Saturday Stumbles...best of the web this week

It has been a little while since I have posted a Saturday Stumbles post, but I knew there were some great ideas and blog posts that I had come across this week that I thought were worth sharing.

The following are taken from some of my favorite blogs:


***4 Cheap & Easy Ways to Go Green from Life as Mom.  Now honestly when I first read the post title, I almost didn't read it.  I don't know about you, but I am getting a little tired about all the hype with "going green".  Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against being a good steward, and I certainly am not directing this at Jessica from Life as Mom (I love your blog Fish Mama!), but I think I have always done a good job with the resources I have been blessed with...my parents brought me up to not be wasteful, and to do our best to take care of God's creation.
So, I did read the post, and I am glad that I did.  I especially liked the idea of using white vinegar and water to wash produce.

***Growing Fruit in the Garden from Family Balance Sheet.
I enjoyed reading this post because it made me look forward to my raspberries growing again (maybe, if it ever warms up enough here!)  I think it would be fun to grow canteloupe and watermelon, but honestly with this late start to spring, we probably wouldn't have a long enough growing season!!!!  Now, blueberries, I think they would grow here...but am I patient enough to wait about 3 years to get a yield!  Maybe.....

***Happy Pretzel Day from Heavenly Homemakers
I think this one is self-explanatory....look how nummy these homemade pretzels look!!!!  I haven't made homemade pretzels for YEARS!  I think that needs to be a part of school next week for my 9 year old!  :)

***Rosemary Citrus Garlic Crockpot Chicken from A Southern Fairy Tale
Oh my!  This chicken looks fabulous!  ...and I am SO impressed that Rachel just creates a recipe, without even following a book, or anything!  Well, obviously, someone needs to create any recipe that ever makes it in a book or online...and I probably have done somewhat of the same thing out of desperation but...
this recipe looks wonderful and it even has a great name!
I am looking forward to trying it on my own some day.

How about you?  What great ideas and recipes have you been reading this week?

Check out the best of the web on these sites too.
*Saturday Stumbles
*Friday Favorite Finds Pin It

Friday Favorites and Saturday Stumbles....

Ahhhhhh.....February!!!  :)
I need to think about decorating for Valentines Day!  :) 

Here are a couple of cute ideas from the web this week:

A Valentine Tree of Love from Tatertots and Jello
**very cute and very easy!

Valentine Seed and Tea Gift Packets from Tricia-Rennea
**what a cute FREE printable...check out her site as she has SO many cute printables on it!

On a different note, Home-Ec 101 highlighted a great site to help us be more organized with our menu planning!!!  It is called Say Mmm!  Lots of great features to organize recipes, create shopping lists, and menu plan.  If you have a fancy phone, you can even access your lists from there when you are at the store!  :)

The last thing I want to share with you is a recipe that I want to try very soon for Enchilada Casserole.  I saw it through a link from Menu Plan Monday.  It looks super easy!  Gotta like that!  :)


Check out more "best of the web" posts at:
Favorites at It's a Blog Party
Saturday Stumbles (starting Saturday) Pin It

Saturday Stumbles and Favorites this week....

Well, this has been a challenging way to end the week!!!!  Our computer has been "acting up" for the last few weeks, and on Thursday it finally "bit the dust"....something was wrong, and wouldn't even reboot Windows for me!!!! 
I knew we couldn't afford a new computer, and I knew I didn't want to spend the money to fix this one....a year ago we spent money on it...and I really didn't want to put any more money into this old one. 
Thankfully, we got wiser after the last problem, and actually have an external hard drive where I had been backing up our documents, pictures, music, etc.
That being said, I was determined to get this old computer up and running again!!!!  and I did!!!!  I am proud of myself for doing a "full system recovery"!!!!!  Yay!  It worked!!!!

I do feel a little "behind" though....I haven't been able to keep up with all that was happening out there the last few days, but I will do my best to pull out some of my favorites that I stumbled upon this week!!!

***This one is from my blog...in case you missed it, I have created a better Recipe Index, that hopefully will be easier to use.  If you are interested, check it out!

***Do you need a little help ssssttttrrrreeeccchhhiiinnnggg your food budget?  Laura, at Heavenly Homemakers helps you here in How to Stretch a Chicken to Make Six Meals!

***I believe this deal is still valid at MightybookJr.com....enter code learntoread and receive a FREE year membership to access lots of great online books for kids! 
Thanks Hall of Fame Moms.

Check out some more favorites on the web:
Saturday Stumbles
Friday Favorites Pin It

Saturday Stumbles....

I hope everyone has had a great week!

Here are some things that I thought I would pass along to you:

**Here is a great article, Get Organized Fast: 7 Things You Can Do This Weekend, from a blog I stumbled upon a week or so ago.  I am hoping to accomplish a few from the list since we have a 3 day weekend, and only ONE basketball game to attend!!!!

**I must share the great recipe I tried from Heavenly Homemakers this week also.  The recipe is for Homemade Corn Dogs and Corn Dog Muffins.  I made the Corn Dog Muffins!  Yum!  They were very easy to make and everyone liked them!  :)

**Another new website that I have become aware of is Story Time For Me.  It is brand new and will be adding more and more to the site.  This is a great interactive site for children.

To see other favorite posts and websites this week check out:

Saturday Stumbles at Simply Staci
Favorites at It's a Blog Party Pin It

Saturday Stumbles....for a New Year!

I thought of taking today off, but then decided I would like to start the New Year off with a few links that were too good to pass up!

The first was in an e-mail from Eat Better America, highlighting the Top Recipes of 2010.  These recipes are "healthified" and the "most viewed, shared and printed" from their site.  They look kind of tasty too!  I might just have to try a few!  :)


One of the many new blogs I found this year is "Hey, It's Free", and one of the links that caught my eye this week was for FREE country music downloads from People Magazine!  I love free things!  If you like free music, you might want to check it out too!  :)  (By the way, these are Christmas songs...you can save them for next year, if you are tired of Christmas songs by now!)  :)

A few more blogs that I added to my favorites this year are:

A Southern Fairytale
She makes wonderfully nummy food that looks soooo good!  :)

Life as MOM
Love her Frugal Fridays!


We are THAT Family
Great encouragement and a good laugh along the way!

Off Camera with Trish Van Pilsum
She has a gift for writing!


This post is linked to Saturday Stumbles, at It's Come 2 This (another great blog I found this year!) Pin It

Saturday Stumbles....Thanksgiving weekend edition

It was nice to have some time off, from posting on my blog, to enjoy time with my family these last couple of days. I love having my husband and boys all home for several days in a row!!! I am blessed! :)

I just wanted to write a Saturday Stumbles post, to share a few things that I did read about or "stumble upon" over this last week.

This morning I read this great post that was in my inbox. It comes from Hall of Fame Moms and it is titled,
A Lesson for Me.  What a great reminder that we are a part of God's plan!

One of my favorite links that I shared this week, is to get $3 in Amazon MP3 downloads, when you enter code GET3MP3S.  It is still available until November 29.  Check it out!! 

Speaking of Amazon, I also love reading posts from the eBay Selling Coach, who teaches How to Use eBay for Amazon Inventory.  If you like to earn a little extra income by selling things online, you could benefit by reading this post.

For more "best of the web" this week, check out Saturday Stumbles at It's Come 2 This! Pin It

Saturday Stumbles....

What a fun week of free things in the mail!  I got a free Good Earth meal, a free chicken coupon, a free Kashi bar, a free Life cereal bar and a coupon for free Cottonelle wipes.  Wow!  I thought I would highlight a few of my sources for you.

The free Good Earth meal, and free chicken coupon came from Psst!  a General Mills site, that you can sign up for to offer feedback to them.  It was a free supper for us last night!  Thanks General Mills and Target!  :)

Kashi Snack Drive

Quaker Life Soft Baked Bars from Walmart.com

Cottonelle Get Fresh With a Friend

And now, I just learned that Target offers free samples on their website too.  Thanks Totally Target for that information!!

This will be a short post this morning...we are off to soccer games and more today!  We are enjoying unseasonably warm, record-breaking temperatures up here in Minnesota though!  We are loving it!  :)

For more "best of the web" posts, visit Mandi at It's Come 2 This!!! Also visit, Mailbox Monday for what others received free this week!

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Saturday Stumbles....

I feel like a little kid with a new toy!!!!  :)  Last weekend, we gave in and changed my individual plan to a family plan!  It was time....my husband's prepaid phone was on its last legs, and it really only made sense to go to a family plan (with unlimited texting).  We have always had T-mobile, and they really did have the best deal, so we did it.  The part that is so fun about it, is the texting!  I NEVER thought I would want to text, but I must admit, I like it!!   :) 

Now on to the best of the web this week:

***I came across this fabulous idea, that I think I will try to use with my 3rd grader.  Life as Mom, has a cute little way for your kids to remember what "chores" they should do in the morning.  She calls it The Morning High Five. 

***Home-Ec101.com has a great Fall Outdoor To Do List, that will help me think about the outdoor projects I need to force myself to do before the snow flies!  LOL!!!  (We have had unusually cold weather these last couple of weeks, I hope it will warm up soon....before winter really does arrive!)

***Crunchy Zucchini Sticks....hmmmm.....I really am tempted to give this one a try....do you think I have ANY chance in getting my family to eat zucchini, and ACTUALLY like it????

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!!!  :)


This post is linked to Saturday Stumbles at It's Come To This and Share Your Faves at It's a Blog Party. Pin It

Saturday Stumbles....

....things worth sharing from the web this week.

***Well, first a little update from my earlier post about Ripping Out UGLY flooring....we continue to make progress on removing old vinyl flooring.  However, it's not so FUN anymore!!!  It is much more tedious than I thought (that's usually what happens to me!) but we continue to plug away!!!!  The subfloor that is underneath is actually nice plywood with a beautiful grain to it.  The plan right now is sealing it (once we have all the little bits of flooring gone and sand it).  I will keep you posted on our progress!!!!  :)

***If you are a homeschooling family, you might want to check out the many new group buys at the Homeschool Buyers Co-op, if you are still in need of some curriculum for your school year.

***If you are in the upper Midwest today, and are fortunate to have a Caribou Coffee near you, show your team spirit today (Sept. 11) and receive 1/2 off any drink!!!! 

***I am always on the lookout for healthy snacks for my family.  Now that my big boys are in school all day, they come home STARVING!!!!  I need to have good things on hand for them to eat...good things that they actually want to eat!  ;)  I came across a recipe for Granola Bars on Kitchen Stewardship.  I can't wait to give it a try.  According to Katie, the blog author, this recipe is the most popular one on her site.  Gotta try it!  :)

***For those of you that are bloggers out there, you might want to read Amy's post on Do I Have Blogging Balance?  It is a good reminder for all of us to evaluate what we are really spending our time on.

That's what I have for you today!  Have a fabulous weekend!

For more "best of the web" this week, check out Saturday Stumbles at It's Come 2 This, and Share Your Faves. Pin It

Saturday Stumbles...things I read this week worth sharing with you!

It has been another busy week around here!  My sister, brother in law and niece has been in town, which has been wonderful!  :)  The majority of my busyness however, has been chasing around in my van dealing with an alternator issue.  I won't go into details because it would take pages to explain the whole thing!  I will just sum it up by saying 3 alternators later....my van is running WITHOUT the battery light on!  :)  And....I saved some money along the way, it not costing me as much as it could have.  Good news!!!!


Well, I did make the Zucchini Bread that I had planned to in my Menu Plan Monday, and it is FABULOUS!  I am going to have some for breakfast!!!  :)  What a great way to use up the "hunormous" zucchini from our dear friends! 

Just this morning, I came upon a recipe that I would like to try very soon.  It is for Gluten-free Chicken Nuggets, using Chex cereals.  We don't need to stay away from gluten in my family, but I know that some of you need to pay attention to that for you or your family. 

Another great thing about this week is that I received ANOTHER $5 Amazon Gift Card from Swagbucks.  That is a total of $40 since starting in February!  I'm telling you, it's a great way to earn while searching.  I have NOT paid anything for these....you can read some of my postings, if you want to learn more, or just sign up for Swagbucks and start earning today!


Yay!  I have been successfully selling some items on ebay, also!  It has been some of my homeschool curriculum that my boys have "outgrown".  I suppose I have mixed emotions....but not really!  A little extra cash is good!  :)

For some great ebay selling success stories, visit the ebay selling coach (I think I mentioned her last week too!)

This post is linked to Its Come 2 This where you can peruse other "best of the web" posts this week. Pin It

God's Lesson for Me...from the birds and SATURDAY STUMBLES

Do you ever feel like you are treading water, just to stay afloat, with your expenses?  Oh my, I was feeling like that on Thursday afternoon!!!!  I was upset with myself for missing a payment, and getting a HUGE late fee on our Visa bill.  It was MY mistake, and I'm not quite sure how I missed it....anyway, that just added fuel to my feelings of failure of trying "2 Make Ends Meet"!!!!  :(


But....God is good!!!  As I was quickly making an online payment (to fix MY mistake), I heard some birds outside of my window.  I peeked and was amazed at what I saw (I wish I had been able to get a picture)....


a baby blue bird and it's mama (or daddy?).  


They were beautiful just as they were, but here is the clincher.  All of a sudden baby was alone....but not for long.  You see, right there 2 feet from me the parent came back and was feeding the baby bird.  I was immediately reminded that God cares for me, and will provide for my needs!  
(Matthew 6:25-28) ²⁵"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^[b]? (from BibleGateway.com)

I needed that!  I love how God sends reminders to me!  :)

That evening, I also had a great time of refreshing with my wonderful group of ladies from my Bible study group.  Isn't it fabulous to get together around coffee for fellowship?!!!  We laughed so hard that I don't think I had any eye makeup left!  :) 

God knew I needed that too.

And God didn't stop there....in my mailbox on Friday, there was our property tax refund check waiting for me.  It was another reminder that God is ALWAYS faithful.  He doesn't promise easy living, but He is ALWAYS with me!

To top it off for the week, my husband and I had a "date night".  (Of course, we used a buy one get one free coupon for Green Mill.)  It was so nice to be able to spend time together.


And for my "best of the web" this week:

*MN readers can now enjoy deals from the Star Tribune.  My favorite deal (that is still valid as I write this) is for $10 of food from Sonic drive-ins for only $5.  The fun part is if you get friends to sign up via your link, you receive $10 of deal bucks in your account.  (hint, hint)  LOL!

*A fun posting that I read this week was from the ebay Selling Coach.  I have a secret desire that I will "hit it big" by finding some treasure at Good Will and then selling it for TONS of money on ebay.  It hasn't happened to me yet, but this was a fun story about a woman who found vintage sewing patterns, and made a good chunk of change on ebay by selling them.

*Another great posting about was by Blogging with Amy.  She did a fabulous job sharing her heart about the challenge of balancing computer time, and time with family, etc.  If you struggle with finding balance, you may want to check it out.



This post is linked to Saturday Stumbles.  You can check out other lists of the "best of the web" there. Pin It

Saturday Stumbles...things worth sharing that I read this week!

Good morning!

I am quickly putting together this post before leaving for more baseball today!

We love baseball season at our house, but it gets rather busy with all three of our boys playing.  Our two younger boys have finished their seasons, and our oldest is playing his final weekend of baseball.

It is always bittersweet when it ends.  We have enjoyed the families of all the teammates tremendously and it is a little bit of a let down to be done.

On the positive side however, we will actually be able to spend more time together as a family!  :)  My husband and I will also be able to spend more time getting some much needed work done around the house!  The list is very long!!!  LOL!!!  :)

Now on to some of the favorites around the web this week, in no particular order:

*If you are a Twin Cities reader, and haven't checked out Crowd Cut yet, you can sign up to receive daily deal e-mails now, and receive 2 FREE cupcakes from Woullet Bakery. 

*My favorite post from my blog this week was Iced Coffee...at Home.  Check it out if you are a coffee lover, and didn't see it earlier this week.

*Molly Green from Econobusters has a good article on How to Find Great Freebies this week.  She encourages you to create a separate e-mail account, just for freebies. 

*This next deal is something I really would like to try, but I am a little leery....EyeBuyDirect has a buy one, get one free, offer on eyeglasses until July 25th.  You see, I wear contacts almost exclusively, but would like to have a pair (or two) of glasses that I would actually feel comfortable wearing in public!!!  I don't want to spend over $200 to do so, however!

I am curious, have any of you ever ordered eyeglasses online???

I would LOVE to hear feedback from you, if you have.  Please leave a comment for me.  :)


This post is linked to Saturday Stumbles at It's Come 2 This. Pin It

Saturday Stumbles...things worth sharing that I read this week!

These are a few of the highlights of things that I found in my inbox, or came across on the internet this week.  To see more favorites out there, visit It's Come 2 This.

*A recipe for Rhubarb Muffins, from The Local Cook.  My rhubarb is coming in wonderfully and it is always a challenge to use it all up!  This looks like a great recipe that I will have to try!  :)

*My inspiration for REALLY starting to declutter at my house, came from Molly at The Snyder 5, with her challenge to herself to get rid of 500 pounds of clutter.  Check out her story that was in the newspaper, if you haven't read it yet. 

*I love Facebook, and love to have people "like" me on my fan page.  I also know I need to be careful and make sure to take some steps to keep my information safe on it.  I found a great article this week, 7 Things to Stop Doing Now on Facebook that gives some good advice about Privacy Settings that you will want to check out if you use Facebook.  

*Speaking of Facebook, this was the favorite FREEBIE of the week for me, and it looks like they haven't reached the limit of 100,000 to give away yet....go to Suave Beauty on Facebook and "like" them.  They will send you a full-size sample of Suave Professionals shampoo!  Yay!

Have a wonderful weekend! Pin It