Monday, February 20, 2012

Giveaway: Toast to the Red Carpet – LIVE by I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. All opinions are 100% mine.

I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!® - Original Soft Spread

Let’s have a show of hands. How many of you love the Oscars? I know I do! With all the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, what’s there not to like, right? It’s definitely an event that I would look forward to each year. As we all know, with the Oscars comes a host of ‘not to be missed’ red carpet events. This year, one of the buzz worthy event among foodies and fashionistas is the Toast to the Red Carpet – LIVE, presented by I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! online viewing party hosted by I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. On February 26th, from 3-4pm PST, it will be streaming live on the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter’s Facebook page and guess what? YOU are invited!

During this hour, foodies and fashionistas will be have the opportunity to get insiders access to some of the hottest red carpet fashion by Hollywood stars, even before the start of the event. Also, you can be part of a roundtable discussion with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars as well as a culinary and entertaining expert who will be preparing some really yummy recipes that you can use at your own home viewing party! Oh, talking about recipes, I must say that I found some really awesome red carpet recipes that you could make with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! on their website. They look so good, I MUST share with you one of my all-time favorites. Here’s the recipe for Caramelized Onion & Fig Mini Pizzas.

Caramelized Onion & Fig Mini Pizzas

Makes: 4 main-dish or 8 appetizer servings

Preparation Time: 15 Minute(s)

Cook Time: 30 Minute(s)

Ingredients

- 2 Tbsp. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!® Spread

- 1 medium onion, thinly sliced

- 1 cup dried mission figs, chopped (about 5 oz.)

- 1 Tbsp. port wine (optional)

- 6 slices low fat Swiss cheese (about 4 oz.)

- 2 (8-in.) prebaked pizza crusts

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450°.

Melt I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!® Spread in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat and cook onion, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes or until golden brown. Stir in figs and port and cook until liquid is absorbed. Arrange 3 slices cheese, torn to fit, on each pizza crust, then evenly top with onion mixture; press gently. Arrange pizzas on baking sheet and bake 12 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is crisp. Garnish, if desired, with thinly sliced fresh basil leaves. Cut each to pizza into 8 wedges.

TIP: Also great as a bruschetta topping! Simply toast rounds of French bread, then top with onion and fig mixture. Garnish with shredded cheese and toast until golden.

Cost per recipe*: $7.70.

Cost per serving*: $1.93

To add to the excitement of this event, I have teamed up with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter and we will be having a giveaway! A lucky reader will be randomly selected to win a coupon for a FREE tub of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! All you need to do to enter is comment on this post about why you are going to watch the Toast to the Red Carpet – LIVE online show and interact during the Toast to the Red Carpet – LIVE online show on the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter’s Facebook page. All comments must be submitted by 11:59pm, February 26th and a winner will be selected on February 27th.

*Disclaimer: All giveaway items were provided by I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! per FTC guidelines.

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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Clipix: Organize your life!

I’m not sure if you guys remember me sharing last week about an awesome online tool that I recently started using? It’s called clipix and really, it made my life a whole lot easier. My desktop is no longer all cluttered and filled with all sorts of shortcuts. My workspace is now free from post it notes and little scribbles of urls and links. It just feels awesome! Since that post, many people have told me that they tried using it and they too loved it. For those of you who missed out on my earlier post, I’ll share it with you guys again.

So, what is clipix? Well, clipix is an easy to use, free online tool that allows you to save and organize everything that you see online. How does it work? All you need to do is sign up and drag a bookmark called ‘Clip’ to your bookmark bar. Each time you visit a website that you like, just click on the ‘Clip’ button and it saves it to your clipboard. Yup, it’s that simple! There is no software to download and all the information that you clip is stored online. That’s really awesome, because it doesn’t take up any of the precious space in your computer. With clipix, there is no worry in losing information ever again!

What do I use this for? Almost everything! In my previous post, I shared about how I used clipix to store all types of recipes that I searched for online. Now all my recipes are organized and they are just a few clicks away. Being a self-proclaimed foodie and food blogger, I also spend a lot of time reading restaurant reviews and searching for interesting new restaurants to check out. With clipix, I could just clip all of the links to the restaurants onto my clipboards that I have organized geographically. For example, you can see a screenshot of my “Restaurants NYC” clipboards. Those are the restaurants that I would like to check out this month. Another awesome thing about this is that I could share it on Twitter as well as Facebook. If I like, I could even email it to my friends and family. Not only that, but there are also Syncboards. What that does is that it allows me to clip collaboratively with Kevin, as well as my friends or family. When anyone adds a clip to the syncboard, everyone else that I collaborate with will see it in real-time. With this feature, the burden of looking for a new restaurant to try out doesn’t only fall on me. Everybody can surf and add to the list of restaurants! How cool is that? I am so glad I found clipix and I’m pretty sure you will love it too. So, what are you waiting for? Sign up and start organizing your life today! Remember to leave me a comment to share what you will be using clipix for!

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Monday, February 13, 2012

Cornflake Honey Joy Cups

If you were to ask me what is the one thing that I really miss about spending Chinese New Year back home in Malaysia, I would have to say - THE FOOD! Of course I miss spending time with my family, extended family and my friends too but missing out on the CNY goodies always bums me out each year. This year, I tried making one of my all time favorite CNY treat, the Cornflake Honey Joy Cups! Boy, I really love those tiny cups of awesome! I never really tried making them and I always assumed that they were really difficult to make. After checking out a few recipes online, I realized that they are really simple to make. Here's how you make them!
Start off by melting about 90g of unsalted butter in a large pan. Then add in 4 large tablespoons of honey.
Stir the honey into the melted butter and allow it to come to a boil. Remember not to let it overcook, cause it burns easily. Once you see it bubbling, you can turn off the heat immediately.
Then, add in about 4 cups of cornflakes.
Gently fold in the cornflakes with the honey butter mixture. Just make sure that you coat all of the cornflakes evenly with the mixture.
Next, scoop the cornflakes into tiny little paper cups. This recipes makes about 60 mini cups.
Pop in the tray of cornflake cups into a preheated 325F oven for about 12-13 minutes. You know it's done once it turns golden brown.
Once you have taken out the tray from the oven, sprinkle on some nonpareils colored balls as decoration. Allow it to cool for a bit and it's ready to be served! Wasn't that easy? The smell of the cornflake cups were just simply intoxicating when it was baking in the oven. So so so good! Go ahead and try it. It's awesome!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Organize your life with clipix!

I spend a lot of time online. When I say a lot, I mean A LOT! I’m like a permanent fixture in front of my laptop all day. What do I do online? Well, apart from blogging and spending time on various social media sites, I surf a lot. Being a self-proclaimed foodie and food blogger, I spend a lot of time looking for new recipes to try out, reading food/restaurant reviews as well as looking for the next interesting and new restaurant to visit. Sounds good but my problem is, I’m generally a very unorganized person. On any given day, I would have at least 6-8 tabs open on my browser and my desktop is covered with shortcut links to various websites. I also have tiny pieces of post it notes stuck on my laptop, with all kinds of notes and links. Yes, my workspace is always in a mess. Even with that, I would always have to search for stuff over and over again, just because I can’t remember where I last saw it!

Recently, I found out about an awesome online tool that just made my life so much easier. It’s called clipix. What’s that? Well, clipix is basically like my own personal online secretary who saves and organizes all the things that I surf for each day. How? It’s simple. All I needed to do was sign up and drag a bookmark called ‘Clip’ to my bookmark bar. Each time I visit a website that I like, I can just click on the ‘Clip’ button and it saves it to my clipboard. With that, I do not have to worry about losing information ever again. It’s really simple to use and what’s ever cooler? It’s FREE! You do not need to download anything to your laptop and all the information you save is stored online. How awesome is that?

So, what do I use clipix for? Well, everything! However, to be more specific, I find clipix to be most useful when I search for new recipes to try out. I have customized my clipboards to various categories, like “Asian Recipes”, “Italian Recipes”, “American Recipes” “Desserts”, “Snacks” and so on. I have shown you guys a screenshot of my “Asian Recipes” clipboard. Once it’s saved, all I need to do is click on each picture to view the recipes at its source. I could also share it my friends and family via email, Facebook and Twitter. There is also an iPhone App where you can down, so you can take your clipboards with you wherever you go! I totally love Clipix and I’m pretty sure you will too. So, what are you waiting for? Go sign up and start organizing your life today! Oh and don’t forget to leave me a comment to share what you will be using clipix for!

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Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Amazing Deals during Sprint's 4 Day Sale!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sprint. All opinions are 100% mine.

These days, cell phones are quick becoming a necessity (as opposed to it being a luxury item say 15 years ago). There are so many new cell phones and plans out there, it’s difficult to know what’s good and not. I personally enjoy keeping track on what’s new in the market, so I know a good deal when I see one. For those of you who are looking for a new phone or to replace your current phone, you have to check this out!

I found out about this deal a couple of days ago and it’s really awesome! Sprint is currently having a limited time, 4 day, online only sale! It runs from the 5th until the 8th of February (yes, it’s ongoing NOW!). During this period, you will get to choose between two new and exciting options when you open a new line of service or when you add to your current Sprint account.

Facebook_Nexus.JPG

The first option gets you the Nexus S™ 4G for FREE when you open a new line of service or add to your account. That’s right, you read it correct. FREE!! How it works is that it combines an online only savings of a $50 Mail In Rebate which converts to an instant and a $99.99 web only savings. Remember, you can only qualify for this promotion if you purchase it online.

Facebook_EVO 3D.jpg

The other option gets you the HTC EVO™ 3D for only $49.99 when you open a new line of service or add to your account. With this option, you get a $50 Mail In Rebate which converts to instant and a $50 web only savings. Just like the first option, it’s an online only savings.

Also, with both this options, you will get the activation fee waived for new lines of service and also qualify for free shipping on sprint.com. So, what are you waiting for? Time is running out! Head over to Sprint to get your phones before the sale ends on February 8th!

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Monday, February 6, 2012

Sage Sausage and Cranberry Stuffing

How can you make a holiday meal without making any stuffing? In my opinion, I feel that the stuffing completes the meal. It usually doesn't get to be in the limelight, unlike the turkey but Thanksgiving wouldn't be Thanksgiving without the stuffing. So, I have saved the best for last. This is the final part in my four part series of simple Thanksgiving recipes. It's been fun sharing those recipes with you and I hope you will enjoy making them as much as I enjoyed sharing them with you.
This is another really simple but yummy recipe. Start off my melting 4 tablespoons of butter in a large pan. Then, crumble and cook 1 lbs of sage sausage until brown.
Next, add in approximately two cans (14.5 oz) of chicken broth.
Once the chicken broth comes to a boil, turn off the heat and add in one package of herb flavored stuffing. Gently fold in the stuffing into the broth and sausage mixture.
Finally, add in about 1 cup of dried cranberry and gently mix it into the stuffing mixture. Once, it is all evenly mixed, transfer the stuffing from the pan into a casserole dish. Then, cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil and pop it into a 325F oven for about an hour. There you go, another simple holiday recipe. Now, who says cooking for the holidays needs to be stressful? :D

Save with Walgreens Prescription Savings Club!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens. All opinions are 100% mine.

I don’t know about you, but these days, I noticed that both Kevin and I have been spending a whole lot more on healthcare and prescriptions. I guess that’s what happens when you get older. Back in the day, we really didn’t take much notice about how expensive medications can be. Now that we have monthly prescriptions to fill, it all really adds up. I can imagine how much worse it could be if someone doesn’t have or have insufficient drug coverage.

If you are one of those who is feeling the pinch from expensive medications (just like us), boy, I’ve got some news for you! Did you know that Walgreens is offering a special discount on annual memberships for its Prescription Savings Club? Walgreens Prescription Savings Club? What’s that, you might ask. Well, for only $20 a year, individuals who join will get discounted prices on your prescriptions. Sounds awesome? Wait, there’s more! For a mere $35 a year, you can get a family membership which covers everyone in your immediate family (that includes your spouse, dependents 22 or younger and pets). That’s right, even your pets are covered!

Among some of the benefits that comes along with membership are savings on more than 8,000 brand-name and all generic medications as well as discounts on flu shots, pet prescriptions, nebulizers and diabetic supplies. Not only that, but you will also get bonuses when you purchase Walgreens brand products and photofinishing services.

Walgreens has always been my favorite neighborhood pharmacy and with its Prescription Savings Club, I’m sure it will be yours too. Don’t waste your money on expensive prescriptions. Join Walgreens Prescription Savings Club and start saving today! You can also stay updated with all of Walgreens current promotions and news by liking Walgreens on Facebook as well as following Walgreens on Twitter.

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Classic Green Bean Casserole

Here is another 'must have' on our holiday menu - the Classic Green Bean Casserole! You cannot go wrong with this recipe. It's really easy to make and it has become a staple in all of our holiday meals. It doesn't require many ingredients and it takes barely minutes to prep. Here's the recipe!
Start off by mixing 1/2 a cup of milk to 1 can of condensed mushroom soup. It doesn't HAVE to be Campbell's but I don't know, it always seem to taste better whenever I use Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup.
Then, add in a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce and some black pepper. I like how the Worcestershire sauce adds in a little kick to the entire dish.
Next, add in 4 cups of frozen cut green beans into a baking dish. Then, stir in the mushroom soup mixture. At this point, you can choose to stir in some fried onions if you like. I really love fried onions, so I would usually stir in some. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and pop it into a 350F oven for about 25 minutes.
After about 25 minutes (or once it starts bubbling), remove the baking dish from the oven and sprinkle on some fried onions. Pop it back into the oven (without the aluminum foil) for about 10 minutes. The green bean casserole is ready to be served once the fried onions are nicely browned. There you go, another super simple holiday favorite!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Oven Baked Sweet Potato Casserole

Firstly, I must apologize for the lack of updates. It's been a crazy few months for us and things are just beginning to get back to normal. I know I promised some easy to make Thanksgiving dinner recipes and so far, I have only shared the recipe for roast turkey. In the next couple of posts, I will be sharing with you recipes for some of our favorite sides. To get the ball rolling, here is the recipe for one of my all time favorite - the Sweet Potato Casserole. It's really yummy and the best part? It's also really simple to make! Here's how you make it.
Start off by cooking some sweet potatoes (or yams, depends on which part of the country you are from) in boiling water. Just leave the skin on. It's way easier to remove after it's cooked.
Once they are cooked and soft, take them out from the boiling water and remove the skin. The skin should just slide off without any problems. Be really careful though, cos those sweet potatoes can be HOT HOT HOT! Then, add in about 5 tablespoons of butter.
Mash the sweet potatoes with a potato masher. If you do not have a potato masher, you can just use a fork. It works just as well. Make sure that the butter is mixed evenly into the sweet potatoes.
Then, add in some maple syrup. I used pure dark amber maple syrup that we bought from Vermont but you can pretty much use any type of maple syrup that you like. Mix it into the sweet potato mixture.
Once you have mixed in the maple syrup, the sweet potato mixture should be smooth and creamy. If its not, then you would need to mash it a little bit more. Once your sweet potatoes have reached the desired consistency, transfer the sweet potato mixture into a baking dish.
Then, sprinkle on some chopped pecans or pecan halves. Make sure that your pecans are evenly distributed on the top of your casserole. Finally, cover the baking dish with aluminum foil. Pop the sweet potato casserole into a 350F oven. After about 30-35 minutes, remove the casserole from the oven and it's ready to be served! Now, wasn't that easy? Try it, I'm very sure that you will like it too!