Faking It Rich

How to Score High Quality (full sized) Samples

2019-03-22T21:56:00.000-07:00

For a few years now I have been scoring completely free items in exchange for a review or endorsement. I have gotten many of the items that I regularly use in our home through this process. Some of my favorite freebies have been, organic natural body washes(ApotheCare, Thrive, and similar brands), make up (Flower, Milk, Maybelline, Benefit and much more) , skin care products(Lancer, Perricone MD, Olay, Secret are just a few), a twin memory foam mattress for my boy, a humidifier, suitcases, clothes, and endless food and dessert products. I am typically asked about how I find places to request these samples and what needs to be done to get them. There are a few things that have led to the quality and amount of things I get. The number one thing that I can not stress enough is a quality review which typically includes pictures or video. But I will get back to that later. There are a few steps that I have followed to get to where I am now. Please note that this takes some time to build relationships with companies so they start sending you better products. The more consistent you are in providing what the companies ask for the more they will come back to you with better products!

A Few of the beauty items I have recently received from various sites.

Okay your wait is over, here are the steps

1: Where to look for free high quality products.

Not everywhere you look promising free products is worth it or legit. I refuse to spend hours a week on requesting products and taking surveys in hopes of getting a free product. I want the process to be easy and seamless.

Places like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are great if your interested in free small products and free coupons. My Friend at Kouponing with Katie posts a lot of these on her site and in her Facebook group!
PinchMe - This site does free samples the second Tuesday of every month which I love. But I also get exclusive samples from them often. I get high end full sized products through them every other month or so. The most recent are the two pictured.
Smiley 360 - This site has been good to me in the past with lots of products that relate to me being a parent and a homemaker. This site is in sort of a transition so my return from here has been less lately but I hope they get better soon. The more you interact though the more opportunities you get.
Crowdtap - I love this site! I get a lot of my samples through them. They have quick little questions that you answer then they give you sample options based off your answers. ALSO while you answer the questions you earn points. EVERY question has a point assigned. 1 point equals 1 cent. Many of the questions are worth 20 or more points. Once you get 500 points you can cash out for a $5 gift card. You can save up for bigger ones. I usually cash out for $10-$15 in Amazon cards. They have many options though like Sephora, ULTA, Walmart, Target, Playstation etc. The more you complete all the questions the more opportunities you will have to get samples.
Influenster - This is where a ton of my beauty and skin care products come from. This is a review site where you write reviews and can read millions of others. I love the advice I get on this site and also find their surveys to be quick and easy. You do have to connect social media to your account to share products they send to you. But don't worry if you do not have a big following. I do not have a bunch of followers and still get great products, mainly because of the quality reviews I leave.
BzzAgent - This site has undergone a complete transformation but its worth signing up for now. Mainly because they have partnered with my ultimate place for free products (remember the mattress I mentioned the partner sent me this). The sign up process is quick and easy once you connect your social media just wait to get the e-mails. I have gotten a few and am excited to see this one grow.
ViewPoints - This company is the ultimate best! I get so many high quality products from them! I have gotten hair driers worth over $100, A mattress, a robot vacuum, a humidifier, thousands worth in food products, high end makeup and skin care, clothes, shoes, you name it I have gotten something about it. This is strictly done through e-mail. I get about 20-30 quick (5 minute max) surveys a month from them and fill them out. In a week or two I find out what products I was selected for. I usually get about 3 or 4 a month. They send you an e-mail with the link to review the product and you put your review in and you are done. This was the hardest one to get started with because it took the most work. You need an account on Viewpoints website, you need to write a few reviews and sign up for their e-mails and fill out the surveys when they send them. But after working with this company for 4 years it is by far the best bang for your time!

Got this awesome humidifier through ViewPoints.

2. Follow through with your promise

I can not say this enough. FOLLOW THROUGH!! When you accept a sample of a product you are accepting that you will in turn give an honest review. I have not written all 5 star reviews, nor would I tell you to either. Be honest in your review but write it. Be consistent in following through. The more you are reliable the more you will be picked for products.

Completely free dinner thanks to View Points!
This was two different samples.

3. Take the picture.

Most companies want pictures also. Take them! I don't do anything fancy, I use my iPhone and just make sure the picture is not cluttered and that it is well lit. A picture with your review helps it stand out! It takes a few minutes to set up and do. Most of the review I post are from my phone anyway so no need to worry about transferring the picture to a new device either.

One of my recent Crowdtap products.

4. Give detail

A good review is about 300-500 words. Give details. What do you like about the product? How do you use it? Would you spend what it costs to purchase it? Be honest. Don't say what you think they want to hear. Say what is true!

5. Invest the time to set up good profiles.

My last piece of major advice is to fully and completely set up your profile. The more complete your profile is the more that companies can send you products. It does take time at first. So I would only focus on one or two sites and make sure everything is set up. Once the initial set up is done everything should just be filling out quick interest surveys that take little time.

"Man Kit" from View Points that featured Dollar Shave Club.

7 Easy Meals for the Week

2017-07-31T15:05:00.001-07:00

Since my last post I have been asked a few questions multiple times. I want to address these. So in today’s post I will be talking about quick easy inexpensive dinner ideas. My family is pretty adventurous when we eat. But we still eat a lot of yummy meals that can appeal to anyone. Both Mike and I also love to cook and consider ourselves foodies. So it is not weird for us to constantly be testing out new recipes in the kitchen. Because of this we have found lots of delicious meals that cost us next to nothing.

I will say that there are a few basics we always have around that make cooking simpler. These items are not purchased regularly and we consider them in our “stockpile” prices when we are restocking our pantry or freezer. These items include but are not limited to: Soy Sauce, Fish Sauce, Sesame Oil, Olive Oil, Vinegars (Red wine, rice, balsamic, apple cider, and white), and basic seasonings. We also always have some produce around. These will either be fresh or chopped and frozen. These items include: onions, green onions, garlic, celery, and bell peppers. I also make our own broth. I make this by saving and freezing the veggie scraps and chicken bones when we have them, and when I have enough I use my pressure cooker to make broth. I then portion it out and freeze it for later use. Our pantry also almost always has dried pastas(both regular and gluten free), rice(white and brown) some flour and sugar(white and brown). Having these basic items on hand helps make preparing meals quick and keeps your weekly costs down because they are already in your pantry. Having a good pantry is key to being able to prepare different meals. But you do not need to build it all at once. Take your time and purchase when the prices are right.

Now onto the recipes my family enjoys!

The number one requested recipe in our home has to be the Korean Beef Bowls. I almost always have everything on hand and it only takes the amount of time to cook the rice. Sometimes I make it with cauliflower rice for the adults and brown rice for the kids. Others its over jasmine rice. Also you can make it spicy or not. We like it spicy so I add a squirt of Siracha to the mix. We follow this recipe.

We also do a lot of tacos in our house. The kids request tacos for “Taco Tuesday” almost every week. I mix it up by doing things like crockpot chicken tacos or crock pot fajitas. Also when we get carne asada on sale we make that. This also makes great leftovers and I usually make a bake out of them later in the week for quick grab and go lunches!

I make all kinds of meatballs. I do this when I get cheap ground meat. I pre-make them and freeze them for later cooking. These are simple and quick and so easy to change up! You can eat them by themselves or on sandwiches or on pasta. Typically I will sear them on the stove and then throw them in the slow cooker with our sauce of choice. Some non marinara sauce ideas are: Sweet and Sour, BBQ sauce, Honey Mustard, Blue Cheese dip and Buffalo Sauce.

Buffalo Chicken Sliders is one of my favorite. I eat it on a salad or GF wrap since I am Gluten Free. But the rest of the family loves the hawaiian rolls, or even a wrap! This is simply some chicken in the crockpot with some onion and Franks Buffalo Sauce. And some Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing to serve it with! Here is the recipe!

Slow cooker Beef and Potato Au Gratin is another family favorite. It makes a lot and also is good leftover. We make breakfast burritos with it by adding in some scrambled eggs the next morning! Get it here.

I use my pressure cooker all the time. And one of our favorite ways is to cook a whole chicken. This cuts down the cooking time to about 30 minutes and can serve your whole family. We usually serve this with carrots, rice, and a salad. I loosely follow this recipe.

We eat sausage and peppers often also. Sometimes I will chop the sausages up into bite size pieces and we eat it over pasta with a side salad. While others we grill the sausages and eat them on buns with the peppers and onions grilled on top. We stock up and freeze them when they go on sale at the market. They cook quickly and if you do your chopping of the peppers and onions ahead of time it's a relatively quick and simple dinner.

Meal Planning Helps Save Money

2017-07-28T14:01:00.001-07:00

I am going to start with planning dinners. Dinners tend to be the most needed to plan and save us the most money when they are planned. I also have a loose plan for breakfasts and lunches but that is more of I have the ingredients on hand you make the meal with what we have type of thing.
To start meal planning I always start by “shopping” my house first. I take a quick inventory of what’s in my fridge, freezer, and pantry. I then figure out what needs to be used and what meals I can mostly make with what I have at home. This will get easier as you start building a stockpile and start learning what you have available. I then check the sales of the stores I regularly shop at. If I see chicken is on sale that’s what we are eating a few days the coming week.

When I start to plan the meals I usually do it right after lunch on Mondays. I plan through the next Monday. Its when I have the quiet time and I am full so I am not making the mistake of hunger shopping/planning. It really is true to never grocery shop when hungry! I usually also can shop on Tuesdays or Wednesdays so planning it before helps. Find a time that works best for you. My SO likes to be involved in the process because he loves to cook. So I will discuss with him also and ask if he cares about anything specific the coming week. He usually chooses the meal for his days off.

My meal plan is usually made up of 4-5 meals I KNOW my family likes, 1 leftover or make your own dinner night and 1 new recipe a week. Otherwise we get bored and that’s when we go out to eat or shop unnecessarily. I pull up Pinterest(click the link for my profile) and have my recipe binder nearby. The binder isn’t necessary but helps. I did not have this at first, I slowly built it as we found recipes we liked. I printed them and put them in there. I start with what my family loves and what we have on hand. I typically have chicken, ground beef, and some kind of fish every week. I also look at our schedule for the week and plan easy meals on nights I know we will need it. And leftovers/make your own are on nights I know I wont want to cook. This prevents the quick stop at the drive-thru or the take out pizza on the way home, because I know I have something quick and easy to make or already done in the crockpot! The leftover nights also just help us not waste them because its scheduled to be eaten. Either write out or type out your plan. Unless its written down it will be hard to follow. I have a cute board I got from HomeGoods. This also lets the rest of the family know what to expect!

Right now our meal plan is:
Monday: Korean Beef Bowls served with a side of stir fry veggies and a salad
Tuesday: Crockpot Chicken Tacos (put chicken in the crockpot for 6hrs with a jar of salsa) Have all the taco fixings along with rice and beans.
Wednesday: One Skillet Mexican Beef and rice. (serve with toppings from night before and also beans)
Thursday: Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Sliders with a salad (mine was in a gluten free wrap)
Friday: Hamburgers with homemade fries
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Pressure Cooker Whole chicken dinner
Monday: Coconut Curry Chicken Meatballs with rice and salad

I make sure to defrost most of the week up front so If I need to switch a night I can. But it also helps that my family keeps a monthly calendar in google calendar and I write it out on the whiteboard calendar in my kitchen each month so I know what each day looks like. I plan Leftovers when I know I have a busy day and the last thing I will want to do is cook! I also really use my crockpot and pressure cooker to make life easier. Especially in SoCal in the summer where it's typically over 100 and the last thing I want to do is heat up the house.

My family is pretty adventurous so its typical to see things like veal, deer, lamb, duck, seafood on the menu. The menu above is mainly because we needed to use up the 7lbs of ground meat (grass fed) I got from Aldi along with the 3 pkgs of chicken I got on coupon from Target. The whole chicken was also from Target on Coupon. I like to stock up on meats when they are clearancing them and then freeze for later.

Because of that this week we only bought produce and staples like milk and eggs since I had the proteins already and planned to use them! I know not every family likes what we like, but I do believe anyone who really wants to can meal plan and save money when shopping.

Please let me know of any questions you have or anything you would like explained more.

BACK TO SCHOOL LUNCHES AND DINNERS

2016-08-15T13:13:00.002-07:00

How We Make Lunch and Dinner Easy During School

During school time it gets really hectic around here. With the kids in two different schools, myself in school and Mike working our family seems to be on so many different schedules. I have tried to make that easier by stream lining meals during the school week here.

First breakfast! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day but that does not mean things need to be complicated. I help make breakfast time easy by setting out what can be set out the night before. If something needs to stay refrigerated or frozen I gather the items together for easy grab and go mornings. We need to be up and out of the door no later than 6:50 in the mornings here so quick is key. I spend a few hours about once a month cooking and freezing things like pancakes, waffles, breakfast burritos, breakfast sandwiches, english muffin bread etc. Pre-making all of these items lets the kids make their own breakfasts in the morning while I get ready.

What caused the most problems in our mornings was packing lunches. This problem caused delays and fights every morning. This lasted until we decided to have the kids make their own lunches. Now they have to make their main dish and pack what they can the night before. They mainly pack left overs and sandwiches or salads. Left overs are packed in a Thermos and kept warm. These are the containers we use. Salads and sandwiches are packed in the containers that came with their lunch boxes. We have these we bought from Costco. A good lunch bag and containers are key to a good lunch that your kids will eat. If the food gets yucky before lunch they will just throw it away.

To make packing lunch easier I spend 30 minutes to an hour on Sunday evening pre-packing snacks like fruit, veggies, crackers, chips, anything that isn't individually packed in snack sized zip top bags. This allows for easy grab and go snacks and it keeps the kids from taking way more than they can eat. I also look to see what we have in the fridge that needs to be used up. I make a list and post it on the fridge for the kids to see. This lets them know what is available to use. Once an item is gone they simply scratch it off the list. There are also rules to packing a lunch. They are allowed one treat and as many other healthy sides as they want. I have found by letting them pack their own lunches they have stopped over packing and started actually eating their lunches. The lunches are not gourmet and are far simpler than I would have made for them. But they eat it and look forward to lunch because they packed what they wanted.

Dinner is a crazy time around here like I am sure it is at your house. When I get home after all the activities the last thing I want to do is cook anything. But we must eat right?! So I decided to make dinner easy during the weeknights. I do this by doing a few things that streamline dinner. The one main thing I do is meal plan. I cannot stress enough how meal planning saves us time and money. I also spend time on Sunday while I am pre-packaging lunch items to do any chopping or prepping for the week ahead meal wise. It usually only takes about an hour and it saves me during the week so much! The meals that are planned for the week are meals from our freezer that are defrost, heat, and serve meals or slow cooker meals. A few of the dinners will be quick 30 minutes or less one pot/pan meals. Being able to come home to most of the work being done for dinner is so refreshing.

If there is one thing I have learned the past few years is that planning ahead makes things so much easier.

BACK TO SCHOOL IS HERE

2016-08-08T13:26:00.000-07:00

BACK TO SCHOOL IS HERE!!!

Back to school time is possibly one of my favorite times of the year! I love school supply shopping and all of the fun things that come with a new school year. I love the anticipation of new teachers and classes. But with all the excitement I also know it is important to set myself and the kids up for success. That means having a plan in place for those hectic mornings.

Our plan this is year is to get the kids involved more than years past. The kids will be responsible for waking themselves up with an alarm like normal. They will make their own breakfasts and pack their lunches. Also in the mornings they are responsible for feeding and walking the dogs. To make this happen smoothly we will start preparing the night before. After baths and before bed the kids will pack and make their lunches, set their backpacks up and put them by the front door, charge their chromebooks for class, and lay out their uniforms for the next morning. I will do the same for all of my school supplies and lunch/dinner. So when we all get up in the mornings most things are done and there is no running around looking for a missing paper I needed to sign or the forever missing left shoe. I also went a step further this year and pre-made and froze about 2 months worth of breakfasts for easy quick meals in the morning.(Another post on school morning breakfasts and lunches).

Mornings are not perfect around here by any-means. But they are a lot easier when we start the night before. Let me know what your plans are to make your mornings a success this year!

Summer Cooking

2016-06-21T11:48:00.002-07:00

So Summer has started. And today was 115 where I am for the first official day of Summer. That means the last thing I want to do is spend time in the kitchen with a hot oven or hot stove. Which means I pull out my Crockpots and the freezer meals I have stocked up on. Through the years we have tried many different recipes. Here are a few of the ones we love. Sorry no pictures as these meals tend to be on those quick nights and I am not thinking about pictures. If I take some I will update it again with the pictures.

CrockPot French Dip Sandwiches:
I honestly don't remember where this recipe came from. It's either Pinterest or my mom. I just know it by heart we have made it and loved it so many times. I brown the roast and start the cooker in the mornings and its done by dinner time with only about 20 mins of work total. This meal is great with a green salad or your favorite potato or macaroni salad.

Ingredients:
1 - 3-4 lb. chuck roast
Montreal Steak Seasoning
2 tsps olive oil
¼ C soy sauce
¼ C water
4 whole black peppercorns
2 C beef broth
½ tsp dried, crushed rosemary
½ tsp dried thyme
1 TBSP minced onion
2 tsp minced garlic
6-8 french rolls
6-8 slices of cheese, we like swiss

Instructions:
Remove excess fat from roast. Season all sides with Montreal Steak Seasoning (I make my own)
Brown in heavy pan with 2 tsp olive oil. Brown on both sides
Place in crock pot
Mix together soy sauce, beef broth, water, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme, garlic, onion
Pour mixture over roast.
Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 5-6. Cook until tender and easy to shred.
Shred with a fork and the place on sandwich buns.
Strain remaining juice and use for dipping (if you like a thicker sauce put strained sauce in a pan and sprinkle with Wondra[magic flour] then cook till desired thickness)

Slow cooker Tater-tot Casserole:
The family loves it. I love how simple it is to make. I goes well by itself or with some fresh veggies. I found this recipe here.

Ingredients:
1 (32 oz.) bag frozen tater tots
1 (3 oz.)bag bacon pieces
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup milk
salt & pepper, to taste.

Instructions:
Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Layer half of the frozen tater tots on the bottom of the slow cooker. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the bacon pieces. Now top with 1/3 of the shredded cheese. Add diced chicken on top. Season with salt & pepper. Now add 1/3 of the bacon pieces and another 1/3 of shredded cheese. Put the rest of the frozen tater tots on top. Finish with the remaining 1/3 cheddar cheese and remaining 1/3 of bacon pieces. Pour 3/4 cup milk all over the top. Cover and cook on low about 4-6 hours.

Lemon Garlic Chicken:
We like this recipe with brown rice and fresh veggies microwave steam packs are great for this! This is one of those recipes I premake in a ziplock and just defrost and dump in the crock pot for a super simple dinner. All I have to do at the end is heat up veggies and make the rice.

Ingredients:
chicken (I use bonless skinless breasts but any boneless cut will work)
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
4 Tbsp. of olive oil
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. pepper

Instructions:
Spray slow cooker with nonstick spray. Dump all ingredients in slow cooker. cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Easiest Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos:
Everyone here loves these. I have cooked this for years. I see similar recipes all over Pinterest. This is nothing new but seriously worth mentioning because its really yummy and even simpler to throw together. This is another make ahead defrost and dump recipe.

Ingredients:
Chicken, any mix of bonless skinless about 1lb feeds my family of 4
Your favorite Salsa ( I love Ralph's Private Selection Medium Cilantro Salsa)
1 can corn
1 can black beans(whole)
Tortillas and any taco toppings you want

Instructions:
Spray slow cooker. Dump all in slow cooker. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Serve as tacos or as build your own taco salads.

Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Chicken:
This is even easier than the recipe above and can be used in so many ways, sandwiches, in a salad, by itself. We love sandwiches. This can be served with typical BBQ sides like potato salad, chips, fries, corn etc. This is another make ahead defrost and dump recipe.

Ingredients:
Chicken (Again any boneless skinless cut will work)
Your favorite bottle of BBQ sauce.
Salt/Pepper to taste

Instructions:
Spray slow cooker. Dump all ingredients in slow cooker. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Shred and serve.

Rimmel Review

2015-01-22T14:59:00.002-08:00

Thanks to Influenster and their Frosty VoxBox I was able to try Rimmel's Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal Eyeliner and Gentle Eye Makeup Remover. The eyeliner went well with all the other eye makeup that I use already. It gave smooth lines and was easy to use even for my novice makeup skills. The remover worked ok. I still needed to use my regular wipes after to remove the remaining makeup. I really like the eyeliner and will purchase new colors again. I think I will skip the makeup remover and stick with my normal brand.

Influensters Frosy VoxBox

2015-01-22T14:36:00.000-08:00

I was so excited to receive my first VoxBox from Influenster. All of the products were exciting to see! I really liked most of them in the box. The only one I was not extremly happy with was the Boots No7 Protect & Perfect ADVANCED serum. It was not a bog enough sample to see results or a difference. I did like the silky smooth feeling though. My favorite had to be the Fruit Vines. They were delicious! I cant wait to get another box. I hope it comes soon!

Celestial Seasonings Taste Test

2015-01-22T13:44:00.002-08:00

Thanks to Influenster and their Frosty Voxbox we were able to try out the Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane tea for free. At first I was worried because I am not a huge fan of peppermint at all. But once trying this tea it was delicious. I was even happy to give some to my girl. She had a sore thought and wanted something hot to drink. She has a sweet tooth and I knew she would not be happy with any old tea. I only had to add a little bit of honey and she was happy. She has been begging me to get her some ever since. I would say this is a winner in our house.

When you can't go grocery shopping.

2014-11-04T15:04:00.001-08:00

I don't have a car at the moment. Mine was totaled in a rear end collision. Everyones fine but the 3 cars involved not so much. And since there was more than one other car involved the insurance game has been fun. We are now waiting for the insurance payout to get a new car. So no car for me to use. Man do you not realize how much you drive when you can't!

Since I have no car to make my regular grocery runs, or even go anywhere really with out great effort, I have had to get creative with dinners here! It has become a game every night. Open fridge or freezer and pick out what protein to use, then pick out a veggie to go with it, lastly open pantry see what we have to go with whats picked out. I am thankful for a full pantry and a full fridge to choose from. I haven't made a serious grocery run in about 2 weeks so our fridge and pantry are getting pretty close to what we would consider bare here. Last night I looked at what I had and came up with a few ideas of meals for the week. I came up with tuna noodle casserole, bacon wrapped pork loin and mashed potatoes, grilled fish with rice, breakfast for dinner, and some sort of chicken thigh dish.

The first thing I made was tuna noodle casserole. It was simple quick and filling. Not to mention tasty! Even the kids liked it. I remember eating this as a kid and this was my first time making it.

The recipe was super simple and super easy.

I started with cooking the pasta. Then I mixed all of the other ingredients in a big bowl. I then added the pasta and stirred until it was covered in the mixture. I poured it all into a deep square pan and covered with cheese and panko. Baked it and dinner was done! I served it with the last of our salad lettuce.

The Recipe:

1 box of pasta cooked according to package instructions (any shape will do except spaghetti) I used whole wheat pasta.

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

2 cans of tuna fully drained and fluffed with a fork

1 bag of frozen veggies of your choice

1/2 cup of milk

1 16 oz bag of shredded bag of cheese

Panko, bread crumbs, or crushed regular potato chips.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook pasta according to package instructions, drain and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine the next four ingredients along with a little more than half your cheese. Then add the pasta and stir till all is combined and the pasta is fully coated.

Pour mixture into a prepared pan. A deep 9x9 works well or a 9x11.

Cover with remaining cheese. Then on top of cheese add your crunchy topping of choice.

Bake for about 45 minuets or until top is browned and bubbly.

Let cool for about 5 minuets before serving.

Come back later this week for more of the recipes that I plan on doing and also to check in and see how its going!

Pumpkin Bread

2014-10-24T20:15:00.001-07:00

I have been wanting to try a new idea out where I try a new pin from Pinterest every Friday. Today I made Pumpkin Bread. It was the simplest recipe and It came out super delicious. Even the kids loved it. I got the recipe from Pinterest HERE. I highly recommend! And this pin is a must re-pin and also a must re-make recipe!

Bread Maker Sandwich Bread

2014-10-21T13:02:00.002-07:00

I have a few ways I save each week and one of those ways is by baking sandwich bread in my bread maker. We would much rather eat this bread than eating the processed sandwich bread at the store. For only a few minutes of my time I get a great tasting and way cheaper loaf of bread that will last us all week.

I have tried a bunch of different recipes and this has been my favorite so far. Its a nice soft loaf. You probably have everything but the yeast in your pantry already!

Makes a 1.5lb loaf

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups lukewarm milk
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions:

Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer.

Select Basic or White Bread setting, and press Start. When done, place on wire rack for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

* If you do not have a bread maker*

Use kitchen aid with dough hook. Add warm milk, sugar and yeast. Let sit for 10 minuets to activate. Then add rest of ingredients. Mix for about 5 minuets. You may need to add more flour (it depends on weather and temp in your kitchen) just watch it if it seems really wet after 5 minuets add it 1/4 cup at a time till its nice and firm and kneads pretty easily. Cover let rise for 25 - 30 minuets. Punch down and put into sprayed bread pan. Cover and let rise again for about 10 minuets. Take cover off and preheat oven to 350 let rise final 15 minuets uncovered while oven is heating up. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minuets or until top is light golden brown. *** If you do not have a Kitchen Aid, mix with a non metal spoon or by hand and non reactive bowl. Knead on a well floured surface.

I let cool completely on a wire rack and then slice and store in a ziplock. I keep the heels of the bread in the bag as it helps keep the bread fresh all week.

Elf on The Shelf

2014-10-20T08:19:00.001-07:00

Elf on The Shelf is one of my favorite holiday time traditions! He appears the day after Thanksgiving and stays till Christmas Eve night. Sometimes he makes a guest appearance for special occasions like the first day of school or Birthdays. And he can send down reminders for good behavior if he notices really bad behavior. He causes mischief and watches over the kids behavior. He moves every night after good behavior. For bad behavior he stays put or sends a note. And if he is touched he loses his magic and can not move to report to Santa.

Here are some pictures of what our elf has done. His name is Elfie and my kids love him and are already talking about seeing him again!

Follow the link below for more Ideas!

How to Create a Christmas Fund Day 4

2014-10-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry this has take a few days longer than I wanted but I had a lot going on personally. The least of it was Ants! I hate Ants! So for the last few days I was cleaning out cabinets, so naturally once I got every thing out of my cabinets I decided to purge and rearrange everything. Now I finally have time to write this last Christmas Fund article. But more importantly I have an organized, clean and ant free kitchen!

Sticking to your budget and shopping. This may sound easy but it is not for some people. Understand my methods work for my family. These are starting points or suggestions for you. Every family is not the same. Use what works for you.

After a few years or trial and error I feel we have a pretty good system down when it comes to gift buying. I first sit down with Mike and figure out our budget. I count all the extras I have made throughout the year. I include any gift cards I may have earned and put aside. I also include the money I earned from selling our old stuff. Then we look at how much more we want to spend if we need to. Once we decide on our budget of the total amount of money we are going to spend, I write a list of every person who needs a gift. I then look at that list and decide who I can make homemade gifts for. Does your child's teachers need a $15 gift each or will some baked goods work?(I will be making and baking a few items soon and will hopefully have some posts on them here.) I then take anyone I have decided a home made gift will work for off of my list. Next I write my final "to buy for" list and I write next to each name the amount I am going to spend on their gift. Each amount should not be the same. You will probably spend more on your children than anyone else. Make sure your amounts all add up to the amount you want to spend or less.

Once you have your list its time to start shopping. I shop early and often. I shop almost year round for Christmas and Birthdays. By shopping early I tend to spend less. I only purchase an item when its an amazing deal and I am almost sure it will not go on sale cheaper during the holiday shopping season. I also keep in mind if I have the space to store the items I am purchasing. I have a wall in our walk-in closet under our hanging clothes that I have dedicated to the gift pile. If the item does not fit in that location it does not get bought.

I also stay on budget by keeping track of what I have bought. When I buy an item I write it down and how much it was. I keep a list of every holiday purchase in a notebook. When It comes time to really get that list together its easier since I have it written down already. If I happen to buy a gift that is perfect for someone other than my children while shopping early I make sure to write down what I have bought, who it is for, and how much I spent. This way when I make my list during holiday shopping time and I write that name down on my to buy for list I can immediately cross them off the list. And I don't forget I already got them a gift and buy a second for them.

Don't be afraid to spend less on a person than you planned to. Just because you find an item you want to buy for a specific person and you find it on sale does not mean you need to spend more. What I do is write down how much I spent and move on. Frequently I will add up our totals and see where I am at and if any adjustments are needed.

When I am done shopping I double check my list with my items to make sure I did not miss anyone or any item. I then add up my total to make sure I did not mis calculate anything. If I have money left over it goes into my savings for next years spending. If I am over I take a look at what I have and see if I can return anything or if there is another way I can make up that money easily. I usually end up trying to sell a few items or spend some extra time on swagbucks to make up the extra.

Hope these tips make for a less stressful holiday shopping experience for you!

Crockpot Baked Potato Soup.

2014-10-15T16:29:00.001-07:00

Soup weather is here! I love it. Its my favorite time of the year. I also love my crockpot. If you know me you know more than likely if I am making dinner the crockpot is involved. So I am always on the lookout for good crockpot recipes to add to my book. I got this one from a friend on here on Facebook.

This is what I did it was super simple and everyone loved it. My little even asked for seconds and he's the hardest to please.

Crockpot Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients:
1 32 oz bag of frozen hash brown (the potato squares not shredded)
I used 2 lbs of skinned diced and frozen potatoes I had in my freezer. If using fresh potatoes freeze first. It stands up better in the crockpot
1 32 oz box of chicken stock.
I used some I made and froze(I always have chicken broth on hand)
1 10 oz can of cream of chicken soup
1 pkg of bacon divided
1 8 oz package of cream cheese at room temp.
Shredded cheese and chives for garnish.

Instructions:
Spray crock with non stick spray
Half cook and dice most of your bacon you want this soft not crunchy. Leaving enough in the package to cook for garnish later
Pour potatoes, chicken broth, cream of chicken and bacon all in crock. Lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Stir and cover. Cook on low for 8 hours.
One hour before serving add in cream cheese and stir. At this point mine needed to be mashed to make it thick and creamy since I used fresh potatoes. I used an emersion blender because I am lazy and its my favorite kitchen tool so any excuse to use it I will.
Before serving cook rest of bacon all the way through.
Top with shredded cheese, chives, and bacon.

Halloween Bark

2014-10-09T10:45:00.001-07:00

This was so simple to make and its so good!

I found a bunch of different ideas on Pinterest and decided to make a mix of my own. Here was my main inspiration.

This is what I did. It came out tasting like a delicious cookies and cream bar on crack!

Ingredients: 1 bag of Wilton marshmallow white chocolate melts.

8 Oreo cookies quartered

1 handful pretzel pieces

1/2 bag of candy corn mix (The kind with the big pumpkins in it)

*cut the big pumpkins in half length wise for easy eating

sprinkles of your choice.

Instructions: Line a 9x13 pan or a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Melt chocolate according to instructions. I used a double boiler. While chocolate is starting to melt put in the pan the quartered Oreos and all crumbs along with the pretzels and candy corn make sure all ingredients are spread out and flat. Once chocolate is melted pour over ingredients in pan scraping all chocolate out of bowl with rubber spatula. Mix all ingredients with rubber spatula and make an even layer, it may not reach the end of your pan just make sure its an evenish layer. Sprinkle with sprinkles, I used some chocolate, some birthday and some green sugar sprinkle I had left in my baking box. Let sit to harden about 2 hours or 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Once cooled break into pieces and enjoy!

How to Build a Christmas Fund Day 3

2014-10-09T07:59:00.000-07:00

Today I will discuss buying and selling items on Facebook. By selling my unwanted or unused items I am able to earn a small but steady flow of income that I usually start saving around July. When Christmas shopping time comes around I have a good fund to get most of what we need. As with anything the more time and effort you put into it the more you will make. Selling items be it on Facebook, Craigslist or ebay can be real simple if you follow a few easy guidelines. Since I do not sell on ebay and rarely sell on Craigslist I will focus on Facebook selling. But most of these tips can be used on any of these places.

Gathering Your Items

Lets start with the fact that I hate clutter, I don't like things around that are not needed. I like clean open space. And living in an 1100 sq ft apartment with 2 kids, 2 dogs and 2 adults does not help with this mission. Things creep in all the time and this is how I can get rid of things guilt free. So I usually go through my home at least once a month to pull items that we no longer use or need. I clean out my kids clothes and toys. I go through my closet and laundry room. Things I pull to sell are clothes in great condition with no rip, tears or stains, toys that are not broken or missing pieces, books no longer being read, video games just sitting there and kitchen gadgets and items we either have more than one of or another item can do the same thing.

I will take all those items I have and sort them into groups. Kids clothes, kids toys, adult clothes, electronics, and home goods(including kitchen gadgets). If anything needs a quick wipe down before I take a picture I take the time to do it now. I also make sure the clothes are as wrinkle free as possible.

Photographing Your Items

Everyone goes by first impression. So start off with a great one with a good photo. Good lighting, a clean product, and no clutter surrounding your item is key. Also a clear picture is needed. Now with the smart phone cameras it is way easier to get a good photo. An example of a good photo is:

The picture is of just the item, it is well lit and it is a clear photo.

A bad picture would be

It is very cluttered and you can't really see what is selling. Also it is not very clear. By simply taking the lamp and putting it on the ground with nothing around it and taking a photo would have made a better picture.

Pricing

Pricing your items can be tricky. When doing so with kids clothes I usually price them to go. Think second hand store prices most of my kids clothing items are priced at $5 and below. The exception is if it still has tags, is a bigger item, or if it is in perfect condition. Other items I look them up and see what they are going for. I google my item or type it into ebay. You need to take into account the age of your item also. No one wants to spend current retail prices on a refrigerator that is 5 year plus old. Once you decide on a fair price its time to post your item.

Writing the Add

When posting an item on a Facebook group you need to be aware of the groups rules. Some will require a pickup location be posted others only allow certain things to be posted. If I was posting the car above I would first make sure I am able to post it in the group I am trying to post it in. Then I would upload my picture and for the caption I would write: Spider Man Car with Spiderman figure. $10 CP pickup Newhall. The short sentence says what it is and whats included, how much I am asking, that it is cross posted(CP) on another site and that you can pickup in my town of Newhall. Notice I did not put my physical address or phone number or any other personal information on that post. Be very careful not to for obvious safety reasons.

Selling your Item

After your item is posted if someone wants it they will post interest. If they are trying to offer you a lower price you need to decide if you want to take a lower price or not. If I decide to take a lower price I usually private message(PM) the person and then on my original post let them know I did so. If I would like to keep my item the same price I will write on my original post that I am not accepting lower offers at the time. Remember to always be kind and courteous No one wants to purchase things from someone they think is rude. Once someone decides they want your item at your price you then need to arrange pickup. It depends on the person and the item as to my pickup procedure. If I have sold to the person before or know them and am comfortable with giving my address to them, I am very selective of this, I will give them my address and leave the item out on my porch in a bag labeled with their name and how much they owe. They then place payment under my mat. I only do this for low ticket items. Any Item over $10 I keep with me inside and they have to knock to get the item. If I do not want to give out my address I have a Starbucks in a shopping strip down the street from me that is easily accessible to most people and has a big parking lot I will meet the person there to sell my item. When first starting out I suggest this option. Think safety first and always. Never meet at night alone or in an unpopulated area. If you are not comfortable leave and arrange a different place and time if possible. And lastly try to bring a friend, an older child, spouse, someone anyone so you are not alone. Once your item sells make sure to delete your posting.

You may not receive interest in one of your items right away. This is ok. Just keep "bumping"your post up. You are able to do this a few different ways, check with your group as their rules on this. If your items don't sell in a few weeks consider lowering the price or donating the item. Sometimes if it is not season appropriate i.e. a swimsuit in December, I will remove that item save it in a bin in my garage I have specifically for this reason and repost it closer to summer.

Saving your Cash.

Since I only accept payment in cash this is easy. I take it and put it in a really cute piggy bank I have hidden, mostly because if I see it I will want to take the money out and spend it, in my room. I keep it there until it is time to start buying Birthday or Christmas presents. At that time I usually have a few hundred saved up and can afford some nice gifts.

Selling your items may take some time to initially start up. But once you are set up and get in a rhythm its a pretty quick and easy way to earn some extra cash!

How to Build a Christmas Fund Day 2

2014-10-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

Today in How to Build a Christmas Fund We will be talking about CrowdTap. CrowdTap is the site I spend the least of my time on but I usually earn more from them than any other site. I visit once or twice a day during the week depending on how much time I have. And in about 10 minutes a visit I can rack up some serious points.

A few things I like about CrowdTap are, that the site is very easy to navigate, the content is geared towards you, the more you use it the better the content is, and I can get rewarded every month for simply answering questions. I also like that you are not penalized for skipping a question or share opportunity, you just simply do not earn those points. They also stress charity and ask every member to sign up for one. I choose the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

A few things I dislike are, some of the challenges take a lot of time for little reward I tend to skip these, when you enter a sample and share it takes a very long time to know if you will receive it or not, and it asks you to share to social media a lot, I also skip a bunch of those share opportunities.

How CrowdTap works

CrowdTap in their own words is the Leading Social Influence Marketing Platform (SaaS), making it easy for marketers to inspire a crowd of consumers to create quality content, drive unmatched social activity and provide real-time insights. - See more at: CrowdTap Blog

When you log on and create an account you will be asked a few demographic questions. Make sure to answer properly you can not resubmit these after approval for 3 months. You will choose a charity which you do not need to donate any money to. A lot of the time CrowdTap will match a percentage of winnings and donate to your charity for you. You will need to connect social media sites Facebook and Twitter if you have them. Once your profile is set up you are good to go!

Points

For every 100 points per brand you are entered in a prize drawing at the end of every calendar month. These points add up quickly.

Quick Hits

Quickhits are simple questions with answers to select you simply answer the questions and move on. Each is worth anywhere from 10 to 30 points. Some questions may have you look at a product and then answer a question, others will simply be a question. While still others will want you to share to social media, you do not have to do this if you do not want to just simply hit skip. If you are uncomfortable with any question you can always hit skip, you are not penalized for skipping a question or task you just simply do not receive those points.

Tasks/Challenges

There are plenty of tasks on CrowdTap also ranging in points from 50 - 1500. Some include taking a picture of things and submitting it to CrowdTap. Others are simple text tasks where you submit anywhere from a word to a few sentences after viewing a product or blog. Some will ask you to do things and submit a video or photo of you doing this action. Again you are not penalized for not doing a task you simply do not receive those points.

Moderated Discussions and Sample Shares

A moderated discussion is a series of questions posted to a form like setting and many different CrowdTappers discuss. You are awarded points for your answers and comments. Again if you do not feel comfortable discussing the topic or simply do not have the time you are not penalized for skipping it. A sample and share is exactly how it sounds. You receive a product to sample and then you share how you feel about it. There may be questions or tasks to answer and do. Also you will be asked to share your experience on social media. It is important to follow through on these or you may not qualify for future campaigns.

Brands/Prizes

CrowdTap is separated in different brands. Some are common house hold brands others are general companies who do brand research and still others are new up and coming brands. Each brand has its own set of questions, tasks, and discussions. You can win gift cards each month for each brand. For every 100 points per brand you are entered into a pool and they pick people from there to win so the more points the more chances. If you are in the Top 100 CrowdTappers in that particular brand you have a very big chance of winning something bigger. The most common prize is a $5 Amazon gift card. Others include gift cards to Walmart, CVS and other major retailers across the country.

Example for maybe 10 minutes a day in the Month of September not even every day I was able to win $20 in Amazon Gift cards and $5 for Walmart/Sam's Club.

To Join CrowdTap visit: http://home.crowdtap.com

If you are already a part of CrowdTap let me know if not and you join also let me know what you think!

Great Razor for Sensitive Skin

2014-10-07T07:12:00.003-07:00

I was able to try the Gillette Venus Embrace Sensitive Razor and I love it. Shaving was like a whole new experience for me. I have very sensitive skin. So much so that I can't use perfumes or dyes in mostly anything that goes on my skin. When normally shaving I have learned to expect razor bumps and some sort of discomfort no matter the razor or shaving cream I use.

With the Gillette Venus Embrace Sensitive Razor I did not have the symptoms. While shaving I used my normal shaving cream and shaved like normal. It was the first time it did not sting or burn for me while shaving in a long time. I feel like the 5 blades on the razor made it a closer shave without giving me razor burn.

After using the Gillette Venus Embrace Sensitive Razor for about a month now I really do love it. I feel like I can shave more often than before. I also like that my underarms have way less redness and icky bumps to them. I would recommend this razor to anyone but especially to someone with sensitive skin.

You can check out all the specifics here : Gillette Venus Embrace Sensitive Razor

*I received this product as part of a campaign for Influenster all opinions and ideas are my own

My Christmas Fund

2014-10-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

Today I would like to talk about a Christmas fund. For me I have 2 younger children to buy for along with a pretty big extended family. I usually start building it early in little ways. I take a little bit of time out of each day to do easy tasks that earn me money or gift cards. Starting early I am able to have a good fund set up when it comes to Christmas shopping. I also shop all year for Christmas to make that budget stretch as far as possible.

Some of the ways I increase our Christmas fun are by Swagbucks, CrowdTap and Selling things on Craigslist/Facebook.

Today I will expain Swagbucks.

Swagbucks is a search and win site along with tasks to earn points. For every 450 Swagbucks you earn you can redeem it for a $5 gift card to Amazon up to 4 times a month. Most other gift cards are 500 Swagbucks for $5 but there are PLENTY to choose from.

Once you sign up you can start earning in a number of different ways.

The first and easiest way is through search. You simply search through their search engine just like you would for Google. And randomly you will be awarded "swagbucks". They can range from 2 -10 depending on the day. Fridays are the best day to search as they send out more then than any other day. They also have Collectors Bills that you can find while searching. When they are running these bills if you find the whole set you will be awarded extra swagbucks.

Swagcodes is the second easiest way to earn. If you decide to download their toolbar this is super easy! They will release swagcodes randomly throughout the day. If you have the tool bar and are signed in it will alert you to a new swagcode and tell you where to find it. Usually in their blog, on their Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Its simply a code you copy and paste onto their site in the Swagcode box. You are then awarded your swagbucks. Fridays they send out more than normal.

Daily Tasks are 4 different tasks you can do every day to earn 5 swagbucks. These are Daily Crave in which you earn 1 swagbuck for watching two different videos or visiting two different website for 30 seconds each. Next it the toolbar, log into the toolbar daily for 1 swagbuck. Next is the daily poll, answer one quick question for one swagbuck. Lastly is the NOSO, no obligation special offer, you simply click through the stream of offers. No need to fill them out you can skip them all. At the end you will have to type in a short phrase and will receive 2 swagbucks.

Regular Tasks. These are found on your home page. Some of them are free others are shop and earn. These can take little time or a lot of time. I usually just stick to the free ones or the videos you can watch and earn. You can also take surveys. You must qualify for these surveys and they take time, but that time is rewarded by big swagbuck amounts.

Watch and Earn. You can watch videos based on your interest. You can watch them either on your computer or on your smartphone. On the computer you must watch 10 videos to receive 3 swagbucks, up to 150 swagbucks a day. You do not need to watch the videos fully usually only 2-3 seconds of the video, if an ad plays you must watch the entire ad. They do not play automatically you will need to go back and click the next video. On your smart phone they have a SwagbucksTV app. You download the app and play the videos. For every 5 videos you earn 2 swagbucks. These do play automatically so I usually turn it on when my phone is plugged in and just let them play while I am cleaning or doing anything around the house. This is my favorite way to earn swagbucks!

If your already a part of swagbucks what are your favorite ways to earn. If not try signing up here and letting me know what you think!

*links may contain affiliate or referral links.

Green Mountain Coffee = Good Taste and Good Feelings

2013-10-24T09:52:00.001-07:00

I recently had the chance to try Green Mountain's Fair Trade K-Cups Thanks to BzzAgent! And as a coffee addict I loved them! I also loved that while I was drinking my morning cup I knew I was drinking something that came from somewhere safe for everyone involved! If you want to join me in switching over in getting your Fair Trade Coffee and save a few dollars while at it visit http://www.choosefairtrade.com/

Tru-Moo

2013-09-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

Over here we got the chance to try Tru-Moo Chocolate Milk. This Morning. I was not sure about it at first. But after reading the label to check the sugar content I was okay with giving it to them. The kiddos were so happy to have it! You can also enter to Win the Goosebumps Haunted Hollywood Vacation and get a $2 off coupon for a Goosebumps movie on their Facebook right here!

Enter to Win the Goosebumps Haunted Hollywood Vacation here!

King Cake

2012-01-07T18:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Kings day. The start of King Cake season in New Orleans. So I decided to bake a king cake since I can't buy one out here in California. My favorite from New Orleans Has always been Randazzo's king cakes, so I wanted to make one close to theirs. I used this recipe my mom gave me. It came out great I might add less lemon and maybe some vanilla to the icing next time. Other than that just watch the cake as baking temperatures greatly differ from oven to oven as mine only took 15 mins.

Ingredients

1/2 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)

2 packages active dry yeast

1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar

3 1/2 - 4 1/2 cups flour unsifted

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon lemon zest, this is lemon rind, grated

1/2 cup warm milk

5 egg yolks

1 stick butter cut into slices and softened, plus 2 tablespoons more softened butter

1 egg slightly beaten with 1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon cinnamon

FILLING: 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup melted butter

Icing

3 cups confectioners sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

3 - 6 tablespoons water

Directions

Pour the warm water into a small shallow bowl, and sprinkle yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar into it. Allow the yeast and sugar to rest for three minutes then mix thoroughly. Set bowl in a warm place for ten minutes, or until yeast bubbles up and mixture almost doubles in volume. Combine 3 1/2 cups of flour, remaining sugar, nutmeg and salt, and sift into a large mixing bowl. Stir in lemon zest. Separate center of mixture to form a hole and pour in yeast mixture and milk. Add egg yolks and, using a wooden spoon, slowly combine dry ingredients into the yeast/milk mixture. When mixture is smooth, beat in 8 tablespoons butter (1 tablespoon at a time) and continue to beat 2 minutes, or until dough can be formed into a medium-soft ball. Place ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and knead like bread. While kneading, sprinkle up to 1 cup more of flour (1 tablespoon at a time) over the dough. When dough is no longer sticky, knead 10 minutes more until shiny and elastic. Using a pastry brush, coat the inside of a large bowl evenly with one tablespoon softened butter. Place dough ball in the bowl and rotate until the entire surface is buttered.

Cover bowl with a moderately thick kitchen towel and place in a draft-free spot for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the dough doubles in volume.

Using a pastry brush, coat a large baking sheet with one tablespoon of butter and set aside. Remove dough from bowl and place on lightly floured surface. Using your fist, punch dough down forcefully. FILLING: Mix the cinnamon and brown sugar in a medium-sized bowl. On a floured surface, roll dough into large rectangle (about 10x15 inches). Brush the dough with the melted butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon/brown sugar filling evenly over the dough and roll up tightly, beginning at the wide side. Bring the ends of the roll together to form an oval shaped ring. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top, place the cylinder onto the buttered baking sheet. Pinch the ends together to complete the circle.

Cover dough with towel and set it in draft-free spot for 45 minutes, or until the circle of dough doubles in volume. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Brush top and sides of cake with egg wash and bake on middle rack of oven for 25 to 35 minutes until golden brown. Place cake on wire rack to cool. If desired, you can hide the plastic baby in the cake at this time. ICING Combine sugar, lemon juice and 3 tablespoons water until smooth. If icing is too stiff, add more water until spreadable. Spread icing over top of cake. Immediately sprinkle the colored sugars in individual rows consisting of about 2 rows of green, purple and yellow. It should look like this

Green, purple, & yellow paste; 12 tablespoons sugar
Squeeze a dot of green paste in palm of hand. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over the paste and rub together quickly. Place this mixture on wax paper and wash hands to remove color. Repeat process for other 2 colors. Place aside.

Credit Karma

2012-01-05T09:08:00.000-08:00

Credit Karma is offering Credit Monitoring for Free. No credit card is needed to access Credit Karma's features.

I use this site and love the e-mail updates and just the ease of using the site.

Linda

Cake Batter Pudding Cookies!

2012-01-04T22:14:00.000-08:00

So the other night I was on Pinterest and saw this link from Chef in Training. And had all the ingredients in the pantry so I decided to bake!

They came out soft and delicious. I do recommend letting them cool completely and harden fully before you eat one. I know I know the warm ones are soooo tempting but these cookies are better cooled than warm and doughy. I think I may try experimenting with other kinds of cake mix and puddings! Any Suggestions?

Cake Batter Pudding Cookies

1 1/2 sticks (or 3/4 cup) butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 (3.4 oz) package instant vanilla pudding mix
3/4 cup yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
2-1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Stir together flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars together.
Add in pudding package and cake mix and beat until well blended.
Add eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth.
Add flour mixture slowly until well incorporated.
Mix in sprinkles sprinkles.
Roll into 1" balls and place on greased baking sheet.
Bake at 350 F for 10-12 minutes.

Let Cool then Eat!

Linda