Frugal Friday!

It's frugal Friday once again!

I killed most of my garden for lack of a green thumb, but I have successfully grown eggplants!  Apparently, they can live through anything :)

They are mini eggplants, so I had to wait until I had several.  And this week I was able to make eggplant parmigiana.  My favorite.  Since there is no meat in this, it's pretty frugal.

mini eggplants from my garden:

Here are some of them cut up.   

Oh... and I love this spaghetti measuring tool!   

Finished product: 

recipe:

1 jar of spaghetti sauce (or you can make your own)

1/2 c bread crumbs

1 c of shredded mozzarella cheese

1 large eggplant... or several small eggplants in my case

1 egg with a dash of milk

spaghetti

directions:

Mix egg and milk in bowl.  Slice eggplant, dip in egg mixture and then dip in bread crumbs.  Heat in pan with some olive oil until edges are brown.  Put eggplant in bottom of dish; top with sauce and mozzarella cheese.  

cook at 350 for 30-40 minutes.  Serve over spaghetti.

S.O.S. Grab a life vest, I'm sinking this parenting ship!

Today I had one of those days, where you just sit and want to cry... actually, I did... ALOT.

I really really really really love my son.
I get really really really really frustrated with my son.

He just can't sit still... ever.  I'm exhausted just watching him jump off of things.  I tell him 1,000 times per day "don't jump off of furniture" or "be gentle with your sister" or "calm down" or "RELAX!!!!"... which I usually say in my most calm and relaxed voice :)

He has an incredibly hard time listening.  I reward for good behavior, I threaten, I punish, I time-out, I take things away for bad behavior... he still doesn't get it.

Warrick starts preschool in 6 days and I'm already anticipating a call from his teacher saying "maybe he should get checked for ADHD".  He's that energetic... all.the.time.  I'm always trying to play board games, puzzles, or color with him and he's not having it.  He wants to use the board game as a frisbee, see if the disposal can shred the puzzle, and color on the walls.

Tonight, I was praying about this and asking for clarity on how to handle Warrick better.  Later on, I read an amazing article.  It was 20 points to know about raising boys.  There were 3 that hit home the most for me that I really needed to hear.  So I copied them:  

*Boys Don't Stop Moving:
"From the moment they come bouncing into your bed at 5:30 in the morning until they pass out at bedtime, boys go.  Sometimes it seems like they have only two speeds -- fast and faster."

*Roughhousing Is Innate:
"Boys are physical.  There's the jumping off furniture, the rolling on each other, the "hug" that turns into a full-body running tackle.  Play fighting and roughhousing is surprisingly hard-wired into many boys.  It's often how they connect and express affection.  Don't worry- it's normal and experts say it's healthy.  This kind of physical interaction can foster positive relationships, boost the body's feel-good chemicals and promote intelligence -- even if it means stuff around the house is going to get broken."

*You'll Learn Not to Compare Your Son to Girls:
"Watch a girl the same age as your nonstop ball of energy sit quietly and use glitter glue for 45 minutes and you may want to cry.  Girls often reach milestones earlier and excel at many essential school skills like reading -- and, err, sitting still."

I've always known these to be true, it's common sense really.  But I needed to hear it from someone I don't know.  I am no longer diagnosing Warrick with ADHD, but with BOY!  And until he "grows out" of his crazy energy... I will choose to enjoy the ride and drink lots and lots of coffee so I can keep up.    

One day I will be a good parent... today wasn't that day.  Tomorrow will be better, and the next day hopefully better than that.  I'm a work in progress.  My relationship with my son is a continual reminder that I can do NOTHING without God.  I am so thankful to serve a God who is CONSTANTLY patient with me and I strive to be more like Him everyday.

Thanks for reading!

Ingredients!

Last week while we were are the grocery store, Warrick asked if he could get Totino's pizza rolls.  They were on sale and so I thought it would be a fun treat.  How bad could it be, right?  Well, they are bad... very very bad!!!  I made them for lunch today and while they were baking, I read the ingredient list.  

Here it is:

Ingredients

Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), Pepperoni Pizza Topping (Pepperoni made with Pork, Chicken and Beef [Pork, Mechanically Separated Chicken, Beef, Salt, Spice, Dextrose, Oleoresin of Paprika, Sodium Ascorbate, Garlic Powder, Sodium Nitrate, Lactic Acid Starter Culture, BHA and BHT and Citric Acid Added to Protect Flavor], Water, Soy Protein Isolate), Water, Mozzarella Cheese Substitute (Water, Palm Oil, Rennet Casein, Modified Corn Starch, Soybean Oil, Potato Starch, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Vital Wheat Gluten, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate [Preservative], Sodium Citrate, Titanium Dioxide [Artificial Color], Maltodextrin, Magnesium Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Riboflavin, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin B12), Oil Blend (Canola, Soybean and/or Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil), Cooked Pizza Topping with Pepperoni Seasoning (Pork, Mechanically Separated Chicken, Water, Isolated Soy Protein, Beef, Salt, Spice, Dextrose, Natural Flavor, Oleoresin of Paprika, Lactic Acid Starter Culture, Sodium Ascorbate [Preservative], Garlic Powder, Sodium Nitrite, BHA and BHT and Citric Acid to Protect Flavor). Contains Less than 2% of: Modified Corn Starch, Rehydrated Pasteurized Process Mozzarella Cheese (Water, Nonfat Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes, Citric Acid, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin B6, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Phosphate), Salt, Sugar, Dried Whey, Defatted Soy Flour, Dried Onion, Spice, Methylcellulose, Rehydrated Enzyme Modified Cheese (Water, Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Dextrose, Maltodextrin, Natural Flavor.

As a parent, my job is to protect my children from this crap, and for the most part we do a good job.  We try to eat organically as much as possible.  And we rarely eat out or eat frozen foods.  I just was in shock at this ingredient list and wanted to share it with you. It's important to know what we are putting into our children and us!!!  

Hope this was helpful and informative.  Totino's will never be in my house again... it's been banned :)  

Frugal Friday!

I graduated from MVNU in 2004 with my social work degree.  It took me almost a  year to find a job in my field.  When I did find a job in my field, I was young, green, and thought I could change the world.  I remember a co-worker telling me frequently that I was "a bleeding heart".  I really had no clue what that meant at the time.  Even though it was meant to be derogatory, he was spot on.  And I still am.

I wanted to use today's frugal Friday to tell you that you're rich.  You may not feel like it since you live in the good 'ol US of A where immediate gratification runs rampant, but you are.            

If you enjoy any of these amenities: indoor plumbing, running water, heating/air conditioning, or have a car,  you are faring better than most of the world.  .

I read an article that stated 80% of the world live in substandard living (ie: no running water or electricity).    Makes me think twice about wanting to throw my kindle fire into the pond behind our house because the internet is slow.  #firstworldproblems.  

I heard a pastor recently say that 1/3 of the world's population has too little food, 1/3 of the world's population has just enough food, and 1/3 of the world's population has too much food.  Can you guess which third we fall in?   

Another article  says that "Americans make up fully one half of the worlds richest 1%.  When you look at the worlds population as a whole, it only takes $34,000 a year per person after taxes to be part of the world's riches one percent.  A family of four with after tax income of $136,000 would be among the world's richest.  Which means even the poorest 5% of American's are richer than two-thirds of the entire world."

I'm not trying to diminish anyone's income/debt problems or make anyone feel guilty, but I sometimes need a reminder that I am rich, blessed, and should think long and hard before complaining about my situation.  It could be A LOT worse.      

Thanks for reading!

Frugal Friday!

Today, I'm featuring an amazing recipe... one that tastes great, is healthy, is pretty, and frugal!  I was happy when I found it on womansday.com.

First, I gathered my ingredients.  A couple of weeks ago, I saw chicken drumsticks at kroger and $2.79 seemed like a good price.  I really have no clue though since I have never cooked them before.  I stocked up and was determined to find some good recipes :)  

I was lazy, so I opted for pre-cut veggies.  (The pioneer woman would be ashamed)  

Then I mixed the chicken with 2T of olive oil, 5 cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, and 1T italian seasoning.

Even though the veggies were already cut, I chopped a little more and cut the potatoes.  I love all the colors!  

Then I mixed everything together in a big bowl, transferred it to a large dish and baked it for 1 1/2 hrs at 425, stirring it after 45 minutes.    

 Finished product 

food coma :) 

Cost break-down:

drumsticks $2.79

veggies $3.99

potatoes $1.55

Since I had the other ingredients, this meal cost $8.33.  And it was a lot of food!   

Usually, I try to make dinner while Tynnley is sleeping, refrigerate it and then put it in the oven to cook later... this makes my life easier.  But since I didn't plan well, I had to take the kids to the store after Tynnley's nap.  All this to say, I made this dish (minus the cooking part) and wrote this blog in 30 minutes.  I turned on veggie tales and the kids ate grapes.  It worked out perfectly!

And yes... that is my messy house in the background.  It came down to cleaning the house or cooking and laundry.  I chose the latter since we are fond of food and clean underwear :)   

I hope you  have enjoyed frugal friday!  

Coming out of the closet

I always try to think of catchy titles to my blog to entice people to read it... and here you are :)

This week I've been organizing!  My kids have small closets, so I'm always trying to make the most of every square inch.  Warrick's closet was a mess, he only had one bar across the top, which made for a lot of things thrown across the closet floor.  It needed some help.  So this week I was determined to fix the issue.  (It's been driving me crazy for a while!)  I love the result, so I wanted to share it with you all since it was simple, frugal, and time-saving!

First, I threw everything out of the closet... this was my favorite part (Warrick's too!)
Then I found this at Lowe's for $37.

I got 3 blue fabric drawers and a small adjustable curtain rod for some more hanging space.

Matt did the hard work of putting it all together and now we have an organized closet that is much more usable!  

Here is the finished product:

This has added so much more usable space in a small closet.  I will probably be doing the same in Tynnley's closet soon.  I think $64 is a small price to pay for an organized closet and a sane mom :)  

  

Frugal Friday!

  

(picture taken from pinterest)

On pinterest, I saw a lady who made what she calls "fake-it" Betty Crocker mixes.  In the store they can be up to $2.50, but you can make them at home for about 1/4 of the cost (or less!).  This can also make a great gift when put in a mason jar.  I made a peanut butter chip cookie mix in a bag and a brownie mix.  I found printable mason jar labels here.       

Brownies:

Ingredients to put in bag or jar:
1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Flour
1/3 Cup Cocoa
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder

Mix all these ingredients together with a whisk and dump them into a zipper bag.  On the bag, add the following instructions:

Add:  2 Eggs, 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil, 1 teaspoon Vanilla.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

These should stay fresh in your pantry for at least 6 months, but they would never last that long in my house :)

*To customize your mixes add dark chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, nuts, or what ever kinds of add-ins you like in your brownies!

Fake Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookies:

1 Cup Flour
1/4 Cup White Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
3/4 Cup Chocolate Chips

Mix together and store in a quart size ziplock bag.  Write instructions on the bag to add:  1 Stick Softened Butter, 1 Large Egg, 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract.  Mix & Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes.

There are many other mixes on her website.  It's nice to have some handy in the pantry for when you need to whip up a quick dessert for a cook-out, church function, etc.

Happy Frugal Friday! :)

Tynnley's birthday outfit!

Tynnley's 1st birthday outfit!

I really like the way it turned out and it was fun to make.

Frugal Friday!

I worked as a bank teller after Warrick was born because I wanted to work part-time and I wanted Sunday's and holiday's off... working at a bank seemed perfect!  One day, as it was nearing Christmas, one of my co-workers was telling me how stressed she was about paying for Christmas.  The Christmas before, she had taken her family to Disney World as their present.  11 months later she still owed money from that Christmas trip on her credit card!!!  She was not only stressed about how she would pay for Christmas 2010, but paying off Christmas 2009 as well!

Does Christmas "sneak" up on you every year?  Like we don't realize that every year it's on December 25th :)  Recently, I read this article on EveryDay Cheapskate about a lady who starts Christmas shopping in July.    The lady in the article is saying to start now shopping (or saving) for Christmas.  You have a better likelihood of leisurely finding good deals on stocking stuffers or other goodies.  And hopefully by the time Christmas comes around, you aren't stressed out because there is not enough money and may be tempted to charge Christmas on a credit card.

Don't let my co-workers situation happen to you!  She was obviously super stressed out... and guess what?  Christmas is not about presents and it's definitely not about stress!  So, whether it be to start saving money for Christmas (even if it's $5 a week) or beginning to buy things on sale here or there, start planning now!  You'll be happy that you did.  So, the next time you see something on clearance and you have a couple bucks on you, pick it up, just don't forget where you've hidden it :)

There are 143 days til Christmas and I can guarantee it will be here before we know it.