Mary Ann's House

Freezer Cooking: Doing What I Can

2012-01-18T14:41:00.000-05:00

If you've been reading here any length of time, you know how much I love freezer cooking! There's just not much better than having the freezer full of food ready to eat!

Lately, I haven't been able to block out a day or even a morning or afternoon to devote solely to freezer cooking, although I would like to do that soon. And Saturdays are usually booked.

So instead of doing a freezer cooking session, I do the next best thing--Doing what I can.

If I'm cooking rice, I'll bake two pans instead of one and freeze the extras in 2-cup portions. This makes sense since I'm using the oven anyways; might as well fill it up!

Occasionally, I'll double whatever we're having for supper and freeze half. Although, I do like having leftovers for lunch the next day, too!

A large pot of soup is more than one meal for the two of us, so I'll freeze a quart jar or two for later.

I like to cook extra meat and freeze it for later!

I chop extra celery and keep it in a freezer bag.

I bought a 5 pound block of cheese at Sam's Club a few weeks ago. We prefer buying blocks of cheese and shredding it ourselves for taste and better melting. Pre-shredded cheese almost always has extra additives too that we prefer to avoid. And blocks of cheese are usually less expensive. Anyways, sometimes I'll shred a big block and freeze it all. But I haven't had time for that lately so I've been trying to shred an extra cup or two to freeze in 1 cup portions every time I get some out to shred for a meal.

Doing what I can and doing a little at a time saves me time in the long run!

Menu Plan Monday and Brown Rice Stuffing Recipe

2012-01-16T20:53:00.000-05:00

Last week we tried a Brown Rice Stuffing recipe that was super delicious! I baked it in a casserole dish with chicken pieces on top. The stuffing turned out extra moist. Definitely a keeper! One thing we do miss eating since we changed the way we eat is stuffing--especially Stovetop! Brown Rice Stuffing would be a great addition to a holiday meal. The recipe is below.

**For weight loss and general health, we eat a diet low in grains but higher in protein, healthy fats, vegetables and fruit. For the most part, we avoid wheat, corn, refined sugar, starchy vegetables such as corn and potatoes and most processed foods. It is a work in progress--our diet isn't always perfect and we are far from eating all organic but we have both lost a good bit of weight since changing to eating this way in March of 2011 and we feel great! And for the record, we do eat a lot of brown rice and eggs and we're ok with that!**

This week's menu:

Breakfast

Scrambled eggs, turkey sausage links (2x)
Scrambled eggs, chicken (1x)
Scrambled eggs (3x)
Egg muffins with ham or bacon (1x)

Lunch

Vegetable soup. A recipe I got from FlyLady years ago and make often! Makes a big pot and serves us for 4-5 meals!
Spinach salad with leftover Israeli Spice Chicken.
Leftovers (2x).
Spinach salad with eggs, ham and cheese.
Packed lunch.

Snacks

Clementines (2x).
Yogurt with apple butter.
Bananas with almond or peanut butter (2x).
Peanut butter banana smoothie.

Supper--planning for 5 this week.

Chicken drumsticks rubbed with Israeli Spice Rub and baked like this, homemade cream of broccoli soup
Ham (crockpot if it fits, otherwise baked in oven), sauteed green beans with mushrooms and bacon
Hot dogs (nitrate-free), coleslaw, sweet potato fries
Breadless ham and cheese melts (we're making this up as we go, folks!), steamed broccoli
Leftovers-probably ham.

What's on your menu this week?

Brown Rice Stuffing
Adapted from At Home In The Kitchen--Mennonite, Hutterite and Amish-Style Cooking.

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped celery
2/3 cup sliced mushrooms-- I used Baby Bellas.
Handful of chopped dried cranberries--optional

3 cups cooked brown rice
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt

Melt butter in skillet; add onions, celery and mushrooms. Cook and stir until onion is tender. Add cranberries. Combine with cooked rice. Stir in parsley and salt.

I spread this in a 9 x 13 pan with raw chicken pieces on top and baked at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Stuffing can also be baked separately in a casserole dish for the same time and temperature.

**This post is part of Menu Plan Monday!

Egg Muffins

2012-01-13T13:00:00.000-05:00

My muffin pans have been feeling a bit neglected since we don't eat muffins and cupcakes anymore! So I'm coming up with other ways to use them.

I created these egg muffins one day when I needed a really quick portable lunch. And I had just gotten a bunch of eggs seriously marked down in price!

Egg Muffins

Ingredients:
eggs--one per muffin
shredded cheese, cooked bacon or sausage, finely chopped veggies (one, two or all--you choose)
salt and pepper
parsley--optional

Instructions:
Grease muffin tins. Place some shredded cheese and meat, if using, in bottom of each tin. Pour one beaten egg into each tin. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and parsley.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until cooked through. Egg muffins will puff up really nice in oven and sink down some once removed.

Let cool slightly and run knife carefully around each muffin to remove to plate.

**Leftovers heat up nicely in the microwave so I make double what we'll need and save the extras for the next day!

Resourceful Drawer Pulls

2012-01-12T13:46:00.000-05:00

A department store bag brought home from a Christmas gift exchange sported the cheeriest red and white braided cord handles.

I knew I wanted to cut them off and use them for something--maybe gift wrap. Then my husband suggested that they would make nice drawer pulls for the hutch.

We cut each handle in half and they ended up being just right for four drawer pulls.

I can't tell you how long I've put off buying cord to make pulls for these drawers. But I'm glad I never got around to it. This is much cuter and it makes me smile to be resourceful with something that would've otherwise been thrown away!

A Bin Of Organizing Posts

2012-01-11T13:01:00.002-05:00

The fresh start of January always gives me the urge to organize! Reading posts around the web about the very same thing confirms that I'm not the only one. And chances are that you too, are purging, decluttering and organizing your own homes this month!

In light of this, I've gathered a few of my favorite organizing posts to share with you today.

Organize or Declutter?
Tips For Organizing A Small Home
Kitchen Cabinet Clean-Up
How To Find Another Closet
Organizing Scrap Fabrics
Organizing The Junk Drawer
Organizing The Pantry

And if you're struggling to get started, may I suggest that you pick one small area to begin? For example, a shelf or cabinet that's been bothering you. Gather a garbage bag for trash, a box or laundry basket for things that belong elsewhere and another box for items to give away. Set your timer for 15 minutes. In that time work quickly, doing what you can in that space. When time is up, stop. Put items away that belong elsewhere. If the donate box is full, load in the car to drop off the next time you're out. Otherwise, set it out of the way. Commit to work 15 minutes on that area every day until it's done. Then choose another area and do the same thing. Before long, you'll be able to see a difference!

Friday Funnies

2012-01-06T14:37:00.001-05:00

Hope your weekend is not boring!

Bacon-Wrapped Eggs

2012-01-04T13:29:00.000-05:00

Or as Joy Of Cooking refers to them, Eggs Baked In Bacon Rings.

My friend Amy told me about these bacon-wrapped eggs from Joy of Cooking. We've enjoyed them several times since!

I got some nitrate/nitrite free bacon ends and pieces from Trader Joe's for $2.99/pound. The ends and pieces are thicker and a lot meatier than the regular strips from the store but they are odd-shaped and sized. So they don't wrap around the sides of the muffin tin as perfectly as regular bacon. We don't mind as it still tastes delicious!

Bacon-Wrapped Eggs

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Saute or broil lightly:
Strips of bacon

Grease the bottoms of muffin pans. Lines sides with bacon. Place in each muffin tin:
1 tablespoon chili sauce--we use a few drops of Tabasco in each.

Drop into it:
1 egg

Pour over the egg:
1 teaspoon melted butter

Sprinkle with:
Salt and paprika

Bake about 10 minutes or until eggs are set. Let set for a minute and then gently remove them to plates, serving on toast and garnishing with parsley, if desired.

Enjoy!

FYI- If by chance you're looking to purchase your own copy of Joy Of Cooking, which I highly recommend, I suggest that you purchase an older edition rather than a new one. They do vary a little and I think the recipes are better in the older! Mine is a 1980.

Dear Cookies

2012-01-02T13:31:00.001-05:00

Dear Cookies,

I've really enjoyed your December visit. You are very tasty. I'd forgotten how addictive you can be. Your sugary goodness lured me in right after breakfast, for dessert after every meal and in between. And you had me convinced that every time I caught a glimpse of you, I needed a handful of your yumminess. Which of course, I did. Happily!

Well, the party's over. It's not you, it's me. I love you, I really really do. But I really like being able to fit in my pants. And there is a beach trip coming up later this year.

We can still be friends though and I can't wait for your visit next year!

Sincerely,
Mary Ann

Year In Review

2011-12-31T15:48:00.000-05:00

To quickly recap my blog in 2011...

On the practical side of things, I shared why I regularly purge, declutter and get rid of things, some easy meals, painting our dining room, and about using recycled gift wrap.

We continued to enjoy living frugally learning how to make homemade laundry soap and how to cut my own boneless, skinless chicken breasts, saving money on groceries in spite of rising prices, using coupons, shared about eating frugally while on vacation and of course scouring yard sales and thrift stores for hidden treasures. I even picked up a thing or two off the curb on trash day!

We love living a simple life and this year enjoyed seasonal homemade meals, shopping at the local Farmer's Market, and thoroughly embracing each season--winter, spring, summer and fall.

Creativity was a big part of our year as well...We made our own fun by dressing up a squash, grew grass for decoration, entertained the kidlets on the cheap and found an extra closet! I enjoyed making crafty things for gifts and our home!

Life was full once again with a trip to Oregon to visit my parents, changing our eating habits, and celebrating 7 years of marriage with a trip to the mountains. Taking care of several little ones during the week leaves me very little time for naps! We experienced God's kindness and provision and grew in His Word.

We thank God for His goodness and look forward to more of the same in 2012!

This Year's Handmade Christmas Gifts

2011-12-29T21:46:00.000-05:00

Now that family members have all opened their Christmas gifts from us, I can share some of the gifts here! I didn't make as many of my gifts this year but still did manage to come up with a few.

I really like making gifts. It's part of who I am. And if I don't make gifts, I still enjoy picking out and creatively putting things together to create a fun gift! I think it's safe to say that gift giving (and receiving) is probably my main love language.

A few of the gift mixes.

For the ladies-moms and sisters:

Homemade laundry soap. Packaged in recycled small jars and large spice bottles.
Homemade spice blends-- Our favorite Rotisserie-Style Chicken Spice Rub and my homemade Southwestern Seasoning Blend- my own variation of this. Packaged in baby food jars.
Homemade Apple Butter.

For my sister:

2 bags freshly ground whole wheat flour-- Using my grain mill and wheat I have on hand. She bakes a lot for her family and doesn't have a grain mill so a practical and appreciated gift!

For grandparents and great-aunt:

Rice Heating Bags. Made 3 of these similar to this one and loosely following these instructions. Forgot to take pictures!

For my youngest niece:

Felt food-- a doughnut, cupcake, cinnamon roll and a chocolate chip cookie. Making small objects out of felt is very addicting. It's unbelievable how much fun I had with this! These fit perfectly stacked in a small oatmeal container covered with scrapbook paper. My niece (2 1/2 years) loved the food and these fit perfectly on the plates of her new tin tea set which was a gift from her grandparents!

Wrapping ideas:

Lids covered with scrapbook paper. This was so easy and used supplies I had in my stash.
Covering jar lids with a newspaper 'pointed star'. I recycled some tissue paper I had which was also cute.
Covered oatmeal container. And other ideas for recycled packaging!
Recycled gift wrap. One goal for this year was to use primarily recycled items for gift wrap. Other than also using a few new brown paper lunch bags, we succeeded! So fun --I'm already thinking of ideas for next year!

Did you give or receive any handmade gifts this year?

Gingham Cottage News--FREE Shipping Code

2011-12-26T07:32:00.000-05:00

Happy Boxing Day!

Get FREE shipping in my Etsy Shop today and tomorrow, December 26 and 27 when you use the code FREESHIP1211 at checkout.

Valid for U.S. customers only. Only one coupon code per transaction.

Thanks for looking and shopping handmade!

More Christmas Stuff With The Kids

2011-12-22T21:13:00.000-05:00

Painting with Christmas Bows--Always a hit with the toddler crowd!

Christmas Tree Brownies-- This was fun to do with Toddler Girl (20 months) and Big Brother (6 years). We baked them together in the morning, I cut them into triangle shapes and inserted the candy cane "trunks" during nap time and Big Brother decorated them while my hands were full of babies. We all sampled our treats and then divided them up to share with each family. For ease and to maintain a comfortable level of personal sanity, a brownie mix, tube of green frosting and whatever sprinkles I had on hand were used. A big hit!

These snowman handprint ornaments were gifts to the parents this year. These are not my original idea but I always think they are super cute every time I see them!

All you need are plain ornaments, white acrylic paint and black and orange fine tip Sharpie markers. Oh, and little hands to print!

Paint hand with white paint. Place ball ornament in hand so that bottom of ornament is in the palm. Press painted hand up against the ornament and remove quickly before fingers wiggle. :-)

Let dry. I found placing them upside down on baby food jars worked great! Draw details on fingers with markers.

When done, the hand print will look like a snowman family of five standing in the snow.

FYI-- This is a whole lot easier to do with older kids who can keep their fingers still than babies! Just saying... As you can see from the picture some of the snowmen were rather crowded together which I didn't mind since it shows their personalities and ages! This reindeer ornament would be easier to do with little ones!

I hope you all are having a fun Christmas week!

Recycled Gift Wrap

2011-12-21T09:57:00.001-05:00

One of the 'batches' of gifts we wrapped this year.

One of my goals for gift wrapping this year was to use recycled items instead of purchasing new wrapping paper as I wrote about here.

We saved paper bags all year-both white and brown- and also reused some colorful tissue paper I'd received in a gift.

Gift tags so far have been old Christmas cards, either used whole or cut up to make smaller tags. I've used bits and pieces of ribbon as well as some yarn and string for tying.

I usually wrap our gifts in 'batches' by families, events or which package I'm mailing. Keeps things organized and helps me to not forget someone! Some batches have turned out prettier than others, based mainly on the time I've had to invest in each one and also the shapes of gifts I'm wrapping! The batch pictured above was my favorite so far, especially the fruit printed bag I kept from a boutique purchase earlier in the year--so cute!

Using recycled gift wrappings is not only a frugal choice but a practical one as well.

And wrapping gifts this way provides a creative outlet that I enjoy!

**Bits of wrapping paper, bows, cards and tissue paper make great collage supplies for the little ones so be sure and save a few things from the trash can during this season of gift-giving! And those picture frame cards can be used for projects such as this one. **

Christmas Activities for Kids: Nativity Printable

2011-12-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

I was excited to find this printable nativity a few weeks ago and pinned it to do with Big Brother (age 6). This reminded me of a paper nativity we had when I was little where the figures were punched out like paper dolls and then folded and attached with little tabs in the backs so they stood up.

I knew Big Brother would like to make this as he enjoys coloring. I enjoyed being able to use a bunch of toilet paper tubes I'd saved for such an occasion! We worked on this together with Big Brother doing most of the coloring over the course of a few afternoons when he came over after school.

It turned out so very cute and he was so proud to take his nativity home with him today!

Sugar High

2011-12-19T20:38:00.003-05:00

Andy and I spent last Saturday making some yummy Christmas goodies to enjoy and share. Making Christmas cookies together is a tradition that we enjoy each year. We had thought that perhaps we just wouldn't do any this year or try some "healthier" varieties but in the end we decided to just go ahead and make a few of our favorites as we did want to share some with friends. And eat a few too!

This year we made 4 varieties:

My mom sent us an assortment of her homemade candies plus Baby Boy's grandmother sent over a container of fudge and buckeyes they had made, so we have a lovely variety of cookies and candies for a nice cookie plate!

My friend Katie sent me a candy cane cookie cutter last year along with some peppermint sprinkles! My husband had the great idea of using leftover white chocolate to frost the candy canes and then sprinkle with the peppermint sprinkles. So yummy!

My husband makes the pretzels every year. Don't they look wonderful?

Tip: Bake bars in pans lined with foil. When cool lift out of pan for easier cutting and nicer looking squares!

What goodies have you made this year?

**This post is linked up to The Modest Mom's Christmas baking post!

Merry Swap

2011-12-13T09:35:00.001-05:00

It's been fun to once again join in with the Sisters Shoebox Swaps hosted by Monica and Carrie! The theme for this swap was Merry and my swap partner was Kim.

Kim doesn't have a blog but we emailed a bit back and forth in order to get to know each other better! She is a super sweet lady and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her a little and creating a box for her.

I was blown away by all that Kim packed into my box and the thought and care that went into it!So much fun! She included lots of red which I love!

Packed into a beautiful Christmas box(which you see at the back of this picture) was:

Set of 3 red and white kitchen towels.
Peppermint tea light candles.
Metal Merry Christmas sign.
An adorable nativity--love nativities and apparently am starting a small collection!
Ghiradelli chocolate bars.
Coffee.
Candy Cane Lane tea.
Mug that says -"This Home Believes" and has a nativity picture.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer lip balm. How fun is that!?!
"Silver Spruce" potpourri sachet.
Chris Tomlin CD--Glory In the Highest.
Candy cane ornament.
Nativity ornaments made of olive wood from the Holy Lands.

Isn't this a sweet nativity--look at those cute faces!

The Merry Christmas sign.

What I sent to Kim:

Christmas garland--printed from here.
A compilation of some of our favorite Christmas tunes.
Cozy Christmas socks.
Bag of treats for her dogs Chip and Mattie from our dog Rock.
Handmade little stocking filled with candy. I looked at these directions for basic how-to's but drew my own pattern and made it quite small.
Hot cocoa mix.--Just combined the dry ingredients and included instructions.
Handmade felt ornaments like these.
Apple cinnamon candle.
Merry Christmas tin(which I packed the cocoa mix in).

**Go to Carrie's blog for more Merry swap show and tell!

Menu Plan Monday--The "I Really Need To Get Groceries" Edition

2011-12-12T20:21:00.001-05:00

I made Pumpkin Curry Soup last week for the first time! Wasn't sure what to expect but it seemed interesting! And since we don't eat many baked goods anymore, I've been wanting some other ways to eat pumpkin. This recipe was very very good. Quite mild tasting actually. I cooked up a pumpkin we had used for decoration throughout the fall and used some of the homemade pumpkin puree for this soup. I didn't add carrots but made the recipe as stated otherwise. Because of no carrots and not-so-orange pumpkin puree, this soup wasn't as vibrant as I expected. Instead, it was kind of a yellow color. But it was yummy and comforting, none the less. A plus--I really liked the smooth texture after running it through the food processor.

**For weight loss and general health, we eat a diet low in grains but higher in protein, healthy fats, vegetables and fruit. For the most part, we avoid wheat, corn, refined sugar, starchy vegetables such as corn and potatoes and most processed foods. It is a work in progress--our diet isn't always perfect and we are far from eating all organic but we have both lost a good bit of weight since changing to eating this way and we feel great! And for the record, we do eat a lot of brown rice and eggs!**

I didn't get to the grocery store this past weekend and it looks like it will be later this week before we get there this week. So I'm doing as much as I can with what we have in the pantry, fridge and freezer. We have enough food, just not as much variety as usual and running low on a few staple items. I think we'll live!

We would like to make some Christmas goodies this weekend using some of our favorite recipes. They won't be completely healthy but it is the holiday season and we'll just make probably 3 different things!

Breakfasts
**hard-boiled eggs, chicken
**scrambled eggs, chicken
**scrambled eggs (3x)
**scrambled eggs, bacon (2x)

Lunches
**Regular potluck lunch with church fellowship-- applesauce and broccoli/cauliflower blend
**Rice noodles with tuna
**Leftovers (4x)
**Whatever's left!

Snacks
**yogurt with apple butter
**yogurt and kiwi
**orange, kiwi, almonds
**hard-boiled eggs
**applesauce (2x)

Suppers
**Snacks for church meeting--took some mixed nuts.
**Chicken gravy on rice, variety of bits of leftover veggies--green beans, limas and turnip greens.
**Roast chicken, roasted butternut squash, mashed cauliflower
**Chicken Rice Soup(new recipe)
**Stir fry(bag of stir fry veggies!),with a chopped chicken breast and rice.
**Crustless Quiche, tomato soup from a can--Didn't use this meal from last week's plan.
**Meeting: TBD

**This post is part of Menu Plan Monday!

Christmas Gift Idea for Military Members and Veterans

2011-12-09T19:06:00.002-05:00

As my husband mentioned in this post a few years ago, he works with a great company called Products For Good. They offer a unique line of military themed products featuring decommissioned Iraqi coins, like the one pictured above. If you visit the website, please take the time to read the amazing story behind the company. Having been with them over three years now, his business has begun to expand. This expansion is both personally gratifying and seeks to provide greater financial capabilities for our family.

A large part of that expansion is a Facebook Page dedicated to his business. What you'll mainly find there are stories of military interest and ways to support our troops. But, one very special aspect of the Facebook Page is the ability to shop online. The items available there would make GREAT gifts for the military member or veteran in your life. So if you have a family member like my Father-In-Law, who is a Vietnam Veteran and is rather difficult to shop for, take a moment to like the page. Then outsmart the crowds and shop from the comfort of your couch, or at least your CEO style office chair. And let him know that you came because of his wonderful, beautiful, selfless wife, who graciously donated her blog space for the sake of this post.

Toddler Activity: Christmas Tree Magnets

2011-12-09T15:04:00.002-05:00

I saw this activity in the ~~toddler activity Bible~~ The Toddler's Busy Book and thought it would be great thing to make since baby food jars and lids are one thing I have in abundance!

Supplies:

Lids from baby food jars--at least 10.
Felt--green, brown (for trunk), yellow (for star at top), other colors can be used too if you'd like to make 'balls' for the tree.
Tacky glue or hot glue gun.
Magnet strips.
Scissors.

To make:

Make circles by tracing the lid onto felt. Cut out.
Glue felt circles into lids.
Let dry.
Attach magnet strips to backs with glue.
Let dry.
Give to eager toddler and watch her have a great time with the magnets!

This obviously is great for the front of the refrigerator but would also make a good table activity when used with a cookie sheet.

Due to sickness, Toddler Girl has not yet tried out this activity but I'm pretty sure she will like it very much! I think Big Brother (age 6) will like it too. Because an older child will enjoy making different patterns and shapes, I plan to make more of these in green and other colors for more possibilities for him.

A simple, fun and cheap activity for that busy little toddler!

Would You Like To Win One Of My Aprons?

2011-12-09T07:29:00.000-05:00

My sweet blog friend Katie is hosting an apron giveaway! Visit her blog to get the details on how to enter and also get a coupon code for my Etsy shop!

Indoor Clothes Drying

2011-12-07T09:22:00.000-05:00

Our clothes dryer has been on the fritz for most of a month now. Got the first issue fixed, dried about 5 loads of laundry and then the next time I went to use the dryer, something else wasn't working.

Well. Our dryer isn't new; probably more like 20 years old. It was a hand-me-down from Andy's parents when he was still a bachelor and has been a faithful servant! But we would like to get a few more years use out of it if possible!

So for the time being we are line drying all of our laundry. Our outdoor clothesline broke when moving last year so we are needing to dry everything inside. Perhaps we will rig up some outdoor lines if this continues. Thankfully, we own three folding drying racks since I was already line drying some of our laundry.

I've learned a few tips about drying clothes indoors during the winter. Some of these things I've done for a while anyways and others are new.

Hanging clothes can be hung on the shower rod. Pajamas, shirts and pants can be dried this way. Hanging larger items here frees up more space on the drying racks for the smaller stuff and towels. If items are hung early enough in the day, most things will be dry by morning shower time. Smaller things such as socks and underwear can be hung on skirt/pants hangers if needed. I like this because the clothes are out of the way.
Curtain rods can also be used for hanging clothes.
Use fans in front of racks. Especially for towels and heavier items. My biggest concern is that the towels will not dry fast enough and get smelly. The racks also take up a bit of space and I'm in a hurry to fold them back up out of the way!
Position racks over vents. Warm or cool air will help speed up the drying process.
Rotate items on racks for even drying. Sometimes the front items or one side of the jeans are dry but the rest still wet! Turn things around if needed.
Adding white vinegar to the towels helps to soften them a bit. Not a lot but a bit.:-) Also shaking them out before hanging seems to help.
Wear clothing several times before washing if possible. This helps cut down on the laundry to hang. We shower every day and use deodorant so if not stained, most outfits can be worn 2 times.
Stagger loads of laundry. Don't do everything in one day. I will do sheets on a day by themselves and drape them over the racks. Towels always take up 2 racks so I wash them by themselves or when I don't have as many clothes.
Wash only what needs to be washed. I'm not washing heavy pieces of bedding right now unless it really needs it! And in the case of blankets and such, I'd probably break down and go to the laundromat.
Swallow pride. I really dislike visitors seeing our laundry drying in the house. But I have people in and out of my house almost every day. So I put it out of the way if possible (for space reasons more than pride) and if not or if they use the bathroom during their visit, well, I just try to keep the unmentionables behind the bigger garments!
Smile knowing you're doing something good for the environment!

What line drying tips do you have to share?

Menu Plan Monday and Little Smokies Recipe

2011-12-06T21:05:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know it isn't Monday anymore!:-)

The Cheesy Chicken and Rice recipe we tried last week turned out really good. I did change it some to utilize what I had on hand-- shocker, I know! For starters, I had 1 cup of chicken instead of 2 and 2-3 cups of cooked brown rice instead of 1. So I threw all that in a bowl. Only had about a tablespoon of salsa left in the jar so poured that in and added about a cup or two of leftover canned tomatoes I had in the fridge plus some homemade taco/fajita seasoning I use. I didn't have any canned beans in the house and besides we eat mostly lentils and not many other beans on this diet--and I really wasn't into adding lentils so just skipped beans altogether. It was delicious. I highly recommend this recipe--obviously it's hard to mess up! And no cream soups which I have tried hard to avoid for a number of years now.

**For weight loss and general health, we eat a diet low in grains but higher in protein, healthy fats, vegetables and fruit. For the most part, we avoid wheat, corn, refined sugar and most processed foods. It is a work in progress--our diet isn't always perfect and we are far from eating all organic but we have both lost a good bit of weight since changing to eating this way and we feel great! And for the record, we do eat a lot of brown rice and eggs!**

Breakfasts
**Egg and cheese muffins--will share the recipe soon!
**Scrambled eggs (2x)
**Scrambled eggs, turkey sausage (2x)
**Scrambled eggs with cheese
**Eggs in bacon rings--will share this recipe soon too!

Lunches
**Weekly fellowship potluck-- we took green beans and bacon in the little crockpot and some deviled eggs. While grocery shopping on Saturday morning, I came across some organic eggs marked down to 69 cents a dozen!!!
**Leftover Little Smokies, celery sticks stuffed with some leftover deviled egg filling.
**Leftover pumpkin soup, hard-boiled eggs, cheese, some bits of leftover meat.
**Tuna salad, celery sticks, hard-boiled eggs.
**Leftover beef vegetable soup.
**Leftover chicken and rice casserole.
**Leftovers --whatever's left.

Snacks
**Bananas, peanut butter
**Oranges(2x)
**Yogurt (2x)
**Whatever's left!

Suppers
**Snacks for meeting-- Apple-Barbecue Little Smokies--recipe below!
**Pumpkin Curry Soup(new recipe), turkey
**Israeli spice chicken, sweet potatoes, green beans
**Beef vegetable soup
**Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole--using sour cream instead of cream since that's what I have!
**Monterrey lentils, rice
**Crustless quiche (probably spinach), tomato soup(from a can)

Apple Barbecue Little Smokies

Ok, so Little Smokies , cocktail weiners, baby sausages or whatever you call them are probably not in the healthy eating category! But we do enjoy them on occasion and they are fun to make and take this time of year. And super easy! All things in moderation.:-)

1 pound package Little Smokies
1 cup applesauce or apple butter-- I use homemade so very low sugar or no sugar at all if using applesauce.
1 cup BBQ sauce--BBQ sauce is a high sugar item. I don't stress about eating or serving it on occasion. We only buy sauce with no high fructose corn syrup if I don't make my own. We like Bulls Eye by Kraft Foods(often on sale which is a plus!) or a store brand from our local heath food store.

Mix applesauce and BBQ sauce in bottom of greased 1-2 quart crockpot. Add sausages and stir together. Cook on low for about 3 hours or on high for 1 hour. Turn to warm to serve.

What's cooking at your house this week?

**This post is part of Menu Plan Monday!

The ABC's Of Thanks: W, X, Y, Z

2011-11-30T06:00:00.001-05:00

'W'

Word of God
Wednesdays-- sometimes a half or whole day off!
Work
Windows that open--our last house's windows did not.
Warm house when it's cold.
Wiggly kidlets.
Water
Waffles-- Andy's mom makes the yummiest fluffy waffles!
Wonderful family-- Both biological and church families!

'X'

X-rays-- When we need them.
X-acto knife for crafting.

'Y'

My mom whose name begins with 'Y'.
Yogurt.
Yams or sweet potatoes.
Yarn--although my knitting and crocheting skills leave much to be desired.
You! --So grateful that you continue to choose to come back and read my writings!

'Z'

Zippers.
Zoos--fun to visit.
Zucchini
Zephers
Zinnias
Zinc--boosts the immune system.
Zero mice in my home.
And just for fun--Zero elephants in my pocket!
Zest for life.
Zeal for God.
Zzzzzzzz-- a good night's sleep!

Whew!!! I made it all the way through the alphabet. So much to be thankful for!

I'd love to hear your W, X, Y and Z's if you care to share!

The ABC's Of Thanks: T,U,V

2011-11-29T13:39:00.000-05:00

'T'

Thankful for Thanksgiving!
Turkey--lots of it!
Trials--this is a hard one for me to write. But looking back I can see how these times have built Godly character and continue to draw me closer to Jesus Christ. May it always be so!
Toddlers
Thrift stores
Toys
Tidying up after toddlers and toys!
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movies-- especially Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail. Love those movies!

'U'

Umbrellas--when it rains!
Uncles
Underwear (clean)
Umbrella strollers
Unfailing love of God

'V'

Voting--it's a priviledge.
Violet-- a pretty color.
Vacations--occasionally.
Vet-- We love our new vet!
Veterans
Vegetables
Vintage items

The ABC's Of Thanks: 'R' and 'S'

2011-11-28T21:02:00.000-05:00

So let's try to finish up our "ABC's Of Thanks" before the end of November, shall we?

'R'

Riches in Christ Jesus.
Rhubarb.
My mother-in-law whose name begins with R!
Repurposing items.
Renting.
Rite Aid--I get lots of good deals there!
Reruns of classic television.
Redskins--We're thankful they actually won a game yesterday!:-)
Rice.
Reading books to kidlets.
Reading.
Red--one of my favorite colors!
Righteous--what I have been made because of Jesus!

'S'

Savior
Selling things.
My brother in law, Shawn.
Sleeping in or just sleeping in general!
Sales!
Soap.
Shampoo.
Sewing.
Storage space.
Small house--it's cozy sometimes but a roof over our heads!
Snow days--few and far between.
Susie--my husband's great aunt.
Squash-yummy!
Simplicity.
Simple things.

What are you thankful for?

Menu Plan Monday-- Frugal Low-Grain Meals

2011-11-28T20:45:00.001-05:00

I've been working on keeping meals extra simple lately. It just seems to work better for this season of life! Since this is the end of the month, I'm trying to use up odds and ends we already have on hand before I go grocery shopping sometime this weekend.

**For weight loss and general health, we eat a diet low in grains but higher in protein, healthy fats, vegetables and fruit. For the most part, we avoid wheat, corn, refined sugar and most processed foods. It is a work in progress--our diet isn't always perfect and we are far from eating all organic but we have both lost a good bit of weight since changing to eating this way and we feel great! And for the record, we do eat a lot of brown rice and eggs!**

What we're eating this week:

Breakfasts:
**scrambled eggs, turkey sausage links (2x)
**scrambled eggs (2x)
**scrambled eggs, bacon (2x)
**hard-boiled eggs, cheese (1x)

Lunches:
**eat out
**celery with cream cheese, eggs, cheese, almonds
**vegetable soup (freezer)
**leftovers
**celery with tuna salad
**garlic butter rice pasta, veggie
**whatever is left!

Snacks:
**clementines, almonds
**yogurt smoothies
**pears
**applesauce
**bananas with peanut butter
**whatever is left!

Suppers:
**Snacks for meeting: cookies(Thanksgiving leftovers), nuts
**Rotisserie-style crockpot chicken, sweet potatoes, broccoli/cauliflower mix
**Chicken gravy on rice ( Using chicken and broth from the Rotisserie-style chicken--this makes the BEST gravy!) , veggies
**Southwestern lentils
**Meeting: TBD
**Stir-fry using a bag of frozen stir-fry veggies with shrimp and rice
**Cheesy chicken and rice casserole (new recipe--looks really yummy!), salad or veggie

**This post is part of Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday!

Crayon Roll Closeout!

2011-11-28T07:46:00.000-05:00

Through tomorrow November 29, all crayon rolls are marked down to $5.00 in my Etsy shop. These come complete with crayons and make wonderful stocking stuffers!

Thanks for looking!

**Through the end of the year, proceeds from all of my Etsy shop sales go towards a mission project in India providing wells for villages and rescuing girls in sexual slavery through E.A.R.E. ministries.

The ABC's Of Thanks: 'Q'

2011-11-17T10:17:00.000-05:00

So 'Q' promises to be a bit more difficult but I've already thought of a few things!

Quiet--in my heart, first thing in the morning, at naptime, after the storm,etc.
Quiche.
Quilts.
Quick cleaning jobs.
Quick meals.
Quitting for the day.
Quaint, old-fashioned things.
Quantity of food--especially the 11 meal-size portions in the freezer from the turkey baked yesterday given to us by someone who got it free at the grocery store and wouldn't be able to use it!
Quarterbacks--some days.
Quartet music.
Quarters--great for spending at yard sales!
Quotes--" God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called!"
Quips.
Quenched thirst.
Quality kitchen tools.

What are you thankful for?

The ABC's Of Thanks: 'P'

2011-11-16T16:49:00.001-05:00

Today, I'm thankful for:

Parents
Pears
Pineapple
Pinterest-- Follow me there if you wish!
Paint- Made a huge difference in our current home!
Pie!
Pumpkin Pie
Paved driveway
Purple--One of my favorite colors.
Pacifiers-- For the baby, of course! A little thing but it sure can help!
Pack and plays-- Great places for the littles to rest!
Pans--To cook with.
Poppie--What we call my husband's grandfather.
Payday!
Pantry--First time I've ever had one!
Pacific Ocean-- Grew up about a 2 hour drive from the coast so have lots of fond memories there! So beautiful!
Paper
Patience-- From God and other people.
Parks
Pansies
Peonies
Parades--I always enjoy a good parade.
Parties
Pastor
Pawn Stars--A TV show that we enjoy.
Patterns
Peace from knowing God is in control.
Pickles!

What 'P' words are you thankful for today!

The ABC's Of Thanks: 'O'

2011-11-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

Today's letter is 'O'!

I'm thankful for:

Olives--One of our favorites!
October.
Old-fashioned living.
Omelet.
Omnipotent God.
Omnipresent God.
Omniscient God.
Onion rings--I will always choose these over fries!
Oranges.
Orchids.
Orchards.
Oxygen--What we need to breathe.

What would you add?

A Peek At Our OCC Shoeboxes

2011-11-14T14:46:00.000-05:00

This week (November 14-21, 2011) is Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child's shoebox projects. In this video or vlog, as they say, I share what we put into our boxes this year. My hope is that this will encourage more people to participate in this worthwhile project and maybe give some ideas of what kinds of things to put into your box(es)!

Related posts:

How To Pack A Shoebox by mary bailey. Cute!
Operation Christmas Child--Meryl's Story by Passionate Homemaking. This is super awesome!

Find out all the details at the Operation Christmas Child website!

The ABC's Of Thanks: 'N'

2011-11-14T06:00:00.001-05:00

Already to' N'! This month is flying by!

I'm thankful for:

My brother Nathan.
Nieces and nephews.
Naps--Although they seldom occur these days!
Nativity.
Our Nation.
Nearness of God to us, His children!
Nature.
Natural living.
Necessities-- We have everything we need!
Necklaces--Jewelry is pretty!
Nectarines.
Need for God.
Needles--when sewing.
Neighbors.
Our cozy little Nest!
Newborns--So sweet!
Night--Time to rest.
Noodles!
November!
Nuts.
Good Nutrition.

What would you add to this list?

The ABC's Of Thanks: 'M'

2011-11-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful for:

Myself! haha
m&m's
Milk
My blog friend, Monica!
Mom
Mother-in-law
Magenta--Love to wear purplish-pinkish colors.
Maps--So we know where we're going.
Marriage.
Mason jars!
Meals.
Mattress-nicer to sleep on than the hard floor!
Medicine--If we are sick.
Memory.
Melons of all kinds--Yummy!
Memorial Day--thankful for those who died for our freedom.
A Merry heart!
Milkshakes.
Moon.

What 'M' words are you thankful for today?

The ABC's Of Thanks: 'L'

2011-11-12T18:50:00.000-05:00

What I'm thankful for that starts with 'L':

The Lord.
Love.
God's Lovingkindness
Leila, my niece.
Life.
Laughter.
Lentils.
Living room.
Little ones.
Little house--not so much to clean!
Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder--Love the books but haven't yet watched much of the TV show yet but would like to!
Lilacs.
Lavender.
Lilies.
Lovey-- Toddler Girl's special, well, lovey! Makes naptime much smoother.
'Likes' on Facebook.
Lettuce.

What 'L' blessings are you thankful for?

The ABC's Of Thanks: 'K'

2011-11-12T18:40:00.001-05:00

Here's 'K'... a day late...'k? :-)

I sat down to do this post last night and woke up this morning realizing that I had not written it. How's that for sidetracked?

I'm thankful for:

My sister Kathryn.
My nephew Knox.
My blog friend Katie. She is super sweet!
Kidlets--What I call the young ones who spend their days with me!
Kingdom of God.
Kindness of God.
Kidneys--Thankful they work well!
Kitchen--Because I love to cook!
Kinfolk--Why yes, I am reading through the dictionary!
Kiwi-fruit.
Kittens--They are cute when small. Not really a cat person although they are useful for some things!
Kisses.
Knives--When I need to chop food.
Knowledge that I've acquired through the years.
Krispy Kreme--especially like the cruller!
A Knowing God.

Now it's your turn! What are you thankful for that begins with 'K'?

The ABC's Of Thanks: 'J'

2011-11-10T21:03:00.000-05:00

Let's see. What am I thankful for today that begins with 'J'?

Joy of the Lord
July--my birthday month!
Jabbering of the littles--so sweet to hear.
January--a fresh start each year.
Jeans--comfy to wear!
Jehovah Jireh--my Provider.
Jehovah Rapha--my Healer.
Jesus--my Savior.
Justine--my friend.
Jump rope--I always loved jumping rope as a kid. My dad tells about the time when I was pretty young (and very shy!) and at the hardware store with him. Looking at spools and spools of rope, I whispered to him, "I'd really like a jump rope!" He bought two lengths for me that day--a regular and one long enough for several friends to jump at once. He knotted and burned the ends so they wouldn't fray. Those were the best jump ropes--they lasted for years! In fact, my parents may still have them.
John Beck--Redskins quarterback; this was my husband's idea! LOL!!
Jelly beans.
Just being at home!

What are you thankful for that starts with 'J'?

The ABC's of Thanks: 'I'

2011-11-09T18:07:00.000-05:00

I spy with my little eye... things I'm thankful for that start with 'I'.

Hmmm... this might be a bit more difficult!

Ice cream
Instructions from God in His word.
Icicles- so pretty!

Icicles hanging from our house during last winter's snow.

Inchworm in the form of Baby Boy as he 'army crawls' from room to room.
Ideas from Pinterest and other bloggers. Follow me on Pinterest if you're so inclined!
Ideas that God gives me that enable me to more creatively stretch our budget.
Identity in Christ.
Immovable God.
Imperfections that force reliance on a perfect Savior.
Irises, especially purple ones.

The letter 'I'. What are you thankful for?

Making Yogurt In The Crockpot

2011-11-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

Yogurt is easy to make in the crockpot! I follow these instructions from A Year Of Slow Cooking and have found it to work great.

When I first started making yogurt, I used a small yogurt maker that I picked up at Goodwill. It worked ok and made 1 quart at a time. But when I discovered that yogurt could be made in the crockpot I was eager to try it! Not only would I be able to make more at a time but it would eliminate the need for the yogurt maker and instead be made in the crockpot which can be used for lots of different recipes.

While yogurt making in the crockpot is super easy, you do want to plan to make it on a day when you're going to be mostly at home. And I find that setting the timer helps me to not forget about it!

Pour a half-gallon of milk into crockpot. Put lid on and turn to low. Let cook for 2 1/2 hours. (Or until just below boiling.)
Turn crockpot off and unplug. Let set for 3 hours.
After about 3 hours the milk will have cooled down to about 110-120 degrees. Sometimes it takes a bit longer; I set the timer for a few more minutes and come back and check the temperature. I don't usually use the thermometer; I just test it with my finger. If it's too hot, it will kill the cultures in the yogurt starter you're about to add. Too cold and it won't work either. I guess a good way to explain it is that it should be just a bit warmer than lukewarm. I've done it both a bit hotter and a bit cooler and it has worked so not too scary! If in doubt, use a thermometer until you get a feel for it!
When milk is right temp., scoop out a cup or two of warmish milk into a bowl. Whisk 1/2 cup of plain yogurt into milk. Any plain yogurt will work as long as it contains live active cultures. Stonyfield Farms organic plain yogurt is one of my favorites to use.
Pour milk/yogurt mixture into crockpot and mix gently to combine the yogurt.
Keeping crockpot unplugged, wrap with towels to cover and keep it warm. Let set to culture in a non-drafty place for 8-10 hours or overnight. I place mine in the bay window which is a nice sunny spot in my house! At the end of culturing, the milk should have thickened to make yogurt. Place crockpot in refrigerator to help it to thicken up a bit more.
Eat!

Notes:

Homemade yogurt will not be as thick as store-bought.
For a thicker Greek-style yogurt, line a strainer with cheesecloth or tea towel. Pour yogurt in and let whey (the liquidy stuff) drain off, leaving a thicker yogurt. Draining longer will result in a kind of yogurt cheese,similar to cream cheese, which I think is delicious with crackers or celery!
Pureed fruit or jam can be mixed into yogurt. We like to keep it plain and add fruit or honey right before eating.
The longer it cultures, the tarter the yogurt!
Save a half-cup of yogurt to add to your next batch. I like to drain it some before adding so it's a little thicker.
For more information and pictures, go here.
Previous posts I've written about making yogurt--Homemade Yogurt, Yogurt In The Crockpot, Steps We've Taken To A Healthier Diet.

Happy yogurt making!

If you have any questions, I will try to answer them.

The ABC's Of Thanks: 'H'

2011-11-08T20:35:00.000-05:00

Today, we think about blessings that begin with 'H'!

My dad, whose name starts with 'H'.
Helpful Husband who went grocery shopping at Aldi's for me today!
Healing-- We have both received physical and spiritual healing this year. So thankful!
Ham--yum!
Hope--God's hope that does not disappoint!
Home
Heaven
Health
Hymns--While I enjoy all kinds of Christian music, I love the old hymns, especially instrumentals.
Hobby Lobby--Love this store!

What words that begin with 'H' come to your mind?

The ABC's Of Thanks: 'F' and 'G'

2011-11-07T20:41:00.000-05:00

What I'm thankful for that start with 'F':

Faithfulness (God's)
Forgiveness
Freedom in Christ
Fruit
Friends
Family
Fried mushrooms--yummy, yum!

What I'm thankful for that start with 'G':

God
God's grace
Groceries
Baby Boy whose name starts with 'G'--He is so sweet!
God's goodness
Growth (spiritual)

'F' and 'G'. What are you thankful for today?

The ABC's of Thanks: 'D' and 'E'

2011-11-05T21:15:00.000-04:00

Didn't get my post up yesterday so am doubling up tonight with two letters! I don't know how many I'll come up with here but I'll give it my best shot! Feel free to chime in with your comments.

The letter 'D':

Our dads
Dogs-- I would have never imagined that I would become a dog lover. Up until we got our dog 4 years ago, I was very scared of dogs and didn't like them one bit! Now I enjoy them so much. Miracles never cease!
Doughnuts-- I have a very weird sense of humor; those who know me in real life will totally get this. The other day I came up with a "new joke". My husband always groans when I announce this!:-) Anyways, I thought it was pretty funny: "Donut let your heart be troubled!" Anyhoo...
Doctors
Dentists--Actually I really am NOT that fond of dentists but they do serve their purpose and I'm thankful for that! Maybe I would like them more if I went more often. Hahahaha
Dear friends who are like family!
Dark chocolate.

The letter 'E':

Eggs-- We eat a lot of them these days!
Extra income this week--God is so faithful!
Extra hour of sleep tonight!
My Etsy shop.
Ebay.
Extravagant love of God.

Hmmm...I think I need to come back to these when I'm not so tired! What blessings can you think of that start with 'D' and/or 'E'?

The ABC's Of Thanks--'C'

2011-11-03T20:19:00.000-04:00

Continuing on through the alphabet...

Today I'll focus on words that start with 'C'.

I'm thankful for...

The C. Family--My husband's and now my family as well!
Chicken--Yummy to eat!
Candles
Chocolate
Crockpots--Use them almost every day!

My crockpots at work. Today, making yogurt and apple butter!

Our niece whose name starts with 'C'.
Camera
Christ's compassion
Cooler weather
Cheese
Cozy home!
Cherished Dog
Cookies

Sugar cookies from last Christmas!

What 'C' blessings are you thankful for today?

The ABC's of Thanks: 'B'

2011-11-02T16:50:00.002-04:00

What I'm thankful for that starts with 'B':

My family-- the B***** family.
Babies
Broccoli--It's good for us!!!
Bible
Books
Blogging/blogs
Bargains-- Thanking God for the deals He provided on eggs, cheese and bananas this morning!
Berries--Yum!
Butter--It's yummy and I'm thankful that organic butter's a recommended good fat so we eat it with no regrets!!!
Beauty all around us that God created.
Black dog.:-)
Budgets--They help us stay on track!
Blessings--Way too many to count!
Becky--My wonderful sister-in-law!
Brownies
Blizzards-- Love the Pumpkin Pie Blizzard this time of year!
Bacon--Everything tastes better with bacon!

What are you thankful for today that starts with the letter 'B'?

The ABC's Of Thanks-- 'A'

2011-11-01T20:16:00.001-04:00

This month I'll be going through the alphabet and giving thanks for those things and blessings that start with each letter!

Today for the letter 'A', I'm thankful for:

Andy- my husband!
A*****aka Toddler Girl-what a blessing and delight she is to her family and to us.
A*****aka Big Brother- he genuinely loves the babies which is so sweet to see and keeps us on our toes!
Apples- So delicious this time of year and made into applesauce and apple butter, a wonderful treat for the rest of the year.

Applesauce from a recent canning day!

A********- our oldest niece.
Andy-my father-in-law!
Autumn-my favorite season!
Air conditioning--when it's hot!
Aprons--I love to wear and make them!

I'll update this post if I think of any more 'A' blessings!

**Now it's your turn! I'd love to hear what 'A' things you're thankful for. Either leave a comment on this post or if you'd like to blog about it, come back and leave a link to your post in the comment section!

A Cozy Fall Dinner

2011-10-26T17:34:00.000-04:00

Now that fall is here and the days are a bit cooler, I'm enjoying using the oven more and serving more comforting baked meals!

We had this cozy baked meal of Israeli Spice Chicken and Roasted Butternut Squash and Kale one night last week. It was delicious!

For the chicken, I rubbed the Israeli Spice blend on some drumsticks and baked them alongside the squash.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Kale
Adapted from Taste of Home

4 cups cubed peeled butternut squash
1 medium onion, chopped
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp.crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
2 cups chopped kale
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Combine squash and onion in a 15 x 10x 1 baking pan coated with pan spray. Combine oil, pepper flakes, salt, pepper and sage; drizzle over vegetables and toss to coat.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add kale and bake for about 5 more minutes or until done.

We really liked this dish. Andy thought it tasted like stuffing. It would make a nice addition to Thanksgiving dinner!

Fabric Pumpkins

2011-10-26T17:05:00.001-04:00

I've been wanting to do a little crafting so today I made a little time to sit down and make these cute little fabric pumpkins!

I chose a brown/tan/cream theme instead of the traditional orange since I didn't have any in my stash. Also left off the leaves since I thought mine looked better without.

This was an easy and quick craft and would be great to do with older children!

And if you have lots of scraps to use up, these Scrappy Pumpkins are cute too!

$4 Off Vick's Nature Fusion

2011-10-25T21:11:00.000-04:00

Head on over to Vocalpoint and reserve your $4 Vick's Nature Fusion coupon! You will receive this coupon by mail.

This is a high dollar coupon that should make for a really good deal combined with a sale!

Vietnam Veterans Reunion Banquet

2011-10-24T20:58:00.000-04:00

When Andy's parents were here a few weekends ago, they attended Andy's dad's Vietnam reunion which was held in Charlotte this year.

Because we live so close, they invited us to join them for the banquet on Saturday night. As a family, we were honored to perform the Missing Man Table Ceremony remembering those who were either prisoners of war, missing or killed in action as well as members of the association who have passed on since the last reunion. The men did the narration and my mother-in-law and I set the table as they read. You can view something similar here.

It was quite an honor!

Frugal Eating On Vacation

2011-10-20T21:55:00.004-04:00

We were able to save a good bit of cash by taking a lot of our own food on our recent vacation. This also enabled us to eat more healthfully as well.

Andy doesn't like for me to work too much if we're supposed to be on vacation so I promised him that I would plan only easy things to take along. :-) I find it fun and relaxing to cook on vacation and the little kitchen makes me feel like I'm playing house! I know that to some people, cooking while on vacation sounds absurd, but I don't mind it one bit!

The month before our trip, I began planning by listing the meals we would be eating away from home and then started making a list of food ideas. Over that month, I started buying things we wanted to take and putting them away.

Friday-- lunch while traveling, supper at cabin
Saturday--breakfast at cabin, lunch out at Folk School Festival, supper at cabin
Sunday--breakfast at cabin, lunch out for anniversary, supper at cabin
Monday--breakfast at cabin, lunch while traveling

This helped me to know exactly what I was working with. And also since we had been to the cabin a couple of times before, I knew we had a full-size refrigerator with small freezer on top(not those little hotel fridges!), an oven and stove top and a grill to use.

We packed our cooler full and also made a small grocery store trip once we reached our destination.

Our menu:

Friday:
Lunch: Bag of beef jerky, cheese slices, veggies, hard-boiled eggs, apples
Supper: Grilled steaks, salad (used FREE coupon), mashed butternut squash(prepared ahead and frozen), olives

Saturday:
Breakfast: Egg and sausage casserole (made ahead and frozen), bananas
Lunch: Bought lunch at Festival. Decided on BBQ plates as the most for our money and the best option for our eating style.
Supper: BBQ meatballs (frozen ahead and cooked in my tiny crockpot), brown rice(bought microwaveable Minute Ready Rice on sale with coupon), salad

Sunday:
Breakfast: Egg and sausage casserole, bananas
Lunch: Ate at Rib Country.
Supper: Snacky-type foods: leftover meatballs served as an appetizer, cheese, rice chips(a good compromise food), veggies and dip(veggies cut and dip prepared at home)

Monday:
Breakfast: hard-boiled eggs, sauteed peppers and onions (brought these to serve with scrambled eggs but forgot to buy eggs but had extra boiled eggs along so it worked out well!)
Lunch: Snacky-type foods: whatever was left-- veggies, cheese slices, hard-boiled eggs, some smoked turkey slices leftover from our restaurant meal the day before.

We also took snacks: dark chocolate, cashews, dried fruit, rice chips, apples, peanut butter, bananas, extra hard-boiled eggs, veggies and dip.

What we liked:
*Meals were super easy to prepare with minimal clean-up!
*Egg casserole was a very good idea. I popped it into the oven in the morning (took it frozen and let it thaw somewhat in the fridge overnight) and it baked while I showered and got ready. Super easy!
*We felt better eating reasonably healthy foods compared to eating a lot of restaurant food.
*Taking several frozen items from the freezer kept everything nice and cold on the way. An organic frozen chicken bought on markdown(yes, I bargain shopped while on vacation!) at the only grocery store in town helped keep things cold on the way home.
*We saved a lot of time and gasoline by eating most of our meals at the cabin. The cabin is a little drive from town/restaurants.
*I took some of my own basic cooking tools--can opener, paring knife, peeler, kitchen scissors. They have some things there but I like using my own. And you have them just in case...
*Loved using the little crockpot.
*Other than too many snacks, we ate most of what we'd brought so packing up again was easy and lighter(except for that chicken!).

What we may tweak in the future:
*Grilling the first night was a bit much. By the time we got there and then got back from the grocery store, it was starting to get dark. We discovered the grill didn't cook as fast as we expected so the steaks took a long time to cook!
*We ate a lot of BBQ! While it all tasted good and we certainly didn't mind it, I think I'd shoot for a bit more variety next time.
*Way too many snacks! We hardly ate any of them as we weren't hungry in between meals much. But that's kinda hard to judge as next time we could eat all the same things and be starving!:-)
*Remember to take paper plates, ziploc bags and plastic wrap, if needed.
*The only grocery store in town has a terrible produce section. Bring produce from home next time!
*Bring our own sparkling cider from home. Grocery store had a very limited selection and nothing without HFCS.
*Plan for a picnic next time!

This worked out really well for us and helped us to stay within our cash budget. Of course, I love to cook, but really if things are kept simple, it's still possible to have a relaxing vacation while doing a lot of your own cooking.

Do you like to cook or eat out on vacation or do you do a combination?

**This post is part of Frugal Fridays over at Life As Mom! Where ironically, she's also talking about taking food with you to beat vacation costs!

NASCAR Hall Of Fame

2011-10-19T06:00:00.000-04:00

Andy's parents were in town a couple of weekends ago and they took us to the NASCAR Hall Of Fame in Charlotte one day.

Since I've learned everything I know about racing from the movie Cars, this was a very educational experience for me!

It's a very nicely done museum with lots of history, memorabilia, a short IMAX presentation and lots of interactive activities including a race car simulator. Which was scary. But fun. For me. Evidently I screamed a lot. And had a lot of wrecks and was out of the race before I could complete even one lap! But my father-in-law and husband came in 2nd and 3rd of 9!

We really enjoyed ourselves. And now I want to go to a race!

Fall Beauty

2011-10-18T19:09:00.000-04:00

A pretty tree.

We have this yellow rose ~~bush~~ vine in our yard winding its way up behind some bushes. One day late last week, I noticed a bud and then Sunday saw this huge yellow rose! I picked it right away to enjoy since they don't last long. It seemed fitting to display it beside a wedding picture in the vase we bought on our honeymoon since our anniversary is in October and we had yellow roses at our wedding. The yellow rose, I've found out since, stands for bitterness. Supposedly they also stand for joy and friendship so we'll go with those instead! Whatever. I think they are so pretty and it doesn't matter what it means!

It's such a pretty season, isn't it?

Weekend In The Mountains: Fields Of The Wood

2011-10-13T20:40:00.001-04:00

Yet another post on our weekend getaway! "Will she ever stop?"you wonder. :-)

Fields Of The Wood was mentioned as a place of interest on the cottage's website. The idea of God's Word written and displayed on the mountainside and all through the park seemed really neat to me and I wanted to check it out!

The Ten Commandments.

Click to enlarge so you can read it.

Pretty scenery.

I will admit that Fields Of The Wood wasn't quite as charming as I thought it would be. I was expecting something more like this, I guess! But it was an interesting stop, nonetheless, and the drive to the park is gorgeous. Besides, God's Word being displayed for all to see is a good thing too!

Spotted these barns on the way to the park and loved it! Andy was kind enough to stop on the way out so I could get a picture.

Toddler Activity: Bean Bags

2011-10-12T06:56:00.000-04:00

Playing with beanbags is a favorite activity at my house and one that can be adapted so that it's enjoyable for all ages.

What you need:

*bucket or basket
*beanbags-- I made some of ours and others were given to me.

Beanbags are super simple to make:

Cut a rectangle of fabric.
Sew the sides to create a bag.
Fill with beans or rice.
Sew the top edge closed.
That's it!

Younger toddlers enjoy dropping the beanbags in the bucket and then dumping them out to start all over again. Older toddlers and preschoolers will enjoy actually throwing the beanbags to the bucket and may like a little more challenge. Older children often require a few more boundaries and guidelines as they can easily become more carried away! There are so many ways you can add variation to this game.

I keep the beanbags in the bucket and pull this out for a fun activity every so often. It's always a hit!

Weekend In The Mountains: Folk School Festival

2011-10-11T18:22:00.000-04:00

We were so excited to discover that the John C. Campbell Folk School Festival was the same weekend that we were in the mountains. This was our 2nd time attending and it was as enjoyable as we remembered!

Many many vendors were set up showing and selling their handmade wares as well as quite a few demonstrations of traditional arts and crafts.

The Folk School is in a beautiful mountain location so some of these pictures were taken on the way to and from. I just couldn't resist!

We sampled and bought some delicious homemade fudge and also purchased BBQ plates for lunch. Sadly, we hadn't budgeted for purchasing anything extra from vendors although I saw many handmade items that I loved! One of the jewelry vendors had amazing pieces that I loved and I saw many lovely scarves as well! But it was just as fun to look!

Weekend In The Mountains: Fernwood Cottage

2011-10-07T21:40:00.000-04:00

Continuing on my recap of our anniversary weekend--

We've been to Fernwood Cottage several times now and we love it! It's a beautiful location, quiet and affordable, especially if you stay several nights. In addition, there is lots to see and do within a reasonable driving distance. We also appreciate the fact that there is a kitchen in the suite because we like to do a lot of our own cooking while there.

Outside.

Inside.

I love the coziness of the cabin. We estimate the suite to be about 400-500 square feet. During this visit, I wondered if we could actually live in such a small space. I think I might like it; it always feels like playing house! But I'm pretty sure we still have way too much stuff to pull it off!

The landscaping and gardens are lovely!

It's nice to sit down by the lake too! Although we haven't fished here, they say there are a lot of fish.

Fernwood Cottage is such a great place to relax!

**Hope you don't get tired of pictures from our weekend away... camera-happy me took quite a few pictures! So several more posts!

Friday Funnies: Vacation Edition

2011-10-07T06:00:00.000-04:00

Whenever we go to the mountains, we love to eat one meal at Rib Country. Yum!

On this trip, I was slightly amused to see this sign hanging out front:

Makes you wonder, doesn't it!?!

Have a great weekend!

Weekend In The Mountains: Mast General Store

2011-10-06T22:18:00.000-04:00

On our way to the mountains for an anniversary getaway, we stopped at Mast General Store in Hendersonville. I love this place in all it's charming old-fashionedness!

Menu Plan Monday: Our Frugal Low-Grain Menu

2011-10-03T21:16:00.000-04:00

Happy Fall! It seems like it's finally getting a bit cooler here in the South. We came home from a wonderful anniversary weekend away to a very chilly house! Well, we aren't turning the heat on just yet, so instead we'll warm up with some cozy soups and crockpot meals!

Something else we brought home with us was bags and bags of apples fresh from the mountains. Most are reserved for applesauce and apple butter but we have some set aside for eating. They are so good so we'll be eating a lot of apples for snacks this week!

Our menu for the week:

Breakfasts
*Hard boiled eggs, sauteed peppers and onions-2x
*Breakfast in a hurry-3x
*Scrambled eggs-2x

Lunches
*Restaurant meal
*Snacky lunch-cheese, veggies, olives, smoked turkey slices, hard-boiled eggs, apples
*Spinach salad with tuna
*veggie stir fry and rice
*Leftovers-3x

Snacks
*Dates/peanut butter
*Apples/peanut butter-2x
*Crockpot applesauce (I like a more tart applesauce so I either greatly reduce the sugar or eliminate altogether!)
*Hard-boiled eggs
*Cheese, apples

Suppers-
*Snacky supper- meatballs, cheese, rice chips, veggies and dip
*Lentil soup(from freezer), rice
*Sausage and cabbage casserole(from freezer)
*Taco Soup made with chicken instead of beef this time, half the amount of beans and omitting the corn (crockpot), served with cheese and sour cream, veggies or a salad
*Roast beef (crockpot), spaghetti squash, green beans

**Only need 5 suppers this week!

What's on your menu this week?

**This post is a part of Menu Plan Monday!

Seven Years Ago

2011-10-02T09:04:00.000-04:00

Seven years ago, we said, "I do" and meant it. Today we still do! Happy anniversary, Sweetie!

Toddler Activity: Pipe Cleaners In A Can

2011-09-28T16:32:00.000-04:00

This is a super easy activity that Toddler Girl just loves! It involves an empty formula can and some pipe cleaners.

To make:

1. Cut a hole in lid.
2. Decorate can and lid by covering with scrapbook paper, if desired.
3. Bend and twist pipe cleaners with sharp edges turned in for extra durability and safety. I bent these in thirds so they are just the right length to go in the can.
4. Give new toy to toddler and watch them enjoy putting the pipe cleaners in the can!

Engaging Toddler Activities shows using a spice bottle or punching holes in the top of a Gerber puffs container for a little extra challenge. Or you can make a color sorter for a little older child.

Children's Book Haul

2011-09-27T13:59:00.000-04:00

I'm a sucker for children's books. Love them.

I'm always looking for good titles to add to my collection and every little one that has been through my doors loves to read or be read to so it's a win-win!

An event we set up at every year features a small library book sale so I always enjoy browsing through their selection. This year they had a lot of children's books!

Their prices were extremely reasonable too this year. I bought several books first thing then went back at 1:30 when everything was half-price and got another bundle! For 9 books and one CD, I paid $4.25. Not bad!

Some are good for babies/toddlers and some are more suitable for a bit older children.

Is Your Mama A Llama? by Deborah Guarino. I love this book!
Rock-a-Baby Band with CD by Kate McMullan.
Time For Bed by Mem Fox. I remember reading this book to 2 year olds at one place I worked. A sweet story!
All Aboard Trains.
White Snow Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt.
Parade by Donald Crews. His simple books are always a hit here!
Blueberries For Sal by Robert McClosky. A classic!
Bark, George by Jules Feiffer. A funny little story!
Counting In The Jungle. A magnetic book with magnets.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom CD. I already have the book and I know several children who will greatly enjoy listening to this!

Looking forward to sharing these stories with the little ones!

Menu Plan Monday

2011-09-26T17:31:00.001-04:00

A menu plan hasn't been posted here in quite a while! While I've still been planning meals, I haven't been quite as intentional as I would like. So I'm getting back into it!

Breakfasts:

*Scrambled eggs. (5x)

*Hard boiled eggs, cheese, ham.

*Breakfast in a hurry made with sausage instead of bacon.

Lunches:

*Leftovers. (2x)

*Lentil soup, veggies and onion and chive cream cheese dip.

*Hot dogs, veggies.

*Beef jerky, cheese, vegges/dip, hard-boiled eggs. (2x)

*Eat out.

Snacks:

*Yogurt, bananas with peanut butter.

*Applesauce, bananas.

*Apples with peanut butter.

*Fruit smoothies.

*Apples, nuts.

*Rice chips, cheese.

Suppers:

*Shepherd's Pie made with eggplant, green beans, celery, onion, peppers and mushrooms and topped with mashed butternut squash. Based on a new recipe from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest cookbook.

*Chicken and veggies (crockpot), sweet potatoes.

*Salmon patties, rice, stir-fry veggies.

*Grilled steaks, mashed butternut squash, salad.

*BBQ meatballs (crockpot), brown rice, salad.

*Eat at church meetings 2x where we take something to share.

**This post is a part of Menu Plan Monday!

What are you eating this week?

Toddler Game: Peg Board

2011-09-23T06:00:00.004-04:00

This Montessori-style peg board was $1 at a recent children's consignment sale. I snatched it up to use as a table activity for Toddler Girl.

It's very sturdy and has obviously been well-used but still has a lot of life left in it!

This activity lends itself nicely to the toddler favorite game of 'In and Out'. Put it in. Take it out. Repeat.

This activity can be used to teach (depending on the age and development of the child)--

One-to-one correspondence--one peg for each hole.
Colors.
Counting.
Sorting/Classifying.
Sequencing/Patterns.

Items Of Interest

2011-09-22T15:26:00.001-04:00

In which she writes a bunch of random things...

**During our morning walk, the graceful Cherished Dog laid down in the grass beside the road to roll around and fell off the curb.

**Compared to Steve, these regular size squashes look like midgets.

**It's been 6 months since we've changed our eating habits. I've lost somewhere in the 25 pound range and Andy has lost close to 40 pounds! We've both dropped several clothing sizes as well. This may be a fluke since women's clothing sizes vary so much, but I recently purchased a size 8 dress for myself. And it fit!!!

**There's a little progress on the little doll quilt that I'm making. I sewed the remaining triangles together into small squares. (Still need to trim them!) Next up-- sew the small squares into larger quilt blocks. My goal is to have this ready for quilting by the end of next week.

What have you been up to?

In Good Company

2011-09-21T15:04:00.001-04:00

I loved reading the comments on my Keeping It Real post.

A few that made me smile:

From Mary Bailey-
"Our first home was a rental and I remember when I went to buy shelf paper for the cabinets I told my husband, "Look they have contact paper that matches the wallpaper in the kitchen!" That's when he pointed out to me that the kitchen wallpaper *was* contact paper!"

I must admit that this closely rivals my floor-tiled cabinet tops!

From Katie-
"We are content to rent and anything else the Lord has in mind for us. =) And we purposely purchase furniture with nicks and wear (the old fashioned look, you know?) because we know that undoubtedly, more nicks are wear are in order!"

The 'old-fashioned look'. I love it!!! Between many littles in and out on a daily basis, a black-haired dog and well, us, our furniture and furnishings get a lot of use. So buying used for most items is definitely the way to go for the time being.

That being said, I do want to make it a point to mention that I do not in any way, think that it is wrong to purchase new furniture or have lamps that actually stand straight. It is simply up to each individual as to what they spend their money on and has nothing to do with being better than or worse than anyone else.

And besides, if no one bought new, there wouldn't be much need for thrift stores now, would there? :-)

Keeping It Real...

2011-09-16T06:00:00.001-04:00

We all know that I think that the 'keeping it real' thing gets blown out of proportion. But I do still appreciate people who tell it like it is and live their lives, even online, without caring what other people think.

Take this post from Thy Hand Hath Provided. I'm sure it's a lovely read concerning homeschooling and all but what really caught my eye was the floor lamp in one of the pictures. The leaning lamp that they use because it still works.

And this post about renting from Content to Rent. I think we have the same kitchen. Except instead of bricks, we have floor tiles that are known to crack and crumble under our feet. This may or may not have anything to do with the fact that the exact same tiles can be purchased at the Family Dollar right around the corner. But yet, I'm pretty sure not too many folks are privileged to have matching floor tiles on their counter tops as I have. Yes, you read that right!

These things encourage me. That we're not alone in our choices to make that $20 couch work even though it is ugly underneath it's very worn slipcover. To rent instead of buy for the time being. To choose paying cash and being content with what we have instead of racking up credit card debt in order to keep up with the Joneses, whomever they may be!

So yes, keeping it real can be good!

Coloring On The Floor

2011-09-15T18:38:00.000-04:00

That sounds fun, doesn't it?

Wanting to provide a creative outlet for Toddler Girl (17 months) at the same time as providing entertainment for and keeping an eye on Baby Boy, I remembered how we used to tape big pieces of paper on the floor for the toddlers to draw on back when I worked in childcare.

I briefly entertained the thought of taping paper on the wall to draw on, but thought better of it. Toddler Girl really doesn't need any encouragement in the way of wall decoration. But somehow, a few crayon marks on the floor doesn't bother me as much!

Butcher paper works splendidly for this as do large pieces of recycled cardboard. I don't have any butcher paper at the time but do have a large pad of newsprint. I like to use larger sheets of paper for little ones to freely express themselves rather than little sheets!

T.G. was very excited to get to work drawing and playing with the crayons, dumping them out and putting them back into the container. Note: A recycled frosting container is the perfect size for jumbo crayons and the lid fits on for storage!

T.G. enjoyed the experience-- playing with the crayons, being traced as she sat on the paper and a little coloring! Baby Boy looked on longingly, eagerly looking forward to the day he has free reign of fun stuff like crayons!

Friday Funnies: The Adventures Of Steve The Squash

2011-09-09T11:17:00.001-04:00

I just could not resist bringing the 7 pound butternut squash home with me from the farmer's market last week.

No, I could not!

Then I couldn't understand why my husband thought the tote bag was so heavy to carry...

Once we got the squash home, we realized that this was no ordinary squash. This squash needed a name. And a photo shoot. A Facebook friend also suggested clothes.

Oh my!!!

My husband named him Steve. It seemed fitting.

If you've ever seen the movie Over The Hedge, you will understand the name Steve.

"O Great Steve, what do you want?"

So here we have...

The Adventures Of Steve the Squash!

Baby Steve- he's the size of a newborn!

Steve, down home on the farm.

Steve at work.

Steve, Steve, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

Little Steve On The Prairie.

Because we wanted to use Steve for both food and entertainment, we opted not to draw a face on him. Instead, we pretend he's an Amish doll.

We've been eating on Steve all week. He's delicious!

This might be similar to raising chickens as pets and then eating them.

Have a great weekend!

Why I Regularly Purge, Declutter and Get Rid Of Things

2011-09-07T18:19:00.000-04:00

I had a whole post written with a bulleted list of all the reasons I regularly whirl through the house purging, decluttering and getting rid of things that we no longer use.

We live in a small house. We rent so therefore, we move more often than if we owned a home. We are given lots of stuff--both a blessing and a curse! Clutter and little knick-knacks make me jumpy. We have a lot of people in and out of our home on a daily basis.

But when it comes right down to it, there is really only one reason:

Too much stuff.

I have too much stuff.

Too much stuff for the space I live in. Too much stuff for the life we live. Too much stuff to deal with.

Today as I walked through an estate sale, it struck me. We spend our lives accumulating stuff. Then we die and strangers shuffle through our stuff and pay pennies for what we worked so hard to accumulate.

We love yard sales and find lots of useful things there for much cheaper than purchasing new. We also buy a few things to resell. My husband and I love to go to yard sales and it's one hobby we have in common and can do together. So I don't see us ending this activity anytime soon. But we've been much more selective in our purchases this year.

Do we really need this? Will it make our life better or cause more work and expense? Can we live without it? Do we really need to replace the one we have? Did I just get rid of something similar? Will having this cause me stress if the kids mess with it?

I don't know about you, but I really don't want to spend all my time sorting and organizing stuff. Stuff that I don't use. Stuff I haven't looked at since I got married 7 years ago. And I certainly don't want to continue moving all these things from house to house!

Are some things worth storing and saving? Yes! We keep family heirlooms, our special baby stuff and a few favorite childhood toys, some furniture and nice things that while we don't have space to have out now, are things that we will enjoy later in a larger home. And a few things we are sentimental about or just like having in our home.

What we decide to keep and not keep is a very personal decision. We are the ones who will have to clean and care for these things. We are the ones who will need to walk around these things on a daily basis. We are the ones who will be moving these things from house to house. So we are the ones who need to decide what we will keep!

Just this week, we went through our storage shed and purged through a huge pile of boxes. Some of which we had never gone through in 7 years. A lot of which I had never seen. We sorted and purged for a whole day. Many items were set aside for an upcoming yard sale. We threw away a lot of trash. Only a fraction of the stuff was boxed back up to go back into storage. The boxes in storage have now been reduced by about 50%.

I'm not against stuff. I have plenty of it, thank you! I like cute things for my home. I have hobbies....

It's a balance between things that are eternal and things we take the time to enjoy here. And I'm still learning!

Related Reading:
Buying Stuff For A Life I Don't Live
10 Ways To Simplify Without Becoming A Minimalist
Loosen The Grip Of More Stuff
Downsizing Your Home, Downsizing Your Life

A Peek At My Latest Project

2011-08-30T21:04:00.001-04:00

I've been itching to try my hand at making a quilt with something other than plain squares or a basic nine patch. So I decided to make a smaller and probably simpler version of this Pinwheel Quilt for a dolly quilt for the kid's corner. One change I made right off the bat was cutting my own squares from my stash rather than buying the pre-cut Charm Packs called for in the "recipe".

I really have no experience with this, so time will tell how this project turns out! But so far it has been fun to work on. And the fabrics I chose from my scrap bags are bright and playful!

I'll share my progress as I go along.

Any tips and tricks for the novice quilter?:-)

Get Well Care Package

2011-08-29T15:51:00.000-04:00

My dad suffered a stroke about a month ago. Being so far away, I really wanted to be able to do something but wasn't sure what to do.

I prayed about it and God gave me some great ideas for a care package. In fact, I got so many ideas, there was no way I could use all of them! I hope that by sharing this, you will glean some inspiration for how to bless those in similar situations!

It was so much fun to put together a little package for him.

A portable CD player with headphones to be able to listen to music without disturbing his roommate.
A small flip book with a collection of verses focusing on healing and strength. **His whole right side was affected to various degrees affecting his speech, use of right arm/hand and his walking. I made this little book from plain gift tags and attached them with a book ring and decorated with stickers.
A microwaveable/freezable rice bag to use for aches and pains or as a heating pad.
Some sugar-free Lifesavers. Dad has diabetes and while I wasn't sure if he could have many of these, I thought they would also be fun to share with his guests and therapists at the rehab center.
A fast food gift card for my Mom and brother. Since I can't be there to cook a meal for them, this was the next best solution to take a little of the stress away.

** The verses included in the flip book. There were so many good ones that I and some of my Facebook friends found ! I could probably make another book and still not use them all!

Isaiah 40:29-31: "But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord. "
Psalm 30:2: "O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me."
Isaiah 40: 29-31: " He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary. they will walk and not faint."
2 Corinthians 12:9: " But he said to me, "My strength is sufficient for you, for my power is amde perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."
Nehemiah 8:10b: "For the joy of the Lord is your strength."
Psalm 103:1-3,5: " Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Prasie the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits--who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases...who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."
Exodus 15:26b: "I am the Lord who heals you."
Psalm 18:32,36: " He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights... You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn."
Habakkuk 3:19: "The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights."
Ephesians 3: 20-21: "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in he church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

***My dad is scheduled to go home from the rehab center this Wednesday. His speech has improved dramatically as has his walking. He is able to walk up stairs some with a pronged cane and has been able to get in and out of his wheelchair by himself some. He is also able to be more independent with his self-care and can run his wheelchair with just one arm. Continue to pray for his full recovery and for strength and movement to return to his right arm and hand.

What are some ideas that you have for Get Well baskets or care packages?

Friday Funnies: Texting For Seniors

2011-08-26T07:39:00.000-04:00

This list has been floating around on Facebook for a while and some of them always make me LOL.

Even for me, some of these could be quite useful seeing as GHA and FWIW ,or maybe more accurately FWIWD (Forgot What I Was Doing) seem to find their way into my conversations. And wouldn't it be a hoot to put HGBM on the babies' daily schedules?

Enjoy!

ATD: At The Doctor's
BTW: Bring The Wheelchair
BYOT: Bring Your Own Teeth
CBM: Covered By Medicare
CUATSC: See You At The Senior Center
FWB: Friend With Beta Blockers
FWIW: Forgot Where I Was
FYI: Found Your Insulin
GGPBL: Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low!
GHA: Got Heartburn Again
HGBM: Had Good Bowel Movement
IMHO: Is My Hearing-Aid On?
LMDO: Laughing My Dentures Out
LOL: Living On Lipitor
LWO: Lawrence Welk's On
OMMR: On My Massage Recliner
ROFLCGU: Rolling On The Floor Laughing Can't Get Up
TTYL: Talk To You Louder
WAITT: Who Am I Talking To?
WTP: Where's The Prunes?
WWNO: Walker Wheels Need Oil

Have a great weekend!

EAT!

2011-08-25T14:28:00.000-04:00

The bareness of my dining room walls was starting to annoy me. So I started making something. A few months ago.

I thought it would be fun to combine embroidery with this technique to create a bossy yet scriptural piece of art.

It was fun.

Other than cross-stitch, this was one of my first attempts at embroidery, so don't look too closely!

I love how this whole project turned out. Although if I was to do it again, I'd make the 'A' in a darker color. Up close it looks fine. But from where I sit to feed Baby Boy, I can't see the 'A' so it looks as though I've hung a sign reading "E T" in my dining room!

Deuteronomy 11: 13-15 reads:

"So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied."

Aren't these encouraging and powerful verses? I loved them but obviously, the whole passage would be a lot of embroidery! And much bigger than what would fit in my $1 yard sale frame. So I just chose the last phrase.

Since I had two of these frames, I filled the other one with a cute print and hung the two together on the wall. I'll show you pictures of that another day!

Knox's 6th Birthday

2011-08-23T10:00:00.000-04:00

My nephew turned 6 last week and we celebrated last Saturday with a sweet party at a local ice cream shop. Knox's mommy made an awesome Bug Mountain cake which thrilled all the little boys! She says it's the easiest cake she's made so far!

Happy birthday, Knox!

How To Find Another Closet

2011-08-22T15:50:00.000-04:00

1) Pick a room that has two doorways.

2) Decide you only need one doorway for daily use.

3) Block the other doorway with back to back bookshelves--instant closet.

4) Fill your new closet with all sorts of kitchen equipment and stuff.

5) Plan to hang a curtain just as soon as you find that tension rod you know you have somewhere.

6) Look for tension rod.

7) Keep looking for tension rod.

8) Find tension rod in the corner of your closet months later.

9) Sew a simple curtain and hang it up.

10) Voila! You just found another closet!

Change of Scenery

2011-08-18T09:38:00.000-04:00

Tired of our usual morning route and needing a change of scenery, I packed the dog and camera in the car and headed to a nearby lake for our morning walk.

I took in the quiet and simple beauty and returned home refreshed and better prepared for another busy day!

You make known to me the path of life;

 you will fill me with joy in your presence,

 with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Psalm 16:11

20% Off Code For The Gingham Cottage

2011-08-17T16:39:00.000-04:00

Through Saturday August 20, get 20% off your order at The Gingham Cottage when you use the code SUMMER11.

There are children's aprons,

crayon rolls- only a few left!,

women's aprons in a variety of styles and prints,

wallets and a few bags and purses,

a cool Fire King vase,

some gently used stamp sets and more!

Thank you for looking!

Potpourri

2011-08-16T11:45:00.000-04:00

Social Network
At nearly 5 months old, Baby Boy is becoming quite sociable. Late one afternoon, he couldn't have been more excited to make friends with Toddler Girl. He smiled, laughed, talked and flailed in her general direction. So I began to talk to Toddler Girl as though I was Baby Boy. I said, "Hi, T.G.! I want to be your friend!" About that time, Andy spoke up and asked, "T.G., do you accept B.B.'s friend request?"

Honorable Mention
Remember your birthday or Christmas growing up when your mother gave you unmentionables? And you thought to yourself, "When I'm grown up, I will not be like that! Presents will be fun!" Then your mom sends you birthday money and after pondering all the fun things you could purchase, you end up buying yourself some new unmentionables because it is truly a need and not a want like the Pyrex, fabric and apple peeler/corer/slicer you've had your eye on. And after all, you are just super practical like that.

Silence Is Golden
Big Brother often wants to pray when he's here at lunchtime. And if he doesn't, he delights in choosing who will pray. So one day, he said that Toddler Girl, who is also his little sister, would pray. T.G. is one and really only yells, "AMEN!" at prayer time. Before we could say anything, he announced, "T.G. prays silently!"

Love Your Neighbor
One of the benefits of mowing the grass at the same time as your neighbor is that they will see you struggling through your very thick grass and offer to help. Seriously though, their assistance was much appreciated and had they not offered their sweet help, I wouldn't have finished the mowing before it started to rain. Their act of kindness really blessed my heart!

Little Mother
Toddler Girl grabbed the burp cloth the other day and proceeded to wipe Baby Boy's chin. So sweet! She will also stand beside him and pet him. Hmmm...

Blogging: The Whole Picture

2011-08-05T16:31:00.000-04:00

I loved this post written by Mandi of Life Your Way.

An excerpt:

"Have you ever walked away from reading blogs and felt discouraged or disillusioned about your own home and life? I think for most of us, if we’re being honest, the answer is yes.

We see fabulous pictures of someone else’s perfect home with beautiful decor, the examples of crafts and activities they do with their kids, the amazing food they create in their kitchen…and we feel inadequate.

Lately, whenever I take a picture, I can’t help but laugh at the surrounding chaos. Because, you see, while I am very type-A, and we do live with less stuff than the average American family, and our home gets cleaned up every night before bed, during the day we live in our home, which means it’s messy and chaotic and…well, you’ll see."

I had to laugh out loud as I read that. I can so relate. We crop almost all photos that I post here and almost every time I take a picture, the counter or table has to be cleared off first! Or I notice dog hair in a photo...yes, yes, I do!

I hear so much about 'being real' in the blogging world and to be honest, sometimes I get so tired of hearing it that I want to puke. Oh, I'm all about being who I really am without false pretenses but that can only be taken so far. My blog is only one part of my life. And while I strive to be real, you will not see the whole picture. You'd have to come to my house and spend lots of time with me to do that!

Read the whole post here.

Birthday Basket

2011-08-04T06:00:00.001-04:00

My husband gave me this cool handmade basket for my birthday last week. I may or may not have given him a few hints....

I really like that it was purchased from a local crafter at our farmer's market. Plus it's really useful and looks great too!

The jars of home-canned tomatoes were not included in the gift. But don't they look great all lined up in there? I don't recommend lifting it with those jars in there, though. Just sayin'.

Inexpensive Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

2011-08-03T15:54:00.000-04:00

It's no secret that boneless, skinless chicken breasts are quicker and easier to cook with than messing with a whole chicken.

It's also no secret that we could pay a hefty price for this convenience! At regular price, chicken breasts are expensive.

I do a lot with whole chickens but there are some recipes where chicken breasts are just so much better! And I like the convenience of pulling a chicken breast from the freezer for a quick meal.

In my area, split chicken breasts or bone-in chicken breasts are often on sale for under $1 a pound. I used to purchase some but found them too hard to cut up. So I stopped buying them.

Recently, I bought a big package and following the directions for cutting split chicken breasts on $5 Dinners, decided to try this one more time.

It worked! I'm not sure why it seemed so difficult before, but this time I had those babies cut and separated within minutes. From 5 pounds and about $5 worth of chicken, I got 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 5 tenderloin pieces and after I cooked the meaty bones that were left, several cups of chopped and cooked chicken ready for chicken salad, soups or casseroles and about a quart of chicken broth.

I'm sold! I don't know about you, but I'll gladly pay $.89 or $.99 a pound for chicken breasts vs. $2.50-$4.98 a pound, even if it means a little bit of work on my part.

Writing this post puts me in the mood for our favorite Israeli Spice Chicken!:-)

**This post is linked to Works For Me Wednesday!

Summer Salads

2011-07-27T06:00:00.002-04:00

Between our hot summer and eating a low-carb diet, we've been enjoying lots of salads! I've been trying to plan at least one main dish salad for supper each week. If I have lettuce washed and ready and a few veggies already chopped, these meals come together pretty quickly and don't heat up the kitchen!

We've always eaten bread items with our salads up to now, so it's been an adjustment not to have that extra carb to fill up on with our salad. Instead, I make sure that the salads are packed with protein, lots of veggies and some healthy fats to satisfy our hunger.

Some salads we've been enjoying:

Taco Salad

Buffalo Chicken Salad

BLT (Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato) Salad with hard-boiled egg and Swiss cheese.

Salad Bar

Shrimp and Avocado Salad. Top a green salad with already cooked shrimp and fresh avocado chunks.

Salad with grilled chicken or steak.

My sister in law emailed me with some salads that she's been enjoying this year. These all sound delicious as well!

Asian
lettuce
green onion
red bell pepper
cilantro
carrots
edamame
grilled chicken
cashews
Ken's Asian dressing (She uses lite.)

Blue Cheese Salad
lettuce
tomato
cucumber
sweet onion
green apple
bacon (or you can use bacon bits)
blue cheese crumbles
Marzetti's Blue Cheese dressing (She likes the lite variety) with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Beet, Chicken and Feta
lettuce
sweet onion
fresh beets (cooked and sliced-I have been getting these at the farmer's market- yum!)
crumbled feta
walnuts
grilled chicken
balsamic vinaigrette

Our favorite homemade dressings:

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Basic Vinaigrette

Garlic-Herb Vinaigrette

What are your favorite salad combinations?

**This post is linked to Works For Me Wednesday!

Trash Picked Picnic Basket

2011-07-26T21:35:00.000-04:00

Whenever I see things on the curb, I just cannot resist taking a quick look! I've gotten a number of nice things this way.

As I was walking the dog on Trash Day this week, I noticed this picnic basket by the curb. So cute...but it was a little broken on one side. I thought about whether or not I should pick up something that was damaged while we continued our walk and by the time I got back to it, I picked it up and carried it home with me.

I set it on my front porch, the broken side to the wall so we can't see it, covered it with an extra kitchen towel I had and placed a plant on top. The inside is a great storage place for the kids' outdoor toys such as bubbles, sidewalk chalk, bag of sand toys and small balls.

I love trash picking! :-)

Friday Funnies: Hallelujah!

2011-07-15T19:37:00.002-04:00

I really love this video! We should all be so thankful when God answers our prayers.

Yard Sale Saturday--FREE Clothes!

2011-07-13T06:00:00.001-04:00

We went out yard saling again this past Saturday morning.

Due to the past few weeks being a bit crazy schedule-wise, I've ended up leaving most errands and housework until Saturday when I'm not working. This doesn't leave much time for fun!

Andy suggested that we do the laundry and most of the cleaning Friday night so we could get some of that stuff out of the way and still get to some yard sales Saturday morning. I was very grateful for his help since I really wanted to go!

It was a fun morning! And we found some nice things that we'd been looking for.

For the kids:

**Fisher Price Little People barn and animals: $2
**2-construction vehicles: $1.50 for both.
**2-plastic storage buckets: 50 cents for both.
**Huge box of craft sticks: 25 cents. Fortunately for me, Crafty Crow posted a round-up of great projects using these!
**Package of curlers: 25 cents. Brand new--I would not buy these used! My intent was to use them for a toddler activity but they don't stick together well enough for what I had in mind so maybe I'll actually use something for it's intended use for once and curl my hair. :-)

For us and other people:

**2-jar candles: 75 cents for both. One was brand new and the other hardly used.
**Rubbermaid storage tote: $1. Was planning to purchase one of these anyways for filing my coupon inserts.
**Autographed Charlotte Bobcats basketball: 25 cents. Plan to list on Ebay.
**Approximately 11 yards blue floral fabric: 50 cents. Planning to make bedroom curtains from this. This was not exactly what I had in mind but it is pretty and will look very nice. The price helped my decision-making!
**Pile of kid's clothes and a pair of shoes for my niece and Toddler Girl: 50 cents each. One lady threw an extra pair of pants in for free. I really enjoy getting things for other people--you may have noticed this! Yard sales is one way I can afford to give generously to others. And both of these families do not mind gently-used articles of clothing.
** T-shirt for me: 50 cents.
** Jacket, sweater, shirt and a pair of shoes: FREE! We stopped at a church clothing sale that had a FREE sign. If I wasn't looking for clothing for us right now, I would not have stopped; I greatly dislike rummaging through piles of clothing! But with losing weight and our clothes wearing out from hard use, we are in need of a few things. So we stopped. And found a couple of things in the right sizes. WooHoo!

Cherished Dog loves his new bed!

For the dog:

** Large dog bed: $2. Bass Pro brand. It has been well-washed, in case you are wondering!

He really likes his new bed!

What kinds of fun yard sale treasures have you scored recently?

Planning Monday

2011-07-12T11:30:00.001-04:00

The week is already off to a great start! As usual, I've tried to map out my week a little by jotting down some plans. It just makes the days run a bit smoother!

Back to the To-Do List this week:

1) Mow lawn- done!
2) Trim bushes in backyard.
3) List some items to sell on Ebay and Craig's List. Have a few items I'd like to move out.
4) Pick blueberries or blackberries...maybe!
5) Plant some more green beans.

Last week's painting activity--this was a big hit with everyone!

Fun Stuff For The Kidlets:
Big Brother is attending camp this week so this week's fun activities are mainly for Toddler Girl. For a toddler, open-ended process-oriented activities are the every best as this age is so into exploration of everything! So I've planned a few simple things for her that I know she'll love!

**Water play-- Put a few inches of water in a plastic tub and add some colanders, funnels, yogurt cups and assorted water toys. Let her play..outside! :-)
Important: Never ever leave a small child unattended around water even if it's only a few inches!! Always provide close supervision.

**Edible finger paint. Tint a little plain yogurt with food coloring. Another outside activity!

**Drawing with markers--this is a favorite!

**Stroller ride around the neighborhood--weather permitting. It's been pretty hot here already this week!

Taco Salad from last week.

On the low-carb menu this week:

Breakfast:
**Out for breakfast(1x)
**Scrambled eggs with veggies(5x)

Lunch:
1) Banana and peanut butter--this was after eating a bigger breakfast than usual at a restaurant!
2) Cold rotisserie chicken, veggies
3) Leftovers
4) Hard-boiled eggs, cheese, veggies
5) Leftovers
6) Tuna salad lettuce wraps, veggies

Supper: Trying not to use the oven much this week!
Most meals also include a salad and/or veggie.

1) BLT salad-- bacon, lettuce, tomato, swiss cheese, hard-boiled egg.
2) Egg roll lettuce wraps-- sauteed cabbage and chicken seasoned with garlic and soy sauce wrapped in lettuce.
3) Meeting--TBD
4) Spaghetti squash with red sauce-- cook squash in crockpot.
5) Beef ribs on grill.
6) Rice salad with chicken and veggies.

**This post is part of Menu Plan Monday!

What are your favorite warm weather meals?

Friday Funnies: The Difference Between Dogs and Cats

2011-07-08T10:00:00.002-04:00

Christian comedian Ken Davis on the difference between dogs and cats:

The dog says, "You pet me. You feed me. You put a roof over my head. You must be God!"

The cat says, "You pet me. You feed me. You put a roof over my head. I must be God!"

**Right now, when you "Like" Ken Davis on Facebook, you will receive a free MP3 album download which includes this story. The free album is nearly an hour long and is very entertaining in addition to solid truth.

**Thanks to my husband's Facebook friend DeEtta who regularly posts these funny pictures of animals for our amusement!

A Few Tips For Feeding Young Children

2011-07-06T06:00:00.001-04:00

As a childcare provider, I've fed a lot of children over the years.

And while I certainly don't know everything about this, here are a few tips I've found for getting the toddlers and preschoolers at my table to eat a bit better.

1) A small plate. I use the salad/dessert size from my regular set of dishes. So far I haven't had any trouble with breakage, but then I haven't given them to really young people who are more apt to throw their plates on the floor nor do we have tile floors.

2) Small servings. For some reason, a huge amount of food intimidates a lot of kids. I usually give a tablespoonful at a time for young ones with a bit larger serving for older children. They can always ask for seconds!

3) Food cut into more manageable sizes. Whole sandwiches cut int quarters. An apple in slices rather than whole. And so on.

4) Don't offer a lot of snacks. This sounds strict, I know, but they eat better if they don't have a lot of food in between meals. Water is available anytime they want it and an afternoon snack is always offered. I would rather give them an early lunch most days than have them fill up on snacks and then not eat at mealtime. Of course, this rule varies from child to child and from day to day. Some days, we all need a mid-morning snack to keep us going!

These little tips work for me!

What are your ideas for feeding small children?

The Gingham Cottage News

2011-07-05T22:26:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I posted an update about my Etsy shop, The Gingham Cottage.

I've recently added a number of new items. Be sure to hop on over to take a look!

Here's a sampling of what's new:

Blue Patchwork Pocket Apron

Pink Floral Child's Apron.

A matching adult apron is also available for an adorable mother-daughter set!

A couple sets of rubber stamps.

Some vintage treasures!

I plan to add some pieces of fabric from my stash soon as well as more handmade items so keep checking back!

Planning Monday-- Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T06:00:00.003-04:00

Happy 4th of July to all of my American readers! Happy birthday to America, our nephew who turns 8 today and my sweet friend Abbie! Enjoy your day everyone!

Big Brother loved making this Old Glory craft last week!

On the to-do list this week:

I'll be honest and say that we got very few items off last week's to-do list crossed off. Schedules kept changing as the week progressed and I was super busy!

This week is already packed to the gills so I'm not even doing a to-do list of extra tasks for this week. Instead my priorities this week are:

1) Childcare
2) Attending to basic household needs (meals, daily housework, etc.)

I believe these things will keep me well-occupied all week and if I have extra time to do anything else it'll be a nice surprise!:-)

Toddler adaptation of Salt-Absorbing Fireworks. Toddler Girl spread glue around on the paper with her fingers, then I helped her shake salt all over it. She loved this, especially getting her fingers in the glue! I think it may be time to break out the fingerpaints!

Fun Stuff For The Kidlets!

**These activities are for Big Brother (5 years) and Toddler Girl (14 months). Baby Boy (3 months) enjoys sitting in his Bumbo watching the older kids, tagging along or is sleeping while we do these things.

1) Painting.
2) Trip to the park to play.
3) Bubbles and chalk.
4) Free art play for Big Brother; drawing with markers for Toddler Girl.

Our low-carb menu for the week:

Breakfast:

**scrambled or hard-boiled eggs (6x)

Lunch:

1) Packed lunch for a day away from home: sliced roast beef, mustard, hard-boiled eggs, veggies, hummus, rice and veggie salad, applesauce, bananas, cheese, berries, nuts (Includes snacks!)
2) Rice and veggie salad
3) Egg salad lettuce wraps
4) Hard-boiled eggs, veggies
5) Leftovers
6) Salad

Supper: Most meals served with a salad and/or veggies.

1) Eat out or quick leftovers at home.
2) Spaghetti sauce with meat, brown rice.
3) Meeting: Taco Night. Taking chicken, cheese and salsa.
4) Beef and gravy, brown rice.
5) Chicken and zucchini on the grill.
6) Taco Salad: taco meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, olives, salsa, onion, sour cream.

Blast From The Past: Made this 4th of July cupcake flag for last year's holiday! Simple to make using blueberries for blue, raspberries or strawberries for red and coconut for white!

**This post is part of Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday!

What are your plans for the week?

Friday Funnies: Kidlet Quotes

2011-07-01T10:00:00.001-04:00

Today, I share a collection of kid quotes. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

This falls into the "Well, you asked!" category:

Big Brother sitting on the floor among the toys with a very concerned and concentrated expression on his face. Me: "Sweetie, what are you doing?" Him(without hesitation): "Thinking about Ghost busters!"

"Dude, What's That Smell?"
While preparing to do the Salt-Absorbing Fireworks project this week, I discovered that the only dropper I had was on a bottle of eucalyptus essential oil. Although I tried to clean it well, eucalyptus oil is still very strong so we could still smell it.
Big Brother: "That smells ."
Me: "That's eucalyptus."
Big Brother: " Oh like, you-can-lift-this and it will smell bad! "

Other notable Big Brother Quotes:
"Can you see the taste bugs on my tongue?"
"Me and my dad are getting a fishing pool."
"Rock, stop bagging for food!"

Hmmm...
My nephew, who is also five years old, attended Vacation Bible School last week. Reflecting on his VBS snack, he said, "It was a jello and ham sandwich. The jello was white and tasted like mayonnaise!"

Do I Need It? My Simple Approach To Using the Coupon and Deal Blogs

2011-07-01T06:00:00.002-04:00

One of the ways I'm able to save money on groceries and household items is by following a few money saving/coupon blogs.

There are so many good blogs in this genre to choose from. The two I follow regularly are Money Saving Mom and Southern Savers. Occasionally I may check out some others but these are my two favorites and are more than sufficient for meeting my coupon and money saving needs. :-)

Southern Savers posts grocery store match-ups each week for stores in the Southeast. Since this is where I live, this site covers the stores that I shop at.

I've followed Money Saving Mom since the beginning and find her blog so helpful with many frugal tips, money-saving articles and of course, coupons and daily deals.

If you follow any of the coupon blogs, you'll quickly notice the sheer amount of posts added to these blogs daily. This is one reason I only follow two-- there are a lot of posts to sift through on a daily basis, which quickly can become overwhelming especially if I go a day or more without reading. The other reason I keep these blogs to a minimum is the amount of "good deals" that pop up. After a while, too much is just too much.

It's tempting to want to run out for or order the latest deals when I see them. But that takes a lot of money and time and isn't really necessary.

I've started asking, "Do I need this?" and "Do I have the money for this?" as I quickly scroll through the posts and see something that would really be a great deal.

Store deals come and go. I could easily run myself ragged with running to the store every time a special deal pops up. Instead I ask myself the above questions. If the answer to one or both is 'yes' then I'll see if I can pick it up during my weekly errands or if we'll be near that store at some other time during the week. Otherwise, I just skip it.

I always check the store match-ups before going grocery shopping and try to print coupons for items I know I'll buy or those that I know will make for a very good deal combined with a sale. I love reading all the articles on frugal and simple living. We occasionally use the free movie codes. And sometimes I'll purchase a Groupon or something else online that is either needed or in the budget.

So maybe I've missed some great deals over the years by taking this laid-back approach to couponing and deals. I will note, though, that I've lived to tell about it and we haven't suffered one bit!

And I'm pretty sure we've saved a good bit of money this way!

**This post is a part of Life As Mom's Frugal Friday.

4th Of July Crafts

2011-06-30T14:45:00.000-04:00

Looking for some fun and safe patriotic crafts for the kidlets? Look no further!

In response to my Planning Monday post this week, Lillibeth emailed me with a link to her "Matchless" Fireworks post. The shiny sparklers look really pretty and fun!

We had a very good time making these Salt-Absorbing Fireworks this week from I Can Teach My Child.

I Can Teach My Child also shares this cute Old Glory craft made with popsicle sticks. How cute are these? We're planning to make some tomorrow!

Make your own 4th of July Confetti Popper Rockets from Alphamom. Had these on my list but don't think we'll actually get around to making them for this year. They do look really fun!

Happy 4th of July!

Free Hair Products

2011-06-29T16:12:00.000-04:00

If you haven't already signed up, Pantene, Aussie and Herbal Essences are all giving away coupons for a FREE full-sized product today when you 'Like' them on Facebook.

I'm always excited to receive coupons for FREE products, either to use for myself or donate. I like to hold on to these coupons and use them on B1G1 deals at the drugstores or use them to bump my before coupon total up if I have a $ off a certain purchase amount coupon.

**Be patient. The sites are running rather slow.

And for those of you who don't do Facebook because of privacy concerns, Jenny of Southern Savers shares how to create a blank Facebook profile to use for taking advantage of special Facebook offers such as these.

Things I Like To Do On Mondays

2011-06-29T06:00:00.002-04:00

I like to take a little time on Monday morning to do a little prep work for the week ahead.

Lately, since we eat so many eggs and they are cheap, I've been boiling a dozen at the beginning of every week. A dozen usually gets us pretty close to through the week when eaten plain, as deviled eggs or as egg salad for lunch or snacks.

Veggies take a bit of time to prepare for each meal so I like to grab an assortment out of the crisper and chop them up so they're ready. This doesn't usually last us a whole week but gives me a head start.

I've also been washing a head or two of lettuce to have ready. Depending on the week's menu, I leave some leaves whole for lettuce wraps and chop some for salads.

These small steps make mealtimes a bit easier!

**This post is part of Works For Me Wednesdays over at We Are THAT Family.

Southwestern Lentil Casserole

2011-06-28T06:00:00.000-04:00

I adapted a basic lentil and rice casserole into these Southwestern Lentils. Super easy, tasty, inexpensive to make and utilizes the crockpot!

I've found that occasional lentil and rice type dishes like this are good for helping to offset the meat expense on our current eating plan while still being high in protein and low in carbs!

Southwestern Lentil Casserole

3 cups water, chicken, beef or vegetable broth
1/4 -1/2 pound ground beef, crumbled, browned and drained (optional, but I prefer the taste of meat with my lentils)
1 cup lentils
1/4 - 1/2 cup brown rice
1 small- medium onion, chopped
15 ounce can tomato sauce
1 can (14-15 ounces) diced tomatoes (If you want more kick, use tomatoes with green chilies.)
1 1/2 Tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon oregano

Mix all together in a greased crockpot. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Can also be baked in the oven at 300 degrees for 2 hours. Serve with cheese and sour cream if desired. If your diet allows, this would make yummy burritos, too.

Make changes to spices as you wish. Don't think you can really mess it up. I'm still perfecting this and make it different every time. You can play with the liquids to get the consistency you prefer. I prefer it to be a little on the runny side without being soupy but not clumpy thick either. :-)

Planning Monday

2011-06-27T06:00:00.001-04:00

On my to-do list:
1) Add some new items to my Etsy shop.
2) Trim bushes in backyard.
3) Mow grass.
4) Pay bills.

Fun for the Kidlets:
Activities for the childcare kids ages 3 months, 1 year and 5 years. Most of these things are for the 5 year old while the babies are sleeping.

5 year old:
**Salt-absorbing fireworks.
**Simplified version of these 4th of July rockets. Think I'll eliminate the confetti and just do this as a fun little rocket craft.

1 year old:
**Glue and colored salt pictures. Let her spread glue on paper, then sprinkle some colored salt on top for a toddler version of the salt-absorbing fireworks mentioned above!
**Drawing with crayons and markers.

3 month old:
**Lots of tummy time and interaction when awake.

All kidlets:
**Daily walks.
**At least one trip to the playground.
**Stories and songs.

Outdoor activities, weather and time permitting:
**Water play.
**Chalk drawing.
**Bubbles.

On the menu this week:

Breakfast:
Scrambled eggs with veggies (6x)

Lunch:
**Egg salad lettuce wraps, veggies (2x)
**Tuna salad lettuce wraps, veggies (2x)
**Leftovers.

Supper: All served with either a salad and/or veggie.

1) Italian eggplant bake, salad
2) Sloppy joes-in-a-bowl (with brown rice instead of buns)
3) Meeting: To be decided.
4) Shrimp salad.
5) Dinner and game night with church friends.
6) Beef stir-fry with rice.

Snacks:
**Fruit smoothies (2x)
**Plums
**Yogurt
**Hard-boiled eggs, veggies
**Whatever's left at the end of the week.:-)

**This post is part of Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday!

To ponder this week:
" Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength not one of them is missing. " Isaiah 40:26.

What's on your mind and to-do list this week?

Friday Funnies

2011-06-17T14:44:00.000-04:00

Wishing you a cool weekend!

Disclaimer: This is not OUR Cherished Dog, nor is this our luxurious swimming pool.

Yard Sale Treasures

2011-06-16T22:35:00.001-04:00

One activity my husband and I really enjoy doing together is going to yard sales on Saturday mornings. With gas prices and our schedules, we typically get out about one Saturday a month during yard sale season. It's so much fun! And we score lots of good deals on things that we would need to purchase anyways.

My husband maps out a route from the yard sale ads and I grab my coin purse and list of items we're looking for. We also like to take breakfast and plenty of water along with us.

Here are the treasures we found today:

Bumbo seat** --So excited to have one of these! $14
Play tent and tunnel. $3
Boppy pillow**-- This one is for Baby Boy's mom. She asked me to look for one for her after I scored a Boppy for my house for $1 at a yard sale a few weeks ago. $3
Baby comb and brush. $.25
Bibs.** $.10 cents each
A small assortment of baby and children's clothing to pass along to family and friends**--Can't pass up good quality items for 25 cents each when I know someone who can use them!
Vacuum cleaner. **$5
Jewelry box.** $1
Wireless internet router. ** $3
Hair straightening tool.** What's the proper name for these? I'm not really up on these things! $1.50
Gingham fabric.$.50
Handmade knitted dishcloths. $1/3
Electric skillet.** For cooking while traveling. $2

**means items that were on my list.

I spent a bit more than I normally would on a yard sale day but I'm willing to pay a little more for nice items that we would buy later anyways. I knew a Bumbo seat would not come cheaply; this is the first one I've seen for under $20! I use my spare change for smaller items then dip into our cash envelopes for clothing, household and childcare items that we are looking for.

What kind of yard sale treasures have you found recently?

Easy Meals- Part 2

2011-06-15T06:00:00.000-04:00

This list of meals is in response to a friend who sent me an email asking for some quick meal ideas. Be sure and see Part 1 for easy crockpot meals.

In a pinch or on really busy days, these are some of my go-to meals! They aren't exotic or fancy but yummy, filling and quick! Most are pretty frugal and nutritious, too.

**Note: You will notice that many of these ideas don't fit into our current low-carb eating plan. I'll need to come up with a few more low-carb quick meals!

From the email:

Here's some of our favorite quick and easy dinners. Some require more planning and more preparation than others.

I like to cook some things ahead to freeze to make meals much easier on hectic days. A few of these items are ground beef, chopped or shredded chicken, rice, beans (or keep a few cans in your pantry). All of these items can be frozen in 1 or 2 cup portions in Ziploc bags.

Breakfast for dinner-- Not everyone may like this but we do! Breakfast meats and fruit smoothies are nice additions to most of these ideas.

**scrambled eggs

**pancakes or waffles—Make a big batch and freeze the extras for a quick breakfast or dinner another day. Reheat in toaster.

**Banana oat pancakes-- Our favorite!

**Breakfast in a Hurry—can be made with or without meat.

Baked potatoes (crockpot, oven or microwave)--Top with cheese, sour cream, bacon or any leftover meat. We like browned ground beef. Serve with salad or veggie on the side.

Hamburger patties-- These are handy to pull out and cook really quick. Serve with salad and/or vegetable or on buns as hamburgers. :-)

Salmon Patties

Tuna or Salmon Melts-- Mix tuna or salmon with mayo and some spices like making tuna salad. Add chopped celery or onion if desired. Spread mixture on slices of bread or hamburger bun halves. Top with cheese and broil for a few minutes until heated through and light brown and bubbly. I have a tendency to burn what I'm broiling so watch it carefully!:-)

French bread pizzas- Slice a loaf of French bread or cut in larger hunks. Spread each piece with pizza or spaghetti sauce and top as you would a pizza. Broil and serve with a salad and/or fruit.

Sloppy Joes

Sausage and pepper stir fry- Slice sausages and dice some sweet peppers(red, yellow or green) and onions. Cook together in skillet. Serve with rice.

Egg Drop Soup-- Easy and nutritious! Serve with a sandwich. I usually halve this recipe for the two of us.

Monterrey Beans

Mexican chicken skillet

Cheese melts or grilled cheese- I think we can all figure out the grilled cheese part! Make cheese melts like tuna melts. Place slices of cheese on slices of bread and broil. This is super simple and easy in a pinch. Serve with a bowl of soup or some fresh veggies. My mom used to make these for Sunday night supper a lot when we were growing up!

Since we can all benefit from easy meal ideas, please share your favorites in the comments! What do you make or keep on hand for meals when life gets really hectic and busy?