Obesses with me

Another friend started a CUTE blog called Obsess with Jess. She's got cute fashion taste with make up talent that will blow your socks off.

On the side of fashion and make up, she got me obsessed with the yummiest drink on earth! It probably has a billion calories but we won't acknowledge that part. lol.

 

 I <3 Phoenix Cafe's Mixed Fruit Drink.

Ingredients (that I know of)

Ice

Coconut Milk

Pretty sure it has condensed milk

Tiny Clear Tapioca Balls

Watermelon

Mango

and mixed fruits.

YUMMY I'm OBSESSED with MIXED FRUIT DRINK!!!

::Featured blog: Obsess with Jess

Donations

My initial interest in couponing began with an interest to be a good steward of my financial spending. Since I've began, I saved 50% of my typical spending for household products (not so much foods yet). Yay. BUT!~ then I joined a fb Christian Couponing group and it dawned on me that we could be good stewards of our couponing to donate things to church. I was a little behind some of them so I didn't get to coupon to donate snacks to VBS or send of the India team with deodorant or cleansing wipes...but I caught onto the tail end for the Haiti Team. :) They just e-mailed a donation list for beauty products and school supplies so~...

this is what I'll be sending off. I wish I could've done more but now I know to utilize things around me to send of with prayer and consideration. In this batch I have :

2 scotch tapes, 2 sharpies, John Frieda Shampoo, glue, 3 nail polishes, 1 make up remover, 2 twizzler candies, cottenelle wipes, 2 neutragena chapsticks, 2 packages of pens, 2 nail files, nail clippers, and tweezer. 

You'll notice that I have 2 of each b/c I was only limited to coupon 2 of each product. Next time I can accrue more or gather church friends to coupon too. :)

Stay at Home ART!

Are you a stay at home mom and always on the look out for a creative project for the kids to explore on a cheap budget? A friend of mine, who is a fun & creative kindergarten teacher, started her own blog. In her well designed blog page she just featured an art project recycling things that may be lying around your own home. Try this project at home and have a beautiful day!

Got an empty gift card floating around?

Use it in the original form

OR trim the edges and gift it a unique texture

That tree needs a little more life...What about rubber bands? 

Cut, bundle, and tie it together

Dab and paint!

Give it the finishing touch and voila! Recent trainings for teachers have been to raise 21st century thinkers who use the things around them to be innovative. By doing this project...You've got a creative 21st century artist who re-uses the things around them in innovating ways! After it's all done, do what I do in class and KiSs that BrAiN!

::Guest Blog Featured: It's a Beautiful Day

Thanks Lynn, Kiss that brain of yours for sharing!

Vietnamese Vermicelli...my way

A great summer dish that's easy to make is Vietnamese Vermicelli...my way. :) My way = with Korean Bulgogi.

I used the sauce recipe from Serious Eats  and I altered the Vermicelli Salad recipe by using Korean pre-marinated Bulgogi. I also used the white daikon instead of shallots. So here's my altered version below:

Serving Size of 6 adults and 2 children

Ingredients

•  For the marinade meat:    
• Korean Pre-marinated Bulgogi

Preparation: Broil and chop

• For the sauce (also known as nuoc cham):
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/3 cup fish sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced or julienned (depending on your preference)
• 1 to 2 teaspoons chili paste

Preparation: Mix together and refrigerate while preparing all the other dishes.

•  Salad 
• 1 Shredded Lettuce
• 1 Shredded Daikon (Japanese Raddish)
• 2 Shredded Carrot  
• 1 small bag Bean Sprouts
• Cilantro

Preparation: wash, chop, shred, and set aside. Shredding the carrots and daikon make it thinner and softer so that it was easier for my 16 month old to enjoy this meal. Vermicelli takes only 2 mins to boil. Make sure to take off the heat and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process. It will still look clear but will take on a white color as it dries.

Preparation: wash, take off the bean and tail. I rinsed it one more time b/c everyone's hands were helping to prepare this.

• Served With 
• Hoison Sauce
• Sriracha Rooster Sauce
 

 ENJOY!

Preparation: Pile all the ingredients into a large bowl and arrange it to look pretty to serve.

This is a great summer dish that leaves you feeling refreshed and healthy...unless you eat 2 & 3 servings like we did tonight. :P

 

Classroom on the brain

Summer is just getting into it's blazing stages but school is just around the corner. I will be switching schools this year so I've been having classroom on the brain and how to theme my classroom. It'll be a 3rd and 4th grade class so something along space, California, or....just something fun for boys. I ran across this blog and thought I'd share in case some of you were teachers or wanted to provide a brain stimulating home with organization.

I already love the blog just by it's name. "Clutter-free classroom." I need this kinda of mantra.

Thank you and Congratulations!!!!~

Hi Friends! No, I haven't forgotten you since my fame has risen. Lol :wink: The timing was actually quite funny with a mini vacay and mommy business. BUT~ my lovely camera assistant "Sweet A" helped me film my raffle and this was super fun to do.

Before you see the video I just wanted to say thanks for following along and participating!!!!!~ Blogging gets fun b/c you're with me. :heart:

Take 1. I went through the entire spiel and Sweet A was not filming

Take 2. Again, no filming...but she continued to follow directions and only keep an eye on the bag. 

You'll hear my video assistant say "Eunice, again!?" and dear friends, I'll be honest and say that we pulled the name while we weren't filming and thought it's only fair if we awarded that winner. DON"T WOrry, you'll have more giveaways and I promise that the next time we'll have a deadline date and I'll be on top of it. :)

Congrats Eunice and the special part of Eunice winning is that she's my first follower and she was the one to encourage me into blogging. XOXO!

She has won:
Revlon Nail File
Revlon Tweezers
Revlon 2 items for $5 coupon
(I call this coupon the gift that keeps giving)

OMG! I'm famous!

Eat.Sew.Write has 10 followers! You know what that means?! 

My First GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!~~~~

Ok, I don't have a fancy way of selecting the winner like professional bloggers do BUT I will video myself picking the name out of a hat...P-rr-etty ghetto I know. BUT if any of you can lead me in the direction in how to get those name selecting apps on this blog, I will gladly do it that way. 

Oooooooooooo!~ I'm excited!!!!!

So, here's how you can win:

Enter a comment on an entry.

Every comment will be a chance to win.

What is the prize?

!!!!!3 Item Mystery Bag!!!!!

Free Printables Galore!!!

I love events and planning! I love organized chaos and it fuels my fire...but when I see cute FREE printables for a party, I'm even more excited and my wheels start turning. One of my favorite designer is from The TomKat Studio and she has chic and modern designs. This time she was featured on the entertainment section on the HGTV website. The best part of this free printable download is that it's featured in an article with 15 other beautiful invitations. Some of them even come with the envelope liner. I downloaded them all!!!!~

You can download the tags from her website link.

Here's a couple of other design that you can download for free by other designers!

Let's have a party!!!!

A Healthy Ah-ha re-do

LOL. If you read my previous post on "A Healthy Ah-ha" please note the change. A healthier substitution in lasagna and enchiladas for ricotta and sour cream is COTTAGE CHEESE (you won't even notice if no one tells you). Eek. I put Cream Cheese and that is NOT healthier. lol. Sorry folks. I would've turned all my 9 readers away. hahaa.

OK, moving onward and upward...

White Chocolate Cookies

Tonight I made these white chocolate cookies which came out yummy...on the sweeter side but with a great balance of buttery goodness. My second batch was topped with coconut shavings and it was a good hint of alteration (picture not shown).

Recipe from Barefoot Contessa on Food Network with 5 stars.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound unsalted butte,r at room temperature (I used Smart Balance)
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 extra-large eggs at room temperature (I just used large eggs)
• 2/3 cup good unsweetened cocoa (I didn't have this so I skipped this)
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 pounds good white chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the vanilla, then the eggs, 1 at a time, and mix well. Add the cocoa and mix again. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and add to the chocolate with the mixer on low speed until just combined. Fold in the chopped white chocolate.
Drop the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, using a 1 3/4-inch ice cream scoop or a rounded tablespoon. Dampen your hands and flatten the dough slightly. Bake for exactly 15 minutes (the cookies will seem underdone). Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

::Sous Chef: Lynn

::Taste Testers: "Phan"tastic, My lil sister T-Bone, and my Hus

A Healthy Ah-ha

Tonight we had taco night and we had an ah-ha. I usually love sour cream but hate the calories associated with it. If you've been following along, you know that my recipes for lasagna and enchiladas replace sour cream and ricotta cheese with cream cheese (AHH cream cheese is not healthier!) COTTAGE CHEESE (if you haven't tried it, try it already...it's great, guilt free, and people don't even notice if I don't tell them).

Anyways...Ah-ha= sour cream replacement for taco night is to use original non-fat yogurt. I was hesitant but thanks to my little sister T-Bone and her "Phan"tastic friend we tried it and it was yummy, guilt free, and we didn't even notice.

 

There's even a chart of things you can substitute yogurt with.

(referenced from Mountain High Yogurt)

Per 8 oz.	Total Fat	Sat. Fat	Calories
Regular Mayonnaise	160g	19g	1440
Light Mayonnaise	56g	8g	640
Regular Sour Cream	40g	26g	480
Light Sour Cream	20g	15g	320
Regular Cream Cheese	72g	48g	800
Light Cream Cheese	48g	24g	560
Heavy Cream	88g	55g	821
Half-n-Half	28g	17g	315
Light Whipping Cream	74g	46g	699
Original Style Mountain High	8g	5g	180
Lowfat Mountain High	2.5g	1.5g	140
Fat Free Mountain High	0g	0g	120