Monthly Archives December 2010

Hamburger heaven

We do not eat a lot of meat at home. Thanks to the cost of kosher meat, we mainly eat vegetarian meals. When we go out, I do like to have a turkey or beef burger from time to time. On my birthday, my mother took me out to a local restaurant call The Standard. I had an absolutely amazing burger there. It was perfect in every way. Check it out (kosher keeping relatives – please look away):

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The mushrooms, provolone cheese, and grilled onion made my lunch. The fries were ok, but looked more pretty in the presentation.

Thursday TechyDad had a meeting, so I decided to take the boys to an early dinner. I had a coupon for Fuddruckers and Red Robin that were going to expire. Since it had been a long time, I opted to go to Red Robin. Here is what I had:

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The burger was similar to the one that I had a week ago, but it just did not live up to the masterpiece from The Standard. There was too much garlic taste. This time, the fries stole the show for me.

So this week, I have a meaty question for you:

Whether you eat a veggie, salmon, turkey, or beef burger – what toppings do you love to compliment it?

Please be sure to stop by and enter my Family Taco Night giveaway

TheAngelForever

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha Friday by Kailani at An<br<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />


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Island<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />


Life

Aloha #130

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Have Some Tacos Tonight – Giveaway

When I was growing up, it was always a treat to have tacos for dinner. For a while we would do this on Sundays. My mother would line the table with fun toppings, ground meat, and taco shells.

In our house, we make tacos from time to time. When we use real meat, it is often ground turkey. Typically we use burger crumbles that are soy based. If we do this, we can use real cheese for our kosher dining. With burger crumbles we can also experiment with other recipes that can be found on web sites like Betty Crocker that include meat and dairy.

old el pasoRecently we were asked by MyBlogSpark to try out some Old El Paso products for our family taco night. Since it seemed like a fun idea, we jumped at it. I have to apologize that I do not have any photos. Our trial happened during the time that both of our cameras were not working and the new ones were being shipped.

oep taco seasoning mixOur boys are not big taco fans. To be honest, JSL (3) is a VERY picky eater in general. When we make tacos, we can usually coax NHL into eating the meat and other items that we have, but not always together. TechyDad and I like to make Taco salads. We use the Old El Paso 40% less sodium seasoning with our meat of choice and add in black beans and corn. We put this mixture on top of a big plate of lettuce, toss on some low fat cheese, and then some salsa. A filling meal that satisfies our Mexican food cravings. One other perk with Old El Paso products is that they contain Box Tops For Education. So you can earn money for your child’s school while you feast.

To add to the fun of family taco night, you can visit El Tacodor, the world’s only family taco night game. With El Tacodor, you can share a special night at home by challenging one another to a quick fire trivia, wordplay, and pantomime. Head over to El Tacodor to download instructions, a score card, and a challenge sheet so you can begin your fun. You can also visit here to download a printable coupon for $0.60 off any two Old El Paso products.

Giveaway:

Thanks to MyBlogSpark and Old El Paso, one lucky winner will receive the following taco night pack like the complimentary one I received.

oep taco night_final

The Old El Paso taco night prize pack includes a packet of original Old El Paso Taco Seasoning, a Cactus Chip & Dip Serving dish, a set of 3 Fiesta Chili Pepper serving dishes and a $10 gift card to purchase your taco fixings.

Rules for Giveaway:

  • MAIN RULE – What is your favorite part of family taco night at your house?
    The following Bonus Entries may also be done. Please be sure to leave separate comments for each that you complete below to make sure you get the right number of entries.

  • 1 Bonus Entry – What is your favorite non-taco Mexican dish to make for your family?
  • 1 Bonus Entry – Tweet the following about the giveaway (May be done once a day):  Enter to #win a family taco night pack from @TheAngelForever and #MyBlogSpark http://bit.ly/fgxBBZ #Giveaway
  • 1 Bonus Entry – Subscribe to my RSS feed (or let me know if you already are) in a separate comment.
  • 1 Bonus Entry – Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway posts from the month of December. Leave a comment here to let me know which one. This Bonus entry may be done only twice per person.
  • 3 Bonus Entries – Add my blog button to your website and leave a link with the location. Be sure to give yourself 3 comments for credit.
  • 5 Bonus Entries – Write a post on your blog linking to my blog about the giveaway. Be sure to leave 5 comments about this to get credit for all of your extra entries.
    To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today December 16 and ends at 10:59 EST on December 28, 2010. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. residents only.

TheAngelForever

Disclosure: I wrote this review as part of a MyBlogSpark campaign for Old El Paso. My family received the complimentary taco night kit and another will be provided to a winner of the giveaway. All opinons are my own and no other compensation has been given.

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Tuesday Tales – Snow Bugs: A Wintery Pop-up Book

Tuesday Tales

Technically, it is not winter. Of course, the cold and snow over much of the United States would have many of us disagreeing with my first statement. It seems only fitting that today’s Tuesday Tales be about a winter theme book.

As a teacher, I love to gift books to children. Much to my delight, JSL received a wonderful new book from his speech therapist for Chanukah last week.

New book time

I have seen some of the other Bugs books before, but this one was new to us. Let me begin by saying that I love books that are unique and different. Anything that captures the interest of children is great. Then add in a twist, and you have the series of Bugs books by David A. Carter. To say that Carter take pop-up books to a new level would be a HUGE understatement.

More about Snow Bugs and David A Carter:

This next installment of the wildly popular Bugs series captures what everyone loves about chilly weather! From snowflakes and ski lifts to hot chocolate and snow angels, this new title is a perfect way to stay warm during the cold days of winter!
Paper-over-board book has cardstock pages with pop-ups on each spread.

David A Carter is a master paper engineer who created the Bugs series which has sold over 6 million copies for Little Simon . He is the author and illustrator of the critically acclaimed color series featuring One Red Dot, Blue 2, 600 Black Spots, Yellow Square, and White Noise. He lives in Auburn, California, with his wife and two daughters.

Snow Bugs: A Wintery Pop-up Book – Written by David A. Carter – Little Simon – October 2009 – ISBN-13 978-1416950547 – $11.99 – Ages 4-8

Some additional books in the Bugs series include: The 12 Bugs of Christmas, Jingle Bugs, Beach Bugs, Halloween Bugs, School Bugs, Birthday Bugs, Bed Bugs, Bedtime Bugs, and more.

What we thought:

Right after JSL opened up his package and revealed a “buggy” book (his words), he wanted to check it out. We were at Nana and Papa’s house, so he ran into the kitchen to sit at the table. He saw the pop-up items and wanted to sit where he could open the book better and check out all of the features.

Checking out Snow Bugs

After a little while of “reading” it on his own, JSL asked me to read the book to him. As I read, JSL took care of lifting flaps, turning items, or other surprises that were waiting inside. He loved checking each page to see what would happen next. There was no doubt in my mind that my three year old was actively engaged in the reading.

When we finished the story, I read it at least two more times before we had to pick up big brother. I like the repetitive nature that allows younger children to predict what they may find under items to explore within the book. The illustrations and paper art within are absolutely beautiful and amazing. My only caution is that this book should be looked at while supervised with younger children. We learned the hard way that a 3 and 7 year old can do damage to the delicate pages without meaning to. Oy!

So many extended craft projects could be done using this book. Children could create their own snow bugs, snow flakes, and more. I will definitely be using this book as inspiration for some projects over winter break.

I would highly recommend this book for kids to read during the winter months ahead. I know that JSL has already asked me to check out more “buggy” books since he enjoyed this one so much.

So what have you read recently? Please be sure to link up to your Tuesday Tales and/or leave a comment below. Include something you read on your own, with a child or someone else. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books. 

TheAngelForever

Disclosure: As mentioned, JSL received this book as a gift. The opinions expressed in the review are my own and were in no way influenced by anything. The widget within the review is an Amazon Affiliate where I will receive a percentage of money for the sale of the books should you opt to buy the book mentioned.

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My Keurig cure

Eeyore saves the dayJust before I met TechyDad, I gave up caffeine over the summer. As a college student, I had become overly dependent on Mt. Dew for breakfast and any other time of day. This constant influx of caffeine (and likely sugar) had caused my body to crave it and resulted in massive headaches. The week I stopped drinking caffeinated beverages was VERY difficult.

Once the caffeine was out of my system, my headaches stopped for many years. Over the last year or so, I noticed the headache pattern was returning. Mr. Migraine was back in full force! One of my doctors suggested some migraine medication, but I was not a fan. A prescription that I tried years ago literally made it so TechyDad was not sure if I was alive. It scared both of us. The doctor then suggested trying something like Excedrin Migraine. I was hesitant because of the caffeine content, but became a believer because it worked!

Ready to drinkSoon after that, I tried some coffee at my parent’s house. They had a nifty new Keurig machine and it intrigued me. I noticed that on days where I had a cup of coffee there, the headaches stayed away. Hmmmm….   Although I was not a fan of the caffeine, the small amount keeping away the larger pain seemed well worth the trade off.

There were days when I would run over to my parents house to visit their machine because I could feel the headache coming on. Most of the time, if I caught it quick enough, the coffee would work. TechyDad does not like coffee. We have a coffee machine that we have never opened. I secretly wished for my own Keurig machine, but could not see spending the money on something that would mainly be for me. Each time I heard about Keurig giveaways on blogs, I would enter.

Most of the time there would be hundreds of entries and I never once thought too much about it. Then last weekend I was looking in my spam e-mails. There was a message from Jennifer of The Dirty t Shirt. After reading the note, I ran to tell TechyDad. Yes, I won Jennifer’s Millstone Coffee and Folgers Gourmet Selections K-Cups and Keurig Single-Cup Brewer! Much to my surprise, a rather large box was waiting for me when I arrived home on Friday. Inside was the following:

My prize package

My parents joke that they will never see me again now that I have my own Keurig. I laugh at them and blame them for making me like the machine so much. I will say, I really enjoyed waking up and having a cup of coffee at home whenever I wanted it. Certainly made for a nice Sunday afternoon.

So, on this Monday morning I ask you, are you a coffee drinker? If you have a Keurig machine, I would love to know tips on places to purchase K-Cups.

TheAngelForever

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