Company Emails: Getting on those lists...

A few months ago, I went through my email and purged.  Really purged all the extra emails that I'd forgotten to delete at the time.  One of the problems is getting off of all those advertising lists.  Ugh!  They clog up my email right and left!  I love Gmail's new system that separates the "promotion" emails from the real ones.  So, why join new lists?  Well, every once in a while I find a new one that's helpful to get...

#1 TCBY
Waffle Cones Wednesdays

On Wednesday night, my husband came home and wanted to take us all out for a treat after dinner.  We settled on TCBY.  I'm so glad we did!  The TCBY near us has Waffle Cone Wednesdays so small waffle cones are only $1.58.  It was such a blessing because it cost $7 for all of us to get ice cream instead of $16 that I expected!  What a fun blessing! (and our stomachs weren't heavy the way they usually are after having ice cream cones...)

I found out that you can subscribe to specials from your local store (since it's a franchise) on the TCBY website.  Yay!

#2 Life is Good

For my husband's birthday, I was at a complete loss about what to get him.  He also isn't big on birthdays, so it makes it challenging to figure out what to do.  This year I found something.  My husband and I love Life is Good hats and t-shirts.  There is something implied in the statement "Like what you do. Do what you like." that doesn't quite sit with me.  But, I overlook that and just enjoy the simple designs on the shirts and hats.  They fit us.

Anyways, I discovered that you can get free shipping on the Life is Good Website for any size order, which is great.  When I googled "promotion code" and "life is good", I discovered that if you subscribe to the newsletter, you get an online coupon code for 15% off your first order.  I also found a code for 20% off hats on the same site (retail me not).  Yay!  I saved $10 between the two codes--which did work together.

The lesson I learned?
Every once in a while, it's worth subscribing to another list.
As long as I unsubscribe to another one...

An Old Favorite

Tonight my youngest brother in law came over for dinner.  I had defrosted a pound of hamburger and I needed to come up with a meal all would eat.  So, I did what my friend Karen did.  She had just told me this afternoon how she had googled ground beef recipes and came up with meatloaf.  I tried a similar search and came up with cheeseburger macaroni.  I found a recipe online that sounded good and then modified it (as I usually do).  This is what I ended up making...

Cheeseburger Mac

1 lb ground beef 

• 3/4 cup onions, minced
• 1-2 tsp. minced garlic (or 1 1/4 tsp. garlic powder added with the spices)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp butter
• 3 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cup cold water
• 12 oz. or 3 cups elbow macaroni, uncooked  (you could also use small shells or rotini)
• 3/4 tsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt 
• 1/3 tsp black pepper
• 1 1/4 tsp oregano
• 1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, minced or 1 tsp. dried
• 3/4 tsp chili powder
• 1 1/2 tsp paprika
• 2 cups mild cheddar cheese, shredded
• 6 oz. American cheese

Additional 1/3-1/2 cup milk

2-4 Tbsp sour cream (optional)

Directions

1. 1.  Brown ground beef and onions.
2. 2.  Turn off the heat and place a paper towel in the pan and swish it around to absorb any grease in the pan.  Repeat with another paper towel if there's still more grease.
3. 3.  Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the cheddar and American cheese. 
4. Add remaining ingredients except for the cheese.
5. 4.  Stir and bring to a boil over medium heat.
6. 5.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until pasta is tender).  Check the noodles and stir after 5 minutes, then after another 3 minutes, and then after another 3 minutes until noodles are done.  Just be careful not to overcook the noodles.  If there isn't enough liquid, add 1/4 cup milk at a time so that the bottom doesn't burn.
7. 6. Stir in cheeses until melted.  Then, add enough milk (a little at a time) to make the sauce creamy.   Taste it.  If you would like a little tang, start by adding 2 Tbsp of sour cream.  If you want more tang, add a little more...  
8. 
   
9. Serve right away or the sauce will thicken.  Add a little milk before stirring if it thickens too much.

This was enough to serve my family of 5 plus 1 eighteen year old boy and have a little bit for leftovers.  

All three of my kids ate dinner (and 2 had seconds), so this recipe is going in the recipe box.  My husband and brother in law also gave it a thumbs up--especially since it's pretty quick and easy!

Always a New Way...

Last week as I was looking at our local grocery ad for ShopRite, I noticed a label that said "see coupon online".  Hmmm...

This morning as I was making my list for the grocery store, I realized I had never gotten around to doing that.  I looked up ShopRite's site and found a spot along the top that said "coupons".  You have to create an account associated with your discount key tag that you use at the store.  That part was complicated because for some reason the computer didn't like what I was putting in.  But, after a few minutes it was done.  Then, you just click on the coupon you want loaded to your price plus club card and it will be there!

It seems like there's always some new way of couponing...

Earlier this summer, I tried to make a "coupon" shopping trip.  It took at least an hour in the store and at the end I was seriously questioning whether it was worth it.  My three kids were very squirrelly and it took so much energy from me to manage the shopping, track the coupons, and keep my kids in line (and from bumping into other shoppers).

When I got home, I sat down and thought about my pressing desire for space and breathing room for a few minutes.  I decided it isn't wise for me to use a lot of coupons at this stage in my life.  My kids are my constant, energy needing companions for my shopping trips.  Loading coupons onto my discount card for the store might be doable, though.  We'll see!

I used to be a diehard couponer.  Every Sunday morning, I'd sit with the coupons, clip, and then organize. Now, I shop the sale ad, BJs coupons, and Aldi.  I think I end up coming out even.  I stock up when things are on sale and I'm not tempted to purchase the "extras" that I might have a paper coupon for.

What about you?

An Amazing Meal

My husband and I just celebrated our twelfth anniversary this past weekend.  We love food, so it was very fitting that we ate at a wonderful restaurant for dinner.  We were blessed to have dinner at the Kitchen at Rock Hall in Rock Hall, Maryland.  I posted my review on Yelp.com HERE

Later that night, we made a list of the excellent meals we've eaten over the course of our marriage.
This is what we came up with:
1) a steakhouse on our honeymoon (can't remember the name)  My husband was sick our entire honeymoon, so neither of us remember much except that we enjoyed the dinner we had at the restaurant in the hotel.
2) a french restaurant in Dallas (can't remember the name again)  It was a little hole in the wall and I'm not even sure how we found it.
3) Eastside Cafe in Austin, Texas  This is a vegetarian restaurant that has its own garden.  I had the mushroom crepes (which are still on the menu twelve years later).  
4) Goldfish in Atlanta, Georgia is owned by a company that owns several chains in the area.  Chris and I don't usually enjoy chains, but we loved the fish and sushi at this restauarant.  I wonder how it would be now.
5) Ruth's Chris in Baltimore, Maryland  The steaks we had that night were wonderful.
6) A Tapas Restaurant in Ithaca, New York  I tried to google and find the name of it, but 
7) Simply Red Bistro in the La Tourelle Inn in Ithaca, New York.  One of the best breakfast's we've ever had.  We stayed here on our anniversary two years ago.
8) Eaglesmere Inn in Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania.  The breakfast was wonderful.  The dinner was very good, but not excellent.  We really enjoyed our stay here last year for our anniversary.
9) Oyster House in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Happy Hour is the time to go.  We also had the octopus, which was wonderful!  The turtle soup is worth passing up, though.  We made the drive up to Philly around Valentine's Day this year just for this restaurant.
10) Mason's in Easton, Maryland.  We ate here with our kids and were pleased to actually have real vegetables included with their kids meals!  I can't remember what we had, but I do remember loving it.
11) The Kitchen at Rock Hall in Rock Hall, Maryland.  This was a wonderful dinner and we loved the venue.  Small so that they could serve people well.  The chef doesn't take on more customers than he can cook for excellently.  You MUST make reservations.  We watched people turned away on a Sunday night when the town was dead and hardly anyone was around!  I called the day before and was able to make a reservation.  

So, that's our short list of excellent meals we've eaten together.  They were more expensive meals for us, but ones worth saving for.  We've eaten at a lot of really good restaurants, too, but these were excellent.  Some of the good ones were Food for Thought in Williamsburg, VA; Zen 16 Sushi in Bel Air, MD; the Bees Knees and California Dreaming in Augusta, GA; BuonTempo Brothers Pizza in Bel Air, MD; Carmine's on Penn in Denver, Colorado; and Jonathon's in Salem, OR.  

We've also had our share of horrible meals out during our marriage.  I still remember one place near Atlanta (which thankfully isn't there anymore) where we ate during the first year of our marriage.  The food arrived cold!  Chris didn't want to send it back, but I never, ever wanted to go back there.  When we ate in Williamsburg, Virginia at Red, Hot, and Blues, some of our food arrived cold as well there and my daughter ended up throwing up later that night unfortunately.  So, there have been some bad meals as well.

I came home on Monday after our short trip and excellent dinner wanting to be a better cook.  Wouldn't it be wonderful to cook excellently?  My problem is that I'm usually doing too much at one time.  So, I've been trying this week.  I made pickled beets yesterday and baked my cookies just right!  They were soft and chewy and not overbaked.  I made sure I got to the oven when the timer went off and didn't wait.  We'll see what I can do.  I'm going to try!

Machine Sewing for Kids

A while back, I posted a review of Sewing School, published by Storey Books.  I really liked all of the projects and tips the book included about how to begin teaching children how to sew.  Sewing School focuses on hand sewing.  Many of the reviews for that book included comments from readers wishing for more machine sewing projects to do with kids.  

So, the authors of Sewing School, Andria Lisle and Amie Plumley, wrote a sequel--Sewing School 2.  

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I had a chance to look at an ebook copy of it.  I really like it!  But, before I go any farther describing this book, I want to mention that I WOULD NOT purchase a kindle edition of this book unless you are going to be looking at it on your computer (not on a kindle). Even then, this is one of those books that will be much, much easier to use in print than electronically.

My daughter, Sami, has been asking since last week to learn how to sew on my machine.  She even bought a kids' machine at a garage sale, which didn't work.  Because she wants to so much, I have promised that I would teach her.  I have to admit, though, that I was at a bit of a loss as to where to start and what to make.  This book will make it simple for me.

The book starts off which what supplies are needed.  It explains all the different parts of a sewing machine and gives good safety tips.  There are a bunch of simple sewing projects (like bags, organizers, a scarf, decorations, a pillow, and more...) that you can use scrap material around your house to make.  Yay!  I love crafts that we can make with things we already have.  

I think the authors have done a great job writing a book to teach kids  how to sew with a sewing machine (and guide their parents)!  There is one minor thing that I wish there was more information about in this book.      
That topic is choosing a sewing machine for a child.  I have been told that children's sewing machines are a waste of money.  But, what is the best basic sewing machine for them to learn on?

Books often help pave the way for me.  They make a project seem doable when it seems formidable to me and I'm not sure where to start.  Sewing School 2 is just that kind of book for me and my family! 

Please note that I received a complimentary ebook copy of this book for review from Storey Books.

Homemade Muffin-Doughnuts

Last week, most of my family was sick--2 kids and one husband--all sick.  One little boy and me stayed well.  So, one morning I tried a new recipe. They were wonderful!  They tasted just like homemade cinnamon sugar cake doughnuts, except that they looked like muffins!

The recipe I used called for a mini-muffin tin, but I don't have one.   So, I set about changing the recipe I found and this is the recipe I ended up with...

Homemade Muffin-Doughnuts
Makes 24 muffins

1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 cups + 2 Tbsp. flour 
1 cup whole wheat flour-- or simply add 1 more cup of white flour
3/4 teaspoons salt

1 cup butter, melted 
1 1/3 cup milk
2 eggs 
1 teaspoon vanilla 

Preheat oven to 425. Combine melted butter and milk in mixer.  Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add all dry ingredients. Stir until batter is just combined with no lumps. Spray muffin tins with cooking spray--don't use cupcake papers.  Bake for 12-15 minutes.  Depending on your oven, test them at 12 or 13 minutes to see if a toothpick comes out clean.  From there, add 2 or 3 minutes at a time until the muffins are golden and the toothpick comes out clean.

Let the muffins cool.  This is a must!!  Melt some butter in a small dish.  Mix 1/2 cup sugar + 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a plastic bag. After muffins have cooled, take them out of the pan. Then, brush them with butter and put them in a bag with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Move the muffin gently in the bag to coat the muffin well.  Repeat with each muffin individually.  Don't coat more than one at a time.  

My husband and I were surprised at how good these muffins were!  As close to homemade doughnuts as I've ever gotten.  I'm going to use this technique with other muffins perhaps.  Brushing them with butter and then tossing with cinnamon sugar.  I suspect it would also work with powdered sugar!

This will definitely be added to our muffin and breakfast treat choices!

Chipotle Style Carnitas Tacos

My husband loves the Carnitas Tacos at Chipotle.  So, that was his request for Father's Day.  Good pulled pork tacos.  I've posted a recipe before that I love for BBQ Pulled Pork.  But, my husband wanted a pulled pork that would work better with tacos.  So, I went searching....

I found this recipe on Chow Hound  HERE. 

I got up early Sunday morning to get the pork ready only to discover that my roast hadn't fully defrosted!  Ugh!!  At 6 am, I ran out to the grocery store to get a new one.  I had learned you can't substitute a pork tenderloin or pork chops from the butcher at the grocery store.  So, I made sure to get the right cut of pork.  I returned within a half hour and set to work getting it ready.  It was quite an easy recipe.    I placed the onions and garlic in the bottom of the crock pot.  Then, made the rub and rubbed it all over the pork butt roast.  This was the first time I have fixed a pork butt roast.    I did not add the BBQ sauce at the end.  

I had no idea how much it would make, so I did fix two 3 1/2 pound roasts.   One would have been enough for my family.  I put them in my large crock pot on high for seven hours and it was done.  I did multiply the ingredients in the recipe 1 1/2 times since I was cooking more pork than the recipe calls for.  My husband said it was the best pulled pork I've made.  He much preferred it to the other recipe that I made before.  

I served it with salsa (Santa Barbara's Peach Mango Salsa from Costco or ShopRite), guacamole, sour cream, lettuce, chopped tomatoes, shredded jack cheese, sliced olives, minced red onion, crispy and flour tortillas,  and refried beans.  

My husband was very happy with his Father's Day Meal!     

Kids and Dishes

Pretty much since my kids were born, I've had them eat on plastic (melamine) plates.  One year, I used my birthday money to purchase some seahorse plates and bowls that I found on clearance at Target.  I picked up a few more at garage sales over the years that we've been using for nine years now.  

Recently, I realized that my kids are getting older.  Well, actually, I've known it for some time.   Growing up means so many things--in a practical sense.  First, it's growing out of sippy cups to regular cups and it's growing out of baby bowls to regular plastic dishes and then on to ceramic dishes.  

I find these transitions stressful.  Spilt cups of milk or juice, potentially broken dishes.  It's stressful to me.  We all have thresholds of what we can handle and cope with.  

At our house, we have a box of plastic cups that won't be going away any time soon.  But, my husband and I knew it was time for the kids to start using ceramic dishes.  

Our main set of white dishes are two sets of Pfaltzgraff Gazebo that I bought eighteen years ago.  Half of the bowls have broken over the years, though.  So, we knew we needed bowls for the kids to eat out of.  It's the dish we use most in our home.  At a nearby kitchen store We found some white bowls for a dollar each.  We bought 9--three sets of three since we have three children.  We bought a few extra--room for breakage!

Then, last Saturday, I found a set of white china dishes from West Germany.  It was a mishmashed set with a different number of bowls, large plates, serving bowls, creamer and sugar set.  It's rather funny really.  There were 4 large plates, 1 small plate, 8 tea cups and saucers, 4 very small bowls, 6 medium bowls, 5 soup bowls, a gravy boat, a creamer and sugar dish.  But, for $3, that was okay with me.  

They came home with me that morning and after being washed, joined our other white dishes.  They fit right in.

I've been surprised that so far no dishes have been broken.  The kids have liked the different size bowls and things are going well.  It hasn't been as hard as I expected--for them or for me!  

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been conducting standardized testing in our home all week, so I wanted to make some cookies at the end to celebrate.  I pulled out my go-to recipe that my mom made for years and that I've been making all of my adult life.  The Nestle Tollhouse Recipe has never worked for me and I've tried it several times over the years.  Anyways, my mom always called this recipe "Mrs. Field's recipe", but we're not exactly sure where it came from. After searching the web, I found it on cooks.com  HERE.  The only difference in the ingredients between this recipe and the one I make is that I only add 1/2 tsp. of salt (not 1 1/2 tsp.)

My directions are quite different, though... So, here's my recipe:

Chocolate Chip Cookies (medium size batch)

1 1/3 cup butter
1 1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
4 tsp. vanilla

Cream sugar, butter, and vanilla well so that there are no lumps of butter in the mixture.

Add:
4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 generous shakes of the salt shaker

Mix well and add  2 2/3 cup chocolate chips.  It will be a very crumbly mixture.  Don't worry.  (You can also add 1 1/3 cups chopped nuts if you wish.)

This is where my kids and I stop for a break.  We grab spoons and each get to eat one spoonful of cookie batter.  It's not batter, but it doesn't have eggs in it and once the crumbly mixture gets into your mouth, it tastes just like good 'ol cookie dough.  I probably end up taking about 3-4 Tbsp. of mixture in all out of the bowl, but it doesn't affect how the cookies turn out.  

Now, add the eggs-- 2 of them.
Cream well.  It's amazing how it all mixes together.  But, it does!

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.  In my oven, it takes 12 minutes.  So, the first time you make a batch watch them closely after 8 minutes to see how long your oven likes to have the cookies in there.  Take them out when you see a little golden forming on the top edges of the cookies.  This is one of those recipes that you play with--bake them to how well you like them cooked--soft, medium, or crispy.  I always leave them on the tray after I pull them out for 3-4 minutes to let them cook slowly for a few more minutes.  

You can half the recipe and it still works quite well!

Menu Planning and My Weaknesses

A month ago, my husband asked me to try planning our family's menu week by week instead of monthly as I've been doing for several years.  His reasons was a good one.  He wanted to talk about the menu each week.  Our middle daughter is a very picky eater and we've trying to figure out what to do.  This was one of our ideas--to think through our meals together.  

But, as with a lot of things in life, time often escapes us and though we discussed it the first few weeks, we also stopped discussing it after another few short weeks.   And then all the other things I needed to do crowded out my weekly menu planning this week.  It was a disaster.  Each day I was stuck (except for Tuesday which is always tacos) trying to come up with something.

I have found that I plan better month by month.  I'll sit down at the beginning of the month with a calendar sheet and write a dinner plan for each day in the month.  Often I'll switch things around as we go through the week based on the needs of our family, but I have choices to choose from.  Two or thee dinner options is a lot easier to choose from than the unlimited possibilities in all of my cookbooks when meal time comes around!  

I do plan on showing my husband my monthly plan and talking about it, but I'm going back to my old habit--I like to organize and plan, but I do it imperfectly!  

PS We have made a little progress with our picky daughter--she actually ate lunch yesterday at an Indian buffet and tried several new foods.  I don't want to give up trying to help her experience different foods or sacrifice what the rest of our family enjoys.

Saving Money at the Dentist's Office

Things I've learned about Dental Care...
#1 
I just walked into our school room from the kitchen and realized that my mouth was closed.  Yay!  This is a good thing.  Even an important thing!

At my last visit to my dentist, I had a small cavity that was beginning to form in between my two front teeth.  Oh, no!  My dentist explained that this is the worst spot to have a cavity because it has to be replaced more often than other places in your mouth.  He asked if I had had a cold recently.  

No.

He then explained that more plaque forms on your front teeth when your mouth is open.  He asked me if I kept my mouth open all the time.

Yes.  I do.

Yes!

I realized that when I'm not talking, my mouth naturally is rests with my front teeth on my bottom lip since I have an overbite.  

I went home and resolved to change this habit.  I do not want a cavity on my front teeth!  

Now when I wake up at night and realize my mouth is open, I shut it.  When I'm standing anywhere and realize my mouth is open, I shut it.  After several weeks, I realized that there's been a lot less plaque on my front teeth.

Yay!  It's working.  

I told one of the high schoolers about this a few weeks ago at church.  (Yes, I know I come up with strange topics of conversation.)  The girl replied with a biological explanation for this!  She already knew!  My husband and I happen to play and sing to accompany music at our church.  So, earlier that morning I had glanced around the room.  Almost everyone closes their mouths!  It was very funny to me to realize that I am such an oddball.  

I'm glad to know now why I've had so much plaque on my teeth all these years.  I'm hopeful that I'll be able to save us some money by closing my mouth!  He he he.

#2
There is one other note that I wanted to share about my dentist.  He's big on not filling cavities unless he has to, because once they've been filled, the filling gets bigger each time it has to be replaced.  He recommended to me that I rinse with a fluoride rinse each night.  I've been able to keep a lot of small cavities from growing by using it over the past eight years.  Thankfully, Walmart and Target both sell generic fluoride rinses now and ACT isn't the only option.  

#3
Dental insurance is expensive.  And often it isn't worth it.  I've calculated what we contribute every month to my husband's dental plan and so far it has been worth it for our family... but not by much.  If you don't have any dental insurance, there is one option so that you can have access to a reduced dental fee schedule.  Insurance companies negotiate with dental providers (and medical providers) a fee schedule--which lists what they will pay the dentist or medical provider for each service they provide.  This fee schedule is reduced from what you would normally pay out of pocket if you just walked in off the street.    Vital Savings by Aetna is such a plan.  My mom and mother in law both have this plan and it has saved them a lot of money.  

If Only I'd Printed It...

Last week, I purged my computer of nonessential files.  If you're anything like me, a lot of junk files you don't need pile up in your documents folder.  I have been meaning to do it for a long time and finally got it done.  Of course, I discovered a casualty of this purge this morning...

I have been using Homeschool Tracker to track our attendance and field trips for the past five years.  I have used the free version and it's worked out great for what I've needed.  When I opened the program this morning, all of my data was gone.  I've printed off past years attendance and field trips, but I hadn't printed off any of this year's information yet.  Unfortunately.   I must have purged the file that held my data in my computer cleanout last week.  It's gone.  Completely gone.  My memory doesn't have it and neither does the computer.

I'm pretty convinced that computers solve a lot of problems, but they also create new ones.  I think I'm going to go back to keeping a calendar in the front of my teacher notebook.  I don't need to spend $20 on a planner each year for attendance.  My plan is to simply circle the days we do school and write a number next to each month for how many days we do school each month.  Every state has different requirements for homeschooling and attendance.  Pennsylvania requires 4 1/2 hours each day.  I would keep a different kind of paper calendar if I worked there.  But, Maryland doesn't require specific attendance records.    Attendance records that I keep are for my own benefit and records.  

I'm disappointed that I accidentally deleted the file with my records for Homeschool Tracker, but it just reminded me that sometimes computers can break and sometimes human error can lead to problems with a computer's memory too!  I loved Homeschool Tracker because it was free and I like the reports that it creates, but it's not foolproof as I discovered today.  

If you're looking for a paper calendar to record attendance on, Donna Young's website has a variety of different calendars.  Or if you want to find forms in one spot and pay a one time membership fee, I use the forms on Mom's ToolBox Here.  I don't like to purchase memberships to sites (I much prefer finding free resources!), but I did join this site several years ago and have been glad to not have to waste time searching all over the web for household and calendar planning forms that I want.  I did make my own student planner this year, though, because I wanted a form that would work specifically for the subjects we study.  It took me a few minutes to make on Excel and I've modified it through the year as our needs have changed.  

The Confession of an Organized, Distracted Person: Me

A long time ago, I wrote a post about living with distractions while homeschooling.  Distractions are just a fact of life.  I think I would describe myself as an organized person.  I like to organize.  For me, it's easier to get things picked up if there's a place for things.  Another thing about me is that I usually am tackling five things at once--strangely enough because I want to.  There are so many things I need to do and that I want to do.  So, I try to compensate for all the moments when I forget things.  

One of my systems that I have found works for my family is that Friday morning before we do our school work, we clean our house.  I made simple lists for each of my kids with their jobs.  The lists have worked really well.  They're wrinkled and worn, but they get looked at every Friday morning.

This morning I decided to make another list to help my kids and me.  I made the chore lists so that I wouldn't sound like a broken record and so they could learn to be independent.  This morning I made a list for another job my kids have--setting the dinner table.  My girls have the job of setting the table at night, but they often forget things--even silverware!

I made a pdf file of my list to share that I've posted Here.  

I'm hopeful that will help our family dinner preparations go a little smoother and that we won't be missing as many things from the table in days to come!

The Indestructible Coach Purse

My favorite part of garage saling is trying to fix something.  Once in a while I come home with something, though, that just can't be fixed.  I wondered if that was going to be the case earlier this week...

A few weeks ago, I bought a black coach purse at a garage sale for $3.  When I got it home, though, I realized that it smelled like cigarette smoke.  So, I threw it in the wash with some oxi-clean.  I know that sounds crazy.  I just didn't have anything to lose.  I washed it two more times, put baking soda inside it, and sprayed it with Ozium, a spray that usually takes away the smell of cigarette smoke.  It didn't work.  I was ready to give up.  Sometimes things just can't be fixed.

I had one last idea.  Several of my friends have told me about the smell that of sun-dried laundry.  I took the purse out and hung it on the jungle gym for a week.  Would it work?

It did!?!  It did!!  The washing had taken a little toll on the bag, so I pulled out a black sharpie marker to fill in along the edges.  You can't tell at all.  I am really surprised at how well the bag stood up to all that I put it through.  

Sometimes I think expensive purses, shoes, jewelry aren't worth it.  But, coach bags seem to really stand up.  I am thankful they've brought back their classic line of purses.  They don't all just have a flashy c on them anymore.  

Fixing something leaves me with a good feeling.  It means one less thing that's going to end up in a trash can somewhere.  Next time I'm going to try the sunshine before all of my other fixes!

Kindle Shopping and Kids

Kindles are funny things to me.  When you go shopping for a regular, basic Kindle, there are two options.  The first option is $69 which supposedly includes special coupons and deals.  The second option is $89 without these "special" deals.  At first, I thought, why pay the extra $20?

Well, now I know why.  Our kids have started using our Kindle to read a lot of classic books that you can purchase for free on Amazon like The Treasure Seekers and The Wouldbegoods by Edith Nesbit.  The discounted Kindle's screen saver is always an advertisement for a different book.  These books are adult, not kid reading.  They have often have covers that I don't want my kids to see or to be staring at.  My children are easily scared and quite impressionable.  I know they see all sorts of magazine coverss at the grocery store each time we go (which I've talked about this with them).  But, we don't watch cable tv with them, adult themed television shows, or adult themed movies.  I pretty floored recently to see how many un"commercials" PBS even runs between shows now when we were in a car dealership waiting room.  My biggest concern, honestly, is realizing that I don't have control over what's going to come up on our Kindle's screensaver.  It's interesting that there are Parental Controls that will restrict a child's access to the Kindle Store--but nowhere is it mentioned about the non-kid oriented screensavers.  

So, we decided to purchase another Kindle--one without the "special deals" and pay a little more.  My husband and I really think it's worth it.  I'm glad we have a basic Kindle.  I like it, but I'm also looking forward to having ad-free one that I'm comfortable with my kids using!

Groceries I Don't Buy (Usually)

Last week, I went to the grocery store to buy groceries.  I picked up a few things for my son's birthday party.  I was surprised when the bill was about $10 more than it had been for the past few weeks.  I totaled up what I'd spent for his party and I had spent $4 on two bags of chips (on sale), $3 on pretzels (store brand), and $3 on candy (on clearance).  I was struck by how a few extra things can add on a lot.

A friend of mine asked me last night how much we spend on groceries each month.  I've always tried to be careful, but for all of my efforts to save money on groceries, I thought our grocery bill had been very high.  This morning I looked a bit closer at how our budget broke out.  Since January, we've only eaten out once a month as a family and once on a date.  We've cut out Starbucks almost completely.  It helps that we moved farther away from one and that there isn't anywhere nearby that we like to eat at.

Our bill wasn't that high actually when I just looked at groceries and toiletries.  I've been able to cut it some during the past two months, but it's interesting to realize how much.  I'm curious to compare this year with last year when we get to the end of it.  The hard part about comparing food budgets over the past few years is we're not really comparing apples to apples.  They're really apples and oranges.

I remember about 4 or 5 years ago when I noticed that some of the food items we'd purchased for several years jumped 50-100% in price.  The price increase was disguised, though, because most food manufacturers shrank the size of the products they were selling--by a little at a time.  Breyers ice cream is one of those products.  They shrank the amount of ice cream per package a few years ago and I believe they shrank it again over the past year. So, it was hard.  I was expecting to keep our food budget the same, but I was ultimately paying more for the same food we'd been eating because I had to buy more packages to get the same amount over all.

I found that I made a lot of cuts back then.  I cut back to my kids having juice at one meal a day, milk one meal a day, and water the rest of the day.  Milk has climbed back down in price quite a bit, so I'm not as careful with it as I used to be.

And then I went to Costco on Monday.  I seriously paused when the checker told me the total was close to $100.  Really?  I bought cheese, honey, chocolate chips, dog food, milk, generic zyrtec, and a bag of coffee.  Nothing beyond basics.  

I walked away considering my purchases.  There wasn't anything extra in my basket.  

I think it's interesting to read the articles about families of 4 or 6 living on $400 a month.  But, there's something else to think about.  What do they eat?  How do they eat?  White bread?  My mom told me last week when we were talking about food that my family eats well.  I think that is my goal--even more than being as frugal as I can about my groceries.  

I want to be balanced and feed my family a healthy, varied diet full of fruits and vegetables and different meats--and different dishes.  And I want to be as wise financially as I can about it.  I don't want to be obsessive and make it a lesser idol as we can potentially do with any good thing in our life.  I pray for the Lord's provision for my family and trust Him to help me make wise decisions in my grocery purchases.  

Homestyle Cooking

 I have a bookshelf filled with cookbooks, but there are two that sit right about my Kitchenaid.  Simply in Season, published by Herald Press, is one of them.  I recently discovered that Herald Press had also published a cookbook titled Mennonite girls can Cook and a second Mennonite Girls Can Cook Celebrations.  

I was blessed with a chance to look through these two cookbooks and try out some new recipes.  I started with Mennonite girls can Cook.  In the forward, I discovered that all author royalties from the cookbook

will be donated to charity to feed hungry children.  The cookbook was compiled by a group of mennonite women who came together with their favorite family recipes.  These are everyday type of cooking recipes.  The table of contents shows that it will tackle breakfast, soups and salads, suppers, breads, and desserts.  This is a very "homestyle" type of cookbook.  The recipes are filled with comfort foods that you'll recognize.  From the breakfast section, I made the Blueberry Crumb Muffins.  My girls do not like nor eat blueberries.  But, eat these muffins they did!  In fact, Sami requested them the next day again when we had run out.  She was so disappointed that I set about making another batch.  They tasted like bakery or restaurant blueberry muffins made at home.  Next, I made the broccoli salad recipe.  I have to admit that I altered this recipe a lot.  I found the recipe far too sweet for my tastes so I cut the sugar in half and added some small cubes of cheese (1/3 cup).  It wasn't specified whether the onion should be red or white so I stuck with white, but decreased the amount called for by about half just to be safe.  The salad was very good and a friend and my mom both gave it high praise when they were called upon to taste test it.  The rest of the cookbook contains a lot of recipes that you'd find in restaurants in Pennsylvania Dutch country.  There's a mixture of older comfort foods and new ones.  

I was impressed that there were so many gluten free recipes included.  I appreciated the one page discussion of celiacs and gluten free foods at the back of the book.  I hadn't understood why some oats are gluten free and why others are not.  The explanation here is that some oats are grown in fields where wheat has recently been grown, hence a chance of contamination.  Hmm...  interesting.  

If you like Amish or Pennsylvania Dutch cooking, you'll really like this cookbook.  There are great pictures and a good variety of recipes.  I know the blueberry muffin recipe will be a permanent part of my repertoire from now on.  Scattered throughout the cookbook are also short devotionals.  I read a few and enjoyed the thoughts these women had to share.  The thoughts in Simply in Season are shorter and quicker to read, but I still enjoyed the thoughts of these women--which are essentially part of their testimonies of what God is or has taught them.

The second cookbook in this series is coming out in May.  It is titled Mennonite Girls Can Cook

Celebrations.  The women came together this time with their favorite "special" recipes.  There are recipes for holidays, outdoors, birthdays, weddings...  My mom and I both enjoyed looking through this cookbook.  I started out with the Chicken Cordon Bake and my mom fixed the tomato rice soup.  I added steamed cauliflower to the Chicken Cordon Bake and was very pleased with the result  I wanted to get a little more vegetables into my family!  My mom made the tomato rice soup and was satisfied with the result, although she felt the soup was quite tomatoey.  My husband, on the other hand, just opened it up for lunch today when he discovered it and had a hard time putting it away after one bowl.  I also fixed the Ham and Cheese Pinwheels.  These were a complete hit with my kids.  There are not many recipes that I get an unequivocal thumbs up on from all three kids.  But, I did with these!  They are little ham and cheese rolls that are baked and look like pinwheels.  Normally, you'd have to buy crescent rolls to make rolls like these, but the dough was quite easy to make and the rolls turned out well (albeit not as pretty as the pictures since I'm not very exact in my cooking).  My husband thought these rolls would be awesome for kids' birthday parties.  

Like the first cookbook, there are many gluten free recipes (which are better labeled in this cookbook!).  I'm excited to try the baked rice pudding the next time our gluten-free friends are over!  There are also many pictures for all of the recipes.  Pictures make cooking so much more appealing!

I think what's fun about this cookbook is that it made me want to make "pretty" food.  Most of the time I am just concerned with making good food fast--as fast as I can.  I whiz around my kitchen.  But, sometimes I want to enjoy cooking.  I want to slow down and make something that tastes good and looks good, too.  I was happy with the pinwheels (even when they didn't turn out as pretty as the picture) because they were fun and I did slow down while making them.  I am very excited to try the swan cream puffs.  My mom has made cream puffs for years and I thought that the swan idea was just one more little step that looks doable.  

I'm glad I had the chance to try these cookbooks.  I know they won't be ones I will pick up all the time like Simply in Season, but I know that they will definitely be used.  I think the pinwheels will be a good addition to my son's birthday party in two weeks and the swans will definitely be added to my daughter's birthday party in the fall!

Please note that I received complimentary copies of these two cookbooks for review from Herald Press.

One of the R's: Reusing

I love reusing something I already have for a new purpose.  It feels really good to use something I have to solve a problem I have instead of buying and consuming something new.  

Last week, I bought a closet sweater hanger at a garage sale for a dollar.  I bought it not knowing quite what it was going to be used for.  Come Monday morning my goal was to get all of our bikes in the shed.  In order to do this, I had to find homes for some of the things in the shed.  First, I moved the tools we don't use regularly to the basement.  Then, I needed to find a home for the kids' bike helmets.  The closet organizer!  Yay!  They fit perfectly and each one has a spot--inside the house.  I really wanted to figure out how to make this work.  My goal was avoiding spending $300 on another shed for the backyard to house stuff in the shed.  I was so excited to come up with a solution that worked and now we don't need to buy another small storage shed.  

Today I needed to wash our dog's bed.  I washed the cover before, but noticed that it shrunk.  The foam pad didn't fit right inside of it anymore.  I was ready to throw it away.  Tonight I realized that I could trim the edge off the foam and it would zip again!  I tried it.  It worked!  Molly, our dog, is so happy to have her bed back!  And I'm glad not to have to throw it away.  I discovered that our HE front loader is gentle enough to wash the foam and not tear it up, too.  

My other project today was to fix the border on our flower beds that I put in last year.  I like basic bricks because they're cheap.  Honestly, that's why.  I put them in last year and it looked okay, but I was never happy with it.  That's kind of how I am.  I start a project and then keep changing what's there until it looks good.  Sometimes my projects start out looking very bad!

This is what it looks like now.

Eli thinks it's his new balance beam and likes the change a lot.  I like it too.  It looks better without me spending any money, which is great!  

Each spring my goal is to know in February what I want to tackle in our yard.  Unfortunately, it never seems to work out that way so far, but maybe some day it will.  I've noticed that Home Depot and Lowe's often run great garden specials in March and April, but not in May and June when folks are willing to pay full price.  

I think the hard part about reusing is knowing when to get rid of something and when to hold on to it in case you might want to use it for another purpose later!

Making Hash Browns

Making hash browns intimidated me for a lot of years.  I tried various ways to make them.  A lot of folks like cubed potatoes.  But, it takes a lot of butter and I actually don't like them.  Then, a few years ago, I read America's Test Kitchen's way of making them.  It seemed odd, but I gave it a try...  And it worked!  So, here's how I make them now:

Hash Browns

A few small potatoes or 1 or 2 large potatoes.  
Canola Oil
A nonstick frying pan

Peel all potatoes.  Grate 2 small or 1 large.  Don't grate them all at once.  Put the grated peelings inside a cloth napkin and walk over to your sink.  Close the napkin around the potato peelings and squeeze the water out of the potatoes.

Then, heat 2 Tbsp. of canola oil in the pan over medium heat.  Place a small handful of potato shreds in the pan.  I have a 10" skillet and I can make two at a time.  With your spatula, spread the shreds out so that they aren't very thick.  Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over the hash browns.  You want them to be close enough to each other so that they'll stay together, but you want them in a pretty thin layer so that they'll cook through.  Start with a small hashbrown to begin with so that you can get the hang of it.  After I've made one round, I add some more shreds and make a second.  Over medium heat, it takes several minutes to cook.  You can cook your eggs over easy, pour your coffee (with cream and sugar), set the table...  Keep an eye on them and check back.  You'll be able to see the edges start to brown.  When you want to flip them (after 2-4 minutes), you can try.  Hashbrowns are a bit of trial and error.  Let them cook on the second side and turn them back over to crisp some more.  It's surprising how long they take to cook.

But, it's better to cook them over medium for longer than over a higher heat for a short time.  The insides need to cook.  Also, they are prone to burning over higher heat unless you're watching them like a hawk (which I'm not good at).  

Making hash browns is a really fun, super cheap treat!  I did tell my husband that I can only make them for 2-4 people at a time.  It takes a lot of hand strength to squeeze the water out of the potato shreds.  

Today was my most successful attempt at making them.  I wasn't in a rush to turn them.  I realized that was the key.  They really do take a long time to cook until they're crispy on both sides!  One thing that was different about them today was that I used oil and no butter.  I think that oil works much better.  I also used a nonstick pan.  Cast iron and stainless steel are much harder to cook hash browns in.

College Loans

My kids are nowhere near college, but I think about college once in a while.  Mostly I think about it when I listen to friends talk about their children's applications to college and attending college.  I also think about it when I listen to college grads talk about their loans.

There was an article in the Baltimore Sun about financial aid packages this year.  Many schools have added a disclaimer to the financial aid packages they've been sending out this year.  The disclaimer is something about funds subject to change.  The increase in disclaimers is because of the federal budget's situation and sequestration.  There has been an added uncertainty to colleges' ability to guarantee loans this year.  

As my husband and I have juxtaposed the amount of loans colleges are offering to students for one year's attendance beside the reality of the job market today, we have become more and more aware of the challenges young people face.

An interesting thing came up the other day in a discussion with a friend about how to pay off college loans.  I did not have college loans, but my husband did.  When I went through grad school, I lived on a shoe string budget and attended a program I could afford.  I used a small savings account I had to pay for one year of my tuition.  And I worked.  I substituted, worked a second job for the church I attended, and housesat whenever I had the opportunity.  I had this strong conviction that I needed to make it through grad school without debt.

In our culture, it has become an accepted way of thinking to live with debt.  Debt beyond a mortgage and car payment.  

What does having debt do?  It locks up your budget.  It obligates you to paying certain amounts each month--usually for a long span of time.

Someone told me that a lot of folks are now giving the advice to grads with loans to just pay the minimum on their student loans.  Hmmm...  I wondered the reasons why when I heard it, so I googled "college loan repayment advice minimum payment".  I read several articles and gathered that financial advisers are giving the advice to pay the minimum and instead:  save a buffer first, then put some aside for retirement, start an IRA, pay off credit card debt, invest--and then pay off your loans.  Really?  I read a few more articles and found the advice is pretty mixed.  Some folks say pay them off fast, some don't.

What I noticed is that the articles who advocated putting off paying student loans didn't mention a few things.
#1  They didn't mention how monthly payments lock up your budget and can make it much less flexible to cope with emergencies and life changes.
#2  They didn't mention the stress of living with debt.
#3  They didn't mention that it's hard to get an investment that will pay more than you owe in interest nowadays.
#4  They didn't mention that if you marry after graduation and you both have debt, your burden grows.  It doesn't shrink.

In my mind, I have always thought it a good idea to pay off student loans faster.  Loans are a burden that can lock up your budget.  I couldn't think of an exception.  But, I learned about one today.

In the case of some service sectors like medicine where loans are astronomical, students take out their loans with the understanding that if they pay the minimum for 25 years, then the rest of the loan will be cancelled out.  The minimum payment is a percentage of their income.  In the case of some, these loans can never feasibly be repaid unless the former student comes into an enormous windfall of funds.  

I asked the friend who explained this to me what they thought of other student loans.  The person explained that their friends are all paying off their loans ahead of schedule.  If it wasn't for the cancellation after 25 years, he/she likely would do the same thing.  But, it simply isn't realistic to do so.  

I think I'm on the same page as Dave Ramsey.  I was just on his website and his step #1 is to build a $1,000 emergency fund.  #2 is to pay off all debt, excluding your house.  His tip is to pay off the smallest loan first--and I would say the same thing.  Pay off the smallest college loan first.  Then, move on to the next.  There's a sense of satisfaction and a feeling you can do it once you get one loan paid off.  

My husband and I found ourselves in this situation a few years ago.  Because of vehicle purchases and emergency house repairs, we tightened our belts and worked hard at paying off that debt.  God was so gracious and provided the means to do that.  But, that experience has made me not want to end up with several loans again if I can help it.  

I worry about college students who are taking out huge amounts of loans today and what it will mean for their lives in the future.  I know I shouldn't worry, but I do.  Debt may be invisible, but it's still carries a lot of weight around with it.