ShopKick: Get it before black friday!

Wow it's been so long since I've posted! I feel like I've had no time lately! Here to tell you about a great app that will help you earn some free gift cards and maybe save you some money also!

 

 

I was watching the Today show and they talked about this great app! And it was on the Today show so it is legit, plus researched it online. Anyways you earn "kicks" (points) for looking through the stores "lookbooks" on the app, walking in the store, scanning items, and purchases. You can earn giftcards, a $10 card at say Toys R Us, Macys, drugstores, Lowes, movies and a whole lot more is only 2500 Kicks! They also have gifts such as magazine subscriptions, shoes, perfume, makeup etc. You can earn kicks from your home just by flipping through the books and finding the secret kicks!

I think this app is great and I will definitely be using it black friday!

 

Some Examples of How I can earn kicks this week:

 

125 To Walk In Target

100 To Walk in American Eagle

100 To Walk in Best Buy

65 To walk in Old Navy

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That's 390 Kicks Just for Walking In A Store without purchasing a thing! Just open your app, walk in and voila!

 

Also if you want to earn BIG kicks you can link your Visa card and for example if you spend $75 in Toys R Us you get 500 kicks or 1250 kicks for $125. $1250 is enough to get a $5 giftcard!! So why not do it! It's free, it's legit and it's EASY!!

If you decide to sign up:

Please download your app by following the link below. For the first month anyone that signs up under you, they match all there kicks up to 2500 for the first month!! So that would help me out so much especially being that it's Christmas time! And then get your friends to do the same for you!! We can earn a ton of kicks! Btw You can't see where they earned kicks from or there account, it just automatically adds them to your account so don't worry about any privacy issues.

 

http://get.shopkick.com/washington7409

Here is the main website if you want to look around more before you sign up...but please don't forget about me when you sign up :-)

http://www.shopkick.com/

Yal have a great Thanksgiving and a great Black Friday!! I can't wait to get shopping!

 

Homemade Laundry Detergent...I was skeptical

I had seen on pinterest about homemade laundry detergent but I was a little skeptical that it would actually work as good as some of the big name brands. A friend on facebook posted a status about that she was making liquid laundry detergent. I began to look more into it and I found a powder recipe that was a lot easier, requires less storage space, and no heating materials. Soooo it didn't take much money to invest so why not give it a try. When I saw people talking about 1 cent a load... it was worth a shot!

What you need

1 Cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

1 Cup Borax

Fels Naptha Soap ($0.97 at Walmart on Detergent aisle)

Grater

I couldn't find my receipt but other than the grater, it was less than 10 dollars...may have been about 7-8 dollars but I really can't remember for sure! The A&H and Borax will make a LOT of batches so if you make another batch all you have to buy is a bar of soap. YES CHEAP!

Step 1

Grate the soap.

I tried all the sides of the grater, the soap would get stuck in the grate and on the outside. So I used the bigger side that you can't hardly see in this picture.

 



 

What it looks like after your done...cheese lol

I'm sure if you had a blender or food processor you could get it much finer and it would blend better but I have neither so I left it as it is.

 

Step 2

Add borax and washing soda to soap. Stir for a few minutes, really mix it together well. I tried to break up some of the pieces of soap to make them a little smaller but I mainly left them large.

 

A great use for those empty formula containers!

 

Great activity for my niece! Mess up some shirts with ketchup, mustard and soy sauce! It was like fingerpainting lol.

 

BEFORE

Use 2 Tbsp of laundry detergent per load

 

AFTER

 

So what do you think? Pretty good huh?

 

So based on looking at the shirts the homemade laundry detergent did just as well as Tide! I was in shock when I saw how well it performed. I thought it actually did slightly better than tide on the soy sauce stain! And most of the time your clothes are not going to look like those shirts did!

My opinion...it's worth making. I've done several loads since then and it's worked great. The clothes smell fine but it doesn't leave a strong smell so if you like more scent to your clothes just add a sheet or two of dryer sheets when you dry them.

I will be making more! This is the cheapest way to clean your clothes!! I don't know when I'm going to be able to bring myself to buy $10 Tide again!

 

Crazy Couponing

Well recently I had a couple people message me about how you coupon and get started getting the crazy deals. You know free things and paying just a little bit of money for things. I use to coupon weekly but since the baby I stopped. My time was limited for cutting coupons and keeping up with the matchups. I need to get back started because my stockpile (or what my husband calls walmart) is slowly depleting.

How do you get started? I learned on my own by search on google about coupon matchups. You can type in any store and "coupon matchups" and it will usually bring up multiple listings you can use to find the best deals.

My suggestion is http://www.thekrazycouponlady.com This is the website I used weekly for couponing. It was my favorite. She outlines what's the best deals, what coupons to use, and how much it should be. There is also a brag lounge where people put the things they purchased on there couponing trips and sometimes it can give you ideas of things you should buy. It's amazing what some people can get for so little. But YOU can do it too!

To get started start buying the paper. Coupons usually come out in the Sunday paper but where I live the "News Herald" comes out on Saturday for 50cent so that is the cheaper way to go instead of buying for instance the Virginian Pilot on Sunday for $1.25. Also you can print free coupons off the internet.

http://thekrazycouponlady.com/print-coupons/

http://www.coupons.com

http://www.redplum.com

I also used http://www.sundaycouponpreview.com to see what coupons would be in the papers. Some weeks there may not be any coupons such as on holiday weekends so this is helpful in showing you when the coupons won't be there. Also if there is a high value coupon on something you like, go ahead and buy multiple copies. This site can help you decide whether to buy 1 or multiple copies.

What I did is cut out all the coupons and organized them in a small photo album. I had an album for beauty/hygiene products, one for food, and one for cleaning supplies/household items etc. They were small enough to fit in my pocketbook. I bought these for $1 at walmart. You have to figure out some way to organize your coupons or it's going to be hard to find what you need when you need it.

Multiple websites have already done the work for you. They've matched up the weekly sales with coupons so that you can get the best price. My favorite place to get deals were walmart and rite aid. Krazy Coupon Lady tells you how each drugstore works. They all have a rewards program so you need to learn how they work before you get started.

If you have any questions or tips about couponing feel free to leave a comment or message me!

Weight Watchers: Week 2

I went over one day on my points. I went with our youth group to Raleigh and the pizza and starbucks vanilla bean got the best of me! Sometimes you just have to enjoy yourself though. I was shocked when I got on the scale this morning and despite blowing it one day, I still loss 3.5lbs. Right now I'm loving weight watchers! I was able to eat 3 pieces of pizza, The Pit (Barbecue), McDonalds twice, and starbucks and I still loss weight!

 

Goal for this week: Lose 3 lbs, Exercise at least 3 times this week.

Weight Currently: 160.5 lbs

Weight Loss This Week: 3.5lbs

Weight Goal: 135lbs

Total Loss: 7.5 lbs

Need to Loss: 25.5 lbs

 

Homemade Carrots! Yummy!

Making Homemade Carrots Using a Magic Bullet

So a friend gave us a Magic Bullet.. Early Christmas -YAY! This is so neat because instead of having the Baby Bullet (which only makes baby food), you can pretty much make ANYTHING with the regular Bullet. That is a plus - since you will only make baby food for about 6 months per child. Here are some pics of my first time making baby food. I made yummy carrots ( I even tasted it afterwards and it was great :) )

 

 

First, get 1 cup of baby carrots

 

Put them in the "short cup", add a splash of water, and steam in the microwave for 3 minutes

Next, put the cross blade on and blend!

 

 1 Cup made 2- 3oz servings

The recipe I used was actually in the book that came with the Bullet. Very simple!

Do you have any recipes.. feel free to share! :)

Let's Do Research: Homemade Baby Food Part I

I really have been wanting to make my own baby food since I was pregnant. I didn't know that I would have time for it since I work full time but being that I'm now only going to be part time...I'm hoping to learn how to make homemade baby food. My baby girl is only 2 months old so I have a little while to research, learn how to, and experiement. I don't cook alot so hopefully it will be relatively easy! You can follow along if your a new mom and thinking about possibly making your own baby food and follow the whole journey from researching to actually putting it in action!

Randi is planning on doing a blog post on homemade baby food soon also! I can't wait to read what she has to say! Her baby is older than Kaley so she'll be making her own food before I am, so hopefully she have some great tips for me and other new moms!

Links 

 

 

This site has recipes categorized by age group. It also has a section called "techniques" and it includes links on equipment you need, preparation, cooking methods, pureeing, storing, freezing, traveling with homemade baby food, and foods you should avoid in their first year. Very informative site!
 

 

 

She writes a monthly baby food menu and shares the recipes for each. She sets it up so you cook the baby food once a month and it lasts the entire month hence "once a month mom"

 

 

This website by Dr Brown's has a chart that shows you when your baby is ready for solids and also the signs that your baby is ready for the next stages of solids. The website also has recipes and other information.

 

  

Tons of information on this site! There is also a printable chart on different foods and what age group they are ok for! ClickHere for chart. There is a quick start guide with instructions on how to begin making baby food, recipes, step by step instructions, and information galore. This is great website!

 

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So there are some websites to get both me and you started on our way to making homemade baby food!

 

If you have any experience making your own baby food I'd love to hear from you! Any information, tips, or instructions would be great!

Part II Coming Soon...Exploring/Researching the Equipment Needed

 

 

 

 

 

 

Review: Hope Photos

I was happy to accept a free photo session when it was offered by Hope Photos for my little girl Kaley. She has been trying to get her business started and building your portfolio is the best way to get that done! After she ask me about doing a photo session I had an idea about running the cutest kid contest and her giving away a free session as a prize. This is a great way to get your name out to loads of people and hopefully build your business! Once the winner has his photo session I will be sure to share it here on Carolina Moms! I'm sure she'll do an awesome job with his session! I really hope her business takes off! :-)

 

Kim was very easy going and nice to work with. Due to a hectic schedule that Sunday, I needed to change the time and that was no problem at all with her. Actually I ended up changing my session a couple of times! I felt like I probably was about to drive her nuts ha ha but she didn't act like I was.

 

When we arrived, she had an awesome fall scene set up when I arrive. I use to do photography so I was having to do the thinking but it was nice to be on the other side of the camera and let her do the thinking about what pictures and poses to do...and to already have props...mmm that was awesome! Kaley was actually very mad when we arrived and she was very patient and said we could feed her and take our time! Some of the pictures we would stick the bottle in her mouth, let her drink a little bit, Kim would countdown and I'd take the bottle away...he he no more mad baby...at least as far as you can tell in these pictures :-) She's great with kids!

 My regret is she had this cute little fancy umbrella and we forgot to do a picture with it. I'm sure there could have been some cool shots with that!

 

Here are some more of our photos from the session!

 

I Love Candid Shots!

 

Her prices are very affordable and she takes great pictures! How can you beat that :-)

Check Her Out On Facebook by Clicking Below!

Or Her Website

http://hopephotography89.wix.com/hopephotossite

 

 

 



Kaley Is 2 Months Old

I Can't Believe My Baby Is Already 2 Months Old!

Time Truly Flies!

 

 

 

 

Weight Loss Update after Week 1

Well it was weigh in day today! I got on the scale and was 164lbs so I thought I had lost 2 pounds. I thought I was 166lbs before. I was happy with 2 pounds of weight gone but I was hoping for more. Then my husband got on the scale and had loss 7 pounds on weight watchers! I was sooooo ill. I know men lose faster but it still frustrated me! ugh not fair. Well later I go to my WW tracker book and found out I was 168lb last week so I really lost 4 pounds so that made me feel a lot better!!

I must say it was not that hard to be on weight watchers. You can budget your points and save if you want to splurge on something and it feels better to be eating healthier.

Goal for this week: Lose 2 lbs, Exercise at least 3 times this week...hopefully I'll get to go to zumba!

Weight Currently: 164lbs

Weight Goal: 135lbs

Total Loss: 4lbs

Need to Loss: 29lbs

My very own weight watchers recipe I made!
See Fast Food Friday for the recipe!

Fast Food Friday: Pulled Pork...Soooo Good in just 3 minutes!

 Super fast main course, great for new moms! The potatoes take a little more time but if I fixed them...they are still very easy!

Jack Daniels Pulled Pork

 

We bought this at a reduced price at food lion just to try....and I absolutely loved it!! It took only 3 minutes in the microwave and it was ready but it tasted like pulled pork I ate a long time ago at Sonny's restaurant in georgia! Mmmm it was very tasty! My husband put it on bread to make a sandwich and I just ate it straight. Just talking about it makes me want some right now!!

 

Highly Recommend If You Like Pulled Pork!

Fast! And No Cleanup!

 

12 Weight Watcher Points for half of container

 My Very Own WW Oven Potatoes

 

I was trying to come up with a healthier way to cook potatoes that wouldn't be many points.

 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. I cut up 2 small potatoes in chunks but you can do however many you want.

3. Spray your pan lightly with cooking spray.

4. I didn't want to put oil on the potatoes because it was high fat so I sprinkled just a little bit of cooking white wine on them. About 1 cap full. You could just use olive oil or anything else if your not on WW.

5. Spray potatoes with butter.

6. Then I sprinkled seasoning salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and 1tbsp of parmesean cheese!

7. Cook 30-40 minutes or until potatoes are softened.

8. Spray butter on them after removing from oven!

 

4 Weight Watcher Points for Half of recipe if you cook 2 potatoes

 

Serve with toast