Holy Crap Bloggers Stop Being So Damn Needy!!!

I have no idea what the hell is going on because apparently I didn't get the memo but within the last couple of weeks I have received email after email from bloggers saying things along the lines of "You're not opening my emails enough so I am going to unsubscribe you from my list..." What in the hell? Have you people never heard of preview pane?

I may not have a popular blog but there's no way in hell I'm going to turn away readers because I'm needy and have to have constant validation!  It's just bizarre to me why a) this has become a sudden trend and b) why you would want to turn away your readers!

This madness needs to stop. You need to realize that people have lives outside of you and may be unable to read your blog every day and also realize people have preview pane still!

There's many blogs that I have absolutely loved reading but because they sent me emails like this, it completely turned me off and I immediately unsubscribed. I doubt I'm the only one.

I'm actually glad I "didn't get the memo." I like my readers and I'm just happy to have them with me.

The Five Minute Fix for Split Ends

I have extremely long hair. I only go in once a year for a hair cut and when I do, the stylists are always so shocked that I have no split ends because not only is it so long, I color it myself as well.

They will ask "When was the last time you got your hair cut?" and when I say "A year ago" they just don't believe me. They'll then go on to ask me what products I use to "repair" split ends. I'm going to share a little secret with you.....NO PRODUCTS CAN REPAIR SPLIT ENDS! Once the hair is split, it's split. You're not going to be able to repair it.

Being that I have ridiculously long hair and a really rambunctious toddler, I'm always putting my hair up and the baby is always pulling it when it's down. Both those things can wreak havoc on your hair.

So, I'm going to share with you MY fix for split ends that will make your hair beautiful and soft. No more dry, crunchy hair.... leave that in the 80's! You just need to give yourself five minutes a day.

When my day is winding down after I've made breakfast, lunch and dinner for 6 people and homeschooled all day and after I've finally gotten to pee (you moms know what I'm talking about), I'm finally able to sit for a few minutes. I will just go through my hair for five minutes looking for split ends and cut them off! Seems so simple doesn't it? Not only will your hair start looking and feeling amazing, you'll save lots of money not buying products that do not work and by not having to go to the salon as often.

Try this for two weeks and see what you think. Take a picture on day one then one on day fourteen to see if you notice a difference. Make sure to do five minutes a day. You'll start to notice it'll be harder to find split ends as the days progress. Send me your before and after pics because I'd love to see the results and know your thoughts about it themommytrap@gmail.com

Review of Hollar.com

*This review is my own thoughts and experience. I have not been requested nor paid to write this review

Being as I am on an EXTREMELY tight budget and have no vehicle, I needed to find a store online that I could get my daughter some birthday presents.

I needed free shipping and/or promo codes being as I am so strapped for cash. That's when Hollar.com promo code arrived in my inbox. It's like they knew I needed them at that moment. There in my inbox was a five dollar code! Five dollars can get you so much on Hollar.com. I set out to find gifts for her stat!

There were so many things on the site, that I spent a whole day and evening scrolling. I ended up with nail polish (name brand), a bike lock, bike lightock and a really cool, big turtle plush with a galactic print.

 

Not only did I get five dollars off, but because it was my first order, I got free shipping too! My order ended up being almost fifteen dollars. All that stuff for less than fifteen dollars!!

 

 

I was worried that I wouldn't get it by her birthday because I ordered it so close to her birthday. I figured that with prices so cheap they probably take their sweet time to process the order. Boy was I wrong! They shipped my order the very next day and I got it the day before her birthday!

 

Now, I know what you're thinking "Ok great, the prices and shipping were awesome but what about the quality?" Well, I too was worried but again I was wrong! This is good stuff! I was so impressed!

 

Now that I know how awesome Hollar.com is, I'm going to use it as my go-to. I mean they have everything from household goods, apparel, electronics, health and beauty, toys and so much more.

 

Sign up and try it once and see how you like it. I doubt you'll be disappointed. Feel free to get started here https://www.hollar.com/share/660b30

 

I'd love to hear about your experiences!



The Elite Platinum 8.5 Quart Stainless Steel Slow Cooker Review

*This review is my own thoughts/opinion. I purchased the slow cooker myself. I have not been paid to write/post this review.

If you know me, you know that I have an addiction to crock pots. I love them. I cook almost every dinner in the crock. At least 285 days of the year. But earlier this year, tragedy struck. The ceramic bowl of my last crock broke completely in half. I used to have two backups but they too had died a horrible death.

I needed to find a new crock pot and fast. I usually use a 7 quart crock but it's not quite big enough for my large family so, I searched for a larger size. That's when I found the Elite Platinum 8.5 Quart Stainless Steel Slow Cooker.

I'm a very frugal gal so I was very happy to find it for under $40.00 and even better than that, shipping was free!

The crock pot itself is pretty uneventful. It's stainless steel on the outside and black on the inside. I prefer to have a more unique look but couldn't find any in the size I was looking for.

The first thing I made was barbecue chicken the way I've been making it for years. It burnt to a crisp.

The next was meatloaf and it too burned. Next, Dijon chicken it too burned.

The crock gets especially hot on the low setting so I've now had to cut cooking times by half which really cuts in to my day. I really enjoy starting my dinner in the morning and not really have to worry about it until dinner time. With the Elite, I'm constantly having to check on it to ensure the food is not burning. There's no way I could leave the house if I wanted too.... it's that hot.

Pretty much everything I cook is on the low setting unless the recipe calls for high setting. Soups boil on the low setting! I refuse to use the high setting at all because well, I like SLOW cooking.

Washing the crock was how I expected.... unwieldy.  Trying to maneuver it in the sink is difficult but manageable. What I didn't expect was it to turn a weird milky white on the inside. No matter how much I try to get it off, it remains and looks dirty.

I'm giving this product 1 out of 5 stars. Being that I've used a crock pot almost daily for over 15 years has made me a bit of an expert when it comes to slow cooking. This is the worst slow cooker I have ever used. Too many meals have been ruined. Too much time spent running back and forth trying to ensure the meal isn't burning which totally defeats the purpose of a slow cooker for me. If you do buy this item, my suggestion is that you only make soups in it. Anything that can burn, will.

52 Day Meal Plan

I have a decent size family. There's six of us. Because of this, I make long term meal plans. I write meal names on small tabs and stick them on each day of my calendar. Once I've made the meal, I take the tab off and put it on another day of the year, essentially recycling the meal plan(and tabs) throughout the year. I'd show you my calendar but unfortunately I haven't gotten a calendar yet 😞

Here are the tabs I used

So without further ado here are the meals Feel free to ask me for any recipe you'd like!

1. Shrimp Alfredo
2. Tacos
3. Dijon Chicken
4. Shepherds Pie
5. Deviled Egg Melts
6. BBQ Chicken Quesadillas
7. Pierogi and Jalapeño Quesadillas
8. Spaghetti and Garlic Bread
9. Minestrone
10. Ribs and Baked Potatoes
11. Chicken Ala King
12. Meatball Subs
13. Grilled Chicken Sandwiches
14. Ham with Green Bean Casserole
15. Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwiches
16. Chili
17. Scrambled Eggs and Home Fried Potatoes
18. Lasagna
19. Patty Melts
20. Tuna Casserole
21. Meatloaf Cupcakes with Mashed Potato "Frosting"
22. Sloppy Joes
23. Carnitas
24. Clam Chowder
25. Gyros
26. Chili Mac
27. Azorean Stew
28. Broccoli and Cheese Soup
29. Pizza Sandwiches
30. Chicken Noodle Soup
31. Cheeseburger Salad
32. Portuguese Tomato and Sausage Soup
33. Pasta E Fagioli
34. Cabbage Rolls
35. Baked Potato Soup
36. Chicken and Stuffing
37. Baked Bean Soup
38. Mexican Quesadillas
39. Pizza
40. Crab and Corn Soup
41. Split Pea Soup
42. Beef and Peperoncini Sandwiches
43. Chicken Parmesan
44. Grilled Chicken Salad
45. Bagel Sandwiches
46. Meatball Soup
47. Sausage and Potato Soup
48. Buffalo Chicken Lasagna
49. Cajun Chicken Alfredo Beef Stew
50. Brisket
51. Mexican Lasagna
52.  Thyme Chicken

Bon Appetite!

I'm NEVER saying this again about people on welfare

Some of you might know that in the past 2 years my family has fallen on hard times.... REALLY hard times and I'm here to tell you I am NEVER going to say this one particular phrase again.

You see, in years past I would get infuriated when I'd see people on food stamps wearing designer clothes, nice jewelry and decent to luxury vehicles and I would always turn to my husband and say "I'd sell everything I had before I got on welfare." I'm NEVER saying that again.

You see, although my family is not on assistance, I have tried to sell everything we have. Guess what? People aren't buying. If they do, it's for peanuts.

What I have sold thus far, sold for so little it barely sustains us. I have sold a $4000+ vehicle for $350 just so we could eat. My other vehicle has been for sale for months. It's inoperable. Not any use to us because we cannot afford to fix it. There's been people offering to buy it, getting our hopes up, just for them to never show up without calling to cancel . I've sold all my clothes but 2 pairs of jeans and 3 shirts. I have no jacket. Same for my husband. My kids have jackets though. All clothes sold for about $177.

I have been trying to sell an engagement ring for months. No one is buying. Same goes for earrings and necklaces. The jewelry I did manage to sell went for way less than it's worth but we needed to eat and pay bills.

I have tried to have garage sales. People look, hardly any buy.

My husband cashed in his retirement. That's gone now.

Many will ask why we're not on assistance no. I'll write about that hell in a future post.

So before you judge someone like I did about having nice things while on assistance, remember this: The rest of the country has reached hard economic times and they're not buying.... even with a ridiculously low price

I'm eating crow for dinner tonight.

Parents: Stop doing your kids' projects!!!!

We all have them in our children's schools. You know who they are. They're the parents who think projects were assigned to them, not their children.

I have four children. Three that are in school. Guess how many projects/assignments I have done for my children.... go ahead, guess! ZERO! That's right, ZERO.... and I never will.

I find it appalling when I take my kids to school and see projects you know damn well were done by the parents. These amazing works of art that include: painting, hot glue guns, hammers and nails, soldering irons, wirework, battery packs and for shits 'n' giggles... welding.

It's insulting on so many levels. It's insulting to the children who actually did their assignment. It's insulting to the other parents when you attempt to tell us little Timmy did the project all by himself and it's absolutely insulting to the teachers intelligence that you think they don't know YOU did the project!

So my question to you parents out there who do this is: WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM? Seriously. I mean, why do you think this is remotely ok?  Don't even use your kids age as an excuse. Helping is one thing but doing the whole project is NOT helping.

Are you going to do all your kids projects when they're 30 and working? Don't answer that.

Fact is, you are in no way, shape or form helping your children. Projects help facilitate growth on so many levels.
They help facilitate the thinking process and their imaginations. A teacher can get to know your children so much better when they ask about the child's project and THEIR thoughts come out. Not YOUR thoughts. They get to learn about trial and error and how to resolve issues. They get to learn how to research. They learn public speaking and how to explain their projects and THEIR thought process in front of the class.

Physical things even occur. Motor skills and dexterity are challenged.

So, what you're in fact doing when you do your children's assignments is stifling their growth. You're telling your children that you don't trust them. That they aren't even good enough to try. You're telling them their work isn't good enough.
You're telling them you're embarrassed by them.

You'll eventually usher in resentment, then laziness and entitlement.

As to the teachers who allow such behavior.... why?  It's not fair to the kids who worked hard and did  their work. It sets a horrible example. It even sets an expectation that the parents can do their work. NOT COOL.

Ask the child if they did the project and how. If they say their parent did it or can't explain how it was done because their parents did it, give them a big, fat ZERO. Stop awarding the bad behavior of the parents by giving the project a grade!

I know I've probably offended some parents who do their kids work but, I don't care. You're actions are despicable and desperate and just downright ridiculous. Knock it the hell off already.