Save Time With Smoothies!

Need a quick breakfast solution that gets you out of the door on time in the morning? Try smoothies for breakfast!

I've become a smoothie addict lately, but I've found they are the perfect option for breakfast on the go. My favorite is a strawberry oatmeal smoothie. I know it sounds a little weird to have oatmeal in a smoothie, but it's actually quite delicious. Here's the recipe (I guessed on the measurements):

Strawberry Oatmeal Smoothie
1/3 cup of oatmeal
About 10 frozen strawberries
3/4 cups of soy milk*
About a tablespoon of honey

Directions - Place the oatmeal in the blender first and pulverize until it's almost powder-like. Then, add the rest of the ingredients and blend to your desired consistency, adding more soy milk if needed. For an added flavor, you can add a bit of Hershey's chocolate syrup.

* Some people use vanilla soy milk instead of regular to avoid adding extra sugar/honey. I tried this and found that it didn't make much of a difference.

Not only is this recipe quick and easy, but it's healthy too. Your children will also love it (unless they are in a "I don't like Mommy's smoothies" stage, like my son is right now). Enjoy!

Please comment with your favorite smoothie recipe or quick breakfast solution!

My New Favorite Sites

Oh, what an educational morning it has been! I didn't intend to spend so much time surfing the web, but I discovered two new sites that quickly earned "favorite" status with me.

A Black Girl's Guide to Weight Loss
This site is unbelievable - and relevant for people of all ethnicities and genders! It is a blog chock full of tips, recipes, workout suggestions, news, and other information relevant to weight loss while following the author's personal journey. Her story is very inspirational - she has lost at least 150 lbs through "clean eating," working out and staying motivated! I can't wait to try some of her techniques.

Mama's Organics - 100% Natural Hair and Skin Care Products
A few months ago, I posted an entry about searching for natural hair products for relaxed hair. Well, this site provided me with some answers. I came across Mama's Organics when I saw a posting on A Black Girl's Guide to Weight Loss about co-washing your hair after exercising. (Co-washing is short for conditioner washing, which means you wash your hair with conditioner instead of shampoo.) The best part about this blog is the videos, which can also be found on YouTube. The author does several how-to videos on how to take care of your hair, especially when transitioning from relaxed to natural hair. The videos kind of make me want to go natural again...third time's a charm, right? :)

I hope you enjoy my new favorite sites! Be sure to check back with me again for postings related to the topics of weight loss and natural hair care!

Have any sites you'd like to share? E-mail me or post a comment!

FREE CHICO BAG!

***UPDATE, 7/11/10 ***

And the winner is...

Monica Mackey, with 13 reusuable bags! Congratulations, Monica!

Stay green! :)

-----

Good morning readers!

July 9th is the last day to enter my free Chico Bay contest. Simply respond to this post telling me how many reusable grocery bags you own, and the person with the most will win the bag below. (No need to respond again if you commented on my June 30th blog post.) For you long distance readers, don't worry...if you win, I'll mail the bag to you!

What an easy way to win an awesome, free eco-friendly bag! I think I have the most right now, and it'd be a shame if I won my own contest, so post your comment today!

Always Listen to Your Mother and My First Giveaway

Do you wash your reusable shopping bags?

My mom called me yesterday with the same question and advice after she'd seen this story on her local news station.

Apparently, studies show that most people don't wash their reusable shopping bags, leaving them susceptible to lots of bacteria and cross contamination. 

It's great to see so many people using reusable bags nowadays in an effort to save the earth. Let's hope we all start to take precaution and clean our bags in an effort to save ourselves from potential illnesses. I'm definitely glad my mom called me about this issue...thanks, Mom!

Poll: How many reusable shopping bags do you own?

Leave a comment with your total number of bags for a chance to win this Chico bag. Whoever owns the most bags wins!

A Few of My Favorite Homemade Natural Products

It's Cleaning Day (a.k.a. Sunday) so I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite new recipes for natural cleaning products.

(By the way, I'm also very proud to say that I'm almost finished with all of my toxic cleaning products. My guess is that they'll be gone in a month, at the most.)

Gently Laundry Pre-Treating Spray
4 ounces white vinegar
1/2 cup baking soda
8 ounces water
Mix all ingredients together and pour into a spray bottle. Label with name and make date. Shelf Life = 2 months.

Simple Drain Cleaner
2 ounces ammonia
1 teaspoon cinnamon essential oil (or one of the citrus oils)
1/2 cup baking soda
2 ounces white vinegar
Mix all ingredients to make a paste. For clog, pour paste down the drain and let sit for 30 minutes. Run water down drain to flush.
*This one works wonders for the toilet! No more struggling with the plunger!

Leather Cleaner
1/2 cup isopropyl alcohol
1 1/2 cups water
Mix ingredients together. Store in a container labeled with name and make date. Shelf Life = 2 to 4 months.

Making homemade cleaning products is fun and easy to do...just make sure you have tons of baking soda, white vinegar and essential oils on hand! :)

Post a comment or send me an e-mail about the natural products (homemade or not) you love!

Wanna Get Lucky?

Yesterday was my lucky day. I received the most wonderful surprise in the mail - a tax refund for $400! Apparently, I prepared my taxes incorrectly and didn't owe the IRS anything. My lucky surprise came at just the right time, too. Now I don't have to worry about how I'm going to buy groceries after all my bills are paid for the month...

That said, I'm obviously not in a position to save any money right now. Instead, I'm shifting my financial focus to how to earn more money. and my brush with good fortune has me thinking about ways I can do this simply by getting lucky. (And no, I don't mean it like...you know...)

I've decided it is time to take luck into my own hands in hopes of changing the course of my financial future. My inspiration? "Sweepstakes Salley!"

Back in 2002, I wrote an article for the Seattle Times about "Sweepstakes Salley," a woman on a winning streak whose claim to fame was winning about $50,000 in prizes in one year simply by entering local contests and sweepstakes. This winning woman has been on my mind a lot in the past few days. She got me thinking - why I can't I be the next "Sweepstakes Salley?" 

I've been noticing contests and sweepstakes everywhere lately, and the truth is, they've been right under my nose all this time. They are on the bottom of receipts I get from stores and restaurants..."just complete this customer satisfaction survey and enter to win $1,000." They are included in my email subscriptions..."win a getaway from Southwest Airlines" or "win a free trip to Disneyland from AAA." I even got a brochure from my credit union today for a Dream Room Giveaway...my chance to win a new furnishings for my dining room, living room, or bedroom.

I bet most people overlook these opportunities because they think they have no chance at winning. Hey, that's exactly what I used to think! But the truth is, you can't win if you don't play. With the minimal effort involved in completing a phone survey or filling out an entry form online, you'd be a fool not to. Also, the more you play, the better your odds are at winning at least one prize.

Will this strategy actually help me earn more money? I think so, especially if the prizes are monetary. As for the non-monetary prizes...I could keep them and consider how much I saved by getting items for free, or I bet I could get a pretty penny for some of the items on Craigslist. That is, if and when I win...

Of course, by sharing this information with you, I am slightly ruining my odds at winning, but what are the chances that you'll actually participate??? Wish me luck! :)

Don't minimize the importance of luck in determining life's course. 
- Alex Trebek

When The Student Loan Shark Cometh...

This month, after about four or five rounds of forbearance, I'm scheduled to start repaying my student loans. Am I financially ready to do this? Not even close! But this is the debt that don't disappear, the debt we must repay, so I'd like to start making payments sooner than later and avoid racking up even more capitalized interest.

I figure I have one of two options. I could go into forbearance again (although I just negated this option with my above statement about capitalized interest) OR I can go bankrupt. With bankruptcy, not having to make credit card payments would make room in my budget so that I could actually make my student loan payments.

Some people take more extreme measures when repaying their student loans, as I found out when I randomly came across this blog posting on walletpop.com. From tapping into their 401(k) accounts to selling their virginity, some people will do anything for financial freedom. I think I'll stick with Plan A...I don't think I'm desperate enough for such extremities...

I'm still a little nervous about the whole bankruptcy thing, and I'd rather continue to take responsibility for the debt I've incurred. But at the same time, those credit card companies are evil with their high interest rates. I might as well jump on the bankruptcy bandwagon while I can.

*****UPDATE ON 6/24/10*****

A co-worker sent me an article about some new ways to Kiss Those Student Loans Goodbye! Definitely worth a read, especially if you're in a public service career!

Having trouble paying back your student loans? What's your plan of attack?