2009 November

Tips for Saving Money this Holiday Season

30 Nov posted by Robin

Are you are looking for ways to save money for the holidays? It seems like everyone has been on a tighter budget the past few years.. There are many ways to save money for the holidays. A little here and there really adds up. You have time to adjust your regular budget to save up for Christmas, and grabbing some great early gift bargains can also help. With some effort, everyone will be very excited with what they find under your holiday tree this year.

Saving on Your Regular Budget

Don’t be shy about buying generic
Instead of ordering delivery pizza, make homemade pizza
Post-pone whatever purchases you can, to be given as gifts
Try and group your trips, to save on gas
Go through last years winter wardrobe and do any repairs needed, immediately
Hold off on winter clothing purchases until after Christmas if possible (prices will be lower)

Save on Holiday Gifts

Take advantage of holiday bonuses on gift card purchases (not only will you get more $ in GC value, the recipient will have more buying power after the holiday)
Avoid buying the trendy toys and go for classics.
Make sure to save all your receipts and watch to see if a price goes lower before the holiday, many stores will give you the difference (or you could just re-buy & return the 1st one)
With kids quantity is often more thrilling than quality. Get a bunch of small inexpensive toys and wrap them separately.
While shopping the great sales, don’t overlook coupons, there are even manufacturer coupons for toys this time of year.
Look into making some toys yourself. Consider your skills and then search the web, to see what others have made ( I saw some great dolls, trucks, and play kitchens that were homemade)

Save on Holiday Entertaining

Stick with traditional holiday foods, they will be on sale
Consider doing a brunch or hors d’oeuvre party
Make your party BYOB
Go with a kitschy retro themed Pot Luck (hint: the more you play up the theme, the less you will look cheap)
Go with a movie themed party. Guests will automatically assume it is a casual get together, and you can serve fun & inexpensive “movie snacks”, or match your food to the movie. (example: Chinese food for “The Christmas Movie”, because that is what the film’s family ended out eating for their holiday meal)

Aveeno Baby Essential Moisture Shampoo Review

27 Nov posted by Robin

I was recently sent a bottle of Aveeno Baby Essential Moisture Shampoo, for review. I wasn’t expecting to like it very much, because I found the adult moisture shampoo to leave too much residue. I was pleasantly surprised with the results we got from this shampoo.

The shampoo had a thinner consistency than shampoos commonly have, but had excellent lather. A very small quantity lathered my toddlers long hair right up. The scent was pleasant and light. I can’t stand strongly scented product, so I was pleased with the scent. It vaguely reminded me of lily-of-the-valley. The shampoo rinsed well, and my daughter’s hair was easy to comb out once her bath was done.

Once my daughter’s hair was dry I noted that it was shiny, and residue free, yet seemed well conditioned and the curls had been brought out. She was having a good hair day

Aveeno Baby Essential Moisture Shampoo was developed to cleanse and condition hair in one step. With a wiggling toddler or fussy baby, this one step process can be a real help. The shampoo contains natural wheat & oat, as well as vitamin E to nourish the hair and scalp. It is a tear-free formula and has been allergy tested.

While Baby Essential Moisture Shampoo is part of the Aveeno Active Naturals line, and contains some natural ingredients, it is not to be confused with an organic or entirely natural shampoo. It contains ingredients typical of most baby and adult shampoos.

Verdict: I’ll buy it.

Disclaimer: I received a product sample. This review is my honest opinion and no other compensation was given.

3 Comments
Filed Under: Children, Reviews /Giveaways, Reviews & Giveaways

Ultimate Pie Crust Recipe: Buttery Flakey Homemade Crust

25 Nov posted by Robin

This pie crust recipe is the result of several years of tweaking. It was developed by compiling a few different pie crust recipes & hints from several sources, and a bit of experimenting. I have had wonderful results every time with this recipe. You could say this pie crust is a cross between American and French crusts, since it includes both shortening (for flakiness) and butter (for richness of flavor), that was a tip I got from America’s Test Kitchen. This pie crust is great for both sweet and savory pies (I cut the sugar to 1 tbs, for Savory pies). Warning: If you start making this crust, you may never opt for the easy out of ready made pie crusts again. This is the pie crust recipe I use for all my pies. It is featured here in my Pineapple Pie Recipe.

Pie Crust Recipe: Ultimate Buttery Flakey Homemade Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups of flour (all-purpose)

1/2 cup cold shortening (I use the Crisco sticks, half a stick per crust)

3/4 cup cold butter (I use salted butter, 1 1/2 sticks)

1/2 tbs. kosher salt

1 1/2 tbs. sugar

6 tbs. of ice water, add 1 or 2 more if necessary

As you can see with this tart, the crust is not only tender and flakey, but holds it's shape well.

Pulse the dry ingredients in a food processor, to mix.
Add the cold shortening in pieces. Pulse a few times.
Cut the butter in chunks and add to mixture. Pulse until the butter chunks are about the size of pencil eraser.
Add the water a little bit at a time and lightly kneed into dough. (6 tbs. should be enough, only add more if crust is too crumbly to work into a ball)
Split the dough in half, roll in balls and wrap in plastic wrap.
Chill in the refrigerator at least 45 minutes.
Roll out pie crust on floured surface.

Now it is ready to use.

Want some of that yummy filling? Check out my Pineapple Pie Recipe.

19 Comments
Filed Under: Featured, Recipes

Favorite Holiday Activities with our Daughter

24 Nov posted by Robin

decorating_Christmas_tree My husband and I were just discussing, our favorite holiday things to do with our daughter. It was fun just to talk about it. Now the anticipation is killing me. She is not quite three yet, so holiday activities with her are still relatively new to us.

The first thing, that came to both our minds, was selecting and bringing home a tree. Last year, we used an artificial tree, but plan on getting a real one this year. It is such a great adventure to share with kids. Even the torture, of waiting for the tree to settle enough to decorate, adds to the air of excitement. Our daughter is a bit young to do much tree decorating, but should be able to help a bit this year. The best part is when she sees the tree lit for the first time… the sheer glee on her face is priceless.

Although wrapping presents can be challenging with a toddler, we have already done a couple this year, and it was rather fun. She helped with the tape and added her own touch with some stickers. (of course the unwrapping part will be her favorite).

We have been cutting out pictures of toys my daughter likes, in preparation for making her Santa List. This will be her first “Letter to Santa”, and I felt having her paste pictures would help her participate more, than me writing the items down for her. We will then drop the letter in the box at Macy’s (They make a small donation for each letter deposited).

My daughter loves playing with dough and kitchen gadgets, so I am looking forward to making Christmas cookies with her. I’ve already made a couple batches (for blog pictures), and she really enjoys poking around with everything, and of course eating the results. I will be helping her, to do more of the actual cookie preparation, for the next batch. She especially likes playing with the rolling pin, so it should be a hit.

One of the activities, my husband and I have both looked forward to since long before we even had our daughter, is watching the holiday specials on television. We each have our favorite classic TV specials (and a few Christmas movies as well), that we are dying to share with her. Rudolf is a joint fave, and we will be sure to watch that one with her. This year we will also be watching “Dora’s Christmas Carol”. Dora is one of my daughter’s favorite characters, so I am sure she will love it.

These are the five activities, that jumped out at us first, but we are also looking forward to caroling, visiting Santa and viewing light displays with her. It should be a very Merry Christmas indeed

7 Comments
Filed Under: Family

Win a Set of Lenox Ballon Wine Glasses (Closed)

19 Nov posted by Robin

Lenox_O2xygen_balloon_wine_glasses Lenox is sending me a set of 4 Lenox “O2xygen” lead-free crystal balloon wine glasses, which retail for $58. I am receiving these through a blogging promotion, Lenox did in conjunction with Twitter Moms. The good news is Lenox will send another set, to the winner of this contest.

The Lenox “O2xygen” balloon wine glasses, are made of break resistant lead-free crystal and are even dishwasher safe. The glasses are designed for maximum air flow, to give your wine room to breathe. These elegant wine glasses would compliment any dishware.

The winner will be selected from all valid entries, using random.org, and will have 48 hours to respond to their prize winner notification. If winner fails to respond, within that time period, a new winner will be drawn. Contest ends 11:59 pm EST, on December 2, 2009.

Ways to Enter: A seperate comment must be left here for each entry.

Visit Lenox and tell me what item you would love to own.
Subscribe to this blog via email (2 entries/make a comment for each entry)
Subscribe to my RSS feed.
Follow @TwiMommi
Follow @Lenox_Corp
Tweet about this giveaway and leave link to tweet in your comment (up to 2x per day)
Share link to this giveaway on Facebook .

..Congratulations to the winner… Wanda!

218 Comments
Filed Under: Household, Reviews & Giveaways

Spinach Cracker Recipe : A Sneaky Way to Get Your Toddler to Eat Veggies

18 Nov posted by Robin

Homemade Spinach Crackers are a sneaky way to get your kids to eat their vegetables.

This recipe was developed , as a way of sneaking vegetables into my fussy toddlers diet. She loves crunchy stuff, but just plays with her vegetables. My devious plan… infiltrate the crunchy crackers she loves, with spinach.

I have made this recipe a couple times now, and my daughter eats the crackers, without complaint. Sure, she would rather have Cheez-its, but Miss Fussy will eat them.

The recipe is easy to make and composed of basic ingredients, that most home cooks will have on hand. I decided to use an all purpose flour for these crackers, over whole wheat, to insure a good “crunch” factor.

Spinach Crackers Recipe

1/3 cup of frozen loose leaf spinach

1/4 cup oil (I use olive oil)

1/2 tsp kosher salt ( or powdered chicken bouillon, like Goya)

1 1/2 tbs water

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Puree the spinach, oil salt, baking powder and water in a food processor or blender.
Combine the flour and the spinach mixture, either in the food processor, or a mixing bowl.
Knead the dough and form it into a nice ball.
Roll the dough out on a well floured surface. The dough should be rolled out very thin (like pasta dough).
Put the dough on a floured baking sheet.
Use a pastry cutter to cut the dough into squares.(a pizza cutter or knife will do if you don’t have one)
Prick each cracker 2-3 times with a fork.
Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Thinner crackers and those on the edges will cook faster. Pull them out, and continue cooking those that are still soft. Crackers will crisp a bit more during cooling, but should be somewhat crisp when removed.
Crackers should be put directly on a kitchen towel to cool, to maintain their crispness.

This recipes will make a batch of spinach crackers equal to about 1/2 a regular size box of crackers. Store in an airtight container.

8 Comments
Filed Under: Food, Recipes

$50 Paper Culture Gift Certificate Giveaway (Closed)

16 Nov posted by Robin

Win Eco-Friendly Custom Holiday Cards

I am giving away a $50 Paper Culture Gift Certificate Code, to one of my readers. Paper Culture makes modern custom greeting cards printed on 130lb 100% Post Consumer Recycled Paper. They even purchase carbon offsets, to ensure their business is 100% carbon free.

Paper Culture has a great selection of modern and unique holiday cards. They also produce invitations, announcements and stationary. You can even opt to have them send your cards directly to recipients, and you are free to select a mix of designs, in your order. It doesn’t get much easier than that.

This is not a sponsored giveaway. I have the certificate with the code on it, a winner will be selected using random.org and they will be forwarded the code via email (I will send the actual paper certificate through snail mailed, if needed). Once the winner responds to notification, I will promptly send the code (I just don’t want it getting lost in someones spam folder). The gift certificate code expires on December 31st, 2009. I want to get this right out to the winner, so they will have plenty of time to use this to send out holiday cards. The winner will have 48 hours to respond, if winner has not responded in this time period, a new winner win be selected.

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