Swagbucks

Ok, so this isn't a scam (i've searched). You sign up and earn "swagbucks" for searching and then you can use those for gift cerftificates or prizes. You use Google anyway, right? This is powered by Google so you get the same results.

Click on the banner to sign on, and I get bucks for you signing on then you get a friend to sign up with your name you get bucks...yada yada. you get the idea.

You never pay anything or give any financial information--this isn't a pyramid scheme! Give it a shot, I mean, who doesn't Google every day? Might as well get something in return!

Crap Crackers

I'm a decent cook. I may go so far as to say a good cook, but I don't want to get prideful here.

"Kait," I thought to myself last week as I munched on some delicious crackers, "You could totally make crackers."

Yes I could, I agreed with myself.

So as soon as I got home from work I looked up a recipe on foodnetwork.com with the best ratings. This rarely has failed me.

I attempted Cracked pepper and parmesan crackers...sounds delish right? I begin mixing the butter and flour and freshly grated parmesan but the dough was hardly dough at all--more like floury crumbs. Hmm... Well I got it to stick together, froze it and cut it in little rounds and popped it in the oven.

My first time making something I usually follow recipes to a T. Or close to a T. Maybe an S. You get my point. After I've made it according to the recipe and if it's good enough, I'll keep it around and change it up a bit.

Back to the crackers. I slice them thinly, lay them on a baking sheet and put them in for exactly how long the recipe says--22 minutes.

It was like burnt pepper shortbread.

Bad

Really.

When Matt came home and tried them he had a first.



He spit them out.



Ouch.



Then it was funny.



But still...




And that sums up my experiment of making crackers at home.



Anyone got any better recipes?

Penny Pinching Palmers and Recently Rotund Roy Boy

Hello all you lovely people!

We are back in Seattle after one last trip down to ole' Tustin to see the Curran house one more time. Thanks to all of you who showed up for the potluck birthday--it was a hoot! And special thanks to my wonderful hubby for manning the grill all weekend!

I have to say it may have been my best birthday weekend ever--friends, family, games, Knott's berry farm, small town parade and fireworks, BBQ, old home movies, and two amazing cakes done by my Aunt Wendy and Amanda! Definitely the icing on the weekend...

*insert ba-dum-dum drums here*

Matt's parents took good care of our Roy Boy, admitting they only gave him a "few" table scraps and he only jumped out of the car window in a parking lot once. Jokes aside, Roy was very attached to them by the time they left and keeps looking around for them. It's good to keep him moving around like that because he needs to walk off a few extra pounds he seems to have mysteriously put on...

Tonight the all-amazing-wanderlust Ammah rides into town. In case you haven't heard, she's been traipsing all over the country by herself and having the time of her life. From Prescott Valley she shot north to Moab, then over to Colorado where "she wanted to wade in the river but it had whitecaps so she thought that might not be the smartest thing to do." Good thinking, Ammah, especially since you don't swim and were by yourself!

From Colorado she headed north and spent her 4th of July weekend at Mount Rushmore. Somehow she seemed to think that this quaint town of 310 people located at the base of our most beloved Presidents would stay quaint for the holiday weekend celebrating our national freedom.

Not so much.

Thirty-THOUSAND people flocked there, including but not limited to a Harley-Davidson convention, international tourists and all sorts of interesting people Ammah has a knack for running into. And her hotel put her in the handicap room which did NOT go over well with her!

She was thankful to get out of the town and was headed to a Dude Ranch in Billings, Montana. She arrived to discover it was the Dude Ranch Lodge, located downtown. She flatly said to me over the phone, "There are NO horses. No cows. Nothin'." Then her voice got high and happy as she said, "But I did see a dude and that made things better!"

Now she's blazing a trail in her car named Lunar towards Seattle, gearing up to fix us chicken-fried steak, okra and who knows what else!

 You gotta love Ammah.

Our big news we decided last week was we're going to try to challenge ourselves to not spend more than $250 for the rest of the month on food, gas and entertainment. I got the idea from a site called Small Notebook, and they do it every year. 

It's called the No Spend Month, but its more like the Spend Less Three Weeks for us. Hopefully it will make us more appreciative of what we do own and resourceful with what we have. We'll be getting creative with how to keep guests entertained and fed, but we're actually really looking forward to this challenge! (ask me in three weeks...) There's a can of an interesting looking Asian sauce that has been sitting in our cupboard for 6 months that I've been afraid to test...guess the time is now!

This is our first jumpstart to Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps. And good news--I'll be getting my first Google check this month! WOo hoo!!! I'm trying my best to think of more topics to write about so if you have any ideas let me know!

And here's a link to the last hub I wrote (can't remember if i sent this or not)http://hubpages.com/hub/Redecorating-Despite-the-Economy

I'd add pictures but sadly I left my camera in Orange County so I'm waitin' for Mama to ship it back after their house finishes getting tented.

That's all my exciting news for now. Stay posted for the adventures of the Penny-Pinching Palmers and the Recently Rotund Roy Boy!