WWW ~ Karate, Date Night, Birthday Party and Playdates

Did we really pack that all into our time off? Yet again I threw everything I could into a small amount of time. Oh yes we did :)

We're trying out Karate for Cole

Thankfully 3 day trial $19.95

Date Night happened

Calm your hair down Alexis it happened.

I even wore wedges, hey that is a step up for me!

My friend from elementary school invited us for playdate on FB

Isn't FB awesome!

We hit the town and guess what they had a carnival going on.

YES this is how you do a church carnival.

I bet they didn't have to deal w/ Busy Bees!

After playdate we had to run to a birthday party!

I love my friends parties they are the type you can stay at until night fall.

Yes we did :)

Caden of course went upstairs and played by himself so like his mom

Sunday after church Rachael invited us to play at her house.

Yes the boys took out EVERY toy possible!

Tuesday Recipes ~ POM Wonderful Day!!!

I've been dying ok so jealous of everyone who has been reviewing P♥M Wonderful. My parents always have it around the house but you think they would share .. no way! So when my package arrived in the mail I was so excited to try it out. But then what should I make, who knew it could be so difficult to pick one recipe! So of course I picked two :), so far that is!

First for summer time this was the perfect recipe, plus you know my love of bananas!

P♥M Banana Freeze found on the P♥M website

Ingredients:

• juice from 2-3 large POM Wonderful Pomegranates,* or cup POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice
• cup arils from 1 large POM Wonderful Pomegranate
• 3 ripe bananas
• cup simple syrup**
• 4 plastic freezer cups
• 4 plastic spoons

Preparation:

• 1. Score 1 fresh pomegranate and place in a bowl of water. Break open the pomegranate under water to free the arils (seed sacs). The arils will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the membrane will float to the top. Sieve and put the arils in a separate bowl. Reserve cup of the arils from fruit and set aside. (Refrigerate or freeze remaining arils for another use.)
• 2. Prepare fresh pomegranate juice.*
• 3. Prepare simple syrup.**
• 4. Put all ingredients except the arils in a food processor and process until smooth.
• 5. Stir in arils.
• 6. Divide mixture evenly among the cups and freeze slightly.
• 7. Insert a plastic spoon into the center of each cup to be used as a stick.
• 8. Freeze until solid.

ALEXIS NOTES: I just used the juice, I couldn't find the fruit for the life of me. I must have made it too sticky or not cool enough they didn't come out clean or on the stick. But who cares they still tasted WONDERFUL!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My second was a treat for the neighbors (if your reading this they will be coming over soon). The boys were my testers :). So I found two recipes on their website that I used together. I loved the cupcakes but wanted to try the frosting from another :).

P♥M Chocolate Cupcakes with P♥M Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:
• juice from 23 large POM Wonderful Pomegranates,* or 1 cup POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water, heated to boiling
• cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons vinegar (not wine vinegar)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla

Preparation:

Prepare garnish Score 12 fresh pomegranates and place in a bowl of water, break open the pomegranates under water to free the arils (seed sacs), the arils will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the membrane will float to the top, sieve and put the arils in a separate bowl, reserve 1 cup of the arils from fruit and set aside, (refrigerate or freeze remaining arils for another use), prepare fresh pomegranate juice*, preheat oven to 350F with rack in the center, place a paper baking cup in each of 24 regular sized muffin cups, whisk together the dry ingredients to combine well, in a large measuring cup, combine pomegranate juice and boiling water, add oil, vinegar and vanilla to the pomegranate juice mixture, add to the flour mixture all at once and whisk to combine (batter will be lumpy), divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups (about half full), bake 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and free of crumbs, let cool. Frost with pomegranate chocolate or vanilla cream cheese frosting and decorate with arils.

P♥M Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

• juice from 3-4 large POM Wonderful Pomegranates,* or 1-1/2 cups POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice
• 1 cup arils from 1-2 large POM Wonderful Pomegranates
• 4 oz. soft unsalted butter
• 8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
• 14 oz. powdered sugar

Preparation:

Prepare fresh pomegranate juice*, score 1-2 fresh pomegranates and place in a bowl of water, break open the pomegranates under water to free the arils (seed sacs), the arils will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the membrane will float to the top, sieve and put the arils in a separate bowl. Reserve 1 cup of the arils from fruit and set aside, (refrigerate or freeze remaining arils for another use), reduce the pomegranate juice, over low heat, down to 3 fl. oz., Allow to cool, place butter into electric mixer bowl with paddle attachment and cream on medium-high speed for 1 minute, add the cream cheese and continue to mix for 2 more minutes, turn the speed down to low and slowly add in the powdered sugar and the pomegranate juice reduction, mix until the sugar is fully combined, remove icing from the mixer and place into a piping bag with a round or star tip.

ALEXIS NOTES: Again I didn't have the fruit just used the juice which was great, I found it was a little liquid so I had to add extra powder sugar and it was a little off in color so I added a little food coloring to be pinker :). I found it had to be put in the fridge to firm up a little.

Hope you enjoy pick up a BIG bottle of P♥M Wonderful to try out some great recipes!

I was not paid for this review these are my opinions and experiences, I received products to try and to tell how I liked them. No monetary or any other form of compensation was given to me. I review products free of charge to give my experience and opinion.

I'm linking up to Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays and Tasty Tuesdays.

Manic Monday Meals ~ Left Over Brisket & Healthier Snack

Really is the weekend over? It was one heck of a weekend and I really need one weekend with down time. I need to find a way to ship off all the boys and get some me time ... hehe :).

My dad loves his smoker and for his retirement present mom picked him up a new one let's just say it was the granddaddy of smokers. He made some new brisket and of course brought over for us. I love brisket but wanted to find a way to put it in a meal. Thank you Google search and came up with this one from The Pioneer Womans Website. I've heard you've all talk about her recipes and loved every bit of it. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brisket Tostadas by The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• Beef Brisket Leftovers
• 1 package Small Corn Tortillas
• 1 can (about 16 Oz.) Refried Beans
• 1 can (about 8 Oz.) Hot Tomato Sauce Or Chili Sauce (optional)
• Pico De Gallo
• Shredded Cheese
• Lettuce
• Sour Cream
• 1 whole Avocado
• Vegetable Oil

Preparation Instructions

Heat ½ inch of vegetable oil in a small skillet. When the oil is hot, slide in a corn tortilla. To prevent the tortilla from puffing and browning unevenly, press down the center with tongs or metal spoon. After about twenty seconds, flip it over to the other side and hold down the center again. When golden, remove from skillet and drain on paper towels. Use 3 tortillas per tostada.

In a small bowl, mix the refried beans with just a bit of hot tomato sauce or other hot sauce to give a bit of a kick.

Peel and dice an avocado, finely chop some lettuce and get ready to assemble. Grab a crispy tortilla and set it on a cookie sheet. Now layer beans, cheese, corn tortilla, beans, cheese, corn tortilla, beans and cheese.

Place this in a 325-degree oven until the cheese melts. Pull it out and layer the top with a helping of lettuce, shredded brisket, pico de gallo, avocado and sour cream.

ALEXIS NOTES: I of course picked up some corn tostadas instead of making mine, I was being lazy. For the Pico I took a can of tomato w/ chilies drained all the juice added a little onion, green onions & cilantro and tada!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next was a treat that was a little on the healthier side

Chocolate Banana Granola Bars found on Wellsphere.com

1 Medium Banana

.25 cups of maple syrup

.25 cups of pureed silken tofu

1 c. oatmeal

1 c. puffed rice cereal (I used 365 organic brown puffed rice cereal)

1 c. Fiber One

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 TBSP cocoa powder

1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder

pinch of salt

Mix together oatmeal, fiber one, puffed rice cereal, cinnamon, cocoa powder, salt and protein powder. In another bowl rough chop banana and add in maple syrup. Heat in the microwave for about 1 minute and 30 seconds. Mash together to make a syrup. Stir in tofu. Mix with dry ingredients. Press down into a pyrex or any baking dish and bake in oven at 350 for about 10-15 minutes. They should be slightly crunchy and chewy on the inside. Let cool and cut into bars.

ALEXIS NOTES: I didn't have the silken tofu so I found online you can use sour cream. I had vanilla protein powder that was great addition.

Well it's Monday, that's the nicest thing I can say right now about it ... hehe. So we're trying out this name again for Monday. I was thinking of making a button for it, if I can figure that out we'll be in good shape .. :). Hope you all have a wonderful Week with yummy food :).

CLOSED I Wear My Sunglasses At Night .... (GIVEAWAY)

Now you have that song stuck in your hear don't you??? Ok how about this image chunky girl that mom puts in dance class who then has to wear a swimsuit leotard with HUGE sunglasses (because that so took away from the hips) ... dancing to that song! OH yes you so know it, just love to share my embarrassing stories with you that is a round about way to tell you about a product :).

Rick had the opportunity to try out a pair of men's sunglasses, see hun blogging even gives you things for you. So hush up about my few hours minutes each night! Doesn't he look cute, he was so loving his new glasses.

The great thing about sunglasses is you need them all year round, even when it snowy out the glare when driving can be a killer. The thing that always kills me is I want to have the cutest glasses and styles out there but I always seem to "misplace" them or you know they end up in the bottom of the toy box! But the who wants to keep buying expensive glasses that you can't even keep for a year. Well that is were Sunglass Warehouse comes into the picture. Get the most up to-date for prices that will allow you to pick up a few styles to keep on hand you know for when one disappears :).

The amazing people at the Sunglass Warehouse has offered one lucky reader a $20 gift certificate. You can pick up a pair for you or two for the wee ones in the kids' sunglasses section, yes I picked up two for them and for under $20 is perfect. The shipping cost was so reasonable and time it took here was with in days, perfect for the inpatient boys in my house.

BUY IT: Head over to Sunglass Warehouse browse by trends or comparable styles. Have a hard time figuring out what would be best for your skin tones or your face shape make sure to check out these new options!

WIN IT: ONE lucky winner will win a $20 GC.

ENTER: Head over and let me know what type of Sunglasses you would like.

EXTRA ENTRIES - Do as many as you like just leave a separate comment for EACH:

• Follow @sunglasswarehse on Twitter (2 Extra Entries)
• Follow Sunglasswarehouse on Facebook page (2 Extra Entries)
• Follow my blog
• Have my button up on your site
• Subscribe via email (2 Extra Entries)
• Like my new Face Book Account on the Right Side (I'm still figuring it out ... lol)
• Follow @AlexisAKAMOM on Twitter (2 Extra Entries)
• Retweet and let me know you can always click the retweet button (2 Extra Entries) can be done daily. Copy & Paste: Enter to Win @ Running away? I'll help you pack a $20 GC GIVEAWAY for Sunglass Warehouse http://bit.ly/dg1STF
• Blog about the giveaway or on your side bar (3 Extra Entries)

Giveaway ends 9/15/10 Only residents of the U.S. or Canada are eligible to win. No Post Office Boxes.

I was not paid for this review these are my opinions and experiences, I received products to try and to tell how I liked them. No monetary or any other form of compensation was given to me. I review products free of charge to give my experience and opinion.

Did we REALLY have a DATE NIGHT??? (PINT Style)

Don't you know what I have to go threw for a date night!

Can't it just go smooth??

Thursday DVD ~ August 26th Edition

It's that time of week again, movie time. Hope you find one you like :)

Of course I'm going to love a heartfelt movie that made me cry like a baby! I kind of needed a pick me up from the last week and this did it. It of course it is going to make you cry and just like life things don't go happily ever after. You will laugh, cry and be touched by this movie. It came out on DVD last week and thankfully also went to instant download at the same time. LOVED it, I recommend for all to see.

Faith and hope are the twin engines that power this uplifting, bittersweet tale based on the true story of Tyler Doherty (Tanner Maguire), an 8-year-old boy who battles brain cancer and turns to God as his own private pen pal. Tyler writes and mails his missives daily, and his steadfast undertaking not only moves his family and friends, but it also alters the life of despairing postman, Brady (Jeffrey Johnson), who opens the boy's letters.

This just released on DVD and went right to instant download, yeah!!! Cole has been dying to see it, it's a great documentary and Cole actually sat threw and watch it.

Get up close and very personal with dinosaurs in this four-part Discovery Channel series that uses advanced imaging give to viewers a glimpse inside the lumbering bodies of these mammoth creatures -- bones, muscles and all. Learn the secrets of powerful predators and how herbivores survived in a dino-eat-dino world. Then, get the inside story on dinosaurs' mating habits and the evolutionary adaptations that allowed them to thrive.

You know me I'll give a movie a shot but you have a short window to show me you're good. Sadly this one didn't make it past the first 15 minutes before I was done. I don't mind swearing but it has to have a point and this so didn't. Sorry anyone who liked this but the sexual undertone I couldn't even look over.

Nick Twisp (Michael Cera), a cynical, sex-deprived teenager living a less-than-satisfactory existence, is pushed by the manifestation of his debonair, rebellious id (also Cera) to bed his dream girl, Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday). Miguel Arteta directs this irreverent, dark comedy based on the popular novel series by C.D. Payne. Steve Buscemi, Ray Liotta, Justin Long, Fred Willard, Jean Smart, M. Emmet Walsh and Zach Galifianakis co-star.

As many of you know I have Dish and last year Dish and ABC went on strike and I missed any show on that station. Thankfully TV shows go to DVD soon. It was nice to catch up with what I missed. I think I may have to catch up on the end of season 3 to get the whole kit and kaboodle.

America Ferrera stars as Betty Suarez, a humble, plain but very determined 20-something whose quick wit and fearless attitude have helped her rise through the ranks of influential high-fashion rag Mode. In the fourth and final season of this Emmy-winning sitcom, Betty dives back into the treacherous waters of interoffice politics and fashion-world backstabbing, guided by her conviction that virtue can prevail over vanity.

The boys have now fallen in love with the Care Bears, and yes they instant download on the Wii is my savor! I love they are into shows I loved at their age.

The Care Power Team -- Bedtime, Cheer, Funshine, Grumpy, Oopsy and Share -- organizes a Giving Festival in this CGI-animated Care Bears movie. Princess Starglo is planning to attend the celebration, but she gets trapped in fierce weather. So the cuddly and lovable Care Power Team sets out to rescue Princess Starglo and figure out what -- or who -- is behind the powerful gusts of wind that are threatening the festival.

A true story that of course made me cry and this time it wasn't a mushy love story like usual. This one happened close to here and was just a horrible story of teens and alcohol/drugs. A partnership in real life to show others what the effects of your actions show other teens but that will never bring back the dad. Very sad, but a good movie.

A widow's forgiveness. A killer's remorse. Bond of Silence is the true life story of a shocking murder and the amazing bond that came from it. Katy and Bob live a perfect life in a small close knit town. He's a respected lawyer, a renowned tri-athlete. She just had twins. It is New Year's Eve. Teens converge on the house next door. Always the good neighbor, Bob goes to shut it down. A confrontation occurs. Then he's dead. No teen comes forward. The media pours in. Headlines scream. Katy hunts for answers. But no one talks. A bond of silence covers the town. The police do an undercover sting and someone's caught. Ryan, a popular kid, tries to be cool, but the burden of what he did that night is unbelievable. Ryan and his attorney want to plead not guilty, but then Katy and Ryan meet. Where Katy should be a grieving wife, she becomes a supportive mother. Rather than berating, she listens. Rather than accusing, she comforts. And Ryan tells her what happened. Step by step. When Ryan appears in court he pleads guilty. He turns to Katy. The look between them is one of compassion and shared loss. Katy pleads for leniency and makes a horrible ending be a hope-filled beginning.

I couldn't find the movie post so I had to use a pic of the actual family. I caught this family on their reality show the other day and then saw the movie was playing on Lifetime and had to watch it. I don't think I could let me family business be played out on TV, very brave. That is just an amazing family, I don't know how they do it. Great true story to watch :).

Becki and Keith want to start a family, so they're thrilled when they find out they're pregnant. But they're not having just one baby — they're having six! Find out if the couple has what it takes, both physically and emotionally, to parent half a dozen babies in this touching and true story that's not to be missed!