Monday, November 23, 2009
Holiday Recipes...YUM!
With Thanksgiving only a few days away, and Christmas in barely a month, I thought it would be the perfect time to share a few of my favorite holiday recipes. =) These are recipes I have found and used over the years. I have no idea where I found most of them...backs of packages, online, magazines, etc., but none are originally mine. Of course I do tweak most of them due to my own taste or need to substitute an ingredient...if I do this, I will make a note.
Buttery Soft Crescent Rolls (Bread Machine)
1/2 C warm water
1/2 C warm milk
1 egg
1/3 C butter, softened
1/3 C sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 3/4 C all-purpose flour
1 (1/4 oz.) package active dry yeast
1/4 C butter, melted
1. Place ingredients into bread maker in order recommended by manufacturer: water, milk, egg, 1/3 cup butter, sugar, salt, flour and yeast. Reserve additional butter (1/4 cup) for later.
2. Select dough/knead cycle and start. This cycle should mix dough and allow it to rise for 1 hour.
3. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and roll into a circle, about 1/4 inch thick. Brush with additional butter.
4. Cut into 16 pie shaped wedges. Roll wedges starting with wide end into crescent shapes.
5. Place on an ungreased baking sheet and allow to rise for an additional hour.
6. Bake for 10- 15 minutes at 375°F or until golden brown.
Cranberry Mandarin Salad
1 (12 oz.) bag fresh cranberries
1 (15 oz.) can mandarin oranges
1 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 tsp. orange zest
Fluffy Pumpkin Pie
2 (3.4 oz.) boxes instant french vanilla pudding
1 1/3 C milk
1 (16 oz.) can pumpkin
1 1/2 tsp. pie spice
4 C Cool Whip
1 graham cracker crust
1. Add pudding to milk in bowl, and blend on low speed for 30 seconds.
2. Blend in pumpkin, spice and 2 cups Cool Whip.
3. Put in pie shell and chill for 4 hours.
4. Top with 2 C Cool Whip.
Buttery Soft Crescent Rolls (Bread Machine)
1/2 C warm water
1/2 C warm milk
1 egg
1/3 C butter, softened
1/3 C sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 3/4 C all-purpose flour
1 (1/4 oz.) package active dry yeast
1/4 C butter, melted
1. Place ingredients into bread maker in order recommended by manufacturer: water, milk, egg, 1/3 cup butter, sugar, salt, flour and yeast. Reserve additional butter (1/4 cup) for later.
2. Select dough/knead cycle and start. This cycle should mix dough and allow it to rise for 1 hour.
3. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and roll into a circle, about 1/4 inch thick. Brush with additional butter.
4. Cut into 16 pie shaped wedges. Roll wedges starting with wide end into crescent shapes.
5. Place on an ungreased baking sheet and allow to rise for an additional hour.
6. Bake for 10- 15 minutes at 375°F or until golden brown.
*NOTE* One thing I love about these is you can make them bigger if you would like to use them for sandwiches. My husband loves to take these for his lunch filled with cheese and lunchmeat. YUM! They also freeze well.
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1 (12 oz.) bag fresh cranberries
1 (15 oz.) can mandarin oranges
1 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 tsp. orange zest
1. In saucepan, place 3/4 bag of cranberries over med/high heat.
2. Add in liquid from mandarin oranges, grate in ginger & orange zest, add sugar.
3. When it starts to thicken, mash mixture until all berries are broken.
4. Add remainder of cranberries & cook until they start to crack.
5. Remove from heat, stir in mandarin oranges.
6. Chill and serve.
2. Add in liquid from mandarin oranges, grate in ginger & orange zest, add sugar.
3. When it starts to thicken, mash mixture until all berries are broken.
4. Add remainder of cranberries & cook until they start to crack.
5. Remove from heat, stir in mandarin oranges.
6. Chill and serve.
*NOTE* I have never used fresh ginger or orange zest. I use 1/2 tsp. ground ginger in place of 1 1/2 tsp of fresh, and I skip the orange zest all together. (I don't have a zester.)
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2 (3.4 oz.) boxes instant french vanilla pudding
1 1/3 C milk
1 (16 oz.) can pumpkin
1 1/2 tsp. pie spice
4 C Cool Whip
1 graham cracker crust
1. Add pudding to milk in bowl, and blend on low speed for 30 seconds.
2. Blend in pumpkin, spice and 2 cups Cool Whip.
3. Put in pie shell and chill for 4 hours.
4. Top with 2 C Cool Whip.
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Egg-less Eggnog
1 (3.4 oz.) box instant vanilla pudding
6 C cold milk
1 1/4 tsp rum flavored extract
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1. In a large bowl, combine pudding mix w/ 2 C of milk, allow to chill for 5 minutes.
2. To the mix, stir in rum extract and nutmeg, then slowly mix in the remaining 4 C milk until the mixture is a thick but drinkable consistency.
3. Chill until ready to serve.
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(I can't seem to find pictures of anything except the Cranberry Mandarin Salad, so I will be sure to take pictures of the other recipes this year and update this post!)
I will post more holiday recipes as I make them...I plan to make all the above recipes for Thanksgiving, so I hope you enjoy them as much as we do! =) Happy Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Thrifty Thursday
Well, I haven't posted about my thriftiness in awhile, but that doesn't mean I haven't been saving money. ;) (It typically means I have forgotten to take pictures of my thrifty buys...) Over the past few weeks I have been grabbing Christmas presents almost every time I've gone shopping. Perusing Clearance aisles, or just looking for those red or orange Clearance tags has been a huge saver for me. I can't list specifics here because my oldest likes to read my blog, but I can say on one item I bought for each of my kids I paid $10 each for an item that would have cost $23 each. I also took advantage of the special at Walmart a few weeks ago on the Xbox 360 Arcade Console. Greg has been asking for an Xbox 360 on every gift giving occasion for about 3 years now...Walmart finally had a deal I couldn't pass up. They had the Xbox 360 Arcade Console + $100 Walmart Gift Card for $199, so essentially we paid $99 for the gaming system. He, of course, couldn't wait until Christmas, and since I sent him to stand in line for his own present, he deserved to get it early. 
I've also been ordering several photo gifts online using specials I've found and in most cases I've only had to pay shipping charges. Check Snapfish, Shutterfly, Kodak Gallery, W Photo & Vistaprint for great deals.
For my weekly Walgreen's run, I got the following items for $15.46 after coupons and I received $9 in RR, and a RR type coupon for a free Clinical Strength Deodorant. (I did purchase some Christmas presents also, but can't give specifics...)
Ricola $1 - .50 coupon = .50 + $1 RR = + .50 moneymaker.
Bic Soliel Razor Cartridges $5.99 - $2 coupon = 3.99 + $3 RR = .99
Always Infinity $5.29 - FREE coupon = FREE
Secret Clinical Strength Deodorant $7.99 - $2 coupon = 5.99 + RR coupon for FREE SCS Deodorant = 2/5.99 (I'll get the free one next visit)
Scotch Magic Tape $1.99 - .50 coupon = $1.49
Gillette Deodorant $4.49 - $1 coupon = $3.49
Gillette Body Wash $4.99 - Buy Gillette Deodorant get FREE Body Wash = FREE
(I also received a $5 RR for spending over $20 on toys.)
Not a huge trip, but coupled with the savings on the Christmas presents, I would say it was a success. Feel free to link to your thrifty posts using the linky below, or post your thrifty tips in the comments section!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
To-Do Tuesday
Okay...clean slate was maybe a little over ambitious...severely slimmed down 'To-Do List' is more like what actually occurred. I am still 'Rockin' & Rollin' in the FlyLady wagon, and am sporting some crazy organizational skillz all of a sudden. It's like an OCD maid has taken over my body...I'm totally loving it, as is my family...most of the time. Even though I was positive I'd have a clean slate to work with this week, I am pretty pleased with what I accomplished. I may not have knocked off as many items as I wanted, but I did ALOT not on the list. So...on to this week!
1. Keep decluttering & orgainizing...I'm on a roll!
2. Read - daily quiet time & finish 3. Continue planning for Grayson's & Kylie's birthdays...almost finished with over a month to spare!
4. Work on a few straggling reviews, and post actual content on my blog.
5. Wrap Grayson's Christmas presents
6. Finish taping off at the church so we can start painting a totally sweet design in the kids area.
7. Take more 'donate' stuff to the thrift store!
8. Stick to menu plan for the week...
9. Go exploring in the garage for runaway items needed for Christmas & stuff to donate/trash/sell.
10. Work on getting blog transferred over...with the help of genius programmer hubby. (Really questioning if this is EVER going to happen.)
I 'stole' the following from Crazy Adventures in Parenting...the fearless leader of To-Do Tuesday. =)
Would you like to join us this week for To-Do Tuesday? Start with just a few things. Don't over-do it your first couple of times. You'll grow to become a list-a-holic later, start small now, though, k?
Just so you know, you can join us at anytime, it doesn't have to be on Tuesdays - the list will go up every Tuesday for you to link to, but you can make your list and link to us at any point in the week!
Remember, with "To-Do Tuesday", we're attacking our to-do lists each week, blogging about our lists and what we've got going on, and sharing it with each other to help keep each other accountable. Everyone should come back here to link up in the MckLinky as the central "To-Do Tuesday Hub" so we can visit who's participating and offer encouragement to each other throughout the week. Don't forget to add the "To-Do Tuesday" button to your post, linking back to this post!
Let's continue to cross items off our list as we go and help support each other in completing our lists! Don't forget my useful HTML tutorial on how to effectively "cross-out" or √ "check off" your items on your to-do list!
Joining us? We're using a new linky alternative called MckLinky! Please add your link below (to your To Do Tuesday post, and not the main page of your blog).
Monday, November 16, 2009
UnitedHealthcare Student Insurance *REVIEW*
Recently I was given the opportunity by MomSelect to write a review on UnitedHealthcare StudentResources. UHCSR is a division of UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company dedicated to student insurance programs for over 40 years. Because UHCSR focuses on students, they claim to have a better understanding of the unique needs of this age group. UnitedHealthcare StudentResources has earned parent confidence and a national reputation by offering only the finest, HIPAA-compliant student health plans. They offer several plans/supplements including Health Plan, 24-hour (injury only), At-school (injury only), Extended Dental, and Football. The health plan offers protection/coverage for injury AND sickness, 24/7/365, and is available to K12 students ages 5-18 (4-18 in TX). While the K12 Health Plan can provide a level of protection for uninsured children, it is also being purchased by many families who have high deductible employer coverage. If parents have to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars to meet their employer plan deductible, the K12 Health Plan can reimburse them for their children’s eligible medical expenses while they are working toward meeting their employer plan’s deductible.
Many (Over 2000), but not all public school systems/districts throughout the US participate with UHCSR to offer this plan. From small rural school districts to the largest in the nation such as Los Angeles Unified and Miami/Dade County. UHCSR has challenged national trends by INCREASING benefits while KEEPING the premium at 2008 levels. Designed to be affordable at $588 per policy year or $98 every two months. Parents can enroll their student at any point in the school year.
Personally, we wouldn't use this insurance because our kids are covered under a state funded plan. I do believe this insurance is offered in our area (after doing some reading on their web site, I seem to remember the photo coming home on an application at the beginning of the year), but when I went to look up 'Plans and Pricing' I received the following error message:
I attempted to locate information regarding coverage, copays, prescription coverage, eligibility requirements, etc., but was unsuccessful. There are several different kinds of insurance offered to cater to your needs, but there aren't really enough details on any to make a decision without directly contacting someone. (There may be more details available to someone who's school doesn't generate an error.) From what little information I was able to gather, the 'Health Plan' would be the one that we would need. If I remember correctly, over the past year, we have been to the ER twice with 2 different children. The first one has an exaggerated reaction to pain...she tends to pass out and convulse. It looks like a seizure, but after several tests including brain scans, they say it is not seizures. The other trip was an overreaction to poison ivy...poor kid said she didn't want to go to school because she "looked like a monster". Also, the 2 kids who made the trip to the ER also suffer from allergies and are on daily medication for that as well.
I really like the fact that they offer a Football plan, which is an additional plan that provides injury only coverage for High School Interscholastic Football. I have been hearing a lot about high school football injuries lately, and I feel that it is very important to take care of our students that participate in sports. Personally, I feel that if a player is injured during practice or a game, the school should cover any needed medical attention, but that's just my opinion. It's always better to be safe than sorry, and choosing an insurance policy is a very important decision. There should be careful research and total understanding of policy coverage and limitations, so if you have questions about your current coverage or coverage on a policy you are looking into purchasing be sure to ask your agent!
Learning More and Enrolling: Go to https://www.k12studentinsurance.com Click on Plans & Pricing tab and enter school district name (or just a few letters) to find and select the child’s school. Click View Plan Materials to see the plan brochure, and review the Student Health Plan Coverage page regarding Student Injury and Sickness Benefits. When ready to enroll, click the Enroll Now button on the Plans & Pricing tab (or from the Home page). Complete some information about the child, select the Injury and Sickness plan, create an account, and make a payment by credit card or e-check.
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