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By popular demand (on the facebook poll) the recipe this week is Crockpot Meatloaf! It competed with banana cream pie and angel food cake even!

I absolutely love Crockpot meals because it is so nice to come home to a nice smelling house and dinner just about done. This recipe was actually in the little paper cookbook that I got with my Crockpot about 18 years ago.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 c quick cooking oats
• 1 pkg of dry onion soup mix (ex. Lipton onion soup mix)
• 1/2 c ketchup (I use more like 1 cup though)

Directions:

TIP: For a no mess Crock Pot use a Crock Pot liner as shown above. They are awesome and I looooooove not having that mess to clean up.

Combine all ingredients mixing well. Shape into a loaf and put in the Crock Pot. Top with 2 tbsp of ketchup. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours.

That’s it!

I have to warn you that the meatloaf does not look very appetizing when it is finished, but it will be among the best meatloaf you’ve eaten!

If you like quick and easy Crock Pot recipes, check out this easy no mess Crock Pot BBQ Chicken recipe.

 This month’s Champions for Kids SIMPLE Service project is sponsored by Energizerand the project revolves around keeping kids safe in the winter.

I am a single parent and I know that it can be difficult to manage finances, put food on the table, clothes on the backs of your children… but we should all feel the need, as human beings, to watch out for the welfare of other children.

You can easily find Energizer rechargeable batteries, chargers, and batteries if you look for the battery center! My battery center was located at the front of the store near the checkout stands.

Walmart recently had fleece blankets for $2.88 and all of their hats, gloves and scarves at 50% off! It doesn’t have to cost a million to be ONE OF MILLIONS!

It’s been cold and snowy here lately and I cannot imagine sending my kids to school without knowing that they are safe and warm. You can help out by getting involved and becoming a Champion for Kids. Prepare a winter care kit, donate it to a local charity, school, church, family in need and report back to the #ChampionforKids website.

The Center for Disease Control recommends always having a winter care kit on hand that includes water, flashlight, batteries, food, sanitary wipes, tissues, band-aids…… but not everyone can afford to have these things on hand on any given day. Many families can’t even afford to put food on the table let alone prepare for an emergency.

Here is a peek at part of our donation. We bought hats, gloves, flashlights, rechargeable Energizer batteries, water bottles, Wet Ones, Kleenex, toothpaste………. and more!

Gather your friends, family, neighbors, book club, church group, weight loss group, sports parents, PTA….. and collect donations to help children stay safe in the winter by putting together an Energizer Winter Care Kit.

Learn about the needs in your local community. For those of you in Colorado, I did some research for last month’s Champions for Kids project and found that  20% of Colorado children are food insecure – they don’t have access to regular and nutritious food.

Give the winter care kit to a local charity, food bank, shelter, school…..

Report back to the CFK site so they can report when they have reached one million!

Did you know? (source: Champion for Kids Energizer SIMPLE Service Project card.)

• 70% of power outages in the US are weather-related
• Accidents are the leading cause of death in children
• Over 9 million children suffer non-fatal accidents each year

Brands also included in the Energizer portfolio include Banana Boat and Wet Ones! Sunscreen and hand wipes are ALWAYS good to have on hand.

Head over to the Champions for Kids web page to learn more about this project and how you can get involved and become one of millions. How will you get involved?

Follow on facebook and twitter here:

• Champions4Kids on Twitter
• Energizer on Twitter
• Champions for Kids on Facebook
• Energizer on Facebook

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias. All opinions are 100% mine.

Cold and flu season isn’t over yet. Safeway and the  Florida orange juice want you to BE WELL. SAVE WELL.

It’s no secret that I have struggled with sickness this flu season. I’m just getting over a sinus infection after two rounds of antibiotics, but I just get so busy that I don’t been taking very good care of myself lately. With just one simple step, I can fix that.

Adding 100% natural Florida Orange Juice to my daily regimen!

Florida orange juice is 100% natural, 100% from the United States and provides 100% recommended daily value of Vitamin C – and we all know that Vitamin C is super important in keeping the immune system strong!

Not only does 100% natural Florida orange juice give you 100% RDV of vitamin C, but vitamin C is an antioxidant which is important in keeping your body “neutralized” from nasty air pollution and such.

More importantly, keeping your body hydrated is of uber importance when you are under the weather – something that I am not good at doing.

So…….. with just adding one 8 oz glass of 100% Natural Florida orange juice I am hydrating my body, stocking up on the all important vitamin c, fighting air pollution and complementing my weight loss plan because it is FAT FREE!!! I can make it even tastier by adding it to a smoothie. Yum!

For more information on the benefits of Florida orange juice visit the Florida Orange Juice Council website and follow them on facebook!

For some valuable coupons on Kleenex, Clorox wipes, Centrum vitamins and ProNutrients (by Centrum) be sure to pick up a Be Well. Save Well. pamphlet  (as seen below) in the pharmacy area of your local Safeway store! The pamphlet in my store was hanging on the side of the blood pressure monitor in the pharmacy area. If you don’t see it ask a Pharmacist!

If you are on twitter be sure to follow the #FloridaOJ hashtag for more information on how you can keep your family well with Florida orange juice. You can also find Safeway on twitter and facebook for more great deals.

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias All opinions are 100% mine.

Taking Care of Your Teen: Depression
Tuesday, February 21, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Parker Fieldhouse- 18700 E Plaza Dr, Parker, CO 80134
Know the warning signs and how to talk about it.

I bet this is going to be a great class! I sure wish I had known about a class like this before my oldest entered his teen years, it would have been a fabulous resource. Teen years are sooo tough. So many pressures… Parents, school, friends, drugs, sports, chores…..

Howdy friends! You all know that I love Swagbucks and that they fund a big part of my Christmas shopping each year, but check this out…

If you are new to Swagbucks, be sure to sign up today and enter code BIRTHDAYBASH12 for 110 bonus Swag Bucks. This means you will start out with 140 rather than the customary 30! Woohoo. (Learn more about Swagbucks in this post, but don’t wait – go grab your bonus bucks NOW.)

Swagbucks‘ 4th Birthday Celebration is happening on February 27th, and to celebrate they are giving out four $1,000 prizes.

1. Go to this page and RSVP for the Swagbucks Birthday Bash, a 24-hr Team Challenge happening on the 27th.
2. Pick one of the two parties and RSVP for it – if you don’t have a preference, click “Surprise Me”
3. That’s it – do that and you’re entered to win!

It’s been just about a month since I first told you of my woes with unwanted phone calls for the business owner who had my phone number before me and didn’t pay his bills. And it was then that I told you about PrivacyStar.

PrivacyStar, a smart-phone app that allows you to block callers and also file a report straight from the app, has literally saved me hundreds of unwanted phone calls.

I know for a fact that the PrivacyStar app is working because I have not gotten one unwanted phone call since I blocked the numbers. The app on my phone, however, only shows that it has blocked one call. ?? It must be an issue with the app because I can 110% tell you that it is blocking my calls. I literally went from several, up to 10, unwanted calls per day to zero. I know it’s hard to believe.

Also, I can to the PrivacyStar website and see that it has blocked a few calls that were on my list. Weird that they are not showing on my phone app.

This is a screen shot directly from the site. I had three calls from numbers I had blocked on January 12 within minutes of each other. No doubt same person, different number. Had I not added them to my blocked list they would have come through to me! Frustrating.

The PrivacyStar website shows a great amount of detail. As you can see above I can see date, time, number, caller… (I’ve blocked out the ones that show names). You can also create a complaint from the site on that blue link, but you can create a complaint directly from the app too.

Using PrivacyStar is as easy as downloading an app – and you get a FREE 7-day trial to check it out – and adding numbers you want to block in less than a minute. It’s a super easy app to use even for the most tech averse. All you have to do is type in the phone number you want to block and click “Block Number”. That’s it.

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions are 100% my own and all words are my own.

Children’s Hospital Colorado is offering free parenting seminars again this year.

What’s better than a free parenting seminar is a free parenting seminar that offers free child care for attendees. They have a limit of 25 children so be sure to check out the details and RSVP.

They have a pretty fantastic line up!

Taking Care of Your Teen: Depression
Tuesday, February 21, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Parker Fieldhouse- 18700 E Plaza Dr, Parker, CO 80134
Know the warning signs and how to talk about it.

Being the Voice for Your Child with Special Needs
Tuesday, March 13, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Children’s Hospital Colorado- Conference Center
Do you want more information on how you be a voice for your child at home, in the doctor’s office or in a patient room?

Picky Eaters
Tuesday, March 30, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Northeastern Junior College, Room 230, Sterling, Colorado
An informative session on how to manage those picky eaters.

Preparing Your Young Athletes for Sports
Tuesday, May 22, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Briargate Family Center YMCA, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Help your kids put their best foot forward by attending this session that will everything on what to ask at a physical to nutrition and asthma.

No Regrets Parenting
Tuesday, November 27, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
The Denver Zoo
Turning Long Days and Short Years into Cherished Moments with Your Kids by pediatric specialist Dr. Harley Rotbart

Visit the Children’s Hospital website for more information, to RSVP and RSVP for free child care.

Rice pudding is one of those things that takes me back to when I was a young kid. The creamy, sweet, cinnamony taste is an indulgence I rarely take part in. This recipe takes all of 10 minutes to prepare – the longest part is letting it cool.

I had a few ripe bananas that I was originally going to use to make banana bread, but I always make banana bread so I settled on a banana cream pie. A homemade banana cream pie.

In the middle of my banana cream pie I tasted the pudding – as all good cooks do – and I’m pretty sure my feet lifted off the ground. In that very moment I decided that this recipe was destined to become the best rice pudding we have ever had.

And it has not let us down!

If you are a lover of pudding, just leave the rice out. Voila! Homemade vanilla pudding.

Ingredients:

• 1 to 1.5 cups of rice
• 3 cups of milk
• 3/4 c sugar
• 1/3 c flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Cook 1-1.5 cups of rice according to the package. I used about 1.5 cups because I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough rice and it was quite a bit of rice (as seen in the photo) but it was perfect for me. Adjust to your liking.

In a large sauce pan, scald the milk. In another sauce pan combine the sugar, flour and salt. (I tried to skip the “in another sauce pan” step and used a bowl – USE the sauce pan). Gradually stir in the scalded milk.

Over medium heat, stirring constantly, cook until thickened. Cover and stir occasionally while cooking for two minutes longer.

In a small bowl separate the egg yolks and beat slightly. Stir a small amount of the hot mixture into the beaten yolks. Combine thoroughly and pour into hot mixture.

Cook for one minute longer, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Stir in cinnamon.

Let sit until lukewarm.

Add fully cooked rice. Stir thoroughly and enjoy. I always add a sprinkle of cinnamon to the top of each serving too.

Tomorrow is a free day at the Denver Zoo!

We are so lucky to have such a great resource in our own backyard. And what better way than to enjoy it when it’s free? Looks like it is going to be chilly and high 30′s so bundle up!

Earth day is just a little over two months away, but we don’t really need to just celebrate and treat earth right on one day….. we need to do it everyday!

eBay recently launched their eBay Green site. With it comes a ton of new resources to help you buy and sell green on eBay! My favorite new feature is the eBay Eco-Lounge. You can virtually walk through a “house” and find out what will sell on eBay!

Be sure that you join the eBay Green Team also. There is a link at the bottom of each page. Joining is easy-peasy, all you have to do is enter your eBay id and password.

Here is THE BEST part of the eBay green site right now…. They are giving away two $1,000 eBay gift cards (contest ends Feb. 17th at 11:59 PM PT) to two eBay Green Team members.

Entry to the giveaway is easy AND fun! All you have to do (make sure you join the Green Team first) is add an item to the Greener Alternatives list and/or add an Eco-shopping list to the site. You can do both, but you can only win one category.

What makes adding an eco-shopping list to the site is that you can feature your own items, as long as they are green! This is just one more area of advertising you can utilize to get your listings noticed.

Did you know?

That you can also utilize eBay Instant Sale to trade-in old electronics for cash? This is a great option if you don’t want to spend the time listing and selling your electronics. Just trade them in!

I have started keeping all boxes that I receive so that I can finally call myself a “green” shipper. I try to reuse all wrapping paper, newspaper (from my Sunday coupon papers!)……. and so on.

Be sure you go check out the new eBay Green page. The eBay Green Team has done a great job!

Disclaimer: I am a member of the eBay Parent Panel and this post is sponsored by eBay.