Review: Walmart Beauty Box- June

The Walmart Beauty box is a subscription box that comes out 4 times a year. You sign up for it and it comes automatically every 3 months. These boxes are jut $5 each and shipping is free. 

There were quite a few samples in this box. 

Here's what was in this month's Walmart Beauty Box. 

Roc Multi Correxion 5 in 1 Chest, Neck and Face Cream

2 samples of Dove Cool Essentials Deodorant

Ponds Make Up Remover Towelettes

Dove Dry Shampoo

Pantene Shampoo

Pantene Conditioner

That's quite a few samples for just $5. I'm very happy with this box and so far I've liked everything that I've tried. I think this box was well worth the $5 I spent on it. I love getting all these sample size bottles of products that I can try before I buy a full size bottle. If you haven't signed up for the Walmart Beauty Box yet and you like what you see in this box, sign up.

And if you have or are expecting a baby, Walmart now has a Baby Box that you can sign up for.

I was happy to see the Dove dry shampoo because I had received another bottle of it in another beauty box and I just used the last of it. I like it because it works without leave a weird white residue in my hair and it smells good.

Do you have a favorite subscription box?

Recipe: Chicken and Vegetable Frittata with Avocado Corn Salsa

You will need:

1 chicken thigh

1 green onion, chopped

7 eggs

6 mushrooms, chopped

1 zucchini, chopped

2/3 cup of corn, divided

3 brussel sprouts, shredded

1/4 cup shredded cheese

2 TBSP butter

1 TBSP oil

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. chili powder

1 avocado

1 tomato

2 TSBP cilantro, chopped

2 TBSP lemon juice

1/4 tsp. salt

What to do:

Cut chicken from bone, cut into 1 inch pieces and fry in the oil until cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside. Add butter, mushrooms, zucchini, 1/2 of the corn, brussel sprouts and spices to pan and saute until tender, add chicken back to pan and stir. Add mixture to baking dish. Beat eggs in a bowl and pour over mixture. 

Bake in a 370F oven for 30-40 minutes or until eggs are set. Remove from over and let sit for 5 minutes before cutting. 

Salsa Recipe

Chop the tomato and avocado into bite size pieces, add to bowl. Add the other half of the corn, cilantro, lemon juice and salt. Mix well. Let sit in fridge until frittata is done. Serve salsa with frittata. 

So now that I'm the frittata queen, or princess...whatever. Now that I can make a good frittata, *giggle* I've been experimenting by putting all kinds of things in them as you can clearly see and they have been coming out so good. You can pretty much put anything you want into these things and they come out good. This is definitely my favorite lunch and even Ken has been liking them. 

Happy Raturday!

*Photo courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"I was going to show you the proper way to make freshly squeezed orange juice..."

*Photo courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"But my wittle paws aren't strong enough to squeeze this orange. Don't worry, I know what to do....Moooom!"

*Picture courtesy of Jenni File Snyder*

"I just received my Crazy Rat Lady starter kit and I love it!" 

Review: Ice Moon by Lisa Kessler

Book Description

One touch and she is his...

Jared Ayers works outdoors, embracing a solitary life, hiding from his inner demons. But after so many of his Pack brothers have found their mates, he starts wondering if there might be a mate in his future too. His world turns upside down after he's hired by the "Ice Queen of Lake Tahoe". One touch is all it takes. One touch to send the wolf howling within...

A gifted psychic with pyrokinesis, Taryn Goldstone wields fire beyond her control- sometimes with dire consequences. With Jared, she discovers that some flames are meant for passion and healing. She has enemies who covet her powerful gift, but they are about to learn just how far a wolf will go to protect his mate.

My Review

Jared gets a call from Taryn, also known as The Ice Queen because of how she keeps people at arms length. She wanted an estimate on a new deck for her house but things don't go the way she expects them to but she ends up hiring him in the end. 

Taryn has a reason she keeps people away and never touches anyone. She has a lot of emotional baggage and a bad past she's been running from without really knowing that she's running. If the people she unknowingly escaped from ever find her, she'll be kept in a cage and experimented on. 

Right from the start the sparks begin flying when these two meet and even when they speak on the phone. At first Taryn doesn't like the fact that Jared keeps calling her by her first name. But when Jared starts spending time with her young son and she sees how happy her son, Charlie is about helping with the new deck, she lowers her guard just a little. When Jared can see that Taryn is warming up to him a little, he kisses her and that's when he knows for certain that she's his mate. 

Things would be perfect if someone from a big corporation wasn't trying to get to Taryn and her son as well as Jared's pack. Jared knows he has to tell her he's a werewolf and thinks he has the best plan to do it. But it doesn't turn out to be the big magic moment he was hoping for. Things go very bad after that very quickly. 

There are secrets, twists and heartbreak in this story but it also has a very hot *pun intended* romance. 

I'm reading this series completely out of order and because of that it makes it a little confusing when some characters show up that I haven't seen before. But other than that I had a lot of fun with this one. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Review: Degusta Box- July

DegustaBox is a monthly subscription box filled with food and drink products. The price for the box is $19.99 a month.  

You do not get to pick any of the products you get, it's a surprise each month. But they say each box contains 10-15 items and each box is worth at least $30. I like trying boxes like this because they usually contain products that I've never tried or haven't seen before. 

In this months box was...

Karma Wellness Water

Vermont Smoke & Cure Cracked Pepper Beef and Pork Stick - 2

Kala Roasted Fava Beans

Essential Goodness Chocolate Chip Cookie Baking Mix

Goya Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Mutti Tomato Sauce

Wise Popcorn-4

Mrs. Thinsters Brownie Batter Cookie Thins

Waffle Waffle Vanilla Flavored Waffle

And a coupon for a free RXBAR protein bar

The only things I didn't care for were the roasted fava beans but I've had them before and I just don't care for them and the Cinnabon flavored popcorn. That popcorn was one of the worst things I've ever put in my mouth. Ken and I both were spitting that out because it was awful. The cookie thins were really good and so was the waffle. I use extra virgin olive oil for my roasted vegetables so that was nice.

Now here's a treat for you. If this box looks like something you'd like, you can use code MARYK-ACB and get your first box half off. That's a big box of food for only $10! and you can cancel anytime. So if you're interested, go to the DegustaBox site and sign up and don't forget to use my code to get your first box for just $10. 

This is what the cookies came out looking like when I made them from the mix they sent. While they tasted really good, they looked nothing like the picture on the box. They had a great flavor though. 

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a 'Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to great samples at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

Advant EDGE Carb Control Shake

A box of OB Tampons

Hello Toothpaste

And I won this gift basket full of snacks. I enter about 100 giveaways a month and I remember a snack basket being on one of them but since the box arrived without a note telling who it was from, I don't remember who I won it from but woohoo I won. lol 

Did you receive any free samples this week?

Recipe: Vegetarian Taco Bowl

What you'll need:

1 medium zucchini, chopped

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup sliced black olives

2 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. salt

What to do: 

Saute the onion, zucchini and bell pepper until soft. Add the spices and 1/4 cup of water. Cook over med. heat for 3 minutes or until water is almost gone. Remove from heat. 

Now assemble the taco bowl. Add half of the vegetable mixture to a bowl, top with black olives, salsa, a little cheese, crema and green onions. 

This made 2 servings. 

For the Salsa you'll need:

1 tomato, chopped small

1/2 yellow onion, chopped small

2 TBSP lemon juice

2 TBSP chopped cilantro

1/4 tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients together, cover and let sit in fridge until ready to use. 

 And for the homemade crema, I mixed together 1 avocado, 2 TBSP sour cream, 1 TBSP lime juice and a pinch of salt. 

The first time I'd heard of crema was from Anna and Herding Cats & Burning Soup blog. She used it on a really tasty looking dish that you might find interesting. 

Omg you guys, this is so good. Oh and on a side note, if you don't have all those spices or just want to make it easier, you can totally buy an envelope of taco seasoning and use a little of that. Some of them are really good. I do that a lot of times when making taco salad. 

Review: Moonlight (Moon series book 1) by Lisa Kessler

Book Description

Rancher Adam Sloan is more than meets the eye. As the heir to his Pack, the sexy werewolf's biggest challenge is keeping his kin's true nature under wraps. But a group of jaguar shifters threatens to reveal the pack, blasting into town killing humans in plain sight. And when he smells one at the local diner, his standing orders are to take her out.

Lana Turpin doesn't realize she's a moving target. Raised in the foster system, she only knows that she blacks out during the new moon and wakes up without remembering a thing. But now she's being tracked by some strange organization that wants her back--even though she's never stepped foot inside their compound. And the stranger across the diner is watching her like an enemy.

It should be a simple mission for Adam, but when he touches the frustratingly beautiful Lana, his inner wolf howls...mate. Now, the two must find and stop the people who hunt her...and Adam must keep his own family from killing the only woman he will ever love.

My Review

Lana is on the run and only stopped in the diner to get a quick bite. She thinks that the psych ward sent armed goons after her to bring her back because she can't remember what happens when she blacks out once a month. 

In walks Adam and he gives Lana the most sexy smile he can muster when he see's her in the diner. But she flatly dismisses him until he saves her from armed goons trying to take her away. Then they're both on the run from a shady organization. 

Right away Adam realizes he's found his mate and after his dad starts on him about becoming the alpha, settling down and having babies...he can hardly tell his dad and pack that he's found his mate, because she's not a wolf. Adam is afraid to even bring her close to his family for fear they'll hurt or kill her and ask questions later. 

Sometimes the secondary characters really make their mark in a book and Sebastian was one such character. He starts out an evil, bad guy that everyone wants to kill. But his story changes somewhat part way through the book and I was happy to see things take an unexpected turn. The twists in this book are many, one of the best comes right at the end of the book. I really liked that a lot. 

There's plenty of action, fights and romance to keep you from putting this one down after you start it. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Review: Titanium (Rent A Dragon book 3) by Terry Bolryder

Book Description

A dragon contractor? Expensive.

Unless you're the woman Titus Kroll just fell madly in love with. As a decisive, capable, and newly awakened metal dragon, Titus is used to seeing what he wants and going after it. Right now that's Bree Durell, a sweet, curvy woman who needs help with her house badly and can't afford to pay. Still, his heart says she's his mate, and no matter the price, he's ready to serve her every need, whether that's repairing her home, healing her heart, or restoring her trust.

Bree Durell isn't looking for romance. She has enough on her plate with a crazed stalker, a clumsy but adorable dog, and a house that's falling apart around her and too expensive to repair. Though there is instant attraction when she sees Titus in all his tall, blue-eyed, muscular glory at Rent-A-Dragon, she's sure she can't afford his fee. So when Titus shows up on her doorstep with an offer she can't refuse, she vows she will only keep things professional, no matter how wickedly talented he might be with his hands.

As Titus and Bree work in close quarters, sharing a home and a few steamy encounters, there are big threats circling. From an ancient friend-turned-enemy, to rogue dragons obsessed with vengeance, Titus is going to have his hands full if he wants to protect his newly-built life.

Titanium is the third book in the Rent-A-Dragon series! It contains stubborn dragons, action-packed fights, and hot, steamy dragon romance. Enjoy!

My Review

Bree's house is in serious need of repair but before she can even get a quote from Rant A Dragon, she leaves thinking that she could never afford them. Titus shows up at her door later and makes her a deal. He'll fix her house if she'll do something for him. Of course she doesn't trust him at first but she agree's and he starts repairing her home. 

Things are going really good and then the rude neighbor complains about her dog. Another thing that I really liked about this series is all the women had pets and the pets instantly liked the dragons which the women really liked. Having pets in books is always nice to see and I loved Biff, he's a big, clumsy Great Dane. 

Bree has an ex boss that's obsessed with her and still bothers her. She's afraid that if she doesn't get her house fixed up that she'll be kicked out because it's not up to code. Good thing that Titus is good with his hands and likes to fix things. But she's been hurt by men who she thought were her friends and isn't ready to trust Titus even though she's lusting after his body. 

There's another story going on with other dragons and if you have been reading this series then you know there's another group of dragons that have it out for the metal dragons. There's a few really exciting fight scenes and the action in this book is really good...these dragons like to fight and keep their mates safe. So while most of the mystery as to why this other band of dragons has had it out for the metal dragons is realized, the reason that another dragon has been setting all of them up to hate each other was not concluded and this was the last book in the Rent A Dragon series. There's going to be another series of books with another band of dragons and I'm sure that the mystery will continue with those books but I would have liked to see that storyline come to a conclusion. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Happy Raturday!

*Photo courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"No, I'm not playing in the powdered sugar again. I'm making cookies."

*Photo courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"First you have to taste the powdered sugar to make sure it's still good."

*Photo courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Then you have to roll the cookies into little balls and put them on the baking sheet."

*Photo courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Then you get to eat all the cookies because you baked them yourself."