More Egg-citing Recipes!

I can't be the ONLY person who still has Easter Eggs to make into something fabulous!! Here are a few more egg-citing things to do with those hard cooked eggs! :) Enjoy!! (Again, for the purpose of these recipes, we will assume you already have hard cooked eggs to use. If you need to hard cook your eggs, see our Easter Holiday Collection for the Diva Perfect Method!)

Salmon Deviled Eggs (that won't break the bank!)

What You'll Need:

12 hard cooked eggs

1/4 pound smoked salmon cream cheese spread

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

paprika

Here's How:

Peel eggs and cut in half length wise. Carefully remove yolks and put them into a mixing bowl. Set whites aside. Mash egg yolks; add salmon spread and mayonnaise. Mix well then pipe or spoon yolk mixture into whites. Sprinkle with paprika.

Spicy Italian Deviled Eggs

What You'll Need:

12 hard cooked eggs

2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard

2 tablespoons Italian salad dressing

1/2 cup mayonnaise

salt and pepper to taste

paprika for garnish

Here's How:

Peel eggs and cut in half length wise. Carefully remove yolks and put them into a mixing bowl. Set whites aside. Mash egg yolks; add mustard, Italian dressing, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Mix well then pipe or spoon yolk mixture into whites. Sprinkle with paprika.

Cucumber and Egg Salad

What You'll Need:

4 hard cooked eggs

2 medium cucumbers

4 dill pickles

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

Here's How:

Peel eggs, chop and place into a salad bowl. Wash and cube cucumber and cube pickles. Add to eggs. Mix in mayonnaise, chill in refrigerator for one hour or longer. Serve on toast or crackers.

Cilantro Egg Salad

What You'll Need:

6 hard cooked eggs

3/4 cup mayonnaise

3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon lime juice

1 stalk celery, washed, deveined and diced

salt and pepper to taste

Here's How:

Peel and chop eggs, put them into a mixing bowl. Add Mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, lime, juice, celery, salt and pepper. Mix until well combined. Add cilantro and stir or fold it in being careful not to mush up the leaves. Chill for one hour or longer to combine the flavors. Serve on toast or crackers.

A Dilly of an Egg Salad

What You'll Need:

6 hard cooked eggs

1/2 cup small curd cottage cheese

2 celery stalks, washed, deveined & chopped

1/4 cup dill pickle relish

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons prepared mustard

salt and pepper to taste

lettuce or cabbage leaves

Here's How:

Peel and chop eggs and place into a mixing bowl. Add cottage cheese, celery, relish, mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper. Mix until well combined. Chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes or more. Serve rolled in lettuce or cabbage leaves.

Enjoy!!

~Diva Veronica

For the Love of Truth!

OK, So I am mostly sane about saving money... I do have the occasional over the top idea or obsessive thought, but who doesn't, right?? (ex: Using the restroom every time you are out will save you on the cost of water, power, hand soap and toilet paper. Even I admit that is a bit much.) But this week's thought is about getting what you pay for ... and knowing what you are paying for.

It all began when I got the weekly flyers and took a look. "Yeah," I thought, "Corned beef is going on sale and I so love to stock a few into my freezer each year." One store had it for 97 cents per pound, one store had it for $1.47 per pound, I had a coupon for the more expensive store... I was all set. Then as I looked over the ads a second and third time as I do nearly every week to be sure I don't miss any great deals I notice that the ads for corned beef state that the price is on "point cut" corned beef. That doesn't bother me, it's always the cheaper corned beef, a little fattier, but you just cook it a little longer and the fat renders down. I know this is the corned beef I buy each and every year. However, the pictures that they are showing are lean and easily sliced like something from a dream or a deli in downtown Manhattan. "THAT is not point cut corned beef," I thought, "THAT is clearly flat cut corned beef. In fact, the same exact picture was used several pages later where they advertised the flat cut corned beef for $1 per pound more. I was quite upset!

I fumed over this deception from stores I have grown to love and count on. I scoured the ads for more misleading ads or pictures, more bait and switch. I was MAD! When my family walked in I gathered them on the sofa. I pulled out my two ads (maybe I was so upset because BOTH stores had pulled the same prank on me!) and I said to them, "Do you see these ads?!?!?!" My husband and children were puzzled and said, "Uhm, yeah??"

Me, pointing wildly at the picture, "Do you see this Corned Beef?"

Them, now clearly confused, "Yes?"

Me, full of ego, "Well, this picture is obviously, OBVIOUSLY a picture of flat cut corned beef and this price, this 'SALE' is for the point cut corned beef which is clearly NOT the same!! Who do they think they are?!?!"

That was when my eldest son, choking back laughter looked at me and said, "Obviously, uhm, Mom, why don't you go for a jog?"

I guess I'm a little corned beef obsessed, but at least I know what I'm paying for!

~Diva Veronica

The Latest Rant

OK, If I hear another person telling people they can save $500 a month by not going to Starbucks and simply try making their coffee at home I'm going to scream! Really? Who are they writing this for?

I don't know anyone with a $500 a month Starbucks habit that doesn't know where the problem is. If they don't, then nothing I'm ever going to say is going to matter anyhow. So, what do you do when you've cut out Starbucks, and the salon, the dog groomers, and restaurant dinners and entertainment in general? We already turn the lights out and the thermostat down and put on a sweater. Well folks, that's where we are. Where do you go from here? We've got the answers and we're going to put them on this website. Practical frugal advice for fabulous people.

And that's the latest rant, Diva Patti

Happy Thanksgiving!

I found this story and just had to share! It puts humor where it belongs... between us and stress. Remember, stressed spelled backwards is desserts! -Diva Veronica

Note:
The author,most definitely NOT Martha Stewart (and for that, I am sure, she is thankful) for "Martha Stewart Doesn't Live Here" was written by B.A. Tyler. She has previously written many humorous articles for Family Circle Magazine. Thanks 'Mac' for the info! And thank your friend for a wonderful essay that's traveled the globe via the Internet!

Martha Stewart will not be dining with us this Thanksgiving. I'm telling you in advance, so don't act surprised. Since Ms. Stewart won't be coming, I've made a few small changes:

Our sidewalk will not be lined with homemade, paper bag luminaries. After a trial run, it was decided that no matter how cleverly done, rows of flaming lunch sacks do not have the desired welcoming effect.

Once inside, our guests will note that the entry hall is not decorated with the swags of Indian corn and fall foliage I had planned to make. Instead, I've gotten the kids involved in the decorating by having them track in colorful autumn leaves from the front yard. The mud was their idea.

The dining table will not be covered with expensive linens, fancy china, or crystal goblets. If possible, we will use dishes that match and everyone will get a fork.

Since this IS Thanksgiving, we will refrain from using the plastic Peter Rabbit plate and the Santa napkins from last Christmas. Our centerpiece will not be the tower of fresh fruit and flowers that I promised. Instead we will be displaying a hedgehog-like decoration hand-crafted from the finest construction paper. The artist assures me that it is a turkey.

We will be dining fashionably late. The children will entertain you while you wait. I'm sure they will be happy to share every choice comment I have made regarding Thanksgiving, pilgrims and the turkey hotline. Please remember that most of these comments were made at 5:00 a.m. upon discovering that the turkey was still hard enough to cut diamonds.

As accompaniment to the children's recital, I will play a recording of tribal drumming. If the children should mention that I don't own a recording of tribal drumming, or that tribal drumming sounds suspiciously like a frozen turkey in a clothes dryer, ignore them. They are lying.

We toyed with the idea of ringing a dainty silver bell to announce the start of our feast. In the end, we chose to keep our traditional method. We've also decided against a formal seating arrangement. When the smoke alarm sounds, please gather around the table and sit where you like.

In the spirit of harmony, we will ask the children to sit at a separate table. In a separate room. Next door.

Now, I know you have all seen pictures of one person carving a turkey in front of a crowd of appreciative onlookers. This will not be happening at our dinner. For safety reasons, the turkey will be carved in a private ceremony. I stress "private"meaning: Do not, under any circumstances, enter the kitchen to laugh at me.

Do not send small, unsuspecting children to check on my progress. I have an electric knife. The turkey is unarmed. It stands to reason that I will eventually win. When I do, we will eat. I would like to take this opportunity to remind my young diners that "passing the rolls" is not a football play. Nor is it a request to bean your sister in the head with warm tasty bread.

Oh, and one reminder for the adults: For the duration of the meal, and especially while in the presence of young diners, we will refer to the giblet gravy by its lesser-known name: Cheese Sauce. If a young diner questions you regarding the origins or type of Cheese Sauce, plead ignorance. Cheese Sauce stains.

Before I forget, there is one last change. Instead of offering a choice between 12 different scrumptious desserts, we will be serving the traditional pumpkin pie, garnished with whipped cream and small fingerprints. You will still have a choice; take it or leave it.

Martha Stewart will not be dining with us this Thanksgiving. She probably won't come next year either. I am thankful.

-Author: BA Tyler

Enjoy a blessed Thanksgiving! May you all be safe, happy and healthy!

-Diva Veronica

Thanksgiving Trivia... Just For Fun!

Did you know that early explorers to the New World acquired a taste for turkey and took the birds back to Europe with them? By the 1500's turkeys were being raised domestically in Italy, France & England! When the Pilgrims arrived in America, they were already familiar with the practice or raising and eating turkey... yet it has been reported that they likely did not have turkey at the first Thanksgiving.

Did you know that President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863, supposedly in response to a campaign by magazine editor Sara Joseph Hale?

Did you know that President Franklin Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving ahead one week as it is presently celebrated?

Did you know that Benjamin Franklin proposed the turkey be named the national bird and was shocked at the decision to name the bald eagle our national bird? He stated that the turkey was "a true Native American".

Did you know that the National Turkey Federation (NTF) presents the President of the United States with 2 dressed turkeys and one live turkey each year at Thanksgiving and they have since 1947? The ceremony has become the unofficial kick off of the holiday season. The President pardons the live bird each year and it is delivered to Disneyland where it lives out the rest of it's natural life.

Did you know that nearly 88% of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving day?

Did you know that when Neil Armstrong & Edwin Aldrin sat down to eat their first meal on the moon, their foil food packets contained roasted turkey and all the trimmings?

Did you know that only Tom turkeys gobble? Hen turkeys make a clicking sound.

Did you know that wild turkeys can run at speeds up to 20 miles per hour?

Well now you do!

It's time to start shopping for non-perishible items you will need for Thanksgiving! Some of these items include:

canned fruits & canned veggies

cranberry sauce

apple sauce

canned yams

canned evaporated milk

spices

basting bags

roaster pans

Don't wait for the last minute to buy a roaster pan... my friend paid $7 for one on Thanksgiving day a few years back because she had no choice!

~Diva Veronica

Hello Divas,

I hope your Halloween was divine. Let's all take today and detox from all the sugar or whatever treats you imbibed.

Can you believe it's November already? This year is going by in a flash. I'm feeling the need to get going full speed on our Holiday preparations now. NOW!

We'll have plenty of tips and tricks to help everyone spend less this year. We're all feeling the crunch.

Diva Patti

Well, it's just now Halloween... as of 4 minutes ago...Friday the Divas took a little time to celebrate with all the kids... we had a Devil, a Vampire, a Zombie, a Race Car Driver, a Jedi, a Disco Witch and a Realtor to name a few. We all had too much sugar and a whole lot of fun!

Later today will be another day and we will do it all over again because it will be Halloween for real! We're calling Friday "practice"!

The Divas and the Diva-kids love Halloween as much or more than any other holiday! It's a time to play pretend and be whatever you want to be for a day... it's all good fun! What other day of the year could I call myself a Disco Witch as an excuse to wear a pointy silver hat and go get my ruby red slippers back from Dorothy.

(The Ruby Red Slippers)

(and standard witchy socks)

Well, I hear Diva Patti is planning to be "Wonder Woman" on Halloween. Not much of stretch from her everyday life, if you ask me... she's a super hero every day! (Or at least a Super Diva!)

OH, if you wake up and read this on Halloween and just then thought "Oh my heck! I need a costume!" Try one of our fast and fab last minute ideas:

1.Wrap your head in aluminum foil and tell people you are just tired of getting commands from the mother ship! Or wrap your entire body and go as a baked potato!

2. Duct tape a pair of old gloves to your feet (like monkey feet) and tell people you're evolution is wearing off!

3. Wear regular clothes and no make up, carry a sign that says, "Stripper on Strike!"

4. Paint a small box black and tape it to your back; you're a refrigerator magnet!

And last but not least:

5. Wear an old teeshirt. Find a small block of Styrofoam, tape it under your shirt. Stick a fork through the shirt into the foam... You're done!

Happy Halloween Everyone! Have fun, be safe and enjoy yourselves! We'd love to hear from you and see your Halloween pictures, so give us a shout out on our blog, comment on our Facebook Fan Page or Tweet us on Twitter!

~Diva Veronica