Crayons

The best $2.50 I've spent in quite some time.

Box of 64 crayons. We've spent hours coloring. Apparently age doesn't matter when it comes to crayons!

One box crayons, paper and one teen, one pre-teen and one mama = loads of fun.

P.S. My daughter said to me "how come I didn't get 64 crayons when I was a kid? I only got the package of 24 crayons and all my friends had 64." Apparently she has some issues to get over :-)

Opportunities in Parenting

Playing croquet on the 4th of July weekend.

Is my hair really that BIG? I'm hoping it was the wind, but I don't think so.

I had an "aha" parenting moment yesterday. As I was whining about making another trip to "town" God beat me over the head with this thought: Enjoy running around now...all this time in the car =

an opportunity to communicate with my dear children

But...but....but.... I don't like to run around all day - I LOVE to be at home! Yeah, well so what - get over it! My kids are in sports, I'm working on all of my Clothe-A-Kid stuff and I like to go to a few different stores that will occasionally have local produce.

Sure wish it wouldn't have taken me until July 27th to figure this out!!!

P.S. For those of you who read this who live in a big city - you should really be laughing at me right now! For me to get "clear across town" takes all of 20 minutes. About 8 minutes to get downtown. We have lived in Denver and Phoenix so I know how much longer I could be in the car. Yet another thing to be grateful for!

This post has been linked to:

11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven

Impossible Grocery Budget

Note: written a year ago and still applicable today.

A while ago, Gayle over at Grocery Cart Challenge received a negative comment on her blog. I can't find the comment now, but it was along the lines of "Your grocery budget is impossible. You are not giving your children enough fruits and vegetables."

At one point when I found Gayle's blog I too thought it was impossibly low. I couldn't imagine how she could possibly feed her family of 6 on $60 per week. Her blog encouraged me! Instead of being angry at her, I sat in awe of her. I think I sat down and read every post that she wrote. I was intrigued because she didn't use coupons and her dinners looked like something I would cook.

Our budget was TIGHT. Seriously TIGHT. We spent too much on our house (oh hindsight!) and then my husband was supposed to get a raise, but ended up getting a pay cut instead. Something had to give. With a heartfelt prayer and my paper and pen, I ran the numbers and found that there was NO WAY I could have such a low food budget. However, I decided that I would take $75 per week for our family of 4 and MAKE IT WORK. It seemed impossible to do, but amazingly enough, it worked. I was able to get our budget down to $60 per week. I shopped once a week and that's it.  I wasn't malnourishing my family, we were eating almost the same things we were eating when I was spending more.

So what was the difference?

1. Attitude
2. Cash. I knew I couldn't fall back on my debit or credit card. I was limited so I bought the most important items first.
3. Focus on the week - what do I need to get through the week. I stopped using the pantry principle for a time.
4. It was rare that I'd buy anything prepackaged. Tortillas were an exception. I tried making those several times, but couldn't get the hang of it.
5. Prayer and DETERMINATION

Honestly, I figured if Gayle could do it, why couldn't I? The prices where she lives are less than here which is why I started with $75 per week. I found over time that $75 was more than enough. Before my diet change, $60 was sufficient. It was enough. It met our basic needs and then some.

Now that I have $400 per month to spend, I'm still applying the same principles that I used when I first started following Gayle's plan (make a menu, use cash, and shop once a week. FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS). Be grateful for what I have!

It's not impossible to decrease your grocery spending, but it does take EFFORT!

Sautee Vegetables

One of my favorite ways to serve vegetables!

1. Heat oil in the pan (I've used butter, olive oil, bacon grease - now that I'm no longer afraid of good fats, I use a big blob) over low-medium heat
2. Open bag of frozen vegetables (I use green beans as well as broccoli) and dump them in the pan.
3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper
4. Do NOT overcook them! They should definitely have some crunch.

I could eat veggies this way for breakfast. Oh yeah - I do!!! I'm still finding ways to work more vegetables into our diet, this works for me!

This "recipe" is linked to:
Grocery Cart Challenge
11th Heaven Homemaking Haven

Summer? Back to School?

I really don't like this time of year. It happens every year. It's the time of the year when I realize that summer break is almost over and my kids will be back in school in about one month. But yet, it feels like we haven't had a "summer break" yet.

Right now I'm up to my ears in my volunteer project Clothe-A-Kid (CAK). 300 kids in the surrounding area signed up again this year. Makes me happy and sad at the same time. Happy that we can help, sad that people need help. I question time and time again why isn't life fair when it comes to money...some people live in a beautiful home (hello, that is me!) while others can't afford clothes and school supplies for their kids. Ironically I always think that I am the blessed one, but perhaps the people who need a little financial help are more blessed than I? You get to hear my ramblings because I haven't had time to breathe or think about anything lately.

Now, I need help from my readers (email is fine if you don't want to leave a comment - jaebroeder at yahoo dot com). Since I always provide such good advice (tee hee - said with tongue in cheek) okay, since you get to hear my rambling quite frequently, I need help with the following:

• The blasted deer are EATING my tomatoes! Yes, I knew it was a possibility, but when the tomatoes were beside the house they didn't bother them. I cannot put up a fence so that is out. I've read human pee and putting hair down. I was hoping more for a homemade windchime/spray??? ANYONE???
• My tomato plants are too bushy - am I watering them too much?
• Should I stop watering my tomato plants when they have flowers on them.

Ummmm I think that is it. You know I'm usually a frugal person right? Last night I ORDERED A PIZZA AND WINGS.

Was it worth $15.00 and 45 minutes? NOPE

Am I glad I did it? YEP

I worked on CAK stuff from morning til night yesterday....it was a good reminder that I really need to NOT work. I know other people seem to manage it, but I don't manage it well at all. In fact, CAK is calling my name this morning...especially since everywhere I turn there is a pile of CAK stuff.

I managed to work in my zone for 15 minutes yesterday and cleared off some counter space (for more CAK stuff :-). This morning I put on some black beans to cook - determined to have a plan for supper...either beans/burger/cream cheese/taco seasoning or Italian. This is when having pre-cooked meat in the freezer would have been a great idea.

So here's my helpful hint for the day: before you get busy with a big project,

make sure you have some cooked meat in the freezer.



Contentment

Picture Credit - For some reason picture makes me laugh.

There was a period in my life when I read books constantly. I'd read my Bible in the morning and then I'd read books about "How To Be a Better _____". I'd read books about being a better mother, wife, Christian, books about frugal and simple living. I was ALWAYS trying to better myself.

I was completely exhausted.

In 2005 when we moved from Montana to Arizona so my husband could go to Physician Assistant school, I spent a few years "healing" from reading self help books. For the first time in several years I took a break from volunteering (except at my kids' school) and I stopped reading all books except my Bible. I stopped memorizing verses from the Bible while I walked and simply enjoyed nature.

Guess what? I was still the best mom and wife that I could be, not perfect mind you. I didn't run out a rob a bank (ie. still had values), I really and truly enjoyed the life that God had given me.

I know that there isn't anything wrong with reading self-help books, as long as I am content with where I am at right now.

Life is a journey. Enjoy it.

Cooking in the Heat: Roaster Oven

Note: I wrote this post one year ago, but when I tried to update it yesterday Blogger wouldn't let me. I think it's funny what I used to cook in there. Now I have cooked sweet potatoes and roasts. I'm going to try this meatza soon.

I am NOT complaining about the heat here at all. Believe me. It was 49 degrees here the other night. My tomatoes are never going to grow!

However, there have been a couple (yes, two) hot days here. Days where I actually turned the air conditioner on. It's rare that I use my oven in the summer. However, when the BBQ doesn't have any propane and I have some chicken to cook, I use my cheater oven.

This is a big roaster oven I picked up just for that reason.

Summer Cooking/Baking.

Normally people cook turkeys in these big huge monsters. I have baked bread, quiche, and meat in this roaster oven. The quiche's crust was DISGUSTING. I don't recommend that at all! The bread and meat have been wonderful. I think it cooks at a lower temperature than you set it at, but I've never used my thermometer to test this. I have it set up in my garage all the time so it doesn't heat up my house up and I don't have to dig it out of storage every time I want to use it.

Beware though - it gets really really really HOT!

Find other wonderful tips over at We are THAT Family.

Italian Stew

Previously, I shared my Primal Spaghetti recipe. Last night when I made "spaghetti" my husband informed me that I can't call it spaghetti if there aren't any noodles because spaghetti is actually the noodle not the sauce. Whew - did you catch that? Does it matter? No, not really.

But here is what I found. When you call something stew instead of spaghetti, you don't really miss having noodles because you aren't supposed to have noodles/pasta in stew like you are in spaghetti

So now instead of having spaghetti, we have Italian Stew.  It's strange that my kids were much more accepting of stew than they were of noodle-less spaghetti. But whatever works!

FYI - I added chopped up zucchini, onions, garlic, carrots, burger and breakfast sausage to tomato sauce and Italian seasoning and we ate it out of a bowl.

This recipe has been linked to:
Grocery Cart Challenge

Living the American Nightmare

Interesting blog posts over at The Eco Cat Lady Speaks and Consciously Frugal.

I especially like this part:

"The problem is that the American dream as it's currently understood is really a nightmare foisted upon us ..."

Dirt - It Does a Body Good

One day the bathroom sink on the main floor of our house had dirt smears all over it.

I must admit I was thrilled. Strange isn't it? I'm sure some of you clean freaks people think that is odd, but here is why it makes me happy:

Dirt means that my kids have been outside playing.

When my kids were little they didn't watch t.v. very often. We didn't have cable and I didn't let them watch very many videos. Saturday morning they would watch cartoons. The rest of the time they played. They ran around outside, they played on our swing set, you'd find us at the park or at a friends house. When they were inside they worked on various crafts, played with their toys or read books.

Today, at the ages of 12 and 14 (almost 15 - GULP!) they aren't so apt to run around outside. Life is a bit different now. They are still limited in how much t.v. they watch or how many video games they play, but sometimes they are sooooo bored that they'll go play outside.

I think they forget how much fun it is to discover treasures outside. Sometimes I forget to play too. When they were little, I "had" to go to the park and play with them. I "had" to read books to them. I "had" to create crafts with them. I "had" to get down on the floor and play with them.

I "had" to because I wanted I wanted to be a good mom. Of course I enjoyed it, but there is a difference now. I don't "have" to read to them anymore, play with them at the park or dig in a sandbox with them. But I should! Playing is something that people of all ages need to do. I've been using my stamps more in the last few days than I have for quite a while. Why is this?

I changed my attitude after

taking a break from reading blogs.

If you knew you had ten years to live, what would you do differently? How would you spend your time differently?

Recipe Primal "Mockballs"

The original recipe I posted for meatballs is much different than what I do now. Today in the busyness of summer I make "mockballs".

1. Fry 1 pound of hamburger.
2. Add BBQ sauce (I don't make it homemade, I use any brand I can find that doesn't have high fructose corn syrup in it).
3. Serve over white rice.
4. Add two vegies on the side - usually baby carrots along with something else.

I can prepare this dinner much faster than making actual meatballs and it's something that my family loves. Not totally a primal recipe, but I'm okay with adding rice  and a little sugar to our meals.

Another variation of this recipe:

• replace BBQ sauce with butter and Frank's hot sauce to taste for a Buffalo flavor

This recipe has been linked to:
Grocery Cart Challenge
11th Heaven Homemaking Haven

Holstee Manifesto

I love this poster!!!

Check out Holstee Manifesto for details about this poster. I think it would make a great gift for someone.

Homemaking - Taking a Break

Nope, not a blogging break.

For the past year I have read blog posts through google reader. While we were on vacation, I stopped reading them. When we got back, I decided that I wouldn't read them until July 1st.

You know what I found?

I NEEDED a break!

I NEEDED a break to find out that I don't like to read blog posts through google reader. Sure, it's convenient. They are all right there for me - the ones I haven't read are bold and it tells me exactly how many posts I need to read in order to cross this off of my to do list.

What?!?

For me, reading blog posts is supposed to:

1. be encouraging
2. make me think
3. help me learn something new

I don't want my life to become one big to do list.

But the evil voice in my head is saying "what if you miss something". So what? Is anyone going to die if I don't read a blog post or two?

The other thing I have found is that I love going to people's blogs. I enjoy seeing the background they chose and any changes that they have made.

Lesson learned:

When something that is supposed to bring joy to your life doesn't anymore, you need to make changes.

One of my BFF's (I think that is hilarious by the way - this friend is a really really good friend, but BFF sounds so immature...hmmm I guess that is fitting for me) anyway...one of my really really good friends (AKA. BFF) stopped emailing me this past year when she got a job.

Should I feel offended? Uhhhh NO! She's picking her family over emailing her friend. I admire her ability to make the right choice. Do I miss her? Immensely. When we got together on our vacation there wasn't any silence - we picked up right where we left off.

So where do I go from here? I haven't quite figured it out yet - possibly add the blogs to my favorites and read them as I want to. Recently I have read a few posts from Consciously Frugal that reminds me of where I once was. I began my frugal journey as a full time working mom of a two year old and a newborn wrapped up in the world.

My Mom passed away November 1998 at the age of 50. After she died, I started thinking differently about life. I read the book Getting a Life and my thought was "if I didn't have to work for a living I would want to stay home to raise my babies." We knew that we couldn't do it unless we made huge life changes. Nine months after reading that book we sold our house in Colorado and moved back to Montana. I've fallen away from the concepts too much.

• Why won't I take time to enjoy petting the dog? Instead, while reading my Bible and drinking coffee, I'll brush the dog so she won't get dog hair all over my house.
• Making dinner has become a nuisance because I "have" to cook every meal.
• I injured my back big time because I was hurrying through my exercise routine so I could check it off of my list.
• etc. etc.

It's funny how this snuck up on me. Of course when you can't bend over to pick something off of the floor and you have to sit on a heating pad for quite a bit of time, you have time to reflect on your life. My life has definitely been more enjoyable the last few weeks.  The biggest bonus has been that I have enjoyed my kids a lot more. I'm don't think that I am accomplishing less, but I definitely have a different attitude.

Want to read more? An in your face, upfront and honest post about well-being vs. achievement.  I thought about this post all day long. I don't usually read blogs like this, but it *really* made me think - my first thought was "I have got to add this blog to my google reader". Slow learner aren't I?

TheEcoCatLady speaks about the art of doing less.