Saturday Vittles

 

Well, we're back to trying to eat healthy again. So, this night we made this. 

One Pan Skillet Hamburger and Vegetable Meal

You will need: 

1 lb. hamburger

1 medium potato- diced

2 carrots- diced

1 medium yellow onion- diced

1 bunch of fresh spinach (about 3 cups uncooked)- rinsed and drained

No calorie cooking spray

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp. McCormick Hamburger seasoning

1 tsp. McCormick Montreal Steak seasoning

1/2 tsp. McCormick Mesquite seasoning

What to do: 

In a large nonstick pan, spray some no calorie cooking spray. Add diced potatoes and cook on medium heat with a lid on for 10 minutes. Add carrots and onions and cook until the vegetables are fork tender or to your liking. Add hamburger and spices, cook until hamburger is done. Drain off any fat. Add spinach and stir until spinach is wilted. 

This makes 4 servings. Each serving is about 300 calories and 10 carbs. 

Would you eat this?

Freebie Friday!

 

Welcome to another weekly Freebie Friday post, 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.  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:

CeraVe anti dandruff shampoo

Hero facial cleanser from hero Skin Squad

Zevo bug spray foam (from Influenster)

A little freebies box from Bloomingdales Luxe scents for him which included:

Acqua Di Parma

John Varvatos

Mind Games

Penhaligon's 

The CeraVe shampoo is good. I don't have dandruff but it is a good shampoo. I sprayed the bug spray foam on some ants that were outside my door and it does work on them. I'll keep it under my sink for future use just in case but it does have a very strong scent. I was able to find a someone who wanted the men's scents.

I like the Hero facial cleanser too. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: A Demon Answers by Kitty L. Black

 

Book Description

House-sitting was a bore so I decided to have some fun and pull out the Ouija board. Before I know it I'm tossed over the shoulder of a huge, red-skinned demon whose plans for me are all too apparent by the huge bulge in his pants.

A Demon Answers is a fast little monster erotica that is tons of smutty smut with a pinch of story.

My Review

Honey gets bored while house-sitting because she has no Wi-Fi. So of course she reaches for her old Ouija board. After a couple of minutes, it's apparent that she's miscalculated and summoned a demon. 

The demon doesn't say much at first, he's showing her what he wants by taking it and she just has to hold on and see what he does next. The demon was a bit much at first but after a while, he finally speaks and they find out that they belong together. So, Honey isn't all that upset that he is demanding, possessive and focused on her. 

This was a quick novella with not much story but a whole lot of sex, not that I'm complaining. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

We had some days with a lot of clouds. I really liked the clouds this day.

Friday night we had a very bright sunset.

I took a couple of pictures of it over about 10 minutes. 

And watched the clouds changing color a little bit.

Saturday we had big, puffy white clouds.

This cloud was enormous. 

And lastly a close-up picture of Falcor. He looks like he's laughing at one of my jokes. 

Book Review: Darren by Ember Hunter

 

Book Description

Dheltan warrior Darren Tagik didn't want to be sent from routine soldier duties on the planet of Ohiri to Drypso, a hard won barren outpost on the border of the Empire. There's no infrastructure on the planet, not like he's used to on Ohiri, but it's only one tour of duty, and his warrior brothers will be with him. They only have to guard a few females for the journey, and they're travelling on a Dheltan ship. How hard can it be?

But the mission is more complex than he thought. His orders are to pick up human females from Earth, as screened by the Harmonious Mates Agency. When he meets Aelenna, he recognizes his fated mate. It's love at first sight for him and his life is turned upside down, but there's no way he can ever claim her. The females are earmarked for the Ohirins.

Aelanna Smith smarted from being jilted. It stung. Apart from the humiliation, the hole in her heart caused by the experience physically hurt. Love of her life, Brad, hadn't shown up for their wedding. She was over men. Totally over them. Her friends Kora and Nayli had signed up for the Harmonious Mates Agency and she did too.

The HMA matched human females with alien warriors and she'd have to go off-planet. What the heck? She was overreacting, she knew she was. On second thoughts, she wasn't likely to fall for any being from outer space. She would have fun, go on a little adventure. Why not? Bring it on!

But the Dheltan warriors sent to guard the human females for their journey to Ohiri look like human men and are as hot as hell, and she can't stop herself falling for Darren, the eldest of the triplet alien bodyguards. She must resist him. Men lied. They aren't to be trusted.

My Review

After Aelanna is left at the alter and ghosted by her fiancé, she and her friends decide they need a big change. So they go to the Harmonious Mates Agency and sign up to go to an alien planet to find mates. What she isn't expecting is for the alien bodyguards to look somewhat human and be drop dead gorgeous. But she and her friends were lied to, she made sure that they would not be given to aliens who were lizard-like and when they get to their destination, that's exactly what the aliens are. 

Darren and his brothers are Dheltan's, but the females are supposed to be transported to the Ohirins and if he claims one of the females there's going to be trouble that he doesn't need. But Aelanna is his fated mate and he can't let her go no matter what kind of trouble it brings his way. Plus, the women don't want to be mated to the lizard aliens. 

Darren and Aelanna get closer on the trips to and from the different places they have to go, while Darren is being one of their guards. When the human females are ready to meet the males who might be their new mates, there's a bit of a snafu that helps push Darren and Aelanna together. 

After reading the differences in the two alien races, I wouldn't have wanted to be mated to the lizard aliens either. Darren was definitely a better male. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

*All pictures this week are courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #429

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 27 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 27 years here in a weekly blog post.

Fire department showed up to clear and make sure the fire hydrants were working. I didn't get a video of that because he barely turned this one on. Just wanted to make sure it worked I guess. 

It was a quiet week. 

The high this week was 109F/42C

The low this week was 84F/28C

We had 42% humidity one day this week. Bring back the dry heat! 🤣🤣

So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell  Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.

Saturday Vittles

 

Layered Chicken Zucchini Enchiladas

You will need: 

No Calorie cooking spray

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

½ cup corn

½ cup black beans, drained and rinsed

2 tsp. chili powder

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 large chicken breast chopped (about 2 cups)

1 cup enchilada sauce

1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided

2 medium zucchini 

salt and fresh black pepper

1/2 cup black olives- sliced

1/4 cup diced cilantro

a 10x10 baking pan

Spray a large pan with cooking spray. Cook the chicken, onion, olives, corn, black beans and spices until chicken is cooked through. 

Slice the zucchini into very thin slices. I used a vegetable peeler to do this. Layer the bottom of the baking pan with cooking spray and then zucchini slices and some of the chicken mixture and a little shredded cheese. Add a little of the enchilada sauce and keep layering. 

Keep layering until you used everything. 

Add the other half of the cheese on top, top with cilantro. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake in a 350F oven for 30 minutes. 

Makes 4 servings. Each serving is 350 calories.

Book Review: Claimed By The Mountain Man Orc by Pippa Rae Brook

 

Book Description

One broody orc. One stubborn human. And a bond neither of them can deny.

Varn

I’ve spent years alone on this mountain, carving tokens for a mate I never truly believed would come.

Then she crashes into my territory—loud, fearless, impossible to ignore.

She doesn’t belong here.

But the moment I catch her scent, I know she belongs to me.

Mazie

I came to Orc Mountain chasing answers, not fairy tales.

The locals whisper about monsters in the trees. But when I stumble straight into the arms of one… I realize the stories don’t come close to the truth.

Because this orc isn’t just a monster.

He’s my destiny.

Claimed by the Mountain Man Orc is a short and steamy monster-lite romance featuring a broody orc hero, a fearless human heroine, and a fated-mates bond carved in stone. Expect growly possessiveness, size difference heat, and over-the-top instalove. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily-ever-after—with tusks.

My Review

Mazie swears she saw an Orc when she was a kid but no one believed her. Now she has a podcast about myths and monsters. She's come to Orc Mountains to see if maybe she can track something that shouldn't exist. 

Varn is an Orc, he and his people stay hidden away from humans. It's the middle of Winter and the snow would make it very hard for a human to track where he's at right now, or so he thought until he spots Mazie watching him. When she plunges into the icy water, he can't let her die, so he saves her and brings her back to his house to warm up. 

When she finally wakes up, she's got questions and he's doing everything he can to keep his hands off her since he knows right away that she's his mate. He doesn't think she'll ever believe him or want an Orc for a mate. So, when she wakes up and isn't scared of him, he's surprised. 

This is an insta-love novella. I didn't mind that they fell for each other so fast, it was a quick, cute story. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

Sunset on Monday night. It's been hot, humid and cloudy the past few days.