A baby is born!

Four years ago, my sister gave me my 1st houseplant. And amazingly, it has survived. It's the spiderplant in the picture above.

When I went to her house, she had saucers full of baby plants. So she gave me one. I was clueless so she even supplied the pot and the dirt. :)

The plant hung on with me through feast and famine, and through a move. And just this week, for the first time in it's life....it has made a baby. I'm so proud. You can see it in the top right section of the plant.

This summer, I moved the plant from our laundry room into our kitchen. Every time I find a cup with water left in it, I give it to the plant before tossing the cup in the sink. I think it's made all the difference.

Now to transplant the baby without my husband finding it and killing it. :(

Tootsie Rolls contain Trans Fats!

Candy is bad for you. Big surprise? No, but just recently I actually read the labels on some of the candies we had on hand. So much high fructose corn syrup. So many food colorings and dyes. So much sugar. So many crazy chemicals. But wait....

I expected all that junk. What I didn't expect to see was trans fats!! And in tootsie rolls, of all places. The third ingredient (after of course sugar and corn syrup) was partially hydrogenated soybean oil!

How's that for a Halloween Scare! We had a bunch of these in our house (a favorite parade candy, right?) but not anymore. To the trash they went and now that I'm even reading candy labels, all bets are off!

Happy Halloween everybody! Be careful what you put into your body!

Check out my new Twitter page

When you get a second, go check out my new twitter page and tell me what you think. I never thought this techno-grandma would figure out twitter, but now I'm seriously addicted. :)

Homemade Almond Walnut Butter - Using the Vitamix

Since Costco stopped selling my favorite almond butter, I've been focused on making my own. This is my first Vitamix nut butter experiment! I attempted to make raw almond walnut butter. Follow below to see the results:

I filled the Vitamix with a few cups of raw almonds and about a cup of raw walnuts.

The result. I didn't really follow the directions (surprised?) so my butter really became more of a nut paste rather than a butter. It looked, smelled, and tasted like cookie dough. I'm not kidding!

I shared it with my daughter and she loved it. She asked if she could have "more of that sugary stuff." Keep in mind there is no sugar in here! No oils, no honey, nothing but almonds and walnuts.

I prefer to eat it in a sandwich or on saltines. Why is so white (or tan) for a nut butter? Because I used raw nuts.

Because I made more of a paste than a butter, it spread so easily and held it's shape. Most almond butters are notoriously running and have to be altered to use in traditional peanut butter recipes.

A few months ago I attempted chocolate almond butter cups, and had the hardest time with the almond butter running out. This paste held it's shape so well, I could form it into "cookie dough balls" and pop them in my mouth.

I may write to a few ice cream companies about this. A vegan cookie dough ice cream anyone? It would be devastatingly expensive, but oh so good. And I finally understand how people can make raw nut cheeses...they just don't blend it to the absolute butter stage.

And with this experiment, it's official. I just may go Vegan this holiday season. I will pack my own snacks as we're travelling and bring along some of my almond/walnut butter as a cookie substitute. ;)

And since I know "the wrong way" to make a butter, I'm going to get some cashews and make some nut cheeses (these are just raw nuts and spices that when blended taste like cheese...kind of akin to my cookie-dough-like nut paste.)

Grocery Shopping - $53 for a family of 5

If you were reading a few days ago, you know that we are once again, a family of 5. I'm also working hard on putting our family back onto the healthy track....and balancing the free "stuff" with the good "stuff."

This week, I am proud to say that I finally found a trans-fat free tortilla!! I mean no trans-fats in the ingredients, not just "per serving." I found them at Sams, but it's not all good news. They do contain aluminum baking soda. I'm still on the road to making them myself....and have done so a few times....but not with enough success to report back. *silent tears*

This week, I went to my usual grocery store and Sams Club. Hence the monster pack of chocolate chips, yeast, and honey.

At the grocery store, the only items I actually paid for were the tortilla chips. Everything else was free. There should have been 8 more packages of wholly guacamole in the picture but my cashier was sticking to the per customer limit and would not allow separate transactions.

Rather than run back in over and over again with 2 fighting preschoolers, I said "okay" and left; content with the deals I did manage to score. :) I love guacamole and it freezes well, but great deals always come around and I'll get more next time.$53.49 and was originally $85.32. I saved 75% at the grocery store using coupons, but paid regular price at Sams.

Click on this link to see more about how I shop for groceries. And feel free to enter any of myawesome giveaways going on right now.

I apologize that the Mr. Linky got garbled and had to be removed. Hopefully I will get my linky issues sorted out shortly.

2 new Blog Awards

A special thank you to "Deal"ightfully frugal for giving me the "A strong cup of coffee" award for having a blog good enough to wake you up in the morning and keeping you going all day!

I'm passing this award on to:

A boy, a girl, and soccer

A giveaway everyday

The Self Love project

Brand New House Wife

I also want to thank Strawberry Seeds for giving me the Lemonade Stand Award.

The rules for this award:

- Put the Lemonade logo on your blog or within your post.
- Nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude or gratitude.
- Link the nominees within your post.
- Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
- Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

I am passing this on to:

Joanie's Random Ramblings

So Many Kids, So Little Time

Money Saving Mom

Love My 2 Dogs

Sprinkled with Blessings From Above

5 Minutes for Mom

2 Toddlers and Me

"Deal"ightfully Frugal

The Frugal Kennedys

Freebies 4 mom

Necco Wafer Review

Halloween is fast approaching and do you know what halloween means to me? Candy, candy, candy! Even though we don't actually celebrate Halloween, we still end up with tons of candy.

In the spirit of eating a more "natural" diet, I've been reviewing some "all natural" candies lately.

One of those is Necco Wafers. Do you remember those? Well....they've gone all natural.

My thoughts:

- They tasted exactly how I remembered them - yummy

- My kids loved the coin shapes and traded them like money

- I had no idea they made a chocolate necco wafer. It's my new tootsie roll substitute (find out why later in the week.)

-I hope they keep with the natural trend and make their valentine hearts all natural too. :)

No compensation was given for this review. I was given a bag of individually wrapped necco wafers which I sampled and then donated the rest to our local dance studio for their halloween parties.

Ipsos Survey looking for mothers with young children

Ipsos is currently looking for more mothers with children regardless of age. Ipsos is a survey panel that rewards survey takers with points and sweepstakes offers.

Moms with young children are always sought after for surveys. When I was single or newly married, survey companies couldn't care less about me. I'd get offers once or twice a year (really!) But since I became a mother, I've hit the motherload....literally.

Another reliable one to consider if you have young kids is mysurvey.com.

There are also many reliable market research companies that conduct panels, taste tests, and product testing. Most of these pay in cash. I'm putting together a local list of companies that routinely send me legitimate market research opportunities and will be posting it soon.

Internet Password Organizer - Review & #Giveaway

Congratulations to #73 Noelle. I am one of the most disorganized people I know. When I was a traveling salesperson, my manager once commented that he just couldn't understand how I ever got anything done. Everything I did was chaotic and out-of-order, but somehow it worked out.

I know how I did it.....I was young. Now, without youth on my side, I can see that the Universe is trying to send me a sign. It's time to get your life organized. Enter in the Internet password organizer (and another organization related giveaway coming soon.)

When I was first offered the chance to review the Internet Password Organizer, I honestly thought it was something I didn't need. I had a computer and it remembered things for me....right?

Actually, I have a very unreliable computer that has spent many days being repaired. And sometimes, it just doesn't cooperate.

I write myself notes....and then lose those notes. The Internet Password Organizer comes in bright colors, making it a little harder to lose.

Inside, there are over 100 pages for recording website and password information. And each section is alphabetized so entries are easy to find.

I started writing down my passwords and have found it very helpful to be able to reference them quickly and easily.

I feel comfortable putting my everyday website info into this book and leaving it on my desk. Would I put my financial info in a book like this? Yes, but then I would put the book into a safe.

In fact, I wish I would have received 2 for review, because my current financial details are in the safe......on a scribbled up piece of scrap paper. lol

Do you need to organize your Internet Passwords? One Suburban Jungle reader will receive their own Internet Password Organizer. You can also find them on Amazon.

To Enter

-Leave a comment to enter this contest.

Want extra entries?:

-Become a follower! Leave one comment for each way that you follow: google friend connect, twitter @suburbanjung, or feedburner

This giveaway will end on November 8, 2009 at 9:00PM and a winner will be posted and contacted by email by November 9th.

No compensation was given for this review. I did receive two password organizers; one to review and one to giveaway. This did not sway my opinion.

The Gum Stops Here

I'm an avid gum chewer...perhaps the worst. Last year, when I was a coupon maniac, I bought hundreds of packs of gum - for free. And I chewed them all.

But then it happened....I read the packaging. Of all the things I put in my mouth, gum may be one of the most foreign and chemical. So I've decided to kick the habit. I've been gum-free for weeks (lol) and will not be buying any more.

I'm trying not to be fanatic, so if someone offers me a piece, I may accept, but I won't be buying any of my own.

In addition to the artificial ingredients, did you know that gum is the #2 cause of litter. Just behind cigarette butts. Now that's gross.

Here are a few things you may not have known about gum:
-Millons of Dollars are spent cleaning up gum stuck to sidewalks, parking lots, and furniture
-Thousands of gallons of chemicals are used to clean up stuck-on gum
-Gum does not decompose for a really LONG time
-Gum has no nutritive value and can choke and/or kill small animals

If you want to chew gum, to each his own. :) But please, please, please do not throw it on the ground or stick it on something. Save the wrapper, put the gum inside it, and toss it in the trash.

Breast Cancer - My Interview with Dr. Kristi Funk

In Support of Breast Cancer Awareness month, I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Kristi Funk, celebrity breast cancer surgeon, to discuss the importance of early detection. Dr. Funk is a board-certified surgical breast specialist and has helped thousands of women through breast cancer treatment.

You may have seen Dr. Funk on the CBS evening news, as a guest surgeon and co-host of CBS' The Doctors,and as guest co-host of NBC's Extra.

Yoplait has teamed up with Dr. Funk this year to reach women and men with important breast health information -- specifically facts about early detection, risk reduction and ways to support the cause. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer within her lifetime and age is a significant risk factor.

I talked with Dr. Funk about early detection and prevention. The following is our interview:

Is the incidence of breast cancer on the rise? If so, what you think are the biggest contributing factors? If not, are we getting better at prevention?

The incidence of breast cancer has been relatively stable since 2003. Prior to that, there was a significant jump in the 1980s, presumably due to increased detection of cancers with improved mammography screening. The rate also increased between 1994-1999, thought to be secondary to the use of hormone replacement therapy. 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. Some lifestyle factors have contributed to the incidence of breast cancer, but the good news is that survival rates have increased over the past ten years. Early detection is key, so it is important for everyone to perform breast self-exams, and women 40 years and older must schedule yearly mammograms.


There are many ways to support the cause, to raise funds for research and community outreach, as well as awareness for the breast cancer. I'm proud to be teaming with Yoplait this year for its Save Lids to Save Lives campaign. For every pink Yoplait yogurt lid that you send in by December 31, 2009, Yoplait will donate 10 cents to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, up to $1.5 million with a minimum guaranteed donation of $500,000. You can visit www.YourLidMatters.com for more information and to download lid collection tools.

What other signs (besides lumps) can/should we be looking for on a regular basis that may signal cancer early on?

Here are critical signs that should send you to your doctor STAT for a breast evaluation: your nipple retracts inward (and it used to be pointing out); you notice a change in the color or texture of the skin over most of the breast (specifically if it looks like the peel of an orange: thickened, ruddy orange color, tiny pits); your nipple and/or areola is cracked, bleeding, flaking, or painful; there is discharge of any color coming spontaneously through your nipple (often noticed by staining on a bra or nightgown – it appears without you pushing it out); one breast is noticeably enlarging; there is a lump in your armpit.


Can you discuss the role of diet & exercise in the development of cancer (specifically breast cancer?)

Leading a healthy lifestyle is important. Eat a high fiber, low fat diet rich in fruits, vegetables and lean meats. Exercise regularly (at least 4 hours of medium to vigorous exercise per week). Maintaining a healthy weight reduces your risk for breast cancer. Find a BMI calculator online, and compute your body mass index – make sure it is between 18.5-25. Many cancers are fueled by estrogen, and certain dietary element, as well as body fat, increase the total estrogen level in your body. The exact effect of diet on the development of cancer is complex and poorly understood. However, it is safe to say that your diet either helps or hinders your body’s ability to combat known carcinogens and to repair cells that go awry.

Are there any foods (or habits) that have been proven to lower breast cancer risk?

Lifestyle and diet are two factors that you can control when it comes to reducing your risk for breast cancer. Maintain a healthy diet, high in fiber and low in fat. Make sure you meet the daily dose recommendations for vitamins and minerals. Favor fluids known to be rich in antioxidants, such as green tea and acai. Exercise. Limit alcohol to fewer than 7 drinks a week. These habits are linked to increasing the risk of breast cancer: delayed childbearing until after 30, having fewer children overall, breast feeding less than a year or not at all, taking hormones, being overweight, drinking alcohol, and being sedentary.

At what age should a woman start "early detection" methods? Puberty? 20's, 30's?

I recommend women get a baseline mammogram at age 35, then a mammogram every year once they are 40-years old and older. When interested, women should conduct breast self-exams starting at age 20, performing the self-exam once a month ideally one week after their periods, when the breast tissue is least lumpy and less tender. I also recommend that women visit a professional for a clinical breast exam at least every 3 years in her 20s, and then every year thereafter.

Link & Win Mondays: Stop in to List and Win Tons of Giveaways!

Link up your giveaways here! Then come back and check out some of these great giveaways! Lots of fun opportunities to win!

Don't forget to check out my giveaways for this week:

$15 AMAZON GIFT CARD
Yummy Earth Organic Candy!
Breast Cancer Pink Together Prize Pack

Five For Fighting - Autographed CD

4 FREE movie tickets + More

Winner is up! Elefun and Friends Games

The winner of the Elefun and Friends Preschool Games has been posted. Click the link to see the winner.

Remember, there is still plenty of time to win this great giveaways.

Elefun & Friends Preschool Games
$15 AMAZON GIFT CARD
Yummy Earth Organic Candy!
Take your family to the movies for FREE!
Breast Cancer Pink Together Prize Pack
Autographed Five for Fighting CD

Eating Right Kids - Review

Do you pack a lunch for your school children? If you do, then you know how difficult it can be to pack a healthy lunch in a little bit of time.

Safeway and Warner Bros. have teamed up to create a healthier line of convenience foods for busy parents who still want to pack healthy lunches.

I was recently sent a few samples of their Eating Right Kids line to review. My sample was an average-sized lunch for an elementary aged child. It contained:

• 100% apple juice
• Ready-to-eat Ravioli
• chewy bar
• Fruit cup

If I were packing a lunch, I could see how easy it would be to just throw one of each into the bag. Everything is shelf stable so there's no need to throw in ice or keep anything warm.

Reading through the brochure, I could see a lot of great aspects. Many of the items were HFCS-free and contained whole grains, the fruit cups were packed in extra-light syrup, and the juices were 100% juice. These are all things I look for when I'm feeding my children.

I only read about or sampled a very small portion, but the Eating Right Kids line contains over 60 items. All items in the line have been formulated to meet the most current federal and state standards.

Warner Bros has taken a few extra steps by removing the majority of foods, featuring their Looney Tunes characters, that did not meet the better-for-you standard from retail shelves.

My overall opinion:

I thought this would be a super easy way to pack school or picnic lunches. My usual conviction against processed foods still stands. I probably wouldn't buy many of these items on a regular basis, but would find it helpful to have a few in case of emergency.

I'm so happy that the Eating Right Kids brand is cleaning up the food offered to children because I could see a lot of parents using products like these, and it's so great to know there is a healthier option.

Of the products we specifically sampled, all tasted great. My only concerns were heating up the pasta in a plastic container and the size of the juice bottle. It was 10 oz. By most American standards, that's a small drink, but I do not offer my children that much juice at once. My only thought was that if lunch time was the only time the child was able to drink at school, 10 oz was probably a reasonably sized drink.

I plan to send my kids to school with reusable bottles of water.

You can find the Eating Right Kids line at more than 1700 Safeway locations throughout the US and Canada.

No compensation was given for this review. I did receive the above items mentioned and that did not bias my opinion in any way.

The Lazy Girl's Guide to Coupons

I save a lot of money using coupons, but I'm incredibly disorganized. I'm sure you've seen all the great pictures, vlogs, and step-by-step layouts of all the organized couponers out there. But now it's time to take a look at how a lazy girl manages coupons......

First things first: Where do my coupons come from? 80% come from the Sunday paper, 10% come in the mail, and 10% come from printing them at Coupons.com.

You can read more about how I get all my coupons (especially the free ones) here.

When the Sunday paper comes, I take out the ads, coupon booklets, and my coupon boxes.

I scan the grocery , Target, and the drugstore ads first. I circle anything of interest. This takes all of maybe 4 minutes.

Then I open the coupon booklets and start weeding through them. Since I no longer actively play the drugstore game, I throw out (recycle) any coupons I would never need. I throw out any 50c and under (Yes I do!) and I separate them into my boxes.

I have one box for toiletries. One box for food. And one plastic bin for expired coupons. I have one store that takes expired coupons.....try not to be jealous. ;)

I usually toss about half of the coupons that come each week.

You will notice that my coupons are NOT cut out. Not even my printable ones. I only cut them out when I actually use them, saving tons of time. Sometimes this means some junk coupons hitch a ride into the box with the ONE I wanted to save, but they get dumped when the good one gets used.

At this point I have invested maybe 8 or 9 minutes on a Sunday morning in coupons. I then go back to the grocery ads and grab one of my children's homework papers and use the back for my list.

I write down the store's name and the items that are at a price I want to buy and how many of each item. I also write down which coupons I think I have for those items.

Then I look for the matching coupons, cut them out and put them in this:

This is a zippered vinyl bag I received a makeup sample in. It rules for keeping coupons.

When I'm ready to go shopping for the week, I throw my list and my coupon packet into my reusable bags. Then I put a credit card in my pocket and I head out the door. {In case you are wondering....I've never carried a purse...I just can't...lol}.

I only look at my coupons and ads on Sunday. It takes me 15 minutes on a low shopping week to maybe 40 minutes on a week with extreme deals.

About once a month, I go through and take out expireds. That takes maybe 1/2 an hour. I print coupons online as they pop up but don't actively hunt them down. And I let them sit in my printing queue until a Sunday morning when I decide I need them. Then they all print out at once. So I spend limited time on those.

As you look at these photos, keep in mind that these are my REAL coupons. This is exactly how I manage my couponing and I'm still able to save quite a bit of money.

You do not need fancy binders and cool organizing systems. Yes, they are beautiful. Yes, you may save even MORE money if you are organized. But for me, it's not worth the time or expense.

My boxes came from the tops of paper boxes and an old craft box. I organize my list before I go and have no other distracting coupons with me. I go in with my list and buy what's on it. I hand over my coupons without losing any and if I miss a deal, so what. I have enough. And deals always come back around.

So if you happen to be wildly disorganized or just don't want to take a lot of time on coupons, know that it can be done. And you can still save tons of money.

Click on this link to see my weekly shopping savings. Scroll down a bit to see different weeks.

Grocery Shopping ~ $17 for a family of 4

This week's grocery shopping was light. Wahoo! My total before coupons was $32.10 and after $17.59 - a savings of 46%.

Click on this link to see more about how I shop for groceries. And feel free to enter any of my awesome giveaways going on right now.

Link up your Savings Successes and Mistakes in the Mr. Linky below. Feel free to link up any grocery scores, drugstore wins, gardening harvests, warehouse clubs, or any other great shopping adventures. If you don't have a blog, feel free to leave a comment with your stories. I read 'em all. :)

Friendly Blogger Award

A very special thank you to Hearts Make Families for giving me this cool new award. I'd like to pass it on to:

Cristin is Coupon Crazy

Melinda Joy

Mommas Gone City

Bloggest Loser

Congrats girls!

Autographed Five For Fighting CD!

The giveaway has ended. The winner is #93, TwifanHeather. I recently had the opportunity to review Five for Fighting's new CD - Slice. My thoughts: pretty cool. I enjoyed the soft, easy music. It's completely my husband's style of music, but one I'd like having in our playlist.
The album tracklist consists of:
1. Slice
2. Note To The Unknown Soldier
3. Tuesday
4. Chances
5. This Dance
6. Above The Timberline
7. Transfer
8. Hope
9. Story Of Your Life
10. Love Can't Change The Weather
11. Augie Nieto

Upcoming tour Dates:

John will be hitting the road in October with An Acoustic Evening with Five For Fighting. The songs are great on record, even better live! Definitely a show worth seeing! To find out about how to get tickets in a market near you, go to his site.
22-Oct Bay Shore, NY (Long Island) YMCA Boulton Center
23-Oct Uncasville, CT The Wolf Den
24-Oct Washington, DC Jammin Java
26-Oct Boston, MA The Paradise
27-Oct Philadelphia, PA World Café Live (downstairs)
29-Oct Nashville, TN The Belcourt
30-Oct Chicago, IL Lakeshore
3-Nov Salt Lake City, UT The State Room
5-Nov Seattle, WA Crocodile
6-Nov Portland, OR Aladdin Theater
10-Nov San Francisco, CA Swedish American Hall
11-Nov Los Angeles, CA Largo at the Coronet
Buy it:You can find Five for Fighting on Amazon and anywhere music is sold.
>

Win it:One lucky reader will win an autographed copy of Five for Fighting's new CD - Slice

To enter:

Leave a comment on this post.

No compensation was given for this review/giveaway. I did receive an album download to review the music. This did not influence my opinions.

Take Your Family to the Movies - For Free - Free movie tickets and cereal Giveaway

Congratulations to #605 swtlilchick for winning the movie pack. Starting this November, specially marked boxes of General Mills' cereals will contain movie codes. Just purchase two boxes of cereal and visit generalmills.com/moviecash to enter the codes and print your free movie certificate.

What an amazing deal! Cereal almost always gone sale, General mills is extremely generous with coupons, and movie tickets are expensive. This seems like a win-win-win situation!

Save up your coupons and look for specially marked boxes in November (it will be here soon!)

The participating brands are: Honey Nut Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Lucky Charms, Trix, and Reese's Peanut Butter Puffs.

But that's not the end to this great deal! General Mills and MyBlogSpark are giving one Suburban Jungle reader 4 e-movie cash certificates (worth $48) and 1 free coupon for any size General Mills cereal (up to $6). You could save that coupon and use it to buy one of the cereals listed above and you'd be half way to another free ticket!

To Enter:

Leave a comment telling me which movie you would use these tickets to see.

Extra Entries:

-1 extra entry if you Follow the Suburban Jungle on twitter (@suburbanjung), feedburner, or google friend connect (leave 1 comment for each way you follow)

-4 extra entries if you Blog about this giveaway (4 entries - leave 4 comments and your link in one of them)

-2 extra entries if you Tweet this giveaway (leave 2 comments and your status link)

Win 4 FREE movie tickets http://bit.ly/1fsWtx @suburbanjung #giveaway

-1 extra entry if you entered the Pink Together Giveaway (leave 1 extra comment)

-1 extra entry if you entered the Yummy Earth Organic Candy giveaway (leave 1 extra comment)

This giveaway will end November 8, 2009 at 9:00PM EST. Winners will be selected by random.org and notified by email. The winner will also be posted by November 9th.

No Compensation was received for this giveaway. I did receive the same movie packet that is being given away. This did not change my opinions.

Sisterly Jealousy.....

Look what my sister sent me today. This just isn't right..... If half of my family wasn't allegic, I'd catnap these two!

Michael Buble - Crazy Love

I was recently given the opportunity to review Michael Buble's new CD - Crazy Love. And I was crazy in love for this CD. I've been receiving a lot of romantic music lately and I'm taking it as a sign. I must need a little more romance.

Here is the albums tracklist:

-Cry me a River

-All of me

-Georgia on my mind

-Crazy love

-Haven't met you yet

-All I do is dream of you

-Hold on

-Heartache tonight

-You're nobody till somebody loves you

-Baby

-At this moment

-Stardust

-Whatever it takes

I really liked "All of me" and "Georgia on my mind." I decided on those as my faves until I hit "whatever it takes." I really, really liked that song and bumped the other two as oldies and goodies, but "Whatever it takes" became my top pick.

This album is now available for sale and is a nice romantic mix.

No compensation was given for this review, but I did receive a copy of Crazy Love to review. I then donated that copy to the Vietnam Veterans.

Uploading a Photo - I think I might Hurl

I'm gearing up for the Deal Pro Save-Up event and just received an email asking me to upload a photo of myself..........

You may or may not know this, but I'm excessively shy. Okay, I'm not so shy as an anonymous girl who looks like this:

But as my real self; totally different story. In any event....Savings.com will be posting all their Deal Pros on their website on Friday, so you can go and see what I put up.

Now to hunt down a picture from the last few years that actually has me in it....and includes my face. LOL

Target is now offering a 5c discount for reusable bags

I heard a rumor today that Target will be offering a 5c per bag discount when you use reusable bags. Can it be? I have one grocery store that offers this and I always carry in my bag full of bags, so I'm excited.

I didn't think it was possible for me to love Target anymore than I already do....but I was wrong. I love them even more now.

Making Raw Applesauce - Vitamix Style

I love to make homemade applesauce in the fall. Usually, I slice up my apples, boil them until their soft and grind them in a Foley Food Mill that removes the skins and cores. And I end up with tasty homemade applesauce.

But not this year. I have a Vita-Mix now and so we've been making applesauce....Vitamix style. It's so easy, it's raw, it's whole and it's tasty!

Here's what you do:

Throw some apples in the machine. I don't cut them or remove their seeds, cores, peels, or stems. ;)

After a few seconds, the result is tasty (really smooth) applesauce. If you wanted to make a chunkier sauce, you'd most likely need to remove the peels and cores.

Why is it so brown? The red peels and cores are pulverized to smithereens and give the sauce a bit of color. No need to add sugar or sweeteners, but I sometimes add a little cinnamon.

I love to make my own applesauce when apples are inexpensive. And with the Vita-Mix, I can make it with just a few apples at a time and not have to worry about it spoiling before we can finish it all. ;) The two apples in this picture made 2 medium-large bowls of applesauce, which my kids quickly finished.

Update---DO NOT MAKE APPLESAUCE LIKE I DID! --A special thanks to my readers who alerted me to the fact that apple seeds contain cyanide. Yep, I made poison. I checked it out (by searching with swagbucks---woo!) and found that they are, in fact, poisonous. The vitamix salesman clearly didn't know this when he advised me to leave all seeds for all fruits (except peaches) intact.

I'll still make "raw applesauce"....just minus the core. :)

Pink Together - to help fight Breast Cancer

This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to #46, CJCmommy. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. My Blog Spark has teamed up with Pink Together to help raise awareness of the disease.

This month, General Mills is donating $2 million to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. But in addition to that, General Mills will also donate $1, up to $20,000 each time a comment of encouragement is posted, a virtual flower bouquet is sent, or a story is shared on PinkTogether.com through October 31st.

Pink Together and My Blog Spark are offering one Suburban Jungle this Inspiring Hope gift basket that includes a sleeved travel mug, a running ribbon charm bracelet, a pink leather strap keychain, a pink cinch bag, and a set of inspirational note cards. All of the gift basket items are from ShopKomen.com, where 25 percent of the merchandise purchase price benefits Susan G. Komen for the Cure® in the fight against breast cancer.

To enter: Click over to PinkTogether.com and leave a comment telling me what you find most inspiring about Pink Together.

No compensation was given for this giveaway. I did receive an inspiring hope gift basket but it did not influence my opinions in any way.

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Yummy Earth Organic Candy

This giveaway has closed. Congrats to #31 and #23. Do you love candy as much as I do? I just can't get enough candy.....and that's a problem. Most candies are so full of additives, preservatives, and other yuck. Even trans-fat!! But not Yummy Earth Organic candy

Yummy Earth recently sent me some samples of their organic candy. Here are my thoughts:

What I loved about it:

• It tasted great - like candy!
• No Artificial Dyes
• 100% Natural Flavors
• Made from Real Fruit Extracts
• No Corn Syrup or MSG
• GMO-free, peanut-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, casein-free and tree nut-free
• Cool flavors like pomegranate pucker, mango tango, very very cherry, and too berry blueberry
• It looked just like "regular" candy so the kids never questioned it

What I didn't like:

• Even though this is much healthier candy (for us and the Earth,) it's still candy and I had a hard time not eating all of it all at once.

The remedy? I brought some of this great candy with me to our neighborhood harvest party and looked like the coolest mom. Organic candy? Wahoo! My mom friends were impressed. And the kids were happy because their moms actually let them have candy. ;)

If you want to feed your children a "healthier" candy, check out Yummy Earth. They have lollipops (my fave), vitamin C pops, drops, artisan candies, and gummy candies. They taste yummy and are all natural.

Now that I know this type of candy is readily available, I don't think I can (in good conscience) buy other candy again.

Buy it:

Yummy Earth is generously offering a 20% off discount to all Suburban Jungle readers. Just use the code: suburbanjungle to take 20% off your order of $25 or more at YummyEarth.com

This code is good until October 31, 2009. so hurry and get some for Halloween.

Win it:

2 Suburban Jungle readers will each win 2 bags of Yummy Earth candy (1 organic gummy bears & 1 organic gummy worms)

To enter, hop over to Yummy Earth and leave me a comment about which candy you'd most love to try.

Extra entries:

• Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with your link - 3 entries (leave 3 comments)
• Tweet about this giveaway and leave your twitter status - 2 entries (leave 2 comments, leave 1 comment for each retweet, may be done once each day)

You may tweet the following: Win Organic Candy @suburbanjung http://bit.ly/KIbv2 #giveaway

• Follow The Suburban Jungle on Twitter (@Suburbanjung), Google Friend Connect, or Feedburner (1 extra each)

This giveaway will end October 30, 2009 at 9:00PM EST, winner will be announced here by October 31, 2009.

No compensation was given for this review/giveaway. I did receive candy to sample but this not sway my opinion.

The Secret is Out!

I was chosen to be a DealPro supersaver for Savings.com. What in the world does that mean? It means Savings.com considers me to be a pretty great saver.

They selected somewhere between 20-30 DealPros nationwide and we are attending an all expense paid Save up Conference in San Fransisco in November!

What does these mean for me? I'm not quite sure. We were supposed to keep everything quiet until the 20th, so more details should follow. It may mean I'll be blogging at savings.com a bit, it may mean you'll see me on t.v. (yikes!!!)

It may mean I come back armed with more super saving secrets and I turn this blog into something bigger and better? Or it may mean I enjoy a vacation away, on my own, and eat a lot of chocolate. There is a chocolate party planned. lol

What does it mean for the Suburban Jungle readers? I'm still not sure. It may mean I learn a lot more about saving that I can pass on to you. It may mean I actually divulge all my "true super saving abilities." I really only talk about clearance shopping and groceries on this blog...but we save Oh so much more than that. ;)

It may mean I meet a bunch of great sponsors and come back with oodles of cool things to give away, and that would rock!

As I learn more, I'll pass on the details. But since I let it out that there was a secret, I couldn't leave you hanging.

Wish me luck!

Making Money with your Blog

I've received a lot of emails asking about how to make money blogging. I'm always happy to share what I know (or don't) regarding blogging. I keep meaning to put up some layout and html tutorials. You'll see them pop up eventually. :)

There are some people that make thousands of dollars a month just by blogging. I'm not one of those people. But my blog has made money, about $600 so far. I started my blog at the end of May, but really didn't start writing on it until June, so it's been running about 4 1/2 months.

You can see all my blog advertisers in my sidebar (on the right), but PLEASE do not click on ads willy-nilly. Just click on one's you are legitimitely interested in. :) Some of them give me referrals if you sign up under me, but most of them don't. Either way, here's my honest opinion (and I will tell you if I get a referral or not so you can make an informed decision:)

Swagbucks
If you have a blog, chances are you search the internet frequently for blogging tips, how-to's and to find fellow bloggers. Why not earn money while you search? You can join Swagbucks for free and win at least 1 swagbuck per day. Sign up now and get 3 swagbucks for free.

Just search the way you normally would, but do it at swagbucks.com. The more you search, the more you win. I have never won less than 1 SB per day, but you can win more. On Mega swagbuck days, you can win up to 100SB/day.
Then put a swagbucks banner up on your blog. Anyone that signs up under you will win you more swagbucks. I turn all of mine into Amazon giftcards. It's 45 swagbucks for a 5 amazon card. IMO, that's the best deal, but you can also change them in for paypal cash and other prizes. You can get sweepstakes entries and other prizes for as little as 1 Swagbuck.

IMO, Swagbucks is a must have for all bloggers.

If you sign up through one of my links, it will count as a referral for me.

Google Adsense
This is the easiest ad network to deal with. All you need to do is click a few buttons in blogger and put the ads in your layout. Simple, simple. But a little ugly (no offense google) and you have no control over what ads pop up.

I'm pretty sure no "adult" content comes up but they may advertise things in direct opposition to what you're discussing. That's not usually a problem for me, but if let's say you have a predominantly Christian blog...then they might show anti-christian ads. You may not want that.

This is also a penny maker. When you first start your blog, it may make only pennies a day, but the amount you make increases right along with your blog traffic. If you like the ads, try to make a space for it on your sidebar. Play around with placement to see what sizes/locations/colors you like best.

I do not get a referral for recommending google adsense.

Google Adsense pays out when you reach $100 in commissions

Shareasale
At first this site can be a bit confusing. But once you get the hang of it, it's an easy, reliable network to belong to. You can shop through all their advertisers and select the ads you like. Then you apply to those advertisers (by clicking a button, easy) and wait to see if you are approved. Then copy the code and you're done.

It took a few weeks for them to approve my blog, but I've been happy with shareasale.com. I'm approved for many ads with shareasale but currently only run 2 ads from them .


Idealbite is one of my shareasale.com ads. I like it because I've been getting the idealbite newsletter long before I started blogging. It's a free eco-friendly newsletter filled with great tips on going green and still staying in style. I recommend it to all my friends and feel great about having it on my blog.If you'd like to sign up for this fun, free newsletter, feel free to click on the image above.


Ipsos Survey Panel is a survey company that pays you to take online surveys. This is something I also already do, so it made sense to add to my blog. If you'd like to sign up to take surveys for money and prizes, please click on the image above.

Shareasale has a bunch of great ads that do NOT require people to buy things or click on annoying offers.

If you sign up for Shareasale through one of my links, I may get a small referral commission.

Shareasale pays out when you reach $50 in commissions.

Commission Junction - CJ
CJ is a lot like shareasale. It's full of advertisers and you apply to have their ads on your blog. I was initially turned down when I first applied to CJ, but the second time around, they approved me. I only run the Coupons.com ads from CJ. I print almost all my coupons from Coupons.com and it is completely in line with my blog topics.
If you see the coupon bar on any of your favorite blogs, print your coupons from them. You'll make your favorite blogger a few cents and you'll get great, legitimate online coupons.
I do not get a referral fee for recommending CJ.

CJ pays out when you hit $50 in commissions.

Ready Site
I belong to readysite, but do not actively display any of their ads. I applied during the blog rush when $25 sign up bonuses were all over the blogosphere. I talked with plenty of bloggers that told me they loved this network.

I put the ads up. It was simple to place but I had little control over exact content. And when I clicked through them I realized they all brought you to annoying "offers pages". You had to click through pages of offers to get to the "free coupon" originally mentioned.

I am not a fan of readysite and wouldn't recommend it. I did originally put up a post about (when they were giving out big referal bonuses) but pulled it the same day I found out what the ads were really all about.

Amazon Affiliates
I have a "my favorites" widget for Amazon on my site. I put in all my favorite products and book recommendations in it. If you click through any of my Amazon links and buy while you're there, I do get a small commission.
Since it doesn't take a lot of effort and I write about a lot of books and things I use anyway, it's an easy one to have. It isn't a huge money maker, but it may be if you blog about a lot of expensive things (electronics, maybe?) and people click through your site and buy.

I do not earn a referral for recommending Amazon. If you buy though one of my links, I will earn commissions.

Amazon pays out when you reach $10 in commissions.

Juice Box Jungle
Last, but certainly not least, is the Juice Box Jungle. I love this advertiser. Why? Because the content is always clean and family friendly. The content is useful for a mom blogger, they run great contests, they pay well, and never require you to buy/sell anything.

Sometimes the juicebox jungle widget has things for sale. But they're always family friendly. You can choose the size of widget you want, I chose huge because it fits my layout and it's my fave advertiser, but you can choose itty bitty if you want.
I do not get a referal for recommending Juicebox Jungle, but I still highly recommend it.

Juicebox jungle pays out when you reach $50 in commissions.

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Play around with different ads, change up them up to see what works/looks best for your blog, and try to add value without over cluttering. That's tough to do! It's easy to get overwhelmed with all the ad choices. But most ads come in similar sizes so you can group them together and make them "match." Most ad networks update their ads for the holidays too, so you can mix it up over the holidays and keep it fun. :)

Please contact me if you have questions and I'll do my best to answer. There are many other ad networks but these are the only ones I've been affiliated with. Feel free to leave comments if you've come across another great one. If I ever have a blog that makes thousands a month, I'll let you know. :)