Table for Five

Tightwad Gazette Recipe for Laundry Stains

2009-07-11T18:20:38Z

Have any of you read the Tightwad Gazette books? They are a compilation of six years of newsletters written by Amy Dacyczyn (rhymes with “Decision”), who called herself the Frugal Zealot. A housewife living in Maine with her husband and their four (?) children, Amy’s newsletter dispensed tips on ways to REALLY save money, to really stretch a dollar.

In her newsletters, Amy wrote about everything from taking a mostly empty jelly jar and filling it with water, shaking, and pouring the liquid into popsicle molds for homemade popsicles, to tearing colored-in pages out of garage-sale or trash-picked coloring books before presenting them as birthday gifts.

All six years of newsletters were compiled into one big book, The Complete Tightwad Gazette for around $16.00, which is a great deal for so much info.

I didn’t subscribe to the newsletter, but when the first compilation book came out, I bought it and preceeded to dog-ear just about every page. She did extensive tests on which was cheaper, homemade popcorn or discount grocery store microwave popcorn, showed how you could make something new out of just about anything you would normally throw out (six pack soda can rings stitched together for a volleyball net, for example), and explained how she fed her family well without resorting to overpriced commercial snack foods (her kids ate cinnamon toast for snacks and didn’t complain that it wasn’t a pop tart, go figure!)

Of all the tips I picked up from the books, the one I have used the most is the recipe for laundry stain remover. When you’ve got something really stained, like for example, when you are potty training a three year old who refuses to poop on the potty, you mix up this formula and soak the stained clothes in it. My experience has been that the clothes might not look brand-new, but the stains are significantly lightened. This is the formula:

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TIGHTWAD GAZETTE LAUNDRY STAIN FORMULA

INGREDIENTS:

5 gallons of hot water

1/2 cup of powdered dishwasher detergent (like Cascade or the store brand)

1/2 cup of liquid Clorox 2 Color-safe bleach (or the store brand)

**according to FrugalMom.net, the dishwasher detergent and color-safe bleach sold at dollar stores works just as well**

DIRECTIONS:

In a big bucket, mix all of that together well. I use the handle of my long dish brush to stir it. Then drop in your stained clothes, and let them soak overnight. In the morning, dump the whole thing into your washing machine and run a regular cycle, don’t add any additional laundry soap. I throw in dirty towels or t-shirts or underwear, whatever else is waiting to go in. When the washer stops, I recommend running it through the rinse and final spin cycle one more time just to make sure all the dishwasher powder is out.

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Have you used this formula or something similar? Share your laundry tips in a comment! And for heaven’s sakes quit spamming me. I’m sick of it. You are not getting your comment approved unless you use a real first name or blog alias and leave a comment relevant to the post. /end rant.

Letter Re: The Tightwad Gazette Books (survivalblog.com)

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GoodNites “Special Bedtime Moments” Contest and Giveaway 2, Electric Boogaloo

2009-07-10T00:36:12Z

My first giveaway to promote the GoodNites “Special Bedtime Moments” Contest has ended, and congratulations goes to Teresa from the blog Tiaras & Tantrums, who entered the contest and giveaway with a cute story about trying to get herself, her husband, and their kids all settled down to sleep when they are all trying to claim a spot for themselves in the same big bed!

Since the GoodNites Special Bedtime Moments Contest is going until August 14th, and since they offered me three prize packs, I decided to split my giveaway up into three parts to keep it fresh in everyone’s mind. Okay, mostly so I didn’t just post it once and totally forget about it, okay? I ADMIT IT.

So that means I’m having another giveaway of a totally awesome totebag full of great stuff! If you entered the other giveaway, you CAN enter this one. And,you can enter both the GoodNites contest AND this contest once per day per email address, so the more you share, the more chances you’ll have to win a Grand Prize bedroom makeover for your child as well as a special bedtime totebag from me!

And for those of you reading this who didn’t enter last month’s giveaway and are going “huh? what the heck is she babbling about? Maybe I’ll just go read Twitter or something”, WAIT! It will all make sense in a minute, I swear.

So here’s the deal. Here on Table for Five, I am giving away a prize pack from GoodNites, the fine folks who make nighttime Underpants, Sleep Pants, and Sleep Boxers designed to take the pressure off of kids who have bedwetting issues, so that they can get a good night’s sleep. We went through it with my oldest son and trust me, when you find something that works, that first night that everyone sleeps all night, it is your best night of sleep EVER.

GoodNites wants to know what you do with your child(ren) to make bedtime special. Do you read, sing, tell stories, say prayers? Does your child need a certain blanket, pillow, stuffed animal? What about a bedtime snack? Two winning entries will be chosen to win Grand Prize Bedroom Makeovers worth $2500.00 !

The first step in this giveaway is for you to go to the GoodNites website and click where it says “Special Bedtime Moments Contest ENTER NOW”. Complete the steps to enter the contest. Step 3 is where you write a short (200 words max.) entry about a special bedtime moment, routine, or tip for parents. After you write your entry, before you click “Continue”, copy your entry! Then, come here and paste it into a comment. That’s your main entry in this giveaway.

WHAT YOU CAN WIN:

o $100 gift certificate to PajamaGram.com

o $50 gift certificate to Borders

o Blanket

o Bedtime journal for recording special bedtime moments

o Overnight tote bag to hold all items mentioned above

Retail value $250.00 !!

MAIN ENTRY: As described above, enter the GoodNites Special Bedtime Moments Contest and paste your entry text into a comment here.

ENTRY RULES: Enter by July 22nd at 11:59 PM EST. The winner will be chosen at random and emailed for their name, mailing address and daytime phone. Open to U.S. entrants only.

EXTRA ENTRIES: I’ll give you one extra entry for each of the following that you do or have done. Leave a separate comment for each:

Follow me on Twitter or let me know if you already do. Tweet the giveaway and leave the URL in your comment.
Mention this giveaway in a blog post and link to this post. Leave the URL in your comment in case Comment Luv misses it.
Help drive traffic to the giveaway-Stumble the post, submit it to Digg or Kirtsy, or post a link to the giveaway somewhere other than your blog. Leave the link in your comment, you can leave a separate comment for EACH that you do.
Help drive traffic to Table for Five! Grab the code for my blog button for your sidebar or links page, or add a text link to Table for Five to your blogroll. Leave your URL in a comment (I’ll check!)
Help increase my stats! Friend me on Facebook or subscribe to my FriendFeed. Leave a separate comment for each.

***EDITED TO ADD: I am getting a lot of comments that just say “thanks” or “I’d love to win”. I cannot accept entries that do not have the text of the Special Bedtime Moments Contest Entry pasted in. You just have to come up with a few sentences about your bedtime routine with your kids. Don’t have kids of your own? What was your bedtime routine like when you were a kid? You have to work a little to be entered to win this one! Otherwise I will have to delete your comment.*****

Thanks for entering and good luck everybody!

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No-Guilt Brownies and Cookies, No Kidding!

2009-07-08T01:07:17Z

I am powerless against my sweet tooth, people. I love cookies, brownies, cupcakes, ice cream, candy- if it has sugar in it, I’ll probably want to eat it.

Fortunately, there are ways to enjoy sweet treats without blowing all of your daily calories in one or two delectable bites. Pillsbury recently sent me their new Brownie Minis Brownie Mix and Reduced Sugar Cookie Mix, and I’m happy to report that both mixes made totally delicious treats that my family and I thoroughly enjoyed.

When I told the boys I was making the Brownie Minis, they got so excited that I wanted to hurry up and get them made, and I forgot to get out the camera and take pictures! The box comes with two baking trays that each make 6 mini brownies, and you just add water, spoon the batter in, and bake. They bake in about half the time of regular brownies, and two brownies are only 150 calories of chocolate YUM.

Pillsbury’s Reduced Sugar Sugar Cookie Mix is sweetened with a mix of sugar and Splenda, and if you follow the package directions and make 18 cookies, you can have two cookies for only 90 calories! And I’m happy to report that it’s not 18 tiny cookies either. I divided the dough exactly to be sure. This is a full size dinner plate:

See? That is eight BIG cookies, and I had ten more cooling on racks! The five of us made very short work of those 18 cookies And the best part? These cookies did not, even a little bit, taste like they were not made with 100% sugar. There was absolutely no “artificial” taste AT ALL.

Cons? Well, the brownies are very small, but I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. If you’ve ever bought those bags of “brownie bites” at the grocery store, that’s about the size. And the cookie mix seemed dry when I followed the package directions so I ended up adding about 1/4 cup of water to it.

Look for Pillsbury’s Brownie Minis Brownie Mix and the Reduced Sugar Sugar Cookie Mix in grocery stores. Thanks, Pillsbury!

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How To Learn What the Heck Your Kids Are Doing Online

2009-07-07T16:01:53Z

It’s no secret that kids are more technologically advanced than their parents – they grew up online and spend a great deal of time chatting and facebooking. Rosemary Blandford recognized that as a mom and an adult, she did not know as much about the Internet as she wanted to in order to keep up with her kids. She created a resource for this, RosieKnows.com. There is an entire section about social networking so now, Moms and Dads can join their kids online and stay involved in their digital lives.

Rosie offers free videos, step-by-steps and tutorials for moms looking to catch up to their kids’ technological level. Thanks to Erin at SS PR, I have five tips from RosieKnows to share with Table for Five readers. I’m online all day long and I still check in with my boys to make sure I know what they are doing on their computers, what sites they are going to, whether they are chatting on message boards and how secure and safe they are. I hope these tips help you feel more connected with what your kids are doing online!

Rosie’s Five Tips for Catching Up to Your Internet Savvy Kids

Feeling a little “behind” when it comes to the Internet? Is your sixth grade daughter also doubling as your personal tech support? Your kids may be of the Facebook generation but not to worry, you can still catch the train. Get on board now because the train is a fast moving one! Here are five tips to help you get started…

Tip One: Get on Facebook even if your child is too young (less than 13 years old) to be on it. It is a communication site unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Besides reconnecting or “friending” others, it is a way to share pictures, communicate and have fun. Once reserved for college aged students, it is now expanding across generations. If you have a teenager, it is likely that they have a Facebook or some other type of social networking account. After you’ve established yourself:

Learn the lingo. A friend of mine couldn’t understand why his teenage daughter was so upset after she had been “tagged” on Facebook. Did someone catch her he wondered? He didn’t know what being “tagged” meant and it was only days later that he learned an unflattering picture of her had been identified and was seen by many.

Know the privacy settings. While nothing on Facebook is truly private, it is important to understand how the settings work. I keep my privacy settings high meaning only my friends (people I’ve approved) can view my information.

Tip Two: Know how to do a good Internet search. If your child is interested in learning about something or needs to do research for a school project, the Internet is often the first (and sometimes the only) stop. Learning how to do a good search can help get to the right sites quickly. Hint: using quotation marks and symbols are a must.

Tip Three: The movie screen has shrunk – to less than 3 inches on a web enabled device like an iphone or blackberry. YouTube has allowed anyone to be a movie maker. Movies of all kinds are constantly uploaded to YouTube. Easy to use recording devices have made uploading to YouTube fairly simple and straightforward. Take a spin on YouTube and see what your kids may be watching. Then, once you figure it out ask if they have a favorite channel or what they like to watch.

Tip Four: Communication has gone high tech. Sure, the best communication is still done face to face but other communication techniques are widely used. Standard phone calls and even email are being replaced by Internet video calling and text messaging. Many people use a tiny keypad to send text messages but if I’m at my computer, I’ll use that instead since it is free and not as tedious.

Tip Five: Find your music online. The days of buying a CD are winding down and chances are pretty high that your child doesn’t even consider buying a CD when they want to listen to music. Pandora is a hit with young and old – essentially a internet radio station you customize. iTunes is a favorite for many wishing to download music and makes a great gift for someone of the Facebook generation.

If you have more tips to share, please leave them in your comment!

Rosie’s Five Tips for Catching Up to Your Internet Savvy Kids (momblognetwork.com)
My Parents Joined Facebook (talesfromthetracks.com)
ZooLoo Is A Social Network That Basically Never Wants You To Leave (techcrunch.com)

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I Know It’s Unpatriotic, But I Hate 4th Of July

2009-07-04T03:49:21Z

: Image by ohad* via Flickr

I have never, ever, ever in my 42 years of life been a fan of 4th of July. And make fun of me all you want, but the main reason I don’t like it?

I’m afraid of loud noises.

There, I said it. I’m afraid of the insanely loud BOOM! noises that accompany fireworks on 4th of July. I feel the same way about unexpected Ka-BOOM! thunderclaps, too. Don’t like ‘em. Loud noises make my heart race, and when I was little, made me cry.

When I was pregnant with Ryan in 1996, we moved into a new house on July 3rd. We moved out of an apartment on the second floor of a quiet complex into a neighborhood that was populated by a whole lot of “we don’t give a crap what you think of us” kind of neighbors.

So, here I was, 6.5 months pregnant having just spent two days moving from the apartment to the new house. And what was my introduction to my new next-door neighbors?

The night of 4th of July, they gathered in their driveway which was practically right underneath my bedroom window, and spent two hours lighting off firecrackers. I closed all the windows, I turned a fan on to “high”, I kept telling myself it would be over soon.

It went on and on and on. Finally, I got up and went downstairs at like 1:00 AM and introduced myself to my new neighbors. In my maternity nightgown. With my ankles that were swollen to the size of telephone poles. “Hi”, I said. “I was wondering if you would be done soon, I have to work in the morning and I spent the last two days moving and as you can see, I’m 6.5 months pregnant so I don’t sleep well as it is”.

The kind, understanding reply I got from the mother of three who was my new neighbor? “We’ll be done WHEN WE’RE DONE. It’s a HOLIDAY.”

In the nine years we were neighbors, we never got along.

Anyway, so that’s my unpatriotic secret- I hate 4th of July. And tomorrow, Chris is forcing me to go to the neighboring township where I grew up and watch fireworks. Something about making special family memories or whatever. And I’ll GO, and I’ll put on a happy face, and I’ll take pictures, and when the fireworks go off, I’ll try not to cry.

Ka-BOOM!

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Table for Five

Tightwad Gazette Recipe for Laundry Stains

TIGHTWAD GAZETTE LAUNDRY STAIN FORMULA

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GoodNites “Special Bedtime Moments” Contest and Giveaway 2, Electric Boogaloo

No-Guilt Brownies and Cookies, No Kidding!

How To Learn What the Heck Your Kids Are Doing Online

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I Know It’s Unpatriotic, But I Hate 4th Of July