Unfinished Mom

Why I Hate Buying Sweaters

2010-11-02T06:30:00.000-04:00

I would like to know who the average woman is.

I know that I am shorter than the average woman.

Who thinks this looks good? Do most women have unusually long arms that the sleeve would actually stop at the wrist? Or am I that weirdly proportioned?

How We Do School

2010-08-11T15:05:00.000-04:00

Eventually every parent must make a choice, either conscious or not, about how their children receive an education. We chose public school. Today I'm guest posting over at Life As Mom discussing why.

Blueberries!

2010-08-10T19:05:00.004-04:00

After a friend alerted me that Blueberries were on sale at Aldi for $1.29/pint ... I just had to go out and buy some.

I bought 24 pints! Blueberries are my very favorite fruit - can you tell?

When they are in season I like to pick many pounds of them, unfortunately my schedule and blueberry season had conflicts this year. I only managed to pick about 10 pounds - not enough. Most of them I will freeze so that in the Fall I can make Blueberry Applesauce for my daughter. I'll also use some in Purple Lava.

But I've also got plans for blueberry jam, blueberry muffins, blueberry scones, blueberry cobbler, blueberry buckle, Blueberry Boy Bait... Hmmm ?? I'm sure more ideas will come to me.

Do you have a good recipe for blueberries you'd like to share? I'd love to add it to my collection.

Staples School Supply Deal $15.15 After Rebates

2010-08-09T22:52:00.000-04:00

There are a good number of free or almost free school and office supplies at Staples this week.So, after consulting a few blogs for coupon match ups, I went to Staples today to take advantage of this week's back to school sales.

Total before sales, coupons and rebates: $54.83 (including 6% sales tax)
After sale prices and in ad coupons: $45.83 OOP (I think I forgot a coupon and this should have been about $1.00 less)

After Easy Rebates & Staples Rewards come in: $15.15

I am a happy camper!

Have you found any great sales on school supplies?

Washing & Drying Plastic Baggies

2010-08-05T20:05:00.010-04:00

Soon, if they haven't started already, moms all over the country will be packing lunches to send off with their children to school. Many of those lunch items will be packed in plastic baggies. Ever wondered how much money you spend on all those plastic baggies? Ever wondered if there's a cheaper way?

The year my son entered kindergarten, I figured I sent him to school each day with two plastic snack bags. Each box of 50 snack bags cost about $1.00. So each bag cost me $0.02. So over the course of the school year that's about $7.20. That's roughly the equivalent of 2 gallons of milk. Now I have 2 children in school, so fresh bags every day would cost about $14.50. Plus there are all the sandwich, quart, and gallon size bags I use. Some of them cannot be re-used (for instance, if they've had raw meat in them), and eventually they get holes in them and become sieves instead of containers.

But, you know what? You really can wash those ~~buggers~~ baggies out and re-use them.

But the problem is how to dry them? If they're not open as they dry, they tend to stick to themselves.

So, here's my solution:

This rack hangs out in my basement. At the end of each day, when we wash up the dishes from dinner, we also wash the baggies. If we do them every day it only takes a minute or two and the task doesn't become overwhelming. Last year I figured out that washing out my plastic bags saved me about $50.00 over the course of the year.

Give it a try. You'll be surprised how easily you can save a little money.

*Keep in mind, I never re-use a bag that's held raw meat.

This definitely Works for Us. For more ideas on how to save a little money, visit Frugal Friday.

How to Exhaust a Child

2010-07-07T11:54:00.000-04:00

Want to exhaust your children so they'll sleep well?

Take them to the National Air & Space Museum on a day when it's 100+ degrees outside.

Mine slept for 12 hours straight after our visit yesterday.

Mind you - I slept for 9 hours straight too!

Toy Story 3 Review

2010-06-22T12:38:00.002-04:00

Have you been to see the new Toy Story movie, yet? Are you planning to?

With free tickets and extra coupons in hand, we went to a matinee showing on Friday. We were really psyched. We've been anticipating this movie ever since the first trailer was released and the moment the release date was announced. June 18 was circled in red on our calendar.

Like many American families, Buzz Lightyear, Woody and the gang are almost family members. I recall seeing Toy Story 2 in the theater with my husband well before we had children of our own and sitting at dinner with my sister and her young daughter commenting about the Star Wars references. A few years later when we had our first child, Toy Story and Toy Story 2 were some of the first videos added to our collection.

When Joseph was young Buzz Lightyear was one of his favorites, before he could even say the name. And I admit to encouraging his interest. I much preferred Buzz Lightyear the clearly "good guy" as a super hero over the sinister Batman, Spiderman, and even Superman. At 3 and 4 years of age, I wanted to encourage doing the right thing for the right reasons. Buzz Lightyear and Woody were, usually, good examples for that goal.

Toy Story 3 continues that theme in many ways. It is certainly a family movie which most everyone in the family can enjoy. There is much playful imagination for the young ones and there are lines only adults will (or should) understand. The toys just want to be played with. Andy's going off to college and they're all in a dilemma of what to do. They want to bring comfort and joy to a child, they don't want to end up thrown out, unwanted in the trash heap. And that's a good goal for a toy.

There are wonderfully funny moments throughout the movie, some that even brought the crowd to cheering!
Hubby and I thoroughly enjoyed it; laughing and, yes, even crying at several points. The kids loved it too. Cora, said it was a good movie and she loved the end the best. Joseph thoroughly enjoyed it and thought the best part was when Woody and Slinky are battling the monkeys. Hubby's favorite was the Monkey Bomb at the beginning. I loved the spunk and strength they wove into Barbie's character. She has far more depth in this movie than is typical for her.

Now for the practicalities ... If you haven't been to a movie in a while, be prepared for sticker shock. We went on Friday afternoon so that we could take advantage of matinee pricing. Even with two free tickets (up to $8.50), a discount on the second two tickets and matinee pricing - we still paid $25.00 for our 4 tickets. I wasn't thrilled. The extra cost was for the 3-D glasses. This was, in my opinion, a wasted expense. I would have enjoyed this movie just as much, maybe more, without the 3-D effects. My advice ... if you can find a showing without 3-D, take advantage of it.

Now if you haven't seen it, do not read any further ...

***** SPOILER ALERT!! *****

NOT

read

further

if you do not want a hint at the ending.

If you're planning to take very young children, you may want to reconsider. The line between good and evil characters becomes a bit fiuzzy in this movie. Some of the new characters are not so clearly good. While I think that's a good lesson to discuss with my 8 and 6 year olds; it's not a lesson I wanted to teach at 3 or 4. At that age it was more important to clearly identify, this is good; that is bad.

Another thing that concerned me about this movie was the level of peril. Near the end, Buzz, Woody and the gang are in real danger of being destroyed in an incinerator. This moment brought 3 of 4 members of my family to tears, especially our young Buzz Lightyear fan. We really thought the toys were going to die. I remember thinking, "Oh my goodness! Surely, they're not going to have them die? What will I tell my son?" In the end, everyone comes out fine and the very end is absolutely delightful (I won't divulge the final plot twist.) But, specifically because of that moment I almost think it deserved a PG rating instead of G.

Overall, I'd give it 4 ½ out of 5 stars.

If you've seen the movie, I would love to hear your thoughts and comments.

Menu Plan – June 13, 2010

2010-06-13T21:05:00.000-04:00

I went to retrieve something from my freezer this weekend and had a realization -- I have an abundance of food in my freezer at the moment. Some bits and pieces of this and that; more chicken than I realized. And so, I’m going to try and use up a bunch of it in June.

Hopefully this will help reduce my grocery budget, so that I can spend it on berries and jam making instead! The temperatures are going to be highly variable this week. Monday they’re in the 90s and Tuesday & Wednesday they’re supposed to be in the high 70s. So, I’ve planned our meals accordingly. Nothing in the oven on the hot days. Tuesday, since the temperatures will be cooler, I’m planning a big Freezer Cooking Day – mostly breakfast items.

Here’s the plan for the week:
(with apologies for the funky formatting - Blogger has updated and I'm still learning how to adjust to the spacing issues)

Sunday

B -	Cereal & Pop Tarts
D -	Hot Dogs, Mac & Cheese, watermelon

Monday

B -	Pancakes & eggs (Hubby & the girl have a Daddy Daughter Date for Doughnuts)
D -	Shredded Beef Tacos & Watermelon with Summer Fruit Dip

Tuesday

B -	Breakfast Burritos (a variation of this recipe)
D -	Chicken Casserole

Wednesday

B -	Cinnamon Rolls
D -	Chicken Stir Fry

Thursday

B -	Whole Wheat Banana Chip Muffins & Eggs
D -	Leftovers

Friday

B -	Cereal & Pop Tarts
D -	Twice Baked Potatoes, Asian Spinach

Saturday

B -	Fruity Burritos (these are fantastic on hot summer days)
D -	?? Possibly attending a party

Lunches this week will be sandwiches & smoothies – I love smoothies in the summer, especially Purple Lava.
Snacks will be sliced cucumbers, trail mix, Popcorn, and Rice Krispie treats.

You can find more menu inspiration at Menu Plan Monday.

I Made It – Shredded Beef Filling

2010-06-07T20:00:00.005-04:00

I love it when my friends recommend recipes, because I can ask questions. Likewise, when I find a really good recipe I like to share it with you, too. Feel free to ask questions and find out if it will work for your family.

Have you ever come across a recipe that intrigued you just by looking at the ingredient list?

My first introduction to this recipe was when FishMama made it for one of her Freezer Cooking Days. She talked about how many different ways she could use it. That sounded like my kind of recipe. I like when I can work once and have several meals from it.

Then I looked at the recipe. It looked quite easy, but the ingredient list – chili powder and oregano? Really? Chili powder and oregano in the same recipe? I would never have dreamed of putting those together. But, as I recall Boneless Chuck Roasts were cheap that week, the slow cooker was sitting idle and I needed a few more meals ready to use in the freezer, so I decided to give it a try.

Shredded Beef Filling

The Review:

If you’ve been following for a while you know that this recipe shows up periodically in our Menu Plan. I’ve mentioned it a time or two, but it really is worthy of a whole post.

If your man is like mine -- one way to his heart is through his stomach. This is most definitely man pleasing food. When Shredded Beef Filling is cooking in the slow cooker the whole house smells delicious, my husband walks in and says, “Where’s my wife? I want my wife!”

No kidding.

This recipe will get his attention.

It’s absolutely delicious. My kids love it too. The first time I made it, I wasn’t too sure what their reaction would be – they can be picky eaters. But they finished off their small portions and then asked for more.

Typically, when I make it, I use 2 large chuck roasts and we’ll eat part of it unshredded as roast beef on the day I make it. Then, after dinner I shred the rest and portion it into bags, about ¾ pound per bag. I add a bit of the drippings so that it stays moist when I reheat it, and then freeze it.

To reheat it, let it thaw in the fridge overnight and then heat it up in a skillet over medium heat. It stays wonderfully juicy. We’ve eaten it as shredded beef tacos, shredded beef sandwiches – with juice for dipping, and as BBQ beef sandwiches. We’ve even been known to steal a bite or two right out of the serving bowl! My whole family loves it. I still want to try it in enchiladas and taquitos, but I’m a Mexican food neophyte and I need a recipe before I delve into those untested waters.

We highly recommend Shredded Beef Filling. You can find the recipe here. The next time Chuck Roast is on sale for less than $2.00/lb, go buy yourself some roasts and try this recipe. You won’t regret it.

Visit Tasty Tuesday @ Beauty and Bedlam for more recipe ideas.

Discount Grocers in Maryland

2010-06-03T20:00:00.001-04:00

Did you know there was such a thing as grocery stores that sell all their groceries for a discount (not just a few sale items?) I’ve never shopped at a discount grocer, but inspired by this post from Getting Freedom I went in search of Discount Grocery stores in Maryland.

Here's what I found:
A listing of discount grocers by state. I found two in Maryland: 1 in Caroline County, the other in North East (Cecil County?).

Then I found this discount grocery store chain which is affiliated with Food Lion: Bottom Dollar Food (they have stores in Gaithersburg, Frederick and Laurel).

For Marylanders, if you're looking for cheaper groceries, and live in reasonable driving distance of these stores, it would certainly be worth the trip to check them out.

For non-Marylanders, you should be able to find a discount grocer in your state at the list above.

Have you ever shopped at a discount grocer? What do you like or not like about them? Do you know of other Discount Grocery stores in Maryland?

You can find more tips for frugal living at Frugal Friday on Life As Mom.

Hello, I’m Unfinished Mom. Remember Me?

2010-06-02T11:16:00.001-04:00

Have you ever been through a season of life when things were just out of whack?

If you’re a mom, you've been there before. Something happens, and the schedule gets off. Someone gets sick and it takes you a month to catch up. There are lots of reasons life gets out of whack - schedule changes, new milestones of life, new responsibilities – you know the list. The end result is that you just can't seem to find "normal".

That's pretty much where I've been the last few months. There isn't really a good reason for it. No one’s been sick. No births; no deaths. Our schedule hasn’t really changed. There’s just been a confluence of events that sucked up time and energy. (Before you wonder, if this is goodbye – no it’s not!)

And there’s been the introspective re-examination.

It started several months ago - I don't know exactly when – this funk that has seeped into the crevices of my thoughts. I knew life could be better. I knew I could manage our home life better. I needed to figure out how.

So, I questioned.

I questioned the many tasks in my life. I wondered if I was doing too much (Um, yeah, that's an affirmative – still haven’t figured out what to stop doing). I felt overwhelmed with all of what needed to be done. I got up in the morning with my head whirling. I thought, "If I could just stop the rest of the world, I could catch up!" I told my husband, “I really need to step back and regroup.” But there wasn't time. There was more to do. And examining the calendar didn’t reveal additional time either.

So, that’s why I haven’t been around much over the last few months.

If you’ve visited in the last few months, and wondered where I’ve been, Thank You! I appreciate your interest and encouragement. I’m still around. Sort of hiding out at home, re-examining my life, and trying to develop a ~~new~~ more Godly paradigm for who I am and what this blog will become. I have not figured it all out by any means, but the picture is becoming clearer.

That’s where I am…

How is 2010 shaping up for you? What have you been up to?

Menu Plan - May 30, 2010

2010-05-30T22:05:00.000-04:00

We went strawberry picking on Friday, so I spent much of the weekend making jam and we'll be enjoying some of the fruits of our labor as the week progresses.

Here's the plan (I think).

Sunday
B - Cereal
D - A rare trip to KFC

Monday
B - French Toast with strawberries
D - Leftover KFC, corn on the cob, watermelon

Tuesday
B - Scrambled Eggs & Toast w/ homemade Strawberry Jam (yum!)
D - Sloppy Joes ala Amy, watermelon and oven fries

Wednesday
B - Banana Baked Oatmeal

D - Crockpot chicken breasts with brown rice & green beans

Thursday
B - Cereal with strawberries
D - Grilled Cheese & soup

Friday
B - Breakfast Burritos
D - Hamburgers on the grill, peaches,

Saturday
B - TBD
D - Chicken Piccatta

What's on your menu, tonight?

Safeway 5/27/2010 - 62% savings.

2010-05-27T15:53:00.004-04:00

My first grocery trip this week was to Safeway. I bought $53.75 worth of groceries and only paid $20.60, saving 62%!

Coupons Used:
SuperCoupon - eggs $1.4/18
SuperCoupon - butter $1.99/lb
Kraft Mac & Cheese - FREE w/ coupon from recent Kraft Sample Pack
3 $1.25/2 Wishbone Salad Dressing
3 $0.50/1 Mahatma Rice- doubled (made the Saffron Rice FREE)

2 $0.75/1 Mt Olive Pickles (Blinkie)
1 $1.00/2 Lawry's Marinade
1 $1.00/1 Snyder's Pretzels

All of these are available through Tuesday June 1.

Please explain this…

2010-05-24T17:39:00.000-04:00

Someone please explain to me how a seemingly perfect bowl can go into a cabinet like this …

And come out of the cabinet like this…

How does this happen? I really don’t understand.

Kellogg’s Cereals Catalina 5/1 – 5/14

2010-04-24T09:17:00.003-04:00

When I checked out at Safeway a few days ago I received a Catalina about an upcoming promotion.
May 1 – May 14, 2010
Buy any Kellogg’s Cereals 8 oz or larger and receive a coupon back off your next order.

Buy 3, get $2.00 off
Buy 4, get $3.00 off
Buy 5, get $4.00 off

I’m not sure if this will be limited to Safeway or available at other stores as well. These deals are often available at any store with Catalina machines.

13 Things I Learned in the Attic

2010-04-21T22:38:00.003-04:00

As I mentioned earlier in the week, my siblings and I spent most of last week cleaning out the barn and attic at my father’s house. Along the way there are some things we have learned:

Everything collects dust after 30 or 40 years.
Do NOT toss things out of a 30 year old attic – see #1.
Cardboard boxes disintegrate after 30 or 40 years.
Plastic garbage bags disintegrate after 15-20 years.
If you place different parts of something in different places – label where the other parts are. (Yeah. There’s a story behind that one.)
If it was tied together when it went up there, it might not be together anymore -- see #2 and #3.
Label the stuff you put up there, for goodness sake! (If you are the only member of your family who knows why it went up there; don’t expect them to read your mind after you’re dead.)
Some things are trash. Do not put them in the attic.
The contents of any given box may not be the same as the graphics on the box indicate.
Wigs, hats and hairpieces that looked good 30 years ago, but that have been squashed under more boxes, don’t look good anymore.
Some stuffed animals will change color after 20 or 30 years.
It is not necessary to keep every piece of paper your children touched with a paintbrush.
Different people will always have different ideas of what is trash -- and what is not.

A Busy Week

2010-04-19T10:53:00.001-04:00

My apologies for the sudden quietness over the last few weeks and especially last week. In the last seven days we have:

picked up my brother at the airport (He lives in Oklahoma)
spent 4 days cleaning out the barn, shed, attic and other miscellaneous nooks and crannies at my Dad’s house
visited and caught up on life with my brother
found out my son’s best friend is moving away
baked cookies and taken stuff (from Dad’s) to a Yard Sale to raise funds for a Youth Mission Trip
moved my brother’s portion and some of our portion of Dad’s furniture out of the house
celebrated the 65th anniversary with our home church (an hour away) at a concert in which my husband both sang and played piano
visited with many past friends – both my friends and friends of my parents at the above concert
received news of the crumbling marriage of friends
attended the ordination service of a good friend who’s going to challenge the church in many awesome ways.

There’s been a lot happening, but there’s not been much time available for cooking, couponing, deal hunting or blogging. There’s not been much time for thinking for that matter.

The last few days are ripe with blog fodder. I’m sure I’ll be sharing some of it in the next week or so. In the meantime, for today, I need to spend some time with God figuring out what He has to say about all this. And then I need to spend some time catching up on the other daily tasks of Casa Unfinished Mom.

I’ll be back when the unfinished to do list is a bit less unfinished – ‘cause you know it’s never going to be finished.

PS: Don’t forget to enjoy a Blizzard at Dairy Queen for $0.25 this week.

Linky Love

2010-04-17T08:05:00.000-04:00

Every so often I like to share some of the articles and blog posts I’ve recently found interesting. Some of my recent finds….

A Mother's Place of Influence by Miscellaneous Musings of a 5x Mom

Doing the Math on Coupons: Are Coupons Worth the Time?

(Wall Street Journal)

Are you a Lion or a Buffalo? by We Are THAT Family

Apple Cinnamon Pizza by Getting Freedom

When Beginnings End and Kids Grow Up by Holy Experience

Dairy Queen Blizzard Buy One, Get One $0.25

2010-04-16T10:49:00.001-04:00

Have you marked your calendar?

April 19-25 Dairy Queen Blizzards are buy one, get one for $0.25.

Dairy Queen is celebrating their 25th anniversary. The celebration continues with this great deal. There are 25 flavors of blizzard to try! We will definitely be visiting our local Dairy Queen next week – maybe even more than once!

You can find more details on the Dairy Queen website, and as always, check with your local store to be sure they are participating.

Menu Plan - April 11, 2010: Mom's Away, Dad's Cooking

2010-04-12T09:00:00.005-04:00

This is going to be an odd week at Casa Unfinished Mom. My siblings and I are planning several intense days of work at my Dad's house (an hour away from my home); so Hubby's going to be cooking several nights this week. He's not really a cook - grilled cheese and boil spaghetti noodles are more his speed. Whenever he's cooking, my biggest concern is, "Will there be a vegetable involved?" So in preparation for being away I spent most of Saturday prepping several different meals that he could heat and eat. Many of the meals I planned have veggies built into the main course or hidden amongst the many flavors, as in the sauce for spaghetti and Noodle Thing.

So here's what the plan is for the week:

Sunday
B - Quick favorites (Pop-tarts, cereal)
D - Mac & Cheese and Hot Dogs with fruit

Monday

B - Baked Banana Oatmeal
D - Hamburgers, Roasted Potatoes, Cucumber slices

Tuesday - Hubby cooking dinner
B - Ham or Sausage Biscuits
D - Go To Chicken Casserole (currently in the freezer )

Wednesday - Hubby cooking all day
B - Whole Wheat Waffles
D - Spaghetti (w/ extra mushrooms and shredded zucchini snuck into the sauce)

Thursday - Hubby cooking in the morning
B - Whole Wheat Banana Muffins
D - Chicken and Dumplings

Friday - Hubby probably cooking dinner
B - Cereal
D - Noodle Thing (Pasta, spaghetti sauce & mozzarella baked in a casserole)

Saturday
B - TBD - probably Muffins or Waffles (above)
D - TBD (the whole family are attending a concert across town; dinner is yet to be determined)

As always, I am so honored that you came to visit. I hope you found something to help make make your life a bit easier. If you're looking for more menu ideas, visit Organizing Junkie.

6 Year old Logic

2010-04-10T11:32:00.001-04:00

Cora: “I’m making a tea party for Scruffy’s half-birthday”

Hubby: “Oh! Is today his half birthday?”

Cora: “Yes!”

Hubby: “Wait, I thought his birthday was on Easter?”

Cora: “I changed it!”

I guess if we can celebrate her birthday in June, then she can celebrate Scruffy’s birthday whenever she pleases!

It’s Party Time!

2010-04-09T08:05:00.005-04:00

Welcome fellow party goers.

Come on in. Have a slice of my Mommom’s Applesauce Cake:
Oh wait. Some of you may not know about the party. This week is party week at 5 Minutes for Mom. It’s my second Ultimate Blog Party. Last year was so much fun; I had the chance to meet a whole bunch of neat bloggers. I hope you’re having fun meeting some new folks too.

If you’ve stopped by in the morning, well, the cake is wonderful for breakfast too – toast it with a bit of butter. Yumm. But, if you’d prefer, you could try some of this delicious Apple Raisin French Toast

While you’re here, let’s chat and get to know each other a bit.
A bit about Unfinished Mom:

I live in Maryland with my two great kids and fantastic hubby. As you can tell from the name of my blog – I’m not finished. Like many stay-at-home moms -- I’m not an expert, but when I come across a good recipe or idea I like to share it. I’ve shared tips I’ve learned about keeping barrettes in fine hair and how we cope with picky eaters at our house. I love to find (and share) new ways to save money and live frugally, too.

There’s so much to learn when you’re a mom. I certainly don’t have it all figured out. Sometimes I’m not sure which is the harder part of being Mom – keeping the household organized or teaching my kids to be the people God wants them to be. It’s all a work in progress. What’s the hardest part of being a mom, for you?

In the next few weeks I’m planning to share some more great recipes I’ve found and a few things I learned when our kids were infants and toddlers.

What are you learning about being a Mom? I’d love to hear what you’ve learned. Introduce your blog or yourself and share your thoughts in the comments.

Oh! Don’t forget – there are some great prizes at this party. I really like the Collected Recipe Cookbook Binder (US27), but of course any of the Amazon gift cards would be cool too. But, my first choice would be a blog design (INTL 8); UnfinishedMom is due for a little redecorating.

Grief – It Comes Out of Nowhere

2010-04-07T07:05:00.004-04:00

It comes out of nowhere. You’re going along with your normal every day tasks, and you come across something common. Usually something extremely common. It could be an email address. It could be an old photo or an old note long forgotten. Or maybe, as it was for a friend recently, a bottle of A1 Steak Sauce!

Whatever the trigger – suddenly you’re hit by a wave. A wave of thoughts. A wave of memories. A wave of sadness. Sometimes the wave contains just a hint of comfort, sometimes it contains enough comfort to make you smile.

I was hit by one of these waves a few days ago. It was an every day task – I was searching for an email address of a family member I hadn’t contacted in a while. While I was searching I saw my Dad’s name. There in my address book. One name among many.

And suddenly, before I could stop it, there was a flood of memories. Memories of Dad, well into his 60s struggling to learn to use a computer. And in his 70s learning to use email. The memory of the day he called my husband to ask the ultimate “newbie” question: “Is the enter key the same as the return key?”

And then it turned to comfort, even pride. Dad never stopped learning. Well, into his 60s and 70s he was still learning to do new things. He did learn to use email. He did learn to use his computer – at least well enough to send a Christmas letter each year. A number certainly wasn’t going to stop him. Even as I type this. I am flooded with memories of Dad reading incessantly. Reading to learn more. He never felt he’d mastered anything.

Always he was reading.

Always he was learning.

There is pain and there is comfort in those memories. Pain that he’s not here to talk to anymore. Pain that I can’t ask his perspective on issues I’m currently facing.

But, there is comfort too. Because in some ways I know what his answer would be. I’m pretty sure he’d have his own perspective and opinion. But, he would say “Read about it. Read what the Bible says. Read what biblical scholars say.” And of course, he’d also probably recommend a book or two.

And there is comfort in knowing that answer.

It comes out of nowhere – the pain and the comfort.

Photo Source: Vama Veche @ http://www.sxc.hu/photo/781937

Dairy Queen Blizzard for $0.25 – April 19

2010-04-06T11:52:00.002-04:00

Update: This deal has been confirmed. It is posted on the Dairy Queen website under the “Deals” page.

Have you been to Dairy Queen recently? Have you noticed, they now have 25 different Blizzard flavors available?

Be still my heart.

We stopped at DQ yesterday while we were out and about and made two wonderful discoveries. First, they currently have 25 different Blizzard flavors (to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Blizzard) - one of them is Chocolate Covered Strawberry. Oh my goodness. I love a good blizzard, but I gotta tell you – Chocolate Covered Strawberry is absolute decadence. ~~Life~~ Ice cream just doesn’t get any better than chocolate and strawberry together.

The second discovery was a special deal coming up on April 19-25: Buy one Bilzzard, get the second one for $0.25. The cashier told us this will apply to any Blizzard of any size. This is a great deal, definitely one worth pursuing. ~~Note – I haven’t been able to confirm this on the website yet. But, there is a note on the DQ Blog about “Big News Coming!” I’m guessing this is the big news.~~ ~~I will update this post as I get confirmation about this great deal.~~ See update above.

He Lives

2010-04-04T06:05:00.002-04:00

It's not about the bunnies.

It's not about the eggs.

It's not even about family.

It's about the price He paid.

And His power over death.

He lives!

Jesus Lives!

FREE Kids' Workshop at Home Depot

2010-03-31T15:05:00.006-04:00

Saturday, April 3, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm is the next Free Kids' Workshop at Home Depot.

My kids have thoroughly enjoyed these workshops. We just started going this year and so far my daughter made a rain gauge (which she painted pink and purple, of course), my son made a car display and they've each made a perpetual calendar. This is a whole lotta free family fun!

This month they'll be making a butterfly house. Perfect for those Fancy Nancy lovers out there!

Our local store does not require pre-registration, but some stores do, so as always, check with your store to be sure they're participating.

Menu Plan - March 28, 2010: Planning for a Busy Week

2010-03-28T22:15:00.001-04:00

Spring has sprung in this neck of the woods. At the moment it's chilly, raining cats and dogs and I'm craving chocolate. (Hmmm, I wonder if that will affect how I change the menu over the next several days?) But, later in the week the temperatures are supposed to get into the 70s. Oh, I am so looking forward to being warm again!

Anyway, I actually wrote this menu plan on Friday as I was prepping for a trip to various grocery stores. The flour sales at every grocery store in town are making me want to bake, but it's shaping up to be a very busy week, so I'm thinking that probably won't happen much this week.

Many of my recipe links this week are from other blogs and sites. The internet is a wonderful source for delicious new recipes. I hope you'll try out some of these. This week I'll be researching ham recipes. I have a 10 pound bone-in ham in my freezer which I want to cook for Easter, but absolutely no idea how to cook the thing! Seriously, if you've got a good ham recipe, please leave a recipe or link in the comments.

Without futher ado, here's our plan for the week...

Sunday
B - Quick favorites (Pop-tarts, grits, toast)
D - Leftover Buffet (we cleaned out 6 different containers tonight!)

Monday

B - Baked Oatmeal
D - Chicken Fajitas

Tuesday
B - Chocolate Chip Muffins (I'd give you a link, but I'm not fond of the particular recipe I used)
D - Hamburgers, Asian Spinach, corn, cucumber slices

Wednesday
B - Waffles
D - Crockpot Sweet Vidalia Onion Chicken, brown rice, Green beans, corn

Thursday
B - Egg in a Hole, Smoothies
D - Spaghetti (Hubby's cooking)

Friday
B - Cereal
D - Leftover buffet

Saturday
B - TBD
D - Chicken Piccatta over linguine noodles, other veggies TBD

As always, thanks for visiting. If you're looking for more menu ideas, visit Organizing Junkie.

Why You Should Keep Your Sippy Cups

2010-03-23T22:13:00.001-04:00

Those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile have to be wondering...

"Why does she still have sippy cups? Her youngest child is 6 years old. Why can't the kids drink from a real cup? How lame is that?"

As I sit here writing this post, my daughter is upstairs simultaneously sniffling and hacking and trying to sleep at the same time. Spring has sprung in Maryland and every year it brings with it the sniffles and stuffy noses of allergy season. I'm fairly confident, at some point tonight Cora will want to soothe her throat and calm her cough with a drink of water. However, this momma is never thrilled by the 1:00 AM cry, "Moooommmyy!?"

Enter the sippy cup.

I will fill a sippy cup with cold water, maybe add an ice cube. This can stay beside her bed where she can easily reach it and take a drink when needed. I don't have to worry about it spilling. I don't have to get up or even wake up in the middle of the night.

With the aid of the sippy cup my daughter can be self-sufficient in caring for her own need of a drink.

Keeping a few sippy cups around long after my children have learned to drink from a cup, definitely works for me!

Menu Plan - March 21, 2010: Reworking the Plan

2010-03-21T21:55:00.005-04:00

This week's menu plan was changed before I'd ever written it!

Hubby came home tonight with a whole leftover cheese pizza. I figured I better include it in the plan pretty quickly. So Monday, we'll be having pizza along with the various leftover veggies and fruit that are hanging out in my fridge. And I pushed the sweet and sour chicken to the next night. (Good thing I hadn't taken it out of the freezer yet!) Some weeks menu planning goes like that. The best laid plans get changed because life happens!

Here's what's on the plan for this week:

Sunday
B - cereal
D - mac & cheese with hot dogs (no hubby tonight)

Monday
B - Breakfast leftovers (muffins, grits, other miscellanea)
D - leftover pizza, leftover veggies

Tuesday
B - Whole Wheat Waffles
D - Sweet & Sour Chicken (holdover from last week)

Wednesday
B - oatmeal (probably baked)
D - Baked Lemon Pepper Chicken (a variation of this recipe)

Thursday
B - Muffins & scrambled eggs
D - Grilled Cheese & soup (hubby's cooking)

Friday
B - cereal
D - grilled steak, green beans, onion roasted potatoes

Saturday
B - Breakfast leftover buffet
D - ?? out of town for the day, eating somewhere

What's on the menu at your house this week?

Looking for more menu ideas? Menu Plan Monday has more than 300 for inspiration.

Spring! And a Free Ice at Rita's

2010-03-20T07:05:00.002-04:00

Spring! Spring! Glorious Spring.

Two weeks ago it was just a glimmer of hope. Melting Snow. A tiny bit of green popping it's brave head up around the mailbox, despite the snow and chilly temperatures...

But, today, it's finally here! The temperatures in Maryland have been pushing near 70° the last few days. Guys and gals, 70° is nearly never seen in March in these parts.

The massive snow piles are finally gone. There are barely traces of the white stuff in the shady spots.

Oh my. I cannot remember a spring when I was so glad to see it arrive.

And to celebrate? I think we're headed over to Rita's for a FREE Italian ice today! (I just might try out their new Peeps flavor!)

Spring and a freebie! That definitely makes me smile!

Menu Plan - March 14, 2010: Family Favorites

2010-03-14T20:56:00.001-04:00

This week will be a busy week at our house. Hubby will be working 5 of 7 evenings this week and we have 6 extra adults coming in for a few nights. We'll also have two preschoolers spending the night on Friday. Just thinking about having that many extra folks in my house can make my head spin. So as I planned out this week's menu I decided to stick with main dishes that are family favorites and sure to please everyone. They're also predominantly meals I've cooked so many times I can nearly fix them in my sleep.

Here's what's on the plan for this week:

Sunday
B - pancake breakfast at church, I took Blueberry Boy Bait
D - soup leftovers

Monday
B - Baked Banana Oatmeal (from this recipe)
D - Honey Garlic Chicken, Glazed Carrots, Green Beans

Tuesday
B - Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
D - Hamburgers, cucumber slices, fried apples

Wednesday
B - Whole Wheat Waffles
D - Vidalia Onion Chicken in the Crockpot, Brown Rice, Mashed Sweet Potatoes, ?Green Veggie

Thursday
B - Fruit, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Scrambled Eggs
D - Leftovers

Friday
B - Fruit, Toast, Scrambled Eggs
D - Spaghetti, Garlic Bread

Saturday
B - Whole Wheat Pancakes
D - Sweet & Sour Chicken

What do you fix when your schedule is busy and you want a guaranteed hit with your family?

Looking for more menu ideas? Menu Plan Monday has more than 300 for inspiration.

Booking It in 2010: March Update

2010-03-09T13:32:00.001-05:00

Remember back at the beginning of the year - you know - January! Did you join the rest of the American culture and set a few resolutions or goals? It seemed like every blog I looked at the first few weeks of January had goals or resolutions posted.

I clearly remember deciding at the time I was not going to make resolutions. I was going to set goals - something I would work toward.

One of the goals I set was to be more deliberate in what I read on a regular basis. First, I determined I was going to Read the Bible in 90 Days. Reality has set into my lofty goals and I've realized I'm not going to finish reading the whole Bible in 90 days. However, I AM GOING TO FINISH THE WHOLE BIBLE! I am quite determined not to give up. I will not take the lazy way out. I will do the hard (for me) thing and read the whole Bible cover to cover. You can check on my ongoing progress in my sidebar or by clicking here.

Another goal was also to read a fiction book each month as well as several non-fiction books once I'm finished reading the Bible. I love climbing in bed and curling up with a good fiction book. Sometimes I only read a few pages, sometimes I read several chapters. Either way, I always fall asleep easier having taken my brain to another place and time for a few minutes.

The Lumby Series by Gail Fraser
Back in early February I finished reading The Promise of Lumby by Gail Fraser, but I never posted a review. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this series. I think I started reading it in 2008. I was looking for a good series of books, akin to the Mitford series by Jan Karon. I love to read book series because, once I get to know a character I like living with them for a while. I also much prefer series whose characters live morally - not necessarily a moral to the story. I'm not fond of books where the characters behave amorally on a consistent basis. The Promise of Lumby is the fourth installment of the series and I enjoyed it just as much as the first.

Lumby is a quaint little town set in the Northwest U.S. That in itself piqued my interest, as the farthest west I've ever been is Wyoming. It's also a town filled with an array of eclectic good-hearted, but sometimes confused characters. Each book in the series reveals a problem facing the town and its residents, introduces a newbie to the town, and sparks a romance between two characters. It's fun. It's relaxing. It's light romance. It is not Pride and Prejudice. If you're looking for a serious romance novel, this probably isn't your style.

However, if you're looking for a good series with good clean fun and funny characters who will let you escape into another place for a while, this is a great book and a great series to read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am really looking forward to the next book in the series, due out in July 2010.

Prairie Tale by Melissa Gilbert
The next book I read in February was by Melissa Gilbert - you know "Half Pint" from the Little House on the Prairie TV series of the 1970s. I picked it up somewhat absent-mindedly at the library because the other books on my to-read list were all checked out at the time. This is an autobiographical book. She describes various events of her life from before she became "Laura Ingalls" through her current situation. It was an easy read and I finished it more quickly than I'd expected. Unfortunately, I can't recommend it.

If you were a huge Melissa Gilbert fan and you're dying to know what her life was like during and after the show, sure pick it up and read it. But don't expect it to be more than it is. Melissa Gilbert is not Laura Ingalls. Ms. Gilbert was raised with very different values than her TV character. And the choices she made throughout her life reflect those values.

Yada Yada Prayer Group Series by Neta Jackson
I'm currently reading Book 6 of 7 from this series. I'm always drawn into these books very quickly. I've only had this one a few days and I'm already nearly half finished. I'll tell you my thoughts on the series next month.

So what are you reading these days? What do you look for when choosing a good fiction book?

Looking for more good reads? Visit Life as Mom as we're Booking it in 2010.

I Made It - Homemade Pizza

2010-03-08T15:07:00.000-05:00

If you're anything like most American families, pizza is on the menu several times a month. It's a wonderfully versatile one-dish meal. If your family loves veggies you can make an all veggie pizza, if you love meats, you can make an all meat pizza, or mix it up. The options are endless.

The Back Story
My family, just like yours, loves pizza too. Back in our DINK (dual income, no kids) days, Hubby and I would order a pizza to be delivered and rent a movie from Blockbuster nearly every Friday night. It was a great stay-at-home date night. Now that we're living on one income with 2 kids, we still love pizza. But the price of ordering out? Not so much.

Thus began my quest for finding a less expensive alternative. The first recipe I found for the dough was a Food Network recipe that involved letting the dough rise. I tried it a few times, but found that it required too much time letting the dough rise. I didn't usually have dinner in the works far enough in advance to make that dough.

Then about a year or so ago I came across this recipe form MoneySavingMom.

The Review:
I love that I can pull this dough together in less than 15 minutes. It goes together incredibly easily. Basically you dump the ingredients in a bowl, mix it all up, knead it a bit and you're good to go. You can make it even easier by kneading it in your Mixer, Food Processor or Bread Machine. If you don't have any of those, kneading it by hand is not very difficult. It's a very forgiving dough and thus, perfect for this yeast-challenged cook. Slap on some toppings and you've got pizza in the oven in less than 25 minutes. It also freezes very well.

One of the reasons I like making homemade pizza so much is that I can adapt it to what we have on hand and my family's personal tastes so easily. My daughter prefers just cheese pizza. The rest of us have other favorite toppings. The pizza in the picture is 1/3 cheese, 1/3 ham and pineapple (my son's favorites), and 1/3 ham, pineapple and I added a bit of red pepper that I needed to use up.

Why We Love It:
I love this recipe because I can serve pizza to my family and not break our family budget. And since I usually use whole wheat flour when I make the dough, I don't feel so guilty about all the extra carbs. My kids love it because we can have pizza more often than we used to. Last week, when I was stumped for a dinner idea, pizza was one suggestion. Thanks to this recipe I can indulge my kids' request and not be the stingy mom-that-always-says-no.

I've also found a great recipe for home made pizza sauce. That review will be coming soon.

What's your favorite topping for pizza?

Menu Plan - March 7, 2010 - Nothing Fancy

2010-03-07T21:44:00.002-05:00

Sometimes you have to keep things basic. This is one of those weeks, I'm getting myself mentally prepared and my house physically prepared for 6 additional people next week, so I'm keeping the menu plan pretty basic.

Here's the plan:

Sunday
B - Cereal
D - Leftovers

Monday
B - Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins & Fried Eggs
D - Rosemary Chicken (a new recipe to try)

Tuesday
B - Pancakes & fruit
D - Shredded Beef Tacos

Wednesday
B - Oatmeal (trying steel cut oats for the first time) with raisins
D - Hamburgers, roasted potatoes, green beans

Thursday
B - Cereal
D - Grilled Cheese & Soup

Friday
B - Waffles (if I get them made on Tuesday)
D - Homemade Pizza

Saturday
B - Sausage Biscuits
D - Crockpot Lemon-Pepper Chicken

If you're stuck for menu planning ideas, be sure to visit Organizing Junkie.

Cocoons

2010-03-03T21:35:00.005-05:00

Ever had difficulty deciding what to make? You know you're in the mood to cook something different, but nothing seems to be really striking your fancy.

This was my dilemma today. I was contemplating what to post for the Ultimate Recipe Swap. The topic is flour and although I use flour as an ingredient nearly every day, I was having difficulty coming up with something new. Most of the recipes I use on a regular basis are not my own - they are recipes I've gotten from other people. And those that are my own, for the most part, I've already posted. So, what new could I post?

I began to browse my favorite cookbooks and the various recipes links I've saved online - all looking for inspiration. Then, as I was browsing some old posts I realized I'd never posted the recipe for the Cocoons I made at Christmas. They're not your every day cookie, a bit unusual, but not too difficult either so I settled on this recipe:

Cocoons
(printable recipe)

Ingredients:
½ lb butter (2 sticks)
6 Tblsp confectioner's sugar
1 Tblsp vanilla
3 Cups flour, sifted
2 Cups pecans - chopped fine
Additional confectioner's sugar for rolling

Directions
1. Cream the butter with the sugar.

2. Mix in vanilla.
3. Add sifted flour a little at a time.
4. Add pecans until mixed throughout. The dough will be crumbly, but should hold together when pressed in the palm of your hand (see photo).
5. Roll into small cocoon (or log) shape in palm of hand.
6. Lay out on an ungreased baking sheet. These don't spread much so you can fit a lot on one pan.

7. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes on ungreased baking sheet.
8. Remove from oven, roll in powdered sugar while still hot.
9. After cookies are cooled roll in powdered sugar again.

Notes:
No, I did not leave out an ingredient. There really is no baking powder or baking soda in these cookies.
This recipe makes about 5-6 dozen depending on the size of the cocoon you make. Mine, in these pictures, are a little larger than we typically make.
My father loved these cookies and my brother even made a special request for them last Christmas. Personally, I, umm, think these tend to be a bit on the dry side as cookies go.

Enjoy!

You'll find more great recipes using flour at The Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life as Mom.

Word of the Day: Eructation

2010-03-03T09:20:00.001-05:00

Today's word of the day from dictionary.com is highly appropriate for those who have boys in the house:

eructation \ih-ruhk-TAY-shuhn\, noun:

The act of belching; a belch.

Eructation comes from Latin eructatio, from eructare, from e-, "out" + ructare, "to belch."

My son is becoming very good at eructation! Should I be proud?

HOT Free Gold Medal Flour at Safeway

2010-03-02T15:53:00.002-05:00

Gold Medal Flour is on sale this week at Safeway 2/$3.00. Pair this with a coupon for $0.75/15 lb bag here which doubles at Safeway and you can get it for free!

You should be able to print the coupon twice.

This applies to the Bleached and Unbleached Flour. I checked the price of Whole Wheat flour- it was not on sale. I'm not sure about Self-Rising or Bread Flour. This deal will continue through March 9.

I bought two 5 lb bags today and got them for free!

I'm doing the happy dance!

Thanks to MoneySavingMom for the head's up on the coupon.

Bible in 90 Days: Continuing the Race

2010-03-02T09:55:00.001-05:00

Confession time: I am behind in reading the Bible in 90 Days.

Seriously behind. As I write this I should be on Day 61. I am currently beginning Day 44. That is 18 days behind. Ugh.

(Funny. I thought when I reached the half way point I would feel very encouraged. Instead I'm discouraged with myself.)

I have thought many times about writing an update on how things are going. And each time I've thought about it I've lost the motivation, or more accurately, allowed other things to distract me.

Then Saturday there was a conversation with a real-life friend who asked "How's the reading going?" It wasn't a critical question. It was just a friend asking how things were going. She listened. She understood why this challenge was becoming more difficult. She did not judge.

Then yesterday there was a whisper in my ear- it was a tweet from Mom's Toolbox. She asked those of us who are bloggers to write a check-in post. She said that she'd be "cleaning up" the list soon. Hmmm. That had sort of an ominous tone in my head...

"I could just not post and quietly slip out of the challenge," I thought. "I would just disappear off the list and I'm sure few would notice. I could just continue reading as I have been - a few pages every day. I'll eventually finish, it probably won't be in 90 days. But, I'll finish."

But, somehow as the day progressed I didn't want to just quietly slip away. I've done that before. It's the lazy way out. I'm good at using the lazy way out. But, I also have a growing hatred of that characteristic of mine. I started this challenge because I felt God calling me to do something I'd never done before. He was calling me to read ALL of the Bible.

Then, this morning as I contemplated what I would write, I read this post from Erin at Closing Time. And this post about her frustrations with how things are going. I was teary while I was reading. I could have written that first post myself. It says exactly what I've been thinking and feeling ... discouraged ... embarrassed ... frustrated with myself.

And yet, at the same time not wanting to give up. Not wanting to just read a few pages every day and move on to the other stack of books I want to read. There have been days, especially recently, when I really wanted a good 30 minute prayer time with God. But, reading for 1 - 1½ hours each day, just hasn't allowed me to fit another 30 minutes of prayer into a 24 hour day.

But there is this task, this challenge, that I was called to. A task I accepted and started.

One of the last things I need in my life is another unfinished task.

So, I'm continuing on. I'm continuing the race even as my spiritual and emotional muscles are begging me to stop.

I am continuing.

Swagbucks is Celebrating!

2010-02-25T10:39:00.001-05:00

When I logged onto my computer this morning, I found a wonderful surprise...

Swagbucks is celebrating their 2nd birthday and they've got some goodies for us. For those who aren't familiar with Swagbucks - it's an easy way to earn free gift cards and prizes. Free. Really.

You join, dowload their toolbar, and use it as your search engine. Then, you start accumulating Swagbucks and before you know it you've got enough to trade in for a gift card. I tend to use mine at Amazon, but you can get gift cards for Starbucks, I-Tunes, Barnes & Noble and a bunch of other places too. There's lots of prizes to choose from. Last year I earned enough to get several Christmas presents for my kids and family for free - really, a 16 GB flashdrive for free! I didn't spend a penny.

If you'd like a bit more detail, you can see my first review of Swagbucks here and my suggestions on how to earn more swagbucks here.

I mentioned that today, February 25, is a big day for Swagbucks. It's their 2nd birthday and they're rolling out several new things. First is a new system where each previous Swagbuck is now worth 10. The same goes for the "cost" of prizes. A $5.00 Amazon gift card used to be 45 Swagbucks, now it's 450. The best news though, is that they're issuing a whole bunch of SwagCodes today (you can earn Swagbucks by entering the code on their home page). They'll be issuing them through Facebook, the toolbar, Twitter and the blog. So, be sure to check in frequently today. I've already earned 7 new Swagbucks today and it's not even 10:00 AM.(One word of caution - there are several phony Swagbuck pages on Facebook. Use the link above, or directly from the Swagbucks home page to be sure you get the correct one.)

If you're ready to start earning Swagbucks, click on the referral link or the banner on my sidebar and get yourself registered today. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how quickly they add up.

Happy Swag searching!

Saving Online Through Ebates

2010-02-22T13:55:00.003-05:00

Woo Hoo! Today I got my first Big Fat Check from Ebates.

The U.S. Postal Service is finally able to fly mail in and out of our local airport after all the snow we had. And my mailbox was loaded today. There were several freebies (yeah!), a few adds (trash), a few bills (ugh) and a Big Fat Check (Super Yeah!).

What's a Big Fat Check?

A Big Fat Check is a real check for money back from online orders made through Ebates. The amount (how big & fat the check is) varies, depending on how much you spend online during a given quarter. I'm taking my big fat check to the bank and putting it in our savings.

What is Ebates?

Ebates is a portal for shopping online that saves you money for those online purchases. I don't remember where I first heard about Ebates, but it was after talking to a real life friend about the money she'd gotten back that I decided to explore a little more.

How does Ebates work?

Start, by setting up your account through Ebates. Next, choose the store where you want to shop - so far they've had every store I've wanted except Amazon. The site will tell you what percentage of your purchase you will get back. Click on the link.The original window will list a tracking number that will be used to track your total purchase and how much your rebate will be. At the same time it will open a new window to the store where you want to shop. From there you just continue shopping as you would normally. Once your purchase has been verified you will receive an email indicating the amount credited to your account.

That's it. There's basically nothing else for you to do except sit back and wait for your check to come.

When do I get my Big Fat Check?

Ebates issues Big Fat Checks once per quarter. You can also get your money through a PayPal account if you prefer.

I'm skeptical.Is it really that simple?

Yes. It really is. I was skeptical too. That's why I asked questions of real life people I knew and trusted first. I signed up back in June, but didn't do much online shopping until November & December right before Christmas. That's when my rebates really started to grow.

And now, I'm sitting in my family room enjoying my Big Fat Check. Hubby's going to love this.

Okay, I'm interested. How do I get started?

Click this link to Ebates and register. When you do, you'll receive a $5.00 credit to your account (and so will I). Then, whenever you have online shopping to do, start at Ebates and continue on to your store through their site. Don't foget to check RetailMeNot.com for free shipping codes before placing your order.

Full Disclosure: When you register for Ebates through my link I get a credit and so do you. If you do not go through my link, you will still get your credit. I have not been compensated to write about Ebates. Whether or not I am compensated, the opinions expressed on this site are always my own. I do not get extra compensation for publishing nice comments.

The Finer Things of a Double Blizzard

2010-02-18T23:34:00.002-05:00

Amidst unbelievable amounts of snow -- a phenomenon for which I am still stunned -- there were many unexpected finer things...

The wisdom of a husband who shoveled in shifts, rather than try to do it all at once.

The companionship of neighbors who helped dig out our driveways and uncover our cars.

The joy of playing an antique game with my children.

The giggles of children playing on snow piled over their heads.

The calm of an anxious child who didn't worry when the snow blew so hard we could barely see our backyard.

The comfort of a warm mug of hot chocolate after hours (& hours) of shoveling.

The strength of men - who shoveled the roof of our church so that we could worship together.

The blessing of a slow melt when a fast melt would simply mean flooding.

The generosity of a former neighbor who loaned his mega snowblower so that my sister and I could clear my Dad's driveway a week after the second blizzard.

The love of a God so big he can still make my jaw drop and so merciful He forgives me when I rail against his creation.

These are just a few of the finer things I've been blessed with recently.

What unexpected blessings have come your way this week?

Free Pretzel Day at Auntie Anne's - February 20th

2010-02-17T13:35:00.001-05:00

Woo Hoo. A free pretzel at Auntie Anne's!

February 20th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. you can get a free pretzel at Auntie Anne's.
I do love a good soft pretzel and I think Auntie Anne's are absolutely the best. You can find an Auntie Anne's near you here and get more details about the free pretzel here.

Thanks to The Frugal Girls!

Pineapple Souffle

2010-02-15T21:55:00.006-05:00

One of the best things about church pot-lucks is the opportunity to try new dishes without having to cook them or pay for ingredients for a recipe my family may or may not like. This recipe was part of a brunch pot-luck at my church a few months ago. Hubby and I both loved it, so of course, I had to request the the recipe.

It goes together very easily and can be mixed up the night before and baked in the morning - making it that much better! We've now had it as a side dish for dinner as well as for breakfast. We loved it both ways. I hope you all enjoy it as much as we do.

Pineapple Souffle
(printable recipe)

Ingredients:
½ loaf Hawaiian Bread (round)
1 stick butter
1 Cup sugar
4 eggs
8 oz can crushed pineapple, strained.

Directions:

Cut the bread into ½" cubes. (You can cut the crust off if you prefer.)
Cream the butter and sugar together.
Beat in the eggs.
Mix in the pineapple.
Add the bread and mix together (I think this works best by hand.)
Place in a 1½ qt casserole.
Bake at 350° for 35-45 minutes, uncovered.

Notes:
You can easily double this recipe and bake it in a 9x13.
The second time I made it, I only used 3 eggs. It still worked very well, but wasn't quite as rich as with 4 eggs.

This recipe is linked to:
Tempt My Tummy @ Blessed with Grace
Tasty Tuesday @ Balancing Beauty & Bedlam
Tuesdays at the Table @ All the Small Stuff
Ultimate Recipe Swap @ LifeAsMom

Menu Plan - February 14, 2010

2010-02-14T21:55:00.001-05:00

Has it really been 3 weeks since I posted a menu plan? My goodness, time flies when you're snowed in and shoveling ... and shoveling ... and shoveling...

Last week we ate pretty much from the pantry & freezer because there was no getting to a grocery store around here - 40-50" of snow will do that to Maryland. I did finally made it out on Saturday for a few staples and even managed to snag some free coffee & brown rice. So, I've made a plan this week, but I've only got a limited hope that we'll actually stick to it because we've got more snow coming later today. There's no telling what that will do to the roads and our schedules.

At any rate, here's the plan for the week:

Sunday
B - cereal & Pop Tarts
D - Breakfast for Dinner -- a family favorite

Monday
B - Oatmeal packets w/ various additions
D - Beef from this recipe, broccoli, mashed potatoes & gravy

Tuesday
B - English Muffin Breakfast sandwiches
D - Chicken Stir Fry

Wednesday
B - Muffins & scrambled eggs
D - Shredded Beef tacos

Thursday
B - Waffles
D - "Go To" Chicken Casserole; this time I'm using this soup recipe

Friday
B - French Toast
D - Leftover buffet

Saturday
B - ??? To Be Determined
D - Spaghetti

This week I'm linked up to Menu Plan Monday and Chive Talkin's Mindful Menus.

Unbelievable Amounts of Snow

2010-02-12T11:06:00.009-05:00

Blizzard #1:
Friday-Saturday February 5-6, we woke up unable to open the front door:

There's a 5" step below the door too! Much of what you see in the doorway is drift, but even without drift we had over a foot of snow overnight (our annual average is 12 inches) and it was still snowing.

The path Hubby dug from the back door to the shed.

At that point the kids had dug the swings out a bit.

Yes, there was a bit of sunshine on Sunday & Monday between storms.

Those trees in the background (¼ mile away) completely disappeared
on Wednesday during Blizzard #2.

Blizzard #2

After Blizzard #2, the path completely disappeared,

and left these spectacular snow dunes in our back yard.

We nearly lost the mailbox after Blizzard #2.

By the time we dug it all out the pile behind the mailbox was higher than the mailbox!

I have lived in Maryland all my life. I have seen big storms before with more than 20" of snow. This double blizzard is incredible. Schools are out for the remainder of the week, at least through President's Day (when we are expected to get more snow). Our road crews are simply not equipped to handle this much snow. The piles of snow are so huge I'm not sure they'll fully melt until April!

If you've got pictures of green and flowers on your blog, please let me know. I've forgotten what they look like.

Bookin' It in 2010: The Plan

2010-02-08T20:55:00.035-05:00

Reading is such a big part of life. It stretches your mind. It helps relax. During stressful times it helps me sleep. So naturally, one of my goals for this year is to read. Typically, I don't set goals to read - I just read. But, this year I decided to be more deliberate and join Fishmama in Bookin' It in 2010. It's taken me a whole month to come up with my plan, and it's still unfinished - but that's the way my life is!

Here's the plan & the current progress:

Spiritual Growth:
Read the Bible cover to cover in 90 days. Finished reading Esther (Day 36)

Read the Bible every day after April 1

Read one book for spiritual growth per month (after April 1). Here's what's on my list so far:

Open Heart, Open Home by Karen Mains*
Building Faith at Home by Mark A Holmen*
My Heart's at Home by Jill Savage
Amazing Grace by Eric Metaxas* (biography of William Wilberforce)
Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson **
Think Orange: Imagine the Impact when Church and Family Collide by Reggie Joiner
Ordering Your Private World by Gordon McDonald (reread)
Too Busy Not to Pray by Bill Hybels
Faith Begins at Home by Mark A Holmen

Other Non-fiction I want to read:

That's My Son: How Moms can Influence Boys to Become Men of Character by Rick Johnson
Have a New Kid by Friday by Dr. Leman
Family Feasts for $75 a Week by Mary Ostyn
Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn (reread)
Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman
Raising Real Men: Surviving, Teaching & Appreciating Boys by Hal & Melanie Young
Prarie Tale by Melissa Gilbert (currently reading)

Reading for Pleasure (1 per month):
(Most of these were strongly recommended by my sister who reads voraciously and much faster)

The Promise of Lumby by Gail Fraser Finished
Summer on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber
Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
Yada Yada Prayer Group Series by Neta Jackson (I think I'm on #6 of 8)
Sister Chicks Series by Robin Jones Gunn (I'm on #4 of 8)
16 Lighthouse Road & series by Debbie Macomber
The Quilters' Apprentice & series by Jennifer Chiaverini

Reading with the Kids:

Little House on the Prairie - even my boy is enjoying this one!
??? I need suggestions here for books to read with my kids (girl age 6, boy age 8)

*books I've started previously, but never finished

Ummm. Yeah. There's no way I'll be able to read all of these in a year. I'm just not that fast a reader. I'm not even going to attempt the Spiritual Growth books until I'm finished reading the Bible in 90 Days. I simply don't have the time. But, having written down the list will help me stay focused and get further through the list than I would otherwise.

What are you reading this month? Have a good read aloud with your kids you can recommend?

Know Your Store's Coupon Policy

2010-02-04T21:55:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago, there was this wonderful coupon out for a free half gallon of chocolate milk when you bought two gallons of milk. It came out again earlier this week. And last summer there was a great coupon that, when matched with a good sale, meant free bacon. Free stuff makes my heart sing. But, sometimes finding a store that will take the coupon can be a pain in the ~~behind~~ neck!

Maybe this story sounds familiar: When I sent Hubby out to get milk one night, I sent the free coupon with him. But Shopper's wouldn't accept it. Eerrgh. If we'd realized that ahead of time, he would have gone elsewhere to get the milk.This was one of those times I was mad at myself for not double-checking the coupon policy before he went to the store. Has this happened to you too?

To solve this problem keep a copy of each store's coupon policy in your coupon box or binder. I can't do this for every store I ever enter, but I can certainly do it for the ones I frequent.

Some coupon policies are easier to find than others. So, for those who live in Maryland and some of the surrounding states here are the links to the coupon policy (that I could find) for some of our larger grocery chains.

Food Lion - does not have policy online; check your local store's customer service
Giant Food - doubles up to $0.99; accepts internet coupons
Harris Teeter - complicated policy - you need to read it yourself
Martin's Food Markets - general policy that varies by store, check at your store
Safeway - complicated policy you need to read all the fine print
Shoppers - doubles up to $0.99 (may be limited to 4 identical coupons); accepts internet coupons up to $1.00, does not accept internet coupons for free items
Super Fresh - could not find policy online; check your local store
Target - accepts coupons at face value
Walmart - accepts coupons at face value (>40 coupons requires Manager approval)
Wegman's: Virginia & Maryland, Other states, Internet Coupon Policy
Weis - could not find policy online; check your local store

Have I missed one of our locals? How do you keep track of coupon policies for your local stores?

For more tips on living a frugal life visit Frugal Friday at Life As Mom.

Super Bowl & Party Food

2010-02-03T21:56:00.002-05:00

Confession: I am not a football fan. I never have been. Having also married a non-football fan I doubt that I ever will be. As far as I'm concerned football is just an interruption to good conversation. I used to root for the team with the prettiest colors on their uniform just to annoy my older brother. I don't think I have ever been to a Super Bowl party in my life. You see we're just not football people in my family (except for my brother, God bless him!)

At this moment in time I am not planning to attend a Super Bowl party. Maybe I should gather some girlfriends who are also non-football fans and we could get together and gab. (But, given the current weekend weather predictions for our area, maybe not.)

So, it's rather odd that I'm doing this post today... Super Bowl Party food. I really haven't got a clue what food one would take to a Super Bowl party.

However, I do have a clue what I would take to a party involving lots of finger foods that can be nibbled on for several hours. If I had my druthers and could find wings at a really good price I would probably take Lemon Pepper Wings using this recipe. Of course, if I wanted to get all extravagant and use the crab meat I'd snagged and frozen in July (because that's when it's cheapest), then I'd make this best-crab-dip-in-the-world.

As I understand it there's usually chips and dip at these functions, so I'd probably be inclined to take this Pumpkin dip, too. I prefer it with Wheat Thins, but Hubby is partial to tortilla chips. Or I could take this awesome fruit dip along with a bunch of fruit, obviously. That might provide something that was actually healthy! As for dessert - it's kind of funny, I've never heard of anyone taking dessert to a Super Bowl party. Do people do that?

But all of that is just fodder for daydreaming, of course, because I'm a non-football fan and I won't be attending a Super Bowl party.

Don't feel bad for me. I don't!

Are you going to a party on Sunday or are you a weird non-football person like us?

For food ideas that other people will be taking to a real Super Bowl party be sure to visit Life As Mom's Ultimate Recipe Swap.

HOT COUPON Free Half Gallon of Chocolate Milk!

2010-02-03T12:04:00.001-05:00

I did not post about this a few weeks ago when this coupon came out, but I just had to pass it on today.

You can get a FREE half gallon of chocolate milk when you purchase a gallon of milk. Here's how:

Go here to WhyMilk.com.
Enter the Great Gallon Giveaway.
Enter the information requested.
Click Submit.
You should then be able to print your coupon two times using your browser's backspace button.

This is only for the first 125,000. These will go fast - so go get it now!

Before redeeming your coupon, be sure you know your store's policy for printable coupons. Shoppers will not accept internet coupons for Free items. However, I have had success with this coupon at Martin's and Safeway.

Thanks Money Saving Mom and Southern Savers.

Bulk Cooking: Turkey Stock, Breakfasts & More

2010-02-02T19:55:00.002-05:00

The last several days Fishmama & Money Saving Mom have been hosting a Freezer Cooking party. I didn't post my plans for this month's Freezer Cooking, because I was afraid that with trying to catch up on Reading the Bible in 90 Days I wouldn't get it done.

But, I had noticed a few problems in my pantry:

a serious lack of quick & easy breakfast foods (I am sooo not a morning person - gotta do this ahead or its cold cereal & Pop-tarts for sure)
I had bought several pounds of meat that needed to be used quickly
the turkey carcass in my freezer was taking up way too much space
and a special request from my hubby for his favorite granola bars

So over the course of a few days I developed a plan for what I would make:

Turkey Stock
Shredded Beef
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Spaghetti Sauce
Ground beef - cooked for future use
Waffles x2
Hot Chocolate Mix
Oatmeal Packs
Pancake Mix x4
Zucchini Muffins
Granola Bars
Cookies - maybe

I didn't get it all done today but was quite pleased with what did get accomplished - including some catch up on my Bible in 90 Days and some extra time with Hubby on his day off.

Here are my totals for the day:

6 ½ pints Turkey stock
2 lbs shredded beef fillinng - if you've never tried this recipe, do it this week. This recipe will change your ~~life~~ taste buds! ~~Food Lion has chuck roast on sale $1.89/lb this week~~.
3 meals of spaghetti sauce with italian sausage ready to use
4 containers (2 cups each) of mashed sweet potatoes
4 bags of waffles (probably 5 meals worth)
12 Oatmeal packs (3 meals worth)
4 bags of dry pancake mix

We had some of the shredded beef for dinner - it's so good we had to force ourselves not to eat it all in one sitting! The oatmeal packs are great for mornings when everyone wakes up at different times. They are also versatile - additions like fruit, nuts or peanut butter can be added according to individual tastes. The turkey stock is in the fridge letting the fat rise. Tomorrow morning I'll skim it, separate it into 2 Cup portions and freeze it.

I'm also planning to finish up the remainder of the list tomorrow:

Cook the ground beef
Peanut Butter Granola Bars
Zucchini Muffins
Hot Chocolate Mix - It's snowing here (again!) and we are completely out of mix so, I'm thinking this will be high on the priority list.

What are your favorite things to cook in bulk?

You can see what more people cooked on their Freezer Cooking Day at Money Saving Mom.

Bible in 90 Days: 1 Month Update

2010-02-01T09:44:00.001-05:00

Today marks the beginning of Month 2 in my adventure reading the whole Bible cover to cover in 90 days. I figured it had been a few weeks, so it's time to update you on how the challenge is going.

In a word (or 2) -- it's challenging!

The realities of reading 1-1½ hours every day:
I wish I could say that by now reading the Bible for a whole hour every day was habit. But, I can't.

There are some days I do very well and other days when I seem to fall off the bandwagon. Last week I seem to have hit a wall. Thursday through Saturday I barely read at all. I did read a little every day, but it wasn't enough to keep up.Yesterday was a bit better. I started yesterday in the middle of Day 27, and when I had finished Day 27, determined that I was going to read all of Day 28 before I went to bed. At the moment, I'm several pages into Day 28 (the beginning of 1 Chronicles); I should be on Day 32. Amy at Mom's Toolbox warned us before we began the challenge that our schedules were likely to get more difficult - she was right!

A few thoughts on what I've read:
I can honestly say that reading this much in this short a time is giving me a new perspective on the whole story of God's redemption. I found reading the last half of 2 Kings to be depressing. King after king after king that rejected God, followed false gods, and led his people further astray. I reached the point that I thought, "It's amazing to me that God didn't wipe them out sooner! He's more patient than I thought." I also then wasn't at all surprised when He said, "Enough! I've had it with you all. I'm sending an army to wipe you out!"

This also reminded me of an insight I first had from Deuteronomy 4 & 5. In those chapters God warns the people that if later generations follow false gods, they will "quickly perish from the land they are crossing the Jordan to possess" and they will be exiled to other nations. But, if from those scattered nations they seek the Lord, then God will be merciful. How amazing. Even if they reject God generation after generation, if they then repent and seek God He will be merciful and will not abandon them.

He also reminds them that he will "punish the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation ... but show love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments." (Deut 5:9-10) These passages reminded me that although God is just and jealous, He is also merciful. And He is more merciful than He is just! Sins will only be passed to the 3rd and 4th generation, but love will be passed to 1000 generations! When I fail, as I do so often, that is a very comforting reminder that God still loves me and welcomes me back.

Continuing on ...
My children are back at school today, the house is mine alone at the moment. So, I'm going to take a shower and continue my reading. I'm hoping to finish Day 29 and get well into Day 30 today. If I can do that for the next few days I'll be caught up again. I'll be sure to update the sidebar as to my progress each day. You can check in there to see if I'm up to date or not.

If you too, are reading the Bible in 90 Days, be sure to check in with Mom's Toolbox today. You'll want to read the encouragement of Ted Cooper, Jr, the founder of Bible in 90 Days. You'll also want to complete the brief survey -- it took me about 2 minutes.

If you are not reading the Bible in 90 Days, you can still click over to Mom's Toolbox and check in on the other bloggers who are. Each of us would request your prayers for motivation to continue and cleared schedules. I have been fascinated to read about how others are doing with their reading, their motivations, and how God is changing them through this process.

Linky Love

2010-01-30T08:35:00.001-05:00

Everyone deserves a few good links...

A Word for the Year? by Conversion Diary

Her Name is Grace because He is Amazing by We Are THAT Family

The forgotten -- Haiti's Orphans by Mason Dixon Magnolia

Great list of Super Bowl Recipes by Amy's Finer Things

Family Entertainment for Less than $1

2010-01-28T21:35:00.008-05:00

Inexpensive entertainment is often easier to find than you'd expect. We have a new form of entertainment at our house that happened purely by accident. It involves very little money and kept the kids giggling for a good 10-15 minutes. Actually Mom & Dad were pretty entertained watching the kids be entertained too!

There were some balloons leftover from a birthday. One particular balloon was floating around the house and sort of got stuck in this mode:

Directions:
1. Blow up one balloon. Tie it off tightly.
2. Place balloon over heat vent.
3. Watch balloon float in midair without helium.

What's your family doing for inexpensive entertainment?

Inexpensive entertainment is always a Finer Thing.
For more Frugal Friday tips, visit LifeAsMom.

Birthday Cake Roundup: Superman & Princess Barbie Cakes

2010-01-27T21:35:00.002-05:00

Today, Fishmama is hosting her annual Birthday Cake Roundup.

In a typical year there is no way I'd be anywhere near this Roundup -- other than gawking at the amazing cakes people create and share. The typical birthday celebration at my house involves chocolate cupcakes, whatever color icing my kids want that year and some kind of small toy stuck on the top of the cupcakes as decoration: store-bought princesses for the girl, store-bought Superman logos for the boy. That's about as creative as I have gotten. After all, with one Halloween birthday and one Christmas birthday, there's a whole-whole-lot to do around here for birthdays.

Because of those ~~weird~~ holiday birthdays (especially the Christmas one), we celebrate Half-Birthdays around here.

We have a standard Half-Birthday Cake.

But this year brought a few surprises. While cleaning out my parent's house, we came across some of my mother's old cake decorating supplies. In particular a Superhero pan and a doll cake pan.

Ah. I thought. My kids would like those.

Maybe. Just maybe I can pull this off.

So I took the pans home and a few months later, tackled the first one:

Superman.

With a few tips and an icing recipe from my real life friend, Amy, along with the plastic face and "S" that came with the pan, Superman manged to look pretty much like himself.

With that success under my belt, and certainly not to be outdone by her older brother, my daughter requested "a chocolate doll cake with pink icing."

Princess Barbie

Barbie, however, was a bit more difficult than Superman. She involved engineering. I had to do a little research to figure out how to make her work. She is the major reason I was still awake at 2:30 Christmas morning.

Here are a few things I learned in making the Barbie Princess Doll cake.

Before baking, measure Barbie to see if the cake will be tall enough to come to her waist. If not, you can bake an extra round layer to place at the bottom of the cake.
Use a Barbie or similar doll. She looks much better than the typical "half-doll" that you can buy at Michael's.
When you cut the hole to fit Barbie into the cake, use a long-handled teaspoon to remove the cake from the hole (that was much ~~easier~~ quicker than the bagel tongs I'd been trying for 20 minutes!).
Wrap Barbie in saran wrap all the way to her bust so that she's easier to clean up.
Even 8-year old boys can be impressed by doll cakes.

What's been inspiring your birthday cakes this year?

Looking for more creative birthday cake inspiration? Be sure to visit Life as Mom.

Kids' Workshop at Home Depot - FREE!

2010-01-27T13:00:00.002-05:00

Are your kids climbing the walls because it's too cold or wet to play outside? Are you looking for something to beat the winter cabin fever blues? Then, you need to discover the FREE Workshops for kids at Home Depot.

My family went for the first time in January. It was wonderful. All the materials (except paint) were provided and each child got to create his/her own project. There was a little help required by grown-ups but, they could do a lot on their own. My daughter was really excited, and the first one to get her project fully painted. She was so proud, she took it to school to show her kindergarten class!

The next workshop is Saturday, February 6, 2010 from 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM. They'll be making a Car Display. Check with your local store to be sure they're running the workshop. Our local store does not require pre-registration, but many stores do, so call ahead to find out. The workshops are designed for children 5-12, but honestly, nobody was checking ages when we went. If you think your 4 year old would enjoy this, I'd encourage you to take him (or her!).

Menu Plan - January 24, 2010 (Leftovers galore)

2010-01-24T17:49:00.002-05:00

Leftovers. Leftovers. Leftovers. That seems to be the theme of this week.

Last week we used up some of the various ingredients that had been lurking in my fridge and freezer. There were a few changes along the way that resulted in more leftovers than I had anticipated. My in-laws bought dinner for us one night, so the Tortellini I'd planned was delayed; it also made a lot more than I expected. We'll be eating on that for lunches and at least one dinner this week. And of course we have leftovers from Saturday's turkey. Some of that will be turkey tetrazini and some of it will go into the freezer to be used at a later time (when we're not so tired of turkey).

So, here's the plan for the week (subject to change at a moment's notice):

Sunday:
B - cereal
L - pot luck at church - I took two turkey casseroles
D - Leftovers: turkey, fruit salad, scalloped potatoes

Monday
B - cereal
L - Pigs in a Blanket
D - Tortellini leftovers

Tuesday
B - Whole Wheat Banana Muffins & scrambled eggs

D - Turkey Tetrazzini,* green beans, sauteed mushrooms

Wednesday
B - Oatmeal w/ various toppings
D - Chicken Piccata, Asian Spinach, ??vegetable

Thursday
B - Bagels & scrambled eggs
D - Leftovers

Friday
B - ~~Pancakes or Waffles~~ French toast
D - Pork Stir Fry w/ peppers, onions & mushrooms

Saturday
B - Pineapple souffle
D - Hamburgers, Tater tots, more veggies

*Recipe coming soon

I'm also planning to use the turkey carcass on Tuesday to make turkey stock. I love the way the house smells when I make stock.

If you need more ideas to brainstorm your meal plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

How to Get 24 Rolls of Toilet Paper - FREE at Giant

2010-01-20T15:56:00.000-05:00

Yes. You read that correctly. I walked out of Giant Food yesterday with 24 rolls of bath tissue and paid no money out of pocket. Here's how it worked.

There is currently a Proctor and Gamble catalina promotion at Giant. When you purchase $30 worth of products you will receive a catalina coupon for $10 off your next shopping order. What makes this deal really sweet is that you reach the $30 threshold with the shelf price of products, not the sale price. So you don't actually pay $30 out of pocket and you still get a $10.00 coupon for your next order. (Thanks Moneywise Moms for letting us know about this.)

Giant's sales run from Friday - Thursday, so this deal is good through Thursday, January 21.

How to get your free toilet paper:

Step 1
Pick up an ad for Giant. Take note of the back page which lists all the Proctor and Gamble products which apply to this promotion.

Step 2
Note the shelf price for toilet paper. It was $15.49 at my Giant.

Step 3
At the above price, buy 2 packs of Charmin Bath Tissue. Pay $20.00 (sale price for Charmin this week) out of pocket. Receive $10.00 coupon for your next order.

Step 4
Buy a third pack of toilet paper. Use your $10.00 coupon to get the entire pack free.

OR

Buy two more packs of toilet paper and roll this deal as often as you wish.

I rolled the deal once and bought 4 packs, paid $30.00 out of pocket and got a 5th pack free. So, I got 96 rolls of toilet paper for $0.31/roll and 24 completely free.

There were also coupons available in Sunday's paper which can save you about $2.00 more on this deal. You can also see a list of the other products that are included in the Proctor & Gamble promo here or here.

I Made It - Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal

2010-01-18T12:35:00.003-05:00

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."

"You need to eat a good healthy breakfast."

"A hot breakfast would do you good."

Does any of that sound like your mother? Much as we don't want to admit it sometimes, Mom was right. Breakfast is important. And as mothers ourselves we want to feed our children healthy meals. But sometimes, mornings are hectic and getting a healthy breakfast on the table is a challenge.

Enter the easy and healthy recipe. I have been making this Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal recipe that I found on Lynn's Kitchen Adventures for several months. In short... we love it.

The Back Story:

I've been on a quest to feed my family something healthier than Pop-tarts and cereal for about a year now. It's taken a bit of time, but I now have a good hand-ful of recipes that I make on a regular basis that feed my family a good hot breakfast. At the top of the list is this recipe for Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal.

The Review:

This recipe goes together incredibly easily. You just melt the butter and peanut butter together, dump it in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Pour that into a pan and bake. Very simple. And there aren't any funky ingredients that I don't have on hand either! It bakes in about 20-25 minutes; just enough time to pop through the shower or read a few chapters in my Bible.

Over the past few months I've tried a few variations of this recipe. The first time I made it I got up early and made it. Since then, though, I've mixed it together the night before and then baked it in the morning. Fresh from the 'fridge I've added about 5-8 minutes to the baking time so that the top crust is just the way we like it. My family really likes peanut butter, so I usually add a bit more for us. I've also made it replacing the peanut butter with mashed banana. I use about 1 whole banana to replace the peanut butter. This has become our favorite way to eat it, because it gives my kids a bit more fruit, and those who really like peanut butter can add peanut butter to the top while it's still warm - really yummy that way.

Lynn has the recipe for a full 9x13 on her site - you can find it here. I found that a 9x13 made too much for my family. I cut the recipe in half and use an 8x8 square pan - this makes enough for our 2 adults and 2 small children with a tad leftover. It will depend, of course, on the size of your servings and appetites.

Here's the ingredients for the smaller version:

1 ½ cups quick oats

½ cup milk

¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup peanut butter, melted
1 Tbsp butter, melted
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

For the direcitions go to Lynn's Kitchen Adventures.

Updated: I've recently discovered you can cut this into squares and freeze it. Just reheat in the microwave. That makes this recipe even better in my book.

Do you have a great breakfast recipe? I'm always on the look out for good breakfast recipes. Let us know in the comments.

Menu Plan - January 17, 2010

2010-01-17T20:17:00.001-05:00

I am so glad to be back to menu planning. It really does make my week more productive and run more smoothly.

Last week we did quite well following the plan, with only a few variations. We had a few more leftovers than expected and a night out at Chick-fil-A, so a few things have been bumped to this week. I'm trying to improve the "healthy" factor at breakfast and incorporate more fruit into breakfast. We'll see how that goes over with the peanut gallery this week.

Here's the plan for this week:

Sunday:
B - cereal or Pop-tarts
D - Breakfast for Dinner (oranges, bacon, waffles)

Monday
B - Whole Wheat Banana Muffins, fried eggs
D - Spinach Bacon Frittata, cantaloupe

Tuesday
B - sausage biscuits, peaches
D - Shredded Beef BBQ Sandwiches, green beans, cantaloupe

Wednesday:
B - Waffles, peaches, ?protein
D - Still undecided. Hubby's not home. Looking for something quick/easy.

Thursday
B - Baked Oatmeal
D - Spaghetti (Hubby cooking.)

Friday: (Movie night at church)
B - bagels, scrambled eggs, peaches
D - Leftover Buffet

Saturday: (Friends for dinner)
B - Pancakes, fruit
D - Turkey, Scalloped potatoes, green beans, ??

I also have a butternut squash that I need to use. I think I'm going to try to make soup with it - maybe on Wednesday. If you have a recipe you think I should try, let me know in the comments.

For many, many more menu ideas, visit Organizing Junkie.

Win Free Groceries for a Yyear

2010-01-15T15:46:00.003-05:00

Who wouldn't love to win free groceries for a year? Especially when all it takes is a click and an email address.I found this contest on the web. Go ahead and enter. I promise I'll celebrate with you if you win!

"Looking for ways to cut your grocery costs? Try out this contest!"

Hey, I just entered this contest on Cozi.com to win free groceries for a year. All you have to do is put in your email address.

Even if you don’t enter, please click the link to help me win. (I get an extra entry for telling you.) Thanks!

View >>

Sunday Coupon Preview for 01/17/10

2010-01-15T15:18:00.002-05:00

Way back when we first got married and lived on a first-year teacher's salary one of the things I did to save money was coupon clipping. Honestly, in those days, I didn't really know what I was doing. I just clipped random coupons I thought I might need, sorted into some general categories and tried to remember what coupons I had when I went to the grocery store.

Today it's much easier to clip coupons with intentionality. One tool that makes this easier is Sunday Coupon Preview. This site lists the inserts and coupons that are expected to be out each week - before they come out on Sunday.

Here are some of the coupons that caught my eye this week...

Proctor & Gamble insert:

$1.00 any Duracell CopperTop 6 pack or larger
50c any Dawn plus hand renewal

$1.00 any Olay body wash. bar or in-shower lotion ETS

$1.00 any 2 Pantene products

75c any Crest toothpaste 4 oz or larger or liquid gel (We're running low on tootpaste!)

SmartSource:
Colgate Total $1 (2/6/10)

Cottonelle SoothingCLean Flushable Moist Wipes 36ct or 42 ct $.50/2
Cottonelle SoothingClean Flushable Moist WIpes 72 ct $.50

Huggies Diapers $

Huggies Baby Wipes $.50
Huggies Pull Ups $2
Huggies Pull Ups Flushable Moist Wipes $1

Johnsonville Italian Sausage $.55

Johnsonville Breakfast links, patties or roll sausage $.55

Johnsonville Summer Sausage $.55

Post Cereals $1/2

Silk Light Soymilk 1/2 gallon $.55
Silk Soymilk 1/2 gallon $.55

Keep in mind, the specific coupons and inserts in your area may vary from this list. The larger the distribution of your newspaper, the more coupons it will have. Also, most grocery stores in Maryland will double coupons up to $0.99, so the Crest coupon will double to $1.50, but the Colgate coupon will only be $1.00. Go visit Sunday Coupon Preveiw to get their full list.

Boy v Girl with a Bionicle box

2010-01-13T13:35:00.003-05:00

Raising a boy and a girl brings out some interesting differences...

Boy with a Bionicle box:

open box, dump it all out and start building the Bionicle (without looking at the directions, of course).

Girl with a Bionicle box:

open box, take small stuffed animal, "Scruffy", put Scruffy inside of box. Scruffy now has a home.

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

2010-01-12T18:03:00.003-05:00

Pop-tarts and cold cereal. That's what used to be a pretty standard breakfast around our house. But, along our journey to more frugal living I realized, even though you can stock up on them at very cheap prices, they're still not as cheap as from scratch food and they aren't providing as much nutrition either.

Thus, began our journey toward more healthy breakfasts and muffins became one of our standards. I now have several different muffin recipes (all variations on a theme) that can be whipped up in little time and without much thought. I usually make them while I'm in the kitchen doing something else or when my daughter is in the mood to help me cook - she loves to help measure and stir; cracking the eggs - not so much :) This week it was banana muffins because I needed to use some bananas before they went bad.

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins
(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ Cup chopped nuts (optional)
¾ cup milk
½ cup sugar
¼ cup canola oil
1 egg
1 Cup banana (~2 whole bananas), mashed

Directions:
1. Whisk together flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nuts if preferred.
2. In small bowl, mix together, milk, sugar, canola oil, egg and banana.
3. Preheat oven to 375°. (Here's why.)
3. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and combine. Batter should be lumpy, but completely wet. If it is too dry, add a small amount of milk.
4. Grease muffin tin.
5. Fill muffin tin 2/3 full (~1/4 cup of batter).
6. Bake at 400° for 17-18 minutes.
7. Turn out onto clean kitchen towel to cool.

Notes:
This recipe makes 12 muffins
I usually find that ¾ cup of milk is enough, but this last time I had to add a bit more.
These are really delicious with apple butter or pumpkin butter!

What's your favorite topping for muffins?

For more great cupcake & muffin recipes visit Cupcake Tuesday @ Hoosier Homemade
For more great recipes visit,
Tempt My Tummy @ Blessed With Grace
Tasty Tuesday @ Balancing Beauty with Bedlam
Tuesdays at the Table @ All the Small Stuff

Bible in 90 Days - Week 1 (and ½)

2010-01-12T15:55:00.001-05:00

It's been more than a week since I started this challenge and I've barely blogged at all and haven't posted any kind of update on how things are going. That's mostly been because I've been busy reading!

Reading the Bible in 90 days is definitely a challenge. It takes a good chunk of time and if you're going to be successful you have to plan for that chunk of time. Something else in life has to give - for me that's been blog & internet time.

Getting all the reading done in one day has been up and down for me, some days are great, some days are terrible. I was a full 2 ½ days behind on Sunday, but as of noon today, I only have 6 pages to finish of today's reading and I'll be completely caught up. Many thanks to my new Twitter friends for encouraging me to not give up. This has definitely made a difference in my motivation to keep going

Here are a few things I've noticed along the way (some good, some, well, - not so much)

Doing this with a community of readers has definitely helped. When I get discouraged I can send out a tweet, and the Twitter community comes back quickly with encouragement. This is definitely not something I'd want to try all alone.

Using the Bible in 90 Days has been helpful because each day's reading has a clear beginning and end. It has made keeping track of how far I need to read each day much easier.

Setting aside the time has been a struggle at times. For some it may take less than 1 hour, but for me it takes about 1¼ hours to read all 12 pages every day (I'm a slow reader). Having a set time when I will do this is helpful.

Thursday & Sunday seem to be the most difficult days for me to get all the reading done. Typically on Thursday I'm out of town most of the day, and when I get back I'm so tired I don't want to read. I'm working on a plan to either read ahead or get up earlier so I can get that day's reading done before I leave.

Sunday is a different kind of challenge. This may sound a bit oidd to some, but Sundays around here are typically quite busy and there's little down time for this momma to settle her mind and focus. (School days when kiddos are at school is easier for me.) This past Sunday I did get about ½ the reading done, but I started Monday pretty far behind.

A few observations or things I missed or topics i need to delve into further (after April 1):
From the life of Abraham: even great disciples screw up sometimes. Sometimes they screw up the same way more than once.

From Moses: Even gifted leaders need help. The needs are too many. We burn out our leaders when we expect too much of them.

Why were there so many different kinds of offerings? Why different offerings for a guilt and sin?What was the fellowship offering for?

From Numbers 14: The Isralelites, didn't have fait to enter Canaan, God rebuked them, then they tried to undo their wrong, but God was not with them and they were defeated. How does this apply to us when we don't do what God tells us, He reprimands and then we want to go back and try to undo what we didn't do correctly in the first place?

The first several days I didn't take notes at all. I just read. But, the last several days I've taken HappyHousewife's suggestion and started writing notes on sections I want to study later on. I'm hoping to track some of them here on the blog.

To find out how others are doing with their Bible in 90 Days Challenge, visit Mom's Toolbox.

Menu Plan - January 11, 2010

2010-01-10T22:55:00.003-05:00

I've been out of the habit of menu planning for a while, but it's now time to get back into the swing of things. I need the structure to make my week go more smoothly. Since my freezer and pantry are bulging and can't really hold much more I'm trying to cook predominantly from what I already have on hand before making many more stock-up purchases. Eggs have been on sale a lot recently, so they'll figure into several meals.

Here's the plan for the week:

Sunday:
B - cereal
D - mac & cheese, hot dogs, cantaloupe

Monday:
B - waffles, leftover canned peaches
D - pork stir fry & stir fried rice

Tuesday:
B - whole wheat bagels, scrambled eggs
D - leftover pork stir fry

Wednesday:
B - banana muffins & fried eggs
D - Chicken Nuggets, Asian Spinach & Fried Apples

Thursday:
B - pancakes from the freezer, cantaloupe
D - "Noodle Thing" casserole & leftover veggies

Friday:
B - Baked banana oatmeal - modification of this recipe
D - Baked Soy Lemon Pork Chops,

Saturday:
B - Apple Raisin French Toast Casserole
D - Spinach and Bacon Frittata

Need more meal plan ideas? Visit Organizing Junkie.

Stockpiling Question

2010-01-05T23:03:00.000-05:00

This week's edition of Works For Me Wednesday is Backwards. Instead of posting one of our ~~trivial~~ regular tips, bloggers are posting questions to their readers in hopes that someone will have an idea.

I've mentioned before that I am a stockpiler. I always have been. To the extent that my home and freezer will accommodate the stuff, I buy the things I use on sale (preferrably with a coupon) and try very hard not to buy them again until the next big sale - about 6 weeks later.

But there are a few obstacles to my stockpiling habits. 1) Eating habits change from time to time, requiring a change of purchases; 2) I don't make certain recipes often enough to stockpile their ingredients (i.e. whipping cream); and, 3) this is the most frustrating one - inevitably I miss the fact that I'm running low on something and have to add it to my grocery list on a non-sale week.

When #3 happens, I typically buy the generic from the cheapest store in town. This saves a little, but I always end up irritated with myself for missing the best price. Most recently this happened with peanut butter. Peanut butter is not an optional food at my house. It keeps my son alive and healthy on a daily basis. So why is it when I was down to just 2 jars of peanut butter I didn't notice and start looking for sales?

So here's the question for my incredibly savvy and intelligent readers: How do you track your stockpile so that you are buying items only on sale with coupons?

Please, help. Thank you.

Lots of bloggers are looking for answers this week. Please come share your tips and knowledge at Works or Me Wednesday.

A little Link Love

2010-01-02T07:05:00.002-05:00

Every once in a while I like to offer up a few links that I've found and really enjoyed. Here are some I've found over the past few months:

A reminder about masks: Unveil the Mask @ Beauty & Bedlam

Two Awesome lists of pumpkin recipes: Amy's Finer Things & Bake At 350

An amazing post about siblings, family pain, and redemption @ It'sAlmostNaptime

A new perspective on adoption at RealLife

Do you know your states? at JimsPages

2010 Goals

2010-01-01T17:53:00.000-05:00

Tis the season to be... writing goals. I don't make resolutions. Resolutions to me imply that they must be met. I am the Unfinished Mom. There are many things in my life that are not finished. Instead I'm going to write down goals. Some of these are things I've been working on for a while. Some I've been thinking about how to tackle and others I've been hoping to figure out for a while. So for the year 2010, here are the Unfinisehd Mom's Goals:

Spiritual
Read the Bible cover to cover in 90 days
Read my Bible every day in 2010
After March (see above) read one book per month focused on Spiritual Growth

Family
Greet my children with a smile in the morning (I am soo not a morning person; this is a challenge)
Spend some fun time (>1 hour) with each child 1x each week
Finish cleaning out my father's house so that it can be sold

Home Management
Continue to create a Home Management Binder
Create a morning and evening routine that makes daily life easier
Develop weekly & monthly routines for chores: laundry, cleaning, food prep
Streamline food preparation so that it requires less daily work
Include each child in meal prep at least 1x per week.
Declutter - kitchen desk, computer desk, bedrooms

Kitchen/Cooking
Reorganize my kitchen to reduce counter clutter
Learn to make pie crust from scratch
Learn to make Cinnamon Rolls
Learn to cook a ham

Finances:
Enter income & expenses in Quicken at least weekly.
Spend no more than $100/week on groceries; Reduce this to $80/week by July
Spend 1 hour clipping/sorting/organziing coupons each week (I've recently fallen off the bandwagon).

Personal
Read a book for fun each month
Have guests (other than family) into our home 1x/month
Exercise in some way 20 minutes 3x/week
Get 8 hours of sleep a night.

Blog
Post an entry at least 5x/week
Increase Frugal Living posts to at least 1x weekly
Create a signature line
Create a cleaner blog template
Figure out how to start making a little money ($10/month ?) with the blog.

Attend a blog conference - thinking about Relevant

These are my goals for the year. Some of them I have ideas for how to make them happen, others (i.e., create cleaner blog template) I have no idea how to begin.

For those of you with kids: How do you include a 6 and 8 yr old in meal preparation?

For those with Blogger blogs: Any ideas on how to create a signature line and or clean up my template?

Date Nut Pinwheels

2009-12-31T09:31:00.003-05:00

This recipe is an old family favorite. I grew up with Mom making them every year. And now they have become a standard part of my own Cookie Marathon each year. They do require a little more work than your standard drop cookie, but not as much as a cutout cookie. I generally think of them as a "grown up" cookie, but even my 8 year old likes them!

Date Nut Pinwheels
(printable recipe)

(Date Nut Pinwheels in foreground, Cocoons in Background)

Ingredients for Dough:
½ Cup butter
½ Cup light brown sugar
½ Cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 Cups flour
¼ tsp baking soda
pinch of salt

Ingredients for Filling:
1 (7½ oz) pkg of dates - chopped finely
1 Cup chopped nuts (we like pecans best)
½ Cup water
¼ Cup sugar
dash of salt

Directions for Dough:
1. Cream together butter, sugars, vanilla.
2. Add egg; beat until light.
3. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well.
4. Chill dough.
5. Make filling while dough chills.

Directions for Filling:
6. In small saucepan, bring dates, water, sugar and salt to a boil.
7. Simmer 5 minutes over low heat. Stir often.
8. Add chopped nuts, let cool.

To make Pinwheels:

9. Halve and roll each half into a 9x12 rectangle.*
10. Spread filling over rolled dough and roll up, starting on 12" side. Roll tightly.
11. Wrap in plastic wrap or wax paper and freeze log for several hours.
12. Pull log from freezer. Unwrap and slice into thin slices.
13. Bake on greased pan 8 minutes @ 375°.

Notes:

* Rolling dough into a rectangle is easier if you start with the dough in rectangle shape instead of a circle (see picture above).
These cookies will spread a bit so leave at least 1 inch between cookies when you lay them out.
My favorite way of eating these cookies is with a cup of coffee or hot tea.

You can find more recipes with nuts and seeds at the Ultimate Recipe Swap.

Crab Dip

2009-12-30T21:35:00.004-05:00

One of the things that makes American food great is that it is a conglomeration of the best things of many different kinds of food. In most American homes in any given week you will find anything from Italian, Mexican, Asian and yes, even American style foods. And every region of the U.S. has it's own unique foods that it does really well. If you want good Chicken & Dumplings - go south. If you want good Cajun - go to Louisiana. For baked beans - go North to Boston.

But if you want good crabs - you gotta go to Maryland. Some of my friends who grew up in Louisiana complain that Maryland's cooking is generally bland - they like their foods spicey. But there is one thing they will tell you we do well - and that is crabs. The Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab is the best crab meat you'll ever eat. The recipe I'm going to share today is all about the crab. I've tried several different crab recipes, but this one is without a doubt, the best. It tastes wonderful and is extremely easy to make.

I make this dip about twice a year - both in December. I make it for a family gathering on December 26 and I make it for New Year's Eve. I have no explanation why I crave seafood on New Year's Eve. I just do.(I apologize that I don't have a picture. Hopefully I'll remember to snap & load a picture before we eat it all New Year's Eve.)

Warning: If you serve this in Maryland - even if it's only to 2 people - you will not have any leftovers. It's that good!

Maryland Crab Dip*

(printable recipe)

Ingredients

1 lb Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab meat**
1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese, room temperature
½ Cup sour cream
1-1½ tsp Old Bay seasoning***
2 Tblsp mayonnaise
1 Tblsp lemon juice
1 ¼ tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp dry mustard
½ tsp garlic powder
1-2 Tblsp milk
½ Cup grated cheddar cheese - divided
additional Old Bay to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°.
In large bowl, mix cream cheese, sour cream, Old Bay, mayonnaise, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and garlic powder until smooth.
Add enough milk to make creamy (but not too thin).
Stir in ¼ Cup of cheddar cheese.
Fold crabmeat into mixture.
Pour into a buttered 1 qt. casserole.
Sprinkle with additional Old Bay to taste and top with remaining cheddar cheese.
Bake at 325° until bubbly and mixture is slightly browned on top (~30 minutes).
Serve warm with array of crackers or petite breads.

Notes:
* the original recipe came from a church cookbook about 25 years ago.
** Backfin crabmeat is best for this; buy it in July or August when it goes on sale for ~$8.00/lb and freeze it instead of paying $16.00/lb in December & January.
*** Old Bay is most definitely the best. Do not try to substitute other seasonings.
This recipe makes about 4 cups of dip. The number of servings will vary greatly depending upon the size of the appetites and whether I am there to eat it or not.
It also makes a great appetizer for a graze-the-buffet style event.

You can find other great New Year's Recipes & Ideas on the Ultimate Recipe Swap @ Life As Mom.
This post is also linked to the Recipe Swap @ Grocery Cart Challenge.

Free Bible in 90 Days

2009-12-30T17:05:00.001-05:00

Do you need some encouragement to read the whole Bible cover to cover?

If you're really motivated to complete the challenge, but the price tag is keeping you from participating, then you'll want to check out this post by Mom's Toolbox. She'll tell you how you can get a Bible in 90 Days Bible, for free. It won't arrive in time for Friday, but you can start in your own Bible and pick up with this one when it arrives.

Go. Get a Bible. Let's read together.

Kids' Workshop at Home Depot - FREE

2009-12-30T14:13:00.000-05:00

Every year it happens. A few days after Christmas, all the new toys have been tried. The family has been visited and the kids are starting to climb the walls. There are more days before the kids go back to school and you're looking for something new to keep them occupied for a while - other than plopping them in front of a video screen.

There's a great opportunity to burn off some of that cabin fever this Saturday, January 2 at Home Depot. This week kids will be creating a perpetual calendar. The hands-on sessions run from 9:00 AM -12:00 PM and are offered at most Home Depot stores. You'll need to echeck with your local store to see if they're running it and if you need to register. Our local store is running the workshop and does not require that you sign up. I am looking forward to taking our kids to this one because our Kindergartner is still learning her months and this will be a great way to reinforce her calendar skills.

Thanks to Moneywise Moms for the heads up!

90 Day Challenge Accepted

2009-12-28T16:58:00.002-05:00

We've accepted a challenge.

Hubby and I have agreed to accept the challenge and read the whole Bible in 90 days in 2010.

I will tell you up front, I am quite nervous about accepting this challenge. You see I've never read the whole Bible all at once before. I have read several whole books of the Bible at various times, some of them several times. I have attempted to read the whole Bible several times, but I've never succeeded in reading the whole thing from beginning to end. I usually get backed up and then get frustrated and give up. But, God has been teaching me perseverance and with the help of some real-life encouragement from Hubby as well as some online encouragement I am determined to succeed this time.

Why I accepted the Challenge:
I have been a Christian over 30 years, and yet I've never read all of God's Word. This has been a continual frustration and embarrassment for me. I believe with all my heart that God is as real today as He ever was. I believe that He continues to speak to us through the Bible. It is just as applicable today as it was when it was first written down. While I also believe that God speaks to us through many ways, these need to be checked against the perfect standard - the Bible. If I'm not reading God's word every day, then I cannot check what I am hearing from other sources against the perfect standard.

Why the 90 Day Challenge?
I think taking a full year to read the Bible has been a problem for me in the past. Too many things can interrupt and change my schedule in a year and then I get off track. Tackling it in 90 days seems to allow for fewer interruptions. I have decided to use the suggestions from Mom's Toolbox and use the Bible that's organized for the 90 Challenge. I certainly don't need another Bible but, this one is thin enough to be portable, the type is large enough to reduce eye-strain, and it's laid out in daily sections (12 pages per day). All of this seems to make sense to me and I think it will be help me achieve the goal.

If you are interested in finding out more about the challenge go here to Mom's Toolbox. The products are not mandatory, but I think the format will be helpful for me. Hubby is using his own NIV Bible to complete the challenge. I found the best price at Amazon (see my sidebar), but you can find the suggested resources at several different sites including Christian Book Distributors and at Biblein90Days.org.

I would love to know,

Have you ever read the Bible from cover to cover?
If you have, what method or strategy did you find helpful the first time you accomplished it?
If you haven't, what were the obstacles that prevented success?

A Different Plan - Part 2 (A New Plan)

2009-12-19T09:44:00.002-05:00

Remember when I said I had a plan?

We had all the details worked out. A schedule for everyone.

But, God had a different plan.

Christmas Eve I was finished. All my presents were wrapped. The pie I would take for dinner was baked and ready. Hubby had someone to fill in for him for Christmas Eve service (just in case). I stayed home that evening to put Joseph to bed at 7:00.

Hubby got home about 8:30. He still had a few things to wrap. So, I puttered around on the computer for a bit while he finished up. Then, as had become our tradition for Christmas Eve, we watched "It's a Wonderful Life" and went to bed.

As we were getting ready for bed, I felt a bit uncomfortable. I thought it was indigestion. It would pass. And it did. Hubby wondered if it was something else.

Then, it happened again ... about 10 minutes later. Hmmm. This is different than any indigestion I'd had before. Hubby thought it was indigestion. I said, "I'm scheduled for a C-section in 36 hours."

It happened again. Hubby decided it was time to call.

Resigned sigh.

I called the doctor. He called his mother to stay with Joseph.

All previous plans went out the window and a whole new plan began.

The details of the trip to the hospital and the hours after we arrived are mostly a fog. We arrived almost simultaneously with 2 other couples. One delivered before me.

Cora arrived about 4 AM Christmas morning. Our Christmas baby.

The plan had changed, but oh what a beautiful present.

Mary had a plan too. She was getting married.

But God had a different plan.

There was a visit from an angel. She was going to have a baby.

A pregnancy she hadn't wanted. What would she tell her family? What would she tell Joseph? How would he react? What would he say? The questions multiplied as the days continued.

All previous plans went out the window and a whole new plan began.

Then there was a decree from Caesar. They had to go to Bethlehem. They wouldn't even be home when her baby arrived. She wouldn't have her mother to help her. Or the other local mid-wives. What if something happened while they were traveling? More questions. The plan changed again.

And while they were away, it happened. They tried to find a place to stay, but the city was crowded. A stable near an inn was all that was available. At least it was under some cover away from the elements.

The details are fuzzy. We don't know very much - and it doesn't matter.

Sometime that day, Jesus arrived. The Christmas baby.

The plan had changed, but oh what an amazing present!

Coming Soon ... Part 3 (Attitude Adjustment)

Cookie Marathon! Day 3

2009-12-18T12:37:00.002-05:00

The Cookie Marathon continues today after a brief break yesterday, so that I could go work at my Dad's house.

Currently there are Date Nut Pinwheel logs in the freezer. Once they're frozen they'll be cut into cookies and baked, probably tomorrow morning.

Just to keep things real - this is what my kitchen looks like right now:

I've got to wash a bunch of dishes before I can do the next thing. On days like this, I really wish I had 2 bowls for my mixer. I prepped the ingredients for the Cocoons while the filling for the pinwheels was cooking. So they will be next. Then I'll work on Chocolate Chip Cookies and make the dough for the Sugar Cookies.

Since we are likely to get several inches of snow tomorrow I think we'll probably finish up the kids' Christmas shopping tonight and we will bake the sugar cookies tomorrow while it snows. Sounds like fun to me!

If you'd like to see the rest of Cookie Marathon 2009 go here.

Updated Sat. AM: I'm pretty much done with cookies. I got the Date Nut Pinwheels & Cocoons baked. One batch of Chocolate Chips baked and then I got sidetracked by getting ready for the big snow. (20-30 inches predicted as of this morning.) My kitchen has not yet recovered, but being stuck inside all day will give me plenty of opportunity to get it cleaned - assuming I don't get too distracted watching the snow. When I finally get it all together, I'm also hoping to make the Sugar Cookies with the kids today. I'll post a final update.

Cookie Marathon - Day 2 Update

2009-12-16T22:10:00.001-05:00

It's 10:00 on Day 2 of the Cookie Marathon and I'm too tired to continue tonight.

So with here's what we've made:
~~Cinnamon Ornaments~~ (okay, not a cookie, but we did make them)
~~Chocolate Crinkles~~ (double batch)
Chocolate Chips
~~Turkish Hats~~
~~Reeses's Chewey Chocolate Cookies~~
Sugar Cookies
Date Nut Pinwheels
Cocoons
~~Chocolate Dingalings~~
~~Chocolate Crackers~~ (recipe below)
Moravian Spice Cookie Wafers (delicious, but time consuming)
~~Rosenmunnar~~
~~Lemon Cake Mix Cookies~~ (I added these while I was waiting for butter to soften this morning)

The Rosenmunnar turned out well. Not perfect, but really good. I love these cookies, but I've discovered this is a slightly finicky cookie. The recipe calls for cooking them 12-15 minutes, but I think you should start checking them at 8-9 minutes.

I'd really hoped to get the Date Nut Pinwheels into the freezer tonight, but it just didn't happen. I want to be sure we have several non-chocolate varieties to choose from in addition to all the chocolate laden cookies. They pinwheels will wait for another day.

Cookie Marathon! Day 2

2009-12-16T10:31:00.003-05:00

The Cookie Marathon continues at my house today.

Here's where we are so far with my list:
~~Cinnamon Ornaments~~ (okay, not a cookie, but we did make them)
Chocolate Crinkles - dough made, ready to bake
Chocolate Chips
~~Turkish Hats~~
~~Reeses's Chewey Chocolate Cookies~~
Sugar Cookies
Date Nut Pinwheels
Cocoons
Chocolate Dingalings
~~Chocolate Crackers~~ (recipe below)
Moravian Spice Cookie Wafers (delicious, but time consuming)
Rosenmunnar (Swedish thumbprint cookies)

Planned for today:
Chocolate Chips
Chocolate Crinkles baked
Rosenmunnar (it's a cold, crisp day - a good day to make these)
Date Nut Pinwheels - dough & filling made, rolled and into freezer
Sugar Cookie Dough - ready for kiddos to cut & decorate tonight.

Chocolate Crackers
(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

1 Cup butter
1 Cup sugar (or brown sugar)
1 tsp vanilla
35-38 saltine crackers (~1 sleeve)
8 oz chocolate chips
1 Cup chopped nuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°.
Boil together butter, sugar, vanilla for 3 minutes. DO NOT STIR.
Line 10x15 cookie pan with sides* with foil, grease. Cover with saltine crackers.
Pour syrup (above) over and spread.
Bake at 325° for 8 minutes.
Remove from oven and score through middle and side of each cracker for easy separation later.
Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Spread as they melt.
Sprinkle lightly with finely chopped nuts.

Notes:
* A 10x15 cookie pan will fit the crackers perfectly. You will need to cut 2-3 down the middle to fill in one edge.
I've never tried using Reynolds Release Non-stick foil, but I think it would work well.
We like pecans on the top, but the nuts are really optional.

Be sure to come back and check on my progress!
You can see the other Cookie Marathon posts here.

DIY - Make Your Own Ornaments

2009-12-15T22:05:00.001-05:00

Every year there is the dilemma... what to give a teacher? What to give the grandparents? Some are easier to find gifts for than others.

A few years ago, a friend gave me this very easy and inexpensive recipe for ornaments. It has now become a tradition in our house. We make them every year and give them to teachers, bus drivers, Sunday School teachers, grandparents, even the mail carrier!

Cinnamon Ornaments
(printable recipe)

Supplies/Ingredients:

¾ Cup applesauce
1 Cup cinnamon (4.12 oz bottle)
wax paper
rolling pin
cookie cutters
1 drinking straw

Directions:
1. Mix applesauce and cinnamon with hands in small bowl until smooth ball of dough is formed.

2. Using ~¼ of dough, roll dough to ¼ inch thickness between sheets of wax paper.

3. Peel off top sheet, cut into desired shapes with cookie cutter.

4. Make a hole in top with drinking straw.

5. Place ornaments on a lined baking sheet.*

6. Let stand 2-3 days, turning occasionally, until dry. OR, bake 2½ hours @ 200°.

7. Insert ribbon through hole and tie.

Notes:
* It is very important to line the baking sheet with waxed paper or parchment. If you dry them on an unlined baking sheet, the ornaments will react with the metal and discolor.
One recipe makes enough for 7 teachers, 1 bus driver and 3 grandparents for us, but it depends on the size of your ornaments.
You can get more ornaments by rolling the dough thinner, however thinner ornaments tend to break more easily.
You may also decorate these with opaque paint.

These ornaments are a whole lot of fun to make with the kids. They're also super cheap and that definitely Works for Me!

Do you have a fun craft you like to make with the kids each year?

Reese's Chewy Chocolate Cookies

2009-12-15T16:35:00.001-05:00

These cookies are Hubby's favorites and have become a must-have in our Christmas Cookie Collection. They are a lot like Chocolate Chips, but with a chocolate cookie and peanut butter chips.

Reese's Chewy Chocolate Cookie
(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

2 Cups flour
¾ Cups cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1¼ Cup butter, softened (2½ sticks)
2 Cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
10 oz pkg Reese's peanut butter chips

Directions:

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt
Beat butter and sugar until fluffy
Add eggs and vanilla. Beat well.
Slowly add flour mixture. Beat well.
Stir in peanut butter chips.
Drop by rounded teaspoons on greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350° 8-9 minutes.
Cool slightly, then remove to rack to cool.

Notes:
This makes 4-5 dozen. Today I got 7 dozen.
As with most cookies, letting the butter soften sufficiently will affect how they bake, and in particular how much they spread. These (in the photo) today, I didn't let the butter soften long enough. Usually they spread a bit more.

Be sure to check out the other cookies as my Cookie Marathon continues!

For more great recipes visit,
Tempt My Tummy @ Blessed With Grace
Tasty Tuesday @ Balancing Beauty with Bedlam
Tuesdays at the Table @ All the Small Stuff

Cookie Marathon!

2009-12-15T14:56:00.005-05:00

The Cookie Marathon has been an off and on part of my Christmas traditions since I was a teenager.

I've been planning today's Cookie Marathon for several days, but unfortunately there have been some interruptions along the way...

1) Hubby didn't take as long Christmas Shopping as I thought he would.
2) I'm missing a few ingredients I thought I had on hand (not a huge deal, I'll just do those recipes tomorrow instead).
3) Joseph was sent home from school because he bumped his face on a shelf. He's got quite the shiner just below his eye and had originally said his vision was a bit blurry. He's currently at the Pediatric Ophthalmologist with Hubby.

A Cookie Marathon always starts with a little prep work. Usually you make sure you have all your ingredients for all the various recipes you want to make before you start.

I missed that one this year.

I have also found it very helpful to have plenty of cookie cooling space available

Yes, that's the Cookie Sheet covering that table. Underneath is the box of cookie tins. I'll be rooting through that box from time to time over the next few days.

I've started today with the Reese's Chewey Chocolate Cookies because they are quick and easy. They also tend to last the longest around our house. They are a favorite of hubby, but he doesn't come close to eating the whole batch. I'll post the recipe for those soon.

I've also made a batch of Turkish Hats, but for some reason I didn't get very many this year, so I'll have to make a second batch.

Here's the list of absolute must-have cookies at our house:
Chocolate Crinkles
Chocolate Chips
Turkish Hats
Reeses's Chewey Chocolate Cookies
Sugar Cookies
Date Nut Pinwheels
Cocoons - I'll have to dig up this recipe; Mom used to make them and my brother has requested them.

On the optional list are:
Chocolate Dingalings
Chocolate Crackers (can you tell we like chocolate at our house?)
Moravian Spice Cookie Wafers (delicious, but time consuming)
Rosenmunnar (Swedish thumbprint cookies)

And on the list of cookies I've never tried but would like to are:
Chocolate Thumbprints
Candy Cane Cookies
Gingerbread Cookies
Spritz cookies - I have several recipes to choose from.
Brown Sugar Cookies

Here's the current state of my back table:

What are your family's favorite cookies?

$100 Gift Card Giveaway @ MoneySavingMom

2009-12-14T15:41:00.000-05:00

Have you been to MoneySavingMom today? She's giving away 5 $100 giftcards to ShopAtHome. ShopAtHome works the same way as Ebates. You sign up for an account, use them as your portal to online shopping and then get cash back from your purchases!

What could you do with an extra $100 11 days before Christmas?

A Different Plan

2009-12-14T08:05:00.022-05:00

Ever had a plan that didn't go exactly as planned? I had one. I had all the details worked out.

To start, my attitude stunk.

I was due on December 29. Four days after Christmas.

Uh oh.

I did not want to have a baby on Christmas Day.

Joseph was just 2 years old. This would be the first Christmas he was really aware of anything. I wanted to be there to watch him open presents. I wanted to see his face and hear his squeals. This was my son! We were starting our own family traditions. It was important for me to be there.

I did not want to have that baby on Christmas Day.

So, we made a plan and scheduled the C-section for December 26. We would go to my sister's for dinner on Christmas Day; Joseph would stay at her house that evening, so that Hubby and I could leave for the Hospital before dawn the next morning.

He would stay at my sister's that day and my father would bring him to the hospital to see his new sister. Then, my mother-in-law would stay with him at our house for several days while I was in the hospital. We had it all worked out.

God had a different plan.

Mary had plans. She was engaged to a kind man. They were going to be married.

She was making plans for their life together after the wedding. She gathered the things she would need; discussed the plans with her mother. How many bowls would she need? How many blankets?

She would take care of Joseph. She looked forward to cooking for him. Later they would have children. The families were excited. She would make a good wife and mother.

God had a different plan. A better plan.

Coming Soon... Part 2

Menu Plan - December 14, 2009

2009-12-13T23:39:00.004-05:00

So it's 12 days till Christmas and 7 days till we have family coming in from 2000 miles away! The tree is decorated, the house is decorated, most of the gifts are bought. There's still cookies to bake, cards to write and gifts to wrap. There is a need to keep things simple.

So here's what's on the simple plan this week:

Sunday:
B - cereal
D - Spinach and Bacon Frittata (Yummy & super quick & easy, you should try this!)

Monday
B - Banana Pancakes (I should make ahead tonight, but the kitchen is clean and I refuse to mess it up again!)
D - Pizza Meatloaf (from the freezer), green beans, carrots

Tuesday
B - Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins & scrambled eggs
D - Shredded Beef Soft Tacos

Wednesday
B - Banana Baked Oatmeal (adjustment of this recipe)

D - Parmesan Crusted Porkchops(?)

Thursday
B - Waffles
D - Probably leftovers or a casserole of some kind.

Friday
B - Eggs in a Hole
D - Pizza (using this dough recipe and this sauce recipe) w/ ham & pineapple

Saturday
B - Cinnamon Rolls? Maybe. (Still hoping to finally get these made.)
D - TBD, something w/ shredded beef?

Side Dishes will include these from my freezer and stockpile: salad, peaches, green beans, corn, mashed potatoes.

As I look over this plan for the week, I'm thinking there will probably be several adjustments. Wednesday will probably end up being a Crock-pot night, just so I don't have to think about dinner and homework all at the same time. It's a plan. It's not written in concrete, just jello.

I am much more hopeful about Cookie Baking this week since all the decorating is now finished. I'll post recipes as they are completed.

Anybody have directions for creating baked Taquitos? I think my family would really like them, but I'm a bit baffled on how to create them. These Southwest/Mexican recipes are pretty new to me.

For more great menu planning ideas visit Organizing Junkie.

Humbled

2009-12-12T20:05:00.002-05:00

Wow. I'm amazed and humbled.

I feel so honored to have people reading my blog. It really is kind of amazing to me that there are people interested in the thoughts and trials of this Unfinished Mom.

Several times over the last few months some wonderful readers have given me an award. The latest one came from Joshlin at Saving Moms Sanity. It surprised the daylights out of me, because I just don't think of myself in that way. So, thanks to Joshlin for this honor.

The Best Blog Award rules are:

1. To accept the award, post it in your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his/her blog link.

2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you have recently discovered and think are great! Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Okay. Confessions: I don't think I'm going to have time to find 15 new blogs to pass this along to. So, I'm going to join Joshlin in her rebellion and pass it along to 8 other bloggers. Please, if your blog isn't listed, don't take it as an insult, it just means I ran out of time.

I will pass this award to:

# 1Caroline at QAMom

I love the peaceful theme of her blog and, though she's new to the blogosphere,

I think she's off to a great start.

#2 Erin at Closing Time

I keep running into her blog when I visit various memes. I am enjoying getting to know her. I've also gottten some really good tips from her.

#3 Penny at My Life on Planet Mom

She's new to being a Stay at Home mom and learning so much about how wonderful it is.

#4 Mikki at The Not So Perfect Housewife
Mikki is also kinda new to blogging. I think we're going to find that Unfinished Mom
and the Not So Perfect Housewife have a lot in common.

#5 The Frugal Girl
Okay, so this one isn't new and it isn't even new to me. I've been reading her blog for a few months and I've really enjoyed it. I think she's the one that inspired me to actually shop at a thrift store for once in my life.

#6 Mother Hen at Ship Full of Pirates
She blogs about her oh so unusual (for me) life in Texas raising 5 boys and a girl (oh my!)

#7 Amy at Mason Dixon Magnolia
She's a friend IRL who recently began her own blog. She's already posted some really great frugal tips and some great inspiration for this mom.

#8 Jennifer at Saving and Giving
Amy actually introduced me to her. This is where we found the tip for peeling a potato in 10 seconds. I also discovered we have similar tastes in blogs - our blog rolls are very similar!

Superman Birthday Cake

2009-12-09T22:01:00.000-05:00

I've been puttering around all day decluttering this, running that to the post office, all the while wondering... What am I going to post?

Then, as I was browsing one of my favorite blogs, I remembered ... I've never posted the picture of Joseph's birthday cake! I've been meaning to do this for quite some time. So, well, here it is...

This amazing creation is thanks to two very special women.

First, my mom. Mom decorated cakes, including my wedding cake, for about 20 years as a side business. I remember watching in fascination as she created flowers of many varieties. For a brief period of time I even tried to learn myself, but alas at 15 I didn't have the patience. I have no idea why Mom originally bought this pan. I'm sure she used it several times. What's really amazing is that it was still in the house. (Mom died 9 years ago and I thought we'd given all the cake decorating stuff to a cousin!) My sister and I were cleaning out a closet in early October and came across this pan, with the plastic face & emblem and a doll cake pan. I knew if I could pull it off they would be a hit with my young ones.

Second, my friend IRL Amy. She decorates cakes too. I called on her for the icing recipe. One of the few things I remembered from Mom was that "Betty Crocker Butter Cream" would not work for this kind of decorating. Amy not only gave me the recipe, but several really good tips along the way. It was very helpful. I am very grateful.

Joseph was thrilled with his Superman cake. I was thrilled that it turned out so well.

Now, I have to figure out how to make a princess cake for Cora. I have no idea how to make the tiny flowers or the ruffles. I've got some more research to do. A pink princess birthday cake on Christmas? Can I put red flowers on a pink cake? Should be interesting!

Chicken & Dumplings

2009-12-07T22:55:00.004-05:00

It snowed here on Saturday. It snowed 6 inches. And it was a wet snow. I'd hate to think how much it would have been if it had been a dry fluffy snow. For us, in early December - 5" of snow is a lot. The kids & hubby had a blast playing around in it while I went to the grocery store for a few deals. When I got home Kids' Choir Rehearsal had been cancelled and the troops were hungry and cold. So, I decided this would be a good time to re-jigger the menu plan and make some comfort food. At our house that means Chicken & Dumplings.

Now I am the first to admit, I am not from the south and I do not cook like a Southerner. I did not grow up with a Mama that made Chicken & Dumplings all the time. She did start making them when I was in college, but I'm still not sure it would pass muster for a true Southerner. Mom made what she called "slick dumplings". Her sister made dumplings more like biscuits (Isn't it curious the way 2 sisters from the same family come up with different recipes). I preferred the "slick dumplings", so when I finally set about learning to make them, that's what I made. The original recipe came from a church cookbook published about the time I was learning to cook and came from a very nice lady who was also a wonderful cook. I have since re-worked the recipe to fit my more frugal (and slightly healthier) style. The Dumplings are still her recipe, but the stew portion are my own.

Chicken & Dumplings
(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

6 Cups Chicken Stock (I use my own homemade)
2 carrots, peeled and sliced small
2 ribs celery, chopped
Cooked chicken* - diced or shredded (equal to 1 thigh, 1 breast)
salt & pepper to taste

For Dumplings:

2 Cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp (rounded) shortening
1 Cup milk

Directions:

Pour stock into large pot over medium-high heat, bring to boil.
When stock is boiling, add chopped vegetables and chicken
Bring back to a boil, and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Add salt and pepper to taste
While stock is simmering, make dumplings.
Mix dumpling ingredients into dough (you may not need all the milk).
Knead and roll the dough very thin.
Cut in strips, about 1x2 inch pieces.
Drop into boiling chicken broth.
Boil until done (~10 minutes). Taste for doneness.
Mix small amount of milk and flour together. Add to stew to thicken. (This can be adjusted to your family's preference.)

Notes:
Yields enough for 4-6 people depending upon appetite.
* I usually have chicken meat shredded or diced in the freezer. Sometimes it's a breast I have boiled and shredded for future meals, sometimes I shred the leftover meat from a roasted chicken.

Breyer's Ice Cream - $0.69/each @ Martin's!!!

2009-12-07T15:51:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since I posted a grocery deal, partly because they can get complicated and time consuming to post, but this one deserves some attention. $0.69/Breyer's Ice Cream this week at Martin's!!!

Martin's has Beyer's Ice Cream on sale for $2.69/each this week. That's a pretty good deal.
If you buy 5 you save $4.00 instantly; bringing the cost/each down to $1.89/each - a really good deal.

But, if you also have coupons, you can make this a fantastic-not-to-be-beat deal!
Martin's newspaper ads contained 4 $1.00 Coupon Doublers (with a $15.00 minimum purchase) this week.

There were $1.00/2 or $0.75/1 coupons in the 10/18/09 newspapers inserts (not sure which one).

Here's what I did:
Bought 6 Breyer's Ice cream. (regular price - $3.75/each): Total before discounts & coupons: $22.50

Used Martin's loyalty card - price/each $2.69: Saved $6.36
Bought 5 or more: Saved $4.00 instantly

Used $1.00/2 coupon, + Martin's Coupon Doubler: Saved $2.00
(Note - I bought 6 so that I could hit the $15.00 minimum on the coupn doubler.)

Used 4 $0.75/ coupon (see below how to get more): Saved $6.00

Total after all Discounts & Coupons: $4.14 for 6 cartons of ice cream!

This deal ends Saturday, December 12, 2009.

If you'd like to do this deal, but don't have the coupons available I suggest going to Coupons & Things by Dede. When I checked earlier today they still had 85 coupons in stock for $0.75/Breyers Ice Cream. Each coupon costs $0.10/each. You'll probably have to find some other hot coupons or inserts to add to it, since Coupons & Things has a $5.00 minimum. But it's not unusual to find an insert or two that I'd like. I generally find that the turnaround time is pretty good at Coupons & Things.

Good Luck!

Menu Plan - December 7, 2009

2009-12-07T13:25:00.002-05:00

Considering I didn't really have a plan last week, meals went pretty well. We had one disaster and one unexpected dinner at home because of snow (a bit odd to have 6 inches of snow in MD in early December, but I'll take it - it was a whole lot of fun!)

Hubby's schedule is a bit more normal this week, so I'm planning to do more cooking at home. We do have a bunch of leftovers to use up and my stockpile is sort of overflowing it's bounds so I'll be cooking from the freezer/stockpile a good bit this week.

Here's what's on the plan this week:

Sunday:
B - cereal
D - Dinner @ church for Christmas Dinner & Show

Monday
B - Banana Pancakes
D - Hamburgers, green beans, carrots

Tuesday
B - Oatmeal w/ various additions
D - Planning to try this recipe if I can find directions for Taquitos

Wednesday
B -Waffles

D - Parmesan Crusted Porkchops
or these that are on Organizing Junkie's plan this week.

Thursday
B - Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (from freezer)
D - Chicken & Dumplings leftovers from Saturday (frozen in the meantime)

Friday
B - French Toast
D - Pizza (using this dough recipe and this sauce recipe) w/ ham & pineapple

Saturday
B -Cinnamon Rolls? Maybe. (If I keep putting them on the plan, maybe I'll finally get them made.)
D - Possibly going to a party, if not - Chicken Stir Fry

Side Dishes will include these from my freezer and stockpile: salad, peaches, green beans, corn, mashed potatoes.

I am hoping to do some Cookie Baking this week as well. It kind of depends on how much I can get ~~done~~ declutter today, whether any of that will happen in the next day or two.

Anybody have directions for how to create Taquitos? These Southwest/Mexican recipes are all pretty new to me.

For more great menu planning ideas visit Organizing Junkie.

Nests

2009-12-04T13:15:00.001-05:00

our daughter loves to make little "nests". On any given day there is no predicting when or where you will find a little nests of stuff. Cora collects a few things from her room, finds a spot to play, and creates a little nest. Today's nest is this:

Just in case you're not sure what you're seeing: that's her doll in a basket which she lined with a doll size pillow and wrapped her hot pink boa around the edges. And it's sitting on the back of our living room couch. I'm not sure why she thought that was "just the right place for it." She calls it the baby's bed.

Personally, I think this hot pink nest is A Finer Thing.

Printable Coupons

2009-12-04T11:50:00.000-05:00

Have you discovered Coupons.Com yet?

Right now there are some great and unusual coupons available at Coupons.com.

Here are just a few of the more unusual coupons available right now.

Christmas Highlights:
$5.00/$20.00 My Little Pony purchase.

$5.00/$20.00 any Star Wars toy purchase.
$5.00 - $10.00 off various Hasbro and Playschool toys

Lactose Intolerant:
$1.00/any Coconut Milk (any unit of beverage)
$1.00/1 LACTAID Milk Product
$1.00/any 8th Continent Soy Milk Product (at Safeway)

If you've never used printable coupons before it really is very easy.
1) Register and Sign in at Coupons.com
2) Click through and choose which coupons you can use.
3) If you've never printed coupons before, it will prompt you to download a bit of software. This will enable you to print the barcodes on the coupons. Having this on my computer has never been a problem and I've printed many coupons this way.
4) Print your coupons.

There are several other sites where you can find printable coupons as well, but I find Coupons.com to be the best place to start.

Why You Should Clean Your Oven

2009-12-03T23:00:00.001-05:00

When the occasional accident occurs as you remove dinner from the oven...

... it is helpful to have a clean oven, so that you can at least scrape up most of the food and use it, rather than needing to throw it away.

Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow (assuming it doesn't rain again!)

For more frugal tips visit Frugal Friday @ Life as Mom.

The Cookie Sheet

2009-12-01T21:05:00.003-05:00

The coupon inserts have been full of baking coupons and baking ingredients have been on sale for several weeks. The smell of fresh baked cookies is just around the corner. The blogosphere will be full of cookie recipes over the next few months and lots of websites are hosting Cookie Countdowns. All this means cookie baking time is here! Are you planning to bake cookies this year?

I love baking Christmas cookies. It's one of my favorite Christmas traditions. Growing up cookie baking took several forms. Sometimes it was bake a batch here and there. But, when I was in middle school, cookie baking became a cookie marathon.

My mom, an aunt and one of their friends would get together at our house and bake cookies all day long. I got to be there a few times through unusual events -- a major bought of bronchitis coincided with cookie baking day.

It was about this time that an unusual tradition began in our family:

the use of the cookie sheet.

This is not the kind of sheet you put cookies on and bake in the oven. This is an old bedsheet used to cover the table and allow the cookies to cool before they are boxed up.

My mom had one that she used for many years, and later after she passed away, I raided the closet and found the sheet. Now I use the same sheet to cover my table and cool cookies as I cook them.

In my memory, the many dozens of cookies were primarily consumed by my siblings and I. But occasionally they would be shared. Today, I give away many cookies as gifts to teachers, neighbors and specials friends.

Baking Cookies for friends and neighbors and using the Cookie Sheet definitely works for me.

Menu Planning - Not happening

2009-11-30T15:42:00.001-05:00

So it's now 3:30 on Monday and I haven't done a weekly menu plan.

Tomorrow is December, and in our house that means just about anything could happen to the schedule. This week in particular is going to be crazy. We have 3 big rehearsals, 1 school project due and 1 major doctor's appointment thrown into an already busy month. Most of our dinners are going to be of the quick fix, quick eat variety. Monday & Tuesday are likely to be the only days I have much time to prepare a meal and we're all home to eat it.

So, I'm thinking at this point, I'm not likely to do a written plan for the week, and I'm certainly not likely to do a full month of menu planning like I've done the past several months. That doesn't mean we'll be eating out. There's plenty of food in the fridge and freezer ready to prep & use quickly. So I'll be relying a lot on my stockpile this week.

Here's what I do know we will be eating this week:

Leftover Chicken Tettrazini
Chicken Stir Fry
Indonesian Ginger Chicken
Some kind of chicken casserole
Spaghetti

I'm not sure when exactly some of these will be happening. I'll probably decide each morning, depending on what the day's schedule is looking like.

Breakfasts will continue to be of the oatmeal, muffin, pancake, waffle rotation we've been doing recently. And Lunches will continue to be sandwiches & leftovers which seem to work so well for our family.

Sometimes life is busy and you have to roll with it. I refuse to fret over it. Other things are much more important this week.

Turkey Follies

2009-11-25T20:05:00.005-05:00

Cooking a turkey once a year is an almost surefire way to be a nervous turkey cook. Some families have turkey several times a year. We weren't one of them. We had turkey on Thanksgiving and Christmas and then never again until the following Thanksgiving. And rarely did my mother fix the turkey. Growing up it was usually my aunt who fixed the turkey, dressing and gravy; the rest of us brought side dishes and desserts.

So, when I got married and started hosting my in-laws there was a steep learning curve. The first year I fixed a turkey I planned that dinner for weeks in advance and then made about 6 phone calls to my mother during the course of the day with questions. Where exactly do I put the thermometer? Does this get covered in foil? What about that? I learned a lot from that experience. I learned to prepare early, make lots of lists and time-lines and check them all twice.

One year I went through my usual routine. I didn't have as much to do that year as several family members were contributing side dishes. The turkey was bought well in advance. It was thawed in the refrigerator for several days before cooking. A few days early I checked the grocery list and bought any missing ingredients from my checklist. The day before Thanksgiving I gathered all the various equipment I would need: roasting pan, rack, cotton string, probe thermometer.

I started early that Thanksgiving day preparing the turkey. I unwrapped it, pulled out the neck and gizzard packet which I never use. Rinsed it thoroughly and patted it dry. I stuffed it with the appropriate aromatics and seasoned it well. Placed the thermometer just so and set it in the oven to roast for several hours.

Things were going along very well. The turkey was smelling really good. Our family started to arrive and we began to prepare the side dishes. I kept thinking the timer should be going off soon. I'd go check the thermometer to see how things were going.

"Gee it seems to be moving kind of slowly. I thought it should be further along by now. Hmm."

I'd wait a bit and check it again.

My sister commented, "So, when's the turkey going to be done?"

"I'm not sure. I really thought it would be done by now."

This conversation repeated 2 or 3 times. It wasn't a huge deal as we'd planned to eat early and none of us were in a big rush to go off somewhere else. Several stomachs began to grumble.

My husband, the non-cook, mosied into the kitchen and said,

"Sharon, Do you know this thermometer is set on Celsius?"

"Um... No. As a matter of fact I didn't! I didn't know you could set it for Celsius. How did that happen? How do I set it back?"

"There's a button on the bottom - C for Celsius; F for Farenheit."

"What's it say if you set it to Farenheit?"

"Umm. Yeah. It's done."

Many sighs of relief all across the house.

So, if your turkey isn't done when you think it should be, you might want to check the thermometer. It may not be the oven or the turkey. It may just be a tiny white button on the bottom of the thermometer that got flipped.

Have a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!

Photo courtesy of Davidlat

Review - Wanchai Ferry & Romano's Macaroni Grill

2009-11-23T22:47:00.001-05:00

About 2 months ago as I was browsing one of my favorite money saving websites I came across a post about the General Mills Pssst program. When you sign up, periodically they will send you free products for you to try and review on their site. They also send you coupons for the products to use and distribute to friends. About 3 weeks ago I received in the mail two samples to try: the newest Wanchai Ferry flavor, Orange Chicken, and the newest Romano's Macaroni Grill flavor, Chicken Piccata. Both retail for about $4.80.

Wanchai Ferry: Orange Chicken

We tried the Wanchai Ferry Orange Chicken first. It comes with rice, seasoning for the chicken, orange sauce and red chilies. You provide water, chicken, vegetable oil and any vegetables you wish to add. In short, my family loved it. It was really delicious and very easy to prepare. My son, the tender tongue, thought it was too spicey (I only used one red chilie, not all 4 that were included.) The directions were very easy to follow, especially if you've ever stir fried before. I added about 1 ½ cups of green & red pepper to it and there was still enough sauce for all the food The package says it contains 4 servings, but my family of 2 adults and 2 young children easily ate all of it. In fact, we were wishing for a bit more rice.

My family gave it 3 ½ out of 4 thumbs up.

Romano's Macaroni Grill: Chicken Piccata

We tried the Chicken Piccata second. It comes with angel hair pasta, cooking wine with lemon juice, seasoned flour and piccata sauce seasoning. You provide chicken, butter, and water. There are no veggies to add to this, but it would go quite nicely with a side alad or other veggies. Again, this was also very easy to make. The directions are easy to follow and clear. My family really loved this one. Hubby wasn't home when I fixed it, but had some leftovers the next day for lunch. It was still delicious. For various reasons, I usually try to limit the cheese dishes we have. This was a great pasta dish sans cheese and without tomatoes. It was so good I went in search of a recipe I could make from scratch! The one suggestion I'd make is to really watch the sauce as it's reducing. I got distracted and let it go too long so the sauce was a bit thicker than it should have been. This box indicated it makes 6 servings. In this case we found we had too many noodles for 4 people, but 1 lb of chicken was just right for us.

My family gave this 4 out of 4 stars.

A few general thoughts:
We really enjoyed these dinners and as long as you remember to pull the chicken out of the freezer the night before, they make a quick dinner. You do need to add side dishes. The down side is that, considering they only contain the grain and seasoning for your dinner, I think they're a bit expensive. I don't think making them from scratch would be that much more time consuming. However, if you find a good sale and can match it with a coupon, it might be worth the money.

If you'd like to try some of General Mills products you can go here to sign up for Pssst.

Menu Plan - November 22, 2009

2009-11-22T21:05:00.000-05:00

I'm a bit behind today as several things in our schedule have changed this week. I'm going to quickly get out this week's menu plan. Updates this week may be a bit sparse as Cora is having minor outpatient surgery and Thanksgiving is happening too.

Here's what's on the plan this week:

Sunday:
B - cereal
D - Chinese Take Out

Monday
B - Baked Banana Oatmeal (adapted from this recipe)
D - Parmesan Crusted PorkChops

Tuesday
B - Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
D - Chicken Stir Fry

Wednesday
B - Pumpkin Waffles
D - Leftover Buffet

Thursday
B - Creamed Chip Beef over Whole Wheat Biscuits (maybe finally!)
D - Thanksgiving Dinner at SIL

Friday
B - Pancakes
D - Turkey (or Chicken) Tetrazini

Saturday
B - Buttermilk Chocolate Muffins or Cinnamon Rolls
D - Indonesian Ginger Chicken

Side Dishes will include these from my freezer and stockpile: fresh cut pineapple, peaches, green beans, corn, broccoli, mashed sweet potatoes and maybe a few other things too.

For more great menu planning ideas visit Organizing Junkie.

Stuffing Royale

2009-11-19T10:09:00.003-05:00

Thanksgiving is just a week away (I can hardly believe how soon it is!). And I'm working on my grocery list for Thanksgiving dinner. Growing up I never liked stuffing. I think it was the heavy sage my family used. Anyway, a few years into our marriage I found this recipe from King's Hawaiian bread. As I looked it over, I realized this was a winner in my book. Lots of things I really like and not much that I don't like. This is a fruity stuffing. So, if you're preference is for sausage or oysters, this is probably not up your alley. But, we love it.

Stuffing Royale

(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

1 16 oz loaf King's Hawaiian bread
1 15 oz can pineapple tidbits, drained (or use chunks and chop them small)
1 Cup chopped celery (2-3 stalks)
1 small onion diced
1 8 oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained
½ Cup slivered almonds, toasted
½ Cup raisins
1 14 oz can low salt chicken broth (about 1 ½ cups)
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
1 ½ tsp sage
1 tsp poultry seasoning
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper

Directions:

Heat oven to 325°
Cut bread into 1 inch cubes. Place in a large bowl.
Add pineapple, celery, onion, water chestnuts, almonds and raisins.
Set aside
In a small bowl, stir together broth with seasonings.
Pour seasoned broth evenly over dry ingredients. Toss to combine.
Place in a 2 qt casserole dish. Cover with foil
Bake 30 minutes, remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.

For stuffing: Stuff a 10-lb bird and cook according to directions.

Notes:
This makes about 2 quarts of stuffing which is a whole lot for our extended family of 6 adults and 2 kids.

There are lots more Thanksgiving recipes at the Ultimate Recipe Swap today.
And you can find more recipes at:
Friday Food @ Mom Trends

Cleaning Out Peanut Butter Jars

2009-11-17T21:05:00.005-05:00

A confession: Sometimes recycling seems to be more trouble than it's worth.

There, I've said it.

Recycling is good. It helps reduce the waste sent to landfills. It gives a few people jobs. I try to recycle as much as I can. But, sometimes I wonder if cleaning out a bottle or container is creating more water/energy waste than I'm saving by recycling my bottles.

For instance, it takes a good bit of water to fully clean out the bottle of conditioner I use. I fill, shake, dump. Fill, shake, dump. Repeat. I don't know if I'm helping or hurting the planet when I re-cyle my bottle of conditioner. But I do.

The same problem happens with plastic peanut butter jars. Peanut butter is very sticky stuff (as if anyone didn't already know that). And getting the jar clean enough to recycle was always a challenge until I accidentally began using this method. It works very well. It isn't such a chore anymore and I don't think I'm wasting as much water to get the jars clean.

So, here's what I do...
1. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and get out as much peanut butter as humanly possible. You can make at least half a sandwich from the leftover peanut butter on the sides and bottom of a jar.

2. Squirt a small bit of Dawn Dishwasing Liquid* into the jar.

3. Fill 2/3 full with hot water.

4. Replace lid on jar. Shake.

5. Leave jar on counter overnight. Shake again a few times as you think of it or have time.

6. The next morning the majority of the remaining peanut butter will be floating in the water, not sticking on the jar. A quick swipe with a dishrag and your plastic peanut butter jar will be clean

*I prefer Dawn for this because it is so much better at cutting through grease.

This works for me.

Have a good tip that works for cleaning out conditioner bottles?

Whole Wheat Carrot Raisin Muffins

2009-11-17T09:19:00.002-05:00

Ever had too many of something? I recently picked up a 5 lb. bag of carrots, thinking they were 3 lbs. Now, I know carrots keep a long time in the fridge. But, 5 lbs for 4 people is a lot of carrots! So, I went in search of carrot recipes. And in the midst of my search I found a few recipes for Carrot Raisin Muffins. I tweaked a bit here and there and eventually came up with this very good recipe for Whole Wheat Carrot Raisin Muffins. Next time you're trying to use up some carrots, try these.

Whole Wheat Carrot Raisin Muffins

(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

1 ½ Cups whole wheat flour
1 Cup unbleached all-purppose flour
3 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
¾ Cup milk
¼ Cup canola oil
1 egg
½ Cup honey
1½ Cup shredded carrots
2/3 Cup raisins

Directions:

Combine flours, baking powder, spices, salt in large bowl.
In small bowl, mix together, milk, oil, egg, honey.
Set oven for 375°; grease muffin pan.
Mix together dry and wet ingredients.
Fold in shredded carrot and raisins.
Fill muffin tins 2/3 full (about ¼ cup)
Place pan in oven; raise temperature to 400°. (Here's why)
Bake 17-20 minutes.
Turn out of pan almost immediately; do not cool upside down (they squash)

Notes:
Makes 12 muffins.
Sometimes I've substituted sugar for the honey. Hubby and I really love these. They've been on our breakfast menu several times in the last 2 weeks.
These also freeze very well.

You can find more great recipes at:
Cupcake Tuesday @ Hoosier Homemade

Tempt My Tummy @ Blessed With Grace
Tasty Tuesday @ Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
Tuesdays at the Table @ All the Small Stuff

Menu Plan - November 15, 2009

2009-11-15T22:33:00.001-05:00

We did a bit better sticking to our plan this week -- no major interruptions in life.

Hubby's schedule has been very busy in the evenings the last few weeks and the result has been a lack of desire to cook on my part. I prefer to not fight the "I don't like thats" when I'm the only grown up home. So, I usually fix a kid favoite. The problem is I'm getting kind of tired of spaghetti, mac & cheese & leftovers. I also need to make room in my freezer for a turkey or two. Turkeys are cheaper now than they will be all year; I'd like to buy 2, if I can find room in the deep freeze. So, I'm going to try and up the ante on dinner this week. We are keeping a friend's child next weekend so I'll be planning the kid friendly stuff for those evenings.

Here's what's on the plan this week:

Sunday:
B - cereal
D - breakfast for dinner

Monday
B - Whole Wheat Carrot Raisin Muffins* & scrambled eggs
D - Roasted Chicken

Tuesday
B - Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal
D - Second meal from Psst (Chicken Piccata, review coming this week)

Wednesday
B - Creamed Chipped Beef over Whole Wheat Biscuits (another hold over)
D - Leftovers

Thursday
B - Pumpkin Waffles
D - "Noodle Thing" casserole (noodles, spaghetti sauce, mozzerella - bake at 350, 30 minutes)

Friday
B - French Toast
D - Pizza (using this dough recipe and this sauce recipe)

Saturday
B - TBD
D - Chicken Nuggets (heldover from last week)

Side Dishes will include these from my freezer and stockpile: fresh cut pineapple, peaches, green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes and maybe a few other things too as I like to include a few fresh fruits & veggies and we're running low at the moment.

*Recipe to be posted soon

For more great menu planning ideas visit Organizing Junkie.

Unfinished Mom

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How We Do School

Blueberries!

Staples School Supply Deal $15.15 After Rebates

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How to Exhaust a Child

Toy Story 3 Review

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The Review:

Discount Grocers in Maryland

Hello, I’m Unfinished Mom. Remember Me?

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Safeway 5/27/2010 - 62% savings.

Please explain this…

Kellogg’s Cereals Catalina 5/1 – 5/14

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Dairy Queen Blizzard Buy One, Get One $0.25

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He Lives

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Booking It in 2010: March Update

I Made It - Homemade Pizza

Menu Plan - March 7, 2010 - Nothing Fancy

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Word of the Day: Eructation

*HOT* Free Gold Medal Flour at Safeway

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Swagbucks is Celebrating!

Saving Online Through Ebates

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Pineapple Souffle

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Unbelievable Amounts of Snow

Bookin' It in 2010: The Plan

Know Your Store's Coupon Policy

Super Bowl & Party Food

*HOT COUPON* Free Half Gallon of Chocolate Milk!

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Family Entertainment for Less than $1

Birthday Cake Roundup: Superman & Princess Barbie Cakes

Kids' Workshop at Home Depot - FREE!

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How to Get 24 Rolls of Toilet Paper - FREE at Giant

I Made It - Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal

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Win Free Groceries for a Yyear

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Boy v Girl with a Bionicle box

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Bible in 90 Days - Week 1 (and ½)

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Stockpiling Question

A little Link Love

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Date Nut Pinwheels

Crab Dip

Free Bible in 90 Days

Kids' Workshop at Home Depot - FREE

90 Day Challenge Accepted

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Cookie Marathon! Day 2

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HOT Free Gold Medal Flour at Safeway

HOT COUPON Free Half Gallon of Chocolate Milk!