Fresh Fruit and Veg Delivered to Your Door with Yasukochi Family Farms CSA!

Abby H.3 Comments

A bunch of you saw my unboxing pics on Instagram yesterday of my  Yasukochi Family Farms CSA box, and the incredible large bouquet of flowers.

The box was bursting! I’m so excited. Here is what we received in our box:

  • Sugar Snap Peas
  • Sweet Potatoes/Yams
  • Fuji Apples
  • Navel oranges
  • Cabbage
  • Cauliflower
  • Brussel Sprouts
  • Slicing Cucumbers
  • Bell Pepper
  • Red Onion
  • Salad Mix
  • Heirloom Tomatoes
  • Baby Bok Choy
  • Celery
  • Mountain Meadow Mushrooms
  • Tangerines
  • Pears
  • Russet Potatoes

 

 

And the incredible Large Bouquet of Flowers! I divided the bouquet into two vases, and they are in Little Bit’s Room and on the mantle. There are a variety of add-ons berries, honey, eggs, jams, etc available each week.

Each Monday in March, we’ll be receiving a CSA box from Yasukochi Family Farms full of locally grown and sourced produce. I love Yasukochi Farms because everything in the box is all grown using organic farming methods while possible and using local, responsible and sustainable farming. The other thing that is incredible is the convenience of having these farm-fresh items delivered straight to your doorstep (with no additional delivery fee). It saves me a trip to the store where all the produce has been transported, touched, and picked over. My CSA Box is packed just for me!

No matter if you have a small or large household, Yasukochi Family Farms has you hooked up! There are two box sizes: Regular (feeds 1-3 people), or Jumbo (feeds 4-6 people).

If you don’t live in the delivery area, you can check out Yasukochi Family Farms at many of the local Farmers Markets in Southern California. A complete list can be seen here.

What am I making with all of these tasty veggies:

  • Last night we had roasted asparagus.
  • I made up a big salad for the week with the spring mix, tomatoes, carrots, celery, and bell pepper.
  • I also chopped up the bok choy, celery, carrots, snap peas, and onion and made a stir fry kit to have later in the week for lunch (with rice and Thai stir fry sauce)
  • I made a Marinated Salad
  • Tomorrow I’ll make a big fruit salad for a few upcoming meals
  • I’m planning on making a big baking sheet of roasted veggies for lunch- I’ll be posting pics on Instagram!

The strawberries got gobbled up last night at dinner.

I’ll be posting more pictures on Instagram and Facebook throughout the month will kinds of recipes and ideas. I hope you enjoy them as much as we have!

For more information on Yasukochi Family FarmYasukochi Family Farms, check out their website, Instagram, or Facebook.

Q-insights Survey Grocery Shopping Survey Pays $75

Abby H.

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Q-insights is another company that 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. These days they are doing most of their studies online via chat or online surveys.

Right now Q-Insights is recruiting for an upcoming online study:

Males and females ages 18-70 in California for an upcoming survey regarding grocery shopping.

The survey would involve making a grocery shopping trip to a particular store that they will ask you to go to and to record your trip using an app that they will provide for you on your smartphone. The total trip should take less than 1 hour.

If you are interested in participating, please fill out your information here.

If you qualify and complete the survey, you will receive $75 payment in the form of a digital VISA card, physical VISA card, Amazon Gift Card, or a choice of 91 other gift cards for national retailers. Payment will be emailed to you within about 1 week of survey completion.

March 2021: New Month, New Coupons!

Abby H.

file000786402730Here is your monthly reminder!  A new month means new printable and electronic coupons!

Check out the following sites:

One of my favorite websites is the Sunday Coupon Review.  It helps me plot out scenarios in advance and I can email friends to ask for coupons in advance. Remember if clipping coupons isn’t your thing, but saving money is, check out my list of Smartphone apps that can save you the big bucks! New offers are added on the Smartphone Savings Apps all the time!

March is here and that means Easter candy will be on sale, as well as all the fixins for Easter Dinner. Also, March is National Crafting month, so keep your eyes open for sales at local craft stores and on Craftsy.  For a complete list of types of foods and items that will be on sale, check out this post on the cycle of sales.

3/1/2021 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

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I’m up to my eyeballs in soup! Looking through the freezer to do the meal plan for this week, I discovered that I’ve got 3 different kinds of soup in the freezer.

So on Tuesday we’re having beans and rice OR soup to go with our quesadillas. The kids will probably pick the beans and rice.

I went to the grocery store on Friday for milk, eggs, cheese, and bread. We were still good on everything else. We’re almost out of meat in the freezer, but the meat sales aren’t too great during Lent. I’ll keep my eyes open, but we may be eating more meat free meals until after Easter. That’s part of shopping and meal planning around what is on sale, rolling with the punches, and eating what’s on sale and in season.

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for a kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.

Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2  for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids.  The kids are nuts about pancakes. The Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.

Lunch: The little kiddo and I usually have something quick and filling (I’ve been prepping bean and rice bowls on Sundays for us to have during week) so we can get back to our adventures.  Big kid takes his lunch to school.

Dinner: Usually, I do a crockpot meal on Mondays, but now that we are home all the time, we’ve been having an odd combination of fully home-cooked, scratch meals, and frozen entrees and veggies. I have been posting our meal plans on Instagram too- As well as pics of stuff we are doing to keep busy.

  • Sunday:  Flavors of East Africa (we’re getting take out)
  • Monday: Salad, Black Bean Burgers on rolls
  • Tuesday:  Quesadillas, and beans and rice OR Soup
  • Wednesday: Nugget Night with veggies, fruit salad, and cheezits
  • Thursday: Quiche, toast, and fruit salad
  • Friday:  Pizza Night!
  • Saturday: Leftover Fiesta

Please stay safe you guys! The sooner we flatten the curve, the sooner life can go back to normal- whatever that means.

Talk Back: What are you cooking for dinner this week?

Ready to Eat Meals from Meal Prep Sunday San Diego!

Abby H.

Friends- This review is for those of you who have told me that you like the IDEA of meal planning/meal prep, but you lack the time, kitchen space, or energy to do it.

I’ve reviewed other Meal Prep companies before, but they aren’t local, so the food is frozen and delivered, and it’s… meh. Full of salt/sodium, bland, squishy textures, or just not satisfying. Hold onto your pants, because…

Meal Prep Sunday San Diego is 1000% different. They are located here in San Diego. The food is prepared here in town, delivered fresh in a custom insulated bag with an ice pack with reheating directions. And if you aren’t in San Diego? No Problem!
Delivery is available in all San Diego, Orange, LA, Riverside, and Imperial counties.

How is Meal Prep Sunday different (aka why is it so cool??):

1. Personalized Meal Prep: By Inputting your physical information, and fitness goal, we portion, and select the right source of ingredients.
2. They Shop for You: Never Frozen, fully organic produce, free-range chicken, and grass-fed beef all provided by our local suppliers
3. They Cook for You: Their team of culinary professionals develops fresh seasonal recipes for you to enjoy
4. Advanced Packing Technology: Their modified atmosphere packaging system naturally keeps your meals fresh for up to 7 days
5. Free Delivery Every Sunday: Every Sunday 3-6 pm you will receive your meals in their custom insulated bag with an ice pack
6. Weekly Rotating Menu: They change your menu every week so you can have a variety of new meals week by week
7. 90 Days Workout Plan: They provide weight and cardiovascular training plans synced with your menu and fitness goals, included with your package
8. Save Time, Money: Save up to 10 hours, and $60+ per week, by removing shopping, cooking, cleaning, thus increasing your productivity

Meal Prep Sunday delivered 6 meals to me last week. You’ve probably seen pictures on Instagram.

Steak, Salmon, and Chicken. Yum. Not shown, but gobbled up quickly: An amazing omelet with andouille sausage, veggies, cheese, turkey bolognese with pasta, and a southwestern chicken dish with pulled chicken and southwestern veggies and black beans.

Everything was flavorful, tasty, and easy to re-heat.

One of the things I like about Meal Prep San Diego is that when you sign up, they ask for your age, weight, height, gender, fitness level (how much you are active per week), and what plan you want (build lean muscle, burn fat, balanced, or senior). Meal Prep Sunday San Diego uses these answers to generate a plan that is as unique as you.

They have three plans available.

For restaurant-quality, organic food that is ready to eat in 5 minutes or less and delivered straight to your door, that’s a great price.

The meals change weekly. For those of you who live alone, or if you are finding that you are eating out/getting delivery frequently, a meal delivery service once a week is a great way to save money and eat better.

A steak, mashed yukon potatoes, and green beans is a lot healthier than a burger and fries! not to mention more filling, and cheaper than a trip through the drive-thru.

Meal Prep Sunday San Diego delivered 6 meals to me to facilitate my review. I received no financial compensation. For more information, please see my disclosure page.

Advanced Opinions is Recruiting for Three Upcoming Studies

Abby H.

Advanced Opinions (A market research firm located in New York) is recruiting for THREE upcoming Online Projects.

The first study is about Supplements.

To be considered, complete the intake survey here.

  • Open to: 25-55 year olds
  • Compensation: $125 (if chosen)

Study Dates/Times:

Thursday March 11 – 12pm–2pm PT / 1pm-3pm MT / 2pm-4pm CT / 3pm-5pm ET

Friday March 12 – 10–12am PT / 11am-1pm MT / 12pm-2pm CT / 1pm-3pm ET OR 1–3pm PT / 2pm-4pm MT / 3pm-5pm CT / 4pm-6pm

Wednesday, March 17 – 9am-11am PT / 10am-12pm MT / 11am-1pm CT / 12pm-2pm ET OR 1–3pm PT / 2pm-4pm MT / 3pm-5pm CT / 4pm-6pm ET

Friday, March 19 – 9am-11am PT / 10am-12pm MT / 11am-1pm CT / 12pm-2pm ET OR 1–3pm PT / 2pm-4pm MT / 3pm-5pm CT / 4pm-6pm ET

The Second Study is regarding Shopping Habits:

To be considered, complete the intake survey here.

  • Open to: 18-65 year olds
  • Compensation: $150 (if chosen)
  • Monday March 8th – Friday March 12th – (5-days approx. 30 minutes per day)

The Third Study is regarding Household Products:

To be considered, complete the intake survey here.

  • Open to: 25-54 year olds
  • Compensation: $200 (if chosen)
  • Tuesday March 9th thru Friday March 12th 2021 (4-day Project) You can expect to spend about 1 HOUR PER DAY.

 

2/26/2021 Friday Freebies and Deals

Abby H.
bright boxes

This week was chill compared to the last three weeks. I’m looking forward to a slow, quiet weekend full of play time and naps (at least for me).

My birthday was earlier this month and I rocked a bunch of freebies. Wanna check out my list of goodies? Check it out here.

Most of these freebies and deals are online. I am not encouraging anyone to go into stores or go out into public. Mask up, wash your paws, stay socially distanced!

Freebies:

Free Cool Beans Frozen Wrap
Free Philips Products
Free Subscription to Men’s Health Magazine
Old Orchard Fan Club – Earn Free Juice, Gifts & More
Free Bitsy’s Good Cookies
Free Best Face and ClarityRX Day Creams
Free Sample of Alia Superfood Energy Powder
Free SOS Hydration Electrolyte Drink Mix
Free Ananda Hemp CBD Full Spectrum Softgels Samples
Free Goodnites Underwear Sample
Free Parks & Nash Bone Broth Soup
8 Free Jade Bloom Essential Oils
Free Autographed Holly Clark Hero Card
Free Coffee Wednesdays at Dunkin
Free Danodan Hemp Flower CBD Shot Samples
Free Innisfree My Real Squeeze Masks
Free PetSafe Pet Products
Free Morning Brew Rise & Grind Swag
Free Febreze Plug-In at Kroger & Affiliates

Deals:

3 Layer Freshwater Pearl Necklace ONLY $1.40 Shipped
Ecovacs Robot Vacuum ONLY $169 Shipped (Reg $550)
Toddler 3-Piece Pajama Sets ONLY $6.49 at Walmart (Reg $13)
Adventure Academy 62% Off – ONLY $3.75 per Month
Sargent Art 400-Count ONLY $17.34 (Reg $37)
Gibson Home Bakeware Set 5-Piece ONLY $22.49 (Reg $30)
Ultrean 4.2-Quart Air Fryer ONLY $59.49 Shipped (Reg $96)
Aukey Wireless Earbuds ONLY $23.79 (Reg $34)
Two Months of ABCmouse ONLY $5.00 (Reg. $20)
Nuby Floating Purple Octopus ONLY $6.89 on Amazon
My First Library Board Book Block 12-Book Set $9.59 (Reg. $16)
Disney Electronic Reader Hardcover ONLY $19.00 (Reg. $33)
3-Piece Husky 144-Tooth Ratchet Set ONLY $49.97 (Reg $70)
Atomic Marvel Crisis Protocol Game ONLY $68 (Reg $100)
Nature’s Miracle Litter Box Odor Destroyer ONLY $3.99 (Reg. $12)
Melissa & Doug Mega Race-Car Carrier $16.60 (Reg. $30)
Disney Princess Sing & Shimmer Ariel Doll $19.10 (Reg. $30)

Monthly Side Hustle Totals 

Abby H.

I decided that at the end of each month in 2021 I’m going post the breakdown of how much I made doing each side hustle/cashback app. My complete side hustle list can be found here and my complete list of Smartphone Apps can be found here.

I know some of you are curious about how much I make doing all of the hustles that I wrote about, and while I do a year end update, I know some of  you don’t wanna wait till the end of the year and that’s understandable.

Some of the side hustles I do frequently, like using the Fetch Rewards App every time I go shopping. Some of them I don’t do as often like Field Agent. I haven’t been really any Field Agent tasks that I’m interested in as of late. Most of them are alcohol-based and since I don’t drink because I’m not exercising to burn off the calories of the liquor I consume, I’m not terribly interested in bringing alcohol into my house.

Some of the hustles are more passive, but have cumulative rewards so even though I do them each month, I may not receive a payout each month. It doesn’t make them any less valuable to me, they just take a longer amount of time to earn the reward. Honestly, those are fairly low time investments, so I don’t feel bad that they take a long time to earn payout. SBKC and Achievement are two of these.

And some I do in fits and starts. For example, I may not spend a lot of time doing PaidViewPoint surveys for a few weeks, and then I’ll get two or three emails telling me that I have time-sensitive or higher-paying surveys. Then I’ll rush over to the site and do five or 10 surveys and earn five or 10 bucks. It just depends on what’s available at the time.

Some of you might notice from this list that there are a number of research studies, I’ve been trying to do at least 1-2 a month, because they tend to pay a lot better than surveys. I have been posting research studies and opportunities on the blog whenever they come across my email. I hope some of you are also applying for them and receiving opportunities to do them too.

Below is my list for February. It has been a very busy month between doctors appointments for the kid’s, doctors appointments for myself, and I have been doing a lot of reviews and such but don’t pay cash, but rather pay in-kind (Tryit, Influenster, Social Nature, and BzzAgent). Each one of those sends a product or samples.

I try not to take the sample only offers because it’s not worth my time to review a bunch of sample size stuff, especially when I can be working with brands and companies that offer me products that are full-size, or the pay me with cash. Because really, as nice as say five dollar tube of deodorant might be, I can’t really pay my utility bill with it.

  • Fetch Rewards: $35
  • Research Study/Focus Group: $150 (I did two online)
  • Receipt Hog: $10
  • SBKC: $20
  • Capterra: $50
  • Paidviewpoint: $18.90
  • Field Agent: $4.00 (I know, it’s not much)

And there are a few more days in the month, so who knows.. There may be a few more dollars coming in.

Talk Back: How much do you make each month on your side hustles? Do you have any that you love and want to recommend? Leave a link in the comments below! Please no MLM or Direct Sales Opportunities. 

Tom & Jerry The Movie Drops Tomorrow (02/26/2021)

Abby H.

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I received a HUGE box of goodies from Warner Bros. and Tom & Jerry to celebrate the release of their movie. Tom & Jerry The Movie comes to Theaters and HBO Max tomorrow 2/26/2021.

I grew up watching Tom & Jerry Cartoons, and I’ve shown some to my kids too. They love the crazy antics and adventures. We are looking forward to watching the movie Friday night on HBO Max.

About the Movie:

One of the most beloved rivalries in history is reignited when Jerry moves into New York City’s finest hotel on the eve of “the wedding of the century,” forcing the event’s desperate planner, Kayla, to hire Tom to get rid of him, in director Tim Story’s “Tom and Jerry.” The ensuing cat and mouse battle threatens to destroy her career, the wedding, and possibly the hotel itself. But soon, an even bigger problem arises: a diabolically ambitious staffer conspiring against all three of them.

An eye-popping blend of classic animation and live-action, Tom and Jerry’s new adventure stakes new ground for the iconic characters and forces them to eventually do the unthinkable… work together to save the day.

If you want to get into some mayhem and mischief, check out these awesome goodies and activities to get your family ready for the movie!

AR Lens 

Games

Activity Pack

Giphy Stickers

Zoom Backgrounds

“Tom and Jerry” stars Chloë Grace Moretz (“Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising,” “The Addams Family”), Michael Peña (“Cesar Chavez,” “American Hustle,” “Ant-Man”), Colin Jost (“How to be Single,” “Saturday Night Live”), Rob Delaney (“Deadpool 2,” “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw”), Pallavi Sharda (“Lion”), Jordan Bolger (“Peaky Blinders”), Patsy Ferran (“Darkest Hour”), Nicky Jam (TV’s “Nicky Jam: El Ganador”), Bobby Cannavale (“The Irishman,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp”), Lil Rel Howery (“Judas and the Black Messiah,” “The Angry Birds Movie 2”), and Ken Jeong (“Crazy Rich Asians,” “The Hangover,” “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”).The film was directed by Tim Story (“Fantastic Four,” “Think Like a Man,” “Barbershop”) and produced by Chris DeFaria (“The LEGO Movie 2,” “Ready Player One,” “Gravity”).

Love Crafting? Dollar Tree’s Crafter’s Square is Bigger & Better than Ever!

Abby H.

** This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

All Dollar Tree locations now sport an expanded craft section!

Some of my favorite items include acrylic paint, staple-backed canvases, paintbrushes, pallets, watercolors, art paper, yarn, wood crafts, scrapbooking stickers, and more!

And if you need some inspiration, check out some of these great ideas:

Get Inspiration from Dollar Tree’s Crafts & Décor Blog!
Shop Holiday Craft Supplies!
Get Creative with Wood Crafts!
Reveal a World of Color with Dollar Tree’s affordable Paint Supplies!
Get Ready for Spring with Floral Crafts!

Just an example of the crafts we’ve made from Dollar Tree

When you shop online, you can take advantage of FREE shipping when you choose to have your order shipped to your local Dollar Tree store for pickup! It’s easy, convenient, and saves you money on shipping costs. You can learn more about In-Store Pickup here!

We shop weekly at Dollar Tree, and a trip is never complete without cruising the craft section and picking up a few goodies!