1 – ENCHILADAS – Who doesn’t love Enchilada’s?  It only takes about 15-20 minutes to prepare them and 25 minutes to cook.  Just pre heat the oven first, then brown some ground beef, add some seasoning, maybe some fresh chopped up veggies, some refried beans, and stuff tortillas in a well greases pan.  Then just add some enchilada sauce and cheese to the top and stick in the oven.  25 minutes later you have perfection in a dish.

2 – SPAGHETTI –Some nights require a quick prep time without any baking time added on.  On these nights fancy things up with some spaghetti.  You can simply get your water boiling in one pot and beef browning in another.  Then add your noodles to the pot of water and add some sauce to you meat for a meat sauce.  After that get your salad ready, slice some bread, drain your noodles, and WALLA!  Eat up.  You’ll feel like you’re at a simple sit down Italian restaurant.

3 – POT ROAST – Never underestimate the power of an amazing crock pot dinner.  These only require morning prep and are good to go by the time dinner rolls around.  Pot roast is an all time favorite of many and you can find a variety of recipes, but it basically take a roast, some liquid, some seasoning, some potatoes and carrots, and flipping on the appliance.  Dinner will be ready without much effort on your part at all. I found a great recipe for pot roast from a blog called One Good Thing.

4 – HONEY CHICKEN AND RICE – Tired of all the red meats?  How about some honey chicken and rice?  Stick the rice in your rice cooker (it should only take 20-30 minutes to cook).  While the rice is cooking away cut up that chicken and get it cooking in your frying pan.  Clean up your chicken guts and start mixing a salad together.  Add some honey to the chicken for the final touch and you have an awesome dinner in 30 minutes or less.

5 – BREAKFAST FOR DINNER – When all else fails there are plenty of breakfasts you can whip up in 30 minutes or less that are full of nutrition.  And everyone loves to shy away from their normal routine and have breakfast for dinner.

There are so many quick, easy, and nutritious dinner options that will allow you to keep your busy schedule and also to stay healthy and save some money as well.  Don’t forget that eating dinner as a family improves the quality of live for each family member, especially your children.  Take advantage of those little moments you have available.

Once a surgery is over you often may feel like the process is over and now it is time for you to get back in shape and on with your life. You may be hoping that you will only need a day or so before you get better. When you have a surgery, it is important to know that you take the time recover in the right way.  You do not want to push your body too hard or it can end up causing more problems to your health and you might end up back in the surgery.

Prepare yourself to feel sore and tired for a few weeks. It doesn’t get better after a day or so, it can take a long time before you will actually feel good again and to have the energy that you need. In many cases it can take a year before you are completely recovered from the surgery. The weeks that are following your surgery are never easy. You need to prepare yourself for this as it can take time and a lot of patience from yourself in order to get better from the surgery.

Follow your doctors instructions when it comes to cleaning up the incision. Do you need to change out bandages? Many times you will need to be very careful about getting the area wet. Find out what steps you need to take in order to properly care for the incision area to prevent infections from occurring.

Simple cleanliness habits will need to be followed properly in order to prevent infections. Washing your hands is important! There are many germs that can be carried around and will easily infect your incision site, leaving you with serious pain.

If you have a catheter you need to be germ conscious as well. Wear gloves when you are cleaning the catheter and make sure you are also cleaning the genitals well to wash away any urine that is left clinging to the skin as it can cause an infection. Caring for your body after you have major surgery needs to be a big priority! Pace yourself and be patient as it will take some time before you are feeling good again.

SLUG OFF! – Take care of those slugs from the beginning.  Slugs can cause so much damage to a garden and they are just plain gross and slimy.  There are lots of fancy ways you can attempt to take care of your slimy friends.  You can wrap things in copper mesh for one.  Slugs hate copper, so wrap it where you can.  Your garden might look super flashy, but if it helps, it helps.  Wormwood is great for warding off slugs as well.  An even easier idea is to put half of a citrus rind on the ground (in a bowl type shape) and leave it there.  You can also use wide rimmed cans with beer or juice in the bottom.  Slugs are not smart creatures and they will come and enjoy themselves and get stuck.  You can take the citrus grinds to your compost pile and let the slugs dry out and then do some good for your garden to make up for their nasty selves.

Proper fencing can help keep deer away as well as strange chemically scents.  They also respond well the urine of their predators.  Bunny rabbits and birds could use their own special mesh fencing when circumstances call for it.

There are lots of natural pesticides that you can find for your plants as well.  And marigolds are known to ward off many irritating pests, so they are a good addition to any garden, plus they are easy to grow and quite lovely.

A very interesting thing to learn about though is companion planting.  Companion planting allows you to place certain plants by each other – tomatoes, basil and oregano for instance – and then the companions keep certain pests away from each other, because of their scents and other amazing components.

Having a good pest control plan is essential to keeping and growing a healthy garden that you can be proud of.  Check out Orange County Pest Control to find a local pest control company or search for your area. Research each of the plants that you incorporate into your garden.  Learn about how to help them thrive.  Maybe only add a couple per season, so that you can really learn and understand them.  You’ll see many benefits from understanding the different plants that you are working with and you’ll get to enjoy the fruits of your labor – and maybe even quite literally.

You’ll be able to come back to the same great sitter when you show your appreciation the best way possible. There are many ideas to show appreciation for someone who takes care of your pet while you are gone.

Most people just ask a neighbor or neighborhood child to feed the animal and check on it once a day and offer to pay for each day the person takes care of your pet. The amount of money really depends on your preference. You may give a little or a lot depending on what you ask your neighbor to do.

Another popular choice is to give your pet sitter a gift certificate to your local mall or their favorite store. It doesn’t need to be a lot of money even 5-20 dollars go a long way to show your appreciation.

You could bring a small gift back from where you are vacationing. For instance if you went on Hawaii for vacation you could get a small seashell or a shirt from Hawaii.

Sporting events is another popular item to give a neighbor for watching your pets. Depending on where you live you can get inexpensive tickets to professional baseball game or a local college team.

If you would rather not give money or your neighbor won’t take cash you could get them Mrs. Fields thank you cookies.  They have a lot of different options and are easily found online or at a mall.

If you have a garden or fruit trees you could make a homemade basket full of fruit and goodies, not only is this a great option but it is very inexpensive and can be a healthy gift idea.

Another inexpensive idea if you are crafty is to make something for your pet sitter. A simple bracelet might be a nice gesture to a neighbor girl.

Another great option is to offer to watch your neighbors pet while they are gone, you can trade off.

With any gift a nice card goes a long way, mention how grateful you are to them for watching your pet. You could even include a picture of your family with your pet.

There’s nothing more important than keeping loved ones happy. So do a favor to your pet today, by endearing their sitter to you with a special gift, it doesn’t need to be expensive just put a little thought and it will go a long way.

While you are having your neighbor check up on your pet you can also have them bring in the mail or newspaper and make sure the house is locked up, this way you know someone is also making sure your house is okay while you are gone.

Some people start their own cleaning services as a way of earning extra money. Cleaning is the easiest way to solve your financial worries because anyone can clean. The amount of competition you will encounter in this area is high. You will need to work all that much harder to distinguish yourself from the pack. If you prove yourself and do a good job, your business will grow because people will start recommending you to your friends and the whole thing will spread like wildfire. The same thing happens for cleaners to drop the ball when they’re at a job site. There are countless websites that provide reviews on contractors like cleaning services. You should want your name to only end up on these websites in a positive light. Improving your reputation once it has become tarnished on the internet is nearly impossible.

Vending machines are the gift that keeps on giving. Vending machines don’t usually cost a lot to start up, just the cost of the machine. The proper location will help you earn your money back and then start turning a profit. As your first vending machine becomes popular, you should keep adding more to your collection. Keep following this process until you have a group of vending machines that’s bringing in a considerable amount of money. Keep track of how much money each of your vending machines is earning.

Yard work can bring some money into your bank account. It’s not as desirable of an approach as starting a cleaning service because it requires some sort of physical prowess. If you don’t have what it takes to do the proper heavy lifting and arduous activities, you could always hire someone else to do the work for you. When you’re starting to do yard work as a way to earn extra cash, you won’t have the money needed to hire somebody. You could always promise this person their earnings based on what you project your yard service will bring in. They might not be convinced by this approach. Try and bring in some of your own money into your yard work service to open the possibility of hiring workers.

You could also try selling old items from around the house. There are lots of things that your family may have outgrown or don’t use anymore. You could sell old baby clothes, old electronics, or toys. There are different stores you can sell your used items to, online on a site like Ebay or Craigs List, or you could even try a garage sell.

When your house is broken into, you have to realize you might never get your stuff back. You can do a number of different things to prevent this from happening again, but none of them are fool proof methods for halting burglaries altogether. You have to do whatever you can to make the structures in which your stuff is stored secure and that your items are locked away from the outside world. If burglars are able to infiltrate your home, you will want them to try and steal your stuff, but not even find out how to access it.

If you’re worried about your house getting broken into, you should investigate in one of the many security systems on the market today. These systems vary widely in price. Some of them are worth their weight in gold while others are overpriced. Your viewpoint on this issue depends on what you need in a security system. Each security system provides its user with different features. You have to do your research and find the security system that’s the best for you.

You should also consider getting a firearm for your home and consider getting some training. A gun can be a life saving device if you have to defend yourself against potential intruders. If you do consider a firearm consider both a handgun and a shotgun as they are the most effective tools against attackers.  Often you won’t even need to fire a shot if an attacker sees that you have a firearm and are able to defend yourself, but if you need to, you have the ability to defend yourself.

Usually a burglar waits until you are gone from home but if your house is broken into, you may want to consult with a private eye in your city. One of the areas with the highest crime rate is New York City and the surrounding area so if you are robbed in that area you may want to hire a Long Island NY private investigator.  They will know what to do and venture into the streets immediately to find the person that robbed you. While you might be tempted to hold them back from their efforts, you will fail. An investigator, just like anyone who grew up knowing they might not see a lot of money, earns every last cent they charge as if you were their last client for the remainder of their career.

Again, there’s no surefire preventative measure for home burglaries. You will take your chances regardless of the technology you have in place to prevent something bad from happening. Your efforts will reduce the chance that you will fall victim to a robbery; however, they won’t get it down to absolutely zero.

Everyone else who shares the correct location will be entered to win one of ten Dell gift certificates for $499. In addition, anyone who shares the Treasure Hunt itself via a public Google+ account, Twitter, or blog will be entered into the sweepstakes to win the certificates.

You can find the first clue right now on the Dell laptops page. Good luck!

Bathing is one of the more difficult tasks to get a child to do. It is honestly a hit or miss kind of thing. The willingness of a child to bathe depends on the child, the day they have had, the amount of energy they have, and other such factors. Scented soaps and other products aimed at children are one way that you could go to make bath time more enjoyable. L’Oreal has a line of products for kids designed for maximum foam-age and fun. Another option is bath paints or crayons. You can pick these up at a local drug store, or you could  make them yourself. There are so many websites out there to find cute ideas like this that you should have no problem locating them.

There is a recipe for bath crayons that actually makes them out of soap so that the kids get clean while they play! All you will need is clear glycerin soap base, color dyes (either soap or food), essential oils (for smell), measuring cup, spoons, and molds for the crayons. You can pick up any of these ingredients at your local arts and crafts store for pretty cheap.

What you do first is cut up the soap base so that it is in cube. Then sort the cubes into piles according to the colors that you want to use. You can also sort them according to scent because the colors can coordinate with the smells. Then take the soap cubes for the first group and put them in the glass measuring cup. Put them in the microwave and heat them up in short bursts of cooking (this keeps the soap from burning). Once it is all melted and is in liquid form, add the color a drop at a time. Mix after each addition until you achieve the color that you want. Then add a few drops of the oil (not too many because then it becomes overpowering). Mix that. Then pour into the mold. You can buy an actual mold for a crayon or you get an ice cube tray that freezes ice cubes in cylindrical shapes. Either let this sit on your counter until it hardens or you can put it in the freezer to speed up the process.

Time to color!!

The central attractions at amusement parks  are, hands down, the rides.  They take us up, over, around, and through all sorts of twists and turns, at breakneck speed and in defiance of gravity.  Their aim is to thrill, scare, even upset us, and they accomplish all of this with our eager help.  We scream.  We close our eyes tightly, only to peer out at the worst moments.  The bravest wave their arms in the air and yell; “Look!  No hands!”  And, all too often, we end up getting motion sickness.  We’ll talk about that in a minute.

First, let’s look at the rides themselves – you probably recognize some of them from your own experience.  Remember the Tilt-A-Whirl?   It’s a thrill ride, a group that includes the chair swing, twister, and top spin, each designed to move and shake you in new and scary ways.  New rides are forever being invented, so that passengers can be spun and thrown around in unending variety.

Then there are the roller coasters, in a category all their own.  Many amusement parks have more than one; they tend to be the most popular and famous rides in the park.  Roller coasters provide plenty of scares and thrills while they are carrying you, at top speed and dizzying heights up, down, and around, while you scream. Hey!  This is fun!

Water rides have the added attraction of getting you soaking wet while delivering bumps, thumps, and water hazards as fast as they can.  They look lovely on a scorching afternoon, and if you survive the waterfall drops and total splashdowns, they probably feel that way too.

Another group of rides are not themselves so filled with scary twists and drops; they get their thrills from putting you in an open cart and a dark building and carrying you around corners to come suddenly upon scary scenes.  They make wonderful Halloween frights every day of the week, and you enter them knowing that their purpose is to scare you totally.  They add special lighting and 3-D effects, animated figures and scenes, and lots of loud, recorded noise, thereby earning a solid place in your memory, at least until you find a scarier one.

Now, let us go back to that bit about feeling sick.  Some folks may see that as a badge of honor – the sicker you are, the more fun you must have had – but most of us fervently wish for a way to have fun and still avoid the awfuls.  Here are  a few ideas:

• Plan what and when you eat, so that you are not going on thrill rides with a full stomach. That gives your system a better chance of dealing with what’s coming.
• Avoid the hottest days, if you can.  Your body will do a better job of staying stable if it has fewer adversities to fight.
• Take a break.  In fact, take more than one.  Plan your time so that you are not rushed, and then alternate scary rides with calmer times, perhaps walk the midway or ride something more soothing.
• Consider some anti-nausea products.  One of the best, because their effect is all natural, are the acupressure wristbands which interrupt the sense of nausea before it can be transmitted to the brain.  Voila!  No misery!  Other ideas may include medications of one sort or another, or even a simple icepack to press to your aching head.

So go ahead, plan your day at the park, go have fun; just plan how to survive the day so that you’ll be ready to go do it all again another time.

1. Add an Outdoor Fireplace

If you live in a climate where it gets cold at night, one of the easiest ways to create a true living space outdoors is to add a fireplace. A fireplace adds ambiance to the setting, can be used to cook and even give lighting to your outdoor living space. You can build a rustic fire pit out of stones or buy a small metal fireplace for an affordable price.

2. Comfortable Seating

If you are going to live in your backyard, you need seating, and it needs to be comfortable. You can add weather durable cushions to existing chairs, or you can splurge to add new seating that is more comfortable than what you have. The seating should also look appealing and inviting and be comfortable to sit in.

3. Invest in Lighting

Lighting sets the mood for your space, gives you a way to see after dark and helps it feel like an extension of your home, rather than just a backyard. Lighting can be the standard garden lights, but it can also be more creative. Consider hanging an outdoor chandelier or investing in hidden lighting options.

4. Add Some Fun

To make living in your backyard something the entire family will enjoy, make it fun with outdoor decorations, toys, basketball hoops, swimming pools swings and other equipment that encourage play. If you do not have kids in the home, add more sophisticated backyard games, like a dartboard or bocce ball set.

5. Add Covering

Add some sort of covering to your backyard to give yourself respite from rain or sun. A simple patio cover is not hard to build and can be affordable. You can even use a portable canopy to set something up without much cost.

Your goal when creating an outdoor living area is to create a space that is inviting and comfortable. This does not require an extensive deck addition or a huge outdoor kitchen. With a few simple tweaks and improvements, you can create a place to live in your backyard, extending your living area in your home just a little further.