Blemish Tool

I know what your thinking. Is here really a tool for a skin blemish??

Yes, and I call it the zit tool. Not many people know about it. It happens to be one of my favorite things ever. I use it daily for white or black heads. I know it might be T.M.I., but if you knew about it and I didn't and I found out that you knew all along and didn't tell me, I would feel bad. I got mine at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Walmart carries one. This picture is from the one sold on Amazon. I paid around $10 for mine more than 4 years ago. Its is as important to me as a good pair of eyebrow tweezers.

Christmas Cards

For those of you who send out Christmas cards this is invaluable information.
You can get 50 free cards from SeeHere Photo Sharing. I just ordered mine and had to pay some for shipping which was less than $4.
The promotion code you use is code "freebies4mom-1109" and it expires on Nov 30. If you have pictures ready to go, I would suggest you order them asap. The discounted shipping is 7 business days. Here is a little peek at what our Christmas cards will look like:

Deseret Book

I know all of you out there can appreciate a good book. I know I do. Well, what about a free download of a book?? Don't think its possible? Think again.
My good friend Lisa told me about this. Deseret Book has a site of books you can down load for free. There is only one book offered that I have read already. Its 10 Secrets Wise Parents Know and would definitely recommend it. From what I hear from my siblings, parenting through the teen aged years can be tricky, but this book give some great ideas on how to avoid some of the struggles.

Check it out, or uh, down load for free!
http://deseretbook.com/free

Minty

Ever heard of Mint.com? Its free personal finance software, money management online, and budget planner . You can link your bank accounts and set up a great itemized budget all for free. You will get emails notifying you when you are close to your spending cap in your different budget areas, or if you have gone over in any area.
We love it. It is very secure website. Check it out!

Thirsty??

Ever heard of Tummy Tickler Apple Juice? Walmart carries a three pack for around $4. The containers come filled with apple juice and the lid is spill-proof. They are dishwasher safe (just cut off the label before you wash it). The lids are interchangeable and come with cute cartoon carachters on them. We have Clifford, Bob-the-builder, Princess, and Little Einsteins lids. I have also seen lids with Sesame St characters. I like them much better than spill-proof sippy/straw cups (parts are not interchangeable with different brands, and if you loose a piece, the cup is no longer good). So next time you're at the Walmart, mozie on over to the juice isle and pick up some Tummy Ticklers. You'll thank me later. ;^D

Cause You Know You'll be Baking a Pie This Fall

This is my new favorite tip ever! I can't believe I had never heard of it before this last week. It is for pie making, which I am all over. I love baking pie, eating pie, serving pie, I just love pie!
When baking a pie it will tell you to cover the edges with foil so they don't over brown during the baking process. I used to fold thin (4-5 in. wide) pieces of foil together to make a long strip and then fold them over the edge of the pie.
That will never happening again.


The new technique:
-pull out just more than enough foil to cover your pie plate
-tear off the square of foil and fold into quarters
-cut a sizable arch from the center corner of the foil (this will result in a big circle shaped whole)
-unfold and place over pie, gently tighten edges of foil around rim of pie, and bake!

Seriously, so much easier than what I used to do!

Rice-A-Roni

Because I am cheap, we have bought this stuff before. To make my cheapness extend as much as possible, I have discovered how to make a box of Rice-a-Roni extend into an entire meal.
For those of you who have had the privileged of feeding my husband and/or children, you know that they are eaters! Before I perfected my Rice-A- Roni meal, a box of this was near useless in feeding my family.

Here is what I do:
I add an extra 1/4-1/2 C plain rice, white or brown, to the rice mix from the box.
I follow the regular instructions, just using a larger pan. If it says fry rice, I fry all of the rice- my added rice included. Then when it comes time to add the water, I add twice as much water as I did my extra rice in addition to what it calls for on the box, (ie: 1/2 C extra rice, add 1 C extra water, if it was only 1/4 C extra rice I only add 1/2 C water.) Then I add chicken. If you want to add raw chicken, add it right after the water and seasoning, stir in, cover and cook for the required time. If you add canned chicken, you can add it when you have 7 minutes or so to go in your cook time. Then, I always add a vegetable to the top of the rice and chicken 5-7 minutes before the cooking time is complete.
For the chicken and broccoli Rice-a-Roni, I add broccoli. For the chicken fajita, I add 1 chopped green bell pepper, etc.

There you have it. A meal in a box. Better for you than hamburger helper and most of the time cheaper. When you can get Rice-A-Roni on sale for 69 cents a box and already have frozen veggies in your freezer and left over/canned chicken meat from a meal, that makes out to be a super cheap, easy meal for the whole family.