THE SITS GIRL CHALLENGE DAY 2, Pictures!

Today's Fall into Blogging Challenge is to share fall pictures from your neck of the woods. So I am going to share pics from Hayesville, NC and our old hood, Chi-Town.

The kids October 2009

 

October 2011 view of our old backyard

Football=Fall 2012

Picture from this morning taken from the parking lot of a church. This church is right on the lake, gotta love that!

 

And this is a picture from the Chamber of Commerce Website. Lake Chatuge in all it's fall glory.

Falling Back into Blogging, School Memories

Today is the first day in the weeklong blogging event run by The SITS girls. I'm happy to participate in this fun challenge. Today we have a writing prompt centered around school memories. 

This is a bit problematic for me, as it turns out I am not one of those people who remembers much about their school days. I am one of those people that looks at a picture posted on facebook and thinks:

"Wow, obviously that is me in that picture, and yet I have no recollection of this occassion at all."

Here is a prime example, I was either a freshman or a sophomore.  I am in the picture, I recognize who I am with, and I don't remember this day at all.

 So which camp are you in when it comes to the good old days?  Do you remember your HS locker number? When you lost your tooth in 3rd grade at school?  What school lunches were like in JR High?

Or is it all a blur with a few notable moments?

Is it Smokey Mountains or Smoky Mountains?

I know all I would need to do is google and I could know the possibly definitive answer to that very question. I'm not going to google.

 I wanted to actually write that last sentence as: I'm not going to though. However, we all know that is a dangling dangle of a sentence ending, so I restrained myself.

It was chilly last night, maybe as low as the high 40s and I swear the leaves changed a bit overnight.  So it appears that right on time, Fall has arrived. Excellent!, I say.  I also say, no hurry to turn on the heat, let's enjoy some sweater weather and throw another blanket on the bed if you are cold.  Better yet, take one of my dogs, they warm up a bed.

Thinking of blankets and cool temps reminds me of socks.  This in turn, makes me think of my boys and their always dingy white socks.  That last thought leads me to a coupon I have coming to me via Vocalpoint.   You could get a coupon for the new Vivid White from Tide too, if you were my facebook friend.  Click here if you'd like to do that, and if you already are, just check my page for the coupon link.  OH I have high hopes that this will help my laundry! I'll keep you posted on the results!

#Wordless Wednesday

Here in my too lazy to get out of the car pic showing why they are called the Smokey Mountains.

A letter from Bryce to his family

Date: November 1492

Dear Family:
Life aboard a ship is hard. The food is awful. It's hardtack and we have no fresh food. Good thing I brought my own food. I think I have scurvy from the lack of fresh food.
So I brought spices. If the captain finds the food he will use cat o nine tail which is a whip with glass on the end. My duty is to fire the cannon. My quarters (room) isn't very nice.
Love
Bryce H

Good Smells, Good Smells.

As you know, I'm a bzzagent.  That means that I take lots of surveys and share my opinions on a variety of different products and sometimes I qualify for freebies!  Recently I qualified for a campaign for Glade  Expressions.  This was very exciting, because with 3 kids 2 dogs and an old cat. Wait, let's not forget The Man, he can be smelly too!  Well with all of them, I need multiple smell enhancers.  For example, right now we have a Scenty Wax Scenter going right now up in the family room, I'm burning a candle downstairs and each bathroom has a spray at the ready.

Clearly, I know the need for air purification options.  I also have learned the hard way, that generic gets you a whole lot of nothing.  So I go for name brand products for the day to day and pretty party-plan products for my special occasions. Good thing, Glade gets me.  Glade offers a nice variety of seasonally scented products, and they aren't skimpy with the coupons! 

In conjunction with the current Glade Bzz I got a pack of high value coupons to share as well as a couple of free coupons for me to try the new Glade Expressions.  I went to my local Ingles Market and I got the refillable  Glade Expressions Mist. This is the pretty refillable fancy spray.

I have to say in all honesty, I was super, super surprised on how long the scent lingered with just a small spray.  It's a great value.  I purchased the Cotton and Italian Mandarin scent.  It was lovely, I forgot we had smell kids and pets for a few hours.  You can't put a price tag on that kind of bliss!

Why do I TGIF?

Tis Friday.  Wahoo! Do you have exciting plans?

Today I was thinking it really makes no sense that I'm excited it's Friday.

Why is that Victoria?

Well on one hand I am excited, I perceive myself as having relaxing free time on Saturdays and Sundays.


 On the other hand, the reality is I work on the weekends.  Now when I say work, I don't mean cleaning the house, though I *really* need to do that too. 

What I am talking about is a typical weekend for me:

FRI:
1. After work go to bank, pick up kids and deliver Tastefully Simple order.
2. Watch Nephew (unless his Nina and PawPaw are doing it).  Watching the B man is fun, if only we could bottle up that boys energy!
3. Take calls in my basement home office for a special call center project.
SAT:
More call center calls in the basement
Sat night take Anna and her cousin to a piano concert.  Technically maybe you say, that doesn't sound like work, that sounds like some quality cultural time.  Right I get that, the only reason it's not relaxing for me is I have to leave the house and can't wear PJs.
SUN:
Morning call center calls in the basement.
In the afternoon I am going over to a large retail store to do a merchandising audit. Then I'll need to file the report.

Well now I'm feeling a bit tired. Busy weekend ahead for me. I'm going to hold on to one thought, a little ray of sunshine in a busy/busy/busy life. 

I get to sleep in tomorrow.
Yes!

3rd Grade Spelling Word Sentences and an Ice Cream Bar Sweepstakes.

Anna H.

1. I can't believe next year I will be in fourth grade.
2. I left Illinois to come here.
3. I said can you please help me get up when I fell.
4. I have many shoes.
5. I am very good at back bends.
6. I've been and seen a shelter.
7. Being three is easy.
8. I leave school at 3:00pm.
9. Ms. Bettis is my teacher and she is between nice and country.
10. I have went to the sea.

Magnum Ice Cream - Belgian Chocolate Covered Ice Cream Bars

#WordlessWednesday!

Cooking. Beef/Chicken Toasted Sesame Stirfry  w/pea pods, a sliced orange pepper, onion and mushrooms.  Easy Peasy Courtesy of the Tastefully Simple Fix It Fast Collection! 

I had a fairly productive day.  I did work out, I didn't eat junk food and I got out my latest client newsletter!  Do you get my newsletter?  Click here to be added to my list!

Dance Moms Hayesville

Have you seen Dance Moms? It's a ' reality show' about seriously crazy moms and their kids who love to dance. Most of the show features the dance instructor and the moms yelling at each other.

Anna loves the show. She loves it so much she wanted to take dance classes. So here I am sitting outside the class, with some other moms as well as , the father of Shelly the dance instructor.

Why am I sitting out here when I could be at the grocery store or better yet at working out at the Rec Center?

Well as you may recall Anna has been having major school anxiety. I made a deal with her that I would stay here, just like the Dance Moms if she went to school all week. I figured this was a much better deal than money or treat bribery.

As for the moms here? So far everyone is getting along--haha. Kidding aside, well, they are talking about pet squirrels. Apparently, The pet squirrels are a species from Australia and make great pets.

See, it's true, you do learn something new everyday!.

#Wordless Wednesday

This is Mothra the giant moth that was stuck in a spiders web by our back door. I took the pic and then we took a broom handle and freed the moth from the spider's web. You can see a bit of the web on the bottom south quadrant of the pic.

Tastefully Tuesday? Tuesday Tidbits

As you know, I'm not good with creating catchy post titles.  I wanted to blog today, and I'm feeling kinda random, so that doesn't help much with the title creation. It's Tuesday is maybe the post title I should have used.

In any case, I'm a bit worn out mentally lately. This is due to Anna.

(Anna on the hay ride at the Crane Creek Vineyard Tomato Fest--where we didn't see any tomatoes but we, tom and I, drank some good wine.)

 

 

Okay so back to the Anna issue.  The girl has developed a major school anxiety.  She makes herself upset enough to throw up every morning. Today she cried her way into staying home.  I was at a Tri-State Business Women's meeting, so she was with The Man. When I finished my meeting I went home, and after much crying by Anna and much cajoling by me she went to school.  Albeit two and a half hours late, but she did go to school.  I imagine now you have a few questions:

1. Is she being bullied?

2. Is she sick?

3. Is she struggling with the work?

 

No. no bully.  I'm fairly well-versed in bullies due to Patrick and Bryce having dealt with them in previous school years.  She sits with three other kids and likes all of them. Kaitlyn is her 'best friend' and she has a crush on the little boy that sits next to her.  She likes the school lunches and when we were there last night for the Teacher Open House she ran off and played on the playground with some other girls and didn't want to go home.

 

Is she sick?  It's possible. However, she isn't crying and saying her stomach hurts on Saturday or Sunday mornings, only school days. That is why I've concluded that it's anxiety, not a virus. The Man still thinks a virus is a possibility.

 

 

The workload seems fine, she isn't crying about the work.  This morning she said:

 

1. She misses me.

2. She is afraid that I or her dad might die during the day while she is at school.

3. She is afraid that someone will break into our house and steal our dogs.

 

Sounds like some general anxiety, don't you agree? In any case, mornings are tough right now. I'm a bit at a loss on what to do, I thought it would have gotten better by now since it is the third week of school. Additionally, yesterday Patrick was all upset about going to school. On the bright side,  I am used to his dislike of school and his constant efforts to 'get' to stay home 'sick'.  Anna was the one who loved school. Now, not so much.

 

This means that next Tuesday I may have a real struggle on my hands.  Who wants to go back to their job after a 3 day weekend? No one. Most kids feel the same way about school.



MMMmmm meal pics...

Temps have been dropping down into the 50s at night. So although,  it's still August, I went ahead and made some chili last night for Miss Anna.  Anna has been feeling pretty nervous and anxious about her new school, so if a little chili for dinner puts a smile on her face...well then.

 

Here is 1 pound of ground turkey with 3 tbsps of our Wahoo! Chili Mix. Yes that is my Pampered Chef mixer thingy; it's great for mashing up stuff.  Oh! I also added 1 tbsp of Garlic Garlic.

Next I added tomatoes and beans.  Anna loves beans especially butter beans, so I always add a can of butter beans to our chili.  I went with a small can of diced tomatoes but later on I found that it needed more tomato-ness, so I chopped up 2 fresh tomatoes and added them.  Why fresh tomatoes?  Because they were getting ready to go bad, so I was glad to get them used up. In a perfect world I think I would have just used the 28oz can of diced tomatoes that is sitting in my cabinet.

In addition to the tomatoes and the beans I like to add some fresh vegetables. What vegetables?  That is determined by what I have in the refrigerator.  Last night,  I went with one diced green pepper and 3 stalks of celery chopped.

Celery, my old cutting board, and the very dated kitchen cabinets in our kitchen.

Look at those pretty colors! Then I added about 1/2 cup chicken broth and let it all simmer for 20ish minutes.

And here we have Anna's Chili.  With Wahoo! Chili, it's an amazingly easy dish to make.  I should have just had Anna make dinner.  Chili is also pretty forgiving, you don't need to worry too much about the ingredient measurements.

When I really love it a book...

You know how you hear people say, "I loved XYZ book, I couldn't put it down!" I do the same thing myself. If I like a book, I'll blaze through it pretty doggone fast.

But if I love a book, it takes me ages to finish.  I put it down, I walk away for a few weeks, I resist the siren calls.  Super counter intuitive, right? 

Here's the thing, when I love a book, I don't want it to end, I don't want to say goodbye to the characters. I miss them, life get drab. Coming from me, there is no higher praise I can give a book than to say, it took me a long time to finish it.

Up Jumps The Devil took me ages to finish.  I loved it, no wait I floved it.  I hated having to say goodbye to John Scratch. Michael Poore did such a fantastic job of  giving the devil his due.  Oh sorry about that cliche, I tried not to go there, but I had no control.  The devil made me do it. Alright, I'm done.

I cannot more highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys flawed protagonists.  Michael has really created a fantastically sympathetic anti-hero.

 He takes a bit from old tales of the Devil (ie Robert Johnson, The Devil and Daniel Webster, etc) and does something amazing. The Devil has such hope for humanity and we let him down again and again. 

The book begins with Satan as the host of a Reality Show and then moves forward and backward through time in dreams and memories and current moments. I let that sit with you a moment, Satan is the host of a wildly successful reality TV show.  How perfect is that.

From the opening pages where The Devil is shot we follow him through a timeless love affair he has with an Angel and the love affair Satan has with humanity. 

Up Jumps The Devil is a love story, a history lesson, and a road trip story wrapped up in a leather duster smelling of pipe smoke.

And the ending is wonderfully satisfying. 

Curious?  Want my copy?  Too bad, you can't have it, I'm going to keep it--and I don't keep books.

It's available on amazon and other fine book selling establishments.

Click the book for the Amazon link.

Located in

#Wordless Wednesday Dinner Time!

1 lb cut up boneless skinless chicken breast browning in a tablespoon Roasted Garlic Infused oil. Along with 2 tbsp of our new fantastic Rustic Herb Seasoning.

Add like 3 cups chopped red potatoes and 1/2 cup chix broth and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Then add in about 2 cups chopped green beans...

2 cups chopped green beans

 

Simmer/saute for another say 8 minutes

And Dinner is done!

FourSquare you disappoint me.

FourSquare, in case you aren't aware, is an app for your smartphone and with it you 'check-in' to places and it rewards you with points.  The points are completely meaningless, and yet still I love to see my points!  There is some benefit to using FourSquare  as some businesses have specials that are only revealed when you 'check-in' via FourSquare.

On the app, people can add a location if they want to check in somewhere that doesn't already have a location.  For example I made one called:  "The Hamel Lakehouse." 

It should come as no surprise that people try to be funny and/or creative in naming places.  My Big Comfy Bed is a place you could check into by our old house in Hickory Hills.  Out here in Western North Carolina, you don't even need to come up with funny name because long ago, the forefathers of this area went to great lengths to give  the surrounding mountains, valleys and roads funny and/or creative names. The best are funny at the 6th grade immature boy level.
You may recall a while back, I posted a picture of Peckerwood Road, which is located right by a golf course. This is a popular street sign to steal, natch.  However there is an even better area around here, and I wanted to 'check in' from it on FourSquare. Much to my dismay,  it isn't listed as a spot to check into via the app.

  FourSquare, you've let me down how could you *not* have Smackass Gap listed!

Yes that's right Smackass Gap, see it's right there.  I am sure there is some story that goes along with the name probably something about a stubborn mule, but who cares!

Baby you're a Firework!

Dear Sir or Madam:
Thanks ever so much for the fireworks show last night. When I went to bed at midnight, fireworks right outside my backyard at 1AM were certainly the last thing on my mind.

It was super thoughtful of you to wait until 1AM to have your show. What a great way to ensure everyone around you would wake up and pay attention to the noise and lights, I know I did!

Thanks again for your amazing display of thoughtfulness! Our dogs went crazy during your show!

All the best!
Victoria

Ps if it happens again tonight, I will hunt you down.

#Wordless Wednesday Wine!

Sat we went to a local Winery.  Lovely place. Lovely wine.
Here's the stream next to the grapes and a bit of Patrick.

The boys and one of the owner's dogs.

Cabernet Franc Grapes.

Eagle Forks Vineyards Chardonnay. Yum.

Why am I on linkedin?

I was filling out a form to join a blogging network and one of the required pieces of info was my linkedin profile.  When I went over to Linkedin, which I hardly ever do, I realized I have been on there since 2007.

Do you know what that means?  Five years of not knowing what the point of being on Linkedin. Are you Linkedin?  If so can you please tell me what I am supposed to do on there?  Why am I there? Anyone know?

A while back I went on to my profile and on the right hand side it said "link your resume to complete your profile." So I did, and guess what, apparently that is a generic message because all of a sudden my profile had all my career info listed 3 times. Even then my profile sits at 90% complete.

Linkedin also keeps telling me to add another email address to my profile. I refuse. Why does it keep asking?  Facebook doesn't bug me for multiple email addresses. 

How about you?  On Linkedin?  Profile Complete?

It's Friday. I don't care.

Hey how's it going?  Got big plans for the weekend?  Got any plans?  Nah, I don't, in fact, I'm having a sucky day. Here are a couple low lights.
1. I spilled coffee all over the paperwork I filled out to register the kids for school.  I also spilled it on my planner and on a couple of birth certificates (part of the whole registering kids for school process).
2. I couldn't get new paperwork and register the kids for school because I didn't have my electric bill.  See apparently there is something called your 911 Address and that is on your electric bill.  I don't know what the difference is, but I didn't have that paper.  It was around 12:15pm when I was trying to get this done, so I said I'd go and get the bill and come back.  However, the lady said she was getting ready to leave for the day, so I'd have to come back on Monday.

I had two thoughts on that:

Personally, I don't think it would be too much to ask to have someone that could help me if I came to register btwn the hours of 9-3pm.  *Shrug* what can you do.  I guess she had a better weekend plan than me. Secondly, I thought, man, wish that was my job, sounds pretty flexible and I am sure the benefits are nice.

The rest of the day was tedium and life with IMO Grumplstilskin. Mr. Crabby Patty. Bah, and I don't feel like making dinner.

************************************************************************
Now is the part where I try to muster up some happy thoughts.
1. I noticed that some of the men around here don't say "Thank You" to people they deal with (cashiers and whatnot) instead they say:
"I appreciate ya"
I think I really like that. Who doesn't want to be appreciated?  Nobody.  Everyone wants appreciation. In fact, I'd like appreciation more than say, a bag of chips or $20.

2. I saw a cool butterfly and it let me take it's picture:

#WordlessWednesday Next Week I'll be out of town!

A week from tomorrow is the Tastefully Simple National Conference.  I can't wait. 4 days of friends, motivation and no cleaning up after anyone. Ah...

Above is me having participated in the Shining Chef Competition at our 2009 conference.

So. whatcha been up to?

Holy Smokies it's been a week since I blogged.  That is just bad form!  I've got a goal to write 250 posts this year and posting once a week ain't gonna do it.

Now is it just me or has this been the longest July on record?  I feel like it has been July for about 8 weeks.  Typing that last scentence brings to mind my recent comments on May.  I don't know if I bored you as well as my Facebook friends with my thoughts on how May was the longest month ever.

It seems that I am not feeling as though time is flying by, hmm, could this be because the children are home for summer break?  I don't know.  I suppose that this slowness of time should be seen as a good thing, as well, life is short. 

This week I started running a coffee shop here in Hayesville. It's called Cafe Touche.  Everyone who comes in is quite nice--which is good because I am having major frothing issues.  I can't get my milk to foam up.  My lattes are nottes.

I work from 7AM until 3PM, so this basically will match up with the kids school.  The Man's store Golftopia opens at 10am, so he will be in charge of getting the kids off to school in the morning.
Stop it!  I know you are laughing, I am too.  He is just going to have to figure it out!  Breakfast and lunches and kids wearing clean clothes, it's more work than it appears.

I am betting with the return of a schedule for me, time will speed back up and the next thing you know I"ll be talking about how I can't believe it is Thanksgiving.  If I am lucky, I'll also be sharing how I am busy running around doing Tastefully Simple parties at night and making latte art during the days!

Here is a picture of Anna AKA Trail Mix and Patrick AKA Finn playing Scrabble at Cafe Touche.

It's the middle of July and I feel like Summer is Over

I'm feeling like Fall is right around the corner. This has nothing to do with the current weather. I'm feeling like Fall for several reasons.

1. Because March this year seemed like June--and that was weather related--
2. Football practice has started--we all know Football rhymes with Fall.
3. Tastefully simple's fall product unveiling is just around the corner! National Conference always makes me feel Fallish.

Time sure flies, I hope to get a chance sometime soon to smell the roses.

Has this ever happened to you?

Thursday morning I was up bright and early and I was reaching for my toothbrush when all of a sudden I heard a crunching sound.

A crunching sound that was my neck. It's killing me. Heating pad, cold compress, Advil, all that amounts to is me not getting any sleep.

I hate not being able to find a comfy position to fall asleep. Of course, the last two nights The Man has sleep like a log. Brutal.

Insult to injury, I can't think when I'm in pain. Hopefully tomorrow will dawn and I'll be feeling better.

Monday I'm checking to see if my new medical insurance covers chiropractic visits.

Note: I'm typing this post on blogger mobile, I like that it corrects my typos as I am typing.

On the lighter side here is the street right by a local golf course. Snicker, snort, 8th grade boy humor-- but I has to share!

Ever Heard of Froobi?

Froobi is a daily deal site I ran across via Swagbucks. Everyday, they send me an email and in it there are two deals. That's it. Just two.  They make it very easy for me to go ahead, click on the email and take a quick glance at what they are offering each day. 

Typically they do trend toward offering about 25% jewlery and about 20% baby/toddler related items.  So often the two deals are not of interest to me.  I click and check out my daily Froobi anyway because you never know! 

Now don't quote me on this part, because I could be wrong, but I think they offer free shipping.  Maybe not all the time, but it seems like most of the time.  Alway fun to get a deal and free shipping!

Additionally you get swagbucks for your purchases, so reward points just like a credit card might offer w/o the pain of revolving debt.  You can see my swagbucks on the left.

So there you have it, I recommend Froobi!  Try it and let me know what great deals you grab!

Some stuff is worth doing yourself.

If you want to, you can make pretty much everything yourself, and the instructions for it all are located on Pinterest.

Here are some examples:

40 ways to do shoulder-length hair. pin now, read later.
Mason Jars - Twenty Five Creative Ways to Use Them
Homemade Febreze

See what I mean?  Who knew you could just make your own Febreze and 25 things with Mason Jars.

Well I really need to go pin some more uses for glass jars.  We have tons of pickle and spaghetti sauce jars due to Patrick the Pickle Eater and Bryce who loves Pasta.

In the meantime, I have found for you something very much worth doing yourself!  It's easy! 

From Passion for Savings!

How to make your own Whitening Rinse


All you need to do is mix Hydrogen Peroxide, Baking Soda and a few drops of McCormick Mint Extract.

Too Easy!!!!

#WordlessWednesday Howdy!

Across from the future home of Golftopia, is Stampede a Western Wear & Feed Store.  There Anna found what she has been looking for, and now she says she doesn't have to brush her hair anymore.

Here she is making a goofy face.

It seems like a Sunday but It's #Wordless Wednesday!

Fireworks, Food, the Fouth

I was over on youtube, why was I on youtube?  I don't really remember. I think my brain has been fried by the heat. Earlier today we were out doing errands, and the walk from the air-conditioned car to the air-conditioned store, sapped my will to live.

Now what was the point of this blog post?  Oh yes.  The end of the Fiscal Year for Tastefully Simple has arrived and while it wasn't one of my better sales years, I am still extremely grateful for the flexibility my business  has given me in this crazy year of job loss, house loss and moving.

So July dawns and with it a clean slate and fresh goals for the new Tastefully Simple year. My goal this coming year is to introduce Tastefully Simple to hundreds of people in my new hometown and continue to be the fastest growing team in Western North Carolina!

Back to youtube, below you can see a video from Tastefully Simple with some great easy tips for your July 4th (or any summer) party!

Well, huh, who knew.

I've been busy just doing, what needs doing, dishes, working, sharing the Tastefully Simple love and finding stuff to keep the kids from 'boredom'.  And all the while,  I was very aware that my peeps back in Chicagoland have been having a crazy ton of  triple digit temps.

*side note: reminds me of the major heat wave back in 95.  Crazy hot it was, and I was 24.5 and single.  So my memories are all good.... good times. good times.

Anyway, I just took a look over at the weather.com, and holy CRAP it's gonna be HOT ALL OVER this weekend!

Damn!  That's hot!  We are going to hit 100 here tomorrow.  And the big question is....

Will I turn on the air?  It hasn't been on yet this year, I'm hoping we can get away with not turning it on.  Yes I know, I must be out of my mind.  But hear me out.

1. I've just come to the conclusion, we are going to the beach for the hottest part of the day.

2. It cools off a ton around here at night, so we can muddle thru without the evil money-sucking air conditioning!  Really it does cool off, Look:

Fri Jun 29

100^°F

66^°F

Sunny

Chance of rain:

0%

Wind:

WNW at 6 mph

Sat Jun 30

101^°

69^°

Sunny

Chance of rain:

0%

Wind:

WNW at 5 mph

Sun Jul 1

98^°

68^°

Mostly Sunny

Chance of rain:

0%

Wind:

NW at 5 mph

3. OR I'll drop the kids off at the beach and I'll go to the movies and see Magic Mike in Air-Conditioned Comfort.  I'm Kidding! That would be wrong.





STAY COOL ALL!

The Man take as a turn as Mr. Frugal

Sometime The Man is annoyingly extravagant.  Case in point, he was talking about joining a Country Club. Seriously. Can you say sooooooo not in the budget! I know he means well, he is just dreaming with his words.  Livin' Large.

Thing is, Livin Large talk makes me nervous.  I believe this is because one of my household duties is making sure the bills are paid.  Can you relate?

Frugality, on the other hand, is the way to my heart.  That and a clean kitchen. So recently, The Man did real good and I have to give him his just due.

When we moved into our new place on the shores of Lake Chatuge, the previous owner had left behind a propane tankless, Char-Broil Grill.  Tom cleaned up the grill and then..instead of buying a shiny new propane tank...

He was at the landfill and spied someone throwing away a propane tank.  Right, that isn't protocol for acceptable household waste for sure.  So the fellow working at the dump was OK with The Man taking the dirty, empty propane tank.

The Man brought the tank home and cleaned it up.  Yes, I said cleaned it up.  Personally, I think it's superfluous to clean up an empty propane tank, but he did.  Then we took it to the Bi-Lo where you got a $4.00 off if you exchanged an empty tank for a full one with your Bi-Lo card.

1 new propane tank would have cost $55.00.  1 propane tank exchanged for a full one at Bi-Lo was $16.98.

So we are now grilling at a total OOP (out of pocket) cost of $16.98!

Way to go The Man!

I received a coupon link from My Insite which is a blogging reach-out marketing arm of General Mills/Betty Crocker. This time around they are saying "hey don't forget about our Suddenly Salad when you are looking for a quick BBQ side". 

 I have a secret fondness for the Bacon & Ranch Suddenly Salad, so I'm sharing the coupon link! Enjoy!

 PS often these are part of 10 for $10 deals so a good coupon esp. if you are able to double-coupon !The coupon can really help you get a box of Suddenly Salad for peanuts. Plus they have the Boxtops for Education.

Squeee!!! I figured out how to make pictures linkable, click the picture to grab the Zesty Pasta Salad Recipe!

Hey! I have an idea for a series of posts!

I think I have signed up and used about all the daily deal sites there are currently on the Internet. This is how I explain having over 3000 emails in my email inbox.  It's all those daily deal emails. Because I haven't met a deal site I wasn't willing to give a try, I thought I'd share my feedback for you, in a series of blog posts called "Hey! I have an idea for a series!"

1. Groupon.  Who doesn't know what Groupon is at this point? AmIright?  Or is that incorrect? Should it read: Who doesn't know who or whom Groupon is at this point?  Yes, I'm cracking myself up now.  Any who...

Groupon is great if you like to go do stuff, I would say make sure that you only buy Groupons that you are sure you can use in a short time frame.  For example, The Man bought oil changes in February.  A set of 3 oil changes for $39.95.  Yes it is a great deal, but we moved in May, so only 1 of the 3 oil changes got used.  Not such a good deal.

So if you Groupon, make sure to read the fine print, and make sure it is a place you can go to within say 6 weeks of purchase. 

One HUGE con to Groupon is the annoying writing they use for their deals. Are you familiar?  I bet there is a Facebook page dedicated to the antifans of the Groupon Prose.  ***runs off to check***

Well there aren't any Groupon Copywriting Is Lame pages on Facebook.  This leads me to one of two conclusions.  I am the only person who doesn't like their attempts to seem 'hip and cool' OR Facebook censors groups who would discuss how lame Groupon is because Groupon probably buys lots of targeted ads from Facebook.

Yes. Major Conspiracy it is.

Final verdict: Skip the deal descriptions if they annoy you, but make sure to click and read the fine print before you buy!

Just Needs Some Spinach

I like to try the recipes I find in the paper next to coupons. This fondness for a deal with a recipe lead me to a new recipe for chicken from Swanson Flavor Boost.

You can click below to see the original recipe or you can read on to see how I doctored it up.

 My version:

1 1/2 tbsp Meyer Lemon Infused Oil (divided)
1 lb boneless chicken breasts cut into strips. (I cut it while it was still mostly frozen so it was easier to cut)
1 8oz package of mushrooms, sliced.  I think I will try baby bella mushrooms next time.
1/2-1 tbsp Garlic Garlic
1 pint grape tomatoes
3 green onions sliced white and green parts about 1/3 cup
2 packets of the Swanson Flavor Boost concentrated broth
2 tbsp of water

Next time I'm going to add a bag of baby spinach to the ingredients. I think it will be great with addition. I will cook the spinach at the very end of the cooking process.

• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken and cook until well browned, stirring often.  Remove the chicken from the skillet.
• Heat the remaining oil in the skillet over medium heat.  Add the mushrooms and cook until tender, stirring occasionally.
• Add the garlic, tomatoes and onions to the skillet and cook and stir for 1 minute.  Return the chicken to the skillet.  Stir in the concentrated broth and water and cook until the chicken is cooked through.
Must have pasta?  You could spoon this over pasta if you'd like.

 the original recipe is clickable below.

Campbell's Kitchen: Chicken with Grape Tomatoes & Mushrooms