Friday Favorites.....

More snow here.....

Scentsy - We Make Perfect Scents! - my new favorite way to make the house smell oh so good!! No more black marks on the ceiling from burning candles either!! My husband was alway yelling at me for forgetting to blow the candle out before I left home. No more worries! I use these great warmers!

Dry: A Memoir - this is the book I am currently reading

Thursday....

Earn Gift Cards - sign up here to earn points that can be cashed in for gift cards!

AVEENO® Hair Care Products - free Aveno hair samples

Whites Premium Dog Food - Request a FREE Sample of Whites Premium Dog Food - free dog food sample

Halo Email Newsletter and FREE TRIAL coupon - free cat food sample

Wednesdays Freebies....

Beech-Nut Baby Food - sign up here for the welcome kit which hopefully will include free coupons as it has in the past

Olay Regenerist - go here at noon today to get a free Olay Starter Trio. Only the first 1,000 will get it. Go luck!

Sam's Club Formula - free formula sample


Pampers Now With Dry Max Technology - free sample

Heinz - free after rebate - Heinz Cocktail sauce. I love to have this in the pantry to mix with cranberry sauce and pour over meatballs.

Scotch Tape great printable coupons on tape

fresh express artisans - $1.50 printable coupon. They do not expire until December so even if you can not find it right now, chance are you will find it by December.

Walmart.com - Tide Plus Febreze Freshness - free sample - in case you missed this last week.

Free IHOP Pancakes Today....

Just a reminder...

IHOP National Pancake Day - February 23, 2010 - IHOP will be serving up Free pancakes from 7:00am – 10:00pm. Any donations will go to support local children’s hospitals through the Children’s Miracle Network or other local charities.This is one charity that is near and dear to my heart. My son has directly benefited from this Charity. They raise money for lots of the equipment in our Children's Hospital. I hope you will go enjoy a free meal today and donate a few dollars to a great charity.



Bath & Body Works - printable coupon

Power Bar/ - free sample


Kellogg’s All-Bran® - free cereal gift pack

Walmart.com - Olay Total Effects Body Wash - free sample

South Beach - free South Beach snack bar

The Dirty Dozen.....

I have a little secret. I do not buy organic produce as much as I would like to. Why? It costs more. We do grow much of our own fruits and vegetables during the summer months and we use no pesticides. BUT... that only lasts a few short months. If you want to buy some organic produce but are not sure where to start, here is the top 12 items know to have the most pesticides sprayed on them during growing, also know as the "Dirty Dozen". These are the ones you should "go organic" with.


1. peaches
2. apples
3. sweet bell peppers
4. celery
5. nectarines
6. strawberries
7. cherries
8. kale
9. lettuce
10.grapes (imported)
11.carrots
12. pears

For a complete list, go here.... EWG's FoodNews :: Full List

Monday....

The next 2 weeks here will be "eat down the freezer weeks". We are getting a whole organic pig in a few weeks and need to make some room. Fresh items are the only thing we will be buying at the grocery store for the next 2 weeks. Today we will start with a frozen Stauffer's Lasagna that we got free with a coupon from writing them an email and telling them how much we love their products.

AstroBoy_Mail-In - free wii game with proofs of purchase

Money Back Guarantee - Brawny Paper Towels - brawney paper towels... free after rebate

Carefree - free sample

Friday Freebies and Favorites.....

I read this book this week. My husband laughed when he saw the cover and saw I did not write it. There was a time when he thought we were the cheapest family in America. I love reading books like this. I never agree 100% with everything the writer does but if I can come away from the book with 1 or 2 new ideas, I think I have gained something. I also love to compare how other families does things compared to my family. We all have our own idea of frugal.

You can get this book here... America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money: Your Guide to Living Better, Spending Less, and Cashing in on Your Dreams

OR... I like to get most of my books here... Book Club to Swap, Trade & Exchange Books for Free. You post books you want to get rid of and earn credits to receive books FREE from other members. The only cost to you is shipping. I have traded over 100 books here. UPDATE: If you do do here to join, would you kindly use me as a referral so I can get a free book credit? Use brspri(at)AOL(dot)com. Thanks!

I would love to have one of these... Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6 BUT... I am not ready to have to pay full price for the books I want to read. When paperback swap starts swapping Kindle books, then I will get one too!! I love the idea of the Kindle being paperless and earth friendly though.

Now for the freebies.....

Your $5.00 off coupon at burpee.com - we do not order from this catalog but if you would like to, here is a coupon

Sam's Club - Unilever Sample Center - free sample

Coupon - Taco Bell Drive-Thru Diet - another free taco at Taco Bell

Borders Online Circular - free coffee at Borders

Thursday Steals and Deals....

My kids went to a "new to them" dentist this morning. They have never had a great dentist experience. Until today. My DS asked when we could go back and my DD was thrilled to be able to choose what flavored gloves and cleaner. You all know I love freebies. The old dentist always gave us the standard line " I am out of toothbrushes this time but catch me next time". Never did he once have a toothbrush to hand out. This place gave us the kids all sort of choices and them came out with a bag filled with this stuff......

IHOP National Pancake Day - February 23, 2010 - free pancakes at IHOP next Tuesday! Honestly, I hate IHOP but if you don't hate it, this is a great deal!!!

Orange Julius® OJ Quench Club – Get Free Stuff! join the club and get a coupons for a free 20 oz Orange Julius

Costco - Get a FREE Lever 2000® Original Sample 1oz Bar - free sample

Walmart.com - Crest 3D White Regimen - free sample. I love doing these. I usually give this to myself every year on my birthday.

Bake Sweet Memories - printable baking coupons

David Dollars new printable refund form - mail in 20 empty 14.5 oz David Seeds original bags, or 16 oz Jumbo bags and we'll send you $20 in DAVID dollars to spend on sporting goods.

Dr. Scholl's - $10 rebate on Dr. Scholl's Custom Fit Orthotics

Hump Day Deals...

Frugal Finds from your Frugal Friend Give-Aways and Reviews! Last chance to enter!!

Try it FREE! New Tropical Chewy Lemonhead & Friends Candy - free sample

Walmart.com - Benefiber Orange - free sample

Free Samples and Rebates....

Good news! We only got a dusting of snow last night! Our snow blower died so we were not looking forward to shoveling a big driveway with 6 inches of snow. Thank goodness it missed us this time!

Delicate in Nature. Strong against damage. - free full size bottle of Pantene shampoo

Special Offers Hallmark Stores - free Hallmark card

Walmart.com - UnderJams - free sample

Everyday Solutions - free tide with Febreeze sample. I love to get these sample packs to throw in a suit case and use on vacation.

Kotex® Free Sample - free sample

Kotex® Panty Challenge - Kotex rebate

Free Pretzel Day - free Antie Annees Pretzel this Saturday, February 20th!!

Smart Balance Smart Balance rebate. Since we have been trying to eat healthier, this has become our "butter" of choice.

JC Penny - printable JC Penny coupon for $10 off $25

Monday's Happening....

As we brace for another snow storm, here is another picture from the last one.....

Here is my first bad product review.... flour tortillas

Don't forget to enter here to win Chocolate Cheerios.

DIY Sweepstakes and Contests : About Us : DIY Network - enter here to win $50,000 to decorate a "Man Cave".

AloeSense Fluoride Toothpaste With Aloe & Allantoin - free sample

Friday Favorites and Freebies....

We better not open this door or we will have 3 feet of snow in the living room!

Give Away... - enter to win a free Chocolate Cheerios gift pack!!

We watched this movie during the Blizzard of 2010. It forever changed the way we think about food. I highly recommend you watch it, if you have not already.

Take Part - after you watch the movie, go here to find out what you can do to help bring about change.

Seed Savers Exchange - this is our favorite seed catalog. These seeds are not genetically altered like most of the big name companies like Burpee. This company even suggests that you save seeds from your crops to plant the following year. Most seed companies sell you seeds that are genetically altered so that the seeds the fruit bears will not produce fruit again. Read more about that here... Grow open pollinated seeds for self-reliant gardening by Jackie Clay Issue #56 . One thing that really caught my eye in Food Inc was the soybean seed issue.

MB Farview Farm,All Natural Meats,Natural Produce & Livestock,Nitrate Free Meats,Raw Milk,Angus Cattle,Charolais Cattle,Sheep.. - a farm like this may be where I start buying my meat and eggs.

Fekkai Hair Care - free sample

Hyland's Homeopathic Restful Legs Sample - free sample

Pantene - sign up to be a Pantene Insider

P & G HOT - new P&G rebate form! They are a huge sponsor of Moms of Olympic Athletes

Free Excedrin and more.....

Tuesday, I received my free coupon in the mail for Golden Double Stuff Oreo cookies. I think I just posted that give away 2 weeks ago - it was a Facebook give away. They must have had a system glitch because I only signed up once but received 3 free coupons in the mail! Don't you love when that happens?

Special Offer From Excedrin® - get a coupon for free Excedrin when you answer anything but Excedrin in the first question. Get this one fast. This type of give away never lasts long!

Save on Prevacid®24HR - print a high value coupon for Prevacid

Free Sample of Huggies Pure and Natural Diapers - free sample of baby wipes

Blizzard of 2010

A few images pf the Blizzard of 2010 from my neck of the woods.....

This is a measurement from an area that has been untouched for the last week. This total is from Saturday's storm and Wednesday's storm. We had a few more inches after this picture was taken but I am not trying to walk over there again to get a new picture. I am 5'4" and 31+ inches of snow is very hard to walk in.

The front of my house after we did most of the digging out.....

The kids playing this morning on the pile in front of the house.....

I know we have a pool in the back yard because I took this picture 2 summer's ago.....

......but we are not sure where the pool went! The pool is 52 inches deep and it is completely buried under these snow drifts....

Chocolate Cheerios Recipe and Give Away......

Just in from playing in the snow and what did he ask for? A bowl of Chocolate Cheerios!

Have you tried this new cereal yet? Chocolate Cheerios was a huge hit in my house! Go here to see how you can win a Chocolate Cheerios gift pack.

Here is a great way valentine recipe using Chocolate Cheerios.....


Chocolate Cheerios® Marshmallow Hearts

Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Start to Finish: 1 Hour 45 Minutes

Crust
1 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 cup Chocolate Cheerios® cereal, crushed
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups miniature marshmallows

Topping
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 bag (11.5 ounces) milk chocolate chips
4 cups Chocolate Cheerios® cereal Candy sprinkles, if desired

Heat oven to 350°F. Line bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with foil. In large bowl, mix all crust ingredients except marshmallows with electric mixer on low speed until crumbly. Press firmly into bottom of pan.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from oven. Immediately sprinkle with marshmallows. Return to oven; bake an additional 1 to 2 minutes or until marshmallows just begin to puff. Cool while preparing topping.

In large saucepan, place all topping ingredients except cereal and sprinkles. Heat over medium-low heat just until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in 4 cups cereal. Immediately spoon warm topping over marshmallows; spread to cover. Sprinkle with candy sprinkles. Cool completely, at least 1 hour.
Using foil to lift, remove mixture from pan; remove foil. With deep 2 1/2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out 18 hearts. Store loosely covered.


All information and Chocolate Cheerios gift packs were all given to you from Cheerios through MyBlogSpark. My opinion and the opinion of my children are truly our own. We were given a gift pack to try this cereal for ourselves.

Free Breakfast at Denny's

I saw this while watching the Superbowl. Get a free Original Grand Slam®, Tuesday, February 9, from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. See details here... Denny's Restaurants - Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner 24/7. We no longer have Denny's in our area. :O(

Free Burt's Bees Sample....

Go here for a free sample of Burt's Bees toothpaste. I can not wait to try this stuff!

Goodbye Teflon!!

After we dug out from the 17 inches of snow this weekend, we headed out to buy new pots and pans. This is something we have been wanting to do for more than 5 years but just never spent the money on. We have been hearing more and more about the dangers of cooking with Teflon pans and knew we needed to make a change soon. This is what our new set looks like......
Well, almost. Our set is a little larger than this. You can see this similar set here. After lots of reading about the pans, we decided to go with a Nonstick Hard-Anodized surface for our new pans.

Teflon has been linked to cancer, birth defects and several other health issues. You can read more here....
THE DANGERS OF TEFLON PANS

All About Cooking - Teflon

In trying to live a cleaner and greener life, we decided this was the next step for us.

Monday's Scoop.....

We got 17 inches of snow this weekend and are expecting more tomorrow night.

Even with all that snow, we found 11 cents laying on the ground this weekend. Brings the Found Money total to 43 cents.

Dockers Store Online - Collections: Game Day Giveaway Page - get free pants!! Play daily til February 15th.

Free Samples – KOTEX® First Period Kit - get a first period kit for your daughter - only $2.99 for shipping

Curves - get a free week at Curves - new members only

Thank You - print 75 cents off Pillsbury Sweet Rolls

Quilted Northern Bath Tissue - Comfort Challenge - find out how to get this toilet paper free after rebate

Friday Favorites and Freebies....

Cake Wrecks - this site is great!

Print Your Coupon - great printable coupon for Chocolate Cheerios. Watch next week for a review and give away.

Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's - my current book

Thursday...

Kind Healthy Snacks - Try KIND bars for free at Starbucks on February 5th Try this snack bar free at Starbuck's this Friday!

Burger King - free breakfast sandwich at Burger King this Friday.

Chi Chi's - free reusable bag with proof of purchase

Splenda - free sample

Playtex Sport - free sample

Wednesday Deals....

I am nursing a sick little one today. Cough cough is what you will hear in this house. UGH!

Incredible Edible Egg Facebook - become a fan on Facebook and go back on Friday to get a coupon for B1G1F for eggs!

Cascade Sweepstakes and Offers - printable coupons

STAYFREE® - Free Sample - Register Now for Your Free STAYFREE® Sample - free sample

I want SPARK - Get a FREE Sample - free sample

Sign Up for the Eat Better America Coupon Booklet and Receive $10 in Coupon Savings - free coupon booklet

1st deals of February.....

Vicks NyQuil Money-Back Guarantee - free after rebate

Old Spice Shaving - Promotions: Great Grooming Products for Guys - join the Old Spice Shaving Crew to get a free razor

REESE'S Facebook become a fan on Facebook and get a coupon for a free product when you send in one empty pack and this form.... HERSHEY'S PIECES Wrapper Reward Program