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 big, blue salad bowl from Walmart Spark Reviewer. 

I love it. It's made of a hard plastic and washes easily. I like it because it's bigger than my other bowls and since I've started eating a lot more salads it's really come in handy.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: The Dragon Soldier's Mate by Harlow Blaze

Book Description

Blackmailer threatening to murder you? Bad. 

Accidentally sleeping with your boss—the dragon shifter doctor who’s way too old for you? Somehow worse.

Nadine

Nadine is a simple girl with a simple plan. Kick ass in her new job and find a man who can make her scream. After a wild encounter in a shifter nightclub, she’s got part B locked down. But becoming a nurse for the Seattle dragons attracts dangerous attention. With her family’s safety under threat, Nadine has one choice—selling out her boss. 

There’s a teeny problem.

When she shows up for her first day, Doctor Axel looks very familiar. It’s hard to concentrate on spying while crammed into an office with a certified silver fox. Especially when the stern dragon shifter ordering her around did bad things to her last night. And she’s in more trouble than she thought. 

She forgot to take her pill.

Axel

Axel is never going to a nightclub again. One night off from being a grumpy old man, and a pretty young thing ruins his damn life. He should have known better. Despite her firecracker nature, Nadine is human. Small. Delicate. Fragile. He needs her out of his infirmary before she gets hurt in a way that even a doctor can’t fix. But trouble brews among the cold-blooded dragon shifters. And his nurse has a target on her back.  

Her innocence calls to his need to protect. Her delicious scent and fertile body call to something much darker. His inner beast doesn’t care that Axel won’t let Nadine into his life. It craves her in a way that threatens to bring about a repeat of his worst nightmare. Axel will die before he lets his filthy instincts knock her up. Getting a human pregnant will only end in tragedy. Again. 

My Review

Nadine lands a new job at a doctor's office. Things seem to be looking up for her until an unruly dragon decides to blackmail her into telling him about her new dragon boss's clan. If she doesn't cooperate he's threatened to hurt her disabled mother. Nadine visits a shifter club and finds herself flirting with a handsome dragon shifter. They end up getting together and they both think that's the end of it, no big deal they had a one night stand. But when she walks into work the next morning, her boss is the guy she met in the club the night before and he doesn't want her there. 

Axel doesn't want to get into a relationship with a human because he doesn't want to lose another family. So when he recognizes the woman from the night before, he just wants to get rid of her. When she pleads her case and just asks for a little time because she needs the job and lets him know they can forget about what happened between them, he agrees. But the pull he feels towards her is too strong and neither one of them can stop the sparks that fly between them. 

When she puts herself in danger, Axel will stop at nothing to make sure she is safe. 

I loved this story and this series. I am hoping to see some of the secondary characters get their books as well because they are intriguing and I want to get to know them better. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I received an e-ARC from Booksprout but all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Low Carb Recipe: Baked Chicken and Broccoli casserole

INGREDIENTS FOR BROCCOLI CHICKEN CASSEROLE RECIPE:

2 large chicken breasts cut into bit size pieces.- seasoned and fried

2 broccoli heads, cut into small florets

1 tsp McCormick Roasted garlic and Herb seasoning

1tsp. McCormick Montreal Chicken seasoning

1/4 cup chicken stock

4 oz cream cheese

 1 cup shredded colby jack cheese

4 ounces of baby spinach

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

8 ounces white mushrooms- sliced

1 small yellow onion- sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

How to make: 

Season chicken breasts with the seasonings above and fry in a little oil until almost cooked through. Set aside for 10 minutes and then cut into small bite size pieces.

Add broccoli seasoning and broth to a pan, cover with lid and cook for 7 minutes. You want the broccoli to start cooking but to still be firm. Remove the broccoli from pan and add mushrooms, onions and a little oil. Cook uncovered until they start to turn a little brown. Add spinach and stir until spinach is wilted. Add the broccoli and chicken to the pan. 

 Then combine cream cheese, colby jack and heavy cream in another pan and cook over medium heat until melted and combined and pour over chicken. There might be a little liquid in the bottom of the pan but that's ok and will be absorbed when you put the leftovers away or you can just spoon a little over your portion.

Cover pan and put in the oven at 375ºF for 20 minutes.

I know my picture is awful but it was really good. 

Would you eat this?

Book Review: After the Bite by Lynsay Sands

 

Book Description

Immortal Enforcer Valerian just wants to relax. His last assignment had been more grueling than he’d care to admit, and golf has always helped him unwind. If golf course owner Natalie thinks it’s a little odd for him to tee off at sunset every evening, she’s keeping it to herself. The single mom is sexy as hell, and her little daughter Mia only adds to his delight. He knows Natalie is wary of a relationship of any kind…what will she think when she discovers he’s an Immortal? His best course of action is to woo her the old-fashioned way.

But the course of true love never did run smooth—especially for a vampire and a mortal. And when danger stalks Natalie, Valerian realizes he’s playing a game of life and death and if he loses this round, he risks losing her forever.

My Review

Natalie owns a golf course and small restaurant. She's wary of relationships after her husband, son and parents passed away in a car accident. But learning that her husband wasn't who he said he was might have been an even bigger shock for her. For that reason she keeps to herself, doesn't date and raises her young daughter all the while trying to keep her golf course and restaurant going with minimal help so she can save money. 

Valerian is an immortal enforcer that works for the Argeneau family. He golfs at night and even though Natalie thinks it's weird, he's a paying customer so she doesn't say anything. 

Valerian is golfing one night when his golf cart runs out of gas and he ends up saving Natalie after what they all think is just an accident. He's kept to himself all these months he's been playing golf there so he hasn't met Natalie before now but once he reaches her and meets her, he's sure she is his mate. But that can be very tricky with a mortal and even more tricky for her since she doesn't want to get involved with anyone. 

Once Valerian thinks she is in danger though, he calls in the troops and they just kind of take over and let her know she might be in danger. She knows they are all there to keep her and little Mia safe so she puts up a lot less fight when people start taking over her life than I might have in the same situation. Little by little she can see that Valerian is a good guy and she is attracted to him and she thinks he might be attracted to her as well but she still takes things slow...for a while. Once they give into their feelings, there's really no going backwards until she finds out about what he is. She doesn't take it well in the beginning, not that I can really blame her. So while it takes a little time for her to trust him and the others, it's really Valerian's sister that helps her in that regard. 

All the while they are trying to track down the serial killer, The Angel Maker who they think might be behind the dangerous scenarios that have happened to Natalie. This is the 35th book in this series and I really enjoyed this book as much as I have enjoyed the other books in this series. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I was sent an e-Arc of this book via NetGalley but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

*All pictures today are courtesy of wwwmartmousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #333

 

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 go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 25 years that we'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 24 years here in a weekly blog post.

Last Saturday night around 9:30pm we heard about 5 gunshots. But they weren't really close so I didn't call the police. They sounded like they were at least half a block away. I searched the news but didn't see anything about a shooting around here. 

My daughter took this picture a while back and sent it to me this week. One of the druggies was slumped over passed out in his chair he had sitting in front of my building. 

When I see this kind of thing, I usually check to see if they're still alive. I'm glad I do because I found out from my daughter that a few neighbors told her two different people died of drug overdoses on my street last week. I didn't see the police or coroner here so I had no idea. One guy died in the grass across the street and another guy died in the alley of my apartment complex. Both from drug overdoses. It's sad that happens. 

I saw the police and the homeless shelter van on my street again asking the homeless people if they wanted to go to the shelter. Most don't go because they can't do drugs or drink alcohol in the shelters. No one got in the van this time. 

---

Wednesday night at 11:30PM I heard the police siren for just a second and looked out my bedroom window. At first there were only 2 police cars. Then it quickly became 4 police cars.

Within 10 minutes there were 6 police cars all lined up on my street, right in front of my building. One woman was in handcuffs while they searched her truck. She was later arrested and her truck was towed. 

---

The high this week was 97F/36C

The low this week was 67F/19C

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

Favorite Song of the Week

 

Zillion ft Pop Evil. I found this song because I was listening to Pop Evil and was wanting more of their songs when I came across this one. I love this song. You can really tell that they can both sing. I hope you enjoy it. 

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: 

I received a cute pair of ghost earrings from a FB friend. 

I also received a bathroom waste basket from Walmart Spark Reviewer.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Low Carb Recipe: Pasta Sauce, vegetables and "noodles"

I saw someone (nicolesFitnesz) on Tiktok make this recipe and I wanted to try it. I changed the recipe to fit my own tastes.

You will need: 

1/2 Yellow Onion- sliced thin

1/2 Bell Pepper- sliced thin

6 white mushrooms- sliced thin

4 ounces Baby Spinach

2 Egglife Wraps- cut into 1 inch wide strips

3/4 cup Rao's Marinara Sauce

Small handful shredded mozzarella or parmesan cheese

2TBSP oil

What to do: Add oil to your pan and then add your bell pepper, onion and mushrooms. Sauté over medium low heat until soft and browned. I like mine done a little more so cook them to the doneness you like. Add baby spinach to the pan and stir for 2 minutes until spinach has wilted. Add marinara sauce and Egglife wrap strips. Stir until completely mixed and heated through. Transfer to your plate and top with mozzarella or parmesan. I don't like parmesan so I used mozzarella. You can also add meat to this recipe if you like but I didn't want to this time.

This was actually really good and I was surprised.

I'm not a big pasta eater, I never liked pasta all that much but it's nice to know that if I am in the mood for a pasta dish I can make this and it's low carb and tastes good. 

I'm not gonna lie, the Egglife wraps do not taste like pasta noodles, they do taste like egg whites but in the pasta sauce they were good and stood up to cooking and the sauce without getting soggy and doughy. For 6 wraps the price was $4.99.  I used the wraps I had left over and filled them with scrambled eggs, pico de gallo and bacon and I liked them for that.

The Rao's marinara sauce is one of the best marinara sauces I've ever had. It was even better than mine. It was a little expensive though, $7.49 a bottle. But for a low carb marinara sauce it's very good and this bottle will last me a while.

Does this sound like something you would eat?

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

We had some early morning rain last Monday. it lasted from around 4am to 8am. After the rain cleared out, we were left with these big puffy clouds over the mountains all day which was nice. 

Happy Raturday!

 

*All pictures today are courtesy of www.martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #322

 

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 go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 25 years that we'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 24 years here in a weekly blog post.

I noticed this sign in a neighbors window. It says, "No trespassing. We're tired of hiding the bodies." 😆

---

This week a dust storm blew through Las Vegas and one night we couldn't even see past the parking lot next door. It was spooky. 

My daughter and I both thought it was fog at first until I looked up the news stations and they said it was a dust storm. There was still some dust and haze in the sky the next day but it mostly cleared up after this. 

----

My daughter bought a small security camera for the living room window. It has a pretty good picture and she can take pictures and video from her phone. It also sends her a notification if someone walks by or stops at our door. And it has night vision where the picture is as clear as this one.

The really funny thing is, she nick named it the crackhead cam. 😆😆

---

The high this week was 98F/36C

The low this week was 72F/22C

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

Favorite Song of the Week

 

Any Given Sin has a few really good songs that I really like but this has to be my favorite. I hope you enjoy it. 

Review: Daily Goodie Box- September

 

The Daily Goodie Box has been around since about July of 2016. I signed up for an account right after I heard about them. They are 100% free, you don't even have to pay for shipping. And for a free box it's a nice sampler box of products.

What was in the box?

Coconut Orange Shampoo Bar- As long as you have a good conditioner or leave in conditioner I could see using this shampoo bar. I have really long hair and it left my hair hard to brush like a bar soap would feel on your skin. But as long as I use my leave in conditioner it's fine. It does smell good.

Hulled Hemp- This is keto friendly so I tried it but it doesn't really have much flavor to it. I detected a slight nutty flavor but I wouldn't get this myself. 

Bliss CPD Sparkling Water Bliss- I don't like sparkling water so I'm probably the wrong person to ask about this. To me it wasn't good because of that sparkling water taste.

Moringa Energy Tea, Cherry Chamomile- I drink a lot of tea so I tried this and I actually liked it. The cherry flavor comes through and it has a good taste overall. 

Fragrance Free Hand And Body Lotion- The lotion works well but I like a lotion with a scent so I doubt I would buy this. But it would be good for those who don't like a scented lotion.

CBD Cream With Menthol- I tried this cream on my knee's and just like all the other ones I've tied it did nothing for the pain. 

Berry Mix Xylitol- This was my favorite thing in the box this month. I am always happy when I see this in the box. All the flavors are great and it's great for me as a low calorie, low carb candy since I am now eating low carb. And it's Vegan for those that like that. 

Dental Gum, Tooth Powder & Daily Rinse- This isn't bad. It works and doesn't have a bad taste. I've tried this before and I would use this.

All they ask you to do is try the products and leave reviews for the products you got in order to be eligible for more Free Goodie Boxes. As you guys already know, I'm a fan of all these types of boxes. I love all the different subscription boxes and it's really nice to be able to try new to me products for free. This is a great box to try for.

Oh and one more thing, if you visit their FB Page, they give away Goodie Boxes to people who interact with their posts. So if you've tried before and weren't able to get a Goodie Box, there's even more ways to get one now.

Daily Goodie Box. It's more than just Free Samples!

Have you signed up? Have you received one of these boxes?

I'm a fan of subscription boxes and love trying new products for free so this was a huge hit with me. New products+free box = Fabulous!

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

Recipe: Low Carb Meals - Eggs and mushrooms, Pico De Gallo, and Chicken Mushroom Bake

 

Since I'm eating low carb now and am doing really good on my blood sugar numbers, I thought I would share some of the things I might eat for meals. I wanted to show you that low carb meals can be more than just salad and vegetables. I've gotten my blood sugar numbers down in the 100's now. Which let me tell you, seeing the reward for the changes I've made really motivates me to keep doing it. 

So for breakfast some days I have sautéed mushrooms with a little bit of hamburger. I fry either 2 or 3 eggs on top of that depending if we have small or large eggs at the time. Then I top it with my homemade pico de gallo. 

Homemade Pico de gallo Recipe:

4 large tomatoes diced small

1 1/2 large white onions diced small

One bunch of cilantro diced small (about 1 cup)

Juice from 2 lemons

Salt to taste

 Mix all ingredients together and let sit overnight in container in the fridge. You can eat it right after it's been made but for more flavorful Salsa, make 2 days ahead of time and let it sit in an air tight container in the refrigerator.

For lunch I sometimes have a small fried chicken breast with sautéed mushrooms and a half of an avocado sprinkled with a half a slice of bacon.

This is a chicken mushroom bake and it was the first time I've made this. I found a recipe online and changed it to suit me. 

Recipe:

3 large chicken breasts, fried and cubed. 

8 ounces White mushrooms- sliced

1 small yellow onion- diced

1/2 lb bacon- fried and crumbled

4 ounces cream cheese

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup Colby jack cheese- shredded

8 ounces baby spinach

1 cup mozzarella cheese

1/4 tsp. Paprika

1/4 tsp. Garlic powder

1/4 tsp. Onion powder

What to do: 

Sauté sliced mushrooms and diced onions in bacon fat for 10 minutes or until done. Add baby spinach and stir for 2 minutes. Add cooked and diced chicken and diced bacon, stir together until mixed. Set aside. 

In a medium saucepan heat together, cream cheese, colby jack, heavy cream, paprika, onion powder and garlic powder. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until all the cheese is melted. Add chicken and mushroom mixture to oven safe pan and pour cheese mixture over it. Mix until combined. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella on top and bake in a 375 oven for 20 minutes. 

I loved this but next time I make it I might leave off the mozzarella because it was a little too much cheese for me. But otherwise it was a big hit. Even my daughter loved it. 

Would you eat any of these meals?

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

All of the pictures today are from August. We had plenty of moisture in the air, lots of clouds, rain and humidity. it made for a few good dark cloud pictures though. The sunsets were the best.

These clouds aren't real dark but they were huge. So many really big, billowing clouds and it looked cool. 

The clouds were a little dark this day and we even got a little rain soon after I took this picture. 

Book Review: Fated To The Gargoyle by Flora Dare

 

Book Description

The gods will tear the world asunder if their treaty isn't honored. To do so, there must be a marriage of dryad and gargoyle bloodlines.

Cybele

I hate the thought that my future is decided for me, but this is what I was raised to do. To be. A broodmare for a block of rocks. I suppose it isn't much better for him, either. The treaty between my forest homeland and the gargoyle clan needs to be renewed or we will no longer be protected. It's not about what we want, and it doesn't matter if the husband they've picked for me wants to devour me with his kisses.

Basalt

I’ve never wanted any of this. Not being the presumptive heir to my father. Not being tied in marriage to a fragile dryad. She looks as though she would crumple at a light touch. When her hand is tied to mine, I can barely feel it.

The curse of the gargoyle - stone skin, never feeling. It matters not when you mate with another gargoyle, your rough touch is welcomed, almost required for satisfaction. But now I was about to be bound to a dryad as delicate as a spring flower.

Can a real passion bloom from the arranged marriage between a gentle flower and a heart of stone or are they destined to disappoint the gods?

My Review

Cybele was raised knowing that she would marry a gargoyle that she would only meet for the first time on the day of her wedding. She was a Dryad and her people needed to make arrangements for one of them to marry a gargoyle each generation in order to be protected. She had no idea what to expect for this marriage, she only hoped that the gargoyle she was stuck with would at least be pleasant to her and whatever offspring they had. 

Basalt would one day rule after his father was gone and so he was chosen to marry a dryad to make sure that their two people were protected and had a treaty between them. He's not sure how this marriage will work since he's so much bigger than she is. But he's determined that it will. Things change once they meet at the alter. He's smitten with her almost right away and there are other changes in him when they touch. 

Basalt isn't sure what's going on or how he can feel her delicate touch on his skin. She's so much more lively than he was expecting and he really likes it. Basalt may seem like a stoic, stone faced gargoyle but when he's around Cybele, he finds himself more at ease and happy. It doesn't take long after the marriage ceremony for them to get to know each other better and find that they really do have much more in common than they thought they would. I found this fun, quick read to be funny as well as passionate. They were so cute together. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I was given an e-ARC of this book via Booksprout but all opinions and thoughts are my own.

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

*Kisses only 5 cents. Pucker up. *

*RIP Queen Elizabeth. Long lib the King*

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

Apartment Life #321

 

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 go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 25 years that we'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 24 years here in a weekly blog post.

A fire truck was parked outside of my apartment building this week. They went to drug dealer's apartment but no one came out and they left soon after they arrived.

The next day an ambulance went to drug dealer's apartment and one of the druggies that go there all the time was taken out in the ambulance. She was awake though so I don't know what she was going for. 

I haven't talked about the guy in my building who has the homeless brother who is a drug addict. The homeless brother hasn't broken any of his windows lately and I even saw the brother that lives here giving the homeless brother food and blankets the way the other brother that lived with him used to before he passed away. 

Well the homeless brother was across the street yelling at some guy and just vomiting his guts up. There a water spout against the wall of that building they are standing in front of and he kept drinking water and then would throw up again. It's been really hot here so I don't know if it was the heat or the drugs or a combination of the two that made him so sick. I saw him go into that guys apartment across the street and I saw him the next day and he seemed fine. 

---

The little dog that's offleash is Buddy. His owners often just open the door and let him out to go potty. He will sometimes go on an early morning walk with Falcor and I and Falcor loves it. Then he walks back with us and goes home. I hate seeing so many dogs offleash though.

Funny enough two other dogs walked into my apartment this week. One was my elderly neighbors dog and isn't much bigger than Falcor. He's always offleash as well. He pushed his way in when my daughter was walking in the door. Then he came and said hi to everyone and left. Thankfully Falcor gets along with him because he's not much bigger than him.

A couple of days later my daughter was sitting outside with my neighbor who had his dog outside with him and when my daughter came inside for a second she left the screen door open and the dog poked his head is. I saw him and grabbed Falcor because Falcor doesn't like big dogs and I knew he was going to act overdramatically which he did. The big dog is a big sweetie and even though Falcor got in his face before I could pick him up and snapped at him, he just ignored Falcor and sniffed around my place until his owner came in and got him. Poor Falcor walked around the apartment for about 20 minutes after that sniffing everywhere and letting off the occasional bark to let me know he was still pissed off. LOL 

---

I put a work order for a leak coming from my AC. My carpet's wet, the water isn't draining in or outside. They forgot to remove the rubber plug so the water can drain to the outside. I think it's leaking into the wall. 

He came out the next day. I told him the little rubber stopper just needed to have a hole drilled into it so the water could drain.  He acted like I didn't know what I was talking about. I even pushed on the rubber stopper myself and showed him the water would come out. He said, "Oh it's supposed to do that." I said, "Ok, but the water is draining into the wall. Is it supposed to do that?" 

He acted like I was a dumbass and said, "Well now. hold on and let me investigate this a little bit before I start drilling holes into things." 

Then he looked at it, knocked on my door again and said, "You're right, that shouldn't be there." I'll just poke a hole in it and it should be fine. The water started draining out immediately. At least it got fixed.

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The high this week was 112F/44C

The low this week was 78F/25C

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

Favorite Song of the Week

 

I like Starset and Breaking Benjamin so when I saw that they had a song together I had to listen to it and I loved it. I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I did.

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 pretty gift box with paper filler and it ties into a bow to close. 

And a cute birthday bag that I plan to use for my grandson's next birthday. 

Both items are from Walmart Spark Reviewer in exchange for an honest review. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?