Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Trying new things

So I am currently trying out the website Swagbucks.  I have heard about it before, but it was mentioned on one of the blogs I follow this past week.

If I understand the FAQs I've been reading, you earn swagbucks for doing things through their website.  Then you can cash in those swagbucks for prizes and other things in the "swag store".  When I read the blog, my mind thinks... FREE STUFF??? Say what?

So far I've been trying to remember to use it (you can add their tool bar for easy access), you can do searches through their website (pretend it's google) and then you earn more swagbucks.  I've been signed up for 4 days already and I'm at 100 swagbucks.  A $5 giftcard for 450 swagbucks...can you say hello Christmas?  Birthday?  Thank you presents?  Yes?  I thought so.  You also get swagbucks if your referrals earn swagbucks.  There are also bonus codes, if I catch any I'll be sure to pass the love on!

Give it a try, sign up here!

Search & Win

Monday, October 18, 2010

Changing your mind...sort of.

I am one of those people who really sees things in black and white.  So I usually am very set in how I think about things.  Rarely do I change an opinion, but occasionally it does happy.

As of this week, I am officially a Crocs lover.  But these are not the original bright colored clown shoe crocs.  NO, these babies are SOOO cute!  No clown shoes here folks.  Check them out!

(photo courtesy of Crocs.com)
These are the new Croc style, called Crocband flats.  I have NEVER owned crocs before (and I have never wanted to), so wearing these rubbery flats was a new experience.  

Let me give you a little background on how I ended up with these babies.  I was in desperate need of new white flats.  My previous white flats were some ridiculously old Payless white flats with NO support, ripping out sole linings, and honestly they were no longer white.  So before work one morning I was cruising through Zappo's white flats to see what styles were out there.  I clicked on this flat, but was turned off when I realized that the brand was Crocs.  Seriously 2 hours later I was at work and one of the other young gal teachers was wearing these shoes and I got really excited when I saw how cute they were on her, with pants.  She told me she really loved them because they were so comfy and she could put them in the washer with a load of clothes, so they stayed nice and white.  UM, LOVE IT!  A white flat that stays white!??!  SWEET!



Best purchase in a while.  I have not taken them off since I got home from work!   Hubby even said he was pretty skeptical of the whole Croc thing, but he said I should see if they come in a nice red color too!  And so, I change from a Crocs disliker, to a Crocband lover!   

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Planning Ahead

As I read Centsational Girl's blog today one of her little reminders really popped out at me. (Mostly because we are only borrowing our house right now, and we WILL eventually have to give it back to it's owners and move back to my parents house).


The HOLIDAYS are coming up.  Hubby and I are SO unprepared this year.  With him starting a new job we are unsure of how much time he can take off over the holidays.  We have been planning on having a wedding reception back in MN where his parents and a ton of family and friends live.  Question being... how on earth are we going to get back there long enough to have one?   We are hoping to get this figured out soon, but seeing a remind to get your holiday travel plans figured out really worried me!



In other news... do I need to wear my wedding dress for a reception that is months AFTER the wedding.  I mean really, who keeps going to the gym AFTER their wedding?  (not me! *tisk tisk*)  Besides holding my shoulders back for my entire wedding day didn't go to well.  Gotta love them strapless dresses... SIKE!  Also... I have fully trained my MOH to put my into it, who in MN can do that?  :D


IN other planning ahead news... we are also trying to plan our honeymoon trip to Norway this coming summer....only we aren't sure how to take a month off of a job that doesn't give you paid vacation the first year...ummm?  We sure like being employed, we are sure NOT enjoying being worried about vacations!  Can't we be like Norwegians who get a whole month off a year?  Please?

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Easy Chicken-Rice Casserole

This is a rockin' recipe that I stole from Mama A.   My family LOVES this casserole, and we are not big casserole folk, so you KNOW it is gonna be yummy.

Please note:  This is a casserole that I do not measure stuff out for.  It always ends up tasting good!

(photo courtesy of fredmeyer.com)

Pre-buy: A roaster chicken that is (preferably) on sale at your local market.  Mr. Meyers makes some yummy chicken.  Also I buy the aluminum "throw-away" loaf pans so that I can stick some in the freezer for later dinners.


  1. Cook a Pot of Rice.
  2. Put that rice in a bowl with the following:
  3. The roaster chicken, but rip it up into small bite pieces!
  4. um maybe 2 cans of  cream of chicken/mushrom/whatever you have in the pantry.
  5. 2 small bags of shredded cheese, this is maybe ummm 4 or more cups?  (What, who doesn't like cheese? Also... cheese that was on sale, always a PLUS!)
  6. Chopped up veggies.  Fresh always tastes better, but we don't care if they are frozen.  What veggies taste good you ask?  Umm Carrots, Broccoli, Corn, Peas...please feel free to get creative.  How much?...umm enough so that you have some color in every bite?  
  7. Add some pepper and probably you don't need any salt because that cream of whatever you added will have tons of sodium.  (yum!)  Also, feel free to get creative and add more spices or onion, or whatever your family likes. (hot sauce?)
Mix that up, hopefully you have a huge bowl, it sometimes gets messy.  If you notice it looks too dry, or you think you need more cheese, JUST ADD IT.   Fill up some loaf pans, or a big casserole pan.  Make sure you mark on the freezer pans what the heck it is, and the date and how to cook it, and then put it in a freezer ziplock after tinfoiling it!  Cook unfrozen for...uh an hour??  at 350?? for frozen... more and hotter than that??  (I will tell you an hour at 350 for a full frozen loaf pan = a very frozen dinner 1 hr later...)  

For exhausted teachers who come home at the end of a fall day of teaching a classroom of rambunctious kiddos who would rather be outside playing, casserole full of veggie and meat and cheese that you can pop in the oven IS A GODSEND!

Friends Dinner - Chicken Cordon Bleu

Tonight was another Friends Dinner.  This is the new "official" title of our Thursday night dinners at Miss Em's house... because they are now on Sundays.  You know, football and all that jazz.

So it just becomes easier to refer to them as Friends Dinners, just in case the day of the week changes again.

This week the talented Miss Em (and my hottie hubby)  cooked up a storm.  (Literaly there were 4 pyrex casserole dishes, one deep dish electric skilled, one metal casserole dish and two pots... AND the mixer).  We enjoyed some yummy Chicken Cordon Bleu, pan seared in the electric skillet, then baked.  With whipped mashed garlic potatoes (in the mixer, SO fast and fun!)  and steamed asparagus.

But the real star of the show this week was the dessert.  Miss Em saw a jellO ad in one of hubby's Food Network mags and decided to whip (pun intended) it up.  Lemon-Raspberry Mousse scrumptiousness.  Of course I ate too many mashed potatoes to finish mine.  (Thanks Shane!)

(photo courtesy of kraft dot com)


(OMG Kraft website has 207 jellO recipes with nilla wafers in the them SAY WHAT!!)

In short I may have gained some weight after eating some of my sisters scrumptious cooking and then adding chicken with ham and cheese in the middle for dinner followed by that dessert!   Oh hey leftovers that came home with me... hehe!