Friday's Favorites

So, again this week, my favorite product for the day is something that spoke to my frugal heart.  I was having a wonderful conversation with a friend about our newfound love of green/organic products, but our hatred of the expense. She mentioned that she had just bought a wonderful new deodorant, but could no longer use it. She had recently begun experiencing the pregnancy side effect of a sensitive sense of smell. She said that even thought this deodorant had a very slight fragrance, but she couldn't stand it. So, lucky me! I got to try it!

Arm & Hammer Essentials Natural Deodorant. 

This is paraben free AND aluminum free! It works so well, too. I thought surely it wouldn't work through my long days of 6 a.m. yoga, work, errands, cooking dinner, and an evening of whatever strikes my fancy. But, I was pleasantly surprised. It feels great and has a very, very light scent that is pleasant.

Try it while doing some yoga stretches and see what you think!

Happy Friday! Thanks to a fellow Coastie wife, Jenny, for the great product, conversation, and friendship.

We went to HP World

I have the BEST husband. Seriously, I do. I've been telling him for a year that I wanted to go to "Harry Potter World." Now, the rest of you may call it Universal Studios or Islands of Adventure, but to those in the know... it is Harry Potter World. So, we saved up and treated ourselves to a spectacular date at Islands of Adventure a few Saturdays ago.

Here are some of the photos:

The Adventure Begins...

I can see it! I can see it!

But we went through other "Islands" first.

Great book!

My goofy husband mimicking the carving of Poseidon.

We're here!

Yes, oh yes.

Hogwarts. Inside is a simulation ride that is pretty intense (for me) because of the spiders and dragons that pop out at your face. But you get to walk through some Hogwarts-inspired classrooms, see moving paintings, and go through Dumbledore's office while you stand in line.

Our attempt at getting our picture in front of Hogwarts (without asking a stranger for help).

Take 2.

Take 3.

We were pretty tired after walking all day. We rode a lot of rides, saw a show, and shot little kids with water guns on a water ride. Overall, I would definitely go back - lines were so long in HP World that I didn't get to see and do everything I had wanted. 

The most interesting part of the experience was that my Coastie watched 3 Harry Potter movies in the following 1.5 days... I think I've got him hooked. *wink*

Homemade Frozen Pizzas

Confession: I love Totino's frozen pizza. Seriously, I love it. Probably because it is horribly bad for me and I would only eat it every once in a blue moon when I was having a tough day or week. Anyways, in my effort to have enough food and snacks in the house for a big, strong Coastie, I was wracking my brain for something simple but more healthy to have in the freezer. I ran across the idea of homemade frozen pizza on Pinterest. I followed the pin to a blog and loved the writer's idea. However, I tweaked it for my own knowing our preferences.

Here's what you'll need:

Crust:

4 C all-purpose flour

1/2 t. salt

1 t. sugar

1 T olive oil

1 T oregano

1 t. basil

1 T garlic powder

1 T onion powder

1 & 1/2 C very warm water

Toppings:
1 -2 cans of pizza sauce (I used organic sauce at $.99 each and ended up using only 1 can!)
8 oz. mozzarella cheese
1 pckg turkey pepperoni

Directions:

Mix together 2 cups of flour, the salt, sugar, oregano, basil, garlic powder, and onion powder. Pour in the warm water and add the olive oil. Mix well.

Add another cup of flour. Stir until well mixed.

Place dough on a floured (and lightly oiled) counter and knead until smooth, using the rest of the flour as needed.

Shape dough into a ball, then cut into 8 equal pieces.

Roll out each piece of dough into a 7 inch circle. Place on a cookie sheet. Repeat until you have rolled out all the dough. Two crusts fit on one cookie sheet.

Bake the crusts in a 450 degree oven for 2 minutes. Remove and allow them to cool on the sheets for at least 5 minutes.

Now set up your assembly line for the toppings! I chose organic sauce, mozzarella I shredded myself, and turkey pepperoni. You could use any topping you like!!

Each pizza was on its own piece of wax paper. Once they are assembled, wrap in wax paper and plastic wrap. Place all pizzas in a freezer-safe plastic bag. I wrote the directions on the freezer bag:

(Sorry I couldn't rotate the picture)

Bake at 450 degrees for 13 minutes.

Yummy!!! 

My Coastie makes these for snacks after work and loves them. 

I will definitely make this recipe again. However, I will make less, but larger, crusts (my husband is a healthy man!), but this small size is perfect for me or for kids. The crust is like a thin-crust pizza, so if you don't like that type of crust, you can play around with the dough to find what works best for you.

Happy eating!

Friday's Favorites

Another week, another dollar. Oh wait, I like being frugal. I also like being "green." Since being "green" can be so expensive, what is a girl to do? Accept free stuff and bargain hunt!

So, this week, my favorite product is this:

Nature's Gate Lotion. I found this originally at a health food store in Tennessee. It was $10. However, it lasted from April to November - pretty dang good for an 18 ounce bottle! The lotion is thick, so you don't need to use a lot. I love this stuff! I like to cut corners, but I'm so glad I didn't cut corners when it came to choosing this product. I use it daily and my skin feel delicious all day - even in this Florida humidity and wind.

I love it even more now that I found it for $5 at our Commissary. (I may have freaked some other customers out with my enthusiasm on the Health & Beauty aisle.) Sorry, civilians, I doubt you'll find it that cheap where you live. However, it is a great investment because it has none of the icky stuff or harsh chemicals or ingredients you can't pronounce. Everything is plant derived and free of extra additives. Plus, the fragrance is almost undetectable, so that you don't walk around the rest of the day smelling like you walked through a chemical spray.

Happy Friday!

Thankful Thursday

This week has been a week full of reality - both the Coastie and I are hard at work at our jobs. However, we've been blessed to have similar schedules and be home at about the same time. We're also able to do some of our regular activities we enjoy - rock climbing for the Coastie, evening walks for me with a friend, and date nights.

So, this week has been peaceful and wonderful. I am so thankful for:

Apple Crisp

Our beautiful live Christmas tree

Cooler weather

Sweet co-workers

Cooking in the crock-pot

Prayers

Long afternoons with the Coastie

Productive days

Reliable vehicles

Candlesticks made by my great-grandfather

Sunday naps.

Be thankful today!!!

Date Night

The Preston household has jumped on the bandwagon of a weekly "date night." We loved this idea even before we were married! We liked the idea of continuing to nurture our relationship/marriage by giving it the attention it needs for a set time once a week. Of course, we nurture our relationship every day, but date night is a fun excuse to get out of our daily routine and do something fun!

To help us with date night ideas, I borrowed an idea from a website with date night suggestions and instructions. I made a "Date Night Ideas" canister. Once a week, we draw a slip of paper out of the canister; we have to do whatever it says for our date night (or day depending on the activity).

Since we live the Coastie life, we don't always have the same date night every week. We can't set aside every Thursday, for example. Duty shifts, patrols, and responsibilities get in the way. So... we have to be flexible. Still, we manage to pick out a "date" each week we can and follow through on it.

Here's how I made it:

I washed an empty coffee canister. I peeled off the label, too. Then I made a cute label and hot glued it on the side of the canister. I cut up used pieces of paper (have to re-purpose!) and wrote down ideas I found on the internet, from conversations we'd had about things to do in the area, and things I knew I wanted to do. 

In our canister, we have ideas like: kayaking the Banana River, flying a kite, going to a concert, go to our favorite taco bar, game night, see a play, or a picnic on the beach.

This cute canister matches all the red in my kitchen, so we have it sitting on the baker's rack to remind us each week. My Coastie has even started to add some ideas of things he'd like us to do for date night.

We love this idea and we hope you do, too!

Nurture your relationship, marriage and friendship by giving it undivided attention. Happy Dating!

Thankful Thursday and Friday's Favorites... Rolled into One!

I'm combining the last two Thankful Thursdays AND Friday's Favorites into one post. Why? Well, here is your answer:

My Coastie is home!

That's right- he has returned from the great blue beyond and is now in our home. As soon as he stepped off the boat (I have pictures I can post later), I snatched him up and we jumped on a plane to Tennessee. There we spent a wonderful 6 days with both families. The juggling act was tricky, but I think both families got about equal time with us. We also memorialized my grandparents in a beautiful Jewish/Christian service at the cemetery. It was beautiful!!! My cousin, the Cantor, did an exceptional job. It was sweet, touching, and full of laughter, tears, and music.

Now we are home again in Florida. I call this "home" because this is the place where I have begun to build my life with my Coastie - our furniture, our daily routine, running errands together, eating dinner together, and date nights. Home is wherever HE is.

So, my last two Thursdays and Fridays have been filled with gratitude that he is home and we are together. You'll forgive me if I slack on writing posts until I'm finally settled into a routine that includes him (and not just blog posts to keep me from going insane while he's gone).