Holiday weekends just mess me up.  We spent all weekend busy doing fun things like seeing the car show Yankee Bill put one of the old cars in, having a BBQ at my Mother-in-law’s, marching in the parade, attending the Memorial Day ceremony and then hosting a big BBQ here.

It left me tired out, happy and, well, behind.  So meal planning sort of fell to the wayside.  But that’s ok, I just pick back up and start again!

Things to consider this week.

1.  We hosted a BBQ on Monday, have scouts & pool on Wednesday, I have a Dr appt and errands in town on Thursday during the day and the kids “art show” at the school to attend in the evening, Yankee Bill might be gone all evening Fri & all day Sat & Sun depending on how his team plays in the local pool championships, and the kids and I have a field trip to take on Saturday.

I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

2.  There is leftover chicken and homemade stock from the chicken I roasted last week.  There is a big bowl of leftover German potato salad from my MIL’s BBQ, some hamburger rolls, and a couple of bags of potato chips left over from my party, and a friend gave me 1 dozen free range chicken eggs.

3.  The lettuce in the garden is big enough to start harvesting some leaves. I’ve also got leeks that are starting to send up flower stalks, so I need to harvest and use those.  The Egyptian Walking Onions are up in a “green onion” stage so I can use some of those as well.

4. As always my goal is to have one venison meal, one fish meal, one bean meal, one meatless meal and one soup meal per week.

Taking all that into account here is my game plan:

Monday: Memorial Day BBQ

I made 40 hamburgers and had large package of hotdogs (maybe 18?), provided buns, soda, beer & a couple bags of chips.  All the rest of the stuff was “dish to pass”.  Everyone had a great time (even though it was super duper hot for NY in May) and all I had left at the end was 3 hamburgers and 3 hotdogs.  Woohoo!

Tuesday: Chicken in Gravy, Bread, German Potato Salad and Chard

I cut up half of the leftover chicken and heated it up in some gravy (made from powder-I cheated!)  That was served over bread with the leftover German Potato Salad and some chard from the freezer.

Wednesday: Frittata & Salad

I meant to make a Frittata last week but things got hectic on Wednesday night and the kids just ate Ramen noodles instead (yeah-I know, not so healthy).  So this week with a bunch of the onions up in a green onion stage and a full dozen free range eggs on hand I should be able to swing one.  The salad will be garden lettuce, leeks, and whatever else I lay hands on.

This is my meatless meal for the week.

Thursday: Chicken Soup and Biscuits

I’ll make chicken soup in the crockpot (since I’ll be running errands during the day) with the second half of the chicken meat and the broth from the bones, as well as some miscellaneous vegetables (probably from the ones I’ve been dehydrating).  Biscuits are easy to whip up at the last minute to go with soup and a big of a change from plain bread.

This is my soup meal for the week.

Friday: Hamburger, Green Pepper & Onion Pizza

We always make pizza using my Pizza Hut Crust Clone recipe for Friday nights-but to change it up a bit from our typical “one cheese one pepperoni” model and make one in my favorite flavor-hamburger with green pepper and onion!  Except of course I’ll use Venison burger instead of beef burger.

This is (barely) my venison meal for the week.

Saturday: Wanna Be Wendy’s Chili with Cornbread

I won’t be able to use up all the Venison burger on the pizza, so I’ll use the rest in my Wanna Be Wendy’s Chili recipe in the crockpot. Since we are gone most of the day for a scouting trip it will be great to have it all ready in my crockpot when I get home.  I’ll make a quick batch of cornbread to go with it-if it’s too hot for that or I’m feeling lazy we’ll just serve it over some of the leftover tortilla chips in a semi “Frito pie” style.

This is my bean meal for the week.

Sunday: Fried Fish, Sauteed Lambsquarter and Rice

I have a theory.  That’s a phrase that usually brings a look of fear into my husband’s eyes.  Anyway my theory is that I can use the burner out on the propane grill to fry fish and then the house won’t be all stinky with “Eau d’trout”.  We shall see-depending on how I feel and the weather this might turn into baked fish.

The lambsquarter is growing wild (with my blessing) in the garden right now.  I’ll saute it up with some olive oil and some garlic. Mmm.  A pot of rice and we’ll have a meal.

This is my fish meal for the week.

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Are you interested in learning more about menu planning? Check out my post “Why Plan a Weekly Menu” .

Today is Memorial Day, 2012.

Photo by David Yu Photography

As a veteran, I think that Memorial Day holds special meaning.

Sure, it’s a day off from school and work.  It’s the “start of summer” even though the kids are in school still here in NY.  It’s the “safe” day to plant just about everything in your garden.  It’s a day to have a BBQ, drink some wine or beer and hang out with your friends.

But it’s so much more than that.  While Veterans Day is a day to celebrate all those who have served in our nation’s armed forces, Memorial Day is a day to remember an honor all those soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who have died in service to our country.

Vietnam Wall, Washington DC. Photo by Bill P Studios

Our country was begun with the giving of life by brave men all the way back at the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775.   Our history, nation and character have been shaped by the many men, and then later women who served, fought and died for America.

Margraten World War II Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial. Photo by John L Crow

Most of us have very few things in reality that we are willing to die for.  Our children.  A spouse.  The list is remarkably short, and the drive to survive incredibly strong.

I’m sure many soldiers who have given their lives over the last 237 years would not have said that they were particularly brave.   Yet they made a choice–a choice many are not willing to make–and put themselves in a position where the ultimate sacrifice was asked for and given.

In that moment those ordinary men and women became something more.  They became brave.  They became heroes.

Civil War Monument, Providence, 1871. Photo by Elycefelize

So what does Memorial Day mean to me?  It means remembering that things worth having don’t come easily or cheaply.  Remembering that ordinary men and women that came before me were willing to sacrifice everything when their country called them to.  It means recognizing that those sacrifices were difficult, and important, and shouldn’t be forgotten.  And it means considering what my responsibilities as a citizen and an individual are; to make sure that those many, many sacrifices over the years are not in vain.

I want to thank Walmart for sponsoring this post today in honor of all those who have fallen in service to our country.  They didn’t ask for any specific message or any advertising-just asked me to share what the day meant to me.  That’s classy Walmart, very classy.

****This is a sponsored post****

Disclosure: This is a sponsored review I am participating in with the Walmart Moms. Walmart has provided me with compensation for this post. My participation is voluntary and opinions, as always are my own.

For this month’s Walmart Craft Challenge we were tasked with coming up with a craft suitable for a Vacation Bible School or Summer Camp.

Friendship bracelets and lanyards are both classic “summer camp” style crafts–but for this challenge I wanted to kick things up a notch.  I was excited to see a “Weave Wheel Lanyard Maker” (also known as a Kumihimo disk) in the craft aisle at my local Walmart for around $4.  I also picked up a craft lace pack that had beads, findings and lace an a big box of “friendship thread”.

Kumihimo is a Japanese form of braiding.  Typically these days it is done on a plate or a disk made of thick foam-although traditionally it was done on a wooden stand with bobbins.

Using the disk creates a pretty round braid or cord.  The thickness varies depending on what materials you use-and you can change the patterns by how you set up your thread and how many threads you use.

All of these were created using a basic 8 thread pattern:

Although it looks a bit complex the braid is actually very easy to create.  It’s a soothing, repetative project that can be done while your attention is partially somewhere else-like watching TV or talking.  This makes it a great “camp” craft because you can be teaching the kids something else while keeping their hands busy, or they can be chatting amongst themselves while doing it.

You don’t even need to use the store bought foam disc (although I think that it is easier and sturdier).  You can easily create your own disks out of cardboard:

I taught Princess how to use the braid maker and she decided to teach the ladies who work at the after school program she attends.  She was able to whip these discs up in just a few minutes out of cardboard and teach them how.  She’s now got all of them completely addicted to making them-whenever I got to pick the kids up one of the adults is working on a braid!

Now on to the process.

How to Make an Eight Strand Japanese Braid

(8 Strand Komikimo Braid)

Since we are going to make an 8 strand braid we need 4 pieces of floss, 2 in each color.  Fold them in half and tie a knot in the middle.Feed the knot through the middle of the braiding disk.

Set up your disk.  You are basically making a +.  Put two strands of color A (in this case yellow) to the top, and two directly opposite on the bottom.  With color B (green) put two to the left and two to the right.Now on to the braiding pattern.  This may seem a bit confusing but trust me, it’s super easy once you try it–one of those things that is easier to do than to explain.  You start at the top and take the right hand string and bring it down and to the right of the strings that are already there.

Now take the left most string from the bottom and bring it up and to the left of the single string that you had left on the top.  There, that’s basically it!  Now all you do is rotate your disc counterclockwise (ie to the left) until the next set of strings is on the top:Then you repeat the same pattern.  The right most string goes down and to the right:The left most string on the bottom goes up and to the left:Then you rotate it again to the left. 

Just keep repeating!  Eventually you’ll start seeing the braid building

The only little trick you need is a way to remember where you stopped so you know where to pick up again.  Once the braid is as long as you want it to be (or you run out of thread/yarn/floss/ribbon/cord) then you tie a knot.You can vary the thickness of your braid by changing the materials.  Here you can see from left to right:

Pink and white plastic lacing, blue and light blue lacing, Friendship bracelet floss (doubled up, so each strand is actually two strands), friendship bracelet floss (single strands) and yarn.

This is an easy and fun project that would be great for any Vacation Bible School (VBS), Summer Camp or just rainy day project.  There are more advanced methods that use more strings (in multiples of 8-so 16, 32 etc), ways to add beads, and even ways to create flat braids using a square plate instead of a round disc.  Give it a try and see what you think!

Wondering what you can use the braids for? Friendship style bracelets are just a start.  By adding actual jewelery findings you can create a stylish cord for a necklace or pendant (ditto for a more classy bracelet).  You can make purse straps or belts if you make them larger/thicker.  The options are just limitless!

Additional Resources:

Instructions for a 16 strand braid.

How to finish the braid end.

Adding Findings to a Kumihimo braid.

Flat braid using a Kumihimo Plate

****This is a sponsored post****

Disclosure: This is a sponsored review I am participating in with the Walmart Moms. Walmart has provided me with compensation for this post. My participation is voluntary and opinions, as always are my own.

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It’s time again for the Grocery Benchmark Report.

While prices either remained stable or dropped slightly this month I did notice a few interesting cost changes this month.  The first was that Aldi changed their sugar to a 4lb bag.  That makes the price look significantly less at the register (ie last month’s bag of sugar cost $2.75, this month’s bag of sugar cost $2.15–but the price per lb only dropped a penny).  Milk, Butter and Eggs also had significant drops ($.10, $.40 and $.10 respectively).  Living in farming country here in Upstate NY it occurs to me that those prices changes may be due to a natural uptick in production for the spring.

Of course the long term changes are what I’m most interested in-especially the beef prices.  Those are predicted to rise up to 5% this year due to farmers selling off their herds in the drought last year and the high cost of the corn that is used to feed the cattle.  Apparently the “better” cuts of meat show a more noticeable difference in price-but even the 80% lean ground beef at Aldi has gone up $.10 since I started recording prices, and $.30 since the beginning of 2012.

Here’s the full Grocery Benchmark Report for May

May Grocery Benchmark

So how does this “benchmark report” work?

Each month I record prices on a set basket of “staple” grocery items. I price all items at my local ALDI store to keep things simple.

The columns show the price when I first started recording (Aug 11), the price at the beginning of this year (Jan 12), the prices last month and the prices this month.

These price columns are followed by a “Change since Aug 11″ “Change, Year to Date” column and a “Change since last month” column.

Note: If a price is shown in green, it’s gotten cheaper. If it’s in red, it’s more expensive.

Remember-prices can vary wildly by region. My desire here is to help us all notice and take action on price TRENDS so we can make decisions about how best to manage our budget for our own households.

Wondering why I’m so concerned about rising food costs? Because the the price of food at home is projected to rise by 4 to 5 percent this year, and another 2 to 3 percent next year, according to the US Agriculture Department.

Thanks to Malloreigh for the photo that I found on Flickr to create the graphic from.

One of the best ways I know to save money is to do things yourself.  Cook your own meals.  Repair and mend your own clothes.  Grow your own vegetables.

But replace your own faucet? Install your own water filter?  Patch a hole in your drywall?  Well those things have always seemed just a bit too complicated.  That’s why Walmart came up with the new “Projects Made Simple” section of their website!

They have a selection of common projects~and for each one there is a step by step video, a project sheet to print out and a listing of the necessary items you can pick up at Walmart to complete your project.

I got the opportunity as one of the Walmart Moms to try out a project-I decided to replace my downstairs bathroom faucet.  It leaks a bit and the plunger thingy you pull up to stop up the drain has been broken for months.

I headed off to Walmart and picked up my items:

Then I did it-I replaced my own faucet!  Check out the process:

So what do you think? Are you more likely to try a project like this now?

****This is a sponsored post****

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post I am participating in with the Walmart Moms. Walmart has provided me with compensation for this post. My participation is voluntary and opinions, as always are my own.

What are you eating this week?  You don’t know? Well you should! Menu planning makes a HUGE difference in both the amount of money you spend on meals AND the amount of chaos in your kitchen each night.

This week is pretty chaotic-which makes menu planning even more important than usual!

1.  As usual, Tuesday is dance lessons, Wednesday is scouts for both kids and hubs at pool.  Thursday I’ve got two doctor’s appointments (including fasting bloodwork. Ick), Yankee Bill has one and we both have to meet with the accountant.  Friday the kids are off from school, Saturday we’ve got a BBQ at my lovely Mother in Law’s house, and Sunday Yankee Bill is at a Car Show with one of the antiques all day.

2.  Because it’s a four day weekend I need to think ahead to the holiday and Monday (Memorial Day) Yankee Bill, Buddy and Princess are all in the parade, then we have the ceremony at the cemetery, Buddy goes hiking with his boyscout troop and we are hosting a BBQ at our house in the afternoon.

3.  Tuesday is our anniversary, so Yankee Bill took the day off from work for us to spend it together.  I’m so excited!  We’ll be having fun all day so I won’t want to come home and cook. . . crockpot meal!

4.  I’ve got to make a side dish for the BBQ on Saturday at my MIL’s, and then I have to be thinking ahead to the food for Monday.

5. I’ve got a whole bag full of peeled & sliced apples in the fridge left over from an apple cake I baked this weekend.  I’ve got a couple of tomatoes that are going soft and need to be used up.  I’ve also got some frozen cabbage and greens that need to be used from the freezer to make way for my eventual summer produce.

6.  I purchased an organic chicken from a local farm to try.  Better use that soon!

7. As always my goal is to have one venison meal, one fish meal, one bean meal, one meatless meal and one soup meal per week.

Taking all that into account here is my game plan:

Monday: Rice & This and That Curry

Tonight I mixed about a pound of pork, chopped & browned, added those tomatoes going icky (with icky spots cut off of course), peppers, onions, frozen & thawed cabbage cooked it up, added some curry cubes and served it over rice. Yum

Tuesday:  Venison & Gravy over Rice with Green Beans

Since Yankee Bill and I will be out for the day and have lunch out-I won’t want to come home and cook.  So I’ll do venison steaks in the crockpot with gravy mix, serve it over the leftover rice from tonight with some of the green beans I canned last fall on the side.

This is my venison meal for the week.

Wednesday: Pancakes and Quick Applesauce

Yankee Bill will be at pool and we’ve got a busy night of scouts, so I’ll go with pancakes (which the kiddos LOVE for dinner).  Since I’ve got those apples already sliced & peeled in the fridge (and although dipped in lemon water they are still getting a bit brown) I’ll just add a bit of water and sugar and stew them on the stove till they turn into a quick and chunky applesauce  to serve on the side.

This is my meatless meal for the week.

Thursday:  Roasted Chicken, Gravy, Potatoes and Carrots

I’ll roast the chicken in the oven with the potatoes and then use the drippings for gravy.  The carrots will be canned from last year.  I may marinated them to give them some zip.  The chicken carcass will be saved for soup next week

Friday: Homemade Pizza

Homemade Pizza is a favorite for Fridays!  Not only do I love the Pizza Hut Crust Clone recipe-but every one of my friends who has tried it LOVES it.  And since this is a day off with the kids I’ll let them help me make it.

Saturday: Family BBQ

We’ll be going to my Mother in Law’s for dinner. I’m bringing German Potato Salad and I’ll most likely make deviled eggs as well :0

Sunday:  Spaghetti, Tuna and Capers with Salad

Spaghetti Tuna and Capers is a quick and easy meal that uses canned tuna.  (I substitute green olives for the capers).  I’ll add a green salad to use up the end of the artisan lettuce I bought at ALDI last week.

This is my fish meal for the week.

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Hmm. I didn’t get an beans or soup into the menu this week.  I guess I could add some beans to the spaghetti, tuna and capers, or make a hummus to take to the family BBQ to make my bean quota.   I’ll have to wait till next week for the soup.

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Are you interested in learning more about menu planning? Check out my post “Why Plan a Weekly Menu” .

Sometimes it feels like it’s so hard to feed your family a healthy, tasty meal while sticking to a grocery budget.  Imagine what it would be like if  groceries were rationed!  Have you ever stopped to imagine what it must have been like for a homemaker trying to feed the family during WWII?  I found this interesting post  at “Diary of a Stay at Home Mom” about the wartime kitchen and rationing this week.  Kind of gives you a whole new perspective on your grocery budget, doesn’t it?

Diary of a Stay at Home Mom: The Wartime Kitchen

It’s time yet again to check out the plantings on the Frugal Upstate Village Homestead!  So I’ll ask you-How’s it Growin???

Things are starting to warm up sporadically around here (although there was a frost warning last night!).  The daylight hours are indeed getting longer and I’m itching to be able to get my full garden in.  Alas, unless I’m feeling brave many things still need to wait until Memorial Day (although I may try the beans a bit early.  Rebel!)

Luckily some of the early spring items, fall planted items and perennials are up!

I bought some lettuce seedlings this year.  It seems like when I plant lettuce it starts growing and then we hit a spurt of hot weather and it bolts!  So I figured I’d just try a few seedlings this year.In front of the store bought seedlings I went ahead and planted some lettuce seed (succession planting!) After a week they have just started sprouting.  I’ll have to thin them soon down to one plant per spot.The English Peas (ie the kind you shell and eat as peas discarding the shell itself) have finally started to really grow with a purpose.The turnips that I planted last fall and let overwinter have gone to flower.  You can actually eat the flowers (they taste sort of cabbage-y).  However I’ve just left them there so that the bees can enjoy them!  I have lots of happy little insects buzzing around.  Plus the seed heads are starting to form-I’m interested to try seed saving just to hone those skills.

Here’s a closeup of the flowers.  They are actually quite delicate!  I didn’t take pictures but the one Kale plant I had left from last year and the couple of Tat Soi have both bolted and put up flowers and seed pods as well.

This is back in the big garden.  The green fence is the one I showed last time with the itty bitty sugar snap pea seedlings that something had started munching on.  I have now planted and additional row of snap peas on this side of the fence.  I also purchased brussel sprout seedlings and planted them here.  This edge of the garden is actually shaded part of the day, so I think that the sprouts will do well here since it will be a bit cooler.This is just on the other side of that fence.  You can see the sugar snap peas which have been growing for a while (they were planted about a week and a half after the english peas)  and then that really small growth in between is where I replanted the peas that had been munched on.In front of that row I planted some broccoli seedlings that I purchased.  So now I have a “thick” row with a fence down the middle that goes, left to right, broccoli, peas, fence, peas, brussel sprouts.  My thought process is that the peas will grow up the fence while the broccoli & Brussel sprouts are small.  Then eventually the peas will give up the ghost in early summer and I’ll be able to tear them out just about the time that the broccoli & brussel sprouts are getting bit and they will have the room.

That’s the theory any way-we’ll see!

Next I left a space for a walking aisle and then I planted another row of sugar snap peas.  They have not yet started sprouting-so this is an unexciting picture of dirt.  But the posts are in and actually I’ve strung the fence since I took this picture.  I left enough space to plant another shade loving crop-maybe more lettuce or some chard on the other side of this.  From this row over the garden gets significantly more sun.

Now I’m standing with my back to the row you just saw.  Basically where the carrots were overwintered (they are all gone now).  I still have a few overwintered leeks left to eat.

I’ve got a big triple row of garlic-which is not only tasty but also has antibacterial properties.  So it’s an aromatic and a medicinal herb/plant!On this little patch of garden on the far side of the stepping stone I have a big patch of a weed called “lambsquarter”.  Last year I had let one grow on the side of the garden and obviously it dropped a lot of seeds.  I pulled all the rest but are letting these go for now.  This is an edible-the leaves taste sort of like spinach.  I really enjoy it, it grows naturally, early and easily.  So I’m going to let these go and perhaps dig some of them up and replant them somewhere else.  Why fight trying to get something like spinach grow through the summer when this stuff WANTs to grow?

(note: that’s actually a stone step-we think it was a horse mounting block-it goes about a foot down in the soil and weighs a ton-it can’t be moved so the garden goes around it.)Here’s a close up of the lambsquarter.  Make sure you use a good website like Wildman Steve Brill’s or a good field guide to identify your wild edibles.  And make darn sure you know what any look a-likes are and how to tell the difference so you don’t eat something dangerous.

Now I’m standing behind the garden looking at my little raspberry patch.  You cant really see it but directly in front of this is the green fencing with that wide row of brussel sprouts/peas/peas/broccoli. . . These raspberries actually produced a bit last year-so hopefully I’ll get some berries this year too.  (like a cup, but hey!). Raspberry leaves also have some medicinal properties and can be used for tea.  I’ve got wild blackberry growing on the fenceline closer to the house-we barely get any berries from those but again, those leaves can be used in tea and have medicinal uses as well.Speaking of tea, my Oswego Tea (aka bergamot or scarlet beebalm) is popping up, and in a thicker patch than the original stuff I purchased & planted last year.  Yay!  This does multiple duty as an ornamental, an edible (at least as tea) and a bee attractor.   Triple win!Farther down the fenceline the horseradish (surrounded by some dandelion) is going gangbusters.  I really am not sure why we need THREE horseradish plants (only one shown) but there you are.Off on the very side of my property our little tiny asparagus bed is happily chugging away.  We’ve had about 4 sprout up.  They really aren’t enough for a meal so I just snap them off and eat them raw.  Yum.  I really do need to figure out planting some more.  Right behind these is a fence that I like to plant things up.  Last year I grew my vining summer squash up the fence, but this year I think I’ll plant some beans to add nitrogen back into the soil.  Squash is a heavy feeder-so that should be a good rotation.

The rhubarb is doing great over by the barn.  I’ve already cut out a couple of seed heads–this is an antique strain from a friend’s very old homestead.  Unlike more “modern” cultivars it likes to send up seedheads right away.  I don’t care what the books say, I just cut them off and the plant keeps producing rhubarb.

Now back by the house I have my pot of Egyptian Walking Onions.  I need to find a good home for these this year and get them out of the pot.  I can’t decide what the best spot is-I’ll have to do that soon.

Now to the mostly container herb garden I have right by the back steps.  As a matter of fact that cement step you see IS the bottom step leading up to my back door.  The chives actually started out back a couple of feet but they moved themselves up here and are quite happy. The first round of chive blossoms (which are edible) are out, and we’ve been using the chives in cooking for over a month.  That’s a job I frequently give the kiddos while I’m in the middle of cooking–”take the scissors and go get me 2 chives”.About a food behind the chives is my lovage plant.  It’s already up to the top step and will grow up at least as far as that sign.  I usually have to hack it down a couple of times each summer so it doesn’t take over!  Loveage has a strong celery flavor and is lovely in soups, chopped up in salads etc.This is some lavender that took a couple of years to really get going.  Now it’s draping over the driveway-which isn’t the best.  I’m probably going to move it soon.  Here is my crazy sage that isn’t supposed to be perennial in my zone and yet has come back for two years.  Sage is of course the herb you think of when you think of “poultry seasoning”.  It tastes good in a variety of things. It also has medicinal properties.Many herbs are not perennial for me due to our cold winters.  I purchased these 3 pots (there are two in that front circle) and will plant them up in these containers.  From front to back they are rosemary, oregano and thyme.  All of them are culinary and have some medicinal properties.

In the other planters (not circled) I have two kinds of mint and some lemon balm.  The red self watering planters that I did the tutorial on last year will be used this year for peppers.

 And that’s how it’s growin at the Frugal Upstate Village homestead!  How are your garden plan progressing?

Dear Frugal Upstate:

Photo by Renee Silverman

I’m am sure you have posted about this somewhere but I can’t remember!

Can you make the Pizza Hut Crust Clone recipe ahead of time or do you make it and par-bake it right away. I’m just wondering if it can be frozen or refrigerated?? 

Thanks!!! and love your site!
Kristie

Well Kristie, most of the time I just make the crust up as I am going to use it–since I work from a home office it’s easy to just throw it together around 3pm and have it ready for suppertime!  I’ve even gone so far as to make up ahead of time 4 or 5 ziplock bags full of all the dry ingredients (sans yeast) and then stick a note inside with what wet ingredients need to be added so that it’s super easy!

(note: this is sort of like the method I show at the bottom of my “Weekly Bread Baking Method” post)

There are times that I have made the crust and par baked it (350 for about 8 minutes) then either held on to it until later that day or frozen it parbaked. Usually I just do that by sticking it on a cookie sheet and layering wax paper in between the crusts.  When they are frozen I lightly wrap in saran wrap and return them to the freezer.  Then I try to use them up fairly soon.

I have frozen the recipe as a big lump of dough-and while the quality was ok, I preferred it either fresh or par baked. Also I have a hard time getting the timing right for thawing a big lump o dough-either it was done too soon & started rising again or it was still partially frozen when I wanted to use it.  With the parbaked and then frozen crust I could just put all the toppings on it frozen and throw it in the oven like that, adding just a few minutes.

I’m all about easy. 

I have on a few occasions just refridgerated it for a day-punching it down once or twice to make sure it didn’t overflow the container.  I think that it loses some of the texture that way-the baking soda has already done it’s thing hours ago. Again it’s fine-I’m sure your family will still eat it, but not my favorite way.

I’ll be honest-with things like this you can probably get it to work no matter what you do-but the quality will be affected a bit.  Personally, even with my least favorite of the methods, once you top it with sauce, a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, and then the regular mozzarella and toppings you are still beating the pants off a really cheapo frozen pizza.

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Are you familiar with the Children’s Miracle Network?  I’ll be honest.  I could tell you that they are a charity, that they had to do with kids, and that at certain times of year you can “buy” little paper balloons at Walmart to help contribute.  But honestly? I didn’t really know what they did until Walmart asked all of us Walmart Moms to help spread the word about their annual fundraising campaign.

So I did what any good blogger would do when they aren’t sure about something.  I googled it   And of course I came up with the CMN website where they succinctly described their mission:

Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals® raises funds for 170 children’s hospitals across North America, which, in turn, use the money where it’s needed the most. When a donation is given it stays in the community, ensuring that every dollar is helping local kids. Since 1983, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals has raised more than $4 billion, most of it $1 at a time. These donations have gone to support research and training, purchase equipment, and pay for uncompensated care, all in support of our mission to save and improve the lives of as many children as possible.

I also found out that the CMN was founded by Marie Osmond-which probably doesn’t mean anything to you younger readers, but to me Marie will always be remembered from my childhood as part of the brother sister TV duo-The Osmonds!

Every year Walmart supports the Children’s Miracle Network for the month of May-after all “May is for Miracles”-and this year they have extended their campaign through June 15th!  Participating is easy-You can make a $1 or $2 donation at the register of any Walmart and the money will automatically be earmarked for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital in your community.

I have to admit-that is one of the things I really like about the Children’s Miracle Network–that they take such pride in keeping funds within the community where they are generated.  Of course if you don’t have a CMN children’s hospital in your local community, the money goes to the one closest geographically. (Wondering where your closest CMN children’s hospital is?  Use the CMN Hospital Search to see)

I think it is wonderful that the local hospitals are allowed to decide how that money is best spent. These donations have gone to support things like research and training, purchasing equipment, and paying for uncompensated care.

So please, the next time you are shopping at Walmart, consider spending that extra $1 or $2 dollars at the register to support this wonderful cause!

****This is a sponsored post****

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post I am participating in with the Walmart Moms. Walmart has provided me with compensation for this post. My participation is voluntary and opinions, as always are my own.