According to Charle

Sorry to be MIA for awhile but I've been busy chasing and homeschooling my almost 4-year-old around while being super pregnant. I haven't introduced my big girl yet so this will be her first appearance on our new blog. Our big girl is strong-willed (hence the name of my blog) and brilliant which gets her in trouble all the time. Every day is a new day and we really strive to encourage her independence and "positive" parent her so that we don't break her spirit. At almost 4, she finally can spell her name when I tell her what letters to write (I'm working on her memory of how to spell it.)

Each week I am wanting to do an According to Charle segment which includes some of her funny sayings or wisdom of the week.

Charle got out of her pool and I didn't have a towel ready so she "dried" herself off with dirt. 

 So "According to Charle," if you don't have a towel, dirt will do the trick.

I hope you enjoy and have a nice laugh with us.

Creamy Chicken en Croute

 Don't let the name scare you, this is a simple recipe that you family will love and beg for more.

Let me start off by apologizing for forgetting an after picture but it was so delicious and my family was too hungry to wait for me to photograph the final product. I started off by letting two packages of cream cheese come to room temp and I cheated by sitting them on the stove while I started cooking my bacon so that they would heat up faster. I only needed a few pieces of bacon but cooked the whole package since I had it out and I used it in my potato soup that I was making to go with these. I let the bacon cool and drained most of the fat from the pan then added my chicken breast that were seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. I seared both sides then threw the pan into a 350 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes until it was cooked all the way through but not dry. While the chicken was cooking, I chopped up the bacon and my chives.

I then added this to the cream cheese that was warm enough to mix easily. I then added salt and pepper to taste and added a shake of garlic and onion powder each. Once the chicken was cooked and cooled, I cut up half of a chicken breast into tiny shred like pieces so that it would blend into the cream cheese and there were no chunks of chicken but you can have chunks if you like. 

Once everything was blended, I opened up two packages of croissants and started separating them into groups of two. I pinched two triangles together to make them rectangles and added about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of the creamy mixture in the middle and folded over the croissant to make a square. I cut off the extra and made more filled pastries with them, I ended up making about 14 of these and had 3 tablespoons of mixture left over which I threw into the fridge and will use for something else later. I put these on a cooking sheet and into the 350 degree oven until golden brown on top, about 20-30 minutes.

You can make these into pinwheels kind of like cinnamon rolls or this way, they both taste amazing.

Ingredients: 

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1 teaspoon of onion powder

salt to taste

pepper to taste

2 packages of room temp cream cheese

1 cup of chopped/shredded, cooked chicken

2 tablespoons of chopped, cooked bacon

1 table spoon of chopped chives

2 packages of puff pastry 

Directions Above 

Let these sit for at least 5 minutes before serving unless you want to melt the faces off of those that you are serving.. My hubs learned the hard way when he wouldn't wait.

February Freebies (Beauty)

Here is a list of my favorite Beauty Freebies for February. Remember that these are while supplies last and it takes normally 4-8 weeks to receive some of these in the mail so be patient! Another good things about these samples is that most of these companies will send a high dollar coupon with the sample for you to use when you fall in love with their product. 


FREE Origins Winter Sample Kit: You can snag this free kit through Origins facebook page and they will send you the coupon via email for you to redeem in their stores by Feb 15th.

FREE Aveda Samples: This is another one through facebook and you can enter to be one of 5000 winners daily until Feb 10th.

FREE Schwarzkopf Shampoo and Conditioner: Another freebie through facebook and it goes to the first 100,000 plus they are mailing you a $2 off coupon with the sample. 

FREE 10 Day Supply of Clinique Smart Custom Repair Serum: If you stop by any Clinique counter all you need to do is ask for this and you get it free without needing to make a purchase and they do free make overs so take advantage while you are out! This is great as we are about to go into Spring and it's getting time to switch up your make up and wardrobe. 

FREE Eminence Clear Skin Moisturizer: Go to their facebook and fill out the form to get your 3ml sample of the Moisturizer. 

FREE Purology

The other day I posted about Purology being one of my favorite things and now they have a free sample out! Click on this link to try it out for free and see why I love this! Just remember that samples take 4-8 weeks to come in the mail so you do have to be patient. I will post a larger number of beauty samples later today but I was too excited to not post this now. HURRY HURRY HURRY to snag this one before it is gone!

February Freebies (Food)

Here is my list of Freebies to snag now and throughout this month, just click on the links below to snag them quickly:

1. Free Coffee From Chick-fil-a: You get free coffee without purchase all month long at Chick-fil-a. You can choose from either 12 or 16oz and between iced or regular coffee. I love when places do this, it makes my life a little happier.

2. Free Frozen Yogurt From Menchies: On Feb. 6th from 4p-8p you can get a free frozen yogurt up to 6oz per person for free for National FroYo day. 

3. Free Sandwich From The Honeybaked Co: This is on going but when you sign up for their emails, you get a coupon for a free Honeybaked Ham Sandwich. I got this one awhile ago and they continue to send you coupons and deals by email for their wonderful sandwiches.

4. Free Meta Health Bar: I got one of these from P&G the other day and it was a nice morning snack and healthy for you too. I love getting these in the mail so I can throw them in my pocket book for while we are on the run and my little princess starts fussing that she's hungry because we just passed a million food places but I'm not stopping.

5. 3 Free Twinnings Tea Samples: This is one of my favorite samples to snag. Twinnings has Green, Herbal, Black, Chai, Organic, and Seasonal teas to choose 3 samples from. My favorite are the Chai's which are a spiced tea from India, it was originally introduced to me as a cup of apple jacks but to me it has even more of a pumpkin flavor and I love it either way.

6. Free Freedom Clip for Keurig 2.0: Who just got a Keurig 2.0 for Christmas? My Mother In Law did and it was disappointing when she opened it up and the directions stated that she could only use Keurig K-cups. whaaaaaatt? I love buying k-cups off of amazon and I don't always like the Keurig brand so I just snagged this for her so she has the freedom to buy whatever she wants. 

7. Free Quest Protein Bar: Here is another protein bar and it looks like you get two free samples in the mail. I'm excited to try this one since it is new to me. Please make sure you read all labels on these things before you eat them to check for allergies or things you are choosing to not eat. 

My Favorite Random Things!!

Here is a list of my favorite and very random things (these are not sponsored)

Purology shampoo: this shampoo is sulfate free which is awesome since sulfate irritates my skin and is bad for anyone. Companies use it as a lathering agent and it's cheap so you find it in most hand soaps/shampoos so that the company can cut costs but it is something you want to run from. Check your shampoo or hand soap..

Publix: Their customer service is thebomb.com and the quality of what they sale is amazing. I could travel to whole foods but Publix is closer and the people there aren't snobby like I found at WF. At our store, if they walk your groceries to your car, you get a coupon for a free item the next time you go in there to go shopping. I also love their fried chicken and key lime pie.. yum yum

YARD SALES: I am a huge thrifter and LOVE LOVE LOVE yard sales.. over half of our house and items have been purchased there. I will do a blog later about my yard sale finds and how to be successful when you host or go to yard sales.

Caron Simply Soft Yarn: I crochet a lot and this yarn is like crocheting with butter. It is amazing to work with and so soft, I just want to line my bed with this and lay in it some days.

Thrift Stores: This ties into yard sales but I love me a good thrift store.  Sometimes you can find better deals because they don't have emotional attachments to items, just prices.

A Good Fitting Bra: Everyone is a different shape and size and there is no better feeling than your bra fitting right. Please, Please, Please go get fitted at a local bra store!

My Singer Sewing Machine: I'm scared of it and haven't used it much yet but I love this thing, it can do anything :)

Diamond's Direct: Oh My, their customer service is top of the line. My husband took me in there to design my engagement ring and we were both just blown away with how we were treated. We got the best bang for our buck too but I didn't care what we paid after how well we were taken care of and now we still get free cleaning, polishing and diamond replacement any time we need it.

EOS: I love their lip balm and their lotion. I have eczema, EOS lotion and salt water are the only things that help sooth and clear it up. I've tried tons of products and creams in the past but have only found these two things to work.

Salt-Water Swimming Pools: It is so much healthier for your skin (this clears up my eczema every summer) and chlorine is so bad for you. You get all the benefits of the ocean without the sand.

ABCMouse.com: This is an amazing website that can be used on a smartphone or tablet too. I have a 3 year old but this is perfect for up to 6-7 year olds too. It has a classroom environment, educational games, and other learning tools for the kids to navigate and learn on their own. My daughter's favorite is the puzzles, she can do puzzles all day long if I let her.

Disney Jr. and PBS kids: The shows on PBS is way better for your kid and mine loves it but she also like princess shows and Disney Jr. has quality princess shows that teach lessons instead of the other kid channels that I feel turn my brain to mush so I'm sure it isn't good for my kids. My child learned her ABC's by the time she was 2 by watching SuperWhy on PBS kids and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. I also find myself enjoying the shows on these channels with her instead of dreading watching her shows.

Mustard Base BBQ Sauce: I love all BBQ sauces but the mustard based ones just make my taste buds sing. This probably gives it away that I'm from South Carolina since this is the BBQ sauce of choice around here, along with vinegar based sauces. You should try it, it might change your mind..

Fudgy Brownies: There is nothing better than getting a brownie that is super fudgy and not dry. I even like mine with chocolate frosting on top and chocolate chips in them.. I never said they were healthy but dang, my mouth is watering right now.

Kraft Blue Box Mac N Cheese: This treat takes me back to my childhood and there is just not better boxed mac n cheese.. don't argue, just embrace. 

Ok I'm done for now, I may do another post like this.. it was a lot of fun for me and I hope you find something on here that you've never tried and try something new. 

Earn FREE Gift Cards

Who like free? My Nana used to always say her favorite word was spelled f-r-e-e and I think I picked up on that at an early age and it has become my favorite word too. 

I have free apps/websites that will earn you gift cards pretty quickly. I earn a minimum of $100 in gift cards each month and barely work for it using each of these. You can click on the names and they will take you to the website so you can create a free account and start earning free money/gift cards as well!

1. ebates: Right now you can get a $10 gift card for just signing up and when you go through this site to make online purchases, you get cash back. This is my favorite site to use when I'm Christmas shopping and all throughout the year when I don't feel like going to the store.

2. Swagbucks: I use this website and app on a daily basis and earn Amazon gift cards daily. $5 a day x 30 days a month = $150 just from one site and Amazon has EVERY thing you can want or need

3. Ibotta: This app you can download on your smart phone and scan items that you buy to earn cash back. I love using this and it's even better when I have a coupon for that item and then get cash back too! If you don't have this app, download it and use my referral code: vbt2q to get $5 just for signing up. 

4. shopkick: Download this app and when you walk into stores, just open up with app and it rewards you for going into the store. Also while you are in certain stores, you can earn extra points for scanning items. You earn gift card points for going into stores and you don't even have to purchase anything!

5. Receipt Hog: I love this app because I shop at several stores and you get to scan any receipt from any store to earn points. Download it and enter in my referral code: bler6062 to get 5 free spins to earn points until you scan your first receipt. 

6. Walmart Savings Catcher: Most people have seen commercials for this one and it is so simple to use. I downloaded this app 6 months ago and had $100 to spend at Walmart on Black Friday of last year. This is another receipt scanning app but it is exclusive to Walmart and you only earn Walmart gift cards if they find an add at another store with a better deal than you got it at Walmart. 

7. Viggle: This is my final favorite app, you just open it up and tell it whether you are watching TV or listening to Music then it scans the noise and you start earning points to redeem. How easy is that when you are watching TV at night or listening to the radio in the car?


As you know, I am all about free so comment below if you have more that I should look into and add to the list!