Mrs. P's Pennywise

Rainbow Loom Frenzy!

2013-11-11T11:37:00.002-05:00

I don't know about your house but the Rainbow Loom has taken off. As we go into the Christmas season, I know our daughter is asking for bands to complete her projects. My mother asked me today what colors she needed. Well I had know idea, therefore I created this quick file that I will have my daughter complete so I can keep track. This will help for gift ideas or if we are out and can't remember. I compiled this list from the Rainbow Loom site and had no idea they had meanings for each color. Enjoy!

Here is a PDF version
Here an editable Excel File

Themed Menu Plan

2013-10-12T16:14:00.000-04:00

My Pinterest Board holds a lot of recipe ideas. I usually allow myself about a 1/2 hour a day to see if there are any new ideas for me to save. I have my food options sorted by the type of meal, Italian, Breakfast, Soup, etc. It makes it easy for me to just look through and pick any new ones I would like to try. I just planned this menu below in about a half hour, which included creating this post. If you have not given Pinterest a try, it is worth a peek. As a mom, it is a huge help for me to have ideas at my fingertips. It also cuts down on the clutter of paper!

Italian Sunday - Dinner out
Beef Monday - London Broil, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli
Soup Tuesday - CrockPot Tomato Basil Soup, crusty bread
Asian Wednesday - Lemon/Garlic Shrimp, Fried Rice, Yum Yum Sauce
Breakfast Thursday - Egg and Sausage Breakfast Ring
Pizza Friday - Red Pepper Pizza
Salad Saturday - I will be making Chicken Tortilla Soup and Potato Soup for our small group, they will be bringing the sides and desserts.

Themed Menu Plan

2013-10-05T16:00:00.000-04:00

Second month into the new style of menu planning. I must say it is so simple just to sit down and plan for the week, my family is happy with the selections and we have not any moments of eating out unexpectedly which helps the bottom line! Plus the most I have spent for all groceries for each week has been $70.

Italian Sunday - Spaghetti with red sauce
Beef Monday ? - Oriental Chicken Salad - Didn't have on Saturday, so used for Monday :-)
Soup Tuesday - Cheeseburger Soup
Mexican Wednesday - Taco Bake
Breakfast Thursday - Scrambled Eggs, Toast, fruit
Pizza Friday - dinner out at daughter's friend's house
Sandwich Saturday - Tomato, Mozzarella, with Pesto Ciabatta Sandwiches

Theme Menu of the Week

2013-09-22T20:03:00.001-04:00

This week is going to include some kid favorites, since my husband will be out of town part of the week. The great thing is my grocery bill was only $30 this week since we had a lot on hand and pushed from last week. Just had to get a few dinner items and the bulk of my list was for lunches. Menu planning saves so money and makes dinners go so smooth. There is no freak out at 4pm wondering what we will have!

Italian Sunday - Chicken Alfredo with Penni Pasta, salad
Beef Monday - Crockpot Meatloaf and potatoes, broccoli
Soup Tuesday - Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup, peas
Mexican Wednesday - Ritzy Chicken, corn, applesauce - this is not Mexican, but my daughters favorite so we are having this week
Breakfast Thursday - Breakfast Burritos - since we had unexpected dinner at friends last Thursday, I pushed to this week
Pizza Friday - Cheese Pizza
Salad Saturday - Chili, cornbread. Choosing this since I originally had it planned for Tuesday, but since my husband will be out of town and he likes Chili, I am pushing it to Saturday.

Themed Menu Plan for the Week

2013-09-14T21:22:00.000-04:00

This week's menu:

Italian Sunday - Tomato Basil Chicken
Beef Monday - CrockPot Meatball Subs, Broccoli
Soup Tuesday - CrockPot Creamy Potato Soup, salad
Asian Wednesday - Teriyaki Chicken, Rice, Peas
Breakfast Thursday - Breakfast Burritos, fruit
Pizza Friday - at family for dinner
Salad Saturday - pot luck with small group

Themed Menu Plan of the Week

2013-09-07T19:48:00.000-04:00

This week's menu plan:

Italian Sunday - Lasagna, Salad
Beef Monday - Crockpot Beef Stew
Soup Tuesday - Broccoli Cheese Soup in Bread Bowls
Mexican Wednesday - Southwest Rollups, Peas, Strawberry applesauce
Breakfast Thursday - Belgium Waffles, Scrapple and OJ
Pizza Friday - Cheese Pizza
Salad Saturday - Oriental Chicken Salad

Update - Another week of changes and how you can see you can make changes easily :-) On Monday a friend offered to bring pizza for the football game. I had already put the Beef Stew on in the morning, but we went along with the change and my husband and I used the stew for lunches during the week. We had quite a bit of leftovers from Sunday, and Monday, so I made the decision since we got home a little later to do leftovers on Tuesday. Friday my husband had eaten late in the day and my daughter was over a friends house for dinner. My son asked if he could make Mac and Cheese all by himself, so I agreed and we had that for dinner. We bumped the Broccoli Cheese Soup to Saturday.

Themed Menu Plan of the Week

2013-08-31T19:20:00.000-04:00

This week's menu:

Italian Sunday - Mr. P's Homemade Pasta/Sauce, Nina's Meatballs, Salad

Beef Monday - CrockPot Pot Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Sesame Green Beans

Soup Tuesday - Chicken Tortilla Soup in the CrockPot

Mexican Wednesday - Tacos

Breakfast Thursday - Eggs, Bacon, English Muffins, fruit

Pizza Friday - Homemade Pizza with Red Peppers

Salad Saturday - Cheeseburger Salad

Update: Just so you can see how a week can change and we have to just go with flow. On Wednesday, I ended up doing a presentation and we were not able to eat as a family. My son and I hate out since we had to travel out of town for the presentation. My husband and daughter had dinner with the church's youth group. Therefore, we had Tacos on Thursday and Eggs/Bacon/Fruit on Saturday. The good news is I didn't have to go to the store because I had everything on hand, just bumped the meals.

Themed Menu Planning

2013-08-30T19:12:00.000-04:00

I have been doing dinner menu planning for years. I find when I menu plan, it cuts down on the fast food, eating out and just plain bad eating habits. It is cost effective and can be done for even the busiest of schedules. In the past I would sit down with my recipe binder on Sunday and plan out what I wanted for the week based on what I had on hand and sales of the week. For our breakfast and lunches we generally eat the same things and I just have a running list in my grocery app. I just uncheck if we need those items so I can remember to pick those items up.

Recently I have decided to go with themed menu planning. I thought of general types of meals that my family enjoys. I work out of the home 3 days a week, so I usually try and find crockpot meals for those days, so dinner can be ready when I walk in the door. Pinterest is great for menu planning because I put categories of meals and can go right to them each week to maybe try something new. Currently we are doing:

Sunday - Italian

Monday - Beef

Tuesday - Soup

Wednesday - Mexican/Asian

Thursday - Breakfast

Friday - Pizza

Saturday - Salad/Sandwich

I will be posting our weekly meal plan here on Saturdays, to give you an idea of how this works. It is one way mom's can provide good meals for her family and enjoy the schedule instead of dreading meal time. You can't always keep the meals for the days planned because life happens. However, the great thing with menu planning is you have on hand the items for each recipe and can make them any day of the week.

Happy Menu Planning!

CrockPot Pot Roast

2013-08-29T20:27:00.000-04:00

Bottom Round Roast or Chuck Roast
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 whole onions
6 whole carrots
salt to taste
pepper to taste
2-3 cups beef stock
Rosemary
1 packet Lipton Onion Soup Mix

Generously salt and pepper your roast
Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Then add 2-3 Tbsp of olive oil
Cut two onions in half and cut 6 carrots into 2-inch slices
When the oil is hot, add in the halved onions, browning them on all sides.
Remove the onions to a plate
Throw in the carrots and toss around until browned
Remove the carrots to a plate
Place the meat in the pan and sear for a minute on all sides until it is nice and brown all over.
Place the meat in the crockpot
Deglaze the pan with beef broth (about 1 cup)
Pour the deglazing and beef broth to cover the meat halfway up
Top the beef with the onions, carrots, rosemary and onion soup mix
Cook on low 7-9 hours or high 4-5 hours

Mr. P's Pasta

2013-08-15T21:06:00.000-04:00

My husband started making homemade pasta a couple years ago after learning from his father. I have to admit, it does taste so much better than boxed. Below the recipe you will see pictures showing step by step instructions. This makes 1 lb. wet, 3/4 lb. dry

2 cups flour (you can use white, wheat or combination)
2 eggs
Water as needed when mixing

1. Put the flour in first, then eggs
2. Mix until Playdoh consistency with your knead hook for mixer
3. Wrap in plastic wrap and let sit for about 5-10 minutes
4. Set up your pasta making station
5. Make pasta according to your pasta maker's directions
6. Hang on laundry drying rack or you can lay flat on table cloth
7. Once dried, you can cook immediately or freeze.

To make manually:
* If by hand, it will take longer to get the same consistency.
* Place pile of flour on your counter
* Make a shallow bowl in the middle of the flour
* Then crack eggs into the bowl area
* Slowly pull in the flour as you break up the eggs while mixing
* If you don't have a pasta maker, you can roll out the dough thin. Then use a pizza cutter to make the width of pasta you want

Pasta Making Tools and Ingredients

Process of making pasta

Nina's Meatballs

2013-08-15T20:00:00.000-04:00

My husband is Italian and his family has many recipes that have been carried down through the years, one being their meatballs. We make these to use right away or they also freeze well. I love recipes from families and I typed it just as it was given to me!

2lbs of ground beef (ground chuck makes it a tastier meatball, a meatloaf mix of beef, pork and veal makes the absolute best, but you can also use 93% or higher fat free)
3 eggs
1/4 c milk
Italian bread that is soaked in milk, then broken up OR 1/3 c of bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
Fresh parsley, cut up
2 Tbsp of grated parmesan cheese

1. Mix well
2. Make meatballs any size you want
(you can freeze at this point by flash freezing, then putting into a Ziploc bag)
3. Put some olive oil and copped garlic in a pan and brown the garlic
4. Brown the meat, then use a slotted spoon to get the grease off of and drop into sauce.
5. Let the meatballs cook in the sauce on low for at least 3 hours.

Remembering Grandma Capossela

2012-07-28T21:27:00.001-04:00

My husband made this video for his Grandmother's funeral. Below is the tribute to his Grandma that he did at the funeral. Family and friends asked for a copy, so we are posting for them to be able to see whenever they wanted.

I will be telling you about the 5 areas of Grandma’s life that were important to her. And I will be doing these in descending order.

Number 5 is her love of Food.

Catherine and Lenny loved hosting get-togethers at their house and those get-togethers always revolved around a meal. Especially the holidays! Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Memorial Day, July 4^th, and Arbor Day. And for some of us, Sundays, when she was cooking an Italian dinner. I can close my eyes, and see us all sitting around her dining room table, Pop at the end of the table by the windows, the smell of her sauce and the conversations that took place. Then, after dinner, coffee for the adults and coffee-milk for the kids. And if wasn’t a meal, it was her offering a cookies, candy, snack. This was a guaranteed quote you would hear, if you visited her house. “Can I get you anything?” “No, I am fine” “well there must be something I can get you, I have chocolate here in the dishes, or cokes out in the fridge.” But when it came to her favorite foods, her taste pallet changed as she went through life. When she was young, she loved Virginia ham. Then in the 1940’s she and Pop discovered Hogate’s and Flagship. She would order a crab imperial for dinner and instead of bread with dinner, she would get the Flagship Rum Buns.

Later in life she started to eat more steak. But only if it was, “crispy on the outside and juicy in the middle.” She also loved bacon. While at the Annapolitin, she was asking for bacon at every breakfast. Oh, and everything she ate, had to have salt on it.

Number 4 is her love for Traveling.

When they were younger, Grandma and Pop used to take day trips. Either with friends or just together. But when they had Uncle John and Mom, they continued to take those day trips, but also added some overnight trips to the shores and to family’s homes. Once Uncle John and mom started their own families, Grandma and Pop, really started to see the world. Over the last 45 years of her life, Grandma traveled to 29 states and 15 countries. But one of her regrets was that she never saw Hawaii. On the flip side though, she did see hundreds of different animals, oceans, glaciers, crystal blue waters in the Caribbean, watched her favorite sports team, the Washington Redskins play at Super Bowl 7, she saw the snowcapped mountains of the Alps and Rockies, shopped all over the world, ate hundreds of different types of meals, oh…and once when they were visiting Morocco, Grandma rode on a camel. Recently I asked her what her fondest vacations were and she said two stand out as her favorites. It was the first cruise that she ever went on and she was with Pop, and their friends Helena and Bus. That was 1974. The other, was her cruise with mom to Alaska.

Number 3 is her strong Faith

I was blessed to have some amazing conversations with Grandma about her faith in God and her perfect little Episcopal church, All Hallows Parish. We had conversations about some of the services and the messages. When Father Alistair, was brought up in conversation, she would go on and on. About 7 years ago, mom, my wife Julie and I, and our 2 year old daughter Katelynn, were able to attend a Christmas Eve service with Grandma here at the church. She was so excited that we came with her and it was a beautiful mass. Our highlight of the mass was when Katelynn, in a very sweet and innocent voice asked if Jesus was on the cross. Grandma didn’t hear her correctly, but answered her with, “Why yes, Honey. He is always here.” From our entire family, we want to thank Father Alistair, and all the members and community of All Hallows Parish. You all loved and embraced Catherine, and I know she felt home here.

And that leads me into Number 2. Grandma Loved People

Grandma always showed love and respect to those around her. In fact, I think it is safe to say that Grandma lived the Golden Rule. “Do unto others, as you would have done to you.” In my 38 years with her, I can’t remember a single time where she acted or showed any malcontent for a single person. Of course that being said, she would from time to time, give her opinion about something, for example, Grandma really didn’t like it when I would grow out my beard, and she would always tell me how much she didn’t like it. Also, Grandma had a way of making anyone who she was around feel as if they were very special to her. And I know that to many people in here right now, Catherine or Mrs. C, was a motherly figure in their lives. To those people and the countless others who visited, or cared, or prayed for her in the last years of her life, I can tell that she was incredibly thankful and appreciative. She would often tell me that she was lucky to have people who were so nice to her. But I like to think about how truly lucky we were to have her in ours.

Lastly, but defiantly the most important in her life was her family.

Grandma loved her family. She once told me that the greatest gift in life was having a family to love! She loved her Nieces and Nephews so much and would often tell us about their lives and what they were doing, and of course what her great nieces and nephews were doing too. Grandma had 8 great grandchildren who were able to spend lots of time with her. What an amazing opportunity for these children to not only share time with their great grandmother, but also have lasting memories of her. Then when it came to her grandsons, David, Mike and I; Well, rumor has it that grandma bragged about us, all the time. She and Pop loved to spoil us, because that is what grandparents do. They took us on trips, individually and all together. Isn’t it funny how she never said that any of those trips were her favorites?

Then there was her son John and daughter Sue. She was so proud of both of you and the lives that you have made for yourselves. And mom, I know you know this, but Grandma was so thankful for the way you and dad cared for her, in these last two years. Every time I would talk to her, she would always say, “Danny, treat your parents well, because they treat me so well.” And then there was the love of her life, Lenny. My Pop. Most people don’t know this, but they met at a dance, even though Pop hated to dance. They dated for several years and often talked about getting married, but it wasn’t until December 7^th, 1941, that they decided that they couldn’t wait any longer. They were married ten days later in a very little service. Here on earth, they were married for 49 years. But now, they are back together again after 22 years apart. And I am confident to say that they will be together forever.

Thank you for letting me share this time with you.

Canned Biscuit Donuts

2012-06-15T20:19:00.001-04:00

Growing up we always had time at my Pop and Grandma's in the country. One of the things I remember vividly was the donuts we had. Well it years later that my Mom taught us how to make them. They are sooo easy and yummo! I cook them and the kids help cutting the holds and powdering.

Ingredients:

1 can of canned biscuits (don't use the flaky version)

canola/peanut oil

confectioner's sugar or cinnamon sugar

Instructions:

Pour oil into skillet to a little less than 1/2 inch and heat on medium high for about 5 minutes.
In a shallow bowl put either powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar
Then I use a cucumber corer to make the center hole, but you can also use a plastic bottle cap.
I put one of the holes in the skillet to make sure the oil is hot enough. You want it bubbling around the dough. If not, too much will absorb and make them soggy.
Once ready, it will be quick. Put the donuts in the pan to fill a single layer.
Once they brown on the bottom, flip and brown on the other side
Then you take out and put in shallow container that has powdered sugar and/or cinnamon sugar.
Finally let sit on paper towel until ready to eat!

Vacation Menu Planning

2012-06-14T23:43:00.002-04:00

So it is well know that I love to find a good deal, well my husband decided this year that we were going to take a two week vacation at the beach. When we go on vacation we like to enjoy things that we may not normally have. So as I was preparing for the vacation, I decided to see if I could still stick within our food budget, yet do the vacation thing! I am excited to say that this was achieved, I was able to plan and purchase our menu for under $200. We will be going out to dinner one night and also get those oh so yummy Crabs another night! I also build in a couple leftover nights towards the end of each week.

The biggest helper in this mission, was to plan for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner. Now I put on my paper on specific days, but that was only to make sure I had each day covered. I have used this Planner for awhile and love it, since it has a shopping list on the side. I am not particular to what we eat, when, I just wanted to make sure we had it available. I asked the family what things they would love to have on vacation, then I was on the lookout for deals to make this happen.

For our two week vacation we will have the following:

Breakfasts
Cereal
Belgian Waffles
Pancakes
Eggs
Baked Oatmeal
Bacon, Scrapple, Sausage
Pop tarts
Juice
Fruit - Strawberries, Bananas, Honeydew

Lunches
Pizza Roll-ups
Quesadillas
Nutella Sandwiches
Peanut Butter and Jelly
Peanut Butter and Banana Wraps
Ham Sandwiches
Grilled Cheese, Tomato Soup
Caprese Salad
Fruits - Apples
Veggies - Cucumbers, Celery, and Carrots

Snacks
Granola Bars
Cinnamon Grenades
Pudding
Fruit - Watermelon
Heath Bar Cookies
Popcorn
Cheese Sticks
Soft Pretzels
Chips

Dinners
Chicken Nuggets, French Fries, Mandarin Oranges
London Broil, Crock Pot Baked Potatoes, Momma Sheffe's Green Beans
Hot Dog/Hamburgers, Corn, Deviled Eggs
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Mr. P's Pasta, Nina's Sauce, Salad
Cheese and Red Pepper Pizza
Chicken Caesar Salad Wraps
Cheeseburger Salad
Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

Summer, no time for boredom!

2012-06-08T13:41:00.001-04:00

Summer can be a time of fun or craziness. We opt for the fun side! We intentionally don't schedule things since our school year is always so crazy. To help prevent the craziness, we started off the summer with the summer house rules that I framed and place in our foyer. You can find the one I used here.

The kids will be working through Bob Jones Vacation Station to keep their minds fresh. There are only a couple pages each day that they need to complete. Since this is part of the curriculum they use at school, they are familiar with the layout.

Both of my kids love to read and I wanted them to continue throughout the summer and track what they complete. To make it fun, I came across this Summer Reading Star set. I have attached it to their chore boards. It is cute and love the way they have them read different places for the bingo game! And when they get a bingo, they get to pull a coupon.

Items we listed so far on the coupons are:

box of favorite cereal
front seat for the week
favorite candy
favorite meal
swing & chat with Mom
puzzle with Mom or Dad
stay up with Mom and Dad
1/2 hour TV time
favorite game time
1 chore done by Mom
favorite snack
Xbox for 1/2 hour
1/2 hour computer time
walk with Mom or Dad

When they get a blackout, they get a golden ticket. So far we only have two Golden Tickets:

trip to the Dollar Store
play date

Now I know summer is a break from school, so they won't be only doing academic stuff! In addition to our vacation, pool time, and Wednesday's with Daddy, since he is off on Wednesdays, we are going to use the Summer Bucket List for extra fun!

Chore Systems of the Past and Present

2012-06-04T19:42:00.002-04:00

Chores are things we all have to do to keep a home, most of us are not always excited to do them, but such is life. It is our goal as parents in our home to instill things in our kids to be productive members of society and chores, we feel are a part of that! As Titus 3:14 clearly states, "¹⁴Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives". So in order to train them, I try to make it easy on both of us with chore system.

I have used a couple types of chore plans that have worked, but since my kids are 4 years apart, they have been different. The most recent used, were chore cards for my daughter that had the chore on one side and an explanation as to what what expected on the back. I got this idea after watching the show The Duggers. Our daughter loved to do chores, but would not always do them as they needed to be done. So I printed them on labels, then stuck on an index card. I slid them into a badge holder and she would carry them around with her as she did the chores. I had a pack for everyday and then weekend chores or ones that are not everyday. You can see and/or print from here and here if you like this system. For our son I had a picture chart in his room that had Velcro pieces that he would take off and put back when the task was completed. Below is his chart for his room.

This summer I am fine tuning our system into a universal plan, since both are old enough to be on the same plan. As I researched to see what would work in our home, I took a little from some that I found. We believe that kids must do things for just being a part of our home, so up until now the kids have not received allowance. Since we feel that they have this concept under their belt, we will now be incorporating allowance at 50 cent/age/week so they can start learning to manage their money. In addition to what is expected, they will have opportunity to do extra chores for extra money.

So after figuring this all out I came up with a chart that I will print each week, in case I need to change things up. There are personal chores that need to be done before they play, watch TV, etc. Then they have household chores that can be done throughout the day, finally weekly chores that typically will be done just a couple times a week. At the bottom is where they can add extra chores, if they choose. I attach that along with the list of possible extra chores and their allowance ledgers for them to keep track onto a clipboard. I will also be able to put other items they need to tackle, like their summer reading plan.
If you would like to see my son's example, you can here. A blank copy of this can be found here.

In the past my kids have had their rooms stripped down to only their bed and dressers when they opted not to obey in cleaning their rooms. Some of it was gone for months. We don't have an issue with them cleaning their rooms when asked anymore, but the stray stuff left around the house is another story. So, in addition to the new chore plan, I came across this great idea. When the kids don't pick up like they are supposed to before bed, I will take those items. In order to get them back they must pick a "chore" from the envelope to get their item back. I got the idea and label from here. I am assuming the box will be full at first, but hopefully over time will not be as full. I used some of the these ideas for what they will be doing. My only fear is they may leave things to be able to do some of the "chores", we will see :-)

Waffle Mix Recipe

2012-06-01T23:23:00.000-04:00

I recently asked for a Belgian Waffle Maker and it has now been a weekly event in our house because they are sooo good! This is the recipe that I have found that I like.

Classic Waffle Mix

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups milk

2 eggs

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk milk, eggs, and oil in medium bowl. Whisk milk mixture into dry ingredients just until dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened. Use with your waffle maker according to makers instructions.

S'more Trail Mix

2012-05-09T16:50:00.003-04:00

Well my daughter come home from a camping weekend with her Girl Scout troop. With her she had a little bag of goodness! Why I never thought to do this, but my oh my, all the goodness of a S'more without the mess or cologne of a fire. I have no idea what the "recipe" is, but I just decided to mix together the following in a big bowl and it tastes great. For you to gauge, this makes a 1 gallon sized bag of mix. And with my $.89 box of Golden Grahams, $1 bag of marshmallows and chocolate chips. It is an economical snack as well! Enjoy!

1 12 oz box of Golden Grahams
1 10.5 oz bag of mini marshmallows
1 11.5 oz bag of milk chocolate chips

January 2012 Read - Handbook on Thriving as an Adoptive Family

2012-03-26T21:41:00.001-04:00

If you recall I am making it a goal this year to get through some books that have been on my to do list, along with others I want to re-read. Handbook on Thriving as an Adoptive Family was first on the list.

I liked how they broke it down by the universal issues, then onto age specific issues and ending with special challenges a family may come across. They used real families that explained what they have encountered and learned along the way. In addition there was expert advice on different issues. It gives the reader ways to handle situations you might run into. For example:

"An adoptive father is often asked if his son gets his eyes from him or his mother. He might reply, "God gave him his beautiful eyes.""
"There is part of the adoptee's heart that can never be adopted; the part forever connected to the birthparents and birth history. The loss has its own pain, and parents who adopt are therefore summoned to journey with their children through the sadness and even the anger that loss creates."

I also liked the fact this it is faith based referencing the God who created the gift of adoption.

"We cannot change a child's past, but we can cooperate with the Holy Spirit and help to affect the years to come with God's grace and guidance"
"When we adopted Phoebe, I caught a glimpse of what it must be like for God when someone asks Jesus into his or her heart. Think about it: Someone spends everything he has to save a person the world was ready to throw away. A life everyone thinks worthless is suddenly worth everything. No wonder there is joy in the presences of the angels when sinners repent!"
"Perhaps the most important message to convey to your adopted child as any stage is this: You are God's prized possession (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)"
"(If you don't know, remind them that God knows where the birthparents are, and He is caring for them.)"

I think this is a great book for those considering adoption along with families who have already adopted. Even though I had read many books prior to our adoptions, this one touched me personally because our son did this exact thing and it was hard. I know now what could have caused this when we brought him home at 5 months old:

"For example, parents sometimes report the powerful protest of newly adopted infants who arch their tiny backs and actively fight the embrace of their new parents. They are absolutely refusing to accept the loss of their original caregivers and first environments."

I have so many yellow tabs and highlighted areas. The only thing I would say is if you are not currently going through the issue, it will be best to review as you get closer to those periods in life. I will be keeping this close by as my children go through the years.

So this will definitely be one to recommend on the topic of adoption. I didn't want to put it down because I just loved to hear all the stories and learn how to help my children as they grow.

Yummo Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

2012-03-19T21:03:00.001-04:00

I came across this recipe from Money Saving Mom awhile ago. When I made them, they were a huge hit in our household. I package them, if using them right away, in a gallon sized Ziploc and place in the fridge. We just grab one out and enjoy. I also have made them mini-muffins and place 4 in a bag for the kids as a quick breakfast or snack. They freeze great as well! I was a bit concerned with the amount of oil that went into the recipe, so I make it by substituting the oil with unsweetened applesauce. Next time I think I might not use the sugar, since it is a lot as well and see how they turn out. But here ya go...

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 (16oz.) can pureed pumpkin
1 1/2 cups oil (I use 1 1/2 cups of unsweetened applesauce)
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 package chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and oil until smooth. Add in dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake 16-20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Makes 24-30 regular sized muffins.

Savings as simple as a free store card!

2012-03-17T15:09:00.003-04:00

I am posting today about the importance of using the store card. It pains me to be behind a customer who doesn’t take advantage of the store cards and pays full price for items. The cards are free and give you such big savings. Plus you can use manufacturer’s coupons to sweeten the deals. Take for example my trip to Safeway today. If you want specific details for where and how to do this week’s (March 14-20th) deal go here.

4 GM Golden Grahams

$13.96 original price

$3.96 card savings

$2.04 store coupon

$2 Manufacturer coupon

= $5.96 OOP

4 Doritos

$17.16 original price

$5.16 card savings

$5.24 store coupon

= $6.76 OOP

4 Life Cereal

$15.96 original price

$8.44 card savings

$2 manufacturer coupon

= $5.52 OOP

4 Quaker Granola Bars

$14.76 original price

$4.76 card savings

$2.48 store coupon

$7.52 OOP

4 Kelloggs Rice Krispies

$14.76 original price

$6.80 card savings

$4.00 manufacturer coupon

= $3.96 OOP

2 Kelloggs Froot Loops

$8.58 original price

$4.60 card savings

$1 manufacturer coupon

= $2.98 OOP

5 Kelloggs Mini Wheats

$8.58 original price

$4.60 card savings

= $3.98 OOP

2 Welch’s Grape Juice

$8.98 original price

$3 card savings

$2 store coupon

$2 manufacturer coupon

= $1.98 OOP

4 Canada Dry Ginger Ale

$7.96 original price

$4 card savings

.44 store coupon

$3.52 OOP

1 Honey Bunches of Oats

$4.29 original price

$1.30 card savings

$1 manufacturer coupon

= $1.99 OOP

2 Clorox 96 oz

$5.38 original price

.80 card savings

.60 store coupon

$1 manufacturer coupons

= $3.98 OOP

So if I just went into a store and bought these items without my store card or coupons it would have cost me $120.37.

If I just used store card/coupons it would have cost me $60.15 – saving $60.22

Then if you also use manufacturer coupons I only spent $44.15 out of pocket after the additional $16.00 manufacturer coupons savings.

So in the end I saved $76.22. Imagine what you could do with that money!? At minimum there is no extra energy (except to swipe) for just using the store card/coupons that would have saved you $60.22.

Just remember that the next time a store asks you to sign up for a free store card, you could save yourself a lot for a little! You don’t have to be the extreme couponer to save.

Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup

2012-03-06T09:33:00.000-05:00

I came across this recipe and decided to try it since it sounded so easy and good. Well since we originally tried it in our home and shared with others, it has been a great success. We shop at Aldi and you can get all the ingredients there, so I buy by the cases so we can have at any moment. This recipe fills my crockpot, serves about 6 adults. Also if I have not thawed chicken, I just put them in the bottom of the crockpot and add everything else first thing in the morning and it is ready to go by dinner.

4 chicken boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 cans diced tomatos with green chiles
2 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 can corn (you can also use a small bag of frozen corn)
1 onion, chopped
1 box 32oz Chicken Broth
2 Tbsp garlic powder*
2 Tbsp chile powder*
2 Tbsp ground cumin*
2 Tbsp dried cilantro*

tortilla chips
sour cream
shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese

*Instead of these spices, you could include 2 packets of Taco seasoning if you prefer.*

Put chopped onion, cans of beans, rotel, corn, chicken broth, water, and spices in CrockPot and stir to mix. Put chicken breasts on top of mixture and make sure they're at least partly submerged in liquid. Cook on high 6-7 hours or low 8-9 hours. Before serving remove the chicken breasts from soup and shred, if needed, (sometimes they'll just fall apart on their own, but sometimes they need some help). Return chicken to CrockPot, stir to combine.

To serve put a few tortilla chips in the bottom of a bowl, ladle soup over tortilla chips, top with shredded cheddar cheese, (today I used the Kraft Mexican blend and it was yummy), and a dollop of sour cream, serve with more chips if you like. Enjoy

Source: Miller Musings

2012 Reading List

2012-01-16T15:31:00.002-05:00

I follow the blog Money Saving Mom and each year she comes up with a list of books that she is going to read throughout the year. I always want to do the same, but come up with excuses why I can't. Well late last year I decided that I had too many books that I have wanted to read and was not slotting the time to make it happen. As I started to evaluate my use of time in December, I quickly realized that there were things like TV and Facebook that I had time for, but not time to gain some useful knowledge either for myself or to help others.

Money Saving Mom came up with a great reading goal sheets for me to plot out my reading. It will be my goal for 2012 to read at least 1 book a month and then review it on here. A couple I have read before but not as thoroughly as I would have liked so I will be re-reading those. So for 2012 it will be my goal to read:

If you are a frequent reader, how do you make time to get through your books?

Easy Tator Tot Breakfast Casserole

2011-12-22T09:20:00.000-05:00

1-2 cups sausage, you can also used diced fully cooked ham

1/2 bag of frozen tator tots, thawed & broken up

1 medium green pepper, chopped

1 small onion, diced

2 cups shredded cheese

3 cups milk

1 cup bisquick

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs

Grease 9x13 dish. Mix meat, potatoes, bell pepper, onion and 1 c of cheese. Spread in baking dish.

Stir milk, bisquick, salt & eggs until blended. Pour over potato mixture. Sprinkle with remaining 1 c cheese. Cover & refrigerate at least 4 hours but no longer than 24 hrs.

Heat over to 375, uncover & bake 30-35 min or until lightly golden brown around edges and cheese is melted. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Photo credit http://www.chellascommoncents.com/

The BEST wallpaper remover...EVER!

2011-07-23T00:33:00.000-04:00

I am one that if I find something I love, I love to share with as many people as I can. We are painting a couple rooms in our house, including one that has a wallpaper border around the top. I know to remove the border you need this handy tool:

But, while at the store I looked for the adhesive remover to hopefully make it easier. I picked up this product:

And I am here to tell you this product is a miracle (very similar to Mr Clean's Magic Eraser, in the sense that I am not sure how it works but it does). You spray it on after scoring and within 15 mins the border just peeled like a sticker. I was done removing the border within an hour. So if you still have wallpaper or borders you need to remove, the scorer and this product below is a must have.