Weeknight Dessert Idea (making up for lost time)

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. All opinions are my own. #LetsMakeSmores #CollectiveBias #Sponsored

Hello my loves,

Before we get to this:

I have a confession to make.

My name is Mabel. The first time I ever had a S'more in my entire life was last summer, at the age of 30. 

Can u believe that?!

Not sure if this is an excuse by any means but I grew up in a Hispanic household and (sadly) S'mores are not necessarily a common dessert within our culture. Growing up, the treat was something I only saw in 'American movies'. Funny, huh?! Thankfully, one of my best friends saved me from my 30 years of S'mores celibacy when she invited me to a get together at her lake house last summer. We spent two blissful days enjoying gorgeous weather and some quality time by the campfire. At my very first taste of S'mores I fell in love and came to the conclusion I had to make up for lost time. There's probably a lot of delicious treats I should be catching up on. 

I would love to say that I was able to eat more S'mores again shortly after that experience but the truth is, I didn't get another chance until recently. During a trip to Walmart the other day I came across all the necessary ingredients to make this delicious treat. And so, candid memories from last summer started coming back. I don't have any camping trips planned (yet) and I don't live anywhere near a campfire (my apartment is up in a NYC high rise!). However, after 2 seconds of contemplation, I came to the conclusion that there is no rule saying a campfire is needed to make S'mores. And so, I bought everything I needed, determined to find a way I could make these at home.

In case you are curious, here is where I found each item:

Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars (6 pack)- Candy Aisle 34 (second shelf from bottom up)

Honey Maid Graham Cracker Squares (exclusively at Walmart)- Crackers/Cookie Aisle 11 (bottom shelf)

Kraft Jet Puffed Marshmallows- Coffee, etc. Aisle 19 (bottom shelf)

I came home excited to make these at some point during the week after a long day at work. I always look forward to a delicious sweet treat after dinner. My sister is in town for work so I invited her to pass by my apartment and make S'mores with me. Needless to say, no much convincing was needed. She was a bit skeptical about making these at home. I insisted- Who said that S'mores can only be made by the campfire?

There is nothing an oven and a very creative imagination cant do. And guess what, this entire process took less than 10 minutes!

Ingredients:

• Oven with a 'broiler' option
• Hershey Chocolate 6 pack
• Jet Puffed Kraft Marshmallow
• Honey Maid Graham cracker square
• A sweet tooth and a creative imagination

Preparation:

• Pre-heat over to 350 degrees, set to broiler (I used my very convenient counter-top oven).
• Place aluminum paper over the oven-friendly pan
• Place marshmallows to taste
• Let marshmallows heat up for about 6-7 minutes until brown

Did anyone request toasted marshmallows? yum.

Make sure you have all the needed ingredients spread out nicely on a plate (you know, just makes it quicker and easier to dig in to this heavenly treat). 

Now, take one graham cracker square, ad a square of the Hershey chocolate, add a warm marshmallow, add the other side of the cracker on top, and watch how it all melts in to perfection:

Optional- Organize it nicely for your guest:

Mandatory- Take a bite and take the time to savor it, life is good:

...this was the end result:

An evening well spent.

I had such a fun time making this in my apartment and sharing the experience with my sister, whom I don't get to see often. We had a mini get together in the middle of the week and I couldn't have been more excited. I look forward to making more of these over the summer, as I mentioned before- I have a lot of catching up to do. Any day can be a S'mores day!

 I encourage you to do the same. Tell me how it goes :)

Thanks for reading.

Love,

Mabelle

Saving myself a whole lot of money: Unlimited Talk, Text and Data (plus a pretty awesome phone)

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and Walmart Family Mobile. All opinions are my own. #MobileMemories #CollectiveBias

Good morning everyone! Let me introduce you to the new member of my life-

I am one happy camper-

As a business professional living in New York City (a place I love), life can get pretty expensive. I consider myself a frugal person and so I am constantly looking for creative ways to stay within a healthy budget while still allowing myself certain luxuries. While we may be able to rearrange our budgets and save money by cutting off certain items, I am sure we can all agree that some of our monthly expenses, such as having a cell phone, are non-negotiable.

Another thing that is non-negotiable is setting aside some quality time to keep in touch with the people I love- this includes my mother, my sister, and a couple of very close cousins that live very far from me—one in Canada and the other one in Tampa, Florida.

For several years I have been paying some hefty prices not only for my actual cell phone but also on a monthly basis as I have been signing 2-3 year contracts since I got my first cell phone in 2003. I've been thinking lately how much money I could save by finding myself a more affordable solution. There is so much to choose from now a days.

And so, you can imagine my excitement when I was given the opportunity to try out a brand new phone- the Samsung Galaxy Avant with the Walmart Family Mobile month-to-month phone plan (with no contract whatsoever) at the very reasonable cost of $29.88 per month.

My plans for this summer include taking a few road trips and doing some traveling. Obviously I am going to need my phone to stay in touch with my loved ones and for my day to day activities. Hence, this turned out to be the absolute perfect time for me to switch to a more affordable plan—I’d like to enjoy myself and not think about my unpredictable phone bill each month. Hence, I am very excited to try out the Walmart Family Mobile Plan and saving myself a nice chunk of change.

First of all, the phone itself is super affordable, coming out at $161.48 including all taxes and fees. I live in New York City where taxes are quite high so the phone may be even cheaper in your area. Disclaimer: All prices for phone and plans included in this post are accurate as of the date of this posting; however, these prices are subject to change. Please refer to http://cbi.as/8e03 or your local Walmart for current pricing. 

The family mobile plan works in 30-day increments and is a “post-pay” phone plan rather than pre-paid. So basically, the bill for $29.88 will come at the end of each month. In addition to unlimited talk and text it also includes 1G of data with incredible 4G LT service- which, in a nutshell, means very high speed Internet. This is quite the deal. 

Going in to Walmart is always a fun adventure. I have to drive about 25-30 minutes to my nearest location but is all well worth it. I ordered the phone online so first thing I did was ask one of the customer service reps to guide me towards the "servicing" department which takes care of all online transactions. I was guided to the 1st floor (which feels like the basement) and was easily able to find the area I was looking for by following the signs.

Yes, right by the restrooms, first floor.

The rep at the servicing station guided me towards the electronics department (in the same floor) where I would be able to purchase the starter kit and set up the phone all in one step. I made my way towards the electronics aisle and came across this almost immediately:

The Samsung Galaxy Avant was not in stock (apparently is quite popular) but right on the kiosk advertising the Walmart Mobile Service, you can pick up the starter kit (for $25) which is a one time cost needed to link your phone to Walmart’s Family Mobile plan. Customer service in electronics was awesome (hi Rohan!) and immediately helped me set up the phone and I was good to go. He advised I should get my bill in the mail before the 30 days are up for the month. He also confirmed I can cancel anytime. If the phone is purchased online, you get 15 days to return it. 

I took full advantage of my trip to Walmart to also purchase some home staples I needed. Who doesn't love taking advantage of super low prices? I'm pretty sure is not just me. :)

I am loving the phone so far. Service is great, I can download countless apps, listen to my favorite podcast and music. Plus, I have been able to text and call my loved ones with no problems. I cant believe I waited this long to switch to a more affordable phone plan and service. I know that my wallet is thanking me as well. Cant wait to see how much I've saved by the end of the year. 

Tell me, how do you plan to save money this summer (or in general). Would a cheaper phone plan with an awesome phone to match be a good move for you?

January Goal Review: How did I do?!

Hey everyone! Happy Saturday! I had quite the eventful day. I went to lunch with a very good friend of mine. We met up at California Kitchen and I had the most amazing Cobb Salad with house ranch dressing on the side (used very sparingly).

After a very nice lunch and an amazing time catching up I decided to do some shopping. My goal was just maybe an hour or two but that turned in to about 5 hours where I visited:

• Walmart
• Target
• Trader Joes
• The Container Store

I had to take advantage because most of the stores are no where near my apartment (I was about 20-25 miles away from home). So, believe me! I had a blast. Specially at Walmart  I think I stocked up on enough house cleaning products and snacks to last me for the rest of the year!

So anyways, without further ado I'd like to get to the point of the post which is my January Goals Review. If you missed the very first post of the year you can check it out here. These were my target goals:

1. Read an entire book of choice. January's Selection: Aleph By Paulo Coelho

I finished the book in about 2 weeks in to the month. Although the book was quite good and included several "inspirational- follow your dreams" quotes, which are almost in every Coelho's book--- I still find that the Alchemist is his best work to date. 

Aleph is written as non-fiction and is actually Coelho's personal account of a trip he made
with his writing team while crossing the Trans-Siberian railway (a very, very long and adventurous train ride from Europe to Russia). I wont tell you much in case you want to read it but he shares multiple adventures where the main character is a stalker fan which he allows to join him on the trip. 

Like I mentioned, the book is filled with amazing quotes. Here are a few of my favorites:

"When faced by any loss, there’s no point in trying to recover what has been, it’s best to take advantage of the large space that opens up before us and fill it with something new." -Aleph, Paulo Coelho

"Don’t be intimidated by other people’s opinions.  Only mediocrity is sure of itself, so take risks and do what you really want to do."

"Anyone who knows God cannot describe Him. Anyone who can describe God does not know Him."

2. Get started on my new Jillian Michaels DVD. Shred IN 30

What can I say?! I love, love, love Jillian! I am currently on week 2, day 4 of Shred In 30. Ive been doing the workouts pretty consistently about every other day (minus this past week because I did not have time due to my school-scheduling chaos). Nonetheless, the workouts continue to be amazing and I definitely find this DVD much more challenging that the 30 day shred. I feel so much stronger and with more definition. Cant wait to see what weeks 3 and 4 are all about. I have a feeling I should be quite scared. But I am sure it'll be worth it!

*The way I am approaching the workouts: Since is 4 weeks worth of different workouts what I am doing is completing each week through the course of 7 days (skipping a day in between) which makes it to about 2 weeks per weekly workout. Hope that makes sense! I dont do it everyday because the workouts involve weights so, I like to give my muscles a rest day in between.

3. Look at the NY Road Runners schedule and map out a few races for the year or next 6 months. My sister got me a membership for Christmas (gotta love her!) so I cant wait to put it to use

Yes! So excited I have my 5 races mapped out for the year (I had made a goal of completing at least 5 races in 2013). I sat down the other day and googled some cool races for the year. I still have to sign up but a couple of the ones I am super excited about are: The Rock N Roll Race and The Color Run. Tomorrow I am running my very first race of the year with my sister. Is a 4-miler. Not too bad but I am excited :)

Ok, so I know I mentioned I would have my February objectives mapped out by today but I am still working on a few details for that particular post. I want to make sure my goals are realistic and attainable considering I am about to go back in to my full-time employee/ Part-time student routine so, there's going to be quite a nice mix of time-management going on. I am hoping to finish up rounding up my feb goals by tomorrow.

Question: Did you have any particular objectives for January? What was the best thing that happened to you in the last 31 days?