Thursday, February 26, 2009

Spring Cleaning

Anyone looking for a random kitchen accessory/appliance? I'm going through the cabinets and drawers, and trimming down the things I have no use for, or have multiple of. I've decided that there are just too many things not getting enough use, and things that I'll never get around to using, etc... so I've started a box of things I no longer have a use for. Now I just need to decide what to do with it all. Having a yard sale isn't very practical here, so I think I'm going to start craiglisting it all. I'm also going to post some of the things up here on this blog, so if you're local and I have something you might be interested in, you can let me know. I'm also open to barter/trade for any of the items.

I haven't had a chance to take any pics, but if you're in the market for some dishes, an electric mixer, a turbo cooker, or a "GT express" let me know. I also have a coffee table and an ionic hair straightener I'm getting rid of as well

Monday, February 23, 2009

What's for dinner?

I tried a new recipe from Tammy's Recipes for Spinach Rice Casserole. I am not a spinach eater myself, but my roomie thought it was quite good!

It's a pretty simple recipe, I made a couple minor modifications to the original, based on what I had on hand:

9 or 10 ounces fresh spinach leaves ( some people who reviewed the recipe used frozen, I went ahead and picked up fresh, it was on sale)
1 tablespoon water (I used a couple extra tablespoons of water)
1 teaspoon dried onion or 2 tablespoons of fresh, minced onion (Didn't have either, used 1/2 tsp onion powder instead)
1 cup cooked rice (measurement is after cooking, not before) (I had a pack of 2 of the Minute Rice cups that already cooked, that you microwave to heat up, since I was cooking the rice in the casserole, I didn't bother to microwave, used both cups, which equalled a little over a cup, but worked great!)
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon sal
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Start by wilting down your spinach leaves. I did this by dropping about half of them into a large pan with a couple tablespoons of water, over low-med heat. Pop a lid on, and periodically turn the leaves as the bottom ones wilt. As there is room in the pan, add more leaves until you get all of the leaves worked in. Once all the leaves are wilted down, remove from heat and allow to cool. (I removed the spinach to another dish, and spread them out so they would cool quicker) I prefer doing this because if you try to add the hot spinach to the rest of the dish, you can end up cooking the eggs a bit prematurely, which wouldn't be that tasty.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together. Stir in spinach. Place in a greased 8x8 casserole and bake at 325 for 35-40 minutes, or until middle is just set (you can check this with a fork) Keep in mind that you'll have some carryover cooking, so it'll finish once you pull it from the oven and let it stand.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Some great deals out there

Have you filed your taxes and now you want to treat yourself to something with your refund? Well, I'm not suggesting that you blow all of it, but there's nothing wrong with a great bargain.

I'm a big fan of Wisebread.com - They have a Best Deals link that gets updated throughout the day with the best that's out there on the web.

One great deal they alerted me to... courtesy of Fat Wallet... is that through Feb 28th Amazon.com is offering $20 off instantly from your $49 or more in selected Andis products. You just enter code ANDSFEB9 at your checkout. You can click HERE for the post and it has a link to the Andis products in the Amazon store. I was able to snag 2 new hair dryers (one for me & one for my roomie) and a new flat iron (all of which were on sale!) for $53, less the $20 = $33, and then I had $29 in Amazon gift cards from my banking rewards... Grand total was around $7 and shipping was free!!!!

Remember, before you decide to make a big purchase, do a little homework, there are plenty of bargains to be had!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Just for fun, vote for me!

There is a little contest going on that I entered, so I am shamelessly plugging my entry :) (it's ok, you're supposed to tell your friends, and my readers are my friends!) Just go to this link Before noon on Friday (tomorrow) and vote for "Melissa" PLEASE & Thank you!


Here's my entry (which can be seen on the page) It looks better on the page, because I can't get this version of it to sparkle :)

Monday, February 2, 2009

Free Breakfast Tomorrow (Tuesday)

Tomorrow (Feb 3rd) Denny's Restaurant is giving away a free grand slam breakfast to everyone. Click here for details