When Summer Comes Around

Wow, what a summer it has been. I can't believe it is already time to go back into the classroom after a wonderful 2 months off. For the first time in forever I was able to take a few vacations. Going to New York City was so much fun! I can't wait to get back to that city, what an awesome place it is. Thank you Anna for everything and all our adventures for the few days I was up there :)

Last week, I went up to Nashville to see my dad and family. We also drove to Atlanta to see my aunt, uncle and cousins. It was so nice to get to hug on my sister and TRY to put bows in her hair...this is what she will always remember of me, a sister who bothered her to fix her hair and clothes! haha I sure do miss Michael and Cathryn, and of course my dad too. I hope it won't be too long until I get to see them again. But until then, it's time to re-group and get ready for the start of another school year...

Big Apple Adventure

This week I am teaching Vacation Bible School at Delaney. The theme this year is the Big Apple Adventure, New York City!

It's bittersweet as I am there with a lot of my old co-workers, parents and students. I am having so much fun teaching these children about Jesus and the kids are great. We have a group of children from Restore Hope Orlando who are coming to VBS and I have about 10 of them in my class. They are in a program for underprivileged children in the downtown area of Orlando. These children come from homes in one of the worst areas in our city. What a joy it is to see these children find hope in God's word as they sing and memorize their Bible verses. We all are having an awesome time!

Snack and recreation time! Today the kids enjoyed NYC taxi cabs made out of cake and candy!

Taylor and Theron. Taylor has grown up so much since being in my class over a year ago!

My Amanda. She is a chatty little thing, and has kept me on my toes since the day she walked through my classroom door. Not much has changed since :)

Sugar is Sweet

This past week I babysat ALOT. So when Friday came around, we wanted to do something fun while the boys were off at baseball. We found this candy making kit in one of the bedrooms while we were on a quest to cure the boredom. I never knew how fun it would be! We started by asking everyone in the house what kind of candy they wanted from our "Candy Factory". We got all of our ingredients together while I boiled the corn syrup and water to make lollipops, melted the gelatin powder for gummy bears and mixed together some sour powder candy!

Corn syrup and water is all it takes to make lollipops, the key is getting it to the right temperature to mold into the right form. This process took the longest.

All of the ingredients were ready and in the cups! Watermelon, Grape and Raspberry flavoring, Citric Acid, Gelatin, and Sugar.

Prepping the lollipop ingredients was tricky because of the thick and gooey corn syrup. We had a sticky mess! The end result was definitely impressive. I had never made lollipops before from scratch and it sure is a lot fun! Let's just say they didn't last too long...dad ate them all :)

Adventures of Summer!

I am so glad summer has arrived. I am definitely in need of a break, even though I'm not really getting a break from anything but my actual workplace for 2 months! I am still babysitting everyday and I am on the go almost 24/7. Now begins a summer adventure of being on the go! Yesterday the kids and I tackled the Florida heat and headed to Downtown Disney to have lunch at TREX. This restaurant has the same owners as Rainforest Cafe, so they are very similar. TREX is just filled with dinosaurs and they have much better food! We dug for fossils, found a great crystal making science experiment, and the kids snacked on dino chicken nuggets :) It was a fun filled day.

I sit here now in a hotel at Disney chatting with a 5 year old about her day at disney while her brother ignores us as he plays his DS. She is in awe of the glitter all over my eyebrows and my unattractive purple painted fingernails. I guess the makeover I had earlier in the day was a hit!

Eating Around the World!

So my friend Amy and I have been on a quest to "Eat around the world"...Epcot style! We started this ongoing adventure each time she visits Florida, which is quite often.

Our first stop was San Angel Inn, in lovely Mexico! We had enchiladas, and some yummy chips and salsa. Our second trip was to Rose and Crown in England for fish and chips. We stayed clear of the "mushy peas" that were offered as an appetizer, no thank you.

Last night, we made it to Japan! Teppan Edo is pretty hard to get into within a normal time slot, so when I saw they had an opening, I was excited. This hibachi style restaurant is similar to Kobe's without 5 lbs of food being put on your plate, and I always love getting their edamame for an appetizer :)

Who knows where we will end up next. I hear France calling...

Not Your Average Boring Fish

So each time I make this scrumptious dinner, I get requests on how I make it. So here it is! My favorite Tequila Lime Tilapia...

I shop at Whole Foods for all my seafood and meat. So while browsing the fish counter one day, I see this array of spices by Bill Barron's All Natural. The guy behind the counter was telling me how awesome the Tequila Lime one was, so after putting a few in my cart, I added this one too. Well he was right on! This stuff is YUM! Especially on fish and chicken.

I like to buy fish fresh, not frozen, and then I come home and freeze it myself until I need it, which is usually only a couple of days. This is All Natural Tilapia from Whole Foods fish counter.

Before putting your fish in the skillet, use olive oil for non sticking. I use both of these

Evenly sprinkle the Tequila Lime seasoning all over the fish, on both sides. Set the skillet to medium high and as soon as its hot, put in the fish. Turn the temp down to medium and cook 3 minutes on each side

and Viola! It's done! I like to have yellow rice with this but your side items are up to you :) Happy Eating...

Fighting the Coupon Battle

This past weekend, I was able to attend my friend Hayley's coupon class. She started this whole coupon thing about a year ago, and I am amazed how much money she saves. Now, I don't want to be an extreme couponer like the people on that show, who buy 60 bottles of mustard and then empty the candy bar shelf because they get it for free. Who uses all that mustard or needs all that candy?? I also have a VERY hard time couponing because of the way I eat. There are RARELY coupons for organic products or healthy foods in general. I have found some, but it's not going to save me that much money. I am listing below some foods I buy on a regular basis, and if you have any suggestions on how to coupon these items, I would love to hear it!

I grocery shop weekly, and go to both Publix and Whole Foods.

At Whole Foods I buy all my meat and most dairy. I buy organic meat/milk on a regular basis:

Fresh Fish (Tilapia)

Fresh Chicken

Fresh Shrimp

Horizon fat free organic milk

Rudy's Bakery organic bread

Annie's Homegrown mac and cheese

365 organic butter

Stoneyfield Farm organic yogurt

Whole Foods Market whole wheat pasta

Lucinda pasta sauce

365 organic frozen vegetables

*I also buy most of my snacks here, I try my best to stay away from hydrogenated oils. It's very hard to do that when trying to find snack foods at Publix, because most everything has hydrogenated oils in it. Back to Nature, Annie's Homegrown and Late July are a few of my favorite natural/organic brands.

So, here you see my problem I have with being able to coupon! But that's ok, because I love where I shop and the food that I eat :)