My Life, My Children

These offers were sent to me from a fellow mom. I hope you find some of them useful.

Here are some sites that are offering some decent freebies to sign up for thier e-mail lists:

Penn station : One free small sub (no ohter purchase required)
http://pennstationindy.com/

O’Charleys: Free appetizer with e-mail registration (valid for 30 days)
http://ocharleys.fbmta.com/members/UpdateProfile.aspx?Action=Subscribe&InputSource=W

Fazolis: Monthly Coupons, this month is buy a small pasta entree get one free:
www.freespaghetti.com

Don Pablos:  Habenero Club - Free dip sampler with sign up.  They also send you $10 on your card for your birthday and your anniversary of signing up for the club as well as random $5 to your card throughout the year:
http://www.donpablos.com/

Bob Evans : Sign up for e-mail newsletter and get a printable coupond for a free kid’s meal with drink
https://www.bobevans.com/win/webreg.nsf/Registration

Auntie Annes Pretzel’s: Twisted news : Monthly coupons (B1G1 Free, B1 stix, G 1 pretzel free, etc)
http://auntieannes.com/email_signup.aspx

Birthday club goodies:

Red Robin - Free burger on your birthday (no other purchase necessary) - sign up each of your family members and they will send one (to your e-mail) for their b-day as well.  kids get a free kid’s meal
http://apps.fishbowl.com/a/redrobin/eclub/agegate.aspx

Bob Evans - Kid’s get a coupon via mail for their b-day:
https://www.bobevans.com/win/webreg.nsf/Registration

BD’s Mongolian grill: Club Mongo - Free stir fry on your b-day (no other purchase necessary)
http://www.gomongo.com/experience/joinClubMongo.php

Flat Top Grill (FT. WAYNE ONLY) : Free stir fry on your b-day (and sometimes throughout the year as well)
http://flattopgrill.fbmta.com/members/UpdateProfile.aspx?Action=Subscribe&InputSource=W

I have been taking a class is silver metal jewelry making. It is basically silver in a clay form. You can mold it, shape it and cut it to your desired shape. After drying, you can fire it and it becomes almost pure silver. (Actually .999) The firing can occur in different ways. Some are expensive as in buying a kiln to inexpensive like a propane torch or the top of a gas stove. Making this hobby a bit more affordable. I like the opportunity it gives for textures by using rubber stamps or texture plates to add a pattern to the surface of the clay. Right now, I am addicted to this technique. Adding your creations to other jewelry techniques adds another level of beauty. Using fimo clay, enamel, beading and the like adds another level of beauty. While I love the process, I also find it an expensive hobby. Well, not as expensive as flying a plane but still one that can affect your budget if you are not careful.

This sounds like a great quick dessert. Given my love of chocolate, I can see this filling a craving. The recipe landed in my inbox the other day thanks to Thrifty Fun. I can’t wait to try it out. Having two daughters, I can see this being a fun recipe to share with them and get them involved. They are young and don’t have a lot of patients so something quick and tasty is just right for them. I can also see the opportunity to alter this recipe and add flavors to enhance and change the results. But for starts, I will follow the recipe verbatim. Once tried, I will post my results.

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

Ingredients

*    4 Tbsp. flour
*    4 Tbsp. sugar
*    2 Tbsp. cocoa
*    1 egg
*    3 Tbsp. milk
*    3 Tbsp. oil
*    2-3 Tbsp. milk chocolate chips (optional)
*    A small splash of vanilla extract
*    1 large coffee mug

Directions

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil. Mix again well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.

The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT! This makes a generous serving for two. If you’re a chocoholic, watch out! With this recipe you are only five minutes away from a deliciously, decadent dessert!

Note: I sprayed the mug with a little Baker’s Joy to insure its coming out more easily. I also think I’ll add chopped nuts next time. My grandson and I made one tonight and it was scrumptious with some vanilla ice cream on the side.

Source: This recipe was given to me by a dear friend who has raised five children. I’m sure she has to be very creative with her cooking!

By Sandy from Elon, NC

My daughters and I just made the easiest fudge recipe. It tastes great too.

Ingredients:
3 cups of chocolate chips
1 14 oz can of sweet condensed milk
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
Chopped nuts - optional

Heat the first two ingredients over a medium burner until completely mixed together. Remove from heat and add the next two ingredients. Pour into a square lined baking pan and chill in the refrigerator until firm. Then remove and cut into small pieces. Keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

We opted to leave out the nuts. We also mixed whatever left over chips I had in the house. Ours was a concoction of chocolate, milk chocolate, caramel and butterscotch.

I found a very useful tool. Article Changer. It is a free article rewriter tool available online. You can paste your article into the top window box and click on the rewrite button. In the second window is your newly rewritten article.

So, why do I use it? I rewrite a few of my articles I submit to a variety of pay per view article services. This saves me a bit of time and money being able to utilize the research and rewrite the article so I can submit it to more than one location. I always read through the rewrite and change the phrases that don’t make sense, but it does speed up the process.

The other thing I do it to paste the rewritten article into a Word Document and then compare it to the originally saved article. Going under tools, select track changes, and then select compare documents. Locate the original document you saved on your hard drive and the new article will highlight in red what has changed making it easier for you to locate the changes as well as the volume of changes.

http://www.articlechanger.net

American Gem Society $25 gift certificate.

http://info.americangemsociety.org/cnn/

Use at your local participating jewelry store. Find something small and only pay tax or apply it to something larger for a discount. Why not give it to your spouse as a hint for a great present.

Notes of the GC from the America Gem Society:
You will receive your $25 American Gem Society Gift Certificate via email. To ensure delivery, please add giftcertificate@info.americangemsociety.org to your address book.

**Participation may vary. One gift certificate per email address and household. This gift certificate is redeemable for new jewelry purchases only at participating American Gem Society retailers. It cannot be redeemed for cash. Any unused amount will not be reimbursed. Certificate cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Certificate cannot be replaced if lost or stolen. Excluding TIFFANY & CO. One gift certificate per customer, per transaction. A minimum purchase may be required.
This certificate will expire on December 31, 2008.

I have a few websites that I like to visit on a daily basis. Woot and Shnoop both offer deals on a daily basis. The forum discussions are as fun as the savings are. The other site I am having fun visiting is Slickdeals. It lists all the deals that are found on a daily basis. They also have a forum where people discuss their findings and savings. If you like to shop and save money doing it, these sites will entertain you. I personally like a bargain. I get excited to see how much money I can save, it energizes me.

http://www.woot.com

http://www.shnoop.com

http://www.slickdeals.net

Restaurant.com has created Feeding it Forward for the holiday season. What does this mean for you? Well, from now until Christmas, you can give three friends each day a ten-dollar restaurant gift certificate. Each email address can only be entered one time. So that means thirty dollars of free gift giving for you to be generous with each day. Make your list now and decide who has been naughty and who has been nice. Then, give each nice one a treat. Maybe they will ask you to join them! What a great way to spread around the holiday cheer without spending a dime!

http://www-ws24.restaurant.com/FeedItForward/signup-step1.aspx

This is a great tip I just heard about.  I can’t believe I didn’t think of this on my own. It is so simple.

We bought a new vacuum, which I love. But it didn’t come with all the tools I used to have. It did come with a few new ones. The tool I miss the most is the long attachment that narrows down to a small thin slit. I am not sure what this tool is called but every vacuum should come with one. Since I don’t have one, I read you can utilize a wrapping paper tube and pinch it at one end while slipping the other end over your vacuum extension. How simple! How easy! This is the way to solve a problem, and a need I really want. Solved without spending anything!

I have a new favorite drink. I like soda. A few years ago I switched to diet soda. I have always been a Pepsi person. For the longest time, I enjoyed Diet Pepsi Lime. I also like Coke but don’t really drink it often. I tried Coke Zero. I have heard from many a Diet Coke drinker that it is sweeter than Diet Coke. This is probably why I like it. Pepsi is typically sweeter than Coke. I am glad a found Coke Zero because it is more readily available than Diet Pepsi Lime. In the area I live, they only sell Diet Pepsi Lime during the summer months. I’ve even found Coke Zero in soda fountains and fast food establishments.