Homemade Caramel Dip Recipe

http://www.tammysrecipes.com/homemade_caramel_dip

I added a pinch of nutmeg to this recipe and it turned out great!

Alphie's Back!

Do you remember playing with Alphie as a kid? I loved the way his face lit up, the feel of the buttons, and the satisfaction of solving a puzzle. Playskool brought him back to be enjoyed by a new generation. I'm so excited to play with him again! I mean, uhh, to let my daughter discover the fun of Alphie.

Sweepstakes Win!

This week I won free pasta and pasta sauce from Barilla by entering this sweepstakes:
http://www.barillaus.com/Pages/Share-The-Table-Registration.aspx

Recipe: Laura's Unbelievable Chicken and Pasta

Here is a simple and delicious recipe you can make in 30-40 minutes.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lauras-Unbelievable-Chicken-and-Pasta/Detail.aspx

Rated: Submitted By: OURGANG Photo By: gapch1026 Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 20 Minutes Ready In: 30 Minutes Servings: 6

"A dream for families, this creamy chicken dish is a great way to get the kids to eat their spinach."

INGREDIENTS:

4 (6 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch strips 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth 1 (10 ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed and drained

1 (8 ounce) package cold cream cheese, cubed 10 cherry tomatoes, halved 1 (16 ounce) package dry penne pasta

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Bring large pot of water to a boil, and stir in penne pasta.
2.	Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, cook chicken cubes in broth; simmering until done, about 10 minutes. Stir in cubed cream cheese and spinach. Return to simmer, and cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cherry tomatoes, and cook about 3 minutes more.
3.	In a large bowl, mix together cooked, drained pasta and sauce. Let stand a few minutes before serving.

We No Speak Americano ft. Cleary & Harding

I can't stop watching this video!

http://www.neatorama.com/2010/09/13/we-no-speak-americano/

Half Price Tickets to Eckert's!

Groupon comes through again with half-price tickets to Eckert's Orchard in Belleville.

http://www.groupon.com/r/uu5044790

Yard Sale Reviews for Saturday September 11

825 E. Oak open until noon today. All kid's clothes 25 cents! Lots of girls clothes 6mo -4T and a few boys clothes.

427 S. 5th Great quality cute girls clothes 0-4T, no boys. Most $2.00 each.

Sweepstakes

http://www.usscpromotions.com/tid/coffee/

One grand-prize winner will receive a $40,000 Prize Package for a Kitchen Makeover, which includes a $39,000 budget for kitchen renovations of your existing kitchen through a major home improvement center—plus, $1,000 worth of Starbucks® Coffee and coffee-making equipment.

My New Favorite Diaper Bag Toy

As my daughter gets older her interests tend to gravitate towards toys with lights and loud noises. This isn't usually appropriate at restaurants and other public places where she needs to wait for extended periods of time.

My challenge: to find a toy small enough to fit into a diaper bag that is quiet and will hold her interest.

My solution: Goobi.

Katy lavishes her focused attention on these toys for at least 10 precious minutes at a time. Assembling, disassembling and rearranging magnetic sticks and steel balls into countless shapes and forms even holds my interest. Young children need supervision to avoid swallowing the small pieces.

Cartoon Character Dishes

I recently threw away one of my daughter's Mickey Mouse plastic plates because the coating protecting the Mickey Mouse image started bubbling up and broke open. I went to the baby and toddler aisle to find a replacement and went wide-eyed, again, at the prices, $3.50 for one plastic plate emblazoned with cartoon characters that I couldn't freeze, microwave or put in the dishwasher. I couldn't do it. After some searching I decided to buy 6 shallow Rubbermaid food containers for $4 and change. They're dishwasher safe, microwavable, freezable and have lids so that I can store leftovers. So, they're not cute. Mickey Mouse never helped my daughter eat more vegetables anyway.

This experience reinforced my #1 saving tip when buying for babies and toddlers: don't buy from the baby and toddler aisle unless you have to. You will pay a premium for something you can probably find cheaper in another section of the store. There's not much choice when it comes to diapers and formula. You can save big money by buying medicine, hygiene products and toddler dishes elsewhere.

Groupon

There's a great website to get discounts on activities and places in St. Louis.

http://www.groupon.com/r/uu5044790

Today's Side Deal:
$20 for Five Single-Admission Tickets to The Magic House ($43.75 Value)

CVS Back to School Deals

CVS starts their back to school deals this coming week. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday only get a 10 pack of pens and a pair of small scissors for free (after extra buck).

Yard Sale Reviews For Saturday June 12

The advertised biggest yard sale ever on IL 127 S across from the Greenville airport is large, but not wholly impressive. It's about 50% clothes in a wide variety of sizes. Most of the clothes are very nice and I saw several name brands. The prices are decent too. If you're after clothes, this yard sale is for you. They have a few infant toys and household goods of average quality.

The yard sale on Dewey has several pieces of nice, new, discounted Tupperware. Overall, the items offered are limited.

The Clarence yard sale is also small. They have some clothes for 12 mo and younger. I did see a sturdy wooden desk in good condition.

Yard Sales for Saturday May 15

A. 1205 Idler Ln 8-?
B. 704 N Idler Ln 7-2
C. 1501 Butternut Dr 8-?
D. 516 Vine Street 7-1
E. 517 West College Ave 8-?
F. 809 4th Street 8-12
G. 929 Beaumont 8-12

Zoom out to see the full map.

View Larger Map

Saturday, May 8, Yard Sales

A. Lakeview Subdivision off of Red Ball Trail 8-1
B. 7 Spring Hill 8-11am
C. 1201 Joshu Court 8-1
D. 1309 Killarney Drive 8-12
E. 1100 Killarney (1st Christian Ch) 8-1
F. 502 Killarney 7-11:30am
G. 801 Vine Street 7-1
H. 429 E. Winter 8-12
I. 622 S. Charles 8-?
J. 634 Illinois 127 8-12
K. 520 W. Harris 7-1
L. 515 S. 3rd 9-3

Zoom out to see the full map.

View Larger Map

Friday Yard Sales

A. 7 Spring Hill -until 6pm
B. 220 Cedar -until 4pm
C. 525 W. South St. -until 4pm
D. 515 S. 3rd St -until 4pm

Zoom Out to see all locations

View Larger Map

Yard Sale Review

I went to the indoor yard sale across from the Greenville High School (former Goody's Feed Store). They don't have tons of stuff, but I really liked what I saw. They have 10 or so computer chairs that look new, plus other used office furniture. The clothes and toys are in generally good condition. They have several tires for sale. The prices are slightly higher than what I would have liked to see, but they're willing to barter. I recommend you visit this yard sale tonight, open until 8 pm, or tomorrow from 7 am to noon.

Saturday April 24 Yard Sales

825 N Elm 8am
421 Mill Hill 8-2
1503 Red Ball Trail 8am
1452 Hastings Cemetary Ave. 8am

Saturday Yard Sales

I've been unexpectedly called into work tomorrow morning so I won't be able to make it to as many yard sales as I had hoped. Here is a map of the local yard sales for tomorrow. Zoom out to see all the addresses on the map.

A. 555 E HARRIS (PAIN RELIEF CENTER PARKING LOT) 8-1pm
B. 522 S ELM 8am-?
C. 310 S 2ND (1ST U.M. CHURCH) 8-2pm
D. 842 N LOCUST 8-12 noon
E. 1000 E STATE ROUTE 140 (GHS CAFETERIA) 8-12 noon
F. 1406 KILLARNEY 6:30-1pm

One sale didn't list an address. It just says "7 miles south of Mulberry on Mulberry Grove Rd." It's supposed to be a huge 3 family sale.


View Larger Map

Friday Yard Sales

There's not much yard sale activity today, but I see lots advertised for tomorrow.

This morning I went to the sale on the corner of Winter and Biggs. It's small but has a few gems. They have flower pots and a shepherd's hook, some quilting material and various decorative nick-knacks.

Yard Sale Reviews

I didn't see any yard sales advertised in the Advocate for this weekend. Hopefully we'll have some great ones next weekend.

Deals at IGA

Now through Sunday get strawberries for $1.50 and Cool Whip for 99 cents at IGA in Greenville.

A Lower Calorie Easter

Candy is a great part of Easter. I loved it as a kid and still do as an adult. Now that I have a child of my own I see the value of having a little less candy around this year. Instead of hiding candy in the plastic Easter eggs, hide puzzle pieces and spend an afternoon putting together the puzzle.

Labeling Kids' Cups

Do you have trouble keeping your kids' names on their travel cups? If I write on it with permanent marker it comes off in the dishwasher. If I use the address labels provided by the nursery they leave sticky marks on the cup. I read a great tip today in Parents magazine about labeling kids' cups. Write your child's name, in permanent marker, on a wide rubber band and put the rubber band on the cup.

April Fool's Day

April Fool's Day is coming up. I read, in Parents magazine, about a great joke to play on your kids. Fill a cup 3/4 full of milk and freeze it overnight. On April Fool's Day morning top it off with more milk. Watch the surprise on your kids' faces when they can't drink anymore.

Sweepstakes Win!

I know I post several sweepstakes links here, but that's because I believe you can win great prizes from them. This month I won a Leapster 2!

Olive Garden's 2010 Win a Culinary Tour of Italy Sweepstakes

Olive Garden's 2010 Win a Culinary Tour of Italy Sweepstakes

Ancestry.com(R) - The Ultimate Family History Journey Sweepstakes

Ancestry.com(R) - The Ultimate Family History Journey Sweepstakes

Vocal Point Coupons This Month

This month I received coupons for a FREE box of Kashi cereal and $1.50 off of Kellogg's Clever Kids fruit flavored snacks.

Sign up for coupons for free at www.vocalpoint.com

$100 Coupon Book

$100 Coupon Book
http://www.thankyoumom.com/coupons.jsp?utm_source=herbalEssences&utm_medium=imedia&utm_content=image&utm_campaign=teamUSA

You can get a $100 coupon book when you buy $50 worth of P&G products. You would buy most of these things anyway. See details, including the coupons you would receive, at the website link above.

Secret to Cheaper Baby Medicine

It took us months to figure out that Walmart only puts their name brand medicine in the baby aisles. They carry generic medicine for infants and children but you have to look near the pharmacy.

Ice Cream Lovers

www.prairiefarms.com often has coupons for ice cream, yogurt, sour cream, dips and more.

Never Pay Full Price for Cereal

I've been couponing for several months now. One thing I've learned: you should never pay full price for cereal. There's always a coupon out there for something. A lot of the coupons are for sugar cereals, but you can find more healthy options without much trouble. Today I found coupons for cereals like Special K, Raisin Bran, Corn Flakes, All bran, Crispix and Mini-wheats.

My two favorite sites are
www.coupons.com
www.couponsuzy.com

Free Sample of Huggies Diaper

http://www.huggiespureandnatural.com/freesample.aspx

Fill in your information and get a free sample of Huggies Pure and Natural Diaper plus a coupon, size Newborn or 1 only.

Peach Lime Fish

I was going to make this recipe:

1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound tilapia fillets
salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, mix the honey, lime juice, and garlic. Season tilapia with salt and pepper, place in the bowl, and marinate 1 hour in the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven or until flaky.

But I didn't have any honey. I used peach preserves instead and it was delicious!

Save Money on Your Utility Bills

The Ameren website has several tools to help you save money and energy at home.

Check out their savings calculator tools
http://www.ameren.com/Residential/ADC_CalculateYourEnergySavings-IL.asp

and

If you look at your bill online you can take an energy survey about your house and it will tell you how much energy you use and get personalized recommendations on how to make your house more energy efficient.