magic Archives - It's an Eclectic Life

For The Love Of Debt, Tinkerbell!

by Amanda Barnard | Apr 16, 2019 | Financial

Of all the dumb things I have done in my life, carrying a balance on a credit card and paying interest is at the top of the list! I have been working on paying down credit card debt. But, as any venture advances, inevitably something comes up at some point or another, (and usually out of nowhere), that “needs” my help. Oh the curse of being such a giving person!

(I’m actually kidding about the giving part being a curse, but on a serious note, I cannot help everyone. I also can’t help to my own detriment AND if I am helping someone else by using a credit card that I am trying to pay off – well DUH, I am not helping them by hurting myself!)

SOMEONE TELL ME THAT TINKERBELL ISN’T THE ONLY FAIRY THAT HAS DONE SOMETHING DUMB!

John needs Tinkerbell’s help and after all, John is one of her favorite Darlings, SO being the amazing Tinkerbell fairy that she is, what does she do? Finds her pixie dust, knowing that she will sprinkle a little bit of magic around! Tinkerbell goes to her fairy dust (spreadsheet), full of fairy dust (available credit), and trusts that she can figure this out, because this is what fairies do! They have learned over the years how to bibbidi-bobbidi-boo from the best Fairy Godmother out there! Did you see the transformation she did to Cinderella? Amazing, right?!

As she continues going through the fairy dust bag (spreadsheet) to see how much magic can be strews about, she notices that one of the fairy dust makers (credit card companies) has added more fairy dust, but failed to inform her. So imagine the surprise when she realizes there is more available magic in the bag.

Tink had been working on making this list of everything in the bag (my spreadsheet was kind of like the one Dave Ramsey calls the Debt Snowball. Dave suggests using this method to pay down debt in a lowest balance to highest balance manner. He believes this gives most people a sense of accomplishment and keeps their motivation higher.)

She hadn’t realized there was more magic at first, but had noticed this envelope in the mail from one of the Fairy Dust Maker “V” (Visa), earlier in the day. She had received the same kind of envelope from this company before, so it was no mystery what was inside. (blank checks connected to my account, intended for balance transfers. Usually this also meant a promo offer for a ZERO interest for a set period of time OR an extremely, lower interest for an assigned time. What was a conundrum, was why they were sending them to me. I had recently taken advantage of an offer to transfer a balance with zero interest and there wasn’t much room left for anymore transfers. Well not that I knew of, anyway.)

THE FOOLISHNESS CONTINUES…..

After looking online at balances, I update my spreadsheet. I open the envelope and find that the promo offer was 1.99% interest for an allocated time, which turned out to be longer than 1 year. So this was, in fact, a great deal with the excessive rates that I was currently paying.

Now back to Tinkerbell spreading some magic to John Darling. She sees that she can transfer the magic from Fairy Dust Maker “MC” (MasterCard), liberate “V”, so John can obtain the things needed for the Darling household. Now a side note: the plan was for John Darling to give Tinkerbell all of the fairy dust that he used, to put back in her bag in a timely manner. So theoretically, Tinkerbell wouldn’t lose any of her fairy dust, in the long term. In essence John is only borrowing it AND is going to put it back, and be responsible for any interest incurred. This isn’t a huge issue, since Tinkerbell knows exactly where John Darling lives and even has access to his incoming future fairy dust.

Moving on; in my haste of trying to “figure it all out” to help my “favorite Darling”, I wind up transferring……….

wait for it…………

literally the lowest interest card! (*insert face palm)

Instead of taking a little bit of time, processing, and processing some more, yes I did! I didn’t even realize it until I had already completed the task! Right there in front of me, on the spreadsheet was the highest interest card and the available balance that needed to be transferred was under the allotted amount. (*insert another face palm, because we all know it is warranted!).

Now this wouldn’t have helped the favorite Darling, but it definitely would have helped Tinkerbell in the quest to fill up the fairy dust bags! And we all know that any amazing fairy, knows better!

Lazy Keto Pizza Casserole

by Amanda Barnard | Jan 13, 2019 | Keto

Tonight I made what I am calling a “Lazy Keto Pizza Casserole”. There are two reasons I am adding the word “lazy” to the title of my creation. The first reason is because I used one item that wasn’t “keto-approved” and the second reason is because it was extremely easy!

Admittedly, I have not missed much by changing my life to keto, but I REALLY like me some pizza! Did you notice the word “really” being all capitalized? It kind of means that I like it more than I should! Bread was also a BIG DEAL for me – again caps should be noted as important in this statement. I never was much of a sweets eater, well until later in life.

THE CANDY DILEMMA

My grandparents owned several gas stations, when I was growing up and when any of the grandkids had the opportunity to visit one of the stations, one of my grandparents would give us change to spend in their vending machines. Hey it was a newer thing of the times, and with candy! Win, win! Well you would think so, but not for me.

I was the odd child. I wanted peanut butter crackers or some other item that didn’t have to do with candy. Anything but fig bars. I didn’t even go after the chocolate. Sometimes I think it may have been because the crackers always would last longer than the candy would have lasted, but nonetheless, my choices then shaped my life in the now.

BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO MAGIC

I have been looking for a way to curb that craving for pizza, without all of the damaging carbs. I still haven’t found anything that gives me a huge – WOW. But today this one was a nice start. I have a few other creations to develop and ideas that I intend to implement.

Another noteworthy thing about me – I DESPISE to grocery shop. I really don’t like shopping, but on “blue moon” occasions. So I conned my daughter, Brande (really I just asked and she happily complied, because she likes shopping and hey, lets face it – shopping is always more fun when you’re spending someone else’s money) in to going to the store. I wanted large deli pepperoni for the project. My actual intentions were to make Pepperoni Cups, but they didn’t turn out quite like I had hoped, so I moved on.

My husband always tells people that he can look and look in our cabinets and refrigerator and swear there is nothing to eat in our house. But turn me loose in the kitchen and some sort of bibbidi-bobbidi-boo, magic happens.

#EPICFAIL

Since the Pepperoni Cups were a #epicfail (sometimes I like to use hashtags, so if you hate them, please just don’t judge) I moved on, starting with Fat Head Pizza Dough. There are several versions out there. I have tried the one that Keto Dad puts out and I like it. (Definitely check out their blog for recipe) but I use the recipe a friend of mine gave me. Where she got it? I have no idea.

I got out my 9×13 pan, sprayed the bottom. Not gonna lie, I used a “non-keto” approved spray. This is where the first use of “lazy” comes in to play. I made mixed up my Fat-Head Pizza Dough, spread it into the bottom of the pan and baked it til it’s done point, to make the crust.

PROGRESSIVE CREATIVITY

When I made the Pepperoni Cups, I had already browned 3lbs of ground beef, stirred in pizza sauce, and sprinkled Italian seasoning in. I had also sautéed chopped onions, mushrooms, and part of a green bell pepper. Mixed that into the hamburger meat and used that for my Pepperoni Cups.

i took the rest of the mixture and spread it over the cooked Fat-Head Pizza Crust. Then piled on the mozzarella cheese. I topped the pan with the large, deli-style pepperoni.

Into the oven it went and out came a masterpiece! Ok maybe it wasn’t a masterpiece, but it certainly curbed the pizza craving – at least for today!

If you would like more details of the recipe, leave me comment below and I will make sure you get it!

Have you changed your way of eating? What modifications have you made? What is the one thing that you have been missing?