What’s for Dinner Wednesday: Nov. 14, 2012

I made sausage and gravy casserole for dinner tonight. I found a recipe for it at KeyIngredient.com. It’s super simple, but I have five people to feed so I doubled the ingredients. My family was happy with it, but I would have liked it with a regular sausage gravy poured over the top of it.

3 pks. crescent rolls; 2 lbs. sausage; 2 pks. cream cheese; onions; black pepper

1. Brown desired amount of red onions.
2. Add 2 lbs. breakfast sausage. (I used Bob Evans’ original) Cook till done.
3. Scrape sausage and onion mixture into food processor and pulse a couple of times until it is crumbled.
4. Place 2 bricks of cream cheese in the hot pan and melt.
5. Stir in the sausage onion mixture.
6. Add desired amount of black pepper and stir well.
7. Open a can of crescent rolls and line the bottom of a baking dish.
8. Spread half of the mixture on the raw crescent dough..
9. Open can of crescent rolls and lay across the sausage mixture.
10. Pour the remaining sausage mixture across the raw dough.
11. Open final can of crescent rolls and lay across the sausage mixture.
12. Place in 375° oven and bake for about 45 to 55 mins.

Birthday Goodies

Today’s my birthday and I’m going to enjoy a FREE meal, dessert and a movie. I can do it all at little cost because of reward programs. Over the years I’ve signed up for many reward programs. The great perks can usually be seen around my birthday. I decided this year to list all the great things I received at no or little cost around my birthday.

1. Starbucks: FREE drink or food item
2. Cold Stone Creamery: Buy one, get one creation
3. Logans: FREE Nutterbutter with purchase of entrée
4. Houlihans: FREE entrée (up to $15)
5. Honey Baked Ham & Cafe: FREE sandwich
6. Phillip’s Food & Grocery: $1 off any item
7. Arby’s: FREE 12 oz. milkshake
8. Red Robin: FREE burger (meal)
9. Panera: FREE pastry or sweet
10. Fazoli’s: FREE dessert
11. Wendy’s : $1 0ff combo
12. Applebees: Buy one, get one entrée FREE
13. Victoria’s Secret: $10 off
14. Redbox: FREE rental
15. Swagbucks: 50 points
16. Disney Movie Rewards: 100 points
17. John Freida: $1.50 off any full size product
18. CVS: $3 off anything in store
19. Bone Fish Grill: FREE coconut pie or Bang Bang shrimp
20. Woman Within: 40% off any item
21. Philosophy: FREE birthday set with purchase of $25
22. Hoosier Lottery: FREE $1 scratch off ticket

Simple Way to Make a Difference: Wholly Guacamole

Looking for a way to make a difference but don’t have much money or time to spend? This sums me up so I figured it might apply to others as well. Well, today I noticed a post on Wholly Guacamole’s Facebook page. It supports Operation Purple which helps children of military families go to camp. Wholly Guacamole’s goal is to send 100 kids to camp and it needs your help.

Simply buy a t-shirt (sizes range from youth to adult XXL) for $10. Yep, that’s all. Ten dollars for a shirt and you’re helping a kid attend camp. Don’t have need of a shirt? No problem, you can donate money and bypass the shirt. It’s simple. It’s different. It’s a way to help someone when your time and money are limited.

McCormick and Crowdtap

I’ve gone on and on about my adoration of Crowdtap. By answering surveys and participating in online discussions members receive points which allow them to advance to different levels. As members rise levels on the site they are given chances to host different parties. Some of those parties are linked to movie and television shows, while others promote a product. I was lucky enough to receive a McCormick Grill Mates kit to share with friends and family.

On Labor Day my cousin invited my family and a few of our friends over for a swimming get together. I decided this was the perfect setting for me to introduce the newest additions of McCormick’s Grill Mate’s products. I was given an apron, booklet with recipes and party ideas, Spiced Brandy & Herb Marinade, Slow and Low Memphis Pit BBQ Rub, Montreal Steak Seasoning Blend, Molasses Bacon Seasoning Blend and Brown Sugar Bourbon BBQ Sauce.

We used the Spiced Brandy & Herb Marinade on boneless, skinless chicken breast which was served alongside the “traditional” Italian dressing marinated and cooked chicken. Montreal Steak Seasoning Blend was used on HUGE steaks and Hawaiian burgers and hotdogs were brushed with the Brown Sugar Bourbon BBQ Sauce. Some of us also used the barbecue sauce to dip our steak or chicken.

As side dishes we had 7 Cheese Macaroni, stuffed mini sweet peppers, baked beans, potato salad, chips, coleslaw, butterscotch pie, Jello cake, buttermilk cookies.

Everything was delicious. I had wondered if guests would enjoy the old family favorite Italian chicken or if they’d go for the new Spiced Brandy & Herb marinated chicken. By the end of the night there was a few pieces of the Italian chicken and none of the brandy herbed chicken left. I’d say the new McCormick marinade will be used the majority of the time now. It was earthy, yet sweet–just mouth watering. Everyone ate the Brown Sugar Bourbon sauce. I’d hoped to take some home to use the next day, but all I found was an empty bottle!

I’ve got to thank both Crowdtap and McCormick for giving me the great spices which added flavor to the swimming get together. The ending consensus of all who attended the party was that the seasonings and barbecue sauce are ones to buy.

Some of the girls getting their grub on!

Pretty Cinderella Doll

I just got an email about a new Disney collectible doll. It is so pretty. It only costs $99.50. lol Oh, yeah. It goes on sale Oct. 2, 2012.

Help a School!

A new school year has begun and with it come the multitude of fundraisers. They aren’t as bad as when I was a kid and schools sent home fundraiser packets the first week, but they do cost money which is something I have little of at the moment.

If you find yourself in the same boat you’re probably wondering why I’m even talking school fundraisers if I can’t afford to donate. Well, I’ll tell you why. If you’re a Facebook user you can help your school at no cost. Target has started a promotion to send $25 gift cards to schools and will send up to $10,000 per school. It’s called “Give with Target” on Facebook. All you need to do is visit its Facebook page, type in your school’s name, city and state then vote for it. It’s a once a week vote. For every 25 votes a $25 gift card will be sent to the school.

Target is giving out $2.5 million through its FB giveaway and if you’re not going to vote for a local school I’d appreciate you voting for my kids school. Just click here. I try not to give out a ton of personal information online, but I’m making an exception for my school of choice: Cleveland Elementary, Elkhart, Ind. If you vote for your school, thank you. If you vote for mine, thank you. Either way, all of our kids benefit. Make a difference and help a school today.

Amazing People

I try not to be selfish and to be considerate of others. This man took it to a whole new level. I want to be Aaron Collins or like his relatives who followed through with his wishes. What? Don’t know what I’m talking about? Watch the video then visit aaroncollins.org to learn more.

Free Apron Offer

Head over to Prestos Pizza’s Facebook page and fill out the form to receive a free apron. If you blog about it or post about it on an online forum you can get an oven mitt too!

Woolite Opportunity Thanks to Crowdtap

As a mom I know all about the need to stretch money out. When I heard about Woolite pairing up with Crowdtap to share samples and introduce the public to its newest product Woolite Extra Dark Care, I had to take part.  An added benefit–the samples came with a $1 off coupon.

My care package arrived and I tore into it. I received a jean tote bag, several individually wrapped sample/coupon packages, white boards, dry erase markers and a deck of questions about jeans. In preparation for the party I made a Woolite banner out of index cards and paper clips, added jeans to some of the water bottles and made a zebra style cake for the adults to eat while our kids played at the park.

We chatted and then began playing the trivia game which really got the conversations flowing about laundry, detergent and purchasing habits. There was also talk about washing machines, but that’s a whole other topic. We learned that by using Woolite Extra Dark Care laundry detergent we can extend the life of our denim. Curious about the game questions? Here are a few samples:

If you’re really serious about jean care, how long do denim experts recommend you go before washing your jeans for the first time?

a. After one week
b. After a month
c. After 6 weeks
d. After 6 months

Answer: d (I know right. I had no clue)

AND

Which of the following qualities make Woolite the best choice for taking care of your denim?

a. It’s a liquid detergent so it’s less abrasive than powders
b. It contains less abrasive chemicals than most other detergents
c. It is made with pure lacier water
d. Both A and B

Answer: d

AND

The word “denim” refers to the fabric that jeans are made from as well as the French city where denim fabric was first made. What is the name of the city?

a. Paris
b. Le Mans
c. Nimes
d. Avignon
e. Versailles

Answer: c (Never heard of it either. Good thing I was the one asking the questions while my guests played for an extra sample. lol)

Some guests were early.

We ate and drank a ton of water because it was pretty hot outside. Kind of funny because it was almost torturous and the Woolite campaign is all about not torturing your jeans and extending their life by using a better detergent. Unfortunately not all my guests could make it, but a few stopped by the house both before and after the party to scoop up their samples. They wanted to take part, but couldn’t as fully as they wanted. I was glad to share the samples and hope they like it as much as I do.

Some guests were right on time.

Some guests were late. See those blurry people in the background? They were late, too! But I’m thankful they came.

Now they, as well as the people who received samples, have a chance to share their experience for a chance to win $500 by visiting http://www.samplingeffectiveness.com/jeans. If they don’t use their sample until October, they can still enter as entries are accepted until Oct. 31, 2012.  (No purchase necessary to participate in the sweepstake.) People who didn’t make the party can LIKE Woolite’s FaceBook page (www.facebook.com/wooliteus) for product offers.

Madagascar 3 Crowdtap Opportunity

When Crowdtap offered me a chance to host a Madagascar 3 party I jumped on it. For its part, Crowdtap sent me a digital party package which contained: Marty’s Zebra Cake Recipe, tic-tac-toe boards, connect the numbers, face painting ideas and paper animal chain cutouts. I didn’t use everything it sent me, but I did use some of the items and had a good time.

I have older kids, so the worksheet ideas didn’t really mesh. Instead I invited a few friends and their kids to join us at the park for cake and bottled water. The water was decorated with Madagascar characters.  I played Madagascar music on my Mp3 player so the kids could dance and taped animal cutouts along the picnic table’s edge for decoration.

The kids attempted juggling and laughed as they listened to my Afro Circus ringtone. They also played Spikeball. It was not a huge get together, but I’d like to think my guests had a good time mingling. Next time I’d like to be able to have a pre-movie party followed by a trip to the movie theater.