Lobo's Howladay Kids Picture Book

Kids will just absolutely LOVE Lobo! Lobo is an adorable little wolf pup that that in this book is needed at the North Pole. Santa's new fleet of reindeer caused a power outage due to them needing to be charged before they could be used and it resulted in the Northern Hemisphere having a power outage. Never fear, Lobo finds his way back to the North Pole and saves Christmas. Kids will learn all about life in the Arctic, the Northern Lights, all the different animals that live in the Arctic, and about icebergs. This is a great board-book that would be perfect for little ones that are 3 and up.

Tilapia Two Ways/Easy Peasy All-in-One-Homeschool Website of the Week/Brisk Product Review

Welcome to October and the start of the new look of the blog.  I hope you enjoy it and will share it with your friends and family.

Today's recipes will include Tilapia and it will be cooked 2 different ways.  In one recipe it will be broiled and in the other it will be grilled. The recipes are polar opposites of each other and both of them are delicious.

Tilapia is a great fish to eat for those that don't care for fish.  I don't like the strong fishy taste that most fish has but Tilapia doesn't have this so I recommend it to anyone that doesn't like like fish.


Broiled Parmesan Tilapia

1/2 C Parmesan Cheese
2 TBS Butter, Softened
3 TBS Mayonnaise
1/4 TSP Dried Basil
1/4 TSP Black Pepper, Ground
1/8 TSP Paprika
Pinch Onion Powder
2 LBS Tilapia

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven's broiler.  Grease broiler pan or line w/aluminum foil.
2.  In a small bowl mix all ingredients together and set aside.
3.  Place the fillets in a single layer on the pan.  Broil a few inches from heat for 2-3 minutes then flip and broil for a couple more minutes.  Remove from oven, cover w/ parmesan mix.  Broil for 2 more minutes or until the cheese is browned & the fish easily flakes w/a fork.  Pay careful attention to not overcook the fish.


Tilapia Fish Tacos w/Corn Salsa Tacos

1 C Corn
1/2 C Red Onion, Diced
1 C Jicama, Peeled & Chopped
1/2 Cup Red Bell Pepper, Diced
1 C Fresh Cilantro, Leaves, Chopped Finely
1 Lime, Juiced
2 TBS Sour Cream
1 TBS Cayenne Pepper
1/2 TBS Black Pepper, Ground
2 TBS Salt
6 Tilapia Fillets
2 TBS Oil
12 Corn Tortillas, Warmed

Directions:

1.  Preheat grill to high heat.
2.  In medium bowl mix corn, red onion, jicama, bell pepper, cilantro, and lime juice.
3.  In small bowl mix cayenne pepper, black pepper & salt.
4.  Brush each fillet w/oil  & sprinkle w/spices.
5.  Place fillets on grill & cook for 3 minutes per side. For each taco top 2 tortillas w/fish, sour cream, & corn salsa.

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Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool Website is a website that one very generous mother has put together to share her children's homeschool assignments with other parents that homeschool their children.  There are assignments from preschool all the way up to high school and for every subject you could imagine.  She even offers Bible Studies as this is a Christian Curriculum.  Here is a link to read more about this great curriculum:  Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool.

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Brisk Product Review

Brisk Strawberry Melon is a non-carbonated drink that is caffeine free and sweetened with high fructose corn syrup.  This drink has a unique, distinct flavor that will wake up your taste buds.  It comes in 1 Liter bottles and has 4 servings.  Each serving is 70 calories. There's 0 fat, 0 protein, 55 mg sodium, 19 g total carbs, and sugars are 19g.

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I'm currently also trying to raise funds to get the base for my father's headstone. I've attached the link to the fundraiser or you can contact me and I can give you the cemetery info and donations can be made directly to it!  His headstone itself was free thru the VA but I have to pay for the base and being disabled I just don't have the extra $$ laying around.  With that being said...I encourage everyone to donate to the American Cancer Society so we can hopefully soon find a cure for cancer.
Help with Headstone Base

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Thank you for reading my blog today and I hope you all have a blessed day.

New format starting in October

Well, I think I have finally narrowed it down as to the format I will using on the blog starting October 1st. There will be at least 1 theme of the day when it comes to cooking and will add things in here and there. For now this is what I have planned:

Monday: Meatless Monday/Vegetarian

Tuesday: Cookies/Cakes/Candy

Wednesday: Sides

Thursday: Soups & Salads

Friday: Breads & Fish/Seafood

Saturday: Drinks/Dressings/Condiments

Sunday: Misc other recipes


I will also a crafts each week and my pick for my blog of the week. The crafts will be for both kids and adults and will be holiday oriented near the major holidays.  I am also thinking about starting back up the product reviews and do a review each day on a product that is used either in the recipe of the day or the craft that is posted.

If any of you have any suggestions please feel free to send them my way or if there's a recipe you are looking for ask and I will try to find it and post it for you...same goes for a certain craft project.

Have a blessed day.

Renee

Awesome Coupon Website: Grocery Coupon Network

While I know that there are many different coupon websites out there, I have found one that truly is awesome!  It offers it's visitors a little bit of everything...http://www.grocerycouponnetwork.com/

Not only do they offer coupons on all of your favorite brands, they also offer the weekly match-ups for most of your favorite stores such as:

• Albertson's
• CVS
• Kroger
• Meijer
• Publix
• Rite Aid
• Safeway
• Target
• Walgreens
• Walmart
• Whole Foods
• And many more of your favorite stores!

You can find circulars for most all other stores here.

Grocery Coupon Network also provides great information for the beginning couponer so they can get the best bang for their buck.  They introduce them to all of the different definitions  and abbreviations that are used in the couponing world.

They also have a blog where you can sign up to receive great deals and the coupon match-ups.

For all this and more visit: http://www.grocerycouponnetwork.com/

Hope you all have a blessed day and be well!

Sorry for long absence

I am so sorry for the long absence.  I have been battling some health issues and have been undergoing many tests in and out of the hospital setting.

My Dad passed away on Aug 9th after battling a short time (5 weeks) with both lung and brain cancer.  He was a trooper and never complained of pain all the way up until the very end.  I am grateful that I was able to spend a week with him right after his diagnosis before he got to the point that he was unaware of what was going on around him. We held his funeral service here in Decatur, IL (he lived in GA) on Aug 11th.

I miss him so much that mere words just can't describe how much I miss him and love him and wish he were here...I miss my Sunday NASCAR race talk buddy!  lol

Anyway...I'm back and ready to get back to blogging! I'm going to change the focus of the blog a bit...I will still be doing product reviews but I'm also going to be posting a different type of recipe each day. Each day of the week will have a different theme and a recipe fitting that theme will be posted that day...this new format will start on Monday as I don't like starting something in the middle of the week.

Hope you all are having a great day...be safe and be well....

Nokia Lumia 521

This new Windows phone is just amazing. For being a rather inexpensive smartphone, it has awesome qualities. This phone is full of good things.  It has wifi calling and the calls are very clear, the MicroSD card can hold up to 64GB, you can adjust the font size, the battery has a long life, the Windows tiles and apps are really nice and you are able to program the tiles on the phone the way you want them, and it takes great pictures.  The only negative I have found so far with the phone is that there is no flash for the camera.  This phone is definitely worth the money.

**This is my personal opinion...I was not paid for this opinion nor was I supplied this phone for my opinion.

Litter Genie - Cat Litter Disposal System

I received this wonderful system in the mail from Crowdtap to try and give my opinion on.  This system is awesome!  It has bags that are stored in it and what you do is scoop the litter pan, open the top of the litter genie, put the droppings in the bag and then close the genie up.  I would recommend this to anyone that had a cat.

**I received this product from Crowdtap in exchange for my opinion.**

Absence

Sorry for the absence!  I've been sick and under the weather...been back and forth to the doctor and had many tests ran.  Will know more in the coming weeks as some of the tests takes a while to come back.  We are actually looking at a diagnosis of a rare genetic blood disorder.  Hopefully I'm back at full capacity now and can get back to reviewing items again.

Raspberry Lemonade

If you like raspberry lemonade but don't like all the calories of some of the other drinks on the market then you are going to want to get Crystal Light Raspberry Lemonade!  This is very refreshing on a hot summer day minus the calories.  Each canister comes with packages inside and each package makes 2 quarts.  Each 8-oz glass has only 5 calories.  It also comes in boxes of individual servings (Crystal Light on the Go) for those that want to put it in a bottle of water. CL Raspberry Lemonade also is available to be used in a Soda Stream.  CL Raspberry Lemonade is Kosher free, sugar free, gluten free, low in sodium and has no caffeine.

These can be hard to find in stores so Amazon is a great place to find them.

**This is my own personal opinion. I was not compensated for my opinion nor was I given the product to try.**

Crystal Light Mojito

If you like mojito's but don't like all the calories that goes with them then you are going to want to get Crystal Light mojio!  This tastes just like a mojito minus the calories and the alcohol.  Each canister comes with packages inside and each package makes 2 quarts.  Each 8-oz glass has just  5 calories.  It also comes in boxes of individual servings (Crystal Light on the Go) for those that want to put it in a bottle of water. CL mojito's are Kosher free, sugar free, gluten free, and low in sodium.

These can be hard to find in stores so Amazon is a great place to find them.

**This is my own personal opinion. I was not compensated for my opinion nor was I given the product to try.**

Crystal Light Margarita

If you like margarita's but don't like all the calories that goes with them then you are going to want to get Crystal Light Margarita!  This tastes just like a margarita minus the calories and the alcohol.  Each canister comes with packages inside and each package makes 2 quarts.  Each 8-oz glass has only 5 calories.  It also comes in boxes of individual servings (Crystal Light on the Go) for those that want to put it in a bottle of water. CL Margarita's are Kosher free, sugar free, gluten free, and low in sodium.

These can be hard to find in stores so Amazon is a great place to find them.

**This is my own personal opinion. I was not compensated for my opinion nor was I given the product to try.**

Crystal Light Appletini

Crystal Light Appletini is a great tasting "mocktini" made by Crystal Light.   Each canister comes with packages inside and each package makes 2 quarts.  Each 8-oz glass has only 5 calories.  It is okay for both Kosher and gluten free diets.CL Appletini is sodium free and sugar free.  If you like the sour apple taste...Crystal Light Appletini is just the drink mix for you!


**This is my person opinion.  I was not compensated for my opinion nor was I given the product to try,**

Lemon Oreos

Lemon Oreo's have the perfect balance of lemon flavoring in them.  They aren't too sweet and they aren't too sour.  They are made with natural flavors. There are approximately 30-35 cookies in each package.  The best part of the package is that it's resealable so that the cookies stay fresh.  We opened and closed our package a number of times and the package still resealed.  If you like lemon cookies I would suggest these.

**This is my own personal opinion and I wasn't compensated for my opinion nor was I given the product to try.**

Snack Pack Pudding

SnackPack Chocolate Caramel is delightfully awesome! The nice rich caramel blends in wonderfully with the chocolate and makes for a nice spoonful of pudding. There's just the perfect amount of pudding in each cup to make a nice snack for both kids and adults.

**This is my own personal opinion.  I was not compensated for my opinion nor was I given the product to try.**

Pumpkin Harvest ScentSationals

 

If you want your house to smell like pumpkin then you need to get Pumpkin Harvest ScentSationals from Hobby Lobby.  They come in a pack of 6 scented wax cubes that you put in your candle warmer.  The package reads creamy pumpkin laced with spice and everything nice and I really have to agree.  This permeates the nicest pumpkin smell throughout the house.

** This is my own personal opinion. I was not paid for this opinion nor was I given this product to try.** 

Kroger Cinnamon Rolls w/Cream Cheese Icing

Kroger Cinnamon Rolls w/Cream Cheese Icing are absolutely delicious!  They have just the right amount of cinnamon in them and the cream cheese icing isn't too sweet. The package comes with just the right amount of icing to cover all of the cinnamon rolls nicely...just like the one pictured above.  We usually get them while they are on sale.  They are a lot less than the name brand cinnamon rolls and they taste just the same.

Renuzit Renew

Renuzit Renew Super Odor Neutralizer is a fine mist air freshener that eliminates odors in the air, on fabrics, and in the carpet.  It comes in various scents but the one that I purchased is "After the Rain".  Renuzit Renew is a long lasting fresh clean fragrance that is sure to please everyone with one of it's scents.  Renuzit Renew will eliminate tough odors like smoke, pet odors, mold, mildew, bathroom, and kitchen odors.  Renuzit Renew can be used on almost all fabrics, except for leather or silk.  If you have tough odors in your home I would recommend you get some Renuzit Renew Super Odor Neutralizer and give it a try.

**This is my own personal opinion and I was not compensated for my opinion nor was I given the product to try.**

ScentSationals from Hobby Lobby

ScentSationals from Hobby Lobby are great wickless fragrance cubes that you use in your melting pot.  This particular scent is Strawberry Lemonade.  It is a great refreshing scent that goes thru the entire house.  I would recommend these to anyone that wants to fill their house with a nice sweet smell.

**This is my own opinion and I was not compensated or given the product to try**

Cepacol Throat Lozenges

We bought these when we were sick and had sore throats.   We found them at Dollar Tree and I must say that this is the best bargain I've found in a while. Cepacol works great for a sore throat.  The Benzocaine in it gently numbs the throat and and helps with a cough if you have one.  The berry flavor isn't too strong of a flavor and the honey lemon really didn't have much of a flavor at all.  I actually enjoyed the honey lemon one over the berry and I don't like honey or lemon.  I would recommend Cepacol to anyone that has a cough or sore throat and wants relief.

**This is my opinion only...I was not paid for my opinion nor was I given the product to try.**

Welcome!

Welcome to Central Illinois Blogger!

Here I hope to review products as  I love giving my opinion on things and trying new things . I will also be sharing with you life's ups and downs living with Multiple Sclerosis and Fibromyalgia along with other health issues and bargains that I find..

I am a divorced mom of 2 beautiful daughters and one handsome son.  I also have an amazing granddaughter that is 3.

I make cards for many different endeavors but have been in a bit of a slump lately due to my health.  Once I get back in the groove of things I will be posting them on here as well.