Thredup Earn $10 for FREE clothes! Paid only $2.99 shipping for Levi's jeans!!

Thredup – Excellent place for used children’s clothing! 

 $2.99 for Levi’s jeans!   Earn $10 for signing up!

I have 3 boys ages (10, 8 and 5) and well as many parents of boys know they are rough on clothes.  I’ve been pretty lucky until about now.  My 10 and 8 year old have been pretty easy with hand me downs, my 5 yr old on the other hand hasn't followed along with his brother’s clothing sizes for the seasons here in the Midwest, so I spent a lot of time trying to find reasonably priced clothing.  My main focus for my kids is jeans, jeans are so expensive these days and it’s even harder when I need the slim with adjustable waist kind. 

My 8 year old is super slim and everything pretty much falls off his waist if he doesn't have adjustable buttons on the inside.  Recently I moved him up to size 10, mainly for the lengthy as the 8’s were getting too short and well pretty much all the knees were worn out between him and his brother.  Luckily my oldest just moved to size 12 for length as well so that freed up a few 10’s at least.

When I placed my first order with Thredup I was a little nervous, as I wasn't sure what to expect as I’I've never ordered from a online consignment before.  Is the pricing good? Is the product going to meet my expectations? Do I have anything to worry about?  I took my chances when they had their cyber special going on two weeks ago. 

Here’s what I got:

Boys size 12 Levi’s jeans - $15.49

Add shipping                         $2.99

Total:                                      $18.48

(minus cyber deal)    -      $15.00   credit

Total due:  $3.48

Not bad for jeans that normally run $20 or more!  I got these for practically FREE!

  Better yet I referred my family to the site as well and my grandmother ordered my 5 yr old a pair of jeans too and only paid shipping charges of $2.99 for a pair of Levi’s!!   This one indicated a tiny flaw she said but figure it was ok.  I’m not overly picky!

If you are interested in signing up for thredup you can earn $10 to spend and I will also too!  Click on the following link to check it out.  You will earn $10 off your first order ( this could be FREE clothes!).

Thred up! Earn $10 for FREE clothes!

Review of Lysol Touch of Foam soap

I signed up a few months ago as a Bzz agent and I will tell you they have not disappointed!  My first trial Garnier Review I did not care for the product much, but they appreciate honest feedback.  So when I was invited for the campaign for Lysol Touch of Foam I was super excited to give another new product a try.  First, as a mother of 3 boys I know how important it is to keep your hands washed with a good soap.  Face it kids are messy, boys are messy and 3 boys plus their friends, oh boy!  However, it became even more evident the last month because of the stomach flu bug going around.  It just seemed to be hitting everyone everywhere I went.  So I made sure to have this new soap available for everyone to use.  I love Lysol for the fact they have the products that cleanse, kill bacteria and delivers on what they promise.   One downside of continually washing hands is that your hands get dry and rough.  You constantly are running and putting lotion on.  With this Lysol Touch of Foam soap they promise clean and soft all in one and they definitely deliver in my opinion! 

Creamy Vanilla Orchid

Checkout that FOAM!

Years back I was one of those nuts who was spending top dollar for ‘foaming’ soap dispensers, yeah those lasted oh so long (not!).  They became more of a nuisance then anything, for the constant refilling, making sure you had the right amount, etc.  I finally gave up and bought the cheapest soap around.  Then my boys came along and they started growing up and the germs multiplied as they grew.  Then I started gardening again and well that just added a whole new level of germs and dirt to the washing of hands in my household.  With handling fresh veggies from the garden and canning/preserving food it’s extremely important to avoid germs as much as possible.  Garden season is starting here in Illinois and I can’t wait for it and I feel even better now knowing about this soap! 

So we’ve now been using this soap for a few weeks and oh my goodness.  I am never going back to regular soap!  I LOVE this soap!    My kids love the foaminess of it and they wash their hands longer and I love the smell, the texture, the foam and the cleanliness of it!  I love that it leaves a lingering scent on your hands and you can smell the clean!  From now on this will be the soap in my house!

Touch of Foam comes in 3 scents: Creamy Vanilla Orchid, Rose & Cherry in Bloom and Wild Berry Bliss.  You can visit Lysol’s website or Facebook page to learn more and obtain coupons. 

For us as of right now this is  THE soap and my family has all enjoyed it.  I think my 4 yr old likes the foam as he has a tendency to over pump the soap dispenser.  But his hands are very clean! J

*I was provided a free sample of Lysol Touch of foam from Bzz agent for my honest review.  All opinions and thoughts are 100% my own*

Product Review - Fructis Triple Nutrition

So I recently signed up wtih Bzz Agent and I was invited to a campaign.  The campaign was to try the new product Garnier Triple Nutrition.  I got my sample bottle about a week ago and I was super excited to try this new product.  I have really dry brittle hair and very dry skin during the winter time especially.  Well I opened the package and went to give it a try and the spray didn't work.  It is a spry bottle, the spray should work right?  Well this bottle was missing the tube attachment that attaches to the sprayer, you know the tube that should get the oil to the sprayer and then out.  So what do I do well, I improvise!  I may not be able to spray as I'd like but I did use the oil by pouring it in my hand. 

First I used it on my hair, which is very dry and brittle.  It seemed to help some, but left a greasy feel to it.  I' not sure if it's because my hair is so dry or if it's just the oil it helped some but not extraordinary.  I did notice though as I was pouring the oil on my hands for my hair that my hands were alot softer after this.  My hands get very very dry during the winter months, sometimes they crack and bleed they get so dry.  Well this oil (even with the greasy feel) left my hands so soft, I was shocked!  I then started to use it on my face and continue on my hands.  It has made a huge differenc on my skin.  I plan to start using it on my lower legs next as I have bad excema there during the winter.  If it helps with that I'm hooked!

The bottle is attrative and clear, it comes with a pump that should theoretically work, if the bottle is assembled right.  Mine wasn't but I can't complain the overall product still works. I've looked forit in the stores and it seems a little pricey at $5.99 typically for a 6oz bottle.  I guess it will be the ultimate question on how well it continues to work if I will consider buying it for continued use. 

Overall I give the product a B, mainly because of the greasiness of the product that it leaves behind.  It's a very thin oil, so it's not thick or heavy. 

Disclosure:  I received a free bottle for trial, I was not paid to write any review and all reviews are soley my opinion.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Bread

Thanks to my quest for breakfast ideas I found this recipe and tweaked it a bit to suit my tastes.  Turned out pretty good.  I used a bag of strawberries that my mom had given me from her patch over the summer, glad I froze them and found a use for them!

I've been eating this bread almost everyday at work for breakfast, right now they are giving out free oatmeal and well i'm not a big fan, it's free so I'll get it, I'll eat it but I am already getting burned out on it.

Ingredients

·         ½ cup butter – melted

·         ¾ cup sugar

·         2 eggs

·         3 oz. cream cheese

·         1 container of Greek yogurt

·         1¾ cup all purpose flour

·         1 tsp vanilla

·         ½ tsp baking powder

·         ½ tsp baking soda

·         ½ tsp salt

·         ¼ tsp cinnamon

·         1 cup strawberries – chopped (fresh or frozen and thawed)

Instructions

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the melted butter and the sugar.

2.     Next, mix in the eggs and the Greek yogurt.

3.     After those four ingredients have been mixed together, add cream cheese, and add the vanilla.

4.     Mix in all dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

5.     Fold in chopped strawberries.

6.     Pour mixture into individual mini loaf pans (or 1 large loaf pan) and place in the oven. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (55-60 minutes for a large loaf).

7.     Once cooked through, remove from oven and allow to cool.

8.     I stored these in small Ziploc bags inside a big freezer bag for extra protection.

 

Sunday Football Chili

~Sunday Football Chili~

 

 

A very simple, quick & easy, yet delicious Chili recipe for those cold fall days or football Sundays, (which is the case at my house!)   This recipe is very versatile and you can add or remove various options to your taste.   I used home canned tomatoes but you can use store bought as well.   This was enough to feed my family of 5 and still have 2 bowls for leftovers to freeze.  You could easily ½ this and it would be a smaller amount or make a big batch and freeze it!.

1.5 lb ground beef or chuck

1 lb Italian sausage

4 cloves garlic

1 medium onion chopped

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1qt. home canned tomatoes (or 3 sm cans tomatoes)

1 can 15 oz tomato sauce (or 2 8 oz cans)

1 (15oz) can kidney beans or Chili beans

1 Chopped green peppers

Red Pepper flakes – just a pinch or to your taste

1 tsp. worschestchire Sauce

½ tsp cumin

1 Tbs. brown sugar or Grape Jelly

1. Brown ground beef, Italian sausage, onion, garlic & green peppers in large stockpot, cook and stir over medium heat until browned, drain.
2. Stir in chili powder, salt, oregano, tomatoes, sauce, worschestchire sauce & cumin.  Cook stirring occasionally for 1 hour.
3. Stir in the beans and grape jelly, pinch of red pepper flakes (more if you like it hotter), simmer uncovered for another 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

~ENJOY~

~Freezer Cooking Trial~

Well I took about 3-4 days but I did start my freezer cooking.  And boy did I find A LOT of ideas and recipes.  So based on what I had on hand or was able to buy cheaply here’s what I made:

I froze the following:

2 -  pans Baked Ravioli, recipe is HERE. I used my homemade sneaky spaghetti sauce for this.

1  - bag homemade spaghetti sauce (from canned tomatoes from my garden)

1 -Sausage & Peppers crockpot meal.  This is new for us so we’ll try it.  Recipe from HERE.

2  - bags of porkchops in homemade marinade.

1  - bag of strip steaks in homemade marinade.

10 lbs of ground beef – used some for the spaghetti sauce, 1 night of tacos and froze 4 pkgs. With a family of 5 I use atleast 2 lbs when I make things like tacos and enchiladas.  You can find my enchilada recipe HERE .

2 - bags of marinaded chicken, going to use this for this Chicken Italiano.

1 - bag of shredded chicken for enchiladas. 

4 - small loaves Strawberry bread – recipe coming.  J

Breakfast melts – interesting recipe, may need some tweaking.  Recipe HERE from Pioneer Woman.

3 - Breakfast Egg loaves – Recipe coming! J  I had half of one of these for breakfast this am and it was REALLY good.  I am definitely going to stock up on eggs to make plenty more!

I also got a 13 lb ham from my grandmother, so I cut that up into smaller chunks to use for casseroles etc.  and I made plenty of Chicken stock.

I also made:

2 -big loaves banana bread & 4 small loaves.  They are pretty much gone, my husband took the big loaves to work and my kids devoured most of the rest.

*All that was left as of last night!

That is in addition to multiple freezer bags of veggies from the garden still and I have 3 bags with 5 ears each of corn on the cob for future meals.

It’s not an over abundance, but it’s a start.  Found LOTS of recipes, but a lot of things my husband won’t eat a lot of the other stuff.  Sigh.  Oh well, I do what I can. J  I have plenty more to try, my #`1 goal was to do breakfast ideas for me at work.  I spend way too much $$ at work in the cafe.  So as of today, this week I have spent .70.  for 1 bowl of hot cereal.  That was it.

 If anyone has any other ideas, let me know!