COME TREASURE HUNTING WITH US!
----Table of Contents----
1. Jest for Pun
2. Turning in the Dud Gift Card
3. Would You Believe Dogsledding? In Maryland?
4. Sleighbells Ring, Are You Listening?
5. Cruise Ship Bargains
6. Eating in the New Year
7. Freebies for Mobile Phones
8. Cheapskate Monthly
9. Great F%ree Games for Kids
10. Thrifty Fun and Happy Pets
11. Anita's Recipes
12. Recipe: Roast Pork Tenderloin with Cherries
1. JEST FOR PUN
You know, there's this great newsletter called "Jest for Pun." Did I hear you groan? Good! That means you'll probably like it. It's f%ree, it's funny, and it's got some good looking brothers called "Jest a Quote" and "Jest in Literature." And some cute sisters as well. Check them all out by clicking below:
http://www.workinghumor.com/jfp/newsletter.htm
2. TURNING IN THE DUD GIFT CARD
Did you get gift cards for stores and restaurants you're not that crazy about? The Internet is way ahead of you. Some websites, in return for a modest fee, are willing to help you exchange unwanted cards for cards you like better or for cash.
And then there is the excitement -- and danger -- of sites that allow you to SWAP cards. With a total stranger.
The "Gift Card Buyback" site buys cards and the "Gift Cards Again" site, owned by the same person, tells you to "Find your favorite companies on our site. Choose the card values you would like to have. Buy your choice of gift cards or merchandise credits at less than face value."
The "Card Avenue" site has a great feature: "Gift card swap and auction transactions are protected by Cardcowboy balance verification on most cards valued at over $100. For gift cards valued less than $100 all transactions are secured with a $10 deductible."
http://cardavenue.com/
The "Certificate Swap" site has an interesting offer: "GiftBux is the universal gift certificate to CertificateSwap.com. Print GiftBux and send in the mail or hand-deliver it. The recipient may then visit our site to purchase any gift certificate of their choice!"
And, if you don't want the safety devices in the above sites, there are always the unprotected thrills of eBay.
3. WOULD YOU BELIEVE DOGSLEDDING? IN MARYLAND?
You don't have to go to the Arctic Circle to dogsled any more. Dogsledding has invaded the lower 48 states -- though Maryland surprised me too. You can take the kids dogsledding or have a fun weekend yourself in many areas besides Alaska and Canada. Would you believe Massachusetts? Iowa? California and Colorado? Check out the following website:
http://www.dogsledrides.com/index.php
You might also go to www.Google.com and put "dogsledding [your state]" into the search box for new programs that haven't yet made it into the directory.
4. SLEIGHBELLS RING, ARE YOU LISTENING?
My mother told me I'd never get to ride in a horse-drawn sleigh, because the twentieth century had better ways to get around in winter. I knew that was wrong thinking from the git-go. And now the twenty-first century hath given us what the twentieth century had taken away: horse-drawn sleighs.
These sleighing outfits mostly started with "romantic" horse-drawn carriages, especially suited to summer weddings. Then it occurred to someone that they could let the horses work for their winter hay and give people a nice sleighride too. Some places also offer hayrides, cater to children's birthday parties, and/or offer a petting zoo.
http://dmoz.org/Sports/Equestrian/Carriage,_Hay,_and_Sleigh_Rides/
The above list comes from dmoz.org, the Open Directory, which is notoriously slow to add new websites. Which means that there are many good sleigh rides and carriage rides not listed, and perhaps one near you. Once again, go to www.Google.com and put "sleigh rides [your state]" or "horse carriage rides [your state]" into the search box to see what else is there.
5. CRUISE SHIP BARGAINS
Read cruise ship reviews, what to pack, how to tip and choose a cabin -- and click on the Cruise Compete ad to go to a site that helps you get the best deals.
6. EATING IN THE NEW YEAR
When I was going to Weight Watchers, the first meeting of the new year always had a long line of people waiting to sign up. Most of them disappeared after a meeting or two. My husband says the same thing happens at his exercise club.
So now, a week into the new year, is the moment for you to reconsider the Glorious Resolutions you made on New Year's Day. Going to lose twenty pounds pronto and give up pizza forever? Why not make it realistic? Set goals for weight loss and exercise that you can live with over the long haul. And if you do, I'm in it with you. Because I weighed myself after Christmas and found I'd added ten pounds over the course of the last year and a half.
Weight Watchers were a great help to me in the past, because they teach you to CHANGE YOUR EATING HABITS, so that you take weight off and KEEP IT OFF. Because if you don't change your eating habits, those pounds will come right back on. Weight Watchers did a great job of changing my eating habits -- which is why I recommend it so highly -- and I had a system of getting little dabs of my fattening favorites along with lots of nonfattening favorites, on the theory that no one is going to give up all their favorites for keeps. It was a good system, as long as it worked.
How did someone with a perfectly marvellous system gain ten pounds? It was easy. I got sneaky. My weakness is full-fat cheese. I had a system of allowing myself teeny servings several times a week, which would have been all right, but the servings got less and less teeny and more and more frequent.
Worst was exercise, though. The exercise I WASN'T doing. I have a treadmill and no excuse whatever, and I credit the exercise I didn't do for most of that weight gain. So my plan for the new year is to up the exercise a lot and cut back moderately on food.
The Internet has wonderful helps for you when it comes to losing weight and keeping it off. One is the Washington Post's Lean Plate Club, which has scientifically based yet somehow fascinating articles that give you a weekly nudge in the right direction. Do consider joining. You'll find it here:
Many more really great helps are listed in my own Delightful Food Directory, under Healthy Weight Loss. Do check it out, now that you've finished the Christmas cookies:
http://delightfulfood.com/HealthyWeightLoss.html
7. FREEBIES FOR MOBILE PHONES
Did you get an extremely talented phone for Christmas? This site will help you search the Internet for f%ree ringtones, upload your phone wallpapers, videos, games, and much else. A new feature, "Frank Caliendo's VoiceTone Gallery," lets you "borrow" voices of famous people.
And the site below lets you create your own phone wallpapers and logos!
8. CHEAPSKATE MONTHLY
Now officially called "Debt-Proof Living," the site is all about eliminating unnecessary expenses. Recent columns by Mary Hunt on the site are "When F%ree Really Isn't F%ree," and "More Uses for Leftover Egg Whites." But maybe you want to think beyond egg whites. The site offers an "amazing Rapid-Debt Repayment Calculator™." This enables you to formulate your own "Rapid Debt Repayment Plan" that takes compounding interest rates into account -- something that, without a calculator, is almost impossible for someone without financial training.
But they ARE cheapskates, and the calculator isn't f%ree. If you pay $24 for a year's online premium subscription (regular subscription is $16) you get these additional features: "Full access to 12 new issues of Cheapskate Monthly (web page and Acrobat PDF versions), the Rapid Debt-Repayment Calculator, Online Support Groups, over 40 Interactive Calculators, the Directory of Incredibly Valuable Information, the Financial Happiness Scripts, the Interactive Money Makeover, the Freedom Account Manager, and ALL archived Back Issues, Mary's Thoughts, Mary's Articles, and Reader Submitted Tips -- all for only $6 more than a Basic subscription!" Explore this valuable site by clicking below:
9. GREAT F%REE GAMES FOR KIDS
This "Light Up Your Brain" website is a treasure. It has games and puzzles -- all f%ree -- that will indeed light up childrens' brains, and will increase their vocabularies and entertain them too! Adults whose "read-aloud" function is growing hoarse from overuse will appreciate the read-aloud (by someone else) stories.
While you're on the site, click on "comments" at the foot of the page to find enthusiastic comments from all over the world. One I liked: "I think this is a grate learning site and it is hard and really fun. THANK YOU SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO MUCH! - Taylor"
http://lightupyourbrain.com/index.html
10. THRIFTY FUN AND HAPPY PETS
A great website for families -- and, if you like the site, do subscribe to their daily newsletter, which is full of little treasures. The emphasis is on family FUN and enjoying life. They've got recipes, tips, and pet stories. Including this great tip for introducing a new cat to a home where cats live already: "Get small towels -- one for each cat. Rub the cats with their own towel and then give it to the other cat to sleep with and get used to each other's scents. Of course we still take the time to slowly introduce them to each other, but this towel method seems to make the process go much easier in the long run."
The Thrifty Fun people also have a "Happy Pets Discussion List."
11. ANITA'S RECIPES
Anita's excellent website has been around longer than Google! Google started in 1998; Anita's site began in 1997. Anita says, "This is a collection of some of my favorite tried recipes that I update weekly. The majority contain less than 35% calories from fat. I have personally tried each and every recipe posted." Anita also lists the calories and nutrient content in her hundreds of recipes.
http://www.anitasrecipes.com/index.asp
12. ROAST PORK TENDERLOIN WITH CHERRIES
This recipe comes from one of the sites listed in Janette's Delightful Food Directory under Healthy Weight Loss. The site is under the title, "Healthy Recipes."
1 boneless pork loin roast, fat trimmed off
1/2 c. orange juice
1 c. dry red wine (can substitute more orange juice)
3 tablespoons chopped shallots or onions
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp. minced fresh ginger root
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
1/8 tasp. pepper
3 tbs. cornstarch
1/3 c. cold water
1 lb. fresh or frozen sour cherries
Splenda sugar substitute to taste*
Place roast on rack in roasting pan, insert meat thermometer so tip is in center of meat, and roast at 325 until thermometer registers 170, about 2 hours.
Heat wine, orange juice, shallots, garlic, ginger root, allspice and pepper mixture to boiling in medium saucepan; reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, about 10 minutes. Heat to boiling once more. Mix cornstarch and cold water, stir into boiling mixture. Boil, stirring constantly, until thickened. Stir in cherries and cook over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat, cool 2-3 minutes, stir in Splenda or Nutrasweet. Slice pork and arrange on platter; serve with cherry sauce.
_____________*Original recipe says, "1/4 to 1/3 c. Nutrasweet Spoonful." I think most people use Splenda sugar substitute now -- add enough for a sweet-sour effect.
© Copyright 2005 Janette G. Blackwell. All rights reserved. You may copy and use portions of this newsletter for noncommercial, personal use only. You may forward a copy to someone else as long as the copyright notice is included. Any other use of the materials in this newsletter without prior written permission is prohibited.
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Janette Blackwell