Showing posts with label get what you paid for. Show all posts
Showing posts with label get what you paid for. Show all posts

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Awesome Deal on the Pass of All Passes

I've talked about the Pass of All Passes before, and at that time it was a really good deal. Today though, until 8pm, it's an AWESOME deal! We love this pass. You not only get a season pass for Seven Peaks Water Park (both locations), but you also get access to various sporting events for free, as well as Fun Centers. Right now you can get these passes for under $20! If you live in Northern Utah, you can't pass this deal up.

Here's what's included:
The Utah Pass of all Passes includes the following per person:
- Admission to Seven Peaks Salt Lake Waterpark on normal days (and hours) of operation
- Admission to Seven Peaks Provo Waterpark on normal days (and hours) of operation
- Unlimited use of the following attractions at Trafalga Fun Center in Orem: Mini Golf, Blacklight Mini Golf, Slick Track, XD Theater, and Batting Cages.
- Unlimited use of the following attractions at Trafalga Fun Center in Lehi: Mini golf, Blacklight Mini Golf, Laser Tag, Rock Climbing, Slick Track, Bumper Boats, Rush Coaster, Carousel, Kiddie Area, Pirate Ship Ride, Plane Ride, and Lighthouse Ride.
- Unlimited bowling Monday - Thursday at new the new Seven Peaks Fun Center (formerly Karen Pullman's) in Sandy, UT - Now Open!
- One Lift Ticket per person per day to Wolf Mountain Ski Resort from 9 am-4 pm on certain dates (see details below)
- General Admission seating to select Utah Blaze Home Games (Dates to be announced)
- General Admission seating to select Utah Grizzlies Home Games (see details below)
- Unlimited general admission tickets to all Orem Owlz Home Baseball games (see details below)
- Unlimited general admission tickets to all Ogden Raptors Home Baseball games (see details below)
- Unlimited general admission to all Utah Valley University sporting events
- General admission to the Peaks Ice Arena on certain dates (see details below)
Terms and Conditions
*Seven Peaks Waterpark, Salt Lake (formerly Raging Waters):
Grants admission on normal days (and hours) of operation
Also includes exclusive hours for all Pass of All Pass holders from 9:30 – 11:00 AM before the park opens to the public at 11:00 AM!
*Seven Peaks Waterpark, Provo:
Grants admission on normal days (and hours) of operation
Also includes exclusive hours for all Pass of All Pass holders from 9:30 – 11:00 AM before the park opens to the public at 11:00 AM!
*Trafalga Fun Center, Orem:
Grants unlimited use of the following attractions:
-Unlimited Mini Golf
-Unlimited Blacklight Mini Golf
-Unlimited Slick Track
-Unlimited XD Theater
-Unlimited Batting Cages
-Does not include arcade tokens
*Trafalga Fun Center, Lehi:
Grants unlimited use of the following attractions:
-Unlimited Mini Golf
-Unlimited Laser Tag
-Unlimited Rock Climbing
-Unlimited Blacklight Mini Golf
-Unlimited Slick Track
-Unlimited Bumper Boats
-Unlimited Rush Coaster
-Unlimited Carousel
-Unlimited Kiddie Area
-Unlimited Pirate Ship Ride
-Unlimited Plane Ride
-Unlimited Lighthouse Ride
-Does not include game cards or arcade tokens
*Wolf Mountain Resort (Skiing/snowboarding):
Grants one lift ticket per person per day to the resort from 9 AM – 4 PM, Monday-Wednesday on dates below (pending snow conditions):
- February 6-15, 2012
- March 5-21, 2012
*Utah Blaze (Football):
Grants general admission seating to (3) home games (one ticket per home game per pass, game dates to be announced):
Location: Energy Solutions Arena, 301 West South Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah
*Utah Grizzlies (Hockey):
Grants general admission seating to (4) home games
- February 15, 2012
Location: 3200 Decker Lake Drive, West Valley City, UT 84119
*Orem Owlz (Baseball):
Grants unlimited general admission tickets (one per home game per pass)
Location: Brent Brown Ballpark, University Parkway at I-15, Orem, UT
*Ogden Raptors (Baseball):
Grants unlimited general admission tickets (one per home game per pass)
Location: Lindquist Field on Lincoln Avenue, Ogden, UT
*Utah Valley University Sports:
Grants unlimited general admission tickets to all UVU sporting events (one per home game per pass)
*Peaks Ice Arena:
Grants general admission for ice skating during normal public hours on the following dates:
- March 26 - May 26, 2012
*Seven Peaks Fun Center Bowling:
Grants unlimited admission for bowling Monday - Thursday
7984 South 1300 East, Sandy, UT
(formerly Karen Pullman's)
*Seating to all sporting events is first-come, first-served.*
We've gotten our money's worth out of our passes and jumped on the opportunity to renew them when they offered this deal a few months ago. This is only the second time I've seen it this cheap, so I'd grab it while it's available! You can find it here.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Income Tax Time!

It's that time of year again. Time for all of us to file our taxes and hope for a great return. This year we were disappointed to find out that we just barely fell short of the medical deduction. Bummer. We did find other deductions we qualifed for though and ended up with a better return that we thought we'd get, so it was all good in the end!

For the last ten or so years we've filed our taxes with Holman's Tax Service. They're a family business based in Brigham City, Utah and they come to our home. You'd think this would cost an arm and a leg. In fact, they are the best deal we've found! Heaven knows that before we discovered them, we spent way too much going to other tax preparers. We even tried doing our own taxes once (not something I'd want to repeat, as I'm sure there were things we missed that could've benefited us).

Anyway, based on our high praise of these guys, several family and friends have also started using Holman's. I highly recommend them, and challenge others to find a more honest, hard working, personable and AFFORDABLE tax accountant. It wouldn't be easy.

So if you're looking for someone to prepare your tax return this year, but don't want to break the bank, give them a call. Tell them Nellie Butler sent you!

Holman Tax Service
130 N 200 E, Brigham City, UT 84302
(435) 723-8764

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Trading Satellite for Netflix


So most of you know by now that saving money has been my main mission in life, especially since the economy tanked a few years ago. We've managed to keep our satellite service with Dish Network for years now, and I have to say that we are still happy with it.

We've downgraded our service quite a bit in the last two years and they've given us plenty of discounts too on top of that. We have two dual-tuner DVRs in our house and subscribe to the Dish Family package with our locals. It's a total of about 50 or so channels, and most of them are pretty good. We get channels like Nick Jr., Investigation Discovery, Animal Planet, Hallmark and several others that our family really likes. Still, even with the discounts, because of our two DVRs, we are putting out about $40 a month.

We were thinking of completely getting rid of the satellite (no small thing when you realize we've had a DVR for about 10 years now) and saving that money. We've heard good things about Netflix, and were told that for about $8 a month we can download unlimited content to our computer, Xbox or Wii. For a few dollars more you can also get DVDs sent to your door.

We're big movie fans. We don't do the pay-per-view though, unless they give us the free certificates for them (which does happen now and then). If it's not a movie we're sure we want to buy, then we usually get it from Redbox. So really, the idea of having new movies so readily available to us sounds great. But I'm wondering if there's a downside?

Have any of you subscribed to Netflix? What can I expect to find if we make this jump? I've heard we can download stuff to our laptop and then hook it up to our TV to watch it on the bigger screen. That would be great, since it would mean that we could still watch our favorite TV shows off the TV station websites. Am I right? Or is it more complicated than that?

Anyway, if we go ahead and do this (and we're about 80% sure we will right now), it would mean a savings of over $30 a month. It might not seem like a lot to some people, but for a family of seven, saving any amount of money is a big plus! They do have a free trial, so I guess we'd have nothing to lose on trying it.

So what do you think? Does it sound like a good idea?

Friday, March 4, 2011

We're Going to Watch Hockey Tonight!

Our kids are so excited, and I have to admit I'm looking forward to it too. Tonight we're going to watch the Grizzlies as a family with our good friends and neighbors. The best part is we don't have to pay a cent for any of our tickets, though we do have to get there early to make sure we get them.

We got free entrance to a few Griz games, Real Salt Lake soccer Games, Utah Blaze football games and Rocky Mountain Raceway too. We also got a season pass for each of us for Seven Peaks Water Resort. Normally we don't do things like this because it's too expensive for all of us. But we decided to go ahead and jump on the deal when it came up on Groupon for the Salt Lake County Pass of All Passes for about $40 each.

I'm not telling you this to rub it in. I just found out that City Deals is offering it too! So if you want to get in on the family fun for a great price, I'd jump on this deal before it's gone.

Utah county has a similar deal going too. You can find it here.

As for us, we're going to go enjoy some good fighting...er, I mean playing tonight. I've only been once before, but I really had a great time. It was exciting, interesting and very entertaining. So if you haven't gotten your passes yet, jump on it now before they're gone!

Friday, December 17, 2010

Last Minute Shoppers Will Jump on This Deal!

I remember the days when I left everything to the very last minute when it came to Christmas. But with the popularity of shopping online, I've jumped onboard and have gotten things done in record time this year (a record for me anyway). I almost wish I had waited though, when my brother-in-law mentioned a deal he got on Amazon today. I checked and it's still there! What's the deal you ask?

It's a Playstation 3 160 GB for $298.30. That by itself isn't a bad price, but it comes with a $100 promotional credit toward the purchase of items shipped and sold by Amazon.com. If you're like me, and use Amazon for anything from diapers, to movies, to books and even clarinet reeds, then this is an awesome deal. I nearly went for it myself when reality sat in and I realized we'd spent our Christmas budget and I'm supposed to be budget-wise. Haha! Darn that voice of reason!

Anyway, if you have a gamer in your household and have been thinking about getting one of these, this would be the perfect time. It also has a built-in Blueray player, which by itself is a great thing.

Just thought I would share, just in case any of you out there are seeking some deals for you last minute shopping! Good luck to you!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

City Deals

I've been using this site for a few months now, and I've yet to be disappointed. If you're looking for cheap family entertainment, then City Deals is definitely the place for you. The first deal we ordered was in October and I jumped on the passes to Cherry Hill's Halloween attraction, Scary Hill. I got six passes for $14 (it would have been $24, but I had a $10 referral bonus I used). This ended up being quite the deal for all we got with it, and we'll be sure to watch for it again next year, since the kids had a blast.

They offer discount certificates for amusement parks, movie theatres, restaurants, bowling, golf and many other things you can think of. Plus, they're constantly expanding. They also have a feature that will allow you to request a deal from a business you're interested in, but can't find on their site.

Right now is a great time to check them out, as they're offering even better deals for Christmas. The gift certificates you can find on there are a very affordable gift idea for that special someone on your list.

So if you haven't already, be sure to check them out. Go on and save some money and have some fun while you're at it!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Finally Done with Christmas Shopping!

I think this is the earliest I've ever finished my Christmas shopping, but man, am I glad to have it behind me (now it's the thought of the wrapping that's intimidating). I did a lot of my shopping on Amazon (love those Lightning and Gold Box Deals they're doing for the holidays), through book clubs (buy one, get one with free shipping for members), Kohls (with those coupon codes from RetailMeNot), The Children's Place (yes, with coupon codes and clearance deals) and Barnes and Noble (with a 30% off one item coupon code: H4W9V7M--which I got for signing up for their kids club).

Oh, and speaking of some of those Amazon deals, I found The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (Two-Disc Special Edition) for only 17.99! So if you're a Twilight fan, I'd jump on it before that deal is gone. This could also be a gift idea for the Twilight lover in your life.

I've definitely gotten my money's worth this year and I've got more to show for it, too. Which is a good thing considering that I've got a larger family this year! We're actually spending less money this year, compared with last year, but I don't think anyone would notice. Not only that, but our kids are great and are thankful for every thing they receive (and if they weren't, I'd seriously consider giving them coal instead! Haha!).

So how are all of you making out? Got any tips you can share? I'm wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Whatever holiday you celebrate, may this season bring you only good things!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Make Your Own Easy Bake Mixes!

So my oldest daughter got an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas a few years ago. At the time, we bought several mixes to go with it and payed little attention to the portion size or cost. Well, she liked it, but it wasn't something she could do by herself back then, so after a few uses it was put in the cupboard with the leftover mixes and mostly forgotten about.

Well, she found it last night. I was busy taking care of the baby, and she begged to use it. I finally said she could, if she could do it all by herself (she's ten now). She readily agreed to those terms and I listened with half an ear to how she was doing with the whole process from the next room. She did great! In fact, she loved it so much, she declared after using all the mixes up that she wanted more for Christmas.

I've been trying to figure out what to get her anyway, so I jumped on the idea. Well, after spending a part of my morning searching for Easy Bake refills, I'm very disappointed. Are they serious? Sure these mixes have a long shelf life, only need water and are very convenient, but are they really worth $6-$15 for what amounts to only a few cookies and tiny cakes (okay, so I'm not counting the learning experience)?

Maybe I'm just cheap (the economy has certainly contributed to that) but I just can't do it! Still, I don't want my daughter's budding interest to fly out the window either. Though she does bake with me quite a bit at this time of year, she felt a real sense of accomplishment in doing it by herself and I didn't have a heart attack at the idea of her operating my kitchen equipment. LOL

So I did a search on whether or not you can make your own Easy Bake recipes and I found a website that offers a ton of them! They even rank them as to how easy or hard they are. That's awesome! So I quickly saved it in my favorites and decided I had to share that link for 250 Easy Bake Oven recipes with all of you.

So if you decide to get your little one an easy bake oven (lots of fun, and pretty inexpensive by itself), don't go broke buying up all those mixes! Let your child keep on learning and make your own mixes. It's a great way to save money!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Sam's Club's Black Friday Offer


If you've been tinkering with the idea of getting a Sam's Club membership, but couldn't quite decide, you might be tempted to do it this Friday. Their doors will open at 5 a.m. and they'll even give you free breakfast. If you decide to get the membership, or upgrade your current membship to a plus membership (which is guaranteed to save you at least $200 a year, and is 100% money back guaranteed), then they will give you a $25 gift card. Apparently they're doing this offer from November 26-28.

I don't know how crazy they get on Black Friday, but it all sounds like a good deal to me (especially since I often find some great deals on toys, games, movies and clothes there for my kids for Christmas there every year, even when it's not Black Friday).

It's definitely worth checking out :) Click here to select your local club for the details.

Great Deal on a Stand Mixer on Amazon!!!

I'm always browsing on amazon to see what the current deals are, just in case something I've had my eye on for a while gets cheaper. Sometimes I get lucky, but mostly I just kill a little time in between my many other mommy duties. Today though, was a good day!

I've been wanting a KitchenAid Stand mixer for a few years now. I bake a lot of cookies, make a lot of mashed potatoes and mix a lot of various other doughs. It would really cut my workload in half. But I just couldn't drop that kind of money. The one my hubby wanted was $500! No way! I can just get mixing elbow! Haha!

But today (and I don't know how much longer) you can get the Professional Line, 6 quart stand mixer in either caviar (fancy name for a black color) or meringue (fancy name for white) for only $249 after a $50 rebate (the form in on the product page). That's 50% off!

If any of you are in the market for this, it's a great time to jump on it. It would be a great Christmas gift too (I got mine early haha).

Monday, November 22, 2010

Don't Go Broke Buying Those Books


If you're thinking about buying books for Christmas gifts, or any other reason, be sure to check out my tips on how to get them cheaper in my newest article:

Don't Go Broke Buying Those Books

It will not only save you money, but will give you more bang for you buck!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Save Money Shopping Online


Have you ever noticed on some of those online shopping websites that when you get to the checkout there's a space for a coupon or promotional code? When you saw this, and didn't have one, didn't it make you wonder how much you could have saved if you did? I know that happened to me. But not anymore.

I've discovered the coolest website that has promocodes for just about any online retailer you can think of. It's called RetailMeNot. So now, any time you're getting ready to check out your cart and you see that little box giving you the chance for additional savings, make sure you go to that website to see if you can get that discount. It's saved me hundreds already!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Get the Best Deal on a Used Vehicle



Some of you may remember me saying that we bought a truck this summer. We ended up paying over 50% off the dealer price for it. Though it came with some issues that cut into our overall savings, we still came out ahead.

A lot of people have asked me how we did this. I decided to write an article about it to share exactly how we did this. If you or someone you know is thinking of buying a car in the near or even distant future, don't do it until you've read this:

Get the Best Deal on a Used Vehicle

I wrote this article on Hubpages so that it's easier for the general public to find and won't be buried by other blog posts. Also, I've decided to take part in the 30 Hubs in 30 days challenge. Wish me luck!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Check Your Credit For Free! No Catch!

I've already told you about how to get your free credit report from Annualcreditreport.com. But it turns out there's another way to get not only your credit report, but also your credit score, profile and other extras for free. No, I'm not kidding.

I stumbled on this site by accident after my husband won a year of free credit monitoring from Quicken Loans. They're currently doing a sweepstakes, which I found on Freebies4Mom. Anyway, I decided to see who this company was who was doing the credit monitoring. It's called Quizzle.

They do offer other optional upgraded services for a fee (including helping you with a budget and giving you credit improvement tips), but you get quite a bit for free and you don't have to purchase anything or give them your credit card number. You don't even give them your social security number. How then, do they look up your credit report? With your name, address and birthdate.

You can find out more about the company in their FAQ section. Go check it out and stay informed!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Summer's upon Us

Well, you can definitely tell that summer is coming. I admit, I've been yearning for it. I feel like I'm in school all over again with all the work that's been coming home with the kids. I thought I'd only have to do that once? Hah! But after tomorrow, I get a break. No more researching on the internet to help dust out those cob webs in my brain when the kids come home with something I just can't remember how to do. I'm pleased though, at how much I did retain from my school years. ;)

I suppose we're not getting much of a break just yet. We've been working like crazy it seems. Our garden is in. We're combating the weed issue we had last year (originating from the field behind us) with some plastic mulch. It's very thin plastic sheeting made especially for gardening purposes and it keeps the the weeds at bay. We bought the black kind so that none of those weeds could survive underneath the sheets. We'll have to cover it with grass clippings or some other barrier as the weather gets hotter though, so that we don't scorch the roots of our plants. Wish us luck!

We had our first serious injury of the season last night, or rather my son did, while doing fun summer-day activities. Poor Tyler fell while rollerblading and broke one of his front teeth. He also knocked it loose--go figure. So we paid an emergency visit to the dentist and he's in for some more dental visits in the future. He's a brave kid and did the first visit without being numbed. I'm not looking forward to seeing that bill, though (think after-hour rates). Yikes! :(

We also finally, for the first time this year, turned our central air unit on last night. We've been opening the windows and using the ceiling fans up til now. We decided, when some neighbors were having some guests over, to close the windows so we could get to bed a bit early after our exhausting day. We got a nasty surprise when the the unit ran continuously for an hour and a half and the temperature stayed the same.

After checking the obvious things, like the fuse box and the breaker on the unit outside, we got out our wallets and called to have it serviced. Unfortunately, $90 later, we found out we need an electrician. Things do get better, right? Haha. Sometimes I'm more optimistic about that than others.

We're still looking for ways to save money, and have managed to cut some of our expenses by selling two of our vehicles and replacing them with one. It's saving us on our insurance, but I have to admit that while we got a good price on it (make sure to do your homework and check out sites like Edmunds before buying anything), it hasn't been trouble free. We got it several thousands below blue book, but have had to put a lot of that back into it for it to get on the road (think tires, ball joints, muffler...). We knew some of the issues going into it, but did have a few unexpected things come up too. But, that's the gamble when you buy whole sale and as-is. Still, we're within the low-book value of it, so I'm trying not to take it too hard.

If you want to know how we paid less than half the blue book price for our truck, I wrote an article for it on HubPages here.

On the up-side, the baby is doing great and I'm having a pretty good pregnancy this time around. Something I'm VERY thankful for. Over-all, my family is healthy. I have great kids and a good, hardworking, loving husband. So I should count my blessings and brave the bad stuff! :)

I hope all is going well with all of you! Remember, you have to experience the bad stuff to really appreciate the good. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

A Pricey Lesson, but I'm Thankful


It's amazing how much of a difference one day can make with one's attitude. Last night I was feeling pretty overwhelmed. "If it's not one thing, it's another!" I cried. It all started with an ice cream dessert with my family. We were watching Smallville on DVR (a favorite around here) and decided ice cream sounded good. We had a bunch left over from the multiple birthdays we had going on in the last month, so all we had to do was make a trip to the kitchen. Sounds like a great way to cap off the night, right? Not in this case.

The ice cream was super soft, which was curious, since the freezer was set just above the recommended setting (the only way we can keep up with the ice consumption in our house). So I opened the fridge to see how it was faring. I had noticed that the milk wasn't as cold at dinner, but had figured maybe I'd had it out longer than I'd realized. Nope. Everything in the fridge was definitely not as cold as it should've been. Not even close.

So we pulled the fridge out, moved things around, looked for blockages, tampered with the dials, anything to try and fix this ourselves and avoid an expensive repair or worse--buying a new fridge! We couldn't figure it out. Maybe our four year old fridge really was the lemon we'd started considering it as. After all, the repairman had already been to our house three times for it in the first year and a half. Twice it was for the ice maker and once for when the digital display and the lights had all gone out on it.

For this last year, two out of three lights wouldn't work at all inside (and the third one was temperamental). Maybe this was it. It was fried and we would be stuck shelling out mega-bucks on an expensive service bill or an entirely new appliance! No! Not now! We don't even know what's happening with our loan modification! If our Making Home Affordable application isn't approved, we have at least a few thousand dollars we have to come up with to make up the difference between the lowered trial payments and what our regular mortgage payments are set at. And then there's the late fees! Ugh! Not to mention we would have to still be able to pay that normal amount starting on November 1, too. You can see how any new expenses would not be in our budget, right?

Well, we set the temperature dials at full blast and did the only thing we could do at that time of night: we said our prayers and went to bed.

Once I got the kids off to school today, I called the repairman and was lucky enough to get an appointment for late morning. Turns out, it was all our fault. How, you ask? Well, it was all caused by a canister of raisins and an inconspicuous air inlet. It seems the canister was just the perfect width and height to block the one and only air inlet that regulates the temperature for the fridge. Somehow it had gotten shoved right up against the inlet and caused problems with the sensor.

And the bulbs? Well, it seems whirlpool fridges are a bit picky when it comes to brands. Who'd have thought it? A snobby fridge. It didn't like the energy efficient bulbs we put in there. The repairman replaced them with regular bulbs and I can actually see the whole inside of my fridge! Not necessarily a good thing, though, since now I can more clearly see that it's time for a scrub-down. Haha!

Anyway, it came to just over a hundred dollars with tax. And with that, I also found out why the timer on my oven quit beeping. Seems someone held down the timer button for too long (five seconds) and it turns the beeper off. So, I got three issues fixed because of my canister of Great Value Raisins. Hah! ;)

I choose to look at this in a positive light. Nothing serious was wrong. My fridge, thank heavens, is not on it's way out. And for that matter, neither is my stove. I hadn't realized how stressed I was about both of those seemingly minor problems until they were fixed.

Oh, I just have to tell you that I really have a lot of confidence and respect for the folks at Doyles Appliance Service. Shad Anderson is very professional and isn't going to charge you for unnecessary repairs. He took his time looking for the problem and then made sure I understood what was going on (and he didn't make me feel stupid for what turned out to be customer error). The easiest and most profitable thing for him to do would have been to just order a new control board, thermostat or some other item--since at first, the problems we had seemed to indicate that was the issue.

So if any of you are in or near Davis County (they may even service the Salt Lake area), I would definitely recommend Doyles. I couldn't find a website for them, but their contact information is here: (801) 292-0676, 45 West 200 South, Bountiful, UT.

Many problems can be solved by simply checking the manual, too. If you've misplaced your product manual, check online. I know that Whirlpool has their manuals listed online for free and it's really easy to look them up with the model number. I've saved myself a few calls to the repairman doing this.

Am I happy that this lesson cost me money? No, but it could've been worse! And who knows? Maybe my lesson can help one of you out there with your appliances. God Bless!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

I'm Inlove with my Bread Machine

No, really! We met about 11 years ago and while I was intimidated by its advanced technical skills at first, after a few years I was hooked. I make Italian Herb Bread, Old Fashioned White bread (the family wasn't impressed with the wheat recipes), roll dough, pizza dough, and now.....bread bowls!

I have a Broccoli Cheddar soup recipe that I've finally got down (though having said that, I do still reserve the right to tinker with it at a later date if I want to). And what goes better with Broccoli Cheddar soup than eating it in a bread bowl? Nothing, I say!

I've only had one problem with that: I can't find any decent bread bowls at any of the stores around here! They're all soft and flaky on the outside, and that doesn't make for the best soup bowl.

So I decided to do something about it. Why couldn't I make my own? I can make just about anything else I've set my mind to. This shouldn't be too difficult, right? So I did a search on the internet (using my swagbucks toolbar--which I love since I get to earn free stuff doing what I already do anyway!). I found this article detailing how to make homemade bread bowls from frozen bread dough. I thought, why can't I just use my French Bread recipe and run it in the dough cycle instead of the bread cycle and then follow the directions from the point of shaping the thawed bread dough. So that's exactly what I'm doing now. So far, so good. Keep your fingers crossed that it works for me! I'll have to update you, but I don't see any reason why it shouldn't work. I know my way around dough;)

I'll share my recipes for tonight's dinner here for those of you who are interested:


Broccoli Cheddar Soup

5 cubes chicken bouillon
1 tsp Worcestershire
1 tsp garlic
4 cups water
2 cups half and half or whipping cream
24 oz chopped broccoli
5 diced potatoes
¼ cup butter/margarine
½ cup onion
¼ cup flour
4 cups cheddar cheese
Season salt (to taste)
Mrs. Dash original seasoning (to taste)

Boil water, bouillon cubes, Worcestershire, cream, garlic, seasoning and potatoes. Cook until potatoes are tender. Add Broccoli.

Melt butter in pan. Add onion and cook until tender. Slowly add flour to make paste. Add mixture to soup slowly, mixing well to avoid clumping. Add cheese and mix well. Do not boil.

French Bread Dough

1¼ cups+3 tbs water (room temperature)
1 tbs butter/margarine
1 tbs olive, vegetable or canola oil
4 cups flour
1 ½ tbs sugar
1 ¾ teaspoon salt
2 tsp active dry yeast

(Use the link to the bread bowl article to finish)

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

A Little of Everything!

I haven't called this The Juggling Homemaker for nothing! It's always a juggling act here, trying to keep so many different things going at the same time. My mom is out of the hospital, but still having some struggles, so I've been trying to do what I can there, though it's not as much as she (or I, for that matter) would like. It's hard when you have your own family to take care of to do much of anything else.

We're still working on our yard and went and got more compost from Wasatch Integrated Waste Management at $25/truckload--not too shabby! :) We also got some of their medium sized bark at $10/truckload for our flower beds (okay, I'll be honest and call them weed beds--but we're working on it). We're going to whack the weeds down, put down another layer of weed barrier (better stuff, this time) and throw the bark down on top of that. Take that weeds!!! Haha! It was back-breaking labor to unload those loads from the back of the pick-up. Believe me, I'm feeling it today!

We could have saved on the back pain and had someone else come out and deliver that stuff for us, but financially that just wasn't feasible. We had to cut some things out of our budget to do it the way we did. But in reality, it will help if we end up having to sell, since it will add some curb appeal to not have massive weed jungles on all sides. It's impossible for me to keep up with it all! Hopefully it won't come to that, though. And to be honest, it probably wouldn't sell for what we'd need anyway....ah well...moving on!

We had optimistically got a movie from Redbox to watch last night. We didn't get to watch it because the work took longer than we thought. We didn't even get to staining the playset! So I'll more than likely have to pay for another night.

Yesterday was the last free weekly Monday they're doing, too. Yeah, I know, it sucks. I wish they would continue doing it weekly, as I only recently started taking advantage of it, but they're not giving us as good a deal anymore. However, they are going to start doing free monthly Monday starting next month, for over the summer. We'll be taking advantage of that. For more information you can go to Inside Redbox.

As for our HASP application, we're still waiting to hear. The waiting period keeps getting longer, as more people are learning about (good!) the program and applying for it. They said it could be anywhere from now to another three weeks before we hear. So far we're still scraping by.

I've learned this will all come down what they call the Net Present Value Analysis. That's where, after reviewing all the information they have for your application, the market, and your property, they decide if the mortgage investor would make more money on a loan modification or a foreclosure. They also weigh the risks of your situation in their decision. Hopefully, between the down market and the incentives the government is offering them, our situation will look more profitable for a modification. I found an online explanation that explains this better, if you're interested.

Anyway, we're plugging along. Overall, I'd say I have more to be thankful for than to complain about. I just have to remember that on the bad days ;)

Friday, April 17, 2009

Back to Writing

I've been thinking a lot about writing lately. I do consider what I do here as writing. After all, it's article writing in a sense. But truly, my first love has always been fiction. I've been blessed with an overactive imagination. My kids have always loved it when I come up with little "what would happen if..." stories for them, but that's not really the area I most excel in--though it is a lot of fun to make up a story that puts the wicked witch of Snow White as the good guy. Haha

I've had a story in my mind for several years now. I've outlined just about the whole thing in notebooks and know what I want to do with it in my mind. I also have a very rough draft of the first 80+ pages. The problem? I'm not such a good mommy when I'm in writing mode. I'm inattentive, impatient and totally absorbed in what I'm doing in front of me (lost in the world of my creation, is a good way to put it).

I thought about, and tried to put the story on hold while raising my munchkins, but it just won't stop running through my head. It's still there, no matter how many articles I write, different subjects I research, or boo-boos I kiss.

So, what to do? I got inspiration from reading an author's (whom I'm a huge fan of) website. She's written several books all while being a mommy to three (one less than me, but who's counting? LOL). She's become hugely successful and it all started with a dream (as coincidentally did my idea). If you haven't guessed who I'm talking about, it's Stephenie Meyer.

I actually haven't visited her site before yesterday, despite discovering and devouring her twilight series last year. When I did visit it yesterday for the first time, I found the story behind her popular series very inspiring.

I went to bed last night thinking about how I too, could try to make a go of my dream. Writing has always been a passion for me, and it's an incredible release. But the fact is, my family will always come first. I don't want to be a half-decent parent. I want to be the best mother. I'd started to assume that meant I couldn't do my book. But I think I was wrong. I think I just need to do what I've been fighting against, and create a workable schedule (I hate schedules--haha). I already know I have my hubby's support, and that helps.

This definitely isn't a get rich quick scheme, though if I'm lucky, and do it right, there is the possibility of making money at it. I think I'm going to go revisit those pages of my dusty novel--perhaps while the kiddies are still abed dreaming. I usually take that time to sleep too, but I know I could get by with a bit less sleep, and feel even more fulfilled than I already do (since I get a lot from being a mom).

If you're a writer looking to improve your writing skills or get your work published, there are some great places to start out there:

Writer's Digest is a great way to get started with access to books, magazines, competitions and more.

Zoetrope is a great place to network with other writers and share work. Though it is not one-sided and you require work on your side. The site is entirely free.

WritersNet also has it's value for the writer, publisher and literary agents out there with its resources and discussion forums. Another free site!

WritersMarket is a great resource if you're wanting to know where to submit your work. You can even try it online risk free for seven days. If you buy the book, I believe they give you a promo code to access their internet resources for less.

You shouldn't have to spend a lot of money, or even any at all to make this happen though. Your local library and the internet are great places to look for information when your wallet is empty. If you do have some money to spend and want to comparison shop to get more for your money. Amazon and Ebay are good places to look.

So that's what's been on my mind today. I'm glad to have shared it with you:) Keep dreaming and make it a reality!






Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Saving with Knowledge and Waste Less

Are there days when you go through your kitchen cabinets and refrigerator and just shake your head at all the food you're throwing out? What a waste! You're not alone. There is, however, something you can do about it, all by changing the way you store your foods.

I found this great site that gives information on what foods should be stored where. Some of this stuff I already knew, but I did learn a few things I didn't know, like the fact that potatoes give off a gas that ripen onions faster. And did you know that honey is one of the only foods that doesn't go bad? I knew it had a long shelf life, and that I could heat it when it starts to crystallize to get it running smooth again, but I had no idea I never have to throw it out. Cool! Where did I get this information? I found it in the article How to Keep Foods Fresh Longer. Be sure to check it out and learn how you can keep your food longer and waste less.

On another note, we've learned a lesson about our gardening. We found that the fluorescent light we bought, coupled with our warm closet where we ended up growing our garden seeds, worked very well--in fact, a little too well. I think we really should've held off planting some of the seeds until this weekend. Here's what I've learned:

Tomatoes and bell peppers should be started early, so the end of March or Early April, when you're planning on doing your outside planting in Mid-May is a good time to start those seeds.

Cucumbers, carrots, watermelon and Cantaloupe can all be started the end of March too, but they grow faster, so can even be done in mid-to-late April for mid-to-late May planting.

Peas grow fast! They are cold hardy and so can be planted directly in the ground as soon the soil is workable. Lettuce is also in this category. Because of this you can plant them directly in the ground, or if you're wanting to do starters, don't start them too early. A few weeks is plenty of time for the peas especially.

Corn, I've read, doesn't much like to be transplanted. We've done some starters for them (before we did all the research) and they did very well at first. But they're growing so fast that the roots are going outside of the containers. Also, they don't much like their roots to be wet, and it will cause them to rot, so you don't want to over water. It's best to just plant corn directly in the ground after the danger of frost has passed--which is mid-May here.

We've learned a lot in our first experience starting seeds. We'll do even better next year, I'm sure. I'm happy with what we've got so far though, and am excited to get our little plants out in the garden.

As for the compost, if you remember, I told you we were considering two landfills and the local sewer district. I did my homework before making the choice, and though the sewer district was much cheaper, I wasn't convinced of the safeness of using it in our vegetable garden. Expert opinions on this is mixed, but one common consensus I found was that vegetable plants where the roots are eaten (like carrots, radishes and potatoes for example) should not be planted in biosolids. Makes sense to me! If you're needing compost for your ornamentals though, you may want to consider biosolid compost as a less expensive option.

So we got our compost from the Bountiful Landfill for $30/truck load. It looks great! I'm impressed with the quality of it and have high hopes for our garden this year. I know I'll be grinning when I bypass the produce department at the grocery store! Haha!

Anyway, read up on your perishables and lessen your waste. And if you haven't already, think about doing your own garden this year. It's the perfect time to get things started. For tips and resources, go to my other garden articles.