Birthday Freebies

I am a sucker for birthday freebies. Especially when it comes to free food.

In years past, I've taken part in lots of birthday deals. But back in my younger days I would get suckered in by the BOGO and "free appetizer" deals. Getting an item free is great, but paying for the rest is not so great. So this year we made a pact to only cash in on the absolutely free, no purchase necessary, zero dollars out of pocket, FREE food.

And now I'm here to share with you our list of free birthday foodies.

 1. Baskin Robbins: We typically pass on paying beaucoup bucks on specialty ice cream. That's part of what makes this free scoop of one of BR's 31 flavors so exciting

2. Del Taco: Just for being born you can get a free premium shake. Complete with little strawberry bits that will get stuck in your straw and a fluffy whipped cream on top. The hubs usually steals this one from me. (Also available in chocolate and vanilla)

3. Red Robin: This bad boy will get you a free burger (or chicken sandwich) and bottomless frites for frizzle.

4. Which Wich: A free small (7") wich of your choice. This year I went with a club and traded in my usual Dijon mustard for honey mustard. It was a birthday treat for sure.

5. Pita Pit: We are regulars at Pita Pit, so I was to the moon when I got a birthday deal for an entirely free pita. I love that they don't charge extra for items like avocado, artichokes and feta cheese.

6. Denny's: This puppy requires no prior sign up, obnoxious e-mails or printed coupons. Go in ON your birthday and feast upon their Grand Slam. Make sure you have your ID though! They'll ask for it when you check out.

7. Noodles & Company: A free bowl of drool worthy carbs! There are so many tasty options, but my current fav is the Japanese Pan Noodles.

8. Rubio's: Up to $7 in free food. I scored a Burrito Especial free of charge. Woot woot! I don't like fish, but it you do there are tons of other seafood options for you.

9. Dickey's Barbeque Pit: A free Big Barbeque Sandwich. If you live in Provo you can pick up this deal when you get your Rubio's! They're in the same parking lot. Delish.

10. Sonic: We didn't cash in on this treat because there were too many others that trumped it. But ON your birthday they offer a free tater tots or slush.

11. Firehouse Subs: Also didn't partake of this goodness because you can only eat so much food on your actual birthday. This is similar to Denny's where you don't need to sign up for anything. Just show them your ID and you're golden for a free sub.

12. Mimi's Cafe: Free desert- no purchase necessary! The coupon also says that it must be dine-in, but we were able to get this one to-go last year without a problem.

13. Rita's: This Italian ice/custard will take you to heaven. Especially since it won't cost you a dime. Dang, it's good to be born!

 The only place we stooped and forked over cash was at Tucanos. One free churrasco with the purchase of another. Worth it, because it's a $25 savings if you dine in for dinner.

 The list isn't enormous, but it is cost effective and delicious.  If you're aware of any deals I missed inform me pronto. Oh, and no need to thank me.

December Diet

I've been slowly, but steadily, losing this baby weight. It's exciting that I'm having significantly better weight loss success this time around. But then that holiday happened. The one where we count our blessings and shove our faces full of delicious carb-laden food. Not only did it halt my weight loss, it reversed it. This is no bueno, my friends. 

As with all healthy lifestyle changes I suggest to Paul, I preface it with "I have a bad idea". This time around the "bad idea" is to say no to sweets until Christmas day. The 25th of December will be a glutenous day indeed. But until then, no Christmas cookies, no birthday cake, no candy canes, no truffles, no nothing. Well, that last one is a lie. I will get a slice of pumpkin pie for my birthday. Also, we've given ourselves a little leeway with one or two mugs of hot chocolate a week.

I'm dreading my holiday work party and our ward Christmas party. All of those delectable goodies staring me in the face. Paul will help me make it through the ward party unscathed, so it's really the work party I'm worried about. Luckily, saying no is easier than saying just one. Because who really stops at just one?

So if you see me with a Christmas cookie, slap it out of my hand and then slap me in the face.

A post mostly about food.

As I uploaded pictures from the first half of August I let out a huge laugh when I realized most of them were of food. I love food, a lot. It's delicious. Too delicious, in fact. I'm trying to have a better relationship with food. You could almost say I've been on a sort of quest to break my food habits. And really, isn't that what it is? I tell myself that it's lunch time because it's noon, not because my tummy is rumbling. And that's wrong. So here's to listening to our bodies and eating mindfully because we need to, not just because we want to or think it's "time" to eat.

 Trying my hand at juicing and then overcompensating with cinnamon sugar popcorn. What? I never said I was perfect.

 The veggie portion to the Zucchini Stir Fry Recipe my sister Ruth invented. Delish.

 Intermission to show you my handsome man. He's learning how to put his clothes on and he adores being upside down.

 Another go-to recipe of mine is Potato, Sausage, Kale and Black Bean soup. I always add more and more veggies and there's never enough "juice" to cover all the goods. Filling and oh so tasty.

 The cutesies are at it again.

 A filling snack for under 100 calories? Don't mind if I do!

 Any pasta salad that calls for feta deserves an A+ in my book. And do you see all that produce?! I'm in heaven.

 I'm sorry, I can't stop.

Homemade Pizza Night!

Recipes will be forthcoming. I love pinterest but sometimes things just get lost on there. For security's sake, I'll post them on my blog. I want them for keeps!

An Unusual First.

I made and decorated sugar cookies from scratch for the first. time. ever.

Can you believe that? In my 23 years of life I've never done it. To be honest, I've made very few cookies. I'm known for making "bars" like, seven layer cookies, fudge, brownies, etc. When it comes to making cookies I get all nervous. In February I made M&M cookies with my sister, Rachael, and I kept freaking about making the cookies the right size. I'm a rookie, I know.

Paul was here to supervise and ensure I didn't get overwhelmed. He's such a peach. I got to whip out my rolling pin and cookie cutters for the first time! Hearts, flowers, butterflies, Easter eggs, bunnies. I would have whipped out more shapes if I had better frosting supplies. Alas, piping is not one of my skills [yet]. We stuck to the basics.

Uh, but making the frosting was a joke. I got a recipe from a good friend [because her cookies and frosting were to die for]. The icing recipe was vauge-- meaning "as much powered sugar as you need to acquire the desired thickness for frosting". Someone with a brain and any experience would have an idea of how much powered sugar to actually add. Ha. I, on the other hand, was hardly adding any. First time around the frosting tasted like straight butter! Oh so nasty! Don't worry though, we fixed it and made it delish.

Tomorrow we're going to deliver some of these bad boys and introduce ourselves to another young couple with a baby. I'm excited to get out and meet more people in our ward. After nearly 2 years of being ignored by a majority of our ward, we're taking things into our own hands and reaching out. Hooray for Spring and new beginnings.

The day(s) we ate for free.

I love good deals. My absolute favorite is free.

Well, turning 23 was good to me because I got my wish.

Birthdays are worth their weight in gold for free stuff.

See:

1. Del Taco: 2 free chicken tacos for signing up and a premium strawberry shake for being born

2. Red Robin: Free burger and bottomless fries. Whoa.

3. Pita Pit: Free Pita! I always get a chicken gyro.

4. Which which-- my first time. Very impressed.

5. Denny's: Free Grand Slam

6. Jason's Deli: 5 bucks off my purchase = 2 bucks for a huge sandwich, chips and frozen yogurt

There are always a zillion birthday offers, but we stuck to the purely free ones, none of that BOGO business on my birthday! Okay fine, except for this place:

Now you're probably disgusted by the insane amount of food here. Please note that we did NOT eat it all on the same day. That would have hurt way too much.

Other than eating a ton of food, my birthday was pretty relaxed. Since it was on a Sunday we didn't go out. I think this was actually the first birthday where I didn't get dressed up. It was kind of nice to lounge in sweats all day. We did presents and worked on a puzzle. Woo hoo for 23.

Vince was an awesome helper when it can to opening presents. He had such a ball with the wrapping paper. Talk about a baby's dream.

You never know what you're going to get in this household. We always reuse old boxes to make wrapping easier. Life's a mystery!

Look at him! Who needs gifts when you already have the cutest baby? I'm excited for Christmas so Vince can open up some more gifts.

p.s. 23 feels old. Like, I'm not barely over 20. I'm creepin' up on 25! ick.

Rewind.

I feel like I do this every month... 

but here is a quick review of some of the things I failed to blog about LAST month.

(At least I'm finishing February before April gets here, right?)

We decided to celebrate Valentine's a few days early so we could avoid the packed restaurants. 

We found a cute place called Pagoda in SLC, where Paul could enjoy some seafood while I got my fill of Chinese food! It was my first time trying fried wantons and I LOVED them.

Sushi for Paul, wantons for me!

February had it's creepy moments, including a text from... no one?

We were lucky enough to have my mom in Utah for a couple of weeks. Whenever she comes, she spoils us rotten! This time around, she gave us delicious honey baked ham and the ingredients we needed to make a Caprese salad.

Our "happy" meal.

The night before my mom flew home, the Utah Clan got together for a fabulous dinner. We had lasagna, garlic bread, caprese salad, asparagus and a tasty dessert.

Allie and her Nana

Angel food cake, ice cream, fresh berries, hot fudge and whipped cream.

Toward the end of February, the Nursing program threw a skating party with the Accounting program. We braved the ice with our great friends, Kait and Garen. I was a little nervous about ice skating at 29 weeks pregnant, but Paul held my hand and ensured I didn't fall. 

They're practically Olympic caliber.

It was an action packed evening.

February 28th is National Pancake Day.

This is the only day of the year that I EVER go to IHOP.

Why?

Free pancakes.

Paul enjoying the Strawberry syrup.

And do you remember when I told you about Shadows over Camelot? 

Paul and I lost the first time we played it... 

but won the second time!!

Our winning board

We also played it a third time with Kait and Garen.

Despite cheating, we lost.

That game is hard!

And now you're caught up on February!

... maybe I'll blog about March toward the end of April.

What you missed from October.

Things have been super busy but I assure you that we are still alive!

Here's a quick update for all of the things you missed from October.

Toward the beginning of the month Paul and I got "boo"-ed with some of the cutest cookies.

One chocolate cookie, one candy corn, two marshmallows and two chocolate chips. 

Yum!

 This is just Paul being all super cutie.

 The best part of October was having my mom come out to Utah.

While she was here we picked raspberries, ate lots of yummy food, went shopping, spent lots of time together. We also made a special trip to the Grotto in Payson (It's up the Nebo loop). It was a leisurely hike with beautiful fall colors and a lovely waterfall to top it off. 

 

Starting in about September, Paul and I would be greeted at our front door by the delicious smell of Concord grapes wafting up from the backyard. Finally, in October, we couldn't resist it anymore so we went out and picked some. We then handed them off to my sister Ruth and my mom to make juice. We drank it during a Sunday dinner when we celebrated Ben and Dan's birthdays. 

These last two are actually from November.. but I doubt you really mind.

This first one is green eggs and ham!

I'm sure that everyone knows by now that Paul loves to surprise me.

 

And this last one is our old loveseat.

We said sayonara to this floral bad boy and replaced it with Grandma's old lazyboy loveseat

Oh happy day.

So there you have it!

A little snippet of October and a taste of the start of November.

Homecoming Week(end)

Libby had talked all week about going to the Homecoming Parade and eating free blue pancakes before the parade started.  I love free food and, besides, parades are super cool.  The problem with this idea is that I decided to take Libby out on a date, making her miss out on her homework.  After dinner, we went home and watched tv.  Libby missed another opportunity to do her homework and study for her upcoming tests, and instead, stayed up way past our bedtime watching the Game Show Network.

We slept in...the parade had started, meaning that we had missed the opportunity to eat free blue pancakes.  How is a husband supposed to do anything right?!  So, I left her in bed, got dressed, and made some of my own blue pancake batter.

This actually turned out really well.  I heard some rustling in the bed across the hall.  And here it comes.  The same surprised face from a couple weeks ago.  They were hot off the grill at that point and Libby was so happy that she was getting her blue pancakes without even leaving the house.

Oops...

Some people might say I have a problem with being overly prepared.

For example, when I was a Freshman, I used my extra meal plan money for food storage to give me a head start for Sophomore year when I would actually have to cook for myself.

Lucky for me, this isn't a terrible problem to have 

(unless I were to start hoarding or something...but were not to that point yet).

Unfortunately for Paul, I couldn't help myself during Macey's Case Lot Sale.

Good thing he was there to keep me from going too crazy.

Part of our loot