Pinterest Success

Any other Pinterest addicts out there?  I don't know if I have quite reached addict stage yet (yet!) but I really enjoy checking out all the latest pins from my friends and family.  Who would have thought that a website that is just pictures could be so fun and so inspiring!  You have to be a little bit careful though, especially when it comes to trying recipes.  I once saw a pin for "edible glitter", that when you clicked through to the original website, it was actually a recipe for non-toxic glitter - made from salt!  Ack!

I have had a few success stories though.  Most recently I tried this:

What is refrigerator oatmeal?  Personally, I would call this more of a muesli.  The end result is YUM-E!  I have three growing children, two of which are tween girls that are eating me out of house and home.  We've kind of been a cold cereal family.  I grew up eating cold cereal, I like cold cereal, my family likes cold cereal, and cold cereal (if you get the good stuff) can be fairly healthy.  It's darned expensive though, especially when your family is eating two bowls of the stuff.  These really are as yummy as they look, and fairly inexpensive to make - especially if you make your own yogurt, which I do.  The only suggestion that I would make, is if you try the Banana Cocoa version, I would use (maybe) 1 tsp of cocoa instead of the 1 tbsp.  I think my favorite is the blueberry maple.  My family likes them too.  Well, except for maybe my husband.  He thinks I'm trying to kill him when I make anything healthy for him.  I think the chia seeds were a little too much for him to think about...

DCWV Warehouse sale!

At the risk of making those of you who do not live in Utah cry...

Tomorrow the Die Cuts With a View warehouse sale begins!  If you are in the area, this is definitely a sale that you can't miss.  Last year they had the 12 x 12 stacks for $5!  They had their wall vinyl for $3!  Just be prepared because you know what happens when you put a bunch of scrappers in a warehouse with prices like that - it gets a little crazy!  For the best selection you need to get there early, but be prepared to wait in line for a long time.

Corner of East Bay Blvd and 350 East

Building #1422

Provo, Utah

Thursday, April 14th- 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Friday,     April 15th - 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Saturday, April 16th-   9:00  AM - 1:00 PM

You want me to eat what???

Food can elicit some pretty strong emotions in people, and my family is no exception.  When my husband and I got married I found that he had pretty low expectations when it came to meals.  My mother-in-law, bless her heart, doesn't like to cook and so my husband was raised on a lot of fast food and good old fashioned red meat and potatoes.  Me, on the other hand, I was raised on vegetables, vitamins, liver, whole grains, and anything else that my mother thought was good for us.  As far as what I prepare for my family, I think I would say "practicality" rules.  I have never had a large grocery budget, so I tend to cook with very little meat and I try to use the items that I store in my food storage:  legumes, grains, powdered milk, etc.  With all due modesty, I have to say that I'm a pretty good cook.  Although, anytime I try a new recipe I have to ask my family if it's a "keeper", especially if it involves food storage items.  I am happy to report that my children, for the most part, are willing to eat just about anything because they have been exposed to a large variety of foods from many different ethnicities.  My husband, on the other hand, thinks that I am trying to kill him anytime I feed him legumes or whole grains.  Still working on that...

I am always looking for inexpensive meal ideas, and in particular, ways to make my food storage items more palitable.   That is why I was really excited when I found this recipe for Curried Lentils and Rice at one of my favorite food storage resource blogs Safely Gathered In.  It tastes good, really good.  I liked it, my children liked it - even my picky 2 year old.  My husband, well, he said that it tasted good but had that health food quality about it.  Good enough for me!  Lentils are cheap, full of protein, and easy to prepare because they take far less time to cook than most other legumes.  This recipe is a keeper!

While I am on the topic of food storage, be sure to check out the new button I have posted for the Preparedness Pantry blog.  In addition to being a great resource for information and great products, they have a fabulous giveaway going on right now for a dairy combo, with a retail value of $175.70.  Check it out!

Breakfast made simple

I have a confession to make - I don't make breakfast for my family.  We are very much a cold cereal bunch because, well, I like cereal, and it's better for you (if it's not the sugary kind) than a lot of the alternatives.  The problem is, cereal can be expensive (unless you never spend more than $1 a box, but we'll leave that for another discussion) and I have been trying to find ways of incorporating food storage type foods more in our every day diet.

So what do you do when you're trying to use the oats and wheat in your food storage and you don't particularly like getting up at the crack of dawn to prepare breakfast for your family?

Answer:

Prepare breakfast the night before!

I have found the most yummy recipe for crockpot oatmeal at one of my favorite food storage websites:

http://safelygatheredin.blogspot.com

This makes a really big batch of oatmeal, so if you don't need that much you can either refrigerate leftovers and just reheat with some milk later, or you can try a slightly modified, scaled down version that I use.  Personally, I didn't see the point of leaving the crockpot on all night since I have a handy dandy timer that I could program and plug the crockpot into.  Here's my version:

1 1/2 cups steel cut oats (you can't use regular or instant because they cook too fast and you would have cement in the morning)
4 cups water
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup powdered milk (and they'll never know it's in there)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp honey
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped

To be added in the morning:
Brown sugar to taste
Toasted, chopped almonds

Put all ingredients into a 3-4 quart crockpot set on Low, and set your timer to be on for 3 hours (mine goes on at 4 am and off at 7 am).  In the morning, stir, and sprinkle with brown sugar and toasted almonds.  YUM!  Serves 5-6.  Oh, and if you want an extra easy clean up, butter the crockpot lightly before adding all the ingredients.  Butter makes it better, right?

If you don't have a timer, add 1/2 to 1 cup of extra water and turn your crockpot on to low at bedtime.

I have tried this with cracked wheat too, although I'm still perfecting that recipe.

I may be frugal, but I'm not cheap

I have been wracking my brain trying to think of what I should write about next. I have a lot of things that I could write, but it is not going to mean much to me or to anyone reading it if it isn't something that I feel strongly about at the time. I finally decided that I would write a little about making wise purchases, and specifically, about how spending more can sometimes save you in the long run.

For example:

Haircare: Something that I have discovered in the past 6 months is the benefit of spending a little more on my haircare products. My stylists have always said how the salon products are more concentrated, better for your hair, yadda yadda yadda. I was given a few samples after a haircut back in March, and since then I have been hooked! I couldn't believe the difference in my hair. I have naturally curly hair so I used to go through conditioner like crazy, and styling products too. With good quality products I use a fraction of what I did of the regular store brands. Now, I'm not stupid - I won't just buy the stuff for top dollar at the salon. But there are a lot of places where you can get the salon products at cheaper prices. I have been doing more and more shopping at Beauty Express (Trade Secret) lately because they can have some smokin' sales! And don't forget to check the clearance section where you can sometimes find discontinued products, or ones that have had a packaging change for 75% off. I've also bought stuff on Ebay, and even with shipping it was cheaper than what it would have cost at the salon. Frugal tip(s): I have a stylist friend who told me about a study she read regarding hair care products. The results of the study found that there was very little difference in the results produced by shampoos you find at the store compared with the salon brands. So if you're going to splurge, put more money into conditioners and styling products. Also, see if the place you purchase your products from has a frequent shopper program where you can get points and discounts.

Children's Clothing: I've been a die hard fan of second hand clothing stores for a long time - places like Kid to Kid or Once Upon a Child . The trouble is, as my girls get older I find that the selection in the larger sizes is getting to be slim pickings. So I've had to start buying new more and more. Children's clothes are NOT CREATED EQUAL! When I go shopping I want clothes that are going to be good quality, but I also want clothes that will make them look like children. My girls may be getting older, but I refuse to dress them in the grungy, skanky hoe clothing that is so prevalent today. I have been doing more and more shopping at Gymboree because, once again, they can have some fabulous sales. I can't afford their regular prices, but get on their emailing list and you'll be informed of sales in advance. I'm finding more and more that I can buy brand new, good quality, cute clothes there on sale for the same prices I was paying at the secondhand store.

Shoes: I really don't mean to be endorsing so many specific retailers, but I have to put a plug in for Famous Footwear. Getting my frequent shopper card there was one of the best shopping decisions I ever made. Great sales, decent quality, online purchasing (with easy, in-store returns), great discount coupons, and great rewards. It just couldn't be easier. Get on their email list, get one of their frequent shopper cards (totally free) and voila!

Although all evidence may seem to the contrary at the moment, I'm not a fan of shopping. I like to get in, find what I want/need, and get out. I think that's why I've never been a huge fan of yard sales. You can find some seriously good deals at yard sales and they certainly have their place. In my experience, however, they take a ridiculous amount time that is largely spent sifting through garbage. I'd rather be keyed in to the programs and benefits available at my favorite stores.

Top 10 do's and don'ts for saving money on your household expenses

Many of the women at church expressed an interest in a group that would meet and discuss ways to save money on household expenses. We decided to call it Tightwads Anonymous! Here is something that I prepared for our first meeting:

Top 10 do's:

· Buy food storage basics (wheat, oats, sugar, oil, beans etc.) and learn how to use them.

o Cook beans ahead of time and freeze them for easy integration into your diet

o Make your own granola – easy and cheap to make, yummy to eat, expensive to buy

· Grow a garden

· Cook from scratch

· Reduce the amount of meat you eat

o When you do eat meat buy whole chickens when on sale for $.59/lb, roast and use for multiple meals. Don’t be afraid to buy roasts at less than $2.00/lb – cut them up into stew meat yourself, or roast and use leftovers for soup

· Pack a lunch – use leftovers

· Shop with a plan – list, menu etc

o Have a budget and stick to it, bring a calculator if you have to

· Shop around, shop sales

· Use coupons & rebates

· Buy generic

· Watch the register – and speak up if something rings up at the wrong price

Top 10 don’ts:

· Don’t buy baking mixes: Bisquick, pancake mix, brownie mix, cake mix – make your own

· Don’t buy plain yogurt or sour cream – easy to make your own yogurt, and plain yogurt can be used in the place of sour cream in many recipes

· Don’t buy soda – it's expensive and bad for you

· Don’t buy bread – easy to make

· Don’t buy bottled water

· Don’t buy junk food/convenience frozen foods

· Don’t assume that buying in bulk is cheaper – warehouse clubs are not always cheaper, and if buying large quantities means that some will be wasted, it’s not worth it

· Don’t buy school lunch – SO bad for the kids and it’s cheaper to send them with lunch

· Don’t make special trips to the store for just one or two items. It wastes gas and time

· Don’t spend a lot of money on cleaning supplies – most things in your home can be cleaned with vinegar & baking soda