Jessica

Annual Income Report

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

I realize that it should be 2014 income report but the image is finished and I am lazy.

I think transparency is important; especially for this little space. I want you all to know that I do make money from blogging, albeit not very much (Not really anything as you will see). I thought it might be good to give you guys a rundown of how I make money from the blog, and how I have done this year.

I know some of you have seen Pinch of Yum, Smart Passive Income, and a slew of other website posting their monthly income reports, and this one is going to be laid out pretty similarly to those.

Income:

Product Reviews: $134.44

My Recipe Magic: $5.26

Affiliate Sales: $5

Contributor Work: $80

Sponsored Posts: $25Total Income: $249.70

Expenses:

Domain Name: $2.17
Paypal Fees: $1.03

Advertising: $34.00

Learning tools: $242.09

Total Expenses: $279.29

Net Income: -$29.59

Notes on this report:

While free items are something that counts on your taxes as income, I want to note that they are not cash, and I often am not saving anything by having them. I like what Elise says “You can’t eat product”. I show dollars here, but remember those dollars aren’t for me to use how I would like. When you exclude this number my total income then becomes $115.26 which brings my net total income to $-164.03. I know you are impressed, don’t try to hide it.

I lumped all of my affiliate sales into one category because I am a part of several affiliate programs and have only made minimal amounts at each. It didn’t seem useful to list all of those dollars separately. The affiliate programs that I am a part of are AvantLink, Shareasale.com, Amazon and Pinch of Yum.

The reason I want to make money from this blog is pretty simple. It’s a hobby that I am passionate about and I want to learn more. Making money here allows me to reinvest it in the blog, and learning tools so that I can then supply you guys better content that is free to you.

Isn’t that what you want, good free content? I appreciate every single one of you who has stopped here, commented, lurked, made a recipe, wrote it down, or maybe even clicked on one of my links. It makes my day every day when I can come here and see this space growing. I want you to know how much I appreciate you all, and I hope that understand why I do this.

Banana Blueberry Oat Muffins

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

In an attempt to start the year off right I am trying to get my self to eat breakfast regularly. If you have been around here for a while your probably getting sick of hearing this. I can never seem to keep myself on track with breakfast, it’s just not my thing, but I keep trying.

This time I made some awesome muffins to help out. They go great with my morning tea so I have been able to keep myself motivated with these little babies, plus they are super healthy, and pretty easy to make. Once they are gone though I will have to think of something else (I am taking suggestions).

These are also man approved. Chuck stole a bunch for a trip to hunting camp back in December, and they were well received.

Blueberry Banana Oat Muffins

3 over ripe bananas

1 cup oats, pulsed in a food processor to create a textured flour

6 tbsp whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup half & half

1 cup Greek Yogurt

2 eggs

2 tbsp real maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine the oats, flour, baking powder, and spices in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl mash the bananas with a fork, then stir in the half and half, yogurt eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients until smooth (you may want to use an electric mixer). With a spoon carefully blend in the blueberries. Pour the mixture into a lightly greased muffin tin until the batter nearly reaches the top of the cup. Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes. The muffins should begin to brown and be firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and allow to cook for 5-10 minutes before removing them from the pan.

20 Minute Chicken Noodle Soup

By Jessica

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Did you survive? I know not everyone got all of last week off, however I did and getting up for work yesterday, aka the first Monday of the year was hard.

I persevered though and I have to say I’m a little excited to get back into the swing of things. I like routine, and I need that routine to make some new habits this year.

But we aren’t here to talk about goals today though, we are taking a break from that to talk about my second favorite soup (this one is my favorite, yes I know they are basically the same).

Chicken soup is one of the best things ever especially this time of year. It’s not quite winter, but it’s not quite fall still, meaning that its damp, muddy, cold, and it seams like there are a million little illnesses flying around. Soup is comforting, healing and so perfect for this time of year.

This is my favorite version of the classic. It’s super quick and easy which makes it perfect for a weeknight meal, or a quick pick me up after a rough day. For me a delicious homey, and healthy soup followed by a steamy cup of peppermint tea is exactly thing to take away any stress.

I used whole wheat noodles to keep it clean, but regular egg noodles would work just fine as well. You could also use rotisserie or leftover cooked chicken as well, roughly 2 to 2 1/2 cups of shredded chicken will work just fine, simple add it a minute or two after the egg noodles. If you do use store bought rotisserie chicken you may want to add any salt at the end because it can be high in salt content already.

20 Minute Chicken Noodle Soup

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 lb chicken cut into bite size pieces
1 tsp pepper
salt to taste
6 cups, low sodium chicken broth
1/2 lb whole wheat egg noodles
handful chopped parsley

Instructions

Heat the oil over medium high heat, add in the onion, carrots, celery and cook for 1 minute, until the onion becomes translucent.
Add in the chicken and continue to cook until it becomes opaque roughly another 2-3 minutes.
Stir in the broth and noodles and bring it to a simmer. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until the noodles are tender.
Stir in the parsley and adjust the seasonings before serving.

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Panera-Soba-Chicken-Noodle — Panera Soba Noodle Broth Bowl

Help a Girl Out! Fill out my Survey!

By Jessica

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This little space has grown so much in just the past year, and I am so thankful for that. Now I want to know what keeps you guys around and continuously coming back. It would mean the absolute world to me if you would take just few minutes to fill out this super simple 14 question anonymous survey.

Recently No. 6 – January

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Stuff from me:

November was a packed month, so when December started I was excited about a long break while I spent some time thinking about what to do with my novel manuscript. What was the final decision you ask? Set it aside for a rainy day. About half way through the writing process I kept remembering a million holes and character inconsistency that it’s almost not worth editing. I’m still really proud that i wrote and entire novel, so it might see the light of day someday, just not right now.

I went to NYC again and this time met up with several lovely ladies from the North East Bloggers Network. We visited Jack’s Wife Freda then I traipsed around the city a bit with Chrystina. Ramen and my fist bubble tea were had.

Of course the December was not complete without loads of hot chocolate (Chuck makes it the best), cookie parties, ugly Sweaters, snow, and puppy cuddles.

Things from around the net:

“When women stop reading, the novel will be dead.” – Gender studies in novels. This article spurred an entire day of research on my part. I was floored as some of the things I learned about women in the literary world. Especially since women are more apt to read then men.

Things you deal with when you cut off your hair. So true.

#illridewithyou. It’s terrible that bad things are happening, but I’m so happy to see people rallying against it all.

The Interview was finally released, albeit late and not really my style of film, all the hoopla has made me want to watch this for sure.

I’m working on building my goals for this year. I want something a little more tangible than last year, and I’m thinking about using this idea.

Jessica

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