Pepperoni Pinwheel Appetizer

Super Bowl is roughly 51 hours away,

and here is one of my favorite "go to" appetizers when I am unsure 

what I am making for a party.

It's super EASY...

And fairly CHEAP!

Pepperoni Pinwheels

Ingredients: 

puff pastry (found in freezer section near the pies)

pepperoni

Mozzarella cheese

marinara sauce

Steps:

lay out the puff pasty on counter,

spread out the cheese and pepperoni all over the dough,

roll the puff pastry into a log (be careful not to let the cheese fall out),

slice the puff pastry into 1/3 inch slices...

lay them on a greased baking sheet,

bake at 350 until cheese is melted and

puff pastry looks flakey!

Serve with marinara sauce on the side

for those that like to dip! 

VOILA...

and it looks like you spent a lot more time

and $ on it than you actually did.

Do you VOODOO?

This past weekend my Sister was in town,

so we all got together with my parents

and took the kiddos to East Colfax!

For those unfamiliar with Denver,

Colfax is the buttcrack of the city...

it is the street that goes right down the center

of Denver.  It's got anything and everything

you could ever want:

City grille (Best Burgers, EVER)

Fillmore (The first venue I saw Jack's Mannequin perform)

Casa Bonita (the love child of Disney and Acid).

Why would we take the babies to a place

like that?

VOODOO DONUTS!

They opened here in Denver a few weeks ago.

Up until then, they were only located in Portland.

They are the doughnut shop that is on food channel on

the regular...they have all the weird donuts,

including the voodoo doll shaped donut with a

dagger (pretzel) thru its heart,

The cereal covered donuts,

"Anatomically correct" donuts,

blunt shaped donuts,

and the one I am in love with....the maple bar with 2 deep fried

pieces of bacon!!

Voodoo is located in between a gay bar and 

marijuana dispensary.

We waited in line for an hour and a half

for donuts...crazy?

Yep!

Worth it?

Definitely! 

Caden picked the M&M covered donut from the start

when he saw a pic of it on the outside window front.

He got pretty tired of waiting, but when he got that donut he

sat right back down in his stroller and ate it in silence.

Shaun and I both got the bacon ones....and it was Heavenly!

Salty, yet sweet, soft yet crispy=perfection

Mom, Dad, Chantal, Camille and Maako got a myriad

of different donuts.

The whole cultural experience was so fun....

and PS the donuts are surprisingly cheap!

Which makes it

a perfect family night out, on the CHEAP!

Super bowl treats on the cheap

when throwing a super bowl party

on a budget...here are a few tips
to keep the cost down:

1. Meat isnt cheap, so chose very few (if any)

appetizers that have meat in them.

2. Shop the ads.  This weeks sales will be

similar to those of New Years eve...chose appetizers

that have those sale items in them!

3.  Items like potatos have a lot of bulk to them,

so a potato bar will fill people up, without

emptying your food budget.

4. Have your guests bring a dish to share...

the more the merrier!

Here are a few food ideas that i have

made for previous parties.  they are all

very inexpensive....and tasty.

GO BRONCOS!!!

Mini Chocolate Tarts:

Instant choc. pudding mix, homemade pie crust,

whip cream, walnuts 

(follow directions on pudding pkg, bake just the pie crust in mini cupcake tin, let cool and than fill with pudding and top with whip cream...do not skip the cooling part, or your pudding will melt all over and make the pie crust soggy)

COST $ 3.50

Cake mix Cookies:

Chocolate cake mix, 2 small packages of Recess pieces,

2 eggs, 1/3 cup oil 

(mix all ingredients together, bake at 350 for 8-10 mins)

COST $ 3.33/2 dozen

Bargain shopping is genetic....

Sorry I have been absent for a while....

One of the best people that ever walked this planet 

has passed on, and anything that I would

have blogged about didn't seem 

to make sense, 

and I have been going back and forth to Cheyenne

since hearing the news.

She was a huge bargain and clearance shopper,

between her and my Mom, 

I think they created my bargain hungry mind set.

Therefore, bargain shopping is genetic! (JK)

My beautiful, amazing, super positive Grandma

The last post I had talked about me going to see my Grandma 

in the hospital....well the day after I posted that, Grandma

went to Heaven.

It has been super rough,

especially since we were so close....

we talked on the phone every day,

and she was at every event we had, or went to.

I am grateful she is no longer suffering,

but I am kind of in a state of shock, since she was diagnosed with Lymphoma 

on Christmas Eve....I didnt have a lot of time to brace myself for

this outcome.

This post doesnt have a lot to do with 

anything specific,

but I wanted to post the Eulogy for any family that 

were unable to attend, and I also wanted to

say that during these past few weeks, I have learned a lot...

this life is too short to stress the small stuff,

my Grandma was a great example of that...

she also lived her life to the fullest, 

and at the beggining of 2014 I had not set a 

new years resolution, but after the passing of Grandma I have a 

new resolution for LIFE:

DO WHAT YOU LIKE &

ENJOY THE LITTLE THINGS.

She lived this principle and was one of the happiest people I ever knew!

GRANDMA'S EULOGY:

Today we mark the passing of a very special woman.

My name is Shaun and I am married to Nona's Grand Daughter, Chelsea.

Grandma lived her life to the fullest.

Her positivity and cheerfulness shined thru her speech and actions.

She loved her family, her life and her faith.  She also had a very sweet way with animals.

She had the energy of a 15 year old and was quite the night owl.

I had only known Grandma for 7 years, but her sweet and accepting personality made it very easy to develop a strong bond with her.

Winona June Gipson was born on March 26th, 1933 

in  Smithfield, Nebraska to Doris and Charles Gipson

She was the youngest of 6 kids, and she had the spunk to prove that!

Grandma met Donald Bostron while she was working at the OWL Inn 

As a car hop

They fell in love and got married.....

A few years later they adopted Sandy and than Jenny a few years after that.

They were sealed as a family in the Provo temple in 1975.

They were a very social family that enjoyed hosting parties.

They loved snowmobiling, camping, coney dog night at A&W and visiting friends and family.....

It was not uncommon for Grandpa to decide he wanted to visit friends late in the evening,

and Grandma being the party girl she was, would go get her scarf and tie it around her head to protect her hair from the horrible Cheyenne wind.

They would pull up to the home of the people they wanted to visit (sometimes unannounced)

and Grandma would get out of the car and go knock on the door to see if they wanted company.
Grandma always saw to it that sandy and Jenny had many opportunities in their lives...I think she wanted to make sure they would be able to keep up with her fun times ahead.

Although Grandma never attended college, she had quite the resume!

She worked for the IRS, and she also worked at the Naval Base in Cheyenne.

Grandma had the soul of a teenager!

A few years ago while we were at her house, I noticed a picture of Brad Pitt that she had displayed on her fireplace mantle....Her body may have grown older, but her mind never did.

She was also a HUGE twilight fan.

She very rarely missed seeing the newest twilight movie the week it came to theaters.

And Although she had a hard time understanding what the actors were saying, she said she didn't care because Jacob and Edward were so cute.
Grandma and sandy would always go back and forth as to who was the cuter one, Jacob or Edward......grandma was sure it was Jacob.

She loved music.

Along with playing the piano, and memorizing the "Titanic" theme song by heart..

she also liked to listen to music, sometimes very loud!

One time grandpa came home early from work and grandma was listening to the Beatles.  She had the volume turned up so loud that she couldn't hear him ringing the doorbell....

She also enjoyed going to concerts!

At 80 years old she attended the Luke Bryan concert with her teenage Granddaughters this past Frontier Days.  In fact, my Mother-in-law Sandy didn't quite have the energy to go with them that night, so she dropped them off to party for a while and than picked them up at midnight.

Grandma even bought a concert shirt!

She had also been to more than a couple Taylor Swift Concerts.

Grandma was up for any activities...if you invited her, she was there!

Vacations to the beach, walking the monuments at Washington DC, visiting Jennifer and playing with Nicole when they lived in Virginia , learning how to play Guitar Hero, reading numerous celebrity gossip magazines, concerts until the wee hours of the morning, riding the zip line at snowbird, endless word searches, Shopping, gardening, swimming in the hot springs in Glenwood, taking the grand kids camping near Mount Rushmore.

Grandma was very proud of her grandson tyler when he decided to put in his papers to serve a mission.  He was called to serve in Vladivostok, Russia.  She requested his picture be up by hers at the funeral.  Tyler said in his email this past week that he feels grandma is with him, he feels her strength and that she is very happy!

She loved her family unconditionally.

And she loved spending time with them.

Grandma was constantly teaching my 2 year old son new colors, numbers and words.

Caden loved when he got to go see his great Grandma.  Together they played hard, and he seemed to learn so many new things from her.
 2 weekends ago, my wife and kids went with Sandy and Brian to visit Grandma in the hospital. 

Caden seemed surprised that his Great Grandma was unable to be rambunctious with him, like they always were together.  But they still had a small conversation, and on his way out of the room he turned and said the words "Love you", for the very first time.

Today we are all feeling the loss of Grandma and it's painful.

But I know she is in a better place,

without pain,

without the limitations of the human body.

Her spirit is glowing bright with the love and beauty she possessed in life.

Our loss is truly Heavens gain.

May we all be grateful that we had Grandma in our lives,

and may we all find comfort in knowing that someday we'll all be together again with Grandma

in the presence of the Lord.

 Love you Grandma xoxo

FREE HOMES TO A GOOD HOME

I have heard of free Kittens,

or free couches that have been thrown 

on the side of the road...

and I definitely know a little about 

free Christmas Trees

found on the side of the road,

But I have never heard of a 

FREE HOUSE!

This past weekend me and the boys went with my parents

to visit my Grandma.

She was diagnosed with Cancer on

Christmas eve (of all days).

And she is VERY sick.

She lives in Cheyenne,

so we drove from Denver to see her on Saturday and 

stayed thru Sunday.

She was very happy to see the boys!

Next to the hospital was a row of 3

old homes that I noticed very quickly

since they had a huge "FREE" sign 

on the lawn.

I than began to think how nice it

would be to own a home and have no mortgage!

And wondered why nobody had jumped on this

amazing deal....

So I looked into it.

Excuse the pics, I took them from the car

because the wind was blowing 150mph!

These 3 homes in Cheyenne Wy are "FREE"

"FREE" isnt always free...

which is the case in this situation.

The city obviously has plans

for the land the homes sit on

and they are probably trying to save a

few bucks in demolition cost

and are sooo generously

offering these homes

to any person for "FREE".

But notice the yellow sign nailed to

the "FREE" sign.

The home has to be moved to another location,

and 

You have to pay 10K towards the moving of 

the entire structure.

AND you can assume all risk.

From the looks of it, these homes wouldn't move an

inch without having some sort of

structure damage.

AND Than you have to have some land to put 

the home on.

It sounds like by the time you paid for all

of that, you could have bought

an awesome old home a few

blocks away!

Sadly the lesson today is:

"Free isn't always Free"

Can't believe I actually said that......

Cheap Easy Spinach Dip

Looking for something to make for the

upcoming football playoff games?

We are Bronco fans...

so we are ready for some playoffs

and (fingers crossed) a SUPER BOWL 

If you aren't fans of the Bronco's,

take a look at Mr. Eric Decker and he may 

change your mind.

(Yes, My husband knows about my celeb crush)

Anyway,

here is a super easy appetizer for game day!

(I made these for our Christmas party last month)

Ingredients:

8 oz block cream cheese

3/4 cup mayo

small box of frozen spinach

2 cloves garlic minced

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

salt/pepper to taste

Steps:

Thaw the spinach and put it in a colander, 

using your hands press  down hard on top of 

the wet spinach,

...and drain out ALL the water

Mix all ingredients together.

 use an electric mixer if

you are having a hard time getting the 

texture smooth

You can serve this dip a few different ways.

In crescent cups

OR

just heat in an oven safe dish and 

serve with chips or bread etc.

I served mine in the crescent dough.

Just open the can of dough and cut into smaller pieces that

fit into the mini cupcake pans,

fill with a tiny bit of spinach dip

(the crescent  dough will expand a lot, so don't over fill them).

Bake at 350 until they are light golden brown.

SERVE WARM!

Go Broncos!!!

Cost Break down:

Crescent dough $1

Frozen Spinach $1

Cream Cheese $1

Parmesan cheese $.75

Garlic $.10

Mayo $.50

TOTAL: $4.35 for 50 spinach cups!

Pizza coupon codes

In case you were looking for a little reward

for all that work you have 

put towards your New Years resolutions...

here it is....

CHEAP PIZZA!

Papa Johns has a coupon that

they send around by mail.

You can get any Large pizza with one topping for 

$6.99

Which is about half off

the catch is you have to order online,

Here is the code:

699CCO

(This code may only be legal in CO...kinda like smoking recreational weed)

Pizza Hut has a 50% off deal.

A one topping comes to about $5.50..

You also have to order this one online,

and they want you to sign up for

their Hut Lovers email

updates....

but I saved you the hassle of that

and here is the code:

50PCTOFFPIZZA

Domino's has an early week special

any 3 topping large is $7.99

But it is only good Monday - Thursday. 

you can call in to order this one

Shout out to Dad who created my love for NY pizza when I was very young!

Why is December so Short?

   December is by far the most wonderful time 

of the year!

We had a long list of things we wanted to do,

but we didn't do everything we had planned.

We did however do more on the list this year, 

than we have ever accomplished before!!

 *We hung lights in the sunroom*

(Enjoy the excellent quality picture)

*We threw a Christmas Party*

We had over about 25 people and the total cost was

only $34 for all the ingredients to make the food and 

we bought the Christmas plates and napkins 

last year when they were 75% off!

PS-when planning a party on the cheap, 

decide what food you are going to make

by first looking at the grocery ads for the week,

and make a menu based on what's on sale

* I made all the appetizers and Desserts*

And our friends and family brought some too

 *Say Hello to the best dessert I make*

Sour cream coffee cake w pecan topping

 *Spinach dip crescent cups, easiest appetizer since crackers*

* Colby Jack Cheese Mini Quiche*

* Bacon wrapped water chestnuts*

They were almost gone before I could get a pic

*walnut brownie cups*

the best homemade brownie ever

*All bundled up to go Christmas tree watching*

 *This house would have put the Griswold's to shame*

* The kiddos wore Christmas Sweaters...*

Best .99 sweater I ever seen!

 *The kiddos wore matching Christmas PJ's 

on Christmas eve!*

We ordered pizza on Christmas eve and

stayed home and watched "Christmas Vacation"!

Christmas Morning was amazing to say the least.

December needs to stay around a little

longer before letting January push it

aside...January is the darkest,

most uneventful month which makes it extra hard to let 

December go.

America's #1 resolution for 2014 is lose weight

Did you know only about 45% of
people set new years resolutions?

And of those 45%, an average of only 8% will achieve their goals.

the top 10 most popular goals for 2014 are:

1. Lose Weight

2. Get organized

3. Spend less, save more

4. Enjoy life to fullest

5. Stay fit and healthy

6. learn something exciting

7. Quit Smoking

8. Help others achieve dreams
9. Fall in Love
10. Spend more time with family

For those trying to lose weight,

here are a few tips to lose and keep it off!

While growing up, my weight yo-yo'd
almost as bad as Kirstie Alley's.

I was on the High School tennis team,
I was in the high school dance team,
I took aerobics as an elective...
Yet,
I could not keep a level weight

I worked out, and gained weight,
I quit working out and would lose weight and than gain
a ton...I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me.

Until I saw a endocrinologist in 2010.
I had a 3 hour blood test done, where I had to drink
a concoction that was pure sugar.
I had to almost chew the drink before swallowing,
because it had so much sugar.
It was the equivalent of 6 donuts worth of sugar.

After drinking it, I had to sit and have my blood taken every half hour for 3
hours...I felt horrible.  I was on the worst sugar crash ever known to man.
I wanted to throw up and pass out at the same time.

Anyway, they found out I was severely
Hypoglycemic.
Meaning my blood sugar has a hard time staying level,
and has a tendency to constantly crash.
Which left me craving foods that were very high in sugar.

The Doctor suggested interval training for my workouts.
Which means very intense intervals of high impact training
followed by a minute or two of rest...
and than back to the intense workout for a few mins...
continue cycle for half an hour.

For example:
Run up hill for 3 mins (and I mean run, not jog)
Rest for 1 min
Continue cycle for half an hour

I was skeptical at first, but ever since I left
his office in 2010 and began interval training...
I was able to keep a healthy weight,
without the yoyo-ing!

This kind of workout is good for anyone,
but it is especially helpful for
those that suffer with hypoglycemia.

I paid a lot of money to see that Dr and to have that test done.

but for you, the weight loss advice is FREE!
PS-always eat some form of protein with every single snack and meal,
that will help keep blood sugar level,
which helps keep you from craving sugary treats!