Peruvian Chicken - YUM

Seems like as good a time as any to post another yummy recipe. This one is also South Beach Phase 1 Friendly, and to my surprise was very family friendly. My kids gobbled it up.  I was slightly concerned that the spices might be a bit much for the little ones, but it was not overwhelming at all.  Just a really tasty, moist chicken breast.

Peruvian Grilled Chicken

Makes about 2 to 4 servings.

Equipment

small bowl or jar with a lid

plastic sealable bag

grill or grill pan

Ingredients

1/3 cup (80 ml) low sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

5 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 whole chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds/1.5 kilos), quartered (I use 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts on the grill pan.)

lime wedges

Preparation

1. MARINATE: Whisk together soy sauce, lime juice, garlic, cumin, paprika, oregano, pepper, and oil. Put chicken in a large sealable bag and add marinade. Seal the bag and marinate in the refrigerator 8 to 24 hours.

2. Discard the marinade, then pat chicken dry.

3. Preheat the grill pan over medium-high and add the chicken. Place the chicken pieces on the pan, cooking 7 to 10 minutes per side (less if they are boneless or very thin), turning once.

4. Squeeze lime juice over the chicken and serve.

Variations

GAS GRILL: Preheat the grill on high. Oil the grill rack and grill the chicken over a turned-off burner, skin side down and covered. Turn once after about 15 minutes and grill until cooked through, about 30 to 35 minutes.

 

CHARCOAL GRILL: Open vents on bottom and lid of grill. Light a large chimney starter full of charcoal (preferably hardwood). When coals are lit, dump them out along opposite sides of bottom rack, leaving a space free of coals (the size of the quartered chicken) in middle. When you can hold your hand 5 inches above the grill rack directly over coals for 3 to 4 seconds, coals will be medium-hot. Oil the grill rack, then grill chicken over the area with no coals. Turn once after about 15 minutes, and continue grilling until cooked through, about 30 to 35 minutes. Add more charcoal to maintain heat.

OVEN: Roast the chicken quarters in middle of a 500°F/260° C oven in a 13- by 9-inch roasting pan with 1 cup water for 30 minutes. Then tent with foil and roast until brown and cooked through, about 15 minutes more.

A BIG thank you to Andrea at Andrea's Recipes for sharing this recipe.  This meal was a big hit!

Beware of Phishing Scams

Do you have a Paypal Account?  I do.  I got this email today and the timing was quite interesting.  I got an email from them 2 days ago titled "An important message about your PayPal account" and it was legitimately from Paypal.  Today, I get an email that refers to the contents of the original email, but something struck me as odd.  I clicked on the header to get the full email address information and there it was.  Although ALMOST everything looked legitimately like PayPal the email address had that one little extra letter.  The 'j' after paypal (service@paypalj.com)  If I was in a hurry I might never have caught it.  Although I haven't included it in this post the email also contained an attached file. I did not open it, but from the sound of it I'm sure it was going to ask me information that would allow them to hack my account.  Just figured I would post a heads up.

The email I received is below.

Begin forwarded message:

From: "PayPal.com" service@paypalj.com
Date: February 28, 2011 10:56:28 AM CST
Subject: Please remove limitation from your PayPal account
Reply-To: service@paypalj.com

FEB. 28, 2011 08:19:03 PDT Receipt No: 49561-8271-2241-61396 Hello customer, Your account has been temporarily limited. We attached to this email a confirmation form to update your details . Please download and extract it . Submitting this form you will unlimit and restore your PayPal account . If you are using Internet Explorer please allow ActiveX for scripts to perform all data transfers securely . Thank You. Thanks for using PayPal – the safer, easier way to pay and get paid online.

This message contains confidential information and is intended only for PayPal users. If you are not a PayPal user you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify service@paypal.com immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. If verification is required please request a hard-copy version.

--
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.

PayPal.com2011_Account Update_Form.pdf.zip

Snapfish has their collage mugs 50% off with free shipping

 

Snapfish has their collage mugs 50% off with free shipping.  WHILE SUPPLIES LAST.

Swagbucks Code - Expires 11:05 CST

So, they updated and moved the last swagcode. If you haven't gotten it already check the Swidget on the lower right hand side of my blog (click SC to check for a swagcode)and follow the instructions.

Do you Bleed Coffee Like I do?

BeCentsAble posted a link to snag a $5.00 Starbucks Card for $2.50. Go check it out

Looking for a good deal on Easter Cards?

Money Saving Madness just posted a HOT deal on photo cards for Easter.Go check it out here

Amazon Prime {paid account} now offers FREE Video on Demand (VOD)

How amazing is this?!?! I am currently making good use of my Amazon Mom account, but when my year is up I am seriously considering this.

Amazon Prime VOD is $79.00 a year.  So, that breaks down to $6.58 per month.  Where can you get TV service for $6.58 a month?!  Even Netflix starts at $7.99.  Add in that you get 2 day free shipping on all Prime Eligible orders and you're getting quite the deal.

Go check the out at Amazon Prime VOD.  They have a ton of stuff!

**Ends 2/28** Old Navy 20% off Sale

Old Navy is having a 20% off (some restrictions apply - see website).  Sale ends 2/28/11.  Use code EARLYBIRD at checkout

Cheap Vanilla Beans & how to make Vanilla Extract

Earlier today I saw a post from $5.00 Dinner about Vanilla beans on Amazon.com.  She wrote about how expensive they are, which is true.  Got me thinking about how I was griping a few weeks ago about the cost of Vanilla Extract. Then I remembered a post I saw on Tip Junkie about how to make Vanilla extract!  So here is the deal for the Vanilla Beans

So, it works out to about $0.59 cents a vanilla bean.  Doesn't seem too bad to me. From what I understand, although it's not a Prime vendor, it looks like most people were getting it with free shipping.  Let me know how it works out for you.


  ...and here is the link to the info I found on Tip Junkie

Recipe for Vanilla Extract

Did you know that Amazon.com has coupons?

Check out this link to see all the available amazon coupons

**Cheap** Luvs Wipes 216 ct. - Amazon Mom

Here's something to keep an eye on. These wipes will be released for sale on Amazon tomorrow. They are priced at $7.00 but IF they are Amazon Mom eligible they could be as low as $4.90 (with Amazon mom 15% & Subscribe & Save 15% off). I know its not as good as some of the other deals out there but if you are without a coupon it's still a better deal than at the stores and you'll save gas! Use the link below to check it out.

Coupon Database

This is ridiculously cool.  I mentioned in a previous post that I use my Google Reader to search for coupons I may have missed.  Although that system works really well for internet coupons, Bargain Briana has gone one step further and created this amazing COUPON DATABASE. Not only does it list internet coupons, but it also lists all the coupons in the weekend inserts, what week they were from.  Basically anything pertinent.

Thanks for your hard work, Bargain Briana!

Making Life Easier

I love ANYTHING that makes life easier for me.  That's why I was so excited when I stumbled on Life Your Way.  They have this awesome set of {FREE!} printables for pretty much anything you need to keep your life organized.  I can't even begin to tell you...seriously just take a look.  I have grabbed a bunch of these {read: ALL} and created binders.  I know now where everything is, the moment I need it.  It is so liberating.  I now that sounds silly, but I don't have that moment of panic anymore when I need to find something.

Check them out - here's a snapshot from their page

I think one of the things I really like about about these is the simplicity.  Nothing busy or crazy going on to distract you from the task at hand.  

Here is the link to the page.  Some of the printables they have are:

• 2011 Calendar

• Address Book

• Babysitter Information

• Basic Medical Information

• Birthday Organizer

• Birthday Party Planner

• Daily To-Do List

• Emergency Information

• Favorite Recipes

• Home Maintenance Log

• Homeschool Planner

• Inspirational Quotes

• Master To-Do List

• Once-a-Month Cooking Chart

• Online Passwords

• Pantry Inventory for Once-a-Month Cooking

• Pet Information Sheet

• Phone Directory

• Recipes to Try

• Take-Out Directory

• Track Your Spending Worksheet

• Trash Challenge

• Weekly Menu Plan

• Weekly Menu Plan & Shopping List

• Weekly Menu Plan & Shopping List (Without Days)

• Weekly Menu Plan (Without Days)

• Weekly Overview 

   

  You can print them all individually for free, or you can pay $7.00 to get them all in one download.

 Tonight I noticed they have a new one, which will come in very handy.

• School Information Form for Your Home Management Notebook

Amazon.com: Luvs Size 3 Diapers $14.18

If you have a $10.00 off Amazon coupon you can get a box of 204 size 3 diapers for $14.18 when you buy through Amazon Mom & Subscribe & Save which works out to $0.07 a diaper.  In my book that's a stock up price!  

 

Personalized Teacher Gift Idea

I used the same idea I had for my son & nephews Christmas gift as a Teacher Gift.  I made the boxes in this post, but instead of the full name I put her initials in the corner of the box.

  I also created personalized stationary for her that had her initials in the lower right hand corner.  In addition to the stationary I made her a small canvas bag and coffee mug, again with her initials.  All of it was through Vistaprint. I love that I could get most of it for free (just paying shipping).  I wish I had taken a picture.  I came out really cute. I figure as an end of your gift I will re-order her stationary for her. =D

One other thing I did differently was I had my son fill out a Teacher Appreciation Certificate and Modge Podge'd it into the inside of the lid.  I used this certificate:

But there are SO many out there, or you can always create your own! 

Stained Wooden Stationary Boxes

For Christmas this year I wanted to do something a bit different for my son & nephews. I hated the idea of loading them up with more and more games/video games/etc.

I decided I would make a departure from all things electronic and give the boys personalized stationary in a personalized stationary box.  It was super easy and I think they came out great.  I wish I had taken pictures throughout the process, but I didn't think that far ahead - go figure!  =D

I filled their boxes with personalized stationary I got for free through Vistaprint (just pay shipping)

In each box I included:

• Return address labels

• Letterhead
  

• Notepads

• Pens

• Sticky Note Pads (think post-its)

• Postcards (I used the standard size as Thank You's and ordered the envelopes to go with them) 

•  I bought a regular box of envelopes and split it between them

I picked up these letterboxes (or that's what I call them) from Michael's.  I stained mine, but you could do any number of things (paint, decoupage, etc.).

The first thing I did was lightly sand all the surfaces.  Once it was all sanded I wiped it down with a slightly damp cloth to remove all the dust.

Then I grabbed my paint brush and stain and put on 3 coats of stain, waiting for each coat to dry before applying the next coat. I stopped at 3 coats because I was happy with the color.

While I was at Michael's I picked up these wooden letters

I painted the letters slightly darker than the color of the stain and Gorilla super-glued (I love that stuff!) them to the lids.  After the glue dried I took some outdoor Modge Podge and lightly went over the letters to help seal the paint and give them a bit of a sheen.

Then I opened Word and printed out the word Stationary on card-stock and trimmed it to fit.

In the end, this is how they came out...

I'm linking too

What's Cookin'?

I just got dinner in the oven.  What are you having tonight?  It's been interesting trying to plan meals the last few weeks.  My husband and I are doing the South Beach Diet.  (The sweet man has been wanting to do it for a while now, but he didn't think it would be good form for him to loose weight while I was gaining through the pregnancy/ies)  Call me a slacker, but I refuse to cook separate meals for us and the kids.  So I was on the hunt for Family Friendly South Beach Phase 1 recipes.  I figured if I could find a main dish that we could all enjoy I could make sides for the kids and sides for us - that wouldn't be too bad.  Honestly, although I sat and longingly stared at their mashed potatoes, my Faux Mashed Potatoes really weren't bad.  And, as of this post I have lost 10 lbs!  Yay, me!

So, what is this meal I speak of?  Baked Tilapia Parmesan.  I can't remember exactly how I came across this recipe.  I want to say I was using Ziplist to search. (Ziplist, if you are unfamiliar with it, ROCKS!  Go check it out!)

Back to the recipe.  I need to give a much deserved THANK YOU to Nikki at Now We're Cooking for sharing this recipe.  It has been a family favorite since the first bite.

Baked Parmesan Tilapia

Recipe Source: Now We're Cooking 

Prep/Cooking Time: 30 minutes / 5 mins prep

Ingredients:

1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
2 lbs tilapia fillets
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 
• Grease baking pan. In small bowl, mix together the cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice, basil, onion powder, salt and pepper.
• Arrange fillets in a single layer in prepared pan. Bake for 20 – 30 minutes until done and flaky.
• Remove fillets from oven and cover them with the cheese mixture on top side. 
• Place under broiler for 2 minutes or until the topping is browned.

Be careful not to overcook the fish.

Makes 8 servings.

Ok, so yes - South Beach Phase 1 does not allow for butter.  Simple solution - I substituted Smart Balance Spread.  Tastes just fine!

Just to let you know how super easy this meal is - the fish was done before I finished typing up this post.  =D

Swagbucks code in the swidget worth 8 swagbucks.

Swagbucks code in the swidget worth 8 swagbucks. I would hurry. I don't know wen it expires. you can find the swidget by scrolling down and looking on the right hand side of the page.  Click on the button that says SC.

I need to find the time to make these!

Tip Junkie had linked to these a few weeks ago. I immediately fell in love with them.  I went looking for them on Tip Junkie today but was unable to find them again.  After a quick google search I was happy (read: relieved) to have found them!

Now to just find the time to make them...

These were made by the amazingly talented person/people behind Positively Splendid.  You can view the entire project with tutorial here.

How many ways can I say Happy Birthday?

A couple of weeks ago I wound up stuck for a birthday card.  I kept telling myself to get a card but we spent most of that week tending to sick little ones and as I was wrapping the gift I realized I never grabbed one.  I decided that night to make one I could have printed at Vistaprint when they offer free cards so I wasn't stuck empty handed again.  This is what I came up with:

FRONT

 

To download click here:

http://www.boxd.net/shared/35828language_happy_birthday.jpg

INSIDE

To download click here:

http://www.boxd.net/share/38781language_happy_birthday_inside.jpg

Enjoy the download!

Looking for a dollhouse?

Go check out The Frugal Girls Melissa & Doug 3 Story Dollhouse Giveaway! This dollhouse is so cool.  I know my daughters would love it!  According to The Frugal Girls Giveaway Post there will be 2 winners!

Do you Groupon?

Have you seen Groupon?  There are deals to be had!  

How Groupon Works (as stated on their website)

1. Get It

   Check your email, Facebook or Twitter feeds for daily deals on cool local businesses.
   

2. Share It

   Groupons are more fun when used with friends. Pass along deals by email or broadcast them to your social networks.
   

3. Enjoy It

   Print the voucher or bring it up on your mobile device, then present it at the business to get your deal.
   

Pampers Gifts to Grow

Have you joined Pampers Gifts to Grow?  Every package of diapers, Easy -Ups and wipes has a code that you can enter into your account to accrue points.  They have a bunch of different items you can cash your points in for including coupons to diapers.com, prints from Shutterfly.com and many many more.

Pampers also releases other codes on occasion to add to your account.  I will post these regularly in a separate post, so please check back often and make sure you have updated your account with any you are missing.

$20 Dingo Coupon Code when they reach 25,000 "likes"

Need dog treats?  Go 'like' Dingo on Facebook and when they reach 25,00 likes they will email you a $20.00 coupon code.  Shipping will be $7.95 but you should be able to get something to make it worthwhile!

Cheap Huggies Diapers

The Frugal Girls have put together an awesome list of diaper deals on Amazon.  Go here to check it out!  Don't forget to grab your coupons for an even better deal!!

Many thanks to The Frugal Girls

Koshkins Customs - Want a homemade gift but don't have the time?

How cute are these? Have a baby shower coming up?  Need a gift for a niece or nephew? Check out Koshkins Customs. I love the Little girl infant/ toddler blanket (no trim) $22.  Right now she is running a special - 20% off anything already made and ready to ship. Just send her a message on Facebook.

She has many others posted in the photo section that do not fall under the 20% off special - but they are ADORABLE.  It's not included in the sale, but I love this one too.

Did you know?

That you can now order from Diapers.com directly from Facebook?

10 FREE cards from Shutterfly

I found this in my email today.  I just got the 5 cards I ordered from their last promo and I LOVE them.  head on over to Shutterfly.com and grab yourself some FREE cards - just pay shipping and handling.  Offer runs through March 2, 2011  Enter promo code: 5GMD-1M7E-FZGX-UAJK8P at checkout

 * 10 free cards offer valid for 10 free 5×7 folded greeting cards OR 10 free 5×7 flat stationery cards OR 10 free 5×5 flat stationery cards only. Customers can choose one of the three offers. Valid for one–time redemption per member. Taxes, shipping and handling will apply.