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It’s The Little Things: Amazon Prime Membership

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I know. I know it is not technically a little thing. But it makes me happy. Unbelievably, weirdly, wonderfully happy.

Amazon Prime is a yearly membership in which you pay a set fee (as of this writing, it is $79, but that might change soon according to this CNN article) and get free two day shipping on most of their products on their site. Since I usually purchase all of our books from Amazon, this has been beyond wonderful. I will say this will probably not be worth the cost to you if you do not shop at Amazon a lot. Unfortunately, I spend a pretty good amount of funds there. I buy all of my beauty products, excluding make-up, (this is tricky, because I thought one of my products was covered under Prime, but I ended up paying $8 to ship one item. Make sure you check) from Amazon. I also tend to buy everyone’s toys through Amazon.

In addition to the two day shipping, I also receive unlimited streaming of many movies and television shows. The kids utilize this feature the most. Plus I have free access to their Kindle library. I do not use that feature though. You cannot hoard a paperless book.

On Life Hacker, there is a breakdown of the question, “Would I benefit from Amazon Prime?” It gives a better answer than I could, because they actually use math to make their decision. Imagine that!

I did write a post I have not published (and I am not sure I am going to, because one company earned an F) of the internet companies I used during Christmastime for gifts and Amazon was one of the few companies who earned an A+ from me. I think they do things right.

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In the last five days, I have purchased three books. It is kind of like magic how quickly they have come. I have to stop myself from buying more just to see how fast they will get here. You mean you have to actually pay for the books? This isn’t really magic?

And now, Amazon has Sunday delivery! Yes, Sunday delivery! I am sure there are many differing opinions about this, but I love it. I have not taken advantage of this option (I guess I never shop on a Friday), but I might in the future. There are many articles stating this is a fantastic revenue venture for the U.S. Postal Service. Here is one of them from USA Today.

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I bought “Fan Girl” on Saturday. I received it on Monday. I finished it on Tuesday. Now, that’s a beautiful thing! The situation of my house is, um, not so pretty.

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I ordered “The Magician’s Elephant” and “Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore” on Monday and I received them on Wednesday. Unfortunately, housework did end up dominating and I have not started those books yet. But I know they are there. Cheering for me from the wings when others might not.

I am not gonna lie. It has been a tough couple of months in terms of health and some other things going on behind the scenes here. A new book just makes me happy. It takes me away. Being able to get a little bit of another world in the dreary mail, is real-life magic.

It’s the little things: an upgrade on Amazon that upgraded my life.

Have you upgraded to Amazon Prime? Do you think it is worth the extra money? I was a skeptic for so long, but I am now reformed.

I love it!

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* This is just my review of Amazon Prime. I am not being compensated for this post. And, as with all of my reviews, your experience might differ from mine.

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Leftover Spaghetti Take II

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I was all set to make my leftover spaghetti meal with my tried and true recipe, but then I realized I did not have cream cheese. My heart was very heavy that day. I just did not have the energy to make it to the store.

I thought, hmmm…Can I make it with tears?

Just kidding. I raided my pantry. I had thought ahead and had bought a red bell pepper. So, I knew I wanted to incorporate it.

Here is what I came up with:

Ingredients

Leftover spaghetti meat with sauce
One extra jar pasta sauce
Pasta (any old kind you like)
1/4 cup red wine (cause it was that kind of night)
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded four cheese mexican
1/2 cup italian cheese
1/4 cup and 1 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese
1/4 – 1/2 cup bread crumbs (depending on how you want your bread crumb to butter ratio for the topping. I have tried both measurements. I like them both. In the pictures, I am using 1/4 cup.)
1/2 stick melted butter (1/4 cup)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 diced and seeded red bell pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground pepper
Tears

Preheat oven to 350 degrees or 325 degrees convection bake (if you have a convection oven).

Boil noodles according to instructions. Before you drain, reserve 1/3 cup water from pot. Carefully. Set aside. Drain noodles. Set aside.

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Heat olive oil in large skillet. Add diced red bell pepper. Cook approximately 5 minutes until soft. Add wine to skillet. Cook 1-2 minutes until it is bubbling and calling your name.

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Add leftover spaghetti sauce and new jar of sauce to skillet. Heat up until boiling. Add salt and pepper. Stir.

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In the meantime, mix together melted butter, bread crumbs, and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Set aside.

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Turn off heat to pasta sauce. Add reserved water. Stir. Add sour cream. Quickly stir. Add noodles. Stir.

Add shredded italian and four cheese mexican cheese and you guessed it…stir.

Place in casserole dish.

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Sprinkle bread crumb mixture over top. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp. parmesan cheese.

Bake uncovered 20-25 minutes until edges are bubbling.

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Turn oven to broil. Broil casserole until the top is just golden brown. This should be thirty seconds to one minute. Watch this!

Then serve it up with salad! This was actually incredibly delicious. The bell pepper with the red wine added that “something special.”

I never know how it is going to go when I throw leftovers together. My family really liked this. So, I will definitely be making it again! I recommend just trying new things. Putting tastes you like together. The worst that could have happened was that the leftovers were ruined and we would have eaten salad for dinner. Yes, I am the mom saying play with your food. It is fun!

What has been your most successful leftover food recreation?

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Six Month Blog Giveaway: Two Winners! NOW CLOSED

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Sorry, this giveaway is now over. Please stay tuned for a new one next month!

This month, being my sixth month of blogging, I have decided to give away two items to commemorate the occasion. The necklaces being given away are two layering necklaces from Anthropologie. Because I just love you guys! And I did not know if I would make it to six months! Thank you!

There will be two winners this time! I am so weirdly crazy excited about this! : )

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I love this necklace. I wear mine all of the time!

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To enter simply leave a comment telling me what you will wear the necklace with. Or who you will give your necklace to, if you do not wear necklaces.

You can earn up to two additional entries by doing either or both of the following:

1. Be a follower or become follower (there are many ways to do so on the right hand side of this post). Then leave one additional comment.

2. Share this post on either Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or your blog page. Just one method please. (This is what I have seen other bloggers do for giveaways. I decided to try it out this month). Then leave a comment with which method you chose to do.

PLEASE LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENTS FOR EACH ADDITIONAL ENTRY METHOD CHOOSEN.

A note: I simply type the names from the comments into random.org. If you forget to comment, I cannot count it. And that makes my stomach churn. And I get sad. So, please follow the rules. : )

That is it!

Easy Peasy!

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This giveaway begins Tuesday, September 10, 2013 at 12:00 am PST. All entries must be received before the giveaway closes on Friday, September 14, 2013 at 11:59 pm PST.

I will be drawing one winner by using Random.org. I will contact the winner on Saturday, September 15, 2013. I will post the winner’s name on September 16, 2013 on my blog. I will be shipping the necklaces out to the winners on Monday, September 17th.

Please: Do not forget to comment to enter. The comments are your entries! One comment per person. Except for the extra comment entry/entries for followers and/ or social media sharing option.

*Please enter the giveaway with a valid email address. I will attempt to contact the winner three times using the email given. If within fourteen days of the giveaway’s closing, I have not heard from the winner, the prize will be forfeit. A new winner will be drawn.

*This giveaway is sponsored by me and is not affiliated with/by Anthropologie.

* If Random.org picks the same name twice, I will redraw for the second necklace to pick a different name so there will be two winners. One person cannot win both necklaces. Sorry! I want to spread the love! : )

Sorry this giveaway is now over. Thank you to those who entered!
: )