NEW Rubio’s Rewards

Introducing the NEW Rubio’s Rewards program, where you can earn points with every purchase and redeem them for free food.

  • $5 off your first order
  • 10 points for every $1 spent in the restaurant, in the app or online
  • Earn bonus points throughout the year
  • Special birthday surprises
  • Insider access to new products
  • Fast grab-and-go ordering

Tryazon Sweet Chaos Fall Snacking Party

We’ve been participating in Tryazon events for three+ years. We’ve gotten to try all sorts of fun toys, games, and food.  You can learn more about Tryazon here.

Bring the sweet to life’s chaos, with this Tryazon Featured Party opportunity, from Sweet Chaos. Featuring delicious fall flavors like Vanilla Chai, Pumpkin Spice, and Candy Corn, Sweet Chaos is the perfect mix of your favorite sweet & salty snacks and a delightful break in your day. Just pour a popcorn bowl of your favorite fall flavor, take a breath, then a bite, and remember to enjoy the chaos!

Tryazon and Sweet Chaos has 100 hosting spots open for this opportunity! Those selected get to receive a party pack with a variety of Sweet Chaos popcorn and other extras to share with friends and family! Learn more and apply here.

Q-Insights Webcam Interview pays $85

QI-logoNOslogan.pngQ-insights is another company where I do research groups, focus groups, and online surveys to earn extra money.

They have a lot of stuff in South Orange County, and less often San Diego County. This upcoming survey takes place virtually!

Q-Insights is currently recruiting for Online Webcam Interviews on the topic of toys for parents of children 18 years and younger.

The webcam interview will take place on September 23 – October 5 with your choice of available dates/times.  As a thank you for your time and participation you will receive $85.

If you are interested in participating, please fill out the survey here. If you pre-qualify, a recruiter will call you to ask some additional qualifying questions.

NEW XBOX REWARDS are at IHOP!

This slid into my inbox this morning, and while we don’t have an Xbox or eat at IHOP too often, I thought this was definitely worth sharing.

IHOP has teamed up with Xbox* to bring deliciousness to gaming. Join the rewards program, the International Bank of Pancakes, and earn PanCoins to redeem cool rewards including:

  • Xbox Game Pass Ultimate 1-month trial code
  • Grounded full game download code
  • Forza Horizon 5 Premium Add-Ons bundle code

 

Tryazon: Another New Exploding Kittens Game!

We’ve been participating in Tryazon events for three+ years. We’ve gotten to try all sorts of fun toys, games, and food.  You can learn more about Tryazon here.

Exploding Kittens is back again with another Tryazon Featured Party opportunity! Introducing Hand to Hand Wombat, a totally unique take on classic social deduction games. Players work together in teams with their eyes closed to either repair or sabotage three stacks of square towers before time runs out. The goal is to earn points, figure out who’s working against you, and get opposing players out of the game before it’s too late!

Tryaon Has 250 hosting spots open for this opportunity! Those selected get to receive a party pack with a Hand-to-Hand Wombat game and other extras to share with friends and family! Learn more and apply here.

Recipe: Lemon Herb Chicken

This recipe has been fine-tuned and constantly evolving for a while.  It originally started as a copycat of the Greek Chicken restaurant near me. This chicken is now a million times better.

Lemon Herb Chicken

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken (I use breasts or thighs)
  • 2 lemons
  • 2 medium onions, chopped (I like sweet onions)
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 Tablespoons Oil of your choice (I like olive or avocado)
  • 2 Tablespoons dried oregano
  • 2 Tablespoons dried rosemary
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Prepare the marinade:

  1. Pat chicken dry and set aside.
  2. In a large mixing bowl juice the lemons, set the lemons aside.
  3. Add remaining ingredients and whisk together.
  4. Chop up juiced lemons, add to marinade.
  5. In a large ziploc bag, pour marinade and add chicken.
  6. Allow chicken to marinate for at minimum 2 hours- I usually let it marinate overnight.

Cooking the chicken:

  1. In a large skillet, heat 1 T. oil or spray pan with spray release.
  2. Cook chicken on each side until brown and internal temp is at minimum 165.

This chicken is also great grilled! I love serving this chicken with a crisp cool green salad, hummus, and pita.

 

Free Covid-19 Test Kits: Order Before 9/2/2022!

The federal government will cease providing free COVID-19 kits on 9/2/2022, as there will no longer be federal funding. Learn more at COVID.gov/tests.

However, in the meantime, Residential households in the U.S. are now eligible for another order of free at-home tests on USPS.com. Here’s what you need to know about your order:

  • Each order now includes 8 rapid antigen COVID-19 tests (FDA has more details about at-home tests, including extended shelf life and updated expiration dates: Authorized At-Home Over-the-Counter COVID-19 Diagnostic Tests)
  • Your order of 8 tests will come in 2 separate packages (4 tests in each package), each with its own tracking number
  • Packages will ship free

It’s easy to sign up for free kits. Order your free kits here. We ordered ours, and we test when we have been exposed, even though we are all vaccinated and boosted. COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere, and we need to do what we can to protect ourselves and our communities.

Luxury Vehicle Study – Pays $1000

QI-logoNOslogan.pngQ-insights is another company where I do research groups, focus groups, and online surveys to earn extra money.

They have a lot of stuff in South Orange County, and less often San Diego County. This upcoming survey takes place virtually!

Q-Insights is currently recruiting for a 7-week study taking place between September 5th – October 31st that pays $1000.

The time commitment for the 7 weeks is 1-1.5 hours a week.

This study involves recording from your vehicle over the course of 7 weeks. If you will not have access to your vehicle for the timeframe given above please do not fill out the survey.

Qualifying Vehicles:
BMW 2 Series (2021 or newer)
BMW 3 Series (2019 or newer)
BMW 4 Series (2020 or newer)
BMW 5 Series (2018 or newer)
BMW 6 Series (2020 or newer)
BMW 7 Series (2019 or newer)
BMW 8 Series (2019 or newer)
BMW i4 (2022 or newer)
BMW iX (2022 or newer)
BMW iX3 (2020 or newer)
BMW X3 (2020 or newer)
BMW X4 (2020 or newer)
BMW X5 (2019 or newer)
BMW X6 (2020 or newer)
BMW X7 (2022 or newer)
BMW Z4 (2019 or newer)
Mercedes-Benz A-Class Sedan (2019 or newer)
Mercedes-Benz C-Class (2021 or newer)
Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class (2020 or newer)
Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class (2021 or newer)
Mercedes-Benz E-Class (2020 or newer)
Mercedes-Benz EQS (2022 or newer)
Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class (2021 or newer)
Mercedes-Benz GLB-Class (2021 or newer)
Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class (2021 or newer)
Mercedes-Benz GLE Class (2020 or newer)
Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class (2020 or newer)
Mercedes-Benz S-Class (2020 or newer)

If you are interested in participating, please fill out the survey here.  If you pre-qualify someone from Q-Insights will call you to ask some additional qualifying questions.

ZENB for Plant-Fueled Pasta and Sauces- Perfect for Picky Eaters!

I’ve got two picky eaters. The big kid has a lot of food aversions (textures, tastes/flavors), which is pretty common for people on the spectrum. The little kid will try new foods with greater frequency, but she loves noodles with butter.

We’ve tried so many different brands of pasta, trying to find something that tastes great and has good nutrition. a lot of veggie-based pasta gets weird and gummy when cooked, so has a weird flavor, and then there’s the “zero pasta” which is stinky even after you spend twenty minutes rinsing it.

Enter ZenB Pasta! Made from 100% yellow peas, including the skins. It comes in a variety of pasta varieties: Penne, Elbows, Rotini, Spaghetti, and Agile.

It’s an amazing source of protein and fiber. It’s gluten-free and vegan!

Both kids tried ZenB over the weekend and loved it. They both asked for seconds, which is unheard of. I love that it’s a great source of protein- it’s hard to get protein into kiddo sometimes.

If you want to check it out, The ZenB website currently has a free shipping offer, when you shop here.

And if you are looking for some new sauces, ZENB has the hook-up! ZENB Gourmet Pasta Sauce, made from WHOLE vegetables, for a rich depth of flavor.

 

Frugal Tips for Quality Skin Care

My skincare routine

I love good skincare products. Quality ingredients, no fillers, and botanicals and natural ingredients that are clinically proven to heal and nourish the skin.

These types of products can be really expensive. Here are a few tips for saving big bucks on quality skincare:

CVS sells Dermalogica, Vichy, La Roche Posay, Murad, and other Spa/luxury brands. If you are a CarePass member, you’ll score a $10 ExtraCare Bucks each month. Learn more about the CarePass program here. 

Also, CVS sends out 30% off coupons once a quarter. You can combine these coupons with any ExtraCare Bucks you might have.

I have been saving up my Fetch Rewards for CVS Gift Cards, which I combine with coupons and ExtraCare bucks to lower any out-of-pocket I may have.

CVS also has a Beauty Club, where you earn gifts and discounts when you shop.

FYI- CVS’s online selection varies from their in-store product availability.

Looking for some free stuff? I sample and review skincare products through several review programs:

  • Bzzagent- I’ve been a member for about 15-ish years. You can sign up here, and they’ll email you when they have products that might fit your needs.
  • Influenster- They partner with brands and expect you to share your samples (called voxboxes) on your socials and report back. It can be a lot of work, but they frequently send full-size luxury brand products (Charlotte Tillbury and Laura Mercier for example).
  • And to a lesser extend Smiley360, they mostly have cleaning supplies and house-type stuff, but sometimes they have skincare or cosmetics available. It’s like Infuenster.

You can find out more about these social sharing/Word of Mouth marketing companies where I get a lot of my free skincare products here.

If you are looking for a list of my favorite skincare products and tools, I’ve compiled an Amazon List here.