Cash Crate!

Please note: The thoughts in this post are my own and I am not being reimbursed by Cash Crate for them.  However, all links will take you directly to my referral page!

As I mentioned earlier today on Facebook I recently started using a new survey/offers website where you can earn a few (or more!) dollars each month.  Will and I have been poring over our budget recently and have been looking for a way to give our income a little boost.  The cost of gas for Will to drive to work each day has been taking it's toll so I decided to give Cash Crate a try.

You get $1 just for signing up and then you can complete varying levels of free offers (or paying offers) for different amounts of money.  There are also surveys and cash tasks that you can complete too.  In my spare time (i.e. while Liam was napping) I was able to complete almost $8 worth of offers and surveys.  I'd say that hour was well spent!  You have to earn $20 before they send you a check, but they pay every month like clock-work if you earn more than $20! 

They also have a nice referral system where you earn 20% of what people you refer earn, and then 10% of what people they refer earn.  If you bump up to the next tier of referral earning you jump to 30% and 20% respectively.  That sounds like a pretty nice deal to me!

Cash Crate has been around since 2006 and after having done some research I've come to the conclusion that it is a legitimate way to earn money online.  I really like that they also let people who earn money post pictures of their checks on the website.  It might seem like a small thing, but the additional transparency is always nice to see! 

Hopefully I'll be able to post a picture of my first check soon!  In the meantime, check out Cash Crate and let me know how it works for you!

Reuben Stromboli

One of my favorite main dishes to make is stromboli.  It's a go to meal for me when I can't think of anything to make because rare is the day when I don't have all the ingredients on hand.  I make my own dough for pizza every Saturday so since I use the same dough recipe for pizza and stromboli I always have the ingredients in my cupboards.  I also love stromboli for it's versatility.  So far I've made the following variations: pizza, ham & cheese, ham & turkey, chicken bacon ranch, turkey with guacamole, and my personal favorite, chicken caesar.  I've even made a breakfast version with cheddar cheese, scrambled eggs, veggies and bacon (it was yummy, by the way).

Friday night I decided that we would have stromboli because it sounded good, but I wasn't sure what kind we would have.  I looked in the fridge and saw the sauerkraut I'd purchased recently and got an idea.  I was going to make Reuben Stromboli!

Now I don't like sauerkraut, or reubens.  In fact this bag of sauerkraut was the first bag I'd purchased in my entire life.  I know, I bring shame to my very German last name.  To my credit, it's my married name, so I'm only carrying 5 years worth of shame :-)  Anyway I knew I needed to use up the sauerkraut so I pulled it out and got to work.   I usually make a full recipe's worth of dough and we have it for leftovers, but since I knew I was making pizza the next night and the leftovers would sit for a couple days I decided to make several smaller stromboli and freeze them for Will to take to lunch.

Reuben Stomboli:
Dough:
2 1/2 to 3 C all-purpose or bread flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tsp salt
1 Package yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp)
3 Tbsp olive or vegetable oil
1 C very warm water (120 to 130 degrees F)

In a large bowl mix 1 cup flour, the sugar, salt and yeast. Add oil and warm water. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl frequently. Stir in enough remaining flour until dough is soft and leaves sides of bowl. Place dough on lightly floured surfaced. Knead 5-8 minutes or until dough is smooth and springy. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes.

Roll your dough out into the number of stromboli you want to have and place the circles on parchment lined baking sheets.  Once on the baking sheets cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place 30-45 minutes or until almost doubled in size. While your dough is rising pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees F.

Or if you have a bread machine throw all the ingredients in, turn it to the dough setting and let your machine do it's thing!  When it's done follow the instructions in the above paragraph!

 
Filling:
1 lb sliced corned beef
1 c thousand island dressing
1 1/2 c sauerkraut
1 c shredded swiss cheese
1 roma tomato, sliced (optional)
1/2 small white onion, sliced (optional)

On each dough circle choose one half that will have all the toppings.  Make sure to leave a 1/2 inch of clean dough around the perimeter of the half you are filling.  Squirt a thick line of thousand island dressing and top it with about 2 Tbsp of sauerkraut.  Place 4-5 slices of corned beef on top of the sauerkraut.  Then add a couple slices of tomato and onion and top it all with 2 Tbsp of shredded swiss cheese.  Fold the empty half of dough over top of the filled half making a half moon shape. Crimp the edges together using a fork (or see my picture below for a tutorial on a prettier fold) and cut a slice in the top to let out steam.  Brush the top with an egg wash or butter and sprinkle with freshly ground salt and pepper.

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes or until golden brown on the top.

Mmmm, we think tomatoes and onions make everything a little bit better!

I made 6 small stromboli, but I probably could have gotten 8, especially if they're being used for lunch!

Whoops!  I was so focused on getting the pictures taken and getting it done before Liam woke up from his nap that I forgot I didn't want Thousand Island on mine.  I had to wipe it off and put on some ranch!

Don't forget your sauerkraut!  I actually let a couple pieces drop onto mine before I realized what I was doing.  I definitely wasn't very focused!

Mmmm, meat and veggies!

This is the pretty crust I was telling you about.  In college I worked for four years in campus dining where I learned this pizza crust technique.  It's not as difficult as it looks but it does take some practice!  I like to make sure that I leave a little extra lip of dough on the bottom half of my dough (it looks like the top half isn't quite as big in the picture above).  Then, starting at one corner stretch a little section or tab of dough out and fold it up and over the top half of the dough.  Move to the next section and do the same thing, but this time make sure that the tab you fold up and over covers the edge of the tab preceding it.  In the picture above you'll notice that in the last tab that I folded up you can see the right edge, but in all the preceding tabs you can only see the left edge.  Just keep folding little tabs up and over until you get to the other end and just fold the last tab over and push it into the dough to seal it up.

So hopefully you can enjoy some Reuben Stromboli in the near future!

Making My House A Home: Kitchen Curtains

So a long time ago (at least it seems that way) I started a series called "Making My House A Home".  I did one post and haven't done another since then.  Fortunately that doesn't mean I haven't been doing anything to make my house a home, I've just been tardy in blogging about it.

Ever since I can remember I've always wanted a bright cheery kitchen full of red accents.  During high school, or maybe even college, I can't really remember, I was at Meijer with my mom and I saw these adorable cafe style curtains that I wanted for my kitchen.  They were white cotton with a red panel at the bottom.  There were also red buttons with green stitching to make little cherries and I thought they would be perfect.  Since I didn't have my own kitchen and they weren't on sale I decided to let them go.  

Several years later I was getting ready to outfit my very own kitchen (and house) and was perusing the clearance aisle at Meijer.  Guess what I found!!  Those curtains!  I could hardly believe it, I was so excited!  Looking back I think I was more excited about the fact that the curtains that I had loved so much were still available than actually getting the curtains.  I put them up and they looked cute, but there was too much white, I wanted more red:

I don't normally keep my curtains that high, I just rehung them quickly to take a picture of them a) for the blog and b) so I could sell them online!

  After a while I decided I did indeed need more red but I didn't want to pay $20 for a new set.  I stopped in at Joann's Fabric one day to pick up some fabric for another project and happened upon this fabric:

I fell in love right away, it was classy and intricate but wouldn't be too overwhelming on our small window.  Best of all, it was on sale.  I only needed a yard and on sale it cost me just $2.25!  Now that's a bargain!  So I set to work with my sewing machine while Liam was napping.  I won't go into all the gory details but I followed this helpful tutorial and despite a few seams that look a little like a drunk person trying to walk a straight line I think they turned out pretty well:

I thought briefly about making the curtains the same height as the window because the view out that window is anything but pretty.  However I'm a big fan of natural light so I decided to just make them a couple inches taller than normal to cover some more of the less than pleasant view.   Something I didn't expect is that I've been enjoying using my sewing machine more and more.  However my skills are definitely a work in progress.  Hopefully I'll be able to post about the curtains I'm sewing for our office and the inches I added to my new dress soon!

A Very Vera Bradley Birthday

So last night I had a dream that I was at the mall and this lady told me that my eyebrows were too bushy and too close together.  So every time I've looked in the mirror this morning I've been self conscious about my eyebrows :-)

That being said, last week was my birthday and it was a wonderful week.  My dad took Liam and me out for brunch and the antique shopping, which was lovely!  I was also spoiled by my two guys, my in-laws, and by my parents and I wanted to highlight a couple gifts.  As I mentioned on Facebook last week Will surprised me with a new Vera Bradley bag.  I had asked for a makeup bag because my stash has outgrown my current bag.  He went into a local Hallmark to see if they had one and instead came out with a new purse that he'd gotten for 50% off!  I love that he's trying to be frugal, but still get me something he knows I'll love!  I opened the box, which was the Vera Bradley box my purse from Christmas had come in, and cautioned myself not to get excited, thinking it must have been just the right size for the non-Vera Bradley gift he had gotten me.  Boy was I happily surprised!

On Saturday night we enjoyed tacos for my birthday with my parents and I was surprised again by a very full Vera Bradley box.  My mom had gotten such an amazing deal between sales, free shipping, and a 15% off code for her entire order that she had picked out a new makeup bag, and case for my makeup brushes, a purse, and a matching wallet!  I know Vera Bradley isn't the cheapest habit so I appreciate that my family is willing to go out of their way to find it within their price range.   So here are my fabulous bags that I can't wait to use:

And then, as I already mentioned, I was greatly spoiled by my mother and father-in-law!  I got a fantastic bundt pan and and adorable little set of salt and pepper grinders among other things.  However, my favorite gift, by far, was the jewelry box that my father-in-law made for me.  He made it out of a beautiful burled (his word, not mine) piece of box elder.  In case you're wondering "burl" (and I had to look up burled to be sure what it meant), is an abnormality in the wood that makes a beautiful and highly sought after swirl pattern in the grain of the wood.  

The other unique and amazing thing about the piece is that the bottom and top were carved completely from one piece of wood.  He didn't cut the boards and then nail or glue them together, instead he began carving a large chunk of wood and kept cutting away and carving until the entirety of my little box appeared.  He has some serious talent and thankfully he's passed a good portion of it on to Will.
  

Yes, he even engraved my initial:

  

Here's another picture of the burl:

 

I've come to appreciate how he inscribes the date, who it was made for and who made the piece. I like knowing that in 50 years one of my grandchildren might cherish the fact that they know their Great-Grandpapa was talented and generous with his talents:

And lastly, I was quite surprised to open the box and find that it had been lined with a velvety material and that my father-in-law had "framed" a picture of Will and myself in the lid.   Needless to say I love it and can't wait to put it to good use:

So thank you Will, Liam (who got me a Whoopie Pie recipe book, by the way), Mom, Dad, Mom and Papa Wagner, it was a fantastic birthday and I am so grateful!

 

Animal Crackers In My Soup (Or On My Rug) & Ikea

I found this little surprise on my rug today:

It made my heart happy!

In other news, I went to Ikea for the first time ever last week.  My friend and I spent 5 (yes 5!) hours perusing the store.  I was overwhelmed and amazed at all there was to be had.  Some of it was really nice, some of it was a little too modern for me.  But all in all it was a great trip and I'm excited to go back there again, maybe this time with Will!  Here's a little peek at what I picked up:

Of course I got the iconic blue Ikea bag, because, seriously, who doesn't want one of those...  I also picked up a set of bowls, cups, and plates for my little man, a lovely knit (or crocheted?) throw, some fun juice glasses, a set of plastic food storage containers, a wall storage holder for plastic grocery bags, and a yummy smelling candle! 

My two favorites are these sweet little juice glasses:

And this cozy throw:

I was really excited to get out of the store having only spent $60, especially after I saw that the people in front of me dropped $1500!  Whew!