Watkins Original Double-Strength Vanilla

Today I am going to talk about Watkins Original Double-Strength Vanilla. Some of you might remember the Watkins Man who would go door to door with all his goodies and samples. He would come to my grandmothers house and we would get excited to see what he pulled out of his bag.

Growing up with the products made me want to join Watkins so I could have access to it and enjoy the best vanilla I have tried. I have tried others but always came back to Watkins.

I am going to give a little history taken from the website www.watkinsonline.com
I am also going to give you a great recipe for
Chocolate Chip Cookies........enjoy!

Vanilla is the most popular flavor in the world today,
and few companies can claim a name association
with vanilla like Watkins can. Having produced
the world’s finest vanilla for more than 100 years,
Watkins is recognized as the name in vanilla by
hundreds of thousands of loyal customers. Our dedication
to quality begins with buying only the finest
vanilla beans…

The best vanilla beans in the world are those of
the Bourbon variety—specifically those grown
on the island of Madagascar off the coast of Africa.
This labor-intensive crop is of such high quality that
a single bean can retail for more than $3 (U.S.).
Watkins' signature blend of real vanilla extract
and rich fortifiers (including artificial flavorings)
give its award-winning Original Double Strength
Vanilla a delicious, concentrated flavor that is
economical to use and guarantees superior results.
Our dedication to quality is what makes Watkins
the best vanilla you can buy.

Watkins Original Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup/125 mL sugar
1/2 cup/125 mL brown sugar
1/3 cup/80 mL butter or margarine, softened
1/3 cup/80 mL vegetable shortening
1 egg
1 tsp/5 mL Watkins Original Double-Strength
Vanilla
1-1/2 cups/375 mL all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp/2.5 mL baking soda
1/2 tsp/2.5 mL salt
1 package (6 oz/170 g) semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup/125 mL chopped walnuts, optional
Combine sugars, butter, shortening, egg, and
vanilla. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop dough
by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie
sheet. Bake at 375°F/190°C for 8 to 10 minutes or
until lightly browned. Cool slightly before removing
from cookie sheet to wire rack to cool.
Makes approximately 40 cookies.

More Watkins recipes at www.WatkinsOnline.com/denisepassehl

My 'Bug' Dogs

What do you get when you cross a Boston Terrier and a Pug dog?

You got it, a 'Bug'. If any of you know a Boston Terrier and a Pug are very unique dogs, but when you cross them you get the best of both. Well I have two of these fun loving wonderful little fur babies and they are the love of my life. Just don't tell my husband they come first most of the time.

I acquired my first Bug almost 5 years ago and his name is Bailey. Some friends of ours had a Pug female and their friend had a Boston Terrier and they ended up with 8 little Bugs. I have always raised Boston Terriers and my husband had Pugs, of course we both thought our breed was the best one. The night we went to pick out our new baby I walked into the house, 8 little black and brindle puppies were running from one room to the other. I fell in love immediately. I decided to let the perfect little one pick me out so I sat down, most of them looked at me and kept on running, but one in particular came over and pulled on my pant leg. I picked him up, he looked into my eyes and I knew it was love at first sight. I didn't even need to think about the others, he sat on my lap all evening and that was it. He was a chunk then, very healthy and full of energy. On the way home he sat in my lap and I looked at him and said okay little guy what are we going to name you? He sat so still and was very at ease, 6 weeks old and I could tell he was a smart one. So I started going down the alphabet and saying a name, came to the letter B, said a couple names and Bailey came out of my mouth. His ears perked up and he looked at me so I said "welcome to the family Bailey". Now that was easy.

Bailey has always been a very smart and obedient boy. He is a thinker and everything he does he has thought about it for awhile. He is serious, faithful and so loving. I saw both parents so I knew he was going to be a good looking Bug, what I didn't realize is how big he was going to get, he weighs 38 pounds. Solid as a rock and the vet says he is not fat, just the way he is built, very stocky. He is built like a Pug, but has Boston Terrier coloring black and white. He acts more like a Pug. He bonded with us and our other dog immediately, training was no problem. Three years went by and I just knew I had to have another one.

So 3 years later after Bailey was born the same family had more baby Bugs and guess what? I got my second Bug. I had already been to see the puppies and picked out another one that looked just like my Bailey. I was expecting the same traits and mannerisms as Bailey had, they came from the same parents so why wouldn't they be the same? Boy was I wrong. I named this one Bubba, he just looked like one. He was used to other dogs so he felt comfortable and settled right in. From the start I could tell he was going to be more of a challenge. Bubba is very much like a Boston Terrier, a little more nervous and very energetic. He needs a little more guidance and discipline. He loves to hog the food bowl, steal treats before Bailey can get to them, tear up the toys, steal the toys, run as fast as he can around Bailey, and plays tricks on all of us. He lives for his treats and toys. All the stuffed toys have the insides ripped out within a day, so he runs around with a flat stuffed toy, throws it in the air and plays keep away from Bailey. Of course Bailey acts like this is all child's play and doesn't really care but it bugs him so he pretends.
Bubba is 3 years old now but still acts like a puppy most of the time. He weighs the same as Bailey but a little taller and leaner looking like the Boston Terrier would look. He loves to come up to me and put his head on my leg and just stare at me with those big brown eyes. He is a lover but doesn't cuddle as much as Bailey does. He refuses to walk with a leash even though I have tried to work with him. Bailey loves it and struts like a little gentleman beside me. Bubba pulls on it, walks backwards and just plain makes walking with a leash a chore. He makes me laugh because his life is happy all the time. He smiles all the time and doesn't worry about anything except bothering his brother. People should learn a lesson from Bubba to not take life so serious because he sure doesn't.

What fascinates me the most is how they love each other so much. They sit with each other in the chair and sleep in the same bed most of the time. They are inseparable, if one wants to go for a ride or for a walk you better take both because they get so jealous. They want to be at my side at all times and I want them there also. These two guys have brought so much joy into my life.

I belong to a group on yahoo, http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/TheBugGroup/ which you can check out. Another site has pictures of all our fur babies, http://www.thebugmug.com/. We all share pictures and stories about our Bugs. I don't post often but love reading about everybody else's Bugs. One thing about us Bug owners, we love our Bugs. I do think we all agree, they love attention and they love to show off for us.

I entered them in a contest and they won first place. So if any of you are Jeff Gordon race fans you will appreciate their picture. Whether they won first place or not they will always be first place in my heart.

Being Frugal & Green is Cool!

Calling all frugal and green people out there! I am looking for ideas on how to be frugal and green with today's economy. So if you have some great ideas I would love to hear from you. I am going to share some of my things I have done and I hope I don't forget any because in our house we have made many changes.

One of biggest moves to saving money and going green was to install a geothermal furnace in our big two story farm house built in 1905 by my husbands grandfather. Our old furnace had seen better days and we were in need of a new one. There was no repair and LP gas prices were on the rise. We did lots of research and decided to go with the geothermal. It has saved us considerable money and we have been very happy with our decision.

I have also switched to all natural plant based cleaning products which are concentrated so you add your own water saving you money. The products are versatile and can be used in so many different ways and they work. I bought some degreaser from Watkins and then a few more products and decided these were wonderful. I joined Watkins and am an Independent Watkins Associate. I love all of the cleaning products and feel safe using products that are good for the environment and my family. I have pets too and these products are safe and not harmful to them. I have been an Independent Watkins Associate since 1982. You can go to my website and see what all is available at www.watkinsonline.com/denisepassehl where you can browse around and read about the products.

Some other things that we have done in our house to save money is by turning off lights when we leave a room. Rooms that we do not use the vents are closed and not heated.

I dry most of our clothes on a clothes drying bar in the winter. In the summer I do hang them out when the weather is nice. I also wash my clothes in cold water using the Watkins laundry soap, a little goes a long way. My clothes stay new looking longer so I can wear them for a long time.

We work outside of the home so I take my lunch to work every day and my husband is able to come home for lunch. I cook extra food for supper and what is left I use for our lunch the next day. No food is wasted, if it not going to be eaten right away I freeze it. I am very imaginative when it comes to food and come up with some really great recipes using what we already have.

I am very organized so I know what foods I have in my cupboards, refrigerator and freezer. This saves buying more of an item you already have. Same goes for the rest of the house, if I keep things organized and cleaned up I know what I have and don't need to buy it again.

I take advantage of the sunshine to heat up the house more. With the geothermal furnace you leave it set on the same temperature at all times. Ours is set at 70 degrees. If we are chilly we put more clothes on to keep warm and move around more.

My husband is a mechanic so he can do all our automobile repairs. He is there when I need him to fix about anything really. That saves us money also. We were in need of a different vehicle this year also. I had a Jeep and it was 11 years old and over 200,000 miles on it needing some major repairs. With gas prices on the rise and only getting 18 miles per gallon we decided to purchase a car. We shopped around for almost a year deciding on the Chevy HHR and we both fell in love with it. In the summer I get 30-35 miles to the gallon, winter is 27-30 depending on how cold it is. We live in Iowa and the winters are cold and hard on cars. The HHR has back seats that fold down so you can haul larger items, it is smaller than the Jeep but it is a very comfortable car. We got our car from an auction which saved us lots of money also.

I shop local as much as possible, using coupons on items I use only. I love to use my coupons on paper products and coffee when our local Pamida has double coupons.  I watch the ads and get my coupons organized. Pamida also has Senior Citizens day and my husband is that age so we can take advantage of that. I don't buy junk food, only healthy foods which are better for us.

We don't eat out often but treat ourselves once in awhile for a special occasion. Since I love to cook I can make a great meal at home and dress it up with candles, tablecloth, napkins and my nicer plates, but it is nice to be treated special once in awhile.

I know I am leaving some things out but maybe you can help me by letting me know what you do. I am open to some more great ideas.

Here's to saving money!

My Birthday is today February 4th!

"Happy Birthday to me" I sang going down the stairs this morning as I was headed out the door to go to work. It is my special day! Today I am 54 years old but feel so much younger and better than I did a year ago, even 10 years ago. I have lost 70 pounds and being diagnosed with diabetes in May of 2008 has changed my life forever. I have taken my health into my own hands with the help of my doctor and my faith that I can win this battle. 

I have a walking partner at work who shares the same birthday as I do. We both are Aquarius's so we get along really great and share much the same ideas about life. We have 2 breaks during the day and we walk so we get a good workout. I have toned my body and it is getting better every day. I look forward to my walks and good conversation. We are both dog lovers so we share our stories of our fur babies quite often.

I couldn't wait to get home from work and turn on my computer. I got all kinds of birthday wishes from my online friends and family. It meant so much to me to be remembered.  The Internet has made it so much easier to keep in touch with everyone now. 

My husband and I went to visit my mother in the nursing home this evening and then he took me out for supper. We went to a really great place in Hampton, Iowa called Pakoda's. I had the Terriaki chicken with roasted baby potatoes with herbs and butter on them. I also had a salad. It was very good and I couldn't eat it all so brought home some for my lunch tomorrow. In the old days I would have ate it all but after loosing this weight I don't eat as much. Our waitress was a friend, Katy, and she was great.  If you ever get the chance you should eat there sometime. They have a great menu.

My husband also gave me a delicious smelling candle called Wild Cherry. I lit it when I got home and the house smells so good. He knows I love candles so it is a great gift for me. There's something about a candle burning that is calming and relaxing to me.

So now I am home reflecting on the day. I talked to my best friend Deb and she always makes me feel good. We are going to the movie Friday night to celebrate my birthday. I look forward to many more birthdays to come. Thank you everyone.

A Blog about me as an Independent Watkins Associate