! Thank you so much for the idea!!!

I loved it so I started going thru all my scrapbooking stuff and came up with this for my kitchen. I needed new decoration ideas since we painted it red! Here is what I came up with...


I still have more to do but I ran out of paper so I am going to finish them this week. I think they are pretty good for never being so crafty before :-)

Thank goodness for wine...

After a long day with the boys I am happy to have a big glass of wine in my hand and one of my fave t.v. shows on. Now I just need to have Michael get the last kid down to bed and the night will be perfect!

Museum Madness

For weeks Jacob has been wanting to go to the museum to see the dinosaurs. He has been watching Night at the Museum and it obsessed at the moment (We are planning a special suprise trip to the museum with the dinosaurs). Around here we don't have one with dinosaurs real close...so I took him to the only one we have...The Museum of the Southwest. I had never been and was excited to be able to take the kids.

First thing when when we walked in there were aquariums all around. They had snakes, tropical fish and a few other things. Jacob was so excited! It was nice to see his eyes light up. We took a minute to look at all the fish and watch them swim. We also looked at the snake and read about him. Jacob thought he was 'cool'. Once we mad our way back Jacob's dreams were shattered when he saw there were no dinosaurs. He cheered up when he saw that there were lots of things to play with.

One of the little play stations they had set up was a little house. You walk in the door and there was a piano, an old school desk and inside the other door was a kitchen complete with sink, fridge, table, microwave and all kinds of utensils. Jacob found a vacuum cleaner and thought the floor needed a good cleaning.

They also had a little supermarket set up complete with produce, groceries and a cash register. Jacob grabbed him a basket so he could go 'shopping' for some goodies. Everything he picked up he told me what it was and how yummy it was going to be to eat. Upstairs they had a Burger King, a place to put on dress clothes and a news station. I thought it was really cute with the kids behind the desk. Jacob was telling me to hush because he was on an imprtant call. I think Tyler was just happy to be in a big boy chair.

At the end of the day I was happy to have spent it with my two wonderful boys. On our way home we stopped for ice cream then took a nap. We are planning another trip to the museum but this time we are taking daddy and making a day of it.

Table for Two

I decided today after talking to a friend that I wanted to plan a romantic candlelight dinner at home for the hubby and me. He has been working late every night the past couple of weeks and it's always so hectic by the time he gets home that I thought I would do somthing nice for him...and i'm sure I could do it cheaper than taking him out for a nice dinner.

I have tried this in the past and it never seemed to work and things just always ended up in a huge mess. My plan is to feed the kids and actually have them in bed on time. That way we can have a nice uninterrupted dinner for two (I figure we won't eat until around 8 or 8:30 anyway).

Table Setting Ideas:
The table is going to have a white tablecloth on it, i'm going to put up a pretty centerpiece (still looking for ideas), lay out some tealight candles on the bar and around the window, put some tall candles on the table for some extra light, the champaign chilling on ice, and I am going to have pretty napkins and everything. It's still a project in the works...I just want it to be perfect!

Menu (subject to change between now and then):
Appetizers:
Shrimp and jalepeno sliver wrapped in bacon with jalepeno butter
Shrimp with spicy cocktail sauce -served in a martini glass-

Main Course:
Steak and baked potato (for him)
Broiled or grilled lobster tail and grilled asparagus (for me)
*The only reason why we are eating different things is b/c steak and potatos is his fave food and mine is lobster and asparagus*

Dessert:
Chocolate molten cake with fresh berries (courtesy of: http://www.kraftfoods.com/)

Drinks:
Champaign

Need to be more crafty...

I am seriously the least creative person I know. I have my moments where a lightbulb will just go off and I have this wonderful idea...but then when I go to put it on paper or actually do it...it just falls apart and I give up. Then everything sits in the closet for another 6 months till I try again. It is a never ending cycle.

It got me thinking about Valentine's Day and I didn't do much for the boys this year because of the budget we are on. Then it dawned on me that I have a closet full of scrapbooking stuff that I could have easily made cards and then bought some candy. But my problem is that I always think of these things after the fact. I know there are some more holidays comming up soon...Easter (April 12th) and I know that Michael's birthday is in May and then there is Father's Day (June 21st). I am sure that I can think of somthing between now and then. I just have to set my mind to it and set a budget for occasions like that and then I will be forced to think of creative ways to make it special.

If anyone has any wonderful ideas for kids Easter gifts or Father's Day gifts let me know. I would love to hear your ideas and suggestions!

*I do want to say that I love the new background I found for my blog and thank the lady who's blog I found it on. I would have emailed her to ask but couldn't find an addy so I thouught I would post this here. I hope she is not mad at me for stealing her idea. I thought it was so great that I had to have it on mine...Thank You!*

Raining trash cans

Today Michael wanted to go to Home Depot after church so he could look at lawn equipment. I figured I could look at a few things while I was there so off we went. My friend has one of those big steel trash cans and it broke so I have been looking for one on sale to get her b/c all of the ones she has found were around $100. While looking at all the trash cans on the isle I looked up and noticed two steel 40L trash cans with a price of $6.97 on them!

After a talk with the customer service lady and the manager I got both trash cans for $6.97 each. Normal price for them was $74.97. I saved over $140 on both of them. I was so excited that I found such a great deal. So Courtney got a belated Valentine's gift from me.

Valentine's Day Bust!

I am not one that is too big on the whole Valentine's thing but this year Michael and I had decided to not get each other anything for Valentine's Day. We do this every year because he is always working and never has time to go get anything...and even if he remembers it's too late by the time he gets there and all the good things are gone. Well, I decided he atleast deserved a little somthing so while Courtney and I were at the mall we stopped in so we could get cards. Michael is one of those guys that lacks a little in the romance department. He tries...but by the time he gets around to it it is suually last minute and ends up hurting my feelings because he put so little thought into it. Every year I get my hopes up thinking that maybe he will prove me wrong and suprise me with somthing...and every year I get heartbroken because it never comes. Not even a card! I know I am not the biggest fan of chocolate and I may not like flowers...but it would be nice to get somthing to show that he was thinking of me! It is funny that he thinks I am overreacting...but I think if you ask any girl and she would tell you the same thing. I know he works hard so I always try to do something special for him. Then to top all of it off...he told me his cousin called and wants him to go hunting on the 28th! Could he not have waited to bring that up?!?

In the end it was a good day. I spent the majority of the day with my two boys while Michael worked and then we went over to Lance and Courtney's house for a steak dinner. It was so cute becuase Tyler took Laney a valentine. The kids were happy because they got to play and I was happy to spend the day with friends.

Today's Shopping Adventure

Well after a really rough morning grocery shopping with my two boys in tow...I did it! I have made it thru my first official trip while using coupons along with the sales! I was so excited to see all the stuff I got and all the savings! I know it's not a whole lot or anything but I spent less on this weeks stockpile and needs than I used to on just stuff we wanted every week!

Shelf: $223.36
OOP: $72.36

If my calculations are correct that is 68% savings! YAY ME!!!!! I have never saved this much on groceries ever! It's kinda exciting to see what you can get...oh ya I got all 5 boxes of Toaster Strudel for FREE!

Handy Dandy Coupon Binder

Let the blogging begin....

I have decided to re-enter the blogging world! I am going to share my everyday life with you...everything from my crazy mommy moments to my fabulous frugal finds.
Let the fun begin...