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Perfect Summer Dessert – Lemon Icebox Pie

June 9, 2011 By 6 Comments
Louisiana. 9:30 am. That’s how we roll.

It might be a  Southern thing that when it gets hot, we think about certain foods.  Or maybe that’s just a foodie thing?  Anyway, I have shared quite a few of my Granny’s famous recipes with you in the last year or so, and Lemon Icebox Pie is one of her standbys that CANNOT be topped.  She made them every summer and now I make them too.   It’s so easy, even if you can’t boil water, you can do it.   It’s my all-time fave, and this statement is from someone who loves chocolate so much she’d marry it.  Anyway, it’s NOT Lemon Meringue…don’t even pretend to compare it to that….it’s 1,000 times better.

What makes Lemon Icebox the best pie you’ve ever eaten in your life is condensed milk……liquid Heaven in this house.   Granny taught us from day one the BEST part about any recipe using condensed milk is getting to eat a little bit of it (or a lot of it)  on a spoon after you’ve opened the can.  Don’t leave that step out.  It’s essential.

Ahhhh. Perfection.Here’s what you need:

One graham cracker crust (pre-made is just fine)

3 eggs

1 can condensed milk (14 ounce)

5 Teaspoons Sugar

1/2 cup lemon juice

How to Make It:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Carefully crack eggs and separate them, placing the whites in a clean, dry bowl and the yolks in another.  To the yolks, add condensed milk and lemon juice.  Stir with a fork or whisk until combined.  Pour this mixture into the pie crust.  Place pie in oven and immediately proceed to next step.  Beat reserved egg whites until stiff to make a meringue and add sugar.  Remove pie from oven (you are only leaving it in for as long as it takes to whip your egg whites) and spread meringue on top.  Use your knife to make nice swirls and peaks so it looks nice and pretty.  Return to oven and keep watching it.  Remove from oven when peaks of meringe start to brown.  Chill completely and keep pie in fridge.

Filed Under: My So-Called Life Tagged With: , ,

Aromatic Escape: Review and Giveaway

June 8, 2011 By

When the heat rolls around, my skin starts to suffer.  From constant abuse at the ball park or swimming pool, it gets dry and rough as the summer progresses.  I am constantly loading up on lotions and other products to try and keep dry and flaky patches away but it seems like a losing battle.  Recently, I was thrilled to receive a goody box from Aromatic Escape.  They kindly sent me a jar of their Butt Naked Sugar Scrub, Cotton Blossom Salt Scrub, Hang 10 Lotion Bar, and a Gardenia Candle. All of the products are beautifully packaged.  I couldn’t wait to dive in!

I used the Cotton Blossom Salt Scrub that evening.  I have to say I was amazed!  After using the product on my legs, elbows, and feet, I noticed an immediate difference in my skin.  The scrub smelled GREAT and polished my skin in a way that other products I have used didn’t.  In fact, it was exactly like a product my favorite spa uses when I get a pedicure.  HEAVENLY.   In addition, upon getting out of the shower and drying off, it left my skin very soft and I felt like didn’t even need to apply lotion to my legs.  The Gardenia Candle has been a great addition to my bathroom and is strong enough to smell great but not so strong it knocks you down!   The Butt Naked Sugar Scrub has a lighter scent than the Salt Scrub and seems to be an equally great product for keeping your skin from showing signs of summer wear and tear.  In addition, the Hang 10 Lotion bar smells great!  This might be my favorite product!  It comes in a tin that’s easy to pack in a purse or bag and although it looks like soap, it’s not.  The lotion soaks in and acts like a second skin to protect and moisturize your skin. You can wash your hands without washing away the lotion.  This makes the product ideal for those in the education or medical fields where employees are constantly washing their hands. The lotion bars come in a variety of scents to match the salt & sugar scrubs.  This product is REALLY neat.

I have thoroughly enjoyed using all of the Aromatic Escape products and would definitely give them as a gift or treat myself to them on a regular basis!

GIVEAWAY

We are so excited to tell you that we have a bundle of Aromatic Escape products (ARV $56) to give away to a lucky reader! One winner will receive ALL of the products reviewed here!

How to Enter:

1. Tell me one Aromatic Escape product that you would love to try!

Additional entries:

1. Blog about this giveaway and link to The Not-So-Blog and Aromatic Escape (10 extra entries).

2. Follow me (@BridgetteLA) on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway. Every time you tweet you get an additional entry! Limited to 10 a day, please. (You must have over 50 Twitter followers to qualify for unlimited entries!)

3. Subscribe to my blog.

4. Become a Fan of The Not-So-Blog and Aromatic Escape on Facebook.

5. Place my blog button on your sidebar.

Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on June 22nd.  Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to U.S. Residents only.

This review is the opinion Jennifer of The Experimental Mommy. Other may have a different experience with the product. Thank you to Aromatic Escape for supplying the product for review.  All opinions remain 100% mine.
Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: , , ,

Go Anywhere Booster Seat: Review and Giveaway

June 7, 2011 By

How many times have you gone into a restaurant and put your little one in the high chair and the straps are broken? Better yet, it is dirty and sticky and you can just see the germs crawling on it? If you are like me, it happens all of the time. Wouldn’t you just love to be able to bring your highchair from home everywhere you go? Well now that is possible.

P6070051The Go Anywhere Booster Seat has been popular in Europe and is now available in the United States. The booster seat quickly attaches to any standard chair and you instantly have a booster seat for your little one. When you are finished with the seat you simply wipe it down with a damp cloth, fold it up and throw the small bag over your shoulder. The Go Anywhere Booster Seat is the only booster seat on the market that complies to ASTM standards. So not only do you have peace of mind that your child is in a clean seat, you will have the comfort that your child will be safe. The booster seat is very lightweight, has a five point harness, is BPA and phthalate fee, has a soft cushion seat and adjustable straps to secure it to any chair.

Not only is it perfect for travel, it is perfect for grandma’s house as well, when your little one leaves all grandma has to do is fold it up and store the small bag in the closet for the next visit. The seat is recommended for ages 12 months to up to 40 lbs. My two and a half year old son weighs about 30 lbs and the shoulder straps are a little snug, but he loves to just sit on the booster part without the straps since he old enough to get up and down by himself. It puts him at a perfect height at the table to eat all of his meals and snacks. We will definitely be using it a lot more when my daughter is old enough to sit up, that way she can sit at the table as well.

GIVEAWAY

One lucky winner will receive one Go Anywhere Booster Seat (ARV $39.99)!

How to Enter:

1. Check out the Go Anywhere Booster Seat and tell me which feature you like the most!

Additional entries:

1. Blog about this giveaway and link to The Not-So-Blog (10 extra entries).

2. Follow me (@BridgetteLA) on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway. Every time you tweet you get an additional entry! Limited to 10 a day, please. (You must have over 50 Twitter followers to qualify for unlimited entries!)

3. Subscribe to my blog.

4. Become a Fan of The Not-So-Blog and Go Anywhere Booster on Facebook.

5. Place my blog button on your sidebar.

Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on June 30th.  Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to U.S. Residents only.

This review is the opinion of Beth of The Experimental Mommy. Other may have a different experience with the product. Thank you to Go Anywhere Booster for supplying the product for review.  All opinions remain 100% mine.
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The Death Defying Duplantis: Callaway Gardens Style!

June 7, 2011 By 4 Comments

Oh yes…..I did.  Kinda makes the time I jumped on a Velcro Wall seem normal, doesn’t it?

Filed Under: My So-Called Life Tagged With: , ,

Save Money for Summer with Coupon Codes from MyCoupons.com

June 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

With the current state of the economy, I don’t think I am alone when I say that we are tightening our purse strings.  Summer is usually a time to play and spoil ourselves a bit, instead we are watching our budget like a hawk.  Does this mean the fun has to stop?  Not necessarily!

To help our situation, we have been finding new ways to save money and even better ways to have fun for less.  Taking your family on a Staycation is a great way to have all the fun of a family vacation without breaking the bank.  Find a great deal on a local hotel room and take the kids swimming for the day.  In fact, finding great travel coupons is easy with MyCoupons.com!

Have you heard of MyCoupons.com?  It is actually the Nation’s oldest coupon site which was founded in 1995.  Since then, they have been amassing coupon codes from stores such as Sears, KMart, Macy’s and Children’s Place and even staff CouponPros who talk with merchants to get exclusive deals.

After taking some time looking for Summer Savings on MyCoupons.com, I found Crate and Barrel Coupons for 15% off Outdoor Furniture!  Why not celebrate Summer by sprucing up your backyard, inviting the neighbors and having a luau in your own home?  Need to outfit the kids for Summer? Check out the Gymboree discounted gift card available for purchase on MyCoupons.com.  You get a gift card worth $124.93 for $109.94…..you save $14.99!  Even get a gift for Dad with these awesome Eddie Bauer coupons which would be perfect for Father’s Day!

If you a pinching pennies this Summer like we are, make sure you “like” MyCoupons.com on Facebook to get access to even more deals and weekly giveaways, too!

Filed Under: Promotions Tagged With: ,

Spring Cleaning or Summer Cleaning?

June 2, 2011 By 2 Comments

Because I am a teacher, I am limited to the summertime to get things done.  When most people are spring cleaning, I am smack in the middle of standardized testing at school.  So, school is out for summer (YEAH!) and I have been busy this week getting re-organized around the house!  First we tackled the closets, and I ended up with three boxes of stuff that went to a local consignment shop.  Hooray for de-cluttering!  I thought about having a garage sale, but it’s too hot and that’s too much work!

Next, I took on the floors!  All of my baseboards got cleaned, as well as all of my flooring, including underneath all the furniture!  I am thankful that I don’t have big, heavy, rugs or else I would be searching for Oriental Rug care tips to try and figure out how to manage those!  I did need some spot removal tips to get a few tracks of dirt from the carpeting in the kids’ rooms and after I was done with them it looked so much better!  How is it that a family of four sometimes looks as if they generate enough mess for a family of 10?  I have often thought of having a professional carpet cleaning service come in, such as Chem Dry Carpet Cleaning Service, so I may look into that before the summer is over with.

Have any of you ever used a carpet cleaning service?  How did you like it?  I’d love to hear!  After getting all the spots out of the carpets, I did the fans and light fixtures and WOW, do those things get dusty!  I am just about done now and ready to enjoy  my summer.  I am not sure how much we’ll be indoors but when we are I can admire all of my work!  What are your best tips for keeping your house clean?  We’d love to hear them!

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SHEEX Performance Bedding: Review

June 1, 2011 By 3 Comments

performance beddingSummer is here in New Orleans! Outside the temperature is almost reaching 100 degrees and inside my air conditioning has been running ALL DAY LONG.  We have the thermostat set to 74, but the temperature has not gotten below 78.  Because it’s so darn hot outside, 78 degrees feels like heaven indoors!  That being said, both my husband and I prefer our bedroom to be cold when we sleep.  I love to snuggle into cool sheets and a warm blanket when the room is comfortable, but 78 degrees will just not cut it with my regular bedding.  So, I was so excited to hear about a new kind of bed sheet….SHEEX!

About Sheex:

“Sheex was developed by two women with one simple goal in mind: To help people sleep better so they can perform at their peak the next day.  SHEEX stands alone in creating a new category in bedding and sleepwear. As the world’s first performance bedding, SHEEX is defining a new vocabulary around the Science of Sleep.

How it works:

· Transfers body heat 2X more effectively than cotton, allowing the body to cool itself for faster, deeper sleep onset
· Breathes nearly 50% better to reduce sleep-disrupting temperature fluctuations at night
· Cooler to the touch compared to cotton bedding; Advanced heat and moisture transfer through evaporative cooling

Consequently, this better quality sleep has been proven to yield demonstrably important effects on health and wellness: sleep is vital for muscle growth and repair, improves mental focus and acuity, reduces fatigue and increases energy.”

We received a SHEEX sheet set in white for our Queen size bed which included one flat sheet, one fitted sheet and two standard pillow cases.  I couldn’t wait to put them into the wash and get them onto my bed for a good nights sleep!  After washing and drying, we put them on the mattress and they fit perfectly (nice and tight with no wrinkles!).  I love that the sheets have seams which makes it easy to align them on the mattress to get the perfect look on your bed.

Crawling into bed was heavenly.  The SHEEXS performance bedding was incredibly soft and COOL even in the heat of Summer!  They were light on the skin and breathable which made the heat bearable in my home.  Both my husband and I agree that we love SHEEX and would love to own more sets!

Now that SHEEX  is available at Bed Bath and Beyond we may just have to check out their entire line including baby bedding and travel accessories!  Don’t miss any of the action by following SHEEX on Twitter and Facebook!

This review is the opinion of the Experimental Mommy.  Others may have a differing opinion of the product.  While a sample was received from SHEEX in order to facilitate this review, all opinions remain 100% mine.
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