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I had to kill time this afternoon until a bank appointment at 4:30. I decided to watch a movie at pearlridge. Normally, I research and plan what to watch. This time, I didn't. I just picked a movie that started and would end on time so I wouldn't miss my appt.


I buy my ticket, run in and sit down. The theater had 2 other women inside. We all sat near each other in the back. It was then I decided to check fandango and see what the heck this movie was about because it looked eerie. It's HORROR.



OMFG. I love horror movies, but not BY MYSELF! The movie was The Visitdirected by M. Night Shyamalan. The guy who did Paranormal Activity. You know, the movie that had me running around like a headless chicken for TWO WEEKS after I used the bathroom at work because of the sound of the stupid air vent.

GGGRREAT. Like his other movies, it's shot documentary style. If you have watched scary movies with me before, you know that I am a major screamer and grabber and most people only get scared because they are sitting next to me.



Elderly people make some people feel oojie or creeped out. This movie made me REALLY afraid of elderly people with stringy gray hair. Seriously. So, as the movie continued, I kept my hand tightly over my mouth to prevent my volume 1000 screams from escaping. I found myself closing my eyes and had to keep telling myself to OPEN THEM because this movie costed me $8.50!



There was one point where we ALL got scared. The lady sitting in front of me popped up out of her seat like a pop tart, the lady behind me had her legs up on the chair and I got so scared that my scream escaped for a bit because my entire body jumped and my hand moved away from my mouth. The scream was high pitched and sounded almost like an indian cry because my hand jerked off and on my face. After I HEARD my scream echo through the empty theater, I BURST out laughing. JUST ME. I was laughing at myself while the other two ladies were still mesmerized by the suspense unfolding on the screen.



I had to stop laughing but couldn't. I was in tears. I took deep breaths and now gagged myself with a hankie I had in my purse to help keep my screaming and laughing stifled. It worked, a little. I had to release my tension and said out loud. OH MY GOD! THIS FRICKEN MOOOOOVIE!!!!!

I had my legs crossed so tight and my body closed up because I was scared and creeped out. I was afraid to even turn around. I just wanted the movie to hurry and end.



I ran out just as it ended and went straight to my appt where Romel C. Olipas was waiting. When we sat down to meet with our agent, I was still so shaken up by the movie. I BURST out laughing IN THE BANK as we sat there with the banker. Romel looked at me, grinning and said, OMFG YOU ARE SO MENTO. Why on earth would you watch a scary movie dummy? I said, I NEVER KNOW! I just picked one and ran inside!!! 30 mins later as we walked out of the bank, I was still cracking up.
​

So, who wants to watch a scary movie with me next? Halloween is coming and NO, I do NOT do the haunted plantation. I would die from a heart attack....seriously.

It's been a while since I did a coupon shopping trip because I stopped couponing for about 4 months. My stockpile was all filled so I took a break from looking for deals to prevent over shopping. Our shelves were full and I don't hoard. I shop for necessity. I didn't take a picture because we were so busy and wanted to just put everything away. But here's my shopping trip breakdown.

Total before coupons $253.92

Total after coupons $129.56

The Ewa Beach Lions Club will be at this event doing a quick cleanup and painting of the pilings and the bathroom (non-functioning) prior to the 9 am session. This event is open to the public and everyone is highly encouraged to attend.

Team Olipas will be there and there is free food to boot!

Please remember to bring a chair or mat to sit on. Share this page to help let your friends and neighbors know of the event.

Your support is crucial in helping to improve our community. This is your opportunity to share your ideas and help find solutions!

Saturday, September 26, 2015 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm

Literature Club Senior trip is underway. This will be my daughters last trip with Campbell High School and we are both going. The last trip was so good. A lot of hustle and bustle but worth every cent. This trip is set for Summer of 2017 and we are starting our fundraising efforts NOW.

We currently have a Tupperware fundraiser open for the month and this will be ongoing until we manage to raise the funds to cover both of our costs which is about $9000. This all inclusive trip is about $450 per day per person for 10 days. There’s no way I could ever book our own trip for a price that low. And this includes a tour director who stays with us every step of the way.  

Please peruse our online fundraiser and help us reach our goal! Shelby is already gearing up to sell musubis, ice pops, and find other creative ways to raise her portion of the trip.

Thank you for your continued support!!

Maria

Shop our fundraiser now!

The breakfast maker is a winner for me. I was using it to make fresh hot scrambled eggs at work in under 2 minutes. I would cook it in 30 second increments to prevent overcooking and it came out perfect every time and was a much healthier alternative to frying it in a pan. Tupperware did one better by creating these egg inserts that go inside of this breakfast maker. Now, I can poach eggs and I couldn't wait to try them. They were on sale for $15 for a set (breakfast maker and 2 inserts). Sale is now over and I'm not sure if you can even order the inserts at this time. 

I followed the instructions and added some water in the inserts and cracked an egg in each one. I put the cover on and cooked it in the microwave in 30 second increments. Being my first time, I wanted to see its cooking progression. It took about 90 sends to get the eggs cooked the way I like. 

I will mention that it did make popping sounds while cooking. However, with the lid on, there was no mess or eggs-plosion in my microwave. The eggs slid right out very easily and did not stick. The egg reminded me of the kind of egg in an egg mcmuffin. The yolk was well done but not overcooked. It was still moist. I put the egg on an english muffin with a slice of turkey and cheese. I toasted it to get the cheese to melt a little and it was delicious. 

I decided to make a few more eggs to make turkey, egg, and cheese sandwiches for my long day ahead. I put these in Tupperware sandwich containers and the remaining heat from the egg and sandwich created a "steam" environment in the container. The bread was extremely soft but not soggy and the end result was so good! I ate my sandwiches for lunch and I was smiling with every bite. 

The breakfast maker and inserts are very easy to clean and store. Be sure to get these when they become available again. I love it! This is perfect for busy moms and dads who barely have enough time to get a good breakfast. You can throw a quick sandwich together fast and pack it to eat on the road.

I do have a tip when putting the sandwich together. Put the egg directly on the bread after thoroughly draining of excess moisture from the water. If you put it between the cheese and meat, the egg slips around and falls out of the sandwich. 

Enjoy!

I used a small Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie packet. Mixed per the directions and used my power chef base with the whipping attachment to mix it all up. It took 10 cranks of the handle to get it mixed completely with no lumps. No electric. No fuss. And a very simple clean up. 

I greased my stack cooker and cone and poured the batter in. Nuked it at full power (1250 watt microwave) for 5 minutes with the lid off and the results were a perfectly cooked, moist, and chewy brownie. It was fantastic! Imagine killing a fudge brownie craving in less than 10 minutes? Had I baked it the traditional way, my oven still wouldn't have been done preheating yet! 

After about 2 minutes of cooking, my house smelled AMAZING. 

I buy my eggs by the tray and they take up a ton of space in my refrigerator. Sometimes I'll move them to a bowl to help save room. As I was cleaning out my Tupperware cabinet I had a few extra Cereal Storers and decided to try using those because of its tall and slender build. It worked great and it held one tray of eggs!

Literature Club Senior trip is underway. This will be my daughters last trip with Campbell High School and we are both going. The last trip was so good. A lot of hustle and bustle but worth every cent. This trip is set for Summer of 2017 and we are starting our fundraising efforts NOW.

We currently have a Tupperware fundraiser open for the month and this will be ongoing until we manage to raise the funds to cover both of our costs which is about $9000. This all inclusive trip is about $450 per day per person for 10 days. There’s no way I could ever book our own trip for a price that low. And this includes a tour director who stays with us every step of the way.  

Please peruse our online fundraiser and help us reach our goal! Shelby is already gearing up to sell musubis, ice pops, and find other creative ways to raise her portion of the trip.

Thank you for your continued support!!  

Maria

Literature Club Senior trip is underway. This will be my daughters last trip with Campbell High School and we are both going. The last trip was so good. A lot of hustle and bustle but worth every cent. This trip is set for Summer of 2017 and we are starting our fundraising efforts NOW.
 
We currently have a Tupperware fundraiser open for the month and this will be ongoing until we manage to raise the funds to cover both of our costs which is about $9000. This all inclusive trip is about $450 per day per person for 10 days. There’s no way I could ever book our own trip for a price that low. And this includes a tour director who stays with us every step of the way.

Please peruse our online fundraiser and help us reach our goal! Shelby is already gearing up to sell musubis, ice pops, and find other creative ways to raise her portion of the trip.
 
Thank you for your continued support!!

The direct link to the fundraiser is below. Clicking the link will open in a new tab.

Literature Club Trip to London

To celebrate hitting a small milestone of hitting 200 likes on facebook, I'm doing a giveaway!

I get a LOT of free (or almost free) products to review and I need to make room in my drawers for the new stuff coming. All of these products have been used at least once to test and provide feedback. The headphones (in case people are wondering, was used once to test for sound quality and comfort and thoroughly cleaned). 

Head over to my facebook page to enter to win a box filled with random products. The value of the products total about $200! 

CONGRATULATIONS TO SHARON B FOR WINNING THIS AWESOME GIVEAWAY!!!

Join my Tupperware team before the end of the month and get this $149 Microwave Pressure cooker for only $30!!!! Everyone always asks me about this and turn away when I tell them the price. Now's your chance to score and load up on the highly coveted "magic pot". Make Kalua Pig in a little over one hour. Pot Roast, BBQ ribs, Stews, and more in one hour or less!

The opportunity for you to share the love of Tupperware is here! Contact me for more information at olipasinc@gmail.com

It's been a while since I last posted something. I've been busy with work and Tupperware. I have taken a break from couponing. It's been about a month. Thanks to my stockpile, it's not a big deal. I still have stock of a lot of things that will last me a while longer. Although I have taken a break from couponing myself, this does not mean I have stopped teaching my free classes. 

I haven't been getting a lot of inquiries for classes so I was enjoying the break from teaching outside of my regular job. At one point my schedule was getting ridiculous. I attend weekly team meetings for Tupperware every Monday night at the Target Cafe in Salt Lake. I enjoy meeting in our small group and getting updated on the current sales and cool new items.   I no longer am a Thirty One consultant and no longer a Nomades Collection consultant. Our fundraising efforts for Europe is now done but I still have some selfie sticks left to sell. 

Im seriously enjoying this downtime period. What has been keeping me really busy is review writing for Amazon. I have so many things to test and review that its a part time job. My drawer of free stuff is overflowing and it sure is fun testing them all. 

I have deactivated my Facebook account which means my facebook page is no longer up. It was time to get off of that because as much as I enjoy Facebook for maintaining connections, its riddled stuff that I would rather not see. 

I look forward to sharing more fun adventures and new things as they come along. Thanks for sticking with me!

UPDATE: Slideshow uploaded at the end of this blog. It is on youtube and on my blog directly so you will see two videos at the bottom. Both are the same just hosted in two different places. Enjoy!

June 1: Departure
We arrived at the airport at 8 pm to meet up with the group. Poor little Emily screamed her head off when we were dropped off. She wanted to come with us on the plane and was so sad that both Shelby and I were leaving. :(

We managed to check in and get to our gate by 9:30. So far so good. As soon as we took off, both Shelby and I fell asleep and slept for the entire 4 hour flight. With the winds working in our favor, our trip was cut short by almost an hour.  This means more ground time in SFO. The one thing I don't like about the Delta terminal in SFO is the very limited food options. Unlike the LAX terminal. 

The line for the restroom was so long and the bathroom smelled funky. Bleh. We had a little over an hour to hang out so I got to chit chat with a few of the students. I'm hoping this trip will not only bring my daughter and I closer, but to help me better understand the youth of today. 

I packed one big bag of snacks.  Chips, mochi crunch, mochi balls (with peanuts), cheetos, tea, lipton iced tea. yes, I packed quite a snack bag. Knowing we would be in transit for 24 total hours, I wanted to be sure we were prepared with some kind of grub. 

I packed some of the chips in my Tupperware flat out containers and everyone was oohing and aahing when they saw us collapse the bowls after all the chips were gone. I used a square stuffable container to pack our crackers, tea, and juice powder packs. They laughed and Shelby was commenting on me packing the whole house. I justified all the Tupperware for the trip back. When bringing back our shot glass souvenirs, the containers will make perfect packing tools to prevent broken glasses. 

We are now on our way to JFK from SFO, a 5-6 hour flight and as much as I want to sleep, I can't.  I'll sleep on the flight from JFK to Athens. When we land there at 12:30 pm, it will be MIDNIGHT in Hawaii and I know my body will be dragging. If I oversleep on all these flights, I might be extra tired from the oversleeping.

Wed June 3

Arrived in Athens at noon. Bussed to the hotel and checked in. Swam at the "beach" across the street. Then the pool. Showered and dinner with the rest of the EF Tour groups. The water was cold but so refreshing I didn't last more than about 30 minutes in the cold water before I was out and warming up in the sun. This beach had a rocky shore. No white sand like what we're used to at home. The water is crystal clear and you see the bottom. 

Dinner consisted of grape leaves with rice rolled inside, some kind of roast pork, Crete salad, green salad (with this amazing sweet and balsamic vinegar dressing, pasta salad, ham and cheese crepes, beef pasta, and rice pudding. I tried a little of everything and was great. The nice thing with this EF Tour is breakfast and dinner is included in our package. 

I took some shots of the sunset tonight from the hotel room balcony. Tomorrow we get up at 7 to get ready, meet at 8 for breakfast and leave the hotel to take our Athen city tour at 8:45 am and will be out the entire day until after dinner. When we get back we have to pack up and LEAVE by 5:45 am the following morning to catch our Ferry to Sorento. 

Thurs June 4

We stopped at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. It was HUGE and so majestic. 

The tour was amazing. We went to the Acropolis. Learned about the Parthenon and Temple of the Athena and much more which I have now forgotten about. It was quite a walk up to get there, extremely crowded, and hot. But once we got to the top, the view was amazing. The buildings left me speechless. The stories behind them was so interesting and I was so glad to be there. 

After visiting the Acropolis, we headed back down to the Placca district for a little shopping and lunch. The shops were cute. The cobblestone roads and sidewalks were beautiful. The place is loaded with street vendors that walk right up to you. Old women carrying tablecloths will practically beg you to touch their items. Once you touch it, you bought it. So be careful when roaming around Athens. Then you have the selfie stick sellers and people selling bottles of cold water. Our group was even approached by two young men carrying accordions and jamming some tunes. Pretty cool but please don't shove it in my face and beg for money. 

We went back to the hotel and the kids went swimming at the beach across the street while others took a dip in the pool. Then dinner.

Friday June 5

We were up and at em at 5:45 am. We left the Palace Hotel at 7:00 am and headed down to Patras (with a few stops along the way) to catch our Ferry to Italy. On our way to Patras we stopped for a quick bathroom break and coffee and snack. At this "truck stop" there were fresh Greek Pastries and coffee. The Baklava was very very sweet and chewy. The cappuccino was tasty and hit the spot. Shelby had the frappe and she said it was too sweet for her. 

We then stopped in Delphi and learned about the Temple of Apollo, the theater and the ancient stadium at the very very top of the mountain. I will tell you this, the hike up was difficult for me. I am out of shape and the air was thin. I was also in SLIPPERS because we didn't know we'd be doing some hiking. The pathways up was very rocky, unpaved, slippery, and steep. My legs and calves took a beating and there were four times that I wanted to quit and go back down. But, I spent a ton of money to be there and I was not going to pass up this opportunity. 

Every turn I made, I looked at a hill steeper than the last and I wanted to cry. I wanted to quit. I wanted to turn around. But I saw these old people just chugging along and I said, if they can do this, SO CAN I. I took breaks. Caught my breath. And kept on pushing.

When I got to the top and saw this ancient olympic stadium built thousands of years ago, I was speechless. This stadium was built to seat 7000 people. If it was this difficult for me to make it up there, how much more the ancient Greeks in their leather sandals? 

Of course, it was just a big plot of land with rock seating (something out of the Flintstones) shaped in a football stadium design with a huge floor filled with overgrown grass.   Just standing there in a place that ancient Romans and Greeks held their olympic games left me with no words. I am standing in a spot  you read about in history books. 

We later stopped in a cute restaurant for a quick lunch and headed down to Patras to board our ferry. 

The ferry was not was I was expecting. I was anticipating a dingy ferry boat with crappy accomodations.  In reality, it was like a cruise ship with trucks loaded on the lower level. We had a nice but very small cabin (as expected).  The food was decent and the service and employees were impeccable. I was able to see the mediterranean sun set and sun rise perfectly on the ship, unobstructed. It was fantastic!

This was an overnight ferry ride (about 13 hours) to Italy. 

Saturday, June 6

We arrive at the Port of Bari and disembark from the cigarette smoke ridden ferry. We jump on a bus and make the 4.5 hour bus ride from the East coast of Italy to the West. Our destination, Sorrento. On our way there, we made a very quick pit stop at to grab a panini and use the restroom. I will just say this, the cheese here is amazing and the breads are fantastic. 

When we finally made it to Naples, the views were outstanding. We got to see Mt Vesuvius and just when we thought we'd seen beauty, we make a turn after going through a series of tunnels and we get hit in the face of BREATHTAKING views of Sorrento. O M G!!!

We get dropped off in Sorrento where we went to a shopping plaza and found very cute souvenirs and we all had GELATO!!!  2.50 Euro for fresh made gelato. I of course got the Limone which was fabulous. This entire area is filled with Lemon and Orange trees. Its so beautiful! And the lemons are gigantic. They're like footballs!!

We are now checked into our hotel. We are staying at The Central Park Hotel in a neighboring town to Sorrrento. Tomorrow, Capri!  We get to swim in the waters right off of this exquisite island. I can't wait!!

Sunday: June 7 

Today we got up early, had breakfast and headed back to Sorrento. We hiked down a huge set of stairs and down a cobblestone (very narrow) driveway to the dock to catch a ferry boat to the island of Capri. I swear it had to have been nearly a mile. When we arrived to Capri, the views were spectacular. What a beautiful island surrounded by huge rocks of limestone!

As soon as we got off our ferry boat, we disembarked and ran to another small boat to take a one hour island cruise to the the famous Fraglioni rocks. The villas, bright colored coral, the steep cliffs, the sea gulls, the entire experience was amazing. So amazing that on this boat cruise, a few of the girls in our Hawaii group started crying. They were so happy to be in that moment experiencing everything. 

We got back to the island and took a cable car up the mountain and saw amazing views of the crystal blue waters below. It was HOT, the walkways were extremely narrow, and there were tons of people. The pathways here are sloped. So if you can imagine my screaming legs!  Then we had to hike back up these walk ways back to the main square where we had lunch. I had the sole (fish) in lemon sauce with roasted potatoes. Shelby had the eggplant pasta which was AMAZING!!! By the way, their fresh made pizza was ginormous. 

After lunch, our group headed straight to cable car to get down off the mountain to find a BEACH!!! Yes, we swam in the waters off Capri and the water was FANTASTIC! Cool, refreshing, super clean, and it was awesome! The beach is a pebble rock beach.  It took us less than 5 minutes to find the opening to the public beach entrance and within 5 minutes all of us were in the water.  The water was so clean that you could see the bottom even if it was really deep. Apparently, the waters here have wana. One of the kids from Mississippi stepped on one.  Fortunately, no one from the Hawaii group stepped on one. Most of us just dived right in and head for the deeper waters so not too many of us were standing on the pebbly rocks. And not for long either. 

After a quick dip in the water, we took turns holding a large towel so all the girls could change really quick. We headed back to Sorrento via ferry and spent 90 minutes there before heading back to our hotel for dinner. That same walk we took going down, we had to take going up. This time, I had a bag of wet clothes and towels in my backpack that made it weigh about 20 lbs. We had to HIKE UP the cobblestone street about a mile and then walk up at least 250 steps to get back up to the Sorrento Plaza. UGH!  I literally had to play mind games with myself and hear Shaun T (Insanity) tell me to DIG DEEP! I did, and I made it. 

We were all huffing and puffing and making a big hullabaloo at the top of the stairs that the locals stood there just laughing at us. It was at that moment I realized why Europeans are so svelt and in much better health than Americans. They walk. They have no choice but to use the stairs. Their elevators can only hold 2 people and 2 luggages. Their beds in the hotels are small. The food portions are correct!  Come to America where everything is about escalators, elevators, and super sizing.

I'm not much of a shopper so instead of walking around, I sat in a park in the middle of the shops and people watched while Shelby went off looking for lemon ice for me. I LOVE LEMONS so this town is PERFECT for me! 

As we made the walk back to the bus, the thunderstorms arrived. We just missed it. Though, it would've been awesome to get caught in the rain in Sorrento, Italy!

Now, we pack up and get ready to leave Sorrento behind and head for Pompeii tomorrow. After Pompeii, we head for Rome. We have a few more days here before heading home. This trip so far has exceeded my expectations beyond belief. Every second of every day makes me so happy to be able to share this with my daughter and her new friends and teachers. It's been such a blast to be here and experience history first hand and not just within pages from a book.


Monday June 8 

We head out early for Pompeii. Leaving Sorrento, we all looked around and took in the breath taking views one last time. We toured Pompeii and it was just so awesome to be walking on the same exact roads that were used thousands of years ago.  There isn't much for me to say about it that you can't read via google. I was so glad that I packed 2 hankies and an umbrella. When I had the chance, I would wet my hanky with cold fountain water and it helped keep me cool in the hot sun. 

After touring Pompeii we headed out to Rome. It was a 3 - 4 hour bus ride and upon arrival I jumped into the pool. It was rainy and cold but the water was PERFECT! 

Tuesday June 9

Today we head to spend our whole day at the Vatican, St Peters Basilica, St Paul's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and also toured a catacomb. The catacomb was so creepy at first and totally reminded me of the movie As Above, So Below just without the bones. It was another long day filled with over 25k steps and it was HOT HOT HOT! 

Everything we saw was beautiful and amazing. The hand paintings on ceilings and just the amount of time and work put it in to make these pieces of art left me in awe. The symbolism behind the work left our group with many "ahhhhhhh" moments. 

We were able to squeeze in the Spanish steps this evening before dinner and the plaza was beautiful. There are so many fountains and obelisks. As we went around the square, I saw a man washing his hands in the fountain fronting the spanish steps. I thought, omg ew look. I then realized that this is a clean water fountain where people go to fill their water bottles and wash their hands or splash water on their faces and necks to cool off. 

The water that flows out of these public fountains are COLD water and very clean. 

By this point, my feet were killing me. Every day is filled with so many steps, stairs, hills, cobble stone and uneven roads.
Wednesday, June 10

Our final day in Rome. Today we spent a day at the Colloseum and the Roman Forum. More steps, and more stairs. Whew! By this time my legs were so used to the walking that I could handle all the stairs. Today was a SUPER hot day. Just a few minutes in the Roman Sun and you were melting. Stand in the shade with the breeze and you cool off in minutes. The colloseum is something everyone should go and see. Standing in a place where the gladiators once fought and died for fun was so cool. 


The Forum was HUGE. Man these ancient people knew how to build stuff to last! We were given more free time to shop and walk all over the city. We had lunch in a small restaurant when I had the carbonara and it was soooo good. Nothing like what Auntie Pastos serves or even Buca for that matter.  The servings in Europe are small and true to what a real single serving is supposed to be. I found that I ate less here and because I was walking and moving around so much, I lost some weight. 


Thursday, June 11

We get up at 5 am and leave the hotel at 6:35 am to head over to the airport. This airport is SO busy that it took us over 90 minutes to get checked in and through security to get to our gate. The Amsterdam airport is pretty big and it took us about an hour to get from one gate, through another document verification station, customs, and our actual departure gate.  STRESS!!  This airport does not have tv's all over the place that show you where your gate is. Thank GOD for my delta app that gave us some direction and we could get to the right Gate area. 

We had our final dinner in Rome and then headed back to the hotel.  Shelby and I packed up our bags and prepared for our trip home. 

It was such a priceless trip with my daughter. This was definitely a costly trip financially, but the memories we created and the time we spent bonding and sharing laughter is something that you can't put a price tag on. 

In regards to EF Tours, Iris was our dedicated tour guide and was with us for the entire trip. I have nothing but good things to say about EF Tours. I read a lot of negative reviews about this company and quite honestly, it's how you want to spend your trip. You agree to give all the control to EF and your job is simply to pay them, show up and be on time. For the cost of the all inclusive trip, in my opinion, it was worth my money. I didn't have to think. I didn't have to plan. I just get up, get ready, and enjoy my time. It was refreshing for once to not have to be the person making the schedules when traveling.

Iris handled EVERYTHING for us. All room check ins, meal reservations, ferry check ins with passport, grabbed entrance tickets, etc. She gave us warnings about certain areas as necessary. She told us about things to watch out for, things to avoid, and things to do during our free time. Honestly, it was a very positive and enjoyable experience for our Hawaii group.  We laughed the entire time we were together. It was fantastic. We were open to the walking, stairs, ready to take it all on. Cause the one thing we stressed to the students was NO WHINING. We are there for the EXPERIENCE. That's what its all about. Our Hawaii group followed the rule and we had an unforgettable trip. 

Ciao!
Maria

Yesterday afternoon someone mentioned stuffed peppers and it made me want to eat some. I have NEVER made it before and had just gone to the grocery store and purchased everything to make it (purely coincidental). So, I decided to give it a shot IN THE MICROWAVE. I have never cooked ground beef in the microwave so this was a couple of "firsts" for me. And this is what I did.

I used the power chef to mince up carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. I then added a whole tray of fresh mushrooms and minced it all up last. I originally wanted to make this a purely vegetarian dish and decided at the last minute to throw in a lb of ground beef. Why not?

I cut the green bell peppers in half and seeded them. I placed them in my stack cooker. I had to cook it in 2 separate batches because I didn't think to measure them at cutting time. So some were too high and the medium bowl wouldn't fit on top of the deeper one. 

After mixing all the stuffing ingredients together, (I added a little A1 steak sauce, ketchup, salt and pepper to it) I stuffed the peppers using a small spoon. I covered the stack cooker and cooked each bowl for about 15 minutes each and left it covered to stand about 5 minutes. I had a little extra meat stuffing left over so I made 3 small stuffed cabbages. See pictures. 

These came out SO GOOD. I did not add water to the stack cooker. The juices came out of the meat and veggies and I couldn't believe how good this tasted and how FAST it was to cook. Had I cut the green peppers to fit the stack cooker bowls, I could've done it all in about 20 minutes. 

Total prep time: 15 minutes.
Total cook time (2 separate bowls): 25-30 minutes. 

I also made a quick cauliflower rice stir fry with a little sesame oil, salt and pepper to go with the stuffed peppers. As you may already know, I use the power chef to "rice" my cauliflower. 

After dinner was done, we only had the stack cooker bowls, cooking utensils, power chef, and dinner plates to wash. No big and heavy pots or bakeware. And we ate dinner by 5 pm and was in bed by 8. A FIRST in this house. 

Again, the stack cooker is on sale until May 29th for $75 (normally $114). As you can tell by my recent blogs, this stack cooker is worth every penny. I use it almost every day! Enjoy!

mytupperware.com/mariaolipas

Tonights dinner!

I decided to make spaghetti entirely in the stack cooker in the microwave. I normally would use the microwave pasta maker to cook the noodles and do the meat sauce on the stove top. But since I'm on a roll with the stack cooker I figured, why not cook the entire meal that way?  Had I used elbow macaroni or tortellini pasta, I could've probably cooked it the entire meal at one time. But, I was using whole wheat spaghetti. 

I took 1.5 lbs of ground beef and put it in the slotted bowl of the stack cooker and placed this on top of the medium stack cooker bowl. I cooked the meat for about 10 minutes and took it out. After just 10 minutes, this is the half cooked hamburger. What I LOVED about this was the fat and grease drained from the meat. Made my life just a little bit easier. Conventional stove top cooking would require me to carry my heavy pot to the sink and drain all the fat and put the pot back on the stove. This was SO much easier! In order to drain the fat completely, I would have to move the meat into a colander and strain and then put back in the pot. 

Here's the nasty fat that drained from the ground beef. This went down down the drain and the pot was washed and put away. Nice!

I put my whole wheat spaghetti in the pasta maker and filled to the appropriate water line. I put the pasta in for 15 minutes (NO COVER). While that was cooking, I took a spatula and broke the ground beef apart so it wasn't big clumps of meat. The meat was not fully cooked which was fine. It was partially cooked. I transferred the meat to the large stack cooker bowl.  

I mixed in my chopped onions, tomato, celery, tomato, garlic, and olives to the mixture. I chopped all of those ingredients up in my power chef which took about 7 minutes total. As you can tell, I love to hide veggies in my meals. After mixing everything with the hamburger, I added a 28 oz can of spaghetti sauce and smoothed everything down in the bowl. I add salt and pepper at the end because the salt dries out the meat during cooking.

At this point, my spaghetti was half way done (6 minutes). I paused the microwave and stirred the pasta around to ensure there was no clumping and cooked it for the rest of the cook time.  When it was done, I removed the pasta maker from the microwave and placed the cover on top and let it stand. 

I then placed the spaghetti sauce mixture into the microwave for 18 minutes with the cover on (not vented which means the handles are all lined up straight). 

I drained the pasta by holding the cover on the pasta maker and tipping over. The pasta maker has built in holes that allow you to drain it right in the container! Then I set it on the table for dinner. 

We set the table and put the garlic butter crescent rolls in the toaster oven for 13 minutes. As soon as the spaghetti sauce was done, so was the garlic bread. We brought it all out to the table and had dinner. We were done eating by 5:10 pm. (I got home from work at 4:00!)

I can't say enough good things about this stack cooker. I love this more than I love my microwave pressure cooker. And if you've been following me online, you know how much I love that pressure cooker. More pics below. Enjoy and thanks for reading!

More recipes for you. I will try my best to continue to post my meals made in the microwave using Tupperware. I get so many inquiries on breakdowns of what I did. So, here we go!  All pictures are in a gallery below. 

Beef Broccoli and Italian dressed potatoes

Tools
Stack cooker
Knife
Cutting board
Vegetable Peeler

Ingredients
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 lbs (approx) of chuck steak (its what I had)
1 onion sliced
4 cloves of garlic
1 thumb of fresh ginger
3/4 cup of soy sauce (Aloha brand preferred)
Water, add to your desire
salt and pepper to taste

In the medium stack cooker bowl:
Cut the steak into small bite sized pieces. Cut up all your veggies. Dump it all in the bowl and mix. I used a garlic press to mince the garlic and ginger. Mix it all well.

Top the meat mixture with broccoli florets and green bell peppers.

In the large stack cooker bowl:
After peeling and cutting your potatoes into cubes place them in the larger bowl and add a little water (about 1/4-1/2 cup depending on your microwave wattage) and sprinkle italian seasoning or whatever seasoning you want. Simple salt and pepper works fine also.

Place the smaller bowl with the beef broccoli on top of the larger bowl with the potatoes inside. Cover with the lid and put in the microwave for about 20 minutes. You MAY need to cook longer depending on your microwave so check it after 20 minutes and cook longer as needed.

Pork Gisantes

I completely WINGED this recipe based on how I would cook it on the stove top and I haven't made this dish in YEARS!
This recipe is based on what we had in our kitchen.

3-4 pounds of pork butt
2 small cans of tomato paste
1 onion
4 garlic cloves
thumb of fresh ginger
1 can of garbanzo (chick peas) beans, drained
1 small jar of pimentos, drained
1 cup of frozen peas
1 green bell pepper (or red or yellow if you want)
1 small tomato

I cubed the pork butt into small bite sized pieces. Slice the onion and minced the garlic and ginger with a garlic press. I diluted the 2 cans of tomato paste with 3 cans of water. 

Mix everything but the peas and garbanzo beans in the large stack cooker bowl. Stir it up well.

Top the entire concoction with the frozen peas and canned garbanzo beans. 

Put the lid on and cook for about 30 minutes. Adjust your time as necessary for your microwave oven and the amount you are cooking. 

I made A LOT this time. I cooked this pot in 30 minutes. On a regular stovetop, this would've taken hours to make to ensure the meat is done well and is soft.  It came out so good, even my daughter didn't believe that I made this in the microwave!

As we enjoyed our pork gisantes dinner, I popped the apple cobbler in the microwave. By the time we were done chomping on our entree, the cobbler was done just in time for dessert. My daughter was ecstatic. Apparently, apple cobbler is her favorite thing on the school lunch menu.

2 fuji apples
3 Tablespoons (or more depending on apple tartness) of granulated sugar
Ground Cinnamon to your liking
1/4 of flour (in our case, I used hungry jack pancake mix cause we didn't have flour)
4-6 Tablespoons of butter
A dash of lemon juice

Core your apples. I don't peel mine because I like the skin. Cut into cubes or bite sized pieces and place in the medium stack cooker bowl.  Mix a little lemon juice with water and pour over the apples. 

I cut 2 tablespoons of butter into small squares and place them among the diced apples. No rhyme or reason.  I just plop them in different areas. 

Cut the flour, sugar, and cinnamon with the remaining butter until you get a chunky "crust" like dough.

Sprinkle this mixture over the top of the apples. 

Pop in the microwave for about 20 minutes (NO LID) and check for doneness. Cook longer if needed. 

This resulted in a perfectly cooked cobbler. The apple was done just right and there was just enough crunch to the small crust over the top.

I was blown away.

Cauliflower Rice

1 cauliflower head cut up 
2 small carrots
1 celery stalk
1/4 of an onion
salt and pepper to taste

I use my power chef to rice the cauliflower. Place florets in side and pull the string until you get a nice consistency and texture.

In a med high skillet, heat up a tiny amount of sesame oil and veggie oil. Stir fry the carrots and celery first. Then add the riced cauliflower. Cook until it's done to your liking. I usually don't cook mine for more than 10 - 15 minutes depending on the quantity I'm cooking. Season to taste. Done!

I have been listing this task to do for months now and am finally ready to tackle this. I get a lot of requests for my recipes when I post pictures of my concoctions on Instagram and Facebook. Here they are with pictures included.  If you ever want to come back and see the recipes again, you can always do a search within my site and it will come up. 

Enjoy! ~ Maria

Note: All cook time is based on using my 1250 watt microwave at 70% power. If you have a 900 watt microwave, you can use it at full power. 

Simple Pot Roast
Prep Time: About 10 minutes
Total cooking time: 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes

Tools:
Tupperware Microwave Pressure Cooker
Tupperware Crystal Wave Microwaveable Bowl
Cutting board
Knife
Vegetable Peeler

Ingredients:
4 lbs of pot roast
1 onion, cut in quarters
4 carrots, cut in large pieces
3 celery stalks, cut in large pieces
3 potatoes, cut in large cubes
Salt and pepper to taste
Water

You could use beef stock for more flavor. I just use plain water and season it to taste. 

Place the meat in large chunks at the bottom of the pressure cooker and season the meat. Add water up to the max fill line that is embossed on the inside of the bowl. Place onions on top. Lock the lid on and put in the microwave for 30 minutes. 

Let the pot sit in the microwave for about 10 minutes as it depressurizes. I used this time to peel and chop all my vegetables. 

After it is fully depressurized, open the pot and check on your meat and water level. Be sure all the meat is submerged. Any pieces protruding above the water line will cook to a crisp. At this point you CAN add your veggies which is what I have done in this testing. 

Lock the pressure cooker and cook it again for another 30 minutes. When done, allow it to depressurize and dinner is served. 

In the pictures below, I transferred the cooked meal into a crystal wave bowl for serving and storing after dinner. 

The pressure cooker may look small, but it makes a lot of food for our family of 4. 

Tip: For the last 30 minute round, cook the meat for 15 minutes, let it depressurize and then add the veggies. Cook once more for another 15 minutes and the vegetables will come out a little more crunchier. If you choose to do it this way, cut the vegetables a little smaller so they cook all the way through. 

Southwest Chicken Breast with Quinoa

Prep time: 5 minutes
Total cooking time: About 45 minutes

Tools:
Tupperware Stack cooker
Knife
Cutting board

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast, cut into large chunks
Pampered chef southwestern seasoning
1/4 cup of quinoa
1 cup of water

Put the quinoa into the deep stack cooker bowl. Add water. Place lid and cook in the microwave for about 20 minutes. Depending on the doneness of the quinoa, you may have to add more water and cook a little longer. I like mine well done and soft so I cook it for about 30 minutes. 

Place your seasoned chicken breast into the shallower stack cooker bowl and stack on top of the quinoa bowl. Replace the lid and cook for about 7 minutes.

Let sit to continue to cook and your meal is ready! 

As you can see in the prepared pink bowl, the quinoa wasn't quite done all the way through. You live and learn. :)

Steamed Sweet Potato

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Tools: 
Tupperware Smart Steamer
Knife
Cutting board

Take your sweet potatoes and cut them in slices.  Layer them in the smart steamer baskets and fill the steamer base to the max fill line. 

Cook in the microwave for about 15 minutes and check potato wellness. 

To make baby food, cook it until its very soft. Place cooked potatoes in the power chef and using the blade insert, chop it up. Use the water from the base of the steamer to add liquid to the mashed up baby food if you need to add liquid. 

Steamed Salmon with Baby Bok Choy

Prep time: 15 minutes
Total cooking time: 20-30 minutes

Tools:
Tupperware Smart Steamer (on sale until TOMORROW, APRIL 10TH)
Cutting board
Knife
Tupperware Colander
Tongs
Spatula

Ingredients:
Salmon Steaks
1 onion, sliced
Baby Bok Choy
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Dried Dill
Calamansi (It was what I had at home)

Season the salmon on both sides with salt, pepper, and dill. Squeeze a little fresh calamansi juice on top as well for a nice citrus flavor.

Place salmon steaks into the deep bowl of the smart steamer and lay the onions on top.

Place the top portion of the smart steamer over the fish and place your baby bok choy. Place lid. Make sure the lid lays flat so no steam can easily escape. 

Fill the base of the smart steamer up to the fill line with water. 

Cook in the microwave for about 12 - 15 minutes. Check doneness of fish. NOTE: If you let the fish sit without removing the cover, the steam will continue to cook the food inside. So please check and then proceed accordingly. You may need a spatula to remove the fish as it will be done so nicely, the fish will just fall apart if you try to use tongs.

I let mine sit for a few minutes to continue cooking and dinner was done! I used a little more calamansi juice while eating because I love the citrus flavor against the fish. 

Steamed Ong Choy with Ginger Garlic sauce

Total prep time: 15 minutes
Total cooking time: 15 - 30 minutes

Tools:
Tupperware Smart Steamer
Tupperware Chop n Prep
Tupperware Crystal Wave Microwaveable Bowl
Measuring Pitcher or small bowl for mixing the sauce
Cutting Board
Knife

Ingredients:
Fresh ong choy
1 cup Soy sauce
Fresh ginger
Fresh garlic
1/4 cup White sugar (suit to your taste)
Fresh squeezed calamansi or lemon juice

Chop the ong choy into nice 2-3" pieces (stalk side)
Separate the stalks from the leaves

Place the stalks in the bowl(s) of the smart steamer. You will need to cook this part first because they take longer to cook than the leaves. I was making a lot so I filled both tiers with stalks.

Add water to the smart steamer base up to the max fill line.  Cook for about 11 minutes. Allow the steamer to sit before opening to allow the ong choy to continue to cook. 

While the stems are cooking, make the sauce. Place fresh garlic and ginger into the chop n prep and mince very finely. Place the mince into a measuring pitcher or mixing bowl and add soy sauce, citrus juice, and sugar. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. 

Transfer the cooked stems to the crystal wave bowl.  Put the ong choy leaves into the smart steamer and cook for about 5 minutes. The water is still hot so you don't have to cook it long as the leaves cook in a flash.

Transfer the cooked leaves to the bowl with the stems. 

With everything still hot, pour the sauce over the ong choy and let it mingle. DONE!

Note: I used the colander to strain the sauce onto the ong choy to help remove the calamansi seeds. I then scooped the fresh chopped garlic and ginger onto the ong choy and covered to let it steam a bit before serving. 

Kamaboko (Fish cake) patties

Prep time: 15 minutes
Total cooking time: 30-45 minutes depending on how many patties you will make

Tools:
Tupperware power chef
Cutting board
Knife
Frying pan
Spatula
1/4 cup measuring cup for scooping

Ingredients:
Fish cake (Kamaboko) about 2 packs. If you eat Fishbol, you can use that also (thawed, of course)
1 onion
2 eggs
2 pieces of bread
Patty dressing: Lime juice and mayonnaise

Chop the onion into quarters and place in the power chef. Add the fishcake, eggs, and bread. Chop everything up until it is all minced and forms a batter like consistency.

Scoop out in 1/4 cup mounds and fry to golden brown. Drain on paper towels. 

Note: I did not add salt or pepper to season. The fishcake was already seasoned and tasted fine without the extra salt. 

To dress the patties, we put a small dollop of mayo and a drizzle of lime juice on the patty right before eating. It was surprisingly delicious. (That was my daughters idea)

Breakfast on the run

Prep time: 2 minutes
Total Cooking time: 2 minutes

Ingredients:
3 eggs
salt and pepper to taste


Tools:
Tupperware Breakfast maker (earn this for free by hosting a party or pay $34.49 and get this with your enrollment kit which includes over $340 worth of Tupperware products)
Microwave
Fork

Scramble eggs in the breakfast maker. Add salt and pepper (if you desire) and cook in the microwave (with the lid on) for 30 seconds. Check the eggs and give it a little stir. Cook again for 30 more seconds. Check eggs and cook again if you desire very well done eggs. DONE!

If you want to make a veggie omelette, use the tupperware vegetable peeler to cut perfect strips of zucchini, carrots, or any other veggie you like. Place that in the breakfast maker first and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute. 

Then add your eggs and cook in 30 second increments until done.

I know, I know. Here I go again. Another business I'm getting riled up about and who knows how long this will last, right? 

After this past recognition meeting and rally, I have a feeling this won't be a passing thing. I had the opportunity to cross paths with women who have been with Tupperware for up to 49 years. Can you believe it?! I sure couldn't. Until I met them. In one room, there had to have been over 1000+ combined years of experience all sitting shoulder to shoulder. It was inspiring to say the least.  In this room of people, there were MORE guests than consultants. That was refreshing. To know that so many other people out there, like me, want to seize an opportunity. 

When my mom and I arrived at this meeting place, we had no idea what was in store. When they called my moms name to come up for having one of the top sales for January-February, I screamed. My mom is pictured in the far right in the group photo. She went home with a full set of those square containers. I apologize for not knowing the name. It's not in the catalog.  We were so excited! All she did was share the opportunity with her friends and co workers and people came flocking to her to place orders. WHY?! Because everyone LOVES Tupperware and as soon as they found out she signed up as a consultant, they went running to her.

We all grew up eating from a tupperware plastic spoon at one time or playing with that round red and blue octagon shape sorting toy. Those rounded scoopers and small melon ballers remind us of grandma in the kitchen. There's so much nostalgia in Tupperware yet so much innovation and forward thinking in their products. 

I joined because I wanted the pressure cooker. THAT WAS IT! When I saw how many free things my upline earned, I wanted free stuff too. So, I shared the catalog. I shared the specials and I offer my services to those around me. I'm not here to sell you anything. I'm sure you've got a container missing a seal (cover) or a container that is so old that it got sticky, cracked, or peeled. Contact me for a replacement! Tupperware is lifetime guaranteed.  

I cannot begin to tell you how many free things I have received not only from Tupperware corporate but from my upline just for being a part of their team. It's amazing. And all I paid was $30 (plus s/h and tax). Thirty bucks and I scored over $300 worth of products in my kit. I'm all about the deals baby!

Tupperware is the ONLY company I have seen (so far) that offers SAMPLES at super low prices to their consultants and still give them FULL volume on sales. Yep, I let it out of the bag. So, as a consultant, I'm getting those cute little midget salt and pepper shakers for $3.50! Sample items for dirt cheap. How can ANYONE say no to a deal like that?! And they recognize that sale at a higher sales volume figure. I can't? How? LOL. Who cares! Just take the deal and run with it! It's black friday every day when you're a TW consultant.

I'm not one to push people to do anything nor push people to buy anything. But when it's a deal that you shouldn't pass up, I will shout it from the mountain tops. Cause it's crazy to let something like this just pass you by. 

Ever since I joined and have received so many free items, my family packs lunch every day. We no longer have leftovers, we have "planovers" (Thanks Susan Okoga from Team Special Friends for that term). We always make enough at dinner to pack lunch for the next day. Is it bad that we pack our lunches before we even START dinner? LOL! We no longer have leaked lunches, spilled food, or melted containers. We use crystal wave or vent and serve containers for all our hot lunches. My husband never complains about not having money anymore. HAHA! 

On top of that, cooking has been simpler than ever since Tupperware entered my life. Our electric bill is under $200 every month. For Hawaii that's virtually impossible for family of four in a three bedroom house . I cook with my microwave and use my stove and convection oven sparingly.  

I can't say enough about what Tupperware has done to my life. And all for $30. What are you waiting for? 

After attending the last rally at the Oahu Veterans Center on Thursday, I decided to get my tupperware back out. It's been a while since I cooked in the microwave because my daughter has been doing the cooking. Since no one was home, I thought I'd get back in the saddle.

I made hapa rice (half white and half brown rice) in 25 minutes in the stack cooker. I was truly amazed at how well it made rice. No more making rice every day in a metal pot on the countertop. I can store my rice cooker now and allow for more space in our small kitchen. I put 3 cups of rice in the stack cooker (deep bowl) and rinsed it a few times and put 3-1/2 cups of water. Swirl the pot around to level the grains at the bottom of the pot. Put the stack cooker in the microwave WITHOUT the lid and cooked for 25 minutes. Be sure to cook without the cover or it will boil over and you will have a big mess to clean up.

Our microwave is a 1250 watt machine and I cooked it at full power. It cooked the rice just right. Remove the container from the microwave and place the lid on and allow the heat and steam to continue cooking the rice. It cam out PERFECT!  I like knowing we can cook rice daily without the fuss of a big ole pot and its a quick wash. After cooking, I moved the finished rice into a microwavable crystal wave bowl for storage and future reheating if necessary.

After making the rice, I made some quinoa for myself. My family doesn't care for it but I love it and its better for you. I put 1/2 cup of quinoa in the smaller stack cooker bowl and 1/2 of cold water after a quick rinse. I placed the stack cooker (no lid) in the microwave for 8 minutes at full power. It was still a little undercooked so I put it in for another 2 minutes. I then removed the bowl from the microwave and placed the cover on top to allow the steam to continue cooking the quinoa. After a few minutes of "steaming", I fluffed it with a fork and it once again Tupperware amazed me. It was perfectly done and not overcooked or mushy. 

After it was done, I transferred the completed quinoa into a small crystal wave bowl for lunch tomorrow. Now, to make tonights entree.

I quickly washed the large stack cooker bowl to prep for the cubed steak. I thought one steak would be enough so I actually made two batches. When I tasted the first batch, I knew it wouldn't be enough for my husband and daughter. Here's what I used:
1 chuck steak (about 12-16 oz ), cubed into small bite sized pieces
1 whole white onion, thickly sliced
4 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup of lite soy sauce
2 Tablespoons of worcestershire sauce
1/4 - 1/2 cup of water
Black pepper to taste

Cube the steaks and place on the bottom of the large stack cooker bowl. Cover with onions, garlic and all liquids. Top with a sprinkling of black pepper. Cover and place in the microwave. I cooked mine for 20-25 minutes in my 1250 watt microwave. I stopped at 20 minutes to check how well the  meat was done. I could've stopped there, but wanted to make sure it was cooked thoroughly so I put it back in for another 2 minutes and let it stand in the microwave for about 10 minutes to let it continue cooking in its own steam. 

The results were fantastic. Mind you, my husband asked me what I was making and I had NO CLUE. I just threw the ingredients in the pot and hoped it would come out ok. LOL. The onions were perfectly done and the meat, though just a LITTLE tough (thus cube into smaller bite sized pieces), it tasted great! I must mention that while this was cooking my house smelled so good that waiting 20 minutes felt like forever. 

Lastly, I made chicken breast for my lunch tomorrow. I overcooked it a little. But it still came out ok. I used Pampered Chef's southwestern seasoning only and nothing else. I cut the chicken into strips and forgot my microwave is 1250 and should have cooked it for maybe 4 minutes but did the traditional 6 minutes (intended for a 900 watt microwave). The chicken came out with a nice flavor but just a little dry. My fault. Still edible :)

I really wanted to make it lemon pepper but we were out of lemons. So, I kept it simple and it turned out ok. 

Below are pictures of my stack cooker. It comes with a steamer insert so you can steam veggies EVEN FISH! It also comes with an insert that fits in the large deep bowl for making cakes.  Yes, you can make cakes in the microwave using the stack cooker. I haven't tried it yet, but will very soon! You can click on each image to enlarge.  Thanks for reading!

Click on the pic above to head over to smartsource.com to get your hinode rice coupon. Use this mq at walmart to get your rice for $0.09 (or was it $0.07) a bag (Look for a blue bag on the shelf). NOTE: for the locals, the rice I'm referring to at walmart is the LONG GRAIN white rice. NOT the sticky short grain rice we know and love to make musubis with.  This long grain rice is the fluffy kind.

If you like the short grain sticky rice for musubi  making, WAIT for the next sale at longs. The 5 lb bags go on sale for $3.49 or somewhere in that price range. Then use this coupon and get your rice for about $0.50 versus the average $0.62 - $0.70 per pound in the 15-20 lb bag sizes. 

BE SURE TO PRINT THIS TWICE! Before hitting print check your printer for ink, paper, and no jams. This is a rare coupon that you don't want to waste prints on. If you have access to multiple computers, print this coupon from each one! ENJOY!

I attended our quarterly meeting last night and once again, it has rekindled my love for Thirty-One.  It always does! Getting together with other women to talk story, share ideas, and motivate each other is so uplifting and encouraging and is one of the many reasons I'm still with them. The free amenity is also a bonus (PERK!).  This time we got a monogramed necklace by JK, a new line coming to Thirty one very soon. 

Now, on to the PURSES! I'll be honest and tell you at first glance I wasn't thrilled about the new Jewell line. They LOOKED nice, the price points were less than your department store purses. But not all the bags really appealed to me. 

Then I earned my free kits and purchased some of the products at the consultant sale (PERK!). After using them for a few days, I fell in love with the line.  There are a few bags I have some gripes with. But overall, the Jewell line is actually a pretty fantastic one. The bags themselves are not HEAVY like most purses can be. They have lots of pockets (my favorite thing about Thirty One bags), and they make bags in different sizes and colors. .

My favorite I've seen so far? The mini Diamond district. I earned mine for free with the help of my team (PERK!). Yep, I didn't pay a nickle for it!  This bag can hold a LOT without turning into a bulky mess. It has two outer pockets. One slip pocket where I keep my iphone. The other fold over flap pocket with magnetic closures. The interior comes with two open pockets that can hold your phone, a calculator, a packet of kleenex and lip gloss, and a pen. (to give you an idea of whats in my bag). I carry two kindles, my all about the benjamins wallet, a small notebook, another flat wallet, my hardsided eye glass case, a small tube of lotion, and a few other small things.  Yes, this petite bag looks deceiving. Even I was shocked. 

The handles are very sturdy and the perfect size to carry on your arm without getting in the way when you use the shoulder strap (included). This is currently my daily bag. 

The Street Style
When I first saw this on the video I turned my nose up at it. I saw this last night and felt bad for being so negative about it before I gave it a chance.  I'll be ordering TWO of these for our trip to Europe. Although I have MANY cross body purses in my arsenal, none of them have the look of this jewell purse. It just looks and feels like an expensive purse without breaking the bank. 

There are two large compartments which zip completely shut. In between those two compartments is a pocket that has a magnetic closure. On the opposite side of the bag is a handle. You can carry this as a clutch without the straps or use that to hang on tighter to your purse as you wear it when traveling (which is why I'm ordering these for our trip). Inside there is one interior zipper pocket and two credit card slots for your bare essentials. 

The bag and strap is lightweight. For full figured women like me, crossbody bags are not something we run to because it's not the most flattering (on my body anyway). This bag hangs nicely and is not too bulky yet big enough to carry everything you need when on the go.

The Paris
When I got this in my consultant add on kit, I absolutely loved this bag. I still do. With the Mini Diamond District bag now in my clutches, this bag is now in storage, for now. This is a super cute bag that also can hold your bare necessities. It's tall and narrow with one magnetic closure at the top. Because this bag does not zip all the way shut, you can load this one up with extras if you needed. The handles are very strong and this bag does come with a shoulder strap also. I prefer to carry this by the handles. It looks cuter that way.

I loaded this bag up and it held up well. My only gripe is if this bag decides to take a fall in your moving vehicle, the contents of your bag WILL spill out all over the floor of your car.

It comes with open pockets inside and all Jewell bags have button snaps where you can customize EVERY bag and interchange pockets. That's pretty cool!