Good stuff I got in the mail this week.

So I say why talk about bills and more bills. Let's talk about the good freebies I found in my mailbox this week. When TMOTH (The Man of the House) has been downsized, a family find that their income is seriously downsized!  With that, I do a little happy dance for all the freebies and income I bring in to our household.

First off I'd like to say, if you haven't checked out Smiley 360, you should! Smiley 360 Be heard. Be Happy   Smiley 360, you sign up and they have promotions where they provide you with a nice free sample and some high value coupons. You try the products and then share with your friends if you like them.  Easy peasy!  This week I received a free package of Knorr Homestyle Stock  and $2.00 a package coupon.

I have been wanting to try the Knorr Homestyle Stock so to get to try it for free is awesome!  My free full size package equals 4 meals and saves me about $4.50.  With the package from Smiley 360, I also received a recipe guide.  I am looking forward to making the Slow Cooker Pulled Pork!

SERVES 10

PREP TIME: 10 Minute(s)

COOK TIME: 4 Hour(s)

INGREDIENTS

3- lb. boneless pork shoulder 1 tub Knorr® Homestyle Stock - Chicken 1/2 cup ketchup 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 10 Kaiser rolls or hamburger buns

PREPARATION

1. Arrange pork in slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients except rolls and pour over pork; turn to coat.
2. Cook covered on LOW 8 to 10 hours or HIGH 4 to 6 hours or until pork is tender.
3. Remove pork; reserve juices. Shred pork with fork, then stir into reserved juices. Serve on rolls.

See nutrition information for sodium content.

NUTRITION INFORMATION per serving
Calories 410, Calories From Fat 90, Saturated Fat 3g, Trans Fat 0g, Total Fat 11g, Cholesterol 80mg, Sodium 900mg, Total Carbohydrates 45g, Sugars 15g, Dietary Fiber 1g, Protein 31g, Vitamin A 2%, Vitamin C 6%, Calcium 10%, Iron 20%

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I also got another full size product and coupons from Smiley.360.  Children's Advil. This one is liquid medicine for kids ages 2-11.  Our box from Smiley 360 came at the perfect time as we were babysitting my niece and nephew (twins age 4) and my nephew had a fever  and an ear ache. When his dad came to pick him up, we gave him the Children's Advil, and he was able to administer it to his son, and the poor kiddo was able to fall asleep without pain.

But wait there is more!!! I had a great Tastefully Simple party last night so that paid for this weeks groceries AND I earned a nice drink bucket scooper!  More good free stuff!  I can't wait to scoop some Margaritas this Spring!

PLUS here is another great site that let's you try something free and then tell your friends about it, if you like it--and give them coupons!  For this one you could scroll down on the left hand side and find the link for bzzagent.com or you can click the link here and check out the campaign I am doing now. Today I picked up a loaf of the Brownberry healthfull, free from the Jewel! This is super handy because I had a super limited budget and The Man like a nice hearty bread that isn't loaded with calories.  So this totally fit the bill.  He has already had about 3 ham sandwiches. 

For the finally income for the week, I received a little secret shopping check today!  This means the kiddos can have the fried chicken from Jewel feast for Superbowl tomorrow. 

How's Your Holiday Shopping going? Of Grandmas and Applesauce

But before I chat about shopping, I would like to share a picture from my recent trip to see my Grandma in Youngstown, OH.  If we are friends on facebook or you are a subscriber to my Gabby Gourmet Newsletter then you have probably seen my 2011 Four Generations picture, so please bear with me.

Thinking about this picture showing 4 generations of women in my family, I have two thoughts.  The first is, I really should have done something with my hair. 

The second is that I am reminded of late summer 2004.  Why then you ask?  Back then my mother organized a little party for my parents wedding anniversary and at that time Anna was an infant, and we have another one of these pictures. A casual picture outside the restaurant where the Wedding Anniversary party was held.

The day before the party, other pictures had been taken as well. My mother declared that  for her wedding anniversary she wanted a family portrait and scheduled a photo shoot. My mom doesn't frequently make requests, so obviously it was important to her.  During the shoot, I remember several unruly toddlers on the scene. Oh yes, they would be my boys. I also recall that Anna was a couple months old and I didn't have any non-maternity clothes that fit.  Icing on the cake of the ill-fated family photo was that my brother Karl wasn't able to come in town to be part of the picture. 

Now here we are 7 years later, and I realize,  I've never seen the family photo shoot pictures.  Since they have never seen the light of day, hanging over the mantle at my parent's home, I can only assume they much be terrible pictures.
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How is your holiday shopping going?  According to a news report I glanced at, most shopping is done during November.  Last week I was at a large shopping event in Evergreen Park held to benefit Christmas 4 Kids .  As you know, I'm commited to a preowned Christmas, so I stayed at my table and shared the Tastefully Simple with everyone who stopped by and avoided shopping myself.  Well, except for one purchase, and I think you'll be with me on this.

Have you ever heard of Chicago's Finest Applesauce?  It's made by Officer Jim Mullen, he was injured in the line of duty and paralyzed.  Being an amazing entrepreneur, and creator of one most awesome applesauce, he is the owner of Mullen Foods.  His's very enthusiastic marketing director was at the event sharing samples of the all-natural applesauce.  One little spoonful and I knew I had a grab and jar and do some kitchen experimenting. 

Now the Man-of-the-house got ahold of my jar and helped himself so when I made the recipe below I had about 1/2 a jar left.  So we know it is acceptable to even the pickiest of palates.  If you want to try some for yourself, you can check out the retail locations that carry Chicago's Finest Applesauce on the website for Mullen Foods.

Baked Butternut Applesauced Squash

1/2 a jar of Chicago's Finest Applesauce
1 med to large butternut squash peeled and diced, feel free to make the chunks the size you like.
1/2 a teaspoon ground nutmeg
1-2tbsp Tastefully Simple Caramel Cinnamon Sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, my oven runs cooler, so if your oven runs hot, try cooking at 375.
Spray 8x8 or 9x9 baking pan with Pam.
Mix the first 3 ingredients right in the pan and then bake for 15 minutes.
Take out the pan remix, enjoy the delicious smells wafting in your kitchen, sprinkle the caramel cinnamon sprinkles on top and bake for another 10-15 minutes until the squash is tender.

Serve with a nice pork chop.

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.

http://www.tastefullysimple.com/Cultures/en-US/Recipes/recipes.htm?rid=5715&src=s