Bzz Agent Campaign- Coppertone ClearlySheer Sunscreen

As you know I am a member of Bzz Agent, where you can try out products for free!  All you need to do is try out the product, then make reviews or post photographs telling what you thought of the product.  I recently got to try out Coppertone ClearlySheer Sunscreen.  With two small kiddos, I need to use sunscreen every time they are out in the sun, especially my 3 year old, who has fair skin and red hair!  If you are like me, you hate putting sunscreen on.  It feels gross, smells weird, and takes forever to rub it on your skin.

My family went up to Kelley's Island for a family reunion during Memorial Day, and I thought it would be a great time to test out the new sunscreen.  I was AMAZED at how much different this sunscreen is.  It doesn't feel thick, smells great, and rubs into your skin incredibly fast.  Time is important when you have antsy kiddos who want to go outside and enjoy the sun!!!  Another plus, was that nobody got sunburnt!  We got to try out SPF 30, and even in the sunny weather it protected us. I never really paid attention to sunscreen before- just bought it and used it.  Coppertone ClearlySheer Sunscreen was SO different from other sunscreens that it caught my attention.  If you need to buy sunscreen, be sure to try Coppertone ClearlySheer Sunscreen.

My kiddos enjoying the pool (protected with Coppertone ClearlySheer Sunscreen)

If you have not signed up for BzzAgent, be sure to check it out so you can try free products.

White Chocolate Chip Cookies/Trip To St. Louis

It's been awhile!  I guess life with two young kiddos can keep you busy!  I'm glad to be back and I plan to post on a regular basis!

Two weeks ago I had planned a trip to St. Louis, Missouri to visit my good friend, Nicole.  I wanted to make some munchies for us to enjoy when I got there.  I looked in my pantry and all I found were white chocolate chips.  I was too lazy to go down to the stockpile and get regular chocolate chips, so I figured I would make do with these.  I started searching on Pinterest for a recipe that would use white chocolate chips.  First of all, I LOVE Pinterest!  There were a ton of recipes to choose from.  I picked this one in particular because the cookies in the photos looked really yummy!   The cookies were quick to whip up, and they were soft and gooey and tasted fantastic!  Here are how mine turned out: 

If you would like the recipe please click on the link below:

White Chocolate Chip Cookies from Twice Remembered

The trip to St. Louis was great!  Nicole and I walked down a little strip in nearby St. Charles and browsed in these cute little shops.  I found a shop with dirt cheap spices, and we even tried chocolate covered bacon!  Yum!  I also had the most amazing salad of my entire life at a little pizza shop called Talayna's.  Hope I spelled that right, Nicole!

St. Louis also has an incredible zoo- with FREE admission.  Here are a few photos from our visit:

Bzz Campaign #2 Buitoni Riserva Crab Ravioli

Not long after I received my first campaign from BzzAgent, they were nice enough to give me a second campaign.  This one was for Buitoni pasta.  I have never tried Buitoni pasta before because I always figured the price would be too high.  Since this one was free for the campaign I had nothing to lose.  While buying my pack, I noticed the other packs were 20% off, and if I used my $1.50 Buitoni coupon they would end up being about $2.00 per pack, which is enough to feed 2 adults.

I purchased the Riserva Crab Ravioli.  They also had Shrimp Scampi, but I hate shrimp, so obviously that was out.  There was only one way listed on how to prepare them, which was boiling them.  My husband got creative and decided to coat them in bread crumbs and flour and fry them instead. 

I think I was putting away laundry upstairs when my husband was making these, but I asked him to take pictures.  And he did.  Wasn't that sweet of him???

When they were finished we served them up with some marinara sauce for dipping.  I don't even think we used forks.  We ate like cavemen. 

As  you can see my hubby enjoy eating them as so did my 4 year old.  What???  A 4 year old liked eating crab?  Why, yes she did.  If I told her they were crab she probably would say "I don't like that" (without even trying it).  Maybe she ate it because they were fried, but I'm a happy mom when the kiddos eat dinner without a fight.  Thank you Buitoni and BzzAgent, for letting us try your product.  I will definitely buy more!

Bzz Agent Campaign #1- Curel!!!

I recently signed up to be a Bzz Agent and received my first campaign.  If you don't know what Bzz Agent is, be sure to check out http://www.bzzagent.com  Take the surveys so they can learn a little bit about you.  When you are selected for a campaign you get to try great products for free.  All you need to do is share with your friends in blogs or on Facebook, and let them know what you think!

My first campaign was for Curel Intensive Healing Cream.  My skin is particularly dry on my face and my feet.  Ohio weather is crazy, and we can have what seems like 3 seasons in one day.  I hate having the tight feeling in my face after a shower, and my feet are super rough. 

Here is a picture of my right after a shower.  No make up, and in a yellow bathroom so my skin color is all weird.  I think I also need my eyebrows waxed.  Anywho...my skin is really dry so I slathered on some Curel Intensive Healing Cream.  The cream goes on sort of thick and reminds me of Elmer's Glue.  I would recommend putting it on at night and then you can just wake up in the morning with smooth, moisturized skin. The cream definitely lasts, I was expecting my face to show signs of being dry in the morning, and it didn't.  Even my kids can use this cream- you can use it when they are as young as 6 months old. 

I am supposed to use this product for several weeks and let you know the results.  These are just my initial thoughts.  I can give you a final update in a few weeks.  In the meantime, check out http://www.curel.com or Curel US on Facebook.

Homemade Crayons

Yesterday the daycare kiddos and I decided to make homemade crayons!  These are a lot of fun and the possibilities are endless if you have different shaped baking tins.  All we had were muffin tins so that is what we used.

Crayola crayons work the best, but I usually throw a few restaurant/cheap crayons in there as well.  This is a great way to use up broken crayons and those little bits at the bottom of your crayon box.  You will need to peel the paper off all of the crayons.  I take an exacto/utility knife and slice down the sides of the crayons.  This makes the crayons much easier to peel.  Break the crayons into small pieces and place in lined muffin tins.  Fill half to 3/4 of the way full.  Have fun with your patterns!!!

Bake at 250 for about 10 minutes, until all of the crayons have melted.  Take the crayons out of the oven and let them cool.

These are great for little ones who are just learning how to color.  They are large and easy for them to grasp.  Happy crayon-making!

Rainbow Birthday Party

My daughter Talya just turned 1 so we decided to celebrate with a rainbow birthday party!  This was so much fun to plan!  Here are some of the things we included in the party.

HOMEMADE CORNHOLE SET

This was so easy!  We used a steam cleaner vacuum box for this and it was perfect.  I laid a bowl on top and traced around to make the circles.  I taped down some large white paper and glued construction paper circles on top.  This was a FREE project to make!  What could be better than that?  Here is where I got the idea Bean Bag Toss.

Below are the steps I used to make the bean bags to go with the cornhole set.  Use any fabric you have lying around, as long as it does not have metallic thread.  I used my husband's old sleepy pants, fleece, corduroy, and cotton.

Cut squares of fabric using pinking shears (to create the zig zag effect).  My pinking shears were $12.49 at JoAnn Fabrics before my 40% off coupon.

Sew around the entire square of fabric leaving a 1.5" inch opening.

Using a funnel, slide the funnel in the opening you left and put the corn in.  I purchased 25 lbs of corn from my local feed mill, which was enough to make 46 bean bags and still have some left over.  You can also use rice, but that is much more expensive if you need to use a large amount.  DO NOT OVERFILL!!!  If you do it will be really hard to sew close.  Use way less than you think you need.

Sew around the ENTIRE bean bag one more time, to ensure that it is double stitched.  These need to be especially secure if little ones will be playing with them.

So much fun!

RAINBOW DESSERTS

To round out the rainbow theme we made rainbow cake for the adults and cupcake cones for the kiddos!  A lot of fun to make!  

Mix one standard cake mix with 1 12oz can of Sprite/Sierra Mist (or 1.5 cups).  Look how fizzy it is!

Divide the batter between bowls and add gel food color (not liquid) as the colors will not be as bright.

Spoon into the pan in a random pattern.  When it bakes it keeps the marbley rainbow effect- so cool!  I don't have a picture of the finished cake- sorry!

For the cupcake cones, stand cake cones in a muffin pan and fill the cones about 2/3 full.  Bake at 350 degrees for 19-24 minutes.  Frost, add sprinkles, and a cherry!

Rainbow Jello was a little labor intensive, but totally worth it and delicious!  I used a giant punch bowl so you could really see all of the layers.  This was for a party, and I'm glad I did a trial run a few weeks back because I discovered I needed to double all of my layers so they would show up better.  Here are the steps to create this awesome dessert:

Ingredients:  

However many colors of Jello you would like (the above photo had 13 boxes)

Cool Whip

Boil one cup of water and add to one box of jello in a bowl.  Take 2/3 cup of that color and pour it into your mold.  Let it gel, about 30-40 min.  Make sure it is completely set or the next layer won't work.  While it is setting, add enough Cool Whip (a few tbsp) to the remaining liquid Jello until it equals 2/3 cup.  Pour this over the first layer you made.  Wait for it to completely set before starting the process over with a new color!

We also served rainbow Goldfish crackers and included them in the goody bags as well.  You can never have enough rainbow!

Frugal Can Taste Delicious

Just because you are being frugal does NOT mean you have to sacrifice taste or flavor. I stumbled upon the website Frugal Families awhile back and I have referred to it many times.  

Today I decided to make their Basic Frugal White Bread.  The recipe can be found here.  This recipe is either idiot-proof or I have just gotten lucky the two times I have made it.  I always get nervous using yeast, but this bread has turned out great every time!  PLUS, your house will smell WONDERFUL!!!

Here is what the bread looked like after the first rise.  Is it supposed to look smooth?  Mine wasn't.

This is what the finished product looks like:

My 2 year old loves to help me, so I let her knead and play with her own dough.  This is how her bread turned out:

She eats like a bird and she ate most of this in one sitting!

I have also made several other recipes from Frugal Families.  My family eats tacos all of the time- at one point we had Taco Tuesday going.  We were going through taco seasoning packets very quickly so I decided to make Frugal Families' Taco Seasoning Mix.  I stored it in an old plastic spice jar and wrote 'taco powder' on the side.  This lasted us for a long time!!!

Another recipe from Frugal Families that we really enjoy is their Spaghetti Herb and Spice Mix.  This is a really inexpensive way to make yummy spaghetti sauce.  Just mix up their seasonings (store in an old spice jar or tupperware) and add to tomato paste, butter, and water.  I cut the water down to 1 cup instead of 1.5 cups to make it thicker.  I sometimes add green pepper and onion as well.  The sauce is thick and chunky, and reminds me of Prego.  Best news is, you can make it for about $0.39!

One more recipe I have tried- Herb And Garlic Blend.  Easy to whip up and tastes great on salads.  This reminds me, I need to make more!!!

Cold nights are fast approaching.  I know I hate getting into a freezing cold bed after taking my shower at night.  Microwave Cozies help make the winter months a little warmer.  All you need to do is sew fabric in a small bag, fill it with corn (see their webpage for the right kind) and microwave!  I reused my hubby's old sleepy pants.  You can see the stripe on the side and the mysterious orange stain on them!  After microwaving (the site recommends 1-3 minutes) I toss a few under the covers, shower as usual, and then hop in a nice warm bed!  You don't need to worry about falling asleep with them like you do with electric blankets. They stay warm for about an hour.  Be creative with the fabrics you use!  These make great holiday gifts!

Here is one of my many microwave cozies:

What are some of your tips for being frugal?