Flea Market Fun- Wannabe Monster High ghouls and the rescue of Strawberry Shortcake

Since the weather was beautiful this weekend, we thought we would head out and cruise around the fleamarket.  I love going out to look around and there are some great produce vendors.   I love being able to pick up some local produce.  I had 2 items that I was looking for.  If you have followed along lately, we have been searching high and low for Monster High dolls.

I thought the fleamarket might be a great place to check for some that are in played with condition.
The place was swarmed with people.  I guess everyone else had the same idea to get out and enjoy the weather.  Sadly, though the pickings were slim.  

I was shocked that not one naked Barbie was spotted.  Usually, that is the place to find them and you can always find at least 4 or 5 tables just covered with them.  With the lack of Barbies, of course that means no MH dolls either.  

I did however find these.  They are Monster High like wannabes.  I got a kick out of seeing these.  They just weren't what I was looking for.  

My big "purchase" for the weekend was a vintage Strawberry Shortcake doll.  She didn't have her dress but she had a great pair of original tights.  The lady was getting ready to pack up, she had a small box and said anything in there is free.  

I used to love Strawberry Shortcakes, so she had to be rescued.


Maybe next weekend will bring a better selection.

Hunger Hits Home documentary

I hope everyone will tune in to watch this documentary.   Food Network is working together with Share Our Strength to use this documentary as an opportunity to promote community action and support for the programs that are in place to help solve this problem.


HUNGER HITS HOME premieres on Food Network on Saturday, April 14^th at 8pm EST/7pm CST.

Free Victoria's Secret Reward Card- LIve at NOON!

FREE Victoria’s Secret Rewards Card worth $10, $50, $100 or $500 this will start April 1st- April 15th at 12 Noon EST each day!  A total of 20,000 Reward Cards and Offers will be awarded. You can use it in-store or online!

Monster High- Ghoulia's scooter releasing today? yes, no, maybe ugly rumor, who knows?

My Monster High mom friends and I are in a frenzy this morning.  Late last night, we heard that Ghoulia's new scooter might be releasing today.  When something new releases, you would think it was Black Friday.  We start gathering information, forming plans to beat out the Monster High scalpers, and calling every 24 hour Walmart in a 50 mile radius

I am on the prowl this morning, hopefully I will find something

Ultimate Blog Party 2012

Thanks for stopping by from the Ultimate Blog Party.  This is always a great time to visit favorite blogs and find new blogs.

 I am trying to get back to active blogging. I am the mother of  3 awesome children ages 7, 4, and a 6 week old. Last year, I had some health issues and this February (actually on Leap Day) gave birth.  My blog kind of got put on the back burner.  I really have missed blogging.Now, I am  trying to make this my 5 minutes of me time.

I love to post about all kinds of different topics.   In the Squeaky Grocery Cart, you will find recipes, some product reviews, stories about my family, and a little bit of everything goes into the cart.

We are on a Monster High high

In the past month, our MH collection has grown exponentially.  Friday night, my husband and I were out looking for the newest MH dolls.  We heard that Walmarts were getting shipments.  We have 2 MH collections.  Our daughter who loves to open and play.  Then mine, all are MIB.  My children can't understand why I leave them in the box.

The first store we stopped at, we hit the jackpot!!  We found Abbey, which is the one doll that we have been looking for for close to 7 months.   I literally was shaking when I saw Abbey.  My daughter has wanted this doll for so long, but I had never seen her in a store.  I refuse to pay the ridiculous prices on ebay.

She has beautiful blue sparkly skin and is decked out in faux fur accessories.

Rochelle, is the pink haired doll on my right.  She is the daughter of a gargoyle. Her skin looks like stone, accent with pink and blue hair.  I absolutely love her!

Then the last one is Jackson.  He is kind of nerdie and normal for Monster High.  But, he really is the son of Dr. Jekyll.   He comes with a pet lizard.

We had a friend who was visiting family in Michigan.   In exchange for hunting Monster High dolls, I  searched for Lalaloopsy dolls for their daughter.   I was able to find a few they didn't have.  But, they found us a lot of dolls we didn't have.

Five Spice Tea Eggs

I thought I would re-post this recipe from last year.  We are getting ready to make some more of these today. 
 My good friend Laura, introduced me to Chinese tea soaked eggs.   She taught English for several years in Taiwan and this is a recipe that she learned while there.


Five-Spice Tea Eggs

eggs, a dozen or so
black Chinese tea leaves, 3-4 tablespoons
whole eight-star anise, 3-4
five-spice powder, 1 teaspoon
thumb-sized piece of ginger
soysauce, 3 tablespoons
salt, 1 teaspoon

1. Make soft-boiled eggs and immerse in cold water (this makes for easier peeling later.)
2. Gently tap the eggs with the back of a spoon so that the shells are cracked all over.
3. In a pan cover the eggs with water, add the tea leaves, spices and seasonings. Simmer for an hour or two, adding water as needed. Soak overnight.

When the eggs are peeled they will have a brown crackled pattern on the inside.

It was really funny to see how people reacted to the eggs.  People were afraid to try them!   They are just hard boiled eggs, but with all of the spices and tea give off a beautiful fragrance.  It also helps create these beautiful crackled patterns on the eggs.  You can serve them warm or cold, eat them as a snack or served with rice.  It is a nice change from traditional deviled eggs

Dorito Locos Taco

The other night my husband and I were children free.   You would think that we would have used that time to go out somewhere nice, but instead we ended up at Taco Bell.

I debated on trying the Dorito Locos Taco. First of all, I am more of a soft taco kind of girl. The whole idea sounded good, but would it really be as good as everyone is saying?  Now, don't get me wrong...I love Doritos! They are a guilty pleasure for me.  I sometimes crave those radio active orange triangles and delight in licking my spice coated orange fingers afterwards.

  Well, here are my thoughts about the taco.

  The Dorito taco shell tastes great! It is basically a giant Dorito that has been turned into a taco shell.  Which to me, is greatly improved over regular taco shells.  But, it is more fragile then a regular crispy taco shell.  After the first bite, I ended up more with Dorito nachos then I did a Dorito taco.

It is something that you would have to eat in the restaurant.  The shell gets soggy fast!   You need to inhale it like you are a competitive eater (2 bites or less).  I don't think it could survive the ride home and if you hit some traffic....  well, just forget it.

You can order the taco, with or without sour cream.  I originally ordered mine without, but when I got it, sour cream was added.  I decided I would just eat it.    There is a reason I never order anything at Taco Bell ending in Supreme.


If you look at the picture, this looks like a mild mannered taco, but lurking  under the lettuce was the biggest blob of sour cream.  They must pay by the amount of added sour cream, because it was loaded.   That probably didn't help the structural integrity of the shell.

So the big question, Would I eat it again?

I would say  yes probably. But, I would only eat it in the restaurant and I certainly would make sure it had no sour cream.

Wordless/Not so Wordless Wednesday- Swamp People

Ok, a lot of you are probably wondering who in the heck is that guy.  Why is he part of my wordless  Wednesday post?

  This is Bruce Mitchell from the History Channel's show Swamp People.  

He was in the area for some sort of outdoor sporting show.  He stopped at the Walmart to pick some oil for his truck.  I have to admit we kind of stalked him around Walmart, because we weren't sure it was really him.  Finally, my husband was like I am going to talk to him.   Sure enough it was him. He was really nice and let us take a couple of pictures.  My husband was really excited about our "celebrity"sighting. 

Free Target Beauty Bag

This is a great freebie!  Like Target Style on Facebook to get your free beauty bag.  (while supplies last)

Our Monster High collection is growing again!

This weekend we went out searching for some of the new Monster High dolls.  We didn't find anything brand newI, but I was able to find some older items.

First, we found the Cleo plush friend on clearance for $8 (reg. price $16), with an extra 50% off.   I wanted to get a few of these for the baby.  At that price,I couldn't pass her up.  I am still looking for Ghoulia and Lagoona in the plush dolls.  Hopefully, I will find them soon.

Then we found a Dawn of the Dance Ghoulia on clearance at another Walmart. I was really happy to find her, since she is from an older line of the dolls.

We also picked up a Skull Shores black and white Frankie Stein.  I really love this doll.  Her coloring is so unique.  It really makes her look like she stepped out of the old monster movies, but with a modernized look.