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Saturday, October 17, 2009

Teacher's Pet Program Helps At Risk Kids

Teacher's Pet: Dogs and Kids Learning Together is a unique and innovative program that pairs at-risk youth with hard to adopt shelter dogs for a 10 week, twice a week workshop in basic obedience.

This program benefits the youth AND the dogs at the same time! Through the power of bonding, student trainers are able to experience tremendous growth and behavioral improvements. At the same time, they are also able to dramatically improve the adoptability of the shelter dogs, giving them a better chance of finding a permanent home.

The students go through basic training and begin work with the dogs on performing basic commands. Once the dogs have graduated they are ready for adoption.

Teacher's Pet is an awesome program! Click here to learn how you can help!

Friday, October 16, 2009

At Home Winter Beauty Tips

Beauty expert, Kayla Fioravanti is an ARC Registered & Certified Aromatherapist and the Co-founder and Chief Cosmetic Formulator for Essential Wholesale.

Kayla’s Winter Beauty Tips:

Potatoes have so many uses! Slice raw potatoes and put them on your eye lids to reduce puffiness. Or cure swollen feet with a mashed potato foot soak! Just purchase a box of dehydrated mashed potatoes and followed the recipe. Once you have your mashed potatoes add lukewarm or cool water to get the temperature to the right level to soak your feet. The potatoes will retain heat longer than a traditional foot bath and they help reduce swelling and soften skin. To make it special add essential oils before you put your feet in. Then indulge feet into one of the best soaks you’ll ever experience! (It’s perfect for making use of those leftovers…) This same concept can be used with Oatmeal. Oatmeal will be soothing and deeply restorative to dry cracked and painful feet.

Exfoliate: In the winter, the most important thing to do to keep skin remaining healthy is to exfoliate twice per week to remove dead skin cells. Central heating plays havoc on the sebum our skin normally produces, which makes our skin lose water which should be retained in the lower dermis of the skin. During the winter months there are thousands of dry skin cells ready to be sloughed off the surface and they become clumped together with oil which forms what appear to be flakes. Don’t be flaky, exfoliate! Exfoliate your facial skin with crème based exfoliates with jojoba beads. You can exfoliate your body with a butter, oil, or crème scrub that uses salts or sugars.

Hydrotherapy: For a simple in home hydrotherapy, start out your day with a hot steamy shower and just as you are finishing switch the water to cold for about fifteen seconds. Repeat the process for two minutes. This hydrotherapy technique will revitalize your skin by stimulating the flow of blood through the skin.

For an at-home spa experience, take advantage of the cranberry season by making your own homemade facial masque. Below is a simple recipe and this same recipe could be varied by using pumpkin pie mix, mashed potatoes and other seasonal fresh foods.

Cranberry Concoction

¼ teaspoon Green Clay

1 teaspoon Plain Yogurt

1 tablespoon Honey

¼ cup of cranberries

¼ cup cranberry juice

Directions: Blend the cranberries to a pulp. Mix in all other ingredients thoroughly. Apply to face and leave on for 10-15 minutes. Rinse thoroughly with a dark colored wash cloth (so you won’t stain a light one). Tone and moisturize as usual. If you would like your masque to be thicker you can add more green clay. What you are left with is a radiant, exfoliated, hydrated, fresh face without spending the $$$ on a professional facial.

Find all the supplies and materials you need at www.essentialwholesale.com!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Homemade Laundry Soap Recipe


Homemade Laundry Soap Recipe

1/3 bar Fels Naptha, Ivory, or Zote bar soap

½ cup Arm & Hammer washing soda

½ cup Borax powder

Small 2 gallon bucket

Your browser may not support display of this image. Grate the soap and heat in saucepan with 6 cups of water. Add washing soda and borax, stir until dissolved. Remove from heat and pour into bucket, adding 4 cups hot water. Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let sit for 24 hours and it will gel. Use ½ cup per laundry load. Note: It will not be a solid gel and will not suds. Ingredients = clean, not suds.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Don't Miss Fashion Week in Grand Rapids!

Grab your girlfriends and get out to the fashion shows this weekend in Grand Rapids! There will be lakeshore and area boutiques at the event, plus awesome giveaways. You'll be able to shop and try on clothes!

Enter to win door prizes, a roof-top VIP party at Thirty-Eight for you and 40 of your friends, or a new bag from Rebekah Rosa Handbag Co.

Fashion Show Times:
Saturday October 17th @ 12:30, 2:00, 4:30, 7:30
Sunday October 18th @ 2:00

There will also be an After Glow Party at CRUSH inside the B.O.B following Saturday's fashion shows. Don't miss out! Click here for more information!

I Heart POM Wonderful!

You simply must try the new juices from POM! We love them all. We tried our first POM Wonderful about a year ago and highly recommend them! These juices are 100% Pomegranate Juice - the highest quality you can buy. Both my husband and I feel a boost of energy and clarity after drinking POM. Try it for yourself!


Drink this antioxidant powerhouse straight out of the bottle or try some of the awesome recipes that use POM. Click here to check them out!



New Flavors: POM Blueberry, POM Cherry, POM Mango, POM Kiwi, and POM Nectarine.

All POM Wonderful Juices:
  • Contain no added sugars
  • Good source of potassium
  • Gluten-free
  • Certified Kosher
All American Mommy hearts POM Wonderful!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Thought For Today


God doesn't give you the people you want, He gives you the people you need:
To help you, to hurt you, to leave you, to love you, and to make you into the person you were meant to be.

BabyLegs BOGO Sale!


All American Mommy loves BabyLegs! These adorable accessories offer the perfect finishing touch to any outfit and best of all, they keep those cute little baby legs warm during the cold months. BabyLegs just launched a new line of socks and tights. They are also offering holiday themes. BabyLegs has so many styles and colors to choose from; you'll have no problem finding the perfect ones to top off baby's Halloween costume.

The color palette for BabyLegs new fall collection is brown-based with highlights of pinks, blues, greens, and purples. The BabyLegs warmers and socks are designed to mix and match, keeping those little legs and feet fashionable and warm this fall. Click here to check out the seasonal collection! Please visit www.babylegs.com for more information!

BOGO Sale: From now until October 21, 2009 buy one pair of seasonal designs and get another pair free! Use coupon code: PUNKIN.





Monday, October 12, 2009

Winner Announced

Congratulations to FOKXXY on winning the Halloween DVDs!

Check out the giveaways ending in a few weeks and be sure to check back often as I will be adding new giveaways weekly.

Thanks to all for entering!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Save Money: 3 Cooked Meals For Less Than $20

Groceries are getting so expensive these days! I decided to pick a few meals that I could prepare ahead of time to freeze for future meals. Here are 3 meals (actually makes enough for 5-6 meals for a small family) that you can prepare in less than an hour, and all for less than $20!




Spagetti (no recipe necessary)

Chili Recipe
Meatloaf Recipe




Pantry Items:
  • Garlic Salt
  • Pepper
  • Brown Sugar
  • Oats
  • Ketchup
  • Steak sauce
Shopping List:
  • 3 lbs. ground beef or turkey
  • 1 lbs. ground pork sausage
  • 1 lg or 2 small cans chili beans
  • 1 lg or 2 small cans tomatoes for chili
  • spagetti noodles
  • spagetti sauce
  • 1 jar salsa

Easy Meatloaf

1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 lb. ground pork sausage
1/2 C. oats
1 envelope dry onion soup mix

topping:
2 tbsp. ketchup
2 tbsp. steak sauce

Top meatloaf mixture with sauce and bake @ 350 degrees for 90 minutes.

Easy Chili Recipe


Here is another great winter recipe that I get lots of compliments on. It's super easy and it's cheap. You can crank up the heat in this recipe by simply adding hot salsa, hot chili beans, and hot chili seasoning. Or keep it mild if you prefer.

1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 lg or 2 small cans of stewed tomatoes or season diced tomatoes
1 lg or 2 small cans of chili beans (not kidney beans)
1 pkg. chili seasoning
1 jar chunky style salsa
2 tbsp. brown sugar
garlic salt and pepper to taste

Brown ground meat and drain off fat. Add all ingredients in stock pan or large sauce pan. Simmer for 1 hour and enjoy. This also freezes well so you can make a double batch and freeze for future meals.