We’re big Italian food fans in our house. Some kind of pasta with some kind of sauce and some melty cheese is some good stuff. The perfect accompaniment? Italian bread, of course. I make Italian herb bread, which is YUM. However, if I happen to see some of the garlic bread they make at the grocery store on the discount bakery rack – I always buy it. You know the one – the Italian loaf split in the middle with the garlic butter.

So I got to thinking – there’s no reason at all that I can’t make that at home – cheaper and yummier. So I did. I made the Italian herb bread and spread it with the garlic butter you see below. You don’t have to use Italian herb bread though, you could even use slices of bread to make garlic toast (see below).

Garlic Butter

from All Recipes

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp. garlic salt
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. ground paprika

Mix it all together with an electric hand mixer. Store in the refrigerator.

I spread this on Italian Herb bread and bake it on the top rack of the oven at 400F until lightly golden brown.

Or … to make garlic toast, spread it on both sides of sliced bread and then grill it in a frying pan until each side is golden brown.

Why I do what I do ~ I just re-read this post and realized I misquoted at the top. I said that we’re huge Italian food fans. That’s not entirely true. 2/3 of us are huge Italian food fans. My daughter won’t eat red sauce or anything mixed (casseroles, soups), also no ground beef at all – so that pretty much eliminates all Italian bakes that I make. Oh well, right?

YNAB-You need a budget. Yeah you do.

Rent movies from Netflix. Try for free!

Related posts:

1. Italian Herb Bread
2. Soft White Bread
3. Honey Oatmeal Wheat Bread

Every year I get Spring fever. It’s tough where I live because it warms up S …………….. O …………… S ……….. L ………… O …………… W ………….. L ………… Y. Even though it was only in the 30s here this week it was very sunny and the snow was melting. I got ambitious. One day I opened windows just to let the fresh air in. It felt so good. Another day I put my winter gloves on and hung towels on the clothesline. I started puttering around outside, getting the flowerbed ready (HA – it will be a while still) and cleaning up the yard. I am definitely ready for Spring.

Some great reads from this week. Enjoy your weekend everyone

Saving Money – An American Virtue Reborn from Debt Free Adventure ~ Saving money is the “in” thing now, but it’s by no means a new thing.

Free Printable Recipe Cards from Skip To My Lou ~ This is a seriously awesome tutorial to create recipe cards and print them out.

You’ve Got A Budget, Now What? from Small Notebook ~ A budget is no good if you don’t use it!

Why Go To Bed Early? from Gather Little By Little ~ Don’t knock it till you try it. Stew shares some solid wisdom.

How To Give Your Child An Allowance also from Gather Little By Little ~ What age do you begin? How much? Read what Mike is doing.

Why I do what I do ~ Today I began cutting out the pieces to make Chloe’s Easter dress (more on that soon). I didn’t plan to sew it, just cut out the pieces (the worst part). I was telling Chloe about it. She was so excited. She asked if Easter is tomorrow and if she can have her dress today and if it will have eggs on it. Eggs? Yes, Easter eggs on her Easter dress. Ummm, no.

photo credit: Kat Johnston / Sanura Sakai

YNAB-You need a budget. Yeah you do.

Rent movies from Netflix. Try for free!

Related posts:

1. Easter Projects Update – The Dress
2. Budget-Friendly Spring Crafts And Activities
3. Good Reads: Sidewalk Chalk

My kitchen is small – very small. It’s like a hallway with counter tops and cupboards along the sides. The counter space left from what the microwave, stand mixer and dish drainer occupy is just enough to roll out bread dough and set the rising bowl behind me.

If my husband comes in to talk to me while I’m cooking or cleaning in there he’s constantly in my way. The whole time we’re talking I’m pushing him to the side, moving him forward and we’re crashing into each other. When the kids are in the kitchen while I’m cooking I say they are “right under my feet” – and they are.

The springs in the dishwasher door are broken and I have to lock it to keep it closed. My oven is at least 20 years old and the clock and cook timers are broken.

Even though I may occasionally complain about those things, none of it really matters very much.

My kitchen is perfect.

I’ve done a lot of growing up in my kitchen. I remember reading the box carefully to see exactly how to make Hamburger Helper 7 years ago – afraid I’d screw it up. Now the thought of it makes me want to gag. I remember the first time I opened the box of brand new silverware – afraid to ding it up, never imagining we’d need more silverware than a service of 8. We have 12 now and I sometimes run out during the day.

These days, I scrub knee-high food smudges off the wall in the kitchen and find little plastic dinosaurs hiding in my casserole dishes – I’m in Heaven. I’ve spent hours talking to my husband in my kitchenand feel like I am learning to be a wife there. I’ve had some great parenting moments in the kitchen with my preschooler sitting on the counter and I hope to have more one day with my teenage daughter sitting there.

Some days, my legs ache from standing in my kitchen for so long. Sitting down for a moment, I realize how much of my day I spend there and I’m grateful. Growing in my kitchen has been the most wonderful thing. I’ve grown from a wife, a mom and a girl who knew almost nothing – into a person who knows a little more than I did then, is a little braver than I was then and loves even more than I did then. I feel like my kitchen is the heart of my home and I love the people I care for there.

My life is small and simple, like my kitchen. My family is close to me there. In my kitchen, I tie my apron and create things that make my husband remember why he loves me. Like my life, not everything in my kitchen works exactly like it’s supposed to, but it’s where I am and I love it.

Why I do what I do ~ The other day, my older niece had a particularly bad morning. She had been in a terrible mood. She’s 4-1/2. After her nap I asked her how she was feeling. She said, “Good. I don’t have a issue anymore.”

YNAB-You need a budget. Yeah you do.

Rent movies from Netflix. Try for free!

Related posts:

1. Starting To Change

A quick and easy crock pot recipe that’s perfect for a winter that drags on and on and on and …

Easy Cheesy Potato Soup

from Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes

• 6 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2-1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 tsp. instant chicken bouillon granules
• a few grinds of black pepper
• 6-8 oz. cheese (I’ve used cheddar and monterey but I’m sure others would be great too – maybe Velveeta)
• 1 12-oz. can evaporated milk
• Pre-cooked ham or crumbled bacon

Directions:

1. Combine the potatoes, water, onion, bouillon and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or on high for 4-4-1/2.
2. After that, mash potatoes slightly then add the milk, cheese and ham/bacon. Cover and cook for 1 more hour on low or 30 minutes on high. It might not take that long. You’re just trying to get it all hot, melty and cohesive.

Add some extra spices if you like, leave the meat out or change up the cheese. This is a quick and easy frugal meal that hits the spot.

Why I do what I do ~

Chloe- ”Daddy are you watching a mercial?”

David- “No, I’m watching a COMmercial.”

Chloe- “No, no, no – a mercial.”

David- “What’s a mercial?”

Chloe- “A mercial is a winner and a frog.”

YNAB-You need a budget. Yeah you do.

Rent movies from Netflix. Try for free!

Related posts:

1. Shepherd’s Pie Recipe
2. Quick Tip: Taco Seasoning
3. Apple Cranberry Stuffing

Can you picture this? You’re in the kitchen, gathering the ingredients to make cookies. You look and see softened butter is one of the ingredients and all of your butter is in the refrigerator. Probably 1 in 15 times I remember to pull the butter out an hour early and let it soften perfectly but the other 14 times I have to do something else. Everyone has their trick for softening butter quickly – here’s mine.

Anyone who bakes knows that melted butter is no replacement for softened butter. It completely changes your recipe. If you’ve ever placed a whole stick of butter in the microwave then I’m sure you’ve also experience a half softened/half melted stick of butter. Good enough? Maybe. But I’m picky about my cookies so I take one extra step and I get nearly perfect softened butter.

Here’s the trick. I slice the butter in 1-tbsp. slices and place them on a plate like this:

Then I microwave it for 23 seconds (I’m sure your microwave will vary a tiny bit). You know it’s perfect when you can stick your finger into them like this but there isn’t any melted butter on the plate:

It doesn’t take more than 30 seconds to slice the butter – there are actually 2 sticks of butter on that plate, and 23 seconds to microwave it. So that means you have softened butter in less than a minute!  Happy Baking!

Do you have a great tip for softening butter in a hurry?

Why I do what I do ~ I bought some dried apricots recently. It had been a long time since Chloe had eaten them so she’d forgotten what they tasted like. She was very skeptical and it was difficult to get her to take a bite but once she did, she remembered that she loves them. She carried the bag of them around proudly, calling them her “africots.”

YNAB-You need a budget. Yeah you do.

Rent movies from Netflix. Try for free!

Related posts:

1. Easy Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe
2. Week Of Frugal Fall Ideas: Apple Butter
3. Quick Tip: Cut Off The Bag

A while ago I posted about homemade laundry detergent. I still make it faithfully and I’m also still very happy with it. However, I have a couple more tips to add to the original post. I added the tips to the end of that post but thought I’d print them here as well in case there’s anyone out there using the recipe or considering trying it out.

• Instead of regular Ivory soap I started using Ivory with Aloe. It cleans exactly the same but smells really nice.
• I find it VERY helpful to grate the soap with my food processor. Then, leaving the grated soap in there, I remove the grating blade and put the chopping blade in, then add the other ingredients and turn it on. It mixes it and makes it very fine, so that I have no problem at all with the soap dissolving in cold water.

In case you’re wondering where I was this week (my posting was light and I was rarely on Twitter), I was painting my bedroom and bathroom for a couple days and then cleaning up the mess for a couple more days. MANY THANKS to my parents for the free paint!

A few links for your reading pleasure …

• My blogging friend Emily, who is the girl at Remodeling This Life, wrote an honest post called Running Up Debt. If you’re in over your head or if you’ve been there – you must read this.
• At Gather Little By Little, Stew shares 10 Principles For Saving Time – Part 1 & Part 2. My favorite tip was “Push A Little Harder At The End.” This always gives me that boost I need to finish.
• Clever Dude said I’m Tired Of Buying And Spending. Me too.
• The Festival Of Frugality was up at Think Your Way To Wealth this week and I was an editor’s pick!

Why I do what I do ~ Have you ever had your hand held by one that’s much smaller than yours? Have you ever had an almost-4-year-old look you deep in your eyes and tell you they love you? Have you ever been told you’re beautiful by a child that is being completely honest? I wish I could bottle up the pure love of a child.

YNAB-You need a budget. Yeah you do.

Rent movies from Netflix. Try for free!

Related posts:

1. I Tried It – Homemade Laundry Detergent
2. Good Reads: The Office
3. Good Reads: Caught A Smile

A little while ago I was contacted by Just Eyewear, asking if I’d be interested in reviewing their product. I clicked over to their site and my jaw nearly hit the floor. I browsed page after page of prescription eyeglasses, almost entirely priced under $50 – including the lenses. It had never even occurred to me to shop for eyeglasses online before. All I could think was, “Why hasn’t anyone ever told me about this?”

The glasses I have right now are 3 or 4 years old and I paid just under $200 for them at the optical shop right in my optometrist’s office. They aren’t designer or anything special but they also aren’t the cheap value priced glasses. It’s important to me that my glasses be sturdy and durable because there is a decent chance that a child will grab them off my face or try to wear them. It’s also important to me that I really like the look of them.

Just Eyewear offered to send me a pair of glasses to review and I said – definitely yes! I began browsing through their selection and found several pairs that I really liked. I already have a bold-looking pair of glasses so I wanted something a little more sleek and understated this time. The browsing process was simple and clear. You can organize your eyeglasses search by several criteria so it was relatively easy for me to settle on some I liked.

When it was time to order, all I needed was my prescription and my pupillary distance. I called my eye doctor and had my prescription faxed to me and they had my pupillary distance on file. However, if you don’t have or can’t get your pupillary distance then don’t worry because Just Eyewear tells you how to calculate it yourself.

Less than 2 weeks after ordering my glasses, they were at my doorstep. They were mailed in a hard case – which is included with every purchase. When I tried them on I was a little bummed because they didn’t fit the bridge of my nose very well. So, I asked if there was a way to adjust them. I received a quick response referring me to a video that showed me how to do it (it was easy) and it worked like a charm. They fit perfect. I am very happy with the quality of my glasses and don’t feel at all like they are the value price quality – even though they are a FANTASTIC price. The glasses I chose (in burgandy) retail for $36. We plan on buying a pair for my husband now that we see the quality is great.

Just Eyewear has a special offer for Domestic Cents readers! If you wear glasses then you should definitely head over and check out their selection and exclusive discount for this site. I feel very comfortable recommending this product to my readers as a fantastic frugal purchase.

~ I was given a free pair of glasses to review from Just Eyewear. However, the opinions expressed in this post are wholeheartedly mine. ~

Why I do what I do ~ I made chili for supper a few nights ago. Chloe completely avoids anything soup-like. I offered her a bite of chili from my bowl and she said, “No, that’s just too cold.” Get it? Chili = Chilly

YNAB-You need a budget. Yeah you do.

Rent movies from Netflix. Try for free!

Related posts:

1. Sensible Review: Recipe Zaar

I don’t have a lot for you this week for links because I have had trouble keeping up with my Reader. With that said, I’m giving you 5 fantastic links. I LOVE these blogs and these are some excellent posts. Have a great weekend everyone

Lane & Tom’s Shared Nursery Tour from Small Notebook – I especially love the rain gutter bookshelves. Rachel is a genius.

Fighting The Tyranny Of The Urgent At Home from Simple Mom. From the post: “there is a regular tension between things that are urgent and things that are important — and far too often, the urgent wins.”

On Smarties & Instant Gratification from Remodeling This Life. From the post: “Until fairly recently in my adulthood, I was all about having everything I wanted NOW.” <– Me too!

Frugal Living Could Change Your Life posted by MoneyNing at Frugal Dad. It DID change his life – and I think it’s changing mine too.

Frugal Living Is Not A Sprint. It’s A Marathon. from Being Frugal. Lynnae is spot on. There’s no perfect formula to get rich quick – it takes time and endurance.

Why I do what I do ~ Earlier today my niece said, “Auntie Nicki, I want to watch the cloudiness and the meatballs.” Translation: “I want to watch the movie Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.”

photo credit: racheocity

YNAB-You need a budget. Yeah you do.

Rent movies from Netflix. Try for free!

Related posts:

1. Good Reads: Great Perspective
2. Good Reads: What Blogs Should I Read?
3. Good Reads: Do You Like Mini Golf?

I like to make things. I get a great sense of accomplishment when I can make something as good as or better than purchasing store bought or pre-made. It throws me right onto cloud 9 when I can make something better that’s ALSO less expensive. I’ve posted about a lot of things that fit into this category. More and more, I’m finding things I can make cheaper than buying them. I love it. However, there are a few things I haven’t attempted because … well … I don’t really want to.

I had in mind for a while that I was going to make homemade yogurt and post about it. We eat a lot of yogurt in our house and I thought it would be a great idea. There are some great how-to’s on the Internet, so it’s not like I’d have to figure it out on my own. (Follow the link above to Kitchen Stewardship if you’re interested in making your own). However, I buy my yogurt in 32-oz. containers for $1.75 and honestly, I don’t feel like that’s a bad price and I’m comfortable paying it for the convenience. I know there are health benefits to making your own – but I’m just not there yet.

Another example, many times I buy jarred spaghetti sauce and just add a few more spices to it rather than making it from scratch. The ease of pouring a jar of it into a pan to heat up can’t be beat on busy nights. I know that homemade sauce is better for you and, if you can get the hang of it, tastes better, but for right now it’s a convenience I’m willing to pay for (and actually, I can get jarred sauce less expensive than the ingredients to make it from scratch anyway).

Need more examples? I make my own greeting cards when I have a chance to, but sometimes I just buy them at Walmart for 88 cents. I know how to sew but I only sew clothing that I want to sew. I am happy buying everything else.

If you’ve read my blog much then you KNOW I am not against homemade things – I am actually a little obsessed with trying to make things myself. My point is that every family has different needs and unique demands. What may be worth it and fulfilling to one person may seem frustrating or like a waste of time to another. Although there are still plenty of things I purchase pre-made, I find I’m still mostly on the homemade side. I frequently find myself wondering – could I make that instead? Sometimes, the answer is, “Yeah, but I don’t really want to.”

What about you? Do you make something homemade that most people purchase pre-made? Do you avoid making anything in particular?

Why I do what I do ~ Chloe loves to color and draw. Today she handed me a card she made and said, “Look Mom, it has your name.” I opened it and saw “M O M” written inside by her. No help from me. I almost cried.

Photo by love♡janine

YNAB-You need a budget. Yeah you do.

Rent movies from Netflix. Try for free!

Related posts:

1. Homemade Dishwasher Detergent
2. Ask My Readers: Homemade Cleaners
3. I Tried It – Homemade Laundry Detergent

A while ago I tried out making my own laundry detergent. I got the recipe from Matt Jabs over at Debt Free Adventure. I’m still using the laundry detergent and have even converted a few friends and family! Matt also has a recipe for dishwasher detergent that caught my interest when I was trying the laundry soap but in the interest of pacing myself, I waited on it.

When I was ready to try the dishwasher detergent I went back and found Matt’s recipe. It called for citric acid. He had a link to buy it on Amazon, and I thought about it, but upon doing further research I found some other people had made the detergent using Lemonade Kool-Aid packets, which are a lot easier for me to come by. The number 1 ingredient in those packets is citric acid. I wasn’t sure how many packets to use in a single batch, so I guessed. I used 4 packets. My dishes come out clean and sparkley – so it must be alright!

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

adapted from Matt Jabs

• 1/2 cup Arm &  Hammer Super Washing Soda
• 1/2 cup 20 Mule Team Borax
• 4 packets lemonade flavor Kool-Aid powder (unsweetened – I buy the off-brand)
• 1/4 cup salt (Kosher salt recommended)

Directions:

Pour it all into a resealable container and shake it up. Use 1 tablespoon per cycle.

Need a rinse aid? Use vinegar.

I have been very pleased with the results of this detergent. My dishes seem to be a more sparkley clean, which I love, and making it this way is less expensive than buying it. It has officially been added to my ever-growing arsenal of homemade products!

Why I do what I do ~ Me- “Chloe it’s almost nap time.” Chloe- “I don’t want to sleep.” Me- “Well, you’re going to take a rest and the great part is that I’m going to let you pick which bed to sleep in.” Chloe- “That is NOT a great part.”

photo credit: dno1967

~To support the ongoing production of this site, I use affiliate marketing. The links in this post for Borax and Super Washing Soda are both Amazon Affiliate links. Purchasing products through these links brings money to this site, however, I still encourage you to shop around and get the best price possible.~

YNAB-You need a budget. Yeah you do.

Rent movies from Netflix. Try for free!

Related posts:

1. I Tried It – Homemade Laundry Detergent
2. Ask My Readers: Homemade Cleaners
3. Washing A Shower Curtain Liner