I love to find an excuse to get together to have coffee with friends. What better way than to have a little get together with friends over a good cup of coffee? My favorite coffee to buy is Gevalia Kaffe Chocolate Mocha. I have already gotten some of my friends hooked on this delicious tasting coffee.

For my party I went shopping at Tom Thumb, a division of Safeway. I made some cappuccino chocolate chip muffins to compliment the flavor of the coffee. These were a big hit and great to have when having coffee with friends. Everyone loved them.  I also served organic bananas, grapes and some cookies along with the Chocolate Mocha and House Blend coffee. I got house blend in case someone didn’t like flavored coffee as much as I love it.

I used my Kuerig machine with the Ekobrew cups to brew my coffee. I love k-cups, but they don’t always have all the flavored coffees I like at the store. These little Ekobrew cups are great to use with regular bag coffee you can buy at the store. This is an economical way I can share a great cup of coffee with friends at my house.

Coffee With Friends

This is my friend Natalie and I enjoying our coffee as we spend time together chatting over our plans for the summer with our kids. We all enjoyed talking about places we are going on vacation and other activities to do with our kids over summer break. It seems summer is already packed with things to do and it just started. We has a great time sharing ideas and spending time together. How do you like to spend time with friends?

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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Disclosure:  I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Cascade. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating. All opinions and pictures taken are my own.

I love to cook at my house, but I do not like to do the dishes. Therefore,  I have successfully delegated this mundane task to my daughter.  Several years ago she volunteered to do the dishes and it has stuck ever since. She wishes she had not been so eager all those years ago. She did enjoy doing the dishes again for a brief time when we got a new dishwasher.

It is a nice, quiet stainless steel inside dishwasher. We can now wash dishes and watch TV at the same time. I had been using another dish washing detergent and I was very unhappy with the spots it left on the glassware and all inside my dishwasher. My brand new dishwasher had spots everywhere and looked horrible.

Here is what Cascade Platinum is supposed to do:

• Power away tough, 24 hour stuck-on food
• Eliminate the need to pre-wash dishes
• Help maintain the look of new machines and helps prevent additional hard-water build-up
• Deliver exceptional dishware shine

When I tried the Cascade Platinum, with triple action formula, I was truly amazed at how spotless my dishes were. You probably could have heard my mouth hit the floor when I opened it up and saw how sparkly clean all the glassware was. They looked like we just bought them. Even my husband was excited, since he thought the other dish washing detergent was damaging our dishwasher with all the hard water stains left.

I know you have seen this on TV, but these two glasses really came out of my dishwasher. One with the previous detergent and the one on the right with Cascade Platinum. I took the picture so you can see they are that crystal clear. I was so pleasantly surprised.

If you would like more information on Cascade you can visit them on Facebook.

Cascade would like to hear from you. Enter to win prizes by entering the #MyPlatinum Instagram contest @MyCascade. Take a photo of your  Best Bite and most creative use of sparkling silverware to enter to win for this week!

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Disclosure: I am so excited to have this opportunity to share my experience as part of a sponsored post for these almond cookies from Almondina Cookies. All opinions expressed in this article are my very own. Everyone loves a good cookie! I was lucky enough to get to try Almondina Cookies for the first time. They sent me a box with six different types of cookies to try and share with all of you how much I enjoyed these cookies.

Almondina Almond Cookies

These are very thin and crunchy almond cookies. Since I have been a stressed out lately, I like to have something crunchy to munch on. These almond cookies were the perfect thing for my cravings and munching this past few weeks. Almondina cookies taste way better than chips and have more protein too! I even let my husband and friends try this little cookies. Everyone who tried them loved them.

My two favorite cookies Almondina make were the two chocolate cookies, chocolate cherry and Choconut. These little almond cookies had just enough chocolate taste packed into these little cookies to satisfy my chocolate craving. I ate a just a couple of crunchy cookies and they were under 70 calories for two little chocolaty cookies. Each cookie is packed with almonds. Most the of brands also have some fruit for added natural sweetness.

Almondina is a gourmet cookie, health food and snack, all in one. These extraordinary gourmet treats are created from Yuval Zaliouk’s secret family recipe which has been passed down from generation to generation and was introduced to the market in 1989. It is wonderfully crunchy and does not have to be dipped. It is a delightful accompaniment for coffee, tea, soft cheeses and fine light wines. Stay in touch with Almondina cookies by liking them on Facebook. You can find Almondina Cookies readily available at stores such as Fairway, Publix, Hy Vee, Giant Eagle, Brookshire, Mollie Stone’s, Hannaford, Jewel, Whole Foods, The Fresh Market, Walmart, Trader Joe’s, Cost Plus World Market, TJ Maxx, Marshalls and many others.

How to Win Almondina Almond Cookies

Would you like to win Almondina almond cookies to try for yourself? You will win an assortment similar to the one pictured from Almondina. It is super easy to enter. If you are already my fan, you are way ahead of everyone else. Just click the buttons below to be entered NOW! If you are not a fan of Pounds4Pennies, then I really need your help. You can also enter to win by following me on Twitter or Pinterest. The easiest way to enter is to leave a comment. All entries are verified and available to US residents 18 or older. If you tweet or share please leave a link in the comments, so I can find it easily. You cannot win if you don’t play by the rules!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Almondina Brand Cookies.

The post Almond Cookies from Almondina Review and Giveaway appeared first on Pounds4Pennies.

I like to make items on my own and I used this easy to make vanilla extract recipe to make my own vanilla extract. This not only saves money, but it is a good science experiment, too. My mom was the best baker. She really enjoyed making our favorite dishes whenever we would get together. I love to discover how to make many items instead of buying them. I see this as a way to be frugal and to help save the environment, since I am purchased less materials I would normally purchase to buy many things.

I have seen where a lot of recipes use vodka. Vodka is clear and doesn’t have any flavor; therefore, it is a great place to extract all the vanilla flavor into this liquid. I wanted to try something a little different and I used rum for a rich, bold vanilla flavor. Rum is normally made from sugar and it compliments vanilla really well for a rounder overall vanilla taste.

If you are not going to just throw the Vanilla beans in the alcohol, then I would suggest purchasing a bottle. I was able to get these great bottles at Ikea for around $4 a bottle. Be sure to sterilize the bottle well. I just ran them for a cycle in my dishwasher.

Ingredients for Vanilla Extract Recipe:

750ml – 1 liter vodka or (rum)
6-8 vanilla beans

How to make this Vanilla Extract Recipe:

1. Take the 6-8 Vanilla beans and cut them in half. Now scrap those little black seeds out of the middle. These are actually the Vanilla seeds and this is where all the wonderful vanilla flavor comes from.

2. Place all the little seeds and the whole beans in the bottle. Then carefully pour the rum over the beans. A funnel come in real handy here.

3. Shake the bottle to get all those vanilla seeds swirling around in there.

4. Wait. Wait. Wait. Every few days or once a week shake the bottle. Do this for 6 weeks. After 6 weeks it is ready to use, but it is best kept for 6 months. Keep the bottle in a dark, cool place. You could even paint this bottle if you like to make it a darker color.

5. After 6 months, the beans and seeds have given all they got. It is time to get them out of the bottle. Strain them with a strainer lined with a coffee filter to get all the little bits out of there. Then put it all back in the bottle.

It is pretty simple to make your own homemade vanilla extract. If you can find a smaller bottle, this vanilla extract recipe would make an excellent gift. If you start now, these will be ready in time for Christmas. Spices and flavorings add up. This is another great way to cut down on your grocery bill and still be able to make fabulous tasting dishes with this easy to make vanilla extract recipe. What would you make with Vanilla?

Here are a few recipes to try with this vanilla extract recipe:

Chocolate Syrup Recipe

Awesome Yogurt Recipes

Homemade Biscotti

Mom’s Best: Ultimate Cheese Pie *This pie comes with a warning. May start family fights over who gets the last piece!

Take a look at my Simply Homemade area to find out how to make more on your own to save those pennies. My recipe area is loaded with tons of great recipes to make and share. Follow me to eat healthy on Facebook and help me get my fans above 2500. I need more likes, Please.

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The angels are rejoicing in heaven, since they have called a new one home. My mother passed away this Saturday and I will be taking some much needed time off. Her health has been declining over the passed years and god has called her home. I spent last week taking care of her in the hospital. I am so thankful to have that time with her.

I will be spending this week celebrating her life she spent with us making all of us who we are. I know I would not be the person I am today if my mom didn’t spoil me rotten when I was little. She was the glue that held our family together. I could just call her and she would tell me everything every one was doing. She also gave her thoughts on all of it too! Her brother passed away three weeks ago, so my mom’s brothers and sisters are grieving deeply at their loss. My mom had nine brothers and sisters now there are five left.

I love and will forever miss you mama.

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