I think I can, I think I can

Booking It

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:17:00 +0000

I'm finally getting into a reading groove after setting a goal of reading a BOOK at least an hour every day. I figured it would be hard to find the time but I'm doing it. January was busy so I did only manage 3 books.

Here are those 3

Crank

Lover Enshrined

The Money Saving Mom's Budget

Be sure to check out my Amazon store on the right. Every month, I'll add the books I read!

Disclaimer; it does include affiliate links and I receive a small compensation on each order!

Menu Plan Monday

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Winter finally hit us here in Sw Missouri so I can do some oven cooking and we might actually be in the mood for it :) Also, as much as I love Thing 1, I'm glad she has her last game for the rest of the year to cheer at on Tuesday. It'll be nice to stay home in the evenings for a couple weeks anyways :)

Here's the plan for the week:

Breakfasts

Eggs

Oatmeal

Cold cereal

all served with fruit

Dinners

Split pea and ham soup, bread

Pot roast, potatoes, carrots

Lasagna, salad, bread

Chili, fritoes, and cheese with cornbread

Whole baked chicken, stuffing, green beans

Breakfast burritos, fruit salad

Want to get some help? Check out 28 days to Hope for your Home! Only $4 until the end of February!

Weekly Goals

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

This week flew by. Holy moly! It doesn't seem like I got much done at all! I'm doing good about reading at least an hour a day, but I still have 2 books I have to return to the library since they are due. Well, I guess that's better than having to take back 6!

Ongoing:

Decluttering

Stay caught up with library books

Weekly:

Work on Dining Room

Make cupcakes for the last cheer game

Clean oven

Go pay for our membership to the Y

List pups(they are so hard to get rid of!)

Take pics of stuff for sale and list

Steam clean couch

Work on plans for Thing 1's birthday cake

Want to get some help? Check out 28 days to Hope for your Home! Only $4 until the end of February

Using what's in the fridge-Fried Rice

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:05:00 +0000

One of my favorite dishes to use up fresh veggies is to make Fried Rice. Add some, eggs, rice and a little meat if you want and you got a meal

Here's what I do:

Gather your fresh veggies(I usually use carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, and an onion) and chop up

Chop and saute individually in olive oil(I place them in a big bowl off to the side) Make Sure you save the oil too

While the veggies are cooking, I cook the rice. You can use whatever is your favorite.

Yummy veggies!

After I'm done with the veggies, I cook up any meat(usually pork or chicken). Then I add more oil(just a tablespoon or 2) and scramble up 6-8 eggs(depends on how much meat I'm using)

When the eggs are cooked, add rice to them. Stir and add soy sauce(I don't use a whole lot because Thing 1 doesn't care for a real salty flavor. I figure we can add more to our plate if needed)

Stir in veggies and meat. Cook until warm again

There you go, yummy homemade fried rice. Definitely for a fraction of the cost of takeout.

This makes a ton of food so there's usually enough for a couple of us to have lunch the next day.

Small things add up

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

One habit of mine is saving change. Whatever I have left, I place in a container on one of the shelves. After it is full, I dump it in a bigger location. At the end of the year, I take it and exchange it for more manageable money. This year, since I opened a savings account, I took it straight to the bank. I finally got the total on it(they don't have a counter and they have to send it to another location) and was kind of surprised.

$74.78

Wow. That's just in pennies, nickels, and dimes. (I use the quarters for laundry)

Right at $75 for a minimal amount of work.

$74.78 closer to our emergency fund.

I don't think in year's past I've had that much, partially because we would get tempted to dig into it for gas or treats. This year I hid both of the containers to minimize dipping into(I said minimize, I have dug $1 out a few times because Thing 2 remembered he needed a reed right before school)

Do you save change? What do you use it for?

This is posted to Works for Me Wednesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, and Frugal Fridays

Want to get some help? Check out 28 days to Hope for your Home! Only $4 until the end of February!

Menu Plan Monday

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Trucking right along into February! I plan on continuing with The Pantry Challenge for as long as I can in order to clear out the freezer and cabinets.

Here's the plan for the week:

Breakfast

Cold cereal

Oatmeal

Eggs

all served with fruit

Dinners:

Country fried steaks, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn

Smoked sausage with rice, green beans

Chicken Fried rice

Pork chops, stuffing, carrots

Split pea and ham soup, bread

Beef stew, bread

Weekly goals

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:44:00 +0000

TONS of stuff to get done this week. Joseph was home 2 days last week and I always get off my schedule when he's home.

Here's the plan

Ongoing

Declutter

Stay caught up with library books

Weekly

~~Deworm pups(Thursday)~~

~~List pups available(again!)~~

Cut out coupons and organize

Clean oven

Work on Dining Room

~~Put all the cheerleading pictures on a disc, send to school with Thing 1~~

Wash bed stuff

~~Thing 2 to Ortho~~

~~go to sewing class~~

clean oven

paperwork, paperwork, paperwork

~~go to library to print some stuff off~~

Want to get some help? Check out 28 days to Hope for your Home! Only $4 until the end of February!

Birthday cake round up

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:13:00 +0000

I love making the kid's birthday cakes, even though it looks better in my head than on the actual cake sometimes :/ (cake decorating classes around here are scheduled on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which are game night for some reason)

Here's a couple I've attempted in the last few months:

Thing 2's tank cake for his 12th birthday. Now I love Thing 2 to the moon and back, but the boy was born at the worse possible time for making a cake here in SW Missouri(middle of July) This one did hold up better than his snake cake last year!

Baby Girl said she wanted a blue cake for her 5th birthday the day after her 4th birthday. So. here it is, Cookie Monster

Thing 1 turns 15 in March and this year, I think I'm trying an Angry Birds cake. I'm taking the easy way out and using toppers :)

29 Day Organizational challenge

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:57:00 +0000

The room I'm going to tackle is the scary room...the office/catchall area. It's the tiny room between the living room(which everyone can get a good view of, yikes!) and the kitchen. Lots of traffic. Lots of clutter. Oiy. I'm not sure I can tackle everything in 29 years, let alone days!

But I'm going to give it a shot.

I'll prob need of a shot of tequila when I'm done :)

Here's the disaster!

Under the desk

Between the desk and cabinet

My ~~disaster~~ desk

Even cluttered tiny shelf

Yikes!

The air hockey table(that works) that is covered in a table cloth and other things

A small portion of underneath the hockey table

Items the children still haven't took to the basement

Corner shelving

top of cabinet

cubby below

the rest of the bottom shelves

Yee-ikes!

All that crammed in a little 8x8 room.

Where I hang most of the day

So ashamed

January Decluttering update

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:20:00 +0000

That month went fast!

I did manage to get a bunch of crapola out of here INCLUDING having the Things to FINALLY clean out their room. Ok, Joseph made them do it but it got done :)

I'm sure our trash man will hate us this week

Seriously(all that on the ground and 4 bags in the dumpster are from their room!)

In addition to that I did this:

took 8 magazines to the laundry

took 2 Walmart size plastic bags full of expired/unused coupons to a local place that sends them overseas

donated 12 shirts, 6 pants, and 3 pairs of Baby Girls old clothes to her school so they can use as accident spares

sold 2 wooden letters, 1 sweater, 1 pair of jeans and 1 pair of shoes on Facebook selling groups

got rid of 1 puppy(5 to go :( )

trashed a broken heater, and tons of old receipts and papers(shredded of course)

I also cleared off Baby Girls book shelf

Old Puzzles that were trashed due to missing pieces

The pile of "babyish" books that were boxed and put away

the after(trust me, the before was hideous!)

I'm sure I did a ton more that I forgot to document cause the living room is a whole lot lighter on the clutter!

Removing labels

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:44:00 +0000

I love reusing jars and containers but I don't always love trying to remove the labels!

Soaking is the norm to get them off but manufacturers use such an enormous amount of glue on some items and it makes it next to impossible to remove.

label that doesn't want to let go and glue, lots of glue

One day out of frustration with a jar, I grabbed my SOS pad and starting scrubbing. And scrubbing.

It came off! Woohoo!(yes, I actually shouted that, good thing I was home alone!)

It even works on plastic jars!

Just soak in hot water, take off what you can of the label and scrub with the SOS. I had to do 2 rounds, one for removing extra label, then a second for the glue.

Another easy way to help you reuse and be frugal!

Works for Me Wednesday, Frugal Friday, and Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways

Check me out..A guest post!

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:33:00 +0000

I love doing crafts and the cheaper I can support my addiction, the better! I have a guest post at

Check it out!

Weekly goals

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Last week got away from me so not a lot was accomplished! Which means, double timing it this week,blah. Thing 1 also has 2 basketball games and I have a sewing class.

Here's the plan:

Ongoing

Declutter

Stay caught up with library books

Weekly:

wash truck

Clean oven

Steam clean couch

Set up Amazon Affiliate

paperwork, paperwork, paperwork

~~Do taxes~~

~~Clean out fridge~~

Clean dining room, top to bottom

~~Call in prescription refill~~

~~Take pics of pups and list~~

List items for sale

Errands: ~~grocery, Sam's~~

Go to sewing class

~~Put laundry away~~

Take change to bank

28 Days to Hope for Your Home

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Cleaning. Yea, admit it, you don't really like it. Unfortunately, it's one of those things that has to be done. A couple of years I discovered some one who gets it. A kindred spirit. A slob trying to do good despite the odds stacked against us. Nony at A Slob Comes Clean. Yes, folks, there are other people out there that struggle with piles, dirty dishes, cobwebs, and dust bunnies.

Imagine my joy when she announced she was writing an e-book! Squee!

Oh yes, there is help for us!

This is not for the mildly disorganized. This for the rest of us who struggle with piles of laundry, kids under foot, science experiments in the refrigerator(intentional or not!), dusty corners, and fingerprints.

Personally, I get so overwhelmed I don't know where to start most of the time. Nony gets it. She has 3 kids, a husband, and commitments outside of the home. She struggles with this whole cleaning process. She gets piles of laundry, broken dishes, cobwebs, expired food in the pantry.

All of it.

And she's here to help. Now, this isn't a book that's going to get you completely organized in 28 days. It's a book that will get into 4 habits that will help you continue on your journey.

28 Days to Hope for Your Home includes:

Twenty-eight days of specific instructions to help you develop four basic (but essential) home management habits.
Insights into why these concepts seem foreign to you.
Practical tips to keep you from giving up.
Bonus sections with realistic strategies for laundry management, meal prep, and decluttering.
More than 45 pages of all new, exclusive content!

All of that for the low price of $4 through the end of February.

$4!

At the end of February, the price increases to $7.99. Still a small price to pay for someone who "gets it"!

$4 for an instant download to your computer(or Kindle!)

So what are you waiting for?

Disclaimer: this post does include affiliate links. I was provided a copy to review, all opinions are all my own

Pantry Challenge update

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:53:00 +0000

Wow, January flew by! I think we have enough in the house that I'm going to continue on for awhile! If I keep my grocery bill under $36 this week, we will come in $200 less than usual!

Here's some of the things we did:

Thing 1 made some sugar cookies and used up 2 odds of frosting in the fridge

I made some muffins, using up 3 mixes and a bunch of cupcake liners

I had a cake mix and frosting in the pantry so I was able to make my mil a cake without having to run to the store!

We continue to menu plan/eat around what we have

I did buy 3 whole chickens...I already cooked one and plan on making yummy homemade broth for chciken and dumplings this week

The Things are still using up yogurt in smoothies

I plan on making Puppy Chow and Rice Krispy treats this week with some cereal I still have hanging around.

Here's my menu for the week

I do plan to continue on..I still have freezers full of stuff that needs consumed. I plan on carrying over my extra grocery money and use that for restocking!

Menu Plan Monday

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:03:00 +0000

The month of January has flew by! I'm still working on cleaning out the pantry and freezer so menus are being planned around with what I have(with a few purchases).

Here's the plan:

Breakfasts

Granola

Cold cereal

oatmeal

eggs

all served with fruit

Dinners

Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn

Beef fajitas, salad

Beef stew

Italian sausages, baked sweet potato cubes, bread

Chicken and dumplings

Fish, homemade fries, green beans

Social media and selling your stuff

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:16:00 +0000

There are tons of places around the web to sell your wares...Ebay, Craigslist, Amazon, the list goes on and on.

One place I recently discovered was online selling groups on Facebook. Through a few groups, I've been able to clear out some stuff and make a little money. I've also spent a little money buying DVDs cheap. It's also a great way to get into old fashioned bartering and trading!

So check for local Buy and Sell groups in your area, or start one of your own!

This is posted to Works for Me Wednesday, Frugal Friday, and Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways

Pantry challenge update

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:01:00 +0000

Still trucking along although I did have to go buy some pork chops and a few other things at Sam's this weekend. That's ok. I plan to continue on with the challenge into February. The crew is doing pretty good with the challenge, only a couple of wants this week :)

Here's what we've done

I only bought a pack of pork chops this week. if I had inventoried the freezer like I should have, I would have found enough, blah.

The Things are on a smoothie kick which is using up yogurt in the fridge and fruits in the freezer and pantry(Thing 1's Mango Peach was delicious!)

I do plan on buying some whole chickens that are on sale this week. They will give us several meals(including some yummy chicken stock!)

I inventoried the freezers and threw away some gross stuff, organized the refrigerator freezer better, and I already have next week's menu planned!

I have a few things I found(frozen sweet potato cubes and soybeans) that I need to look up online on what to do with them.

The snack table is getting more cleared off daily. Thankfully. Thing 2 has friends over practically every day so that helps!

The cereal is disappearing. I found some Chex cereal that I prob just need to make into Puppy chow since I doubt anyone will eat it otherwise.

Our library is having a Food for Fines trade off this week so those canned beets and vegetarian beans in my pantry(along with a few other things) can be put to good use!

That's my week, I'm glad this stuff is making its way out of my house. My grocery bill is slightly lower. I plan to save up any leftover from this month and next to restock the freezer with meat.

Weekly goals

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:16:00 +0000

Another week. I got a few things cleared out last week and hope to continue!

Here's the plan

Ongoing

Declutter

Stay caught up with library books

Weekly

Clean office from top to bottom(I did the living room last week!)

Steam clean couch

Wash the truck(depends on weather)

~~Deworm the pups~~

Take pics of pups and list available

List stuff for sale

Set up my affiliate for Amazon

~~Straighten and inventory freezers~~

Take change to bank

Errands: ~~Walmart, Aldi's, Country Fresh,~~ Hobby Lobby

~~Go through stockpile to take~~ ~~Food for Fines~~

~~Take books back to library~~

Get laundry put away

~~Make MIL a birthday cake~~

~~Make homemade laundry soap~~

Menu Plan Monday

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:57:00 +0000

Wow, almost the end of January. I continue on with the Pantry Challenge. I did have to buy some meat(when I said I wasn't). Thing 2 had a friend stay Saturday night and I didn't have enough pork chops. Plus, several stores are running awesome sales on whole fryers, so I plan to get some and stick in the freezer.

Here's the plan

Breakfast

Eggs

Cold cereal

Oatmeal

all served with fruit

Dinners

Ham, mashed potatoes, corn

Fish, homemade fries, green beans

Whole chicken, baked potatoes, carrots

Sloppy joes, mac and cheese, peas

Chicken meatballs, homemade fries, salad

Eat out for mil's birthday

Scheduling Myself

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:29:00 +0000

Staying caught up with everything is something I struggle with all the time. I'm easily sidetracked by Baby Girl, Facebook, the animals, Facebook, errands.....did I mention Facebook?

One thing I have to do is pretty much schedule my day. Breaks included. I try to get all the time consuming stuff done when Baby Girl is gone, and then the easier stuff when she's home.

Here's a sample of a day:

Between Wake up(usually around 6 am, has been as early as 5 am) and then 8:30 I get up, get breakfast for Joseph, get kids up and off to school, wash the dishes.

Around 8:30-9:30 make the bed, deal with pets, eat my breakfast, internet time

9:30-11:30 or so, I do heavy cleaning, decluttering, etc or if I have errands, I go during this time

11:30-12:30 fix some lunch if I'm hungry, watch a little tv waiting on Baby Girl to get home

12:30-1:30 play with Baby Girl

1:30-2:45 run errands if I didnt do it in the mornings or Baby Girl has some quiet time and I do something easy like put up laundry, catch up on tv or reading, or internet

2:45-4:30 Get the Things(Thing 1 has a couple of late days a week due to club meetings or cheer practice)

4-ish-5:30 work on dinner, The Things play with Baby Girl

Dinner

6:30 dinner cleanup

7-9 Watch tv, read, go to games, play with the crew, etc.

I usually crash about the same time as the crew unless it's the weekend and I'm trying to catch up on a book!

Of course, this can all change with the additions of appointments, practices, club meetings, games, play dates, etc. Or if I don't want to do anything, lol. Fridays and the weekend this is REALLY lax cause I try not to do a whole lot of extra cleaning/housework those days(aside from dishes, cooking, and cleaning messes)

I'm not perfect, there are days I've scheduled for decluttering and I'd rather sit and watch Storage Wars on the DVR. Or just play with Baby Girl.

It does give me some sort motivation since I'm a fabulous slacker!

And that, Works for Me!

Pantry Challenge-Update

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:52:00 +0000

Two weeks in and I don't even think we've made much a dent :/

Seriously

You would think feeding 5 people, stuff would be disappearing but it's not. I seriously think I might have to continue into February to make any sort of progress. I guess I should add, we are doing good on freezer stuff, fresh, and some dry goods. I have a ton of canned goods, bottles of juice and some baking supplies that need used. It has been unseasonably warm, so the urge to make oodles of baked goods hasn't been there. Or the urge to make soups or stews.

We shall continue on! There is 2 more weeks and I need to utilize some of the canned goods better in my menu planning. (it would help if it got cooler!)

Weekly Goals

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:09:00 +0000

The weeks are flying by! The crew is out today(Monday) and then it's back to school. Hopefully I can get a lot accomplished this week!

Here's the plan

Ongoing

Declutter

Stay caught up with library books

Weekly

Clean off shelves in dining room

Clean out from under desk

Clean out lazy susan cabinet in kitchen

~~Straighten up back room~~

Clean out both freezers(more like inventory)

~~Box up books I cleaned off Baby Girl's shelves~~

~~List more stuff for sale~~

Take pics of pups and get ready to list available

Take spare change to bank

~~Play date on Wednesday with Baby Girl~~

Catchup Netflix DVDs

~~Wash blankets and sheets~~

Menu Plan Monday

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:04:00 +0000

Halfway through January. Wow. This month is flying by. Still trucking along with the Pantry Challenge. I have had to buy some things(and some I gave in and bought cause of the whiners, ugh) but I've spent less than $200 so far. Today I plan on sorting through the freezer in the fridge to see what's there, and then tomorrow look in the bigger freezer.

Here's the plan:

Breakfasts

Oatmeal

Eggs

Cereal

all served with fruit

Dinners

Breakfast burritos with smoothies

Ham and cheese roll ups with chips, fruit

Beef stroganoff with mushrooms, noodles

Chicken meatballs, homemade fries, carrots

Baked pork chops, stuffing, green beans

Taco night

Pantry challenge update

noreply@blogger.com (April) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:58:00 +0000

The crew has been so helpful with this pantry challenge! No complaining about what's to eat or anything. No begging for something else either. I have bought some groceries, Joseph needed some easy stuff to take out of town(vienna sausages, rice dinners, etc) AND he just had to have chicken wings for dinner, so of course, I caved. I need to make another trip for fruit, milk, eggs, bread, etc.

Here's some of the stuff we've done so far

3 end bags of chips have been ate

1 box of cereal finished, 1 more going to be used for Rice Krispy treats

1 box of oatmeal finished

almost empty container of cinnamon used to make up cinnamon sugar for toast

6 bread heels put in freezer to use for crumbs

Deli ham used up in grilled ham and cheese sandwiches

My cluttered table and top of fridge that holds bags and boxes is gettting cleared off! Hopefully by the end of the month, I'll actually be able to use the table for the coffee pot(instead of having to sit it on the stove)