Cooking from the Blogs-What I Made

I have just one recipe that I have cooked from the blogs recently that I was able to get a picture of, but what a good recipe it is.  If you did not check out the link to Three Cheese and Onion Stacked Roasted Potatoes in my post for the Improv Cooking Challenge you must click on over to Little Mama Big Appetite blog and get it now.  Go on.  Go get it.  Your won’t be sorry.

Little Mommy was a genius to think up this idea of stacked, roasted potatoes.  I posted here about making her original recipe.  They were so good that when she revised the recipe to include onion and cheese, I knew I had to make them again.  They were absolutely wonderful.

I have found that 3 T. of the olive oil is enough for me.  I have also used melted butter so either can be used.  Of course, the olive oil is healthier.  I used dried minced onion instead of the grated onion called for.  I mixed the onion with the olive oil and seasoning and let it stand for 10 to 15 minutes.  I also did not have any pepper jack cheese so used cheddar and an Italian cheese blend.

The potatoes are crispy on the bottom like fried potatoes without all the work.  This is such a versatile recipe, I will be making it a lot by varying  the seasonings and cheese      Thank you, Little Mama, for a wonderful recipe.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Shindig Saturday Weekly Linky Party #49

Wow, how time flies when you are having fun....or something like that.

Dear hubby has been working nights this week and all 4 of the kids are in after school activies, so I've been running my little shoes into the ground going from soccer field to soccer field to track meet to play practice to church activies to scout activities....you get the picture.

It's been crazy here. I'm really looking forward to Spring Break next week.  We're going home to visit my family and I'm super excited about just relaxing and visiting for a week.  We don't have to be anywhere or do anything.  (Except go see Hunger games, of course.)

But during all my free time this week, I finally made my first recipe from Pinterest.

I've told you before that Dare Devil wants to have a brownie shop when he grows up, so we've been pinning LOTS of yummy looking brownie recipes.  We decided we wanted to try one a week to see which ones where keepers and which ones weren't.

This week we made Cream Cheese Brownies from 5 Boys Baker.

Can I say, OH MY GOODNESS.

These brownies were so rich and yummy, Dear Hubby and I nearly inhaled the whole pan.  We weren't very nice about sharing them.

Definitely a keeper, and a very encouraging start for our Pinterest Brownie board. 

I made a Recipe card for my Family cookbook and wanted to share it with you so you can try it to if you like your brownies.

I hope you'll give it a try and then go tell 5 Boys Baker how wonderful they are.

And also that you'll share some fun things you've been doing this week!

Show us your newest party or fun creations by sharing your favorite party themed craft, table scape, photo, favor, or whatever! I'm pretty flexible since just about everything can be used at a party...that's the great thing about us moms! We can see the potential in ANYTHING!

Linky Party Guidelines:

* Link up to your OWN project post, not just your blog, but your actual post. (We want to see it!) *Grab a Shindig Saturday button for your post or blog page. (Hey, it benefits us all!)

*Stay and enjoy the party by visiting and commenting on other's projects. (It's fun to mix and mingle!)

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Earn Money Online: Stayin' Home & Lovin' It

I'm finishing up this week of the Earn Money Online blog series with this post which really means alot to me.  I know it's long, but I hope you'll read and understand why I love it so.

After a short year of marriage, Dear Hubby and I found ourselves finishing up my last year of college, poor, pregnant, and living far away from family.  With only a month left to go before Drama Queen was born, I started having pains in my leg.  My doctor told me to go home and take some Tylenol.

A week later I ended up in the hospital.  

I had developed a blood clot in my left leg.  The ER doctors told me if I had waited any longer to come in, I'd probably be dead.  That scared Dear Hubby pretty bad, but for me, it left me almost unable to walk.  The clot had destroyed the large vein in my leg and the smaller vessels were now carrying all the blood.  This left me with alot of pain whenever I stood for a long time or tried to walk.  So I didn't do very much of either.

I lived that way for many years.

After Daredevil was born , I was working for the US Post office and they were getting ready to close down the center I was working at.  I wanted to be able to find a way to stay home and not have to leave my babies anymore, but didn't know how to do it.

I started looking at different work from home jobs.

I tried doing Medical Transcription, but quickly discovered I just didn't have the memory to learn all those crazy words.

I looked into stuffing envelopes and learned it's more about selling people information they didn't need.

I looked into those Make Crafts at home opportunities, but learned the companies are never satisified and you never really made money because they kept jerking you around.

I even tried Herbalife for a while, but found you had to spend a fortune to get a website or sell alot to make any money.

I didn't want to sell anything.  I didn't want to have to do parties.  I didn't want to sell to my family and friends.  I didn't want to leave my babies.  I didn't want to spend a lot of money.  (I was still broke from the Herbalife start up fee.)  Ideally, I wanted to work at home on my computer when I had the time and energy to work.

I thought I was out of luck.

Then I found a company and a team of women who seemed to have it all.

I could work from my home in my time.

I didn't have to sell anything.

I didn't spend any new money.

It only cost me $29.00 to join and that was completely refundable if I HATED it.

I thought that sounded like a good idea to me.

So I decided to give it a trial run.

11 years later, I'm still a member.

When I joined, I found an answer to my prayers.  I found a company that made great products for a decent price and by simply sharing the company, I could stay home with my babies.

But one of the products that this company had was one that helped circulation.  After a few weeks on this product, I was able to walk again!  I'm not sure what it did, but I didn't have pain anymore.  And as a side note, it also helped get rid of my daily headaches!  For that alone, I am a customer for life!

But they have many other products that are amazing.  These are products that you and I are already buying...toothpaste, soap, shampoo, deodorant, vitamins, dish soap, cleaners, and more.  These products simply replace the ones in your cupboards.  So you're getting better, healthier products.  They are all reasonably priced and ALL are completely refundable if you hate them.  Does Walmart say that?  And the great thing was, I didn't have to sell these products.  I simply bought what I needed each month--that's it.  Then I shared with others so they too could get great products and they bought what they needed...from the company...not from me.

So long story short (I know--too late!) , this is a great company with great products.  By simply sharing the company, you can make extra money.  (You already share movies, products, and services you love, don't you?)  You can make a little extra money, or a lot.  It all depends upon you.  So you can earn enough to shave some money off your product order or you can earn enough to pay for that big Shindig you are planning or you can earn enough to stay home with your babies.

You may wonder why I'm not giving the company's name or more info, but they want to avoid being one of "those" companies that get bad reputations, so they encourage you to talk to the people interested and tell them the TRUTH.  Not hyped up, give me all your money info, but the truth.

If you want to know more, feel free to drop me a email, text, or visit my website HERE.

Check out the other posts in this series HERE 

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Friday Finds

After the sugar coma I put everyone in last week, I though that I should be good this week.  We like pork a lot; and every few weeks, I am able to get Hormel Pork Tenderloins for $5.00 each.  These weigh about 1 1/2 lbs. and normally cost $10.99 each!  You can see why I snap them up when they go on sale.

Because I usually have a few pork tenderloins on hand, I am always looking for new recipes.  This week I went looking to see what I could find and found some great blogs in the process.  Here are a few that caught my eye.

Pork Tenderloin Wrapped in Bacon

The Cooking Frog Blog

With pork wrapped in bacon and cooked with carrots, potatoes, onions and apples, this looks as though it would be a great one-dish meal.

Pork Tenderloin with Rhubarb Sauce

The Way the Cookie Crumbles

Rhubarb season is just around the corner.  I am going to try this recipe when it finally gets here.  We like rhubarb so I think this will be a good one.

Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Apples

Healthy and Gourmet

Apples always go well with pork.  The spices used here sound wonderful and should make my kitchen smell really good.

Pork Tenderloin with Chinese Honey-Hoisin Sauce

Delicious Dishes

Asian inspired dishes are among my favorites so I think that I will love this one.  I may even serve it with asparagus like shown in the photo.

Asian Pork Tenderloin

Raising Chaos

Another Asian inspired recipe with a different set of ingredients.  I am very anxious to try this one, too.

Pork Tenderloin with Honey Mustard Sauce

Noble Pig

Honey mustard is one of my husband's favorite flavors.  This is a recipe that should really please him.

Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin

I consider this recipe a real find.  This is a one-dish meal cooked in a slow cooker.  I have never cooked pork tenderloin this way, but I certainly am going to give it a try.  As a bonus Andrea gives recipes for Cajun, Creole, Mexican, Moroccan, and Indian spice rubs to use on the pork so it can have a different flavor every time it is made.

Indonesian Pork Tenderloin

Kitchen Confidante

Another Asian inspired recipe.  This one has soy sauce, peanut butter, garlic, red pepper and mango chutney. This combination sounds wonderful.

All of these recipes will keep me making new pork tenderloin recipes for quite awhile.

Now I was going to stick with just meat dishes this week, but then I came across this:  

Monster Pecan Shortbread Bars at Dwell on Joy.  This is a jazzed up version of a Ina Garten recipe.  With shortbread, pecans, caramel and M& M's, this is decadent enough to serve for several desserts.

All photos were taken by and are the property of the owners of the respective blogs represented.

I am linking up to Friday Favorite Finds at Finding Joy in My Kitchen.  Hop on over to find out what other bloggers have found in their travels around the web this week.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Earn Money Online: House Party

This isn't really a way to make money, but it is a way to enjoy a unique party idea and to get some of the party favors and activities for free.

Beyblade Party Favors

House Party is a site where advertisers pair with the site to have people conduct parties in their home featuring a specific product.  The advertisers offer you free product, coupons, printables, and party favors to go along with the party.  You invite friends and enjoy a party promoting their product.  Which if you think about it, pretty genius if you ask me.  People are having a good time, socializing, and enjoying the advertiser's stuff.  Aren't you more willing to go tell other's about it after such a great time?  (But I digress...)

Velveeta Chef Party Luncheon

To be able to host a party, you need to sign up on their site.  Then, you can peruse the Upcoming Parties link and apply to host the ones you like.  To apply, you simply fill out a form that asks you simple questions to see if you are a "good fit" for the advertiser and party.  Once you hit "submit", you receive a confirmation email and then you wait to see if you've been selected.  If you have, you get another email which you also need to click as soon as possible to be a hostess.

About a week before your party date, you'll receive a box full of fun stuff to help you throw a fun party.

Bicycle Card Party (pre-blog party)

I have been able to do parties for Beyblade, Bicycle Cards, Velveeta, and Hasbro games.  They were all super fun and a good reason to get together with friends for a fun time.  There are LOTS more great House Parties up for grabs right now including a Disney Rush X-box 360 Kinnect party, a Blue Bunny Sweet Freedom party, a Nicholas Sparks party, and LOTS more.

It's a definite WIN-WIN way to throw a party.  You should definitely go check them out HERE if you like to throw parties.

Check out the other posts in this series HERE

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Ingredient Spotlight-Pina Colada Macadamia Oatmeal Cookies

Recently I was looking through my mother’s handwritten recipe cards, and I came across a barely legible recipe for Pineapple Cookies.  I don’t remember eating these as a child so I believe that the recipe is something that she found after I was grown.  Mom did not handwrite recipes unless she thought they were very good so I decided to give the cookie a try.

I liked the fact that the recipe used all of a small can of crushed pineapple so there would be no leftovers to deal with.  It called for nuts but did not specify what kind.  I decided to add some additions to the recipe and made pina colada cookies.  These have all the good things from Hawaii with the added crunch from the nuts.   If the macadamia nuts seem a bit pricey, almonds can be used instead.

The recipe does use shortening, and I have not yet attempted to make them with butter so don’t know how that would turn out.

These are small, cake-like cookies with bits of pineapple and  nuts in them.  They are dainty and perfect for a party.

Pina Colada Macadamia Oatmeal Cookies
2/3 cup shortening
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. coconut extract (opt.)
1/2 t. rum extract (opt.)
1 c. (8 oz. can) crushed pineapple, undrained
2 c. flour
2 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 c. quick oats
1/2 c. flaked coconut, toasted
3/4 c. chopped macadamia nuts

Beat shortening and sugar together until creamy.  Add egg, vanilla, coconut and rum extract.  Beat well.  Stir in pineapple.  Combine flour, baking powder and salt.  Add to liquid ingredients and mix until well blended.  Mix in oats until well blended.  Stir in coconut and nuts.  Drop by teaspoonsful onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees 10-12 minutes or until bottoms begin to brown and tops are set.  Make 6 dozen small cookies.

Linking to Ingredient Spotlight

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Earn Money Online: Swagbucks

I'm sure you've heard me mention Swagbucks before, but it's another of my FAVORITE ways to make a little extra money online.  And it's super simple too.

Swagbucks is a online search engine that gives you points for searching, trying special offers, using coupons, and doing surveys.  It's a lot like MyPoints in that way, but I like it alot better.

To earn, I log in and do a search about 3 times a day...in the morning, afternoon, and evening.  I find that's just easiest for me, but you search when you want.  I type my search string into the box and off I go.  Sometimes I'll get points on the first try, other times I search a few pages back or I need to type a different search string in a few times before I get points.  I usually search things I'm looking for anyway, such as a party theme, a product, or a clip art idea.

I also do a few other things if I remember (hey, I'm getting old and have kids too so I don't sit around the computer ALL day.)  I'll do the poll of the day or I'll have SwagbucksTV running on my computer while I work on projects.  I don't do very much.  Once again, I NEVER do the special offers or buy anything, just search.

Swagbucks also has special codes that come out on their blog, facebook page, or twitter stream for extra points.  I am WAY to busy to keep track of when these come out since they change every day, so I subscribe to an email list that sends out alerts on the codes.  You can find several of these out there and if you want to email me, I can let you know when they are out too!

I ALWAYS use my codes for a $5.00 Amazon gift certificate.  It's the cheapest reward and for me, the most useful.  I'm saving mine up for Christmas presents.  So far this year, I've earned about $20.00 and plan to earn plenty more before the holidays.

This month if you sign up you can play March Madness for even more points too!

March Swagness is all about you earning bonus Swag Bucks while doing all of the things you’re already doing on Swagbucks. Every day thy’ll give you an earning goal, which you’ll find on their homepage. As you earn Swag Bucks throughout the day, that meter will fill up and when it’s full, you’ll have earned your bonus for the day. The bonus will always be 10% of that day’s goal.

Be sure to check in everyday, as the earning goal for any given day could be higher or lower than the day before. Your total bonus amount will continue to accumulate each day, and your bonus amount will be applied at by April 5th – this special promotion runs through April 2nd. If you hit the earning goal every single day of March Swagness, your bonus amount will be doubled!

EVERYTHING you earn on Swagbucks counts towards March Swagness – including (but limited to) Search,Surveys, Tasks, Swag Codes, Special Offers, Referral Bucks, Winning TTPTP, Hashtag and Comment hookups – if you earn it from us, it counts towards the day it was earned!

It's SUPER easy like I said, and a great way to earn some FREE Christmas presents or party supplies.

You can check out Swagbucks HERE.

Check out the other posts in this series HERE

reade more... Résuméabuiyad