swagbucks update: signing bonus!

you guys know that i am cheap by now, right? ;-) well, one of the ways we are able to live as generously as we desire to is by using swagbucks gift cards not only for the things we want for "fun" (think target runs and amazon movie purchases as well as my weekly or so trip to starbucks) but also for birthday and christmas gift money. last year we used swagbucks gift cards for approximately 65% of our holiday gift spending. when you have an extended family as large as ours to buy for that is HUGE!

clearly swagbucks is something i love. i understand that it's not for everyone, but for those of you who would like to try it i'm writing this post to let you know thati  have exciting news and a great opportunity for all of you to earn bonus SB -- enough to get a free $5 gift card!  

any of my readers who signs up for swagbucks.com through my link here between now and june 30th is eligible to get a 500 SB bonus! that is basically a free $5 gift card JUST for signing up through me. in order to get the bonus automatically*, you must also earn 1500 SB by July 14th. note that since this is an exclusive offer, you must sign up through this link and earn 1500 SB in order to get your 500 SB bonus. if you sign up elsewhere, or only do one of the two steps, the bonus unfortunately will not be available to you.  

so how do you get that 500 SB bonus? simple: you can earn SB from any of the earning activities found on the homepage or top bar of swagbucks.com (shop, search, watch, play, answer, discover, daily crave, NOSO & daily poll). i am also ALWAYS available by email to give you more tips on how to earn. i actually have a pretty effective system that you can use with whatever time you have, whether it be one hour a day or ten! if you haven't started earning with Swagbucks yet, now is a great time to sign up and check out all the different ways to earn Bucks -- all so you can get a bunch of free gift cards.  

* Please note that it may take up to 14 business days to credit your account once you have earned 1500 SB. 
**ALL links in this post have been linked so that you will receive the signing bonus...so don't worry about clicking on the wrong one! :-)

coming {very} soon: a few recipes that i've been making during the last few months of silence. also, more "only in lora's life" moments, more silly lists, more memories, and a couple of serious thoughts. maybe ;-)

swagbucks extravaganza TOMORROW!!

Tomorrow (Tuesday) Swagbucks is celebrating the month of January with a bunch of Swag Codes - if you can get them all, you'll have an extra 65 Swag Bucks at the end of the day!

They'll be happening all throughout the day at random times, so check their blog, Facebook and Twitter for potential clues.

If you have the new Toolbar installed you'll be able to check for Swag Codes all day long!

I've written several times about how much I love swagbucks, and y'all I promise it's totally legit! Through gift cards a large percentage of our Christmas gifts were FREE!

If you haven't joined Swagbucks yet, click any of the links in this post to join the fun and start earning reward points that you can exchange for free stuff like gift cards!

Use the code JANTASTIC during sign up - that way you'll start with 100 Swag Bucks instead of the usual 30. Enter the code exactly as it appears with no spaces.



  carry on :-)

recipe of the week: lora's ranch mix/dressing

i have several recipes that are lined up to post...but since this is one of the bases to several of them, i thought i'd go ahead and share my ranch seasoning mix and dressing recipe.


i stopped buying prepackaged seasoning once i realized how much sugar and chemical additives there are in the vast majority of them. this was probably about a year ago, and i have tried several combinations to get my seasoning just the way i like it.  a friend sent me a recipe (and i have no idea where she got it, so i can't give the credit) but it was a little too bland for me...however, playing around with ratios and a couple of added spices did the trick!


not only is this healthier than prepackaged mixes, it's WAY cheaper.  and it's not time consuming at all.  you can whip up a batch of the seasoning AND a container of ranch dressing in less than 10 minutes.


so, here's my recipe.

2 tsp parsley

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

2 tsp pepper

4 tsp dill

4 tsp onion powder

1 tsp basil

mix and store in airtight container. i love the round spice tins for this, and they're less than $2

i love that this is truly a base recipe.  it's great on it's own, but it's also adaptable. if i want to make it a chipotle ranch, i just add a bit of chipotle along with the ranch mix when i make the dressing. i use a tablespoon of this mix in anything that calls for a packet of ranch seasoning. so far, that seems to be the correct ratio!

so for the dressing itself

1 tbsp dry ranch seasoning

approximately 1 cup each sour cream, olive oil mayo and skim milk

you know, mix together (i use an immersion blender). pictures are self-explanatory.

 

it'll keep in the fridge for a week or more, although it never (ever) lasts that long at our house.  enjoy!


(if you click on this picture, you're sure to find some tasty recipes. in fact, there's a lemon squares recipe that i'm salivating over at becky's blog!)

recipe of the week: creamy chicken taquitos

have i mentioned i love pinterest?
yeah, probably.
this is a recipe i originally found there.  as far as i can tell, this is the original source.


however, the first time i mixed up the recipe exactly as the original stated, i thought "there is no WAY that is creamy enough for us."


so...here's the adapted version for our house :-)


lora's creamy chicken taquitos

1 package (or more!) tortillas (we prefer the habañero lime from trader joe's or the red chile from whole foods)
2 cups shredded chicken* 
1 package cream cheese
1.5 cups shredded pepperjack or mexican blend cheese (this is one of the VERY FEW recipes i'll actually buy a blend for!)
1/2 cup salsa verde (plus more for dipping)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 cloves of minced garlic
3 or 4 chopped green onions
juice from one lime
your ratio of the following spices...i'm putting approximates for what i use
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper




*this is roughly 1.5 pounds of raw chicken. i grill them up and then use my kitchenaid to shred (another pinterest tip, naturally!)  i usually use just under a pound of breast mixed with just under a pound of thigh, OR strictly chicken thighs. it's so.much.cheaper


preheat your oven to 425゜(that's hot people!)
if you happen to have parchment paper (NOT the same as wax...learned that the hard way once. rookie mistake!), line a baking sheet with it. if not, no worries.


if you have grilled your own chicken to shred, place it in a stand mixer and shred it. if not, just put your shredded chicken in a mixer and follow the next few steps.

add the cream cheese and shredded cheese, followed by the spice blend, salsa, lime juice, cilantro, green onion and garlic. keep mixing until it's blended quite well.

for each tortilla, spoon a generous amount onto the edge and then roll is up. place seam down on your baking sheet.

bake for 15 - 20 minutes (watch for your desired level of crispiness). serve with rice, guac, sour cream, salsa, and whatever else you desire :-)

enjoy!


you should get about 12 taquitos out of this.  per taquito, based on chicken thigh meat only, here's your nutrition info.

thursday's ten or so: the swagbucks edition

since i'll be posting some of the great deals and promotions that swagbucks offers, i thought i'd do a quick post about why and how i actually use swagbucks.

first of all, what do i do to earn?

i utilize swagbucks tv.  for every 10 (short) videos you watch, you earn 3 swagbucks.  that doesn't sound or seem like a lot until you actually do it.  i'll often keep the computer handy while cooking or doing other things and click a new video every minute or two.

i click through the no obligations special offers daily.  i have never actually filled out info or submitted an offer, but i always earn sb for just clicking through for a minute.

i search -- and usually have 3 - 4 searches a day that yield swagbucks.  sometimes 6, other times as many as 25.

i answer the daily poll.  one swagbuck per day. easy.

i utilize swagcodes.  there's usually one a day or so, but some days there are multiples.  they're usually worth anything from 3 to 10 bucks apiece.  usually i follow sbcodez.com to get the latest codes (they have a twitter and facebook).  they aren't affiliated with swagbucks as far as i know, but they are the best i've found at getting them out quickly!

i occasionally will do a special offer.  they usually require a purchase, but if it's something i'm already buying why not?  they can be worth hundreds of swagbucks.  only if i'm going to buy something already will i bother, but if you buy any local deals (like groupon, living social or eversave) check to see if they're in the special offers.  currently it seems to be only eversave, but i think they cycle.

ok, but what do all these "bucks" buy?

tons of stuff.  however, i stick to one category: gift cards.

you can "buy" up to two rewards a day.  you can repeat the same reward up to 5 times in a month.  this year i'm focusing mainly on amazon gift cards.  the $5 ones are the best deals.  i buy 5 a month...that's $25 to spend on amazon per month.  do the math -- there's $300 for free.  considering the size of our combined families, i'm planning to buy most people's christmas gifts off amazon on black friday this year...and $300 will go a LONG way (if not all the way!)

there are gift cards for starbucks, paypal, maggiano's and a ton of other places i shop at often.  if i start earning enough swagbucks i definitely plan to buy a few of those as well!

the last few months i've maintained an earning average of at least 50 swagbucks a day.  in the future i'm planning to get at least 75 a day.  an $5 amazon gift card will cost you 450 swagbucks, so at the rate of 50/day i'll get a new amazon card in 9 days or so.

if you haven't joined swagbucks please consider clicking the link (it's my referral link) and trying it out!  i'll be happy to help you get started, and you get an automatic 30 bucks just for joining! :-)

more about that swagbucks thing...march swagness!

i've signed up to be a blogger at swagbucks.  don't worry, this doesn't mean that i'm going to post something every day (and probably not even every week) about the site, and you can certainly ignore these posts if you want to.  but sometime this week i'll be posting how i'm using swagbucks this year, and why you may want to as well :-)  if you're interested, click one of the links above.  i'll get a referral for your click if you sign up, and you'll get to start earning things like free amazon gift cards, starbucks, or other cool things.  more about that on thursday!

for now, i'm going to let you in on a sneak peek -- this is directly copied from an email i received this morning about something cool that starts tomorrow!

March Swagness has come to Swagbucks - it's all about you earning bonus Swag Bucks while doing all of the things you’re already doing on Swagbucks. Every day they’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 not 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!

Get your March Swagness on starting tomorrow, when the goal will be 50 Swag Bucks

recipe (challenge) of the week: creamy pesto chicken over fusilli

i should do this sort of thing more often.  it most definitely stretched me to be a bit creative!


in mid october, we were freshly back from our honeymoon and i realized that although we needed to eat...we hadn't been to the grocery store since a week before the wedding.  which meant at least 2 weeks.


oops.


so, i decided that i would create a meal using only things that were currently in the fridge/freezer or pantry.


it turned out pretty well!  so...here's what i came up with.  very simple, and few ingredients...obviously!


creamy pesto chicken over fusilli


1 cup combined freshly grated asiago and parmesan cheese (i used 3/4 cup asiago, 1/4 cup parmesan)
3/4 cup half and half
3 tablespoons pesto
5-6 boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins
cooked fusilli or pasta of your choice

in small saucepan over low-medium heat, combine half and half with cheeses and stir until cheese begins to melt and mixture is creamy.  add pesto and combine until well blended.

layer chicken tenders in a glass baking dish.

generously cover chicken with the creamy pesto misture, but reserve some of the pesto for pouring over pasta and chicken later.

bake at 350 for 30 minutes

serve over pasta, enjoy!

recipe of the week: taboulli salad

i love (LOVE) a good, fresh salad
and tabouli
(or taboule, tabbouleh, tabouleh, taboulli...whatever)
has always been a favorite of mine
(well, since i discovered trader joe's version of it...)


i had a hair and makeup trial run on tuesday this week
and 3 of my girls came to get their hair done too
so i decided to have a little spread of hummus and fresh veggies for them.
then i decided to make tabouli salad, serve pita as well and even throw in some frozen falafel for fun


it turned out fairly well*, even though i did have to substitute couscous for the bulghur most recipes i found called for.


here's my spin on it!

1 package fresh parsley
1 package fresh mint
1/2 cup uncooked couscous
juice of 2 limes
1 medium/large tomato
1 scallion
1 clove garlic

1/4 cup olive oil


cook couscous according to package directions


mince parsley and mint (this is easily the most labor-intensive part of cooking this.  it's ri-diculous.  thank goodness for kitchen tools like the herb roller i have!)

it will easily take you the entire couscous preparation time to mince the herbs.  so once they are done, add the lime juice to the couscous.

dice the tomato, chop the scallion

add the parsley, mint and tomato to the lime and couscous mixture.  grate a clove of garlic over the mix and pour the olive oil in as the finishing touch. 

  combine well.  refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

simple...yummy.  and money saving.  i made about 4 times as much tabbouli for the price i would have paid for it even at trader joe's.  i can deal with that!














*it actually turned out well enough that my friend Natasha said "it's better than trader joe's!"


which i'm pretty sure could be considered blasphemy in some circles.

what i'm loving wednesday (9.21)

i'm loving that i got to spend last friday night with some of my best girlfriends.  my maid of honor and bridesmaids threw my bachelorette/lingerie shower and it.was.a.blast!  truly, i was just happy to spend time with some of my favorite people...the rest was a nice bonus!
i'm loving that my future husband makes a mean lasagna, and that we have leftovers to last us quite awhile!  can we say comfort food?
i'm loving that baby g's favorite thing right now is to grab the nearest soft blanket or stuffed animal and call for "snuggles?"
i'm loving the flex hours with my office job.  i get to take babysitting jobs, which means more income, and work from home, and pretty much waltz into the office when i feel like it.  i try to the majority of my hours in AT the office, but it does mean that most of the time i can go into work at 10 am and miss the craaaazy traffic.  and feeling professional 3 out of 5 workdays a week is A-MAZING.
i'm loving that pumpkin delights are back.  ahhh, and that the stores near me carry them! (last year i only found them in one store!)
i'm loving fitting comfortably into (most of) my size 6 wardrobe.  there are some outfits that just won't work yet, but i'm so happy to say hello again to some of my professional clothes...
i'm loving thrift store finds.  i have bought a gazillion glass pieces for the reception for less than $50.  bonus is that i don't have any sentimental "hold" if something gets damaged or lost!

hey, it's ok (tuesday) .12

 hey, it's ok

...to eat doritos with your low-fat cottage cheese.  it's balanced, right?

...to sometimes watch silly tv shows

...to love wrapping paper and wrapping gifts in a nearly unhealthy way :-)

...to consider trading free babysitting for my clients with elipticals.  i used one of them the other day and it was a fantastic workout!

...to really, really, really be tired of the rain.

...to be thrilled that not only do you have a summer job lined up but that when the mother called to tell you she used the words "we are so happy and excited that we've found the perfect person for our family!"

...to be over-run with laundry.  all of it clean, none of it in it's proper home.  yikes!

...to be a hockey fan even if your knowledge of the game is a bit sketchy.  but hey, the fights are kinda fun.  (go preds!)

...to get excited about goodwill shopping.  no reason to spend big money on a wardrobe as i'm moving between sizes and losing the weight.  and finding actual quality pieces there makes me even more excited.

you'd beter believe it!

i'm SO taking advantage of this one.

yes please!

Thursday's Ten: Gifts on the Cheap

Yep, holidays are on the brain, and I for one am thinking of inexpensive but meaningful gifts for the people on my list...without giving too much away since I know that some of those lovely people read this blog!



So I thought we could all help each other out! Here's ten relatively inexpensive ideas for you all this year!

1. baked goodies in a nice tin, box, or plate. I love making peppermint bark or some sort of holiday cookie.

2. a "themed" gift. One year I gave a girlfriend who loves to cook a really fun serving dish with a cookbook. I've also heard the suggestion of baking a favorite recipe in a new serving dish and giving it to the person, but I don't love that idea so much. Kind of takes the newness away, ya know?

3. something that represents something you love doing with the person/couple. A and I gave our friends 4 decks of cards, a personalized notepad, and a card tray for their engagement gift. It's because our favorite thing to do as the 4 of us is to play Hand and Foot, and now they have their own set to use when they host! On the same token, I've given gift cards to a pedicure place to a friend with whom I love to go get pedis with.

4. Etsy.com. Need I say more? I sell jewelry there, and I'm always finding cool things for gifts! Most of the people who sell there have more than reasonable prices and it's always great to give something that's not available everywhere you turn around

5. if you're crafty--make something! A lot of my friends get jewelry. They don't seem to mind! I have also received several scarves which I LOVE!

6. a picture of something special you've done with the person in a great frame. Hobby Lobby ALWAYS has their frames 1/2 off, so you can get some really good deals there. And who doesn't love pictures? Just make sure it's flattering of *both* of you!

7. a pampering basket (mostly for the females on your list). Lotions, nail polish in shades she loves, a couple of bath bombs...I shop sales year round and always have a few soaps or fragrances on hand. I also have found a great little local store that handmakes soaps and bath bombs--they're fairly inexpensive and quite unique.

8. ornaments. I love getting new ornaments, and I always enjoy receiving them as gifts. Every year as I put up my tree I think of the people who gave the ornament to me--it's like getting a new gift every year :)

9. books. Most of the kids in my life at some point get my favorite Christmas books at Christmas, and others on their birthdays. Board books (for babies and toddlers) will run about $5 apiece, and prices vary once you get into the older kids/bigger books. But they can be personalized and you're helping build up their little library! (I find great deals at local booksellers when they have clearance sales, or you can always check amazon.com)

10. finally, one FROM the kids. My friends did this a few years ago and I thought it was great! At a local craft store (Hobby Lobby or Michaels in our case), buy a cheap artist's canvas. Buy some (washable) paints, strip the kid down, put him in the bathtub and let him go to town! If you buy one each for the grandparents you've got a priceless piece of unique art that they will treasure forever!

Hope you got an idea or two...now I want yours! Creativity and cheapness are *good* things in my book, especially in my current underemployed state!

Please sign Mr MckLinky and grab my button!





(next week we'll talk about our favorite ornaments--please take pictures for us--and the following week will be Christmas traditions/memories. just trying to give a heads-up!)