Frugal Tip Friday: Baked potato night

Looking for a frugal meal option? Once a week, institute a baked potato night! Potatoes are cheap! You can buy a 10 pound bag for under $4.00 and have about 25 to 30 medium sized potatoes. You can also buy larger "baking potatoes" as well, just stay away from the ones individually wrapped in plastic to the "baked" in the microwave as they are super pricey. They are really easy to make and can be topped with just about anything!

Preheat your oven to 350'F.

Scrub your potatoes well using a nail brush or veggie brush.

Jab a fork about 1/2 inch into each potato about 2 places on each side and once on each end of every potato.

Rub each potato down with oil (olive, veggie, canola, bacon grease, lard, ect.)

Place into a shallow baking dish or on a cookie sheet, not touching each other.

Bake at 350'F for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. They are done when the skin is slightly wrinkly and a fork goes in smoothly (should feel like when you boil potatoes for mashing.)

Serve with any of the following:

• bacon bits (homemade or store bought)


• shredded cheese


• sour cream (or plain yogurt)


• salt


• butter


• broccoli


• chives


• salsa
• Be creative!

You can also pair the potato with a side salad, a bowl of soup, or a cup of fruit. Bake a few extra while you are at it. They warm up great in the microwave for a light lunch the next day at work! Try a baked sweet potato. I usually bake some of each as my hubby likes the sweet potato and I can give some to my little "L" as she is starting solids and really enjoys making a mess on her tray with chunks of sweet potato!

This is frugal as potatoes are filling, inexpensive and yet still very yummy. You can add what ever toppings taste good for each family member and they are usually things you have on hand.

Thankful Thursday: Week #12

~ my bread machine

~ midwives who will continue to answer your questions long after your baby is born

~ hot tea on cool mornings

~ random things that a baby will play with for hours (ie: plastic leg off an old laundry hamper, small pack of unopened baby wipes, unopened cross stitch kit, ect.)

~ Interchangeable knitting needle sets

~ bendable wire clothes hangers with 100's of uses

~ extended rear-facing car seats

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)

Seeking your opinion

Hello to all of my readers! I hope this post finds you all well and feeling blessed this beautiful day! I was wanting to ask a favor of you all today, in order for me to serve you better as a blogger, I am wanting to find out what you do/don't like about my blog. Please, be honest! It will not hurt my feelings, no matter what you say! I just want to get a better idea of what my readers like, dislike, enjoy reading about, areas that need improvement, etc. Here a few sample questions that you might like to answer but feel free to write anything...

1. What do you like about my blog?
2. What do you not like about my blog?
3. Anything you'd like to see more of?
4. Anything you'd like to see less of?
5. Any particular subjects you'd like for me to blog about?
6. Anything I need to work on making better?
7. What do you like reading about?

What are you interested in? (nutrition, recipes, crafts, frugal living, homemaking, meal planning, faith, child rearing, home birth, breastfeeding, whole foods, etc.)

So, if you'd just leave a comment that would be great! Or, if you want to e-mail me directly, you can send your responses to

kaybug1112@gmail.com

I will keep an open mind to your suggestions and will be sure to follow your lead on the things you want to hear about. I am just trying to get an idea of where to take this blog, if it needs to be taken anywhere, or if it just needs to stay "as is."

Thank you so much for your time and for being my readers! Without you, well, no one would be listening so there really wouldn't be a point in me even writing this! :o)

Weekly Meal Plan: 4/25-5/01

Sunday lunch: Baked potatoes and side salad.

Sunday Dinner: Chicken noodles, mashed potatoes, cooked carrots and fresh bread

Monday lunch: Home made pizzas, salad, and green beans

Monday dinner: Pasta pinwheels, salad, and garlic bread

Tuesday lunch: Sloppy joes, home made potato wedges and cottege cheese

Tuesday dinner: Cheese-it chicken, home made mac and cheese, and peas

Wednesday Lunch: toasted cheese sandwiches and tomato soup

Wednesday dinner: leftovers

Thursday and Friday: leftovers, bean burritos, and baked potato

Saturday lunch and dinner: not sure yet because Zach has to work so it will come down to last minute on when he works.

Monster Cookies (Rarrr!)

Monster cookies! Called that because they are BIG cookies if you follow the recipe. You can make them smaller, but why would you want to? These have become a favorite around here as they are quick and easy to make and are super yummy!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups baking mix (store bought or home made)
• 1 cup oats (old-fashioned or quick cook)
• 1 cup M&M's, chocolate chips, butter scotch chips, peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips or what ever you have on hands
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375'F. In a large bowl, beat brown sugar, shortening and eggs till smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients.
2. On an ungreased cookie sheet, drop by 1/4 cupfuls about 2 inches apart. Flatten to about 1/2-inch thickness with the bottom of a glass that has been lightly sprayed with oil.
3. Bake 12 to 16 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for about 3 minutes before trying to remove from the cookie sheet.

Makes about 1 1/2 dozen cookies.

This is what we chose to do with a few of our cookies. Yes, that's ice cream and it was GOOD! :o)

Frugal Tip Friday: Half Price Day!

Keep an eye out at your local thrift store for "Half Price Day." Most thrift stores will have one about once every three months or so. On this day, everything in the store is half off! The last one we went to, we got about 20 cloth napkins, 3 shirts for me, and a new baking pan for under $8!

Be aware though that you will NOT be the only one there looking for bargains! The place is usually packed to the gills. We couldn't even get a cart because they were all taken. So maybe think about leaving the little ones home with the hubs! :o)

But it is a great time to stock up on children's and adult's clothes, dishes, linens, decorations and much more! And many thrift stores' proceeds go (at least in part) to help local organizations. Frugal and good of the community!