Saturday Vittles

 

My Daughter and I are trying to eat more healthy so I thought I would share some pictures on Saturday's of what we've made.

Strawberry Pomegranate Salad

You will need: 

10 strawberries- sliced

1 cup Pomegranate seeds

1/2 cup purple cabbage- shredded

1/4 cup walnut pieces

1/2 cucumber- diced

2 cups romaine lettuce-sliced

What to do: 

Add all the ingredients to a large salad bowl and combine. You can add a dressing to this but we didn't. I don't usually like fruit in my salad but my daughter wanted to try this recipe she found and I actually liked this. 

This makes 2 large salads. Each salad is 325 calories and 30 carbs without dressing. 

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. 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:

A sample of Erborian Eye cream. 

A sample of Chanel perfume. 

A 4.5lb bag of Edgard Cooper dog food from Ripple Street. 

The perfume smells really good. The eye cream didn't do anything for me that I could tell. 

Falcor made out well again this week with more free dog food that he liked. It didn't upset his stomach either so that was a plus for me. 

Did you receive any samples this week?

Book Review: Malsum Pass by Kimberly Forrest

 

Book Description

The quaint town of Malsum Pass has secrets, but perhaps it also holds the key to her heart…

Eager to connect with family she never knew she had, Tara Mason journeys to the small town of Malsum Pass. The town seems idyllic despite the townspeople’s odd habit of staring and… sniffing? And while Tara’s new neighbor, Riley Cooper looks like he could have been conjured from one of her fantasies, there is definitely more going on here than meets the eye. Tara is determined to uncover the secrets of Malsum Pass, but along the way, she also discovers things she never knew about herself.

Riley Cooper is a wolf shifter, just like everyone else in Malsum Pass, including his attractive new neighbor. The weird thing is, she doesn’t seem to know it. How that was possible, he had no idea, but he was certainly looking forward to unraveling all of this she-wolf’s mysteries.

My Review

Before Tara was born her mother fled Malsum Pass- the town she grew up in and never looked back. Her mother was pregnant with her but the father had no clue since the father's dad was the one who made her leave and never come back. Her mother's father was the only one who knew about Tara but her mother never saw her father again before she tragically died and left a lot of questions for Tara. So once Tara finds out about her grandfather she makes the decision to visit him and let him know that her mother passed away. 

Once in the town though, the rumor mill picks up fast when Tara comes to town. The townspeople all know each other because they are all wolf shifters but Tara doesn't know anything about that. Her mother kept that secret to herself as well as a few others. 

Tara is quickly loved by her grandfather and his wife as well as some of the other townspeople. Almost everyone is very nice to her except for Riley, the gorgeous Sheriff that is rude and nosy at the same time. She's not sure what to make of Riley but when the secrets of her past and future come to light, she looks to Riley to help her through it all. 

Finding out your mother lied to you your whole life and that you're actually a wolf shifter would be hard enough. But to also find out that your father never knew about you and would have loved you would make me really mad. I can understand why her mother left the town and never looked back when it comes to light how bad she was treated by some of the people in this town but it was still wrong. 

I really liked Tara's grandfather and his wife as well as most of the other townspeople. It was fun watching Riley and Tara gravitate towards one another and fall for each other over time. This was a fun read. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

Tuesday and Wednesday this week we had a little bit of rain and dark clouds. It cooled things off a bit but the humidity increased to 30%. I don't like the humidity. lol 

Not a great shot but you can see we still had some really dark clouds around sunset. The sun was trying to peek through those dark clouds but it was a losing battle. 

More dark clouds. We also had some really strong winds and a dust storm this past week. The winds got so bad and strong that it cause more than 50 power poles to fall over all over Las Vegas, knocking power out all over the city. Thankfully my power stayed on but we did have a few brown outs where everything blinked like we were going to lose power. If you would like to see the news footage of the downed power poles you can find that here. 

The yellow flowers across the street were in full bloom.

My daughter was packing her suitcase for a small trip with her friend who came to town for her birthday a couple of weeks ago. Falcor jumped in the suitcase and tried making his bed there. "Where do you think you're going?" lol 

While my daughter was gone I made some chocolate chip cookies. Every once in a while I have to ignore the diet and have a treat. Cookies!

Book Review: Maid For Her Snow Beast by Eva Priest

 

Book Description

WELCOME TO AVALON VALE!

The newest monster-controlled city is open to new residents and visitors alike!

Whether you want to take a walk on the wild side for a night or find your happily ever after, we have what you need right here!

◆◆◆

Another monster-controlled city has opened their portals for new residents, and Valiana Seitta sees it as an opportunity for a fresh start. Fueled by business plans and vision boards, she moves away from a crummy relationship and endless string of dead end jobs to the sparkling possibility of Avalon Vale.

New year, new city, and new look—Val is ready to leave her old life behind. Unfortunately, she has nowhere to live. So when she’s offered an opportunity to clean out an abandoned mansion, Val takes it.

As she jumps into her new job, she realizes that the mansion may not be completely abandoned after all.

◆◆◆

Maid for Her Snow Beast is a sweet yet spicy small town fated mates monster romance set outside of the monster-controlled city of Avalon Vale. It’s a stand alone story with high heat, low stakes, grumpy/sunshine vibes.

My Review

Val takes a job to clean out an abandoned mansion but when she gets there she realizes that the mansion is not at all what she expected. The house is sentient and while it might not like Torben or be as friendly to some other occupants, the mansion is very friendly to Val and gives her exactly what she wants and needs. 

Torben is a snow beast but doesn't look human when he's not in his bigger beast form. He looks different with fur and amber eyes but is bigger when he transforms into his beast form. He can transform into the bigger beast form when he wants to or needs to like if he's saving Val which he needed to do a couple of times because Val had a stalker that puts her in danger. But Val is Torben's mate so he does what he has to in order to save her. 

Humans know about the supernatural monsters that are called otherkin. Humans and monsters try to live in peace together but there are some that don't like it and make trouble. 

I really liked Val, she is just a nice person and she was exactly what Torben needed. These two were so sweet together. I really liked watching them get to know one another and fall for each other. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

"Wanna play ball?"

I hope everyone had a nice 4th.

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

Apartment Life #377

 

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 26 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 26 years here in a weekly blog post.

Last Saturday this woman knocked on my door and asked me if I had seen this man she had on her phone. It looked like a Ring Doorbell camera photo. I hadn't seen him but asked her if I did see him if she wanted to leave a phone number so I could tell her in case he was missing or something. She just shook her head no and said, "It doesn't matter." 

In my head I was thinking, if it doesn't matter then why did you just knock on my door? She knocked on two other doors in my courtyard out of the 16 doors and left. The next day I see her and this guy standing in the street looking at my bedroom window, staring right at the camera. Sketchy. 

She kept looking right at my camera and pointing at my window. I made sure the locks were on my window. It might be nothing but it sure seemed sketchy. 

My daughter's best friends moved into my courtyard with her girlfriend last month and she sent my daughter this picture of one of the homeless guys, (Dreads) getting arrested in our alley. Now I have neighbors sending me pictures for the blog. lol 

My daughter took this picture of a homeless man laying on a beanbag chair/bed with his pants down around his ankles. He's in the parking lot next door. At least he had on some underwear.

Thursday night right before sunset I was across the street and the Tactical police truck pulled up and went into a building in my apartment complex. They came out a while later and a lady was writing something on a clipboard. It looked liked she was writing out a statement for the police but I'm not sure. 

---

Friday night around midnight I was walking Falcor across the street because when you gotta go, you gotta go. lol As I came back to my side of the street I saw a lady coming back from checking her mail in the pool courtyard and she was darn near falling down drunk. She was stumbling and even grabbed one of the flag poles for stability at one point. As she passed by me I noticed she had a small handgun in a holster clipped to her shorts. Now I have no qualms about anyone carrying a gun. My state is an open carry state, meaning you can openly carry a gun pretty much anywhere here unless otherwise posted at the entrance of a store or building. But alcohol and guns do not mix. I'm glad she got back home safely though. 

The high this week was 109F/42C

The low this week was 81F/27C

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

Saturday Vittles

 

My Daughter and I are trying to eat more healthy so I thought I would share some pictures on Saturday's of what we've made.

Asian Style Ground Chicken and Vegetables

You will need: 

1 lb ground chicken

2 carrots sliced small- I used the vegetable peeler to get thin slices

2 cups shredded purple cabbage

1 cup sliced celery- the vegetable peeler worked for this too

1 cup sliced mushrooms

3 TBSP Sweet Chili Sauce

1 tsp. sesame oil

2 TBSP Soy sauce

1 TBSP Oyster sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

2 TBSP chicken broth

What to do: 

Mix the sesame oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sweet chili sauce and salt and pepper into a bowl. Set aside. 

Cook ground chicken over medium heat, add half of the sauce mixture from bowl, cook until done, breaking it apart as it cooks. Remove meat from pan, add chicken broth, and add vegetables to pan. Cook vegetables over medium heat, add the rest of the sauce mixture from bowl and cook until the doneness you desire. Add the cooked chicken back to the pan and mix well. 

I made a large bowl of this so I could have it for lunches too. 

Each 1 cup serving is 150 calories and 20 carbs. 

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. 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:

A sample of Pedigree Choice Cuts in Gravy dog food and a coupon for buy one get two free. -From SheSpeaks.

Falcor loved the dog food. I feed him Pedigree anyway so I already knew he would like this. 

Did you receive any freebies or samples this week?

Book Review: The Lycan's Bride by Jenny D

 

Book Description

Damien, a Lycan of regal lineage, has wandered through centuries in relentless pursuit of his fated mate. The moment he discovers her in the vibrant and spirited Adra, destiny weaves its intricate tapestry, only to unravel in the face of unforeseen mysteries.

Newly revised and edited! Content added and a better ending included! 5/18/2024

"In a world where destiny's threads can unravel in an instant, Damien, a regal Lycan, finally finds his fated mate in the spirited Adra—only to face the mysteries that threaten to tear them apart. As Adra confronts her first shift and the enigmatic interest of the Alpha's son, will their destined love endure the cosmic twists of fate?"

Adra, a werewolf on the brink of her inaugural shift, yearns for the revelation of her fated mate during this pivotal moment. Yet, the cosmic design takes an unexpected turn when she is swept away under mysterious circumstances. As she grapples with the enigma surrounding her, the sudden and disconcerting interest of the Alpha's son casts a shadow over her path.

Will Damien and Adra's connection withstand the twists of fate, or will the allure of the alpha's son threaten the delicate balance of their destined love?

My Review

Damien has been searching for his mate for decades so he's shocked when he spots her when he's out for a run. He's not sure what pack she belongs to so he enlists the help of his father the pack alpha to make arrangements to visit the neighboring packs so see if she's in either of them. Damien and his pack are lycan's. Still wolf shifters but much bigger and strong than normal wolf shifters.  

Adra is turning 18 years old in a few days and when she does, her wolf will emerge and she will be able to find her mate if he's around anywhere near. But when She meets Damien, she knows right away that he's her mate even without having her wolf yet. 

They start to get acquainted but someone wants to come between them. When the answers about who and why come to light, it's kinda sad to know that they lost their freedom because of greed, jealousy and other other crazy reasons. Adra's pack and Damien's pack come together to stop the threat and all the while Adra and Damien get much closer and their bond gets much stronger. 

I loved that we see Adra's best friend find her mate as well. That was fun. 

This was a fun read that kept me entertained throughout the book. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon