Knorr® Homestyle Stock

Knorr® Homestyle Stock: Thx Knorr 4 my free sample. Get great Knorr Homestyle Stock recipe ideas at http://bit.ly/sDRUdc

I received a free sample of Knorr Homestyle stock and a free soup ladle from smiley 360 and loved it. I used my free sample in a stir fry dish that I make a few times a month and it came out tasting even better with this new addition to it. If you would like to sign up for smiley360, you can do so here.

If you would like to try my recipe here's what I did.

What you will need:
Stir fry meat either boneless chicken breasts or stir fry beef, I like using chicken.
4 cup of cup up fresh vegetables. You can use whatever vegies you like. I used broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, snow peas and water chestnuts from a can.


Directions:
slice the chicken into bite sized pieces and stir fry in a hot oiled pan until almost done. Remove meat from pan and add all the chopped vegetables at once. Cook vegetables over med heat for a few minutes until they start to get done and add meat back to the mixture. Add the Knorr homestyle stock to the pan and lower heat a little, cover pan and let cook for about 7 minutes. Stir and serve over white rice.

I have a rice steamer and the rice that I get from this is so much better than anything else I've ever had.

The Knorr Homestyle stock really makes this dish pop and I will be using it from now on in my chicken stir fry dishes. Chicken is the only flavor I have tried but since this was such a hit with the family, I'll be trying the beef next.

Super Points: Another way of earning free amazon gift cards

Earlier this month I was introduced to Superpoints through a friend on a chat forum. At first I thought it was not going to be as great a place to earn as SwagBucks, but after just a few days I have already earned a lot of points and will be able to cash out for an amazon gift card soon.

It has become my second favorite place to earn after SwagBucks. The key is to complete your profile, be patient with slow days and build up five to ten active referrals beneath you.

Once you sign up be sure to fill out your account information (to earn more spins) and verify your email address so you will start receiving daily bonus point emails. After filling out your profile and adding a picture you have 30 free spins on the super lucky button which has been giving me as many as 25 pts a day.


The Super Lucky Button is the easiest way to earn. With each spin you have a chance to earn points (but mostly I win 1, 2 & 5).

The higher your member level the more daily spins you will receive. At Gold and Platinum you will earn the wins from your referrals' spins also--there is no limit at this time as to how many points you can earn from referrals.

Members receive 25 points for each referral that reaches a basic membership.
You can also do surveys, watch videos and complete offers for points, much like Swag Bucks.

If you would like to sign up for either Swagbucks or Superpoints, here are my referral links and I would love it if you used them to sign up.

Swagbucks referral link

Super Points Referral link

Restaurant Bans Crying Kids

I read a story here, that a restaurant has now posted notices that if your child starts crying to take them outside. The new rules posted states:

“Dear all present and future patrons: GCP is proud of its reputation as a family restaurant, a title that we will work to keep. Unfortunately a number of our diners have posted unpleasant experiences because of crying and unsupervised children. To ensure that all diners have an enjoyable lunch or dinner with us we respectfully ask that parents tend to their crying tots outside.”

Now I have to say, I don't have a problem with this rule at all. If you are going to bring your kids to a public place you should have to make sure that they don't bother others who are there.

When my daughter was little I got so tired of seeing other people's kids acting up while I made sure mine behaved and their parents did nothing to stop the tantrums, throwing things, and screaming. The few times my daughter did act up....we left. There was no second chances and I think if your child knows that right from the get go, you will have less problems in the long run. If my daughter started acting up in the store, we left..I went back later while Ken watched her. If we went to a place she liked, let's say peter Piper Pizza and she started screaming because she saw other kids doing it and didn't stop after the first time I told her to..I took her by the hand and we left. There was no going outside for a talk and letting her go back in..What does that say to them? It says I can get away with being a brat a few times and laugh about it, but if you take them out of the situation each and everytime, they will know the next time that they have one chance and one chance only and are less likely to act out.

There are too many people out there wil kids who cannot control them, in my opinion.

I've had a few people come to my home with their kids and they just let them do whatever they want. And then get mad at me when I say something to their kids. I had a person come over with their 3 year old and mom went outside to smoke...the three year old screamed, kicked, banged on the door and threw a temper tantrum from hell and all the person holding her did was hold her. I could not understand why she didn't take the kid outside...it would have stopped the crying and tantrum throwing and then while at home teach the child they cannot act like that when they are out...or keep them home!

If you know you have a brat...don't subject said brat to other people...keep them home until you teach them how to act when outside because no one wants to be around that and it shows what a terrible parent you are.

I'm A Guest Blogger at "Like A Bump On A Blog"

Today a friend of mine asked me to be a guest blogger on her blog, Like A Bump On A Blog. I happily said yes, because I love her blog.

Today I chose to share some of amazing 3D art work pictures I found online, so come on over to Amber's blog and check out the pictures and while you're there, check out her blog.

Review: Naughty Little Secrets by Cassandra Curtis

Product Description from Amazon.com
A guilty pleasure.
A wicked desire.
A lusty kink.
A hidden fetish.

Everyone has a few naughty little secrets. All of Stacie Purcell's secrets are in the red story binder she keeps in her messenger bag. An aspiring writer, Stacie dreams of the day her sexy stories will get published. But when she misplaces her binder, she is frantic, worried she'll never see it again. Desperate to get it back, she’s willing to do whatever it takes.

Tyler Murchison can't help noticing the cute little blond in his car repair shop's waiting room, her nose buried in her red binder. Closing up for the night, he discovers a not-so-innocent piece of paper and a mysterious messenger bag in the waiting room.

Intrigued by the drawings of sexual positions and the erotic fantasies Stacie weaves in her stories, he returns the binder, and offers Stacie a chance to experience all the incredible sexual delights she writes about.

But can a single night of wild, passionate sex lead to something more?

My Review:
Stacie works in her sister's hair salon but her true passion is writing and she jots down ideas for her book in a folder she keeps in her messenger bag. While at Tyler's garage having some work done on her car she inadvertently leaves her messenger bag behind and Tyler finds it along with a page filled with some highly sexually suggestive material. Tyler reads a few pages of the book she's writing before Stacie frantically calls looking for it. In my head I was thinking if I'd had a crush on a guy for years and was writing a book like this, wouldn't I leave my messenger bag where he could find it too? Even subconsciously I think maybe she wanted Tyler to know what she was writing and that he was the model for her Hero.

When Stacie finds out Tyler read a few pages and is willing to help her out with some kinky research, what can she say other than yes. Stacie seems shy but really wants to channel her inner naughty girl when it comes to Tyler. Naughty Little Secrets was wonderful. It was passionate, sweet and ,truly, a joy to read. Any book that can make me laugh, smile and blush in the space of a minute has my seal of approval. When Stacie is doing research for her book and looking at the names for the different sexual positions and comes across things like the backward facing bad dog or face salami, I couldn't help but chuckle.

I really enjoyed this read, I usually stay away from short stories, short novels and novellas because I'm never sure if there will be enough time for the author to really develop the characters and the plot, but I was pleasantly surprised with this book because the characters came to life and the plot was strong. Naughty Little Secrets has an interesting array of characters, suspense, sexual tension and romance that there is never a dull moment.

I'm looking forward to reading more from Cassandra Curtis.

I was Interviewed at SOS Aloha!

I was interviewed at Sos Aloha. Come by and chat with me and while you're there take a look around Kim's blog. She has something interesting to chat about everyday.

Music

I listen to music all day while I'm on the computer writing, reading facebook, blogging or whatever I happen to be doing. I listen to all sorts of music as you can see below. I use music to fuel my writing when writing articles and get me going. I think a lot of people do. Sometimes I use music to down out the other people around me. Living in a small apartment with two other people, I need my space and quiet time to myself and this is how I get it.

I routinely look at youtube for new music and even browse the top 20 on MYV to see what's new. Some mornings I will stop on the music channels on my cable *Not the NTV or VH1* because they hardly ever play music anymore and that's a real shame. No, I mean the 100 extra channels of music I have on digital cable..all music all the time and they have different channels for different genres of music, which I love. I still love the 80's.

Lately I've been listening to Visions of Atlantis which I describe as Symphonic Power Metal.


I also think of Sirenia as Symphonic Power Metal.

Hollywood Undead I consider to be Rock Rap..I don't know what others consider their music to be but I really like them too.

Dead by April is a band that my daughter actually showed me because she thought I might like them and she was so right. I love this song and yes while there is a little bit of screaming which I normally don't like...I love this song.

And then we come to yet another guilty pleasure of mine...Adam Lambert! Omg those eyes!I'm not ashamed to admit it...I wiggle-dance in my chair whenever his songs play. He gives me goose bumps everytime I hear him sing.

And then we have the Sick Puppies. Yeah the name of the band was a bit strange to me too...until I heard them sing. This song is one of their best.

One of my all time favorite bands is Disturbed. I've loved just about everything they've done. I love the lead singers voice and the beat of the music and when I need a swift kick in the pants to get me started...I listen to this.

And now I want to share someone I found on Youtube who doesn't yet have a record deal...and I ask you why? Why doesn't this guy have a record deal because he has a beautiful voice..and I do mean beautiful..Here he plays the piano and sings and he does both so well..Please listen to this guy.



So there you have it. A little sample of the different types of music I listen to all day while online. What are some of your favorite bands?

Happy Birthday to Me and Giveaway Winners!

So first off the winners of my giveaway are:

The Ten Dollar Amazon GC goes to- drakenfyre75

And my three winners of the bookmarks are- Sophie, Katie Dalton, Kristen.

Please give me a day to get the emails to you because today is my birthday and I might be busy or you can send me an email with your mailing address if you won the bookmarks to miztik_rose@yahoo.com

Thank you all for commenting and happy hunting *For all those great giveaways out there*

10 Ways To Get More Swagbucks

What is SwagBucks?

SwagBucks.com is an online site dedicated to help you earn just by using the SwagBucks.com search engine. You’ll get results from Google and you will be periodically awarded as you search. These SwagBucks rewards can be redeemed for things like paypal cash, Amazon gift cards and a lot of other prizes.

Does It Really Work?

I am normally a skeptic when it comes to these types of 'make money by earning points" type of things, but it really works. I've been using the site for a few years and I earn at least $20 in Amazon gift cards each month with out having to pay a single cent or sign up for anything with my credit card.

If you aren’t using Swagbucks (and may I ask why not?), here is a quick recap: Swagbucks is a search engine powered by Google. Whenever you search on Swagbucks, you have the chance to win points (aka Swagbucks) that you can redeem for prizes and gift cards. You can easily earn enough points to get a $5 Amazon gift card every month just by doing a few searches!

Here are 10 tips to getting more swagbucks.

1. Search on Friday. It is good to do a search every day, but Friday is Mega Swagbucks Day! That means, your chances of winning the higher value bills are higher.

2. Install the Toolbar. The Swagbucks toolbar is just like a Yahoo or Google toolbar. The toolbar makes it more convenient to do searches since you don't have to visit the site itself. You will also occasionally get Free Codes via the toolbar! Check the little message icon on the toolbar daily because the Free Codes are usually only good for a few hours.

3. Tell your Friends and get referrals. If you are loving Swagbucks, then you are probably telling your friends already, so why not get some Free Swagbucks for it? Go to the Swagbucks blog page at this link and they will tell you how to find your personal referral link. When your friend signs up using your unique referral link, you will earn a Swagbuck each time they win a Swagbuck.

4. Modify your Search. If I do a search and don’t win a Swagbuck, I will change my search term slightly to see if I win. Example: I search for “Avenged Sevenfold” and win nothing, so I add the word “Songs” and search again. For some reason, I usually win Swagbucks by doing this!

5. Search for Images or Video. This will work sometimes but I don't get as many swagbucks doing this as I do with regular web searches.

6. Search Daily. Searching daily builds Swagbucks faster than anything else. I search three times a day. Morning, afternoon and Night.

7. Play Games. Go to Swagbucks, click on “Earn” then “Games”, then click on “Play Free”. You have to play 2 different games in order to get the 2 Swagbucks, you cannot keep playing the same game over and over. But you can pick two games to play and switch back and forth between the two of them and for every two plays you will get 2 swagbucks.

8. Watch Swagbucks TV Click on the “Swagbucks TV” on the dropdown menu under the “Earn” tab to pull up the Swagbucks TV page. You have to watch 10 different videos (they range in length from one minute to five minutes) and then you’ll earn three Swagbucks. You can skip to the next video as soon as the meter showing the percentage goes up.

9. Swag Code Hunts - Sometimes The Swag Guy (TGS) will hide a Swag Code for us to find. Follow the hints and find the code. Then copy & paste the code into the Swagbucks homepage (on right side, paste into box and click “Gimme”)

TIP: When copying  and pasting a Swag Code be sure to remove any extra spaces before or after the code! Codes are case sensitive and must be entered exactly as they appear when you find them.

10. Swagstakes - Sort of like buying a raffle ticket and you have a chance to win hundreds or thousands of Swagbucks. I haven't won any Swagbucks entering the Swagstakes but I have won some gift cards.

Other things to do everyday.
Voting in the Daily Poll gets you 1 Daily SwagBuck
Visiting the No Obligation Special Offers (NOSO) gets you 2 Daily SwagBucks Just keep clicking on 'skip' on the bottom of the offers and when you get to the end, enter the code you see. Just follow the instructions, it's easy.

Sometimes you will have things sent to your inbox. Do the ones you want to do and get some extra Swagbucks.

Attempt 5 Surveys Daily for 5 Swagbucks (even if disqualified) You get more if you qualify for the survey, always try to complete the surveys.

Gold Surveys- Now they have gold surveys that even if you don't qualify for you will get 5 swagbucks for the first 5 tries.

I hope some of these tips will help you earn more Swagbucks!

I Have A New Article Published

How To Give A Rat A Subcutaneous Injection
You all know I mainly write articles about small exotic animals like rats, hamsters and mice and so I'm always looking for new ideas on what to write about. So when I had to start giving hubby injections for his medication, I thought about the people who had to give injections to their animals and decided to write an article explaining how to give fluids to a small animal like a rat, if they become dehydrated. So if you like to read my newest article just click on the link or here, and let me know what you thought.

Hashtags

I've been seeing a lot of twitter speak being used in other places and I was wondering if someone could explain this to me...why?

On blog posts I see things like #likethis or @books or #friends in the titles and in the post itself. I checked to see if the blog post was being put on Twitter and it wasn't. So I don't get it.

I also see it in fb posts that aren't being tweeted, so wth?

Astronaut Ice Cream

I heard about something called Astronaut Ice cream and found it on Amazon and decided to try it for myself.


This is what the package looks like.

It's freeze dried ice cream ready to eat for astronauts. Seriously..

It comes in a small brick and is wrapped in white paper when you take it out of the foil package.

When I opened mine up, it was already in pieces ready for me to eat. *I'm sure the box getting tossed around going through the mail had nothing to do with it*

I ate a couple of pieces and even talked my daughter into sharing a piece or two with me. It tastes just like ice cream...just warm and hard...lol It does melt in your mouth while you are eating it. All in all, not bad.

Similar Covers

I don't know if you've ever noticed seeing a book cover you liked and then a while later while scanning the book shelves you see the same cover or a similar cover on the shelf but it's for a completely different book. I feel a little cheated by this and think of the book as cheap when I see this. Like the publisher didn't care enough about the book to give it an original art work cover or just tweaked a few things in a used cover so it looks a little different...like we as readers wouldn't notice. makes me think that the publishers think we are stupid or just won't care.

Now I want to say I know this in no way reflects on the author because they have very little say most times on the covers, cover art, cover models.

Don't believe me? Go to any authors website, blog ect..on the day they see the cover for the first time and read what they write. They are excited to be seeing it for the first time...they don't have a lot of say in the cover most times.

So this is to the publishers of the books..not the authors.

To me when the publisher has an original cover it says to me that they believe in the book and they know they money the put into the cover they will be getting back ten fold because they know the book is going to be great. I don't really know why they choose cover stock for some covers, I really don't. All I know is I don't like it.

Why I may Follow You on Twitter

..and some reasons why I may not.

It's just recently that I've been doing more Tweeting on Twitter. At first when I signed up, I just didn't get it. Probably because I had no followers and had no idea how to get any. So I put out a few tweets and ...nothing.

So I left it alone for months, tweeted nothing and then while entering contest and giveaways I saw there was a "tweet about my giveaway" option and at first I scoffed at it. I was like, I don't even know how to do this and secondly, how to I find the link to post so someone can see that i tweeted about their giveaway. Thankfully, I figured it out and can now Tweet as well as most and have even added a few pictures of my ratty boys using Twitpic.

But lately I've been getting followed by people who are...spammers..or have links in the profiles to porn sites. Spammers are sending me links that thankfully I am not stupid enough to click on. All I don't need is another computer virus. I know how to block and report these people but the numbers keep climbing.

Reasons I don't follow you.
You follow 1800 people but only have 5 followes. This says to me you are a spammer.

You follow me and send me a direct message with a link to you site or link to where I can buy your book and then do it every week even though I haven't responded. If I wanted to see your site, book, blog ect..I would have. The fact that I haven't should tell you something.

You don't have an avatar and bio is missing. Please fill it out and let us know something, anything about you.

If I look at your twitter feed and see that you have a propensity to argue or belittle others, I will not follow you and if you get out of hand, I will block you.

Following family. At first I didn't have any family that I was following and now I have a few. Their not up on tweet etiquette and will sometimes tweet things that are just silly and sorta inappropriate. Gotta love family on social media. lol

So now I follow those who have similar tastes to me, things we have in common or people who follow me who actually have something to say, not just want me to read their blog, book ect..

I'm a Creeper...

I was having a conversation with my daughter the other day and she was telling me about something that happened on facebook with her friends..I said, "Yeah I know, I read what they said."

She stopped and looked at me and said, "How?"

I told her that I have my facebook set so that I can see what others 'like' 'comment on' ect and that I routinely check out profiles of friends, friends friends, her friends, my friends friends, their friends..ect..anyone who has a public profile and is connected to anyone I chat with on facebook, I check out their profiles.

Then she asked me who of her friends I have checked out..I told her all of them that have public profiles. I started naming names and describing their pictures in their albums and she looked at me and said "Omg, your a Creeper!"

I started laughing and said, "Hey if someone on fb has a problem with their profile getting seen by a stranger they should change it to private.

Then I get on facebook the other day and see this on my daughter's page....


LOL!!!


So, my secret is out...I'm a Creeper. I didn't even know there was a name for looking at strangers profiles. But hey, if you have a public profile...I might just be creeping a peek of it soon....

Kimberly's Bloomin' Reviews: Blossoming Blogger Giveaway

Kimberly's Bloomin' Reviews: Blossoming Blogger Giveaway: One lucky winner will win a $50.00 Amazon Gift Card on this blog! That's a great giveaway! Go join her blog and show her some bloggy love.

The Insanity of Protecting Rats

I had to share an article with you and let you know I wrote to the man who wrote the article and got a response. I was surprised by the article and even more surprised by this guy's response to my email. I thought I would share them with you. First click on the link and read the article...if you know anything about me at all you'll see why I had to write to this guy.

The Insanity of Protecting Rats

Here's my email to him:
"Hi,

After reading your article I felt compelled to write to you and express another side to this story. My name is Mary Kirkland and I write articles about how to care for small animals such as rats, hamsters and mice. I teach people how to humanely remove rats, mice and other rodents from their property with humane traps and relocate them or call people who will do it for them.

There are those of us and I do mean a lot of us who adore rats, all rats including the wild ones. I myself have 4 pet rats and seeing articles like yours makes me sad that you cannot see that there's nothing wrong with not killing every living creature you see as a pest just because they invade your space. There's nothing wrong with humanely trapping a family of rats and relocating them.

Oh and I also wanted to let you know you have some facts wrong about rats. You say in your article that the life span of a rat is approximately 9 months...that's inaccurate, an average life span of a rat is 4 years...even in the wild.


Mary Kirkland

My Published Articles- http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/37985/mary_kirkland.html "

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Here is his response to me:
"Worldwide, rats and other rodents tons of food that would otherwise feed humans. You are free to hold your beliefs and care for your rats, but I assure you that you are a distinct minority was regards what most people feel about them.

Cheers,

Alan Caruba"
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Now I kept the emails just in case someone doesn't believe me. Because this guy writes articles just like I do and I was a little surprised that he didn't check his response to me and catch the glaring mistakes in this response.

Oh and I don't believe that I am a distinct minority in my beliefs because it was another ratty lover that showed me the article in the first place and there are more and more people who think not all animals should be outright killed just because they are unlucky enough to share the same space with a human.

If you agree with me, you can also send an email to Alan and let him know. Here's him email address ACaruba@aol.com

Are There Any Books You Won't Read?

I read a lot of books, probably around 50 a month. There aren't a whole lot of books that I won't read. I've read self help books, although I really don't read them much anymore. I'm old enough now that I am stuck in my ways and don't really want to change. lol

I like cookbooks of all kinds but have come across a few that I would not read. Ones like..The Afterbirth recipe book. O.o Yes, there really are recipes for your afterbirth. Yecht! How about a nice afterbirth meatloaf..Yeah, I don't think so.

Or another cookbook I saw was the big book of road kill recipes. Now of course these are not the names of the cookbooks..I made them up. At least I hope these aren't the names of the cookbooks because seriously just made them up. lol

And yet another cookbook would be the Let's Eat A Bug cookbook. Yummy ways to deep fry, bake, and saute all the bugs in your garden..lol Oh yum!

Oh and lets not forget cooking with Sperm and cooking with mother's milk. I'm seriously not making this up..it's real. Google it.

Yeah, it's a real book. Aren't you looking forward to that sperm flan? Me either.

It's not the cookbooks that really get me laughing or gagging..*No pun intended* there's also books about hair..like mullets, bee hives, how to shave your head, how to keep people from pulling your hair or keep insects from invading your hair.

Then there's the one's that think they are funny...farting dogs, the big books of farts. The big book of pimples, hairy nipples or piercings. Oh and the amount of circumcision books will boggle the mind. There's one called, "I Want My Foreskin For Christmas"...seriously.

Don't even get me started on the bathroom humor books. I won't even go there. *Again, no pun intended*

Then I was surprised by the amount of books about Crafting With Cat Hair.



Blurb From Amazon:

"Got fur balls?

Are your favorite sweaters covered with cat hair? Do you love to make quirky and one-of-a-kind crafting projects? If so, then it’s time to throw away your lint roller and curl up with your kitty! Crafting with Cat Hair shows readers how to transform stray clumps of fur into soft and adorable handicrafts. From kitty tote bags and finger puppets to fluffy cat toys, picture frames, and more, these projects are cat-friendly, eco-friendly, and require no special equipment or training. You can make most of these projects in under an hour—with a little help, of course, from your feline friends!"

There's also Crafting with dog hair and I can only imagine how many other animals are listed as well.

So there you have my list for the types of books that I don't want to read. What would you say No to?

How to Cure Aggressiveness in Pet Rats - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com

Since I wrote an article about rats I thought I would add a picture of my boys here. This picture cracks me up because what you see is three little ratty butts and then the smallest rat in the middle sticking his head out. Little Brodie is all about the cuddles here. lol


Here's my latest published article. if you take a look and read it please feel free to let me know what you think about this one or any of the others I've written.

How to Cure Aggressiveness in Pet Rats - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com

Cotton Candy Reviews: Spontaneous giveaway!

Cotton Candy Reviews: Spontaneous giveaway!: If I get 200 followers by midnight tomorrow I will giveaway 3 books by Aussie authors of your choice up to $30 from The Book Depository! So ...