Quick Tip Tuesday: Veggie Soup from leftovers

Have you ever had just a few spoon fulls of left over vegetables and just didn't know what to do with them? Not enough for a leftover portion but you'd really hate to just throw it away. I really don't like throwing any food away! My husband works hard to earn the money to pay for that food.

So, instead of feeding it to the garbage disposal or landfill, how about making another yummy meal from it?

I keep a medium sized bowl with a tight fitting lid in the freezer. Anytime I have left over veggies that are just not enough to keep, I dump them in the bowl. That last scoop of green beans, corn, peas, carrots, potatoes (even mashed), broccoli, and so many more.

You can also put in cut up left over meat like chicken, pork, or beef. Even ground meat works. Those few bites of hamburger that your kiddo couldn't finish, brake them up and add it in. Bits of meat left on the whole chicken you cooked. That last chunk of steak that didn't get eaten. Cut them up and add them in.

When the bowl is full, thaw it out in the fridge, add it to some tomato juice with any seasonings you like and you have a yummy meal! Serve with fresh, warm bread for dipping and you are set!

This also doubles as a Frugal Tip as you are saving yourself money by not throwing away all those little bits of leftovers. Can you beat that? Frugal and tasty!

How to make a rice sock (and what they are).

Many a night I have went to bed with my favorite rice pouch/sock. They offer warmth, relaxation, relief from a headache and help sooth tired, sore, and crampy muscles.

So what is a rice sock? Well, just what it sounds like! You take an old (or new) clean tube sock and fill it with plain white rice. Then tie the end in a knot, tie it closed with a ribbon, piece of string or length of yarn, or sew it shut.

You can also sew a pouch. I have one that is about 4 inches by 6 inches and is perfect for "that time of the month" but also works great on the back of my neck for my (unfortunately) frequent tension headaches. Pouches can be made from any leftover fabric, a wash rag, or a recycled piece of clothing. Just make sure the weave is tight enough that the rice won't poke through.

You can also add things like dried lavender and chamomile or scented oil like tea tree or lavender for a soothing booster.

Either keep it in the freezer as an "ice" pack or store in a cool, dry place and place in the microwave to heat it. Do 30 seconds of heat at a time, then take it out of the microwave, turn over and place back in for another 30 seconds till it has reached the desired temperature. Before using, make sure to shake the rice around to evenly distribute the hot rice.

I have two tube sock kind (one warm, one in the freezer). They are great for laying across your back, wrapping around an ankle or knee and for laying across your neck.

Advantages to a rice sock:

• You can take them into bed with you without worrying about burning yourself or causing a fire (compare to an electric heating pad.
• The rice produces a moist heat that really gets deep into your muscles and joints.
• They are natural and reusable. If the sock gets dirty, simply empty the contents into a bowl, wash and dry the sock and pour the rice back in.
• The heat/cold lasts for about 30 minutes.
• Apply a cold one to a bee sting or fevered forehead for some great relief.
• Very helpful for back labor, ladies!
• Costs you next to nothing to make.
• Are even safe for children, the elderly, and those with sensitive skin.

Italian Bake

This is a quick, simple and very good dish that could prove to be a favorite around the Lance house.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef or turkey
• 1 1/4 cups tomato pasta sauce
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 cups homemade biscuit mix or Bisquick mix
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 400'F. Spray one 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.

In a skillet, brown beef/turkey until brown; drain. Stir in 1 1/4 cups pasta sauce and the corn and heat to boiling; spoon into baking dish. Top with the mozzarella cheese. (In the picture I accidental forgot to put on the cheese and ended up putting it on the biscuit topping. It still turned out good. Do it how ever you like!)

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir biscuit mix, milk, and Parmesan cheese until a soft dough forms. Drop dough by 12 to 16 spoonfuls onto the meat mixture.

Bake uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes or until topping is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the topping comes out clean. Serve topped with additional warmed pasta sauce if desired. (We didn't as it seemed fine without it.)

This makes approximately 6 servings. Pair with a salad, green beans and warm applesauce and you've got a tasty meal for a work night!

Mmm. Yum!

Frugal Tip Friday: Line drying your clothes

You are looking at my first load of laundry drying on the clothes line this year. I'm so excited!

Call me crazy, but I love hanging clean, wet clothes on the line. I love driving though the country and seeing someones laundry on the line. I love carrying in freshly dried clothes that smell of wind and sunshine. No bottled detergent could ever compare with that smell! And sunshine is a natural bleach for your whites and cloth diapers!

As you can see in the picture, we don't have one of those big beautiful country yards. Heck, we don't even have a "traditional" clothes line. We have what is called an "umbrella style" clothes line. We got ours at Home Depot. It is much like this one but I don't think we paid that much for it!

Anyway, whether you have a regular cloths line or an umbrella type, drying your clothes on the line can save you a good bit of money every year for just a little extra effort. You can throw your clothes in the wash before going to work. Then hang them on the line when you get home. By the time you are ready for dinner, your clothes will be dry!

I did some math on drying clothes on the line verses drying in an eclectic dryer. The price per load is taken from a book called Miserly Moms (this is their website). The book I have was copyrighted in 2001 so these numbers may be a little off but not by much. It is probably more expensive now, depending on if you have an energy efficient dryer or not.

A load of laundry costs an average of $0.70 to dry per load.
I would guess that the average family does 4 loads of laundry per week. (I do 2-3 but we are a small family still).
Here in Indiana there are about 33 weeks in the year that you can dry your clothes outside. Starting the first week of November to the second week of March is what I consider not viable for line drying due to weather.
So...

$0.70 per load X 4 loads a week = $2.80 a week in savings
$2.80 a week X 33 weeks of possible drying= $92.40 per year in savings

$92 dollars that could be spent some where else.

At $7.50 a movie that is 12 movies that could be viewed.
At $1.50 per cup that is 61 cups of morning coffee from a fast food place.
At $4.00 a gallon that is 23 gallons of ice cream.
At $200 a month that is almost half of a car payment.
At $33.99 per adult and $29.99 per child that is 2 adults and one child admitted into Kings Island for one day for just $10.00 more!

Now, I will admit that the clothes aren't as soft as when the come out of the dryer. But there is an easy solution to that. Take the clothes off the line and pop them in the dryer for five minutes with a couple tennis balls (you can read my other blog on that if you haven't) on a low heat or no heat setting.

So whether you have a big yard or a small yard, a traditional line or an umbrella line, you can save a good bit of money every year and enjoy fresh smelling clothes!

Thankful Thursday: Week #7

~ Super strong seeds! (My mother-in-law gave me some flower seeds from 1997 and they actually came up!)

~Stain Remover that works! (If not for this, my child would not have anything to wear that wasn't stained.)

~Goats milk (fresh from a local farmer and raw)! (Finally, something that doesn't cause an allergic reaction in her and that I still like the taste of!)

~Books on Frugality

~Honest car salesmen. Yes, you can still find them on occasion.

~Spring rains, even if they do make it cooler outside.

~The Easter lilies and crocuses in bloom.

Quick Tip Tuesday: Organizing your purse

How often do you find yourself digging though your purse trying to find that one thing that you need. Maybe it is a nail file, a bottle of head ache pills, or your planner.

When I switched my purse over to the one that matches my little one's diaper bag, I majorly downsized. I have always been a big purse kinda person. I like having everything I need on hand. But I knew I needed to get more organized if I wanted to still have all those things in a smaller bag.

So, I did just that and it has saved me many a minute searching for something lost in the bottom of my bag. This is how I do it...

Zip top bags are a wonderful way to keep your things grouped together in a certain category. In my purse I have three quart size zip top baggies.

Baggie #1: Medical

• pill bottle with various types of meds (make sure you know what they all are!)
• a little thing of band aids
• baby powder
• a little container of antacids
• travel sized tube of tooth paste
• hand sanitizer
• tissues

Baggie #2: Non-medical/cosmetic

• lotion
• lip gloss/ chap stick
• mirror
• mini stapler ( yes, I carry a stapler and yes, I have used it before!) :o)
• nail clippers and file

Baggie #3: Personals (sorry guys)

• feminine hygiene products
• nursing pads

I also carry a sandwich sized bag containing a disposable diaper, a few wet wipes and a trial packet of diaper rash cream so I know that if I happen to accidentally leave the diaper bag at home or in the car, I can still do a diaper change if I need to. Each of the above bags also contains wet wipes as you never know when you may need one.

Try to use the freezer type baggies as they are sturdier and won't fall apart at the seams like the regular ones can do sometimes in your purse. Please understand that my purse is never perfect! What you see in the picture is not always what you get! I try to go through my purse on a fairly regular basis to pull out things like crumpled receipts, use tissues, old grocery lists and just random things that I throw in there throughout the day. The other day I cleaned it out while waiting at the dealership for our vehicle to get fixed. I have done it in the doctors waiting room, while on the 2 hour ride home from visiting family and while the baby was taking a nap.

You can also apply this method to your diaper bag. Things like a change of clothes, blanket, and an extra hat can go in a gallon sized bag together. That way they are dry, clean and folded nicely the next time someone has a blow-out. :o) Yeah, I've had to use this bag before!

Update on our garden

The cherry tomatoes poking through the soil.

Our seedling "pots" on the kitchen table.

We have seedlings!!!! :o) Yeah!

Just over a week ago, I got our tomatoes (all three kinds) and our peppers planted. As you can see, I have used re purposed containers (Ie: cottage cheese, yogurt and shortening containers) for planting in. Poke some holes in the bottoms, add in a inch or two or gravel, fill with potting soil and plant according to the package.

We now have 6 cherry tomato sprouts, 6 beef steak tomato sprouts and 2 Roma tomato sprouts (with the promise of more.) We won't be planting all of those. We just don't have the space, unfortunately. We will thin out the smaller sprouts here in a few weeks and only use the biggest, strongest looking ones.

It will be a couple more weeks before we can plant the cucumbers, squash and zucchini and at least a few more days till we see the bell pepper seedlings poking though.

Spring planting is always so exciting! :o)