Happy Fall

Finally we have some decent weather around here. The heat wave in California last week was not fun. Just when I thought it was safe to put my summer clothes away - I was in shorts and a tank...again. Go away summer!

The weather today is beautiful and I was able to finish the Fall decorations around the house. My mom, dad, and I took Little G along with my niece and nephew to a local pumpkin patch today (those pictures to come later) so the kids could have some fun play time and I could get pumpkins for the front porch.

My parents have had our old Radio Flyer wagon hanging in their garage for many many years and a few weeks ago I went over and took it down with a plan to use it for Fall decorations. It works perfectly :)

I spruced the pumpkins up with some metallic glaze which took about 5 minutes and gathered some old Fall leaves and flowers that were in the closet. The hay stack I purchased in September at Michaels for half off.

Here are the pumpkins before their makeover
And after. I gave the orange pumpkins a light coat of gold glaze and the Queensland Blue a light coat of silver glaze. Isn't she pretty?

I just love Candy Corn and have used it in my Fall decor for about 5 years. This is my first time using them in this way and I think it looks great.

I got the small pumpkins at the thrift store for 35 cents each. I also painted them with gold glaze.

I picked a branch from the backyard tree for the living room ottoman. I can't wait until the leaves around here start turning yellow and orange.
The fireplace mantel was decorated with items from Michaels - never buy anything full price there.

Fall is such a beautiful time of year. I love the weather and the colors of the changing leaves...but to be honest, I'm itching to go through my Christmas decoration boxes to see what I have and what I should get new this year. Thanksgiving is not at our house this year so putting up the tree on November 1st is a GO!

But until then - Happy Fall, Ya'll!

Photo Friday

The Gardner's are back from vacation!

We had a fabulous time in Southern California. Our first stop was in Carpinteria for our friends Steve and Cameron's wedding.

Then is was off to San Diego. We went to Sea World, several beaches including Coronado island, and of course I went shopping! The highlight of little G's trip was taking a picture with Elmo and Abby at Sea World. She talks about it all the time. My favorite part was eating authentic rolled tacos a few miles away from the border.

Here are a few pictures from our trip:

Before the ceremony on the beach

Little G with Abby and Elmo.
Little G in Coronado.
Little G and Mr. G at Sea World watching the Shamu show.

Gardner Grub

I finally got some pictures downloaded to the computer so I'll share a few food pics with you from the past month.

I was all about artichokes for about a week. I trim and boil the artichoke with a generous amount of salt for about 30 minutes and serve it with Alfredo sauce for dipping. Very filling and delicious.

I was feeling like sea food a couple of weeks ago and threw this shrimp scampi pasta together. I wish I would have written the recipe down because it was by far the best I've ever made. Next time I make it I'll be sure to make notes and share it with you. Basically olive oil, lemon juice, butter, shrimp, garlic, mushrooms, parsley, Roma tomatoes. I'm sure there is something missing - I was going to add capers but at the time they didn't sound appetizing.

"Flying Saucers" are a family favorite. I fry a flour tortilla in veggie oil and then top it with the usual suspects - beans, sour cream, guacamole, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, salsa, olives & cheese.
Mr. G has been a life saver lately. Single ladies...find a man who can cook! I requested Chicken & Waffles yesterday and boy did he deliver. Paula Dean's Southern Fried Chicken recipe and my walnut waffles with organic maple syrup poured all over. It was incredibly mouthwatering. If you've never had chicken and waffles - try it. You will not be disappointed.
Tonight Mr. G made this scrumptious salad. We had a leftover Ribeye which he grilled and chopped and added spring lettuce, sliced avocado, diced green pepper, walnuts, feta cheese, diced apple, and a mix of raspberry vinaigrette and olive oil for the dressing. I had seconds! He served it with another favorite of ours - fresh warm bread dipped in Balsamic and Olive Oil (both of which *must* be good quality or it isn't good).
I'm starting to get a little appetite back. It's just not easy coming up with a meal plan for the week when one day I want something and the next I can't even think about it without gagging. Luckily Mr. G has really picked up the slack and has made sure I'm eating more than cereal. Although I'll admit I am afraid to find out how much he has spent on groceries. Why do men spend so much when shopping for food?

What a summer. It has been a consistent 105 degrees here lately so there is really nothing much to do outside other than jump in the pool and stay cool. Which is exactly what we've been doing.

I did take an hour to myself while Little G was napping and turned on my pottery wheel - a recent gift from Mr. G. Pottery was my favorite class in high school but I haven't had a chance to work on a wheel since I graduated. So this is my first piece in 10 years. It was challenging and fun and I can't wait for the weather to cool off so I can spend more time practicing. I think I'll try a vase next. My old teacher, Mr. Gonzalez, offered to fire any of my pieces in his kiln. I think I'll glaze this one in white and use it as a cereal bowl.

Once again I apologize for not posting my meal plans & grocery shopping. I'm still on a cereal and toast diet. Pray that this morning sickness doesn't last much longer.

Coupon Craze

It's no secret that I've become coupon crazy. I hunt for coupons online and stalk up on Sunday paper coupons (luckily I have a friend who works at the local paper and hooks me up). In the past few months of coupon clipping I have learned that there are several items you should NEVER pay full price for simply because there are always coupons out there for them. Here's a quick list.

Shampoo & Conditioner

Deodorant

Body Wash

Razors - I have a pile of good razors I got for free

Toilet Paper

Dish Soup

Paper Towels

Yogurt

Summer Days

June was a CRAZY month. We had Little G's birthday then Mr. G and I played Ken and Barbie for Vacation Bible Adventure at our church. It was every day and night last week and such a blast! On average about 500 kids came each night.

Here is a picture of us as Ken and Barbie :)

At the beginning of June we also found out that we are expecting a new bundle of joy due in February. Needless to say food has not been my favorite topic so I haven't really had much to say. There's almost no cooking going on around here - my appetite consists mostly of cottage cheese, salt and vinegar chips, Subway, fruit and toast. Yum!

I've also been extremely exhausted and for some reason looking at a computer screen makes me dizzy. Enough with the excuses. I'll try to be a better blogger.

I've actually started a blog for the baby as well which you can follow HERE.

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the summer.

Happy Father's Day

To my father, the first man who stole my heart. I love you so much, Dad! Thank you for everything you do for my family. You are my hero.

To my husband and the most incredible father to our baby girl. You continue to surprise me every day. I am so blessed to have married a man who would rather spend time with his girls than in front of a television or at a bar. Thank you for loving us and working hard each day to give us everything we need and much more. I love you.

Putting Mr. G to work

I just buy the decorations, he hangs them. Poor guy, I really had him working last week. I came home with shelves for the bathroom and a ton of frames and he knew right away he was going to be putting a lot of holes in the walls.

Luckily for him I made it very easy. I traced the frames on the Sunday paper, cut out the rectangles and hung them with tape exactly where I wanted the frames to be. All he had to do was put the nails in the wall and hang the frames :)

The hallway was bare but now it feels very warm and I love looking at my favorite pictures of Little G. She's so beautiful :)

Side note- I don't know why the walls look that color in the pictures. They are a dark tan.

I've been meaning to hang these paintings (of our favorite places near our old house) for awhile. I finally picked up some frames for them as well as the shelves (at Target).

Gardner Grub - it's been awhile.

If feels like I haven't blogged about food in forever! I have been so busy living life, planning parties, and decorating the house. It's been fun, but I'm ready to slow down.

Tonight I made a Greek Salad which was good, not amazing, just good. I'll probably make it again but add a couple of different types of sliced olives. It has Farfalle pasta, spinach leaves, sliced grape tomatoes, feta cheese, chopped chicken, chickpeas and a half cup of greek dressing.

Also on the menu this week is Grilled BBQ chicken with corn and baked beans and Grilled Teriyaki Salmon with rice (Mr. G got a new grill a couple of weeks ago). I hope you are checking up on coupons.com and target.com and saving a few dollars here and there. I've gotten several great free items the past couple of weeks at Target.

Noelle's Toy Story Birthday Party

Little G's birthday party was a blast. I'm a little annoyed with myself for not taking pictures of everything before guests arrived but I was so busy! Don't throw a party at 10am unless you are a morning person or get most of it set up the night before.Here are some pictures of her fun day :)

Me and the Birthday Girl

The front door - I made Andy's room wallpaper. The guests loved it.
Some of the kids playing in the kiddy squirt pool - we had two other pools for bigger kids
Food! We had Frito boats, hot dogs, hamburgers, BBQ beans, my pasta salad, and fresh fruit.

Little G sitting at the table
Plates, napkins, utensils
My mother-in-law makes all of the grandkids cakes :) It was so yummy!
My mom and grandma
She asked to go swimming at Daddy's big pool after her nap so we went.

After swimming in her Buzz poncho!

I love free stuff!

I took a quick trip to Target and Super Wal-Mart today and picked up some great deals.

At Target I got all of this for only .84! The cashier really had no idea what she was doing. I should have paid a little over 2 dollars but all of the coupons I used were worth more than each of the items.

The Pampers wipes were $1.97 and I had three coupons for $2 off.

The razors were on clearance for $2.48 and I had two coupons for $4 off. The Ketchup was on sale for $1.00 and apparently was free as was the .99 Relish. The subtotal is negative 5 cents so i just paid for tax. I found a crisp one dollar bill earlier this morning so really it was all free! Don't you love it?

Other good finds.

Yesterday I picked up a pair of Merona shorts on sale for $10. I used two $5 Target gift cards that I got free last week.

I used two B1G1 coupons for the Old Spice body wash = 2 free body washes

Febreeze plug-ins are usually around $8 but this was on sale at Wal-Mart for only $5. I used a $1.00 off Febreeze refill coupon and my house is smelling lovely.

Welch's grape juice - $2 off coupon

The pudding was also on sale and I used a .50 coupon and ended up paying just pennies for both!

I hope you are inspired to start clipping coupons. It really isn't as time-consuming as you'd imagine. Just pick up a couple of Sunday papers and check Coupons.com & Target.com a couple of times a week and you'll be saving in no time!

Kimmy's Baby Shower

Here are a few pictures from the After Baby Shower I threw for my best friend, Kim. It was a "Sunset Brunch" starting at 6:30 pm which turned out to be perfect on the warm day.

Here is the table all set up with the centerpieces. I got the pompom balls at Michael's with a 40% off coupon.

I made these Rice Krispy Pops for favors.
The centerpieces - floating Gerber Daisies and candles with 4 tea light candles around each centerpiece.
The menu - the food was delicious! I made my famous Amaretto Brie and Asian Chicken Salad.
The food table
View from above - centerpiece
Christopher Adam. Isn't he adorable!!
Kim and Christopher opening up presents.
Now on to Little G's birthday party - next Saturday! Please keep your fingers crossed for a cool day.

Memorial Day Savings

Happy Memorial Day! I am having a relaxing day which started off with some coupon clipping and then a trip to Target for several much needed items. I learned from the fabulous ladies over at Totally Target that Target accepts one manufacturer coupon (MQ) AND one Target coupon (TQ) for the same item. Hallelujah!

This is called coupon stacking. So this morning I got up early and matched my TQ and MQ and looked online for other coupons for items I needed.

Here's what I bought with coupons.

For Little G - 6 shorts and 3 tops

TQ $5 off purchase of $30.

= $26.50 for all that!

Vanish Drop Ins

MQ B1G1 free

=$2.14 for 2

Colgate Max Toothpaste

TQ $1 off

MQ .75 off

= $1.19

Swiffer Dust & Shine (I just ran out)

MQ $1 off

= $2.49

Up & Up Carpet Cleaner (Just ran out of Folex - will give this a try)

TQ $1 off

= $1.92

Listerine Whitening Mouth Wash

MQ $1 off

It was on clearance for $1.98 = .98

Coppertone Sun Screen Sport

MQ $2.00 off & on sale at Target for $6

= $4.00

Maybelline Mascara

MQ $1.00 off

= $3.49

Mr. G's Old Spice Body Wash

MQ B1G1 free

= $3.99 for 2

Lysol Wipes

No coupons but they were on sale for only $1.89 each

Jon Frieda volumizer - $5.39

Jon Frieda heat protector $5.39

2 MQ for $2.50 off 1 product

TQ for $3.00 of 2 products

= $2.78 for both

Scrubbing Bubbles Cleaner and refill

MQ $5.00 off when you purchase starter

MQ free refill when you purchases starter

TQ $5.00 gift card when you purchase starter

TQ $3.00 off when you purchase starter

= .69 + $5 Gift Card!

I used the $5.00 gift card on a second transaction to purchase the printer ink.

I'm very impressed with my coupon savings today (and so were the two women behind me in line!).

Gardner Grub

Chicken Marsala was on the menu tonight along with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. I added onions this time because I had a few in the fridge and I've been meaning to use them. I'm glad I did because the sweet onions were the perfect complement to the mushrooms. Little G ate a little of the potatoes and chicken and really filled up on broccoli.

Here's a video of her coming in from playing outside after dinner asking for MORE broccoli. She's so sweet - listen closely to her say "thanks, mom."

Chicken Marsala
4 boneless skinless Chicken Breasts
1/2 cup of flour
2 Tbs olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
1 Tsp dried Parsley flakes
1 cup of fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup Dry Marsala Wine
salt and pepper

On a plate mix flour with a quarter tsp each of salt and pepper. Heat 2 Tbs olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat chicken in flour mixture, shake off excess and add to skillet. Brown each side.

Add Marsala, mushrooms, onions, garlic, and parsley. Cook 8 to 10 minutes (turning once) or until chicken is no longer pink.
Serve hot with mashed potatoes and a vegetable.