Dinner was a flop

So last night's dinner was a flop. I tried to use up some things I had in the fridge and I ran across a recipe - well not really a recipe more like basic instructions for a quick dinner idea. I had the meatballs (the premade ones from the freezer) and crescent rolls, and some marinara sauce which were all that was required.

Basically I wrapped up the meatballs in the crescents and made a little "roll". Baked it according to the roll instructions and then served it with the marinara to dip it into. They weren't the most horrible things on the planet, but they were flavorless, boring and even my son didn't care for them. He's a human garbage disposal so that was a shocker. And grandpa didn't want any seconds - which is a surefire way to know if what I cooked was decent or not.

So that recipe will definitely be scratched off the list of "easy things to make for dinner" unless I can come up with a way to make them better tasting. Any thoughts on how to make it better tasting? I thought about stuffing some cheese in them too, but figured that would end up being super messy to try and do.

Samples

First I want to warn you. If something looks too good to be true it probably is, so you have to be careful before starting your search for free stuff. A lot of sites will state they give away free stuff (they are usually high dollar/full size products), but they have sponsor requirements that have to be fulfilled before you get the free things.

If you want to do that type of thing I suggest you peruse my friend Brenna’s website for some details about doing that type of thing. NaturallyFrugalMomma She does a really good job at explaining how to do this type of thing and just scored a $500.00 gift card from IKEA.

My other recommendation before starting is to set up a “junk” email account. Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail whatever you like best works fine. You will use this email account only when you are filling out forms for the free items so you don’t get inundated with spam. Also I rarely use my real birthday. I have chosen a special day that I use for this. I don’t know why I’m uncomfortable posting my real birthday, but I just am. And make up a new password that you us only for this type of thing too. That way you can remember it easy and it doesn’t give away your password for other more important places (like bank accounts, etc.) in case the information is compromised for some reason.

After all that, the sites I visit most often are:

Wal*Mart

Kraft First Taste

http://www.nojunkfree.com/

Start Sampling please use "amazeofgrace" as you referrer when you sign up!

Slick Deals

Fat Wallet

FreeFlys (sign up then close the window to ignore all the referring stuff, go into the email they send you and you can skip all the referral sites)

Other ways to get freebies are:

Check out product websites directly for freebies and coupons/deals. Sometimes you have to sign up for their newsletters etc, but it is worth it. Dove, Oil of Olay, Tide etc are always giving away free samples of their products. A good one is Proctor and Gamble…they send out free stuff through their newsletter often.

As always use SWAGBUCKS to search for free samples or free stuff while earning money that can be redeemed for awesome stuff. I LOVE this website and recommend everyone sign up!

Here are a few samples I came across on the internet today while writing this up.

Free MaryKay Sample

SoftSheen Hair Products

Tide

Splenda

FlixSticks

Playtex Sport


Always remember though the items you get are usually just samples…so don’t expect huge bottles of products for your time. I’ll tell you though I have used the samples when traveling and for an emergency kit in my car that have really saved me some money. Plus I have found some great products that I now use on a regular basis.

Things I'm working on...

I've been busy around the home and haven't posted much recently, but I've been working on some things that I think you might like. I hope to have some really cool things coming here shortly, here is a teaser of some of the things I'm working on.

1. Give-a-ways. I have a few things in the works so stay tuned.

2. Some product reviews. You know you want the info!

3. More content. Yes I am working hard at trying to do this on a more regular basis. Of course as you all know life sometimes gets in the way of the best laid plans but I will do my best.