Wordless Wednesday My Fave Time of Day

Sunset. Love me some Sunset!

I bet you don't know what today is...

If you already know this...we'll you've got me.  It's

Tampax Tuesday! 

Yes that is right, Tuesday is dedicated to feminine protection.  You may be asking, When did this start?  Looks like it's going on all April long! I got the scoop from one of the blogs I subscribe to called Freebies for Mom .  Now it is called freebies 4 Mom, but don't let that stop you--she has freebies of all sorts no mom card required to redeem. 

Now back to Tampax Tuesday.  You can click the link here and read about how you can get a Tampax Sample Pack free. Free is good!

And speaking of money related items, I completed my first month as a contractor for a home-based calling center and made $600 working about 10-15 hours per week.  That would be about $150 per week. Not bad working in my basement!


Have you read The Hunger Games?  I have read it and the second book Cathing Fire.  By the end of The Hunger Games I had decided my favorite character is Haymitch Abernathy.  What can I say, Im a fan of flawed anti-heros. Fingers are crossed that the movie is as fun as the book was to read!

Long Time No Post

Well I've not had much Internet time over the last two weeks because we are down at our new place in North Carolina and while we called to get Internet hooked up it hasn't been hooked up as of yet. 

Me and the kids are driving back to Chicagoland tomorrow, so at least Tom will get the benefit of Internet and a home phone. 

Arriving back in the Land of Lincoln will be a bit of a shock as we have just gotten used to warm sunny days in the 70s and cooler evenings.  Now we will have to get reacquainted with rainy gloom and temps in the low 50s.  Booo. 

This pic is Patrick modeling his new robe on the deck which needs painting.  This pic was take right after we arrived as you can see the trees are pretty bare.  Today I can report that on many of the trees unfurling of leaves has taken place.  Total Nature Splendor in every direction.

My friend K would be so happy if she was here, as my SIL found 2 baby snakes--which may or may not have been copperheads--We needed a herpetologist.

Now I am dreading the drive home for a few reasons, would you like to hear them?
1. It's a long drive all to be driven by me having consumed massive doses of caffeine.

2. The afore mentioned crummy weather.

3. The kids just got accustom to the move and the area, so there will be another adjustment period as we come back to finish the school year and another one when we come back down in June.

4. I have to pack up the house.

5. The Man is going to move all the stuff in our NC house around and I won't like the way he will organized stuff.

On the bright side we had an offer on our old house! Woot!

Some deals That I like

I have gotten this deal before, spend $10 and get $20 to spend at overstock.com .  It's up again at Living Social and when I got it last I bought 4 super awesome pillows so now I can sleep without tossing and turning because my neck hurt.  Set of 4 pillow from overstocks was like $37 after my discounts.

Also today is Friday which means people who search the web with swagbucks are earning lots of extra swag on Friday.  They call it MSBD.  If you aren't signed up with Swagbucks here is a code to get you an extra 70 swagbucks for joining!  So you always get 30 when you join and if you sign up now and enter  MARCHSWAG and it must be entered during registration! The code expires 11:59pm PT on April 2nd.  You can click the pic here to sign up. 

Why bother to use swagbucks?

1. Makes searching a bit more fun.
2. Free stuff.  You can get trinkety stuff for as little as 30 swagbucks--so could be fun for the kids. OR you could save all your bucks to get gift cards!  Nothing better than a nice amazon.com gift card for example. Gift cards start at the 500 level. I've been a member for about a month and we have over 1200 bucks. And that is without much effort frankly!

But wait...there is more. If you join Swagbucks and then go to One King Lane you should see a 10% off discount code pop up on the right hand side of your screen.  You can couple that with my $15 off your order referral code and get some great deals (think even better than TJ Maxx or Marshalls!) on all sorts of great home stuff. I like to look at the awesome furniture.

On Google Offers there is a $20 for $40 at One King Lane available for 2 more days.  I bought one and redeemed it last night.

This is one of the items I got a set of 4 rooster salad plates.  It has an en francois motif. Cost before discounts on the plates $19.

Everything is closeout so sales are final.  The products are grouped and sold for about a max of 7 days. All of it is great looking.  Some is designer highend tag sales and/or antiques and some is for the stylish budget concious.

So those are my favorite things and my fav deal for today! I hope you have a great Friday, it's nice and rainy here which means the grass is going to grow.  Not cool with Tom being out of town...

If you put it on your timeline, does it make it true?

Facebook pleaded with me to add my University/College to my timeline.  The reality of my attendance and subsequent Associates Degree is so boring, I decided to attend Oxford University and graduate with an English Lit degree.  My favorite class was the impact of Jane Austen's novels on modern Chick Lit.

Good times, good times. 

How about you?  Is your Facebook Timeline or profile completely accurate? 

More Recent Activity

• Victoria added University of Oxford to her education.

 

Wordless Wednesday Counting Down to Season 2

Today I got all set up with HBOGO so I can watch the season premier of Game of Thrones Season 2.
Can't wait. Might have to lock myself in a bathroom to get some peace and quiet to watch it..but will be worth it!

I don't know about you, but I love Professor Snape.

So how was your weekend?  I had a busy one! Saturday was a Relay For Life Tastefully Simple Fundraiser Party. Sunday Anna and I sold Girl Scout cookies at a local grocery store.  We sold 71 boxes, I am not sure if that is great or not, but I'm going to say we did a great job. Last night I was on the phones for my work at home call center job. I made that a link in case anyone is looking for a work from home job that is legit! 

Friday night Patrick and I watched Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Of couse we really enjoyed it, and it was so compelling Patrick didn't talk the whole time.  Ever full of questions is how one can describe Patrick at any time of day, but more so during a movie.

As all the kids at my house know, my favorite character in the land of Harry Potter is Severus Snape. 
I had to make a very concerted effort not to cry during Professor Snape's last scene and the flashback.  Good Stuff. Give me an anti-hero in my fiction any day of the week.

Overall it was a prety good week in reaching goals.  I am especially proud that I was able not to be annoyed at The Man for breathing.

This week what are you working on?  I am working on:

Family/Mothering Goals
1. Get kids to sleep on time for it is ISATS (state testing) time.
2. Ensure The Man and Bryce are up to speed on Cub Scout stuff they need to work on this month.
3. Review Bills

Personal Goals.
1. Run 8 miles 4x this week.
2. Read Clash of Kings --Only 18 days til Season 2 of Game of Thrones Premiers on HBO!
3. Track food and exercise on Sparkpeople.com

Home Management
1. Cancel thing The Man set up.
2. Take pics of bedroom furniture set to sell for $300. (King bed, nightstand and tall dresser w/mirror all mission style)
3. Make the Tastefully Simple Tonight Meals --using the freezer meals option. Then I won't have to have people ask me what is for dinner. Well, they will still ask but I"ll just point to the freezer and tell them to have a look.
Business Goals.
1. Team Email
2. Client Email
3. Check in with Upcoming parties

Goals from last week.
Family/Mothering Goals
1. Try not to be annoyed at The Man for breathing.
2. Sell Girl Scout Cookies with Anna on Sunday.
3. Work on better system for Bryce "Oh I forgot I have a project due tomorrow that I've know about for a month."

Personal Goals
1. Run 7miles 4x this week.2. watch all the David Tennant Dr. Who episodes on Netflix :-D
3. Look into going to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. *Interesting note, Joyce Kilmer not a woman, actually a man.
Home Management
1. Take pics and post bedroom set furniture.
2. decide if tiling the top of a cocktail table is a good idea or not.
3. TCO Utilities.--don't 4get to sch. ATT4. Make the Tastefully Simple Tonight Meals --using the freezer meals option. Then I won't have to have people ask me what is for dinner. Well, they will still ask but I"ll just point to the freezer and tell them to have a look.

Business Goals:
1. Host coaching for my upcoming parties.
2. Send out Team Feb Incentive awards to winners.
3. Put together ppwk for March parties and print recipes for Stagg Craft Fair.

Wordless Wednesday, Summer It's been too long

Children playing baseball barefoot with a wiffle bat and ball.

Woo Hoo Post 300!!

Below you will see my goals from last week of which I got 2 out of 3 in each category.  I call that progress.  How about you?  Did you make a goal list last week?  How did things shake out? This week I'll be working on some other things...

Family/Mothering Goals
1. Try not to be annoyed at The Man for breathing.
2. Sell Girl Scout Cookies with Anna on Sunday.
3. Work on better system for Bryce "Oh I forgot I have a project due tomorrow that I've know about for a month."

Personal Goals
1. Run 7miles 4x this week.
2. watch all the David Tennant Dr. Who episodes on Netflix :-D
3. Look into going to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. *Interesting note, Joyce Kilmer not a woman, actually a man.

Home Management
1. Take pics and post bedroom set furniture.
2. decide if tiling the top of a cocktail table is a good idea or not.
3. TCO Utilities.--don't 4get to sch. ATT
4. Make the Tastefully Simple Tonight Meals --using the freezer meals option. Then I won't have to have people ask me what is for dinner. Well, they will still ask but I"ll just point to the freezer and tell them to have a look.

Business Goals:
1. Host coaching for my upcoming parties.
2. Send out Team Feb Incentive awards to winners.
3. Put together ppwk for March parties and print recipes for Stagg Craft Fair.

***
Twas a lovely Tuesday here full of sunshine and crazy windy.  All that in like a lion and out like a lamb stuff for sure. I am hoping that rain holds off until after dark tomorrow and we can have another sunny day in my neck of the woods.

Family/Mothering Goals
1. Make Patrick an end of the school year countdown.
2. Try not to be annoyed by The Man because he makes an annoying IMO sound when he eats.
3. Work on Breakfast Offerings for the kids that they can quickly eat b/4 running off to school.
Personal Goals
1. Run 5 miles 3x this week and add on 1 -2 miles of walking at the end of the run.
2. Blog 3x3. Research Beekeeping, or raising chickens for eggs. * I know, I know, really? Hey, I have a dream of living off the land. :-D
4. Do something with the mop on my head! It's awful!
Home Managment
1. TCO misc. bills
2. Clean out the playroom
3. Try Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup recipe.Business Goals
1. Get everything set to start working on Thurs as Independent Call Center Rep.
2. Client Newsletter
3. Team Newsletter4. 15-30 calls.

Email notifications I really need to unsub

I enjoy the quest for enlightenment and self-improvement.  I also enjoy social media and the big wide world of the Internet.  Because of the mashup between these things I love, I get emails entitled:

1. From 43 things (a goal setting website I signed up for back in 2007):
RE:   Take Family to Hawaii in 2008!

Here we are 2012, haven't done that, have never gotten even close to saving enough $$ to go there.

2. From Mint.com (a financial organizational website I signed up for back in probably 2009?

Did you know you are using too much of your total credit?

Yes. Yes I do. Very well aware.

3. From Sparkpeople.com (food diary website)

We miss you! You are only 18.8 lbs away from your goal of losing 20 lbs!

cringe.

4. From Zillow.com (a real estate website)

Your Hickory Hills Home Zestimate has decreased by 1.8%!

Thanks for the reminder that we bought at the height of the real estate bubble.

5. Every single Martha Stewart Daily Craft email.

Dear Email In Box:
Stop Mocking Me!


Thanks God the Internet is chock-full of LOLCATs.

My first Wordless Wednesday! (posting a few hours early)

We are moving to North Carolina!

Weekly Goals! 90% more likely to actually be reached

because I am going to put them here and that way I'll have them where I can see them and not in my little head. Do you make goals on a regular basis?  How does it work for you? Im using the format from Money Saving Mom

Family/Mothering Goals
1. Make Patrick an end of the school year countdown.
2. Try not to be annoyed by The Man because he makes an annoying IMO sound when he eats.
3. Work on Breakfast Offerings for the kids that they can quickly eat b/4 running off to school.

Personal Goals
1. Run 5 miles 3x this week and add on 1 -2 miles of walking at the end of the run.
2. Blog 3x
3. Research Beekeeping, or raising chickens for eggs. * I know, I know, really?  Hey, I have a dream of living off the land. :-D
4. Do something with the mop on my head!  It's awful!

Home Managment
1. TCO misc. bills
2. Clean out the playroom
3. Try Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup recipe.

Business Goals
1. Get everything set to start working on Thurs as Independent Call Center Rep.
2. Client Newsletter
3. Team Newsletter
4. 15-30 calls.

Okay there it is, a very do=able list if I do say so myself.  And big bonus is that I already have my next 2 blog topics ready to go.  If I am feeling crazy I may just go ahead and write them tonight and post them later in the week!

Yesterday I spent over an hour getting knots out of the back of Anna's hair.  And I still couldn't get it all out.  The stress of it all was enough to get Anna on board with short hair.  Yes I know I am the Mom and I have final hair say since she is 7; nevertheless, it is good to have the buy-in from her.

SLOW COOKER RECIPE!
Originally from this month's Family Circle.  It is called Soupe Au Pistou  (Provencal Vegetable Soup with Pesto)  I made some changes of course.
4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
3 medium boiling potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 medium onions, chopped  I used 1 large onion and 1 medium shallot
2 medium zucchinis, chopped
8 cups of water
Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
2 cups cooked or drained and canned cannellini beans  In the future I would use Butter Beans.
1 cup small pasta.  I used Barilla Piccolini Mini Farfalle and I didn't mix it in with the soup--that way it stays al dente.  I put a small scoop on the bottom of the bowl and then ladle the soup over it.
I also added about 1/2 a tbsp of chopped rosemary because I had fresh rosemary in the fridge.
I also added a tablespoon of Garlic Garlic as well.

You just take everything listed above except the noodles and the beans and put that in the slow cooker for a good 8 hours on low.  Add the beans for 30 min and then it's ready to serve.  You have to top it with prepared pesto.  I, of course, made some Tastefully Simple Dried Tomato and Garlic Pesto with our Roasted Garlic infused oil. The soup would be terribly bland w/o the pesto on top.  I think if I make it again, I'm going to use broth instead of the water. 

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.

Mardi Gras

Here we are another Fat Tuesday, another year in which I don't take part in the eating of a King Cake or a paczki.  I don't really like stuff in my pastries. After you have the Fat Tuesday celebrations, along comes Lent and 6 weeks of deprivation. Deprivation for those so inclined to give it a go on the long trek toward Easter Sunday.  I love some Lenten fasting, so I've been thinking, what to give up? what to give up?

Here are a few ideas, just off the top of my head:

1. Give up doing dishes.
2. Give up making lunches
3. Give up putting other people's things away.

Right, I know, that's not what they mean when they say you should give something up for lent!  Well all right, I've mulled it over and I am going with giving up all-things-fried. I was thinking of giving up junk food, but upon reflection, it seems to be too broad a category.  For example, is a jelly bean junk food? What about a hamburger?

So there I go. No fried stuff.  How about you?  Do you 'do' Lent?  What are you giving up?

My face hurts

Oy. This morning I woke up with a huge sinus-pressure cold kind of thing.  I dosed myself with some Day-Quil to no avail.  I still have a majorly stuffy head.  I'm in misery I tell ya.

This is what I looked like when I got up this morning.  Pretty doggone scary, and yet, people wanted me to make them breakfast.

I could go on at length about how crummy I am feeling.  I could also go into how this weekend The Man has had occasion to invite a cornucopia of his family members over. Many people in and out of the house, and me sick and unshowered.

However, I am sucking it up, and am not going to whine and complain. I'm going to try an be like my blood type--B+  Reasons why things don't totally suck even though my face hurts.

1. It's just a cold, it will pass.
2. I didn't have any Tastefully Simple Parties on my schedule this weekend.  Given that, it was a good time to get sick, relatively speaking.
3. The man went to Walgreens and got me Original Halls, as I requested.  Not Honey Lemon, Sugar Free or Store Brand Cough Drops will do for me, I highly prefer good-old Halls Mentho-lyptus.
Click Here to Link Yourself to a Halls Coupon from Vicks.com
4. No school for kids 2morrow, So I can sleep in-ish.  You know I don't really get to sleep in, it's more of  a 'I choose not to open my eyes and leave bed for a while past when I can hear the kids are up' thing.
5. Well actually, I've got nothing for five. I do hope no one is going to expect me to make them dinner.

Too bad I haven't got my new Tastefully Simple Tonight Collection--7 products plus recipe cards/shopping list and freezer labels to make 10 meals.  If I have that I'd have 10 meals complete with cooking labels sitting in the freezer.

Then when The Man says "What is there to eat?" like he is wont to do on a daily basis, I could raise a weak and feeble hand and point to the freezer.  "Meals. In. Freezer." I would say, and then he would open the freezer, review his choices, and BAM! dinner-To-Done!

Can't wait to get the collection and put together my meals. Can't wait for my face to stop hurting!

The other day before I caught this cold I made a really good stew from Family Circle Magazine.  Two thumbs up for sure!

Beef Stew With Mushrooms, Rosemary and Tomatoes
Ingredients

• 4 pounds boneless beef chuck, well trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil   I used Tastefully Simple Roasted Garlic Infused Oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped I used Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 2 cups beef broth
• 4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 cup chopped canned tomatoes
• 1 fresh rosemary sprig
• 1 bay leaf<< I dont like bay leaf at all, so I left that out.
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 pound white button mushrooms, quartered
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

I followed the directions and then realized that I didn't have enough time to cook it in the slow cooker so I cooked the stew on the stove in a large stock pot for about 1 1/2 simmering and then added the mushrooms as per below.

End result very yummy!   Paired very nicely with Flip Flop Cabernet Sauvignon. Fun Flip Flop Fact: not only does it have a handy twist top, the company donates some of their profits to Soles4Souls.


1. Pat beef dry with paper towels. In a bowl, combine flour with salt and pepper to taste. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and toss until lightly coated.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add beef in batches and cook until browned on all sides, about 20 minutes total. Place meat in a large slow cooker.
3. Add onions to skillet and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and tomato paste. Add wine and cook, scraping the pan, until liquid comes to a simmer. Pour contents of skillet over meat. Add broth, carrots, tomatoes and herbs to slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours or until beef is tender when pierced with a fork.
4. When beef is almost ready, melt butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring often, until mushrooms are golden, about 10 minutes.
5. Stir mushrooms into stew and discard bay leaf. Serve hot, sprinkled with parsley.

Catching Pre-Spring Fever!

I can't wait for Daylight Savings. I like my darkness later in the day and I don't care if the sun is up before 8am. Since we have had a very mild winter, I have already decided that Valentines Day was the last day of winter. Now it's pre-spring.

I'm going to look into trademarking that one. It's not the doldrums of winter, it's "Pre-Spring" TM. Speaking of savings, I had to survive several internet-less hours over the past few days due to The Man switching us over to XFINITY.

  I wonder if we will actually save much money when we get the bill--with all the fees added on to it. Have you perused a bill telecommunications bill lately. You would think with all the fees added on, and how no one can live w/o phone/cable/internet/cell phones in this day and age, that our Government would be in the black due to the monthly Govt Fees.

Fees. Eric Northman Does Not Approve.
















With all the fees, we all need to find savings everywhere we can. Savings Star is coupon company that you sign your store loyalty card up with and when you purchase certain products you get the coupons as cash. It's like Upromise, but you aren't saving up for college. They have a nice Quaker Products deal in Feb. See Below. Do you belong to Savings Star? If so you can get $5.00 back

Spend $15.00 on Quaker products in February, and get $5.00 back all at once or in many trips!

Free Health Full Bread Already Gone

The man already ate our free loaf of bread from the bzzagent campaign.  Jewel in our area carries Brownberry and I got the 10 grain because that was in stock.  I want to get the flax & fiber next because The Man is a fan of Flax Seed.

What I really liked about the bread is that unlike other hearty widepan breads, this is sliced thin.  It comes in at 80 calories a serving and one slice folded over with two slices of Sara Lee Honey Ham, didn't fall apart and wasn't way too much bread for the kids. 

60% of the time when I give Bryce a sandwich, it comes home uneaten. The days he had Brownberry Health Full, he actually ate the sandwich.  A victory!

Next time I get the bread, and it will be soon, since it is currently on sale at Jewel for $2.49, I want to try this recipe.  The Greek Goddess.

* My disclosure: As I mentioned above, I got a free Health Full Bread coupon for a free Brownberry/Arnold or Oroweat and coupons for discounts off bread from Bzzagent . Join Bzzagent and you can be the first to try new products!

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!

I need to find a website devoted to catchy blog post titles.

Aside from setting aside the time to put together a blog post, the hardest thing for me is the damn title. Mostly I look at the blank title line and think: 'I got nothin'.  Today is no exception. Tomorrow we are going to get our taxes done, then off to open a new checking account because we have finally given TCF Bank the heave-ho.  I also need to get in a run, or in my case, more like a slow jog. Ideally, I will manage to carve out time to run 5 miles.  It seems that there is something else I need to go do tomorrow, but I am not able to recall at this point.

What I would like to do is sit around, watch a movie and have one of these.  As I said on facebook, this dessert is completely pinterest-worthy.

It's made up of : layers of chocolate pudding with Kahlua, vanilla pudding with Bailey’s Irish Cream, crushed Truffle Fudge Brownie bits and roasted almonds.

Even better than the above would be to hear that we'll be getting some money back on our taxes this year.  That would be lovely.  The Man is sure we will, but I am not convinced, it was a weird year.

He is working with an outplacement firm that specializes in helping corporate types such as he transition to a new job or career.  Today I suggested he try beekeeping.  It was a no go.  Though he did suggest that I could feel free to give beekeeping a go. Why beekeeping? Honestly, I don't know. I saw that the Cook County Farm Bureau is having an Intro to Beekeeping Class.  It sounds interesting. Then I can sell Honey right? I wonder how often beekeepers get stung. 

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%

****

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. 

It's Tuesday, let's talk about food.

Since we are in the throws of reduced income due to The Man's current unemployment, there is no eating out. Now if I could eat out tonight, I'd love to grab some lemongrass chicken. I'd go over to Chi-Tung in Evergreen Park, IL and get that along with a tossed salad with their amazing ginger dressing and big Mai-Tai.  I hope your mouth is watering!  I know mine is now! 

Clearly I don't get out much because when I went to their website to grab the link above, I see that they have built a Hibachi Steakhouse since I've been there last.

All is not lost however, I can start a "Going Out To Eat" fund with money I earn from reorders and make plans to go to Chi-Tung in February.  In the meantime, I found a relatively easy recipe at Food & Wine Magazine for Lemongrass Chicken that I will share below Wish me luck, I think I will attempt to pull it off on Saturday this week, or maybe even on Superbowl Sunday.  We don't have plans for the Superbowl.  We'll just stay home.

Turns out Americans take in an average of 2700 calories (which includes an average of 6 beers consumed) at a Superbowl  Party. I'll just take a pass on that and save those calories for another day or two. 

And in the world of Stuff-Kids- Like-To-Eat, I got a great email from Psst..from General Mills. It is something I signed up for and they send out newsletters and coupons for General Mills products. In today's email it said:

"Moms know that "Trix are for kids," but now she can give them a snack that she'll feel good about too. Yoplait Trix yogurt has been reformulated and now has no artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, or high fructose corn syrup. "

Great news for me. The kids love the Trix yogurt and I don't like buying food chock full of artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, and HFCS. Plus I think there was a link to print a coupon!  Wahoo! Yogurt is on the top five favorite snacks at this house.

LEMONGRASS CHICKEN FROM FOOD AND WINE MAGAZINE

Ingredients

1. 2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
2. 3 garlic cloves, crushed
3. 1 tablespoon mild curry powder
4. 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
5. 2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
6. 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
7. 3 tablespoons water
8. 3 tablespoons canola oil
9. 2 fresh lemongrass stalks, tender inner white bulbs only, minced
10. 1 large shallot, thinly sliced
11. 3 serrano chiles, seeded and minced
12. 5 cilantro sprigs
13. Steamed rice, for serving

1. In a bowl, combine the fish sauce, garlic, curry powder, salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the sugar. Add the chicken to coat.
2. In a small skillet, mix the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar with 1 tablespoon of the water and cook over high heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Cook without stirring until a deep amber caramel forms, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of water. Transfer to a very small heatproof bowl.
3. Heat a wok over high heat. Add the oil and heat until shimmering. Add the lemon­grass, shallot and chiles and stir-fry until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chicken and caramel and stir-fry over moderate heat until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is slightly thickened, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and top with the cilantro. Serve with rice.

The little things

Sometimes it is the little things. The little things that you can scribble down in your gratitude journal.  The little moments you just want to box up and put on a shelf and open up a grey day down the road.

In the laughter department, here is something that just makes me laugh and laugh--in my head.  I really should correct the kids on this; however, I don't. For no reason, Anna and the B Man think that the word for nipples is nibbles.  This comes upfor example when one of the kids wonders why boy have nibbles since they don't need them.  I mean nipples.  Kids, as we all know, say the funniest things.

In the awesome deals department, Jewel had special coupons in the paper today that you can use to double your coupons.  Double Coupons!  It never happens at Jewel. This is huge.  The question now is, what should I use the special coupons for?  Chocolate or Prego Spaghetti Sauce?  *Sigh*  it's going to have to be the Prego.

In the TGIM department, that would be Thank God Its Monday, The Man has an appointment with an outplacement firm.  Wahoo!  Hopefully this will help him to uncover the next phase of his career.  I have been giving him all kinds of motivation advice and goal setting books to no avail. I'll bet if the outplacement firm tells him the same stuff, then he will try it.  Men.

In my work department, I'm wrapping up a good January sales and parties-wise.  This is really good because January can set the pace for the year.  If you don't have sales in January, it's much harder to reach your sales goals the next month.

And lastly in the yummy department, I've discovered a new breakfast:

Take 2 corn torillas, warm them in the toaster oven for 4 mintues.
spread liberally with Peanut Butter. We have Smart Balance Creamy Peanut Butter on hand because it is on sale this week, plus there are coupons for it as well.  Just click the link above this and you can get some coupons as well.

And top it off by spreading on the Tripleberry Fruit Spread!  It's delish and much more filling and lasting than when I have oatmeal.  Oatmeal doesn't stick with me. I'm hungry in about 1 hour if I have Oatmeal for breakfast.  Weird, right?

Veggies, Veggies, Veggies

Before I go into my 3 veggie related items, I have to share excited news!  I got this email today:

"Welcome Victoria701,

Congratulations and welcome to Top Mommy Blogs! Please take a moment to read over this email."
and then there was a bunch more stuff, but the point is my blog was accepted!  Yippee!  I have a link on the left where you can click to 'vote' for me if you like this blog and also you can check out many other great blogs by moms!

Now back to Veggies X 3:

This morning I got my daily email from Freebies 4 Mom and she shared that you can get a coupon good for a free can of Red Gold Tomatoes when you go to their facebook page and like them!  Here is the link to her post.

Veggies #2
 I was on Pinterest and thanks to Glenda of Busy-at-home.com I found the most wonderful site for starting a garden.  On a scale of 1-10 this website gets an 11 for ease of use.  It's called Sprout Robot . You put in your zip code and tell the site if you want to have a container garden, a small garden or a large family sustaining garden.  Next you pick what you want to grow in your garden and it sets up a time line detailing when to plant and how to plant based on your zip code.  Best part, step by step illustrations!

Simple, Easy, Do-able!  Yesterday I added "cultivation: vegetable garden in 2012! Arugula,Herbs and more!" to my 2012 Vision Board, so finding this site was perfect timing!

Finally on my Veggies theme, Last night I made Roasted Brussel Sprouts with a super simple recipe from Ina Garten.  Click or read below!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts
• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut off the brown ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves. Mix them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour them on a sheet pan and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Shake the pan from time to time to brown the sprouts evenly. Sprinkle with more kosher salt ( I like these salty like French fries), and serve immediately.
Serves: 6; Calories: 109; Total Fat: 7 grams; Saturated Fat: 1 gram; Protein: 4 grams; Total carbohydrates: 10 grams; Sugar: 2 grams; Fiber: 4 grams; Cholesterol: 0 milligrams; Sodium: 269 milligrams

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Frugal and Green

I was reading the blog Busy-at-Home and she did a review and is doing a giveaway for a great product that is all the things I love:
1. Locally made in the USA by a working at home woman! (and she is from Hoffman Estates, IL!)
2. Frugal,the wool dryer balls last for years and helps not only get rid of the dreaded curse of static cling--but it also reduces your dryer dry time! Thus saving you $$ on your electric/gas bill and reducing energy consumption.
3. Its all natural! the balls are made from wool sheared off sheep. A renewable resource!

So click below to check out the review of this product and enter her giveaway. You could win some nice woolen balls. *insert giggle here*

Maple Hill Wool Dryer Balls: Our Review and Give Away!!! @MapleHillDryer

Two weeks from tomorrow, I'll be at the only thing I look forward to in the dreadful month of Feburary.  Tastefully Simple On Tour!  This is where we get to see other consultants we haven't seen in ages, get great training to help increase our income and the most fun thing of all--we get to try the new line of Spring/Summer Products!  I can't wait!  I love the Spring/Summer unveilings, it makes me start getting so excited for Spring and Summer.  Remember when it used to be sunny outside and you could have a nice salad with chicken kabobs off the grill.  Ahhh yes.  And frosty drinks..

Wahoo Wednesday!

Today is Wednesday! Wednesday is my favorite day of the week. Why? Because on Wednesday I schedule my life so I don't have to leave the house. Many people, such as The Man, don't like to spend the day at home and like to go out at some point during each day no matter what the weather. That is so not me.

Now just because I am home all day and wearing 'loungewear' doesn't mean I don't do anything. Earlier today, I clean out all my file folders in preperation for taxes and set things up for 2012 paperkeeping. This evening I will make business calls. I make most of my client calls during the day, but make it a practice to make calls one evening a week. The reason for this is common knowledge says that more people are available to talk in the evening. Mostly I leave messages, I think that common knowledge may very well be outdated. No one answers their phones much anymore.

I also spent some time today trying to figure out how people earn money via their blogging. I have to say, I wouldn't mind making some money for blogging. We could use it, The Man is still job hunting and career re-thinking. So that is why I put a coupon.com link on the top of my blog.  I like coupons, maybe people who read my blog will use the link and I'll make a few cents. Speaking of alternative ways to make money, here is one for you.

On Facebook I belong to a local buying and selling group. It's a brilliant idea, and I'm sorry I don't know who to thank for it. The group covers a smaller geographic area and people post albums filled with pictures of items they are looking to sell, such as clothes, toys, appliances, etc. It's perfect for stuff you have laying around that is worth too little to list it on ebay or craigslist.

Then members post if they are interested in an item and make arrangements to pick it up from you the seller (for the most part). Payment is cash, no shipping fees and less 'stuff' taking up your space. Via this group is how I bought my last 2 pairs of shoes and how we got our latest washer and dryer. There is no overhead for the group, it's easy to participate, earn some money, you can also post "In Search Of" for stuff you need.

Oh, plus it is green! Gotta love that! It's reusing and repurposing!

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So far this week the mailman has brought me 2 freebies--coupon for a free Twix bar and a free Schlick Razor. Want something for free? You can click below and get a free mini pack of Kleenex and give a pack to a friend at the same time. Perfect if you and a pal are going out to see "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" or is it "Incredibly Close and Extremely Loud"?


Send a Pack, Get a Pack

Gluten Free SOTU

As I mentioned on Facebook already, I like a good State of the Union (SOTU).  I was actually looking forward to enjoying it with a nice cheap glass of Cabernet Savingnon this evening. My opinion is that it's nice to have the President, whether Democratic or Republican, give a rousing speech focusing on what is going right and what we are going to do next. To be sure, much of what the President says is going to happen most likely won't, however I like a good dose of flag waving when the gloom of January is upon me.  To that end, I think we could all do without the rebuttal speech that follows the SOTU.

You might say, "Please, you are only saying that because you are a democrat."  Tis not true, I didn't like when the democrats came on and bashed George W. Bush's SOTUs either.  It's a real bummer to have the opposing side knock down all the positive spin. It's so much the worse when it is an election year.  I wonder if anyone in the Congress will figure out that we the people are tired of the fighting and not getting anything done. It's not looking good.

Another thing that I find myself doing at the beginning of most years, is trying something dietarily (is that even a word) different.  A couple of weeks ago, when I was researching Patrick's allergy to cold, I noticed that some thought there is a link between gluten intolerance and this weird allergy to cold.  I decided to try and eliminate gluten from Patrick's diet as much as possible.  Basically just reading labels and if a produce contains wheat, I don't offer it for his consumption. This is not a big deal for him as he doesn't like bread, cookies, cake, pasta and mac & cheese. Coincidence? Probably not.  Good thing we have an appointment coming up with the allergist. 

When I decided to eliminate gluten from Patrick's diet, I thought it would be good for me to do the same, so I would get a feel for what contains gluten and what doesn't. Guess what?  It's so not easy for me!  I like bread, pasta, cookies, cake and mac & cheese.  I am giving it a go however, maybe I'll lose weight as a result--or go completely off the gluten-free thing and start an all pizza diet. 

Of all the shows on Television...

Of all the crap on TV,  why I am letting Anna and Tom watch The Bachelor? I should really put a stop to this and change the channel.  The Bachelor is not only lame because the relationships are just set up for failure in 'the real world' it also and more importantly does a disservice to all women everywhere.  I don't think that is an understatement do you?  Okay, channel being changed.

On a completely different topic, Patrick has to go to an allergist and the soonest we can get him is 2/10.  In the meantime, we are supposed to keep Benedryl on hand and the doctor advised that he not drink or eat cold drinks/food to avoid anaphylaxis.  I know. I'm a bit freaked out and he is bummed he can't have any Sprite. Good news on the Sprite front is that since we are working on budgeting and living on less--no restaurants + no fast food x I stopped drinking reg and diet pop= Patrick hasn't had any opportunities to drink some nice ice cold Sprite.

Friday was the biggest snow of this winter *so far* so I made a nice Pantry Vegetable Soup (Pantry as in I used what I had in the Pantry) Here is what I did:

1 tbsp Tastefully Simple Roasted Garlic Infused Oil in a nice stock pot, heat on high and then turn down and cook for a few minutes 1 chopped onion, 4 stalks chopped celery, 4 chopped carrots.  Then add 2 cups choppped potatoes.  Then I added 6 cups of vegetable stock (just bullilion and water) and 2 cans of diced tomatoes. The diced tomatoes I had were fire roasted and diced w/basil/garlic & oregeno.

Mixed that all together and then added 1 1/2 tbsp Garlic Garlic and 1 tbsp Seasoned Salt .  Then I added a new secret special ingredient...ready for it?  1/4 cup mild Giardinera.  Simmer for 45 minutes and serve in bowls with bread if you please!

Renew Your Intentions

I signed up to get a Conscious Box you can click that link to see more about it and here is a blurb from the company:

Conscious Box is a monthly delivery of pure and sustainable products that are handpicked from businesses that care for the planet—just like you.

It's a box full of cool samples of green/sustainable products I wouldn't likely run across and it was great fun to open the box. It's like when you have a stocking full of goodies on Christmas.  I signed up to get the box because I had a discount from a blog or a webpage, or mamapedia or something.  However, I can't remember where the heck I found it...

In the box was this card, I share the words of wisdom now with you :-D

January is a time for celebration, reflection and renewal.  Take the month to acknowledge the accomplishments & challenges you experienced last year. Create new intentions for a future filled with your dreams of today--manifested into the realities of tomorrow.

"Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is. --Mary Anne Radmacher.

Patrick

When the fall was here, Patrick went to the nurse's office during Gym because he broke out in hives.  I figured it was a laundry detergent reaction. Then it happened a couple more times, and both times he went inside (because Gym was outdoors) and down to the nurse and was better in about 40 minutes. Time passed, Patrick complained the he didn't like walking to school because he got super itchy and when he got to school kids would make fun of him because of his face being red.  Tom lost his job, and needed stuff to do, so he began taking  Patrick to and from school.

Then we went to Georgia over the holidays. While we were there, we went on a family hike.  Patrick didn't want to go, but we told him he had to go with us.  So he did, and it was about 48-52 degrees. This time I got to see the hives first hand.  He wasn't exaggerating at all.  He had hives on his face. We had some Benedryl in the car and gave him that to help quell the itching. I didn't 'make' him go outside too much for the remainder of the trip.  Some going outside and playing, but I didn't tell him he'had' to go outside.

This past weekend, I thought to google 'hives in children from cold' and guess what?  It's a real condition--and serious. Here is a link to the info on cold hives:  I'd link to the Wiki page, but Wikipedia is dark today!

Tommorow Patrick has a doctor's appointment, to make sure I am right, but I know I am.  Have you ever heard of such a thing?  Allergic to cold.  Hopefully he will grow out of it, as that is a possibility.

Good Freebie from Suave!

I got this in an email from Freebies 4 Mom today:  Suave Beauty is giving away 50,000 full-size Suave Professionals Keratin Infusion line products .  You just go to Suave Beauty on Facebook and click on the giveaway button after you 'like' them.  It took a little while to load, but I filled out the form and looks like I am good to go.  So they are not at the 50K limit yet!

Subscribe to Freebies 4 Mom for more

 

And Speaking of saving money, my copy of  "The Money Saving Mom's Budget" has arrived and guess what chapter one is all about?  Setting Goals.  How timely!  That is what I am working on right now.  So my goal is to implement a budget for our family for 2012.

 

If you go to her webpage today 1/17 she has a post up to enter to win a copy if her book!  I got mine by clicking her link and ordering it from Amazon with my $25 gift code for Amazon I earned from using My Points--so my copy was free, woo hoo!

I need to work on getting together meal planning, lately I have been trying to figure out a way to organize my coupons....

And yesterday I found a great way to organize recipes, goals and things I want to look into online.  It is called Pintrest.  Online bulletin boards, fun to make, fun to use, and probably a big time waster...

Here is my page.  I do hate the clutter of recipes cut out of magazines, so Pintrest can definitely help with that, as well as keeping an accessable list of books I want to read. So many ways to waste time, so little time to waste. 

 

2012 Giving a Dream a Deadline--That makes it a Goall

Do you do resolutions?  I like the blank slate of possibilities that a New Year brings.  I have found that resolutions dont' seem to work very well for me.  For me, I like a Vision Board to show what I want more of in the coming year.  Now writing that reminds me that I don't have a Vision Board.

Note to Self: Do a Vision Board. 

What is a Vision Board?  Well it can be anything you want that is a visual representation of your goals.  For me it is a 12x12 collage with labels showing what I want to focus on in the coming year.  It encompasses Family, Business and Personal Goals.

This year I've got a big big goal to reach with my business.  The goal is a promotion to Team Mentor.  I've been 'trying' to reach that goal for several years..without success--and that I believe is because it's been a goal w/o a focus. So this is the year!  My team and I are moving up!  We will have fun and much success.  I mean really, when you sell great food, everyone is always happy to see you.

Some freebies to start the week!

Grab the freebies before they are gone.

If you like Crystal Light on FB you can get a free sample of the new Crystal Light Energy!  Only 8043 more samples remain as I type this.

Free Crystal Light

Coffee more your thing?  You can like Hills Bros Cappuchino on FB and get a free sample from them --flavored instant coffee.  Free Hills Bros Sample  You can also give a sample to a friend via their FB page.

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Today is National Clear off Your Desk Day!  If you are up for some organizing this 2012, you can score a free ebook !  I heard about this from Freebies 4 Mom  The book is available on amazon for the kindle as well as some other formats.  Absolutely Organize Your Family!

Isn't it Swell? It's 2012!

Tomorrow begins a long awaited day.  The children finally return to school!  This has been the longest Christmas Break, or Winter Break if you prefer, ever. To be sure, we did do a ton during the break.  We drove down to North Carolina & Georgia to see my family. Then we caught a cold for the New Year, drove home and still had a few days left of break! The kids have spent the rest of their break, ahhh fighting.  Super glad they go back tomorrow.  Super. Glad.  Of course this is tempered by the fact that the kids have an early dismissal on Wed and are off of school on Friday --and Monday. 

What I don't think anyone can complain about is the amazing weather we've had up here.  It's a Christmas dream come true for me, one who doesn't care for winter.  I'm not going to focus on the inevitable below zero temps to come.  Is it too early to countdown to Spring? --the days are getting longer! Only a little over a month and it will stop being dark out at 5pm.  WooHoo!

While we were driving home from our trip, to pass the time I was thinking up a motto for me for 2012.  I don't know that much rhymes with twelve, so my rhymes are a bit off.  Here is what I came up with:

Things are gonna gell in 2012!
Don't Dwell in 2012!
Life is Swell in 2012!

or What the Hell, it's 2012!