Squidoo

I've talked on here before about Squidoo, but today I wanted to add it to Works for Me Wednesday. I'm sure you've never heard of this great site before. It's a fun way to make a little money on the side. I have been a member for about a year now and have probably made $100. The money takes a little while to come in. What you do is you make a "lens" about something that interests you that you think will interest others. I have quite a few (20) lenses. They range from my Freebies lens to my James Avery lens. They can literally be about anything you want. The more you have, the more money you make. To make money, you just make sure they are maintained. I do this by editing my lenses about every other day. This takes about 15 minutes to do all 20 lenses. At the start of the month, you will get $ for your lenses based on your rank--how many people visit, how much they buy off of there, etc. This really is just a way to organize information (amazon, ebay, etc.) in one place. Then instead of google getting the credit (and portion of the profit), squidoo gets it and they share it with you! This last month I made $20 for very little time invested. It's fun, free and easy! To learn more, click here. If you decide to sign up, use my referral here: Squidoo. TRY IT OUT!

Baby Cheapskate Give Away

Have you heard about this?
Baby Cheapskate Diaper Give Away
I am thinking about doing cloth diapers, so it sounds like a great deal!! Go and enter!

Today's Housewife

I don't really post on this blog anymore... Please go over to Today's Housewife and take a look around! :)

Target Clearance!!

We aren't finding out what we're having, but that doesn't stop me from shopping--I just buy a boy and a girl outfit... Whichever we don't use will be gifted away! I got these SUPER cute outfits for a steal today at Target. They were having a great clearance on a lot of their baby clothes. The first picture is a little cap, gown and blanket for $4.98 instead of $10! The second and third pictures were their 4th of July clothes--$1.99 instead of $8!!! The little girl headbands were $.99!! Plus the bibs come in 3 packs and only one of the girl ones says "4th of July." The other 2 match the outfit! The boy bibs have 2 that say "4th". So cute!

What would you like to see here?

I'm not sure if I should keep up with this blog. It takes a lot of work for me to put together the activities and food... I am also now blogging on Today's Housewife with some friends which I really enjoy. Is there anything you would like to see on here?

Preview of next week...

Next week on Today's Housewife where I also blog, we're going to be talking about coupons. I am a total coupon freak and can't wait to post on Thursday. Today was a GREAT coupon day at Brookshires! I went there this morning to pick up some fruit. I normally don't shop there, but I decided I would go there because they normally have decent prices on fruit. I found a few other things I needed and used a few coupons, not thinking I would save too much. I ALWAYS watch my total go down, so I was really surprised when I gave the girl $.55 coupons and the machine said Double and then Triple! Huh? So I ended up saving 46% which was $23.77. I figured something had to be going on, so I let the guy take my groceries out (they still do that there) and then went back in to look for the ad. There, on the front page was an amazing sight--Triple coupons up to and including $.60!!! Are you kidding me??? So I headed home on a mission. I had already saved so much, but I knew I could get stuff for FREE! On Thursdays, we get a free newspaper which has coupons in it, so I don't pay for them on Sundays anymore. Then I remembered the house down the street...vacant...forclosure...at least 10 newspapers on the front porch! So I went and helped them "clean up." I ended up with around 20 coupon insert packets which took me about 2 hours to go through. I cut out a lot and put the ones I thought I would use in an envelope. Out I went...again. It was a HOT day too! I spent at least one hour going up and down the aisles...sometimes more than once! My total was $89 something. Oh wait, I have a few coupons... I was still counting when I gave the girl my first pile of 20. I finished at 33 coupons! (I count to make sure they get them all because it drives me nuts when they go fast and skip one!) So, after all of that, my total was $29.33 and I saved 70% which was $64.90. Uh, impressive. Above is what I got on that trip--all name brand as you can see!! Most of it we will use--the rest I will donate. I also did another transaction while there because I had kept track of which coupons were great and I knew I had a few doubles, but they said (when I called to check before going) that they would only triple the first one. So I bought 6 things using coupons and the girl was shocked that my total was $0. I told her that if the coupons had actually counted correctly, they would owe me... Like the floss was $1.26 and I had a $.55 coupon--once, double, triple=$1.65. My savings was 100%. I had one other coupon and once again saved 100%. The manager kept having to come okay my total. If you'd like to learn my "tricks of the trade," check out my post on Thursday. Needless to say, I was very excited!!

Flan

This is a great dessert given to me by my missionary friend in Mexico while I lived there! YUMMY! You do need a flanera to make this which you should be able to buy at Wal-Mart or order on the internet. Worth it!!

1 can condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
5 eggs
1 T vanilla (Mexican is best)

Blend all ingredients in blender.

Brown 1/4 cup of sugar in flanera on top of stove.

Pour milk mixture in flanera and close. Bake in pan filled halfway with water for 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees F.

From a nurse:

I'll never forget the look in my patients' eyes when I had to tell them they had to go home with the drains, new exercises and no breast. I remember begging the Doctors to keep these women in the hospital longer, only to hear that they would, but their hands were tied by the insurance companies. So there I sat with my patients, giving them the instructions they needed to take care of themselves, knowing full well they didn't grasp half of what I was saying, because the glazed, hopeless, frightened look spoke louder than the quiet 'Thank You' they muttered. A mastectomy is when a woman's breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue. If you know anyone who has had a Mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards. Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure. Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery.

If you're receiving this, it's because I think you will take the 30 seconds to vote on this issue and send it on to others you know who will do the same. There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the 'drive-through' Mastectomy where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.

Lifetime Television has put this bill on their Web page with a petition drive to show support. Last year over half the House signed on. PLEASE!! Sign the petition by clicking on the web site below. You need not give more than your name, state, and zip code.

Sign the Petition

Familia Part Two...

Here are some additional family vocabulary terms to add to last week's terms. There are still others which you can find at the site below. Hopefully you are keeping up with la familia and can now call your hijo or hija.

hermana - sister
hermano - brother
tía - aunt
tío - uncle
primo - cousin - male
prima - cousin - female
sobrina - niece
sobrino - nephew
abuela - grandmother
abuelo - grandfather
nieta - grandaughter
nieto - grandson

Pronunciation Guide

King Ranch Chicken Casserole

I'm not sure if this is officially "Mexican", but when I'm in the mood for it, IT COUNTS! There are a lot of recipes for this out there. This one is pretty easy and fast. Plus it's very tasty! Serve with beans and tortilla chips.

1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 4 ounce can of Ro-Tel
2 1/2 cups boiled chicken breast chopped
10 corn tortillas cut into fourths
12 ounces of shredded cheddar cheese

Mix together and heat the soups, Ro-Tel, and chicken. In a 3 quart buttered casserole dish, place a layer of tortillas, a layer of soup mixture and a layer of grated cheese. Repeat. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.