BOGOPOD: Buy One, Get One Free, Plus Other Discounts in the Conejo Valley!

UPDATE: BOGOPOD apparently is no longer in operation.

Happens all the time.  I get some coupons in the mail, tear a few out and place them on the desk or behind a magnet on the fridge.  But when I want to use the coupons, I can't find them, they have expired or I'm somewhere else.  Frustrating!

But there's BOGOPOD! www.BOGOPOD.com  provides online "Buy One, Get One Free, Plus Other Discounts" coupons for local Conejo Valley area businesses! 

Visit BOGOPOD.com for an extensive list of discount coupons for restaurants, shopping, kids, activities, home improvement, services and much more.  All you do it find the coupon, click it, print it and start saving money!  No signup, no cost!  I love the fact that you don't have to download special software to print the coupon.  There's also a search function on the BOGOPOD website that shortcuts the process of finding what you're looking for.

Now on a separate but related topic of saving money, check out "Places Where Kids Can Eat Free in Ventura County"  here on Conejo Valley Guide to find places where you can dine out and not pay for your kids' meals!

What Got You Here Won't Get You There; Marshall Goldsmith's 20 Behaviors That Get in the Way

">Marshall Goldsmith's 2007 book, "What Got You Here Won't Get You There" has a list of 20 behaviors and habits that prevent people from moving forward in their careers.  In fact, when I read and review this list, I realize that these apply to all aspects of life, not just work.  So review these, print them out, live them and read the book if you want to be more successful at work and life!

As I read these, I cringe a bit at how often many of these apply to me, both at work and at home. On the other hand, reviewing this list also reminds me that we are all human and most all friends, family and co-workers also display many of these behaviors.  It helps to review and internalize these for both personal improvement and dealing with others.

1. Winning too much: The need to win at all costs and in all situations.
2. Adding too much value: The overwhelming desire to add our 2 cents to every discussion.
3. Passing judgment: The need to rate others and impose our standards on them.
4. Making destructive comments: The needless sarcasm and cutting remarks that we think make us witty.
5. Starting with "No," "But," or "However": The overuse of these negative qualifiers which secretly say to everyone that I'm right and you're wrong.
6. Telling the world how smart we are: The need to show people we're smarter than they think we are.
7. Speaking when angry: Using emotional volatility as a management tool.
8. Negativity, or "Let me explain why that won't work": The need to share our negative thoughts even when we weren't asked.
9. Withholding information: The refusal to share information in order to maintain an advantage over others.
10. Failing to give proper recognition: The inability to give praise and reward.
11. Claiming credit that we don't deserve: The most annoying way to overestimate our contributions to any success.
12. Making excuses: The need to reposition our annoying behavior as a permanent fixture so people excuse us for it.
13. Clinging to the past: The need to deflect blame away from ourselves and onto events and people from our past; a subset of blaming everyone else.
14. Playing favorites: Failing to see that we are treating someone unfairly.
15. Refusing to express regret: The inability to take responsibility for our actions, admit we're wrong or recognize how our actions affect others.
16. Not listening: The most passive-aggressive form of disrespect for colleagues.
17. Failing to express gratitude: The most basic form of bad manners.
18. Punishing the messenger: The misguided need to attack the innocent who are usually only trying to help us.
19. Passing the buck: The need to blame everyone but ourselves.
20. An excessive need to be "me": Exalting our faults as virtues simply because they're who we are.

OUCH, now that I've typed this list I realize even more how I need to work on some things.  Hope this helps you too!

Looking for a local Ventura County job? Look here.

Take Comfort With This Oven Fried Chicken with Almonds Recipe

Here's a New Year's recipe from chef Jill Fisher! Jill has a B.S. in Food Science and Nutrition and is a licensed Personal Chef. She teaches cooking classes at Conejo Valley Adult School and Williams Sonoma in Thousand Oaks and has written articles for local food magazines such as 805 Living. In December she and her friend Merilee Iverson released their cookbook "i found my sanity in...My Best Friend's Kitchen."

CLICK HERE for other recipes recipes from Jill published here on Conejo Valley Guide!

As we roll into January, we all start thinking about the rolls around our middle!  Yet we still hunger for comfort food because it is winter*.  Here is a recipe that even my kids like!  It is a delicious and healthier way to serve chicken to chicken finger-loving kids that adults will enjoy as well.  It is also good cold for lunch the next day.  Happy 2010! - Jill

* Conejo Joe: That is debatable based on the heatwave we've been having here in January.

Oven Fried Chicken with Almonds

1 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs

¼ cup parmesan cheese

¼ cup finely chopped almonds

2 Tbsp parsley

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

¼ tsp dried thyme

pinch of black pepper

¼ cup olive oil

2 lbs boneless, skinless, chicken breast strips, 12 pieces

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a medium bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, cheese, almonds, paesley, garlic, salt, thyme, and pepper.  Mix thoroughly.

Place the oil in a shallow dish.  Dip the chicken first in the oil, then dredge in the crumb mixture.  Place the chicken on a foil lined cookie sheet, sprayed with Pam.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Serves 6

A New Year's Resolution: 7 Tips to Help Your House Lose Weight!

A New Year's Resolution for 2010

7 Tips to Help Your HOUSE Lose Weight!

1:  Give it a face lift. Start at the curb and give your home a “face lift”. Nip those bushes and trees back a bit; Tuck some colorful spring bulbs into the edgings of bare soil;  Pull out all the weeds and dead (or dying) foliage around the outside of your house and Enhance those dirt filled plant pots with nary a stick growing out of them with greenery or succulents.

2:  Get Rid of the Junk in the Trunk… or rather your garage.  Can you fit A car into your garage? Do you keep your garage door closed because you’re embarrassed at what the neighbors might say? Can you even open your garage?  Get rid of the JUNK!  If you haven’t used it in the past year, it’s most likely that you probably never will.  What’s worse; you’ve probably bought a NEW thingamajig because you forgot you already own one (or simply can’t find it or get to it).

3:  Take Care of Your Heart  by cleaning out the pantry, refrigerator, kitchen cabinets and drawers in your kitchen: often referred to as “the Heart of the Home.”  Reorganize, consolidate, throw-away and give away!

4:  Exercise More If you’re not going to use that treadmill that was plopped in the middle of the living room as “Last Year’s Resolution” then you might as well gift it to a friend that WILL use it or add it to the donation pile.  DON’T go throw it into the guest bedroom or the garage, even if it does make for a good temporary coathanger...try the closet!

5:  Get Rid of the Skeletons in Your Closets.  Really, clean them out!  Clothing you have not worn in the past 12 months: donate. Shoes that have seen better days: donate. Towels, sheets and blankets that are dingy, stained or torn can be donated to a local animal shelter.

6:  Cosmetic Surgery:  Lifting the eyes with a new trim color on the exterior, enhancing the homes “features” with accents of paint on the interior, softening fine lines with new draperies.  All are minor items that can be considered as “outpatient” (done in a day) procedures.

7:  Spend More Time with Family and Friends:  Isn’t that why you originally bought a house?  Close friends may even be willing to come over and help you tackle some of these more “daunting” (but simple) tasks.  It may even inspire them to do the same, then have a neighborhood garage sale and even make some money off of your home shedding a few pounds.

Note from Conejo Joe: Connie Tebyani is a Professional Home Stager, Interior Design Consultant and Owner of Platinum Home Staging, Inc. She is also the Preferred Interior Designer for Pottery Barn and a member of the Real Estate Staging Association.  Connie has lived in the Conejo Valley for 20 years with her husband and 2 boys.  Visit her website at www.PlatinumHomeStaging.com or 805.553.9952. Click here to see Connie's previous tips.