Friday, May 27, 2011

30 Days of Photos: Day 23

Way behind on these but here goes..

30 Days of Photos, Day 24. A picture of something you wish you could change



Beren has been estranged from his girls since last summer, and it absolutely breaks my heart. I can't imagine going a couple of days without speaking to my girls, much less a year! I hope & pray that something will happen to cause a reconciliation...soon.

Footnote:
Let me clarify: this situation is not Beren's decision, it is the girls'. It was a long-time coming and something he fought against, but he finally let them have their way. They do communicate on birthdays & holidays, but that's it. For now. Again, I'm hoping things change in the near future but the proverbial ball is in their court.

Still to Come...

25. A picture of your day

26. A picture of something that means a lot to you

27. A picture of yourself and a family member

28. A picture of something your afraid of

29. A picture that can always make you smile

30. A picture of someone you miss

Deal of the Day: Food Lion



We don't have any more Food Lion stores at home so when we come up to Ormond Beach, I check out the sales.

Yesterday Beren and I stopped by our local store after Happy Hour ($5.00 martinis!)
and I scored some great deals:

Food Lion:

2 Breyers Ice Cream (BOGO)
3 Freschetta frozen pizzas
3 Birds Eye Steam Fresh vegetables
1 package Lenders Bagels
2 tubs Country Crock spread (BOGO)
2 bottles Heinz Ketchup (BOGO)
2 packages Kings Hawaiian sandwich buns
4 bottles Sweet Baby Ray’s bbq sauce (BOGO)
6 packages Knorr Side Dishes
2 jars Heinz Homestyle gravy
1 package Jet-Puffed marshmallows
1 box Honey Maid grahams
1 6-pack Hershey’s Milk chocolate bars (can you tell we're making S'mores?)
2 bags Lays potato chips (BOGO)
4 Banana Boat products (BOGO)
1 jar Pace Picante Sauce
1 can store-brand stewed tomatoes
2 boxes Steak-Umm beef patties (BOGO)
1 package fresh organ meats (for Loki)
1 dozen eggs
1 container store-brand cream cheese
1 24-pack Coors Light
1 12-pack Bud Light w/Lime
1 large bottle of Woodbridge Chardonnay




Amount saved with coupons: $83.40. Amount saved with MVP card: $63.90. Total spent after discounts: $117.13.

Yippee! Along with what I bought at Publix and Winn Dixie earlier in the week, I'm now fully stocked for the long weekend.

Hope everyone's having a great day so far; TGIF!

Rapunzel~

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Deal of the Day!


I've always clipped coupons & shopped the sales, but lately I've become http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifven more serious about saving & stocking up. To the amusement of my family, my stockpile is growing and I'm loving it! When Kali & Jesus come over for dinner, I hand them bags and encourage them to "shop" from my pantry; in this way I feel like I'm helping them in a small way, making sure they have plenty of food on the table. *grin* It's a Mom thing!http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Anyway, I just have to share the deal I got at Publix this morning. Thanks to coupons from Kraft, Boca, Suave & Lipton along with store sales & coupons and some competitors coupons, I got all of this for $6.40! That's a savings of $51.83!



I want to mention a fabulous blogger who's recently inspired me in my quest to save dollars, Kimberly the Savvy Coupon Lady is the best! Since she's a Florida gal, she shares my dismay at the Sunshine State's "no double coupon" deals but still manages to save a ton of money while sharing her secrets with her many followers. Thank you, Kimberly!

Off to do some more coupon clipping, have a wonderful day!

xoxooxox

Rapunzel~

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Sun-Day!



Hello, there! How's everyone's weekend so far? Beren and I have had a wonderful couple of days, good balance of work and play.

As I mentioned, Friday night we went to a local biker bar to celebrate their 36th Anniversary. We had a few drinks, did some people-watching, and enjoyed listening to the band.








Yesterday we met some friends at a restaurant/bar so that Beren could get his weekly dose of pool-playing; the man isn't happy if he's away from the table for too long! Last night we hung out at home, relaxing in the hot tub...ahhh....

Today we worked off some calories in the garden, I made sure to be right there supervising My Man while he was trimming the trees as he can get quite carried away with those power tools!



I've been doing quite a bit of cooking this weekend, both for myself and others. A workmate is going through a tough time, her 5 month old baby had open-heart surgery this week, so the women in the office did what women do when there's trouble. We cooked for her!

I made her some lasagna...



and cupcakes...



added a bagged salad kit and a loaf of bread, and delivered it to her door last evening. She was so appreciative, sent me a message on Facebook saying it was so good, they had it again for lunch today. For a girl who hates leftovers, this is high praise indeed!

Because there was no way I was gonna dip my fork into that delicious-but-fat-filled dish, I put together a lighter version for myself and my family today.

This is an old Weight Watcher recipe that I made years ago but hadn't saved, so happy that Gina posted it on her awesome website!

I had some baby portobella mushrooms on hand so I tossed them into the food processor and added them to the cheese/spinach mixture for more "meaty" taste and substance. I can't wait to dig into this tonight!



Spinach Lasagna Rolls
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 9 • Serving Size: 1 roll • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 6 ww pts
Calories: 224.9 • Fat: 5.1 g • Fiber: 3.4 g • Protein: 13.0 g • Carbs: 31.5

9 lasagna noodles, cooked
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained
15 oz fat free ricotta cheese (I like Polly-o)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
salt and fresh pepper
32 oz tomato sauce
9 tbsp (about 3 oz) part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Ladle about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.

Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry. Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over noodle. Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.

Ladle sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tbsp mozzarella cheese. Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheese melts. Makes 9 rolls.

To serve, ladle a little sauce on the plate and top with lasagna roll.


Well, now that dinner's prepared and ready to pop into the oven later, I'm going to don my bathing suit and head out to the pool. It's a hot, sunny day here in the Sunshine State!

Have a Beauty-Full Day,

Rapunzel~

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mothers Day









We miss you, Mom...Much Love,

Your Girls

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Sunday, April 10, 2011

30 Days of Photos: Day 22

30 Days of Photos, 23: A picture of your favorite book

This one was ridiculously hard. An avid reader, it's nearly impossible to choose just one favorite from the thousands I've read over the years, but here's one that made a huge impact on my adult life:



Still to Come...

24. A picture of something you wish you could change

25. A picture of your day

26. A picture of something that means a lot to you

27. A picture of yourself and a family member

28. A picture of something your afraid of

29. A picture that can always make you smile

30. A picture of someone you miss

Monday, March 7, 2011

30 Days of Photos: Day 22

30 Days of Photos, Day 22: A picture of something you wish you were better at




No matter how hard I try, I can't dance well and am so envious of those who can!


Still to Come...

23. A picture of your favorite book

24. A picture of something you wish you could change

25. A picture of your day

26. A picture of something that means a lot to you

27. A picture of yourself and a family member

28. A picture of something your afraid of

29. A picture that can always make you smile

30. A picture of someone you miss

Monday Menu Planning



Whew..it's been a long time since I posted a menu plan, or seriously even made one! It's busy season at work, though, and I really need to be as organized as possible. Though I'm still eating primarily Jenny Cuisine, the rest of my family isn't. With busy work & school schedules, my girls don't eat home as often as I'd like but perhaps I can coax them into sitting around the table a couple of times this week.

Meatless Monday: Spicy Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup
Take-Out Tuesday: Pizza Night
Wok-y Wednesday: Shrimp Stir Fry
Thrifty Thursday: Pasta with "Secret" Sauce
Fishy Friday: Mahi with Kiwi Salsa
Social Saturday: Leftovers or out to eat
Slow Mo Sunday: Slow Cooker London Broil

Hope everyone's week is off to a great start so far!

xoxoxo

Sunday, March 6, 2011

30 Days of Photos: Day 21

30 Days of Photos, Day 21: A picture of something you wish you could forget.



Some of our family's darkest days were spent here


Still to Come...

22. A picture of something you wish you were better at

23. A picture of your favorite book

24. A picture of something you wish you could change

25. A picture of your day

26. A picture of something that means a lot to you

27. A picture of yourself and a family member

28. A picture of something your afraid of

29. A picture that can always make you smile

30. A picture of someone you miss