Favorite Picture of the Week

If you have an electric tart warmer and love all the different scents of wax cubes that you can get. I had been ordering them from Target or Amazon and I've been paying $4-5 for each pack of them. But my daughter found them at Walmart for just $1 each and she bought be a few for Mother's Day. I loved them and they had really nice fragrances to them so I ordered a few more from Walmart. The Darkest Sandalwood has turned out to be one of my all time favorites. 

Do you use a wax tart warmer? Here's a picture of mine. 

Recipe: Fried Zucchini and Vegie Saute

What you'll need: 

2 Carrots, shredded

6 Brussel sprouts, thinly sliced

3 Large broccoli stems, trimmed and shredded

1 Cup thinly sliced cabbage

1 Medium zucchini, cut into 8 spears

1 Package Deep Fry batter

1 Cup of oil

2 TBSP Butter

1/4 Cup Chicken or Vegetable broth

1/4 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. Pepper

1/4 tsp. Cumin

1/4 tsp. Chili powder

What to do: 

Prepare your deep fry batter according to package directions or you can prepare your own. Heat oil in a small deep pan and deep fry your battered zucchini spears for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown. Remove zucchini and set aside on a paper towel. 

In a saute pan heat butter and add all of the shredded vegetables (Except for the cabbage) to the pan. Saute on mediun heat for 6 minutes and then add chicken broth and spices. Continue to saute until the liquid is gone. Serve with deep fried zucchini spears and cole slaw. You can find the recipe for the cole slaw here. 

Note on the broccoli stems. I know most people just throw the stems away but if you trim that hard outside bit off, you're left with a very juicy, tasty piece of broccoli stem and it's really good for stir fry or vegetable saute or if you're like me, just eating raw. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Why yes, I would like broccolis for lunch"

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Today I'll be making a birfday cake. That's why I wearing my birfday hat."

*Picture courtesy of Poppy's Mischief*

"I'm planting yogie seeds. Mom said they don't grow that way but I don't believe her."

Recipe: Zucchini Carrot Bake

You will need: 

2 zucchini, shredded

1 carrot, shredded

2 large cauliflower florets, shredded

1 green onion, chopped

1/2 cup marinara sauce, divided

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 eggs

What to do:

Spray an 8x8 inch square baking dish with cooking spray or lightly oil. Add shredded zucchini to a dish cloth and squeeze as much water out as possible.

In a large bowl combine, shredded zucchini, shredded cauliflower, shredded carrots, green onion, 1 TBSP of shredded cheddar cheese, 1 TBSP marinara sauce, salt, pepper and eggs until well mixed. Press into the bottom of the baking dish and bake on 400 for 30 minutes. 

Add remaining marinara sauce and cheese to the top of the baked vegetables and return to oven for an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving. 

You guys, this was so good. I couldn't find a recipe online that had everything that I wanted so I made my own. That's right, this is a Mary original. 

Favorite Video of the Week

I found this video on youtube that shows all the different ways rats are like tiny dogs with hands.

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.

This week I received so much that I couldn't fit it all in one picture without it coming out blurry!

So picture #1

Samples of Dove Shampoo and Conditioner
Sample of Chanel No 5 perfume
A coupon for a free Dove antiperspirant
2 samples of Natural Calm drink mix

Picture #2

(From PinchMe)
Scotch Brite lint roller
Shea Moisture Hand and Body Lotion
Pure Leaf Green Tea Sample
Coupon for a free 7.4 lb bag of Purina One dry dog food
Sample of Purina One dog food

An Adult coloring book I won in a fb group. You can find her books for sale on her fb page.

A $5 Amazon gift card from Crowdtap

Did you receive any freebies this week?

This one of the pages inside the Adult Coloring Book. If you look closely towards the top, you can see...*motherfucker* Bwahahaha

Review: Single White Vampire by Lynsay Sands

Book Description

The third book in her phenomenal Argeneau vampire series, Single White Vampire by the incomparable Lynsay Sands is an unadulterated delight! This paranormal romance classic follows the romantic adventures of a dark and handsome immortal who writes paranormal romances, and who’d love to sink his teeth into his sexy new editor. When it comes to red hot vampire love stories, New York Times and USA Today bestseller Lynsay Sands is Queen of the Night!

My Review

Lucern (Luc) Argeneau is a recluse writer and vampire. His vampire novels are now classified as Paranormal Romance and his fans are quite feisty and want to see more of him or at the very least get a response to the many letters they have been sending him. His editor is at her wits end because he won't agree to do interviews, go to book signings and barely replies to her many emails. 

So when Kate, his new editor shows up on his doorstep out of the blue, he's more than a little miffed and surprised. But if he thinks he's gonna get rid of her quickly, he sure has another thing coming. It was at this point in the book that I knew this was going to be an awesomely funny read and I wasn't disappointed. 

Between his being hungry because his bags of blood end up on the floor or go missing and Kate not knowing what's really going on because she has no idea that he's based his books on his family...real life vampires. This book had me laughing so many times. Luc might have a lot of experience with more than 600 years of life behind him but he never experienced anything like whirlwind Kate and just being around her brings out more of the man he should have been instead of the grumpy curmudgeon that he had been. He might have become bored with life but with Kate around, the one thing he'll never be is bored. 

I loved this one. I love it when a book can make me laugh and have a great story with great characters. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

On a side note: I'd like to wish my daughter a very happy birthday. She turns 26 today. My, how time fly's. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

Last month my daughter, grandson (Logan) and Logan's dad took a drive to Kingman Arizona and the Hoover Dam. This is what the terrain in Kingman Arizona looks like. Lots of desert, rocks, and small brush/bushes.

They stopped to take a look at some of the trains and Logan had fun climbing on them. 

This one was huge. Those are the wheels on the train. Even my daughter couldn't believe how big it was. 

They visited the Hoover Dam and saw the bypass bridge that was built in 2010. And do you see where those people are standing? That is the viewing area along the dam, you can see the water that's being held back by the dam and you can look down and see the dam itself. As you can imagine, people have come here to jump to their deaths. 

This was taken on the Hoover Dam. The view is pretty spectacular and that's Lake Mead that you see there. 

Remember back when I said you could see the dam from the viewing area? Well, here ya go. 

As you can see, when your standing on the dam in the viewing area, there's not much stopping you from being able to jump over and off the dam. That's Logan standing in the viewing area. It's really something to see though, I've been to it a few times. 

Recipe: Broccoli Salad

What you'll need: 

3 cups raw broccoli, cut into small pieces

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 green onion, diced

1 cup cucumber, chopped

1 cup grapes, cut in half

1 celery stalk, diced

1TBSP mayonnaise

3 TBSP lemon juice

1TBSP of your favorite salad dressing

1/4 tsp. salt

What to do: 

In a small bowl mix together, lemon juice, salt, salad dressing and mayonnaise. Set aside. 

In a large bowl add all the other ingredients and toss. Pour the mixed dressing over the salad and toss until everything is well coated. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours before serving. 

I used a brand new dressing that I received in my DegustaBox which was a Cilantro Lime dressing and it went really well mixed with the other ingredients and on this salad. 

I've never had a raw broccoli salad before and wasn't sure that all of this elements would taste good together but it was really good.

There's really no end to the amount of things you could add to this. I think I'll add some roasted sunflower seeds to this next time I make it.

Now if you're not a fan of broccoli, there are a lot of other salads that you can make. I also make a seafood salad and you can find that recipe here. This goes with just about anything else that I make and Ken loves it so that's a plus for me. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Today we'll be doing a little baking." 

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"It's crepe time...ooh lala"