Freezer Cooking/ Dedicated Cooking Day

Check out my other blog where I'm cooking all day long! No laundry, no cleaning, nothing except cooking! It's quite fun. Crank up the music and focus on feeding my family!

Grocery Store Plan

Money!

I feel incredibly poor right now. I have no April money left for grocery shopping. I have no April money in my "household" envelope. I have no April money in my supply envelope. I've spent $400 and I still have 2 days until I'm supposed to get my May money. My husband gets paid on the 20th, but I don't get my household money until the 1st.

Now, technically I spent some of my May grocery money. It was convenient to do so, but I don't like "borrowing" money. It seems okay, but it does seem like I'm stealing. I don't want to make this a habit. This method goes against the "Dave Ramsey" way. When it's gone, it's gone.

Over at Frugal-Families, some times we have "no spending for one week" challenges. Where we encourage one another NOT to spend any money at all for one week. People make their own "rules", ie. groceries excluded or not, dates that are already planned, company is coming, going out for coffee, etc. Having a community of people encouraging you, certainly helps out!

Ready to challenge yourself? Have a NO SPENDING MONEY week. Or. NO SPENDING, except for XXX Challenge. If you spend money every day, then have a "no spending day" challenge to yourself. That might be a bit easier to start with, rather than a week!

Back to the whole "feeling poor". A quick way to get over that is to look at everything you have. My fridge is packed, my freezer is full, my cupboards are full, I have a roof over my head, my faith, a car to drive, friends, family, my dog, etc. Some people don't have anything. Some people's homes have been destroyed. Some children have nothing. NOTHING. Yep, I'm over it.

Homemaking - It is a Job!

You get the random thoughts that are running around in my head today. Please note - I'm not re-reading my random thoughts or I'll make changes and it won't be random anymore.

Stop losing the battle. Your goal is to win the war.

This is my thought for the day. My son looks like a shaggy dog. Seriously. No offense intended to the 11 year old boy. His hair is wavy, long and messy. He LOVES it! I cut the bangs when they hang in his eyes, but I basically decided if he wants shaggy dog hair, then he can go ahead and have it. I'm saving "the fight" for a time that it affects his future.

How about with my husband? There are many times that I want to argue with him - because you know, I'm always right and he's always wrong. Okay, maybe not, but it seems that way when I'm crabby. You know when I get crabby? When I'm completely overwhelmed! Is it his fault I'm overwhelmed? Yesterday I was gone from 8:00 until 5:00 and then I was the Mom taxi until 8:10. I was home a bit in between trying to put groceries away. I was overwhelmed, tired of running around, tired of the mess in my home. Plus, I missed my home. I love being home - sometimes a bit too much. My husband can't do the running around because he's making money at a JOB so I can do whatever I need to do (AKA my JOB)! My job is my home, my family, my friends, my life.

Yesterday a lady asked me what I do during the day. Nope, she wasn't being snotty, she is a stay at home mom too. I told her I research a lot of things (oh do I love love love to gather more information! I love to learn!), I also stamp and scrapbook. When I told my husband he was a bit irritated with me. He told me, "no, you do NOT stamp and scrapbook, you cook, shop and plan." He's right. The majority of the time I'm either in the kitchen cooking, shopping or planning what I need to do. I WANT to stamp and scrapbook. I try to do this for about 10 minutes every morning, but it just doesn't work it many days. In order for us to eat at home, real food, food that is not made by someone else, food that is healthy, it takes me TIME. This is what I do. I need to come up with a new name for myself.

Kitchen Queen? OOOOOOH I like that. If only I could put a picture in of a crown. For some reason I can't add pictures right now.

Another stay at home mom said she does laundry ALL.DAY.LONG. Another one cleans all day. Some day, I'm seriously going to buy bon bons and watch movies all day. Just so I can say that's what I do! Okay, maybe not, but soon (like before school gets out), I am going to watch a movie and scrapbook. Maybe I'll even buy some dark chocolate and drink a pop. Oooooh - I'm living on the edge now!

Okay, ramblings over. Just remember:

Stop losing the battle. Your goal is to win the war.


Sincerely,

The Kitchen Queen

or maybe, I'll be the Kitchen Diva, Kitchen Chick, Quirky Kitchen Queen (thanks Mary for the Quirky title)

Gratituesday - Azure Standard

I'm so grateful that Laura over at Heavenly Homemakers recommended Azure Standard. I admit I was a little bit confused and overwhelmed when I was trying to place an order (they have a LOT of items!) With help from their customer service department and setting a grocery limit of $50, I placed my order and picked it up this morning.

I am amazed at what I received!

I can honestly say that if Laura had not described everything so clearly on her website I would NEVER have looked into this company. I thought it was a company that would only delivery to large towns, instead of my small town of 10,000 people. I thought it was going to be a bunch of organic things that I couldn't afford. Neither of which were true! Here are the details:

• 20 pounds - yes 20 pounds of organic apples for $1.00/lb Did you know that apples aren't supposed to have the waxy film on the outside of them. Apples are one of the "dirty dozen" on the produce list (meaning there are a lot of pesticides on the apples) I'm new to all of this so I won't be changing all of my produce to organic, but this is a great start! I pay $1.00/lb right now for pesticide apples.
• 10 pounds of blueberries. This is the description on Azure Standard's website: In an email sent in January 2009, the grower described these blueberries as follows:
  "The blueberries are not organic. We use pesticide only if we have to and it is rare that we do. We use compost for weed control and nutritional value." Quite honestly, that's good enough for me. Some times I use pesticides in my garden if it's the only thing that will save my plants that I've worked so hard to grow. That's what is in the closed box in the picture (if you open the box there are huge blueberries!). $13.25!!  
• Peanuts (roasted and salted - no extra oil), onions, cabbage, and Country Save Detergent rounded out the rest of my order. The peanuts taste different than my Planter's Peanuts. I really like them!
• Grand total including shipping was $55.41

Prices vary by region and you pay for shipping. It is VERY reasonable. If you do a google search you will see what others are buying from Azure Standard as well.

We met the semi-truck at a parking lot this morning. Seeing the crosses on the side of the truck made me happy. Seeing the man deliver the items made me happy. Seeing a group of people gather while waiting for their order made me happy. Can you tell I'm a happy camper this morning? This new company definitely Works for Me!

I'm so grateful for Azure Standard and to Laura for passing the information along.
This post is linked to the following:

Gratituesdays at Heavenly Homemaker.
WFMW at We are THAT Family.


Note: this is NOT a paid advertisement!

Menu Plan Monday

I'm still cleaning out the freezer from my OAMC session. I also started planning my "dedicated day of cooking". I think I'll plan to make 4-5 complete dinners, cook hamburger for tacos, spaghetti and chili, and make sausage. I'm planning on cooking Friday April 30, so I better get planning! Last month was a little overwhelming as far as the planning goes. I also realized I made way too much food! Every month I learn a bit more so I'm sure in ten more years I'll be a pro. Then I won't need to do all this cooking ahead because my kids will be gone. UGGGG!

Here's my plan:

1. Stupid Easy CP Sausage and Potatoes - I'm using the concept more than anything. Not sure how this is going to go over. By tomorrow morning I may change my mind! Sauted green beans.
2. Refried Beans (from OAMC) with some cooked Roast Beef I found in the freezer. I'll serve it over rice and throw cheese, guacamole and lettuce on top. I'm making salsa as well.
3. BBQ chicken pizza - everything is in the freezer from OAMC. I need to thaw the ingredients, bake the crust and then assemble. Salad
4. Turkey Soup (from OAMC) with veggies and homemade noodles. I need to post this recipe - it's so easy and yummy! Salad or carrots
5. Quiche (yep, you guessed it, from OAMC) - there are veggies in here so I'm not sure what we'll have with it - fruit?
6. CORD (clean out refrigerator day)
7. DH cooks

Check out orgjunkie.com for more ideas!

Frugal - Use Your Freezer!

In the busy-ness of spring, my freezer is my best friend. Used correctly it will save you time and money.

When we lived in a small apartment in Mesa, AZ, I got caught up in the coupon excitement for a bit. We only had the small freezer above our fridge. Unfortunately it was filled with junk that I had gotten free or for pennies. Was it a good value? Not at all. I was putting pure junk into our bodies. I was able to get a few things cheap that I would consider healthy, but most of the stuff in my freezer was garbage. I should have had it filled with fruits, veggies and pre-cooked meat.

If you CHOOSE to go to fast food places that's an entirely different matter. If you feel like you MUST go through the drive thru in order to feed your family then you need to get busy filling your freezer! You don't have to do a major Once a Month Cooking (OAMC) session. You can double up on recipes. Or make a couple of big hunks of meat at the beginning of the week with a plan on how to use that meat the rest of the week. Make sure you have fresh fruits and veggies and you'll be set. Might not be exciting, but it's much much healthier for you and much cheaper than going out to eat all of the time. With the busy-ness of spring, I need to plan more, but cook less. I need to plan on having food available that I can bring to baseball and softball games (throw in a few track meets as well!) One of my favorite meals to make and bring with to ball games is a baked chimichanga. Here are some other ideas:

• pizza rollups
• sub sandwiches
• hamburgers
• tortilla wraps with mayo, meat, cheese, veggies and Italian dressing
• good ole Peanut Butter and Jelly
• chili, soup, etc in a thermos (we have some frigid ball games here!)
• peanut butter and apples or bananas
• salads

This all takes a little bit of planning, but your body will be thanking you for making wise choices and so will your wallet!

This post is linked up at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven and Life As Mom.

Frugal Recipe - Baked Pork Chimichangas

When I first saw the Baked Pork Chimichanga recipe on Frugal-Families, I knew that it had a lot of potential! I loved the concept of it and wanted to try it using the ingredients I had in my pantry. I have used refried beans and cheese, black beans and burger, as well as the original recipe (but added more chicken broth because it was too dry). This is a very versatile recipe that is good at home or when you are on the go! We dip them in salsa and/or sour cream.

Found on allrecipes):

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried pinto beans
• 1 (3 pound) boneless pork loin roast, trimmed
• 3 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chilies
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/3 cup chili powder
• 1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 30 (6 inch) flour tortillas
• 4 cups shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
• 2 cups picante sauce 1 egg white 2 teaspoons water

Directions
Place beans in a soup kettle; add water to cover by 2 in. Bring to a boil; boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; cover and let stand for 1 hour. Drain and rinse beans, discarding liquid.

Place roast in a Dutch oven. In a bowl, combine chilies, onion, chili powder and beans. Spoon over roast. Cover and bake at 325 degrees F for 1-1/2 hours. Stir in broth; cover and bake 30-45 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F. Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

Remove meat and shred with two forks; set aside. Mash bean mixture; stir in shredded pork. Spoon 1/3 cup mixture down the center of each tortilla; top with picante sauce. Fold sides and ends over filling and roll up. Place seam side down on two 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pans coated with nonstick cooking spray.

In a bowl, whisk egg white and water; brush over top. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until heated through. Serve immediately or cool, wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.

This recipe is linked to Life as MOM, Grocery Cart Challenge and Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

Auto Mechanic

Where do you go take your car when you need an oil change? Until recently I always chose the cheapest place to go. After I got my VW Bug as a surprise gift from my husband, I wanted a professional to work on my car and inspect it when I needed to have my oil changed. I have had issues with the cheapie places that change the oil in my car in the past and I had no desire to have those issues again. Yes, it costs a bit more, but the service is so much better!

When we moved to South Dakota, I found a place to take my car to get fixed that had reasonable prices. I didn't really know him, but he seemed trustworthy. Unfortunately they moved their shop to a less convenient place for me so I needed to find a new place to take my car.

My neighbor has an automotive shop. They are the BEST! They will give me a ride home or drive my car home for me if needed, they fixed several small things that we didn't ask them to, they filled up the antifreeze in my car for me (Bugs use a different brand of antifreeze than what you normally buy for a car) for no additional charges.

All this to say, just because you are going to the cheapest place to get your oil changed, it doesn't necessarily save you money in the long run. If you can't do the automotive work yourself, do yourself a favor and use a mechanic not a cheapie place!

This works for me! Find out other WFMW tips at We Are THAT Family.

Tightwad Tuesday Tip - Values

One reason I admire Amy D who wrote The Complete Tightwad Gazette is because of her values. For example, when her kids were complaining that they weren't getting enough ice cream with a junior ice cream cone, she stopped buying them ice cream as often so it seemed like a treat again when she bought them a small cone.

What's wrong with going to Dairy Queen and getting just a plain ole ice cream cone? Why do we always feel that we need to have the blizzard or some other fancy schmancy dessert? Fewer treats, less expensive treats does NOT mean that we are deprived. It should be a treat to get an ice cream cone, not a requirement to get a blizzard.

Do you think I spelled schmancy correctly? Spell check says it's not correct.

Homemaking - Flylady Way

Spend 5 minutes in ONE room today. Set the timer or turn on the music and just do it!

I'm always amazed at what I can get done in 5 minutes. I was looking at the baseboards in my bathroom today - they definitely need to be cleaned. I'll spend 5 minutes in my bathroom today and it WILL make a difference.

Clean the FLYLADY way!

Frugal Tip

I have a Love/Hate relationship with frugality. Actually, not with frugality. It's when I take it too far and I am cheap.

It is so easy for me to be cheap and stingy and so hard to be wise with my money. For example, when I am frugal I see the whole picture...while saving money is a goal; it's not my ONLY goal. Obviously this is a good thing. When I'm being cheap, I focus only on money without thinking about our health, neighbors, our "stuff" or our environment.

1. Health - am I buying the cheapest products and not thinking about the long term effects on our health? White flour is cheaper and it's horrible! Iceberg lettuce is cheap! Not nutritious though. More pasta, less meat does not work for those with blood sugar issues.
2. Neighbors - why am I buying food that has travelled thousands of miles when my neighbors sell the very same thing? Sure, it might be more expensive, but you are affecting that person's livelihood.
3. Stuff - I'll go to garage sales or see something at a store that is cheap so I'll buy it. I didn't need it, I didn't want it, but it was cheap! I have gotten a lot better about this one. My husband used to cringe when I first discovered garage sales. I would open the trunk of my car that was stuffed full and show him all of my treasures. It was a HUGE trunk - not like the trunk of my VW Bug!
4. Environment - All of the above affects our environment adversely.

My frugal tip is this: see the whole picture instead of just money. Make investments with your money. Invest your money in your health, your neighbors, your "stuff" and your environment. Make every purchase count!

Check out other frugal tips at Life As Mom.

Flax Seed - Egg Replacement

Have you ever tried to use ground flax seed/water as an egg replacement? I tried it once and I thought it looked really slimy, but it worked just fine.

I replaced one of the eggs in my pancake recipe with this flax seed mixture. I didn't notice much of a difference. There were more "chunks" in my batter, but nothing too bad. I don't do this now because I want the protein of the egg in the pancakes. I believe (believe being the keyword) eggs have more protein than flax.

Yesterday, I was making oatmeal and I thought I'd add some ground flax seed for nutrition. EWWWW! I got the same slimy texture. I could barely eat my oatmeal. The taste was fine, but the texture wasn't so great.

Here's my new plan: Add ground flax seed after my oatmeal is done. I like the flavor, not the texture. Flax seed is really good for you and has a lot of uses! I will probably sprinkle some on my pancake batter too. Oh the things I can do with Flax Seed!

Check out other ideas at the Grocery Cart Challenge.

A Frugal Life

Do you ever feel like you are the only person who is frugal? I've felt like an outsider looking in for many, many years. I have said before that I'm not naturally frugal. However, I found that if I was frugal, then I could stay at home with my babies. Although my babies are now 11 and 13, I can't imagine going to work outside the home full time. I don't condemn anyone if these choose to do that, but I know myself too well to think it would work out well for me.

Many years ago while browsing the internet on a very ssssslllllloooooowwww dial up connection, I found my home away from home. A place where I fit in. A place where people knew my name...wait wasn't that the show Cheers?  Anyway, it was a place where people understood where I was coming from and had the same interests. It's a website and forum called Frugal-Families.

Thankfully I have a few friends now in real life that are in the same situation as I am. I have found that the more frugal I am, the more natural it becomes. Today, my frugality "job" helps us pay our piles of student loans back a little bit easier.

Do you want to connect with like minded people? Are you trying to figure out what the frugal life is all about? I suggest that you check out the website Frugal-Families!

This works for me! Check out other WFMW tips!

P.S. I am not paid at all for advertising for Frugal-Families. Connecting with other people is important so I thought I'd share this fabulous forum!

Homemaking - How To

When you feel like your house is a pit, set your timer and run around (or walk quickly) for 5 minutes. Just 5 minutes and it will make a BIG difference.

I have to confess that I spent more than 5 minutes - maybe 5 1/2 minutes? Another idea, especially with kiddos, is to pick one song and pickup and/or clean while it plays. Crank up the music and have fun!

Is my house spotless? NO
Is it better? YES!

Homemaking - JUST DO IT!!!

This is a tip brought to you by a very itty bitty flybaby. Check out flylady for more info!

This post is linked up at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven. A homemaking blog that I just discovered!

Square Foot Gardening

Now that the snow is FINALLY gone I can think about my garden. I hear people talk about planning their garden, but I just don't get excited until I can see the ground.

I do a combination of square foot gardening and the lasagna garden method. Last night I ran across this blog about square foot gardening that looks interesting. She's having a giveaway right now! Check out this website for a lot of information!

Vegetarian Meals

I'm looking into ordering a 1/4 of a beef. What I don't want to do is eat beef every night. My plan is to have a plan. You know I love to plan. It's following through on the plan that is so difficult!

I was asking my husband for his opinion on how often to eat what meats. He thinks I'm a little insane, but he puts up with me. Anyway, he asked why we were eating meatless only one time per week. HUH? This coming from a man who loves beef. You know why we only meatless one time per week? Because I ASSUMED that he didn't like meatless meals. Why would I assume that? I think one time (in 17 years) he asked if there was meat in the meal I was serving.

Your lesson of the day: never assume. Ask!

Now I'm off to try to figure out some frugal vegetarian meals or less meat meals that don't rely on breads.

Raising your Children

I am not teaching my children to become self-sufficient people.

There is no reason that my kids can't get their own spoon in the morning during breakfast. I found out a few years ago that our mornings go much smoother if I do everything for them. This is getting ridiculous though - they can't seem to do anything for themselves. At 13 and 11 this is insane!

Changes will be on the horizon in our home. I need to teach them how to become responsible people! That is the main part of my job!

I love the saying - Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll have food for life. Fitting in this case don't you think?

My One Word...

I haven't looked on this website at all. However, our Pastor had a sermon about this and it really hit home. I think my 2010 non-resolutions would work out better for me if I chose one word that would help me in my life.

I've decided that my one word will be....

PAUSE


Imagine my life if I'd pause before speaking, pause before buying, pause before judging, pause before eating, pause before getting angry at the driver in front of me, pause to give thanks, pause to love, pause to XXXXXXXXXXXX....

P.S. It's "greatest tip" week at We are that Family so I'm reposting what has made the most impact on me this year. Now, if only I'd do it more often.

Lent Conclusion

Now that lent is over, I don't have to continue to show my family that I love them using their love language.

What???!???! Does that make any sense? I was writing in my journal and I realized that I love this challenge. It's very motivating for me and seemed to work well.

As I stated before I didn't have to give or give up anything for lent. I chose to because I like the idea of it. There were a 3-4 days that I didn't get to read at night. These were days that I was too tired or too busy. Unfortunately I have way too many of these days. I have got to get my priorities straight!

How do you make sure your family KNOWS they are loved? Do you use the Five Love Languages book at all?

Another $100 vacation

Seriously, you would have thought I would have learned from my last "$100" vacation.

We went back "home" for Easter to see my in-laws. We are now using cash on vacations for everything so I took $100 out of the bank and off we went. We ended up having to use the debit card to get gas because we ran out of cash.

My in-laws are so generous that it's hard for us to buy them anything. Any time we can grab the bill at a restaraunt we do because they usually won't let us pay for anything. This time we were lucky that we got to pay the bill at dinner one night.

We packed our food going there and back home so there weren't any extra eating out expenses. We realized that our trip back home is more like $150 if we bring our dog, $180-$200 if we take her to doggie daycare.

Would we change anything? NOPE! We will still go home, we will still buy my in-laws food any time we can, but with this knowledge, we will be able to budget a little bit better.

One more thing with our frugal vacation....do you think I should take $10 each day that we normally spend for food at home and put it with our vacation money?

Fresh Pineapple

Oh MY!!! I'm in LOVE again. With pineapple this time! I think canned pineapple is fine. It's certainly better than trying to cut up a pineapple. Until my neighbor showed me this handy dandy tool. For under $10 you can eat pineapple without killing yourself. Maybe I'm the only one who has this problem? For those who hate to cut up a pineapple, you will love this tool.















I'm trying to focus more on protein and veggies, but fresh pineapple for $2.00? It was AMAZING! I'd give up my allowance if I could eat this every day. ALL.DAY.LONG.

Okay, enough said.