BzzAgent- Product Testing

I have always wanted to be a product tester and food be on a food testing panel. I still do. But I am not up for eating any and everything. So I will just stick to searching and test recipes out at my own leisure.

A have signed up to be a product tester in the past with several sites and even ones that came in the mail.. But it was slow moving..I just did surveys after surveys and never got much of a response. I think one time I tested out some seasonings. 
But I am now I am happy to announce that I am  officially a product tester. I signed up on a few sites. But BzzAgent was the first to respond to me. I am so super excited about this. You do need to do some surveys and there is a lot..but this is how they determine products and services you would be fit for. They call them campaigns. I am currently in a redbox campaign. You get a month free of streaming and 4 redbox credits so that u can get get movies or games from the machine. I have stream a couple of movies and will be using atleast 2 of my credits tomorrow to get a game and a movie for thanksgiving day. You are expected to tweet, facebook and blog about your experiences with ur campaigns that you are in. That is how you get more. You must be active. so I will definitely be posting periodically about my experiences. Did I say how exciting this is for me.

I am also in another campaign for cottonelle that starts in a few days. I am waiting on my kit to arrive. I will keep you posted as on that one as well.
If you always wanted to be a product tester give BzzAgent a try.

https://www.bzzagent.com/

Stock Pile 101 beginners

I have always couponed. Since I was shopping for my own things. Which is when I had my first real job at 16. I have been couponing seriously at it for 3yrs. I love it. I love the challenge. I love the deals. I was faithful and consistent for the first 2 years. I built up a very very nice stockpile. So much so that I have lived off of it for the past 1 1/2yrs. During that 3yr time I did some donations to senior communities. That made me super fulfilled. And when I came across struggling moms or individuals that I may have overheard needed help.  My family and close friend circle knew I was great  at couponing so they came over to shop sometimes. I didn't mind because I knew I was going to stock back up. It really is a rush hunting down these next to nothing deals. While I lived off my stock pile for the last year and a half I wasn't as diligent and only hunted down the best of the best deals. In the last 4 months I didn't do any couponing at all. Only because I was moving and I was pretty much doing it myself. With the exception of my sis and my daughter. I had tons to pack and just didn't think it was best to add more stock pile to pack. Trust me I wanted to. But it was just too much. Now I am fully in my new home with more space to...yes store my stock pile. It is time!!!

Now coupons are not what is used to be. You do have to hunt a little harder for deals. Because of the exposure from I think the tv show extreme couponing. Its a little harder and u have to put in the work for ur deals. But I do get them.

There are other pics..I have food pictures..i hope i can find them.. I will update I do.                             















Tips are sign up on coupon blogs. Follow them on twitter and have their post streamed to your phone, that way you can get info at anytime. And while you're out..if you forget what the deal is just pull it up. You can sign up on Kroger, Meijer, target..or your favorite stores. They have printable and ecoupons. You can also sign up for a sunday coupon review. It tells you how many books to expect and gives you some details on what coupons will be in the insets.That way you know whats coming and  you can kinda decide if that weeks inserts is right for you before you buy a newspaper. And what coupons you want to focus on getting duplicates of.  You can buy coupons too but I haven't done that. Too nervous about fake ones.Save your bottle returns for great deals if u really don't need to use them right away. They can come in handy for things that cost a little more or what u don't have coupons for but really need that item. I save mines up until I do a large shopping so little comes out of my pocket.
One of my biggest tips, and I learned the hard way, BE PREPARED!!! To prevent being in the store forever, or mixing your deals from one store to another or having the wrong item for the coupon u need to use, or not noticing an expired coupon while you wait for that perfect deal..be prepared.

GET ORGANIZED.. Group your deals by store and by aisle. I have a binder with inserts for separations. I also keep small pair of scissors in my zip pocket of my binder so in case I get lucky on more coupons b4 I make it to the store. I also keep sheets of paper for notes. I used to get so confused on my 10/10 deals or buy 10 get 11th free or my krogers buy selected items save $5. I would always be short or to many if I did the deal more than once. so I would right down exactly what I planned on getting. So now my deals are right.

Start small and work your way to a good couponer as you learn how to stack coupons and hunt down these deals. Your pocket will be happier for your efforts.
So lets build or rebuild that stock pile.

Here is a link to show a little bit about starting out.
http://livewellnetwork.com/Deals/episodes/Stockpiling-Home-Products-To-Save-Money/8297271
http://livewellnetwork.com/Deals/episodes/Modern-Day-Couponing/8192087

Naked Juice Lawsuit

I haven't had a chance to discuss parts of my healthy living. I do have a Jack Lalanne juicer. I have been juicing for the better part of at least 10 years. I will be posting my favorite juicings at a later date. What I want to talk about today is about the Naked juice. There is a lawsuit going on because they have announce that there not as natural as proclaimed. Now I have had this brand before. They didn't appeal to me all that much and I thought that was because I had experienced real juicing with my juicer. I got a few here and there anyway trying different flavors because they were suppose to be healthy. I did have 1 flavor that I liked but its been a good while since I had it that I cant recall the flavor. Now I find that it may not all be true. Believe me there is not much I can eat or drink anyway if I don't like it much. It has been a while since I have had them because But I came across Bolthouse Farms juices. Now these appeal to me very much. I love a lot of there flavors of juices. Not much of a smoothie fan of theirs but I love the juices. Green Goodness and Blue Goodness are my 2 favorites. I take them with me if I go to the gym or after a good intense workout. Now I am going to have to do some research to make sure that they are legit. But in the meantime I will be using my jack lalanne juicer full time. At least I know everything in them is real.

If you have used Naked juices you can file a claim to get a part of the suit from Pepsico.
If you can prove purchase with receipts the claim received is $75. If you cannot prove purchase the claim received is $45.    

http://www.naturalnews.com/041817_Naked_Juice_class_action_settlement_claim_form.html#ixzz2iew7c3RV

Java Almond Scrub

I saw this on living well yesterday morning. It makes a large batch. I think I am going to cut it in half until I know if I like it.

Java Almond Scrub

• 2 cups ground Coffee
• 1/2 cup Himalayan Pink Salt
• 1/2 cup Turbinado Sugar
• 1/3 cup Olive Oil
• 3 Tbs. Almond Oil

Combine all ingredients in an airtight container or jar; mix well. Scrub will keep in a cool, dry place for about a month. To use: Rub scrub in a circular motion over entire body, starting from feet to head. This helps to increase lymphatic drainage.

Over the last five years, caffeine has made an appearance in numerous skin care lines. Caffeine dehydrates fat cells by energizing them, which in turn causes the sodium/potassium component of the cells to vacate. Consequently, water disappears as well. Caffeine tightens and firms the skin, therefore reducing the appearance of cellulite.
Coffee contains natural oils which soften the skin while exfoliating it. Himalayan Pink Salt has over 80 essential and trace minerals including calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron and copper. Himalayan Pink Salt helps to re-mineralize, remineralize, and draw toxins out of the skin. It also balances moisture content, relieves aches and pains, improves circulation, and may heal skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis. Since olive oil has many beneficial antioxidant properties, it protects the skin from harmful free radicals and helps to reduce the signs of aging. Olive oil is high in Vitamin E, which makes it incredibly moisturizing and nourishing. Almond oil is extremely moisturizing and nourishing; it soothes skin irritation, acts as a natural anti-inflammatory, and delays the aging process

Sunday Coupon Inserts and A Hot Spot

Here is what I found happing and my favorite site to find deals and coupon friends.
Check them out!!

2 coupon inserts in the Sunday paper tomorrow:
http://www.sundaycouponpreview.com/



Meijers Deals next week and black Friday sneak peak:
http://meijer.shoplocal.com/MeijerSneakPeek/Entry/LandingContent?storeid=2465902&sneakpeek=Y&listingid=0


Great place to find fellow coupon clipperss in you area:
http://www.weusecoupons.com/upload/index.php

Deal of the day..Meijer Crafts

I went to Meijer to check on prices for weather stripping for my drafty window and grab a couple food items that I had coupons for. And as always I go to areas that I love to check on for clearances. Which is kids clothes, and the crafting section. And Meijer I noticed was low on stock by the sticker area last week. So this week, low and behold they had new sticker racks to condense the sticker section down and made room for a new line of crafting paper and stamps. Cute stuff. I was inspired at some of what I saw. And get this. They were only $1. Yes!! $1. I was excited. So far I have only purchased my craft paper on sale, clearance or with a coupon at craft stores. I did get a pack of each design they had. It was some empty spaces still so I don't think they were done stocking yet. But I will surely go back and check it out. I did find a clearance item too. It was marked $1.99 . I scanned it and got it for $.89. Yay!! Always always scan a clearance item to see if its less than the sticker price. A lot of times they are. See, if u don't like the price you would more than likely put it back and wait for the price to go down some more and risk losing out on the item completely..but if u scan it and the price is lower than what's marked then u have your bargain right then and there with no wait. I love bargain hunting.

Recipe Review for Oven baked Thin-Cut Beef Steak Tommorows Dinner Baked Salmon w/ Reduced Red Currant Glaze

Dinner was once again very delicious. The steak was so tender. No knife needed. My daughter gave dinner a 10. And she went back for seconds, but I didn't let her get more potatoes. So she only got seconds on the steak and spinach. I had to remind her of the point of no to low carbs. And by the way that was the only carb all week. I give the meal a 10 also. After All I is my recipe. I usually just add seasoning salt to the spinach but this time I cooked it in chicken broth and she loved it. And remember..she hates sweet potatoes. I couldn't even get her to taste them. Her faced frowned up so bad when I got close to her mouth. I didn't feel like white potatoes.. I had 1 of each kind of potato so I cooked them both different ways. I put my potatoes in the toaster oven. I brushed 1tsp of maple syrup and 1/2 tsp of melted butter. They were awesome awesome awesome. The maple syrup is my recipe that I tweeked from a recipe I used on allrecipe.com. I changed it because it was too sweet for me and I needed it to be lower in calories. I will be posting that recipe very soon when I blog my recipe redo's. .. My daughter calls my kitchen   CHE' MOM"S. She says all kinds of good stuff comes out of my kitchen. LOL...Great compliment I would say. Cute name..I like it.

Ok.. Tomorrow dinner will be Baked Salmon w/ reduced Red Currant Glaze.
WW points 7

Recipe Review Rotisserie Chicken Bonus dessert and Tommorows Dinner recipe 5 Thin Cut Steak..Yummm!!

Today's dinner was rotisserie chicken and cucumber salad. It was the free rotisserie chicken from Sam's club. It was tender and juicy. To me it could use a bit more flavor. My daughter agreed. She brought up the fact that Kroger's taste better. So she gave it a 6. I think I will give it a 7. We both love my cucumber recipe. I eat cucumber salad on a regular basis but this was new for my daughter. She gave the salad a 10. She wanted more but I only had 2 cucumbers. I cant lie I wanted more too. So next time I will use maybe 4 cucumbers. she likes drum sticks. I do not..So u can see which one is her plate.

 I decided to make dessert today too. Just a scoop of vanilla ice cream and homemade apple compote.
My daughter snacks on these apples already sliced in a package I get from walmart. So I grabbed a handful and pealed them. Cut them up and cooked them in 1c water 1tsp cinnamon, 1T sugar and 1tsp cornstarch. My daughter was loving it. I do wish my scoops were more uniformed. And the bowls are the same size so it's weird how one bowl looks bigger than the other. I guess it was where I was standing when I took the shot. So when we were done eating I was headed to the kitchen to clean up and I caught my daughter eating the apples right out of the pot. Caught red handed. Her eyes popped. She said mom I cant help it. I just laughed. The look on her face was too funny but it didn't stop her from eating it..I hid the rest in the back of the fridge.

Tomorrow's Dinner:
So my daughter has been a good sport so far about the no to low carb meals. but she asked if she could please have potatoes tomorrow and I'm giving in. She doesn't like sweet potatoes at all but in order for her to get white potato she has to taste my sweet potatoes. She reluctantly agreed. So yes I am cooking to kinds of potatoes tomorrow. Included is thin cut slow baked onion smothered steak and chicken spinach. This is also my recipe.

2 thin cut steak    liquid smoke
garlic powder      1/2 onion
onion powder       seasoning salt

2 pk frozen spinach
1 can chicken broth

1 potato                            1 sweet potato (cut in wedges)
dash salt                           1/2 butter
dash pepper                      1T maple syrup
3T milk

Cut white potato for boiling. Cook until for tender. Drain.
Add rest of ingredients and mix well until light and fluffy.

Cut sweet potato into wedges. Line baking sheet with foil. brush melted butter and maple syrup over both sides of the wedges. Bake until fork tender.

Boil spinach in chicken broth until not frozen. Approx. 5 min and drain to stop the cooking process. You want the spinach to be bright green and still full of its nutrients.

WW points 7 for meal w/ white potato
WW points 8 for meal w/ sweet potato

Recipe Review and Tommorows 4 Dinner Free Rotisserie From Sam's Club and Cucumber salad

Todays dinner was Ranch cheddar turkey burger. My recipe. It was delicious of course. My daughter has had this burger before but my worry was she never had it without a bun and would not like it. I have had it with no bun cause I eat like this all the time(no bread). She gave this meal a 10. So do I.  She said it was moist and yummy. The ranch flavor came thru nicely. For me also. Although I didn't have cheddar I was feeling a lil  chipotle cheese instead. Trust me just as yummy. She said next time put more cheddar cheese in the center for her. Aaaaand..she said it was so good that she did not miss the bread. YAY!!!

There is only my plate in the pic today because my daughter had to work so I packed everything up for her to take with her. That is strawberry zevia. I found this and a few other flavors at this health food store in Ann Arbor called Plum Market. They had flavors that I have never seen in grocery stores.

Tomorrow's recipe:

So I did go to Sam's Club and sign up for the year membership. The $45 deal I posted Sunday. I received the coupon for the free rotisserie chicken. So that will be for dinner tomorrow along with cucumber salad. The salad is my recipe. I was tired of just plain cucumber slices so this what I came up with.

2 cucumbers cut in half and spoon out seeds. Slice thin. mix in 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 1 1/2t of lemon juice and 1 pack of stevia. Adjust to your flavor liking. This is just a basic recipe. I tend to have to adjust this myself depending on the flavor of the cucumber.

WW points 4

Recipe review and Tomorrow's dinner 3 Open-Faced Ranch Turkey Burgers

Dinner was absolutely delicious. It was Teriyaki bacon wrapped scallops. My daughter gives it a 10 and so do I. I have to say again..It was delicious. The scallop was so tender. Some parts of the bacon was crisp and some parts not. Which to me was perfect to have some crunch here and there. The teriyaki marinated in beautifully into the scallops. The ginger a great top-off. I would definitely make this recipe again. That's my zevia drink. Its cream soda. I love these drinks. I first found out about these from a lady in a weight watchers meeting. Its made with stevia. I love these drinks. Great flavors.

 

Tomorrow's recipe: Open-Face Ranch Cheddar Turkey Burger

Now this is my made up recipe. Very simple. 1 package of ground turkey, I use garlic, onion and chili powder, dash of cayenne pepper, seasoning salt, and ranch dressing all to taste. I cook a tiny little mini burger to taste the flavors and make sure its just right. I shape all the burgers and but a tablespoon of shredded cheddar in the middle and seal it in. I cook them on my George Forman grill. No Bread!!!
I am going to lay the burger on a couple of green leaf lettuce. Dress it up how ever u like. I am going to add lots of thin sliced onion, mustard, and ketchup. My daughter, I don't know..I know it wont be onion..she hates it..She probably may use bbq sauce.

WW points: 5

Recipe Review and tomorrow's dinner 2 Teriyaki bacon wrapped scallops..Sounds Delicious

Today's meal was spicy ginger chicken and a salad. I recipe was very easy to prep. Smelling the marinade and during the cooking I was smelling cinnamon. So that made me worry that the 1/4 t was too much and the chicken would have to much of a cinnamon flavor. But we sat down to eat dinner and it was stronger in ginger flavor which I liked. the cinnamon flavor was there but not like how I thought. The chicken was good but for me it was missing something..sorta bland. I gave it a 7. My daughter gave it a 6. We wound up putting a little bbq sauce on it. I wouldn't mind making it again but I would surely put my own twist on it. Guess I shoulda mad the chicken face the same way lol. O well. For the salad I always use green leaf lettuce. My daughter wanted Parmesan cheese, sliced grapes and a little bit of egg so a gave her 1 slice of my egg. I chose an egg and shredded cheddar.

Tomorrow's recipe is from all recipes.com. Teriyaki bacon wrapped sea scallops and my vegetable stir fry. Which will be zucchini, beansprouts, green, and red pepper, onion and baby carrots.

Teriyaki Bacon Wrapped Scallops

Ingredients:

1/2 cup teriyaki sauce 1/3 cup brown sugar 3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root

18 slices bacon, halved crosswise 12 large sea scallops, cut into thirds 36 toothpicks

Directions:

1.	Set oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler. Line 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil.
2.	Whisk teriyaki sauce, brown sugar, and ginger in a bowl.
3.	Wrap each piece of scallop with a strip of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Dip each bacon wrapped scallop in the teriyaki sauce mixture and arrange on one of the prepared baking sheets.
4.	Broil in preheated oven until lightly charred, about 6 minutes. Flip scallops and transfer to the clean baking sheet and return scallops to the oven. Continue to broil until bacon is charred on the second side, about 6 minutes more WW POINT 8

Coupons and deals

There are 3 coupon books this Sunday. I hope there are some good 1's this week. For me they haven't been that good lately and my stock pile is going down...I will be doing my homework as always before I head to the stores for my deals. I know some ppl I have read that they plan their meals and then go and shop for the deals. Not I. I get what ever it is that gives me the best deals..then I plan my meals off of my bargains. I feel like..let me get hold of the deals first. LOL

Meijer's is also have 10 for $10 get 11th item free.
Kroger has a mega event going on..im going to check the match-ups out later today.
Sam's club has $45 membership deal..includes $20 gift card free rotisserie chicken, apple pie and scalloped potatoes, and $200 in savings offers ($85.14 value). That is pretty nice. Usually there membership I feel is too much but this deal I may consider because they have great deals on bottled water and W/ a $20 gift card that is like paying $25 for membership. Its good for 1 year.
 Yea I will be checking that out.

Stay tuned for updates

Recipe 1 Ginger-Spiced Chicken

This is the first recipe of the 2week no to low carb meal. This recipe comes from my favorite healthy cookbook. I love this book. I have tried many of the recipes but I haven't tried this one. A heads up: This recipe requires a 2 hour refrigeration in marinade before cooking.

If you have this book. Its on page 313.
If not here is the recipe:

4 skin/boneless chicken breast   1 t ground coriander
1/2 chopped green onion           1/2 t paprika
1/2 c orange juice                     1/4 t salt
1 T brown sugar                       1/4 t gr cinnamon
1 T chopped fresh ginger           1/4 t black pepper
1 T olive oil                            nonstick cooking spray
2 cloves of garlic minced          2 c hot rice

1. Place chicken in a plastic bag set in shallow dish. For marinade, in a small bowl combine green onions, orange juice, brown sugar,ginger,oil,garlic,coriander,paprika,salt cinnamon,and pepper. Pour over chicken; seal bag. Marinate in refrigerator for 2 hours turning bag occasionally. Drain chicken. reserve the marinade.
2. Lightly coat a 2 quart rectangular baking dish with t nonstick cooking spray. Arrange chicken in the prepared baking dish; pour marinade over chicken.
3. Bake, uncovered, in a 375* oven about 20 min or until chicken is tender and no longer pink.(170*F).. Spoon rice onto dinner plate. Strain the juices remaining in baking dish; spoon juices over chicken

332 cal, 6g total fat, 82 mg chol, 228 sodium, 31g carbo, 1g fiber, 36g protein
Exchange: 1/2 starch, 1 other carb, 4 meat
WW points 6..That's with 1/2 cup rice

But I am not including the rice with this mea. I don't want use a carb this early in the week..so I am subbing with a side salad.


 

SAME OLD SAME OLD

I am laying here watching young and the restless. The episodes that I missed this week, Thinking how I have been fighting all week how I feel about being single. It has really been bothering me this week. There has got to be more. There has got to be a love out there somewhere for me. I hope he is looking for me as hard as I am looking for him. I have done the web dating on and off for a couple of years. It has not been fun for me. The guys that reply do not fit my listed criteria of what I am looking for. Or they reply from other states. I mean Michigan is a big state. I thinking of trying speed dating.A friend tried it and she said she had a great time. And she met someone. I just don't know if that is for me. There has to be someone in my home state for me.  I am very aware that I am blessed. I am healthy and my girls are well..and my mom is stronger. I am blessed to have some talents and to be good with my hands. I live right...I teach my girls the right way to live. I donate..I volunteer(which I need to get back into that more). I always try to do the right thing, After all I am an example for my daughters. I teach them to give apart of themselves and their time because you don't know how much a good deed, a hello or a smile could make some ones day a little better.

 I did say this has been a difficult week right. And it gets harder after my girls go to bed. Its so quiet. I just don't get it. I just don't understand why I don't have someone to love me. Every day and I go to bed alone and I wake up alone. No one to say good morning or good night..no one asking how was my day..no one to say, I was just thinking about you. no nothing. Now tomorrow I may feel fine..my spirits may get raised. who knows, I may even meet someone, but today, tonight dammit I am sick of being single.

EVERYONE HAS AN IRRESISTIBLE DESIRE TO BE IRRESISTIBLE!!!!

Next Weeks Cooking Plans for Healthy Eating Challenge

If u have read my weight loss blog last week..then u know that I have lost then 32pds..Now 35pds. It didn't happen without watching what I ate. And exercise. I do splurge and have a treat or a special craving to make sure I don't fall into the self trap of over doing it because I feel deprived. I have always love to cook. But I cook a lot more and no processed food. Well very little. I mean like once or twice a month if that. I find myself cooking 2 ways. My way for me and another way for my girls. Every times I have fish or salmon I would cook something else for them. Starting Mon Nov. 4. for the next 2 weeks I thought I would cook 1 way for everybody. My daughters likes fried, loves pasta, potatoes and shrimp. My oldest daughter hates fish tuna and salmon. I hate shrimp..I rarely eat fried foods and I monitor my carbs.  I realized why cook one way for me to lose weight but then feed my daughter what I wont eat. So I am going to introduce ways to incorporate them all (our likes and dislikes) in healthy and tasty ways so that even my girls will eat fish and salmon. Its a challenge but I am up for it. I hope. I will be pulling out my trusty cookbooks and going to my favorite recipe sites to pull out the best most interesting meals. My daughter has tried some of my meals before but she always ate what she liked. Now that all meals will be health conscious we will see what I can pull out of my arsenal. LOL. There will be no processed, no fried and low to no carbs meals. I will be posting everyday and put as much info as possible far as recipes and my sources from where I got the recipes so that you guys can try them too.
Now since I cook a lot I do have must have staples in my pantry.
onion powder       chili powder             olive oil            liquid smoke
garlic powder       paprika                     curry powder
seasoning salt       cayenne pepper        cinnamon
oregano                turmeric                    nutmeg
But I realized I needed these included in my pantry so at any time I could pretty much cook anything in my cook books without having to wait and run out for ingredients
red and white wine vinegar            dill
parsley                                            thyme    
basil                                                soy sauce
rice vinegar                                    ground ginger
cumin                                             cilantro
honey                                             jar minced garlic
agave nectar                                   bay leaf
sage