This is me!

I am a house wife. A stay-at-home mom. A home maker. I stay at home because we (Zach and I) made that decision a long time ago. It was not a decision we made lightly. We thought long and hard about it. There were many nights spent talking about it into the wee hours of the morning. There still are. We knew that by making this choice we would never own a brand new car or house. We knew we wouldn't be able to buy things just because we wanted them. But we don't want that either. We have to think about making our purchases. We have to save up. We have to pinch pennies. But we find those things fun, challenging, exciting even.

I do not feel I need to justify my not having a job. I do things here and there to bring in a little extra money on occasion but not because I feel I should but because I want to. Not because I have to but because I choose to. My husband is able to support us. Would a second income be helpful, sure! But it is not necessary. We don't need it, nor do we want it. We would much rather I be here. Taking care of our home, our children, and ourselves. And I do work. I work hard. I do not sit on the couch watching soap operas all day eating bon bons while filing my nails. I cook, plan meals, grocery shop, clean, do dishes, do laundry, play with my girl, garden (veggies), and make as much as I can from scratch (pie dough, pizza, bread, yogurt, casseroles, granola, baking mix, cream of chicken soup, gravy, chicken broth, pasta, desserts, pie filling, laundry soap). Could I buy most of those things from a store, sure! But I save us a lot of money by making them from scratch and they are much healthier. Could I do those things and still have a job, sure but maybe not as well or with as much attention to detail.

Have we chosen the hard life? In some peoples eyes, sure. But not in ours. We live a simple existence. We don't go out to eat for our birthdays and anniversary. Instead I make a favortie meal and dessert. We don't go out to the movies. Instead we head the the library and borrow a movie for free. We don't buy new clothes. Instead we shop at Goodwill, consignment shops, thrift stores, and yard sales. We don't go to high dollar salons. Instead I cut my husbands hair and I get mine cut at a beauty college for about $5. We don't buy pricey diapers. Instead we cloth diaper and use store brand disposables. We don't go on big vacations. Instead we go camping or to local parks and historical sites and maybe once every 5 years or so take a bigger trip. Still costing us no more than $500 or so.We live a reusable life instead of a disposable one. We use rags instead of Swifer dusters, sponges, paper towels. We use cloth napkins, cloth diapers, and towels. I am looking into using handkerchiefs this winter instead of tissues. Heck, I even use cloth "female products." Sorry guys!

Are we happy? For the most part, yes. Do we want more? Sure! Who doesn't? We want a home of our own. Land. A place to raise our children. In the country. A place for goats, chickens, maybe even a couple sheep. A place to grow, run, learn, live, breath! But we are willing to wait for that to happen. To slowly build up our savings. Are we planning to buy a quarter of a million dollar home? NO! Not by any means. An old farm house with a couple out buildings and a couple few acres would be fine with us.

Please don't get me wrong. I am not knocking those that do work! Both those that choose to and have to. I am not saying that it makes you a lesser wife, mother, father, husband, person! Not by any means. I am just stating our decision and why and how we make this decision possible. I can not count the number of times I have been looked down on because I choose to stay home. How many people have told my husband that I should get off my lazy good for nothing butt and get a job. And it hurts me. That people cannot accept the decision we have made.

We both sacrifice to make this choice possible for us. Zach works hard! He works a hard, physical job and comes home tired every morning. He works third shift so he can earn an extra dollar an hour. And this means that he is on a different sleep schedule as "L" and I. He gets home from work at 7am and goes to bed. We get up at 8am. He then gets up at 1 or 1:30 pm (after only 6 or so hours of sleep) to spend time with us. He then leaves for work at 5pm. We don't even eat a meal together the days that he works.

And how do I sacrifice? I miss my husband! I see him a matter of 3-4 hours a day on the days he works. And those hours he is tired and half out of it. I don't always get to buy the things that I want or "need". I am tired. Mentally, physically and often times emotionally.

But we are happy. So why can't people just be happy for us? Because we don't want the same things you do? Because we don't want the same things you want? I am sorry if our life style offends you. But maybe yours offends me. But it is not my place to tell you how to live it.

Quick Tip Tuesday: Marinade Help

Next time you are making a marinade in a zip top bag, use this simple tip!

I was always having trouble with the liquids wanting to run out of the bag as I was adding the other ingredients because my baggie would fall over. Then I came up with an idea and have used it ever since. Take your gallon sized zip top bag and place it inside a gallon tea pitcher, then fold the edge of the baggie over the edge of the pitcher and fill. The pitcher will hold your baggie in place and not let the liquids run out. You can even add your gently meats and it will still hold strong. Then simply pull it off from around the rim and zip shut!

CSA: Community Supported Agriculture

We got our first box of fruits and vegetables from our CSA membership on Saturday and I thought I'd give you a peek. Lovely is it not? Everything looks so fresh and green smells wonderful!

So, what is a CSA?

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture (also called a CO-OP). At the beginning of the summer (the first of May was the cut off for ours) you sign up and buy a "share" (or in our case half a share) of what a local farm produces. We paid a set amount (ours is about $13 a week) and we will receive 8-12 pounds of fresh, organic, local produce each week for approximately 20 weeks. And by fresh, I mean FRESH! As in most of the items in our box were picked the morning of delivery. They can range in size from a few members to a few hundred. Ours has 54 members/families this year.

This is what our first box included:

• about a half a quart of fresh strawberries


• a bundle of radishes


• a bundle of green onions


• a nice sized bag of salad mix (this is a weekly item)


• 3 containers (like you would buy herbs in at the grocery store) of fresh Arugula, oregano and cilantro

The first few weeks boxes won't contain much but as the season progresses, the will get more and more fruitful!

In some ways I am a little nervous about the contents of these boxes as we will be introduced to some vegetables we have never tried before and I will have to get creative in the kitchen, trying new recipes and new ways of cooking these new foods. But at the time time, I am excited at this prospect as well. We have the opportunity to expand our culinary palate and push our "boundaries" a little when it comes to what we "think" we like and don't like. It also means I will have to get creative with the meal plans I make each week. From now on, I will get the CSA box on Saturday, search out recipes for the new and interesting items on Saturday, plan the next weeks menu on Saturday and Sunday and then grocery shop on Sunday or Monday. Phew! I am soo looking forward to this!

So, what some more information on CSA's?

Here is a link to a more detailed description of what a CSA is. Make sure too use the "Find CSA Farms" search to the right to see if there is a CSA near you to possibly look into.

Most CSA's are now closed to new members for the year, but maybe seeing mine this year will get you in the frame of mind to look into one for your family next year. They are a great way to help support your local farmers and a wonderful source of fresh, healthy, and sometimes organic foods!

Frugal Tip Friday: Dish rinse water re-use

I have given up on the dishwasher! I have banned it's use in my house. It is more eco-friendly and frugal to use the dishwasher because it uses less water than hand washing, but the darn thing just doesn't work! I have tried everything I can think of and nothing is working, so, I give up! I will just hand wash from now on. And that is fine with me. But what to do with all that "wasted" water?

Well, my solution is to save my rinse water and reuse it. I wash my dishes in the sink but then use a dish pan to rinse them in. I then reuse that rinse water to water my outdoor plants. After I have done the dishes, I allow the water to cool to room temperature. Then that evening, I water my garden with it. It doesn't get all the plants but it gets about half of ours. The little bits of food in the water act at compost/fertilizer and the small amount of dish soap acts as a pest detergent. So not only is it frugal and eco-friendly but reusing something that you would otherwise have just run down the drain, but it is also beneficial to your plants!

Frugal Tip Friday: Freeze your cheese!

Next time you happen to spot shredded cheese on sale, buy it up!

We use shredded cheese a lot in this house! What can I say? We like it! So I tend to keep quite a bit on hand. But I was still having the problem of it going bad before I could use it all. Until I learned that you can freeze it.

It is actually very simple! Just throw the bag of cheese, direct from the grocery store, into the freezer. When you want to use it, pull out the flavor/kind that you want, break it up a little and use just like you would if not frozen. If you are going to use the full amount in the bag, then you can allow it to completely thaw in the fridge for a few hours before making dinner. If using from frozen, it will take a little longer to melt. So if you are using it on say a baked potato, you may have to give it a few minutes or throw it in the microwave or warm oven to help it along. I use the frozen cheese in salads I send to work with my husband. By the time he gets his lunch at work, the cheese is thawed! And we never have to deal with moldy cheese again!

Quick Tip Tuesday: Easier bread slicing

It is hard to get fresh baked bread sliced thin enough for our liking. If we are planning to eat it warm, slathered in butter or jelly, it's not a big deal. But when it comes to sandwiches, we like it to be as thin or thinner than store bought. So I have discovered how to do just that.

Allow the fresh loaf of bread to cool completely on a wire rack. When it is totally cooled, place into a zip top baggie and the put it into the fridge over night. This "firms" up the bread. Then slice it into your thin slices. The bread is firm enough to slice yet still soft and yummy!

Frugal Tip Friday: Cloth napkins

Today's frugal tip is to start using cloth napkins. We just started using these a few months ago and we are loving it! They are easy to use and wash and are really rather inexpensive to buy! We got all of ours at Goodwill on a half off day. We got between 20 to 30 napkins (in four colors/patters) for about $4.00. As you can see below, they aren't the prettiest selection in the world, but for every day use it doesn't really matter. We also have a nice set in dark green for when we have company over for a nice dinner. You could also very easily make your own if you have a surger. I don't, so I bought mine ready made.

We keep our in a small basket on the table, just like we did with the paper napkins before and where they can be easily gotten to when I set the table. I wash them with our towels and they actually enjoyable to fold, but I've always enjoyed folding towels (though I can't say the same for the rest of the clothes.) We also tend to use one napkin for all three meals as they just don't get "dirty" very quickly, but that also depends on what we are having. Fried chicken usually means for a messy napkin by the end of the meal. :o)

They also have many other uses. I have covered up leftovers in the fridge with them instead of using plastic wrap or foil. I have used them to play peek-a-boo with a baby at the dinner table to keep her entertained for just a few more minutes while Mommy finishes her meal. I have used them as a baby head scarf in play. They work great for wrapping up things to go into a picnic basket (cookies, bread, a sharp knife, hot sandwiches wrapped in foil then in a napkin to keep them warm, ect.)

Cloth napkins are frugal in that you don't keep buying and throwing away paper ones. Just imagine yourself throwing away a penny or two every time you toss out a cloth napkin.

Quick Tip Tuesday: Hand Soap Plus

Do you ever have greasy hands from cooking that your regular hand soap just doesn't have enough umph to get clean but you don't want to loose the softness and nice smell that it gives you in exchange for using your dish soap to get them clean? Well, there is a solution!

In my regular hand soap pump, I keep a mix of 1/2 hand soap and 1/2 dish soap for scrubbing my dirty kitchen hands. You get the power and grease fighting of the dish soap and the smell and softness of the hand soap all in one! Just pour about equal parts of each into the soap bottle, replace the pump and shake for a minute or so.

This mix also works great on my husband's hands after he has been working on the cars!

Quick Tip Tuesday: What's in the fridge?

How many times have you dug into the fridge to find something to snack on or to hunt for the tub of butter or just to clean it out and found a bowl of mystery food growing in a long forgotten corner? Or wanted some leftover that you thought was in there but now you can't find it?

No one wants to find fur developing in their fridge because they forgot they had put some leftover casserole in there! So, one way to solve this problem is to keep a running leftover list on your fridge. Below is a picture of ours. We use a very small dry erase board (we got ours free from the Realtor when we moved into our current rental but I have also gotten them from a baby expo, a competition my husband was in during high school, and I've seen them at Goodwill and Wal*Mart.) You can also just use a piece of paper stuck to the fridge!

Any time you put a new leftover in there, add it to the list. When you use something up, mark it off or erase it. Mine is fairly simple (unless I have been doing a lot of cooking and have lots of leftovers.) You can also do like my Mom does and write the date of when the item was put into the fridge so you know when it needs to be used up. You could also put how many (approximately) portions are left.

There has been more than once that I have used a leftover side dish for dinner the next day, saving me from making a whole other side dish. It is quick, easy and saves you from digging for that little container of beef stew that you think is in there when really it was eaten by your hubby at 2 in the morning the night before. :o)

Quick Tip Tuesday: A (less) sticky situation

Next time you have a recipe that calls for honey use this quick tip to save you some frustration.

Spray the inside of the measuring cup or spoon that you are going to be using with a good layer of cooking spray. Or just rub it down good with some oil on your finger. Instead of sticking to the spoon like the last bits of honey usually does, it will run right on out! Saving you the trouble of having to scrape and scrape to get those last good drops out.

Frugal Tip Friday: You can freeze butter!

Many people don't know that you can freeze butter. Real butter and "fake" butter (ie. Margarine). Stick butter and tub butter.

So when you find it on sale, buy it up and pop the extra in the freezer. When you are close to running out, just put it in the fridge to thaw. It takes about 24 hours. I tend to keep two sticks in the fridge at all times. When I use the last of one, I get out another. Simple as that!

This is frugal in that you can buy butter when it is on sale and it keeps well for about 3 months in the freezer so you don't have butter going rancid!

Frugal Tip Friday: Bake in batches

In the picture: gronola bars, fresh bread, and 10 half-baked personal sized pizza crusts.
Not in the picture: loose gronola

My frugal tip for today is to bake in batches. As you can see from above, this day I baked a number of things. The loose gronola was first as it takes a low tempature. Then I had to plan out when the bread and pizza dough would get done rising and baked them one after the other. Next was the gronola bars, which I was mixing up as the pizzas were baking. Then I turned around and made a couple of those pizzas for dinner that night. All in all, my oven was probably on for 3 hours. But, there was no preheating for each item. I'd get one done and in would go the next one.

Also remember, during the winter, do your baking in the morning. That way it heats your house. In the summer, do your baking in the evening so you aren't running the A/C to cool off the house again. And when you are done baking in the winter, leave the oven door cracked and you'll have a toasty kitchen to do your clean up in!

Frugal Tip Friday: Freeze Some Grapes!

My husband is a big fan of grapes. And although I like them, we just don't make it though a whole container before they go bad. My husband also loves frozen grapes. So when I find fresh grapes on sale, I buy them up! I will leave some out for him to eat fresh, the rest I freeze.

Pull all the grapes off the vines and place in a colander. Rinse well with cold water and then allow to dry, either in the colander or pour them out (carefully) onto a clean towel. Once dry, spread them out on a cookie sheet, they can me in more than one layer. Place on a level surface in your freezer for 12-24 hours. Try not to accidental dump them in the freezer. There are still a handful of grapes laying in the bottom of my deep freezer right now. :o) Once frozen, store them in a zip top bag.

My husband will get these out when he gets a sweet tooth instead of hitting the cookies or ice cream. They also work great in smoothies as a substitution for the ice.

This saves you money in two ways. You can actually buy frozen grapes, but they are usually more expensive than fresh. And it saves you from throwing away good grapes because you didn't get them all eaten before going bad.

Quick Tip Tuesday: Hard brown sugar

I don't tend to use a lot of brown sugar. Infact, it probably takes me 6 months to go though one bag of it. Unfortunatly that means that a lot of times, my brown sugar "dries" out and gets hard. I never knew what to do about this till I saw my Mom open her brown sugar container one day. I saw something in with the sugar. When I asked her what it was, I was supprise to find out it was a piece of bread.
Her sugar had gotten hard and so she put a piece of fresh bread in with it. But when she took the bread out a couple days later, the sugar was once again soft and the bread was hard and stale. The moisture goes out of the bread and into the sugar. So instead of throwing out a whole bag of hard brown sugar, you just throw out one piece of bread. This works with home made bread, white, wheat, or any other type you can come up with.
It also works for hard cookies. Place one to two slices of fresh bread in a sealed container or plastic bag with cookies that have gotten a little over baked or have sat out and gotten hard. Makes for soft, chewy cookies! Yum!

Chocolate Oatmeal Cake

Mmm. Chocolate cake! I have never been a big fan of chocolate cake. Then I found this recipe! Not too chocolaty. Moist. Chewy. And oooh so good!

Ingredients

• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 1/2 cups quick oatmeal
• 3/4 cup melted margarine or butter, melted
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup baking cocoa (the powdered kind)
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Get out your trusty mixing bowl and spatula.

Mix oatmeal and boiling water together the large mixing bowl. While that is sitting, grease one 9X13 inch pan or two 8 inch round pans. Add in the margarine and stir, making sure it is completely melted. At this point, it will look like runny oatmeal.

Add in the sugar and mix well. Then add in the eggs and beat till smooth and glossy. Add vanilla, salt, cocoa, and baking soda. Mix well. Add in the flour and mix well again.

Pour into your greased pan(s) and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Or till a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

See that little crumb on the plate to the left of the cake. Yeah, I ate that right after taking this picture! :o)

Allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting, if you can wait that long. I have never used icing on it but I am sure it would be yummy with some. But it really doesn't need it!

This cake freezes really well!! I usually freeze all but a couple pieces to eat later. All you have to do is get out a piece, warm in the microwave for a minute or so and top with vanilla ice cream! A quick and easy dessert any day of the week.

Frugal Tip Friday: Dish washer Soap

I have always gotten liquid dishwasher detergent because it works so well. Then I heard a great tip that can save you a good bit of money in the long run while still getting your dishes clean.

Most powdered dish washing soaps are cheaper than their liquid cousins. The biggest problem with them is that they tend to leave soap scum and a white film on all your dishes. Well, there is a solution to this!

First, get out an old (but clean) ice cream bucket. I use these for everything by the way! Measure out 4 cups of the powdered dishwasher detergent and pour into the bucket. Next, measure out 4 cups of baking soda and pour into the bucket. Get out an old spoon (I use a metal one that has been bent a few too many times from dipping out hard ice cream). Stir the two powders together, not too quickly or you will send a fine dust into the air that will make you sneeze! :o) Put the lid on the bucket and store under your sink like normal. (Make sure you label the bucket!)

Next time you do a load of dishes, use the spoon to dip out what you need into the two soap cups in the door of the dishwasher like normal. Then, and this is the secret to not having the soap scum, pour about 1/2 cup of white vinegar into the bottom to the dishwasher. At this point, I just eye ball the vinegar.

The vinegar will react with the baking soda (just like in your 3 grade science fair volcano project) and will rinse your dishes clean.

The baking soda will make the washing detergent last twice as long, for half the cost, and still get your dishes clean!

You can buy large boxes of baking soda in the laundry detergent aisle. You can also buy 1 gallon jugs of vinegar in your favorite super store (you know which one I am talking about). It is in with the regular vinegar, just look down. :o) Oh and it's super cheap! Like less that $2.00!

Frugal Tip Friday: Zip Top Baggies

Drying baggies. (Note the pumpkin draining in the back ground.)

How many zip top baggies would you say you go through in the average week? 2, 3, 10? I would guess that we (there are 2 adults and one baby in our household), go though probably 5 to 10 per week. Mostly in sending Zach's lunch to work with him and in storing leftovers in the fridge or freezer.

One fairly simple way you can cut down on your trash and on your budget is to reuse your zip top baggies. I know this tip isn't going to be for everyone. Some will say "Ewww!" Others will exclaim "Way too time consuming for something so cheap!" I am not saying you will save your family a ton of money.

But lets just say the average family of 4 uses 10 zip top baggies a week. At 52 weeks in the year that is 520 baggies. You can buy them for about $3.00 a box (50 count). That's about 10 1/2 boxes a year. So, 10.5 boxes times $3.00 per box equals $31.50 per year.

I know, not a whole lot. But in today's economy, every penny counts.

So anyway, what I choose to do is to wash most of my used zip top baggies and reuse them. It is actually pretty easy. I just add them to my hand washed things. Dip some dish water up into the baggie, put your wash rag in it, slosh it around till it is clean, dump, rinse and shake open and turn it up side down to dry. As you can see in the pictures, I have quite a few drying. A lot of times I will let them pile up and wash quite a few at once.


I do have a few "Rules." I don't wash and reuse baggies that have contained raw meat. If the baggie is really messy, I don't mess with it. If it is going to take me more than a few seconds to wash, it isn't really worth it to me.

I especially like to reuse the baggies that have labels for certain things. Like when I make mini pizzas for snacks and meals (I usually make a few dozen at a time). I label the baggies with either cheese, pepperoni, or pepper, depending on the type of pizza in it. Then I can reuse the baggies for the same thing.

Anyway, it saves money and on the landfills. Maybe not too much of a time saver, if it was it would be in the Quick Tip Tuesdays, not Frugal Tip Friday. :o)