Look What I Won From Right @ Home!

We returned from vacation pleasantly surprised to find a small package from SC Johnson's division Right @ Home.  I'm sure that I entered something in order to win this.  I know that I get emails from Right @ Home once in a while.  Something in my memory is vaguely fuzzy when it comes to a contest, LOL.

I'm excited because I don't usually win anything!

TV Recap - Keeping Up With The Kardashians - October 17, 2010

I have a lot to say about this week's Keeping Up With The Kardashians.  So, do we really believe that Scott has maintained these positive changes that everyone keeps talking about?  For Kourtnay and Mason's sake, I really hope so.  I did feel the tiniest bit bad for Scott when he got left out of everything fun and had to stalk and beg Bruce to hang out.  Scott&Bruce were really cute when they hand hugged!  I also thought that the suit bonding was really nice.  I couldn't help but think of Barney on How I Met Your Mother and "Suit Up"!

Kim is dating someone new!  I'm excited as it seems like she really needs to just move on and stop going back and forth with Reggie.  Of course, next week's Season Finale teasers make it look like Reggie ends up back in the picture.  Poor Kim, I hope that she can just say no to Reggie!  She can call me and I will talk her thru how she needs to resist the drama.

Dash - a new one in NYC?  Close the CA store?  I think that the store(s) really takes the back seat and I think that opening a NYC would be a mistake.  Close the CA store.  These girls have way too much going on now to worry about retail.  I was actually shocked that the business managers thought that the NYC store was a fantastic idea.  Kourtnay always ends up working on the stores and she gets upset with her sisters who don't devote as much time.  Of course they can't devote that kind of time.  Kim has a busy career and Khloe is married.  I agree with Khloe who asked what the rush was.  I think that they should skip it all!  Is the Miami store even open?  They didn't mention it.

Weekly Menu - October 18, 2010

If you haven't had a chance to check out the About Section of the Weekly Menu, please check out now for info on sides & veggies.

This week, I need some cooking inspiration!  I have a bunch of defrosting meat, as we speak, but no idea what I am going to actually cook up.


Monday - ham steak
Tuesday -  ground beef
Wednesday - ground beef
Thursday -  boneless pork
Friday -  boneless pork
Saturday - fish*
Sunday -  tortillini



As I choose some recipes this week, I think that I will do separate blogs and soon I can start linking them up to the weekly menu.

*About the fish, this is frozen but ready-to-bake fish.  I can't take anymore fish drama LOL!

10 Things - New TV Shows - Fall 2010

I gave 10 new shows a shot this fall.  It was tough to spend my time watching new shows because they have a tendency to get canceled so quickly these days!

1. Undercovers - I gave it 2 epis
2. Nikita - OK but I don't DVR it
3. Running Wild - I gave it 1.75 epis
4. Hawaii 5-0 - I think that I like it
5. Terriers - I like it
6. Boardwalk Empire - already renewed for 2nd season
7. Lonestar - ALREADY CANCELED
8. The Event  -I like it
9. Mike & Molly - cute!
10. No Ordinary Family - I think that I am going to dump it.

P.S.
I didn't plan to watch it, but, My Generation has been canceled.

from the blog: true blood news

TV Recap - Boardwalk Empire - October 3, 2010

from: premiumhollywood.com

Amazing that Jimmy & Al's 5th victim is still alive.  How crazy was it when the police-chief-brother tried to kill him, even with his roommate in the room!  I'm glad that the police-chief-brother wasn't able to kill him.  But, he did die in the end.  TG he died after the FBI-IRS guy was poking his fingers into his wounds.  BLECK.  I hate scenes like that.

So, is the funeral home back in the alcohol business?  It seemed like a horse-drawn hearse that pulled in, filled with alcohol.  What is that character's name?  I think they said Chuck.  Let's go with that.  It seemed like Chuck took over the operation now that they guy who changed his name got busted.

I'm really excited about Mrs. Shroeder's job at the French Boutique at the Ritz Carlton.  (Btw, I just figured out that I have been spelling her name wrong).  The shop mistresses is a pill but fun to watch.  "When did you last bathe?".  How crazy was it when Mrs. Shroeder had to wait on and dress Nucky's ho?  She really earns her title, that one.

Yikes - NYC's mobster guy sure got some bad karma when he was treated for gonorrhea.  I bet that the men watching this scene were cringing.  I don't like this mobster guy - at all.  How crazy was it that they doc was smoking a cigarette during the procedure.  So typical that Mr. Mobster wouldn't let the doc write down his issues.

So, what is the big secret between Jimmy's Mom (Jillian) and Nucky?  What's the agreement - to keep Jimmy out of trouble - but why is Nucky on the hook?  Is Nucky his bio-Dad?  Is Nucky his brother (the only reason I wondered was when Nucky's brother (the police chief) asks if Nucky would be as understanding of him)?  How long until we find out?  Stuff like this will keep me interested.  I love a good back story.

OK, I missed this the first time thru - Mr. Name Change (who used to run the alcohol from the funeral home) gets told by NYC to take care of the issue (now that Nucky put them out of business) and that is why he kills the man and hangs him.  They shoot him because they are going to use the cover-up story that it was a jealous husband who shot him.

Why wasn't the head FBI-IRS guy more interested in Jimmy being one of the shooters?  He says he has to speak with the US Attorney's office, but, I can't help but think that he is up to something...

Jimmy - Jimmy - Jimmy!  What a freaking royal melt-down: you don't like the vacuum, your shoulders are bare, did you sleep with the photographer, let me grab my gun from atop the hutch, and you didn't seem to mind the last time I left!  Sheeesh, buddy, really?  I was curious about how/when we would see Al Capone again what with him being in Chicago and all.  Now, we know.  I'm still upset that Jimmy left his family, though.  Why not just bring them with him to Chicago.  Or, someplace else, start fresh.

Finally - I'm liking this show and hoping for some more good stuff!  Boardwalk Empire, you got a DVR Removal stay-of-execution, at least for another 2 weeks!

Product Review - Wilton Cupcake Cake Pan

the pan and cake (after baking)

The title of this week's product(s) review should actually be Wilton Cupcake Cake Pan and Baker's Joy.  I was actually going to give this Cupcake Cake Pan a big fat F.  The last time I used it, I followed the directions:  I baked at 325 degrees, I sprayed it with butter, then floured the pan and I took the cake out after 10 minutes of cooling.  But, my cakes both stuck in the pan.  This was the second time that this has happened to me.

After the last Cupcake Cake disaster, I did some Google'ing and found that people REALLY recommended that you use Pam with Flour to keep this cake from sticking.  I decided to buy some.  My grocery store carried all kinds of Pam, but none with flour.  My store did carry Baker's Joy.  I decided that for $2.04, it was worth a shot.  I am so happy that I tried this out!  I'm now a believer.  Baker's Joy is my new baking BFF.  It really works.  Both parts of the cupcake cake slid right out of the pan.  I should add a note that I used a lot of spray.  You could probably get away with 1/2 the amount that I used.  When it comes to this particular pan, though, I'll continue to use a lot.

I used a Devil's Food Cake recipe for this cake.  After mixing it up, it had some lumps and I seemed to have a lot of batter.  I also read that sometimes people need 1.5 boxes of cake mix to make this cupcake cake.  One box was plenty for this cake.  As you can see to the right, both sections are filled up to about 1.5 inches from top.  (I'm really not sure why my batter looks lumpy - the mixer really mixed it up).

I had to bake this cake for 55 minutes, in a pre-heated oven .  I think 53 minutes was probably the magic number.  But, I just tried some of the shavings and they are really moist and tasty.  The shavings apply to the part of the cupcake cake that you cut off with a large knife.  I use a bread knife myself.

some cupcake repairs (frosting)

LOVE this stuff

speed deco

cake - very moist

Product Review - About

I just realized that I never did an about section for the product reviews.

I wanted to clarify that I am not paid or compensated in any way by the makers of the products.  I should point out that I don't even know how to go about getting paid to review items or even get the items for free.
  
I try to take a picture of the item that I am using myself.  This will further prove that I am actually using the item IRL.

All of my reviews will not be positive.  I will sometimes tell you how much I dislike something, like store brand Mr. Clean Magic Erasers.  Feel free to ask questions about any of the items.

Our Second Geocaching Adventure (Rhode Island)

"Roger That" was the name of the second Geocache that we found in Providence, Rhode Island.  It was our first RI Geocache.   I luckily have pictures of this one!

It was a rainy Friday and J&J and myself were bored!  It rained most of the day and we were stir-crazy.  The rain seemed to taper off so we decided to hear out for a Geocache.  I knew that this particular Cache was in a pretty small park.  I didn't want to go anywhere where I may possibly get lost without my husband. The instructions warned us that there were  lot of Muggles around and to be careful not to get caught.  (Muggles, in this non-Harry Potter instance, are non-Geocachers.  You don't want them to catch you finding or hiding the Geocache because they my take it or destroy it).

The view of Providence from this location was amazing!  I was so surprised that Providence had hilly neighborhoods and such great views.  Finally, it was my chance to get the cache as nobody was around.  I walked into the bushes and went for it.  But, before I got the cache, Juliette started screaming bloody murder.  The bushes were only waist-high but I think she thought that the bushes were attacking me!  Poor baby.  I got her calmed down and grabbed the cache!  Since this is only our second find, it was still exciting as all heck!!

This cache was created as part of a school project and they ask you to take your picture.  I took the kids' picture.  I looked through the other pictures and thought that this is a great idea.  This was another TNLN cache for us.  I hope that my husband gets to come on the next mission with us as he was missed  XOXOXO.

J&J ready to Geocache

Providence

Downtown

See the Waterfire?

Roger Williams

RW from the back

Prov Place Mall

Capitol

TV Recap - Brothers and Sisters- October 3, 2010

I'm so happy that this show is back on!  I'm happy when I see it on the DVR.

So, what do we have to talk about?  Paige gets rocked with her bad girl friend at Luca's party.  Sara learns that she can't be her daughter's BFF and her Mom.  I was really happy when Sara told Paige that she wanted to be the kind of Mom that Nora was, awwwwww!  It's nice that those Walker kids know how good they had it.  Loved Nora's bust-out at the end, yelling at each of her kids.  She was spot on!  She would be hilarious on a radio show, and I really hope that she does it.

Is it me or is Luca really smokin' hot this season? I don't think that he looked this good last May.

Kitty decides that Nora is having a secret affair, tells the troops and then decides that Nora is a lesbian.  Funny.  Typical.  The boys had strong reactions to Nora's supposed switch-er-oo.  They set it up badly, IMO, because we all knew that she was a florist's assistant from last week.

So happy that Kitty is getting a new house and that she will be closer to the rest of the fam.

I was really wondering where we were going with this Mateo storyline.  I thought that maybe Kevin&Scotty would foster him or something.  It was great to see him reunited with his grandmother.

I thought that this Holly storyline would be funny!  Instead they want us to feel for poor, amnesiac Holly.  I agree with Justin, where is Rebecca?  And, where is Saul?  Does ABC really not have enough of a budget to allow Saul in each week's episode?

Weekly Menu - October 4, 2010

If you haven't had a chance to check out the About Section of the Weekly Menu, please check out now for info on sides & veggies.


Monday - Pumpkin Raviolis from Venda Ravioli
Tuesday -  Shepherd's Pie (from the freezer)
Wednesday - Shepherd's Pie (from the freezer)
Thursday -  something with Italian Sausage
Friday -  something with Italian Sausage
Saturday -  ham steak
Sunday -   TBD

The Baked Mexican Fish from last week never got made.  I'm sad to report that when I defrosted the fish, it turned out that the fish had skin on it.  We decided that we could not eat it.  I cooked it and gave it to the dogs with their dinners for 3 nights.  The dogs LOVED it.

As I blog about the recipes, I will start linking them to the weekly menu.  But,  I'm not there yet.

Weekend Recap - October 3, 2010

We had a busy Friday.  The kids didn't take their am nap.  Are they dropping a nap?  I'm happy to report that they are not ready to drop a nap yet.

It started to look like it might rain, but, we jumped in the car anyway.  We went to the post office to mail the party invitations.  Then, we went off to get Juliette's ears pierced.  They had to do one ear at a time due to the fact that Juliette was moving her shoulders around in anticipation (she's almost 1).  I couldn't take it so I brought Jack to play with a toy kitchen across the room.  Juliette was a trooper.  She got tiny little pink sparkly studs.  They look adorable!

On the way home we stopped for Chinese food for lunch.  It was great, as usual.  Then the kids went down for their afternoon naps and Tom went off to work.

Saturday was a busy day with a trip to the apple orchard.  We had a great time but, it was towards the end of the season and it was pretty picked over.  Next year we will definitely go earlier in the season.  Luckily, we were able to use a long-armed apple picker to get some nice apples from the tops of the trees.  We went Geocaching on the way home (we didn't find it) and got some ice cream at Peaceful Meadows.  The M&M ice cream was as good as I remembered, except the M&M pieces were much smaller.  Jack had a really hard night, Saturday night.  It has been months since he last had an attack like this.  I hope it wasn't a reaction to the couple of bites of ice cream that he had. 

Sunday was a good day spent at home.  The kiddos took an amazing am nap which caused us to miss Church.  But, they needed their sleep after our busy day on Saturday.  We had a great visit with the babies' Grandma and Papa.  Tom & I got a bunch of little things done around the house and yard, which is a load off our minds.  Sunday night was a quiet one, after baths, pj's and bed.

I usually don't give any Monday updates, but, the kids had their first 1/2 formula, 1/2 whole milk bottle this morning!  So far, there haven't been any attacks so I am hoping that the milk transition goes OK!

see her apple outfit?

all the kids, little C is on the right

at the Orchard

TV Recap - Keeping Up With The Kardashians - October 3, 2010

Quite the opening scene on this week's Keeping Up With the Kardashians!  Kim and Kris were discussing the size of Scott.  Oh my.  TG it was a quick scene.

Bruce was so cute when he thought that Kylie was dating.  I think that Kylie taking a car service to Khloe's house was a bit much.  I was impressed that Khloe cared so much.  My kid would be in big, BIG trouble if they left the house like that tho.  That kid is 12?

Lube.  Enough said.  I know this show is racy but that was TMI for me.  Having siblings close in age is really important to Kourtnay, but, is she thinking about how hard it is going to be if Scott isn't by her side helping?  I am amazed that her sisters and mother don't have more to say about her baby plan.  Perhaps they are keeping mum so that Kourtnay won't run off to NYC?

Amazon Moms - Diaper Deals

Amazon launched a new FREE program called Amazon Moms.  You can buy things in the baby store with a 15% discount and free 2 day shipping.  If you also subscribe and save, you can save an additional 15% for a total savings of 30%.  I just stocked up on some Huggies diapers.  I have decided that I no longer use anything but Huggies unless they are free.  I really prefer them.  I liked the Pampers Swaddlers, too, but those only come in smaller sizes and the kids are now in Size 4.

I just bought 280 diapers for $0.16 each.  This is a tiny bit cheaper than Huggies at my local BJ's Wholesale club.  But, the extra special bonus is that I don't have to go out to the store.  The nice UPS mail will leave my 280 Huggies on my doorstep, yay!

What's Caught My Eye? - The Milk Man

from the blog Celticpridehomeschool

My title sounds scandalous, doesn't it?  The Munroe Dairy Milk Truck has caught my eye this week!  The babies will soon be on whole milk.  We can hardly wait as our budget needs some help and milk is much less expensive than formula.  In anticipation of the big change over, I decided to start researching local dairy farms.  I got a lot of positive reviews regarding Munroe Dairy and their milk men.  The milk is not FDA certified organic but it is hormone and antibiotic free.  Another bonus is that it arrives on your doorstep withing a day of being milked.

The milk comes in either glass half gallon or glass quart containers.  It costs either the same, or $0.50 less than the organic milk at the grocery store at $2.99 a half gallon.  There is also some kind of bulk buying milk discount but I haven't figured that out yet.  Once the kiddos are on while milk I will see how much we need to buy for a discount.

The best part of the milk delivery is all the other stuff!  I would like to applaud Munroe Dairy for supporting so many local businesses.  Looking over their order form was completely refreshing.  We like to support local business, when we are able to.  They have local pies, including a Chorizo pie, local raviolis, sauce and meatballs from a delicious local restaurant, fresh bagels made locally, fresh, local ice cream and so much more.

So far we love the skim milk and the chocolate milk.  We haven't tried the coffee flavored milk due to it containing NFCS.  The coffee creamer is great, and fresh, but just too rich!  The bagels are great.  our milk man is really nice, too.

from: cowtruck.com

TV Recap - No Ordinary Family - September 28, 2010

from: abc's website

Wow, good to see some fav actors on No Ordinary Family including Rita from Dexter, Kyle XY's Dad, Conrad from Weeds, Lizzie Grant from Entourage and Vic from The Shield.  I haven't blogged about new Fall TV too much this year, but with the week winding down I decided to watch No Ordinary Family and give you all my opinion.

Hmmmm, I am really not sure about this show.  Didn't they see Heroes?  I was expecting something at least as good as Season 1 of Heroes.  The way in which the family got their powers really wasn't that impressive.  Although, I must say, I am happy that they told each other about their powers quickly.  If this show is still on, I will watch the 2nd episode.  But, my prediction is that this will be the 2nd show to get canceled this fall (Lone Star was already canceled).