Easy Recipe: Homemade Pico De Gallo (Fresh Salsa)

Time to Salsa!!

With the massive amount of super tasty local veggies and fruit we’ve been getting, I decided to make Pico de Gallo (fresh salsa) since we had all the ingredients in this week’s box.

This recipe is super simple and takes about 10 minutes from start to finish.

Pico de Gallo (Fresh Salsa)

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups chopped and deseeded tomatoes
  • 1 jalapeno, seeds and white membrane removed, diced
  • 1/2 red/purple onion diced
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 1/2 bunch cilantro, chiffonade (that means cut up into small ribbons)
  • Salt and Pepper

Directions:

  1. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl.
  2. Toss all ingredients until the lime juice coats all of the veggies.
  3. Transfer into a container with an airtight lid.
  4. Store in the fridge for at least 4 hours. This gives the flavors to meld, and the salsa to chill.
  5. This salsa stays good in the fridge for 4-6 days, but it won’t last that long.

I love this salsa with zucchini chips or tortilla chips. Or in an omlet.

 

 

Free Food Resources for March 2021 (San Diego County)

I’m sorry this is a little late coming for March. Fear not, you haven’t missed out! There are still many free Neighborhood Distributions for this month!

You can still find resources here for Central and East County, and Here for North County.

Neighborhood Distributions for March 2021:

These Distributions are primarily produce/fruits & veg, however, some locations may also distribute canned goods, dairy, and bread.

Super Pantry Locations can be found here (this listing is countywide).

If you have a child attending public school in San Diego County, check to see if your school distributes free lunches daily.

In Eastern San Diego County, Grossmont Union High School District schools are distributing lunches to kids ages 2-18, Monday through Friday at various times  (Check your closest school to find out exact times and locations within each school). They also do Pizza Fridays, where each kid receives a pizza, drink, salad, plus food to be eaten over the weekend. It is definitely more than enough food to keep kids fed over the weekend.

Forgive the blurriness of this picture, but Grossmont Union High School District will be giving out two family meals over their Spring Break. Monday, March 15, 2021 and Monday March 22, 2021. The offers vary by week, but it’s a great chance to pick up some extra food to feed the kiddos. Yes, I know it says March 2020, but it is for this year.

If you know of other resources, please leave a comment! And feel free to share this post with anyone you may know in need.

3/8/2021 Weekly Meal Plan!

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Our second CSA Box is being delivered today! To learn more about Yasukochi Family Farms and our first box, click here. A lot of our meals this week are going to be veggie-heavy. We eat a lot of produce anyway, but now we’re eating more local produce!

I hit up the grocery store over the weekend for some much-needed bread, milk, and butter. I’m waiting for the grocery ads to come out for this week to see if I can find some deals on chicken or beef. I really would like to make a meatloaf to have for lunch this week (and meatloaf sandwiches for another lunch).

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: Badas Burgers (it’s an amazing food truck that’s taken up residence across the street from our house- so dangerous!)
  • Monday: Salad, Nuggets, fries
  • Tuesday:  Entrees & Fruit Salad
  • Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner: Pancakes, Eggs (scrambled with veggies and cheese), fruit
  • Thursday: Skillet casserole, roasted veggies
  • 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?

3/5/2021 Friday Freebies and Deals!

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We had sudden mid-week rain, and it was a great opportunity to stay indoors and get some cleaning done!

Do you have a birthday coming up? Check out my list of birthday freebies for 2021 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 Pennington Fertilizer
Free What Do You Meme? Family Game Night Party Pack
Free Alt National Park Service Clean Up Kit
T-Mobile Tuesdays – Free Stuff Every Week
Free JLab Wireless Earbuds at Micro Center Stores
Free 2021 Ruralite Wall Calendar
Free SMN Sampler Samples
Free AMET BioCore Self-Care Package for Those with Covid
Free Ruvi Boost
Free ASPCA Pet Safety Magnet & Window Decal
Free The Wind Stickers
Free Black Box Wines Magnet, Koozie & More
Possible Free $200 Skincare Research Study
Free New Orleans Saints Fan Pack
Free Sample of Derma E Scar Gel
Ulta – Free Mario Badescu Facial Spray for Your Birthday
Epic Games Class Action Settlement – Claim $50 or 13500 V-Bucks
Free Vaporizer or Humidifier
Free Bestway Slide into Spring Break Party Pack
Free Whamisa Deep Rich Toner
Free Subscription to Cosmopolitan Magazine
Free 2-Pack of Vont Blaze Tactical LED Flashlights
Free Beast Men’s Personal Care Products
Free Samples of Mane n’ Tail Haircare
Free Sample of My Eye Cream
Free Coffee Wednesdays at Dunkin
Free Subscription to Whisky Advocate Magazine
Free Acana Pet Food
Free Subscription to ELLE Magazine
Possible Free Box of Cookies + $20 Amazon Gift Card
Free ZenWise Products
Possible Free $100 Streaming Services Research Study
Free Project Purple Face Mas
Possible Free PlantFusion Complete Plant Collagen Builder
Lane Bryant Covert Client Program – Free Clothes, Points & More
Panera Members – Free Bagel Everyday in March
Possible Free $125 Pregnant Women Research Study
Free Sample of Estee Lauder Futurista Foundation
Free Facial Exfoliator

Deals:

Castle Magnetic Blocks 40-Piece ONLY $24.99 (Reg. $60)
Krazy Glue Super Glue 2-Pack ONLY $1.77 (Reg. $4)
Where the Wild Things Are ONLY $5.00 on Amazon
New ShopDisney 50% Off Clearance Sale
LEGO Friends Andrea’s Bunny Cube ONLY $9.99
Bella Egg Cooker ONLY $7.99 at Best Buy (Reg $15)
Criss Cross Ankle Buckle Sandals ONLY $17.99 Shipped (Reg $25)
Pink Crystal Pendant & Necklace ONLY $1.45 Shipped
MUK LUKS Nerissa Sandals ONLY $12.99 (Reg. $39)
Coleman Gas Camping Stove ONLY $43.88 (Reg $80)
Fruit of the Loom Men’s Tanks 5-Pack ONLY $9.39 (Reg $16)
KitchenAid Odor Removal Bar ONLY $6.99 (Reg $11)
Keurig K-Classic K50 ONLY $69.99 Shipped (Reg $120)
Seamless Spandex Shorts $6.99 Shipped (Reg $16)
Women’s Mid-Rise Leggings ONLY $6.50 at Old Navy (Reg $13)
Bentgo Kids Brights Lunch Box ONLY $19.99 (Reg $40)

New Recipe: Banana Bread in a Cake Pan!

These bananas are perfect for making banana bread!

I’ll admit: I don’t have a loaf pan. I did, but it died. It was metal, and after 10+ weeks of weekly use… ::Sad Trombone:: I know I should buy a glass one (I have my eye on this one), but until then, I’m making do with what I’ve got.

And what I’ve got is a glass cake pan. Specifically a 9×9 glass cake pan, like this one. I looked online for some ideas about baking times and temps and reworked my usual recipe. The best part of this recipe is that the bread is moist, fluffy/airy with a good crumb.  It is not dense or heavy at all.

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, spray 9×9 glass baking dish with spray release.
  2. In a small dish, mash up bananas, set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter/coconut oil for about 30 seconds-1 minute until light and fluffy.
  4. Add sugar, beat until combined and fluffy.
  5. Beat in eggs one at a time.
  6. Add bananas and vanilla, and blend until the wet ingredients are all incorporated.
  7. Add baking soda and Kodiak Mix. Stir to combine.
  8. Pour into the prepared 9×9 glass baking dish.
  9. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Test with toothpick in the center of the bread for doneness.

This recipe makes 1 9×9 cake pan, which is approximately 9-12 servings, depending on how big you like the pieces.

My kids like this bread toasted with either butter or cream cheese. It never lasts long.

Q-insights Survey Grocery Shopping Survey Pays $75

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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.

3/1/2021 Weekly Meal Plan

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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?

2/26/2021 Friday Freebies and Deals

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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 

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. 

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

** 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!