Must Haves

OK...I'm jumping on the wagon.  :-)  My friends Nickie, Katie, and Kristi all posted Must Have Lists on their blogs.  We all have a few items that we can't live without, and it's definitely fun to take a peek at everyone's to find some new, fun things!  Here are a few of my faves...

~My Keurig.

This is the greatest thing that ever happened to me (in coffee land anyway)!  I was never quite awesome at the whole water to grounds ratio.  I could only really get it right if I made a whole pot, but I am pretty much a one or two cup girl so I was always wasting some.  And, who has time to brew a pot of coffee in the morning?!  My Keurig saved my mornings.  It is fabulous...I'll never go back to a regular coffee maker.

~Philosophy Amazing Grace...Anything!

This is my favorite, favorite, favorite scented item of all time.  It smells so clean and wonderful.  I use everything from the shampoo to lotion to perfume.  It's always on my Christmas or Birthday list, and if it's on sale I try very hard to stock up a bit.  Start with a sample to try it out for super super cheap.  You may never look at body wash the same way again!

~Johnson and Johnson Bedtime Lotion.

When I cheat on my Amazing Grace, it is only with Bedtime Lotion.  Maybe I let my imagination take over a bit, but I swear this stuff is truly soothing and relaxing.  It's also super gentle and non-irritating, and the smell is really pleasant without being perfumey.

~Pond's Dry Skin Moisturizing Cream

I have been using this since high school.  It's super gentle and has a cooling element too.  I have uber sensitive skin and some pretty raging seasonal allergies so my skin is always a little angry.  This has been my tried and true, go-to moisturizer forever and I don't anticipate ever switching.  Plus, my grandma used this too so it reminds me of her.  :-)

~And just for giggles...Chicken Poop Chapstick!

Santa left this in my stocking this year and it rocks!  No worries, there is not any actual chicken poop in this product!  It's all natural and made with avocado oil.  It is so smooth and smells wondeful...plus, it doesn't really have a taste or flavor, so I can drink my yummy cup of coffee from my Keurig without tasting mint.  :-)

Holy Yummy Town

I stumbled upon a fantabulous new website for yummy, healthy recipes.  It's called Skinny Taste and the lady who writes it follows Weight Watchers which is totally awesome for me because I don't have to sit around inputing recipes into the website to figure out points!  Yay!  A few nights ago we tried our first recipe from the site and it was so phenomenal that we'll definitely be trying more!

Here is the exact recipe from Skinny Taste:

Grilled Chicken with Spinach and Melted Mozzarella

 Servings: 6 • S Size: 1 cutlet, spinach, cheese • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 4 pts
Calories: 153.3 • Fat: 4.2 g • Protein: 24.5 g • Carb: 4.0 g • Fiber: 1.3 g • Sugar: .7 g

24 oz (3 large) chicken breasts sliced in half lengthwise to make 6 cutlets
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
10 oz frozen spinach, drained
3 oz shredded part skim mozzarella
1 roasted red pepper, sliced in strips
olive oil spray

Preheat oven to 400°. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Lightly spray a grill with oilor grill outside on a gas grill.

Cook chicken on the grill until no longer pink, careful not to overcook or you'll have dry chicken.

Meanwhile, heat a sauté pan on medium heat. Add oil and garlic, sauté a few seconds, add spinach, salt and pepper. Cook a few minutes until heated through.

When chicken is done, lay on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment for easy clean-up. Divide spinach evenly between the 6 pieces and place on top. Top each with half oz mozzarella, then slices of roasted pepper and bake until melted, about 6-8 minutes.

I roasted my own red pepper!  I was so proud of me!

Once the pepper was charred, I placed it in a covered bowl to cool.  The steam that is created will help make peeling the skin off the pepper much, much easier!!

Pepper after peeling.

Garlic and olive oil.

Spinach sauteed with garlic and olive oil.

Ready to go!

So yummy!!

I am super excited about the next skinnied down recipe...

Bangin' Good Shrimp - a skinny knock off of Bonefish Grill's Bang Bang Shrimp!  Yum!  :-)

Coupon Crazy!!

Well, it's 7:56 on my day off and I have already been to Starbucks, Harris Teeter, and been home to make breakfast and have another cup of coffee.  What on Earth would make me, a definite not-a-morning person, get up at the crack of dawn...again, on my day off...to venture out?  Triple coupon days at Harris Teeter! 

So, I've been clipping coupons and shopping the Triple Coupon and Super Double Coupon days at HT for a few years now.  I definitely always save money...not a gazillion dollars like those crazy folks on that new Extreme Couponing show...but I always consider saving about as much as I spend a good deal.  With that said, when I heard it was Triple Coupon week I thought I might do a little more research to see if I could save any more money.  I've been following the blog Southern Savers for a few years now.  The lady who writes it always has the best tips and secrets to give out!  I don't know where she gets all of her info, but I'm happy she has her ways!  For instance, she knows about deals like the Triple Coupons weeks in advance!  Then, she puts together a few lists of items you can get for super cheap or even FREE!  So, I spent a few hours reading her blog, going through my clipped coupons, printing a few others.  I got up at 5:30 because everytime I try to use coupons there are inevitably always items that are sold out by the time I get there and everything I've read has said that you should be ready to check out at 7 am to get all the deals.  Well, I was the first person there.  :-)  But, I did get pretty much all of the deals I wanted!  Here's the rundown:

-Multi Grain Cheerios
-Mahatma Rice (1 lb)
-Hormel Compleats Meal Lasagna
-French's Spicy Brown Mustard
-French's Worchestershire Sauce
-Frank's Red Hot Sauce
-Franks's Sweet Chili Sauce
-French's Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce
-Zatarain's Jambalaya Mix
-Zatarain's Red Beans & Rice Mix
-Biltmore Soy Ginger Marinade
-Barilla Elbows
-Barilla Mushroom and Garlic Marinara
-Colgate Whitening Toothpaste
-Oral-B Satin Dental Floss
-Pillsbury Toaster Strudels (2)
-Eggo Fiber Plus Chocolate Chip Waffles
-Totino's Pepperoni Pizza Rolls (2)
-Heluva Good French Onion Dip
-Athenos Blueberry Greek Yogurt (2)
-Coffe Mate Fat Free Vanilla Creamer
-Coffee Mare Far Free Hazelnut Creamer
-Ball Park Light Beef Hot Dogs

Total Price of items before coupons and VIC card values was $77.94....
Price after deductions was.....Drumroll please...

$18.14


That is a savings of 76.7%!!  I was pretty excited about it!  Was it worth getting up at the crack of dawn?  Probably.  :-)  I'll definitely be back next time....maybe just a half hour or so later.

Happy Wednesday Y'all!

Nesting

Much to our delight...a mama cardinal has built her nest right outside our kitchen window!  We didn't know what she was at first because she's brown.  Who knew female cardinals weren't red?!  So, we think she's lovely and are delighted she chose our tree to hatch her babies in.  We've told Buddy that she's our special friend and that we have to take good care of her, look out for her, and keep her safe.  I think he totally gets
it.  :-)

Mommies

Just a quick note to say Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there.  A special Happy Mother's Day to my mom, my stepmom, Barrett's mom, and Barrett's stepmom.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being so amazing.  We are incredibly lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives and count our blessings daily.

Also, Happy Day to all of my new mommy and soon-to-be mommy friends.  You are all such special people and your little nuggets are all super lucky to have you in their lives.

Here's a special picture of my baby...he feels pretty.  :-)

Babies and Horses

That about sums up last weekend.  :-)

Saturday, Barrett and I went with some friends out to the Queen's Cup at Steeplechase.  We went last year and had a blast so we jumped at the opportunity to go again!  There were about 12 of us who rented a big van a got a couple of parking spaces in the infield.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day and we had a really nice time.  :-)

The most important part of the day...the hat! :-)

Sunday was my great friend (and big sister) Anna's baby shower.  Anna is having a sweet baby boy in August.  The shower was really lovely and no detail was spared. Anna and Colson got some really great gifts and to quote the mommy-to-be, all of her favorite people were in one place.  :-)  Congratulation Anna & Travis!  We can't wait to meet Colson.

All the girls and the mommy-to-be

The onesie I made for Colson.  :-)

Sunday was also our nephew Landon's 3rd Birthday!  I can't believe he's three already!  Wow...time definitely flies.  We were super sad that we couldn't go to his birthday party.  A four hour drive on a Sunday afternoon is really tough for us!  But, we know he had a wonderful birthday and we're looking forward to having some extra fun with him the next time we visit.