Great Gift Ideas and Other Cool Things Under $50.00

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Who doesn't want a mini chainsaw?? Perfect for him or her. 

Helps make the yardwork easier for everyone!

Check it out here - Mini Chainsaw 

Carhartt is sturdy and attractive. This bad boy is only $19.99!

Check it out here - Carhartt Hat

Know a new parent? This is a classic book that never fails to make me tear up. Super affordable too!

Check it out here - Love You Forever

Portable, affordable, fun, addicting, good for all ages. Fun for family game night or on road trips/camping. Another good choice for teenagers or hard to buy for loved ones. 

Check it out here - Magnet Game

Don't want to invest a lot of money into a fitness tracker because you just don't know if you'll find it useful? Start with this affordable (under $40.00) Troty brand monitor. 

Check it out here - Fitness Tracker

Similar to the fitness tracker above, this Military Smart Watch also functions as a fitness tracker for under $40.00. A great purchase for the price!

Check it out here - Military Watch

Spending time with the kids at the rink? Ice fishing? Spending time around the fire outside? 

There's tons of reasons to get these hand warmers for that special someone (or yourself). 

Check it out here - Hand Warmers

Pilates kit for under $50.00. 8 essential Pilates tools for someone starting out.

Check it out here - Pilates Kit

Have a gamer in your life? This PS5 controller charging station will come in handy.

Check it out here - Charging Station

A power bank is a great item to have on hand. Super useful gift for someone when you just don't know what to get them. 

Check it out here - Power Bank

Up your photo and video taking game with a ring light. Small and easy to use, you can't go wrong with this rechargeable accessory. 

Check it out here - Ring Light

I love this! A balance beam for kidlets 3+. You can change how you put it together so it is different all the time. 

Check it out here - Balance Beam

We will continue to add cool gift ideas as we come across them. Let us know if there is something you are interested in and we can try and track it down for you! 

Seafood Lasagna

Lasagna with crab, prawns, and scallops is the decadent dinner you didn't know you needed.

It's definitely a bit more money to make but - not even lying - it's probably the best lasagna I have ever made. Rich, creamy, flavorful - all those things and more. 

I didn't really measure when my love and I made this so I am writing down the closest estimate. It is pretty forgiving with amounts so don't be too worried if you have a little more or a little less of an ingredient. 

We made homemade lasagna noodles but store bought/oven ready noodles would work here too. 

Feel free to change up the type of seafood you use too. We went with crab, scallops, and prawns, but lobster, salmon, etc... would also be tasty. 

Seafood Lasagna

Ingredients

Cheese Layer

1 1/2 cups ricotta

1 egg

1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, shredded

1 cup mozzarella, shredded

salt & pepper

Rose Sauce

1 Tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes, canned

1 1/4 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, shredded

salt & pepper

Seafood Layer

2 cans crab meat, drained

20ish good sized prawns

30ish medium scallops

15 - 18 Lasagna Noodles (homemade or oven ready)

2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

parsley, for garnish

 Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray a 9 X 13 pan with cooking spray, set aside. 

Prepare seafood: Cook prawns and scallops until just done. 

Chop until fine.

Mix with the drained crab meat. Set aside. 

Prepare rose sauce: In a skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook and stir for one minute. Add in the tomatoes and stir well. Add in the whipping cream, cheese, and salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes and then remove from heat. Set aside. 

Prepare cheese layer: Mix together ricotta, egg, cheeses, salt & pepper. Set aside. 

Assemble lasagna: 

Spread a few generous spoons of the rose sauce in the bottom of the pan. 

Cover bottom of pan with noodles. 

Spread half of the cheese mixture over the noodles. 

Sprinkle half of the seafood over the cheese mixture.

Place another layer of lasagna noodles. 

Spread remaining cheese mixture.

Spread remaining seafood. 

Place last layer of lasagna noodles. 

Spoon a generous amount of the rose sauce over the top to completely cover the noodles. Sprinkle with the shredded mozzarella. 

Bake at 350 for about 45 - 50 minutes. Sauce should be bubbling and cheese melted.

FYI - If it is getting too dark on top you can cover it with tinfoil. (I like to spray the tinfoil with cooking spray so it doesn't stick to the cheese on top - just be careful not to push it down onto the cheese!) 

Let sit for 5 - 10 minutes to set a bit before cutting. Garnish with a sprinkle of dried (or fresh) parsley.

You can serve it with more rose sauce if you like a saucier lasagna. 

IMPORTANT - as I mentioned above, I didn't really measure the ingredients. The shredded cheeses I did by the handful. If you use the measurements I have listed here and you feel like it needs more cheese - add some more. 

If you want saucier lasagna - add more sauce. You can even add a little rose sauce in the middle layer, if you prefer. I didn't because I really wanted the flavor of the seafood to shine through and not be drowned out by the sauce. 

The seafood layer can also be altered without too much being affected. I didn't put can size but I'm going to say it was about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of crab. Prawns and scallops I just used what I had left in my freezer so I can't tell you the weight. 

My partner felt there should have been some rose sauce in the middle as well to make it saucier. I preferred it like this but that's a personal choice. You can absolutely tailor this to your preferences. 

If you don't want to make the rose sauce, you can use a jarred pasta sauce. I find the rose is a bit more mild and works well with seafood. 

**Also, the recipe for rose sauce here will leave you with extra sauce. It freezes well or will be okay in the fridge for a few days.**

Keto Garlic Gnocchi

 

I have been following keto off and on for over 5 years now. I find one of the things I end up missing the most is pasta and pasta adjacent foods. Gnocchi is one of those foods. 

Original gnocchi is pretty distinctive in texture and taste and is hard to replicate while keeping keto friendly. I would say this version is very tasty and very similar looking but still isn't as "chewy" as the original. That being said - I really enjoyed it. 

You get to have a fairly large serving and the macros are reasonable. As per Myfitnesspal - one serving (recipe, as written makes 4) is: 217 calories, 10.5 carbs, 4 fiber, 17.4 protein, for a total of 6.5 net carbs. 

It is far more fragile than original gnocchi so takes a bit of time to make BUT, in my opinion, it is worth the effort to get to eat something that fills a craving I am having. 

Keto Gnocchi

Ingredients

2 eggs

1 cup ricotta

2/3 cup grated parmesan

1 tsp minced, fresh garlic

4 Tbsp coconut flour

2 tsp xanthan gum

Directions

Whisk eggs for about 1 minute. Whisk in ricotta, parmesan, and garlic until well combined. Whisk in coconut flour. 

Sprinkle xanthan gum over surface and let sit for a few seconds. Whisk in well. 

Cover and place in freezer for 15 minutes OR in fridge for an hour OR in fridge overnight. 

Pat into ball and divide into 8 pieces. 

Working with one piece at a time - oil hands and roll or press into a log about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 1 inch pieces. 

Press each piece firmly between your fingers so it is not crumbly. Then press lightly with a fork.

Repeat with all 8 pieces of the dough. You should have approx 60 - 65 pieces. 

Freeze dough for approx 20 minutes. You want the pieces to be firm but not completely frozen. 

Heat butter (or oil) in a pan and fry gnocchi until golden brown. I did about 1 - 2 minutes on 2 sides. (So about 4 minutes total). Watch closely as it will burn quickly. Do NOT crowd the pan. 

Serve hot with a sprinkle of shredded parmesan and dried parsley. 

You can also serve in a keto friendly sauce (such as Raos). 

A serving is approx 15 - 16 gnocchi. 

Of course, you can use your favorite sauce with this recipe. You can also fry up onion and garlic and add the gnocchi to it. (Just watch how much as onion will up the carbs quite a bit)

In the photos, after I fried the gnocchi in butter, I added 1/4 cup of Raos, 1 Tbsp parmesan, and 1 serving of the gnocchi and it was 316 calories, 14 carbs, 21 fat, 20 protein, and 5 fiber. 

Net carbs: 9. 

Once you make the gnocchi it can be frozen up to 3 months. When you go to cook it thaw it but make sure it is still very cold and firm. Recipe, as written, makes 4 servings. 

I ate one serving as a complete meal. If I were going to use it as a side with a steak or chicken breast and greens, I would probably only need half a serving. It is filling. I'm thinking I'd like to try it with gravy instead of pasta sauce - I think it would be like a hashbrown/roasted potato. 

Also - you can leave out the minced garlic. I add it because I find the coconut flour is a strong flavor and the garlic helps to drown it out a bit. 

#keto #glutenfree #lowcarb #vegetarian