WANNABE Panda Express Orange Chicken - made with CUTIES

Another tasty night that took a little (I mean quite a bit more) work than usual. I haven't made Orange Chicken in over a year and I have kinda been craving it. I checked my fridge and noticed that I had almost all of the necessary ingredients (or substitutes) needed to make this WANNABE Panda Express favorite! Bear in mind that I just had some CUTIES sitting on my counter so rather than get some oranges, I wanted to see if these would work as well.

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken chopped into bite sized pieces.
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1 1/2 tsp salt
white pepper (or just fresh ground pepper is what I use)

Place in a large Ziplock bag and toss together.

1/2 cup Cornstarch
1/4 cup Flour
Oil (for frying)

Stir together cornstarch and flour. Add chicken pieces, stirring to coat.

Heat oil for deep frying in a wok (abt 375 degrees)

Add Chicken in small batches at a time and fry 3-4 minutes or until golden crisp. Remove chicken from oil and drain on paper towels - Set Aside and prepare orange sauce.


Orange Sauce

1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp water
5 Tbsp sugar (or Splenda)
5 Tbsp white vinegar
Juice of 1 cutie + zest of entire cutie (Or 1 orange juiced and zested)

mix together and set aside until ready to use.

1 tbsp gingerroot, minced (I jsut use a small grater)
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup green onion, chopped
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup water
1 tbsp cornstarch

Clean wok and heat 15 seconds over high heat. Add 1 Tbsp oil. Add ginger and garlic and stir fry for about 10 seconds or until fragrant. Add pepper flakes and green onions. Add rice vinegar and stir 3 seconds. Add orange sauce and bring to a boil. Add cooked chicken, stirring until well mixed. Stir water and cornstarch together until smooth and add to wok. Heat until sauce is thickened and serve warm.

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies (AKA Elephant Poo)

Dessert tonight was something that I have not had in a LONG time!!! Its easy and my kiddos LOVED it! I made those No-bake Chocolate Peanut Butter cookies with oatmeal. I remember making them and hearing them called Elephant Poo, so that name kinda stuck with me. Sooo Tasty!

ELEPHANT POO
3 1/2 cups dry quick-cooking oats, divided
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, cut into pieces (OR Margarine)
2 cups sugar (OR Splenda)
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons cocoa

Measure 3 cups of oats, the peanut butter and the vanilla into a large heatproof bowl. Set aside.
Place the butter, sugar, milk and cocoa in a small saucepan. Give them a quick stir. Turn the heat on high, and leave the mixture alone. (No more stirring.) Bring the mixture to a full, rolling boil, and let it boil for exactly 1 minute. Remove immediately from the heat, and pour the chocolate mixture over the oats and peanut butter.Use a rubber spatula to quickly stir the ingredients together. (If the mixture seems runny or it’s a very humid day, stir in the remaining half-cup of oats.) Working with two spoons or a small ice cream scoop, drop the mixture by tablespoons onto some wax paper. Let the cookies cool until set. (or you could just eat them with a spoon!)

CUTIE Pies!!!!!

I was looking online tonight for recipes to use some CUTIE Clementines/Mandarins and I couldn't find any for a tasty dessert. I know those little CUTIES are sooo good to just peel and snack on, but I wanted to see if I could find more uses. I found a basic orange/lemon pie recipe and changed a few ingredients and added a few other and ended up with a DIVINE pie!!!
My father-in-law works for the company that grows CUTIES, so I have a few bags here so you might see CUTIES one here more than once!

CUTIE PIE!!!!

crust:
1 cup Graham Cracker Crumbs
2 Tbsp Sugar (or splenda)
3 Tbsp melted butter/ margarine

Filling:
3 Tbsp Corn Starch
2/3 cup sugar (or splenda - if you go this route, add a little vanilla)
2/3 cup Milk (doesn't matter which percent)
4-6 CUTIES, juiced and the zest of 2 or 3)
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 tbsp fresh Lemon Juice + 1/2 Tbsp zest
1 cup fat free sour cream

For the Crust, mix ingredients together and press into a 9 inch pie plate. Bake a 375 for about 7 minutes and remove to cool.

For the Filling, combine corn starch and sugar. Gradually stir in CUTIE Juice until smooth. Stir in Milk, egg yolks, and lemon juice until well blended. Add zests. Cook on stove at medium/ high for 5-7 minutes or until mixture thickens (a minute or 2 past boiling). FOLD in sour cream. Pour into crust and refrigerate for 1-2 hours until set.
Garnish with a dollop of Whipped cream and a lemon or orange curl or a slice of Cutie!

Little Lemon Tartlets

I was on the phone with my sister, Laura earlier this week and she told me about how she got some yummy lemons and decided to make my mom's FABULOUS Lemon Curd Pudding. As she was talking about it, I started to think of that tart goodness and how tasty it would be! That led me to think about Marie Callender's Double Cream Lemon Pie and it clicked.....tell Laura to make some of her own!!!! Apparently we were already on the same wavelength and as I told her how to do it, she said that she was already thinking of doing something like that with all these sleepover girls at her house with her daughter. She did it and sent all the lemony luscious details.

For starters, you need to make a Lemon Curd Pudding:

~Lemon curd pudding~

4 tsp. lemon zest

2/3 cup lemon juice( i juiced the lemons I zested yielding approximately 4 lemons)

1 cup sugar

5 eggs

1/2 cup melted butter

add all ingredients into a blender, except for the butter, blend till smooth then slowly pour melted butter into it while blending. Pour into a sauce pan and heat till it bubbles and thickens (appr. 5-6 min) remove from heat and let cool, then refrigerate.

Then there's the cream cheese filling

~Cream Cheese pie Filling~
1 lb. cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar

Whip until it looks creamy (appr. 8-10 min.) while whipping add powdered sugar or until it's as sweet as you'd like it.

~graham cracker crust~
about 10 graham crackers, crushed
2 TBSP Melted Butter or Margarine
1 Tbsp sugar
Mix all the ingredients together and press into muffin tin. Bake at 375 for 6-7 minutes.

Let the crusts cool and put the filling and the curd into ziplock bags with the corners cut out. Squeeze good sized glob of cream cheese onto the crust. IN a swirling motion, squeeze lemon pudding on top and serve with a sprig of mint and a lemon curl.

Making Bread FYI

As we are all aware, food prices are on the rise. We hear of crop failures and weather problems, and increased prices for food distribution because of the increase in fuel prices. If grocery stores were suddenly empty, would you have enough food in your home to feed your family nutritious and good-tasting meals?
We have probably all heard the quote by Brigham Young when he said "The time will come that gold will hold no comparison in value to a bushel of wheat."
If you are thinking that you have plenty of wheat stored, consider this: For one loaf of bread per day for a year, you will need:
275 lbs of wheat
4 gallons of oil
46 lbs of sugar or honey
8 lbs of yeast
and 8 lbs of salt.
It is estimated that most families would need at least 2 loaves of bread per day if they were living on survival foods. I would prefer to have some nice homemade bread instead of just boiled wheat. Then some homemade jam and peanut butter would be great also. Think about what your family would need for an appetizing and nutritious diet in an emergency.

Monster Cookies

Have you ever been to the Target Cafe' and had those yummy giant monster cookies??? I absolutely love indulging in those bad boys after an exhausting couponing expedition. I just hate saving all this money on everyday things and paying over a dollar for 1 cookie. So I played around in the kitchen tonight and found a recipe that I tweaked a little to get things just right!

Monster Cookies

1 stick of butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup oats (quick cooking or old fashioned - I prefer old fashioned)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup m&ms
(if you like lots of peanuts, you can chop some up and add them to the mix too)

cream butter, sugars, peanut butter, vanilla and egg in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients and mix well. add chips and m&ms. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

This recipe doesn't make a whole lot of cookies (abt 2 dozen), but if you are trying to limit how much you are eating, then this one works!
Enjoy!

Cutie Clippies!

I had a few minutes to do a little something while I was waiting for my husband to get home from work. I remembered that my neighbor gave me a bunch of alligator clips to make my little girl some hair clippies! I didn't realize how EASY they are to make. I had some scrapbook ribbon that was just a tad wider than the clip, some hot glue and a few minutes and I just made these!
They are some of the easiest little things to make. Just line the ribbon up with the clip and squirt a line of hot glue down the middle of the prongs and fold the ribbon over the top. Add a little more glue to the ribbon and wrap around the hinge.Do the same on the bottom side and press together again.

**if you want, you can tie a cute bow with the ribbon and glue it to the top to make it a little more dressy or add whatever you like to them!

Voila!!! YOU ARE DONE!!!
I made 2 in each of the ribbon prints that I had and I think they turned out pretty darn cute and sooooooo much cheaper than buying them at the store.

Easy Rice Wraps

I had a craving earlier this week and it was satisfied with tonight's dinner. Easy Spring Wraps!! Last year, I bought some at the store and fell in love with the light cool taste of these healthy rolls. They cost about $3-$4 for 2 rolls, but I hate paying for something that I can make my own for much cheaper. Most everything I just got at the regular grocery store. I know some stores carry sheets of rice paper, but I couldn't find any at my regular store, so I just went and bought a 30 pack for about $3 at Whole Foods.

Ingredients to try out - I will put a star next to what I used and how much to make about 8-10 rolls
*cucumber - 1/3 large hothouse
*spinach/lettuce- about 1/3 bunch cut into strips
*bell pepper - 1/4 red in strips
*avocado - 1/2 medium hass
sprouts
*carrots- 2 cut into thin strips
*chicken - 1 cup cut into chunks or shredded
shrimp
cooked rice

Step 1: Take rice paper and dip into warm water for 10- 30 seconds or until flexible without cracking or breaking. (Some packages differ from others, so just keep an eye out for cracking)


Step 2: Fill with veggies and meat. Roll like a burrito or egg roll and press together to seal ingredients in.

Step 3: Let the rolls sit for a few minutes and cut diagonally down the center and put on a plate, careful not to let them touch (sometimes the wrappers stick to eachother)


Dipping Sauce for Rice Wraps

3 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp Sugar
1 finely sliced Green Onion
Splash of sesame oil

The hardest part of making this for me was keeping my wrappers from cracking. If there is a little crackage, its ok. These rolls don't look that great until you cut them down the middle anyway.
ENJOY!!!

A taste of Summer!

Today has been such a beautiful day!!! I made me think about summer and being outside, which led to my choice for dinner tonight. Barbecued Turkey Burgers. My sister makes these all the time in the summertime and even in the off season on her indoor griddle, so I called her for the recipe and shortly after, I was eating a picnic outside with my kiddos! The flavor in these bad boys makes for a great change from traditional burgers!
Zippy Turkey Burgers

1 lb ground turkey
1 egg
1/2 chopped yellow/red/orange bell pepper
1/2 cup grated cheese (tonight was pepper jack!!!!)
1 Tbsp A1 steak sauce


I mix all these together in a bowl and it makes about 5 average sized burgers.

Then I toss them onto a hot bbq and cook for about 7-10 minutes on each side or until they look good.

A good bun idea is using those orowheat or whatever brand sandwich thins. They have less calories than a traditional bun and a different flavor.

Under $5 and 15 minutes!

Ok...my husband usually works until 11:30 at night and I don't like to go to bed by myself, so I try to find ways to pass my time. I was at the dollar store about a week ago and got a small round wreath form and a couple of loose silk flowers.
I got to crafting around 11:15 because I was cleaning and just lost track of time. I decided that this was something that I wanted to get done that night and sure enough....I did it in 15 minutes and under $5!!

Step 1: Cut flowers off of stems (leave about 1-2 inches to stick in wreath form.
Step 2: Place same color flowers a few inches apart on the ring.
Step 3: Fill in all the way around the ring with as many color/variety flowers that you like (I used blue and fuchsia hydrangeas and mini while calla lilies) I also saved a few of the leaves to use as a filler in sparse areas on the ring.
Step 4: Cut a piece of cardboard about 1/2-1 inch longer than inner diameter of the ring.
Step 5: Cut scrapbook/craft paper to fit cardboard ( I even used some thin scraps to accent the sign on top and bottom) and adhere to the wreath with crafter's glue or hot glue.
Step 6: Using a sharpie or nice pen, write a fun spring saying on your sign.

THAT'S IT!!!!!
How much simpler could it get??

Grandma Norma's Blondies

Another recipe that I have wanted to do for a while, but never found time to until just recently.
When I got married, my mother in law gave me a bunch of family recipes that I am so excited to try out. Most of them came from my husband's great grandma who was a FABULOUS cook! This is one of the easiest recipes that I have made and it tastes soooo yummy!

Grandma's Norma's Blondies
2 1/4 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups brown sugar
2/3 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
6 oz chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Sift together first 3 ingredients. Cream the next 3 ingredients. Add eggs to creamed mixture. Mix in flour mixture. Add chocolate chips and nuts. Spread out on a greased shallow pan. (11 x 15 x 2) . Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.
Tastes even better served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce!

**a quick tip for these yummy treats...mix by hand instead of a mixer for a thicker cookie!
***To make them true blondies, use butterscotch chips instead of Chocolate.

Magic Mix and Homemade Pudding

SO I like to challenge myself from time to time, and this past week, I found a recipe that took me 4 attempts to make it right! I wanted to have some yummy homemade pudding and I had never even tried to make the store bought heat and serve stuff so this was my challenge.
So my first attempt yielded Chocolate soup.....tasted yummy but not what I wanted. Tried again about an hour later and used a different recipe. This time it was a little thicker, but not successful enough to call it a victory. Then I called my mom and asked for a little help. She told me to cook it a little longer, so I did. Wouldn't you guess it, it was almost pudding consistency on the third try. Finally I cooked it 5-6 minutes and it turned out! YAY!!!

I got this one from a cookbook called I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S FOOD STORAGE

MAGIC MIX

2 1/3 cups dry powdered milk (Morning MOOs)
1 c. all purpose flour or 1/2 cup cornstarch (great for gluten free)
1 c butter at room tempearture
combine ingredients in a large bowl an mix with an electric hand mixer until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Keep mix tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 8 months

Magic Mix Pudding

1/2 C. Sugar
1 C. Magic Mix
2-3 T. Cocoa (optional)
2 C. Water
1 t. Vanilla

Combine Magic Mix, sugar and cocoa in saucepan and mix well. Add water, stir over medium heat until pudding bubbles. Add vanilla and beat. Cook for about 5 minutes or until mixture thickens. Cover and Cool.

These and other recipes can be found online at everydayfoodstorage.net

Winter Squash Soup

When the weather is cold, there's not much better than a cup of hot soup to warm you up! I had a hankering for some squash soup like what I got from costco, but wanted to try and make it on my own.

WINTER SQUASH SOUP

1 cooked squash, pureed
1 can of chicken broth
1 can of water
3-4 stalks of celery sliced thin (i used a food processer/shredder)
2 carrots sliced thin
1/2 an apple cut into small chunks
2 cooked chicken breast cut in cubes
1/4 cup milk
2-3 tbsp sugar
2-3 tbsp butter or margarine
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

Heat in a large stock pot and cook until veggies are tender.

I kinda just added ingredients until they tasted the way I wanted it to. Thats why the measurements are not precise. Good luck and I hope that you enjoy it!

Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

One way to jazz up plain sugar cookie dough mix.

2 1/2 cups sugar cookie dough mix (krusteaz) or one package betty crocker.
1 stick of butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
1/2 cup almond paste
1 cup craisins
1 cups white chocolate chips

Mix well and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 10-12 min or until brown on edges.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup - found on livestrong.com

1 lb cooked chicken, cubed
3 cups water (I just used the water that I boiled the chicken in for extra taste)
1 can chicken broth - low sodium
1 can diced green chilies
2 cans black beans
2 cups frozen corn
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 cup salsa
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
Add ingredients together in a large stock pot. Cook for 1 hour or until flavors are blended. Serve with tortilla chips, sour cream, avocado chunks, cheese or whatever you like. I just left it plain tonight and it was sooo tasty! Perfect dinner for a rainy night.

** This recipe makes A LOT of soup. It made abt 4 quarts for me so if you have leftovers, they freeze great!

Green Enchilada Chili

Tonight I went to my sister's house and hung out with her for a bit. I brought homemade rolls and she made a new Chili recipe!

Melt in your mouth rolls

3 cups hot water
1 1/2 tbsp instant yeast
4 cups flour (starting) adding up to 8 cups - of course I used whole wheat
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup gluten
1 tbsp salt
1/4 cup powdered milk
1 crushed up 1000mg vitamin C

in a mixer, combine hot water with yeast. Add about 4 cups of flour and mix to paste-like consistency. Add oil, honey, salt and gluten. Turn the mixer from low to medium and add powdered milk. Gradually add more flour (I do 1/2 cup at a time) until dough starts to clean the bowl. Let knead in mixer for 5 minutes. Add crushed vitamin and mix 1-2 minutes more.
Slather hands with shortening to keep dough from sticking to your hands and break dough into abt 36 pieces and shape into rolls. Place on baking sheet and let rise in a warm area until doubled in volume (abt 15 min for me today). Bake at 350 for 19-22 minutes or until toasty brown.

Green Enchilada Chili
2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
1 large can green enchilada sauce
2 cans chicken broth
2 cans black beans
2 cans white beans
16 oz sour cream ( I prefer fat-free for less calories, but do what you like)
8-16 b0z grated pepper jack cheese

combine chicken and sauce in a large pot at medium heat. Add broth and beans. Simmer 10+ minutes. Add sour cream and let the chili get nice and hot. Gradually grate cheese into chili (if you add it all at once, you will have gooey chili instead of creamy). Serve and enjoy!

Fun little Door Hangers

The truth is that I have never been really crafty and my house isn't very decorated because of that. I figured that I needed to start somewhere, so...

I decided to start small and simple and make little door hangers for my kids doors with tissue paper, mod podge, adhesive and craft paper. I had a few flat canvas' lying around and spent about 30 min on the 2 hangers.

For the polka dot one:
1. paint a layer of mod podge on the canvas.
2. lay the tissue paper (mine was white with the polka dots already on it) on top of the wet mod podge.
3. paint another layer of mod podge on top
4. I used my cricut to do the letters on craft paper and placed them on the wet mod podge.
5. Paint one more thin layer over the top and let dry.

For the jungle:
1. paint a layer of mod podge on canvas.
2. lay the tissue paper (this time it was green leaf printed) on wet mod podge.
3. get a strip of green craft paper and cut thin slits all the way across the top.
4. crinkle strips slightly and clue along the bottom (where the slits have stopped) and place at the bottom of the canvas.
5. Cut a large orange circle and then make slits towards the center for the lion's mane. Crinkle!
6. Cut a smaller yellow circle and glue it to the center of the orange. Draw a cute little face on it.
7. Glue on to the tissue.
8. You can use a cricut to do the letters on this one, but I ran out of brown paper and just used a sharpie pen to write on it.

This is such a simple idea and I just used adhesive squares to press on the door. My little guy love his and every time he goes to his room he smiles and yells "Will's Jungle!" This can be done with any theme, but I asked my little guy what he wanted, and he told me animals.

Get a FREE Hyland’s Cold ‘n Cough Just by Showing Some Love!

Get a FREE Hyland’s Cold ‘n Cough Just by Showing Some Love!

I like getting super cheap magazine subscriptions, especially when they have coupons or recipes in them. One way to get great deal is to go through Tanga. They offer magazines like ESPN, Parents, Taste of Home, and the deal I just scored for Weight Watchers Magazine for only $3.99!! I keep an eye on this site because sometimes I miss a good deal and they have it a few weeks later for the same price. They offer super cheap deals on more than just magazines too. Check out Tanga tp see what they have around!

If you like Chick-fil-a....

So I was checking my favorite sites this morning and stumbled across this little bit of info....
you can get a free Medium order of waffle cut fries at Chick-fil-a, tomorrow March 4 between 2 and 4!

Check out the link here

Chocolate Chip and Toasted Coconut Cookies

A cookie that makes my day sooo much better!

Chocolate Chip and Toasted Coconut cookies

1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup margarine or shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips
3/4 cup toasted coconut

cream butter, margarine and sugars in a large mixing bowl and add vanilla. Add eggs one at a time. In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add dry ingredients to sugar/cream mix. Once combined, add chips and coconut. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Let cool 1 min and transfer to wire cooling rack. This definitely hit the spot! To make it even better, you can swap the vanilla extract for coconut extract and enjoy a stronger coconut flavor.
Makes 36 cookies!
The recipe originally called for 3/4 cups of both white and brown sugar, but I have found that by reducing the white sugar by half and adding more brow, it makes the cookie a little chewier!

Long days = quick and easy dinners = Chicken Rice Ole'

So I decided to make cookies with my 2 year old before dinnertime and forgot to take care of dinner until dessert was done! What was I to do. Luckily, I freeze rice when I cook too much of it. This is one of my easiest and fastest recipes for those nights when theres a lot going on and not a lot of time to make dinner.

Chicken Rice Ole'

3 cups cooked rice (i like brown rice)
1 cup sour cream
1 10 oz can of cooked chicken
1 cup Salsa
a sprinkle of grated cheese

So for this, I just put everything in a microwave safe dish and stir it together. I pop that in the microwave for 3-5 min or until everything is heated thoroughly. Thats it!!!! It takes me less than 10 minutes to prepare and serve this when the rice is already cooked. Definitely a time saver and oh so tasty. My kids like it too!

Paid Surveys

So I do what I can to bring in a little money here and there for my family. One thing that I have been given the opportunity to do is take online surveys for $3 per survey for PineCone Research.
I received an e-mail today letting me know that they are looking for more survey takers out there and want referrals! I have my payments sent straight to my PayPal account and I am able to use the money I make taking surveys on my online purchases where ever PayPal is accepted.

This is what my email said so sign up if you want a little extra $$$$ here and there!

**It’s not too late to take advantage of this special opportunity to refer households to apply for membership on the PineCone Research panel.** If you have already assisted with this effort - thank you and please feel free to disregard this email.

PineCone Research is growing and we invite you to help! We are offering select members the opportunity to recommend membership to a friend or relative who is NOT a member of their household.

Do you know of households that would like to join the PineCone Research Panel? If so, please FORWARD A COPY of this email to each household you would like to refer so that they may click on the registration link shown below. That household should complete the registration form themselves and submit it. REMEMBER THAT ONLY ONE PERSON PER HOUSEHOLD MAY REGISTER. Multiple registrations of the same Household will void all registrations.

Here is the link to the registration:

www.pineconeresearch.com/signup/ds632.aspx?&sid=BGR

Free sample of Burts Bees Acne Kit

If you are like me and have acne prone skin or know somebody who does, here is a way to get a free sample of Burts Bees Acne kit!

Hurry on over here and fill out the form to score a FREE Burt’s Bees Natural Acne Solutions Two Week Trial Kit. Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery.

2 Fandango vouchers for $9

So my hubby and I love date night and he LOVES to go to the movies. I thought I would make things a little cheaper by taking advantage of this great deal.
2 movie tickets for $9 through fandango.
*Go here and enter your email address or login to your Living Social Account
*Click on “More Deals” on the left hand side and find Columbus
*Click on “Buy Now” and complete your order
The deal website is through livingsocial.com and i have used them in the past for $20 amazon gift certificates for only $10!!! On top of that, if 3 friends take advantage of your deal, you can get the deal for free!!! You can't beat free!!!
If you want to take advantage of a cheap date night, go here and let the savings begin!

FINE PRINT for this deal

The Fine Print

Limit 1 purchase per customer only • Promo Codes are valid only for Internet purchases made at www.fandango.com and are not redeemable at theater box office, via Fandango’s telephone or mobile services or through any other website operated by third-party merchants
 
• Cannot be combined with any other offer or promotion
 • Not valid on IMAX or 3D showings
 • Limited to tickets with maximum face value (including Fandango’s convenience fee of up to $2 per ticket) of $15 • Both tickets must be purchased for the same movie and show time in a single transaction • Promotional value of Promo Codes expire June 6th, 2011. Paid value of Promo Codes expires on June 6th, 2016, except where prohibited by law.
 • Promo Codes have no cash value unless required by law, and will not be replaced if lost or stolen, and are not for resale or commercial use
 • If a movie ticket (with Fandango’s convenience fee included) is more than the $15 maximum Promo Code value, the user must pay the difference with a valid credit or debit card 
• The redemption of Promo Codes is subject to Fandango’s terms and conditions at www.fandango.com/termsofuse.aspx and www.fandango.com/PurchasePolicy.aspx 
• Any questions regarding redemption of promo codes on Fandango.com should be directed to Fandango Customer Support at http://fandango.custhelp.com • Other conditions apply • Promotional value expires on June 6, 2011

An easier night with a boost of veggies!

I have a 2 year old that DOES NOT eat rice. Last night, he willingly ate some and asked for more. I was shocked. He ate all of his dinner so that warranted a trip to Cold Stone after my healthy dinner so it was a good night.
I made a goal this week to try a new recipe every day. So on Sunday I made my breakfast skillet and last night I tried a rice pilaf recipe from Doubly Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. I love the recipes in this cookbook because they are simple recipes that have added veggies hidden in them. If you are not familiar with Jessica Seinfeld's cooking approach, she sneaks veggies into her kids foods by cooking them up and pureeing them or by adding whole grains. I really am a "wannabeskinny mama" so this book really helps. I have noticed that as I eat more veggies every day, I lose weight easier. Here is the recipe for enriched rice Pilaf. As usual, I made a few modifications to fit me better.

RICE PILAF
prep: 5 minutes
Total time: 50 min
Serves 5

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup brown rice (I used 1 1/4 - 1 1/2)
1/2 c cauliflower puree ( I used about 3/4 cup)
1 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth (I just used a whole can)
1/4 tsp salt

In a saucepan, saute the garlic in the olive oil until is just starts to brown on the edges. Add the uncooked rice and toss to coat (abt 30 seconds)
Add the cauliflower puree, chicken broth, and salt. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to a simmer with the lid tightly in place. Simmer abt. 45 min. or until rice is tender.DO NOT STIR!!
Let rice stand for 5 min and fluff with a fork. Serve. Enjoy!

The nutrition breakdown is:
Calories = 154
Carbs = 30 g
Protein = 4 g
Total Fat = 2 g
Saturated Fat = 0.5 g
Sodium = 140 mg
Fiber = 2 g