Misc 2

Did you know that there is a National Take Your Parents To Lunch Day? I didn’t know that either, but there is. It isn’t until October 16, but I have a very good reason to tell you about it today. Rudi’s Organic Bakery is celebrating National Take Your Parents to Lunch Day  to help support healthy, active kids.

As part of the celebration Rudi’s is hosting a fun back-to-school Say Cheese Photo Contest from Aug. 1 through Sept. 15. Parents can submit photos of their children eating a yummy sandwich for the opportunity to win the grand prize of being featured in a Rudi’s ad and a $500.00 Whole Foods gift card! In addition, fans can enter for weekly prizes like iPad Minis, Amazon gift cards, and North Face backpacks on the Say Cheese Microsite and can download a $1 off coupon for Rudi’s Gluten-Free products. Thats some good reasons to take part in the contest. Even if you don’t win the grand prize, you will get a $1.00 off coupon for some good tasting Rudi’s products. Find out all the details about entering the contest here.

And here is another good thing: One lucky reader is going to win a North Face Backpack

Prize Pack full of back to school fun stuff, valued at $75!

To enter, just use the entry form below. Good Luck!

This giveaway is open to residents of the United States 18 and over. It ends on August 31, 2013. The prize is 1 Northface Backpack provided by Rudi’s Organic Bakery. The winner will be notified via email. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery of prize. The sponsor is responsible for shipping the prize to the winner.

As Moms, we have all had those days when the kids just get things dirty faster than you can clean them up. I am sure we have also had those days when the damage the kids did had to be cleaned up RIGHT NOW. For instance, when my son was about eleven years old, we moved into a brand new house. The carpet was so pretty. Until the day Seth tracked in those muddy footprints from our recently plowed front yard. Those footprints were from the front door, all the way across the living room carpet, and up the stairs to the bathroom. This happened just a couple of days before our housewarming party.

I was about to cry, until someone told me about  next day carpet cleaners. I called them up, and those professional carpet cleaners took care of the muddy stains faster than my son put them down! I was so glad to have found them!

Same Day Carpet Cleaning is a company that services New York City, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island, Bronx, Long Island, New Jersey, and Westchester. In addition to next day carpet cleaning, they also offer mattress cleaning, rug cleaning, upholstery cleaning, and water damage. Next time you need your carpet cleaned right away, give these guys a call!

Oh! my goodness. The Craftsy Summer Supplies Sale from 7/26-7/28  is going on right now. If you are looking for some good buys on craft supplies, now it the time to head over to Craftsy! The big sale is going on thru Sunday July 28, 2013 and you can save up to 20% off some of the things you need the most!

If you’re not familiar with Craftsy.com, you need to check them out. They have a huge selection of online craft classes, that you can view from anywhere. Once you pay for access to a class, your access never expires, so you can watch it as many times a you want. They also have a supplies for many crafts including but not limited to sewing, quilting, embroidery, knitting, jewelry making and lots lots more.

I’m loving this Charm Pack from Kaffe Fassett. Oh, and they have patterns too!

Borrow without being hit by high interest rates

If you’re looking to get a credit card for the first time, the sheer range of products and providers can make the process seem a little daunting. While it’s always worth shopping around for a good deal and a preferential interest rate, it’s worth knowing there are ways to completely avoid paying more than you’ve spent. It all depends on how you use your card and how organized you’re able to be with your finances.

 If you can manage it, then it’s always worth paying off your bill in full and on time every month to avoid interest rates. Of course, you may not always be able to cover the full amount, but ensure you cover the minimum repayment as missing it all together can cause a blot on your credit file or see you hit with a late payment fee. When you haven’t been able to pay off exactly what you’ve spent the leftover sum will be carried over, plus interest, to the next month. So for this reason it’s always wise to compare credit cards to find the lowest APR and a suitable credit limit, regardless of how you intend to use your card each month.

Savvy borrowers will always read the terms and conditions carefully to avoid being hit by charges and pay their bill in full whenever possible.

Making money from your card

If you find you’re regularly able to meet your credit card repayments and want to make a little extra cash then you could try credit card stoozing. There are a number of step-by-step guides to stoozing available for those who feel organized enough to give it a try, but it’s worth firstly being aware of what it is and how it works.

Firstly, individuals will need to apply for a credit card with 0 per cent interest period and use this for their typical day-to-day spending. In the meantime the money saved can be transferred to a high interest saving account, while they only pay off the minimum amount needed each month. At the end of the interest-free period the savings can be used to pay off the outstanding balance, while a little extra should be left over. While this is a great way to get something for nothing it does require a fair amount of organization and as such should be avoided if you’re not particularly on top of your cash flow.

I have heard this question asked many many times since I started eating a gluten free diet in 2007. The answer, I always say, if YES! In the beginning, it took me some trial and error to find good recipes, and good products to buy. But over the years, it has gotten easier for me to tell just by looking at a recipe whether it will taste good or not. A lot of the time, I get recipes by using ones that are made for wheat flour, and make substitutions for wheat with different gluten free flours. I have learned over the years what qualities I can expect from different flours and how the finished product baked with them will turn out.

Sometimes, though, I just don’t want to have my finished product be an experiment, or my family to be guinea pigs. At those times, I search for gluten free recipes on the internet that look good. I have found a lot of good recipes like that.  And I don’t always just follow the recipe as it is written. Lots of times, I add things that I like or change it up just a bit to fit my tastes. Sometimes, I have to use a conversion chart to figure out the amounts and the temperatures for recipes from other countries, like this Gluten Free LSA Chocolate Cake recipe from New Zealand.

There have been times when searching for recipes that I have found other information at the same website. For instance, the same site where I found the delicious chocolate cake recipe, had information on fish oil. I have learned quite a bit of interesting stuff while searching for gluten free recipes.

 

Years ago, when Fabgrandpa and I were in the process of getting rid of all our “stuff” so that we could move into a travel trailer and go on our adventure, it was hard to let go of some things. After the estate sale, and the yard sales, and the ebay sales, and the giveaways of things we had, we still had a big pile of things we needed to get rid of that wouldn’t fit into our new lifestyle.

Some of that pile of things was a massive DVD, CD and game collection. We love watching movies, listening to music, and for Fabgrandpa at least, playing PC games. But what in the world do you do with that ever-growing stack of discs when you have watched the movies for the twentieth time and played that game to completion three or four times?

Music Magpie is a good way to clear out the ones you no longer want, and make a few dollars at the same time. It is an idea whose time has come. To get started, just open an account on their website, then enter the barcode numbers of the DVD movies, music CD’s, and computer games. Their site will let you know how much those items are worth. You have to have a minimum of ten items, but that wouldn’t be hard to come up with around here, even after we have struggled to keep our collection down to a minimum for several years.

Next, print off the mailing label, box up the items you are selling, and ship them to Music Magpie for free! When your items have passed through their Quality Assessment process, they’ll send you your check for the total value of your Order! Easy Peasy! You get room to start adding more movies and games to your collection, and money in your pocket too! Selling your DVD’s, CD’s, and games couldn’t  be easier!

It doesn’t matter much scrubbing and sanitizing is done if an offensive odor still lingers. A spotless room, house or any facility will not seem clean if an odor invades the space. Placing and running a commercial grade Odor-Free ozone machine in the area will clean the air to match the freshly scrubbed surfaces.

The distressing thing about odors is that they can seep into almost any space no matter how tiny it is. Registers, cracks, blinds or even drapery hems can harbor invasive substances that cause the lingering odors. An ozone generator transforms normal oxygen (O2) into ozone (O3)by generating an electrical current. The ozone then creeps into all the small spaces the bad odors have invaded where it breaks down the odors at their source.

If you have ever been in a restaurant or place where fish has been fried you have an idea how many days and open windows it takes for the fish odor to dissipate. An ozone generator could safely clean the air within a few minutes or a few hours depending on the size of the facility and how long the odor has sabotaged the air. The ozone odor-free purifier is effective on odors caused by pets, mildew, food, smoke and almost any other smell. A size or model is built to take care of any space from cars, houses, motel or hotel rooms, banquet halls, locker rooms, tour buses, or just about anywhere. The generators are easy to use with just the turn of a dial. Your guests- and you- will be thankful for the clean air.

Back when my daughter was young, around six years old, we had an ozone generator to help clean the air. She had asthma, and I can tell you that the ozone generator we had really did help her. Not only did it clear the area of odors, but also of any dust particles that were in the air. Everyone in our home breathed easier because of it.