Leo's Pad

I'm not crazy about my 4 year old spending tons of time playing on my iPad. Even I have to admit though, there are times when it's a nice distraction and mommy needs to get something done without my little helper. However, for daughter, it's hard to find any app that will keep her entertained for any length of time. Then I found Leo's Pad. I was lucky enough to get to try it out for free in exchange for reviewing it, however my opinions are all my own.
It's a cute app. The graphics are really well done. A young Leonardo DaVinci guides kids through the activities, which while educational, are also a lot of fun. You can check it out for yourself on the Kidaptive website and I have a promo code for you to receive 20% off if you decide to buy! Just enter TRYLEO at checkout!
The pic below is my daughter playing with one of the many activities on Leo's Pad.

300 Free Things For Entrepreneurs

I actually came across this list on my Facebook News Feed. It's a pretty great list for any mamas out there who are starting businesses. Click here to check it out!

Money Back For Online Shopping with Ebates

This is one of my favorite sites. I have been using them for a few years now and I can absolutely say with certainty that they pay out. I appreciate the cash back now more than ever! I know lots of people are skeptical of sites where it seems like you're getting something for nothing, but there really is something to this. Basically, if you're going to shop online, go to Ebates first and find the store on their website. That will tell you the percentage of your purchase that you'll be getting back. Go to the shopping site through Ebates. The site pays them for your business and Ebates shares the profit with you. The picture below is an actual screen shot of my account page. You can see what I've earned and all the shopping trips I've gotten cash back on. Joining Ebates is 100% free and they'll even give you a small gift as a token of thanks for signing up! Click here to check it out!

USPS

I know I just posted about the United States Postal Service recently, but my annoyance with them is just never ending. I often ship packages from home. I sell my kids' clothing on eBay, so after a string of auctions end I have packages that need to go out. Usually I schedule a pickup on the USPS website. Yesterday however I was getting out one package to a straggling payer, and just stuck it in the box with the flag up. Now this was a small yellow envelope, very light weighing just over 2oz. Realistically, no heavier than a thick letter.
Do you think the mail man took my envelope?
No. No he did not. Now I know I probably should have scheduled a pick up. I will take partial blame. However, until recently I didn't even know you could schedule a pickup, and would just stuff outgoing packages in my mailbox. Our former mailman took them every time. No complaints. No excuses. Today, my mail was delivered, including an incoming package, but my envelope was left behind. I did also have one instance where I did schedule a pick up and it was still left behind, so perhaps it doesn't really matter if it's scheduled, it just depends on the mood of the postal employee.
I am so fed up with USPS. I literally just paid $10 more for UPS shipping on a recent online order, just so I wouldn't have to deal with waiting on USPS.
Gone are the days of "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds".

Homemade Dog Treats

Ok, so I know homemade healthy dog treats sound like a lot of trouble for something that you can easily purchase at the store. But the natural or remotely healthy dog treats are really expensive. I just can't justify paying that much for dog treats anymore. This recipe is so easy and it really takes very little time. I'm not a vet or a dog expert of any kind, but the ingredients seem healthy and my dog (and my best friend's dogs who I also make some for) seem to love them. I found the original recipe here, on a site called Kitchen Confidante.
I've found that the exact measurements for this recipe aren't strictly necessary. The treat recipients don't complain and if the dough starts to feel too dry I just add a few more drops of beef broth to the ball I'm working with.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oats
1/2 cup flaxseed
1/2-1 cup beef broth
1/4 cup peanut butter

The peanut butter specifically is the ingredient that I just eyeball. I mean it's just a pain to measure sticky stuff like peanut butter under any circumstances, and the dog certainly won't complain. With the beef broth, start with 1/2 a cup and then add more as needed to keep the dough pliable. I don't use the mixer for this, it's really easy to mix by hand. I combine the ingredients as well as I can with a fork, and then just mush the dough with my hands. I generally work with about 1/4 of the dough at a time. I use a silicone baking mat to roll the dough on, until it's about 1/4" or so thick. Then just cut to your desired shapes. For this batch I made small circle treats for a Pomeranian and larger bone shaped treats for my friend's 2 Pit Bulls. Sometimes, I just use a pizza cutter to make strips. Like the peanut butter content, the dogs also don't complain about the shape. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Girlfriend's Guide to Divorce

As a girlfriend currently going through a divorce, I just have to say that I love this show. It's one of the new shows that I have set to record. I'm catching up on the episodes that I missed and there are parts that literally make me laugh out loud. In my current situation and mindset, I doubted that anyone could make a show on this subject that would make me smile. Well Bravo somehow, miraculously managed to succeed. I can't imagine any woman who is currently or has at any time gone through a divorce, or a breakup of any kind not loving this show or not being able to relate to at least one of the characters. Maybe the fact that my soon to be ex is currently dating someone as young as the main male character's new main squeeze helps me relate, but either way... LOVE!
If you don't feel like Googling it, it's on Bravo Tuesdays at 10/9c.

Monkey Bread

I love this stuff, it's amazing warm! If you have a stand mixer, it's actually really easy to make. A quick side note: my KitchenAid mixer was the best kitchen investment I've ever made. I made it at the wrong time though. If I had waited until Christmas time the prices fell drastically. I'm fairly new to baking, I started as a way to relieve stress and get my impending divorce off my mind, so I was a little intimidated by yeast and letting things rise, but the yeast really does all the work for you.
The original recipe is one I found on Pinterest and came from a site called Baking Bites. The link will take you to the original recipe. I have tweaked it slightly after some trial and error and to suit my personal taste. Everyone who has tried it has said it's the best they've ever had, and true or not I like to just take them at their word.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup warm water
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (I use 1 little envelope)
3-3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp sugar
1 large egg
2 Tbsp butter, melted
3/4 cup warm milk

1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon


Grease a standard bundt pan. I use Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening, but I'm sure you can use whatever you're comfortable working with. Set pan aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer combine warm water and yeast. Let it stand for about 2 minutes, until it becomes slightly foamy.
Add 1 cup of the flour, salt, vanilla, sugar, egg, 2 Tbsp melted butter, and warm milk. Beat with paddle attachment until your douch is pretty smooth. Then, replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook, and gradually add the remaining flour. Keep the mixer at a medium speed and mix until the dough comes easily away from the sides of the bowl. Now for me there is always some pieces that seem to not mix in just kind of bouncing around the bottom of the bowl. I knead them in by hand. Remove the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap, Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

In a medium sized bowl mix together both brown sugars and the ground cinnamon. Place melted butter in a bowl next to the mixture. Now the original recipe says to use a fork for the dipping part, but I just use my fingers. Yes, it's messier but I thought it was just faster and easier.
Turn your dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently deflate the dough so its about 1/2"-3/4" thick.THen using a knife or bench scraper cut of small pieces of dough. I cut strips, and then slice them into smaller pieces. You'll roll the small pieces in your hands to form balls, 1/2-1" in size. I like to do different sizes, not only is it easier, but it looks pretty cool in the end too.

As you go, dunk each ball in the melted butter, coating it really well. Then roll it in the cinnamon/sugar mix. I like to make sure they're really, REALLY covered in this too. The sweeter the better in my book. When I'm done, if there's any left over cinnamon/sugar mix I sprinkle it over the monkey bread. After this, cover the bundt pan with plastic wrap and let the dough balls rise for an hour. Preheat your oven to 350 while the dough rises

The dough balls will about double in size. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, then let it cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes. I jumped the gun a little and 1/2 of my monkey bread kind of fell apart this last time. No one cared, it all tastes the same, but it didn't look as pretty to begin with! This is definitely something that tastes better warm, so if it's possinle to serve it right away, that's the best.

UPS Sure Post & USPS

Let me just start by saying that I love getting mail. I know, it's a little silly, but opening the mailbox every day makes me happy. I order lots of free samples and I do a lot of online shopping too, so getting packages is even more exciting. Now when I first moved into my house about 9 years ago my mail arrived at 3pm every day. It was so punctual you could almost set your watch to it. The mail man was friendly and he even carried dog biscuits instead of pepper spray. Since he retired we have had a string of mailmen and women, each more disappointing than the last. There was the guy who would scream cuss words into his blue tooth while talking to his friends during the entire route. We could hear him dropping F-bombs up and down the street. There was the guy who pepper sprayed my dog who was playing with us in the front yard and made no move to attack him. Those were just the most awful, now we seem to have a bunch of different people none of whom can read. I get the wrong mail at least 2-3 times each week. When ever I'm waiting on something important I'm on pins and needles until it gets here, because who knows where it could end up? There are days when I don't receive mail at all. This wouldn't be as big of a deal if the mail person didn't also fail to pick up my outgoing mail. Now the UPS man on the other hand has been on our route since my daughter was born. He remembers us, he remembers her. He's friendly and I like him. However, UPS has a service that many businesses seem to be subscribing to these days called UPS Sure Post. With Sure Post UPS gets your package to your general area and then it's transferred to the Post Office for delivery. Now if you read the first paragraph of this post, you know I have zero faith in the USPS to get my mail to me in a timely manner or in some cases at all. I ordered some makeup from Ulta last week. It was sent UPS Sure Post. Had it been shipped regular UPS it would have been here Monday. However with sure post it's now Wednesday and I don't know if it'll come yet. The last package I ordered from Ulta, when I checked the tracking online, the mailman had it marked delivered a good 8 hours before it was actually in my possession. When I called to inquire about the whereabouts of my package, the USPS customer service department told me that they often mark packages as delivered before their actual delivery to save time. What is the point of an online tracking system if it's not even accurate? Yeah, I thought it was pretty pointless too.

Into the Woods...

My friends and I took the kids to see Into the Woods this past week. My 4 year old was begging to see it, and since she saw the advertisements on the Disney Jr., channel I brought her along. About half way through she was bored senseless and begging to go home. I had expected a lot from this cast and normally for me, Johnny Depp can do no wrong. His posters covered my walls as a kid, Cry Baby is my favorite movie, I just love the guy. However, his part in this was short and pretty molestery. Yes, I said molestery. Funny, in a "OMG did they really just say that?" kind of way, but a little disturbing all the same. This movie was not at all what I was expecting. I knew there was going to be some twists and turns from the classic Disney tales, but this was really odd. I don't want to give too much away, but for me certain plot twists didn't make much sense, like the demise of Meryl Streep's character. Also, the effects for the female giant were absolutely awful, it's like they blew the budget building the giant woods set and then couldn't manage to make her look remotely real.
I think the idea behind this movie was spectacular. The execution however leaves a lot to be desired. If you really must see it, I'd wait till it comes to On Demand or Netflix. Wish I had waited...

Insta-Cold Beverage!

Ok, so It's not instantaneous, but it is a relatively fast way to get your drink cold.

When I buy beverages, I have a shelf where I store all of the ones that are not going immediately into the refrigerator. I just don't have room in the fridge to keep them all cold all the time. Now I do this all the time, I take the last cold drink of mine out of the fridge and forget to replace it with a few more of the same kind. Usually it's energy drinks for me, since I'm a total caffeine addict and don't really love coffee. So when I wake up in the morning, I go straight for a Mountain Dew Orange Kickstart or a Sugar Free, Zero Calorie Xyience Frostberry Blast Xenergy. So with that aforementioned caffeine addiction fully kicking in the morning, I'm fairly devastated if I don't have any cold energy drinks.
Somewhere along the way I learned a trick to quickly make a warm beverage cold. I take 2 pieces of paper towel and fold them at the tear line making 1 double thick sheet. Then I run them under cold water, ringing out any serious dripping, while still leaving them really damp. I fold the paper towel so when I wrap it around the can it's totally covered without a lot of overhang. Then, I place the wet paper towel wrapped can in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes and ShaZam! Nice cold energy drink! It can be done with any kind of drink, just make sure you don't forget about it and have it explode!

Philosophy Hope In a Jar Free Sample

I don't know about you, but it's not everyday that I come across free samples from higher end brands like Philosophy. So I was pretty excited to see this offer appear! Click here to fill out the form for a free sample of Philosophy Hope in a Jar.

Bing Rewards

I'm pretty excited, I'm getting close to gold status on Bing Rewards, which basically means I'll get rewards even faster! I love these sites that reward you just for using them as your search engine. Bing Rewards is free and that makes it even better!

Birchbox vs Ipsy

So since my last post on Birchbox, I have cancelled that subscription in favor of Ipsy, a similar brand. In all of my Birchbox boxes, I can't say that I really found any products that I was in love with. They failed to introduce me to anything that I just can't live without. I had heard some good things about Ipsy and for the same $10 a month, decided to give them a try. I'm really glad I did. To start, instead of the items being delivered in just a box that I recycle when I'm done, my items arrive in a makeup bag each month! I love that. I may have a small obsession with makeup bags though. Also, while it has nothing to do with the quality of the items, I also think its cute that my Ipsy "Glam Bag" is delivered in a pink padded envelope every month.
January will be my 4th month receiving the glam bag from Ipsy. My bag ships midmonth and I can't wait to see what they surprise me with this time! I've gotten to try new brands that I'd never heard of like Nourish Organics, and new products from brands I already love like Tarte. One of my favorite new brands that Ipsy introduced me to is Elizabeth Mott. Her You're so FINE waterproof liquid eyeliner in glitterati is amazing. I don't usually like glitter in my makeup. Lets face it, too much glitter after 30 just looks a little sad and desperate. The glitter in this liner is subtle though, you just see a little shine when the light catches it here and there. Also, it doesn't wear off or flake off like a lot of liquid liners. Last, but certainly not least, most products you receive in your glam bag you can purchase at a discount. Ipsy doesn't sell any products directly, however they usually have a promo code for you to receive a discount on the brand website. All in all I have to say, I really like Ipsy much more than Birchbox.