Coupon Code for My Memories

So if you know me very well, you KNOW that I love to do crafts, especially scrapbooking.  This has been a hobby of mine for years--since high school.  One thing I can say about scrapbooking--EXPENSIVE.  All of the little cute things add up.  So the solution? Digital scrapbooking!  Yes, there is still some expense, and YES I know this has been around for a while.  But have you tried out MyMemories.com? FAB.U.LOUS.

So this coupon code is for a DISCOUNT from My Memories.  I have teamed up with a personal consultant from MyMemories.com for you to receive an awesome discount! 

Here it be folks.....

$10 off My Memories Scrapbook Suite Software
http://www.mymemories.com/digital_scrapbooking_software

AND

$10 coupon for the My Memories Store in FREE PRODUCT
MyMemories.com

You must use the coupon code STMMMS2774 at checkout to receive the discount.

So if you are new to My Memories or new to digital scrapbooking, check out their website and products at

This is a GREAT deal.  A GREAT way to keep a record of your personal and family history.  Not only is it fun and easy, but a way to save you some pennies when it comes to scrapbooking. 

Organize those digital photos and turn them into something special with My Memories. You can thank me later.  Now hurry up and go check out their website! Don't forget to use the unique promo code to get your discount!

COUPON CODE:  STMMMS2774

My camera needs a funeral..... and Quinoa Taco Salad

So I am about to cry as I write this post.....

my 3 year old killed my camera.

It has suffered a very traumatic and torturous death.

Rest in peace my dear friend.

So while I wait to find a new camera, I will be unable to take pictures of my newest projects on the cheap.  So stay tuned in the near future. My dream camera is hopefully on its way.

So for now, I am stealing borrowing pictures from elsewhere.



photo credit here http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2010/05/quinoa-taco-salad.html

I adapted the recipe from this blog.  We LOVE ourselves some quinoa and especially with some kind of Mexi flair.  This recipe is SUPER cheap and super GOOD FOR YOU and best of all SUPER DELICIOSO!

So here it is folks, QUINOA TACO SALAD in all its glory.  Serves 4-6 people

1 c UNcooked quinoa--not really sure how much it ends up being cooked (need a tip? This will not only save you time but energy{=$$$} and will guarantee you fluffy yummy goodness every time.  Pour 1 c quinoa into a saucpan.  Add 2 c water.  Bring to a full boil for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat, cover and let stand for 15 minutes. Remove lid and fluff with fork. Ta-DA! and Done.You can also use a rice cooker, but really I find my method better.)

While quinoa is "standing"CHOP up the following in a large salad serving bowl

2 heads of romaine lettuce--you can also add some spinach and cabbage if you want additional greens
4-5 roma tomatoes
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 yellow bell pepper
1/4 c (or more) finely chopped cilantro
1/2 red onion
1 large avocado

Then add:
1 c roasted corn (another tip--use frozen corn, pour onto cookie sheet and roast for 6-7 minutes at 400 F)
1 can (or cooked from scratch) black beans, rinsed well. (optional--I have made this with and without beans)

Once quinoa is done, drizzle with olive oil and juice of 2 limes.  Add sea salt to taste.  Toss together.

I serve the quinoa on the side.  If you are plating the food for everyone you can make separate salads by starting with a bed of lettuce and adding the chopped vegetables on the top with the quinoa.  We serve family style so I just make a large salad and serve the quinoa on the side for those who don't want it IN their salad.  You can also add some yummy taco chips or serve in a homemade taco bowl. My kids love all of the variations. My girls love ranch on just about ev.ery.thing. so I make what they call "Spicy Ranch"--very complicated.

Ranch and Tapatio hot sauce to taste. Yum.

We sometimes top with a little cheese.  My favorites are pepperjack or sharp cheddar. Either is delicious.

This salad is perfect without any dressing since it has the olive oil and juice on the quinoa. This is a real winner at our house. The perfect vegetarian meal and also gluten-free. If you have never tried quinoa, this is the perfect dish to try. It is light but filling and SUPER DUPER healthy in every way. A TON of protein--so don't worry about the no meat factor. The quinoa and beans are your iron and protein FILL, not to mention the spinach if you add that in too!

The perfect hot summer day dinner.

Enjoy!



 

Busy Busy Me

So the last few weeks have unfortunately NOT been filled with some of my planned projects.  Instead I had plenty of OTHER things to do that came up that were still very worthy of my time.

I had a Scentsy party with old friends and new alike in a sweet place where I used to live.  Not only did I get to catch up with some friends, I made a few more pennies. Yippee!  Have you heard of Scentsy? It has been around for a few years so most people have seen or heard.  But if you haven't, check out my website   www.annah.scentsy.us

I helped my dear prego friend prep and paint her nursery and do some other things around her house while her husband is out.  Brave woman.  I am not sure I could live without my husband for that long. Even for a good cause. I consider myself a strong woman, but not that tough.  This week I am planning and preparing for her baby shower which is this weekend.  I am also working on a shelf for her baby's nursery.  I will show pictures of everything when I am done.

We cleaned house, cleaned teeth (not one, but 2 dentists visits) and had relatives in town. Celebrated birthdays of grandmas (one was a great-grandmother in fact) and ate lots of chocolate cake.  Now this was REALLY worth my time.

My girls love when their cousins come to town.  Not only did we play and have a grand ol' time just at our house and at the grandparents' place, we hit the beach not once but TWICE.  We even walked away without sunburns.  I love myself some Banana Boat sunscreen at the beach. My favorites are Banana Boat Baby 50 and Banana Boat Surf.  I swear by them. ONE APPLICATION lasts all day IN THE WATER.  We didn't get sunburned but we did bring back plenty of shells and memories. My older girls and I went surfing. It was so nice to not only have my husband there but also the grandparents--the Abuelitos---we call them Lito and Lita.  Always nice to have a few extra pairs of hands and eyes at the beach.  And of course my husband's sister, the girls "Tia" and her kids.  The beach is one hundred time more fun with cousins to play and surf with.

This week I have to kick it into high gear to get back on track to finish some projects I have planned for July.  We will be headed out of town for most of August. But for now, it is off to the library.  I have to make sure and remember to keep things in perspective too---I am a MOM, first and foremost.

Going crazy in my old age.

So I guess I am losing my marbles.  I wrote down on my calendar that we had dentist appointments this morning.  Good thing I checked my planner.  They are not until NEXT week!  I think I need to start writing random appointments on my calendar though.  I got up, dressed myself all cute like and put on makeup before 8am on a summer day BEFORE my husband left for work.  Now if only I hadn't let on that I thought we had to go to that blasted tooth man this morning, my husband would have thought I was being extra productive today and trying to look all dolled up for him before he left for work.  I'll be honest.  Most days in the summer I don't wear makeup.  I rarely get "ready" from head to toe.  We're talking pull my hair back in a pony, throw on whatever is clean and comfortable and then dive into a project around the house and take a shower at the end of the day once I am a complete mess.  When I have on nice clothes I don't feel like scrubbing the kitchen floor on my hands and knees and cleaning out my office closet (that still has a few boxes from when we moved.....).  I am just not productive in nice clothes.  I guess I will change.  I will just wait until AFTER my husband leaves.  At least I can look nice for him for at least another 30 minutes. Because I am in the mood to CLEAN HOUSE now that I have an EXTRA day I didn't plan on.  And those office boxes are calling  my name.

Playing in the RAIN

It was last Sunday evening.  Here in Florida we have been having A LOT of rain.  If you have never experienced a heavy rain down pour, think of the heaviest rain you have seen... and times it by say, a million.  It was like borderline tropical storm. And what did this awesome mom do? 

WE WENT OUT IN THE RAIN.  POURING TORRENTIAL RAIN.

Now normally I don't do this very often.  Especially on a Sunday.  But really, after making our list of all of the fun things we wanted to do this summer, the little kid in me wanted to go out and play in ALL OF THAT RAIN.  When I was a kid it did not rain like this where I am from.  When it stormed whether a wind or rain or snow storm, I loved to go outside and BE IN the storm.  I knew my kids would JUMP at this chance.

So clothes and all, we all went out and played in the flooded streets and splashed each other and dumped buckets of water on each other! We had a great time!  We stood under the "spout" of water that was flowing from the roof. There was so much rain our mulch from our garden beds was floating away! When the lightning got dangerous,  all of the girls piled in my huge tub and had a big ol' bubbly bath.  I will spare you the naked pictures.

I wish I had pictures of us playing outside but alas I WAS BUSY PLAYING OUTSIDE.  I hope this is a memory they won't need pictures of because it was so fun they will remember every detail.


Here's to our TV FREE SUMMER!  Another fun day down.  I wonder what we will check off the list tomorrow......

Crossing things off is fun to do, fun to do, to do to do....

#1 Go to the Pet Store
#2 Have Ice Cream for Dinner!
#21 Find your city's free attractions! 
#45 Rainy Day? Instead of staying inside, GO PLAY outside in the rain!
#23 Make homemade juice pops, pudding pops or fudgesicles
Lemonade Stand
Make cookies with kids (and eat most of the dough by the spoonfuls)
Deep clean closets/drawers


Have I mentioned that I love to cross things off???

Oops....sometimes I get carried away. 

What's on my list for tomorrow????

YARD SALE! And better yet? With one of my dearest friends, Jenny Lu.  She is my daughter's future mother-in-law.  She (my duaghter) doesn't know it yet, but someday, yes.  We WILL be related.  (This time I am crossing my fingers and not crossing off....but crossing nonetheless)....
   

I LOVE LISTS.

I love to make lists and crossings things off.  Sometimes when I have a lot to do, I will make a list.  Normal, yes.  And then sometimes I add things to the list I have already done that day and then cross them off.  That way I feel like I have accomplished at least part of my list!  Sometimes a long list can be daunting.  But once I start CROSSING things off I FEEL AWESOME.  But sometimes lists are so fun that we cannot WAIT to start crossing the things off!

So this weekend we started crossing things off of our Summer Fun list.  What did we do?  We found FREE local things to do.

We tagged along with Dad on his business trip.  It was a 2 hour drive and we got to stay in a hotel.  FOR FREE. Yea! Gas? PAID for.  Thank goodness.  Food?  We made that travel stipend ST-R-E-TCH! We did what every other crazy frugal mama out there does--we ate before we left, we packed snacks and stayed at a hotel with continental breakfast.  I love continental breakfasts. My kids can choose whatever they want.  And I really don't care what they eat.  How often do they get to choose from 10 different breakfast options? Some went straight for the sugar cereal (I think one of our hotel trips in the past introduced them to Fruit Loops) others went for the muffins.  One chose yogurt.  One chose eggs and sausage.  And everyone was on their best hotel breakfast behavior.  Fabulous.

We did go out to eat Friday night and that was fun for the kids.  The next day we swam at the hotel pool and then we tried to find a cheap movie theater.  NO SUCH LUCK.  So then I used my best friend (Google) to find us FREE THINGS TO DO IN GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA.  And what should I find?  But a fantastic FREE museum of natural history of Florida.  This was such a fun trip!  My girls LOVED the museum. 

In the Discovery Room at the Museum of Natural History, University of Florida

My lil poser

 Inside the museum is an a.maz.ing Butterfly Exhibit. I didn't know these 2 were connected.  I have always wanted to take my girls there. We used to live closer to Gainesville but I had heard that the exhibit was super expensive. I would not have even thought to look up the prices online because I had heard it was like $20 per person. THIS WAS NOT THE CASE.  My 2 year old was free so for all of us it was only $27! Cheaper than a matinee movie and WAY more AMAZING.

 There were 1000s of butterflies and moths of different species flying all around this gorgeous terrarium filled with exotic lush tropical plants and flowers. The butterflies would land on you and let you get really close and personal.

Apparently this butterfly likes the Florida Gators as much as Mr. H

 Now if only my camera battery had not died I would have had more pictures. We watched a butterfly release of all of the butterflies and moths that had hatched the night before. They keep all of the chrysalises in a lab room that you can look into and watch them hatch! It is awesome!

Butterfly Kisses

 This exhibit is part of the Unversity of Florida.  Check out your local community college or university.  You just may find something AMAZING like we did!