Birthday Bistro

This weekend was my husband's birthday and to celebrate we went to his favorite restaurant: Lemongrass Bistro. If you live in Kona and you have never been to Lemongrass, well you are missing out! And if you ever plan to visit the west side of the Big Island, then you definitely need to try Lemongrass Bistro.

If you've never eaten here don't feel too bad. I have never been until I started dating my husband. But now that I have tasted its deliciousness there is no going back!

When we went for dinner on Saturday night it just so happened to also be happy hour. (Who doesn't love a good happy hour!) On top of their regular menu they had some discounted pupus. We got the shrimp and veggie tempura. Mmmmm, I love me some tempura!

One of my husband's favorite appetizers here is the macadamia nut crusted tofu. Trust me, it is also delicious! This crispy, crunchy tofu delicacy comes with an awesome thai peanut sauce. My mouth is watering just thinking of it!

Isn't it pretty!

When it comes to the entrees my husband has two favorites. The last couple of times we came he has gotten the crispy duck. For his birthday dinner he went with his other favorite: Crying Tiger NY Steak. I got my new favorite: Massaman Curry. I get mine with the shrimp, but you can get it with chicken, fish, beef, or tofu. 

                                        

The best thing about eating at Lemongrass Bistro is that everything is fresh and light. When we were done eating we definitely felt full, but we sure didn't feel weighed down by a heavy meal. So the next time you are in for some super yummy and completely satisfying food you got to check out Lemongrass!

                            

Big Island Budget

Living on a budget can be tough, and that budget gets even tougher living here in Hawaii. We have the highest cost of living in the whole country. (I'm not complaining though! I'll gladly pay more than 5 bucks for a gallon of milk if it means I get to live where it's summer year round.) Over the past few years I have found some pretty creative (and pretty fun!) ways to get the most out of my money here on the Big Island. If you want to try any out for yourself, just click the links below!

A few years ago I discovered a wonderful app called Shopkick. I get points or "kicks" as they call it just for walking in to stores. Those "kicks" can be redeemed for all sorts of different gift cards. You can also get extra kicks just for scanning the bar code of certain items when you are at the store. It's like a scavenger hunt!

http://get.shopkick.com/triangle9583

I've found that the best place to buy groceries here is Target. I use my Target RedCard every time I shop there and get an automatic 5% off every time! I also use my Cartwheel app! Cartwheel is an app that saves all your target coupons on to one barcode. The cashier will scan the barcode on your phone at checkout. Almost all the Market Pantry items are at least 5% off with Cartwheel. The app even has a feature where you can scan the barcode on an item and it will tell you if there is a coupon for it! It is SO easy to use.

                                                      http://cartwheel.target.com/

My absolute new favorite shopping trick it Ebates! My mom introduced it to me this past Christmas holiday and I am hooked! Ebates gives you CASHBACK on your online shopping. Our stores don't carry all items here on the Big Island, and there are a lot of store that we don't even have. So if there is something you really want it has to be ordered online. I've even used Ebates for stores like Target and Macys, which we do have here. I place my order online through Ebates, I choose "Pick up at store" (which saves a ton on shipping!), and then later that day I just go to customer service and pick it up. I save time and money! The best is when my husband and I used Ebates to buy some items from Lowes. It always takes me forever to find whatever I need there. But with Ebates, we just walked to the front desk, picked up our items, and actually MADE 5 bucks in the process.


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My latest discovery is Inbox Dollars. It doesn't involve shopping or coupons. It's what I like to call free money. With Inbox Dollars you earn money by taking online surveys. You can also earn money just by searching the internet and checking emails. I haven't been on it very long and I've already made $12!

http://www.inboxdollars.com/?r=ref19351110





That pretty much wraps up how I get the biggest bank for my buck! As they say, you can only spend a dollar once. And I like my dollar to go as far as possible!

Family Dinner

About a year and a half ago my friends and I began what we call "Family Dinner".  None of us have any family here on the big island, so we have created our own family nucleus. The initial instigator of our family dinners is our matriarch. We lovingly refer to her as "mom" (even though she is the same age as us). I got coined grandma (cuz let's face it, I've been old since I was 20). Once we got married my husband unfortunately became grandpa :) 

This week for family dinner I said I wanted to bring crab rangoons. This snowballed in to a Chinese food theme!

The recipe is fairly simple, and fairly healthy as it calls for neufchatel cheese in place of cream cheese and the wontons are baked, not fried. Our family consists of some men with healthy appetites so I doubled the recipe... EXCEPT for the crab. I'll double it with imitation crab, but when it comes to the real stuff the taste can be quite over powering. 

I first mixed everything up in a bowl...

Placed the wontons in a cupcake pan and added small spoonfuls of the mix. 

I tried to get them to look like the Panda Express ones so I pinched each corner. They aren't quite as pretty, but they tasted pretty good :) 

After only 20 minutes at 350 degrees I had happy, healthy rangoons! Mmmm mmmm!

Here is the recipe I used if you'd like to try yourself. Remember, double everything EXCEPT THE CRAB (unless you really like crab, but let's face it, we all just eat these for the warm, gooey cheese!)

Baked Crab Rangoon Recipe

Easy Homemade Granola

This Christmas vacation while visiting my parents I learned about the amazing-ness of homemade granola. It is SO delicious and SO easy. It takes just a handful of ingredients and only 20 minutes to make! It has now become a weekend ritual for me. In no time at all my husband and I have yummy granola to take with us to work for the week. We love to put it on Greek yogurt. Mmmmm mmmmm!

My mom uses pecans along with the oats when she makes this awesome recipe. However, I live on an island where nuts are kind of ridiculously expensive. So, instead of pecans I use the sliced almonds from Costco. 

My favorite part is melting down the butter with the honey, brown sugar, and cinnamon. It makes the house smell heavenly! 

Then the melted butter gooey-ness gets poured in to the oat mixture. It's gotta get stirred thoroughly so everything gets coated and the granola will all stick together in the end. 

For baking I like to use my 9x13 pan. It fits it all perfectly. I found with using a bigger sheet the edges would get toaster than the rest of the granola. Parchment paper is also a must for easy clean up!

Finally I just cook it for about 12 minutes at 365 degrees. My mom cooks hers for about 15, so you gotta see what works for your oven. You'll know it's ready when it is all golden brown. 

After it sits for a bit so it hardens together I brake it apart and place in a container. And now we have homemade granola for the week! 

Here is the recipe so you can give it a try!

Ingredients:
3 cups of oats (NOT instant)
1 cup sliced almonds (or other nut of your choosing)
1 stick of butter (YES! The whole stick!)
3 tbsp honey (don't skimp. This holds it all together!)
3 tbsp brown sugar (heaping spoonfuls! This keeps your granola intact too!)
cinnamon (sprinkle on as much or as little as you like)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 365 degrees.

Place oats and nuts in a bowl.

On medium heat melt down butter. Add in honey, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

Pout butter mixture into the bowl with the oats and nuts. Stir together, thoroughly coating.

Line a 9x13 baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour the oat mixture on to the pan.

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Let me sum up...

It's been over four years since I've posted on this blog, and a lot sure has happened since! I have become heavily involved with leadership at my school, I have learned A LOT about my profession and how to be a better teacher with each passing year. 

Three years ago I adopted the two cutest puppies in the whole wide world, who are now the two cutest dogs in the whole wide world. One of which was cast as Toto in our local production of The Wizard of Oz. 

Over these past four years I also became a fanatic for karaoke and two years ago my friend Robin even convinced me to compete in Hawaiian Idol- a local karaoke competition. It was so fun!

And the most exciting thing of all is that this past summer I got married! 

Being married is awesome! Not only do I get to live with my best friend, but we also get to work together! That's right. He's a teacher too! Kory teaches special education at the same school I work at. He's the best carpool buddy ever!

On top of planning a wedding and getting married this summer I also read the entire Harry Potter series! It was AWESOME! Since then I've read the Hunger Games series (another awesome series!), the Maze Runner series (not really that awesome, but the OCD in me needed to finish), and a few other books as well (though none compare to HP). 

So, to sum up, the highlights for the past four years are my dogs, karaoke, Harry Potter, and best of all, my husband.