Friday, Friday.

I have a migraine and no time to sit in a dark room. There is stuff on every surface in the house. Do you live with people who clutter counters? It drives me nutty.  I'd take a pic and share it, but I don't want to have it out there mocking me for Internet eternity.

You may be thinking, Victoria isn't The Man currently unemployed?  Surely with The Man home, the two of you have the place well organized.  Pfft. He is the worst offender. I have come to the conclusion that there may very well be two types of people in the world. People who like flat surfaces cleaned off and people who like stuff on top of all flat household surfaces--especially counter tops. So sooner he finds employment, sooner I have less counter-clutter stress. 

As I said above, I have a brutal headache, and perhaps that is 10% of the reason The Man is in The Doghouse.  The rest is all him.  Bah. Grumble, Swear Words. Plus we got snow.  Double Bah. 

Okay enough of that, I'm building a bridge, I'm getting over it.  On to some food talk.

 But before that, are you a member of Swagbucks?  You use their search engine and you collection points and redeem the points for gift cards and whatnot.  I joined about 3 wks ago and already have over 700 points. 450 points can get you a $5 gift card, so as you can see you can quickly rack them up. I like to save loyalty points for Christmas time shopping. 

Want to join?  You can click below and if you join today you get 140 points for signing up! Such a deal.




Today I made a product from the New Spring/Summer Line from Tastefully Simple . It is a Strawberry Buckle cake called Strawberry Swirl Buckle Cake Mix.  All you need to make it is 3/4 cup water and 3 tablespoons melted butter.  We've had buckle cakes in the past and I seem to recall that they called for more butter, so it is nice that this time around it takes just a wee bit of butter for an amazing cake.  For your homework today, research what the heck is buckle cake.

Now I am signing off as I am going to try and squeeze in 1 hour of quiet dark time before Anna and I have to head over to Glen Oaks School for Mother/Daughter night.  We will be making Jewelry. 

Next blog I'll be sharing a very simple Slow Cooker Vegetable Soup.

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. 

Free Books! A Little Giveaway!

A while back, on a budgeting blog, which one I don't recall?  Maybe it was Money Saving Mom (TM) or Dealicious Mom?  I am not sure, anyway, I saw that you can join Harlequin Ambassadors and they will send you free books to read and share. I like books and I really like happy endings. I know that when reading a romance from Harlequin I'm going to get my happy ending, guaranteed.  So I signed up a while ago and forgot about it. 

Then yesterday, I was walking out to the mailbox, hoping that I'd find chocolate.  Well, I didn't have a package of chocolate, much to my dismay.  I did have a delivery from Harlequin Ambassadors. A book called "A Cold Creek Secret" by RaeAnne Thayne (USA Today bestselling author). The book is from "the special edition series featuring contemporary romances where heroines juggle life and relationships on their way to true love." It's a short easy read, great for a respite from the holiday mania, or good for having on hand when you are stuck in a waiting room at an appointment.  I have four copies looking to find a good home.  Want one?  Just leave your email in the comments and I'll contact you for your mailing address.  I'll be shiping these media mail so it may take a few days longer, but free is free! 

Oh before I forget here is the link for Harlequin Ambassadors.  Now I am off to find some more freebies, and yes I really should be working on Christmas presents...