Monday WAHM Spotlight: Texas Trail Web Design

Thanks to Laura Kirkland for being part of our Monday WAHM for MomAdvice.com. We wish her much success in her business and with her family.If you are interested in being featured, we will be selecting a mom for each Monday of my blog. You can read more and apply. Email confirmations are sent to each mom if they are chosen. I still have many people to reply to on these so please be patient waiting for my reply. I promise to get back to you guys soon! Also remember to do your own research on these companies. If there are obvious red flags on BBB, I do not post them. Check my scam article to find out more about the potential dangers of work-at-home businesses.Thank you to Laura and her WAHM business, Texas Trail Web Design, for taking the time to apply and be a part of my Monday feature.

Personally, Laura's tips have really struck a chord with me & my heart. There is much to be gained by reading them- it is invaluable advice to any work-at-home mommy. Thanks to Laura for sharing such heartfelt advice- I know many will have much to be gained from reading these tips!

Name: Laura Kirkland

City/State: Canton, Texas

Name of Company: Texas Trail Web Design

Two or Three Sentences About Your Company:

I specialize in doing funky, bold web sites for businesses who like to stand out from the crowd. I love to hear the "Wow!" over the phone when a client sees their new web presence. It's been my experience that professional web site makes each business owner feel confident that what they are doing matters and gets them ready for success.

Tips for Moms Trying to Work-At-Home (these tips can be how you stay organized, how to be successful, how to get started- anything that you feel would help someone
just starting out):

1. No Money? Prepare Anyways.

I've heard it said that When opportunity comes, its too late to prepare. I want to encourage the moms who are stuck in between thinking and doing to get out there and get ready! You may not have the money yet, or any idea of how it will all come together. Prepare anyways. Brainstorm. Get excited. Throw the doubts out. We all need inspiration and giving yourself permission to dream breathes life into your soul!

2. Have Fun with Your Kids in between working

I've had days where my project consumes my thoughts and I've been grumpy and not fun for my kids. They fed right off my attitude and they felt horrible- and everything seemed to break down. I had no creativity to work, no desire and my poor kids felt bad too.

It's been a hard lesson for me and my kids, but I learned to PLAY. It's not an option. I can't skip it because work is waiting. Play is as nourishing to my attitude as it is theirs. We play loud music, dance, do whatever we need to laugh and be free with each other. We all have fun and then I really am refreshed to work again.

3. Be Patient with Yourself and Your Kids

I'll be honest- starting my own business has had its stressful moments in our house. We have all had to sacrifice to some extent and it took focused determination and my faith for me to not give up. I felt fears and doubts that I wasn't a good mom if I didn't give my kids 100% of my attention, that no one would hire me, that I wouldn't be able to get the job done. It seemed like every hurdle I made it over, another doubt was waiting to get me to quit the race.

I threw all those fears out and did what God lead me to do. It has not always been cookies & smiles, but I am highly motivated and still committed to success even when I skin my knees along the way. I remind myself "I know more than I did yesterday" and I keep going.

More on Online Grocery Shopping

CBS News just did a report on online grocery shopping. They actually tried out several of the big name grocery stores and reviewed the pros & cons of each place. It is definitely worth reading, particularly if you have entertained the idea of doing your grocery shopping online.

For more information on online grocery shopping, visit my post about Amazon & Peapod. I also blogged on how I do my shopping online through Sam's Club via their Click 'N Pull feature (no fees attached!)- this can save you a lot of time & money. We do not live in a big city so I am not able to take advantage of the online grocers, although we used them for business purposes when I lived in Massachusetts.

If you have thoughts on the buying groceries online craze, feel free to share!

Broken Crayons Equal Good Fun!

My son is a repeat offender of breaking his crayons. Every time I give him a box of crayons and a pad of paper, I am guaranteed at least half of the crayons to be broken, by the time he is done coloring. Instead of tossing them, I have been saving them so that we could do a fun project that I had read about.

Yesterday I noticed that our bag was full of broken crayons. My husband, myself, & our son all worked on pulling all of the wrappers off of the crayons and our son got to pick where he wanted each of the colors to go in our muffin tin. I lined the muffin tin with paper wrappers, but the wax somehow still seeped through. Next time I will spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray, to make sure that none of the waxy residue sticks. These were junky muffin tins that had been sitting in our garage though, so I didn't really care that they got a little messy.

Ideally, you should stick colors together that will make a colorful design- red/yellow/orange or yellow/green/blue. All black and all white crayons should be in their own little tin, as they dominate the other colors and can be used as their own color.

I said this was ideal though! My son was not interested in forming unique colors so all of the tops of our crayons turned out like giant Reese's cups. When flipped over though, these were very colorful and beautiful. There is a great picture here that you can look at and see exactly what these turn out like.

If you were searching for a (practically) free party favor for your next birthday party, these would make lovely party favors.

The perfect rainy day activity- enjoy!

Frugal Momma's Rainbow Jumbo Crayon Recipe

Ingredients:
Broken Crayon Bits
Nonstick Cooking Spray
Metallic or Paper Muffin Tin Liners
Mini-Muffin Tin or regular Muffin Tin

Directions:
Preheat the oven for 350 degrees. Spray your muffin tin lightly with a nonstick cooking spray. Insert your muffin tin liners. Peel all paper off of the broken crayons and arrange into the muffin tins. Fill to 1/4-1/2 full. Try to stick with similar colors, to avoid a muddy looking crayon. Red/yellow/orange or yellow/green/blue- colors that are next to each other in the color wheel are ideal. Place muffin tins in the oven- watch carefully! It will take about ten minutes for the crayons to melt down. Once the crayons are melted, you can turn the oven off and let the crayons harden inside the oven, or you can pull them out (carefully so that the colors don't mix into one color) and allow them to cool (I popped ours in the freezer once they were becoming solid to quicken the cooling process). Pop the crayons out of the muffin tin and place in a container (we used an old plastic ice cream tub).

Friday Freebie: Free Samples & Subscriptions

Whirlpool is running a sweepstakes right now. Enter to win a Whirlpool Gold Dishwasher with PowerScour option and get a FREE OPI Nail Laquer, just for entering. The color is, "I Don't Do Dishes" (how funny is that?) Sign up here- hurry, only while supplies last!

I signed up for a one year free subscription to Family Fun magazine. This is my favorite magazine and it had expired. This site has lots of free subscriptions. Unfortunately, most of them made you sign up for stuff or take a survey. The Family Fun one was really free though, so take advantage of it. The others...enter at your own risk!!

Get a free Schick Quattro Titanium Razor by signing up here- hurry, only while supplies last!

Get a free half gallon of milk. This one is only for residents of Los Angeles, Las Vegas, & San Diego. If you live there and are drinking free milk, I am officially jealous of you! Sign up here.

Free sample of Biz- click "Take the Stain Challenge." There should be a little soap bubble that says free sample on it. This will get you a free sample of six ounces of detergent. Sign up here.

Try Poise Panties for free. These are the kind that are not supposed to not show your whosits and whatsits and rid you of that panty line. Only smalls and larges are available. Sign up here.

Complete a short survey for Pfizer (regarding your heart health) and get a free pedometer for answering the questions. Sign up here.

Visit this page, to print out a free coupon for one hot 12 ounce beverage from Borders. This offer expires on 08/15/2006. It says you need a Rewards card, but that is also free (unlike Barnes & Noble).

Enjoy, everyone!

Frugal Momma's Test Kitchen: Slow Cooked Hot Dogs?

Did someone say slow cooked hot dogs? Yup! That wasn’t a typo at all. This week we tried a new recipe (of sorts) out of this great cookbook that I picked up from the library. The cookbook is called, “Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker,” and I can tell you that the title fits. There is no way that my mom would have made any of this stuff. They have omitted the classic French onion soup mix, condensed soup, and meat combo. They replaced this with really good recipes, full of yummy ingredients and tips for using your slow cooker in traditional (and untraditional) ways. Despite the omission of the canned soup recipes, they did include a recipe that caught my eye…a recipe for cooking your hot dogs in the slow cooker.

Let me begin by explaining why I appreciated a recipe like this. For one, I had gone to the grocery store that day and was dead tired by the time I got home, put the groceries away, and fed the baby. The last thing I felt like doing was making dinner, but I would have hated spending $100 on groceries, only to go out and pick up a pizza. I wanted something quick, easy, & did not require any effort on my part. It was 4:00 and I had zero ideas. Hmmmm…How about hot dogs?

Now I do appreciate a hot dog from the grill, but my main complaint with the grilled hot dogs is the dilemma that usually by the time we have brought the dogs in to feast on, they are already cold. I like my hot dogs really hot and my husband prefers hot dogs without charring. His solution is to boil them. Boiling hot dogs, for some odd reason, extremely grosses me out. Something about meat floating in water and then dealing with dumping the water…I don’t know, I guess I have an aversion to it.

When my husband came home from work, he leaned over to look in the slow cooker and saw what was in there. “Slow cooked hot dogs? Now that sounds like something I would want to try!” So we did. And we liked them.

These are not fancy, but it is a great meal for when you have absolutely nothing else on the agenda. It would be great for potlucks or playgroups and the cost is minimal.

When cooked in the slow cooker, they have a crisper skin (then boiled) and these tasted absolutely delicious. You know it is a hit when my son begins singing his, “Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog” song, while dipping his hot dog in ketchup. A hit with everyone in the family- then this recipe will get an encore performance in our house.

I highly recommend the cookbook, and I highly recommend trying this recipe!

Crock Hot Dogs

8 hot dogs (about one pound)

Put the hot dogs in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH until hot & slightly browned around edges, 1.5-2 hours. Remove with metal tongs and serve hot, in buns, with the fixings.

WFMW: Frugal Exercise Solutions

Welcome to this installment of Works-For-Me-Wednesday. Please visit Shannon's blog for some great solutions for your family. These ideas are much better than any parenting magazine you will ever read- and best of all, it is free!

Out of shape? Me too! The problem with a gym membership is that you pay so much money to go to the gym, and rarely use it! I can’t afford to pay forty-sixty bucks a month (to sit on my bum) so I found a cheaper solution to developing an exercise routine.

Our library has a ton of great exercise DVD’s. I check out a few at a time, and can enjoy them for (up to) six weeks. Usually by the time the six weeks is over, I am tired of the routine and ready to switch it up again. The great part about this is that it is free!
We also get a channel called Fit TV. If you get this channel, they have a show called, “All Star Workout” that you should set your TiVo for. They have all types of workouts- boot camp, belly dancing, hip hop, yoga, step, and more! It is a great workout and we get it with our regular channels on our satellite dish.

Purchasing home gym equipment can be expensive, but we found a good deal on our equipment with our wholesale club membership. They didn’t have these items in the store, but we were able to order them through their website. You don’t need fancy gym equipment in order to get in shape though. Things that are low-cost (and just as effective) are jump ropes, exercise bands, a step, and a pedometer. A lot can be said for a good old-fashioned push-up, sit up, and a good run!

If you still insist on suiting up for the gym, check to see if your gym offers classes that you can take without having a membership. One of our local gyms offers a card that you can use to pay for classes. You don’t have to have a membership, and each class is four bucks with your card. You get twelve classes on your card and you can use them anytime you want. This is a great way to sample what a gym has to offer without committing to a membership.

Thank you so much to the new visitors! I have included links, to my past submissions, so feel free to browse around. My blog focus is saving your family money. Now who couldn't use a little help in this department?

Past WFMW submissions:

Microfiber Obsessions
Sand Between Your Toes Blues
Giving the Gift of Magazines (Frugally)
Solution for Cheap Trash Bags
Programming Your Cell Phone
Free Up Pantry Space: Make a Snack
Weeding Through Your Child's Art Work Creatively
Using the Coffee Maker With Ease
Making Your Spice Rack Usable
Maximizing Space

Monday WAHM Spotlight: A Thousand Words

Thanks to Valerie for being part of our Monday WAHM for MomAdvice.com. We wish her much success in her business and with her family.If you are interested in being featured, we will be selecting a mom for each Monday of my blog. You can read more and apply. Email confirmations are sent to each mom if they are chosen. I still have many people to reply to on these so please be patient waiting for my reply. I promise to get back to you guys soon! Also remember to do your own research on these companies. If there are obvious red flags on BBB, I do not post them. Check my scam article to find out more about the potential dangers of work-at-home businesses.Thank you to Valerie and her WAHM business, A Thousand Words, for taking the time to apply and be a part of my Monday feature.

Name: Valerie Simmons

City/State: South Bend, IN

Name of Company: A Thousand Words

Two or Three Sentences About Your Company:
We specialize in wedding photography and video slideshows. The video slideshows (photos set to music on DVD, CD or VHS) are for any occasion: birthdays, memorial tributes, engagements, weddings, reunions, etc.

Two Tips for Moms Trying to Work-At-Home (these tips can be how you stay organized, how to be successful, how to get started- anything that you feel would help someone just starting out):

1. Your business is a job. It's easy to get caught up in the free time and neglect your work.

2. Ask for help from family, friends and babysitters. Sometimes, what takes you all day to do when your child is home, only takes an hour when she is not!

Sunday Supper: Yeast Waffles

We have been invited over to a friend's house for dinner, so we will not get to eat what I had planned for our meal today. We will be eating these another night this week though, so I wanted to share with you all my absolute favorite waffle recipe.

This recipe is special to me because it was given to me by my dear friend. My first getaway (without my son or husband) was to her house and when I arrived she was making these waffles for me. The recipe was given to her by her mother, and now it makes a regular appearance in our home.

You will not believe how much these waffles rise, which results in a light & airy waffle.

I hope you enjoy these as much as our family has!

Yeast Waffles

1/4 cup warm water
1 package yeast (dissolve the yeast in the ¼ cup of water)
½ cup oil
1 egg
1 tablespoon sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
3 cups flour
2 cups warm milk

Mix all ingredients together, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Warm waffle iron and spray with non-stick spray. If batter is too thick, use milk to thin down.

*Keep water warm- if too hot it will kill the yeast.

This is Coffee (1961)

Saturday Sales

Lots of great sales are happening as time is approaching for the kiddos to return to school. I know, I know. I can just hear you guys groaning. But we want our kids to stay home! Why, God? Why must my children return to school (*shaking fist at the sky*). I am sorry to say that summer is coming to a close, moms. Be sure to read my Back to School article, which should offer some helpful tips on how to get your family back into the groove and find new ways to utilize all of your free time (yeah, right!)

Last week’s sales are still applicable. Visit them by clicking on this link.

This week’s sales:

Each week, Ebates will double the cash back on Tuesdays for one merchant. Check their site on July 25th to find out who was chosen for the week.

Getting the kids a new pair of jeans? American Eagle is running a great coupon code. Take 15% off of your order at AE.com. Use code 68911546.
*Ebates members receive additional two percent cash back on purchases*

Take ten percent off at BabyAge.com , using coupon code JULY10. They have some great things under the clearance section, in particular a really nice train table for $99, which would make a great Christmas gift from Santa. You can use their coupon code on clearance items, so this is one worth checking.
*Ebates members receive additional four percent cash back on purchases.*

Barnes & Noble is having a GREAT sale. All books under ten bucks. Check it out! Again, for the Christmas Queen Bees (like myself), these would make lovely Christmas gifts for the bookworm in your life! I noticed many board & felt books for the kiddos. These could be put away for all of those birthday gifts.
*Ebates members receive additional three percent cash back on purchases.*

Dell is running several coupon codes. If you are still hunting for a computer for a recent high school graduate, they are running several specials.

Save $200 on select Inspiron™ notebook B120 (E-Value code 6vaff- ib120s1) with free external wireless card at Dell Home. Use coupon code 51V2R10JHTZSL8.

Save 30% on select Inspiron™ notebooks $1499 or more at Dell Home, not including XPS systems. Use coupon code 34?058XPTKZ4CP.

Save $350 on select Dimensions™ $999 or more, not including XPS systems at Dell Home. Use coupon code N6LJQJRFXLC2LZ.

Save $750 off select Inspiron™ notebooks $1999 or more at Dell Home, not including XPS systems. Use coupon code 9BCP1T8V?340DL.

Save $350 on select Dimensions systems over $1049. Use coupon code $1K$46W?HNNQ9Q. Not valid with other offers.
*Ebates members receive additional two percent back.*

Take up to $20 off at DisneyShopping.com. Use coupon code SCHOOLSAVE. Exp 07/23/2006. Visit the Outlet (you will see the outlet on the homepage) for great deals on beach towels, pajamas (cute princess pajamas for girls & great boy prints for only $4.99), and back to school items.
*Ebates members receive additional two percent cash back.*

If you are interested in learning more about the Ebates program, please follow this link for more information. An additional $5 is applied to your account, upon making your first purchase.

Friday Freebie: Eat Free on Your Birthday

Do you know of a better way to celebrate your birthday than with free food? Here is a list of restaurants that offer birthday freebies. Feel free to add to the list (in the comments section) or let me know if one of these restaurants is no longer participating.

Oh, and an embarrassing serenade from the wait staff from your friends...yup, that is free too!

ALFY'S PIZZA - free mini pizza

ALL-AMERICAN CAFE - free dessert

APPLEBEES - free dessert

AUTO ZONE - free oil change

BAKERS SQUARE - free pie

BANDIDO'S - free entree

BASKIN ROBBINS - free ice cream treat

BENNIGANS - free dessert

BILL KNAPP'S - gives adults a % discount equal to age; plus a free bday cake (w/purchase of a meal) during the week of your B-day

BOB'S BIG BOY - free hot fudge ice cream

BUFFALO WILD WINGS (BW3) - free dozen hot wings

BURGER KING - free kids meal to all Kid's Club members (check within the store because there is no reference to the club on their website).

CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN - Register First - free kids meal during the month of their birthday

DENNY'S - free meal (for children who are ten and under)

EINSTEIN'S - free meal

FAMOUS DAVE'S BARBEQUE - free meal (w/advance signup)

FUNNY BONE COMEDY CLUB - free cake (party of 5 min.; 2 drink min.)

HARD ROCK CAFE - free dessert

HOULIHAN'S RESTAURANT - free entree

HOLLYWOOD VIDEO - one free video rental

MACARONI GRILL - free dessert

MAX AND ERMA - free $5 dessert

OLD SPAGHETTI WAREHOUSE - free meal

OUTBACK Steakhouse - free dessert

RED LOBSTER - free slice of cake

STEAK-N-SHAKE - free dinner for "birthday club" kids (I didn't locate a form on the site so you will probably have to ask about this one in the store).

TGI FRIDAYS - free birthday dessert

WENDY'S - free kids meal to all Kid's Club members (check in stores for this one- no form is located on their website).

This Week in Festivals & Carnivals

Just wanted to post the latest links to the great carnivals & festivals this week.

The Carnival of Debt Reduction was hosted here so you don't even need to go outside this site to find out how to reduce your debt! Summaries for each article are provided with the links to the entries.

The Festival of Frugality is over at Financial Reflections.
Must Read Article: Jim's article on How to Invest With Only $100.
MotherLoad Article: Getting the Cheapest Shipping

The Carnival of Personal Finance is located at Just Another Money Blog.
Must Read Article: Penny Folish's article on How to Start a Blog
MotherLoad Article: My First Purchase (Using Ebates)

The Carnival of Family Life is located at The Pink Diary
Must Read Article: Home Based Businesses: How to Turn Weaknesses into Strengths
MotherLoad Article: Cheap Baby-Making

And we participated in another carnival this week!
The Carnival of Recipes is being hosted by Trub. The sediment of life.
Recipe to Try: Microwave Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Pie
MotherLoad Recipe: Pumpkin Pancakes

Thanks to all of the hosts for giving us the opportunity to participate!

WFMW: Microfiber Obsessions

Welcome to this installment of Works-For-Me-Wednesday. It is my favorite day of the week and I love to share my solutions and read everyone else's great solutions for their families. Please visit Shannon's blog for some amazing ideas for your family.

Today I wanted to discuss my true obsession with microfiber cloths. I have been using these for about three years now, for just about everything around our house. Microfiber is one of God's great gifts because it can be used for so many things.

I originally started using microfiber cloths just for cleaning the house. Dry, they are amazing dust cloths. Wet, they can be used to wipe down counters, mirrors, and showers.

After using those for just those reasons, I started to expand my list of uses. I then started to put a microfiber cloth on the end of my Swiffer and used that to dry dust my floors. I could also attach a dry cloth and use my Swiffer to reach up into the corners of the rooms, where all those dreaded cobwebs take over, without pulling a muscle. Wet, attached to the Swiffer, they can be used much like the expensive wet cloths you buy, but these babies can be reused.

More recently, I have used them as cloth diaper stuffers. They sell a variety of diaper doublers and stuffers that are made from microfiber. The problem with these is that they are usually sewn into a long strip, with many layers in between to capture odor. I just trifold these into a diaper and they help to keep my daughter nice and dry. When she was small, this was our only diaper stuffer. Now that she is bigger and a super soaker, we just use this to double up on her regular inserts.

When I was chatting with my best girlfriend, she had told me about her dilemma with getting her daughter's hair dry in the morning. Who has time to wait for a 3 yr old's hair to dry or have an hour to blow dry it dry? I suggested a microfiber cloth...guess what? It works like a dream! Microfiber is highly absorbent and for tiny heads, these little cloths are the perfect size. For wavy & crazy curly hair like mine, microfiber is great to keep my curls from getting the frizzy ugly look (that only curly haired women seem to get!) I just use my microfiber cloth to scrunch my hair and it keeps my curl looking....um, curly!

Caring for microcloth is easy as pie. Simply throw these in your washer with a teeny tiny amount of soap. You do not need to use a lot of product when cleaning with these or when washing them, it reduces the absorbency. I usually throw them in with a load of towels (a load that doesn't produce a ton of lint is good) and omit the fabric softener. It isn't good for your towels and it isn't good for microfiber.

I purchase these at our local wholesale club- you will find them in the automotive section. They are very inexpensive, and worth every dime! If you don't have a membership to a wholesale club, these can also be purchased at Dollar Tree, Target, or Walmart.

That is it for me- please let me know if you have other uses for your microfiber cloths! I am always inspired by you all!

Here are a few other links to some of my past ideas-Sand Between Your Toes Blues Giving the Gift of Magazines (Frugally) Solution for Cheap Trash Bags Programming Your Cell Phone Free Up Pantry Space: Make a Snack Weeding Through Your Child's Art Work Creatively Using the Coffee Maker With Ease Making Your Spice Rack Usable Maximizing Space

Name Dropping

I just had to share! One of my favorite blogs, Something So Clever, featured one of my slow cooker recipes in her blog. I am so honored because I absolutely love her photography and get so many great recipes from her blog. Check out her great picture- don't you just want to come to her house for dinner? Thanks, Alicat, for featuring us- I am *so* flattered.

Speaking of flattery, I have found a new favorite blogger....White Trash Mom. Don't you just love that title? Speaks to my heart, in so many ways! She discovered our site and featured it in one of her entries. Again, totally flattered and excited!

Thanks, ladies! You both made my day!

McDonald's Birthday Parties

We just celebrated our son’s fourth birthday. In the past, I have made the food and we have had the party at our house. It has been fun (for everyone else!), but we still ended up spending a lot of money on food, cake, party favors, etc… We only invited a few friends, but our family continues to grow and now our immediate family alone is about thirteen people. This year, I decided to let someone else host the party…But what is a frugal momma to do when most parties cost so much money?

Have no fear! The McDonald’s Birthday party is the way to go! Each McDonald’s offers a different price, but the prices are usually in the same neighborhood and all of them usually offer the same types of activities.

For $59.99, we could have ten children attend his birthday party. The cost included ten Happy Meals (everyone got their own choice in entrees & sides), party favors, games, cake (chocolate or white), and ice cream. The party times, at our McDonald’s, were two or four, which meant that no one was there eating and we had the whole place to ourselves.

We chose a nice McDonald’s, in our area, and they cleaned up and closed off the play area just for our party. It was, honestly, the best party we have ever had. The kids had a blast in the play area and played for three hours, while the parents sat around and visited. The host did all of the work for us, entertaining the children, taking orders, bringing food…and the ultimate part? All of the cleaning up!

In short, have a McDonald’s birthday party- it is the way to go!

Sunday Supper: Chicken Tonight

This edition of Sunday Supper is coming to you on Monday since Sunday was spent working on the Carnival of Debt Reduction. Please be sure to stop by there and see all of the great posts for the week!

This Sunday we dined on my Chicken Italiano recipe. I keep switching this recipe around though, so each week it seems we have a little different variation on it.

There used to be this sauce in a jar called, "Chicken Tonight" that our family used to eat. In particular there was a red sauce that you poured over chicken and you could saute the chicken and then pour the sauce on top or you could bake the chicken in the oven with the sauce. This was one of our favorite dishes growing up, and this Chicken Italiano reminds me a lot of that dish. Using a jarred spaghetti sauce, with mushrooms and green peppers, it has exactly the same flavors. You could also dice green pepper and mushrooms (if you are so inclined) to get a fresher tasting dish.

I serve this chicken over orzo pasta. I use one can of sodium-free chicken broth, heat it up until it is boiling and then pour one cup of orzo in with it. It usually takes 10-13 minutes to cook and the chicken broth really adds a lot to this dish.

I buy the Aldi Fit & Active Italian salad dressing because it is fat-free and it works great.

I hope you can serve this dish at your table one Sunday!

Slow Cooker Chicken Italiano
Serves 4

Ingredients
4 chicken breast halves
2 cups marinara sauce
1/3 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup Italian Dressing

Place all ingredients in your slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for eight hours.

*Last minute dinner preparations: Throw frozen chicken breasts in. Pour sauce, tomatoes, & Italian dressing on top. Bake at 375 for 1 hour (or longer if they are large chicken breasts).*

Nutritional facts per serving (daily value): Calories 157kcal Protein 2g (4%) Total Fat 11g (17%) Sat. 2g (8%) Chol. 0mg (0%) Carb. 13g (4%) Fiber 2g (8%) Sugars 9g Calcium 30mg (3%) Iron 1mg (6%)

Monday WAHM Spotlight: Stuff A Friend

Thanks to Lisa for being part of our Monday WAHM for MomAdvice.com. We wish her much success in her business and with her family.If you are interested in being featured, we will be selecting a mom for each Monday of my blog. You can read more and apply. Email confirmations are sent to each mom if they are chosen. I still have many people to reply to on these so please be patient waiting for my reply. I promise to get back to you guys soon! Also remember to do your own research on these companies. If there are obvious red flags on BBB, I do not post them. Check my scam article to find out more about the potential dangers of work-at-home businesses.Thank you to Lisa and her WAHM business, Stuff A Friend, for taking the time to apply and be a part of my Monday feature.

Name: Lisa Johnson

City/State: Green Bay, WI

Name of Company: Stuff A Friend

Two or Three Sentences About Your Company:

Stuff A Friend is a mobile stuffing workshop that comes to you or you can come to us! We do workshops, birthday parties, and fundraisers!

Two Tips for Moms Trying to Work-At-Home (these tips can be how you stay organized, how to be successful, how to get started- anything that you feel would help someone just starting out):

1. Research research research before signing up with a company! Make sure it's a fit for you (the product, the company values, costs, quotas, everything) and your family if you'll be working around them.

2. Get organized from the beginning and keep up with it, because once your organization becomes a mess, your business follows!

Carnival of Debt Reduction (#44)

Welcome to the Carnival of Debt Reduction (#44). I am excited to be hosting my first carnival (or festival, for that matter!) so I hope that you all will enjoy it! If you have not visited this blog before, I encourage you to take a peek. My blog focuses on cheap eating, recipes, frugal shopping, and inexpensive solutions for anyone who is trying to live a more frugal life.

I love to dine out, but because of the expense, I rarely get the opportunity to do so without considerable guilt. Today's carnival is guilt free though and full of good information to bite into. I have divided the posts into different categories. The main dishes are the posts that really shine this week.

Thank you to all who participated. Next week's carnival will be hosted by Money Under 30. Please be sure to stop by there for more great reads.

Finally, if you are interested in hosting, you can find out more information here.

Amanda, the Young & Broke webmistress, shares a new tool at Money Central. This new tool is supposed to help users determine where they stand, debt-wise, and how to proceed towards reducing that debt. Is it a good tool? Check out Amanda’s comments to get the real scoop.

On the Getting Out of Debt blog, Supermom shares her amazing progress that she has made towards reducing her overall debt. You can read her plan of action for the month and where she is planning to put her next funds towards.

The Prince of Thrift, over at Becoming & Staying Debt Free shares how Dave Ramsey encourages everyone that takes his Financial Peace University course to create a financial mission statement. It was because of that that he decided to post his statement in his blog, setting off waves of other PF blogs to also create and post their own mission statements. So what is your financial mission?

Free Money Finance shares some real & true stories of people who managed to pay off their debt, including a couple who had 30K in wedding bills and got them paid down in a year. They implemented things like not eating out and not shopping for expensive toys as ways you can reduce your debt. Hmmm… how about not spending 30K on weddings and say, “I Do!” in Vegas, baby!

Boston Gal’s Open Wallet submits a great piece, entitled “Neither Quick Nor Easy.” Of hot debate: was Scrooge a good guy and just misunderstood because of his frugalness? Or, was Scrooge the villain that the world portrays him as? You be the judge!

One of my favorite blogs, “We’re in Debt” suggests a better way of managing all of that paper. What? The random piles we have established all over the house (and in the car, and under the bed, and under my seat) is not a system? I beg to differ!

Jim, over at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity shares his dilemma on paying his student loans back. No, he is not wondering if he should pay them. He is really just questioning in what order one should pay their bills. The post was interesting, but I really found the comments even more interesting.

AboutPMI shares some tips for paying down your mortgage faster. Included is a link to a handy dandy calculator (and I know how much the readers love a good calculator!) showing how much it would benefit you if you paid biweekly versus monthly. Now if I can just get that darn PMI removed over in our house, I would be a happy camper.

Free the Drones asks the question is debt really bad? And if it is, what types of debt do you need to be tackling? Find out about ways you can knock out your debt (oh, and there is a calculator for all of you number crunching junkies!) and find yourself on the fast track to financial freedom.

Steve from Debt Free throws out a suggestion to his readers that maybe if you want to live a debt-free life, you should consider eliminating a family pet into your life’s equation. It is interesting to see the astounding costs associated with owning an animal, but look at their sweet little faces and just try to say no….

The Car Buying Tips blog offers some tips to people who think playing musical chairs with cars is a good idea. Guess what? It isn’t! Read more of Chuck’s blog to find out why you should hang onto your cars and not experience these nasty cases of tradeitis.

Frugal Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Warehouse discusses a recent letter to the Dollar Stretcher in relation to the fundamentals of economics. Did you ever wonder why the potato chips in those bags are getting smaller and smaller? Well, Wenchypoo explains it all (and then some)!

Paul’s Tips (by Paul, imagine that!) shares how to determine whether you are better off renting or buying. Dust off your calculators, get a pen and paper, & get ready to find out your housing destiny.

Call for Submissions

I will be hosting the Carnival of Debt Reduction this week. If you would like to participate, please send your entry to me by Sunday at 5:00 PM. All posts regarding experience with debt reduction or advice on how to get out of debt are welcome. For more information, please visit Mighty Bargain Hunter to get the full scoop!

Saturday Sales

The sales are flying since we are quickly approaching the end of summer. Take advantage of all those summer clearance racks before the items are gone!

Here are some hot places to show this week...

Bluefly (should directly link you to their clearance section). You can use Coupon Code AFF15 to receive $15 off of a $100 purchase. This coupon code is valid only for new customers.
*Ebates members receive an additional four percent cashback bonus*

Ebags buy two items, receive a 20% discount. Good for gearing up for the back-to-school season. Lots of great backpacks to choose from. Sort your prices from low to high and there should be some great choices (in an affordable range).
*Ebates members receive an additional six percent cashback bonus*

Snapfish offers free shipping on your first thirty prints. Use coupon code HPFREESHIP (expires 07/31). You can also get thirty free prints & save twenty percent on photo gifts using coupon code AFFMEM2006 (exp 10/01)
*Ebates members receive an additional ten percent cashback bonus*

Etoys has a great Christmas in July sale, currently running. If you sort by price, you will see a ton of stuff under five dollars. These would make great gifts to keep stashed for all of those children's birthday parties. I also noticed a great Bunco Party Game set (for the mommies in your life!) for only $4.49!
*Ebates members receive an additional three percent cashback bonus*

123InkJets offers free shipping & 5% off with the coupon code SAVES. These are SO much cheaper than in the store- you really can't compare their prices to any of your local retailers.
*Ebates members receive an additional sixteen percent cashback bonus*

Netflix offers a free trial for one month on their movie subscription plan. If you are a movie buff, this is worth the money. When we had time to watch movies, we used this service. They offer plans now (starting at) $5.99 per month.
*Ebates members receive an $18 cashback bonus*

The Children's Place is currently running their Back to School specials. Use coupon code FA76, now through September 4th, for an additional fifteen percent off of their already low prices.

If you are interested in learning more about the Ebates program, please follow this link for more information. An additonal $5 is applied to your account, upon making your first purchase.

For current Ebate members, they have recently added a blog to their site, where you can catch up on the latest & greatest in good deals!

Getting the Cheapest Shipping

I have just started selling some items on Ebay. We are cloth diapering our daughter (am hoping to write an article on that soon!) and we sold her small diapers to move up to the medium diapers. This was my first experience with shipping on Ebay. I made a guess on the shipping (thankfully, I overestimated!), boxed everything up, took both the kids to the post office, and had an awful time waiting in line. Why? Well, my son decided to run around and befriend everyone, then he began holding himself and saying he needed to go to the potty, then my daughter started screaming because she was hungry, then my son started playing in the trash, then I turned around to yell at him, and then my postage stuck to the wrong place...Are you starting to get the picture? When I had to bring the box up, to have the poor lady correct my postage placement, she then asked me if I wanted this type of shipping or this type of shipping. Did I want this insurance or that type of insurance? I had no idea- heck, I just want you to ship the dang box quickly. I came out of there, with both kids screaming, vowing to never ever go to the post office again.

There has to be a better way than this...and guess what? There is! I found this great site called RedRoller, that actually spits out exactly how much your shipping costs will be and compares them against each other. If you invest in a little postage scale (there were some on Ebay for under ten bucks), you can just do your own shipping from home. I input everything into the RedRoller site and it told me that I could ship my item for $6.60, to the listed destination. You can create an account, have it link to your Ebay account, print your shipping label from your computer, and then just have the carrier pick it up from your home- how cool is that? The nice thing about it linking to Ebay was that it automatically updated my Ebay account and let the buyer know that the item was shipped. Total time spent to ship the package- about five minutes.

The best part for me was that I didn't have two screaming kids waiting in line with me and I knew I was getting the best deal that I could....you know me and a bargain!

The Greatest Mommy Blogs EVAH!

Guy Kawalski, who has an amazing blog AND writes books, has blogged about the world's greatest mommy blogs. He has provided the list, originally posted by BlogHer, and is continually adding to this amazing list. You really should check it out because there is some of the best reading material in these little gems.

Thanks to Guy for including us in his list of great blogs! We feel honored to have made the cut!

Play It Again, Momma! (for my new visitors)

Since we are up and rolling on the 9Rules homepage (whoohoo!), I just wanted to take this opportunity to welcome the 9Rulers and share with them a little about myself. What am I all about and why is this your new favorite site? Well, here are a few of my personal favorites that will hopefully show you. If you want to know a full scoop on me, please visit the trusty bio page for more information. I'm a fascinating person.

Things You Should Know About Me:

1. I used to be funny... at least that is what my blog used to be about! My adventures in motherhood. Then people were all up in my business so I took the blog in a different direction. There is no reason that everyone & their mother need to know all about my crappy parenting. You will have to read past entries to catch a glimpse of my former humor. Now I am all business, people! Get it right!

2. I am a creative problem solver. Is your coffee cup overflowing? Does your trash slippeth down? Do you hate your spice rack? Do you lack space in your home? My problem solving techniques will definitely benefit your family, should you choose to continue reading this blog!

3. I love me some kids. Expensive baby-making got you down? Don't know if you can actually afford to buy your baby food? Love your kids, but is your house becoming a giant showcase for their art projects? These are just a few of the blog entries that show how much I love my kids and how we manage to (creatively) provide for them.

4. I am a freebie junkie! No seriously, I get the shakes when I have to pay for something. I don't like to pay for my Starbuck's coffee, I love to sample products at no cost , and I love to give free stuff to my kids.

5. I don't like to waste time grocery shopping and I hate it when other people waste my time. It is a pet peeve of mine, so don't slow this lady down or you'll find yourself one limb short.

6. I love to give cheap gifts... but in a creative way. Not in the I-knitted-you-a-scarf-in-ugly-colors-and-you-have-to-wear-it-or-I'll-cry kind of way. I think my gifts are thoughtful and well executed and have only received good feedback, but maybe people are just being polite. Check out my links and judge for yourself!

7. I like to cook and I love pretty aprons. NO, my husband does not force me to cook his meal, rub his feet, or boss me around the house. I just love being a wife and he loves that I love being a wife. And you must love that he loves that I love being a wife or else you would not visit this blog because it is partly about me and my obsession for good food and other wifey type of things. I love trying new recipes, and I love to share my personal favorites. It brings me a lot of joy to share the food that I love, just don't want anyone to walk away with the wrong impression! I am definitely my own person!

8. I am s-l-o-w... like, in the brain! Spell things out for me, dumb your comments down. Don't throw your intellect around here... I am too slow to get it. Try and overcharge me though and you will find that I will unleash a hellish fury of which this world has never seen.

9. If you really want to know personal stuff about me, you will have to read this entry. That is all that I am sharing though and we will never discuss my personal life again.

10. We are happy to be part of 9Rules, ya'll! Let me be perfectly honest, I had absolutely no idea what this meant (see #8), but upon explanation- I am just thrilled! I hope that this leads to many great friendships and helps me to be more creative. Thanks for letting us be a part of this experience and I can't wait to share more with you!

Frugal Momma's Test Kitchen: Orange Julius

It is time to break out the aprons, ladies, and attempt an easy recipe for a yummy homemade Orange Julius drink. Since we just got a new smoothie maker (see my post on milkshakes & slushies for other great drink recipes) this little appliance has been humming, just about every single day.

Now one of my absolute favorite mall treats is an Orange Julius drink. I like mine with strawberries and bananas. Total cost is usually over three dollars (just for a regular size!). To my delight, I have found a recipe that you can make at home, and the total cost is less than a buck to make three good size cups of this drink. What a savings!

I always have bananas in my freezer (check out my banana pound cake & heavenly banana bread recipes for more ways to use these up) so I threw one of these in. I left out the berries, but thought it tasted just as good.

What did my husband think? Well, he wrinkled up his nose and said it tasted like the nasty drinks at the mall. Considering he doesn't like these frozen treats, I knew I had hit the nail on the head.

I hope you guys can give this one a try! It is like enjoying a favorite mall treat without the crowds or the temptations of shopping...and who needs all of that?

Faux Orange Julius

1 cup milk (I used prepared powdered milk to cut down on using up our milk for smoothies. It worked perfectly)
1 cup ice water
1 (6 ounce) can of frozen orange juice concentrate (I purchased the Aldi brand. You could also purchase the type that has extra calcium in it for the kids)
12 cubes of ice (I just threw in a whole bunch of ice because I like it really thick)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 cup sugar

Pour all of the ingredients into the blender and blend for two minutes (or until smooth).

WFMW: Solving the Sand-Between-Your-Toes Blues

Welcome to this week's edition of Works-For-Me-Wednesday. Swing by Shannon's blog for more lovely ideas for you & your family! It is something that I know I look forward to every week because I get so many great ideas!

This week my husband is on vacation so we have been enjoying a few day trips to the beach & such. Now if there is one thing that I hate about the beach, it is all of that sand- in the car, in our toes, on our backs, in our hair. Usually there is sand everywhere and it can make for a very uncomfortable ride home.

This time I packed the miracle cure for sanditis- a container of baby powder. Just sprinkle it wherever you have sand and it will instantly just disappear off of you. Not only does it remove the sand, but it also leaves everyone smelling as sweet as a baby!

Keep some in your car or by the door and give your kids a sprinkle after they are done playing in the sand box. No more sand trailed through the house- that definitely Works For Me!

Here are a few other links to some of my past ideas-Giving the Gift of Magazines (Frugally) Solution for Cheap Trash Bags Programming Your Cell Phone Free Up Pantry Space: Make a Snack Weeding Through Your Child's Art Work Creatively Using the Coffee Maker With Ease Making Your Spice Rack Usable Maximizing Space

Monday WAHM Spotlight: Sprezzatura Systems

Thanks to Ellen for being part of our Monday WAHM for MomAdvice.com. We wish her much success in her business and with her family.If you are interested in being featured, we will be selecting a mom for each Monday of my blog. You can read more and apply. Email confirmations are sent to each mom if they are chosen. I still have many people to reply to on these so please be patient waiting for my reply. I promise to get back to you guys soon! Also remember to do your own research on these companies. If there are obvious red flags on BBB, I do not post them. Check my scam article to find out more about the potential dangers of work-at-home businesses.Thank you to Ellen and her WAHM business, Sprezzatura Systems, for taking the time to apply and be a part of my Monday feature.

Name: Ellen Ferlazzo

City/State: Pleasanton, CA

Name of Company: Sprezzatura Systems, Inc.

Two or Three Sentences About Your Company:

I write web content (copywriting) for high tech companies. At various times in the past I've also worked as a user interface designer, on both Windows and web applications.

Two Tips for Moms Trying to Work-At-Home (these tips can be how you stay organized, how to be successful, how to get started- anything that you feel would help someone just starting out):

1. Set a schedule and keep it! I like to keep my work hours as close to a normal workday as possible now that my kids are older and off to school most of the day.

2. Have an office space of some kind and a separate phone line that the kids know not to answer. I've gone from the dining room to a spare bedroom, but always have a space of my own.

Sunday Supper: Pumpkin Pancakes

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I am sorry that the Sunday Supper section is coming to you on Monday. We have had a busy weekend with our son’s birthday party, my mom’s birthday party, and then a day trip to the beach. My husband is off of work for the week so we are enjoying some family time. This is also going to be the perfect time to accomplish some of those looming household projects (that never seem to get done).

Tuesday is grocery day, for our family, so this Sunday I relied heavily upon my pantry. I love recipes that are made of pantry ingredients and these pumpkin pancakes really fit the bill. I have them pictured here on my latest Goodwill purchase. A beautiful china plate (with a matching serving bowl) for only a quarter each! These pancakes were enjoyed by the ENTIRE family, including our seven month old daughter. We ate them outside and let the kids go to town with the syrup. Eating outside gave my son the opportunity to run around in the sprinklers and get all of that sticky syrup off of him.

I hope your family will enjoy these as much as we do. I prepared these with nonfat vanilla yogurt and made a batch of powdered milk so we wouldn’t have to use up our gallon of milk. I have recently added a pitcher of this to our fridge after reading about the benefits of it on Hillbilly Housewife and using the milk so often for our Magic Milkshakes. I highly recommend keeping a batch of this on hand in your house. I use this for all of our smoothies, shakes, and anything that needs milk as an ingredient. No one has complained yet and I honestly can't tell a difference in taste.

Enjoy!

Sunday Brunch: Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, ¾ cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 3 eggs, 1 cup sour cream, 3/4 cup milk, 1 cup pumpkin, canned

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and spices. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, adding yogurt, milk and pumpkin puree. Mix well. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just blended. Spoon the batter onto a preheated, oiled griddle, using 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook pancakes slowly over a low-medium heat for approximately 4-6 minutes, flipping after 3 minutes.

Makes eight servings.

**If you want a really sweet pancake, substitute the cup of sour cream for one cup of French vanilla yogurt and decrease the sugar to a ½ cup.**

Friday Freebie: Freely Treating Yourself

Today is our son's fourth birthday! It is hard to believe that he is already that old, but time with him is passing so quickly. Since we are having a day of celebration, I will keep this post brief.

I think, as moms, we just don't treat ourselves enough. Worse yet, we feel guilty about it. Sometimes I just feel like I am on overload with guilt- guilt from not keeping up with things around the house, guilt as the laundry mounts, guilt for not spending as much time as I would like with family...Just a big ugly dose of guilt. It is sad that we put this on ourselves and we need to realize that moms are human just like everyone else. Maybe I stand alone in this guilt, but I just had to mention why I think it is important for women to give themselves a break from it.

Every Friday, I have been trying to treat myself in some small (and free) way. Friday doesn't have to be your day, it is just the day that I enjoy & look forward to the most. Here are some examples of things that I indulge in on Fridays:

1. Official Foot Soak Friday day. I purchased (a brand new boxed) Conair foot spa for my feet from a yard sale that I went to (only $5). Since I got this, Friday has been my official day for soaking my feet. I fill it up with water and soak my feet while I read a library book. A girlfriend suggested maybe adding powdered milk to the foot soak bath, to help soften the skin, so I am going to give that idea a try today. You don't need a fancy foot spa for feet soaking- a dish tub works just as good and achieves the same results.

2. A long soak in the tub, with a glass of wine, and a magazine that helps me to escape (celebrity magazines always go over really well). I fill the tub with bath oil and just unwind.

3. Good music & a cup of homemade hot chai tea.

4. If I can get out of the house for the evening, I love to go to Barnes and Noble and just look at the books & magazines. I bring a small notebook and just write down the books that I really would like to read. This goes into my Wish List or I hit the library and pick them up there.

5. A movie- and this one is just for me! Lifetime movies on television or I pick a good chick flick up at the library.

Please feel free to share things that you do for yourself- it will help inspire me (and hopefully you) to be good to yourself!

Works-For-Me-Wednesday: Giving the Gift of Magazines (Frugally)

Welcome to this week's edition of Works-For-Me-Wendesday. Swing by Shannon's blog for more great ideas (and I mean More with a capital "M") for you & your family!

This week I am going to clue you into giving another frugal gift. For each holiday & birthday, I try and get someone a gift subscription to a magazine. Do I purchase these gift subscriptions from those handy little slips in the magazine? Of course not! Those prices are ridiculous! Instead, I make most of my magazine subscription purchases off of Ebay. Ebay, you say? Why, yes! Ebay has dirt cheap subscriptions and I think magazine subscriptions are the perfect gift. They get a whole year's worth of magazines and you get these magazines for little to no money. For example, I got someone in my family a gift subscription for three years for only $3.97. This magazine retailed for $14.97 per year. This person was *super* happy and I was *super* happy because I didn't spend an arm and a leg buying them a gift.

Just a couple of little helpful hints about purchasing magazines through Ebay. First, make sure you include the gift recipient's address. Don't forget to include this (I usually include this in the notes section or however the listing descibes I should include this information) or the magazine will come to you (and that would be so silly!). Also, make sure that you read the reviews of the seller. Don't buy from someone who has lots of negative feedback or from someone that has no feedback. You want a Power Seller or someone who is known for providing services as described and who has gotten rave reviews from their buyer. Finally, make sure that there is no shipping and handling on the magazine. For example, I was buying a gift for someone and the subscription price said $1.99 for a year's worth of O! Magazine. What a great deal, right? Wrong! The seller wanted $19.97 for shipping the magazines. What a rip off!

Some of the more obscure publications are not available, but the basics are usually easy to find. Just search under the magazine name!

If you don't want to pay for magazines at all, read my blog entry on getting free magazines (or this other entry that includes some more great information). What am I getting for free right now? Spin, Interview, Family Fun, & Antiques magazine. How cool is that?

If you are new to the world of The Motherload, be sure to visit my past WFMW entries for even more great ideas!

Solution for Cheap Trash Bags
Programming Your Cell Phone
Free Up Pantry Space: Make a Snack
Weeding Through Your Child's Art Work Creatively
Using the Coffee Maker With Ease
Making Your Spice Rack Usable
Maximizing Space

Fireworks Galore

Were the fireworks crazy where you live? I decided to hit Walmart last night (because all of their perennials were marked down so low that it was nuts!) and when I got home the sounds were deafening. I brought my husband out, to show him the plants I got for a mere three dollars, and we noticed some weird black things buzzing by. What were they, you might ask? Why, they were bats! Bats by the dozens, swooping so low to the ground that they were almost touching the grass. I have only seen more bats than that at the zoo, and they were confined within glass. I was so freaked out that I ran into the house, and made my poor hubby drag all of the plants in, because I was afraid they were going to attack me. We figured that the sounds were throwing them off, as much as it was throwing off the rest of our family. Know what makes for good quality family entertainment that doesn't even cost you a dime? Why, watching numerous crazy bats flying down to the ground at six zillion miles per hour. How was ya'lls evening?

My First Purchase (Using Ebates)

In May, I blogged about using the Ebates Rewards program to get cash back on your purchases. When you join the program, you automatically get five dollars (upon making your first purchase). I had the opportunity to finally activate my membership (and get my five bucks) because my mother's birthday is coming up (Note: Mom if for some reason you are reading my blog, please stop here or you will find out what your gift is).

In past entries I have discussed my single cup coffee maker. I have had some mixed feelings about the coffee maker. My husband got me it as a gift (because I make REALLY bad coffee!) and it is really great, but the pods are so dang expensive. As soon as I got it, I looked up how to make my own pods, but the process was a little too extensive (even for this frugal diva!) I then decided to purchase a MyPod, which is a great idea, but was somehow horribly flawed. It resulted in an overflowing cup of coffee that was one part coffee to ten parts water. I then tried to remedy this by only putting enough water in to just make one cup, but then this resulted in sputtering and explosives coming from the coffee maker. Then my coffee maker was just plain not working, then I called Senseo to complain (customer service, in short, said that it would be weeks or months before I would actually get a new unit). Then the dang thing started working again....but the pods are too expensive.

Any-who, I decided to look into some less expensive options that would work for the coffee-impaired. I read that the French Press is the way to go if you want a good cup of coffee, with minimal effort (or hopefully brains!) I figured I could use one of these ,and still use my single cup coffee maker, to save on the cost of the pods.

My mother is a big tea drinker and she works during the day so I ran across this travel French Press that you could use while you are on the road. Isn't it so *cute*? I decided to get her one and one for myself (read above paragraph about why I truly deserve this or some of my past entries on some rough times with the kids, in case you thought the coffee incident wasn't enough, which it was!). Because I downloaded that little Moe Money dude (I think he is a former rapper?), that told me that there was a fifteen percent discount for first time customers of HSN (use coupon code: C56574 exp 08/31/2006), that there was an Ebates two percent cash back discount, and I also pocketed my five dollars (from initially setting up the account). How cool is that? The cost worked out to be $19.03 (per mug), which included the shipping and handling for each of them! Not too shabby!

This will be my official Christmas gift, if it turns out to be a hit, for all of the coffee drinkers in my life!

My Ebates account has already been credited and I am looking forward to my Big Fat Check! Whoohooo!

Festivals & Carnivals

This week in Festivals & Carnivals....

The Carnival of Debt Reduction (#42) is up at Blogging Away Debt. Our Solutions for Cheap Trash Bags was included this week.

The Carnival of Family Life (#8) is back in its hometown at The Pink Diary. Our blog entry on Simon Mall's Kidgits Program was included this week.

Raising 4 Boys hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance #55 (which was no small task given the holiday weekend). Included within this carnival of finance was our Sam's Club Review (if you haven't read it- it truly is a must read!)

The Festival of Frugality took a vacation this week and will be back, in full force, next week.

This week's good reads....

Pragmatic Finance has a great blog entry on Discover Cards current rewards. Most notably, for parents, is the five percent back on tuition costs (including preschool!).

Supermom in NY has three tips for people trying to get themselves out of debt. She has a particularly useful one on utilizing money orders for people who are not cash savvy.

Tired but Happy has a great blog entry on the public school systems. She is exploring charter schools (just like our family!) and offers some great options for parents when choosing the public schools.

Monday WAHM Spotlight: Tupperware

Thanks to Katrina for being part of our Monday WAHM for MomAdvice.com. We wish her much success in her business and with her family.If you are interested in being featured, we will be selecting a mom for each Monday of my blog. You can read more and apply. Email confirmations are sent to each mom if they are chosen. I still have many people to reply to on these so please be patient waiting for my reply. I promise to get back to you guys soon! Also remember to do your own research on these companies. If there are obvious red flags on BBB, I do not post them. Check my scam article to find out more about the potential dangers of work-at-home businesses.Thank you to Katrina and her WAHM business, Tupperware, for taking the time to apply and be a part of my Monday feature!

Name: Katrina Sailers

City/State: Lone Tree, CO

Name of Company: Tupperware

Two or Three Sentences About Your Company:

Tupperware is a well established direct sales company. This month we are celebrating 60 years of our amazing home party. Tupperware offers kitchen and cooking solutions to help you save time, money and space with our new innovative and traditional products.

Two Tips for Moms Trying to Work-At-Home (these tips can be how you stay organized, how to be successful, how to get started- anything that you feel would help someone just starting out):

My first tip would be to find a company and product that you have passion for and can be excited about. This will help you stay motivated when the hard times come.

My second tip would be to set up business hours for yourself, as if you were going to an office. This will help you stay focused and flexible within your family's schedule.

Sunday Supper: To Die For Pot Roast

I am running out of ideas for polls (which I usually do on Sunday) so I thought that I would share what is on our dinner table each Sunday. This will hopefully give you some ideas for your own dinner table, and it will be fun for me to share my endless supply of recipes.

This Sunday we dined on, "To Die For Pot Roast." I think I ran across this recipe on Recipezaar and it has been making a regular appearance at our house ever since. This roast is delicious- it is juicy and it makes an amazing gravy, which I pour on top of a mound of mashed potatoes.

When looking for a roast, I just use the cheapest cut of meat available at the store (whatever is on sale or chuck roast) and it turns out perfect ever single time. Slow cookers are great at tenderizing tough cuts of meat. Still too tough? Cook the heck out of it for another two hours and it will be falling apart.

We dined on this roast, mashed potatoes, & sweet baby peas. Our dessert was a slice of the Starbucks Banana Pound Cake. The perfect ending to a yummy dinner!

Just a note, this recipe was included in my One Month of Slow Cooking article. If you are looking for a way to keep your kitchen cool this summer, those thirty recipes will certainly help!

To Die For Pot Roast
Serves Eight

Ingredients:
1 beef roast - any kind
1 package dried brown gravy mix
1 package dried Italian salad dressing mix
1 package dried ranch dressing mix
1 cup water

Place beef roast in slow cooker. Mix the dried mixes together in a bowl and sprinkle over the roast. Pour the water around the roast. Cook on low for seven to nine hours.

Nutritional facts per serving (daily value):
Calories 441cal, Protein 28g, Total Fat 31g, Sat.4g, Chol.104mg, Carb. 10g

Cheap Baby-Making

Yes, I realize that some people can make babies for FREE (lucky folks!), but there are those of us out there that have a harder time getting pregnant.

With my son, we had absolutely no problems getting pregnant. He came exactly when we wanted and there was no stress associated with getting pregnant. Getting pregnant with baby #2 was much harder than I could have ever anticipated. We tried for two years to get pregnant and God had a much different timeline then we could have ever imagined. During that time I tried everything (other than any invasive fertility treatments) under the sun to get pregnant. I was desperate to get pregnant and was open to just about anything to achieve it.

I wanted to share with you ladies, a couple of resources that I found to be invaluable during this time, and how we finally ended up getting pregnant with our daughter.

Fertility Friend is a GREAT website and was just what I needed to figure out exactly when was the optimal time to try. A girlfriend had suggested it to me and since then I have been telling anyone & everyone about this site. It is a free service (you can, of course, pay for extra membership goodies) where you can chart everything into one place. The chart then will highlight the days that you should try, based on the information you have put in it, and it helps you to actually try when the trying is good...so to speak! Thanks to my girlfriend, Xtina, for sharing this information with me!

If you are a habitual tester, you will find this website to be of great value. Save On Tests is a great discount spot to get your ovulation & pregnancy tests. Purchasing these tests (even the Walmart off-brand) was becoming w-a-y too expensive. I decided to look into finding another resource for these tests. Save On Tests just sells the strips and they offer great inexpensive package deals that can really help save you a lot of money. For example, 25 ovulation test strips is only $10.25! That is such a bargain! They also offer ovulation & pregnancy tests in one package deal. These are so much more affordable than anywhere else and you will feel a little less guilty testing so often if you aren't paying an arm & a leg for your tests. Just a note, the packages that are the cheapest are JUST the strips. You are not paying for the little plastic thingiemabobs that they come in. It does not make it any less effective, just a little messier. They do offer the plastic test cassettes, but you do have to pay a little more to get those.

Finally, investing in a copy of, "Taking Charge of Your Fertility," will help you greatly in trying to achieve pregnancy. This book is, what I have termed as, the fertility bible. It has information in it about how your body works and understanding the signs and timing of ovulation in women. I highly recommend this book to any woman (not just those who are trying) because it can help you in NOT getting pregnant too.

A lot can be said for simply sitting back and waiting for God's timing. Was God's timing good for us, after waiting this long for a baby? Yes! Would our timing have been quite as good? Probably not! Even though, God had wonderful timing, it did help me to feel more proactive, in our situation, having these tools at my disposal as we were trying to get pregnant.

Yes, I know what you are thinking! The answer is yes. I really am that frugal!