What Your Pet's Name Says About You

         There are a lot of ways your habits and preferences express who you are. If you drive a minivan, you’re probably a mom. If you clip pet food coupons, you probably have a dog. If you get up early every morning and go on a run before work, you’re awesome and I envy your incredible intrinsic motivation.

         Perhaps most telling of your inner self is what you call your pet -- "The name of a dog reflects the personality and sense of humor of the owner," says Lisa Peterson, American Kennel Club spokesperson. "For example if you name your toy poodle 'Brutus,' that shows a sense of irony."

         Accordingly, if you call your pet something common  -- like “Bear” – you’re probably looking to infuse your home with a bit of comfort. If your pet has a human name like “Molly” it says that you see pets like full-fleged family members, while other pet names reveal personal interests (i.e. Charlotte’s dog “Elizabeth Taylor” on Sex and The City.)

         Experts say that pets pick up on the connotation you assign to a name, and that your pet’s name can say a lot about who you are and what you want in life, so it’s important to choose carefully. You can learn more about the art of pet name analysis, what the top ten most common pet names say about the people who choose them, and find some great pet food coupons here. 

Rice Krispies Redux

        

        The three-ingredient recipe that turns Rice Krispies coupons into an iconic American dessert is a kitchen classic – but it can be a little blasé. Here are four easy-peasy ways to add a little sparkle to this family-friendly dessert.

1)    Nutella. Nutella is a spread made from hazelnuts and cocoa, and it’s wildly popular in Europe. It tastes chocolate-y and has a consistency similar to peanut butter. You can make Nutella Rice Krispies Treats by adding ½ cup Nutella when you’re mixing the marshmallows and butter before adding the cereal.

2)    Sprinkles. Colorful sprinkles can add visual appeal and delicious crunch to Rice Krispies treats, so just add them in when you add in the cereal. There are hundreds of kinds of sprinkles, so you can do a lot with this one!     

3)    Chocolate. If you’re a true chocoholic, use cocoa krispies to make the rice krispies treats – but also add 1 cup of frozen chocolate chips to the mix when you’re adding the cereal. The chips need to be frozen so the marshmallows don’t melt them, and the result is scrumptious.

4)    When you’re using Rice Krispies coupons, grab a couple of your favorite candy bars too. Chop them up and toss them into the rice krispies treats when you add the cereal. Most candies work well, from jelly beans to caramels to butterfingers to skittles. You name it, it’ll probably be delicious.

Do y’all have any other suggestions for simple ways to spruce up plain Rice Krispies Treats? Share your tricks in the comment section – I can’t wait to read them!

            

Cure Your Cat's Donut Cravings

        

         Have you ever been in your favorite donut shop and lamented that your feline friend will never know the joys of fried, sugary pastry O’s? Well, you still can’t use Dunkin Donuts coupons to feed your cat (I think most veterinarians would advise against that), but thanks to Etsy’s Catzilla Crafts, your cat no longer has to look upon your donuts with envious eyes. The clever shop offers (low-fat!) catnip-filled felt donuts for felines. Delicious!

         But not all cats dream of dining on donuts. No matter what your pet’s personality, Etsy has an adorable option for you. If your cat prefers cupcakes to donuts, Gooder Goods makes a terrific yarn-iced variety. If sweets aren’t your cat’s bag, a tin of crocheted sardines from Handmade Cottage could be just right, though the de-‘cat’-pitated mouse, pigeon, and fish trio from Spellwell is probably right up the traditional feline’s alley.

         I love these fabulous cat toys so much that I almost wish I had a cat – though I know that felt donuts and crocheted meats aren’t really a good reason to assume the tremendous responsibility of pet ownership. Perhaps I’ll just order a few of these treats for my sister’s pet and I’ll learn to enjoy my Dunkin Donuts coupons sans feline companion. 

Cereal vs. Cupcake

         If given the choice between cereal and cupcakes …. I’d pick cupcakes. Any time. Even at breakfast. Of course, I still use tons of General Mills coupons and I do eat cereal – but only because a girl cannot live on cake alone (though Marie Antoinette might disagree).

         Pitting cupcakes against cereal seems like an unfair matchup, but that’s exactly what Kellogg’s is doing to drive home the delicious taste of their FiberPlus Caramel Pecan Crunch. In the new tv advertisements, women participate in a cupcakes v. cereal taste test at The Perfect Circle Cupcakery in Orange, California. The bakery is famed for its chocolate lava cupcake (just typing it makes my mouth water) and so Kellogg’s figured that they’d sell their cereal by the truckload if it could hold its own against indulgent baked goods. 

         The taste testers’ consensus was that the cereal is great – but the cupcake still wins. But getting second place to world-famous cupcakes isn’t half bad for a healthy cereal. The ad finishes with the message: “Not the best tasting cupcake … the best tasking fiber. Kellogg’s FiberPlus: Taste The Plus.” And I have to say that this ballsy move is pretty effective – I’m considering swapping my General Mills coupons for Kellogg’s coupons this week and trying that cereal that can give a cupcake a run for its money. 

Pet Theft on The Rise

        Hold on to your pets, folks. According to the American Kennel Club, dog theft is up a staggering 32 percent this year – a fact that should give all beggin strips coupon users pause.

         The numbers come from the AKC’s database, which catalogues media reports of stolen pets and reports of stolen pets to the AKC’s Companion Animal Recovery service. In the first half of this year, 224 pets were stolen across the United States, in comparison to just 150 in the same period last year. When compared to the 162 pets stolen in the year 2009, the numbers are even more shocking.

            "Some are taken out of homes, some are taken out of cars, some are taken out of pet stores," said AKC spokeswoman Lisa Peterson. "I've even seen some taken out of a child's arms on a park bench."

            Analysts say that the spike in pet abductions can be tied to the nation’s financial situation – stolen pets can be sold for cash, given as gifts, and even held for ransom.

            To protect your pet from pet-nappers, the AKC recommends that people micro-chip their dogs. Also, you should beware people who are overly interested in or inquisitive about your dog. If anyone asks you how much your paid for your dog, this should raise a red flag. Finally, keep an eye on your pet when you’re out running errands and using Beggin Strips coupons to prevent opportunistic thieves from snagging your pet. 

Top Drugstore Makeup Finds

You might think that makeup artists who work with top clients only work with top-shelf products, but according to Allure magazine, that simply isn’t the case. Even professional makeup artists use makeup coupons on occasion, and a lot of drugstore products are every bit as good as their pricier department store counterparts. Here, makeup artists Susan Giordano and Emily Kate Warren highlight their favorite drugstore finds.

         MASCARA: Cover Girl LashExact in Black, $ 8.47

         This great, clean formula can be layed on thick without clumping, and its pretty purple tube looks lovely on any vanity – which is why it’s Giordano’s go-to. 

         EYELINER: Prestige Cosmetic Liquid Eyeliner in Black, $5.75

         Giordano praises the inkwell-style bottle and tapered applicator, which creates precise and clean lines.

         BLUSH: Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Inspired by Carmindy in Bloom, $8.95.

         Warren loves the natural-looking color of this blush, which she calls “true and long-lasting.”

         LIPSTICK: Maybelline New York Color Sensational in So Pearly, $7.49.

         When using makeup coupons, Giordano likes this nude shade. It suits a wide range of skin tones, because “it’s sheer and shimmery,” and can be worn day or night.

         MAKEUP BRUSHES: Sonia Kashuk line, $2.99-$15.99

         Makeup artists praise the high quality of these brushes as “incredible.” The super-soft bristles make for easy blending of blushes and shadows. 

Makeup Junkie Trivia

Hey, makeup junkies! You may know how to apply blush to suit your face shape and where to find Maybelline coupons online, but I betcha don’t know these wild beauty facts!

            There are 20,000 pores in the average female face.

            America’s number on best-selling cosmetics product is Maybelline GreatLash Mascara. The stuff in the pink and green tube has topped this list for more than a decade, and the Maybelline company estimates that a tube is sold every 1.6 seconds!

            Cosmetics company Elizabeth Arden was founded by a woman named Florence Graham.

            Avon was the first major cosmetics company to announce a permanent end to animal testing of its products in 1989.

            In 1926, Q-Tips made their debut on the American market under their original brand name: Baby Gays.

            Helena Rubenstein began her career doing film makeup, and she sparked a national sensation for mascara when she used it on silent film star Theda Bara, who was the first movie star to appear onscreen in mascara.

            The first UVA/UVB sunscreen was invented by Coppertone in 1980.

            American women spent 5.5 billion dollars on drugstore skin care products in 2010.

            Baltimore pharmacist George Bunting invented a skin cream called “Dr. Bunting’s Sunburn Remedy” in 1914, but changed the name to Noxema after customers began reporting that it eliminated eczema.

            If you knew these facts, give yourself a pat on the back and print off some of these Maybelline coupons – you’ve earned them! 

Strange Saving Strategies

         So the stock market is less than stable – to put it gently – and millions of Americans are nervous about where to put their money. If you were thinking about places to stash your cash where you could be sure it wouldn’t get lost, what would you do? You could entrust it to a bank, but the risk of a bank collapse has inspired some people to taking their savings into their own hands (literally). If you had to store your life savings in your home, where would you hide it? In the freezer? With your tampon coupons? You won’t believe the places people are concealing their cash.

         According to CNNMoney, an increasing number of people are choosing to store their resources in unexpected places as the result of growing uncertainty about the global economy. Interviewees said they put their cash in places as diverse as the magazine of a gun, the belly of a teddy bear, and even a box of tampons. As a kid, I always kept things I wanted to hide from my brother in my tampon box because the mere mention of tampon coupons freaked him out and I knew he’d never go anywhere near that gross girl stuff. But the burglars who’d seek to rob you blind probably don’t have the same phobias as adolescent boys.

         So if you really want to outsmart burglars, you’re going to need something a little less conventional – perhaps this lettuce safe?

         "No one would ever suspect it's anything but a perennially ripe leafy vegetable," said Lettuce safe owner Kerrie Hopkins. You can keep it in your fridge, which gives a whole new meaning to the term “cold cash.” 

Drinking Pepsi From A Corn Husk

         Did y’all hear that Pepsi is totally changing the formula of one of its products? The change is going to make wave in the beverage industry, and maybe it’ll even help Pepsi get  a leg up on coke in the decades-long soda wars between the two brands. The way you use Pepsi coupons is about to change…..

         

         But don’t worry, Pepsi devotees. The soda itself is going to stay exactly the same (I can almost hear your sigh of relief). What Pepsi has reformulated is their plastic bottles. They’ve recently discovered how to make the bottles entirely out of plants, which the company says reduces the PepsiCo Carbon footprint significantly. They also say their new, eco-friendly bottles are significantly more advanced than those of their chief competitor.

         The new bottles are made from switch grass, pine bark, corn husks and other materials. Pepsi eventually hopes to incorporate other common plant materials including orange peels, oat husks, potato scraps and other food business leftovers. Traditional bottles are made with fossil fuels like petroleum, and these limited resources have a serious environmental impact and are actually more expensive than plant materials, so this new bottle technology is a big deal.

         Pepsi execs say that people how use Pepsi coupons shouldn’t worry about the new packaging affecting the flavor integrity of the soda inside. The new bottles looks, feels, and protects the drink inside as well as the current plastic ones. 

Get Saucy: Preparing the Perfect Pan Sauces

Today I want to talk about how to make perfect pan sauces. I usually just use prego coupons and pop open the jar when I need a sauce for a dish, but I’ve found that making pan sauces is super-easy and the results taste gourmet – which really impresses dinner guests. Don’t be intimidated, there are only four steps: you start by deglazing the pan, reduce the cooking liquid, thicken with a creamy ingredient, and season your sauce.

            Deglazing is the first step to making any great pan sauce. “Deglazing” is chef-speak for the method of removing the dark bits of flavor off the bottom of the sauté pan after you’re done browning meats, and it brings a savory flavor to any dish. After you brown the meat in a frying pan, you’ll need to remove the protein from the pan and then pour a liquid (wine works beautifully but beer, chicken broth, fruit juice and vinegar work, too) into the hot pan. While the liquid sizzles, scrape the hot pan to loosen the bits of flavor that got stuck to it during the initial cooking process. After you’ve deglazed the bottom of the pan, you’re set up to make a delicious sauce that will compliment the flavor of the meat, seafood, or veggies you just cooked in the pan. Just simmer the deglazing liquid until it’s reduced (“reduced” is chef speak for the thickening that happens as water evaporates from the sauce) by half. Add a few tablespoons of butter, cream, or sour cream to thicken the sauce. Then add fresh herbs, caramelized onions, roasted garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.  Pour it over your cooked meat, chicken, or seafood and you’ve got a delicious dish.

            This method is fantastic because it’s easy and foolproof. It’s a great starter technique for people like me who usually get their sauces with prego coupons and aren’t accustomed to making them from scratch. Once you’ve mastered this you’ll be empowered to try all sorts of inventive new techniques to take your cooking to the next level!!!

Pasta's Health Benefits for Diabetics

            I was looking for pasta coupons online the other day and I saw a piece of news that makes my noodle-addiction seem more like a very healthy habit than a carbohydrate dependency. According to a new study published in the journal Diabetes Care, soy germ-enriched pasta improves endothelial function, reduces blood pressure, and reduces markers of oxidative stress in patients with type 2 diabetes.

            "In the treatment of type 2 diabetes, dietary modifications potentially represent a more attractive and cost-effective approach than drugs," Dr Kenneth D. R. Setchell from University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Ohio, said. The pasta is widely available in Italy already but is still hard to find in the United States – though hopefully this will change in light of these promising findings.

             Dr. Setchell and a group of Italian scientists compared the effects of consuming soy-germ enriched pasta with the benefits of eating regular pasta. The 20-week crossover study of 26 adults with type-2 diabetes found that the enriched pasta, which contains compounds known as isoflavone aglycons, reduced cardiovascular risk markers when consumed regularly. Patients who ate the enriched pasta saw reduced blood pressure and higher antioxidant capacity.
            "At the end of the day, pasta is a very healthy food, a good carbohydrate," Dr Setchell concluded. "Unfortunately it is not always viewed that way because it is clumped together with carbohydrates in general." This last bit is especially heartening to me, and I’m totally going to remember that pasta is good for you when I use pasta coupons. Thanks for alleviating my carb guilt, Dr. Setchell! (If you’re interested, you can see the full report in Reuters Health). 

Deodorant Resistance: How To Fight Stink

                 

             I’ve been using the same brand of deodorant for years – I know what I like and I stick with it. But recently, I began to wonder if the company had changed the formula somehow – it just didn’t seem to be working as well for me as it had in the past, and I got self-conscious about the fact that I seemed to be sweating a lot and I might smell less than fresh, too. It sounds totally paranoid, right? It’s not like there’s a deodorant conspiracy going on designed to make us all sweaty and stinky. But as it turns out, there’s a reason that deodorants may not work as well over time, and so I’ve decided to start using Mitchum deodorant coupons instead of buying my favorite standby brand.

                  The thing is that, when you sweat, your armpits produce and harbor smelly bacteria (gross but true). Bacteria are tricky little buggers, and just like they can become resistant to antibiotics, they can become immune to the ingredients designed to neutralize them in deodorants. This same phenomenon can happen with the bacteria in your mouth, which can develop a resistance to the ingredients in our toothpaste, which is why it’s important to mix up the formula you use every now and again.

                  "It's a good idea to switch up your deodorant brand every 6 months to prevent resistance," says Han Lee, M.D., an assistant professor of dermatology at USC.  So if you’ve been using Mitchum deodorant coupons for years, it might just be time to give Old Spice a try (or vice versa). Stay one step ahead of those armpit bacteria and you’ll be all set. 

MLS Gets Spicy

         

          Though it’s a game beloved the world over, and though more than one billion people tune in to its world championship game every four years, soccer is still an upstart in the United States. To help break into the mainstream, Major League Soccer – the official governing body of professional soccer stateside – took inspiration from Old Spice coupons.

         It’s actually a good idea – Old Spice was a relatively under-appreciated brand before the revolutionary Old Spice Guy advertisements premiered last year, and MLS is hoping that a spoof of the iconic campaign will help the organization breakthrough to the mainstream.

         In the video, Chivas USA midfielder Michael Lahoud channels Isaiah Mustafa (all the way down to the white towel) in an effort to sell more tickets to the game, and I can tell you that he’s got my attention. If the guys start playing shirtless, I can guarantee that they’ll sell more tickets to female spectators.

         You’d never see Tom Brady or Kobe Bryant doing this – not that they’d have to – but I think this shows a sense of humor and an inventiveness that I don’t always expect from elite athletes. It’s funny, and it makes me want to use Old Spice coupons and watch soccer at the same time – and it’s also established Lahoud as my new favorite soccer player (sorry, Becks). 

Dog Poop For Gold? Taiwanese Officials Hope To Clean Up

         If your municipality has an issue with pooper-scooping, you might take a page from Taiwan’s book. We all know that what goes in must come out, and any dogfood coupons you use now will yield dog poops down the line – but not all pet owners take the time to clean up after their pets, which can be a frustrating experience for those who accidentally locate stray presents with their feet.

         Hoping to keep their streets and parks clean, New Taipei City in Taiwan is offering raffle tickets to citizens in exchange for each bag of doggy doo doo they submit. Each drawing is for a prize of one of three gold ingots valued at approximately $2,100, $625, and $400, respectively.

            “We believe this innovative measure will raise people’s awareness of the problem,” Chen Chao-mint, an official with the city's environmental protection department, told the Taipei Times. “Through the raffle, we expect the public to pay closer attention to environmental sanitation and play a more active role in keeping their surroundings clean.”

            I think this measure is totally ingenious – I’ve heard of cash for gold, but this is an even better deal: gold for poop! If dog turns were worth money here, you can bet they wouldn’t be left lying in the streets. I might just have to take my dog and my dogfood coupons to Taipei on our next vacation, because I think we’d have a good chance of cleaning up with this arrangement! 

Foie Gras Donuts? I'll Take the Plain Glazed, Thanks.

I have a pretty liberal appetite when it comes to sweets – cookies, cakes, donuts, danishes, tarts, muffins, cupcakes, whatever. If it has sugar I’m down. But you all will not believe about the totally weird donut one Brooklyn shop is selling! I thought that I was adventurous because I’ve used Dunkin Donuts coupons to try almost everything the shop offers, but I’m not nearly open-minded enough to try this one.

            It’s a foie gras filled donut! Some might think this French delicacy donut sounds like heaven, but I’m calling foul. I just think it sounds icky – the idea of voluntarily ingesting goose or duck liver freaks me out. Some people pay a lot of money for that, and I won’t judge. Vegan food blogger Annie Harnett is judging, though.

            "Birds should not have to suffer for donuts," the animal advocate writes in a petition to Do or Dine. Apparently, ducks and geese have to be force-fed to get fatty livers – and that just gives me more reason to never want to eat foie gras. Ever.

            Another reason to avoid the donut delicacies – even if you aren’t concerned about the well-being of our fine feathered friends – is that these particular donuts cost eleven bucks a pop. I can’t imagine forking that much over for a single donut when I can get enough donuts to feed my whole office for the same amount with Dunkin Donuts coupons! 

Pets Make People Happy (Science Proves It)

Anyone who uses pet food coupons know that the rewards of pet ownership far outweigh the costs. But now, there’s science to back that up – the emotional benefits of pet ownership can in fact be equal to the benefits of human friendship, according to findings by psychologists at Miami University and St. Louis University.

            The findings, which were based on the results of three separate experiements, were recently published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
            In the first study, 217 people filled out questionnaires to gauge their self-esteem, loneliness, illness, depression and activity level.  Survey respondents who own pets scored far better overall. They had higher self-esteem and were less lonely than those people who did not own pets.

            In the second study, 56 dog owners answered the same questionnaire from the first survey but also offered information about how they related to their dogs. In the cases where the dog was seen as a compliment rather than a complication, people experienced the greatest emotional return.

            "In fact ... we repeatedly observed evidence that people who enjoyed greater benefits from their pets also were closer to other important people in their lives and received more support from them, not less," the study says.

            In the final portion of the survey, 97 undergrads wrote about socially uncomfortable experiences and then about memories of their favorite pet. The feelings of exclusion brought up by recollecting bad memories were remedied by thinking about happy memories of pets.

            This may sound pretty groundbreaking – who knew that people who used pet food coupons were happier than people who don’t have pets? But other earlier studies elsewhere have also shown that pet ownership is linked "to decreased pain transmission" and found that the benefits pet ownership can especially be especially pronounced in people older than 50. All of this just goes to show that dogs really are man’s best friend!!!

An Adorable Shrinky Dinks Project

            As a little kid, I loved so many things with genuine, untarnished enthusiasm. Some of those things – like ball pits – seem unfathomably germy and unappealing now, but there are some – like Lucky Charms – that I can still enjoy decades later. It wasn’t until I was looking for Lucky Charms coupons online yesterday that I was reminded of another thing I loved as a little girl: Shrinky dinks!

            Those of you who have made shrinky dinks will understand, and for those of you who don’t – it’s rather hard to explain. A Shrinky dink is just a piece of shrunken plastic, but it’s got so much more magic in it than that descruiption conveys. To make shrinky dinks, you doodle on a special piece of thin plastic, which you then place in a very hot oven. The heat makes the plastic contract and the original item shrinks to a fraction of its original size.

         Granted, the applications of this particular medium are limited – Christmas ornaments, jewelry, and keyrings are pretty much it. But this project is about the journey as much as the destination, and half the fun of it is watching plastic magically miniaturize in the oven. The other half of the fun is seeing your own artwork shrunk down to an unfathomably small scale. You can make a Lucky charms coupons inspired charms bracelet with this template from Sublime Stitching – how could good luck not gravitate toward you while you’re wearing a pot of gold, a horseshoe, a rainbow, and a four-leafed clover around your wrist? It’s a perfect rainy-day project to do with the kids in your life (or your inner child!).