Free purse book, Valentines Day & Raspberry Oatmeal Bars!

     I love free or close to free stuff…who doesn’t! Today I ordered a purse photo book from Walgreens for free. It’s a great gift that I plan on giving my mother and grandmother, neither of them being iphone “compatible“, for Mothers Day. The code can be used multiple times, all I paid was $3.20 for tax and shipping…which means I don’t even have to travel to Walgreens for my photo book! 

(1) 4.5” x 6” Purse book = $6.99
Coupon code: Purse = -$6.99
Standard S&H = $2.99
Sales Tax = $0.21
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Total Price = $3.20 　    

For the next month I will be in “Love” mode. I will be planning Valentines Day crafts for the kids to do. I have a fun song that I sing with Anjali, along with cut out hearts that we use as visual. This teaches her color, shape, and numbers. The picture and song below are for red but I cut out every color of the rainbow to use for this song.

Hearts! (Tune: 1 little 2 little 3 little Indians) 

One red, two red, three red hearts, 

Four red, Five red, Six red hearts, 

Seven red, eight red, nine red hearts

Ten red hearts for you!

~ Repeat with all different colors.

     This weeks homemade treat is Raspberry Oatmeal Bars. They are very yummy with the original recipe but I will be altering them this weekend to include ½ cup of pureed beets. I’m a little nervous about this one so I will be posting the taste results after I do it… Stay tuned! Until then enjoy the original recipe below.

Raspberry Oatmeal Bars

2 cups Old Fashioned oats
1 ¼ cup flour
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
¾ cup spread able margarine
1 cup raspberry preserves
1 cup dried cranberries (optional)1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat baking pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl combine oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and vanilla. Stir well. 
3. Add the margarine in quickly until the ingredients are not powdery any more. Do not over mix, some of the margarine may still be visible. 
4. Take about ½ of the oat mixture and press it into the bottom of the pan firmly. Bake about 13 minutes. The edges will be lightly brown but not fully baked.
5. Spread the raspberry preserves over the baked oat layer. Then sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the preserves. (I like to add dried cranberries to the remaining oat mixture before sprinkling over the preserves) Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Let pan cool completely before cutting into bars. Serve and enjoy J

Brazilian Carrot Cake = yummy!

     So I’ve been trying to find easy ways to add extra vegetable and fruit servings into our daily routine. Those who know me know that my husband’s mother is from Brazil. During our visits his grandmother always makes Bolo de Cenoura or Carrot Cake. Their version is very different than the carrot cake we are used to here in America. So here is the recipe for Brazilian Carrot Cake that is easy and has about 3 servings of carrots in it.

Ingredients
3 eggs
3 medium/large carrots grated
1 & ½ cup sugar
¾ cup oil
2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ Tsp cinnamon (they don’t use this in Brazil but I like it)

1. Mix all ingredients together in blender (except the flour and baking powder.) 
2. Pour mixture into a bowl, sift 2 cups flour and the baking powder into the mixture, mix well for about 2 minutes.
3. Grease a pan and sprinkle with flour. Pour batter into pan
4. Bake 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until cake is golden brown. If a toothpick comes out clean and it is good.

Icing (easy way!) 
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 cup white sugar
1 cup instant hot cocoa mix
3/4 cup milk

Make the icing by placing the butter, 1 cup sugar, instant hot chocolate drink mix, and milk in a pan. While stirring, heat to almost boiling over medium-high heat until mixture thickens. When the cake is done, remove it from the oven and spread the icing evenly over the top immediately.

New for 2011

     The Holidays have ended and we are now back to “normal” everyday life. My resolution this year is to be more Aware. I know that sounds very vague but that was intentional. I want to be more aware of the ingredients I use to feed my family, keeping us healthy. I want to be more aware of the people in our communities that I can help, whether it be with money, time, or donations. I want to be more aware of the money I’m spending, deciding more carefully if it’s truly necessary spending. I want to be more aware of my stress and personal health, learning how to balance my life. I want to be more aware of my expectations of others, making my expectations reasonable and clear. I want to be more aware of my personal relationships, making more effort to keep my loved ones updated and in touch. I could go on forever… So now you may understand why I made it so vague! 

     So as a small start we have started making Smoothies each day, each one containing 1 serving of vegetables and 3 servings of fruit…in just 1 drink! We are once again donating our gently used books to the local children’s clinic, our used toys and clothes to the shelter, and again sponsoring a child’s birthday. I have been doing great with our budget, saving is like a game to me. My goal in the next month or two is to plan our summer vacations and outings…this way I can determine the budget needed for our family time. I think I may even give in this year and try a camping weekend…I’m trying to be brave! 

     I wish I could say that I have started a work out routine but I’d be lying. So my goal is to make a schedule of “mommy time” that will include my work-outs and a little bit of quite alone time for just me. A happy mommy is a happy family, right? I will have that done and started by February 1^st. 

     I recently created a daily expectations list that I post up on the refrigerator. It has each of our names on it and underneath each name is my expectations for that person that day. Some days may have nothing and other days have a few things written down. I was tired of coming home from the pharmacy at 10pm and being angry that the clothes were still sitting in the dryer…but I realized if I never asked for it to be done then I shouldn’t have automatically expected it to be done. This list seems to be a great way to prevent silly arguments and stress building up inside.

     As for personal relationships…that one is harder. With family spread out all over the country it is hard to find time to keep everyone updated. So beside face book, my blog, and email I have set up a Family website. It allows me to upload all of our pictures, videos, and keep a journal. Invited guests can go on when ever they wish and see what is new and even order pictures from the site. Then once a week they receive a McAllister Family update in their email. While I’d prefer to see or talk in person this seems to make it feel a little more personal.

Yummy 6 layer Dip

1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix 
1 (16 ounce) can refried beans 
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream 
1 (16 ounce) jar salsa 
1 (16oz) Guacamole
2 cups of Shredded Cheese (Your favorite)
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions
Layer 1: blend ½ taco seasoning mix and refried beans.
Layer 2: Mix the sour cream, cream cheese and ½ packet seasoning together
Layer 3: Shredded Cheese (I like Pepper Jack here)
Layer 4: Guacamole
Layer 5: Salsa
Layer 6: Shredded Cheddar cheese

Bake @350 until cheese is melted (about 20 minutes for me)