First of all...
Showing posts with label working at home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label working at home. Show all posts

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Some great freebies from around the net!

Free Sample of Ecover Laundry Soap! Via The FB page!


Nice earth-friendly products!

There was a giveaway for Betty Crocker Members, but those are all snatched up.  You can still go to Betty Crocker's Website and become a member.  As a member, which is free of course, you get access to member only coupons, recipes and a monthly free sample (limited to the first 10,000)  Next month's free sample is going to be Cheerios, the new peanut butter ones.

This is a pic of a Members Exclusive Recipe for Veggie Enchiladas. Yum.


You can also head on over to Facebook, as if you don't already have a tab opened to Facebook right now and like Quaker Oats Squares and get a free cereal sample!
Thanks to freebie shark for the scoop!







Friday, October 7, 2011

Heaven on 163rd & Lagrange Road

Last month I severed my ties with my iPhone.  Well, I should rephrase.  Last month I severed my ties with my cell phone service.  I still have my iPhone, and it still does wondrous things such as, play music, act as my kindle and allows me to play games--I just can't text or play Words With Friends on it anymore.  After many contentious years together,  My provider and I came to an impasse and we agreed to disagree on how expensive the service cost.  I am now without a cell phone. Couple nice bonuses with that are that I don't have to worry about getting a TWD  (Texting While Driving) ticket and we have $130 per month more in the budget.

Which leads me to Heaven or more specifically what Heaven must be if Heaven was a Fitness Facility.  In the words of Ned Stark (and Tom Skilling) "Winter is coming." I hate winter and am actively seeking out winter survival techniques now.  That lead me to begin a search for a Fitness Center.  Currently I have a one-month membership at a small, local bare-bones gym that I won at a craft show.  Before deciding to move forward with that gym, I decided to tour a couple other locations.  I toured one nearby Fitness Center which is affiliated with a hospital.  It was very nice, posh really, and filled with lots of ah...septuagenarians.  Which is awesome! Rock on to them for working out.  However, the whole retirement home atmosphere was too much for my already fragile ego and I forged onward.

Yesterday I had to spend the entire day in the car doing errands and acting as an unregulated taxicab.  After spending the morning driving around a dodging cars with texting drivers,   I went to Lifetime Fitness in Orland Park to tour the facility and see if I could get a free guest pass to test drive the equipment.   It was amazing.  Spacious, open 24/7, nice staff, peaceful and not full of people around lunchtime.  Indoor pool, outdoor pool, free towels everywhere and wait for it, a kids' club. 

Heck there is even a climbing wall.  Not that I have any desire to climb a wall.  Wait, I may take that back.  I've climbed enough walls figuratively, might be fun to do it, literally!  Especially with the kids, which you can do there! Did I mention that the women's locker room is sparkly clean.  Yes, yes, it is.  Nothing like a really clean locker room.

I need to join, for my mental health this winter.  Also I like to think it will help me focus on growing my business.  Anyone know if health club membership is a business write-off?

Yes, right now, as the primary member of this household AKA Girl Who Juggles Bills; I'm running the numbers and trying to see how I can get myself a membership ASAP and what I've come up with is that a membership would be less than half the cost of our recently canceled cell phone service.

Trying to soak in nature from the car.

Friday, June 29, 2007

Summer Wine Pairings and TS

Okay this is my first attempt at putting in a word document. This is too long to put in my newsletter so I am posting it here for those who want more recipes...
I cannot believe July is almost here...this time next month I will be on my way home from National Conference w/great ideas and plans to improve my business...and I'll know what new products we'll have for the Fall!!!

SUMMER WINE PAIRINGS AND TASTEFULLY SIMPLE


Some tips from the Chicago Tribune….

*How much wine do you need? If you are doing a trendy new multi-course evening, a good rule of thumb is one or two per guest. Standard wine bottles hold about 5-6 glasses (4oz) of wine.

*Chose glassware w/the occasion in mind.
*Have more than one corkscrew out for a big party.
*Keep red wine in the low 60s , Keep the whites and the roses cold –on ice.
And the best advice for the host: try the wines you will be serving before the guests arrive.
You are doing quality control ;-)


A great appetizer paired with a glass of Reisling…
Herbed Tomato Garlic Pesto SpreadSubmitted by Lara Miesle (OH)

Ingredients 2 Tbsp. Spinach & Herb Dip Mix
2 Tbsp. Dried Tomato & Garlic Pesto Mix
2 (8 oz.) pkgs. softened cream cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Crackers
Directions Combine first 4 ingredients; chill 2 hours. Serve with crackers. Makes about 3 cups spread.

A salad to be served with Gewurztraminer….

Ginger Teriyaki Curry Chicken Salad
2 cups cooked, cubed chicken breast
1 cup diced fresh mango
½ cup chopped cashews
½ cup water chestnuts, drained and chopped
¼ cup raisins
1 tsp. curry powder
1 cup Ginger Teriyaki Ranch Dressing
Lettuce Leaves
Blue Aztec Chips
Combine first 5 ingredients; toss. Add curry powder to Ginger Teriyaki Dressing; pour enough over salad ingredients to reach desired consistency. Serve salad on lettuce leaves with Blue Aztec Chips. Makes 4-5 Servings

With your favorite Chardonnay…

For a cool fall evening pair our Perfectly Potato Cheddar Soup or Creamy Wild Rice, a loaf of Bountiful beer bread and your favorite Chardonnay.

For Savignon Blanc I recommend…
Crab Cakes with Garlic Sauce
Submitted by Karen Hummel (NJ)
Ingredients 3 Tbsp. Onion Onion™, divided
3/4 cup mayonnaise, divided
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice,
divided16 oz. jumbo lump crabmeat
1 tsp. mustard2 beaten eggs
1 Tbsp. water
1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp. Spinach & Herb Dip Mix
1/2 tsp. Seasoned Salt
1 Tbsp. Garlic Garlic™

Directions Combine 2 tablespoons Onion Onion™, 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, crabmeat and mustard; blend well. Shape into 8 crab cakes. Blend eggs and water together. In separate bowl, combine breadcrumbs, Spinach & Herb Dip Mix and Seasoned Salt. Dip crab cakes in egg mixture; coat with breadcrumb mixture. Place on greased baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through. Combine remaining 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon Onion Onion™, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and Garlic Garlic™; blend well and refrigerate. Serve garlic sauce over crab cakes. Makes 8 cakes.

When opening a nice bottle of Mad Housewife Merlot pair it with…

Garlic Rosemary Chicken
Submitted by Laura Brott (MI)
Ingredients 4boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. Seasoned Salt
1 1/2 tsp. Garlic Garlic™
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. dried rosemary

Directions Place chicken breasts in a greased 8 x 8 pan; drizzle with oil. Sprinkle with seasonings. Bake at 375° for 45 minutes. Makes 4 servings.
*Note from Victoria: I think I'd use more of the seasonings than listed above, season to suit your tastes.

Slow-Cooked Chicken
Submitted by Karen Huftalin (IL)
Ingredients 2 Tbsp. Garlic Garlic™
2 Tbsp. Spinach & Herb Dip Mix
1 Tbsp. Seasoned Salt
1 whole chicken
1 quartered onion
2 diced celery stalks

Directions Combine first 3 ingredients; sprinkle over and inside chicken. Put onion and celery in bottom of slow cooker; add chicken. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours. Makes 3-4 servings.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

She has to be louder than the Cicadas


Ah Sweet Anna only 3 years old and BOY IS SHE LOUD. If there are any movie producers that need to record blood curdling screams, I've got their girl.



Oh I know what you are thinking, she doesn't look like the type to scream like a banshee at the drop of a hat. But those of you that have had the misfortune of calling my house to place an order for a garlic garlic, or Bountiful Beer Bread...you may very well have gotten to hear her. Too bad there isn't really a cone of silence I could put over my head...

A couple of weeks of daycamp are left and I cannot say enough good things about the program that Palos Heights runs. I am sooooo glad I enrolled thme in it...and doubly glad that I was able to use my TS leadership cheque to pay for it..that was the best use of a bonus...ever.

So what do I do while the kids are in camp? Work on my tan? Work on my business? Work on running up my credit card bill? Nope I've been running all over the forest preserve trails. And it's been pretty good weather for the most part, and running for 1 1/2 to 2 hours gives me time to listen to booking downloaded from audible.com onto my ipod...but today...Today I forgot my ipod in Tom's car so I bought an antiquated am/fm cassette walkman thing from Walgreens. Why are they still selling a casset thing? It looked enormous and came w/the old style headband headphones w/the black foamy stuff that covers your ears. Oh brother, my ears were melting off my head. It was crazy humid today. I really didn't want to run for 8 miles and I talked myself down to 6 but then I went ahead and did 8. Just keep saying well its only a few more minutes, might as well do it...

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I have a conference call tonight at 830 PM. One of the benefits of having your own business that no one tells you is that you can do conference calls in bed while simultaneously watching TV.
I love festive holiday desserts. I think next week I'll make the Americana Trifle.