Recipe: Avocado Cauliflower Toast

I saw this recipe floating around FB and I followed the link back to the site where they had the recipe and you can find that original recipe here. 

So this recipe was pretty simple but like with most recipes, I changed it to suit my taste. 

What you'll need:

2 cauliflower florets

2 eggs, divided

1/2 an avocado 

1 tsp. lemon juice

pinch of salt

pepper to taste

2 TBSP oil

1 Tsp. butter

pinch of season salt

1 tsp. mayonnaise

What to do: 

Grate the cauliflower add one egg, a pinch of salt, season salt, and pepper. Stir until mixed well. 

Heat oil and butter in a pan and add cauliflower mixture to hot pan. Shape into thin patty. Fry on first side for about 4 minutes or until golden brown. Flip and fry for 4 more minutes. 

In a small bowl add avocado, lemon juice, pinch of salt and mayo. Mash avocado and mix well. 

When cauliflower is done, fry 1 egg in the hot pan. 

Add avocado mixture on top of cauliflower patty and fried egg on top of avocado. 

It was an interesting idea but you have to make sure to season that cauliflower really good other wise it's pretty bland. It was good enough that I'll probably make it again. 

Happy Raturday!

*Photo courtesy of *martymousehouse.com*

"Let's talk about the world." 

*Photo courtesy of *martymousehouse.com*

*Photo courtesy of *Me- Mary Kirkland*

"I love my duckie so much, I sleep with him."

Review: Degustabox- August

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. 

What was in the box? 

Nature’s Bakery Fig Bar

Welch’s Fruit Rolls

SunSpire Milk Chocolate SunDrops

Dole Peaches in Strawberry Gel (Kinda like jello)

Goya Golden Maria Sandwich Cookies

Sharwood’s Korma

Pasta Chips in Rosemary Flavor

Vintage Italia Pasta Bow Ties in Meatball Parm

Turkey Perky Jerky in Tasty Teriyaki

Goya Tostones Chips

Hummustir Hummus (Mediterranean Style)

Nuttzo 2go

So far the only thing I didn't like was the hummus. I made chicken thighs one night and we tried the Korma sauce and it was just ok for me. Ken and I both started opening packages right away and sampling everything. He liked the meatball parm chips while I liked the rosemary and the twice fried plantains. The jerky was really good too and even Falcor had a bite of that and seemed to enjoy it.

If you don't live in the US, they now have a Great Britain Website. 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. 

I've never had hummus before so I was excited to try this. When I opened it, there were several packets that you squeezed into the tub and mixed. It even came with a wooden spoon for mixing.

This is what it looked like after it was mixed. Reminded me of glue and I didn't care for the taste. Ken said he plans on getting another flavor of hummus for us to try but even the texture of this was gritty and not my favorite experience. It looks like something I would patch holes in walls with, not eat. lol So this turned out to be something that we really didn't like. 

I also made the Korma simmering sauce with some chicken, steamed rice and sauteed broccoli. I don't eat rice often but I had a little that night. For me and Ken too this sauce was just alright. it wasn't good on the rice and I ended up not eating most of that but on the chicken it was just alright. Not something that I would buy again. 

Have you tried any of these products?

Favorite Video of the Week

I was searching for more music to add to my youtube playlist and stumbled across this song. They remind me a little of Judas Priest or some of the other metal bands back in the 80's. This guy can hold a note too, wow. He has a great voice and can sure reach some of those high notes.

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:

Bottle of Honey
1 Envelope of Carnation Essentials
2 books and bookmarks from Heidi Betts from a contest on her blog
$5 Amazon gift card from Crowdtap

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Maple Holistics Honey

*Product description from their website.*

Maple Holistics Organic Honey takes one of natures sweetest and most beneficial foods and delivers it to you in a pure, high quality package. Our 100% pure, organic and raw honey is prepared with the best processing methodologies in order to guarantee authenticity and nutritional value. Unlike other honeys which are filtered in order to increase clarity, which can compromise the honey, Maple Holistics Organic Honey is geographically sourced from Brazil and never undergoes any sort of filtering process.

My Review

I haven't tasted honey in about 15 years. People who know me know that I have a 'thing' about bee's and since honey is essentially bee vomit *as one of my friends pointed out*  I don't typically touch the stuff. But I had a Honey Bun not too long ago as well as a granola bar that had honey in it and I thought both were quite good. So when I was asked if I'd be interested in reviewing a bottle of honey, I figured, why not. 

The first thing I tried the honey in was my tea and I only used a little bit, maybe a teaspoon but it was just enough to sweeten my tea the right amount. Now Ken happens to love honey and the first thing he did was make a peanut butter and honey sandwich. I'd never heard of this before but he said that he used to have them when he was a kid and I even had a bite of it. It's sweet and I can understand why he likes it since he likes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It's sweet and goes good with peanut butter. 

This is a squeeze bottle so it's really easy to get the honey out and it's not messy at all. Ken and I are both happy with the quality and taste of this honey and I'll probably use it a little more often now that I have a bottle of it. 

I give this 4 out of 5 stars.

Disclosure: I was given a free product in exchange for a review but all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

Last month my brother and sister in law came for a visit. They brought their dog, Moose with them. They stayed with my dad while they were here and Moose stayed over there while my brother and his wife were at my house but they brought Moose over so I could see him before they left. Ken held Falcor and they stared each other down for a few minutes. lol Now I understand why they call him Moose...he's huge.

Review: Roland Mediterranean Flavored Quinoa

We'd had two different flavored Quinoa dishes before trying this one and it was a tie because one was really good and one was really bad. So Ken found this one in the store and bought it for us to try. I have to say that when I tore this envelope open and smelled it, I wasn't pleased. It smelled like dirt and something gross. But I cooked it and tasted it...and wouldn't you know it was so darn good. I couldn't even believe it. With the smell from those spices coming off it, I really thought it was gonna taste bad but it was so good and this little envelope made a lot. 

My brother had just come for a visit after vacationing in Alaska and he brought us one of the Yellowfin Tuna's that he caught and shipped back to his home in one of those frozen styrofoam cartons. He also brought us some homemade smoked salmon that he caught and smoked in Alaska. So I baked the tuna and cooked the Quinoa for Ken and I and we had it for lunch. 

Some of the skin came off during cooking but who cares, I toss that anyway. lol But it was really good. I've had canned tunafish and I've had smoked tuna but I've never had or made baked tuna and it was quite good. 

So if you're looking to try a good tasting quinoa, I'd give this one a try. The spices aren't over powering taste wise and it was extremely easy to make. Just heat the water, add the quinoa, cover and cook for 15 minutes. 

Have you tried Quinoa?

Happy Raturday!

*Photo courtesy of *@Poppy'sMischief*

"I'm watching you and I know where my stash of food is, so don't get any ideas."

*Photo courtesy of *martymousehouse.com*

*Photo courtesy of *martymousehouse.com*

Makeup Hack: Using Anti-Chafing Gel as a Foundation Primer

Who taught you ladies how to put on makeup? I lived with my grandma when I was 11-13 and she would pour some foundation in her hand, add a little water and then smear that stuff all over her face. You remember that dreaded foundation line around your face, well she had it big time. One of my friends in high school saw me doing that one day. She watched me and then was like, "Girl... no." lol 

Anyway, I am pretty basic when putting on makeup. I don't do all this contouring that I've seen videos of. I use just a few basics...foundation, powder, eye shadow, eye pencil, mascara, lipstick or lip gloss and blush. 

So when I got a sample of Smashbox foundation primer and a sample of Revitalift Miracle Blur in a beauty box, I had to look up what to do with it. So after using it under my foundation for a few weeks I was sold on this foundation primer stuff. It does actually make the foundation look better on my face. Then when summer rolled around again I went to use the Monistat anti-chafing gel on my legs again and realized that both the anti-chafing gel and the foundation primer both had the same exact feel to them. It's sort of a thick, silky powdery feel when you rub it in between your fingers. 

So when you realize some of the foundation primer's can run you between $20-40 a piece and a tube of Monistat anti-chafing gel is about $7, if it works, why not use it?

So did it work? Hell yes it worked! It worked just as well as either of the other products I had and so I looked up the ingredients. The anti-chafing gel, foundation primer and the miracle blur has dimethicone in it. So it makes sense that it feels very similar. 

I like trying new things and that's just another reason that I love getting those beauty boxes. I never know what new interesting product I'll find in them to try out.