Ask Mavis: Free Panera Bagels, Free National Park Passes, Yummy Rice Recipe and More

It’s that time again. You ask, and I pretend to know things and answer your burning questions. It really is so much fun to open my inbox and see the wide variety of questions you guys have. Reminds me that my readers are so diverse and pretty dang awesome. So keep those questions coming and I’ll keep racking my brain for answers. As always, please pipe up if you have any input or are knowledgeable when it comes to any of the following questions:

Hey Mavis, I’ve been taking advantage of an offer that I think is totally in your wheelhouse, but I’m not sure if it just regional. I got an email stating that Panera Bread rewards members can get one free bagel a day for the entire month of September. I drive past Panera at least 8x’s a week (it’s on my the way to my son’s preschool). It’s convenient and one bagel feeds both of the kids. Hope you have the same offer in your neck of the woods!

~Rachel

Thanks so much for letting us know. I guess it is regional {some regions offer it during different months} but also not available to everyone. It depends on your level in their Rewards Membership program. But I certainly think an amazing offer like that deserves to be checked on. So all of you Panera lovers, head on over to your local Panera and see if you’re one of the lucky ones!

Hi Mavis

I just came across this  pass for 4th graders to get into National Parks for FREE for the whole year! It probably has something to do with the 100th anniversary of the National Parks or some such event, but pretty cool promo for kids to get into these national wonders for free all year! It does have some restrictions like the pass cannot be transferred to anyone else.

The official rules do list however, that if you visit a site that charges entrance fees per person-the pass admits all children under 16 and up to three adults for free. I’m thinking the Grand Canyon in February may be a nice distraction from rainy Washington!

~Randi

It’s an amazing program they offer every year for 4th graders to try to get kids out there exploring our national parks. Such an awesome program, huh?! They just need register and print their pass. Passes must be printed and brought with when you visit. Electronic copies aren’t accepted. Also, the passes have a unique code. That means you can’t copy it and give it to friends. But if they have a 4th grader, they can get their own pass! Thanks for the reminder!!

We just went gluten free in our house and so we’re living on meat, veggies, beans and white rice! I’m so tired of boring ol’ rice. Any recipes you love to give it a little flair? Thanks in advance.

~Megan

As a matter of fact, YES. There is a rice dish that is universally loved around here. It’s called Chicken and Thyme Rice w/ Carrots, but we also love a Sweetened Orange Rice that is delish. Hope one of those fits the bill. Good luck with your new lifestyle!

My dear friend Mavis Butterfield, We have been in limbo far too long, where did you and the girl go on your last adventure? I also have a few questions about your garden: Do you have a guess on how many square feet of raised boxes, planters etc you used to provide your 50 some-odd pounds of food so far this year?

Any planting plans? Have you found any big differences between Ebay & Etsy with regards to your wool stash business? I am thinking about trying my hand at some recycled sewing crafts.

Gotta run—truly enjoy your emails, Ruth

So many questions!

The Girl and I flew to the east coast a few weeks ago to retrieve her car. She decided to switch schools {I’ll talk about that in another post} and so we loaded it up with all her stuff and drove it back home.

The garden boxes are 32 square feet each. The pots on the back porch 1.5 square feet {I have 7 of them} and I’d say the galvanized tubs are about 8 square feet each. So with the garden boxes and containers I’d say I have around 93.5 square feet. Then probably around another 150 square feet if you add in the raspberry/strawberry patch, bean teepee and other random mounds of soil in the backyard.

As far as Etsy and Ebay go, for some strange reason I sell much more on Ebay than Etsy and I have no idea why as all of my items are handmade. Your idea of making some recycled sewing crafts sounds fun and I say go for it. You never know unless you try. 🙂

Have a question for me? Submit them HERE and I’ll try to answer them.
~Mavis