Santa's Helpers Team Challenge - will YOU win 100sb?

It's Team Challenge time again on Swagbucks, and the top prize is a whopping 100sb!

Here's what Swagbucks tell us:

Let's celebrate the holiday season with Santa's most important helpers! 

The challenge begins Monday, December 11th at 8am PT/11am ET (this is 4pm UK time) so get in a giving mood. 

The Team Challenge ends Friday, December 15th at 12pm PT/3pm ET (this is 8pm UK time), but we encourage everyone to stay in the holiday spirit through New Years of course!

All members who participate and contribute at least 600 points to their team's total will receive a SB bonus! 

Members of the 1st place team will receive 100 SB and members of the 2nd place team will receive a 50 SB bonus! You'll receive your bonus by 5pm PT (this is 1am on Dec 16th UK time) on December 15th.

What does this mean for you?

Well, firstly you need to register for the Challenge - you can do this here:

Register for the Santas Helpers Team Challenge HERE

Then you just carry on doing what you usually do on Swagbucks. Everything you do adds points to your team.

Here's how you can earn points:

It's fairly easy to reach the 600sb you need to qualify, so what are you waiting for? Join the Team Challenge now!

Not on Swagbucks? Join me now!

Signed up? Come on over to our Swagbucks Facebook group to tell us which team you're on!

How to cook your Christmas turkey in the dishwasher and live to tell the tale

So, a week before Xmas my oven decides to stop working. All the local shops can't deliver a new one for 6 weeks, and I have 7 for Christmas dinner... aarrrgghhh!

So what did I do? I turned to trusty Twitter and Facebook for an answer. After posting out my plea, I received back many ideas:

• microwave it
• BBQ it
• deep fry it
• cook it in the dishwasher

Yep, that's right, cook it in the dishwasher.

Now, I admit that one of the other three options must be easier than the dishwasher suggestion, but come on - when have I backed down in the face of a challenge? The dishwasher it must be!

I told the family and they looked at me aghast. "Cook the turkey... in the dishwasher....?" All except Leigh, who said "What a great idea for a blog post!" (glad to see she inherited my nose for drama ;) )

And so, on Xmas morning we duly got out the turkey:

Well, to be honest it was a Chapon not a turkey as such, but it once had feathers and laid eggs so I'm not quibbling :)

The recipes I found online said to wrap it in stemaing bags - we didn't have any so we extra quadruple wrapped it in thick turkey foil while we were running the dishwasher through on empty to make sure it was clean.

Then into the dishwasher it went:

Here's the turkey in it's home for the next few hours:

It was a 3.5KG bird, so we put it through 4 cycles at the highest temperature (75 deg) - checking it after each cycle to see if it really was cooking. Leigh was on standby with chicken nuggets if it didn't, and Shaun mentioned many times how glad he was having fish that could be cooked in the microwave (wuss!)

After 4 cycles, we unwrapped it and took a look:

It was cooked! OK, it was a bit pale and anaemic looking, but nothing a quick blast in the microwave grill and copious amounts of gravy couldn't sort out.

Most importantly, it tasted yummy - moist, flavourful, and very definitely edible - with not a trace of detergent to be found ;)

The rest of the Christmas dinner was cooked in the halogen oven we borrowed, in pans and in the microwave, so it was a bit of a 'take it as you find it' affair, but all in all it worked well and everyone had a lovely Christmas dinner, as well as having created a bit of a talking point!

 They tell me I'm brave to have tried it on such an important meal; there's a thin line between bravery and stupidity; I'm not sure which side I'm on LOL!

So for those of you who thought it couldn't be done - it can! For those of you who thought I wouldn't do it - I did! And for those of you who want to try it - do it! It really didn't take much longer than cooking the traditional way, and the end result was most pleasant.

What would you have done with your Christmas turkey if your oven broke a few days before Christmas?

Go retro this Christmas with Little Nut Tree Toys

Go retro with wooden toys for your kids this Christmas

Whether it’s fashion, interior design or music, retro is most definitely the biggest trend of the year, and the same applies to children toys. For many, retro wooden toys have connotations of ‘the good old days’, implying harmless and innocent fun. With parents starting to resist the over-marketed plastic toys, there is a clear return to the more traditional wooden toys this Christmas.

Haba do a fantastic range of traditional yet stimulating and interesting wooden toys for babies, toddlers and young children, making ideal presents for lots of little boys and girls this Christmas. Not just ideal presents for parents to give their own children, Haba toys are great for those wishing to buy something different and interesting for their niece/nephew/grandchild this Christmas.

A great wooden toy for children 1-2 years old is the retro Haba Baby’s First Train, or for a more contemporary alternative, the Haba Bear Voyage Pull Along is equally as fascinating for the little ones. A toy that babies can grow up with, these pull-along retro toys can be treasured by children year after year.

For newborns, often Christmas presents are limited to clothes as they grow so quick, but a retro wooden mobile is a great long-lasting present. Haba have a great range of wooden mobiles, but a favourite is the Haba Flutterlies Mobile which features multi-coloured and patterned butterflies to stimulate the baby’s senses.

Finally, for years the rattle has been the favourite toy for babies, and again Haba has some great retro wooden rattles which make ideal Christmas presents. A great one for baby girls is the Haba Flower Trio which features three wooden flowers that not only rattle but twist and bend. For baby boys, the retro Haba Clutching Toy Kastagnetta is a vibrant rattle which is designed to encourage music and sensory perception.

The wooden retro toys by Haba are all designed to not only be long-lasting and hard-wearing, but also a way to stimulate and educate little boys and girls, so why not make this Christmas a retro one with Haba and Little Nut Tree Toys?

==
Disclaimer: Little Nut Tree Toys are a client :)