Important Announcment about Eastern Panhandle Moms

I have made a personal decision to close this site so that I can focus on other endeavors (and my family).

Thank you to all who have made operating Eastern Panhandle Moms a success and a joy!

For local resources I encourage you to visit Tina Pearson’s blog, Mama’s Like Me.

To keep up with me, you can visit my personal blog and Facebook page or follow me on Twitter.

Thanks again for all your support!  I love living in the Eastern Panhandle!

Melissa

Tasty Tuesday~ Open Apple Pie with a cinnamon roll crust

I saw the concept of using refrigerated cinnamon rolls as a pie crust first on Pinterest.  The pin was attached to a recipe for sweet potato pie, which I am not that fond of.

My daughter was home from college the last few weeks and begging me to make an apple pie.  So, I decided to use the refrigerated cinnamon rolls and improvised my normal apple pie recipe.  We ended up with a yummy open faced apple pie with a sweet, soft cinnamon roll crust.

Ingredients:

• 8 apples, peeled and sliced
• 2/3 C sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 1 can refrigerated cinnamon rolls

1. Combine apples, sugar, cinnamon and cloves.  Toss until all coated.
2. Spread each cinnamon roll up the sides of a pie plate, you should have one remaining to spread thin and form the bottom crust.

3.  Add the apples to the crust.

4.  Slice butter over top of apples.

5.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50-60 minutes or until apples are fork tender.

6.  Drizzle with icing packet from cinnamon rolls and serve warm.

Heavenly!!!

What recipe have you experimented with lately?

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday.

Things to do in the Panhandle~ December 16-18

• Christmas at the Berkeley County Museum. Martinsburg, WV Fri 12/16 and Sat 12/17 noon-8pm.  Museum decorated in Civil War era decor.  Located at Belle Boyd House.  Visit www.bchs.org for more information.
• Lunch with Santa.  Jefferson County Community Center, Shenandoah Junction, WV.  Saturday 12/17.  11am-1pm.  $8/child includes picture, craft and lunch.  Visit www.jcprc.org for additional information.
  

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• Jingle Jam.  Berkeley Springs High School, Berkeley Springs, WV.  Sat 12/17 6pm.  Music, skits, performances and pictures.

What will be keeping you busy this last weekend before Christmas?

Christmas shopping with a purpose

We exchanged names at our annual pre-Thanksgiving dinner with my husbands family this weekend.  Our boys have made their wish list.  And, I keep thinking of how much money we {and millions of others} spend on Christmas gifts every year.  I love to learn of alternative gifts, especially for those people on your list that have everything they need.

Samaritan’s Purse offers a gift catalog with forty-five gift options in varying price ranges.  You can give a gift in honor of someone or on behalf of someone that will make a lasting difference in the lives of impoverished people all over the globe.  You can browse the catalog on-line and send cards to people whose name you are giving in honor of via the website.

A dairy goat or brood of chickens can feed a family suffering from malnutrition and poverty. A household water filter can save a family from deadly waterborne diseases. You can even feed a hungry baby for a week. (via Samaritan’s Purse)

This is a ministry with a proven track record of helping the least of these.  I challenge you to give at least one gift this Christmas from the pages of this catalog.

Tasty Tuesday~ Easy Pumpkin Cake

I love pumpkin!

Pumpkin spice lattes, roasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread and pumpkin cake!

Obviously, this is one of my favorite times of year for cooking and baking!

Today, I wanted to share an easy recipe for a delicious cake using canned pumpkin and yellow cake mix as the base ingredients.

Easy Pumpkin Cake

2 15 oz. cans 100% pumpkin

4 eggs

1 13 oz can evaporated milk

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 package yellow cake mix

1 C. margarine, melted

1 C chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix pumpkin, eggs, milk and pumpkin pie spice until well combined.
3. Pour into a 9 x 13 cake pan.
4. Mix the nuts and cake mix.
5. Crumble over the top of mixture in the cake pan.
6. Pour melted butter evenly over top.
7. Bake for 1 hour.
8. Cool and cut into small bars.

So, so good!  Do you have a favorite pumpkin recipe?

Want a chance to win an iPad 2?

For the last almost two years, I have worked as a mentor, volunteer leader and committee chair for an organization called YoungLives.  YoungLives is a mentoring program for teen moms {I became pregnant with my first child when I was 16} that offers support, unconditional love and guidance.  One of the highlights of the program is YoungLives camp, a week-long summer camp for teen moms and their babies.  Last year, we took 8 girls and 7 babies to Glen Spey, New York where one mom said she had “the best week of my life”. Who wouldn’t with zip lines, swimming, dancing and hanging out with other girls just like you?

In just a year our ministry has grown exponentially and this coming Sunday, August 7th, more than 25 moms and 23 babies will board a charter bus and go to summer camp!!! Hopefully, they will have the best week of their lives, as well!

Teen moms typically do not have money for extra things like summer camp so we raise all the funds for their trip through fundraising.  This year the cost to take these girls to camp exceeds $20,000!

I decided to help raise money for the camp fund by sponsoring an iPad giveaway through Eastern Panhandle Moms.

If you would like to contribute to a great cause and have a chance at winning an Apple iPad 2, follow the instructions below.

Official online giveaway rules:

- one entry per $10/donation {or three entries for $20 donation}

- winner will be announced on October 27th on our Facebook page.

- donations of $10 made between 12:00 AM on August 1, 2011 and 11:59 PM on Tuesday, October 25, 2011 get one entry to win an iPad2.  donations of $20 made between 12:00 AM on August 1, 2011 and 11:59pm on Tuesday, October 25, 2011 get three entries to win an iPad2.

-winner must accept shipping to US or Canadian address.

To enter:

Leave a comment with your email address and a paypal invoice will be sent.  Tickets will be mailed upon receipt of donation.

OR

Email me at here2therewv@yahoo.com and give me your physical mailing address and the amount of entries you want.  I will mail you the tickets with a self addressed stamped envelope to return the donation in.

Details:

Checks can be made payable to Eastern Panhandle Moms.

Feel free to share this great cause with friends and family via Facebook and Twitter.

All proceeds from the giveaway will be donated to YoungLives of the Eastern Panhandle.

Back to School Bash

It seems like the summer has flown by!  My boys return to school {Berkeley County} in less than a month!  We will be having a back to school bash here at Eastern Panhandle Moms August 1-5th with special deals, ideas and giveaways!  So mark your calendars and subscribe to our Facebook page and blog updates to make sure you don’t miss out!

Father’s Day Shopping Tips

Online Shopping Tips

1) Check for Promotional Codes: Always check for a coupon or promotional code online before checking out. Finding a discount code Web site through your favorite search engine only takes a few seconds and could save your family anything from free shipping to 50 percent off or more.

2) Compare Prices: If you know the exact product you want to purchase, it pays to visit several online retailers to compare prices. Some Web sites can help shoppers find the best price by providing a list of online stores in a particular category.

3) Pay with Credit Card:  Security of  credit card information is a top concern when shopping online. In general, it is far safer to use a credit card than a debit card.  Most debit cards do not offer the same level of protection as a credit card does when making an online purchase.

4) Review Carefully: Always take time to review the final checkout screen. Be sure to confirm that your order reflects the correct items, quantities and pricing before you click “submit.”

5) Protect Your Privacy: One of the most important steps of online shopping is how to find Web sites that are safe and secure. It is important to keep your personal information out of the hands of identity theft predators. Be sure to read the site’s privacy policy on information sharing, and don’t unintentionally opt-in to having your information shared with third parties.

6) Sideline Sales Tax: Some merchants are required to collect sales taxes in your state, while others may not.  It can save you money to check several online retailers if the merchant you are about to purchase from wants to charge sales tax.

7) Beware of Shipping & Handling Fees: Pay close attention to shipping charges. Some retailers make up for their “low” prices by padding the shipping fees, so be sure you are getting the lowest possible overall price.

Barry Boone is owner and founder of CurrentCodes.com, a Web site clearinghouse for promotional codes that directs shoppers to timely bargains and discount codes.

Here are some codes good for Father’s Day shopping:

MyGolfer.com- Receive 5 % off tool purchases with code TOOLSFORDAD

Neckties.com- Receive 10% off with code DADGRAD

Ties.com- Receive 10% off with code DADGRAD

Wrangler.com- Receive Free shipping on order with codes DADFS1

Original Penguin- Receive 30% off order with code OPGDAD30

Perry Ellis- Recieve 30% off slecetd items with code FATHERSDAY30AF

Cabelas.com- Receive $5 Shipping on $150+ order with code WDADSDAY

Kiehls- Free shipping on any $30 order with code FATHERS

Carol Wright Gifts- Save $4 off $40+ order with code CWLDAD

Vosges Haut-Chocolat- Save 15% off with code DAD15

Wildties.com- Save 10% off with code DADGRAD

ShopCatepillar.com- Free shipping on $75 or more with code CATDAD1

Wine.com- Save 10% on all wine club memberships with code CLUBDAD

Sears.com- Receive free shipping on all orders over $99 with code SHIP4DAD

Compassion in the Philippines

I love the Compassion International organization and the work that they do, spreading God’s love and providing relief all over the world.  This week, several prominent bloggers, including my sweet writing friend, Emily Freeman, are visiting the Philippines with Compassion and will be sharing their stories.  I know that their pictures and words will have a tremendous impact on my heart and hope they do yours as well.

You can click on the picture above to follow the Compassion bloggers and visit Emily’s blog at Chatting at the Sky.

What are some of your favorite charitable organizations?

2nd Annual Mom’s Nite Out slated for May 5th

So, those of you that enjoyed the free chair massages, chocolate, coffee, scavenger hunt, door prizes and more at last year’s event will be blown away by the plans we have for this year’s event! 

Here is just a few of the things we have planned for our Mom’s Nite Out event with a Queen for the Night theme:

• Decadent dessert bar
• Live music entertainment by Dawn Rix
• Prince/Princess photo contest with prize baskets worth over $250
• A Queen for the night will be crowned and receive a makeover basket worth over $500!
• make-up application by Bon-Ton and headshots by a professional photographer
• Lots of pampering stations for relaxation and rejuvenation
• silent auction to benefit YoungLives

We are so excited to bring this event to the Martinsburg Mall for the second year in a row!  Door prizes galore and fun to be had.  You can find out more by visiting the Mom’s Nite Out page here or our Facebook page.  Invite your friends and get a sitter..you don’t want to miss it!

When: Thursday May 5, 2011 6-9pm

Where: Martinsburg Mall

If you own a business or know of a business interested in sponsoring the event, please have them contact Melissa via email at here2therewv@yahoo.com.

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