Carlsbad Caverns Is a Must See Place In New Mexico

Last week my family and I went to a place called Carlsbad Caverns which is located in Carlsbad, New Mexico. It was about a 4 1/2 hour drive from Albuquerque but worth the long drive.  Carlsbad caverns are cool caves made out of limestone. There are two ways to enter the caves. The first is by an elevator ride and the 2nd, which we took, is a mile walk that goes down. The walk down goes by quickly as there is so much to see. My younger boys who are 6 and 7 years had no problem walking. 

Once in the caves, there is plenty of cool formations to look at. There are are more than 119 known caves - all formed when sulfuric acid dissolved the surrounding limestone. You can take a self guided tour that has railed pathways to view the rock formations or go on a guided tour to explore deeper into the caves. Some of the tours involve climbing and some require you to wear a helmet with a light on it. For more information on this cool place visit:

http://www.nps.gov/cave/index.htm

 My 7 year old son did a project at school about the caverns so he was excited to visit. Some of the facts my son wrote about was:

1.It is a famous bat colony

2.One of the worlds largest caves

3.Always a cool 56 degrees

The bats only come out of the caves at night time and when you are in the caves, you can not see any bats. When the bats do come out of the caves, it is an awesome show to see. The bats come out to search for food, a 20 minutes to 2 hour process. Then they go back in the cave to sleep until the next night. 

Enjoy the pictures and if you are ever in New Mexico be sure to check out the caverns. There are more pictures of the caverns at http://www.nps.gov/cave/index.htm

Upside-Down Lemon Meringue Pie That Is Gluten Free Too

I made this wonderful pie for Easter and everybody love it. I found this recipe in Martha Stewart's Living magazine and just knew I had to make it. I love the way the crust is made out of meringue, making it gluten free. The filling is simply a wonderful lemon mousse topped with whip cream. My guests were asking for seconds.

Upside-Down Lemon Meringue Pie

                                     crust

                                                               1 Tablespoon  unsalted butter, softened, for pie plate

                                                                  4 large egg whites, room temperature

                                                                  1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

                                                                  1 cup sugar

                      

                                                                   FILLING

                                                                8 large egg yolks, room temperature

                                                                1 cup sugar

                                                                 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

                                                                 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice( about 2 lemons)

                                                                 1 cup heavy cream   

                                                                  

                                                                Topping

                                                                1 cup heavy cream

                                                                 1 tablespoon sugar

                                                                 1 tablespoon lemon zest 

                                                                 

                                                                

                                                               STEP 1

Crust: Preheat oven to 300 degrees with rack in center. Lightly brush a 9-inch pie plate with butter. Whisk together egg whites and 1 tablespoon cold water with a mixer on high speed until foamy, about 30 seconds. Add cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks form, about 1 minute. Gradually add sugar and beat until thick, glossy peaks form, about 5 minutes.

STEP 2

Transfer egg-white mixture to prepared pie plate; spread along bottom and up sides to form crust. (Don't spread past rim of pan.) Bake meringue until crisp and light golden on outside, about 40 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool in oven 1 hour, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

STEP 3

Filling: Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks in a medium saucepan (off heat) until thickened and pale yellow, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in sugar and lemon zest and juice. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture is very thick, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto surface of curd. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

STEP 4

Whisk curd until smooth. Whip cream with a mixer on high speed until soft peaks form, about 30 seconds. Working in batches, gently fold whipped cream into curd. Fill meringue crust with lightened curd; smooth top. 

STEP 5

Topping: Whip cream and sugar with a mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 40 seconds. Spread over pie. Finely grate lemon zest over top.  Slice with a chef's knife, wiping blade between cuts.

I recommend serving the pie right away for best results on a good crust. If you want to prepare this pie ahead, I would not add the filling to the crust until up to an hour before serving time and whip the cream no more than 30 minutes before serving. This pie has a lot of steps but is worth the effort.

Here is the link to the original recipe: http://www.marthastewart.com/1064311/upside-down-lemon-meringue-pie

                                                            

      

Lemon Bars From A Cookie Mix

    I love taking recipes and making them different. My son wanted me to make him some lemon bars for Easter. I found a great recipe for them online but realized I wanted to make the crust different. I have about 25 packages of cookie mix in my stockpile that I got on clearance from Christmas, so I thought why not make the lemon crust bar out of a sugar cookie mix. My son was hesitant to let me do that but I told him it would taste great. I was right. The sugar cookie mix made a wonderful crust for the lemon bars and it was so simple to make that I will be making lemon bars more often. This recipe is a great way to use a sugar cookie mix.

Sugar Cookie Mix Lemon Bars

For the crust

1 pouch (1 lb.1.5 oz) sugar cookie mix

1/2 cup butter,softened

1 egg

For the filling

6 large eggs 

2 1/2 cups  sugar

1 cup lemon juice

1 cup flour

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9 by 13 pan

Stir cookie mix, butter, and egg in bowl until soft dough forms.  Press the cookie dough mix in the pan, going up the sides half way. Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned and let cool. Leave the oven on for the next step.

For the lemon layer, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or about five minutes beyond the point where the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature. Cut into squares and dust with confectioners’ sugar

I Am Proof People Do Win Contests

I love entering contests and I really like when I win something. I used to only enter contests with low entries but I realized I needed to dream bigger so I enter contests that I liked the prize. Here is my most recent win, a Easter gift from Swiss Colony. This contest had 22030  entries in it and my name was selected. I won this awesome prize from http://www.greenvics.com/2014/04/TheSwissColonyEasterGiveaway.html. My family was thrilled to get this prize. The prize was a container of goodies, a ham and swiss cheese. So as I tell my family, you can't win unless you enter. So if I share a lot of contests on Facebook, it is because I want others to enjoy winning. 

Have you ever won a contest? What was the prize?

National Karaoke Week - April 20-26 With KIDZ BOP

I was asked to promote National Karaoke Week on behalf of Kidz Bop 25. All opinions are 100% my own and I was sent Kidz Bop 25 to help give an honest opinion of their latest album. I was sent a copy of the mentioned CD to write this.

It is National Karaoke Week this week and I have a great CD to tell you about. Kidz Bop 25 is music that kids love but the cool thing is parents love it too. The "Cups" song you know the one made famous by kids doing a song with cups is on this CD along with many other great songs.

About KIDZ BOP:

1.      KIDZ BOP is the #1 music brand for kids in the U.S., featuring songs sung by kids for kids

2.      KB 25 came out January 14, 2014              

a.      It has 16 songs on it…including roar, cups, safe and sound

3.      KB 25 commercial and music video, “Safe and Sound” was shot at Universal Studios Hollywood

a.      Link to music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3N5gYH6moc

4.      KB recently launched its own channel on SiriusXM, KIDZ BOP Radio on Channel 77

5.      The KIDZ BOP Kids are all online/homeschooled

6.      A KIDZ BOP teacher travels with the KIDZ BOP Kids to make sure all schoolwork gets done

7.      The KIDZ BOP Kids’ “Dream Big, Sing Loud!” Tour will stop at over 40 cities across North America

8.      The KIDZ BOP Kids are currently recording for their next album, KIDZ BOP 26 that comes out in July

This cool Karaoke Machine  is available in Walmart on display for this month along with Kidz Bop 25. The Kidz Bop CDs are always available at major retails stores.

TrueLipids To The Rescue For Cracked, Dry Skin And A Giveaway

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

I have discovered a product that helps skin problems like dry, cracked, chapped, and itchy skin. This amazing product that worked for my dry skin problems, Cheryl Lee MD and is part  of a wonderful line of skin care products for many skin conditions. I love that TrueLipids is a natural product that is free of fragrance, Paraben, Peg, and Formaldehyde. TrueLipids products are also hypoallergenic and non-irritating.

TrueLipids has a patented line of skincare products designed to benefit eczema, itchy skin, dry skin, skin allergies, severely cracked hands, elbows & feet, diaper rash, cracked peeling lips, and minor cuts, scrapes, and burns. The idea behind the technology is to replace the lipids that are deficient in damaged skin to allow for the skin to repair itself. It also forms a barrier stopping the irritants, toxins, and allergens from getting in. The results thus far have been amazing! The company has been able to help people who have suffered for years to finally find relief! Their  product line consists of lotion, cream, ointment, hydrocortisone cream, lip balm, and boo boo & bum balm. 

I have heels on my feet that are dry and cracked and my youngest has hands that get so dry that they bleed.I have yet to find a product that works until now.  I was sent the TrueLipids Relieve & Protect ointment to use on our dry skin. I loved that the product was an ointment and has a natural anti-inflammatory extract from licorice root and provides a natural barrier to protect my skin from the irritants that caused my skin problems.

This is a picture of my heels that are so dry and cracked, my husband jokes that I can sand things with them. I put lotion on them every night and sometimes Vaseline  but that does not help. 

Here is a picture of my 6 year old son's hand and this is on a good day. Notice how it is bleeding from the dry skin. We have been putting Vaseline on them at night but they still get so dry. I am happy to have a natural alternative to put on his sensitive skin.

This is what the TrueLipids Relieve & Protect  ointment looks like before rubbing it into my sons skin.

The ointment is applied thickly before bed to the skin and for best results you put socks over the hands or feet.

I used the product for two nights and here are the after pictures of my heels and my sons hands. I am so happy to have the dry skin gone on my feet. My son is happy to not have bleeding dry skin anymore. I also notice that after using the TrueLipids on my sons hands that his hands stay soft all day unlike when we were using Vaseline his hands work be dry and bleeding again by the afternoon. My son looks at his hands and says "they are still smooth."

To purchase this amazing skin ointment click on the below link. Cheryl Lee MD has a 30-day money back guarantee so there is no risk in trying it, If it does not work, you can just send it back and they will refund your money.

Cheryl Lee MD TrueLipids

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Cheryl Lee MD has allowed me to host a giveaway where one of my readers will win 2 TrueLipids products of their choice (up to $100.) The awesome thing is that if you purchase the product and win my giveaway, the company will refund your money. Just enter on the form below and good luck!

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I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.