Colby Community College Virtual Assistant Scholarship

To contact us Click HERE

You might have noticed that I've been contemplating re-entering the job market. Times are tough everywhere and it's hard to get back into the work cycle after being a stay at home mom. I mean that quite literally, since my resume has some gaping holes for the years I've spent without formal work experience, I look really sketchy on paper. Here in Wichita, it definitely seems like the people doing the hiring are more interested in where you've been than what you can do, so I've been wondering if I should take some classes just to refresh me on how to work.
Colby Community College in western Kansas is holding a contest for to two bloggers to win an online scholarship for their Virtual Assistant certification. That's 32 credit hours, gratis! It seems like a good way to stay at home a little more productively while setting the work wheels in motion. Have you thought about becoming a virtual assistant or have you used one in the past? I'm curious to hear your thoughts. For more information on the Virtual Assistant scholarship promotion, check out Colby Community College's Facebook page. You can also Tweet using #ColbyCCVA and tell others how they can apply as well by using this link http://bit.ly/ColbyCCVAIf Virtual Assistant doesn't appeal to you, they are also offering a $1,500 Veterinary Technology Scholarship towards your online AAS degree…
In accordance to the FTC Guidelines and the WOMMA Code of Ethics, I am disclosing that this post was written as my entry into the scholarship contest. No compensation was provided. All opinions are, as usual, entirely my own.

AT&T Wish A Day Sweepstakes and Make-A-Wish Foundation

To contact us Click HERE

This holiday season, AT&T is working on making wishes come true. They have teamed up with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to sponsor a daily wish from November 23rd through December 20th for children with life-threatening medical conditions. Click here to see the wishes that AT&T has helped grant through today.
AT&T's Wish A Day Sweepstakes features a wireless “wish list” gift of the day, launching at midnight the day prior. As the holidays approach, the wireless gifts get bigger and better. Users have two ways to win the gift (two gifts will be awarded each day):

• Provide email address to register with the chance to randomly win the gift
• Answer the question, “What’s your greatest wish this season?” Registrants can share their comment to their social graph and users can vote on the one that is most deserving of the daily gift. The comment that receives the most votes by 11:59pm wins the daily gift.

If you have gadget-lovers on your holiday shopping lists, or you're looking for techy ideas to share with Santa, don't miss AT&T's Guide to Gifting.
As you shop online this season, check out these mobile security tips before you scan any barcodes or QR codes. This technology can be extremely useful for shoppers, especially during the holidays, but it can also create a gateway for malicious activity if you aren’t careful.  AT&T shares tips to stay safe while scanning:

• Think before you scan. Be cautious about what you scan or download onto your mobile device. When scanning a mobile barcode, take the context of the code into consideration.
• Keep security software up to date. Mobile security software can be the first wall of defense against malware. Make sure your phone is updated regularly to ensure your security software is the latest version available.
• Double check the URL. Prior to scanning a code, check the URL of the website it leads to. Most scanning apps, including the AT&T Code Scanner, give you the option to review a URL prior to loading a page.
• Protect personal information. If you scan a mobile barcodes and are asked to give out personal information, be selective in the information you share. Most QR codes are intended to lead the user to a website, video, or additional information and will not ask for personal information.

In accordance to the FTC Guidelines and the WOMMA Code of Ethics, I am disclosing that I am an AT&T customer but no compensation was provided for this post. All opinions are, as usual, entirely my own.

Curious George - New Episodes This Week!

To contact us Click HERE
I've been a fan of Curious George since I was little and he did naughty, politically incorrect things like smoke pipes and start fire alarms. The current incarnation of the classic character is still mischevious but he's also a little less destructive, thankfully! Curious George is starting its seventh season on PBS this week with three brand-new episodes about animals.



The premiere episode of the season, "Monkey Down Under," finds George and the Man with the Yellow Hat in Australia for an Outback adventure. George investigates giant footprints in the sand and learns about indigenous animals from local conservationist and wildlife expert Bindi Irwin, the progeny of the late Crocodile Hunter and a force for animals in her own right. George learns all about koalas, kangaroos, emus and more in this fun episode.


Curious George is a great way to engage preschoolers in learning. Check your local PBS channel listings for December 3-5th and watch these with your little ones. You won't be disappointed!




In accordance to the FTC Guidelines and the WOMMA Code of Ethics, I am disclosing that we received a screener DVD to facilitate this review. No compensation was provided for this post. All opinions are, as usual, entirely my own.

Blue Clouds- Elizabeth Mitchell and You Are My Flower

To contact us Click HERE
I don't like to pigeonhole Elizabeth Mitchell as a children's artist, even though I first heard her mellifluous voice on the kid-centric album Catch the Moon that she made with Lisa Loeb. Her voice is clear and true and timeless. Transcendent. And certainly not just for kids.
Mitchell's last few albums have been released by Smithsonian Folkways, a record label more associated with field recordings than pop charts. Her last album, Little Seed, a compendium of Woody Guthrie's songs for children, has just been nominated for a Grammy award.

Blue Clouds features a mixture of original songs and covers of classics by David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Van Morrison and Bill Withers. I was especially excited about the Bowie cover, "Kooks," since it is from one of my all-time favorite LPs, Hunky Dory. Mitchell's rendition is less of a rollicking romp and more of a dreamy call to action. Hendrix's "May This Be Love" is just gorgeous. Actually, the whole album is like a warm hug. Or a bath. Happy and cuddly and full of promise. The title track is the last song on the album and was written as a lullaby to Mitchell's daughter Storey who now performs with her parents as part of You Are My Flower. Which seems both perfect and inevitable.


In accordance to the FTC Guidelines and the WOMMA Code of Ethics, I am disclosing that we received a CD to facilitate this review. No compensation was provided for this post. All opinions are, as usual, entirely my own.

California Wine Club - Holiday Gifts Simplified (Giveaway)

To contact us Click HERE
I already told you about my experience with the California Wine Club but my December shipment arrived, so I wanted to write about those, too. This month's selected vineyard is Daniel Gehrs Wines, hailing from Los Olivos in California's Santa Ynez Valley. The bottles came festively adorned in holiday foil, 2011 Chenin Blanc in silver and 2009 Merlot in red.


The Daniel Gehrs Merlot was really, really easy to drink, so I am not surprised that it has won multiple gold medals. It was fruity and smooth and paired well with beef and even turkey. The Daniel Gehrs Chenin Blanc has a crisp tartness that I enjoyed. It was great with spicy Thai food. It was interesting to read Daniel Gehr's history in the issue of Uncorked that came with my subscription. He has been working in the wine industry since 1974, up and down the central coast region. He claims the Chenin Blanc as one of his personal favorites. Gehr says that the Chenin Blanc is unusually long-lived for a white wine, since they usually have relatively short life spans.

If there are still some names with question marks next to them on your shopping list, visit www.cawineclub.com for fun and unique holiday gift wine subscriptions starting at just $49.95, including shipping. You can also buy wines by the case and save substantially on the per-bottle retail price. Note: Ground Shipping Deadline is December 12^th.  Any orders placed after Dec 12 incur expedited air charges for Christmas deliveries.



The California Wine Club is holding a special holiday contest for blog readers. You could win some fabulous prizes, including:

• One of four, Three Month Wine Club memberships (A $150 value you can give as a gift, or keep for yourself)
• One of 50 handy Two Bottle Wine Totes ($25 value)
• One of 50 Red Tulip Music wine country CD's ($15 value)

Click here to enter The California Wine Club Holiday Giveaway!

Follow California Wine Club on Twitter

Like California Wine Club on Facebook



In accordance to the FTC Guidelines and the WOMMA Code of Ethics, I am disclosing that I received a two-month subscription to the California Wine Club in order to facilitate this review, which was made possible by Mom Spark Media. As usual, all thoughts are my own.

Stop Zombie Mouth This Halloween

To contact us Click HERE
I love Halloween.  Well, I love most of Halloween.  I love the sunny, crisp fall afternoons, and I love the creativity of the costumes.  The excitement of children is palpable, and the giggling is infectious.  I love the feeling of comaraderie amongst the neighbors as we troop from house to house.  But I don't love the candy.

I hate all the candy, to be honest.  We come home with tons of candy, the majority of which we can't or don't eat.  Little Miss has a diary allergy which cuts out a huge portion of the candy we collect.  We all avoid HFCS and food dyes wherever we can, which cuts out the majority of the rest.  Mister Man get to keep his Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  A few neighbors hand out fruit strips or peanut packs, and one neighbor cooks hot dogs for everyone.  That and bags of pretzels are usually what we have at the end of the night.

Even the fruit strips and peanut butter cups aren't unlimited.  I don't want the wee ones eating that much sugar.  It isn't good for their overall health, and it really isn't good for their teeth.  Knock on wood, neither of them has a cavity yet, and I'd like to keep it that way.


This year, American Dental Association (ADA) and PopCap Games are partnering to help people provide an alternative to candy for trick or treating.  Anyone who wants to give out copies of PopCap Games' Plant vs. Zombies can download free game coupons that can be redeemed for the full game for either Macs or PCs.  Now that's sweet, right?


The codes can be redeemed at Stop Zombie Mouth starting October 30 and until November 10.  The hit game normally retails for $19.95, and I can't wait to see the faces of the kids - especially the middle school trick or treaters - when they see what we're giving out this year!

In the interest of full disclosure, I received #StopZombieMouth cards to give out at Halloween next week.  I was not provided with any additional compensation.  As always, all opinions expressed remain my own.

Gluten Free Pear And Ginger Crisp For Two

To contact us Click HERE
I am sensitive to those with food issues.  Witness my irritation with the allergen free trick or treat that wasn't.  Little Miss also has a dairy allergy, and we have plenty of friends with issues eating everything from strawberries to soy to corn to eggs and more, but gluten is by far the biggest issue.  Fortunately, there are plenty of companies that provide all sorts of gluten free alternatives, and Udi's is one of our favorites.

Why is Udi's one of our favorites?  In addition to having all sorts of yummy goodness that brings them up to the top of our list already, Udi's does a fantastic job of labeling their allergens.  They clearly label the front of their products with gluten free, dairy free, soy free, etc. as applicable so that anyone with a food sensitivity can quickly see which items are and are not going to work.

Fun for me, Udi's sent me some product recently to create desserts that are gluten free.  I know how left out Little Miss often feels, and some of our best friends have the same issues because of their allergy issues.  I love that Udi's has great options for sweet treats from their brownie bites to muffin tops to snickerdoodles and more.  They make great desserts on their own or crumbled up over yogurt or fruit or ice cream (or coconut milk ice cream in our case!).  The challenge from Udi's, however, was to create a dessert using these items.

I had a few ideas that I thought would be a ton of fun, and Little Miss loved having these special treats just for her... even though Mister Man snuck some of the yumminess for himself because the treats are overall good, not just "gluten free" good.  Creating a version of "haystacks" with granola, chocolate, coconut flakes and flax seeds was fun and tasty.  I also made a version of bread pudding - Mister Man's favorite dessert since he discovered it a year ago - using the Udi's cinnamon raisin bread.  That brought a huge smile to her face.

In the end, I chose to use the gluten free vanilla granola for this challenge to make a special dessert just for Little Miss and I. I  loved that this was something that was a small enough portion just for the two of us, although it could definitely be doubled to make pear and ginger crisp for more people.  It was awesome.



I enjoy cooking from scratch, but I loved using the granola for this recipe because it already has most of the ingredients that I would use to make a crisp, but I know they're gluten free.  And more importantly, the granola has certified gluten free oats, wildflower honey, canola oil, almonds, and vanilla extract - and nothing else - which makes me happy to use it.  The granola has a great crunch to it that makes an idea topping for a crisp.


Gluten Free Pear Ginger Crisp

Ingredients:
2 ripe pears, but just barely ripe
1 t ginger
2 t corn starch
1/4 c plus 2 t brown sugar, divided
1 1/2 t lemon juice
1/2 c Udi's gluten free vanilla granola
1/2 t nutmeg
2 T mayonnaise
pinch salt

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Wash the pears well.  You want them to be just ripe, as they'll get mushy after cooking if they're too ripe.  Don't peel them, just cut them into bite size pieces, removing the seeds as you normally would.


Place them into a small bowl, and 2 t brown sugar, the lemon juice, the freshly grated ginger, and the corn starch (or arrowroot if you have an issue with corn).  Mix this until the pears are evenly coats, then place them into two large ramekins.


In the same small bowl (because I'm all about reusing where I can and having fewer dishes, if possible) that is now empty, add the granola, the freshly grated nutmeg, the rest of the brown sugar, the salt, and the mayonnaise.  A word on mayonnaise for those of you wrinkling your noses.  It is a surprisingly good choice that is GFCF alternative for a fat that adds a really nice tang without overpowering the dish.  Just trust me on this one.  Mix the topping until it is thoroughly combined and slightly crumbly.


Carefully place half the topping over each pear-filled ramekin.  Gently press the topping down, then place them in the oven.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, until the topping is nicely browned and the pears are soft.


So what dessert would you make with Udi's gluten free options?

In the interest of full disclosure, I was provided with free Udi's product to create desserts that are gluten free for Halloween and fall.  I received no other compensation, and all opinions are my own.