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!

The Homeless Dilema

I just had to write an article after the experience I had leaving the store today. I thought I'd share it here with you. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this issue.

The Homeless Dilema

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).

I'm Not Wicked, I'm Just Crazy

We all heard the fairytales growing up, and enjoyed hearing the antics of both the heroes and villains. Have you ever wondered though, what the other side of those stories would sound like?

Well, now you can find out what the wicked stepmother says really happened in Snow White. You might be surprised at how it all went down!

Check it out! :)
I'm Not Wicked, I'm Just Crazy

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!

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!

Are Parents Really Just Addicts?

It seems I'm finding all kinds of reasons to write lately, and today is no exception. When I logged in to the internet this morning I saw the headline to an article I just couldn't ignore. What was it? Parents Are Junkies. Did that just capture your attention in the same way it did mine?

I read it and had such a problem with several things stated in it that I did something I've never done before, I wrote a rebuttal. So a positive came out of the experience and I got to vent with my writing.

If any of you are interested in what I had to say, you can click on the link below here. Let me know what you think of my view.
Are Parents Really Just Addicts?

Free Offer for Family Circle--Hurry!

You can get 2 free issues of Family Circle with no cost or obligation by going to the ValueMags site. All you have to do is go to this website and tell them where to send your free issues. You will never receive a bill and no credit card is required. I just ordered mine, too! Hurry! Quantities are limited!

Lost Time

I spent a part of the weekend polishing up more of my fiction. I've got another one on Hubpages for those who are interested in reading it.

I might not be making a ton of money by putting these up, but I love sharing them. They're likely to get more attention this way than sitting in my desk drawer, right? Plus, I really love going over it all again. The nostalgia is great! :)

Lost Time

If you like this, or any of my other short stories, feel free to share them. It's really easy to link to them :)