A good nights sleep!

So Influenster sent me the ZzzQuil box. When I got my email saying that I would be getting this box in the mail I jumped for joy. I have tried many sleep aids that have not really worked out so I was willing to try something else out. The box states that I should be asleep within 20 minutes or less. It's non habit forming and that you will wake up refreshed because you slept soundly. How much better can it get? I first made sure that I took it early enough so I can get at least 8 hours of sleep in. Luckily for me my Mother in law was visiting at the time so I felt better about taking a new sleep aid just in case I woke up groggy, irritable or slept in. For me it did take more than the 20min to fall asleep but it's better than the 4-5 that it usually takes. I felt like I did get a good nights sleep with no negative side effects. Yay! So now I plan on purchasing a box next time I'm at the store.

New Keurig

The 1st thing I do when I wake up every morning is check my email. So last month I opened an email from Influenster saying that I had been chosen to get a the new 2.0 Keurig to review! I was so happy & excited since I love my current Keurig. I finally received my box & a few days later I got another notice saying that I would be getting a Thermal K-Carafe & Carousel to store my k-cups & Carafe Beverages. I personally love this coffee maker & so does my 13 yr old son who makes himself some hot chocolate every morning before walking to school. My mother-in-law was looking for a new coffee maker & I immediately told her how amazing the Keurig 2.0 is & that she needs to go buy one asap! The best thing about the coffee maker is that I don't have to measure/guess on how to make coffee. I always seem to mess it up. My husband & I were not big coffee drinkers before the Keurig. I would stop at my local Starbucks to get my coffee fix about 1-2 times a week & my husband would get his coffee fix from his work. A lot of the coffee we bought almost always went stale & we would have to throw out and we went through 3 coffee makers in about five yrs. I love that we can make a cup or a pot for us. It been saving us money by not having to throw out a pot of coffee that has been sitting there in the coffee pot all after-noon & by getting a fresh k-cup every time. I have never had an issue of having a k-cup not work in my 2.0. I have seen lots of selection at my local supermarkets for the k-cups & Carafe. My favorite is the Starbucks Holiday Blend but its only seasonal. I was so excited when I found one of my favorite beverages from Starbucks at the supermarket! The Cinnamon Dolce Latte is what I've been brewing everyday & it taste so much better when I make it at home, I add some sweet cream creamer, a bit of sugar & top it off with some whip cream & sprinkle some cinnamon powder on top. My husband is more into stronger coffee & prefers it black so he gets his own box of k-cups. I couldn't be happier to have this coffee brewer.

Huge Box that it came in

Thermal Carafe & Carousel

Super Easy Breakfast for Dinner Meal

I'm still raiding my pantry for dinner ideas. My hubby made pancakes for dinner yesterday. I've been craving some huevo con chorizo burritos for the past week and since I have lots of potatoes I decided to make a casserole out those ingredients. While waiting for everything to come together in the oven I saw that there was a bag of masa harina from the time my mom visited & decided to make some corn gorditas & stuff them with my chorizo mixture. The result was so good I will continue making this on a regular basis.

Easy basic ingredients. I cut and sautéed the potatoes added some adobo, sazon and garlic powder. After the potatoes were done I browned the Chorizo in the same pan. I took out my glass casserole dish added the potatoes, then the cooked chorizo mixture which I had seasoned with a little bit of cumin and oregano. I scrambled ten eggs with a little bit of milk then poured the eggs on top of the potatoes and chorizo. It all went in the oven at 350 degrees until the eggs were cooked, I did mix towards the end. I would have added some cheese to get that oozy goodness from melted cheese but since this a pantry raid meal I didn't have any on hand.

I took it out of the oven once the egg was cooked thoroughly. While everything was baking I made the gorditas out of the 2 cups of masa harina, about 2 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mixed everything by hand & was able to make ten medium sized balls. I heated up a small pot with some oil pressed the balls into patties and dropped them into the hot oil. When the patties were golden I tok them out and drained them on paper towels let them cool slightly then used a small knife to make a small slit so I can stuff them with my mixture.

These were delicious!! The only changes I will make next time is to add some cheese to the casserole and add some green tomatillo salsa.

Pantry Raid

I seriously need to go grocery shopping. With Labor day weekend, Family outings, & BBQ's I have been avoiding doing a big grocery run. I have been picking up little things here & there by going every few days. I finally sat down made my meal plan & got started on my grocery list. I soon realized that pay day is in a few days & I prefer to plan my meals from paycheck to pay check if that makes any sense. So I decided to wait it out a few more days & use up stuff I already have. This is what I came up with.... drum roll Spaghetti with Sweet Sausage! Yummy!! I forgot to take a picture of it on the actual plate. We ate it before I got chance to picture it. Hubby came home that day extra hungry!! The first thing I noticed when I opened the fridge was that I a had a new package of Jhonsonville Sweet Sausage that we didn't use when we grilled the previous weekend. I took it out & opened my cabinets & had one pack of spaghetti & one jar of sauce left! Perfect! I also noticed a long forgotten lonely tomato in my veggie storage. I forgot to take a picture of the sausage in the pack.

First thing I did was brown the sausage in the pan

Meanwhile I seasoned my water to boil my spaghetti.

After I browned the sausage I took it out, in went the chopped tomato I added some Mrs. Dash Italian seasoning to the tomato. It smelled amazing as everything was sautéing. While the tomato was sautéing I sliced the sausage, the middle was still pink but that was ok since I knew it would finish cooking once we throw everything together to simmer. once the tomatoes were done I put the sausage back in, threw in the sauce simmered it while I drained the pasta, I did reserve some of the pasta water to put in the sauce mixture. Once I was done simmering I mixed the spaghetti in & used tongs to make sure everything was distributed added cheese & it was done!

It was so easy & fast to make & everyone loved it! They all got seconds and my hubby had it as a late night snack & still had some leftover for his lunch the next day!

Influenster T.L.C. Vox Box

I received another Influenster VoxBox in the mail!! I was pretty excited, I love getting stuff in the mail! The theme of this box was T.L.C. Mom's Specialty: Tender, Lovin', Care. I was most excited about trying out the Breyers Gelato. They sent a coupon for a free Breyers Gelato, unfortunately the two times I've gone to Target the Breyers Gelato Shelf has been empty. The second thing in the box was a pack of Puffs tissue to go, & I love them!! They are the softest strongest tissues I have used. The third thing in the Box was this Neosporin Neo To GO which is a pretty cool small container of Neosporin in a spray form, so all you have to do is throw in your bag & have it ready at the park or whenever the kids get a scrape. The fourth thing in there was a bar of Ivory soap. I have used this soap before & I have liked it, the cool thing is that the packaging was pretty cool, it was in a blue & white retro packaging. The fifth thing in the box was a compact. When I opened it it was The New Avon Anew Reversalist Express Wrinkle Smoother. This reminded me of something very similar that I already have from MAC Cosmetics its called Prep & Prime Skin Smoother. Its this creamy almost emollient type of product that you smooth onto your skin & its suppose to fill in wrinkles & lines, almost like what a primer target for pores does, I don't really see a difference on fill in in lines but it does make my skin smoother. The last thing in the box was a Shell Rewards Card, I already have one since I got it in my last box. With this card you earn points every time you fill up your car at the gas station, you can redeem it for rewards, you link your debit or credit card & also earn points when you use it at other places. You also get three cents off when you fill up your car. Overall I'm pretty happy with this box.

Reset day 2. Today was a busy day, it started to snow yesterday evening so this morning we woke up to a beautiful winter day, the kids were ready to go out & play. Hubby made breakfast for the kids & I made our smoothies, mine was Pink smoothie #1 & his was another type of smoothie with kale, banana, & more protein. I took a quick shower while hubby took the kids out. After playing in the snow for a while we headed out to watch the Lego Movie, the kids loved it, it was a pretty packed movie theatre despite the snowed & icy roads. I had the ultimate test one of my weaknesses is movie theatre snacks, my usual is popcorn topped with jalapeños & package of peanut M&M's which then I dip all that into some nacho cheese yes I know it sounds gross but I love it! I always get a side of Cherry Coke & when we lived in Hawaii I would order these fresh roasted macadamia nuts, another thing about the Hawaii movie theatre we would go to they actually carried a bowl of fresh fruit which I never ordered because hello why would I order fruit when I can have popcorn cheese & candy!!! Well now I know why!! lol it's so I wouldn't have ate prob over 1,000 calories in that one sitting, oh well back to todays experience, as hubby went into the theatre to sit the kids down I stood in line waiting to order the kids snacks, I had a mental argument about ordering something for me, & my healthy eating self ordered a water bottle for me! yay I was soo happy. I didn't even sneak in a handful of popcorn from my kids snack pack during the movie. After the movie we decided to go out to eat since we were all so hungry, we went to a steak house skipped the appetizer ordered a side salad, steak, & veggies! Dinner was stir fry veggies with some shrimp, I drank lots of water today especially since the movie theatre water bottle I bought me was $5.50 so I made sure to drink all of it, I could have bought a small popcorn for that price! Here are some pictures of todays snow day!

Yesterday was my 1st day on Pink Reset. Reset is a phase where you basically "detox" but with whole food, nothing processed or packaged. It was actually a pretty good day until night time when all my cravings became almost unbearable, so I went to bed. Going to bed early & getting a good nights sleep which I haven't gotten in a very long time was very nice. I had my pink smoothie in the AM snacked on some cucumber with lemon juice squeezed over it & cayenne pepper sprinkled on top, lunch was tuna fish mixed with chopped sweet baby peppers, salt, pepper, a bit of greek yogurt & avocado wrapped in romaine lettuce, I squeezed some more lemon juice over my "fish tacos" as I called them, for dinner I made lentils with chicken breast, carrots, celery & tomato. I drank tons of water as well.

Pink smoothie #1

my snack, I was actually sitting on the couch with a blanket watching a movie with my hubby, I needed something crunchy to snack on & these cucumbers were perfect.

I had 3 of these of these wraps but ate 2 of them before I could snap another picture.

Lentil soup I made for dinner, hubby couldnt get enough!! He loved it!!