Dietetic Sinners

King Arthur Four May Bake Along: Berry Blitz Torte

2017-08-10T12:00:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure why this particular recipe caught my eye. It's probably because the folks at King Arthur Flour and facebook kept bombarding me with images of this cake and the advertisement for the King Arthur Flour Bake Along. Wish they had done so earlier because now I will be going back through the past months challenges!

I really love fresh berries and this recipe requires a variety. I lucked up and found every berry I needed at Aldi. If they look a little past there best by date in the pictures that's my fault. I forgot about them in my fridge. Sadness. Lucky for me they still taste fine!

I'll be honest. This recipe is a little strange and has quite a few steps. Some you can make ahead and some that require some advanced baking know how. This recipe requires a pastry cream, a meringue and a sponge cake! I sort of felt like I was on an episode of The Great British Baking Show. I kept looking over my shoulders for Merry Berry and Paul Hollywood but, alas, I was alone.

The King Arthur blog post for this bake along challenge provided step by step photos and very detailed instructions. I couldn't imagine successfully completing this cake by just looking at written recipe with no pictures. I've never seen anything like it!

I didn't take very many pictures of the step-by-step because it's not my recipe. I made no changes and a much better tutorial can be found on the King Arthur Flour Blog post. When I did snap a picture it was because it was just so darn pretty and really to document to myself what I had accomplished.

I think the biggest challenge of this recipe is getting over the fact that the meringue and sponge cake are bakes on top of each other. It just doesn't seem right for some reason. The other challenge is trying to put all the pastry cream and whipped cream and berries on the layers without it looking like a 2 year old helped!

The end result is totally worth it though! It's so pretty! It has a very slight cinnamon flavor and the nuts get a little crunchy and it just looks so fancy! I can't believe this came out of my kitchen.

If you want to give this recipe a try head on over the King Arthur Flour website: http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2017/05/01/berry-blitz-torte-bakealong/

Let me know in the comments or on my facebook page if you try it out. I'd love to see you're pictures too!

Resturant Review: Teriyaki Madness

2016-03-09T12:00:00.000-05:00

My husband and I haven't had very much luck eating out at non-chain restaurants. We always say lets try that new local place and then get scared and take a pass and end up somewhere we've eaten before. Teriyaki Madness is a chain of restaurants but new to me. I love teriyaki and I wanted to try a new restaurant and I was able to convince my husband that going out for dinner was a good idea despite the pouring rain and the fact that this place is miles away from our new place. We had other errands in the area so it all worked out but I hate driving in the rain. Thankfully the fearful in the dark rain driving was worth it.

Teriyaki Madness is located near the Loop but across John Young in a new shopping plaza that has gone up near BJs. I guess it's the Loops competition because it also has an Outback Steakhouse, Cheddars, Hoppy Lobby, PetSmart and many other great shops. There is still construction going on and we noticed a couple other new eateries to be open soon and something called a Fresh Market to be open soon. Wish I lived closer!

Teriyaki Madness has a very simple menu. You pretty much pick a protein and a base of veggies, noodles or veggies (or a combo) and there are some appetizers and side items to choose from as well. I don't recall seeing any dessert items being available which was kind of sad since Menchii's is all the way over by the Loop. Like I need the extra calories, lol!

The really neat thing about Teriyaki Madness is that it is a franchise run by the Brevard Achievement Center (BAC), a nonprofit agency with headquarters in Rockledge Colorado that offers programs and services to assist people with disabilities. According to the signage in store these restaurants are a revenue source (obviously) and can provide on-the-job training, not to mention employment, for people with disabilities. Pretty awesome, right?

It was pouring down rain so it wasn't very busy in the store. The few people we saw looked like employees from the surrounding stores. This location was also hard to see from the road and when we tried to get directions via our phone it insisted that this location did not exist. It's a small building really. I couldn't get a picture of the exterior due to rain but it's just grey with a large lit sign with the Teriyaki Madness in black in red. I love the color and the madness, lol! The store was clean and all teh tables came well stocked with teriyaki sauce, soy sauce and sriracha. They offer the typical fountain drinks and some bottled items as well.

I did feel like we waited quite a long time for our order but since everything was made fresh and the staff was uber friendly I didn't mind over much. I think their might have been some to-go orders holding up service as well.

I ordered the teriyaki chicken bowl with rice and stir-fried veggies. I also ordered an appetizer of crab rangoon. I received a ton of food. I honestly could not finish it all. I had so much rice leftover! The chicken was delicious and the crab rangoon? OMG! The best I have had in a long time. It came with some sort of dipping sauce that was just fantastic. I ordered 4 but next time I'll do the order of two. I couldn't eat everything and ended up taking 2 of mine home to eat later.

My husband ordered a bowl with katsu with yakisoba noodles and stir fried veggies (half of which I consumed because he doesn't like squash or broccoli). I tried some of the chicken and thought it was delicious. I wasn't a big fan of the noodles but they were okay.

I can't remember if my husband was able to finish the whole bowl. If he left anything it was veggies. He said he really liked his meal too.

Our final bill total was a bit pricey but I don't think much more than ordering Chinese take out and I really feel it was better tasting than any of the Chinese food we have ordered recently.I think the bowl I ordered was around $7.00 and includes the chicken, the rice and the veggie side. The crab rangoon only comes 4 to an around and was around $4.00.Next time me and the hubby will split an order. Hubby's bowl was a bit more because yakisoba noodles are $1.00 extra. The menu does have vegetarian items (like tofu)and also salads. You can also save carbs by ordring all veggies and no rice/noodles.

By the way, my husband's dish came with a sauce to pour on his chicken which I didn't much care for. It reminded me a bit of A-1 steak sauce with cinnamon added to it. It comes on the side so you can control how much to put on your food. My husband really liked it but guess what? He's a more adventurous eater than I am.

I will definetly be eating at Teriyaki Madness in the future. I'm not sure if I'll take my husband with me though. Unfortunately he could see that PetSmart from were he was seated and he decided it would be a brilliant idea to go look around at all the little critters. We ended up bring home one of those little critters:

Her name is Onyxia and she is currently a rambunctious brat. Well, she is a kitten still and I guess that is to be expected. She's a cute one and I couldn't say no to my husband's puppy dog eyes asking if we could take her home. So welcome home Onyxia.

Teriyaki Madness
680 Centerview Blvd,
Kissimmee, FL 34741
(407) 530-5800

Alicorn Cake

2015-12-17T12:00:00.000-05:00

I really love looking at cake decorating blogs and have really really gotten into baking and decorating. I'm just all around crafty! I recently moved into a house and now have a spacious kitchen and room to leave huge messes everywhere. So when I saw a neighbor requesting a baker for a birthday cake I pretty much yelled, "Pick me! Pick me!"

I was a bit scared when she told me what she wanted! She sent me this picture:

Obviously what she got was a bit different but the color was definitely inspired by this cake! I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get those huge wings and unicorn body to stay upright and stable. I have never sculpted anything this complicated before! But I digress. Can we talk about the color scheme some more?

I was quite worried I wouldn't be able to find the requested purple sprinkles and I was almost right! Going to the local craft stores and the neighborhood grocery markets were dead ends although I did find the pearl dragees and purple confetti shaped sprinkles I ultimately used to create what you see above. I thought I would end up using just color mix sprinkles but then two days before the cake was due I stumbled upon a hidden gem just 5 minutes away from my job! A cake supply store! Yay!

I also bought these from the same supplier but I cold have bought them at Wal-Mart or Joanns. I sued these to cover up where the cake meets cake board. They are giant six-lets! So cute!

I just used a little buttercream to adhere them to the cake/cake board! I really wanted to make a fondant covered board but I ended up just using a cake board covered in tin foil.

Covering an entire 8-in cake in sprinkles was a lot easier than I expected. And messy! I followed the tutorial from The Cake Blog: DIY : RAINBOW SPRINKLE CAKE

I was worried about covering my top tier in fondant but after watching several YouTube videos on the process I'm happy to report that I was able to make my own marshmallow fondant and apply the fondant with no mishaps!

Here are the completed tiers. I really hate that huge gap between the cakes. I don't think my tiers were quite level and I'm sure that the sprinkles did not help the situation! I just smeared some of the butter cream icing that was colored to match the fondant in that crack and the space disappeared!

I used modeling chocolate to sculpt the alicorn. I think next time I'd use fondant mixed with some tylose powder because apparently my hands get really hot enough to melt the chocolate and make it greasy even wearing those little food handling gloves! This also took me several days to complete and the modeling chocolate got dry and brittle.

The wings were a pain in the butt! I drew out a template and then cut out four of the wing shapes and sandwiched a skewer in between using sugar glue to hold it all together.

I accidentally made two of the same direction wings. I was pretty ticked off at myself and thought I'd have to remake one of my wings but as you can see in the finished product it didn't mater and I think worked out better. From the back it doesn't look that pretty but it doesn't look horrible either.

My alicorn was almost too large for the 6-in top tier! I had drawn a circle using the cake pan and used that as a guide for length so I'm not sure how this thing got so large and out of hand! There was also a lot of gap between the base of the sculpture and the cake. Thank god I had a ton of butter cream icing left! I had planned on having it seated in a grassy meadow any ways so I used a lead tip and piped in some grass.

So there you have it! My first fondant covered, sprinkle covered two tiered cake! It was a lot of work but also a lot of fun! I really hope I can make some more cakes like this in the future. My husband is begging me for a penguin cake so maybe that is what I'll work on next. I'd love to learn how to make sculpted cakes and a penguin might fit the bill!

How to Make Halloween Skull Towers Part 2

2015-10-14T12:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to part 2 of my skull tower tutorial. This tutorial can stand alone but if you think I may have missed a step you may want to check out part 1 here. If you can't find your answer there of in this tutorial feel free to leave me a comment with your question and I'll try to answer your question as best I can!

The primary reason I broke up this tutorial into two parts for what amounts to essentially the same project is because that is how I roll. There are some minor difference: larger items, how to attach the light sets and I use a can of foam spray. It honestly isn't much different then the small tower though!

For a large skull tower you will need:

4-5 large Styrofoam skulls* (you can use plastic but you'll need a drill to make holes in them). I also say 4-5 because you'll have to decide how tall you want your tower or maybe your skulls are larger or smaller than mine!
a large plastic black cauldron or a flowerpot
floral foam
spray foam
a long dowel rod (a larger diameter than you used for the small tower) (not pictured)
ribbon and/or tulle
Spanish moss
assorted fake flowers/foliage and creepy crawlers
paving stone or rock or some other medium to give your pot some weight
glue gun (not pictured)

*You'll notice in my pictures I also have used a Styrofoam pumpkin. One of my glitter skulls ran away and when I went to the store all the other skulls had run away as well. I hear they went to Cancun for vacation. The pumpkin kindly volunteered to take the AWOL skull's place and doesn't she look great?!

I bought most of my supplies at my local dollar store. I did have to go to my local hardware store for the dowel rod,spray foam, brick paver and the craft store for the floral foam but look around your dollar store because sometimes they do carry these items!

The flower pot I found at Big Lots. I was looking for an extra large cauldron but the flowerpot is made of plastic and looks fantastic. The final product makes me wish I could have found more glitter skulls to make another one. These would look so great as matching pairs by the entrance of the house!

In your cauldron (or pot) place any material that your using to weigh down the tower. You'll need to do this or it'll just tip over on you. Styrofoam and ribbon are very light. This doesn't have to weigh a ton but since mine were going to be outside exposed to the occasionally gusty wind I erred on the heavy side! Better too heavy than not heavy enough because once you have it assembled you cannot add more weight INSIDE of the bucket.

Since the flower pot I bought was so large I needed to add some filler before adding my floral foam. After placing my paving stone in the bottom of the pot (pic 1), I crumpled up some plastic shopping bags and placed them around the stoner and on top of the stone (pic 2). I then used the spray foam to cover the paving stone and the shopping bags (pic 3).

Please be very careful using spray foam. Use in a well ventilated area (like outside!) and be careful none of it gets on you, your clothes, or your expensive camera (obviously I'm speaking from experience here!).

After letting the spray harden over a couple hours I then added my floral foam (pic 4) I cut it to fit and used the scraps to kid of wedge everything solid. You could also use hot glue or try to get the floral foam into the foam before it is too set.

After measuring how high my skull tower would be completely assembled, I cut my dowel rod. You want the rod to fit onto your top skull with out poking out of the skull completely!

Before gluing the dowel rod into my floral foam I used it to poke my holes into my skulls. Mine look a bit messy due to the glitter coating chipping off. These mess ups are hidden when completely assembled. If you make a boo-boo that isn't cover once the skulls are stack, get creative! Use a flower or ribbon or something to cover it up. If it's just a small chip you could even use a little paint to repair. Just be careful and not completely destroy your skull.. It is Styrofoam after all. If you are the Incredible Hulk you may want to have some one more delicate do this step for you.

Before adding the skulls (or at least before adding them permanently, use some Spanish moss to cover up that ugly floral foam!

Once you have your skulls stacked the way you want them, use a little hot glue to make sure they are not lose on that dowel rod. Unless spinning skulls are your thing? You could also use some tulle or ribbon in between each skull before permanently gluing everything done. Just remember once it is glued it's not moving!

To attach a strand of lights I used some floral wire that I stole off one my fake flowers (from the trimmed stems). I folded the wire into a u-shape to make a fastener and then used it to tack the light strand in place. I wasn't sure if just hot glue alone would do the job but I did add a dollop of the hot glue after I pushed the fastener into the skull.

Prior to attaching the lights I used some purple tulle in between the skulls. I added the lights and then added some ribbon butterflies and a super cute feathered owl to my skull stack. This is the really fun part! Decorate however you like. I think a huge wired ribbon bow could be cute in front of the flower pot urn!

Don't forget to add some creepy eyeball roses or other fake foliage in the bottom to cover up that ugly floral foam too.

So there you have it! A super adorably creepy skull tower! This project is relatively cheap too! Lots of the decorative items came from the dollar store and were used for multiple projects. The urn was the most expensive item bought for this project but it was just too perfect to pass up! I only spent $20 on it at Big Lots. I'm sure you could find one for less if you live up north and catch a summer clearance sale. I live in central Florida so gardening a year round thing so it's hard to find flower pots on sale at times.

Happy Halloween!

How to Make Halloween Skull Towers Part 1

2015-10-07T12:00:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted in a long time! I've been moving around a lot and sometimes my space is very limited which prevents me from crafting and baking/cooking or in the case of my last apartment, bug infested! Ick! So obviously I had to stop baking cakes/cake pops! I have once again moved but for the first time in 5-6 years I am living in a house. A large house, lol! I have more space than I know what to do with at the moment which means the craft and baking fairy idea has returned!

Halloween is my very favorite holiday. It's October so the weather a a bit cooler and my favorite color, orange, is in the stores in the form of fall leaves and pumpkins and my other favorite color, purple, is abundant as well. This year Halloween seems to have come and gone already in the stores. Lots of Christmas decor already out. I actually had a bit of a hard time finding decorations that I liked. Next year I'll know better and start hitting the stores in September for Halloween supplies!

I've broken this tutorial into two parts because you could make either a very large skull tower or a rather small skull tower. The construction and materials needed are essentially the same, just different sizes and amounts are needed. Part One of this tutorial will assemble a small skull tower. Part two a large skull tower.

For a small skull tower you will need:

4-5 small Styrofoam skulls (you can use plastic but you'll need a drill to make holes in them). I also say 4-5 because you'll have to decide how tall you want your tower or maybe your skulls are larger or smaller than mine!
a small black cauldron or a flowerpot painted black (or any other color you choose)
Floral foam
a long dowel rod
ribbon and/or tulle
Spanish moss
assorted fake flowers/foliage and creepy crawlers
brick/tile or some other medium to give your pot some weight
glue gun

I bought most of my supplies at my local dollar store. I did have to go to my local hardware store for the dowel rod and the craft store for the floral foam although sometimes the dollar stores do carry these items. The broken tile was just hanging around my house being lazy.

In your cauldron (or pot) place any material that your using to weigh down tower. You'll need to do this or it'll just tip over on you. Styrofoam and ribbon are very light. This doesn't have to weigh a ton but since mine were going to be outside exposed to the occasionally gusty wind I erred on the heavy side! Better too heavy than not heavy enough because once you have it assembled you cannot add more weight INSIDE of the bucket.

On top of my rubble I added some floral foam. this stuff is really easy to cut to shape of the pot. If you wanted to use canned foam to fill in the gaps (or even by itself) you could. I found working with floral foam easier (and less messy!).

Next, carefully!, use your dowel rod to poke through your Styrofoam skulls. Think about what angles and placement of skulls stacked on top of each other before placing holes*. Once you've poked your holes they're is no going back! As you can see I got a bit to aggressive with my hole poking. I was able to cover up any gapingly large holes with ribbon and creepy crawlers later on. So holes/tears are kind of fixable. Broken skulls not so much!

Please note: If you are planning on having an unadorned top skull do not poke that dowel rod completely through it's head! If you go this route plan in advance! You'll need to measure your dowel rod and cut it before affixing it into the floral foam so that the rod doesn't stick out above the skull tower.

*Note: The skulls I purchased have led lights in them. If you use the same be mindful of dowel rod placement!

Insert your dowel rod into the floral foam and affix with a little hot glue. Use more hot glue to affix Spanish moss around dowel rod to cover up the ugly green floral foam.

Start stacking your skulls. Once you have them placed how you want, use some hot glue to sturdy things up. You may want to leave a little gap between skulls to allow ribbon or tulle or even a strand of lights to wrapped around tower. Once skulls are placed and affixed securely you may need to trim away excess dowel rod. Use a good sharp pair of utility scissors, a small hand saw or if your lucky, a dremel tool to cut away excess rod. You want the rod to be flush to top skull.

To cover up where the dowel rod exits the top skull I glued a plastic spider. All hail the mighty glue gun!

You could also use flowers are some other bug or a bow even to cover that hole!

The next step is to use ribbon, tulle and artificial flowers to decorate your skulls and their container. This is the really fun part! I just made sure to use a little hot glue to make sure everything would stay in place. If you didn't use light up skulls you could eve string some lights around it like a Christmas tree!

In Part 2 I'll show you how to make a larger version which you can see at the top of this photo collage:

Influenster Review: Purina ONE® Cat Food

2015-06-25T10:21:00.000-04:00

I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience. All products were received free of charge from influentser and this post includes links to the webpages of products reviewed

Recently I received a complimentary bag of the chicken and turkey Purina ONE Smartblend dry cat food from @Influenster and @Purinacats for their #ONEswitch campaign. I also received a coupon for a free 3.5 bag of the product.

My kitty Pickles isn't a picky eater when it comes to kibble type food. All kibble is her favorite and she is only picky when it comes to eating wet food. It's gotta have gravy or she isn't touching it. She's a weird one. I did worry that switching to a new food might upset her tummy, so I slowly introduced the new food to her by usuing it as a treat and then mixing it in gradually into her current food. She is currently all switched over to the Purina One and no signs of upset tummy!

I'm not very picky when I pick out food for my kitty. Honestly they all seem very similar and it's a bit overwhelming to go to the store and see that massive wall of brightly colored cat food products. I don't read labels. I read price tags. If my kitty had any health issues that could be resolved with a better type of food I'd definitely pay more attention to the ingredients label. I do like the idea of my kitty eating healthier though and I'm happy to report that the Purina One food is certainly a step up from what she was eating.

The price for Purina One SmartBlend cat food is not high and comparable to what I'm usually buying. Miss Pickles likes eating the Purina One and my pocket book doesn't mind so I'm going to be sticking with this cat food for now.

I love my kitty and I really want her to stick around for a long time. If my kitty is happy with the Purina One than so am I! Not that we should always entertain our cat's notion happiness, especially when their idea of good eats are lizards, but it's hard to resist that kitty belly!

Smiley360 Product Review: ARM & HAMMER™ Truly Radiant™ Toothpaste and Toothbrush

2014-05-15T12:00:00.000-04:00

I'm a member of Smiley360.com, where I qualify to try brands for free in exchange for sharing my authentic feedback. This blog post contains affiliate links.

I recently I received one ARM &HAMMER™ Truly Radiant™ Toothpaste and Toothbrush from Smiley360 to try out and review.

I'm already a big fan of battery-powered toothbrushes and own a Crest Spinbrush that I use every night. (I'd use it in the morning but my hubby is asleep and don't want to waking him up using it...maybe it's not that loud but it sure sounds like it at 6 am and everything is dark and quiet!). My dentist recommended that I use some type of mechanical toothbrush because she says that it gets teeth cleaner especially behind the front teeth. My teeth certainly feel cleaner after using my Spinbrush so I have to agree with her. I'm a lazy tooth brusher so I need all the help I can get.

The Truly Radiant Spin Brush head differs slightly from my usual Spinbrush head. The bristles are a little bit longer in places and the bristle height vary in different places.

According to their website the ARM &HAMMER™ Truly Radiant™ Spinbrush Deep Clean Battery Toothbrush features:

Elongated all-access bristles

Dual-Action brush head

Special bristles designed to whiten teeth

Fraction of the cost of competitive rechargeable brushes

The website also claims that using this toothbrush can removes 100% more plaque and removes 5X more hard-to-reach plaque. I'm guessing you's need to visit your dental hygienist to get the real down low on that! If I could only get her to stop telling me to floss more I'd be happy.

I use whatever whitening toothpaste is on sale usually. I have no brand loyalty and like trying new toothpastes. The Truly Radiant™ toothpaste is great product in that it cleans my teeth so well that I feel like I just went to the dentist. Unfortunately,it is baking soda based so it tastes very salty and smells funny. It does have a little bit of a minty flavor added to it but it just isn't strong enough to overpower that salty taste. I did get use to how salty it was after a few uses so I will continue to use this product until the tube is empty.The paste itself is very runny and falls off my toothbrush and gets all over my counters and me. The whitening results were very noticeable to me (I drink a lot of Diet Coke) and I love how white my teeth are and how clean they feel!

According to the back of product's box, it only takes 5 days** to see the following results:

Whitens, strengthens and repairs tooth enamel

Unique formula combines pure ARM &HAMMER™ Baking Soda, Active Calcium, Fluoride and Peroxide

Clinically proven to beautify teeth

Restores gloss and luster

Removes stains better than the leading whitening toothpaste**

Overall I liked both products and will continue using them, especially the Spinbrush. I may not buy the toothpaste after it runs out. Depends on if it's on sale or if I have a coupon. It really does taste awful!

Bzz Campaign: Fiber One Protein Cereals

2014-02-04T12:00:00.000-05:00

Disclosure: I am a BzzAgent and received these products from BzzAgent.com for review at no cost to me. I receive no monetary compensation for my open and unbiased review.

I know I haven't been blogging in a while but I still want to share some products that I have received for free from Ganeral Mills and BzzAgent. I love being a BzzAgent and, really, the only reason I haven't been blogging is because I have no where to set a photo 'studio' to take good pictures. A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

I received two boxes of the new Fiber One Protein cereals. One of each flavor: Cranberry Almond and Maple Brown Sugar. One of my New Year resolutions was to eat healthier and lose some weight so this arrived at a very convenient time. Breakfast sets the stage for the rest of the day for me. If I eat a crappy meal, or nothing at all, for breakfast my whole day is shot eating wise.

My breakfast usually consists of a no sugar added or low sugar cereal like Cheerios or Raisin Bran, a piece of fruit (usually a banana), a boiled egg and sometimes some OJ. Occasionally I'll change it up by having a microwavable breakfast sandwich or an egg scramble but honestly I don't really have time for that because I hit the snooze button one to many times. Every. Morning. *sigh*

These new cereals from Fiber One really had me excited because with all that protein I figured I could ditch the boiled egg for once. I was right too. This cereal was very filling! It definitely kept me sated till lunch. I eat breakfast around 7:30am and eat lunch at noon and I usually wanting at least a snack of some sort around 11am on my usual breakfast routine.

Reading the nutrition info I was pleasantly surprised to see that it had 1 cup serving size. This is a huge serving of a very filling cereal! Then I noticed that beside the 1 cup was 55g in parentheses so I decided to weigh out my cereal. It ended up being quite a bit less than 1 cup but still a very filling amount. If your counting calories, like I am, I would always recommend WEIGHING your food. I would have been consuming quite a few more calories if I had just used my measuring cup!

The cranberry almond cereal is also uber sweet. There were very little cranberries or almonds in my box and my box of cereal had large clumps that were impossible to break up. This cereal would taste so much better if it wasn't so hard and so sweet. I will never buy this particular flavor of this cereal even with a very good cents off coupon!

Of both cereal flavors Maple Brown Sugar was the best. I really hate maple flavored things so I was surprised to find out that I liked this one better but that was because it has no maple flavor what so ever! When you open the box the maple smell is sickeningly overwhelming but pour it in a bowl and splash some milk over it and the smell dissipates and your left with sugary crunchy goodness. It's not overly sweet but also not that flavorful which is fine by me because I have a heard time stomaching any food for breakfast sometimes. This cereal is filling and stays crunchy in milk so I might purchase another box when I finish this one but probably not.

I guess my final review boils down to: this cereal is just okay. It is super filling but the flavor and texture are disappointing. I would find no enjoyment eating this cereal every morning. If I wasn't the only one who eats cereal in the morning in my household and I could get through a box fast I probably wouldn't mind so much. I do recommend buying a box and trying it out for yourself though because it's not that bad. I really like some of the other Fiber One cereals better but this one is just so filling not to ignore.

I did receive a few $1.00 off coupons. If anyone is interested in trying out this cereal too just let me know here or on my facebook page!

Welcome Home Pickles

2013-08-21T12:00:00.000-04:00

We finally got the majority of our unpacking completed. We still have to figure out where the piano is going and get the table dissembled and stored under our bed (they're both still in storage). I also have a stack of boxes in a corner that probably just need to stay there because I really have no place to put the stuff. It's just knick-knacks and odds and ends or holiday decor. My sewing machine and supplies are still boxed up too.

With everything pretty much squared away we decided to go get our cat. My co-worker's kitty got out and of course wound up preggo so she had two kittens she needed homes for. We originally planned on taking both of them but now we live in 500sq feet and I didn't feel we had room for two. Which made me sad.

We brought Pickles home last Tuesday and we were warned that she is quite vocal. She does meow/talk a lot but they are more like chirps and trills. She doesn't have a loud/annoying meow. Or at least it doesn't annoy me. My husband might disagree. I'm completely deaf in one ear so if I hear a lot of noise while sleeping I turn over and sleep on my good ear. She pretty much just wants attention or food when she is being noisy.

I like to think she is pretty happy. She is definitely my husband's cat though. I'm not at home as much as he is but she does hang out with me in the mornings when I'm getting ready for work, although I think she just waits for me to get done so she can lead me to her cat bowl. She doesn't like it when there is only a few pieces of kibble left. I usually change her water and add an ice cube to it too. She loves that ice cube!

With all the leftover boxes hanging around I decided to create a cat tower for her. I found the instructions on the Martha Stewart website and it was so easy to create. Our lil kitty loves that thing! I love it too because it was free. I'll probably add some paint to it later on when I finally find them. I also want to sew some cushy pillows for cat naps.

I look forward to coming home everyday and getting to see Pickles and snuggle up with her (when she is willing to oblige). She is so pretty and so soft she makes my heart go *squee*. She makes Peter happy too so of course that makes me even more happy.

Welcome Home Picklebarrel Kumquat Cherry-Chimi-Changa!

A Dream Deferred

2013-08-14T12:00:00.000-04:00

Just an update to let everyone know whats what and where I'm at...

As some of you know me and my husband recently embarked on a house buying journey. It's been full of ups and downs and ultimately was not successful. We were so close to owning a house that just seemed like it was meant for us. We had put an offer on it once and then had to withdraw our offer so when it came up again we jumped at the chance to try again. The whole subdivision was named after spices and the house itself had plenty of room to grow with us!

New Apartment: Living room

We were supposed to close on the 15th of this month so we put in our notice at the apartment complex because they required 60 days and 2 months rent. They told us that if things fall through just to let them know and retract the notice. Sounds good, right? And it would have been except that the title to the house took too long getting to our mortgage lender and he had to run a new credit check because it expired. Lesson learned: Don't use your credit card at all while searching for a home! My credit changed due to using it to purchase a home inspection which then maxed out my card and also because another bank checked my credit for home loan purposes. I still have an excellent credit score but something about the change triggered an error message with the computer system that decides weather you qualify for the loan or not. So our loan was denied, no reason given. Really! That's what it said: 'no reason given'. *sigh*

New Apartment: Living room/Kitchen

So of course we found out that, no, we can't stay in our apartment because they leased it out already. Let me tell you finding an apartment last minute is almost impossible. Every place we went had a waiting list till October! We finally found a place and moved in on the 30th of July. It's a 500 square feet 1 bedroom apartment. Not happy about that but at least it's a roof over our head. We had to live in a motel room for four nights. I have an aversion to sleeping at motels. Bedbugs. They scare me! We survived bug free thank goodness and we are all moved in and almost unpacked. I think we have a few unopened boxes to unpack and Peter's piano and a kitchen table in storage.

New Apartment: Bedroom/Closet

I'll have to post some before and after pics because storage has had to be creative. We are also getting a cat. My co-worker offered us two when we thought we were getting a house. Thankfully she has been very patient with us and is also alright with us only taking one off her hands instead of our committed two. Her name is Pickles and I can't wait to bring her home. I hope she loves us. Peter has been wanting a cat for ages but since we had a roommate we didn't want to bring an animal in to the mix.

New Apartment: Bedroom/Bathroom

So that's where I'm at. It's been a journey and a half. Thank god Peter's Momma came to help us move because we couldn't have done it by ourselves. Everyone says these things happen for a reason. I'm hoping that it's because we are supposed to win the lottery. I hear the jackpot for the next drawing is huge=)

BzzCampaign: Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2013-07-10T00:02:00.000-04:00

Disclosure: I am a BzzAgent and received these products from BzzAgent.com for review at no cost to me. I receive no monetary compensation for my open and unbiased review.

Hey everyone! Gotta another product from BzzAgent to try out and share. They sent me a small bottle of Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil, a magnet and some coupons to pass around. It was like they knew that I was trying to eat healthier (and that I had just run out of olive oil!).

If you head over to Filippo Berio's website you can even find a hand substitution chart that shows you how to sub olive oil for butter or margarine and recipes. I've always used olive oil when making bread and pizza dough but had no idea you could use it in a cake or other baked goods.

They have a large collection of really awesome recipes, I made some Italian Herb Bread Dipping Oil from their website and was surprised at how awesome just olive oil can taste with just a few herbs. It was addicting!

I would have shared more recipes but unfortunately I have almost used the entire bottle making dipping sauce and just cooking with it in general. I love just sauteing some chicken and veggies usuing olive oil. It so much lighter but still tastes as great as butter. I also used it to make a lot of bread because fresh bread rocks and I had to have bread to dip doncha know!

Eggo Recipe Contest Failures

2013-06-19T12:00:00.000-04:00

Since I'm pretty much broke all the time from trying to buy a house I've been entering contests and giveaways multiple times a day. I'm a bit addicted because so far I have won an XBOX 360 and some diet supplement (which I really need b/c being fat is depressing).

I also figured that I'm already cooking and baking all the time because we're broke and can't eat out and of course to have something to blog about that I should make it worth my while. I made up the following two two recipes for the Eggo Waffle Off contest. They didn't win and they were not even finalists but that doesn't mean that they should be shunned. I thought they were very yummy and so did my Husband and roommate who devoured them.

My first creation was a Monte Cristo sandwich made with Eggo Waffles (of course!). I made the whole box of waffles into sandwiches so when I wrote the recipe that's how many servings I made. Should have probably made it a one sandwich serving. Probably should have spelled Cristo right too. My facebook friends kept going eww! crisco?! Yep. Not good.

So here is that recipe if you wanna give it a try. My husband still asks me to make these for him so it's a good recipe. Not interested? Skip on to the next loser....

Eggo Waffle Monte Cristo Sandwiches

10 Eggo Homestyle Waffles, defrosted

30 slices deli sliced ham

30 slices deli sliced turkey

5 slices Swiss cheese

5 TBS Dijon mustard

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

2 TBS all-purpose flour

5 TBS unsalted butter

1/4 cup powdered sugar (optional)

5 TBS raspberry preserves (optional)

1.Defrost 10 Eggo Homestyle waffles by placing in microwave for 15 seconds.
2.Prepare batter by whisking together eggs, milk and flour. Pour batter into a shallow pan such as a pie pan.
3.For each sandwich spread 1 TBS Dijon mustard on one side of Eggo waffle, top with alternating slices of 3 slices turkey and 3 slices ham and then top with 1 slice Swiss cheese and another Eggo waffle to complete sandwich. Repeat with remaining ingredients to make a total of 5 sandwiches.
4.Dip each side of 1 sandwich into egg batter, saturating the waffles with the egg batter.
5.Melt 1 TBS of butter in non-stick frying pan over medium heat. When butter begins to bubble place

sandwich into pan. 6.Cook each sandwich 2 minutes (or until golden brown), flip and cook 2 more minutes (or until golden brown).
7.Repeat steps 5-6 with each sandwich.
8.Sprinkle each sandwich with powder sugar and serve with dollop of raspberry preserves.

This one is actually my favorite of the two. The picture just came out so pretty and the flavors are just so much more adult and sophisticated. I found the goat cheese at Aldi of all places. They have had a really good selection of cheeses lately. This sandwich would also be divine prepared with brie instead of the goat cheese. This one probably lost because it's just too fancy. Well, that's what I tell myself anyways.

Eggo Apple & Cheese Panini

2 Eggo Homestyle Waffles, thawed
1 TBS Olive Oil
1 tsp dried crushed rosemary
1/2 apple, cored and thinly sliced
1 oz honey goat cheese, crumbled

1. Defrost Eggo waffles in microwave set to 50% power for 30 seconds.
2. Combine olive oil and rosemary in small bowl.
3. Heat non-stick frying pan over medium heat.
4. Brush one side of waffle with olive oil mixture and place oiled side down in hot pan. Arrange apple slices and then cheese on waffle. Top with remaining waffle. Brush top of sandwich with olive oil mixture.
5. Press sandwich with spatula as it cooks. Flip when bottom is golden brown (about 1-2 minutes). Flip sandwich and repeat.
6. Sandwich can be cooked in panini press if you have one.

Makes 1 sandwich (1 serving).

Pink Lemonade Cake Donuts

2013-06-13T22:07:00.000-04:00

Oops! I'm a week late and missed National Doughnut Day but doughnuts deserve to be eaten everyday. Well, maybe not everyday, unless you happen to have an awesome metabolism or great will power because I don't know about you but I can never just stop at one!

National Doughnut Day may have inspired me to make some doughnuts but it was the poor neglected doughnut tin that I bought last year that prompted me to finally make some. I have quite a few odd shaped bake ware gifted to me that I just need to try out or condemn to Goodwill.

I also happened to have one or two pink lemonade cake mixes languishing in the cabinet that was purchased on clearance last summer. Is there really a difference between yellow and pink lemonade other than color? I'm pretty sure there isn't but I could swear that pink lemonade taste better. Why would pink taste better than yellow? My head hurts.

I think I avoided making cake donuts because I dreaded cleaning the damn pan afterwards. But you know what these babies just fell right out my pan (from Wilton). The pan is nonstick but I did spray it really good with cooking spray in between each batch too. Filling each cavity was a breeze too because I used a plastic zip bag as a piping bag. Glad I could just toss that thing in the trash when I was finished with it!

At the last minute I decided to add yellow food color to the glaze and sprinkle the cakes with colored sugar. Not sure if I like the color but they tasted great so who cares? My stomach sure didn't!

Feel free to use your favorite cake mix to make some doughnuts of your own. I bet chocolate would be super tasty. These don't come out dense like traditional cake doughnuts but light and fluffy like a cupcake. Best part? They're baked not fried! So maybe it's okay to eat more than one;)

I'll be linking this recipe to these great linky parties !

Pink Lemonade Cake Donuts

Ingredients:

FOR THE DONUTS:
2¾ cups Lemon Flavored Box Cake Mix (or use Pink Lemonade if you can find it!)
¾ cup Buttermilk
2 TBS Melted Butter
2 Eggs
pink food coloring (optional)

FOR THE GLAZE:
1 cup Powdered Sugar
3 TBS Whole Milk
1 tsp Lemon Extract (or Vanilla or Orange or Almond...etc.)

Directions:

1. Combine donut ingredients in stand mixer with paddle attachment (or combine in large bowl and combine with rubber spatula). Mix ingredients until all large lumps are gone. Little lumps are okay.

2. Transfer batter to a large freezer type zip bag. Cut off a small portion bags corner to make itinto a piping bag. Pipe donut batter into greased donut cake pan cavities until 2/3 full.

3. Bake donuts in preheated 425F Degree oven for 7-9 minutes or until toothpick inserted into a doughnut comes out clean. Allow donuts to cool in pan 2-3 minutes and then remove to wire rack to continue cooling.

4. While donuts are cooling prepare glaze by combining glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Stir until all lumps are gone.

5. Dunk each donut into glaze and place on wire rack glaze side up. If you want to add sprinkles do so immediately after dunking into glaze. Allow glaze to harden before serving or consume immediately for a delectable mess and an opportunity to lick fingers;)

White Chocolate Chip Strawberry Shortcakes

2013-05-22T12:00:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure why I haven't posted this recipe yet. I was going through photos and deleting and sorting and stumbled across these and went "Oh crap!". Yep, oops! But then again we are definitely into strawberry season so maybe this recipe was just waiting for the perfect debut to arrive.

My favorite strawberry recipe is definitely strawberry-rhubarb pie but strawberry shortcakes have a space in my heart as well. Usually my strawberry shortcakes involve buying those bright yellow sponge cakes strategically placed next to the berries in the produce section. You know the ones I speak off, right? They kind of taste like a Twinkie sans cream filling.

I feel kind of ashamed to admit that I really love those sponge cake receptacles. That being said I know I can do better. My grandma never used those things but would make her own little biscuits to serve the strawberry filling on. They always tasted amazing, especially right out of the oven, and were easy to prepare.

I'm not sure why I get so lazy and use those sponge cakes when these taste so yummy. I used my grandmother's recipe (actually found on the Bisquick container) and modified it to add some more flavor. Chocolate and chocolate chips anyone? Perfect combo if you ask me (or don't). Mmm, chocolate covered strawberries!

Kind of off topic but why the heck are strawberries almost the size of apples and so tasteless these days? I remember eating unripe strawberries in my grandma's front yard that had more flavor then these monster berries!

A lot of my berries in this batch were a bit under ripe too. Didn't know that until I opened the package those sneaky strawberry packers.

Nothing a little honey can't solve. I love using honey instead of sugar because it completely dissolves in the strawberry juices where as sugar sometimes stays a bit grainy. It also tastes better! We bought some local honey at the farmer's market and I swear I could just eat that stuff straight out of the bottle. Don't be surprised if you find me passed out under the table with an empty honey bear beside me. Hooray for sugar highs!

White Chocolate Chip Strawberry Shortcakes
slightly adapted from Betty-Crocker.com

4 cups sliced strawberries
3 tablespoons honey
2 cups baking mix (like Bisquick brand)

1/3

cup unsweetened baking cocoa

tablespoons sugar(divided)

2/3

cup milk

tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

1/3

cup white chocolate chip
whipped cream (I use Cool-Whip)

1. Heat oven to 425°F. In large bowl, mix strawberries and honey; set aside.

2. In medium bowl, stir baking mix, cocoa, milk, 3 tablespoons sugar and the butter until soft dough forms. On parchment lined cookie sheet, drop dough by 6 spoonfuls. Sprinkle dough with remaining sugar.

3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

4. Split warm shortcakes; fill and top with strawberries and whipped cream.

Out With the Girls (Abuelo's Mexican Resturant Review)

2013-04-24T12:00:00.000-04:00

Yes, I know I have been M.I.A. this past month but now I'm back. Maybe. I've been feeling pretty down in the dumps lately and just haven't been in the mood to bake or take photos. I'm still in the process of trying to find a house too and that has not been an easy or stress free adventure.

While my Mother-in-law was in town she wanted to go check out houses and see where we might want to end of living. We were supposed to look at a few properties but those plans fell through so we just drove around which was surprisingly helpful.

Before we set off on our journey I met up with mom-in-law,my sis-in-law and her daughter for lunch at Abuelo's Mexican Resturant at the Loop in Kissimmee. I've passed by it many times but since my hubby isn't a fan of Mexican food that doesn't come from Taco Bell, never had the opportunity to try it out.

The first thing I loved about this restaurant was the decor. I really hate going out to eat and then wishing I had brought a flashlight to read the menu. This place is so bright and airy and doesn't feel crowded. Of course we went for lunch but I have a feeling that at the height of dinner rush hour I would still feel comfortable and uncrowded. It really feels like your seated outside on the patio without having to worry about the heat and bugs.

There is so much to look at while you wait for your food. I don't know what this statue is all about but its gorgeous. The murals on the wall are pretty awesome too.

Our server brought us free chips and a trio of salsas to dip them in. The chips were nice and warm but could have used a touch of salt. We ate two baskets full! I didn't much care for the salsa but I don't care for salsa in general.

Here is my niece Claudia helping us polish off the chips. I love getting to hang out with my husband's family. Abuelo's seems pretty kid friendly. They gave out color crayons and a kid's menu coloring page and serve the kid drinks in a plastic cup with a tight fitting lid.

I picked my entree from the lunch menu. Everything is pretty affordable. I really had a hard time picking out what I wanted to eat because it all sounded so good!

It looks like my Mom-in-law chose the chicken fajitas. For some reason I thought the little pepper was the cutest thing I had ever seen. I took so many pictures of it. I'm completely ridiculous sometimes!

Lil' Claudia chose the cheese quesadilla with rice and beans. Looks pretty tasty to me. Anything covered in cheese usually is, right? She couldn't finish all her food so momma had to get a to go box. No skimpy servings here!

My meal consisted of pork soft tacos (Carnita Tacos), mashed potatoes, re-fried beans and some sort of onion cilantro topping. I'm so glad they served the onions on the side. I hate cilantro with a passion (and so does my husband!). It tastes like soap, ick!

My favorite part of the whole meal were these potatoes (Papas con Chile). I love potatoes anyways but these were taken to a whole other level. They are combined with 4 cheeses, peppers, sour cream, garlic and jalapeno. I was afraid that they would be uber spicy but they were perfectly seasoned and not spicy at all. Just down right delicious. I'd go back just for the potatoes!

Overall our experience at Abuelo's tells me that I will be returning even if I have to drag my husband into the lobby kicking and screaming. (J/K he isn't THAT picky). Our waitress was friendly, the atmosphere wonderful and the food excellent. It doesn't get batter than that.

Abuelo's Mexican Resturant

2431 West Osceola Pkwy.
Kissimmee, FL 34741
407.870.0901

Influenster: Sugar & Spice Vox Box

2013-04-17T12:00:00.000-04:00

*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience. All products were received free of charge from influentser and this post includes links to the webpages of products reviewed*

The beginning of this month was good one for me when I came home from work and saw this big orange box sitting in my mailbox. I was so excited to be selected to receive a Sugar'n Spice Voxbox from Influenster. I wonder what could be inside?

Wow! That's a lot of goodies for me to try out.

In this box I received a box Splenda nectresse packets, Dickenson's Witch Hazel oil controlling towelettes (and coupons to share!), Vaseline Spray and Go Moisturizer, a Colgate Optic White toothbrush, Colgate Optic White mouthwash, Colgate Optic White toothpaste and a sample of Belvita Breakfast Biscuits.

The first thing I tried were these belVita breakfast biscuits, which to be honest, I've eaten before. There nothing special and I would suggest pairing them with something more nutritious to make it a meal. I ate mine for breakfast with a boiled egg and piece of fruit. They are very cookie like but not too sweet. No sustained energy achieved for me but possibly healthier than eating a pop-tart at least.

So, Vaseline Spray and Go moisturizer? At first I was like way cool! But then, I thought about it and realized that I have never not had enough time to apply lotion or issues waiting for it to dry before putting on clothes. Maybe because I don't slop that stuff on like a maniac? This product is utterly ridiculous but fun to use...if you like getting lotion all over your floor and slipping on it later. I suggest spraying it on in the shower after you shut off the water and drying off. Contain that spray! This product does smell good and does a decent job moisturizing. If your really lazy then this lotion is for you.

Ever tried any of the Colgate Optic White products? I've been using the Optic White toothpaste with the Optic White toothbrush everyday since receiving them and I can't believe how white my teeth are! I wish I had taken a picture of my teeth before and after. Unfortunately, the Optic White mouthwash tastes very strongly of peroxide but I really do like the whitening results I get from using all 3 products so I just don't use the mouthwash very often!

These witch hazel towelettes by Dickinson's had to grow on me. The first time I used it I was turned off by the smell. My face smelled like a piece of wicker furniture! The smell did wear off quickly and the product did an excellent job cleaning my face and didn't leave it all dried out like using toner would have. I really like these and will be buying them in the future. I like keeping a couple in my gym bag for a quick face refresher after my workout.

I really love Splenda and was excited to give this a try. I thought it was just okay but it had a bit of an after taste that I never notice when I use Splenda. My husband loved this product and consumed the rest of the packets in his daily cup of hot tea. I just could not get over the mild aftertaste and could taste it even when mixed into my chocolate hot cereal. I will buy this for my husband so he can continue to use in his tea but I'm going to stick with my big yellow bag of Splenda!

So that's that on my first VoxBox. I had a lot of fun trying out these products and will buying a few of them in the future: the Colgate Optic White toothpaste and the Dickinson's towelettes for sure and the nectresse because my husband wants some more and since I like him, I guess I'll buy him some more;)

Pulled Pork Pies

2013-03-26T12:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a crazy day. My husband and I have decided to try and buy a house because we're tired of our rent in our rinky dink apartment going up every year. So yesterday, right after work, we went to check out a prospective house. We really wanted it to be the 'one' due to the fact that it's on a street called Heatherstone. My name is Heather and Peter's name means rock so what a coincidence!

Unfortunately, it just isn't meant to be so I bought these flowers instead. I was a bit bummed out and they cheered me up immensely. They don't have frames glued to walls, water damage and locks in odd places. The house had potential but I don't have the time of money to make it happen. I'm hoping another home will come up for sale in the same neighborhood. The one we we're really interested in on the same street had a ginormous lien on it. Good luck selling that one is all I have got say about that!

We'll that's what I have been up to lately. I never imagined that buying a home could be so time consuming. Thank goodness I have Peter, his parents and mine to pick for advice! It's definitely not like cooking and baking which come naturally to me.

I had to come up with this recipe because I made too much pulled pork. My husband assured me that their could never be too much meat, especially pulled pork and assured me that it would get eaten. Thank goodness I doubted him and cut that flippin' roast in half or we'd still be eating it!

Part of me wanted to make the pie crust from scratch but since most of me is lazy I nixed that idea. Besides, crescent roll doll is infinitely more superior (unless it involves strawberries and rhubarb).

The only sad thing about this recipe is that I am now out of pulled pork and will have to wait until I make too much again to eat these. Sadness. Good thing there is another pork roast in the freezer. Yay!

Pulled Pork Pies
by Heather Hutchinson @ Dietetic Sinners

For Pulled Pork:
1 lb pork roast
1 can rootbeer
1 12 oz bottle of BBQ sauce ( I prefer Sweet Baby Ray's but you could even make your own)
1 sweet onion, sliced

Combine all ingredients in your slow cooker. Cook on high 3-4 hours or low 5-6 hours or until pork is tender and shreds easily.

For Pies:
2 cups pulled pork from above recipe
2 cooked & diced Yukon Gold potatoes (pierce with fork all over and then microwave 4-5minutes or until slightly soft)
1/4 cup diced sweet onion
1 clove garlic, smashed and finely chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 can Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough
1 tbs butter, melted
1tsp SazónGoya Con Azafran seasoning

Saute pulled pork, potatoes, onion, and garlic in medium non stick pan. Cook until onion is tender and the pork and potatoes have browned.

Assemble pies by first unwrapping crescent rolls. Do not separate into triangles but into squares by pressing dotted lines together. You should now have 4 crescent squares. Assemble squares unto sheet pan spared with cooking spray.

Place 1/3 to 3/4 cup pork mixture onto one side of each square. Top pork with a couple tablespoons of the shredded cheese. Fold dough over pork mixture and use a fork to press/crimp edges together. Using a small paring knife to cut holes to vent.

Melt butter in small bowl and stirin Sazón seasoning. Brush mixture onto pies.

Bake pies in preheated 350°F degree oven for 12-15 minutes.

MegaCon 2013

2013-03-19T22:15:00.000-04:00

Sorry I haven't been around lately. I've had a major case of the blahs, family has been in town, I've been staying up way to late for my early work schedule and working on other projects. Mainly I was trying to finish up a costume I've been working on since February for my husband. At first it was going to be for our annual Valentine' s Day trip to Medieval Times until we decided to go to MegaCon instead. So then I figured I could finish it up for the Con but no bueno. I messed up and I have to pull some stitches out before I can finish up. Bummer, I ran out of time.

Thankfully I had made some costumes for Halloween 2011 that never got worn because we had no where to wear them. No Halloween parties for us that year! So we went to the Con as Nyan Cat and Tac Nayn this past Saturday. If you don't remember who Nyan Cat is, here is a refresher:

Tac Nayn is the opposite of Nyan Cat and his body is a waffle. They make a cute couples costume. I was afraid no one would remember who Nyan Cat was and some of the attendees didn't but a lot did. I was also afraid everyone would think my costume was lame but quite a few people asked to take my picture. Yay!

This was my first time attending a Con and I was very nervous. My husband and roommate went all 3 days. Thank goodness I opted for just Saturday. It was all very overwhelming, loud and crowded! My hubby did make my day by finding blogger Jen Yates from Epbot/Cakewrecks in her Lady Vadore costume. This is my second time getting to meet her! Last Thanksgiving time I attended a book signing for her book Wreck the Halls: CakeWrecks Gets Festive. Her costume is very detailed and very awesome.

Here are some of my favorite costumes from Saturday:

This my roommate posing with a pretty epic costume. I can't even imagine how much work went into this thing. Apparently this guy is dressed as a Warhammer 40k Space Marine...whatever that is...

The little girl in the carriage is all tuckered out. I got this picture on my way back to our car to get our lunch cooler and to get away from the crowd. This group was on their way out too. Wonder if they had to park out in the boondocks too. That was a trek and a half let me tell ya!

This is my husbands favorite. She is dressed as Kitiara from the Dragonlance book series. He showed me the cover of the book when we got home and it was dead on. Beautiful costume!

Kiki's Delivery Service is one of my favorite Myazaki movies. This couple is too cute. Can you spot the kitty Gigi?

I enjoyed my 1st Con and plan on going again next year. I'm already thinking about costumes and plan on getting started on that as soon as possible. I'm a procrastinator though so maybe not so soon=/

A Fair Evening

2013-02-21T12:00:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago I finally manged to convince my husband to take me to the fair. He tried to convince me to go by myself which wasn't happening. His first excuse was that he was sick, and he was, so I tried not to pester him too much. Unfortunately for him every morning while watching the news the advertised the hell out of this thing. Also, I was overdue for some fun and I love thrill rides. Poor hubby not so much. Splash Mountain at Walt Disney is his upper limit. He'll do Everest at Animal Kingdom with me but he's a shaky mess afterwards and he'll never ever do Hollywood Tower of Tower or Rock 'n Roller Coaster with me.

Immediately upon entering the fair I checked out all the rides to see which one would be the most fun. I chose this one above just because they were playing some Ace of Base and other 90s favs. I really wanted to ride the swings but they were closed due to the windiness. I wish I could have ridden all the rides but the tickets were pricey and we too late to buy arm bands. This ride goes upside down. Peter says I'm crazy, I say my hair was a crazy mess afterwards=P

Afterwards we played on the bumper cars, Peter's favorite. Then, despite the windy cold weather, we dared the ferris wheel. We were meat popsicles by the time we got off that thing! I took some neat pictures though and it was a great opportunity to snuggle.

I was amazed that we could see downtown Orlando from the ferris wheel. The sun was setting too and was gorgeous. I just wish it could have set a bit latter because I knew we would have to go due to the cold. On the plus side the lines were very short!

We warmed up with some funnel cake. I keep trying to make funnel cake but haven't had any success yet. *sigh* As predicted as soon as the sun set it got very cold. I would choose the coldest day of the week to go to the fair. We went into the expo area to finish our funnel cake and check out the 4H projects and art. I got to pet a guinea pig, yay!

We left around 7pm I think. I'm glad I got that out of my system but I really need to ride some roller coasters. It's warmed up a whole lot since that night too. Right now its 80 something. Figures. At least I got me some funnel cake. I haven't been to a County Fair in ages and it was fun to get out and do something.

Honey Nut Chicken

2013-02-19T12:00:00.000-05:00

This post started out as a Bzzagent review for Crunchy Nut cereal because usually when they send me free product and coupons to spread around they request a blog post. Not this time for some weird reason. Which sucks because I had already taken the photos and planned out this post. Oh well, why waste a good post right? And I did like the cereal and I did fins a way to legitimately eat this cereal for dinner (not that cereal is ever wrong for dinner!).

I took this picture to primarily show off the roses my hubby got me for Valentine's Day. Aren't they gorgeous? If I genuinely tried to eat breakfast on my porch I'd get eaten by lizards and then the ants would finish me off and quite possibly my plants would then take over and destroy the planet. Did I mention that those roses are just gorgeous!

Anyways, I came up with this recipe by going to get a bowl of cereal and getting teed off that someone had just left me crumbs (or practically). It's like leaving the milk jug in the fridge with just a sip remaining. Just not right! There was just enough cereal left to feel guilty about throwing it away but not guilty enough to attempt to eat the sugary mess. So I got out my rolling pin and pounded it down to make it even more crumby. I felt less teed off after that. Of course I then realized I didn't quite have enough crumbs to make my chicken so I sent my husband and roommate to the store for some more so that the vicious cycle can repeat itself.

I'm pretty sure most people have scene a variation of this recipe but using corn flakes instead of Crunchy Nut cereal. I have also made a version using Captain Crunch (with out the berries!). It's all good.

It's really simple too and involves no frying! I love friend chicken but hate the frying step. House smells like grease for days. All this requires is a little dippage into some flour, then into some egg and finally into the crumbs. Put into a really hot oven and make sure to spray the pan AND the chicken with some cooking spray before baking. Sometimes this makes my kitchen a bit smokey and my smoke alarm goes off but my smoke alarm is retarded and goes off even when I make toast in my toaster and when we're asleep at night. Did I mention I hate our smoke alarm? Don't worry we have the apartment complex people coming to take a look see since they are the ones who recently re-installed the suckers.

If you like this recipe I really recommend trying it out with some Captain Crunch cereal too. So good dipped in some honey mustard!

Honey Nut Chicken

1lb chicken strips or chicken breast cut into small pieces
2 cups crushed Kelloggs Crunchy Nut Golden Honey Nut Crunch Cereal
1 cup all purpose flour
1 egg
1 TBS water
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
non stick cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Place the crushed cereal in a shallow dish. In a bowl, combine the all purpose flour and the salt and pepper. In a another bowl, whisk egg with 1 tablespoon water

Working with one piece at a time, dip chicken into flour mixture and then into egg mixture. Coat pieces with with crushed cereal, pressing crumbs to help them adhere. Repeat with the remaining chicken.Transfer coated pieces to a rimmed baking sheet coated in nonstick spray. Arrange them so they don't touch each other if possible. Spray chicken pieces with nonstick spray.

Bake at 425° for 10 minutes. Flip chicken pieces over and continue baking for 8 minutes.

Reasons I Love My Husband

2013-02-14T12:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! In honor of mushy love I dedicate this post to my wonderful husband Peter, who makes sure to tell everyday that he loves me and that I am a wonderful person even when I don't want to hear it or I'm in a bad mood. Sweetie, here are:

1. You always remember which ear I am deaf in and move around to my good ear in every situation: walking together, eating at a resturant, always letting me drive. Oh. Wait. You let me drive because I'm a control freak and despite my road rage. Your awesome, you know that right?

2. Not only don’t you put up with my negative body image issues – you actively work to combat them. Your constantly telling me how beautiful I am and I hope you never stop because I'm not sure when (if I can) I'll stop comparing myself to Hollywood bombshells.

3. You buy me flowers every Valentine's Day and you don't mind when I randomly buy flowers for myself. You always pick out the prettiest bouquets, I wish I could keep them forever!

4. You like to play with my hair. I love your hands in my hair, it's so relaxing. Too bad you don't know how to french braid;)

5. You’ve turned me into someone who likes snuggling. I'll be honest. Before I met you I didn't like to be hugged or touched really but now I can't go without some daily snorgling. I especially like it when you purr like a cat because your silly like that.

6. You like to do geeky things with like eat at Medieval Times or going to Megacon. We play video games and board games together. I can say something random and you 'get it' (unless it's from Mean Girls because for some reason I can't get you to sit still and watch it).

7. You're totally scared of spiders but not snakes or lizards. Which is a good thing because as you know lizards belong outside and you're able to gently return them to their natural habitat when they are staring me down while I'm on the toilet or washing dishes. Sorry my screamy yelps frighten you, I don't like lizards out of context and no we can never have a pet snake.

8. I love that you miss me, even if I saw you a few hours ago. Our work schedules suck sometimes don't they?

9. You let me take pictures of our dinner, at home or at a restaurant. Sometimes you even help me out on my blog by writing a guest post, being my guinea pig or just holding the light source or camera.

10. You don't mind that I sleep with a purple stuffed rabbit named Mr. Bunny and when I can't find him in the middle of the night you find him for me. I love your penguin collection and you don't mind that I display them in our bathroom (because they're warm water penguins).

So in conclusion, I love you Mr. Penguin. Always and forever.

XOXOXO,

Heather

Meyer Lemon Pudding Cake

2013-02-12T12:00:00.000-05:00

I don't know if I've ever you told you this, but my husband is a weird one. He won't eat a orange or clementine (even the Cutie brand!) straight up but he'll sit there and cut open a Meyer lemon and suck on it. He believes we should always have lemons (and limes) just hanging around. Of course I'll buy some but more often then not they just end up wrinkled and old!

Meyer lemons,sugar (not pictured),all-purpose flour (not pictured),salt (not pictured) eggs,milk,butter

I do have to admit that I love buying citrus. It's so pretty! Bright yellows and orange. They smell delicious too, especially in the middle of winter. I can eat a whole bag of cutie clementines in one sitting! My tongue hates me and I get a horrible case of heartburn but I just can't stop eating them.

Sugar, flour and salt in one bowl and the yolks, milk, butter, lemon zest and juice in another

I originally intended to make a lemon creme brulee with these lemons. Peter has been begging me to make him some ever since I bought some ramekins. Unfortunately, my eggs were bad. I cracked them open, separated them and all seemed well. The I started stirring them up and OMG! worst smell ever! It smelled like rotting chicken. I've never had eggs go that bad on me, ever.

Add flour mixture to lemon mixture and stirr

I felt bad that my honey wouldn't get his creme brulees but I just wasn't up to all the egg separating again. Instead I found this Meyer Lemon Pudding Cake recipe on the back of my bag of Meyer lemons.

Beat egg whites with electric mixer until soft peaks form

Actually when I read the title of the recipe I missed the whole pudding part of it's description. A minor oversight I suppose but when your expecting a cake and you get pudding and a cake it's quite the surprise.

Gently fold in egg whites into batter

After the cake had come out of the oven a cooled off I was very surprised by how kind of runny it was in the middle and sort of freaked out. Two baking disasters in one day? Really?! So I take a look at my recipe again to trouble shoot and realize that everything is all right because it's a pudding cake and not a sponge cake like I first thought. Interesting.

Bake until puffed and golden

So being the adventurous eater that I am I force my husband to try it out first. He was a bit confused too but assured that I wasn't trying to poison him he took a bite and didn't die. The cake is very yummy. I would have liked it a bit more on the sour side but Meyer lemons are kind of on the sweeter side so that might not be very possible. If I make it again I'm going to add a wee bit less sugar.

Sprinkle with some powdered sugar and dig in!

If your interested in making this pudding cake yourself you can check out the recipe here. I didn't make any changes and made just as the direction on the back of my bag instructed me to.

Link to Recipe: Meyer Lemon Pudding Cake

Bzzagent Review: Nutrogena Hand Cream

2013-02-07T12:00:00.000-05:00

My latest BzzKit: Neutrogena Norwegian Formula hand cream. My kit was filled with one full size hand cream (unscented) and 6 mini/travel sized samples (original scent) to give out as samples. As always, being a BzzAgent means I get free samples, coupons etc as long as I spread the word and my opinion about the product and I get to share the samples and the coupons with others.

One 2 oz (full size) bottle of this cream provides around 200 uses because all you need is a pea sized amount. Nutrogena hand cream retails for around $4.99 a bottle and can help repair 7 signs of damage: dryness, chapping, splitting nails, dry cuticles, scaliness and roughness.

Sounds like a pretty good lotion to use daily and after a d.i.y manicure to me! I can't imagine paying someone to do my nails. It's so easy to do yourself! I would like to try that new gel nail stuff though. I love to wear color on my nails but it usually chips that day and looks so ugly and I hear that get stuff lasts about two weeks. True? I have no clue, if you do leave me a comment will ya.

Anyways, first step to an at home manicure: go get your stuff. Don't want to be digging through drawers and bags looking for cotton balls in the middle of getting your nails done. You'll need: cuticle cream (if you don't have a small bowl with some warm soapy water), non-acetone nail polish remover, cotton balls, nail file, cuticle pusher and some Nutrogena hand cream. Optional: clear nail polish ( I love OPI Nail Envy), cuticle oil, and a Sally Hansen nail white pencil.

Before removing your old polish or getting your hands wet, use an emery board or nail file, rounding the edges slightly. Always file in a single direction; if nails are thin or peel easily, angle the file so that it lies slightly under the nail.

Remove your old polish with a cotton ball dipped polish remover . After removing your old polish, wash your hands and give your nails a good scrubbing with a nail brush. Make sure you completely remove the remnants of your previous manicure.

Apply cuticle cream to each nail and rub in, if you don't have any prepare a bowl with warm water and dish soap. Soak your nails and cuticles for a couple minutes to soften them up.

Use a cuticle pusher or orange stick wrapped in cotton to remove cuticle overgrowth from the nail bed (pic #3); trim hangnails along the sides of the nail with a clipper. Never cut the cuticle! That's a good way to invite infection. Gross!

If you have some cuticle oil (pics #1&2) now would be a good time to apply it. If not, skip to the next step! Just make sure to wipe your nail down with some more polish remover so your polish sticks to the nail good.

This step is also optional but makes for a pretty manicure. Sally Hansen makes a nail whiting stick that you use under your nail to whiten the tips. You just dip it in a little water, wipe off the excess and Viola! instant french tips=)

After applying the whitening stick to each tip I then use some clear polish to set my manicure. Like I said before I really really love OPI Nail Envy. It really helps strengthen the nail.

Your final step is to rub in some Nutrogena hand cream (or something similar). I like lotioning up my hands before going to bed. This hand cream is very fab. It really does what it claims to do, my hands look awesome! It does feel oily at first but quickly rubs in and really is fragrance free. I also love that just a dab will do ya. In the winter I can really go through the lotion, lol!

So if your looking to try out a new lotion and want to see results I give Nutrogena hand cream two thumbs up=)

Disclosure: I am a BzzAgent and received these products from BzzAgent.com for review at no cost to me. I receive no monetary compensation for my open and unbiased review. All opinions are mine.

Strawberry Chocolate Cake Pop Hearts

2013-02-05T12:00:00.000-05:00

Valentine's Day is coming up. It used to be a day I really really hated. I remember being in High School and getting jealous of all the girls and boys who would get roses from their secret admirers and boy/girlfriends. The Student Council (or something) would sell them and usually do a love compatibility thingy. I always bought mine just see who it would pair me up with. It was amusing because I'm pretty sure a lot of the people taking the quiz would lie thus making your matches questionable.

I saw a facebook post, either from Duncan Hines or CandyQuick, stating that Frosting Creations flavor mixes could be used in chocolate melts without seizing up the product. Intrigued I immediately rushed to the store to pick up a couple flavors to test out in some Wilton candy melts.

I made some heart shaped chocolate cake balls to coat in my flavored chocolate. They were a pain in the butt. For some reason they just didn't want to stay on their sticks (because I stuck them too far in). Then after I got them coated and place in the holder, every single one toppled over. Hooray for chipped candy coating.

On a positive note: The candy melts didn't seize up and the coating tasted just like a strawberry candy. I can't wait to try out other flavors in my candy melts to use in my cake pop makery. What other cake and frosting creation flavors should I use? Chocolate covered strawberry was a no brainier so maybe some thing a bit less traditional next time.

Oh yeah...now that I'm married, I love Valentine's Day. Last year we went to Medieval Times and he bought me clearanced candy from Target the day after. He spoils me rotten (and not just on Valentine's Day!) which is 10xs better than a stupid fake fabric rose. Not that love should be about material things anyways but who doesn't like to be spoiled?

Also, I should let my husband start editing these posts. The original title: Starwberry Cape Pops. * le sigh*

Foodie Penpals: January 2013

2013-01-31T12:00:00.000-05:00

I saw this foodie penpal thing last year but I felt so overwhelmed with life in general I never signed up. This year I decided to give it a go and I'm so glad I did! It's amazing how just a package in the mail can make my day.

This month I received goodies from Bethany.

My box included:

2 boxes of Nips
1 Bag of Pop Chips
1 box of Tea
1 energy drink
1 box of Nature Made Granola Bars
1 3pk of portable Jiff Peanut Butter

The nips are pretty much gone. My hubby helped me gobble those up! The Pop Chips were fantastic. I'll be buying me some more soon. For some reason I'd never tried them before. Maybe because I knew if I did I'd be addicted to them? The rest is in my snack drawer for emergency, I'm starving feed me now moments. Which happens a lot. Unfortunately. At least peanut butter and crunchy granola bars are better than the crap in vending machine at work!

Thank you so much Bethany! I really enjoyed your package=)

Interested in becoming a Foodie Pen-pal? Then check out this info from Lindsey from The Lean Green Bean:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
-Foodie Penplas is open to US, Canadian & European residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa.

If you’re from the US or Canada and are in participating for November, please CLICK HERE (www.theleangreenbean.com/foodie-penpals/) to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

You must submit your information by February 4th as pairings will be emailed on February 5th!