Author Archives: The Jewish Lady

Win $50.00 of Minecraft, Friends, or Creator Legos from SaferChild

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Here is a wonderful new giveaway for parents, sponsored by the folks at SaferChild.

SaferChild is a new locator that helps you know, through a smartphone app, whether your child has arrived home safely. It’s expected to launch later in 2015, and will offer the most accurate locator to parents available on the market. The technology is designed to help you to give your children independence as they grow, while enabling you to have peace of mind. (Most moms and dad I know are working and worried about kids getting home safe.)

Before they launch, SaferChild is reaching out to parents about their app and offering a chance to win $50.00 of Minecraft, Friends or Creator legos. 

This giveaway will be open thru 8/27. Good luck!

$50 of Minecraft, Friends or Creator Lego from SaferChild

ModCloth’s New Style Collection

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This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.

Introducing ModCloth, the online shop’s first-ever namesake label, inspired by you! To create this line of versatile tops, bottoms, cardigans, coats, and of course, beautiful dresses, the folks at ModCloth looked to your feedback to determine all the must-have details (say hello to pockets and luxe linings!), pored over popular trends on Style Gallery, and did three times the typical amount of fittings to ensure a fabulous, consistent fit.


  

Shop the gorgeous looks now and score this great deal! Use code YESEXPRESS to get FREE express shipping on US orders of $150+ . Tops, bottoms, fall-ready outerwear, and head-turning dresses—don’t wait to flaunt the looks you love.

How to Streamline Your Online Time

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Most everyone I know is spending multiple hours a day online—usually a mix of business, leisure, and plain old time wasting (Hello, Facebook!). We all lead busy lives, and if we’re not careful, being online can become ALL we have time for.

Here are some of the ways I streamline my online time to get the most accomplished and have more time for my family and other duties!

1. Have a plan

Know why you’re getting online, and what you plan to accomplish. It’s helpful for me to plan out each day in advance. For example, my daily list might include writing 2 new blog posts, printing some coupons, and ordering a book from amazon. Then when I am online, I do only those things, and start a new list for the next day.

Everything is written down on paper in a spiral notebook. Seeing it laid out clearly makes it so much easier to follow.

2. Business before pleasure

Those of us who work exclusively online know how hard this tip can be to follow. Before I allow myself to start reading other blogs or emailing my friends, I finish up ALL of my business work. Because blogging can be so time consuming, there are many days I run out of time and/or energy before I’ve gotten to do anything fun. That can make me sad, but it’s really a matter of picking and choosing and realizing that I can’t do everything!

I used to always, without fail, read all of my friends’ blogs (and even blogs of people I didn’t know hardly anything about!) first, before doing my own work. As a result, I was getting behind in writing articles, answering comments/emails, and scheduling giveaways. I finally realized that I must write before I read, or I will always be too tired to write, and I love writing!

I also don’t recommend getting sucked into Facebook wars, Pinterest binge sessions, random googling, etc. It is a huge time suck that produces no tangible results and often brings people down anyway.

3. Utilize RSS feeds and Subscriber lists

It takes time to visit a large number of websites each day. And it’s a waste of time when you browse from blog to blog, hoping for new updates when there are none. Any site that I enjoy reading regularly, I subscribe to. For instance, I used to check deals on The Krazy Coupon Lady constantly. It was becoming an obsession for me and I worried about missing out. Eventually, I just signed up for her hot deal alert and now I receive only 1 email a day that highlights the best ones. So much simpler and quicker!

4. Set a time limit

If I’m not careful, 8 hours can go by in a flash online, leaving me too tired for the necessary cooking, cleaning, shopping, and other things I need to do in real life. There isn’t a magic number for everyone, but try to keep your online time reasonable. For me, this is usually 3 or 4 hours for work plus an hour for fun stuff.

5. Unplug

At least once a week—if not more—turn the computer off, ideally for 24 hours. Working 7 days a week will lead to nothing but burn out and frustration. Bloggers in particular are afraid to step away for even a minute, and I totally understand that, but we need to remember that genuine readers will return if you provide quality content on a regular basis.

I find that taking 2 or even 3 days a week off actually makes me feel more clear-headed and inspired to work.

 

How do you avoid wasting time online?

Ultimate Cherry Cheesecake

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Whenever I need to make a show stopping dessert, I always pull out this recipe for Ultimate Cherry Cheesecake. It is the perfect sweet for a dairy meal or fish meal, and makes a great addition to a holiday, party, or just a special at-home dinner.

I first learned how to make cheesecake from my Grandmum, who was the world’s best cook and hostess. While she preferred to make everything from scratch, I have simplified it by using pre-made crust and fruit topping, but I’ll share both sets of instructions so you can choose.

To make Ultimate Cherry Cheesecake, you will need:

12 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
one 9-inch graham cracker crust

Cake instructions: In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Pour into crust and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from the oven and let cool. Chill for at least 4 hours or up to two days before serving. Top with canned or homemade topping. 

Topping: I normally use a can of cherry pie filling. If you’d prefer to make a homemade version, try this one:

3 cups pitted sour cherries
1 1/2 cups sugar
approximately 1/2 cup water
approximately 1-2 tbs cornstarch, for thickening

Combine fruit and sugar in a pan and stir together. If cherries are soft, you won’t need additional water, but if cherries are firm, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil. Mix cornstarch with some cold water, whisking to remove lumps. Slowly add the cornstarch to the cherries, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Let cool for at least 30 minutes.

Some folks also like to top cheesecake with whipped cream, but I find it plenty sweet enough on its own. For those who don’t like cherries, strawberries or blueberries can be substituted.

A tip of cutting cheesecake: This used to drive me crazy! I’d have to cut one slice at a time, dip the knife in water, and so on. There is a much better method that’s also unexpected—dental floss. Try this 3-step method and you’ll be hooked.

1. Cut a long piece of dental floss. Too long is better than too
short. Wrap the ends around your fingers/hands to get a nice firm
grip. You should have an amount of floss between your hands that’s
equal to the diameter of your cheesecake, plus a few extra inches.

 
2. Holding the floss taut, cut the cheesecake first in half, then in
fourths, and continue until the desired number of slice is reached.

 
3. Use a knife or serving utensil to remove the cheesecake from the
pan to the serving plate (or to be wrapped and frozen for longer
storage).