Pinned It, Made It: Can I Clean My Bathrooms In 15 Minutes?

Can I clean my bathrooms in 15 minutes?

Always looking for ways to streamline my cleaning tasks, I pinned this article that tells how to clean two bathrooms quickly--in 15 minutes!

The question was: Would it work for me?

Well, let's find out!

Before starting the timer, I gathered all rags and supplies, including mop water.

I then set the timer for 20 minutes since I was planning to sweep and mop as well. (In the blog post, she did floors another day.) Floors already take me a while to complete--we have a good amount of hardwoods--so I'd rather just do the bathroom floors at the same time as the bathrooms!

She suggests starting with mirrors them cleaning toilet in Bathroom #1. I squirted toilet cleaner in both rooms first. Then back to #1.

Bathroom #1: Clean mirror, spray sink, counters and toilet with cleaner. (We don't use the shower/tub in this room so no need to clean weekly!) Run to Bathroom #2.

And yes, I'm cracking myself up with my references to the bathrooms as #1 and #2. LOL!!!

Bathroom #2: Clean mirrors. Spray sink, counters, toilet, tub/shower. Run back to #1.

Quickly scrub toilet and wipe down what was sprayed before. Repeat in #2.

Look at timer--exactly 15 minutes!

Back in #1, sweep floor and mop. Run to #2 and do the same thing.

Finish up just as timer beeps--20 minutes from start to finish!

The verdict:
It worked! But I moved fast--no dilly dallying!


My notes:
This was enough time to quickly do the basics but no extras such as dusting or wiping down cabinet doors. I'll do these things as needed on another day when I do dusting and cleaning surfaces.

This worked well for my size of bathrooms--small-average size.  Large rooms may take longer to clean.

I'm a timer motivated cleaner so this method is working really well for me-- I'm not as apt to put it off when I know it will be done in 15-20 minutes!

**This post is part of Pinned It, Made It Monday at Country Girl At Home.

Winner!

The winner of the pumpkin giveaway is...

Wendi!

She commented that what she loves most about fall:

"The thing I love most about fall is the changing leaves. It is like a new picture outside my window each day."


Congratulations!


For the rest of you, I'm offering a coupon code good for 15% off anything in my shop through October 31, 2012. Use  coupon code FALL2012 at checkout!

Pumpkin Pie Play Dough

I've wanted to make pumpkin pie play dough for fall for a long time! And finally got around to it this fall...

It helps that the littles are really getting into play dough now. And our last batch of Smurf-blue  dough was needing to be replaced.

I looked at a few recipes on the internet and came to the conclusion that by adding pumpkin pie spice and red and yellow food coloring (to make orange) to my basic play dough recipe, we would have pumpkin pie play dough.

I am super practical and prefer the simple route for many things,can you tell? I mean, why reinvent the wheel play dough when you can just add to it to get what you want?

I didn't have pumpkin pie spice and I saw no reason to buy any so I just added a couple shakes of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and ground cloves that I had in the cabinet. If you really want pumpkin pie spice, here is a recipe to make your own! I didn't measure the amount I put in but I knew it was ready when it smelled so good I wanted to eat it.

I'm really happy with how it turned out--nice and orange and smelling just like pumpkin pie!

One of my favorite smells of fall!

In The Shop: Kitchen Towels

A brand new batch of kitchen towels are in my shop!

Cheeseburger Mac (Homemade Hamburger Helper)

I've been making Homemade Hamburger Helper type meals for  five years, since I first saw this post.

I didn't grow up eating Hamburger Helper and have only had the boxed kind a couple of times in my life. I do like easy skillet meals, though, which prompted me to try this in the first place! The homemade kind doesn't have all the chemicals that the boxed kind has so it's much better for us!

Our favorite kind is Cheeseburger Mac which I've adapted from the original post.

I know some of you are thinking, "I didn't think she ate pasta!" Which we really don't very often since eliminating wheat. But after a year of no pasta, I discovered that I could make this with rice pasta instead and it is super good!

The Tinkyada brand of brown rice pasta is very good. I bought a bag at a dent and bent type of store for $1 last year. We liked it. But regular price is around $3-4 a bag. That's high for pasta, especially if you aren't allergic. Since then, we've tried Trader Joe's brown rice pasta for $1.99 a bag(16 oz.). It's just as good! Since this recipe only takes 8 oz. of pasta, I can make two pots of this, each which serves us for two meals. Not bad, frugally speaking!

Cheeseburger Mac 

Ingredients:
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1 cup water or broth
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Ketchup and yellow mustard, a few squirts of each
1 cup diced tomatoes, drained
8 ounces pasta-- rice pasta, regular pasta, whole wheat, gluten free,whatever...
1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese


Directions:
1. Brown a half pound of meat and chopped onions in a skillet. Drain grease. I reduced the amount of meat from a whole pound to a half pound; we don't think it's made much of a difference in taste! This is one way I'm able to stretch the more expensive grass-fed beef and afford to eat it.

2. Pour one cup of water or broth in a measuring cup; add a teaspoon of cornstarch and mix well. Pour it into skillet and bring to boil.

3. Add several squirts of ketchup and mustard to pot. We really like the cheeseburger taste this gives but you can skip if  you want!

4. Stir in diced tomatoes.

5. Add noodles and stir them in. If needed, add more water so the noodles can be mixed in without clumping too bad. The water shouldn't cover the noodles! As they cook, keep an eye on the noodles and stire often, adding a bit more water if needed.

6. Cover and simmer, stirring often until noodles are soft, about 10- 15 minutes.

7. When noodles are done, turn heat to low and add a handful of cheese, stirring it in until it melts. Turn stove off, sprinkle more cheese on top and serve to your hungry family!

Enjoy!

A Bushel Of Pumpkins And A Giveaway!

Remember these pumpkins I made last year?

I recently whipped up a big batch of them and they are in my shop. 

But for fun, I'm also offering up a set of 3 pumpkins as a giveaway here on the blog!

The giveaway will be open all week and I'll draw a winner on Saturday, October 20.

To enter: Simply leave a comment on this post for a chance to win! Make sure you leave a name and a way to get in touch with you if you win--an email address, link back to your profile or blog that includes an email, etc. I can't give the prize to Anonymous or to someone that I have no way of getting in touch with!:-)

For additional entries:

(Leave a separate comment for each one.)

• Leave a comment stating what you love the most about fall!
• Leave a comment stating your favorite cool weather or fall food to cook or eat. 
• Leave a comment sharing your favorite fall activity! 

Happy Fall! 

Pinned It, Made It: Pajama Pants

For today's Pinned It, Made It Monday, I'm sharing some pj pants I made a few weeks ago.

I'd pinned the instructions for making pj pants by using an old pair of pants for the pattern.

Back in the spring, I'd thrifted a delicious ruffled vintage sheet that was just dying to be made into something sweet! Pajamas seemed to be just the thing.

My husband said as soon as he saw me pull that sheet out, he knew it was going home with us! Smart man!

So anyways, I needed some new pj's and I thought, "Why don't I try making some?" So I did!

The instructions for the pants were very clear and detailed, making them easy to follow. The pants sewed up with very little trouble. I used the ruffled edge of the sheet for the hem of the pants eliminating the need for hemming.

I will say that the fit of these pants is a bit wonky on me. If I were to make these again, I'd need to do some tweaking. I'm not sure sure if the fit issue is the pants I used or the tutorial!

But at any rate, they are still wearable! And I really like them! I think they're super cute and feminine. 

I made a matching top from a Burda Young Fashion pattern. I can't locate the pattern at the moment for the exact pattern number. I've made several things from this pattern--a loan from my sister. I promise I will give the pattern back! Hahaha.

**This post is part of Pinned It, Made It! Monday over at Country Girl At Home. **

Picnic On The Deck

Now that fall is here and the days are cooler, we're enjoying much time spent outdoors! The littles enjoy playing outside so much that one day I decided to set up a picnic on the deck for lunch.

Toddler Girl (age 2 1/2) especially got into the idea. When she saw me moving their chairs outside, she ran to help!

We'd gathered a basket of sticks that morning for another project so I set those on the table for our centerpiece.

 I enjoyed the change of pace and the bright sunshine while we ate! The littles enjoyed it too, for the most part. We could hear construction going on behind our neighborhood, acorns falling and planes in the sky!

But for a dose of reality--- the lunch time/before nap time slot with toddlers is not usually all sunshine and roses! The littles were tired, irritable and one person did not like their lunch and made it known loudly. I'm sure the neighbors enjoyed our charming little picnic too! :-)

In spite of all this, a picnic on the deck is something we'll be doing more often!

It's a simple fun way to enjoy our lovely fall!

Organized Art Cabinet

Even though we have a play room now, we keep most of our arts and crafts supplies in the kitchen. We typically do these sorts of things at the kitchen table and it's nice to have everything easily accessible and out of reach of the toddlers.

I must admit, I feel spoiled to have so many cabinets in my kitchen that I'm able to devote one to non-kitchen items!

The art cabinet hadn't been properly organized yet; most things were stuffed in every which way and the organizing containers I did have in there were too big for the space making it a pain to pull anything out!

I rarely purchase organizing containers for a project but eventually I figured a few bucks would be worth having this area nice and neat! I just wasn't coming up with enough recycled containers on my own that were really what was needed.

I found these clear plastic bins with snap-on lids on clearance at Target for $2 each. I took a chance and bought four hoping they would be the right size for the space and the items being stored.

They worked great!  Labels were created from scrapbook paper scraps and packing tape. A plastic salad container was pulled from the recycling bag for stickers and I used one of the bigger bins from before to house all the random craft supplies that are not needed as often (pom poms, foam sheets, pipe cleaners, etc.) on the top shelf.

Next to our art cabinet, there is a skinny cabinet with 3 shelves where I've stashed some extra stuff like crayons, markers and colored pencils for older kids, some large bottles of paint, and some small toddler activities.

I love how these shelves are organized and how easy it is to pull out supplies and activities for the little ones!

Snippets of Life

1) Toddler Girl is at a very possessive stage of life. Real life example:

Toddler Girl holding toys.
Baby Boy stands and looks at what she has.
T.G freaks out: "Noooo! ______ (Baby Boy's name), mine!"
Me: " It's ok. ______ (Baby Boy) can look."
T.G. regains composure and holds toys out importantly towards B.B. "Ok, look!"

2) Abby and Dolly are two dogs in our neighborhood. They are known to roam occasionally especially around their own property. So we often see then when we are out and about. Unfortunately, Abby and Rock don't seem to get  along the best and usually bark and growl at one another.

One day recently, we were out for our walk, me pushing the double stroller with Rock on the leash by our side. Everything was fine and dandy until we approached Abby's house. I saw Abby and Dolly coming out carrying on and sensed Rock stiffening up. About that time, T.G. yelled, " Oh lordy! There's Abby and Dolly!"

She sounded so funny, I could hardly stop laughing.

Ahem... I do use the phrase Oh lordy on occasion.

3)  Baby Boy was enjoying emptying a bag of scrap fabrics the other day while I picked out a few pieces for a project. Rock, everyone's favorite, was nearby. I noticed Baby Boy laughing and laughing out loud and glanced over just in time to see him put a piece of cloth on Rock's head. He then stood back and laughed then repeated the whole procedure. Rock was such a good sport about his "hat"! And clearly, Baby Boy was amused!

4) Baby Boy loves tractors and notices them (riding mowers) when we're out. T.G. likes anything that B.B. likes so she likes tractors too! We like to sing a song about tractors and T.G. requests it often. So we sing. But for some reason, talking and singing about tractors makes her think about crackers. Haha.

5) We usually purchase natural peanut butter that needs to be stirred. I hate stirring peanut butter! It's so messy. Lately I've noticed that I'll wait and let Andy open the new jar of peanut butter. That way he'll stir it up. Which he doesn't mind doing. Plus he's just really nice like that!

6) A couple frugal blogs I've been enjoying lately are Living On Less Money and The Non-Consumer Advocate.

7) A verse I've been pondering: "Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever." Daniel 12:3.

What's going on in your life?

Crockpot Sausage and Sweet Potato Stew

This is a wonderful cool weather stew! It's easy to put in the crockpot on busy days.

Plus with sweet potatoes and vegetables, it's really quite nutritious as well! Any sausage can be used-- turkey, pork, beef. I've used both keilbasa/smoked type sausage cut into slices and bulk roll sausage that I cooked and crumbled. Both are tasty.

I like to serve this stew with a green salad topped with fresh apple slices and walnuts or pecans!

Sausage and Sweet Potato Stew

Makes approximately 8 servings; freezes well.

1 pound cooked sausage, any kind, even homemade.
4 small sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces; about 2 pounds or 5 cups.
1 cup chopped bell peppers
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup chopped onion
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups broth, chicken or beef

Combine all ingredients in greased 5 -6 qt. crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours.

Make Your Own Sausage

When I was getting my recent beef, pork and chicken order together for a local farmer, I noticed that they were sold out of their sausage, which we like very very much!

Instead of sausage, I ordered some of their ground pork instead. And I've been adding a few seasonings and making my own sausage!

I adapted a recipe from the Not Just Beans cookbook using spices I had on hand. Really, seasoning your own sausage is quite simple. Spices can be adjusted according to your tastes.

This is more of an Italian-style sausage. I use it wherever we would use sausage-- for breakfast meat or in recipes. 

1 pound ground pork or you can do a 50/50 combination of beef and pork
1 tsp. dried minced onion
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. minced garlic or 1 clove fresh (finely minced)
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

A teaspoon of fennel seeds can also be added for a more authentic taste but I didn't have any so left it out!

Sprinkle seasoning over ground meat. Knead until thoroughly blended. The Mix 'n Chop from Pampered Chef works wonderfully for this job! Make into patties or form into roll and refrigerate for 2-3 days to allow flavors to blend. I usually use it right away although the flavors are not as developed.

When ready to use, cook as you would cook regular sausage.

**Tomorrow I'll be sharing a yummy recipe that includes this sausage--perfect for fall!

Another Year

Today marks 8 years of marriage for us!

I looked at Andy the other day and asked if we were the same kids who got married 8 years ago. He said he didn't think so.  A lot of change and growth has occurred in the past 8 years. Good change and growth, I might add! But at the same time, so much about us has not changed.

We're still us.  And I like that.

Facebook

This week I pulled both my personal profile and blog page from Facebook. Some of you may have seen my status updates informing of this decision and some may not have.

I won't go into specifics concerning this decision but you can be assured that I didn't have any negative experience that prompted this action.

In the meantime, I do still plan to keep my blog up and running. If you'd like to subscribe so you don't miss an update, you can subscribe by email or become a follower. Both of these options are on the right sidebar of my blog. Or you can subscribe via a reader. Google Reader  is my favorite and keeps all the blogs I read in one place!

As always, thank you so much for continuing to read and comment here at Mary Ann's House. I appreciate it and it means a lot to me!

Have a wonderful weekend!

More Coupon Savings

As I mentioned in this post, I'm making a bit more of an effort to use some coupons again to help me rebuild my pantry without buying everything at regular retail prices.

I had gotten more store coupons from my last trip to Bi-Lo so made a quick trip to see what I could find!

This time I had Baby Boy-who is-not-really-a-baby-anymore (18 months!) with me, so it was important to make the trip quick!

I'm not a fast grocery shopper but taking the littles certainly speeds me up which is a good thing! I like getting it done and going back home!

We picked up a few needed produce items and then these things:

• Disposable cups-- FREE with $1 store coupon. These are often needed for our Fellowship gatherings.
• Jug of water--FREE with $1 store coupon. This will be put with our emergency supplies. 
• Sandwich bags-- 39 cents with $1 store coupon.
• Shout-- $1.15 with $1 store coupon and 55 cent doubled manu. coupon. This would have been better had I waited for a sale but still a super price for something we use regularly. And now I have an extra for later!

While I really don't have a desire to be a super Coupon Queen, especially right now--there are so many other things I'd rather spend my time on-- using some coupons for needed items really is helpful to the budget!

Do you coupon regularly? What have you gotten for a good price recently?

Trash

Our new home is county instead of city so we aren't included in city trash pickup. Instead of paying for a private company to get our trash, we've opted to take our trash and recycling to the dump ourselves.

We live only about 5 minutes from the dump so this has worked out quite well so far. Admittedly, it does take a bit more effort to gather all the trash together to take somewhere than setting the can at the curb. 

A few ways we've reduced the trash and made things a bit easier:

• Composting food scraps. I'd gotten out of the habit of consistently adding to our compost bin. Since moving, we've started this back up. I keep a bowl on the counter and then empty every day. Super easy. I'm also adding some to our garden plot to amend the soil. We have a septic system so no garbage disposal, so if not composting, these things would go right into the trash, not only creating more garbage but a lot more stink!
• Recycling. The trash and recycling center provides a blue recycling bag. Almost all recyclables can go in this bag eliminating the need for sorting. They accept almost everything except for styrofoam. Recyclables in the trash can tend to fill it up very quickly so this keeps the actual garbage amount down.
• Outside trash can. I keep a can outside for diapers and other smelly stuff. We normally only have one bag of household trash per week. I'd have to empty it more often if diapers were included so they get their own can plus it gets them out of the house! At the end of the day, I tie up the grocery bag of diapers we've accumulated and cart it outside.
• Passing stuff on. Egg cartons go to the guy we've been buying eggs from. Another lady at the farmers market uses the plastic clamshell containers to package up her produce. I add those items to our market bag through the week and take it with us to disperse among the appropriate vendors. 
• Reusing and repurposing. Individual applesauce containers make good little paint cups. There are oodles of uses for toilet paper rolls and cardboard. Glass jars can be reused. So I keep some. Not all. If I kept everything hoping to find a use for it one day, we'd be buried in a sea of recyclables. And we don't want that. I keep a few things if I have a specific use in mind and send the rest to recycling. Super simple.
• Reducing the use of disposable items. Using plastic or glass containers instead of so many plastic bags, lidded bowls and pans instead of always having to cover with plastic wrap or foil, cloth napkins and rags instead of paper towels and napkins are some of the ways we reduce our trash. We don't do this perfectly by any means but the little things we are able to do add up to savings and less trash! 

By implementing these tips, we typically only have to make a trip to the dump every couple of weeks! 
 

Recent Frugal Stuff

I always enjoy reading when others post about ways they are being frugal and saving money on a daily basis. So I thought I'd share my own list of ways we've been able to save money recently or use what we already have creatively!

I know most of us are interested in making the most of our dollars and stretching them as far as we can these days. So maybe this will help!

• A friend gave us some garden veggies: already sliced cucumbers and a couple small tomatoes. I made a Creamy Cucumber Salad with these and served it with lunch 2 days.
• When folding clean sheets, I noticed the hems on the pillowcases had come loose. A few minutes at the sewing machine and they were mended and should last for a long while. 
• Made some new snacks using ingredients I usually have on hand. Frozen banana bites and Grapesicles!
• A roll of brown paper was left here when we moved in. On a  rainy day, I taped a large piece of it to the kitchen floor and let the kiddos color all over it.
• We received a "Welcome to the neighborhood" coupon pack. Most were not things we would use, but we kept out a coupon for a free haircut which Andy used this week!

• I've been sewing lots of aprons to sell locally and in my Etsy shop. I've challenged myself to come up with fun fabric combinations using what I have in my stash rather than running to the store to buy more. I've had to get more creative than usual but have come up with some really cute ones, I think! I've done quite a bit and could still sew happily from my stash for quite some time!
• Used store coupons to get a few needed items for free or nearly free!
• Marinated some beef in leftover garlic dill pickle juice for a stir fry. Very yummy. I've also been putting cucumber slices in leftover pickle juice to brine for a few days and making my own pickles! Not quite the same as "real" pickles but tasty! This is old-school frugality at its finest; I hate to throw pickle juice away.
• I've been composting all of our food scraps minus meat and dairy. Since we started our fall garden, I've been digging holes and putting some right into the garden--free fertilizer!

• Made this cute fall pumpkin with stuff I had on hand then realized that I didn't have a cinnamon stick for the stem. My first thought was when to run to the store to buy some but then my eyes fell to some sticks in the backyard--so I used a stick for the stem instead. Totally free!
• Our house has a hard time staying cool. But with the little bit cooler weather, we've been able to turn off the ceiling fans! A small savings.Still using the A/C of course but soon we'll be able to turn that off too!
• I've said no to quite a few purchases resisting the urge to upgrade when I have something at home that works just as well! More money saved plus less clutter! 

What frugal stuff are you up to these days? 

**This post is part of Frugal Fridays over at Life As Mom! 

Pinned It, Made It: Band-Aid Get Well Cards

I pinned this get well card idea a long time ago because they were so cute and hysterical! Recently, I needed a get well card and thought of this which was perfect for the recipient!

Ok, so these could technically be a kid's craft but so funny and I know many adults who would get a kick out of these! So when I got out the supplies to make a card, I made several to add to my card box.

Super fun and simple!

I added some of my own touches such as little stick figure arms and legs and even tried to come up with my own band-aid jokes and puns.

I may not have done so well with the latter. But it was fun!

**This post is part of Pinned It, Made It Monday at Country Girl at Home. 

**My intention was to post this Monday but as you can see that didn't happen! Happy Wednesday everyone!

Time To Fill Your Shoeboxes!

It's that time again.

Time to start thinking about what you want to pack in your shoe boxes.

Collection week is about 2 months away: November 12-19, 2012!

I've been squirreling a few things away all year but just today pulled out the boxes and sorted the items into each one. Now I know what I need to fill them in!

And as usual, our girl box is already much fuller than the boy box! Always seems to happen that way--maybe because I love buying girly stuff?!!

 **If you'd like, you can see this video I did last year about filling our shoeboxes. 

Coupons

I'm trying to make a bit more of an effort to use some coupons again for things I know we will use. Using just a few coupons can help to give our grocery budget a little more wiggle room. Plus after not using coupons or shopping the drugstore deals for a while, our grocery and personal care stash is starting to dwindle a bit!

We don't need 20 tubes of toothpaste since we only use 2-3 a year but buying an extra 1 or 2 of needed items as back-up is nice. And when bought on sale, saves us a good deal of cash!

I got a pile of store coupons from the grocery store last weekend so I used some of those on this trip. Most were very general coupons like $1 off any laundry purchase or any oral care purchase. I like coupons like that!

Here's what I got: 

Bi-Lo: 
Mustard- 39 cents with doubled 30 cent manu. coupon.
Canned vegetable- 49 cents with 20 cent e-coupon loaded onto store loyalty card.
Cereal- FREE with $1 store coupon. This will be a good snack for the little ones.
Toothbrush- FREE with $1 store coupon and doubled 75 cent manu. coupon.
Body Wash-FREE with $1 store coupon.


We also had gotten a $3 off any purchase coupon from CVS for my husband's birthday so he kindly gave that to me to use! Upon entering the store, I scanned his Extra Care card and received a $2 off any CVS brand body wash, so I was able to combine the two coupons for a good deal.

CVS:
Body Wash
2 pk. bar soaps
Sale- Buy 1, get 2nd 50% off.
Used $5 in store coupons.
Paid 30 cents for both!


Do you use coupons? What good deals have you gotten recently?

Pinned It, Made It: Grapesicles

In the interest of trying another cheap and easy snack idea from Pinterest this week, I chose to make grapesicles.


I read the directions this time but wouldn't have had to; no hidden stuff I couldn't see in the picture! :-)

I'd gotten some big red grapes at Aldi so I washed, dried and threaded them on wooden skewers. (Used some shorter skewers I had.) I then laid them on a waxed paper lined pan  and froze.

I'd heard of eating frozen grapes as a snack but hadn't tried it and wasn't sure I would like it. Not a fan of trying to chew big frozen chunks! Too cold and makes my teeth hurt!

I do like these grapesicles! The grapes are small enough  and they begin to thaw rather quickly so they're not too cold to chew.

Pretty tasty and fun! And who doesn't like eating things off of a pointy stick!?!

Verdict: Win!

**This post is part of Pinned It, Made It Monday! over at Country Girl At Home.

Inexpensive Pans For Sharing Meals

I find it a joy when I have the opportunity to share a meal with others.

Those opportunities don't come around that often it seems. One reason may be that there are few people having babies within our church and social circles!

But this week, I had two opportunities--one friend just had surgery and another friend's grandfather passed away.

I'm super practical so I try to mostly use disposable pans when gifting a meal. Dollar Tree is my go-to source for inexpensive foil pans. The 9x13's come in a 2-pack for $1 and the smaller pans are a 3-pack for $1. What I love about those small ones is that they come with a lid so they can be stacked and are also the perfect size for 2-3 people.

I like keeping a small stack of these pans on hand so I'm ready to share when the opportunity presents itself!

Mailbox Facelift

Anyone who has ever purchased a home knows that with home ownership usually comes repairs and a myriad of projects.

Trying to resist the urge to update and tackle everything all at once, we started making a home project list when we moved in. Now we can look at the list and decide on the next thing we want to do. This is also a great way to intersperse the bigger and more expensive projects between the smaller, low-budget ones.

One of the low-budget projects on our list was to paint the mailbox. It was all rusty. At first we thought we'd just replace it, but in the interest of making do and saving some cash, we went with trying a paint job first.

BEFORE

This was a super easy and quick job. Honestly, the more difficult part was getting the old numbers and name stickers off the mailbox!

To get the stickers off, I tried this method first, which worked somewhat but after about the 3rd application and only about half-way done, I got impatient and pulled out the razor blade. The razor blade was much faster and seemed more effective plus with the old rusty mailbox, I wasn't that worried about damage!

AFTER

Spray painting went quickly. I used my favorite Krylon Fusion spray paint. I did branch out from my typical black and purchased a red can for this project. There are lots of black mailboxes in our neighborhood so I thought red would be nice and different. Besides, I have painting the front door and shutters red on the project list for the future.... And I just might have some ideas for using some more of that red paint!

There are a few smudges of black on the red which happened when I painted the flag black. So it's not perfect. I may or may not fix them. But overall, I'm super pleased with our low-budget mailbox facelift!

Pinned It, Made It: Frozen Banana Bites

I really like Pinterest. I'll admit that I use it mostly as a bookmarking tool rather than browsing the site. But I've found many great ideas through  Pinterest and because I can see what I've pinned, I've been much more likely to remember what I want to do and actually follow through with a lot of them!

One of the more difficult aspects of eating a low-grain and sugar diet is finding snacks that are easy, quick and budget-friendly. Gone are the days of muffins, cookies and homemade granola bars that are easy to make ahead and freeze. We eat  a lot of fruit for snacks, but sometimes it's nice to have a little something else--a treat, if you will!

I pinned these frozen banana bites to my Real Food: Appetizers and Snacks board and could hardly wait to try them! They looked so easy: slice bananas, spread with peanut butter. Slap them together and freeze!

So that's what I did--EXCEPT I didn't follow the original directions. In fact, I had went on the picture alone! I went back later and read the recipe-- which involves mixing mashed bananas with yogurt and peanut butter to spread on the banana slices.

I'm sure that's delicious too, although we really liked my simple method and will probably continue making them that way.

But I'll let you choose which method you want to try!

**This post is part of Pinned It, Made It!Monday! over at Country Girl At Home.

Quiet

Source

I've been enjoying a couple computer-free days each week. 

It's taken some getting used to, but I love it! 

It started by evaluating how I could make my two longest and busiest days not quite so hectic. I eliminated the computer from those days and suddenly they are more peaceful with  time to do what I need to do. 

Amazing, huh! 

And I haven't missed much at all!

Quiet. It's a wonderful thing.

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we  told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."

 I Thessalonians 4: 11-12

100 Things In 100 Days

I've been following The Year Of Less blog with interest as this family chooses one small thing to do to simplify their lives almost every day for a year. I've enjoyed reading Kelly's other blog for some time now and this new one is good too! I learn a lot from her.

I really don't have a need to sweep through and do a major decluttering right now. But as I consider carefully the purchases we're making and what's coming into our home and the time and money taken to buy and maintain these items, I am inspired to consistently evaluate what we have. Setting aside those items that are not adding value to our lives in some way and resisting the urge to replace things once we get rid of them!

So when Kelly posted about her personal challenge to give away 100 items in 100 days, I was inspired to do my own challenge! When I'm purposely getting rid of items on a consistent basis, I'm more objective about what's coming in to my home.  So that was my main reason for doing this challenge--to be intentional about not only my purchases but also what I accept from other people.

I will admit, sometimes it's easier to accept other people's hand me downs and get rid of them later than to just decline them right away. But at the same time, many of these offered  items are useful so being wise about what is offered and only accepting those things that will be truly useful to us is important here. Because in the long run, constantly moving and getting rid of things that are given to us is tiring too and takes energy I would rather put towards other things that have lasting value.

Kelly is giving away her items to friends. I've been giving away some of what I've accumulated(when I know specifically that a friend can use it). A new bottle of contact solution and a box of plastic bags are two things I offered to friends because I was pretty sure they could use them and I was right! Otherwise, I'm throwing these things in a box to either donate or yard sale later.

Note: Real life friends are welcome to sift through this box and help themselves to anything they would like!

I started the challenge on August 1st and will end on November 8th. So far I've discarded 25 items. So I'm a few days ahead. :-)  I'm keeping a list so I know exactly where I'm at in the challenge and I've already figured out that 100 things is a lot more decluttering than it looks! But doing around one item per day is doable and keeps me going.

Some items included in my decluttering box are shorts that I hated wearing, freebies I got while drugstore shopping and never used, a few toys and children's books that didn't get much use or constantly came apart when being played with (you know the ones!), a few random household items and 3 bottles of Worcestershire Sauce. Yes, three... I had 4 and considering that this is an ingredient used rather sparingly, keeping 4 as backup in the pantry seemed rather excessive so I kept 1 and am giving away the others.

I will update on this challenge as we continue...

Are you interested in joining in? 

Hakuna Matata Frittata

 No Worries Frittata!*

My mother-in-law gave me two cast-iron skillets for Christmas and I've enjoyed learning to use them!

I ran across a recipe for a frittata in the latest issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray that was made in an oven proof skillet. The recipe used broccolini but I took the idea and tweaked it to fit what I had in my fridge! Basically, I used the method but not the actual recipe. This was the first time I used my cast-iron from stove top to oven and it worked really well!

Since switching to a low-grain diet, I'm constantly on the search for quick and healthy "busy night" dinners that fit into our new criteria for eating. We often make some kind of eggs and sauteed veggies or omelets when we're crunched for time and this recipe definitely fits well in this category!

Any veggie, cheese and meat combination could be used in this recipe. I made this one with spinach, bacon and cheddar cheese. It's so easy and because it uses one skillet and doesn't require a long baking time, I can see this becoming a regular at our dinner table!

Easy Spinach Frittata
Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil

1- 16 ounce bag frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (Based on personal taste, you may want to reduce this amount. It's very spinach-y, which we liked!)
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 or 2 strips bacon, cooked and chopped (I used very thick slices so they went further than skinny bacon.:-)
8 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper, to taste  
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Heat oil in ovenproof skillet around medium heat. Add onion, spinach and bacon; cook for 5 minutes. Beat eggs with garlic powder and salt and pepper. Add eggs to skillet; cook until set. Add cheese; broil 5 minutes until done and nicely browned.

Slice and serve!

*I just couldn't help but hum Hakuna Matata while making this dish because it rhymes with frittata! :-)

Rock's DNA

Last spring, we won a free Doggy DNA test from our vet.

Our dog Rock is a mutt or a "mixed breed" as they call them. We always knew he was a Lab mix. And guessed that his other part was Bull Terrier--Pit Bull and/or Staffordshire Terrier.

We as the McFrugals and especially me as Mrs. Super Practical, would never have thought to pay for a test (around $100 value) to find out what exactly his breeds were. I mean, we love him and all... But he is a dog.

But it was a fun win and cool to find out! We finally got around to redeeming our prize a few weeks ago and just got his test results back last week.

What we thought: Labrador Retriever and Bull Terrier (Pit Bull and/ or Staffordshire Terrier) Mix.

What he is: Labrador Retriever and American Staffordshire/ Vizsla Mix.

I'd never heard of the Vizsla breed before this-- a hunting/working dog with Hungarian origin. Very interesting...

Rock with his friend Mason. Rock is the smaller black dog on the left.

We do find it highly amusing that Rock now has "papers" along with Breed Ancestry Certificate with Statement of Authentication!

Roses

We inherited a number of flowerbeds and lots of yard work when we bought this house.

This was one of the downsides to this place since we really are not yard work or even really outdoorsy type of people.

However, the pros outweighed the cons and we decided to go for it--yard work and all.

I've been working on the flowerbeds one at a time. I'm beginning in the backyard--a) because I'm back there a lot with the children and see the flowerbeds all the time and b) I can work a little bit while the children are playing. 

My first stop was at the bed of roses in the backyard and I must admit that it felt really worthwhile to clean this bed up and see it look a little better. Maybe I'll grow to like working in the yard after all! (Ok, so it's not perfect looking but a huge improvement from where it was!)

My mom was excited to hear that I had a couple of rose beds and gave me some tips to promote healthy growth.

• Don't let dead leaves and debris lie on the ground around your roses.
• Remove faded roses--if they're in a cluster, clip out the bad ones. One to a stem--go down to the first 5-sectioned leaf. Clip right above it.
• Prune roses back sometime from December to February. Cut out all dead canes. She recommends cutting back to about 6 inches.
• Use a good fertilizer for roses if needed.

She also gave me a recipe for a homemade spray for roses:

"Mix 2 tablespoons baking soda with 1 gallon warm water, then add 1 teaspoon liquid dish soap and 1 teaspoon vegetable oil. Spray under the leaves and on top of the leaves after watering or a rain at least once a  week."

I haven't tried the spray yet but plan to make it as soon as I get a sprayer for it.

My mom is very good at gardening so I'm excited to follow her instructions and see how the roses do!

Do you have any gardening tips for roses to share with me? 

Cake Mix Cookie Bars

Use these 4 ingredients...

To make these yummy cookie bars!

Alright, so these Cake Mix Cookie Bars are not at all healthy or real food (except for the butter and egg). But sometimes, a quick dessert is needed. I've found since we've moved to a more low grain diet, we just don't have a good stock of baking ingredients on hand since I hardly ever bake anymore! So when I want to whip up some cookies or something, what used to be a quick thing is now a big deal. 

My sister-in-law made these yummy bars while we all were at the beach and since they are super yummy and only take 4 ingredients, I wrote down the recipe. I've been keeping these ingredients on hand for when I want to make something sweet to share. Perfect for hospitality!

Easy Cake Mix Cookie Bars

1 cake mix**

1 stick butter, melted

1 egg

1 bag chocolate chips (This amount could be reduced but which is worse-- extra chocolatey cookies or an open bag of chocolate chips in the house? It's quite the predicament, I tell you!)

Mix ingredients together. Spread and press into greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes.

**Pretty much any combination of cake mix and chips could be used: chocolate cake mix with peanut butter chips, red velvet cake mix with white chips, yellow cake mix with chocolate chips, chocolate cake mix with mint chips, chocolate with chocolate... can you tell I love chocolate?!!

Enjoy!

Our Weekly Menu

In an attempt to make it a few more days before grocery shopping, I dug through the fridge, pantry and freezer to come up with this week's meal plan.  I don't really have time this week to do a big grocery trip until the weekend. So the plan may be a bit funny sounding and not extravagant or anything but we should be eating pretty well. Thank God for food in the house!

I pray a lot when making my meal plans, asking for wisdom and ideas. The Holy Spirit never fails to give direction, reminding me of ingredients, recipes and things to make!

Monday
B- Scrambled eggs
L-Leftover chicken and rice bake, raw veggies
Snack- Bits and bobs: canteloupe, figs, yogurt
D- Salmon,millet and broccoli bake, creamy cucumber salad

Tuesday
B- Scrambled eggs
L- Muffin tin soup (freezer), hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese, rest of salad greens
Snack- Pineapple
D- Unstuffed pepper bake, tomatoes marinated in balsamic vinegar

Wednesday
B- Scrambled eggs, sausage
L- Leftovers
Snack- Applesauce
D- Southwestern lentils (crockpot)

Thursday
B- Scrambled eggs
L- Egg drop soup with chicken, tuna salad on celery sticks
Snack- Smoothies
D- Salmon patties, green beans, rice

Friday
B-Scrambled eggs
L- Leftovers
Snack- Banana ice cream
D- Grill: pork chops, butternut squash

Saturday
B- Egg and sausage muffins
L- Jerky, hard-boiled eggs, veggies
Snack- Pineapple
D- Hot dogs, sides to be decided later

What are you eating this week?

This post is part of Menu Plan Monday!

Choosing Chicken (And Hobby Lobby)

As Christians, we appreciate businesses that share our values. Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby are two such businesses that were founded upon and operate by God's principles.  We love to support them with our business when the opportunities arise.

We joined hundreds of thousands of Americans today to show our support and appreciation for Chick-fil-A's public stand on Biblical values. It was a long wait to get our food but totally worth the time!

Since we were supporting a Christian business anyways, I thought "Why not support two today?" so on the way home I made a quick stop at Hobby Lobby for something on my list. :-)

Do you vote with your dollars by choosing carefully where you spend your money? Which businesses are your favorite to support?