Contests
Tickle your sweet tooth with contest #13: The Cupcake Swap
December 5th, 2010 | 5 Comments
Tags: Contests, Food & Spirits, simple pleasures
How many dozens of cookies can you bake and swap in a lifetime? Aren’t you getting sick of them?
It’s not that we’re contrary by nature (ok, maybe a little)– but we are easily bored and we will not bake another cookie in December. Not ever. Not for anyone. So, this holiday season we’re starting the first annual Cupcake Swap.
Instead of inviting family, friends and little ones over to bake cookies, invite them over to make and bake cute little hipster cupcakes. (Check out using mini-cupcake pans to get the maximum bang for your batter.)
In honor of the first Annual Cupcake Swap we want your recipes. The winner will have their recipe(s) featured and get their very own copy of Bitches on a Budget.
While we’re on the cupcake trail we’d love to hear about your favorite neighborhood cupcake maker and which of their confections tickles your sweet tooth.
Leave your entries (pix if you have them) in the comment section of this box or email them to us at info@bitchesonabudget.com.
Contest ends December 19.
Contest #12: Re-purpose the Ordinary
August 3rd, 2010 | 11 Comments
Tags: Beauty & Grooming, Contests, re-purposing, recycling, Shopping
We’re savers. There’s not much we can let go of, yes, we’ve been known to hold on to a grudge or two, but that’s not the kind of saving we’re talking about . No, we’re thinking about holding on to things like plastic produce bags, cute little spice jars, and old cast iron skillets. We use the bags to clean up after our puppy, the newspapers to clean windows, the spice jars for odds and ends and the cast iron skillet as a meat pounder.
We haven’t run a contest in a long time and today seemed the perfect day to start one. We’ll go for one week and the lucky winner will win her very own copy of Bitches on a Budget and special mention on our Facebook page. (more…)
Best BBQ Marinade Contest-Vote
May 31st, 2010 | 4 Comments
Tags: Contests, Food & Spirits
On our Facebook page we asked for your favorite BBQ marinade for summer grilling. We’ve narrowed the recipes to three. Vote for your favorite in the comments section and we’ll tally the votes and let you know the winner.
#1. From Sherry Epperly Hall: For steaks (easy & cheap, made with ingredients most of us have in the house already):
2-3 c. red wine, 2-3 TBSP fresh minced garlic, 1/4 c. worcestershire sauce,2-3 TBS soy sauce, couple TBSP Montreal Steak Seasoning, 1 TBSP. dried thyme, or Herbs d’ Provence, just a little vinegar. (You can also add a bit of water or more wine to cover the steaks and 1/2 cup or so of bottled BBQ sauce)
Whisk, marinate steaks for a few hours (I’ve even done it overnight) and grill. Tenderizes & flavor infuses cheaper meat, but particularly good for Rib eyes!
#2. From Stanley Gans: This one has officially been credited to Wolfgang Puck, but I first got this exact recipe (read: exact) in 1978 from a duck purveyor on Mott Street in NYC:
Chicken
6 chicken breasts (with the bone in)1 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons chile flakes
2 tablespoons ginger, finely chopped
2 tablespoons scallions, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped garlic, chopped
1/2 cup peanut oil
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Your Mother’s Day Stories: B’s on a Budget
May 9th, 2010 | 1 Comment
Tags: budget, charity, Contests, Mother's Day
On our Facebook page we asked about real life heroines and the response was huge. An overwhelming number of people responded that their heroine was their mother or grandmother. The stories were touching.
So, in honor of Mother’s Day we collected stories. We wanted to know about your Mom, or Grandma, or Great-Grandma, or Aunt. Today we are publishing all the stories in one very long post.
One entry was picked at random (now really, who are we to judge who has the most ‘heroic’ mom?) and Gwen M. will receive an autographed copy of Bitches on a Budget for sending us her story..
*The picture is of Julia Ward Howe. She is most famous for writing The Battle Hymn of the Republic. She also wrote a Mother’s Day Proclamation (click on this link to read the whole proclamation) in 1870, urging women to rise up and unite in peace. It begins with these lines: (more…)
Perk up Your Spirits with Humpday Doggie Contest* 2.0
May 5th, 2010 | 2 Comments
Tags: Contests, Health & Fitness, pets, Shopping, Travel & Entertainment
OK, that sounds way dirtier than we intended… that’s wrong even to our ears.
What we mean is this: it’s Wednesday, that day of the week you might need your spirit perked up, and you’re a dog lover. And you’ve got the most stylish/adorable/talented/heroic dog in the world.
We want you to prove it.
Tell us your most amazing dog story. Got a dog who could perform an incredible trick? Who saved you from a fire? Found novel ways to communicate? Helped balance the checkbook? Or just does something really really, really cute? (Don’t they all?)
Write to us about your favorite bitches to win a copy of The Bitches. Post in Drop-a-Dime box or email us at info@bitchesonadbudget.com by May 15th.
And be sure to read Chapter 10, “Pamper The Bitch,” in Bitches on a Budget. Tell us what you think of our doggie ideas!
*Oh, and make sure you send us your kitty stories. Of course we love little puss.
This is our second pet contest and we’ve received the most to-die-for cute pet pix. So don’t forget to send yours in –even send us your video!
Grasshoppers for Earth Day and Cocktail* Recipe Contest #2
April 21st, 2010 | 6 Comments
Tags: Contests, Food & Spirits, Shopping
In celebration of Earth Day we’re recommending every B’ in America have a Grasshopper. 
We’re also launching our official second Cocktail Recipe contest just in time for the weekend.
In honor of Earth Day we’re on the hunt for the the most delicious green colored cocktail on the planet. (No cheating, no food dye allowed.)
Get your creative juices flowing and think of infusions and muddles made with cilantro, mint, celery seeds, cucumbers, kiwis, grapes… whatever. Go crazy.
Leave your entries in the comment section in the upper right hand corner of this post. Contest ends April 30th.
Have fun.
*Remember the one absolutely non-negotiable Bitchin’ Rule: Never drink and drive.
Contest #10: Do It Yourself (it’s way more satisfying) v. 2.0
April 6th, 2010 | 14 Comments
Tags: Beauty & Grooming, Contests, Decorating, Food & Spirits, Shopping, Travel & Entertainment
 The only way to get surefire pleasure? To get that special, private satisfaction of meeting your own needs on your own terms? Three little words, baby:
Do it yourself. A bitch has two hands and shouldn’t be afraid to use them.
Oh, get your head out of the gutter. We’re talking home projects, grooming products, wardrobe ideas. We want to know how you please yourself, what you make, how you make it, what you save, and (most importantly) how it brings you bitchin’ pleasure.
So today we’re announcing… drumroll/trumpet solo/tambourine shake/kazoo squeal… it’s officially DIY 2.0!
We’re so excited to launch into our second version of our DIY contest, and we want to hear from you. Tell us what you do yourself. Be specific. Include a pic if you want. Post your entry in the comment box above this post by April 15. (You’ll be needing to find good money savings tips on that day.) Best entry wins fame and fortune! Well, a copy of BITCHES ON A BUDGET, anyway. Plus its author and her (or his) ideas will be featured on the B Hive! Enter now. Enter often. You know you want to.
Beating the Odds
April 1st, 2010 | Comments
Tags: Contests
We had so many amazing stories to consider in Contest #9: Beating the Odds. Sweet stories like salvaging a cake from ruins to win a prize or an underdog baseball team that won a victory against all odds; moving stories of abuse, betrayal, disappointment and survival; stories of love and salvation; stories of personal triumph over physical tragedy. They were all wonderful and from time to time we will share them.
But only one story won and we’re proud to announce that the winner of Contest #9 is Rachel’s Story.
Rachel’s winning entry:
Rachel’s Story
“I was about to drop out of high school, never went, or if I did go, I would get myself suspended somehow. I knew all the tricks. Smoking in the bathroom, skipping classes, getting into trouble however I could. My mother was completely fed up and filed charges against me in juvenille court and my high school filed truancy charges against me also.
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Contest #8: Beating The Odds
March 22nd, 2010 | 10 Comments
Tags: Contests
In light of the NCAA College Basketball tournament, we’ve been thinking a lot about Cinderella stories, those come-from-behind, unexpected victories that take our breath away. Tell us: in sports, books, art, life—what’s your favorite underdog story? Have YOU ever been the prevailing underdog?
Inspire us. Best underdog story wins a copy of our book. Click “comments” above. Winner announced April Fools…oops April 1st.
Myra Lee’s $80.00 Depression Red Velvet Cake-Takes the Cake
March 21st, 2010 | 3 Comments
Tags: Contests, Food and Spirits
Jenny Lee is the winner of Contest #7: The Best Dessert for Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Etc. Days. We loved her story that her great-aunt bought this recipe for what would have been a zillion depression-era dollars. And, of course, we loved her Red Velvet Cake recipe. Honorable mention goes to Brandy Bates for her Mile High Chocolate Cake that she said ”will make your husband forget just how much you spent on those really cute new shoes that just could not live without.”
RED VELVET CAKE
Family legend says my great-aunt Myra Lee bought this recipe during the Depression for $80 in Chicago. It looks deceptively easy. Its not, especially the icing, which requires constant attention. But it is well-worth the time and effort to make this amazing cake. Enjoy.
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 whole eggs
2 oz. food coloring
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cocoa
1 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/4 cup Cake flour
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp soda
DIRECTIONS FOR THE CAKE
1) CREAM shortening, sugar & eggs (this is your Short Mixture).
2) PASTE food coloring & cocoa.
3) MIX vanilla, salt, buttermilk, cake flour, vinegar, soda.
4) ADD your Short Mixture along w/Paste of food coloring and cocoa. Don’t beat hard, just blend in.
5) BAKE 30 minutes in 2-9 inch pan at 350 degrees.
6) COOL and SPLIT each layer in half.
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