• New Upromise eCoupons for January 2011

    Upromise has posted their new eCoupons for the month of January 2011. Remember to activate them to get additional savings. If you have not yet signed up for Upromise you can get more information regarding on our experience or at directly at the Upromise website.

    This month they have 30 coupons you can activate for bonus savings.  Here are some of the name brand items you can buy and get bonus cash back from using your eCoupons in January:

    • Krazy Glue
    • Elmer’s Glue & Craft Items
    • Wacky Mac
    • No Yolks
    • Fisher
    • Snyder’s of Hanover
    • Farmland Meats
    • Charmin
    • Bounty
    • Filippo Berio
    • Puffs
    • Krunchers!
    • O-Ke-Doke

      • Earn a bonus $0.40 and up (several are for $1 or more) for purchasing items on the eCoupons list from these companies. You may already buy some of these products! Once you activate your eCoupons all you have to do is scan your rewards card or pay for your purchase at the store and it will add the cash to your account. You don’t even have to carry any coupons to get the rewards!

      You can go to their website for more information on the Upromise program, it’s free to join.

  • Crafts: Painting Christmas Ornaments

    Karlie and Brina's hand painted ornaments!

    We went to early service one Sunday with the family.  Love getting up early going to church and coming home to a relaxing time with our family.  On the way home we stopped by to get a newspaper at Walgreens.  As a super special treat Jake went to Dunkin Donuts, the girls were so excited to get donuts.  They picked out some yummy sprinkle ones and we headed home.  We had a relaxing time sitting around the table eating donuts, talking and laughing.

    After finishing up the donuts the girls wanted to do a craft.  We pulled out some ceramic ornaments, striped the girls down to their underwear and let them paint.  They had a BLAST!  We had to give them a bath after painting but it was well worth a bath in the middle of the day.  Jake watched the girls and started the crockpot for our potluck at church that night while I took a quick nap.  Sundays are a wonderful day with the family.  Not every Sunday is as peaceful and relaxing, however, we treasure the ones that are that way.  It is fun creating memories.  Hopefully they will look back at the ornaments and remember the sweet time we had together.

    Brina painting her tree!

    Karlie being silly!
    Brina checking out her ornaments....
    Karlie painting....
    Karlie's decorated ornaments!
    Brina's decorated ornaments!

  • Merry Christmas!

    Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!  I am looking forward to a wonderful day with my sweet family.  Jake doesn’t have to work today and the girls are excited about celebrating the Holiday.  Each Christmas is slightly different since we occasionally travel during Holiday season.  This year we will be having a relaxing breakfast with the family, open the stockings, then read the Christmas story and take our time enjoying the day together.  It is important to us to discuss with the girls why we celebrate Christmas so they can have a greater appreciation for this special day.  May today be full of great memories, laughter, and precious time with your family.

    Merry Christmas!

  • Recipe: Beary Cute Cookies

    We were not able to make these on our Christmas Baking Day, however, the girls were excited to do them so we decided it would be a neat recipe to do with the girls.   I have had their recipe for a long time, you can either use this Sugar Cookie recipe or following the one below.  The basic idea is the same and the bear shape is a huge hit with adults and kids alike.  The following recipe is from Quick Cooking.

    Beary Cute Cookies

    • 3/4 cup Shortening
    • 1/2 Sugar
    • 1/2 cup packed Brown Sugar
    • 1 Egg
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
    • 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
    • 1 teaspoon Salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
    • Additional Sugar
    • 30 miniature Chocolate Kisses
    • 60 miniature M&M Baking Bits

    1. Preheat oven to 375° F.

    2.  In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugars.  Beat in egg and vanilla; mix well.  Combine the flour, salt, and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well (dough will be crumbly).  Set aside 1/2 cup of dough for the ears.  Shape remaining dough into 1 inch balls; roll in additional sugar.

    3.  Place 3 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.  Flatten to about 1/2 inch thickness.  Roll reserved dough into 1/2 inch balls; roll in sugar.  Place two smaller balls about 1 inch apart touching each flattened ball (do not flatten smaller balls).

    4.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until set and edges are lightly browned.  Remove from oven, immediately press one kiss and two baking bits into each cookie for nose and eyes.  Cool 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.  Makes about 30 cookies.

    Picture by Cooking

  • Recipe: Orange Dreamsicle Cookies

    Our family enjoys baking special goodies for family, friends and neighbors.  The Orange Dreamsicle Cookies are from The Ultimate Cookie Kit by Scholastic.  It is a great cookbook for kids and comes with a rolling pin, wooden spoon, measuring spoons, cookie cutters, frosting bag, and tips.  If you like orange creamsicles you’ll enjoy these cookies.

    Orange Dreamsicle Cookies

    • 1/2 cup Orange Flavored Powdered Drink Mix
    • 3/4 cup White Sugar
    • 1 1/2 cups Vanilla Baking Chips
    • 1 3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
    • 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
    • 1/2 cup Butter
    • 1 Egg
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

    1.  Preheat oven to 350° F.

    2.  Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix the butter, egg, and vanilla.  Pour into the dry ingredients and blend completely.

    3.  Roll heaping tablespoons into balls.  Place 2 inches a part on a lightly greased cookie sheet.

    4.  Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes or until tops are very lightly browned.  Cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

    Makes about 24 cookies.

  • Book: “Cooking for Kids, Kids’ Party Food”

    My Mom gave me this book for Christmas 2005 Favorite Brand Name: Cooking for Kids, Kids’ Party Food.  The girls were still small then but it has been a great book that all of us have enjoyed over the past few years.  We love looking through it and have tried many of the recipes; several have become family favorites.  It has creative recipes that the girls love helping me with and some they can do almost on their own with a little adult supervision.  Once they start reading it will be even easier for them.  There are are pictures along with creative ideas for cooking and parties. If you are looking for a great gift for a young child or Mom and they like to cook this may be an awesome book for them.

  • Recipe: Cinnamon Star Cookies

    Recently, I spent a few hours on a Saturday doing a Christmas Baking Day with Ashley from Reflecting on the Simple Things in Life baking treats to give to family, friends, and neighbors.  One of the recipes we made from Favorite Brand Name: Cooking for Kids, Kids’ Party Food was the Cinnamon Stars.  We made Stars, Christmas Trees, Snowmen, Bells, and many more fun shapes with this delicious recipe.  The recipe was easy to do and  delicious!  The girls helped with this one recipe by picking out the shapes and sprinkling the cinnamon and sugar mixture over the top of the cookie cutouts.

    Cinnamon Stars

    • 2 Tablespoons Sugar
    • 3/4 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
    • 3/4 cup Butter or Margarine, softened
    • 2 Egg Yolks
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
    • 1 package Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe French Vanilla Cake Mix

    1.  Preheat oven to 375° F. Combine sugar and cinnamon in small bowl.  Set aside.

    2.  Combine butter, egg yolks and vanilla extract in large bowl.  Blend in cake mix gradually.  Roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness on lightly floured surface.  Cut with 2 1/2 inch star cookie cutter.  We used a variety of cookie cutters when we made our cookies.

    3.  Sprinkle cookies with cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Bake at 375° F for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.  Cool 1 minute on baking sheet.  Remove to cooling rack.  Cool completely.  Store in airtight container.  We put separated ours out into Christmas bags to distribute to family, friends, and neighbors.

    This is a quick and easy recipe you can do with little ones helping.  The recipe makes about 3 to 3 1/2 dozen Star cookies at 2 1/2 inches, however, our recipe made closer to 3 dozen since we used a variety of shapes.  We had plenty to divide out and give as gifts.  If you are looking for an inexpensive and easy recipe for the Holidays you may want to try this one.

  • B1G1 Free Disney Kids Sleepwear

    Disney has a B1G1 Free Mix & Match Kids Sleepwear and Plush Toys.

    They have great items for girls & boys!

    The prices range from $6.95 and up.

    Plus FREE SHIPPING on orders over $75 with coupon code SHIPTODAY

  • Free Tickets to Six Flags (Students & Teachers)

    Six Flags is offering free tickets to students and teachers.  Six Flags and Discovery Education are encouraging students to read through their Read to Succeed Program.   More details about the program below:

    Read to Succeed is a free educational program sponsored by Six Flags to inspire kids in grades K through 6 to engage in recreational reading. Students who complete six hours of recreational, nonschool-related reading are eligible to earn a free admission ticket to a participating Six Flags theme park. Teachers whose classes participate and complete the program are also eligible to earn a free ticket. Schools must be within a 250-mile radius of a participating Six Flags theme park in order to participate.

    Check to see if your school is participating.  It looks like even those homeschooling can participate in this program.  They are starting this program in January 2011, but you can go ahead and sign up now. It is wonderful seeing companies rewarding students for reading. 

    Thanks Money Saving Mom and The Freebie Blogger!

  • Family Recipe: Sugar Cookies

    Sugar Cookies are a great treat to make around the Holidays.  They are versatile in that they can be made into a variety of shapes and decorated a lot of different ways as well as they are the base for many of other wonderful cookies.  The kids enjoy them and always love helping decorating the sugar cookies with frosting, sprinkles, and more around this time of year.  Sometimes I will make up several batches of Sugar Cookies then freeze the dough so I can pull them out when I need it which helps speed up the process for several other recipes our family enjoys eating and sharing with others.

    Sugar Cookies

    • 1/3 cup Butter or Margarine
    • 1/3 cup Shortening
    • 3/4 cup Sugar
    • 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
    • 1 Egg
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
    • 2 cups All Purpose Flour

    1.  Beat butter and shortening on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Add sugar, baking powder, and a dash of salt.  Beat till combined, scraping the bowl so everything is well blended.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  Gradually add the flour into the mixture.

    2.  Cover and chill dough for 1 to 3 hours to make it easier to handle when making cookies or cutouts.

    3.  Lay down wax paper and lightly flour.  Roll the dough to 1/8 inch thickness.  Use a variety of cookie cutters to make the shapes you want.  Place on lightly greased cookie sheet.  Note: if you will not be frosting but want sprinkles on the cookies do it once the cookies are cut out and ready to be baked.  A lot of times I will do it once they are on the cookie sheet because it catches some of the extra sprinkles. Bake at 375° for 7 to 9 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are firm and light brown.  Cool on rack and decorate.

    Many times I just do steps 1 and 2 so I can use the Sugar Cookie batter base to make a variety of different cookies.  Whether you do sprinkles, frosted, swirls, cups, or whatever enjoy the quick and easy recipe that allows you to share many delicious treats with your family and friends.