winner, winner, chicken dinner and another giveaway

i can't believe i've waited this long to share the fabulous news that yesterday i won smutopia's paper origami earrings that i talked about in a previous post. now, my post had nothing to do with my being choosen as that was not a way to be picked. i just posted due to my absolute smitteness with her wares. you can imagine my joy at winning. i can't remember the last time i won anything. and, she is having another giveaway for a charming(pun intended) necklace featuring a silver starfish suspended in a mother of pearl hoop. you can enter the giveaway by going here. the giveaway will end next thursday at midnight.

making popcorn in a paper bag

i need snacks in my house. and, i mean need. what can i say i am a snack girl. for me, this means pretzels, fruit, peanut butter, and popcorn. don't think i'm a good girl all the time when it comes to snacking, but these are my go tos. recently, as part of our weekly shopping at the dollar store which includes such essentials as imitation bacon bits, laundry detergent(ok, so the making of my own laundry detergent never gained traction as i was unable to find some of the necessary ingredients.), and pretzels, we have often added microwave popcorn. but, even at $1 for several packs, i have become convinced there was a cheaper way that maintained the convenience of microwave bagged popcorn. you see i am the kind of slob that eats right out of the bag when i have no guests to avoid having any dishes to clean up. and even though it has been a few years since the microwave popcorn scandal of popcorn lung being caused by diacetyl, the idea of being able to avoid that can't be a bad thing.
so, i when to instructables.com which always seems to have great hacks for just about everything from food to decorating. and, of course, they had multiple simple tutorials for making microwave popcorn with a brown paper bag. here is the original tute i used from instructables. as always, i made my own modifications.

you will need:

• 1/4 cup popcorn kernels-the instructions said you can get about 50 uses out of a 1 lb bag. i didn't believe this was possible until i saw what a little dent the 1/4 cup made out of the bag. and, in terms of cost, i purchased a 2lb bag of generic brand popping kernels at my local grocery for $1.59.
• 1 tsp of oil-the instructions say olive oil, but i come from the make it work school of thought. so, i used whatever we happened to have.
• salt-the instructions insisted on popcorn salt, but i did not see any in my store. so, i used kosher salt which is what we keep in our kitchen. old bay(i grew i virginia on the water, and we put old bay on any and everything. don't believe me, then try utz's crab chips. they rock my world.)or seasoned salt should also work just fine.
• a brown paper bag-my dollar store carries a 50 pack for $1, but i managed to forget them on my last trip. i just used a carryout bag from a local restaurant. it may have been a little big as you may notice in the pictures, but it was better than nothing.
• something to fasten the bag-here is where i parted way with the instructions. i know it says stapling the bag will not cause sparks. i,however, decided to err on the side of being cautious. i happened to have a chip clip which is completely made of plastic even the spring mechanism. if you don't have such a chip clip, you could always use a bit of scotch tape.
• seasonings such as butter, parmasen cheese(and, i mean the stuff in the green can for this as it really is yummy on popcorn), sugar(approxiamately 2 tbps will make your popcorn into kettle corn but you need to omit the salt), jello(may sound a bit odd at first, but fruit flavored popcorn was something we had as kids and loved especially since it made the popcorn really cool colors), cinnamon, or butter buds.

place your 1/4 cup of popcorn kernels and oil into your brown bag. shake up to coat the kernels with oil. fasten the bag. place in microwave, and set for the same time as you would in your microwave as you would for normal microwave popcorn. mine takes about 3 and 1/2 minutes. listen for the popping to slow down so you can count to about 3 seconds between pops. remove popcorn and season with your choice of seasonings and enjoy.

here is my finished popcorn in the overly large bag.

and, a closeup of the popcorn.

today's free stuff 4/4/09

free real energy drink sample
free download of kid rock's the warrior
free download of a bare naked ladies song such as if i had a million dollars
free john deere hat
free sample of pureology essential repair shampoo and conditioner

today's free stuff 4/3/09

free headbands from vix swimwear
2 free issues of town and country magazine
free sample of halle berry fragrance
free sample of goodnites boxers
printout coupon for free single of hood ice cream
free redwood creek trout unlimited poster
free basil seeds
3-d treasure hunt at micheal's stores 10am-2pm saturday, april 4th
free toys r us easter adventure 4/4 from 10am-2pm for kids
free birdhouse workshop at home depot 4/4 from 9am-noon
get a free cone at ben and jerry's for signing up for their email list

thought of the day 4/3/09

remember ginger rogers did everything fred astaire did, but backwards and in high heels.
-bob thaves in the comic strip frank and ernest 1982

some days we have to remember being a woman is tough work.

finally starting my easter preparations

i headed to the dollar store to pick up some things i need for around the house. i thought while i was there that i would start to pick up some items for easter. i needed new bunny ears to wear to work since my darling kitties thought mine from last year were a playtoy and chewed them up. as i unloaded them, i caught this precious moment as belle had to check out my new ears. i have since stowed them high out of her reach.
while i was there, i scouted some perfect items for adding to easter baskets. they have baskets that are reusable and not just the plastic kiddy ones. and, they have an amazing selection of easter candy including my favorite jelly beans and of all things my favorite jelly beans, jelly bellies. for less than $5, you could fill a basket with goodies and even add some handmade goodies too like rock candy(ok, so i'm enjoying it a little too much today and you can make them in a ton of spring colors.) and, they have egg coloring kits as well.

blogs i love edition 4

sits as it is lovingly referred to has been a blessing to my blog and blogging life. you may have noticed the button for the secret is in the sauce on the new left sidebar(could i be any prouder that i figured out how make a left sidebar?). the secret is in the sauce is an awesome community of mainly female bloggers who support one another. it is all about discovering new blogs and commenting on each others blogs. since i have joined sits, my comments on my blog have increased dramatically and who doesn't appreciate some blog love. it has been a wonderful opportunity to find new blogs such as chicken nuggets as wisdom which i know follow. every day, sits features a new blogger from their community. after i have been a part of this community for a bit of time, i hope to submit posts to be a featured blogger. i highly recommend joining the sits community.