Dare to Share #419

It's Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It is time to Dare to Share! 

I'm running a little bit behind this week.  I have been helping one of my best friends to pack up her house and move to her new house. There is a LOT to be done. I went through it myself a few years ago,  so I know how she is feeling.  It is bittersweet and overwhelming for her.  She does have a nice smaller house that is better for her needs, but she is leaving a home where she has lived for over 20 years, knows all the neighbors and on a lake. It is definitely one of my favorite places to be, especially in the summer time. I am sure we will be making some new memories at her new house, but for now we are working hard and trying to enjoy a few more days at the old one. 

I was able to get one new post done this week ..

I tried out a product I found at the Dollar Tree.  You can see my review of the Rapid Egg Cooker here. You might be surprised at what I thought. 

Since I am a little bit late for the party, let's get it started.. 

Link up and HAVE FUN! 

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Rapid Egg Cooker Review

Not that long ago while at the Dollar Tree, I found a Rapid Egg Cooker. It claimed it was the World's Fastest and Easiest Way to Cook Eggs.  Since it was only a dollar, I thought why not give it a try.

When I opened the box, I found a small microwave safe bowl with directions to use it etched in the bowl. 

It is hard to see, but you can see what I mean in this photo here. 

The directions were also on the back of the box. It said to add a little bit of milk to the bowl to the fill line, and then add two eggs. 

I accidentally added a little bit too much milk, but so far this is how I usually start making my scrambled eggs in a separate dish before adding it to a frying pan.  I mixed the eggs and milk with a fork, and placed it in the microwave for 1 minute and 20 seconds as instructed on the box. 

I thought they looked good but just slightly under cooked at the instructed time.  I put them back in for 20-30 more seconds. 

In a total of 2 minutes, my scrambled eggs turned out perfectly.  I have made eggs with the Rapid Egg Cooker a handful of time since I took these pictures each time with the same results.  This product gets a HUGE thumbs up from me.  Not only can you use the microwave bowl for a lot of things, it really does make delicious eggs without the mess. If you see this product while at your local Dollar Tree, give it a try.  

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Dare to Share #418

It is Friday night, and you know what that means..

It is time to Dare to Share! 

Another week flew by. How is it almost June?!   My daughter had her second week of work this week, and it seems to be going well. I have been working on things around the house, and doing my weekly shopping. I found some really great new finds at my local Dollar Trees, and wrote a post about what I found. This time of year a few of my friends have had birthdays.  One is having her "big birthday" in a couple of weeks. Since we are not able to give her a regular party with social distancing,  I am putting together a themed birthday bag that I know she will be thrilled about.  My friend who had her birthday the end of April, I gave her a mermaid theme gift bag. I have been thinking about doing birthday theme ideas on the blog.  Look for those starting soon. 

Here is the link to my post Dollar Tree New Awesome Finds 

Well it looks like it is about that time of night. Time to get this party started.  

Link up and HAVE FUN!! 

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Dollar Tree New AWESOME Finds

As you may know, the Dollar Tree is one of my favorite stores. In the last several months they have really stepped up their game, and have sold some really amazing things. Here are some of my current finds that are in the stores right now.  

How cute is that toucan?! I am not having a luau, but I think I might want to in the future if it means more colorful toucans. 

Know anyone graduating?  There are really cute rubber duckie 2020 graduates that would make a great gift. 

I found the wooden cat in the new Crafter Square section.  I think that wooden piece on it's face it is supposed to be it's muzzle, but I think it looks like a face mask.  I am going to paint it as a face mask which not so serious way to remember the quarantine of 2020. 

I had to pick up the 4th of July unicorn. I love unicorns, and I have never seen a red, white and blue one. If you like dogs, they also had a canine version.

Here are some gift ideas for kids, and yes, I am a big kid so I picked some up. These mini boos blind boxes are mini TY figurines. You have no idea what is inside until you open them. I also found a giant unicorn eraser. 

I was pretty impressed with the quality of the mini boos. They are well made, and heavy. I had two penguins and a teddy bear in my boxes.  There are 12 to collect in this series, and all are super cute. 

By the check out I found multipurpose bandanas.  You can wear them in multiple ways, including as a face mask.  I really like purple, so this will go with many of my outfits. 

I think I am most excited about these cell phone accessories, all only for $1 each.  

These adjustable hands are heavy duty, and perfect for holding my cell phone.  I have seen them on sale in other places for a lot more.  The hold different sizes of phone and tablets.

I have been looking for a hands free phone holder for my car for quite awhile that is inexpensive and fits in my car.  They had one you can use in an air vent which is good, because my car is a bit older and does not have a lot of space.  This one works in my vent next to my steering wheel, which is a perfect spot to see my online maps. 

If you like to take photos, check out this wide angle lens you can add to your cell phone.  The lens clips to your phone camera and actually works... check the photos below.

This first picture was taken with my regular came lens.

In the same spot as the first picture, I took this picture of the same tree.  You can definitely tell a difference. While it is not super high end, it is really cool for the price. 

Also brand new to my stores are these gorgeous lemon dishes.  They had dinner plates, salad plates, bowls, and several different glasses.  I did not need a full set but I did pick up a few dinner plates and bowls. They would be so cute to use for a shower, garden party or just because you think they are pretty.  

I hope you liked these awesome finds as much as I did.  I may have already found a few new ones to share next week! 

Happy shopping!

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Dare to Share #417

It is Friday night, and you know what that means..

It is time to Dare to Share! 

This week was another super fast week. Did you think so too?  My daughter started her first job.  She seems to enjoy it, but is still getting used to being on her feet all day.  I was busy working on some projects 

I did a review for the Rapid Brownie Baker I bought at the Dollar Tree. See why it got a thumb's up from me. 

I shared the recipe of my Chocolate Banana Pie that I made to celebrate my daughter's new job.  It was really good!

Well it looks like it is time to get this party started.  

Link up and HAVE FUN!! 

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Easy Chocolate Banana Pie

I don't know about you, but I have been looking for recipes to make when I have some extra bananas.  When my son was home, that was never the case, we never had any leftover.  Since my daughter and I were sick a couple of months ago, he has been quarantining with his dad. Now it is not uncommon to have a few extra bananas that need to be used up.  We also had something to celebrate this week. My daughter got her first job!  I wanted to do something special, but yet low key for her.  She was thrilled when I told her I made her a pie. 

I had most of the ingredients on hand, just had to pick up the crust and whipped topping.  

You will need:

graham cracker crust 

1-2 bananas 

small box banana pudding

small box chocolate pudding 

1 3/4 cup milk 

1 cup sour cream 

chocolate chips (optional) 

Slice the banana, and lay on the crust.  I used 1 1/2 small bananas. 

In a mixing bowl, mix both boxes of pudding, milk and sour cream together.

It turns into a yummy chocolate mousse. Seriously, it could be dessert on it's own, but we are going to add it to the pie. 

But first I  wanted to up to the chocolate factor, and added some chocolate chips.  I did not measure, just poured in what looked like a good amount. 

Add the pudding mixture to the pie

Carefully smooth it out

You will not need the entire container of whip cream, but add about 1/3 to 1/2 and spread over the pie. I added a chocolate heart of chocolate chips. Chill for about an hour. 

The end results were a delicious, easy to make pie.  Enjoy! 

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Dollar Tree Rapid Brownie Baker Review

As you know, I LOVE the Dollar Tree.  Over the past few months I have been finding several items that help you make your food faster. I have been curious enough to buy and try them out, so I can review them here on the blog.  The first one I am going to try is the Rapid Brownie Baker.  The box says it is by Rapid Brands, and that you can make the perfect brownies in under 4 minutes. 

I opened the box, and found two plastic containers.  One a microwave brownie pan, and the other container with compartments for the ingredients. (brownie mix, egg, water, and vegetable oil) 

Then I saw something that surprised me.  Do you see it too? It was really hard to take a picture, but the brownie pan is make by BETTY CROCKER.  Under the trademark spoon was the instructions that were almost identical to the back of the box.  What I was surprised about though, was nowhere on the box did it say it was from Betty Crocker.

Inside of adding the ingredients to each compartment of the the container that came in the kit, I just mixed them up in one of my Dollar Tree mixing bowls.   The directions say to put them in the ingredient container, pour into the brownie pan and stir until well blended.  I felt it was a little neater pouring the batter in the brownie pan after it was mixed.   I used this Betty Crocker mix that I also bought at the Dollar Tree.  

The box said to cook the brownies on high, for 3 minutes and 30 seconds. When the time was up, they looked a little over done. It reminded me of the texture of a mug cake.  After letting them cool for a few minutes, I cut the brownies with a plastic knife. I recently saw on a Facebook tip video that a plastic knife makes a cleaner cut. It really does!  

While the top side was a little over done, the bottom side of the brownie was really fudgy and chewy. It tasted really good with a big glass of milk. 

Overall I give this Rapid Brownie Baker a thumbs up.  They were not the "perfect" brownies like the box said, but they were still quick to make, and tasted good.  Also since it was only a dollar it is worth it the cost, because you get a really nice microwave brownie pan that you can use over and over.  Thinking I might need to go make another batch of brownies   

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Dare to Share #416

It is Friday night, and you know what the means..

It is time to Dare to Share!! 

Are we in a time warp this week?  Seriously, though this week flew by.  It  feels like it was Monday just yesterday.  I did have a few good things happen this week.  My son finished his college semester and found out he got all As. This is huge! He has Aspergers and all through high school it was a struggle to get him to do his homework.  Even though he is super smart, his grades did not show it because he did not turn in his homework. Now that he is older he is staying on top of his homework and turning it all in!  He was already doing online classes before the college campus shut downs so he was not affected by the change.  The other exciting thing that happened is my daughter got her first job!  I am really proud of her too.  

I had plans on posting 2-3 posts this week, but it did not happen. I have several in the process that are not quite finished.  I did get my recipe for Air Fryer Stuffed Mushrooms posted. These were so good, and we will definitely have them again. They would make a great appetizer/party food when we are allowed to have parties again.  

Well it looks to be that time.. Time to get this party started. 

Link up and HAVE FUN! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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Quick and Easy Air Fryer Cheesy Stuffed Mushrooms

I am having a lot of fun trying new recipes out in my air fryer.  Recently Aldi had a  sale on their mushrooms, so I decided to try to make some Cheesy Stuffed Mushrooms.

We already had all of the ingredients I wanted to use on hand for my mushrooms.  In a small mixing bowl, I mixed up a half brick of cream cheese, a handful of cheddar cheese, and a half bag of Aldi's bacon pieces. I also added a little bit of garlic salt, though you can not really see it in the picture. 

When I was mixing up the cheese and bacon mixture, I decided to add some of the mushroom stems as well. 

I generously stuffed the mushrooms with the cheese mixture. 

I placed them in the air fryer basket  I cooked them for about 10 mins at 360 degrees.  Time and temp may vary a little depending on the fryer you use.  It does not hurt to check on the mushrooms about half way through the cooking period. 

These mushrooms were SO GOOD!! My daughter and I may have eaten all of them.  They would definitely be a good easy appetizer for parties, friend get-togethers or just because.  I have a feeling I will be asked to make these often. 

If you have been thinking about getting an air fryer, but haven't done so yet, I highly recommend one. It was a little intimidating at first, but we love it. I bought mine from Kohls on sale with with a coupon. (Kalorik 3.5 quart, regular price $119.99)  I could not find the same one on Amazon, but found some that are similar to mine that are also a good price.  (these are affiliate links) 

      Kalorik XL Air Fryer Pro

      Costway 3.5 quart Air Fryer

        Ultrean 4.2 quart Air Fryer

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