A Sick Boy & A Dirty Sink

Sloan and I were on our way back from a morning appointment when I checked my voicemail. The dreaded call from daycare. We'd hoped the sickness was over and we could get away with sending Zachary to school, after all he didn't have a fever. But there's no way to disguise vomit...we were caught. After picking him up and a quick stop by the grocery store for the makings of the B.R.A.T. (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) diet, we were home. Zachary managed to eat a little and quickly surrendered to a nap.


I used this time to catch up on some blog reading when I came across the Fly Lady. As I came across her baby steps, I knew I could handle this guide to cleaning. Day 1, what a great place to start. Shine my sink??? Okay...


What I would have ordinarily considered a "clean enough" sink:



My sink now (I only did one side so far):



And while my sink was enjoying it's soak, I whipped up this:


When the sink cleaning instructions called for bleach, I was reminded of my sad excuse for an apron. Since our budget didn't involve a shopping trip, I got resourceful, I used up leftover material from a quilt I made for my mother-in-law. It's nothing fancy...but it's a lot better than my old one.

Turkey and Blue Cheese Meatballs

YUM! YUM! YUM!

Don't let the name fool you, these were amazing! Even the hubby who HATES to even hear the words "Blue Cheese" agreed that this recipe was a keeper.

I found the original recipe on Allrecipes.com, but adapted it to suite our taste. The original recipe seemed a little busy and wasn't kid-friendly. So, here's my version:

INGREDIENTS:

4 cloves of garlic

1 small or 1/2 large white onion

1 pound lean ground turkey breast

4 tablespoons blue cheese

1/2 cup plain bread crumbs

3 egg whites

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO as Rachel Ray would say)

1 1/2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning (you can use up to 1 tbs, I just don't like Oregano so I cut back)

1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon chili powder

(now if that's not the most random list of ingredients)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with Reynolds Release foil and set aside.
2. Pulse garlic and onion in a food processor until minced.
3. In a large bowl, combine onion mixture, turkey, blue cheese, bread crumbs, egg whites, and olive oil. Mix thoroughly.
4. Season with soy sauce, parsley, Italian seasoning, pepper, and chili powder. Mix well.
5. Roll the mixture into 2 inch balls and place on the lined baking sheet.
6. Bake in preheated oven until golden brown and no longer pink in the center, approx 25 minutes.

I served this with a Vodka sauce over bow tie pasta and garlic sourdough bread. Don't forget the wine!

Check here for more tempting recipes.

Unexpected CVS Deal!

On Sunday, I ventured out to find myself some cheap razors and free mascara at my local CVS. With my coupon in one hand and my CVS card in the other, I hit road...only to come home empty handed. I was told that it was too soon for the items to be available and that the store hadn't received their shipments yet!?!?

So today, Thursday, I thought surely they would have the items in stock. The problem now...they had already sold out of the mascara. I asked the manager if they had any in the back...only to find out they were completely out. The manager was upset that they had let me down and was determined to make it a sweeter deal for me. Instead of the $7.99 ECB I was supposed to receive after purchasing the Physician's Formula Mascara...he just gave me a gift card and loaded it with $10...no purchase necessary!!!

So, here's the deal I got instead:

1 Covergirl Aquasmooth Foundation $4.49 (they are repackaging so it was 50% off)
$2/1 covergirl cosmetic CVS coupon
1 Bic Soleil razor and cartridge pack $13.98
$4/1 manufacturer coupon

Total= $13.50 - $10 GC = $3.50 out of pocket
Received $5.oo ECB for razors and $1.50 in ECB rewards
So I made $3.00 profit after ECB!

There was another CVS close by so I decided to go there in search of free mascara...determined to use my newly earned ECB to pay for it and still get the ECBs earned for the mascara...so only costing me less than $2.00 before ECB. They were completly out too! So I asked the manager again to check the backstock...none! So he gave me a rain check for 2/$7.99. Not as good of a deal as earning the ECB, but if I can find a coupon, this has the potential of being a sweet deal.

Lesson learned: Always ask...you never know what the answer will be!