Friday Follow

Today marks my second week of participation in Friday Follow.  I had 12 comments on that post and several new followers, plus several entries into my current giveaway (still going on - ends tonight!)  With the combination of this event and the giveaway promotions I've been doing, I have gone from 1 follower to 27 in just one week.  I call that a pretty good success!
Now I just hope I can post interesting enough content to keep my new followers around!  Welcome to you all and I look forward to getting to know you better!

Reminder: Giveaway Ends Today!

For anyone who hasn't entered my Fiber One Gift Pack giveaway, there is still time!  It ends tonight at midnight Central time!  Remember that even if you have already entered you can still get an extra entry by sending out a tweet!

Click here to enter!

Mardi Gras Party - The Main Event

I survived my first Mardi Gras party!  Though it wasn't a traditional or very crazy party, I do think it was successful.  Hubby's family seemed to enjoy the food and the kids had fun playing with the coins, beads and masks. 
I stopped at Party City and grabbed some Mardi Gras themed plates, cups & napkins.  Normally I wouldn't have gone to the expense, but I didn't want to use all of my sister-in-law's dishes.  They were 50% so for everything it was about $7.50 which didn't seem that bad for a party.

The Spread

The biggest hit foodwise was the jambalaya.  It turned out really well - I was pleasantly surprised.  I've never really had jambalaya before.  I do make this really great Rachael Ray recipe though called "Jambasta" which has the flavors of jambalaya but with pasta instead of rice.  Now that I have had jambalaya, I know that the flavor is really close to the real thing!  Zatarain's sent a recipe with my party pack that differed from the one on the back of the package and involved using more fresh vegetables.  I think this was key to making it not taste like it came out of a box.  We will definitely be making this again in the future.
The red beans and rice were okay, nothing spectacular.  I have made the Zatarain's mix for these before, so I knew what to expect. 
As I suspected, I ended up just not using the glaze I had made for the chicken (wish I had seen this version of the recipe as it only calls for half of the ingredients compared to the one they sent to me). I'm pretty upset about how terrible it tasted and what a waste of good ingredients it was.  It used up 2 whole cups of good orange juice and most of a bottle of honey, not to mention some fresh ginger.  I don't even want to think about how much it cost to end up just throwing it in the garbage.  Depressing.
Since the glaze wasn't usable, I just seasoned some chicken strips with the Zatarain's Creole seasoning and grilled them on my trusty George Foreman grill.
The dip was pretty tasty - the Creole mustard has quite a kick to it.  I served it with celery sticks and crackers.
Another big hit was the homemade root beer (though we didn't make floats).  The first response everyone (even me and I was making fun of everyone else who said it) was "it tastes like root beer!"  Of course it does, it is root beer!  I guess we were all just a little surprised that it tasted so much like regular root beer even though it was homemade.  In a blind taste test I don't know that I would have known the difference between this and a store-bought version.
Hope everyone had a safe and fun Mardi Gras!

Dessert (I didn't put a baby in the cake but a baby did try to put himself in)

Mardi Gras Party - An Introduction

Happy Mardi Gras!  Do people even say that?  How about "laissez les bons temps rouler"!  I have never really been a big Mardi Gras person.  I'm not from New Orleans - though I went there once and it was crazy even when it wasn't Mardi Gras.  Interesting place - good for when you are young and single.  Hubby never went and I'm not sure I'll ever suggest he does!
Anywho, there is this website called House Party that partners with different companies and asks people to host parties centered around their products.  When I applied to host the Zatarain's Mardi Gras party, I did not think I would get accepted and I totally didn't think about the fact that Tuesdays are not a good night for us.  So, it was to my surprise and not-so-excitement when I was notified that I had been selected as a host. 
Hubby has basketball practice with his nephews and brother-in-law every Tuesday, and this week they are preparing for the post-season tournament.  His sister's family would have been a large part of my invitee list if this were not the case, so I decided maybe I could make the party work around their schedule.  Luckilly they were kind enough to let me bring the party to them!
So, tonight I will be travelling across town with all of my party supplies and food and setting up shop at their apartment.  Here's what I will be serving (mostly thanks to the food and recipes provided by Zatarain's):

Dinner Tonight: Taco Salad

Tonight was one of the busiest nights I've had in a really long time.  First, I worked a little bit late trying to make up some time after missing the morning taking my mom to the doctor.  Then, I had to go grocery shopping as I put it off yesterday during a freak snowburst (I didn't want to drive in the white-out conditions and I'm glad, because things like this were happening all around the area). 
After I got home I had to make dinner for tonight and also for tomorrow night's Mardi Gras party.  It was hectic to say the least!  I decided to swap out tonight's scheduled meal for one we were going to have later in the week because I thought that taco salad would take a lot less time to make.  Thankfully, it did!
I browned hamburger and seasoned it with a taco seasoning packet.  The directions on this particular packet (La Tiara I think - it was on sale) were really vague and said to add onion, but I ignored them and just added a little water instead.  Then I just let it hang out (Rachael Ray speak) for about 10 minutes while I gathered the rest of the ingredients.
Hubby just had his with lettuce, cheese and a lot of chips.  I had mine with all of that plus some leftover spicy pinto beans, sour cream and salsa.  It was really tasty and quick and just what I needed since I had so much work to do for my Mardi Gras dinner.


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Estimated cost of meal

Beef: $1.50
Seasoning: $.50
Beans: $.50
Lettuce: $.10 (I got a crazy good deal on a package of Dole lettuce at Hy-Vee - on sale for $.99 less $.75 coupon=$.24 for the whole bag, only used about 1/3 for this recipe)
Chips: $.25 (I bought some Hy-Vee generic chips a few weeks ago for $.99 and we still had some leftover - actually one generic that I think I can live with, especially considering the savings vs. Tostitos)
Cheese: $.15
Sour cream: $.05
Salsa: Free (from winning game here)

Total: $3.05

Former life total:  Dinner @ Taco Bell (I actually love their taco salads): $12

Leaner Life Savings: $8.95 or 75%!!!

Mailbox Monday

My favorite part of the week is here!  I love seeing all the great freebies everyone got in the mail, and sharing my own.  Thanks to Debra at A Frugal Friend for hosting this fun event every week!
While you are here, please feel free to enter my giveaway for a Fiber One gift pack!
I totally forgot to add in the free pants we won from the Docker's Super Bowl promotion!  That was the best part! 

• 
  
  Weight Watchers magazine (random Nov/Dec issue, must be catching up since it's a new subscription)
• 
  
  Stimudent sample plus $.50 coupon (can't remember where this was from)
• 
  
  Celestial Seasonings green tea sample, from being a fan on Facebook & taking a quiz
• 
  
  Uniball Super Ink pen (still available here)
• 
  
  Bring Your Own Bag window cling to remind me to bring my reusable bags into the store! (here)
• 
  
  Ponds sample & coupon from vivemejor (good thing my original major in college was Spanish, I can mostly understand the packaging)
• 
  
  Giveaway win - Awesome chocolates and coffee from Grand Rapids Coffee Roasters, won from SavvyChicSavings
• 
  
  Rebate checks from Staples & Olay totaling $18.75 (resulted in free pens, a tape dispenser, almost free paper and a free bottle of lotion!)

Please visit A Frugal Friend for more Mailbox Monday fun!

Menu Plan Monday

Time to get back on track after way too much cheating on our plan last week.  I was selected to host a Zatarain's Mardi Gras House Party, so that should be interesting.  When I signed up I forgot that hubby has basketball practice on Tuesdays, so we will be bringing the party to his sister's so we can share it with their family before they all have to go to practice.

• Monday: Chicken Bacon Ranch Wraps, chips
• Tuesday: Mardi Gras Party (Jambalaya, red beans and rice, cajun chicken, homemade root beer)
• Wednesday: Eating out @ Jack Stack BBQ (we have a gift card from Christmas to use still)
• Thursday: Taco salad
• Friday: Biscuits and gravy
• Saturday: Turkey Pasta
• Sunday: Pork Quesadillas, beans, rice

For hundreds of other menu plans, check out orgjunkie.com!