Momma Style

2011-09-01T21:28:00.001-07:00

Hurry up! And read it! Or you will miss the chance of your life!.. http://www.carlosrodero.com/sites.friend.php?ihot=44uk0

2011-08-31T08:44:00.001-07:00

http://svitoneri.com/viviani2.html

2011-07-29T02:56:00.001-07:00

http://sultanhilal.com/google.php

2011-07-29T01:51:00.001-07:00

http://lewisriverreview.com/google.php

2011-07-28T23:52:00.001-07:00

http://mauryepstein.com/google.php

It's Been Awhile

2010-06-18T09:31:00.000-07:00

So it's been awhile again! I have been very busy to say the least. I finished up a year of school. Hooray for summer!!! I thought I was going to have all this time on my hands during this time but that not the case. My 2 year old has other plans "Come play with me Momma!" is what I hear and how can I resist?

I am working on a new blog design. It is so much fun to do but VERY time consuming! In the meantime here is a link that can provide endless hours of reading fun;

click here : Top Mommy Blogs!!

I found it several months ago and it's fun to read other mom blogs. I like several on the site so check them out and tell which one is your favorite!

Maybe even someday I will join the site but until then I'm playing with play dough, coloring, reading animal books, watching Dora, and many other fun filled things!

I'm still here!

2010-05-20T07:52:00.001-07:00

I've been on a major blog slump! Lately keeping up with my job, my majorly active 2.5 yr. old, my husband, our family blog, and all my extra things have caused this blog to get the back burner! All I had been posting was our weekly menu and I haven't even done that. Yes, we still have been eating but it's been here and there with cooking. It's getting too hot to cook, or I'm too exhausted!

Here are some fun things I have come across lately:

*Free 10 day sample of Bare Minerals Make up. I actually got the last sample and really started to like it. I was amazed at how little make up it really took to use. It sure didn't look like much. I liked it so much that I went in a few weeks later and got skin tested to find my true color and even bought a bare minerals starter kit. I LOVE IT!! It took some time to get used to using it but now I really like it. Here is the link for the sample through Sephora:

http://www.sephora.com/promo/besample/storeoffer.pdf

*Oprah DevOtee research panel. You might have seen this on other blogs. Basically you sign up by answering the survey questions. (The site is really slow for some reason!!) It's a word of mouth marketing company where supposedly they will send you free samples and chances to win prizes. I did sign up but I don't really know how it works yet!

*Want to try a new drink to cool you off in the hot sun? Taco Bell has announced new limeades!! They have cherry flavor or classic limeade. Hurry though, the offer ends soon! http://www.tacobell.com/promo/limeade-coupon

I'm going to go get mine after school today!

*Live near a Sonic? (Sorry for those of you that don't!) Become a Sonic Cruiser and get updates, coupons and a little surprise on your birthday! Sign up here: http://www.sonicdrivein.com/home.jsp#/members

Happy Almost Summer Time!!!

Monday Menu

2010-05-02T20:13:00.000-07:00

We did our weekly grocery shopping yesterday and I didn’t do a good job. I even had help from my husband. We went at the worst possible time (noon on Sat) and there were so many people and screaming kids that I got overwhelmed and just wanted to get out of there. I’ll have to go back from more later but here is what we’ll have this week (I think!)

Sunday: Steaks on the grill, twice baked potato, strawberry salad

Monday: Chicken wraps, fruit salad

Tuesday: Baked Ziti

Wednesday/Thurs: Whatever I come up at the store!

We have chicken tenders I can make and some turkey meat so more than likely we’ll have tacos of some sort!

Happy Monday!

Favorite Snacks

2010-04-28T08:57:00.001-07:00

I thought I would do a quick list of my little girl's favorite snacks right now. These things are ALWAYS on my grocery list :)

Newton Fruit Bars:

They come in apple and mixed berry. We love the berry kind. I also take one of these every day for a snack at school :)

Ritz-100 Calorie Packs

I love, love the 100 calorie packs. They are the perfects size for her and so easy in a nice little bag. Whenever we're going out somewhere running errands or just out I always have some of these with me

Dan-Active Shakes

These are her favorite. She says "I want Shake, No straw!"

Velvetta Cheese Slices

It HAS to be Velvetta. She knows the difference!!

Monday Menu

2010-04-25T18:06:00.001-07:00

Not much on the weekly menu. We have our big state testing (TAKS tests) for the kids so I’m not sure if I’ll be up to cooking much!

Sunday: Grilled Hamburgers

Monday: Baked Fish/Rice

Tuesday: Taco Casserole

Wednesday-Thursday: fend for yourself! We have bagel bites, pb & j’s, lunch meat!

Friday If we make it to Friday we’re eating out!!

Fun Sites

2010-04-22T05:42:00.001-07:00

Here are 2 fun newish websites I thought I would share:

I read about this one in our local paper:

Zip2save (www.zip2save.com)- type in your zip code to get more coupons/sales in your area

Groupon (www.groupon.com) - sign up (free) select the largest city near you. You will get daily emails on a great deal of the day. Some things offered are spa days for 50-60% off and good restaurant deals for a particular place. I haven't bought anything yet but if you refer someone, when they make their first purchase you get $10! Here's my referral link http://www.groupon.com/r/uu1778652

Have You Ever?

2010-04-20T18:19:00.001-07:00

Have you ever tried the chicken recipe on the back of this can?

It is TO DIE FOR!

Seriously so easy and I paired it with some fresh green beans and potatoes. YUM!

Monday Menu

2010-04-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

We just got back from the grocery store so I sorta have a menu in my mind of things we'll eat for dinner this week.
Sunday- Breakfast for Dinner, blueberry pancakes, strawberries
Monday- Crusted Chicken (recipe on the back of fried onion can) Green beans
Tues- Macaroni Grill's Chicken Marsala (box set and SO good, all you add is chicken)
Wed- Grilled Chicken, potatoes Hubs is grilling out because we couldn't Sunday from the rain
Thur-Turkey Dogs we didn't have a few weeks ago!
Fri-Sat ???

Teacher Gifts

2010-04-16T07:46:00.001-07:00

Kelly's Korner is hosting her weekly "Show Us" and this week is Teacher Gift Ideas

Seeing as though I have been teaching for 10 years I thought I could definitely give my 2 Cents worth here!

Teachers LOVE gift cards!!!

Make things easy and give your favorite teacher a gift card. Even if it's $5. I know my former students have spent way more money on candy and flowers, stuffed animals, and picture frames. Those are all very sweet gifts, but give a gift card and make a teacher really smile!

Here are some of my favorite gift cards!

*Target (always makes me smile!) Especially if your teacher is a mom- they can use it to buy diapers, food, or something fun for themselves!

*Walmart As weird as it may sound, I loved getting Walmart cards. I always used them to buy gas. Plus with a Walmart card you can get gas 3 cents cheaper!

*Book Store Teachers love book stores like Barnes and Noble, Borders, or even Half Price Bookstore

*Movie Night A few times I got a basket for a movie night. Moms would put my favorite soda, candy and microwave popcorn bags together with a Blockbuster card and it was great.

**Restaurant Find out what your teachers' fav. restaurant is. I used to always have parents go in together and get me a nice restaurant gift card. That was always a special treat!

*** Another wonderful idea that all teachers were envious of was a gift card tree. We'd have that one 'special' mom that went all out contacting all the parents of the class to bring in a gift card of their choice. The room mom would then clip them on a painted pot like flowers. That was the gift all the teachers LOVED!!

These are just some of my ideas on gift cards!!

Taco Bake

2010-04-13T06:58:00.000-07:00

Want an easy recipe that everyone will love? Try this!

For years I’ve used Old El Paso taco dinner bake kit (found with the taco shells). One day I went to pick it up at the store and it was gone. Never to be seen again. I was really mad, then sad, then decided to just make it myself. Here are some of the essentials:

The Goods:

1 pound meat (I use turkey)

1 pack of shredded cheese

1 can refried beans (optional)

1 pack tortillas (flour work best)

1 can of queso

1st brown the meat and add regular taco seasoning

Heat oven to 350

Use a circular baking dish (works the best) and put 1 tortilla at the bottom. Spread beans on top of tortilla really good. You don’t have to do the beans but it really adds a good taste! Only one layer of beans.

Add meat on top of tortilla, then shredded cheese, the top with another tortilla. Repeat steps as needed. I think I could fit 5 tortillas. Beans are only on the bottom layer. Finish with meat layer on top. Drizzle queso on the top before you pop in the oven.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 min uncovered.

It should come out looking something like this:

YUM!!

Cut like a pie and top with shredded lettuce or tomatoes as you wish.

Here was my plate. I cut up some strawberries and it was soooo good!

Oh, and the chips were for my husband. He cannot eat ANYTHING without chips. Enjoy!

Monday Menu

2010-04-12T05:29:00.001-07:00

Our nightly dinner isn't always together anymore. Kelly has taken on a few more tutoring clients at night so sometimes Gracie and I can wait for him and sometimes we can't! Sometimes though I fix her a little something and wait to have dinner with him. I still have a picky 2 year old that makes sure to tell me when she doesn't like something. She literally lives off Velveeta cheese slices and Dan-active shakes.

This is what we are trying for:

Mon- Chicken Fajitas

Tues- Spaghetti and Meatballs/Salad

Wed-Buffalo Chicken Wraps (so easy and yummy!)

Thur- Flat Shelled Turkey Tacos/guacamole

Fri-Sat. Kelly can grill out!

Since we both teach school and don't get much of a lunch break it is easier and healthier to bring our lunch. I try and plan our meals so that we can both take our lunch for the next day. It doesn't always work but I try!

I'm just to the point where I just don't care what we eat. I am so tired of planning meals and having to worry with dinner. The weather is nicer and we just want to stay outside and play more! Is anyone else in a food funk??? I really wish my husband was home earlier so he could grill more. We save the grilling for the weekends... I'll try and post the buffalo chicken wrap recipe and the baked tacos that we had last week.

Happy Monday

Fun Friday

2010-04-09T17:59:00.000-07:00

TGIF!!

I am so thankful for Fridays. Teaching school all week makes us live for the weekends around here :)

Here are some Fun Friday things:

Lowe's Build and Grow Clinic: I have seen and heard people talk about this but we've never done it. At participating Lowe's you can sign up and bring your kids in to a fun workshop on Saturday mornings where you build something together. This week they are building a mini baseball game. It looks so cute. Next week is some sort of planter. Make sure you call the store ahead to see they are participating because not all stores do it! (I'm thinking this will be a great Daddy/Daughter event!!!)

Shop 4 Freebies This is a fun website that if you sign up to it will send you emails about a variety of free things.

Happy Friday :)

Walgreens Photo Deals

2010-04-08T16:14:00.001-07:00

Check out Walgreens.com for a daily photo deal. Every day this week they have been giving big discounts to different photo products. Today's deal is a cheap photo collage. (80% off!) I love these! Hurry, the deals end on Saturday!!

Tuesday's Tip

2010-04-06T18:23:00.000-07:00

You may have unclaimed $$ out there just waiting for you!

Check out this website and enter your info to see if you do

Missing Money?

I checked it out today and there was nothing for me but I checked my husband's too and it turns out he has $70 + in some rebate from his old apartment complex. I'll take $70 any day!! Since I found this out for him he said he'd share the $$ with me :)

Monday Menu

2010-04-04T12:47:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to get better about planning our meals at night and sticking to them! I try to write them down to help me grocery shop but most times I forget something on my list and then we have to come up with something else. I do the big grocery shopping either really late Friday night or super early Sat. morning. I then can stop again on Mon. or Tues. afternoon for quick things. Here is our list for this week:

Sunday- Omaha Steaks with twice baked pototoes, salad, rolls
Monday- Chicken with rice bake
Tuesday- Macaroni Grill pasta primavera (1st time using this!)
Wednesday- Taco bake
Thursday- Turkey hot-dogs?
Friday-Saturday We usually eat out or eat something around the house.

So that's my plan and I'm stickin' to it!!

Cleaning Tip- Using Lemons

2010-03-26T15:50:00.000-07:00

Kelly's Korner is hosting "cleaning tip" today. I just saw this on the Today show last week and it sounded so easy!

How to Clean your microwave

All you need is a lemon, knife, water, towel, and microwaveable safe bowl

1. Cut a lemon in 1/2
2. Sqeeze some juice into a bowl, add 1 1/4 cups of water and leftover lemon to bowl
3. Microwave on high for 5 minutes
4. Simply wipe down microwave with a towel using the lemon water

The lemons work their magic and the 'gunk' should come off easily!

** I haven't tried this but it sure sounded easy!

You can always google "clean microwave with lemons" and there are several videos you can watch.

Free Lotion

2010-03-23T21:18:00.000-07:00

You can get your $$ back on a full bottle of Olay Quench body Lotion by using this rebate

Lotion Rebate

Make sure you follow all the directions to get your $$ back!!

Free Ice-Cream Cone on Tuesday

2010-03-22T16:34:00.000-07:00

Visit your local Ben & Jerry's for free cone day on Tuesday, March 23rd!

Click on the link for more info:
www.benjerry.com

Free Canvas Picture

2010-03-12T18:38:00.001-08:00

If you haven’t taken advantage of this great offer you need to QUICK! The Picture people are offering a free 8x10 picture to be made onto canvas. I finally did ours and we just got it yesterday. I have to say, it is the cutest thing ever!! I went ahead and upgraded for a 11 X 14 because the prices were just too good. It literally took seconds to upload my favorite photo and it was all done! They are trying to give away an 8X10 canvas photo to every house!!

Canvas People

Tuesday’s List

2010-03-09T09:41:00.000-08:00

Love from Texas is a way cute blog that hosts Tuesday’s List. Every week the topic is something different. This week it is “wish list”. In no particular order, here is my list!

1. A Stainless Dishwasher

Our dishwasher is only about 3 years old but it is a true ‘lemon’. It is so loud, makes horrible noises, and worst yet, does not work. As if unloading the dishwasher isn’t bad enough, I have to unload dirty dishes, Yuck!

2. A New Desktop Computer

We have a laptop and it’s about 5 years old already. Computers are like new cars, as soon as you get them, they are outdated. Plus when you add on the 1,000’s of pictures I have taken plus programs we’ve downloaded, the memory space is out. I’ve really wanted a desktop to use to ‘share with Gracie’ when she gets older.

3. A New Lens

Last summer I got a new camera and I LOVE IT. But now I see I really need a new lens for it to taken even better pictures. I’m waiting for my birthday for this one :)

4. A Vanity Bench

I would love a cute little vanity bench just like this one for our master bath. I’m looking for one in a cheetah print. I think it would be perfect for Gracie to sit on while I dry her hair!

5. Digital Scrapbook

This is my ‘just for fun’ wish. It would go really great with my new computer. It’s fun little software that helps you make fun templates and cute projects!

So there’ s my list. I’m thrilled to say that just this weekend I got wish #1 and wish #2!! We went to Sears and got a great deal on a stainless dishwasher. It will be installed this weekend :) Plus I found a really cute little desktop computer that is just perfect. It was pretty easy to put together and so fun!