My Very Own Review and Giveaway!!

My friend, Amy, from Flexible Dreams, so graciously announced a review and giveaway that she is having from my Etsy Shop AW Jewelry Designs. This will end Saturday. I'm not sure of the time so jump on over to her site and take a look and leave a comment to have your chance at winning a $25 gift Certificate towards something in my shop.

Eco-Friendly Portable Speakers

Here are some really neat speakers that I just ordered from Froobi.com. My husband has an iTouch and my daughter usually wants to play her games on it. But it is a little challenging to hold the ear phones, balance the iTouch on her lap and play the game at the same time.

EcoNation NEO Speakers Highlights:

• Speakers made from 80% recycled Material.
• No Batteries Required. Saves Money and Saves the earth!
• Great Portable Design. The Neo Speakers fold flat for easy storage. Fun to assemble!
• Universal Compatability. Plug into your MP3 Player, PC, or Notebook! Great for personal music listening.
  
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Froobi gives you a deal of the day and like today sometimes you just have to pay for shipping, which isn't that much.

Giveway from My Owl Barn

This is a neat and eclectic necklace and if you go to the blog My Owl Barn, leave a comment and follow the directions you too can win this give away. Sounds easy?

Diced Tomatoes, Avocado and Tomatoes

What first grabs me in a recipe is the picture. I posted a previous post of diced potatoes and beans but when I was half way done eating it, I thought about taking a picture. This time I remembered way ahead of time!!

The finished product!

My husband was going to be home late tonight so I made one serving. If you have more people joining you just double, triple, or quadruple it...etc.

1 medium russet potato (diced)
1/4 onion (diced)
Mix in a bowl with 1/2 tbsp of Olive Oil

Herbs:
A shake or two of sea salt
1 tsp dill
1 tsp Italian Herb Grinder
1 tsp of garlic

(Cook in a skillet on medium with cover on tossing them occasionally until the potatoes are edible. When they are done put some baby spinach on top of the potatoes and put the cover on for 2-3 minutes until they are soft.)

While they are cooking you can make the Avocado/Tomato Mixture
1/4 of the Avocado (Diced)
1/2 tomato (Diced)
(Sprinkle with above herbs)
Top the mixture on the potatoes...ENJOY!!

Dice the potatoes and onions about 1 cm in length if you like little stuff. Or larger if you like it chunky. I feel that if I dice it small enough it will take me longer to eat and I will be full before or near when I am done eating.

I use these three spices in almost all of my recipes.
Trader Joe's Dill
McCormick Italian Herb Grinder
Trader Joe's Sea Salt

Fruit Salad

I am in love with the healthy little dish. I had it for dessert last and breakfast this morning. I made it fresh each time because I think that the fruit would get brown. From reading online, it seems that lemon juice helps the fruit not to brown. Do you know of any other ways to keep fruit from browning?




Dice:
Bananas
Apples
Pears
Add Raisins
Add Honey (1 tbsp)
Sprinkle Shaved Coconut (without the sugar)


My choice of coconut was based on the amount of fat, no sugar and the size of the shavings. The shavings were perfect for me because I wasn't chewing coconut. If you are looking for something sweet that won't add the extra calories on your butt, hip, stomach or thighs...try this!

I am adding this to www.lifeasMOM.com.

Diced Potatoes with Avocado and Black beans

This is another veggie meal. And don't worry about the protein..all of the above actually have plenty of protein in it.
Potato - 4.3 grams
Avocado - 4 grams
Black Beans - 8 grams
Tomato - 1 gram

No meat and plenty of protein!! 17 grams!

Dice a whole white potato with skin (I like them diced super small)
Dice 1/2 small onion
1/2 cup sliced and chopped mushrooms
(Put in a bowl add about 2 tsp olive oil and add spices. I used, garlic, italian blend, dill, salt)
Cook in an until potatoes are tender.

I used the same mixture that I used below for the Portabello Mushroom

I also added about 1/2 cup of heated black beans.

YUM De-Lish!

Portabello Mushroom with Avocado

I had two of the best meals today and really wanted to share about them. Some of you may not enjoy them, but if you love veggies, you will these.

First For lunch:

Marinate 1 Large Portabello Mushroom in:
3tbsp Low sodium Soy Sauce
1 tsp Garlic
1 whole Scallion sliced
(Pour mixture over mushroom in a bowl and marinate for 15 minutes)

In the meantime
Dice 1/4 or 1/2 Avocado
Finely dice 1/2 plum tomato (seeds removed)
Add 1 tsp garlic
1-2 tsp cilantro
(Gently mix ingredients together and put aside)

After 15 minutes heat a small pan with a little olive oil and pour mushroom and marinade in pan and cover with lid for about 5-8 minutes flip mushroom and cover lid for 58 minutes, watching so that it doesn't burn)

When it is done: Put Mushroom and whatever liquid is left on a plate and pour Avocado mixture on top. Enjoy!
(The mushroom was actually big enough to full me up.)

Almost Fat-Free Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are almost fat-free because I added mini-chocolate chips. I had a feeling that my family wouldn't eat them just the way they were without the chocolate chips. I got the recipe from blog.fatfreevegan.com. Of course I altered it a little bit depending on what I had on my pantry.

I doubled everything because we are going to a friends house for dinner and we are bringing dessert.

2 tsp. ground flaxseed
4 tablespoons water
2 cup regular or quick oats
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup honey
2 banana, mashed

Preheat the oven to 375.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the flaxseed with the water and set aside until thickened

Mix the oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a medium mixing bowl.

Add the honey, vanilla, mashed banana, to the flaxseed mixture and combine well. Pour into the dry mixture and stir well but don't overmix.

Add chocolate chips and mix just until blended.

I used a cookie scoop that I got from Pampered Chef for my husband since he is the cookie maker in the house usually. Not this time, though.

Drop by heaping scoops onto a baking sheet. I used 1/2 scoop because I like smaller cookies.

Flatten each cookie slightly with a plastic fork./knife sprayed with PAM.



Bake for 8-10 minutes or until bottoms and sides are lightly brown. Cool for a few minutes on a wire rack before serving.

Servings: 36

It's Here!

Do you remember my post about coffee mugs? Well, ask and you shall receive. I just celebrated my 30-something birthday and asked for this mug...and got it! Thanks Dad and Joan! It is a little smaller than I thought it would be from the picture, but I actually like it better. And the seller (Hopes and Dreams) included some chocolate covered biscottis. Yum! If I didn't already have a Starbucks today I would try my coffee mug out now..but I can wait!....I think!




We had a very pleasant day today. It started about 7am this morning as my daughter climbed into our bed and was fully dressed ready to start the day. She immediately told us that she wanted to go to the mall. Since I didn't have anything planned, I agreed to it and had a really nice time with my little girl. Our main goal was to get to the play area at the Towson Town Mall. After about 30-45 minutes, we left and had lunch and walked around just the two of us. No rushing...just enjoying the moment. On our way there....while getting lost....I saw this beautiful church. I think it is a church but not sure. If anyone knows, leave me a comment.

And this is what Hannah did with the box that the mug came in. Funny girl!

Wordless Wednesday

Hannah trying to help me put away groceries..