A few more hand-me-downs

My mother-in-law gave us four wine glasses, a wine rack and a wine glasses rack/holder.  I don't drink, but I am glad Shannon has actual wine glasses to use.  He has wine on occasion.  He will have a glass in the evening time to help him fall asleep. 

She also gave me a brass candle stick!  It's pretty.  I may use it to hold an air plant!  I am not sure what to do with the candle stick!

She gave me a huge white serving bowl!  I love it.  We can use it to serve and store salad or even our homemade salsa.  

I also have a cheese grater and a few plastic beer mugs that they got from Epcot!  I also got a coffee or tea carafe that will keep our beverage hot.  I love tea so I can keep it in the carafe.  She gave me the utensils holder that will sit on our counter.  It holds our kitchen cooking tools!  I really wanted something like it.  Lastly, she gave me a green/BPA free cooking pan, it is a small square size that can cook one egg or so. 

My dish arrived!

The casserole dish that I won arrived today!  It is so pretty!  It is in the dishwasher right now.  I will be using it tomorrow to make tuna casserole!  I am so excited to finally have a casserole dish with a lid.  I've been looking at getting a casserole dish set for awhile now.  I am glad I don't have to spend the money to buy one. 

When I was entering the giveaway, I really wanted to win!  I really like the color.  It matches my Disney cookie jar that is red. 

Rachael Ray Casserole Dish

A few days ago, I entered a blog giveaway to win a 3.5 Quart Rachael Ray Covered Rectangular Casserole Dish!  Ever since I entered the giveaway, I have been trying to search for the rectangular casserole dish online.  I searched Amazon, Kohl's and JC Penney.  Then tonight, I re-read the blog post and apparently, this is a brand new product. 

I just received the email tonight stating that I won!

I am so excited and can't wait to receive it.  I chose Red because I have a cookie jar that is red and also because Kyle likes the color red.  My kitchen colors are both green and red. 

The casserole dish retails for $49.99!  Wow! 

Our organic dinner

Today I made quinoa for the first time!  I've heard of it before and then my MIL told me that they eat it and that I can use vegetable broth to cook it, as opposed to using water.  I read online that I could use a rice cooker to make it. 

I made organic quinoa (and organic vegetable broth in place of the water) in my rice cooker!  I also made organic tofu and organic spinach.  I cut the tofu into cubes and let them marinate in olive oil and soy sauce for about 15 minutes.  I cooked the tofu and spinach in my non-stick pan. 

It turned out really good!!!!  Shannon said it tasted good and said that he likes spinach, so I guess that means I'll need to make more of it! 

I am searching online for more quinoa recipes and found 3 that look easy for me to make! 

Still unpacking

We've been at our new apartment for the last few nights and so far it's going good for Shannon and I.  Kyle is having a hard time adjusting.  He's not used to this "new routine" and this new place of ours.  He doesn't want to take a bath and hasn't taken one since Thursday night.  I may have to force him to take one.  He also does not like to take his socks off when it's time to go to bed.  The last few nights, we've taken his socks off while he's asleep but in the morning he freaks out until he has socks on again.  He also likes wearing his shoes all the time (except when it's time for bed).  He puts his shoes on first thing in the morning. 

Other than that, we've been unpacking a little each day and trying to get used to everything.  The first few days, the sink in the bathroom wasn't working to where it was barely dripping water out of the faucet so we had to have that fixed.  Our washer is not working, the company that we're renting it from didn't give us the right part to hook it up to our sink.  We have a ton of laundry to do.  I've been hand washing a little bit every day in the bathtub and putting it in the dryer to dry!  I am so glad our dryer works. 

Our oven doesn't have a timer, nor does it beep to let me know when it's heated and ready to go.  Luckily I have a kitchen timer.  

Today, I unpacked our pots and pans and our knives!  We are also working on putting our clothes into our dresser drawers!  It's so nice to have dressers for our clothes! 

Happy Halloween

Today is Halloween and we're staying in tonight.  We don't do the trick or treating or dressing up since Kyle probably won't be into it.  I don't think he would like the "scary" stuff, nor could we ever go to a Haunted House with all the screaming and scary sounds.  Which reminds me, I love the show Parenthood on NBC, one of the families has a son who has autism.  Here is a scene that I could relate to, where the mother is explaining Halloween to Max.  She is preparing him to what can happen at Halloween and how it all works.  In their case, Max is afraid of fire (whereas Kyle is afraid of scary noises/screaming).  I can relate to what the family goes through with their son Max.  There was a particular scene where she was asking her husband to pick up a certain type of cereal for Max, otherwise he won't eat his cereal, it had to be a certain kind. 

Also, Kyle doesn't like putting on just any clothes, he would literally struggle if I had to put something different on him and if I did manage to get it on him, he would take it right off. 

We were going to do the same as we did last year, pick up some Chinese food and eat it at home, but we had a big lunch and there's even food left over.  I also "made" Double Chocolate Chip Cookies that I bought from Kyle's school fundraiser.  I made a small batch yesterday as well and Shannon loved them!  They are really good and gooey!

Cookbook

I "bought" a vegetarian cookbook from Amazon today.  I also "bought" a bar of soap to use on my face to help with the occasional pimples that I get!  BOO to pimples!  My order was free since I've been saving my gift cards that I have earned from Swagbucks.  Anyway, I am excited to receive my cookbook, it has overwhelmingly positive reviews and it seems like a great way to cook on a budget!  Plus, the book was just over $5!  Most vegetarian books feature recipes that require rare or hard to find ingredients.  This book seems perfect for us and our lifestyle! 

Kyle has his Speech Therapy evaluation on Tuesday at 10am.  After this appointment, he will be receiving Occupational and Speech Therapy once a week!

Kinda Lazy Day

I feel like I have been dragging all day today and running behind schedule. Kyle is running at his normal pace, which is cute. Shannon also seems to be taking the day in stride...actually he does everyday! LOL

I made tuna noodle casserole and Shannon really liked it. Even Kyle ate some, which was surprising since he is very picky.

My Turbo Jam DVD arrived in the mail today! I am so excited and looking forward to trying this workout program. I have all of my workout clothes ready to go!

A few days ago, I joined a site that pays users to blog. My blogs were approved and I posted my first entry. Once they approve that entry, I will get paid for it. I look forward to blogging more for this site in the future and earning additional income.