Save $75 off summer camps at Digital Media Academy!

Abby H.

I posted about Digital Media Academy a few weeks ago, but I wanted to remind you that there is still time to sign your tween/teen up and save $75!

Founded at Stanford University, Digital Media Academy is ranked as one of the ten best summer camps in the world.

Save $75 off summer camps at Digital Media Academy with code TECHSUMMER at www.DigitalMediaAcademy.org. Sign up for multiple weeks and save big! Campers save $125 for each additional course they register for. Register by May 31 to #CreateTheNext best-selling app this summer!

Kids and teens learn computer programming, app development, 3D modeling, robotics, graphic design, filmmaking, and much more. DMA summer camps are one or multiple week experiences taught by industry experts and tech professionals. Campers get hands-on experience creating projects using the latest hardware and software from Apple, Canon, Adobe, and more.

Digital Media Academy is also proud to introduce Made by Girls, a new program dedicated to empowering girls and closing the gender gap in the tech industry.

The DMA Experience from Digital Media Academy on Vimeo.

Give your teen a pre-collegiate experience or build a child’s confidence through project-based learning. Learn at some of the most prestigous colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Questions? Call 1(866)656-3342 to speak with a Guest Service Representative or email info@digitalmediaacademy.org and mention the US Family Guide Special Offer.

#CreateTheNext this summer at Digital Media Academy!

In Need? Food Resources in Central and Eastern San Diego

Abby H.6 Comments

DSCN2469Updated: January 2023

With inflation skyrocketing, more of us need help feeding our families nutritious foods. Luckily in San Diego, there are plenty of programs and organizations that can help.

In large metropolitan areas like San Diego County, there are many resources for those who have food insecurity. Some of them require proof of need, proof of residence, or extensive paperwork to qualify. For someone who is embarrassed by food insecurity, these requirements can be a deterrent. Other organizations put a cap on how many times a family can visit.

Here are a few local Central and East San Diego County Area organizations that offer food assistance that do not require any proof of need.

Central San Diego County

Screen Shot 2017-06-01 at 8.09.41 AMThe Cupboard on 54th. Located at Calvary Lutheran Church 3060 54th Street, San Diego, CA 92115.  They are open 3 times a week.

You can get dry goods one time per month and a produce bag is available each day they are open (for a total of three times a week).

This is located at the same location as a free clothing closet. They have clothes for men women and children, as well as shoes and accessories.

Christ Ministry Center 3295 Meade Ave San Diego, CA 92116 has a food bank three days a week. Hours: Mondays 1-3pm, Wednesdays 10am-Noon and 1-3pm, Fridays 10am-Noon and 1-3pm. Park in the rear lot and look for the Good Neighbor Center Food Bank sign. They also have other services for those in need. Check out their website for more information.

The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank has neighborhood distribution sites all over San Diego throughout the month. Each time and location is different, but you can expect to go home with a lot of fresh produce! There are no requirements or proof of need (no ID either).  Just bring a few reusable bags or a cart to carry your food home.

East County:

Journey Church in La Mesa has a food bank that distributes food three times per month.

  • 1st Thursday of the month at 6:30 pm
  • 2nd Friday of the month – produce only – at 9 am
  • 3rd Saturday of the month from 8:30 am

unnamed.jpgFaith Chapel in Spring Valley has a great event once a month called Meet the Need. It is on the 1st Sunday of each month.

There is a free lunch starting at 1pm with some fellowship (a great way to meet your neighbors), followed by shopping in their boutique for free clothing and household items, and you will go home with a bag (or two) of free, healthy groceries.

Similarly, Pastor Josiah and his crew have been doing weekly food distributions- Visit their website (address below) and get on their email list to learn more and find out when the next distribution will be- or subscribe to my blog- I post about their distributions in advance!

You can learn more by visiting or contacting Faith Chapel here.  Pastor Josiah and his crew are wonderful people!

For residents of the City of Santee, the Santee Food Bank is available to you once a month. Proof of Santee Residency (like a utility bill) is required, and ID for everyone in the household (ID cards, drivers licenses, school ids, health insurance cards). The Santee Food Bank is open for regular distributions 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. every Wednesday and Friday, as well as the first and third Saturday of each month.

The Santee Food Bank also hosts USDA Commodities twice a month. Commodities are available to anyone, regardless of where you live. They are healthy food staples, and frequently consist of Meat, rice, pasta, canned veggies and fruit, cereal, milk, and bread. Items change each time, but there are always lots of healthy options. Commodities hours are the third Tuesday from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m.

Feeding American San Diego has a map on their website of various resources in the San Diego area, many of them require no proof of need or paperwork.

If you are located in Northern San Diego County, here is a post that has options and locations for you.

While not strictly free, Porchlight Community Services (which I wrote about here) frequently has free food distributions. Check their website, or follow them on Facebook for updates and events. 

If you have any food resources to share, please leave a comment!

Smiley360: ARM & HAMMER™ Truly Radiant™ Dental Products!

Abby H.

I posted a while ago about BzzAgent, and awesome Word of Mouth (WOM) Marketing program. Today I have another WOM Marketing to program to share with you: Smiley360.

Word of Mouth Marketing- It’s not new.  Remember the “I told two friends, and they told two friends” commercial from the 1980’s? That’s word of mouth marketing.  Since the invention of the internet, WOM marketing has been amplified.

There are companies that connect consumers with companies and products looking to market directly to a specific cross-section of the population.  What does that mean for you?  Sign up with a WOM Marketing company and when they have products that someone like you would like and use, and they will have you complete a brief survey and send you the product.

Often times, the products they will send you will be full size.  Additionally, they will send marketing materials with talking points for you to share with friends.  Depending on the product, samples and coupons may be included!

Right now I am participating in the ARM & HAMMER™ Truly Radiant™ Dental Products campaign with Smiley360.

truly_rad_product_208pxI’ve been using the system for about 2 weeks and white my teeth aren’t blindingly movie star white, they are definitely looking and feeling a lot cleaner! Just two easy steps twice a day is

I received:

• One tube of ARM & HAMMER™ Truly Radiant™ Rejuvenating Toothpaste
• One Spinbrush™ Truly Radiant™ Deep Clean Manual Toothbrush
• One bottle of Truly Radiant™ Whitening & Strengthening Fluoride Rinse

I love the spinbrush. It’s manual, so not batteries needed! The Bristles rotate as you brush to help blast away plaque, and the brush features elongated bristles designed to clean hard-to-reach places. I still have my wisdom teeth, so I DO have some hard to reach places!

The toothpaste is awesome. A lot of whitening toothpastes have a gritty or strange texture. One of my favorite parts of the ARM & HAMMER™ Truly Radiant™ Rejuvenating Toothpaste is that it’s got a smooth texture and cleans really well. However, it does more than just whiten teeth. This revolutionary toothpaste goes beyond the surface to strengthen, clean and repair tooth enamel for a radiant smile in just 5 days!

To learn more about these products, visit TrulyRadiant.com for special offers, product information and Truly Radiant Tips from Alison Sweeney! You can also like them on Facebook for special offers, news and to let them know how you are living Truly Radiant!

If you are interested in signing up for Smiley360, click here!

 

Review: Nicole’s Natural’s gluten-free waffle and pancake mix!

Abby H.

Lil’ Man loves him some waffles. And pancakes. Pretty much anything hot that he can have slathered in butter.

image001Recently the awesome folks over at Nicole’s Natural’s offered me a canister of their gluten-free waffle and pancake mix to try out. We’re not a GF family due to allergies or sensitivities, but I love trying new products, especially new breakfast products!

IMG_3110What I really liked about these waffles is that despite being Gluten Free, they cook up super crispy. They contain brown rice, corn meal, and GF oatmeal, all of which gives the waffles an amazing texture. Even when I re-heated some the next morning in the toaster oven, they stayed crispy, as if I just made them!

IMG_3111Each 22 ounce canister makes about 8-10 waffles, depending on your waffle iron size and how thick you like your batter.  I got 12 waffles out of the mix, but I added a little extra milk because the batter was a little too thick towards the end of the bowl.

All you add to the mix is water (or milk of your choice), melted butter or coconut oil, and eggs. It’s easy peasy.

Nicole’s Naturals Mix:

  • Is Gluten-, Wheat-, Dairy- and Soy-Free (but definitely not taste-free!)
  • Contains 150 calories per serving
  • Has only one gram of sugar (much less than other mixes that contain upwards of nine grams per serving) and two grams of fiber
  • Is independently tested at less than five parts gluten per million, far below the FDA regulation of 20 parts per million for products labeled gluten-free.

12 waffles is a bit much for the three of us, so after we had eaten, I cut up the remaining waffles into quarters, let them cool and put them into a freezer bag.  The next morning we enjoyed them again after a quick trip through the toaster oven.

IMG_3112 IMG_3113
San Diego Residents can find Nicole’s Natural’s at the following stores:

For those not in the immediate area, you can find this fabu mix online at Amazon or at www.NicolesNaturals.com.

 

I was given a canister of Nicole’s Naturals gluten-free waffle and pancake mix at no charge to facilitate my review, however I was not financially compensated for my review.

 

Cutting down on food waste in 30 minutes!

Abby H.

One of the ways that we save money is to cut down on food waste. For me that means once we are home from the store and all of the perishables are put away, I pull out the cutting board, a sharp knife, the spiralizer, some zip top bags, and reusable storage containers.

IMG_3168

This was last weeks fresh fruit and veggies (plus 3 bags of baby carrots and a cantaloupe- not pictured).

I set to work, chopping, packaging, and spiralizing.  In less than 30 minutes I had all of the fresh fruits and veggies prepped and measured into small bags to be dropped into lunches, or packed into plastic containers.

This of course is only for the fruits and veggies that require prep. The oranges, apples, and bananas require no prep to eat, so they just go into the fruit bowl.

IMG_3169
Fruits and veggies all ready for a week of healthy lunches!
IMG_3170
Cantaloupe chopped up and ready for my belly!! The bottom container has 3 spiralized Italian zucchini squash, ready to be made into “pasta” salad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By spending a little time each week getting veggies and fruit ready to eat, you’ll cut down on food waste, because the food is all ready to eat. No scrambling to cut up cucumbers for lunch early in the morning, no putting off eating something because you are short on time in the evening.

You will also be saving money over purchasing pre-chopped and pre-packed vegetables and fruit. All of this produce was purchased at 99 Cents only for less than $12.00. So you can eat well (and healthy) on a budget!!

And if it turns out atthe end of the week that you aren’t able to eat all of your veggies and fruit and they can be frozen (pretty much anything except melons), toss the bags in the freezer and you now have veggies for a casserole, or fruit for a smoothie!

The average American family of four throws away $25.00 in food a WEEK!  Here are a few more tips to help your family curtail food waste!

Eat your leftovers:  this seems like a no brainer. When you divvy out your portions for dinner, make yourself your lunch for the next day.  If you won’t eat it right away, pop it into the freezer- label it, so you don’t forget what it is.

When it looks like your fruit is about to go south, freeze it. This includes bananas!  You can use defrosted bananas in banana bread or frozen bananas are great in smoothies.  Other frozen fruit can also be used in smoothies.
Citrus fruits can be juiced and frozen or the juice can be consumed for breakfast or put in smoothies.   Apples can be peeled cooked into applesauce or made into apple butter.

When I buy fresh tomatoes and they get just a little too ripe- I freeze them whole, then I bake them with chicken breasts and herbs and top with fresh parm- Yummy!

Buy less. I know it seems like a strange concept, especially with all of the really great deals you will be finding, but, the one proven way to waste less is to bring less home to waste.

Good Deal Alert: Tide Detergent at Target!

Abby H.

I’m always on the look out for great detergent deals, because, well, boys are dirty and their clothes smell so bad at the end of the day.

Right now through 5/17/15, when you buy two select Tide Products, you’ll also go home with a $5.00 Target GC to use on your next purchase!

Stock up and save on the following Tide products, all containing 25% more detergent for FREE.

  • 125 oz. Tide original (HE and non-HE)
  • 125 oz. Tide Free (HE and non- HE)
  • 115 oz. Tide Sport (HE and non- HE)
  • 115 oz. Tide Plus Downy (HE and non- HE)

And to sweeten the deal check out this $1.00/1 Tide Coupon (You can print it twice!).

$1.00 off ONE Tide Detergent 40 oz or larger

Digital Media Academy!

Abby H.

Looking for an awesome summer camp experience for your tween/teen this summer?

Founded at Stanford University, Digital Media Academy is ranked as one of the ten best summer camps in the world.

Save $75 off summer camps at Digital Media Academy with code TECHSUMMER at http://www.DigitalMediaAcademy.org. Sign up for multiple weeks and save big! Campers save $125 for each additional course they register for. Register by May 31 to #CreateTheNext best-selling app this summer!

Kids and teens learn computer programming, app development, 3D modeling, robotics, graphic design, filmmaking, and much more. DMA summer camps are one or multiple week experiences taught by industry experts and tech professionals. Campers get hands-on experience creating projects using the latest hardware and software from Apple, Canon, Adobe, and more.

Digital Media Academy is also proud to introduce Made by Girls, a new program dedicated to empowering girls and closing the gender gap in the tech industry.

The DMA Experience from Digital Media Academy on Vimeo.

Give your teen a pre-collegiate experience or build a child’s confidence through project-based learning. Learn at some of the most prestigous colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Save $75 off summer camps at Digital Media Academy with code TECHSUMMER at http://www.DigitalMediaAcademy.org. Sign up for multiple weeks and save big! Campers save $125 for each additional course they register for. Register by May 31 to #CreateTheNext best-selling app this summer!

Questions? Call 1(866)656-3342 to speak with a Guest Service Representative or email info@digitalmediaacademy.org and mention the US Family Guide Special Offer

#CreateTheNext this summer at Digital Media Academy!

Moms Meet: Sharing Natural and Organic Goodies with Friends!

Abby H.6 Comments

Screen Shot 2015-04-28 at 8.17.15 AMI love free stuff. I also love sharing free stuff with friends and family. When I discovered Moms Meet a few years ago I was psyched! It combines everything I love: Free stuff, natural products, and sharing with friends!

Moms Meet offers exciting opportunities for Mom Ambassadors and their groups (moms groups, play groups, church groups) to sample the latest healthy, green products. Past sampling opportunities have included EO all-natural hand sanitizer, Wallaby Organic yogurt, and To Go Brands Trim Energy.

I receive 1-2 sampling opportunities per month. It’s nice to provide free snacks at play dates that accommodate so many allergies, and moms get coupons and samples to take home.

Screen Shot 2015-04-28 at 8.47.44 AMComing up next week, our play group will be sampling Applegate Half-Time meal kits! In addition to sampling the yummy lunch kits, we are going to decorate re-usable thermal lunch bags. Each friend will go home with a coupon for a free Half Time kit and a few other coupons.

If Moms Meet is something that you’d like to try, all you have to do to get started is fill out the form here, and Moms Meet will contact you when they have a campaign.

 

Inexpensive Summer Fun in San Diego County!

Abby H.2 Comments

Summer is on it’s way! The kids will be out of school soon and the choruses of, “I’M BORED!” will being heard across the county.

Here are some cheap and free things that you can do this summer around San Diego County to alleviate the boredom.

Screen Shot 2015-04-24 at 5.12.31 PMThe splash ground at Santee Lakes is GREAT! It’s only $2.00 per kid to play and if you park outside the Santee Lakes, you don’t have to pay to park! Take a picnic and it’s a great frugal outing! We go at least once a week in the summer and it’s always
a GREAT time!

The Santee Lakes hosts free summer movies throughout the summer.  If you park your car outside the gates (there is lots of street parking!), there is no cost of the movies.  If you drive your car into the park, it’s $8.00 per car, regardless of how many ppl are in your car.   Bring a picnic and some blankets and kick back for a fun family movie!
Balboa Park still offers Free Tuesdays at various museums in the park.

The San Diego Reader has a list of events on their website.

San Diego County Libraries have story time and various kid events each week.  I love taking Henry to the Santee library story time, and then we play at Mast Park right next door afterwards!

El Cajon, La Mesa, and Escondido all have classic car shows/rallies each week that are free.  Most have free music too!  Check out some sweet rides, cool tunes, and have a fun frugal night with the fam!
DiscoverSD has a list of free events and classes offered in San Diego (not all are kid friendly)
Speaking of Parks- San Diego County has great parks, as do most of the cities in San Diego County! Our favorite parks include Big Rock Park in Santee, Kennedy Park in El Cajon, La Mesita/Junior Seau Park in La Mesa, Harry Griffin Park in La Mesa (great for little kids).

If you are looking for a fun drive and an adventure, The Pacific Southwest Railway Museum in Campo is really fun for kids (and adults!).

What kind of stuff do you do to keep your family entertained for free?

Score $15 in Kid’s Clothes with Schoola!

Abby H.

Screen Shot 2015-04-21 at 3.18.20 PMIf your kid’s are like my guy, clothes never last long. rips, stains, oh yeah, and growing like a weed!

That’s one reason I love shopping at consignment shops, thrift stores, and online second hand stores like Schoola. Right now Schoola is offering $15 free and free shipping when you sign up here.

In addition to offering awesome gently worn kids clothes, Schoola also gives a percentage (40%) of each sale to a school. So you can feel good twice: Once while your saving $$, and again because you are helping support a school in need.

To get started, click here. And I can’t wait to see what you have scored! I got Lil’ Man 3 shirts!