Free Yogurt

Activia is offering a free yogurt to try their greek or french yogurt. Simply, go to their facebook page and like their page and select Activia Selects on the left hand side. The coupon is sent to you via email.

You can also get a free yogurt coupon from Dannon Oikos Greek Yogurt by clicking here. Dannon claims it's the best in the world. You'll have to try both yogurts and discover for yourself who is the best. Remember to use the coupon before the expiration date!

Sample the New Swiffer

Are you a vocal point member? Vocal point offers free samples (and high value coupons) to leading brands products in exchange for your review on the product. Now for vocal point members, you can sample a new swiffer duster product for free. Click here for more details.

How to Save on Books and Movies

So, I've stopped purchasing books and renting new movies. If there's something that I want to read or watch, I go online to my county's library website and I order it. I can choose where I want to pick it up and request as many books or movies as I want. The library then emails me when the book or movie is available. This saves me time and money (as long as I return the books or movies on time).

Bunnies - Again

I don't know what it is about my garden, but the wild bunnies were seen trying to dig under the fencing. Some ideas I've found online to prevent them from attacking my poor vegetables include:

• Predator's Urine (how do you get this?)
• Mothballs
• Garlic
• Flakes of Soap
• Items of clothing (This would look bizarre in my backyard)
• Rubber snake (easy to get in the lawn mower if you forget about it)
• Mix sugar free grape cool-aid in a spritzer bottle with a few drops of soap. (This sounds a little bizarre)
• Put carrots out in your yard so they're not hungry and trying to get into your garden (Just training them to keep coming back)
• Stop Growing Vegetables (Not viable solution is it?)
• Motion Sensor - when it detects movement it barks like a dog (that could be annoying)
• Ammonia Mixture
• Blood Meal
• Pepper

I think I am going to try mothballs. Some of people's ideas make me laugh. They might work, but I am not going to try them.

The Joy of Crockpots

Crockpots make dinnertime so easy! You just throw in the ingredients in the morning, put in on low and by the time dinner rolls around dinner is done. I did twice this week (even though it's the summer) and each time I came home a meal was ready and waiting. My favorite thing to make in the Crockpot is Adobo Chicken (Chipotle's Chicken) here's the recipe.

1 can chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1 t. black pepper
2 t. cumin powder
2 T oregano
1/2 red onion
1 whole boneless chicken breast or 4-5 pieces of boneless skinless chicken

After it's done cooking, shred the chicken and you can make or grab the other components for a burrito pretty easily including: black beans, cilantro rice, salsa, lettuce, sour cream and cheese.

It tastes great and it's healthier than eating out.

Planners

Are you one of those that carry a planner around with you wherever you go, I usually keep mine in my purse and then I can whip it out and schedule my life. I have recently misplaced my planner, and without it I can't remember doctor's appointments or when I scheduled my dentist appointment. Planners are an amazing thing. They're just a calendar, but they help us to keep track of everyday life.

Some friends of mine even use it to plan out their meals for the month. This helps to limit their shopping trips to be fewer saving them time and money (less gas running to and from the store). I also use my planner to plan out my running distance and exercise schedules. Planners can help you keep your goals and to remember them. How do you use your planner?

Exercise Ideas

When you think of exercise, you think of losing weight and most of the time when people work on losing weight they just change their eating habits rather than their activity level. Exercising has many more benefits than losing weight. It helps to build your self esteem, improve your mood (it increases your serotonin level), boosts energy, combats diseases and conditions, helps you to sleep at night (for more ideas of how it can help see my previous blog post). Oftentimes for most people it can be hard to exercise because they don't set a regular pattern or want to change their lifestyle. To start exercising, you need to motivate yourself and set a goal. Even finding a friend to exercise with can help motivate you enough to form a habit. I find if I don't have a goal, I am not motivated enough to exercise long enough I will just want to run one mile instead of three or four. There's also many ways to exercise. It's best to find something fun and that you will enjoy to help you to keep doing it and stay motivated. Here are some different options:

• Zumba
• Yoga
• Join a team: soccer, baseball, basketball (they have adult and teen teams just google it)
• Ultimate Frisbee
• Water Aerobics
• Swimming laps (my favorite)
• Running (also my favorite)
• Lifting weights
• Biking
• Speed Walking
• Dancing (Take a partner and learn some steps at a class)
• Aerobics
• Hiking
• Tae-Bo
• Boxing

The important thing is stay active. It doesn't matter what activity that you do, just as long as you keep at it!