An Easy Taste of Simplicity

This past Sunday, we here at the Simply Mommy's house, had a rare day with nothing on the calendar. I forget how much I cherish these types of days, during the summer when they are few and far between.

While doing my weekly grocery shopping on Saturday, I found strawberries on sale. So I decided to spend a day making jam and bread. So Sunday, I spent the entire day in the kitchen making the most yummy strawberry jam I have ever tasted! And who can have homemade jam without fresh baked bread. So I had to try a new bread recipe and let me tell you...this is the most heavenly combination of delights I've ever had! So, of course, I have to share them here!

Easy Strawberry Jam:

*Makes 6 pints of jam*

1. Bring water to a boil in stock pot. Boil canning jars and lids to sterilize. Place upside down on a towel and let dry.

2. Cut up strawberries and puree in blender. Add to another stock pot or dutch oven, add sugar and stir until dissolved. Simmer about 20 minutes, being sure that mixture comes to a boil.

(steps 1 & 2 can be done at the same time)

3. Place jam into canning jars. Wipe rims clean to get a good seal. Place lids and screw caps on. Place into a stockpot full of boiling water (be sure that there is enough water to reach one inch above the jars). Boil in water bath for 20 minutes. Remove and place on cooling rack. Seals will pop, as the jars seal themselves! To check seal, press down on lid. If it pops up and down, jam is not sealed. If it doesn't move, then it is good to go!

Easy Sandwich Bread:

*makes 3 loaves*

3 cups lukewarm water

1/2 cup, plus 1 teaspoon white sugar

2 tablespoons yeast (or two packets)

1 tablespoon of salt

1/2 cup melted butter (shortening or oil can be substituted)

9 cups flour

In large bowl, mix 1 cup lukewarm water with 1 tsp sugar and yeast. Allow to sit for 10 minutes, then stir to dissolve yeast.

Stir in 2 cups lukewarm water, 1/2 cup white sugar, salt, and butter. Add flour one cup at a time, mixing well in between. Turn onto a floured surface and knead for several minutes until dough becomes elastic. Place in an oiled bowl, turning to coat dough. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and place in a warm area for 1 hour (top of the fridge works well). Once dough has doubled, punch down dough to remove air.

Cut dough into thirds. Place into 3 greased loaf pans. Cover with dish towels and allow to rise until double (about 1 hour). Once doubled, pre-heat oven to 400. Bake for 20 minutes. Bread should turn nice and golden and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from pans and cool on a cooling rack! Once cooled, they can be wrapped in plastic wrap or put into bread bags!

This is wonderful warm with the fresh strawberry jam!

Ahhhh, frugal cooking!

Not much is happening at the Simple household these days! We had a busy beginning to our July, but now with the heat upon us, we are simply trying to beat the heat while still saving our pennies.

I thought I might share some of our favorite summer recipes today. Because everyone can always use a good frugal recipe, am I right?

Homemade Gatorade
(thanks to my girls at Frugal Village for this one...it is a real penny saver)
$0.50 ~ 2 envelopes unsweetened kool-aid packets (your favorite flavor)
$0.25 ~ 1 cup of sugar
Negligible ~ 1 tsp salt
$0.24 ~ 1 cup Orange Juice
Neglibigle ~ 4 quarts water
Makes just over one gallon. Is best served icy cold.
Total cost for 1 gallon of faux gatorade = $0.99!

SimpleHubby's Famous Burger Rub
The hubby came up with this after watching some food network. It make a really nice flavored gourmet burger at home on the grill!
Mix equal parts of:
black pepper
garlic powder
onion powder
paprika
oregano
chili powder
salt (to taste)
Mix and cover both sides of burger before grilling!

Homemade Cracker Jacks
Taste even better than the real thing. I have to make sure I pick up "real" popcorn at the Farmer's Market each summer for this recipe!
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. butter
3 TBS corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp vanilla
8 cups popcorn

Comine brown sugar, butter, corn syrup & salt. Cook over low heat until melted. Cook without stirring for 3 minutes. Remove from heat, add baking soda and vanilla. Pour onto popcorn and mix until evenly coated. Bake for 15 minutes at 300 degrees.

Homemade Taco Seasoning
6 tsp chili powder
4 1/2 tsp cumin
5 tsp paprika
3 tsp onion powder
2 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 - 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Mix ingredients and store in an airtight container.

Homemade Chocolate Syrup
Great in ice cream or in chocolate milk!
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
Mix the cocoa and water in saucepan. Heat and stir to dissolve cocoa. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Boil for 3 minutes. Add salt and vanilla and pour into a pint jar. Keep in fridge!

Applesauce
3-4 pounds apples (granny smith or fuji) (cubed & peeled)
lemon juice from one lemon
3 inch cinnamon stick
1/4 cup brown sugar
up to 1/2 cup of sugar
1 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
Put all ingredients into a pot, simmer on low heat for 20-30 minutes. Take out cinnamon stick and mash. Can be served warm over ice cream or cold like applesauce!

Homemade Hot Pockets
Hamburger buns
foil
1 cup cubed ham
1 cup shredded cheese
1/4 cup mayo
1 squirt of yellow mustard
garlic powder to taste
Mix all ingredients except for buns & foil. Hollow out buns, to make "shells." Spoon filling into shells, and wrap each in foil individually. Place on grill or campfire for 20-30 minutes. Serve warm!

Homemade Chalk
1 cup plaster of paris
almost 1/2 cup water
liquid tempera paint
Mix plaster & water to form a paste. Add tempera paint to get desired color. Put into molds (muffin tins work great). Let dry for at least 8 hours!

As promised, here is a picture of our new garden pond! Since the majority of the hole was already dug from the old pond, this one was actually a cinch to put in! I still need to move the ajuga from the front yard to around the front of the pond in the mulch, but I think I can get that done this evening in a few minutes. Shouldn't take me too long!

Well, I think baseball season has finally come to a close. My oldest had his last game last night, which they won! It was their last scheduled game, but they got rained out once last week, so they may have a make-up game at some point. Everyone went out for ice cream afterwards and my son had a super wonderful time. Plus, they will be having a pool party in a few weeks.

As a bonus, I got to chat with my soon to be sister in law and my brother for a few minutes last night. They are out in Seattle, and I don't talk to them as much as I should...so it was nice to chat for a bit. Not too much else here this week. The truck is running on a "bum leg", so the hubster had to order a new shackle to keep it running for a while. Amazingly enough, the part was really affordable, so hopefully it will come in today and he can get it worked on this weekend. We'll see how many 4 letter words come out of his mouth while he is fixing it.

I started my new "job" today. I am now watching my neighbors baby, which adding a baby to the mix, doesn't change my daily routine much! ; ) We still tend to stick around the house and do the same types of things. Just have to take a break now and then to change a diaper or warm up a bottle. I thought maybe it would cure my baby fever...it did not. Just reminds me of how much fun it is to have a baby around again.

I still don't think we've officially made the decision that our family is complete, but I think DH is leaning that way. Honestly, I'm a bit torn still. It is so nice that our two are so independent now, and starting over with a baby would be alot of work. But at the same time, our house is so filled with testosterone, that I find myself still wishing for a girl! But I have to remember too, that there are no guarantees and if we have one more...more than likely, I'll have more boys in the house!

Alrighty...off to get breakfast for the masses!

Weekend in Review...

After some nasty weather at the end of last week, we were finally able to spend the weekend outside this week! I was able to snap some cool photos of the menacing clouds that came through on Thursday night. Lots of wind and rain, but not much else. I was able to save some money on watering my garden last week, with all the rain.

All in all, we had a good weekend. The truck has taken a turn for the worse. However, we've decided not to put 'er down...we are gonna patch her up and see if we can get some more miles outta her! The leaf spring is broken and after a lengthy search, the hubster was able to find the part for around $48! So, he'll spend a few days getting it repaired after the part comes in. Friday, I got my new sink installed...so no more leaking from the kitchen faucet. I am hoping to see at least a little bit of difference in our next water bill! My neighbor installed it for me. We've worked out a barter deal for babysitting his daughter! I'm loving this agreement so far!

We did well spending on groceries this week. I think my final tally was about $84 for the week and that included a "luxurious" meal of the hubby's favorite Potato Bacon Soup and Cajun Turkey Panini's.

We spent Saturday afternoon at a neighbor's 5th Birthday party. The kids had a blast and ran themselves ragged! Today, once again, we spent the day working in the yard. We have been saving to put in a new pond, since some neighborhood kids playing with our kids in the yard, threw rocks into ours and poked a hole into it. So, today, we were able to get out and put in a new 100 gallon pond, with some beautiful landscaping with the rocks from the old pond and the free mulch we have leftover from our tree removal. It looks absolutely gorgeous, I plan to get out and snap some pictures tomorrow, so I'll be sure to post them! We also found a great deal on some solar lights, so we were able to add some accent lighting to our pond!

I think that is our weekend in a nutshell. Busy, but not a ton going on! I'll update again tomorrow and post some pictures of our new pond! Next weekend, I think we are going to add a small patio around the pond and move the fire pit to the middle of the patio! It should look really nice and the patio bricks we want are on sale until the end of the month!

Exhaustion at Simple Mommy's House...

I have spent the last week updating every area of my yard. I thought I would post some pictures of my small veggie garden while it is freshly weeded and lookin' pretty. We have had a busy couple of days. I've spent the last two days doing yard work in the front yard, digging out a new very large flower bed and trying to transplant some of the grass into areas where it is needed. Needless to say...I'm exhuasted after all the manual labor! I'm just not used to this anymore!

My oldest pitched in his first baseball game on Tuesday night, I missed it, but the Hubby was there to cheer him on. He said he did great, I was home...working on my flower bed.

We are still working to be frugal this summer and have been doing a rather good job. We gave up our pool passes this summer, and put the extra $120 into savings instead. I updated my yard with free mulch from the trees we had taken down and just bought all my perennials for $1 each on sale. So all in all, I think I spent around $12 to upgrade the heck out of my yard this year.

Once I get the front yard cleaned and finished up, I'll be sure to post some pictures of the new flowerbed!

So much summer...

Well, summer arrived in a flurry at Simply Mommy's house. It has been eon's since I posted, but my only excuse is that summer has arrived and we have been ever so busy! With baseball and swimming and BBQ's, we are left with little time for gardening, housecleaning, grocery shopping and all the neccessary things, let alone time for blogging!

We spent our 4th of July at home this year, with a tree crew arriving bright and early to do some "trimming" of our trees. This "trimming" I speak of included the complete removal of 2 trees and 4 stumps! No more worries about our trees coming down in the middle of a storm! Yippee! Plus, after the tree removal we were left with oodles of firewood and mulch to fill our flower beds and many of the neighbors. The hubby was laughing at me, becuase even when I am spending a bundle, I can still be frugal! Free mulch and firewood...those who know me, know that I can't say no to anything free!

Next weekend, we'll be busy once again tackling our garden pond and finishing up the back yard now that we have some sunshine back there! We'll be doubling the size of our pond and trying to get some grass to grow! I will try to be much better about posting things that are going on in our lives!

Newest Project

This is my latest project. My good friend is having a little girl in May, so I thought a rag doll would be a really great handmade gift for her. And gee, having 2 boys, I really had to twist my own arm to do some "girly" crafts for her! The project itself actually was really easy. I had a Raggedy Ann from when I was a child, that I used somewhat as a guide, since I hate using patterns so much! So, I just sat down, thought it through and started sewing! It is a little more "gardeny" than I would have liked, but I was trying to use up some old fabric scraps rather than go by new! I am thinking about making another one for another friend, and if I do it again, I think I will use more modern colors. Maybe black, hotpink and purple! I also really want to try doing some brown or yellow pig tails on the next one instead of the traditional red hair. And I won't miss tying all that hair on there, that was the biggest pain in the butt of it all!

All in all, she turned out really cute. I hope my friend new daughter loves it. I made sure it was 100% baby safe, no buttons, ties, etc. So she will actually be able to play with it when she is a bit older!

It's been sooooo long!

So, it has been forever since I have posted anything. So since my last post in February, here are the highlights:

1. The hubby lost his job.
2. Planned and executed my mom's surprise 60th birthday party. We had family fly in from all over the country and had about 40 of my mom's friends (some from 30+ years ago) all there...let me just say, it was a major "to-do" and I was exhuasted after that!
3. A friend turned 30 and we had a 70's themed party for her, which was a total blast.
4. I am now planning my best friends baby shower, and we have 2 weeks to go.
5. After 6 weeks off, the hubby found a new job. He is now a "garbage man". I use quotes, becuase actually he does residential recycling. Today was his first day out of training and actually on a truck...he is hurting in muscles he didn't know he had.
6. Had a "girls" weekend in Galena with my mom which was totally fabulous. We stayed at the Eagle Ridge Resort and went to a fancy dinner and shopped until we pretty much dropped. I loved looking through the art galleries and the used book store there.
7. I am painting again. I have tried working with oils...but I still hate them, so I am doing mostly watercolor work ( I think I will post a totally seperate blog with a bunch of pics).
8. I am in the middle of painting my living room (it's half done), my kitchen cabinets (half done), my kitchen walls (half done) and my bedroom (all but one wall done). I really need to work on finishing one project before starting another.
9. We had to get rid of our cat. As much as we love him, he began randomly attacking people & animals...go figure. We couldn't figure out why, so we had to take him back to the shelter we adopted him from.
10. Incidently, we have adopted a second dog. Our neighbors who moved a few months ago, had a small puggle who the boys just adored. Well, they decided she was just too energetic and they weren't home enough to walk her and care for her, so we took her in. She immediately fit into our family like she belonged, and the boys love walking her! So, Ruca (think short for Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka) became the newest member of our family.
11. I am trying to start thinking about new landscaping for the yard and also what I plan to put into the garden this year, just haven't ordered any seeds yet, but I do need to do it soon!

Ok, in a nutshell, I think that is what has been going on over the last couple of months for us. I know there is more, but I think the other stuff is pretty small potatoes and I've hit the basics! ; )

February Grocery Challenge - Week #1

Great way to start off the month...I'm over budget!

Ugh, what are ya gonna do, right? With the superbowl being more Godly than Christmas in our house, I should have better prepared my budget for the expense of the day! The best I can do, is look ahead at the month, and look back at my freezer and take solice in the fact that it is full of good deals on meat. So, I should still come waaaaay under budget for the month, since I have a freezer full of food!

So, I also found a recipe for Cracker Jacks, that I had to try and OMG! It is fabulous and just as good if not better than cracker jacks. Phe-no-men-al! I ate almost half the bowl, by myself last night. So, I won't be making it often...but it is a good alternative to buying it...becuase it is super cheap to make!

So, I'm posting my lunch and dinner menu's this week with cost analysis, just because I broke down the cost for my own knowlege, so I figured, what the heck...I'll post it!

School Lunch: Bologna sandwich (.18 - bologna at $1 per pkg on sale), chips (.20), banana (.11 - on sale at .29 per pound), dessert (.10) = .59/day

Hubby's Lunch: Bologna sandwich (.18), chips (.20), powerade (.69 - he's been buying pop at the gas station...since powerade was on sale, it'll save at least a buck a day) = 1.07/day

Home Lunch: leftovers (free) = this has been working well for us for the last month!

Dinners:

$2.02 ~ Chili made from dried beans and homemade garlic cuban bread ~ (plus, chili will also be used for superbowl day dip)

$2.89 ~ BLT's with wheat crackers

$3.00 ~ Chicken and Rice Casserole (chix, rice, brocolli & cream of mush soup)

$2.38 ~ Brats, frozen green beans & salad (Brats were on sale for $1/package...so I bought all 9 that they had left & froze them, buns & kraut were also on sale for .69/each, and the green beans and salad, I have left over from last week and need to use them up)

$4.63 ~ Pork Chops & No-Cost Stuffing (pork chops were on sale last week, so we stocked up. I have tons of left over bread heels and some buns in the freezer, plus extra stock...so I will use some of it up in the no cost homemade stuffing)

$2.38 ~ Chicken Parmesean Pasta & Salad (we love this as a side dish without chicken, so I am going to throw chicken in and see if it will fly as a main dish...plus, I will still have 1/2 a container of salad to use up)

$18.30 ~ Superbowl meal - So this includes alot of stuff we wouldn't normally pig-out on all in one meal. So we have TONS of BBQ & Hot wings (homemade of course), sausage dip with wheat thins, and chili dip with chips.

Snacks: yogurt (.24/carton), bananas (.11/each), cheese and crackers (1.50 for all), and carmel corn

So here is where my budget stands, thus far:

Groceries: $69.65/$200.00

Household: $1.70/$40.00

Meat Sales: $28.43/$50.00

Frugal Living vs. Extravagance

Making friends as a child was so simple. It amazes me that as we get older, it becomes so much harder to make new friends. Personally, I think as we get older, we become more judgemental of others who are not just like us, and it makes it harder for us to accept and make friends with people who are "different" than us.

What am I talking about you wonder? I'm talking about frugal vs. extravagant living. Can these two worlds come together in friendship and harmony? Honestly, I have no idea. When I make new friends, I tend to seek out like minded people. I was thinking about this recently, and looked around at all of our friends and realized that we have surrounded ourselves with people who tend to treat money like we do.

I made a group of "new friends" this summer, and found that even though we were all Stay-at-Home mom's, I had very little in common with many of them. Out of the deal, I came away with one friend, who seems to be like-minded about things. She seems to enjoy the simple things in life, crafting and inexpensive projects for her kids, reading for entertainment, etc. Her and I have had free playdates with each other at the park or at our homes. Never once have her and I been to McDonald's playland together, or out for ice cream, or really spent any money together. Is this how I choose my friends? Absolutely not! But it sure is a bonus to find a friend who doesn't feel like dropping money at every turn, and expecting me to do the same with her. With her, I have never had to explain or defend my frugal lifestyle. She seems to understand my desire to save my money, not spend it on unecessary things, and she understands the joy and pride I take in making many things myself. Her and I have not talked at length about frugal living, but I believe we have the "unspoken bond" of two frugal mom's trying to do the best we can in a very expensive world.

Is that to say that I don't hang out with the other mom's I met? Well, yes actually. Through the fall months when we first met, we spent one day a week having picnic's at the park, and we all had a wonderful time. Once it got too cold for that, I shifted my weekly outings to taking my son to the free storytimes offered by the two local bookstores, and many of the other moms shifted their schedules to include a weekly lunch date at McDonald's and bowling each week. As much as I and my children love to bowl (and my kids love Micky D's), we save those things for birthday's and special occassions. It is one of the things that my kids love to do, and it would lose it's excitement if we did it each week. Not to mention it would break my budget.

I do believe that someone frugal can be friends with someone who lives an extravegant lifestyle. However, I do think that it is much, much easier for two people to become friends when they have the same mind-set towards money. I have never had to defend my lifestyle choices to my frugal friend, or turn her down for a playdate because it doesn't fit in my budget. Frugalites understand that there is no need to talk about it (ok, well...unless you are sharing frugal tips). It doesn't matter to us whether you are being frugal because you choose to be or because you have to be. The fact of the matter is, it is one thing you have in common, and with other Frugalites you don't feel the need to defend yourself at every turn!

Grocery Challenge - Week #5

Ok, I think I screwed up my totals for my weeks. My total for groceries should have been $250.00 for the month...and I think I was only tallying $200. It should have been $50 per week and I included the last week in December, since most of it was January!

Breakfasts & Lunches are the same as each week.

Dinners:
Corn Chowder & Grilled Cheese
Steaks & potatoes (our major splurge this week)
Goulash
Spagetti
Chicken Quesadillas
Tacos
Biscuits & Gravy
Hamburgers & Fries
Bagel Dogs & Fries

So, I will now tally up my grand total for the month. I'm 99% I went way over my budget, especially after getting the steaks...plus, I stocked up on meat when it went on sale. Sausage went on sale for .99 per pound, so I bought a bunch and pork chops went on sale for 1.67 per pound, which almost never happens here. So I probably blew my budget...but it's less meat I will have to buy next month!

So here is where I stand:

Week #1 ~ $44.14
Week #2 ~ $52.03
Week #3 ~ $27.88
Week #4 ~ $42.57
Week #5 ~ $49.32

Ok, so it would appear that I stayed on budget. With a total of $215.94. However, those don't include our miscellaneous trips to the grocery store or our meat stock up!
So here is the misc stuff:
1/8 ~ 11.92 (jewel)
1/9 ~ 6.84 (jewel)
1/15 ~ 12.96 (Sullivan's - sausage stock up)
1/16 ~ 4.45 (Aldi's)
1/17 ~ 5.54 (jewel)
1/18 ~ 7.58 (jewel)
1/26 ~ 32.86 (jewel - steak dinner & stock up on pork chops)

Misc. Total = $82.15

Grocery total for month of January = $298.09 (overage of $48.09)

Ok, so not horrible with all things considered. This is the first month we have done a severe reduction in our grocery costs. Before we didn't even have a budget, and what i spent for January, I would have spent for 2 weeks of groceries before. So, now, this gives us something to shoot for, for February!

So, again for February, I plan to budget $50 per week. So I have a total of $200 for the month. I am also adding a household category to our budget this month. So for things like TP, hair stuff, dog food, cat food, kitty litter, etc., we will have a seperate household budget for that. I am going to put that at $40.00. Then I am also going to set aside another $50.00 for meat stock up. This way, if meat goes massively on sale, like it did this month...then I don't have to feel bad about going over budget to buy it. I will use my meat budget for it! I am also adding an entertainment section. We have not officially had this in the budget, up til now. I am hoping this will keep our eating out expenses down to a minimum! So officially, we will have some money to spend that we shouldn't feel bad about spending!

So, my categories for this month are:

Groceries: $200.00
Household: $40.00
Meat (sale): $50.00
Entertainment: $100.00

Total for misc spending this month is $390.00.

I can't believe my baby is FOUR!!!

It's hard to believe he's 4! I hear parents say, "I remember the day he was born, and it feels like yesterday", and I silently roll my eyes with everyone else in the room...but it is true. When it's your child, I think you will always remember the day they were born as if it were yesterday (insert eye roll here, if you must).

In his 4 short years, this child has taught me so much...the first and foremost, being patience! He has tried it time and again, teaching me to further my patience each time! But he is also one of the funniest children I have ever met. I honestly think we are going to have some real trouble from him when he gets into grade school. I'll be constantly called to the principals office to talk about my little class clown's behaivor!

We had a wonderful party! Just family, grandparents, and neighbors (who are family to us). We had pizza and cake and he got to open lots of VERY LOUD, very moveable presents...so I thank everyone for that!

He had a wonderful time and that is what is important! Happy Birthday Josh, I still can't believe you are 4!

50 Fun Frugal Winter Activities for Kids!

Here in the Midwest, we are having an unusually horrible winter this year. It has been ridiculously cold and it just seems to be dragging on and on. So keeping my boys busy this winter has been a challenge. We haven't been able to play outside much, because the temperatures have been so low, so we have had to come up with new ideas for indoor play. We finally decided to compile a list of activities for indoor & outdoor activities for them to choose from. So I thought I would share them here!

Quiet Indoor Activities:

• Read a book! ~ Adults love to curl up with a good book on cold days, and so do kids! Hit the library, grab a stack of new books and hunker down and read for an afternoon!
• Write & illustrate you own book! ~ Kids love to be creative, so let them write their own story and draw pictures! If needed, you can help them write it out!
• Board games ~ These are great activites anytime of year, but especially great in the winter when you can't get outside!
• Play Office ~ Give your kids some old office supplies (old checks or deposit tickets, used paper, pens, pencils and a stapler) and let them set up an office!
• Grow an indoor garden ~ This one is a lot of fun to watch through the winter. Kids can enjoy the *responsibility* of taking care of their own plant!
• Cook something ~ Most kids love to measure and stir, so get them in the kitchen and let them mix up a snack or a batch of cookies!
• Indoor Picnic ~ Kids always get a kick out of the non-traditional things. Pack up some sandwiches & snacks, spread a tablecloth on the floor and have an indoor picnic!
• Math Treats Game ~ Find a great snack (m&m's work great) and have some fun with your child adding & subtracting. It's fun & TASTY!
• Rhyme Time ~ Say a word and have your child find a rhyming word. Kid's love to do this one, even if they are making up words, it will help them learn the concept of rhyming!
• ABC Game ~ Pick a category (like food), start with A, naming a food with each letter of the alphabet and see how far you can get!
• Movie Night ~ Let the kids usher you to your seats, dim the lights and pop popcorn and put in paper lunch sacks. Make it just like a real night at the movies!

Indoor Active Activities:

• Dance Off ~ Put on some music and let the kids take turns dancing. There doesn't have to be a winner, the kids will just have fun dancing!
• Exercise videos ~ Sounds silly, but kids love it! And it is a great way to keep them active and let them burn some energy during the winter...my kids particularly like Tae-Bo!
• What am I? Game ~ Like charades. Have one child act out an animal or object (my kids like to do cars, too) and the others have to guess what he is!
• Scavenger Hunt ~ For older kids, you can write a list of things to find indoors. For non-readers, you can draw or cut pictures from a magazine of items for them to find!
• Build a fort or tent ~ Grab some blankets and pillows and help the kids build a fort. Building it is fun, but kids can play in it for hours after it's built!
• Hot & Cold ~ Everyone leaves the room, while an object is hidden by one player. Try to find it, while the hider tells you when you are hot (close) or cold (far away).
• Hobo Band ~ Make some homemade instruments and start a band! (drums - old coffee can or pots & pans, guitar - kleenex box & rubberbands).
• Indoor Olympics ~ Get creative and come up with some silly games to play in the house. Then stage an olympics. Kids have a lot of fun "competing" in this one!
• Alphabet Eye Spy ~ The person who is *it*, has to choose an object, then says "I spy something that start with A", and the others have to guess what it is!
• Touch a color game ~ Someone shouts out a color, and everyone has to find something to touch that is that color. Last one to find the color, has to call out the next color.
• Alphabet hunt ~ Start with the letter A, each child must search and find something that starts with that letter. See how far you can get! X is tough!
• Play store! ~ Get out that monopoly money and let the kids open a store. They have a lot of fun with this one and also start to learn how money is really spent at a store!
• Block city ~ Get out the blocks or legos and build a city. Kid's don't know which is better...construction or demolition!
• Simon Says ~ An old classic that kid's today still love! It is always fun to change the name too! If a child named *Dan* is it...then change it to "Dan says". They get a kick out of that!
• What time is it Mr. Fox? ~ A good number game. Much like Mother may I, but the kids ask the fox what time it is, and are allowed to take that number of steps towards the fox!

Indoor Science Activities:

• Volcano ~ This one is lots of fun. You just need a jar or small cup, baking soda and vinegar. Place baking soda in cup and add soda. And watch it errupt! You can also add red coloring!
• Wave in a bottle ~ Fill a 2 liter bottle halfway with water colored with blue food coloring and fill the rest with oil. It will make a neat wave machine!
• Tornado bottle ~ You do need a plastic connector for this, but you can find them at most education stores!
• Color experiment ~ Add food coloring to several small glasses of milk. Mix colors to see what happens! Then you can drink your experiment!

Indoor Crafty Activities:

• Snowglobe ~ Make an object from clay, place it in the lid of a jar. Fill jar half with water, half with glycerine. Add blue coloring and glitter, put lid on & you have a great globe!
• TP roll binoculars ~ Lots of fun. Glue or tape 2 tubes together and let kids paint! They have lots of fun making & playing with after they dry!
• Macaroni Necklace ~ Even boys love to paint and make these! Let kids string up left over pasta, then paint it~
• Marble painting ~ Get an old 9 x 13 pan. Place a piece of paper in the bottom. Take marbles and coat in tempera paint, then put in pan & shake!
• Bubble painting ~ Place drops of food coloring in bubble mix. Blow "colored" bubbles onto a paper. When they pop, they leave a neat colored bubble shape on the paper!
• Toe painting ~ Messy, but lots of fun. Basically, it is a twist on finger painting. Try to paint with your toes!
• Potato stamping ~ Have the adult cut potatoes in half and carve shapes into the flat side. Dip into tempera paint and stamp with them! Lots of fun to use!
• Goo ~ Mix corn starch & water to form a liquid/solid goo. Put in 9x13 pan, give kids some kitchen utensils & cups and let them play!
• Homemade playdough ~ Always a classic for kids. Give them kitchen utensils (rolling pin, wooden spoons, etc) and let them play!
• Homemade puzzles ~ Either use photos or kid's drawings, glue to cardboard or cardstock (cereal boxes work), and cut into a puzzle shape!
• Paper mache ~ Kids can pretty much paper mache anything and have a good time! Let them mache and paint once dry and they will enjoy it!

Outdoor Activities:

• Animal Tracks ~ Put out some popcorn the night before. Check in the morning to see what kinds of animals left prints in the snow. Identify them!
• Bird feeding/watching ~ This helps the birds and the kids can enjoy seeing the birds in winter. The kids really enjoy filling the feeder on their own!
• Shovel for a friend ~ Shovel a friend or neighbors walkway. Kid's love to be helpful. They will enjoy this activity and someone else will benefit too!
• Photo tour ~ Kid's love to take photos. If you have a digital camera, hand it over to the kids and take a walk. It's fun to see what they took pictures of when you get home!

Outdoor SnowPlay Activities:

• Snowball fight ~ Always fun to play in the yard. When we play, we choose sides, and even our adult neighbors come out and choose a team to help!
• Snow Fort ~ Grab a bucket (or square tupperware works great!) and fill and make "bricks" to build a snow fort! The more snow, the bigger you can make it!
• Snow coloring ~ Grab a couple of spray bottles and add water with food coloring. Take them out and spray pictures into the snow!
• Snow angels ~ Kid's love laying in the snow...I have no idea why! But they do! So get out there and see who can make the perfect snow angel!
• Snow men ~ With enough snow, you can make a whole snow family! Don't forget the accessories, like old hats & scarves to make it unique!

My boys are sick of oatmeal!

We have had an incredibly busy week this week, so I am a little behind. It's been a few days since I've posted. Monday, the boys and I went to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago with my Mom & Dad. The boys had a blast. It was their first visit, and I hadn't been there in at least 15 years and niether had my parents. We got to take in all the exhibits, and even saw the Sea Monsters movie at the Omnimax. The boys were a little hesitant about the movie, and they freaked out just a little...but once it started they calmed down and relaxed and really enjoyed it. I think the farm & space exhibits were their favorites. I don't think I personally had a favorite exhibit, I just enjoyed looking at it all! Alot of the exhibits were closed for maintenance, so the boys didn't get to see the coal mine, and they didn't get to go into the airplane. But since many of the exhibits were closed for repair, general admission to the musuem was FREE! And everyone knows how much SimplyMommy loves to get things free! I was not aware of it, but they have several days each month with free admission, so we will definately be going back this summer. I will have to pay for parking, unless we take public transportation, but I think that would be more expensive in the long run.

Anyhoo, I'm getting way off topic here!

The Hubster and I pledged to plug the holes in our budget in 2008, and save $7000. And January, so far has been a good experience for us. We have been trying to track every dollar (with the exception of allowances...that is our fun money. If we don't get *fun money*, we won't stay on budget). We did pretty well, we were a little lax at the beginning of the month, then tightened up the purse strings towards the end. So I think we are learning through this process. I had a little trouble with my current spread sheet system keeping track of all of our expenditures. I have almost like a ledger system and not an accrual system on my spread sheet. So I put the totals spent for the month in, and cannot track individual expenses. So this month, I will be keeping my main budget on a spreadsheet, to make sure we stay under our "master" numbers. Then I will be adding in an index card system, as well. I will assign each paycheck an index card. At the top, it will have the date and the payment amount. Below that, I will list each individual expenditure that we take out of that particular paycheck. It will also help us get our *extra* money each week into savings. Basically, at the end of the week, what ever is left over will go to savings. That will insure, that our extra money that isn't set to be spent goes into savings...but also money that was budgeted for groceries, for example, that wasn't spent will make it into savings as well.

We sat down last night and looked at January so far, and we did find some spending leaks. We made a four extra trips to the grocery store, for non-essential items. Dh went for essential items but also picked up things like hot chocolate, ice cream & pop. While I agree that we deserve treats on occassion, running to an expensive grocery store (becuase it is close) is not the answer. So we are going to be adding some treats & 2 - liters of pop to our grocery list each week. In the long run, since we are buying them anyways, it will be cheaper, if I just get them on my original grocery trip to Aldi's!

I ran out of flour this week, so my poor boys are getting so sick of oatmeal every morning since! Since I am out of flour (and vow not to make an unscheduled trip to the store), I can't make pancakes or waffles for them. So this morning, my youngest and I experimented with pretty good results! We made oatmeal pancakes, here is the recipe:

Flourless Oatmeal Pancakes:
2 cups ground oatmeal (whir oatmeal in blender for 2 minutes)
1 tbs sugar
2 tsp baking soda
cinamon & nutmeg to taste
1 egg
1 cup of milk
1 tbs oil

Mix the dry ingredients, then add egg, milk & oil. Mix well. Cook on a griddle for 2 minutes per side. Serve with syrup or for a healthier version, serve topped with sugarfree applesauce or sugarfree preserves!

We also went out to eat 4 times this month. And our misc. spending was at $360.00 and we had about $200.00 that we can't account for. Am I peeved? Of course! But this gives us something to strive for next month. Now we have the numbers to come in under. There were things, like household expenses (dog food, cat food, etc.) that came up and I didn't have a specific area in the budget for. So, it had to go into misc. But now I can go through my misc, and see what I need to make new budget categories for.

So, all in all, we are on the right track this month. We are hoping to have our $7000 saved within 16 months. So we will need to put just over $400 away each month and it should be doable. Especially, after the truck is paid off here shortly! So, I have to say, I feel so much better than I have in years. We have been continuously behind on bills for over 2 years now, and in February, for the first time, we will be current on everything! Woo Hoo!

Homemade Tortillas

The hubby and I made homemade tortillas today for the first time and we had an absolute blast! So, I thought I would share some pics and the recipe here! We are having fiesta chicken tonight, so we'll be eating these with it. I think I am going to have to make another batch, because this first "trial" batch is almost gone already!

Homemade Tortillas:

2 c. flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 c. shortening or veg. oil

1/2 c. warm water

Put flour, salt & baking powder into a bowl. Mix the oil into flour mix until it forms little balls. Add water, a bit at a time, until dough is soft and pliable. Knead and form 8 - 10 balls. Roll out as thin as possible. Cook one at a time in a hot skillet, with melted butter. Flip when a bubble begins to form. Cook each side less than 1 minute!

These are delicious and so yummy! I think they are easily going to become a family favorite!

Grocery Challange - Week #4

Alrighty....I'll have to see how we did this week. I sent the hubby to the store this week since I am without a truck at them moment. I have to say...he impressed me. This was the first time I have ever sent him to the grocery store and he didn't stray from the list. Ok, well...he bought ice cream, but we had talked about it before he left...and we just never "officially" put it on the grocery list!

So here we go:
Household Items:
I've decided to start including TP in this category, since I have added the category to the budget. It just seems like the right place for it to be!
$2.29 ~ TP (should be okay now for 2 weeks)
$5.99 ~ kitchen bags (I wouldn't have bought the giant one...but we won't need them any time soon)
$5.49 ~ Dog food
$1.03 ~ Tax
$14.80 ~ Total
Making the monthly total $24.75

Breakfast:
Didn't need to pick anything up this week. We still have plenty around
Oatmeal
Eggs & Sausage (since I stocked up when sausage was .99/pound)
waffles &/or pancakes

Lunch:
Same as last week

Dinners:
$3.71 Corn Chowder & Garlic Bread
6 cans of corn (2.34), 1 tube sausage (.99 on sale), onion (.20), 1 cup of milk (.18), chicken broth (free from boiled chicken), garlic bread (free from BOGO last week).
$3.49 BBQ Chicken Sandwiches & Green Beans
Chicken (1/2 of legs & thighs bag 1.75), Homemade BBQ sauce (est. .50), Buns (.75), Green Beans (.49)
$3.90 Fiesta Chicken & Refried Beans
Chicken (other 1/2 of bag 1.75), Diced tomatoes (.45), can of corn (.39), spices (neg.), rice (.33), refried beans (.98)
$2.86 Meatless Chili
4 cans of chili beans (1.56), diced tomatoes (.45), 2 cans tomato sauce (.40)
$1.89 French Onion Soup (for the adults) & Mac-n-Cheese (for the kids)
onions (1.56), broth (free), mac-n-cheese (.33)
$4.08 Homemade Pizza
cheese (2.69), sauce (.40), spices (neg.), sausage (.99 on sale), homemade crust (neg.)
FREE Leftover Night


We also have a birthday this week! My youngest is turning 4...and I can hardly believe it! So we will be having a cake and ice cream, and the total on that is $3.43, but worth it!

So that is basicall it! Total for groceries this week was $42.57. Even with the extra peas & tomato sauce that the Hubster found when he got home. He thinks someone threw them in his cart by accident, so hopefully they won't be missing them when they get home!

Monthly totals are:
Groceries ~ $166.89/$200.00
Household ~ $24.75/no budget til next month

Saving money this weekend....

I woke up to a tempurature of -5 at 7:30 this morning...and it hasn't gotten much warmer! So, we are staying in this weekend. I sent Pat to the grocery store, so that will be taken care of, and other than that...we will be staying in until at least Tuesday, when my oldest goes back to school. And hopefully, it will be warmed up by then!

Sooooooo cold....I can't wait for Spring!

Day #8 ~ Smoke Free

Well, I am doing it! I am eight days smoke free and for the most part, not missing it anymore! Every once in awhile, I get hit out of the blue with a craving, but they are totally manageable! I have gained a few pounds, but I am working to keep them down...just need to work out every day!

So far, I have saved myself $38.40! (figure smokes are about $4.80/pack)

Grocery Challange - Week #3

I stayed under budget again this week! Woo hoo! We did eat out over the weekend, Pat and I were pretty horrible, because the kids went to Grandma & Grandpa's, so we splurged a bit! But we will certainly get back on track this week!

I did have to buy a few things this week, that I was going to take out of my grocery budget...but I think I will make a seperate category for them in the budget. I think I will do a household category to include; dog food, cat food, cat litter, cleaning supplies, laundry supplies, dish soap, etc. So this week on Household misc. I spent $10.98. I'm not sure how much I am going to include per month for this category. I think I will watch my spending this month and see what I spend, but I am thinking about $30/month

As for groceries, here is my meal plan for the week:

Breakfast:
Oatmeal (purchased 2 weeks ago - still very full...might get a whole month out of it)
toast

Lunch:
School lunch:
Tuna sandwich, PB crackers or Pretzels & applesauce (from freezer)
Hubby:
Sandwich & corn chips
Us at home:
Leftovers!

Dinners:
Chicken Casserole with salad & corn
Spagetti
Brats w/ Green Beans
Biscuits & Gravy
Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup
Meatball Subs
Chili

Snack:
Hot Sausage Dip

I spent a total of: $27.88 this week, and I stocked up on sausage that was on sale at Sullivan's for $0.99 per tube. Because I am so far under budget, I think I might go back and get some more since it is on sale. Plus, I do have a list of some things I forgot (butter, syrup & a request for more salad). So, since I am only halfway through my budget...I will probably do some stocking up this week!

Total for January Grocery Challange: $124.32/$200.00

I think I might just succeed on this one, this month!

Day #3 - Smoke Free

Well, I think I've made it over the worst of it...I think! Last night, hubby had had a bad day, so he wanted to have a few drinks. So he went out and got some bloody mary stuff. I've never tried them, so I told him I would try it. It was actually pretty good, but the mix he got was way to spicy. But I do think I could drink them, if they were made with regular V8. Anyhoo, I'm getting way off topic here already! I think he didn't want to drink alone, so he was talking me into having screwdriver (which I had about 3 sips of becuase the OJ was sour). Anyhoo, still off topic. I didn't want to drink this soon after quitting smoking, becuase I know I will have a really hard time drinking and not smoking, becuase to me they go hand in hand!

But I did it! I opened the garage door to go out to the man cave, to smoke....but turned around, shut the door and left hubby outside smoking alone! I am so proud of myself! If i was able to turn down a cigarette when it was right there in front of me, tempting me...I think I will really be able to kick this habit. While I was considering smoking, I just kept thinking to myself, that I have already conquered 2 days of not smoking, and dealing with the withdrawls. If I smoke now, those 2 days were for nothing, and I have to start all over with the withdrawal symptoms, and I didnt' want to do that.

I have to say that I am already feeling much better! I have waaaaay more energy during the day and my face is actually looking healthier. I no longer have the dark circles under my eyes, the changes are amazing after only 48 hours. When you are smoking, you know it is bad for you...but I don't think you realize just how actually poisonous it is until you quit and see what it was doing to your body!

I, of course, still have some nasty stuff going on. I keep coughing up junk out of my lungs. As annoying as it is, it is good for me. It is getting all the junk out of my lungs, and that can only be good. I am having trouble sleeping still. I can sleep for about an hour, then I wake up...so it is off and on all night long. I actually did get a couple of solid hours last night which was so nice! So maybe tonight, I'll be able to sleep better...I need to kick the afternoon java, that might help too!

I have gained a few pounds so far (all in the first day), but I think that it was becuase I was being careless and wasn't watching what I ate. I wasn't really prepared to quit smoking, I had no gum and no game plan...I just decided to do it...which so far is working out for me. But now, I am armed with gum and my weight isn't going back up! I plan on jumping on the elliptical today, so hopefully that will help! I've also noticed in the 2 days since quitting...I've been more...well, um, regular....so to speak. I've never been regular in my life, but the last 2 days has been like clockwork, so it will be interesting to see what this does for my digestive system. It actually seems to be working better now that I've kicked the butts. But we'll see! I definately think I might try to take up jogging, once I can breath a bit better! It'll help me keep the weight off and get down to my goal weight and stay smoke free!

Misc. & Grocery Challange - Week #2

So far so good! We are still on budget. We did slip up and we went out to dinner twice this last weekend. We spend $90 on eating out!!!! It was a real eye opener for me, at least. Now, after watching how much we spend on groceries vs. how much it costs to eat out, I will definately be thinking twice about it!

Luckily, my winter blahs seem to have dissapeared! It has been in the 60's for the past 3 days, so that certainly cleared away the blahs for me! We were able to get out and do some outside activities on Sunday, I finally got my truck cleaned out, and we were able to take a walk yesterday! So, I think I will be able to make it through the rest of the winter, after this little reminder that spring will be here before I know it!

Aha! I almost forgot! I also quit smoking! Yes, you read that right. I am on Day #2 of quitting cold turkey, and actually...it hasn't been too bad. I've been able to keep my mood swings from driving everyone crazy. My mood gets a little short, once in a while...but last night with hubby and the kids, I just gave them a nice warning that I was about to blow, and they kind of knew to back off. Hubby is trying to quit too, but he always has a harder time. I know how hard it is firsthand, but whenever we try to quit together, I always get the impression that he is lying through his teeth to make me happy and never really has the intention to try to quit. Does that make sense? Like he really doesn't have the motivation at all.

Anyhoo, on to my January Grocery Challange! I still have not set foot in Wal-Mart, which is a huge part of my goal! This week I spent $52.30 on groceries. I went over a bit, but since I was under last week, I will overlook it! I have a total off $200 for the month...so right now, I am where I should be, actually a bit under! $96.44/$200

Jake's lunch each day: $.054
Tuna Sandwich
Granola Bar
Cheese Puffs
Water/Milk (add .09)

Pat Lunch each day: $.044
Ham Sandwich
Corn chips

I think I am just going to break down the dinners, so here they are:
$2.37 ~ Chicken Casserole (with cheese)
$5.92 ~ Meatless Chili Frito Pie (with cheese, sour cream & corn chips)
$2.18 ~ Goulash with Green Beans
$2.30 ~ Spaghetti with Homemade Garlic Bread
$1.43 ~ Hamburger Casserole w/ Veggie
$1.36 ~ Tator Tot Casserole w/ veggie
$3.18 ~ Eggs & Hash

So there it is. Breaking it down seems to be helping me stick to everything a bit better. I knew the frito pie would be expensive, but I didn't realize how much more expensive it would be than regular chili (check out last weeks menu for regular chili cost). I am so amazed at how little our meals are costing! I just need to stop taking hubby to the store...he is the one that talks me into the extras (like frito pie instead of chili)!

Need motivation to beat the winter blahs...

I swear, I must definately come down with the winter blahs. Not at all depression-like, becuase I am happy and content. But I haven't left the house in at least a week. Today, I really need to run some errands, post office, groceries, bank, etc. And I just can't get motivated to get out of the house. It is just so cold and yucky outside, I just don't want to go anywhere! It might also be that I have had 2 kids home instead of 1 being in school, and where ever I go, I know I will have to take both of them, which just doubles the headaches!

I need to find some motivation to just get out of the house! It isn't really even laziness. I got up and showered, and basically, I could get my coat on and walk out of the house right now...I just don't want to! It is driving me crazy...I guess I am just going to have to buckle down and get everyone bundled up and go. Putting it off just isn't going to help anyone! We need groceries for dinner tonight!

On the plus side, my New Year's Plan is shaping up nicely. I have not spent ANY money other than groceries since the first of the year and my cleaning plan is working out. I set up different cleaning tasks for each day, to break it up, so it doesn't seem so daunting and it seems to be working. Today, I cleaned the bathroom & laundry rooms, and menu planned for the week! Things that totally would not have gotten done if I hadn't had a list made up to do them! So kudos to me for that!