Scooby Snack~Tip of the Day~Tidbit of Money Saving 411… May 26, 2010

I actually had a few minutes hours this morning to catch up on some of my blog reading and came across this post from

Balancing Beauty and Bedlam. (Yes that means I’m 99.9% done packing and I got up at the crack of dawn!)

Anyway, It’s great ‘how-to’ 411 about Drug Store shopping and savings.

I know, I know…who has time for that? Well, honey, time is money!

I’m willing to invest some time if I know I can save some sweet moolah!

It’s like anything else, once you know how it works, it ain’t nothin’ but a thang to put it into action!

I signed up for Rite Aid’s Wellness + card today online and got a $5 off $25 coupon, plus more coupons sent to me via e-mail.

It literally took me four minutes.

Click the link below if you want in:

Click on the link below for the ‘rest of the money-saving story’!

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Scooby Snack~Tip of the Day~For FREEEEEEEE!!! April 26, 2010

Want a free photo magnet for your fridge?

My friend Susan put this link up on Facebook and I just had to pass it on!

Easy as 1-2-3!

1.  Just click on the $6.99 4×6 photo magnet, and upload your photo.

2.  Enter code FREE4MOM to get it free.

3.  Select in store pickup and there will be no charge! 

That’s it!

Tell me that doesn’t rock!

Click the CVS link below to

get yours!

Rice Sock Re-post ~ per reader request!

Rice socks are a beautiful thing in our house. What is a rice sock? Only the greatest heating pad ever! They can be heated in the microwave, or put in the freezer as a cold pack. They’re nice and squishy, so they can be wrapped around an arm, a leg, or draped over your neck. Pop it in the microwave for 1 minute for kids, 1 and 1/2 for adults. Great for tummy aches, ‘warrior wounds’, or even throw them under the covers to warm up your bed on cold nights. I even used them when my girls were babies…colic is a tummy issue…it may help! Here’s how you do it.

Purchase a pack of men’s tube socks. (using old socks is just gross!) Fill each sock with rice (any cheap rice will do the trick!). Sew the opening closed, TIGHTLY, (You don’t want a leaky rice sock, trust me!) or, if you cannot or just hate to sew, you can just knot the end of the sock. Works like a charm! You can get white ones and let your kids decorate them with permanent markers, or get colored or patterned socks and let them pick their own. It’s great when they can all have their own rice sock, avoids unnecessary arguments!

You can even get scented oils such as lavender (calming), or spearmint/eucalyptus (soothing) and toss the rice in a bowl with a dropper-ful. When you heat them, the oil heats up and makes for a whole new experience! As a matter of fact, I went searching for a rice sock to get a picture to post and they, once again, weren’t where they belong. But alas, I knew just where to look. = )

Oh, yeah….Rice Socks Rock!

This post was linked to:

Scooby Snack~ Tip of the Day! Prelude to a recipe… April 19, 2010

I love garlic. My family loves garlic. Being Sicilian (that’s way down in the boot Italian), I grew up with garlic in every way shape and form. My dad would pop whole cloves in his mouth like it was candy. Ok, I’m not that extreme. Needless to say, there are very few of my recipes that don’t have garlic in the first few ingredients. It’s a good thing that it’s good for you, and fat-free! Go here to see the nutritional and medicinal properties. It might surprise you what these little stinky nuggets have to offer!

Having said all of that, one of my favorite ways to use/have garlic is roasted. Roasted garlic is definitely one of my top 10 faves as far as flavor goes. Garlic goes from strong and pungent to sweet and nutty in just one hour with little preparation or work. It’s so simple to do it’s almost sickening, so I decided to share this little morsel of cooking 101 with you, so you can utilize it in your future menu planning and recipes.

Here’s how we do garlic in our house:

I told you we love garlic! I even gave it a spotlight!

3 lbs. at a time baby…gotta love Sam’s Club!

Ingredients for roasting garlic:

Garlic cloves

(No duh! Seriously, though, I usually use about 20 cloves. Once you mash them up, it’s really not extreme.)

Extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt (or whatever you use)

Fresh cracked black pepper

Tin foil

THAT’S IT~!!!

What to do:

1. Fold a decent-sized piece of tin foil in half to make it sturdy.

2. Place garlic cloves in the center in a pile.

3. Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil over the top of the garlic.

4. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

It will look like this:

(I used a piece of my ‘recycled’ foil…that stuff’s not cheap!)

5. Fold the foil around the garlic tightly to form a nicely sealed pouch.

(You don’t want garlic leakage in your oven! Yikes!)

6. Place the sealed pouch of goodness into your oven at 400° for one hour.

I use my countertop convection oven…LOVE that thing! No need to fire up the big ol’ oven for this!

(Time to clean off the crumb tray…eek!)

After one hour, this is what you’ll have:

Click Here.

We REALLY love garlic.

Stay tuned for my recipe for Roasted Garlic Turkey Burgers coming next week!

What are some of your recipes that call for roasted garlic?

This post was linked to:

the Tuesday 30-minute blog challenge at steadymom.com .

Scooby Snack~Tip of the Day! Flower Pens April 12, 2010

I’m not a super crafty person, however, I am a person of convenience, and I like things to look nice. Oh, okay, and I admit that I enjoy the occasional spontaneous craft from time to time. Anyway, I was at a store, somewhere, can’t remember the details, but what I do remember is asking for a pen to sign my receipt, and the cashier handed me a flower pen. It literally was a silk flower, with the stem and a pen wrapped tightly together with floral tape. Brilliant and super cute all in one! I thought of all the times I am in my kitchen in need of a writing utensil with none to be found. So, I went to Wal-Mart (of course), bought a bunch of my favorite flowers (sunflowers), and a roll of floral tape in the craft department, a bag of coffee beans (whatever was on sale) and went home. Then, I found the flower-pot my daughter made me in Kindergarten that was up in the cabinet needing an occupation, and went around the house scouring for pens. I wrapped a nice bouquet of ‘flower pens’, filled the flower-pot up with coffee beans, and stuck my ‘flowers’ in. Wa-La! Not only do I always have a pen on hand, but the coffee beans smell awesome, I have my favorite flowers in a sentimental flower-pot on my kitchen counter, and my husband always looks so cute whenever he’s writing something on the grocery list! Bonus! They’re cheap to make, super easy to put together, and have a purpose. I doesn’t get any better than that! Wow, looking at my little flower pens below tells me it’s time to get some new flowers and ‘freshen up’ the flower pot!

This post is linked to Made By You Mondays with SkipToMyLou.org

and Works For You Wednesdays at We are THAT Family.com

Click on the links below for more awesome ideas!

Scooby Snack~ Tip of the Day! For FREEEEEEEEE…and educational? Count me in! April 6, 2010

Free and educational? Count me in!

@millermix and CSN are giving away a Melissa & Doug farm cube puzzle.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to win this great puzzle… it’s so cute!

Enter at http://bit.ly/a5LxMP”

Scooby Snack~Tip of the Day! Clicking coupons! March 19, 2010

Ok, I have to admit it…I DON’T CLIP COUPONS! As much of a cheapo as I am, I just haven’t ever taken the time to clip coupons. I did when I was first married, you know, because it makes you feel all domesticated and wifey…and when I got pregnant and put on bed rest, I clipped coupons like crazy then because there wasn’t a whole lot to do flat on your back.

Then my first daughter came…along with 3 months of colic. Needless to say, I stopped clipping coupons.

Anyway, I was on Facebook last night, (shocker) and my friend Grace was going on about her awesome grocery shopping day and how she spent $69.00 instead of $200.00 because of coupons…WHAT??!! She talked about these great websites that she goes to get all of her coupons. I thought, yeah, after you fill out an hour-long survey and promise your first-born child. So, I went and checked it out. HELLO!!! It was click and clip baby! I went nuts! I got coupons for everything but Ensure and Centrum Silver! I now feel guilty at the thought of not ‘clicking’ coupons! If you are more coupon savvy than me and already know about these sites, great, I must be a little behind the coupon times, but for those of you in the coupon dark ages like me, here ya’ go!

www.couponmom.com

www.eversave.com

Scooby Snack! Tip o’ the Day to ya’! (A little St. Patty’s Day 411) March 17, 2010

Did you know that St. Patrick was a missionary?

Here are some St. Patrick’s Day facts for ya’!

-His father was a deacon in the church.

-After being captured by Irish raiders and held captive on the west coast of Ireland, he was told in a dream by God to flee to the coast, where he boarded a ship to Britain and joined the church and studied to be a priest. He was called back to minister to the people of Ireland and spent over 30 years teaching and spreading God’s Word.

-According to legend, Saint Patrick used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity o the pre-Christian Irish people.

-Originally the color associated with Saint Patrick was blue. However, over the years the color green and its association with Saint Patrick’s day grew.

-The phrase “the wearing of the green”, meaning to wear a shamrock on one’s clothing, derives from the song The Wearing of the Green.

(Courtesy Wikipedia.com)

Scooby Snack~Tip of the Day! March 16, 2010

Tired of being interrupted, or your kids (particularly your first-born) trying to finish your sentences? Sick of your ‘private’ phone conversations constantly being interrupted by an uninvited third party? It is definitely a pet peeve of mine… Here’s the solution:

It doesn’t matter what color, or whether it’s plastic or glass…whatever will hold those glorious coins that symbolize the power of patience. (I know you see pennies in there, but it’s only because I also use it as my spare change drop site.)

When ANYONE in my house (including children, family, or very close friends) interrupts a conversation, 50 cents goes in the jar. We went out and rented a movie the first week the interruption jar was in business! It really works! Admittedly, I’ve had to contribute to the jar a few times, myself. Oh well, no one’s perfect!

Scooby Snack~Tip of the Day! March 15, 2010

Do you worry about what your kids are taking in when the television is on? This is one website I won’t live without, so I wanted to share the wealth! It’s the best, most informational site giving the most accurate previews for movies, DVD’s, books, television shows, and even video games. Check it out! You’d be surprised at what you thought was okay for your kids to watch!

http://www.pluggedinonline.com/