Frugal Fridays: Eating Well On A Very Small Budget-Part 2

Today I will share some more about eating well on a small budget. This post will include the stuff that I forgot when writing this grocery post and will include some info about meal ideas, menu planning, using leftovers and showing hospitality on a budget.

There are so many things to learn when it comes to living frugally and on a budget. I love knowing that the grocery budget is one category that I am often able to cut a little when money gets tight. And money is often tight, isn't it? That's just life!

The first step to eating well on a small budget is to cook foods that are not as expensive. It is very hard to "eat cheaply" when one must have steaks or other more expensive items at least once a week. We like our special dinners just as much as the next person, but they are the exception, not the norm. For the most part, we eat very simple meals and meat is an ingredient much of the time instead of being the main part of the meal. My husband loves meat, while I could almost be a vegetarian.:-) I try to cook plain meat about once a week. This is often pork chops,a roast or fish bought on a good sale or roast chicken. I will often stretch a large piece of meat out over a couple of days, especially with chicken, a roast or ham. This week I baked a ham( bought on sale at Easter) so our dinner menu looks like this:

Monday- Make-Your-Own Salad with grilled chicken, herb bread
Tuesday- baked ham, sweet potatoes, steamed asparagus
Wednesday- ham bundles(a yeast dough with a ham mixture inside), leftover soup, salad
Thursday-leftovers
Friday-white beans cooked with ham bone, corn muffins
Saturday-Waffles with creamed eggs and ham

Even after these meals, I will still have enough ham leftover to freeze enough for another casserole or two to use later. Soups, stews, rice and pasta dishes and other casseroles are a great way to stretch meat. I read somewhere that when making soup, only 1/2 to 1 cup of meat is really needed as it stretches so far! Yet many recipes call for 2 cups or more. It depends on the recipe or dish as to how much meat I will use, but as a general rule, I will use less than the recipe states. Meat is expensive so by stretching it out and not eating as much at one meal, I am able to save money.

Like I stated earlier, our meals tend to be simple. It is just more practical that way and we always get plenty to eat! Some examples would be soup and bread, a casserole and salad or a piece of meat accompanied with a vegetable side dish and either bread or a potato. We eat dessert once or twice a week as I do like to bake a sweet treat every now and again! Growing up, we ate home-canned fruit with almost every meal, but rarely a sweet dessert.

One of our favorite frugal dinners is rice cooked in chicken broth(in place of water for flavor) with diced chicken, onions, celery, mushrooms and garlic added in. I add it all together at the beginning and cook it just like regular rice and it turns out really well. We also enjoy breakfast for dinner about once a week.

I love planning my menus for a week at a time. It is so freeing to be able to look at the list and know what you are having for dinner. It is also a great way to be sure that you are using up food that you already have, if you plan your menu by "shopping" in your refrigerator, pantry and freezer first.

Some like having 4-6 weeks of menus and then just rotating them over and over. I prefer the creativity of using leftovers and trying new recipes with what I have on hand so making a menu a week at a time works well for me. Neither way is "wrong"; the important thing is to come up with a plan that will help you to efficiently feed your family and maximize your grocery dollars. And keep in mind that a written menu is not set in stone; it can be changed every now and then!

Here's last week's menu:
Monday-Chicken gravy over rice, steamed carrots
Tuesday-tortelloni with marinara sauce, mixed veggies
Wednesday-cheese quesadillas, tomato soup
Thursday-hamburger steaks, scalloped potatoes(free with coupons), salad
Friday-Israeli spice chicken, tabouli, hummus and pita bread
Saturday-salad bar( we ended up having some pizza at a friend's house, so moved the salad menu to this week!)
Sunday-burritos(from freezer), fresh strawberries

In my house very little food goes to waste. Often little bits of meat, veggies, rice etc. can be thrown together to make a nice soup or casserole. One lady I've read about keeps a coffee can in her freezer. Every little spoonful of leftover "soup" ingredients goes into the can. When it is full she makes soup and has pretty much a free meal! I often use my freezer to store extras that we just can't use up before they go bad. Instead of making one large casserole, I'll make 2 smaller pans and freeze one for later. It just makes more sense money and time-wise.

I still have a lot to learn about maximizing my use of leftovers and extras of certain items. Some things that I already do: leftover lentil and rice casserole gets tossed with some fresh veggies, an oil and vinegar dressing and chilled for a yummy salad the next day. Leftover bread can be used for croutons, breakfast casseroles, bread crumbs,bread puddings, and making your own Stove top stuffing mix or just your own dressing from scratch. I keep a baggie in the freezer to add a piece or two of leftover bread until I have enough to make something out of it. Leftover veggies can be thrown into quiche, as well as used for soups, casseroles and stir-fries. I cook the carcass whenever I roast a chicken and make delicious broth to either use immediately for soup or to freeze in 1 or 2 cup portions for later use in recipes. Some cooks freeze the broth in an ice cube tray for when a small amount is needed. A tip I got from my mom is to save the broth from steaming veggies and add it a little at a time to a freezer container. When you have collected enough, this makes the most flavorful base for veggie soup!Leftover baked potatoes can be shredded and fried for hash browns or used to make potato salad. I go to different cooking sites and often google "how to use______________" to get more ideas on what to do with what I have. Not very recipe or idea will be your taste or work out but chances are that out of several tries, you'll find at least one that will become a dish that your family enjoys. I'm trying to compile a list of different foods that I might have leftovers of and different ideas on how to use them. This way leftovers are often fresh and different and are something your family may look forward to instead of dreading.:-)

My husband and I really enjoy having friends over for meals and I also enjoy taking meals to families who are in need-whether because of sickness, a new baby or whatever. This can sometimes be difficult on a small budget. Hospitality and sharing with others is so important. What a blessing it is to be able to share your resources with someone else! I may not always have enough money to buy the very fanciest food, but I can give the best that I do have.

We have others at our home for a meal at least 2-3 times per month. Often this is a spur-of-the-moment decision and I generally will serve whatever I already had on the menu. If I have advance notice, I'll plan something kind of nice for that night. This is not to impress but in realization that not everyone may enjoy beans and rice as much as we do! In this day and age, it is uncommon for many to eat a home cooked meal regularly, so I've found that even serving simple homemade soup and fresh bread along with a salad or relish tray is well-received. I usually try to serve a small dessert, like cookies, brownies or pudding or fresh fruit with whipped cream. I try not to focus so much on the food that is served but the welcoming aspect of our home and just enjoying time spent building relationships with others.

Another option is inviting friends and asking them to each bring something for the meal. Most people do not mind this at all. In fact, most will ask if they can bring something. Sometimes I take them up on the offer and suggest a salad, bread or dessert and sometimes I know that I have everything I need. As a hostess, use your own discretion in this area.

In taking food to others, I try to just double what we are having that night. Again, simple dishes, such as pasta or rice, are not expensive and pretty much liked by all. Always be sure to check for definite food dislikes and allergies before deciding on a menu. Keeping a well-stocked pantry and a few pre-made main dishes in the freezer will mean that you almost always will have a little extra to share with others should the need arise.

When going to potlucks, I normally take either bread or a baked dessert as these are inexpensive for me to make. If I have a lot of something, like chicken, I'll do a crock pot of that. Having a giving spirit while still staying within your budget requires a very fine balance.:-)I love to cook for others so this is something I could easily go overboard with!

I hope these suggestions and ideas will be helpful to someone. We can all learn more so please leave any of your own ideas in the comments!

For more frugal ideas, please visit Biblical Womanhood.

Fresh Lettuce

I gathered this small amount of fresh lettuce from my container garden yesterday. It was so yummy added to the spinach I had on hand for last night's salad!

Homemade Peanut Butter

Yesterday, I tried making my own peanut butter. It was really easy and fast using my food processor. I enjoy replicating store-bought items, not only for the potential money-saving or health benefits, but to have the knowledge of what all I can actually make in my own kitchen!

I used 1 pound of unsalted dry roasted peanuts and the finished amount of peanut butter was an almost-full pint jar of peanut butter! I followed the instructions for making peanut butter as stated in my food processor's owner's manual. I processed the peanuts in two batches(2 cups at a time), letting the peanuts mix and grind for around 2-3 minutes. Every so often, I stopped and scraped it down and then let it go again. At the end of 2 minutes or so, some natural oils began to form. I continued to mix until the peanut butter was the desired consistency. I added a little salt to taste and a little honey for sweetener. I will store this in the refrigerator.

It tastes very fresh and good, but doesn't have as strong of a flavor as I expected plain peanut butter to have! It will be delicious with honey and my homemade wheat bread.

Spring Cleaning: Bathroom

Yeah! I finally got back to my cleaning yesterday and spring cleaned the bathroom. This is an itty-bitty little room with no windows, so it isn't too hard to clean! While I did a few things that I don't do during weekly cleanings, I felt for the most part that I just scrubbed everything really well. It didn't really feel like spring cleaning to me. But just the same, I'm glad to have this room out of the way as well!

Here are some pictures of my bathroom from last year, just in case someone is dying to see it! LOL!!!

Here's what I did:
-washed mirrors
-scrubbed toilet, sink, tub and shower
-cleaned baseboards and walls
-cleaned trashcan(also did kitchen trashcan)
-cleaned bathmat(I washed the shower curtain and liner not long ago, so didn't do them this time.)
-swept cobwebs
-dusted
-swept floor
-mopped floor

Only one more room to do in this little house-the office. I hope to get to that next week!

Frugal Fridays- Eating Well On A Very Small Budget

Updated on 1/30/09: We were able to eat for $100 a month for about 6 months in 2007. During this time, we experienced some unexpected financial difficulties. By cutting expenses wherever possible such as the grocery budget, we were able to save for these bills and pay them off without me needing to work full-time outside the home. Keep in mind that we started with a well-stocked pantry and freezer and utilized lots of free garden produce during this time. God is good! Although I currently spend around $250 a month on food, I still use many of these principles in my cooking and food shopping. My hope is that this post will encourage you to always look for new ways to save and to stretch the resources that God has given you to work with.



Today, I will be sharing some of the ways I have been able to feed the two of us for $100 a month or $25 a week. I have only been doing this for two months now, since finances have been tighter than usual. This is half of what our regular grocery budget usually is and I thought it was tight before!

Now, I know everyone has different situations, incomes and lifestyles. I am sharing what is working for us. To some this may seem really high for groceries and for others, it may seem extra low.

All of our married life(well, all two and a half years of it!), I have worked on a $200 a month grocery budget. This includes all cleaning supplies, paper products, personal care items and of course, groceries. Prescription meds come out of their own budget category as do clothing and office supplies, such as stamps. I have found this to be rather tight at times, especially as a new bride who was not only figuring things out, but also working full-time. One of the first things that I discovered when I stopped working outside the home was that while I may not be able to lower my grocery budget much further, my $200 was stretching much further. I was able to do more with the ingredients I had on hand, cook even more from scratch and more creatively use leftovers, because I was at home to do it! My pantry and freezer shelves were much better stocked as I was able to include sale items and a few extra canned items each month.

Living well on a very small budget has become a real passion of mine. So when we were cutting our budget 2 months ago, I was almost excited about the challenge of grocery shopping and cooking good meals on $25 a week or $100 a month. I knew it would be difficult at times, but I was pretty sure I could pull it off-at least for a few months or until we were able to put a little more money into the grocery budget each month.

One advantage I have is that I was starting with a well-stocked pantry and freezer. So the first month, I hardly had to buy anything except fresh items. As the months go by, however, my pantry will not be as full, so I'm interested to see how it all plays out.

I already cook and bake almost exclusively from scratch. I am continually looking for new recipes to utilize ingredients that I have on hand and learning to make all kinds of different breads and baked goods for variety. This really saves money in the long run and can be fun and keeps me from getting bored with the same old-same old.

I am used to and actually prefer buying the bulk of my groceries at one time, usually toward the beginning of the month. But I am finding that working with a very small budget, it is helpful to shop each week for that week or the following week(whichever it turns out to be!). This way, I "shop" from my pantry first to plan my menus around what I have and only buy the items that I need to round it all out. I can also take into account any great sales and coupons and either use those for my menus or to stock up if I have a little extra money.

I use the Walgreens rebate system and always get my rebates on gift cards so that the money gets "recycled" over and over. I am able to get almost all of our personal care items this way. We are not brand-specific for the most part, so I've been able to stock up on the different items when they are free-bates or nearly free with great sales and coupons. This really helps when we are in a tight spot to be able to go to my extras shelf and get another bottle of shampoo instead of having to go to the store and buy another.

I have really cut back on my use of disposables. Toilet paper is a necessity in our house(and more than one square, Sheryl Crow); paper towels are not. I will probably buy another pack of paper towels soon on a good sale, since one pack will last me for months, but for now, I am getting along fine without them. I've been using newspapers to wash the windows and mirrors and it is working great! We already use cloth napkins and I limit the amount of ziploc bags that I use. I do wash out some to reuse, but I am careful with those that have held meat. I try to use more reusable plastic and glass containers instead of bags all the time. Of course, there is a time and a season for using disposable plates, napkins and so-on; each family is different in this regard. I use the plastic grocery bags to line my small trash cans and I buy regular garbage bags for my kitchen trash can. One large box lasts me at least half a year! I have found that even without trying to save money, it is much more responsible and a better use of my resources to limit the disposable items.

In the past year, I have learned to use many home made cleaners instead of buying so many. I have changed them many times as I am still learning what works best for me. Maybe one day I will have a great post about it! I buy a large bucket of laundry soap at Sam's Club. Cleaners for me include bleach, borax, ammonia, dish detergent, vinegar, baking soda, Windex(I've been using the same huge bottle from Sam's since we got married!) and furniture polish.

I think that pretty well covers most of the non-grocery part of the budget, so let's get on to the food!

We try to eat pretty healthy, so that has been my main concern with such a small budget. I am not apt to buy hot dogs, baloney, processed cheese, ramen noodles and lots of boxed mac and cheese dinners. Even though these foods are "cheap", I try to buy wisely, spending our money on foods that are the best quality and are as healthy as I can afford. While I would love to buy as much organic as possible, unless organic produce is on a really great sale, it is really not possible on my small budget(in my area, anyways). So I buy the best stuff that I know how on my budget.:-)

Some things that I don't scrimp on are whole grains(flour, rice, pasta), olive and canola oils and some fresh veggies and fruits. While these items are more expensive than their more-refined counterparts, the health benefits are much greater. Now if white rice, pasta or bread is all I have, then by all means we will eat it, but that is the exception, not the rule! I try to have a small selection of salad fixings and fresh fruit on hand at all times. Like I said before, I cannot afford all organics right now but I choose the best looking stuff for the best price, and try to buy in season produce, if at all possible. Bags of fresh spinach from Aldi's and loose bunches of dark green leaf lettuce are not expensive and provide awesome nutrition. Cabbage is also cost-effective and so good for you! I have found that celery, carrots, onions and potatoes are almost always good buys, so I keep those on hand and have many main dish recipes that call for these vegetables. Every time I shop, I choose 2 or 3 veggies to put in salads. Our local Aldi's has very nice produce so I usually get grape tomatoes, green peppers, mushrooms and cucumbers at very reasonable prices. Sometimes, I may only be able to afford 1 or 2 different veggies, and we just deal with it.:-)(We are planting a garden with friends this year, so I hope to harvest plenty of fresh veggies this way for a small price!) For fruit, I like to have bananas on hand. If they get over-ripe, I can freeze them for baking. I usually choose one other fruit,too, to have on hand. Often that is apples. Or something on sale or in season like grapes or strawberries.

Both my husband and I are extremely non-picky eaters. We have just never been picky and we'll try almost anything and actually like it! I am blessed to have a husband who will eat anything I fix. When money is tight, this is a trait that is very helpful! I have had to make a few changes as to what we eat to stay in budget and he has been willing to go along with it and appreciative of my efforts. I still take into consideration what his preferences are and try to accommodate them. He doesn't like black beans, ranch dressing or beets, so I don't force those things on him.:-)

During this time, I have been using a lot of whole chickens and ground turkey as these are inexpensive and very versatile as well as healthier options. I use other meats, too, as they are on sale, but the bulk of our meats have been the chicken and turkey. I have incorporated more bean-based meals into our diet. Dry beans are a better buy and healthier than canned beans. I cook a whole pot of one kind of beans at once and freeze them in meal-sized portions to make my own convenience food. I cook a pot or two of beans every couple of weeks to keep a good variety on hand. Frozen veggies are also a good buy and are convenient, too. I have not been buying milk, but rather using powdered. We are not milk drinkers and I had been finding that a gallon of milk would go bad before we could use it anyways! Milk is too expensive to waste at $3.59 or more per gallon and even though I would use the sour milk in cooking, I've found that powdered works just fine for cooking and baking and it had a long shelf life. I do buy some cheese in big bags at Walmart and then freeze in 1-cup portions. It lasts longer this way. I try to limit the extra-cheesy recipes as these can get quite expensive.

Our breakfasts consist of oatmeal, pancakes, eggs and toast or homemade granola. On weekends, I often have something fresh baked for breakfast. Boxed cereal is expensive and again, most are not that healthy. We love yogurt, but I haven't bought it since cutting the budget. It is pretty sugary, anyways. (I would like to try making my own healthier version sometime soon!)

We drink water all the time. We have a Brita pitcher which we love. I fill the empty water bottles with our own filtered water, so we have a cold drink to grab if we are going somewhere. We occasionally drink juice and sweet tea, but not often. Water is a good drinking habit to establish, not just for the great price, but also for health's sake!

I don't buy many snack items, except a bag of tortilla chips to use with a meal. Rather, we have popcorn or sliced fruit or perhaps a cookie for a snack. Since we eat three regular meals per day, we really don't snack much.

Lunches are usually leftovers or something quick like peanut butter and honey sandwiches or pasta with spaghetti sauce. (I do have plenty of sauce on hand!)

I find that it is cheaper and easier to buy various baking ingredients than to buy mixes or already baked items from the store. With a few basic ingredients such as flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda,etc. , I am able to whip up almost any kind of baked good that doesn't call for unusual ingredients.

We don't eat out much at this stage of our lives, and when we do eat out it is either some leftover money scraped together at the end of the month or from a gift card or a small money gift from family members with instructions to treat ourselves. I also keep on the lookout for free coupons to different fast food establishments. 'Buy 1, Get 1 Free' coupons are also a great way to feed 2 people when you only have a few dollars to spend and want to go out. Some months I order a box of food from Angel Food Ministries. This is a large box of food, mainly protein, for $25. Much of this food is prepared and more highly processed items, so I choose carefully as to which month I order, as the menus are always different. It can be a cheap way to stretch the budget, though, and the prepared meals can be good options for busy days or weeks when I would be tempted to just go out to eat! Another option to us going out is to keep a couple of homemade pizzas in the freezer ready to bake.

Knowing that God is interested in even the littlest things in my life-like a small grocery budget- brings comfort and confidence that I can make this work. Praying before, during and after I shop helps me to be aware of God's provision. In James 1:5, we are instructed to ask God for wisdom when we are lacking it ourselves(which is most of the time, here!:-), and He will give us wisdom generously. I believe with all my heart that even small details, such as triple coupon sales and free eggs are not mere coincidences but tangible ways that God is providing for us and helping me to be able to stretch my budget.

I hope that by sharing what I am doing within my grocery budget will hopefully inspire someone else who either is going through difficult times or just needs new ideas or encouragement for lowering their own food bills each month.

For more Frugal Friday posts, please visit Biblical Womanhood.

Frugal Fridays- Cheap and Easy Basket Filler

I love the crinkled paper shreds that you can buy to fill gift bags and baskets. Yes, they're messy, but they look cool-especially when they are going to someone else's house!LOL!

I keep all the tissue paper, shreds and stuff that I receive in gift bags and baskets to re-use. But when doing my husband's little Easter basket last weekend, I really wanted some green "grass" shreds to fill it up. I didn't have any and I wasn't about to run out to the store to buy something like that!

So I used my paper shredder(the one you use to shred important documents). I cleaned it out first and then shredded some old green paper of a couple different shades. It filled up the basket and worked great!

You can use any leftover paper for this. Used colored envelopes, scrapbooking paper, construction paper, tissue paper, even the newspaper if you so desire.

It's a great way to use something you already have on hand!

For more Frugal Friday posts, please visit Biblical Womanhood.

Spring Cleaning: Bedroom

The spring cleaning saga continues...

I completed the bedroom (master bedroom, only bedroom, whatever you want to call it!) last weekend. This was not a hard job. I was so thankful!

Here's what I did:

• washed sheets, blankets, all linens and curtains
• washed windows
• cleaned blinds
• swept cobwebs
• scrubbed base boards, walls, window frames and doors
• vacuumed floor
• dusted all furniture, and picture frames
  
• washed strands of ivy that are draped over each window

Things I didn't or forgot to do:

• clean the ceiling fan-OOPS!
• change out seasonal clothing (with the cold snap that's been through the South, I figured it wouldn't hurt to leave the winter clothing in the drawers and closet for at least one more week!)

I still have not gotten to spring cleaning the bathroom. Last week turned out a little differently than planned. I'm not sure if I'll get to it this week or not! We'll see!

The good thing is- I only have two rooms left to clean.

Eggstra Great Deal

We were able to get free eggs from Super Target last Friday after I read this post. Yeah! I ran right out and bought 6 dozen. :-)The price of eggs has really gone up here, so I haven't been using as many lately. But now... we will eat creamed eggs, quiche, custard,deviled eggs, eggs for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Along with lots of eggs, I made little loaves of white bread for communion on Sunday. Only a little was torn off of each loaf, so I've been creatively trying to come up with ways to use bread cubes and crumbs. So far, I've made 2 breakfast casseroles to freeze and a batch of homemade Stovetop stuffing mix. I still have 4 loaves left to use. Maybe I'll make some croutons, and I'm not sure what else right now. Any ideas?

Using leftovers creatively and planning meals around what I have on hand and can get inexpensively is one of my favorite things to do as a homemaker!

Spring Cleaning:Kitchen

I finally got to the kitchen today! Yeah! I'm so glad to have the worst and dirtiest rooms in the house behind me. :-)

I cheated a little and did a few of the kitchen jobs along with dining room and laundry room tasks. such as- cleaning the trash cans at the same time I cleaned the laundry trash cans and laundry baskets and washing the window, blind and curtain at the same time I did the dining room's. It just made more sense that way!

Here's my finished list for the kitchen:

• washed out trash cans
• cleaned woodwork, doors, walls, base boards
• cleaned out cabinets and drawers-not many so this was an easy job!
• cleaned outside of refrigerator, stove and dishwasher
• wiped counters
• cleaned sink
• cleaned above stove
• cleaned stove top, burner coils, burner pans
• cleaned oven
• washed window and blind
• washed curtain
• swept and scrubbed floor
• washed rugs(with bathroom rug for later in week)

This really didn't take me that long; it's a small space and a room that I try to keep up with throughout the year. Sometimes I do better than others.:-) It's amazing how much better these rooms are smelling after being thoroughly cleaned!

Rooms I have scheduled for spring cleaning later this week:

• bathroom
• bedroom
  

Spring Cleaning: Laundry Room

BeforeI cleaned the laundry room last week. This was a tough room to work on. First of all, this room serves as a combination of laundry, pantry, storage and general catch-all. Don't know where to put it? Throw it in the laundry room! This results in a very cluttered and generally crowded and messy room.

Second, I hadn't ever really done much more than general cleaning in here before. The windows, walls and blinds were in sorry need of deep-cleaning. These before pictures don't show the worst of this clutter, especially since the best shot turned out way dark. But, I'll be glad to tell you all about it!
BeforeI probably don't need to tell you that this room took me a full day to complete. :-) I was exhausted after tackling this. Here's a general list of what all I did:

• washed windows
• washed blinds
• scrubbed baseboards, walls, window frames, doors and door frames
• moved washer and dryer and cleaned underneath the best I could-you do not want to know what I found under there!
• cleaned off the freezer, washer, dryer and water heater
• cleaned all shelves and counter spaces
• reorganized pantry, cleaning supplies and all other variety of extra supplies I store in there
• reorganized tools and gardening supplies
• swept cobwebs
• put all clean clothes away!
• swept and scrubbed the floor
  

AfterI did decide to leave the blinds up on the high windows. It lets so much more light in that way and since they are high, no one can see inside. Seeing this room sparkle makes me want to decorate a little with some bright curtains! I'll have to see what I can come up with.
AfterIt looks weird to have a big bucket of laundry soap on top of the freezer, but since I still do some part-time child care, I prefer to have an open bucket out of reach. This one is not even half-full, so it's not that heavy. I love how the pantry looks now that it is freshly organized.
AfterMy husband was impressed with his neat shelf of tools and equipment. We do have a shed for most of this stuff, but the smaller tools that he uses are just handier to keep in the house for easy access. The weed-eater and hedge trimmer are kept inside so they are plugged in and charged.:-)

So far, I've done the laundry room, kitchen, living room, dining room and hallway. Left to clean are the bathroom, bedroom and office. (I'm glad I tackled the worst rooms first!)I definitely am on the home-stretch here-if I can just keep going!

Frugal Fridays-Frugal Fresh Flowers

I love to decorate with simple bouquets of fresh flowers. It doesn't even have to be a whole bouquet-just a stem or two will often look great! But just going out and buying a bunch of flowers in the grocery store is expensive. I used to pick up a "cheap" bunch when I did my grocery shopping at Wal-mart, but now either the prices on flowers have gone up or I don't have as much extra money to spend. Could be either.:-)

Call me weird, but I don't like the clutter or the have-to-clean of silk flowers. Of course, there is a time and a place for them, but as a general rule, I don't like to have too many of these in my house. I prefer fresh.

While I still buy a bouquet every now and then- (I have found that daisies are usually a great choice, because they last longer and one of those bunches can make about 4 small bouquets. Carnations are also not that expensive.) I've found that using the flowers and greenery that are already around my yard is fun, looks great and is priced right!

I don't have many flowers growing, but that's where the creative aspect comes in. Look beyond the normal"cut flower" varieties for many interesting options!

I think one of the first Christmas' we were married, I was bemoaning the fact that I couldn't afford to buy garlands of greenery and such, when my mom told me to go out and cut greenery from the yard and arrange it. I did and it looked so nice and I felt so frugal that I've adopted that idea for the whole year!

So far from my own yard, I've used:

• holly(for winter)
• ivy
• greenery from various bushes
• azaleas(I have these in a bouquet right now. They don't last long once cut, but are so pretty and I know where I can find more!)
• flowering branches
• camellias
• daffodils (I only have 2 blooms that come up every year, but we enjoy them on the dining room table while we can!)
• zinnias(in the summer)
• mums(in the fall)
  

Other non-flower ideas that are nice natural ways to decorate are with seashells, pine cones or even interesting twigs and branches. I made a centerpiece that I used most of this winter that consisted of a tray with a couple of candles on it and then pine cones scattered all around.

Once you have the flowers or greenery, be creative with containers for your bouquets. Vases are nice, but not the only option. I use ceramic or glass pitchers, teapots and teacups, canning jars and even shallow bowls for larger flowers that would be nice floating arrangements. By thinking outside the vase, you will discover that you may have something nice to use without having to buy a vase.

Another option is to make friends with neighbors who have lots of flowers or a nice garden! Of course, you would always want to ask before taking someone else's flowers, but often they will not mind sharing with you if you ask nicely.

When driving out in the country, I will stop if I see great wildflowers along the road. These make great bouquets. I've found wild roses, black-eyed susans and many other kinds this way. You have to be careful about bringing bugs home with you this way, but usually that's just a minor detail.;-)

Don't worry about your arranging techniques. I am not a professional either. I just plop stuff in the containers and then fix it until I think it looks nice. I really like the casual look of flowers just setting in a jar, unarranged. Often one or two blooms are all you need for an elegant arrangement with a candle. It all depends on the look you are going for.

By looking around your yard, you too, will be able to bring original bouquets into your home. Try it-you might just like it!

For more frugal ideas, please visit Biblical Womanhood!

Spring Cleaning-Hallway

I'm not sure if the small hallway in our house qualifies as a room, but it is an area of its own! I spring cleaned it yesterday. This was a great motivator task-it took me about 15 minutes to clean the whole area.

Here's what I did:

• wash full-length mirror
• sweep cobwebs
• clean light fixture
• scrub baseboards, doors and door frames and some spots on the walls as needed
• vacuum floors

I'm glad to have another area in the house crossed off the list! I have the laundry room scheduled for tomorrow-I will need to post before and after pictures for that one. The laundry room is in sad, sad need of help!

Today, I'm baking French bread, doing weekly cleaning in the living and dining rooms and working outside in the yard. A fun activity for this morning is a trip to Lowe's Food for triple coupon day! I'm looking forward to what God will provide for us.:-)

For more spring cleaning motivation, be sure to visit the homespun heart!

Frugal Fridays:Creative Storage Containers

I love baskets and great storage containers, but my budget says otherwise! While I have a few nice wicker baskets around the house, I haven't been able to afford them everywhere I would like them to be. Ever since we've been married, I've stored my dishrags, kitchen towels and cloth napkins folded and rolled in stacks on the bottom shelf of my baker's rack in the dining room. (I have very few drawers and cabinets in the kitchen and these cloth items are probably a more toddler-friendly item to have out in plain sight!) One day not long ago, I was getting frustrated about how sloppy my stacks were looking and thinking how nice it would look to have perfect little wicker baskets setting there on the shelf. Then I started thinking about maybe using something that I already had-but what could that be?
These gingham-covered shoe boxes were the finished result! My husband's large shoe size finally came in handy-the boxes are exactly the right size to line the shelf. When I get another one(and I know I will eventually!:-), I'll wait until I find some yellow gingham and then cover that one to finish off the shelf. I love gingham and my colors pretty much throughout the whole house are different shades of red, blue and yellow. I had this fabric on hand. I cut the fabric large enough to fold down onto the bottom of the box. Then I cut the lid off the box and cut it to fit in the bottom of the box, then covered each "lid with fabric and glued it. I covered the boxes and folded the fabric at the edges until it looked nice to me-then I pushed the fabric-covered lid into the bottom. Not only does the extra cardboard at the bottom give more stability, but it also holds the outside fabric firmly in place so I didn't need to glue it(which means I can take the fabric off and use it somewhere else later if I want to!). These took me about 20 minutes total to complete. I love the result-it's neat-looking and cute, too!
After my shoe box success, I was pumped and began to look for other creative storage container ideas. These tea boxes (I cut the lids off) were just the right size for pudding and jell-o boxes as well as seasoning mixes.
And they fit perfectly in the white basket these boxes and packets were piled in previously. Much better!
The top of a Velveeta cheese box(a Super Bowl party treat) fits my small collection of sprinkle bottles perfectly, while my old Tupperware lunch box holds extra bottles of spices. The Velveeta lid isn't that sturdy, so I used it for something I wouldn't be using all that much.


The bottom of the Velveeta cheese box works well in my baking cupboard to organize flavorings and other bottles that just get pushed around a lot.
I held onto this IBC root beer tote(you guessed it-another Super Bowl treat!), because I was so sure I could use it for something clever. Finally, it came in handy to store odd bottles and canisters of cooking supplies in the cabinet. No more bottles falling down and hard to find! I was pretty proud of this one and so was husband-he said that I could buy more root beer anytime to get the boxes.hahaha (It's his favorite and a rare, rare treat!)

The best thing about this organizing spree was that it was absolutely free! Every container I used was either one I had or a recycled item. Hopefully, this will give you some ideas to organize different areas in your home, too!

For more great Frugal Friday posts, please visit Biblical Womanhood.

Spring Cleaning-Dining Room

Today I tackled the dining room! I got a faster start since I knew what kind of cleaners to use and a faster way to do some of the tasks. This is a small room, but a lot of furniture is packed in there, so there were a lot of details.

Here's what I accomplished:

• wash curtains
• wash blinds
• wash windows
• sweep cobwebs
• clean light fixture
• clean microwave(kitchen is small so microwave and most of my appliances live in the dining room on a baker's rack)
• wipe all appliances
• clean glassware(I filled the dishwasher with all the vases and dishes from my hutch first thing this morning. They were clean and ready to go back up as soon as I got the hutch cleaned off!)
• dust and wipe down everything
• vacuum carpet
• clean table and chairs
• wipe down baseboards, doorways, window frames, sills and any spots on the walls

This took me about 3 hours to do and I still have a few items on my list that I didn't complete, but will work on tomorrow. I won't be cleaning a room tomorrow, but rather finishing up the dining room and getting ready for the weekend!

This is what I still need to do:

• clean pictures and wall decorations
• rearrange and straighten bookshelves
• hang a couple of pictures
• clean cabinets under the hutch

I would go ahead and finish those few tasks now, but I am taking dinner to a friend who is under doctor's orders to rest for a couple of days. So I wanted to allow enough time to get the food fixed and delivered.

I'll be doing more spring cleaning next week-the kitchen, laundry room and also the hallway! This deep-cleaning is tiring but so rewarding!

Spring Cleaning-Living Room

Today I started my first session of spring cleaning in the living room! I knew it was dirty as it had not been thoroughly cleaned for well over a year. But as I went along, I was quite embarrassed to discover the cakes of dust and cobwebs-it was worse than what I see on the surface every day. The living room is the largest room in my house, but relatively uncluttered-still with a few breaks and interruptions, it took me most of the day to complete the whole room.

I started with this list to keep me focused and on track:

• wash curtains
• clean blinds(I took them outside and scrubbed with ammonia water, then sprayed them off and hung them on the fence to dry! They were filthy!)
• wash windows
• sweep cobwebs
• vacuum carpets and couches/cushions
• clean baseboards, doors and doorways, window frames and sills
• dust everything
• wash afghans
• clean fan
  
• wash light fixture
• clean fireplace and tile in front

We moved all the furniture out into the middle of the room and cleaned behind. We also moved the T.V. out and cleaned in that corner-this had not been done in a long, long time-horrors! I also wanted to clean the outside windows, but I haven't figured out how to remove the storm windows and screens yet.

I am tired tonight, but feel quite accomplished to have such a sparkly clean and nice-smelling living room! I'm going to try to go ahead and work on the dining room tomorrow!

For more Spring Cleaning inspiration please visit The Homespun Heart.

Works For Me Wednesday: No Slip Hangers

I've always had trouble keeping my sleeveless dresses and jumpers from continually falling off the hangers while hanging in my closet. It's a major pain to find the dress you were hoping to wear in a crumpled heap on the floor! I had tried safety-pinning the straps to the hanger but it was too much of a pain and there was the tendency to leave marks. I also tried bending the wire hangers up on the ends to keep the dress on the hanger, but this didn't work either! So I was excited to find this simple solution that uses two rubber bands-one on each end of the hanger- and actually works really well! I only wish I could take the credit for this bright idea.:-)

To use, wrap a rubber band around each end of the hanger. I used thick rubber bands, which I think would work better than the thin ones. Position bands according to where your shoulder straps/ garment will be hanging. Hang your garment and it should not fall off!

This simple idea works for me!

Healthy Food- Whole Wheat Tortillas and Homemade Refried Beans

This past week I tried three brand-new recipes in one day! I wouldn't recommend this as a regular practice, as it can be just a tad bit stressful.:-) But one of the joys of being a homemaker and a stay-at-home-wife is being able to take the time to learn new skills and try new recipes.

I have been wanting to try my hand at making tortillas and since making the change to healthier eating, I don't feel as good about buying the cheap bags of regular white flour tortillas. The whole wheat varieties tend to cost a significant amount more money(I don't feel good about that either!!!), so I am coming out ahead by making my own. I know what is in these and I now have the joy of knowing how to make them myself! I used this recipe for whole wheat tortillas and found that other than taking a little time, tortillas are quite simple to make. It will take a little practice to get them exactly right and hopefully with time, the majority of the tortillas will be a nicer rounder shape! But they all had the homemade look, which is good. Because they are homemade.:-)
This picture looks rather gross.(When my husband was helping me upload these pictures, he kind of gasped and then asked "What is THIS?") These are the refried beans that I made. You will notice they are lighter colored than regular store-bought refried beans. I used Tammy's recipe for these and we liked them pretty well. They have a milder flavor than what I expected from reading the recipe. They were very good, though, and I liked that they were not heavy on butter or lard as the regular canned ones seem to be. These were really time-consuming, so next time, I'll double the recipe to make my efforts seem more worthwhile and then freeze the extras. Making your own refried beans is also less expensive than buying the canned variety.

My reason for making these two recipes was to try this recipe for Southwestern Chicken Roll-Ups. I had the ingredients to make these items but not the convenient, ready products. These were incredibly easy and cheap to make. And yummy, too! A friend came over for dinner and she really enjoyed these, too.

That's a little of what's been going on in my kitchen lately!

Refrigerator Soup

I don't have a picture of the soup I made for dinner last night, but I was so proud of my accomplishment that I wanted to share! Not because it was the most absolutely breathtakingly delicious soup ever(it was good, though) but because it was made almost entirely with leftovers that I had in my refrigerator and freezer.

Here's what I had on hand:

• leftover meatballs
  
• about a quarter of a jar of spaghetti sauce
• small bowl of mac & cheese with peas
• half of an onion
• about a quarter of a bag of frozen peas and carrots
• a freezer container full of leftover veggie broth-about 4 cups (each time I steam veggies, I carefully save the broth in a freezer container. I just keep adding to it until it's full. It makes a wonderfully flavored broth. I laughed as a new bride and my mom suggested this. Sorry, Mom! Now I'm starting to learn.:-))

Here's what I added:

• 28-oz. can of crushed tomatoes
• about a 1/2 cup of mixed dried split peas and lentils
• garlic
• spices-oregano, basil and thyme
• water to thin to a good soup consistency

To make the soup, I got out my soup pot and started pouring the broth items in-veggie broth, tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, chopped onion, garlic. I turned the burner on high to start to bring it to boil. Some of my ingredients were still frozen, so this helped to thaw them out. When the broth was heated through, I went ahead and added the frozen vegetables and dried legumes. I let it come to boil and then I turned it down to simmer and put the lid on the pot. I let it cook for about an hour, stirring every so often.

When the dried peas were soft and pretty much ready, I added the meatballs and leftover cooked pasta, plus a little water so it wasn't so thick. I also added the spices at this time.I continued to simmer the soup until it was all heated through and we were ready to eat!

I sprinkled each serving with the last shreds of mozzarella cheese from the bottom of the bag and served the steaming bowls of soup with homemade wheat bread.

I don't know what was better-the delicious soup or knowing that this soup was almost "free" because I used up all sorts of leftovers that some people would have just thrown out!

You can do this too. Just gather items you have on hand-some kind of cooked meat, cooked pasta, rice or potatoes, assorted veggies, spices and ingredients for whatever kind of broth you want. This takes some trial and error-some will turn out better than others, but don't despair. You can do this!

So look in your refrigerator today: You just might have everything you need for a yummy one-of-a-kind soup!

Blog Tea Party- Celebrating Marriage!

We were married almost 2 1/2 years ago on October 2, 2004. It was a very special and beautiful wedding. As far as weddings go, I don't think it was the most beautiful and definitely not the most extravagant. But it had many of the small touches that we wanted and was certainly "our own". My husband is a gifted musician and song-writer, so music was a huge part of our day. He also has a gorgeous singing voice, and sang an original song to me at the wedding-the same song that he sang to me when he proposed. :-) That was my favorite part and now he sings me that song on our anniversary each year. To signify the importance of keeping Christ first in our relationship and marriage, we decided to do communion together instead of the traditional unity candles. A friend sang "The Lord's Prayer" while we took communion and prayed together. We wanted the wedding to be meaningful and really focus on marriage God's way, instead of a quick "necessary" ceremony before the party!

Another important tidbit about our wedding is that we paid for both the wedding and honeymoon debt-free. This meant that we had no bills arriving after we got home from our honeymoon. This meant a lot of extra "do-it-ourselves" preparation for the wedding, but the freedom was so totally worth it. We spent approximately $1500 for a wedding and reception for 200 guests. (This included renting a facility.) We would not have been able to pull this off without the overwhelming support from our friends and family. Many of our friends offered their services(food, wedding cake, music, pastor, my hair, photography and videography, etc.) in lieu of wedding gifts which was wonderful. I think the only services we paid full-price for was flowers and we went very light on those, enjoying the simplicity of candles and greenery(borrowed silk plants and ficus trees) instead of flowers as decorations.
A close-up of my bouquet. The bridesmaids flowers were blue and yellow and both mothers and all the grandmothers carried a single yellow rose.
My Dad and I right before he walked me down the aisle. I sewed my own wedding gown, which was 2 piece and sewn out of silk dupioni. It was very simple in design but had a vintage feel to it that I loved! The headpiece belonged to my mother-in-law and the veil was from my sister-in-law(They both used the headpiece at their weddings). The trim on my dress and the flowers and pearls on the headpiece looked almost like they had been made to match. Stuck into my bouquet was my mom's lace handkerchief. I loved having something from both of our mothers. It added a special touch.
Finally! The wedding's over! We walked out to Rebecca St. James' song-Side By Side. Different, but we liked it! Notice the clumps of rose petals that our 3 year old niece "sprinkled" on the carpet on her way down the aisle. She took her role as flower girl very seriously and was literally picking the last pieces of petals out of the bottom of the basket by the time she got to the front of the church!
A friend made us this cake as a wedding gift. Although it turned out slightly different than the picture in a wedding book, I loved the all-white "hat box" style. For food, we had a dessert reception which featured mostly home-made family favorites.

God has been so faithful to us in the past 4 years or so, really our whole lives, as we can see how He carefully planned for us to meet and to be together. God continues to grow our love for each other and carefully fashion each of us into the perfect mate for the other! Something that stood out to us from our wedding was when the pastor said that in marriage each new day is another day to choose to love, to respect, to honor, to forgive our spouses, or to choose not to love, not to respect, not to honor, or not to forgive. With God's help we hope to choose to love, respect, honor and forgive each other for the rest of our lives!
A dear lady wrote to me in a bridal shower card- "Marriage is a garden that requires our care, our time and trust in a Living God. It yields the best friend you will ever have, the best growth opportunities to stretch... and the best spirit opportunities. God smiles when we seek to serve each other."

Thanks for "attending my wedding" today! To see more "Celebrating Marriage" posts, please visit The Homespun Heart. Thanks to Monica for hosting this fun event for us!

It's A Snow Day!

Our little home sweet home!Isn't the snow beautiful?!


Yours truly with the snowman she built! My husband refers to this pic as "snowman and wife". We are truly kids at heart. Not even the children on our block were out this morning-only us!:-)
Our holly bush in the backyard!

Healthy Food-Raisin Spice Cookies

I finally got up the courage to try my first sweet baked goods with all whole food ingredients. I prayed a lot while deciding on a recipe to try as well as during the whole process. I don't know why I was so nervous about this-maybe I'm afraid one bad experience will send us back to wanting all junk food again, I don't know.:-) It is dangerous territory to mess with one's favorite sweet treats.:-)

I decided to go with a recipe that already called for healthy ingredients and wait until I am more comfortable with using these ingredients to change some of our favorite recipes. I chose a Snickerdoodles recipe which looking back was kind of a silly decision, since the sucanat I was using for the sweetener is so dark, there was absolutely no way I could pass a dark colored cookie off as a snickerdoodle or sugar cookie that is traditionally white or very light-colored.:-)

The recipe already called for cinnamon and since the sucanat has a more molasses-type flavor, I added a handful of raisins and a small amount of ginger and re-named them as Raisin Spice Cookies. Although a fragile cookie, they taste really quite good-not too sweet. My husband likes them.:-) (Yes, he knows what's in them too. We try to be upfront and honest about those things around here.)

I chose this recipe from the little booklet, Healthy Cookies. Next time, I will probably try something with honey as the sweetener and hopefully, I'll start to get a feel on what ingredients work the best for us.

I'm very thankful for God's help in this healthy cooking endeavor! This small success gives me confidence to go on to the next thing!

A Family Tradition-Making Hungarian Pastries

At Christmas this year, my mother-in-law taught me how to make kiffles(pronounced kee-flee), a Hungarian pastry. This is a family tradition for them as my husband's family is Hungarian.(If you know our last name, you probably wondered where it came from-now you know!)

A kiffle is made of a rich dough that is rolled out and then filled with a walnut filling. Also used is a prune filling called lekvar. Apricot filling can also be used. After baking and cooling, these are sprinkled with powdered sugar.


Although, it is not that difficult to make kiffles, they are quite time-consuming. It is a 2-day process, consisting of making the dough, rolling it into little balls and refrigerating it overnight the first day. The second day is when you make the filling, roll the balls of dough into circles, fill and bake them. My mother-in-law made dozens and dozens of these for our dessert reception at our wedding a little over 2 years ago. I now have a greater appreciation for her hard work!:-)
None of these pictures show the kiffles sprinkled with powdered sugar, so just imagine them covered with white for the finished product.:-)

These are so yummy! They are my husband's favorite and I like them pretty well, too!

This link provides more information on kiffles. I was surprised, however,when googling this, to find that all the recipes are a little different and the pictures of the pastries in the link look nothing like our kiffles! There are a lot of variations to this pastry.

I was tickled to learn how to make these and excited to be able to add this tradition to my own family in the years to come!

Homemade Corndogs

Here is a picture of the homemade corndogs I made a couple of weeks ago! The picture is blurry but you can still see generally how they look. I used Alton Brown's recipe for these, which was easy to follow.

This was one of my attempts to learn something new by using ingredients that I already had on hand. (I didn't add the jalapeno peppers, but they were fine without.) Next time I will have more hotdogs on hand to use up the leftover batter, since there was a lot of extra. This time I made "fritters" out of it.

These turned out really tasty. My husband loved these! Of course, these are not a healthy recipe with the frying and all, so I won't be fixing these often. But you should at least try them once. It's really fun to "make your own" convenience foods at home!

Healthy Food-Homemade Granola and Healthy Food Changes

About this time last year, I was thinking a lot about making changes in our family's diet particularly from using refined flours and sugars to more whole grains and natural sweeteners. Looking back, I don't feel like I made that big of a dent in such a large goal. But then I got to thinking about the changes we have made in our eating and then I realized that a change such as this requires a lot of time and baby steps.

The changes we have made so far include:

• Eating brown rice instead of white rice.
• Using organic peanut butter instead of the very artificial over-sweet variety.
• Incorporating more bean-based meals into our diet.
  
• Gradually increasing the amount of whole wheat flour in my homemade bread.(I will be focusing more on this in the months to come!)
• Making almost a complete change from regular refined pasta to whole-grain pasta. (The brands we have tried are surprisingly very tasty and more filling so we don't eat as much!)
• Switching from margarine to real butter.

Wow! I didn't do so bad after all!

I have no plans of going completely 'crunchy" but I feel very strongly that God wants me to prepare as healthy of food as possible for my family. So far, I am focusing on doable changes that are financially and regionally possible.

This past week, I made some healthy granola that uses all natural products(no refined sugars). This recipe came from The Family Homestead. I made half of a batch to try it out and it makes a lot! In the future I will probably make a whole batch, especially if I have enough air-tight containers to keep it fresh. I was really concerned as to whether my husband would eat it as it doesn't have that nice sweet taste at first. I added raisins and some dried cranberries and I think that helped. But he loved it and so did I! So this will be the granola recipe that I will be using from now on...or until I find another that I like better.LOL!!!

Works For Me Wednesday-Keep Those Mayo Jar Lids!

I love using Mason jars for storing dry goods, leftovers and MYO mixes. But I had trouble with using the lids(top and ring) and keeping things fresh.

My solution- keep the lids off the plastic mayo jars. They fit the regular mouth jars perfectly! And they can be used again and again!

For more great Works For Me ideas, please visit Rocks In My Dryer.

Christmas Wrapping Inventory

*Blogger wouldn't let me post pictures of my organizing venture on this post for whatever reason, so you can view them below in the following post!

I tackled and organized my gift wrap box on Wednesday.It was actually a great time to do this with Christmas right around the corner. I could take inventory of my stock while I was already going through everything!

I had been keeping everything together in one gigantic Rubbermaid box, leftover from moving 2 years ago. I probably used it because it was long enough for rolls of gift wrap to lay flat. It was also big enough to keep my all-occasion and Christmas wrapping supplies together, resulting in a constant huge mess as it was very hard to keep organized. This box also takes up a lot of space!

In easy steps, here is how I went about organizing all of this.

1)Took everything out of box. This is especially fun if you have a toddler close by to help!

2)Sorted Christmas stuff into one pile and all-occasion wrappings into another.

3)One pile at a time, I sorted things by category. Such as ribbons and bows, tissue paper, gift bags, gift boxes, wrapping paper.

4) Determined I had way too much all-occasion supplies, so took a moment to declutter. I came up with a big gift bag full of gift bags and a gallon ziploc bag full of misc. bows and ribbons that I never use. What helped me to decide what I didn't need here was to think back to the types of gifts I normally give through-out the year. I realized that I mostly give container gifts, so that minimizes the use of gift wrap and gift bags.

5)Re-organized my all-occasion supplies. Wow! They all fit in one small box. What a concept!

6)Next, I tackled the Christmas pile. I know I will use most of this stuff, so I didn't declutter. I just organized! I have plenty of gift wrap, gift boxes and bags and ribbon to easily get me through this holiday season as well as the next, probably!

7)Put items I needed on my shopping list. All I need to buy is scotch tape and white tissue paper.

8)Put organized groups into containers for storage. Found a tall and narrow box for rolls of gift wrap to stand in and used a small square box for gift bags and boxes, as well as folded gift wrap and sheets of sticky tags. I took out an old Christmas bag to use for storing tissue paper and ribbons and bows. I'm going for functionality here and not aesthetics! This will work well to have out during the Christmas season.

9)Write reminder on shopping list to look at Rubbermaid gift wrap storage boxes. I've seen some tall ones that may work better than what I had been using. It would be nice at some point to have it all in containers with lids. Readers-feel free to let me know in the comments what works for you!

10)Sit back and enjoy! By doing this, I am putting myself in the mood to start wrapping my gifts. But of course, that will mess everything back up...:-)

Christmas Wrappings Organizing Pics

*Blogger wouldn't let me load these pics onto the above post, so here they are in a separate post!
Here is how I had it all "organized" before!


My big pile of stuff to sort out!


All-occasion gift wrappings all in one small box!


Christmas gift wrap supplies all organized!

The Farmer And Adele

We dressed up as the Farmer and Adele(say it fast and see if you can figure it out!)for our church's fall costume party last weekend.

We were forced into creativity with our costumes as I refuse to spend big bucks on dress-up outfits. I had everything I needed for my farmer's wife costume- a denim skirt, white vintage-type blouse, vintage apron and straw hat which I decorated with a couple fall silk flowers I had around the house. I bought my husband the cowboy hat(I could not find a regular farmer's straw hat anywhere!)on clearance for $3.24 at Target. It wasn't a bad deal; it would come in handy should he decide to take up ranching.

I made a blue ribbon out of cardstock and markers that read "#1 Farmer- Outstanding in My Field" for him to wear. He came up with the whole Farmer and Adele idea. There is no end to the puns and wisecracks around this house!

I also carried a basket lined with a cloth napkin as part of my outfit. It also doubled as candy basket for the kids who played my game.

For my game, I cleaned out a pumpkin and made a couple of bean bags for a Pumpkin Bean Bag Toss. Other games and activities included decorating a bag, cookie decorating, a cake walk, What's In The Box?(a mystery sensory activity), and Eating Donuts on a String, a variation of Bobbing for Apples. We also had some fun fall treats for refreshments.

We all enjoyed the evening so much, even though it had to be moved inside because of pouring down rain. We were thankful that the host family had a very large home for the event!

A Visit With My Nephew

My little nephew Knox came to visit for a few days last week. This was his first overnight trip away from his parents. He was very brave and we enjoyed having him here for several days. It is so much fun being an auntie!

Knox loves balls! He also looks so cute sitting in there!

Is it an ogre? No, it's a Knoxster wearing Shrek ears!

Auntie Mary Ann reading Knox his favorite book, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.We wouldn't have survived those few days without it!

Blessings

Isn't it great that God knows our needs and takes care of them?

I've been going through my winter clothes and trying to get some semblance of a fall and winter wardobe going. It's hard to know what to wear during these months down here in South Carolina. It can be long sleeve and sweater weather one day and shorts and t-shirt the next!

But I have noticed that my winter clothing isn't in the best of shape. I only have a couple of long sleeve shirts and some look pretty bad. So I knew I would have to replace them some time soon. I asked God to help me find the right clothes at the right price, since He always knows about those things better than me. I hadn't thought any more about it until a friend brought a small bag of clothes to me at church today. Some I won't be able to wear, but at the bottom of the bag were two long sleeve shirts that will be perfect for fall and winter. The great thing is that I already have a shirt of the exact same style in different colors, so I already know that they will fit right and be modest.

As for the right price...who can argue with FREE!!

God also answers prayer and works through our own stupidity. Here's an example:

Over Labor Day weekend, Eckerds had a special going along with the Pepsi Company where you could buy 4 -12 packs of select Pepsi products for $10. The ad included a rebate form to send in to receive a rebate of $10. So I would get 4 packs of drinks for free. Not bad, huh?

Well, unfortunately, Eckerds sometimes misrepresents their sale items and gets things mixed up. Their ad pictured Aquafina water bottles as part of the deal, but the fine print on the rebate form didn't mention Aquafina as one of the qualifying products.

Well, I didn't read the fine print and purchased 3 12-packs of Aquafina and 1 Sierra Mist, since we drink very little carbonated beverages and almost nothing with caffeine.

I cut off the UPC symbols and sent the rebate form in, all the while feeling like a frugal and smart little homemaker. Then I read this post and realized that I had made a mistake by not reading the fine print. I was sickened to think I had just spent $10 that I wouldn't have spent otherwise and I felt like I had wasted some money. My husband helped me to calm down and look at the situation as a learning experience and I was thankful that it was only $10 and not $20.:-)

I also prayed about it and asked God to work it out however He thought was best. Then I put it out of my mind and only thought about it as a reminder to always read the fine print!

So imagine my surprise last week when I received a $10 rebate check from the Pepsi company! I certainly wasn't expecting anything and I was taking full responsibility for the error. I am thankful that God worked it out this way and you can be sure that I will continue to read the fine print and only submit rebates for items that I am assured are the ones that the rebate is for.

Just thought I'd share two little praise stories from my life this week! Thank you, God for your faithful provision!

25 Ways I Save

I saw this over at Like Merchant's Ships. Here are some ways that I am able to save money:
25 Ways I Save
1. Cook primarily from scratch.
2. Drink water almost exclusively; very few juices or soda beverages.
3. Shop with a list. And discipline myself to stick to that list!(Sometimes harder than others.)
4. Plan menus.(This helps me to make my shopping lists.)
5. Plan my errands for one trip. This saves gas, time and money. I don't like to shop all that well anyways, and if I am doing a whole mornings worth of errands, I am more ready to get my business done and head home!
6. Stay at home a lot!
7. Use what I have to cook or create crafts.
8. Pray before, during and after I shop.
9. Cultivate a contented spirit.
10. Take time to use coupons and rebates. This way, I get a bunch of stuff for free!
11.Buy basic clothes that I can mix and match.
12. Shop at thrift stores and yard sales.
13. Have a list for thrift stores and yard sales.
14. Limit my thrift store and yard sale shopping!!! (Are you with me here?!!!?)
15. Use the envelope system for budgeting. You can see where all your money goes.
16. Pay with cash. Cash is harder to part with than money you can't see. When the cash is gone, you need to wait to make a purchase.
17. Spend less than $2 a pound for most meats by watching the sales and marked down shelves.
18. Stay in tune with my needs vs. my wants.
19. Make some of my own cleaners.
20. Limit use of disposables.
21. Budget a certain amount of money for Christmas each month. This helps me to shop all year for gifts, saving me money and time when I can think more clearly, as opposed to the hectic holiday season.
22.Use less laundry soap than called for. I haven't noticed a difference in how clean the clothes are.
23. Keep a well-stocked pantry and freezer. Sometimes, it may take a little creative thinking, but I can usually come up with an edible meal without going to the store or ordering a pizza.
24.Being willing to branch out and research new frugal ideas and not being afraid to learn new skills that will benefit my family as well as improve our quality of life and budget.
25. Looking at our frugal lifestyle as a fun, rewarding and challenging hobby rather than having a "pity me" attitude.

Works For Me Wednesday-Kitchen Clean-Up Tip

Once again, it is Wednesday and time to share something that works for me! I love to cook, but the clean-up is another totally different subject.I am a really messy cook!

I especially hate cleaning up pancake and waffle batter. You know how it always drip, drip, drips on the counter and everywhere when pouring it on to the griddle or waffle iron? I used to use a regular wet rag to wash it up, but really hated how slimy, nasty and generally disgusting the rag would look and feel when I was done. So now, I just lay out a piece of wax paper under the mixing bowl of batter. When making waffles, I put out a huge piece of wax paper to put both the batter and the waffle iron on to catch all the drips. When done cooking, all I have to do is lift up the paper and toss it. This goes against my normal reluctance to use a lot of disposables, but it's so easy and definitely works for me!

Thanks again to Shannon for hosting Works For Me Wednesday!

Previous WFMW Posts:
Flu and Cold Season Preparation
Sewing tip
Have birthday cards ready
Menu Planning
Stamps in your mailbox
Stir Fry tips
Keep Aldi Bags In Your Car
Sacred Space and Bible Basket
MYO Mixes
Organize Receipts and Bills
Remember Your Tithe Check