Review: DegustaBox- June

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. 

In this box was...

Navitas Naturals snack bar

Briannas Cilantro Lime Dressing

Ritz Crisp Thins Crackers

Hodgson Mills Apple Cinnamon Muffin Mix

Brooklyn Organics Ginger Ale

Julian's Recipe Lemon Waffle Thins

PopCorners Bean Crisps

Entenman's Mini Apple Pie Snacks

Bibigo BBQ Sauce

Sir Kensington's Ketchup

Viter Energy Caffeinated Mints

Sir Kensington's Yellow Mustard

Bibigo sample of Sweet and Hot Sauce

Now this month's box was a huge success. We've tried everything and it was all a big hit. I didn't like using the BBQ sauce as a bbq sauce so I used it as a marinade instead. It just wasn't really thick enough to be a good bbq sauce. 

The bean crisps and lemon waffle thins are really good and I shared some with my grandson when he came over and he loved them. I also loved the Cilantro Lime dressing. If you been seeing some of my food posts, you already know that I use quite a lot of cilantro and lemon. Lemons and limes are very interchangeable to me so I can use both for the same thing. I was quite happy with this month's box.

The Ginger Ale drink was awful though. Ken and I both tried it and after just one sip we were both ready to throw it away. 

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. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

I walked outside with the dog and saw that my neighbors had a new pet. At first I wasn't sure what it was.

Then it walked outside and I saw they now have a chicken. And when she called it to come back in, it ran back in the house. lol 

Recipe: Zucchini Mushroom Frittata

What you'll need: 

1 green onion, chopped

2 medium zucchini, shredded

1 cup thinly sliced fresh mushrooms

1 TBSP butter

4 eggs

1/3 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

What to do:

In a large skillet, saute the green onion, zucchini and mushrooms in butter for 6 minutes, drain off any moisture. Transfer to an 8-in. square baking dish coated with cooking spray or a thin coating of oil. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. 

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour over vegetable mixture. 

Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 20-25 minutes until set. Let stand for 10 minutes before trying to cut.

So I was finally able to make a Frittata and the eggs come didn't out over done. This was the 4th Frittata recipe I tried and this was going to be the last one if it came out badly. I just don't have the patience. lol But it was so good. I think I might have had the heat in the oven too high since most of the recipes I tried called for a 400 degree oven and this one wasn't that hot. I really hate scorched or over cooked eggs but this recipe came out really good. I couldn't find a ready made recipe that had all the ingredients in it that I wanted to I combined a couple and changed them to suit my tastes. This was a huge hit with both Ken and myself. 

Happy Raturday!

*Photo courtesy of Poppy's Mischief*

"We can fit a few more in here."

*Photo courtesy of @RamblingRatz*

" I use the spit shine method of washing to get a shiny coat. Thanks for asking."

*Photo courtesy of Mary Kirkland -Me*

"Happy birthday to me." 

*Photo courtesy of Mary Kirkland- Me*

"Gimme the bag. Give it to me."

Review: Addicted by Charlotte Stein

Book Description

Kit Connor has always led a safe, cautious life. But when Kit’s friend points out that her erotic writing lacks something, she decides to attend a Sexual Healing group to improve her knowledge.

Kit expects to find the gritty underbelly of sex, and instead finds louche, laidback, sex-loving Dillon Holt.

Dillon makes a suggestion to Kit: that he will tell tales of his sexual excess, and help her book get the realism it needs. She agrees, but hasn't the least idea of what she's getting into.

Dillon doesn't have simple advice in mind … he has lessons to teach her. Lessons on everything she's never dared to experience, from kink to real passion.

Now Kit is never sure: is Dillon the addict, or is she just addicted to him?

My Review

Kit is writing an erotic romance book and after she let her friend read it, the friend tells Kit that it need more realism. We the reader got to read what Kit had written and all I can say is her book needed a lot of something to make it readable because it was awful. 

Kit's friend tells her she should go to a Sexual Healing group and listen to some of the exploits the people in the group talk about to give her a better understanding of what her writing is missing and maybe help her find out why she feels the way she does about relationships. Kit meets Dillon in the group and sparks fly when they talk. He's a tall intimidating guy with a teddy bear interior and wants to get to know Kit better. He finds out about her writing and tells her he'll tell her all about his sexual exploits, and he has many since he's a sex addict. But things are not always as they appear.

These two were great together. She's a bit shy at first but things quickly heat up and these two really have fun together, which just made the sex scenes that much hotter. 

Things seem to be going really well until Kit realizes that Dillon backs away whenever she asks him anything personal about himself. It takes some time but Dillon finally tells her what she wants to know and a big secret is revealed. This story starts out really fun, at no point did I ever feel bored with the story and while it ends on a more serious note, that didn't take away from the story at all, if anything if made it even better because the characters seemed more real. 

I gave this story 4 out of 5 stars. 

Favorite Video of the Week

I love these Doodle videos. Hope you enjoy them too.

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:

A sample of La Roche Posay double repair moisturizer
A coupon for a free bottle of Nestea Iced Tea
A $5 Amazon gift card from Crowdtap
And I won an ebook from a giveaway over at The Reading Addict So what book did I win you may be asking? Behind The Mask- A Superhero Anthology

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Recipe: Marinated Chicken with Slaw and Avocado Corn Salsa

What You'll Need: 

1 Chicken Thigh

2 TBSP Cilantro

2 TBSP Lemon juice

1/4 tsp. salt

2 TBSP Olive oil

Add cilantro, lemon juice, chicken thigh, olive oil and salt to a Ziplock baggie. Let marinate for at least an hour.

Heat pan and add chicken thigh, cook on medium heat until cooked through. Pair with Avocado Corn Salsa and Cole Slaw. 

Avocado Corn Salsa Recipe:

You Will Need:

1 Ear of fresh corn, cooked and cut off the cob

1 tsp. Frank's Hot Sauce

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro 

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 avocado, diced

What To Do:

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. 

My Cole Slaw Recipe: 

You'll Need:

 3 cups shredded cabbage

1 shredded carrot

2-3 TBSP mayonnaise

1tsp. sugar

1 tsp. mustard

Salt and pepper

Mix everything together, cover and let sit in the fridge overnight before serving.

As promised here's one of the dishes I paired the cole slaw and salsa with. I thought it was super tasty. It looks a lot like the other chicken dish I shared but the slaw and salsa are a little different. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

My daughter has a new little friend. It's a hornet in acrylic and she has this ugly bastard on her keychain. I think she brought it over just to freak me the hell out. Mission accomplished. *shudders*

Recipe: Stuffed Zucchini

What you'll need: 

1 medium zucchini

3 large fresh mushrooms, finely chopped

1 green onion, finely chopped

2 teaspoons white onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon butter

2 TBSP chicken or vegetable broth

salt and pepper to taste

2 teaspoons grated Cheddar cheese

What to do: 

Cut zucchini in half lengthwise. Scoop out pulp, leaving a 1/4-in. shell. 

Add butter, diced mushrooms, white onion and green onion to saute pan. Chop zucchini pulp and add to other vegetables in saute pan. Saute vegetables for 5 minutes or until tender. Add broth, salt and pepper, simmer 3 minutes or until broth is gone.

Place zucchini shells in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Remove zucchini shells from water and fill shells with mushroom mixture. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake in a 400F oven for 10 minutes. 

 Of course if you don't like mushrooms you can pretty much add anything you want to stuff zucchini. 

Would you try this?

Happy Raturday!

*Photo courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"I'll just have a small sip, mmkay?"

*Photo courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"You come back later, nap time now."

*Photo courtesy of MrRat395*

"What do you mean you ran out of yogies? How could you just let that happen?"

*Photo courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Today I'll be showing you the rat way of making a chocolate cake."

*Photo courtesy of @rosemariehierma*

"Oh, Hai."

Recipe: Marinated Chicken with Avocado Salsa

This was definitely a keeper and that avocado salsa would be good on so many things. 

You will need: 

2 Chicken Tenders or 1 Chicken Breast

2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

Add cilantro, lemon juice, olive oil and salt to a ziplock baggie. Add chicken to baggie and marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. 

 Heat a small pan on medium heat and add marinated chicken to pan, cook on Med. heat until cooked through. 

Salsa:

1 chopped tomato 

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 avocado, peeled and finely chopped

Add all ingredients to a bowl, mix well and set aside in refrigerator until ready to serve over cooked chicken.

Cole Slaw:

1/2 cup of shredded cabbage

1TBSP Mayonnaise

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and let sit in the fridge for at least an hour before serving. 

Enjoy!

Cole slaw can be made so many different ways and sometimes I do add shredded carrots to mine but I like it really simple too. 

Favorite Video of the Week

Ken was got for 10 days last month and when he got home this is how Falcor reacted. He was very happy to see Ken. The video is a little dark because I only had 1 light on.

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:

Method Laundry Detergent from Sample Source.
Nature's Way Joint Movement Glucosamine
A $5 Amazon gift card from Crowdtap

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Three Little Words by Lauren Hawkeye

Book Description

Two years ago serious, sexy law student Malachi "Mal" Hunter broke wild child Adele Cavanaugh’s heart. When Mal is thrown back into her life...and she meets Dorian Marshall, the bad boy lead singer of the Australian band Three Little Words, her analytical mind can't compete with her racing heart (and other body parts that pulse).

Three Little Words quickly becomes Two Hot Choices, but Adele doesn’t know how to choose just one when they both help to ease her pain...and fuel so much pleasure.

Please note: this story also includes tattoos (hers), naughty touching (theirs), a cat named Humper, and brawling roller derby fun. 

My Review

Adele is a nursing student who likes to go to the law library to study. Mal has been watching her and sneaking glances at her while she's there but she knows he's been watching her. They both have the hots for each other but Mal is too shy and nervous to say hi to her. Adele makes the first move and asks Mal over for coffee one day. Even though she's surprised he accepted, she's also thrilled because she likes him. 

I liked watching these two get to know each other and find some common ground, something neither one of them thought they'd have. But just as everything is going great, Boom! there's a misunderstanding and everything goes to hell. 

Fast forward 2 years later and Mal has told his father to get stuffed and dear old dad cuts off the money. So Mal gets an apartment with his friend Dorian and is scraping by but he's happier and still in law school. Wouldn't you know it that when Mal moves back to the town he did his undergrad work to continues his studies, he comes face to face with Adele. 

What Mal doesn't know is that Adele has drastically changed. She dropped out of nursing school, works at a cafe and doesn't date because of something bad that happened to her while they were apart. 

There ends up being a bit of a fight for Adele between Mal and Dorian. Both want her and she wants both of them. Dorian was different than I expected but I really liked that about him. He brought a few exciting and interesting scenes to this story. I really liked how this one ended, even if I did see that little twist coming. 

And then there's the stray cat. This cat was hilarious and damned naughty. I laughed every single time the cat showed up because I knew what it was going to do. One of them thought that the cats name should be Humper, so that should give you an idea why this cat was funny.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

12 Years Blogging

 I told you all how I started this blog but since it's been a while, I'll tell you again.  12 years ago a friend talked a couple of us into starting up a blog at the same time he did. TK *Trollking* was a friend from a couple of forums and yahoo groups that I frequented back then and he talked us into starting blogs of our own. Sadly TK passed away several years ago and most of the friends that started up blogs back then, no longer keep up with their blogs, but I have slowly been plugging along for 12 years.

My blog has changed as I've changed over the years. I've met a lot of really wonderful people and made quite a few friends along the way. 

Over the past 12 years I've shared pictures of my hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, rats and now my dog. I've shared the sorrow of my mother's passing, the joy of my grandson being born and 26 years together with Ken.

I've ranted, reviewed, shared my thoughts and advice. I don't think I ever really thought that I would still be blogging 12 years later or that anyone would read what I had to say, but many of you do and I thank you for sticking with me through so many years. 

I hope that I'll be here in 12 more years and that you all will still be here with me. 

Thank you all for visiting today and over the past 12 years. Blogging has been a very rewarding experience for me and I've enjoyed getting to know all of you. 

Recipe: Avocado and Corn Salsa

You Will Need:

1 Ear of fresh corn, cooked and cut off the cob

1 tsp. Frank's Hot Sauce

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro 

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 avocado, diced

What To Do:

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. 

Most of the recipes for this that I looked at called for diced tomatoes and onions and you can add that to this if you like it but the first batch I made was with tomato and onion and didn't like the taste of it together. So I changed the recipe to suit my tastes.

I've been experimenting with several 'salsa' variations to pair with chicken when I make it or to have with vegetables or even on eggs and it's been interesting trying them all out. The most interesting thing I've found out is that avocado pairs well with just about anything. lol

Have you made any salsa's like this and liked it?

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Recipe: Cole Slaw

You'll Need:

 3 cups shredded cabbage.

1 shredded carrot

2-3 TBSP mayonnaise

1tsp. sugar

1 tsp. mustard

Salt and pepper

Mix everything together, cover and let sit in the fridge overnight before serving. 

 Ken and I both liked this recipe so I'll be making this one again. I'll probably share one of the dishes I made and used this as the side in the next couple of weeks or so. 

Do you like cole slaw?

May- Target Beauty Box Available Now!

Hey everyone, 

Target Beauty Box for May is available right now. Hurry if you want one because they go fast. 

Favorite Video of the Week

This is one of my all time favorite bands. The first time I watched this music video it made me cry. What a great message this song and video sends out. Watch it and let me know what you think.

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:

From Pinchme I received...
Beneful Grain Free Dog Food
Pure Leaf Tea
Gillette Deodorant
Unisom Sleep Gels
Sensodyne Toothpaste
Carol's Daughter Almond Milk Shampoo and Conditioner

And from Sample Source I received...
Blue Emu sample

Did you get any freebies this week?

Recipe: Sauteed Julienned Vegetables

I made this using all kinds of different vegetables including zucchini, carrots, celery, purple cabbage, onions, bell peppers, green cabbage, bean sprouts and green onions. It's a great side dish or even a quick snack. I made this as a side dish for fish the other night and we both liked it. 

For this recipe I just used carrots, celery and green cabbage. 

To make this you will need: 

2 carrots

1 stalk of celery

1/2 cup of thinly sliced green cabbage

1/4 cup vegetable or chicken broth

1 TBSP Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

A julienne food peeler

Note: You can julienne slice all of these vegetables by hand if you want but I found it easier and quicker to buy a $7 julienne food peeler and use it. 

What to do: 

Julienne cut your vegetables either by hand or with a peeler. Add the olive oil to a pan over medium heat. Add all the vegetables except the cabbage and saute for 3 minutes. Add cabbage, salt, pepper and broth and saute for another 3 minutes or until the broth is gone and the vegetables are tender but still crispy. 

You can add other flavors to this and even a sauce if you'd like. 

Does this look like something you'd try?

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

Earlier this month Ken spent 10 days in California dog/house sitting for his sister and brother in law. So it was just Falcor and I for 10 days. I didn't want him getting bored so I made a few new toys for him including an empty plastic water bottle which he never gets bored with and then I made a huge ice cube for him to play with or lick or whatever. At first he just stared at it and when it popped because it was melting, Falcor started barking at it. 

Here he was waiting for it to start popping and crackling again. He stared at it for a good 2 minutes and then walked around it. 

After about 30 minutes he sniffed it and started licking it. Silly dog. 

And this is one of the dogs that Ken was dog sitting for. 

More Crafty Hobbies Pt 2

Last week I shared a few crafts that I tried and liked because I was kinda good at them and they were fun. This week I'll share with you some of the crafts that I tried and failed miserably at or just didn't come out as I had hoped. 

A few years ago when we painted the bathroom a nice bright green color, I decided to try making a few accent pieces for the walls. The little planter box that I painted came out really nice but then I tried making a replica of the white mouse on the right out of sculpy clay. Mine is the brown mouse on the far left and it looks nothing like the white mouse.

I ended up buying the tiny teddy bear and chipmunk because I after the mouse and then a couple of other sculptures that went in the trash, I didn't try the sculpy clay again. Mary from Evolve With Mary, asked to see some of the clay sculptures I made. So here ya go. :)

About 20 years ago I tried my hand at making pewter sculptures. I bought a kit with the molds, pewter blocks, heavy gloves, hot pot, pewter patina liquid, Swarovski accent crystals, and mold clamps. I had to remelt my sculptures about 6 times before I finally got one without bubbles which make holes in the sculpture. Back then I bought the entire kit for $39.99 and when I looked today a smaller kit is almost $90. I was able to make 4 sculptures with the kit I had and it was fun to do but as years went by the supplies got a lot more expensive so this was one craft I only did once. They are a lot of work and it's dangerous because that melted pewter is hot as hell and if you spill it on yourself, well it would be bad. 

A few years ago I saw a magazine with some Pine Cone crafts in it. I thought, well that looks easy enough. While my pine cone christmas tree's came out kinda cute, they weren't anywhere near as cute as the ones in the pictures. 

I also tried to recreate a pine cone mouse and while I liked it, my family thought I was nuts. lol 

I wanted to try my hand at making and decorating cakes. I can make a good tasting cake, that's not a problem but they were never pretty. So I bought a cake decorating kit like this one. I also bought some fondant icing and my first try with it was a hot mess. LOL Let me tell you though, my neighbors loved me because I was always foisting cake on them. Even if it looked funny, they liked the cake. My older next door neighbor came back and said, "I don't think you're supposed to eat that Play Dough type stuff on the cake." I forgot to tell him not to eat that. My bad. 

This was my first try using spray color mist and trying out a couple of new decorating tips. Again, the neighbors enjoyed cake too. *chuckles*

I didn't like the fondant at all so I never used that again. But I wanted to try making chocolate buttercream and it tasted really good. The cake was also chocolate. I was just having fun trying out the different decorating tips. My neighbors weren't surprised to find me at their doors with a piece of cake. 

When Easter rolled around I saw an Easter Basket cake that I wanted to try and make. So I bought all the supplies and colored the shredded coconut, baked the cake and scooped out the middle of it. I added some Easter egg looking candy to it and even though it didn't look like the picture and I might have added too much candy to the top of it, my daughter loved it. 

*Excuse the back of the stove, we were getting a new stove that week and the kitchen walls were about to be painted blue, so they were a bit of a mess.*

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the other crafts I've tried. Have you ever tried a craft that you ended up not liking?

Happy Raturday!

*Photo courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"A cookie? For me?"

*Photo courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"I no like baff but at least I had my duckie"

*Photo courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Dis mai cookie. You let go now."

Review: Maple Holistics Dry Hair Treatment- Concentrated Shampoo

Product Description

HEALS SCALP AND HAIR all natural sulfate free shampoo for itchy flaky scalp with jojoba & argan oil balances & purifies hair by reducing sebum and strengthen hair strands for healthier hair and scalp.

TREATS GREASY AND OILY HAIR balancing shampoo for oily hair eliminates environmental pollutants dead cells & dust build up. Greasy hair shampoo removes product build up left by conditioner gel & mousse.

SOOTHE ITCHY SCALP lemon & jojoba oil blend together to heal irritation while stimulating hair growth & hair follicle. These ingredients contain vitamin E & B as well as magnesium calcium & flavonoids.

GREAT FOR ALL HAIR TYPES degrease shampoo uses all natural botanical that are perfect for hair types including curly, straight, wavy, thick or thin hair. Renews hair high quality look for men & women.

100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEED our ingredients are always sulfate, cruelty, pain, and paraben free. Produced in a state of the art facility - this shampoo with leave your hair with an amazing smell & fee.

My Review

I received a sample size bottle of Maple Holistics Shampoo and used it three days in a row. I have very long hair but there was enough in the bottle for me to use it at least three times. The first time I used it, I hadn't washed my hair for 2 days because it says it it good for greasy hair so I wanted to see for myself if it really would 'degrease' my hair and leave it looking clean and shiny like my other shampoos. 

After washing and using my own conditioner and letting it dry I have to say that it got my hair as clean as any of my other shampoos did. My only complaint was that by the end of the day my hair felt greasy again and I can usually skip a day of washing my hair when I use a Pantene or Dove shampoo. But if you use this shampoo every day, it does clean your hair and it is as good as any of the store bought shampoos that I've used. 

I never had an itchy scalp and I do suffer from a mild case of dandruff but never saw any flakes while using this shampoo for the three days that I used it. 

The scent is mild and just ok as far as scents go but it wasn't unpleasant. So as long as you use it every day it's a good shampoo and keeps your hair looking clean and shiny. 

I give this shampoo 4 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I was given a sample free of charge to try.