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Frugal Friday: Revisiting the $35/week grocery budget
 Since we were out of town until a few days ago and Kaitlynn has been miserably teething and wanting me to hold her almost every minute of the day and night, I've been running in slow motion here. So, instead of coming up with a new post, I'm re-posting something I wrote earlier this year. Hopefully the rest of you will have more original ideas! --------------------- I just read the post about Frugal Shopping. How in the world do you spend just $35/week? Does that include toiletries and household stuff? Thanks so much, Rachel For those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile, you probably know just about everything I have to say on this subject. However, since it's been awhile since I've tackled the topic much, I'll give a quick run-down of some of the things which have helped us to eat well on $35/week consistently for the last four years. And yes, the $35 includes toiletries, laundry soap, cleaners, diapers, medicine, etc. It covers breakfast, lunch, and dinner for all three of us for a week, other than the one meal a week we eat out. I can actually do it for less than $35, but that allotment gives us enough room to be able to purchase more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, some organic food, and farm-fresh hormone-free milk and eggs. 1. Plan a menu around what you have on hand and the store sales and stick to it. The most important step in lowering your grocery budget is having a plan and keeping it. Second of all, don't just plan a menu, go through your cupboards, refrigerator, and freezer and use those as the basis for your menu. Start with what you have and creatively use that before you buy anything extra. Thirdly, check your store fliers (you can usually do this online) and see what is on a good sale and plan your menu around that, as well. 2. Shop at more than one store.Unless you live somewhere where you only have one store to shop at, don't do all your shopping in one location. I try to hit two-three stores each week buying just the best deals from each. I almost always hit Kroger - as I have found them to consistently have the best loss-leaders and I love their double-coupon policy. Plus, they often have Catalina deals (where when you buy 2 or 4 of a certain item, you get $x off your next shopping order). I usually always go to CVS, as well (more on that in a minute), and then, if I have a few staple ingredients I need to get or the deals are rather weak or my cupboard is rather bare, I'll hit Aldi. It varies from week-to-week depending upon what the sales are. 3. When something is on a good sale (for me, that means combining the sale with coupons it is free, close to free, or something we use often and the price is considerably cheaper than the Aldi price), stock up. To give you an example of how this works, this past week, combining coupons with store sales, I got the Cottonelle for Kids toilet paper for $0.50 per 4-pack. This is half the Aldi price, and the rolls are twice the size. Obviously, since toilet paper is something we use around here on a regular basis, I stocked up and bought eight 4-packs. The deal will still be good this next week and each package has a coupon inside, so I'll probably get at least eight more on my next shopping trip. I'm guessing this will last us for the next 6-8 months, at least - probably longer. Instead of buying the cheap Aldi toilet paper when we were almost out and spending $1 each time, I bought higher quality toilet paper with twice as much on the roll, for half the price. So, in essence, I got it for 75% off the Aldi price. This is it works. By stocking up ahead of time, you stretch your grocery dollars much farther. 4. If you have a CVS nearby, become a regular customer.By regularly shopping the ECB deals there and using their store coupons, $4 off $20 or similar coupons which often print, and stacking these with manufacturer's coupons, I rarely ever pay for toiletries or household items. This is how we paid for all disposable diapers we bought - using the overage earned from the ECB deals. Read more about CVS shopping strategies here.
5. Use a calculator and pay with cash.I bring $35 a week in cash to the store with me and no extra. No checkbook, no debit card, nothing else. This is one of the most helpful ways I guarantee that I stay within budget. As I add items off my list to to my cart, I add them to my running total on my calculator. By adding it up as I shop, I'm able to know exactly how much I've spent so far and whether or not I have extra to buy some items which are reduced for quick sale. Those are some very practical ways to save while shopping. Some other things we do:-Cut back on meat. We rarely have meat by itself as the main dish (steak, roast, fried chicken, etc.) -Drink water (We use a Brita pitcher to filter our water - I got this free with ECBs from CVS.) We do not drink milk or soda (pop, coke, or whatever you call it where you live). We drink fresh juice made in our juicer a few mornings a week and iced tea or herbal tea on occasion. -Find out when your local stores reduce their meat and produce and shop at those times. This is how I buy the majority of our meat and vegetables. The prices are usually reduced at least 50% - sometimes even more like 75-90%! -Cook from scratch. Eliminating processed foods and boxed mixes from your diet is not only more healthful for you, it will also save you a lot of money. Make your own baked oatmeal or granola instead of buying boxed cereal. Keep homemade cookies and muffins made up and in the freezer for snacks instead of store bought cookies or chips. Bake your own bread. Make cakes, pancakes, and so on from scratch. -Grow your own veggies and herbs in the Summer. Or, shop at your local Farmer's Market. Be careful that you know your prices going in, though, as I've found some of the prices at certain booths to be much more than I would pay at the grocery store. Scout out the whole place before you decide what to buy and make sure you are getting a good price. Sometimes there is a huge variance of price between booths. -Don't be brand-dependent. If you really want to cut your grocery budget, you have to learn to branch out and try new things. -Keep it simple. Stick to recipes with fewer, inexpensive ingredients. -Most of all, enjoy the journey! I have so much fun saving money on groceries and seeing God bless and multiply our little budget to feed, not only our family, but to have extras to give away! There is so much more I could say on this, but that's just a quick overview on some things which have helped us. For much more detailed information and help, I highly recommend you check out my ecourse, Supermarket Savings 101.Originally posted in March 2007
Just a note of clarification: I am not saying that you should try to stick with a $35 budget also. It's no magic number; it's just what works for our little family at this season of our life. In the comments, I flesh out some ideas for what a larger family could use as a gauge for spending. These are some things I used when I was doing all the grocery shopping and menu-planning for our family of nine back when I was still living at home. Hope it helps!
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To join in Frugal Friday, leave your link to your frugal tip or post on something related to frugality below. Please link directly to your post. No business solicitations allowed. Duplicate posts will be deleted. And, remember the rules: Must be family-friendly. Thanks! I can't wait to read your tips!
Making our Homes a Haven: The Challenge
 Anna, in her usual grace and confidence, has an excellent post up which I encourage you to read. Here's a snippet: However, here's something I have a problem with: the idea that it is acceptable (or even encouraged) to neglect the needs of our most loved ones, the people closest to us, the ones God entrusted us with - our family - in order to go out and do something 'for the greater good'.
This might ruffle someone's feathers, but I think that if my home is dirty and messy, meals aren't provided on time, the refrigerator is empty, the dirty laundry hamper is overflowing, and I haven't spent quality time with my family, or neglected my spiritual life, for a while now - this means something is wrong! I'll even tell you what: from the best intentions, from trying to do as much good as I possibly can, I end up doing harm.
Read the full post. I've been making it a goal of mine recently to do deliberate things to make our home more of a haven to my family and to all those who would enter it. I thought it would be fun to share some of these things and turn it into a two-week challenge of sorts. So, beginning Monday, I'll be posting a daily "Making Our Homes a Haven" challenge here. These will be simple challenges which should take less than 30 minutes to accomplish and won't require you to go out and buy anything. We'll just be doing basic cleaning, organizing, rearranging, and decorating using what we already have on hand. I'll share pictures of my finished challenges (maybe some before and afters, too!) and invite you to do the same on your blog and to leave you link on each challenge post. It should be fun! I'd love to have you join us as we beautify our homes and make them a refreshing oasis for our families and all those who enter their doors.
Graphic from AllPosters.com
This is why we don't travel very often
We finally arrived home last night after a whirlwind week-long trip to visit our families for Thanksgiving. Traveling with littles usually makes for some excitement so what normally would be a short few-hour trip turned into an all-day "adventure" yesterday. We got a late start in the morning but were still hoping to make it back by early afternoon since we had lots to do when we got home and were rather tired from the past week and hopeful for an early bedtime. After only 30 minutes on the road, there were frantic cries of "I have to go potty!" from the two-year-old in the backseat. We breathed a sigh of relief when we spotted a McDonald's in close proximity, But the relief was short-lived as this McDonald's turned out to have the most incredibly obnoxious automatic toilets ever. Their random volcanic flushing nearly scared the whits out of Kathrynne. And we won't even begin to discuss the tremendous amount of coaxing to get her to actually utilize them. For sometime afterwards, she kept shivering and talking about the "scary toilets." Once we survived the toilet ordeal, Kaitlynn woke up from her nap in real apparent pain - which we could only attribute to teething. We were in the middle of nowhere by this time and had nothing to console her. We tried what little ice we had, we tried stopping and nursing, we tried the binkie. Nothing was calming her down and we both felt terrible to see her suffering so much. We finally came upon a little town and pulled in to the gas station hoping against hope they might have some Children's Tylenol or Motrin or Orajel or something to give her some relief. Of course this small-town gas station didn't have anything like that but they did point us in the direction of this dilapidated little drug store. I thanked God they carried Orajel and tried not to wonder whether it had been sitting on the shelf for ten years or more. The Orajel quieted Kaitlynn for a short time and we were able to make good headway - that is, we drove for more than twenty minutes without a single stop! It wasn't long before she was crying again. This time, though, Kathrynne was really agitated by her little sister's incessant crying and soon they were both crying. I had about exhausted my creativity and energy at this point and after multiple stops at every 20 minute interval, I was really getting anxious to get home. So we just decided to keep driving and hope they would calm down eventually. They never really did quiet down, but we did finally make it home. Oh I was never so happy to drive up into our driveway! Never mind the things I'd planned to do in the afternoon and evening and never mind the early bedtime I'd been hoping for. We were home and that was all that mattered. I took lots of pictures while we were gone which I'm anxious to share and have more blog fodder swirling around in my brain than I'll probably ever have space to post about. However, our home currently looks like a "stuff bomb" exploded in it and Kaitlynn is still really struggling with the teething thing. As soon as I dig myself out from under this massive mountain of laundry and get everything unpacked, I hope to be back to more regular blogging. How was your Thanksgiving, by the way?
Babies are no longer eco-friendly
I've been emailed this article a number of times in the last few days while I was on a Thanksgiving blogging hiatus: Had Toni Vernelli gone ahead with her pregnancy ten years ago, she would know at first hand what it is like to cradle her own baby, to have a pair of innocent eyes gazing up at her with unconditional love, to feel a little hand slipping into hers - and a voice calling her Mummy. But the very thought makes her shudder with horror. Because when Toni terminated her pregnancy, she did so in the firm belief she was helping to save the planet. Read the full article here and then I'd love to hear your thoughts. I personally found it utterly ludicrous.
Related: This was a great video on the subject from FOX News (there's a commercial you have to sit through before the video loads).
Fresh-from-the-Oven Favorites - Sneak-peek pricing special!
 After a few months of collaborating, my brother and I have finally finished a brand-new cookbook! Fresh-from-the-Oven Favorites is a collection of some of our family's favorite simple, easy, and delicious bread recipes! These trusted standby recipes are ones that we used time and time again when we were growing up. From quick and easy muffins, to wholesome yeast breads, to special occasion sweet breads, this cookbook is filled with our best-loved recipes which we hope will become some of your family favorites, too! Best of all, you can get your copy of this brand-new ebook for only $3 for the next two days!
Click here to purchase your copy of this ebook today!
There is no greater work
 Someone left the following comment on this post which I wanted to respond to in a post because I felt it was so important: I often wish that you would provide a post or conversation on how mothers like yourself could make their homes (even if they are full of very small children) reasonably outreach-oriented.
My girl friends and I talk about this a lot. We have explored various ideas, including regularly swapping baby sitting duties so that each mom can commit one afternoon per week to deliberate ministry time, such as leading a Bible study for college girls, or counseling unwed mothers at a pregnancy care center, or visiting female inmates in local prisons. Then there are the old stand-bys... cooking for needy families or working in organized intercessory prayer chains.
As a full time graduate student with little spare time, I think a lot about "passive" ways to reach out from my own routine. Obviously, blogging is one option. I have also hosted a homeless young woman in my home for several months, and I am thinking about doing this again soon- it meets a huge need, and it does not take much extra time! I have donated my hair to cancer patients. I've doubled up my home cooking and frozen the extras to keep on hand for families going through difficulties. I've led Bible studies and pro bono tutorials from my apartment. Etc.
... all that to say, it would be so cool to see you post on reasonable ways to reach out... anyone can stay home, but surely "staying home" must mean something more for Christian women living under Christ's great commission... - a blog reader
I love to reach out to others from our home as I'm able to in the little cracks of leftover time I have. This is one reason I blog and write during nap time, pray for missionaries or needy people while I'm washing dishes, or find a spare moment here and there to write an encouraging letter to someone going through a difficult time. We're also constantly seeking ways we can minister as a family to others by having people into our home, visiting the elderly, or reaching out to our neighbors. I want to instill a servant's heart in my children by having them work alongside mommy and daddy to reach out to a lost and dying world or to hold up the arms of those who are weary in the Body of Christ. When I was single and before I had children, I was very involved in outside ministries - teaching children, cooking, cleaning, and ironing to help out weary moms, ministering to my grandparents and other elderly individuals, organizing and volunteering for various ministries, and so forth. (One of the benefits of not going to college was that it freed up much of my schedule so I was able to do these things!). My husband and I look forward to the day when we can send our own girls out as ambassadors on our behalf to minister to other families in our church and community like my parents "sent me out" before I was married. And maybe someday when my children are all grown and gone, I'll have opportunities to do things like this again. At this point in my life, however, I don't feel like it would be right for me to regularly leave my children - even for a few hours each week - in order to reach out to others. My husband and children are my greatest outreach. This means that the phone often doesn't get answered, emails often don't get answered, and I say "no" a lot.Is this because I'm just a hard-nosed uncaring individual? No. It's because I believe with all my heart that raising up the next generation for the glory of God is the greatest ministry, work, and outreach I can be doing. It is far more important than anything else. I don't need to be looking elsewhere for outreach opportunities; I have them right in front of me every day all day long! Sadly, the world is constantly whispering to women that they must "be more" and "do more" than "just being a wife and mom." As if training and raising up the next generation is not enough. What is often overlooked is that there is no more noble and glorious calling for a young mom than for her to devote her life to being a help meet to her husband and a mother to her children. That's why you won't see a lot of posts here on outside ministries for moms to do which would require them to leave their children to do so for I believe that the greatest ministry a mom can have is right there in her home training and raising up her precious children to the glory of God! At the end of my life, I want to look back without regrets. Other people can step in to minister to the needy if I can't, but there is only one person who is called to be my husband's help meet and my children's mother. I want to be faithful to the calling God has given me. There is no greater work I could be doing. Edit: Thanks for all your thought-provoking comments on this post. I've now closed comments because I wanted to keep the spirit of this post and the comments uplifting. If you have any other comments you'd like to share on this, feel free to email me. God bless you all! Related: For any of you wives and mothers who could use some encouragement in your vital and worthy role, I highly recommend the brand-new book, Passionate Housewives: Desperate for God. I can't begin to tell you what a blessing it was to this often-weary mommy. Graphic from Art.com
As our way of saying thanks
"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you..."
 "O give thanks unto the LORD, for He is good: for His mercy endureth for ever." Psalm 107:1This Thanksgiving, I am more thankful than ever for the grace and goodness of God. It's been a difficult year - by far the most difficult year of my life - but God has been faithful. Ever faithful. Even when I've doubted Him, even when I've been lacking in faith - He has been faithful. I am so humbled at His faithfulness towards one who is so unworthy of it. He has carried us through - through a job loss, through a last-minute move when I was in the throws of morning-noon-and-night sickness, through bleeding and bedrest in my early pregnancy, through five months of my husband working at an incredibly difficult and taxing job while I was experiencing a very difficult and taxing pregnancy, through the possibility of another job loss at the same time that I was admitted to the hospital for five days for anemia due to my pregnancy, through more bed rest and more job difficulties, through a very painful labor and delivery, through adjusting to being a mother to two children, through my husband quitting his job thinking we had everything lined up to move back to our hometown and then all of that falling through, through a few months of searching for God's will and direction regarding employment and where we were to live, through starting up our own law firm and trusting God for what the future might hold for us... Yes, it's been a very hard year. Most of it has been so hard I've not been able to even blog about it. Some of you have known and been praying. Others of you haven't known, but have written out-of-the-blue to say you are praying for our family. I know that it is God putting us on your hearts. So many of you have written encouraging notes and blessed us in so many unexpected and tangible ways - often just when we needed it most. And so this year, I'm thankful for the Lord's faithfulness and I'm ever so thankful for His love shown to us through each of you. It is impossible for me to adequately express the blessing you all have been to our family. "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you."I can only hope and pray that the Lord will give back innumerable blessings to each and every one of you for the ways you have blessed us.
I can't do it myself
Since we have a lot of new readers here, I wanted to re-post my Thanksgiving post from last year today. I hope it is a blessing to some of you new mommies. This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for a lot of things - one of which is a precious baby girl! All that nausea really was worth it! It's Thanksgiving time and I should really write the obligatory post on what I'm thankful for - isn't that what all good bloggers do? Only, in my current first-trimester state, I'm quite uninspired. It's not that I'm not thankful. I really am. It's just that what I'm thankful for this year is maybe not your typical. Yes, I'm thankful for a roof over my head, clothes to wear, my precious daughter, my wonderful husband, my baby in utero... But what I'm really thankful for this year is that I can't do it myself.
I've had a post sloshing around in my fuzzy brain for a few weeks now, but it wasn't until I read Becky's post that I realized it was meant to be a Thanksgiving post.
For those of you who knew me before I got married, you knew a very confident, organized, get-things-done, "I'll-take-care-of-it" kind of person. My Day-Timer was my best friend and I thrived on overseeing, managing, and organizing. If you needed a job done, you could count on me to make it happen.
These organizational skills were quickly and easily implemented into my home management as a young bride. I was a FlyLady "freak," with my zones, routines, menu planning, and homekeeping down to a science.
And then, the inevitable happened.
I got pregnant.
Those two pink lines changed my life forever. I was thrown into a world of unpredictability and chaos. For the first 22 weeks of my pregnancy, I had intense morning-noon-and-night sickness.
Many days, I never made it beyond our bedroom door; my only exercise was running from the bed to the bathroom. The dishes piled up, the laundry piled up, and all I could do was lie there and moan.
However, I finally recovered enough to pull myself out of bed and try to get a handle back on things again. The house slowly got in better shape, the laundry pile dwindled, and I started to feel more on top of things again.
"I can do this," I thought to myself.
Then Kathrynne was born.
Everyone talks about how hard the birth is supposed to be, no one seems to ever talk about how difficult the afterbirth is. The birth was a breeze to me but I was completely unprepared for the next three months of my life. The constant demands of a little baby, the endless feedings, the very short nights, the inability to plan anything because things would never go as planned.
It took me weeks to regain my strength but much longer to realize that this darling little daughter had been given to us not just so I could ooh and ahh over her, but so I could learn a lesson I desperately needed to learn: I can't do it myself.
This lesson was painful for self-reliant me to admit. For weeks, I thought things would get better. I'd get more organized, I'd start feeling better, we'd get on a better schedule, things would get back to normal.
It finally dawned on me: This is the new normal. Time will never be my own again, my house will always looked very lived in, some days I won't get a shower, my best plans might be completely overturned in a matter of minutes by a messy diaper or fussy baby. I am no longer in control and I can't do it on my own. I had two choices: I could either relinquish my self-reliance and start trusting in the Lord, or I could spend the rest of my life lamenting what once was and no longer is.
I finally gave in and gave up - on my own strength that is. And you know what? It was the best thing I ever did. When at last I learned that relying upon the Lord was much better than trying to struggle along in my mothering on my own, I found peace and contentment.
My second pregnancy has been so much better than my first. I'm only eight weeks into it, but I have so much more joy and quietness in my heart. My house might look tornadic right now, I might not have gotten a shower yet today, my daughter might have chocolate smeared on her face (Don't ask. We were out of regular milk so she had chocolate milk on her cereal this morning. Hey, it was from a local dairy, so shouldn't that make it okay?!), I might have a mountain of laundry and a sink full of dirty dishes, I might be running really low on energy and feeling quite sick, and I need to get everything ready for our weekend Thanksgiving travels, but it's alright.
In my own strength, I'd be pulling my hair out completely overwhelmed and totally stressed. But I've learned that God's strength is so much better. By His grace, I can look beyond these temporal things and know He is in control, He is Sovereign, and He will give me everything I need to endure what He has called me to endure. His strength is made perfect in my weakness.
I can't do this, but "I can do all things through Christ."
And I'm thankful my stubborn confident self has finally realized this.
Originally published November 2006 Graphic from Art.com
True beauty or unrealistic airbrushing?
What do you think of this clip (you'll have to sit through an ad before the news clip comes on)? I have to admit, I'm still stuck on the fact that most children have seen 80,000 ads by the time they are five. Is that not disturbing? But back to the subject at hand, do we wonder why we have so many teens who are struggling with depression or eating disorders? When constantly bombarded with airbrushed images of perfect-looking teens and women, it's obvious that it would be hard to be content. As I viewed this short video, I kept thinking how it's not "self-esteem" we need to be promoting, instead we need to be sharing with girls and young women that they are created in the image of God for a beautiful purpose to glorify Him. When we recognize our worth in God's eyes, our outward blemishes and imperfections seem very insignificant.
Concentrating on the best things
 You have mentioned that you often say "no" to things, so that you can be taking care of your home. What things do you say "no" to and what do you say "yes" to? Are you involved in any specific church ministries? There were seasons in the past when I was involved in many different outside ministries and commitments. I'm sure there will be seasons in the future when my children are older that I'll be able to take on more outside commitments again. But at this season of life - with two littles and a husband starting his own law firm - almost all of my ministry happens right here in my own home. My husband and daughters and home come first. This means that I say "no" to many other good things everyday because I want to concentrate on the best things. To give some practical ideas:-I stay home most of the time. As I wrote in my "Less is More" post: I've purposely said "no" to a multitude of outside activities and opportunities because I know that running around with two littles for most of the day not only wears me out, it is a surefire way for me to spend more money (i.e. trips through the fast-food lane while we're out, swinging by to check out a sale I see signs for when I don't really need anything, or ordering carry out for dinner because I'm exhausted and didn't have time to make anything for dinner) and get less done. It's just not worth it, folks. Now, am I saying you need to cut out every outside activity and commitment and never step foot outside your doorstep? No. What I am encouraging you to do is to carefully evaluate all outside commitments and see if there are some that are really necessities or if they are just cluttering up your life for no good reason.
-I rarely answer the phone during the middle of the day. I've found that when I get on the phone, an hour or two can go by without me even realizing and the house falls apart in the process. I'm thankful for answering machines! -I'm not involved in regular outside commitments. Besides church on Sundays and grocery shopping once a week, I don't have any regular outside-the-home commitments or ministries. Even though I'm not involved in any regular outside-the-home commitments or ministries and see my home as my current ministry, there are many simple ways I can still reach out to others without spending days away from my home to do so: Writing an email or a short note of encouragement, praying for others in the little snippets of time while I'm washing dishes or folding laundry, smiling and speaking words that build others up, or opening up our home for a simple meal or get-together. -I seek to keep it simple. My motherhood mantra - if I were to have one - is keep it simple. I expanded in detail on this in my Help for the Overwhelmed post. There is no way I can do everything, so I try to pare down to the basics and start with those before doing anything else. The same goes for how I manage our home: we don't have a lot of stuff, we don't eat elaborate meals, we just try to focus on the essentials. Read more here.Those are just a few things I've incorporated at this season of my life in order to focus on the best things and not get distracted with all the seemingly "good" opportunities. When I say "yes" to something, I must also say "no" to something. I want to be saying "yes" to God's calling on my life. I want to live my life so that in 25 years from now, I look back with no regrets. It is not worth it to sacrifice the best things in place of the good. Graphic from Art.com
Totally random question: Paper towels or no paper towels?
 I was going to post this over on MoneySavingMom, but decided to post it here instead - just to mix things up a bit!Inspired by this post left for Frugal Friday, I thought I'd throw this out for discussion: Do you use paper towels or not? I'll go first... We used to always have them on hand until one time we ran out and forgot to buy them the next week. I realized we didn't even miss having them around and so I stopped buying them and we started using cloth towels again. Since then, I bought a three-roll pack to have on hand after Kaitlynn was born since I thought they might come in handy. We slowly went through those and recently finished up the last roll. I've not bought any since. What about you? Paper towels or no paper towels? Is the convenience of using them worth the cost to you or do you find it's a corner you can easily cut?
By the way, whether or not you use paper towels, I think you'll find Meredith's post interesting! Graphic from Stacks and Stacks
The winner
And the winner of the adorable magnetic Jean Pocket is: AnneEmail me your contact information, Anne, and we'll get that sent right out to you. As a public service notice: We'll be taking a break from giveaways for this week and maybe next week since I'm going to be out of commission for Thanksgiving-related activities. Hang tight though, because I have a waiting list of very exciting giveaways for the next few months!
Frugal Friday: Simple ways to reduce your heating bill
 For those of you who have some source of heat besides a wood-burning stove or fireplace, I thought it would be fun to share ideas for lowering heating costs during the next few cold months. Here are a few of my no-brainer ideas: Instead of turning up the heat...-Put on a warm sweater or sweatshirt. -Put on socks and shoes or socks and slippers. -Brew a cup of hot tea. -Spend some time in the kitchen: Bake some homemade bread and a make a pot of soup for dinner. -Get moving: Vacuum the whole house, mop the kitchen floor, clean the bathrooms - find something that needs to be cleaned and do it at a fast pace. Or, try turning on a workout DVD and getting some exercise. Those are just a few ideas to get your creativity sparked. I'd love to have you add to my list in the comments below or in your own Frugal Friday post! Let's all help each other lower our heating bills and conserve energy this Winter.
------------------------------ To join in Frugal Friday, leave your link to your frugal tip or post on something related to frugality below. Please link directly to your post. No business solicitations allowed. Duplicate posts will be deleted. And, remember the rules: Must be family-friendly. Thanks! I can't wait to read your tips!
Taming cravings
Annie asks in the comments section of this post:You've mentioned having a strong sweet tooth. I do, too, and I struggle daily not to give in to it. How do you do it? I've tried allowing small indulgences rather than a complete fast, but I find the chocolate glutton in me rising and overpowering more often than I'd like to admit. How do you tame your cravings to be satisfied?
Um, did I say anything about having a handle on this? :) I really like chocolate. Especially high quality dark chocolate. Most days, I could subsist on the stuff. Okay, not entirely, but I could eat a lot more than I should. Since I'm trying to shed the last few lingering pounds of pregnancy weight, I've been making a concerted effort to watch what I eat. Sweets tend to be my downfall, so my best solution has been to keep desserts to a minimum in our home. Honestly, though I know it's not any brilliant solution, that's what I've found to work best. Out of sight, out of mind. Well not entirely, but seeing as I don't have time to pack up and head for the grocery story every time I think about chocolate, knowing there isn't a smidgen of it in my whole house really helps. I don't completely avoid the stuff, though. I normally make one dessert per week - a small pan or small recipe which will last for only a few days. Or, we'll get one half gallon of ice cream for the week - which also only lasts for a few days around here. This way I'm not completely depriving myself, but I'm also not making it easy to eat more than a fair share of chocolate or sweets in the week - especially since I'm splitting the dessert or ice cream with two other people! My husband has been gracious to agree to fewer desserts and sweets around the house since he knows I'm determined to get back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. I know I'm very blessed in that regard. We try to eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies and I've found that when I'm feeling especially hungry for sweets, eating a banana or some apple slices helps. If that doesn't do the trick, I'll often have some homemade whole wheat bread toasted with honey and butter. I know, I know, it's nothing like chocolate, but it is good. And that's about it when it comes to my ideas on curbing the sweet-tooth cravings. Would anyone else out there like to share what has worked for them?
Heartstrings - A heart-warming family film
 When we first saw this film at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival (where it won two awards, including the prestigious Audience Choice award!), we were not only touched by the story but incredibly impressed that it was produced by two young men who are not even twenty yet. We got our own copy of Heartstrings and it has become a well-loved film at our home. In fact, Kathrynne enjoys this DVD so much she requests to watch it everyday - sometimes multiple times per day! We've never carried family films before, but we enjoyed this film so much that we decided to break tradition and add it to our store. We know your whole family will enjoy this well-done, humorous, and meaningful film. Buy your copy today for only $16.97!Watch the trailer below: PSST! Don't forget that until midnight tonight, you can save 15% off your entire order by using coupon code SAVEMORE when you check out. Be sure check out all of the excellent new products we've added to our store recently by clicking here.
Like mother, like daughter
A few months ago when we were out on a family restaurant date, we ate this delectable chocolate tortilla chip dessert (fried chocolate tortilla wedges served with strawberries, chocolate syrup, and ice cream). I thought I'd found the perfect recipe to recreate it at home and was so excited to try it out tonight. My high hopes were quickly dashed as these supposed "chocolate tortillas" turned out like sad-looking chocolate pancakes. I loaded them with bananas, chocolate syrup, strawberry syrup, and powdered sugar and Jesse said they were really good. But they weren't anything like that restaurant dessert. I was holding Kaitlynn on my hip while I finished mixing up the batter. When I popped the beaters out of the mixer to hand them to Kathrynne to lick off, Kaitlynn grabbed them out of my hand and immediately tried to stick them in her mouth:  I guess it's no surprise we have another girl who likes chocolate! As an aside, anyone know of a good recipe for chocolate tortillas which actually turn out like tortillas and not flattened brownies?
Review: Teeccino Herbal Coffee
Wanting to kick the caffeine addiction or just looking for a delicious hot drink for a cold day? Try Teeccino!  Erica from SuperMom's Health and Wellness sent me some Teeccino awhile back. Being a coffee aficionado (though I purposely only indulge every few weeks), I was a little leery of anything that was supposed to be a healthy coffee knock-off. While not quite the same as a Cafe Mocha from Starbucks, Teeccino was surprisingly good. My favorite part about it is that it is made in the coffeepot so you feel like it's coffee, even though it isn't. And, it's good for you, too! If you're looking for a caffeine-free healthy coffee alternative, you'll definitely want to check Teeccino out. Supermom's Health and Wellness offers a variety of flavors and they even have some sample packets that you can try to decide which flavors are your favorites. Check them out here.Speaking of cold-weather drinks, I'd love to hear what some of your favorites are!
Q&A - Part 5
Is it wrong or selfish to not let other relatives visit right away when I have my baby? Please help! My husband and I want some time alone with our new child, and some time to adjust to having a baby. It seems others don't like this idea. My advice: Do what you and your husband feel best with. I understand the feeling of not wanting to have a bunch of people around right after the baby is born. It's a very special time and we all cope and adjust differently. Talk about it with your husband and consider your relatives' wishes and requests but don't let that dictate what you do or don't do. Perhaps you could come up with a happy medium? Whatever you do, make sure that you have it clearly figured out and communicated ahead of time.
I'm curious how an average day goes for you, Crystal. As in: when do you normally wake for the day and when do you normally head to bed for the night...and any things that happen on a daily basis in between.
Let's see, a typical day goes something like: Somewhere between 5-6 a.m. (later if I've been up a lot at night) - Get up, shower, dress, nurse Kaitlynn/read Bible, start laundry, check email, blog, fix Jesse's breakfast, sit down and eat with him and discuss the day.
8:00 a.m. or so - Get Kathrynne up and dressed, sit her down for breakfast, nurse Kaitlynn and read Genesis 1 to both girls, then practice counting to 20 and singing the alphabet. Have Kathrynne play with Kaitlynn in the living room while I clean up the kitchen and switch the laundry.
9:00 a.m. or so - Kaitlynn goes down for a morning nap (or doesn't - in which case she goes in her swing or plays on the floor or goes in the sling or I end up rocking and nursing her again - you get the picture!), Kathrynne watches her reading video while I do my morning cleaning chores. I usually pop on my laptop and check my email/moderate blog comments for a few minutes somewhere in here. 10:00 a.m. or so - Kathrynne either plays close beside me or helps in the kitchen while I put together lunch and dinner and do some baking if I have extra time. Then I usually nurse Kaitlynn and read to the girls.
11:00 a.m. - I take both girls out on a walk or we do the Pilates DVD. After that I usually switch the laundry again and finish up lunch preparations. 12:00 p.m. - We all sit down to lunch together (Jesse joins us if he is home.). We normally have a fairly leisurely lunch and then I clean up while Jesse and I talk and he plays with the girls. 1:00 p.m. - I nurse Kaitlynn and the girls and I read picture books together (Kathrynne gets to choose.). Then both girls go down for naps. I check email/moderate blog comments and answer anything urgent.
2:00 p.m. - Jesse and I work together on packaging up orders, answering business emails, returning business phone calls, placing wholesale orders, etc. If we are needing to run a business errand, Jesse often does it during this time. 3:00 p.m. Jesse and I work together on projects for the law firm - planning, marketing, going over current projects, etc. 4:00 p.m. - Sometimes the girls are awake by this time, sometimes they are still sleeping. Usually Kaitlynn is up and ready to nurse so I nurse her while I answer emails, blog, finish up business work, or work on menu-planning, coupons, deals, etc. 5:00 p.m. - I finish getting dinner ready and work on laundry while the girls play. 6:00 p.m. - Dinner time as a family and then family worship (I nurse Kaitlynn somewhere in here).
7:00 p.m. - Jesse and I take turns giving the girls baths and cleaning up the kitchen. We then try to read and pray together as a family and put the girls to bed. Our goal is to have them both in bed by 8:00 p.m., but that doesn't always happen. Sometimes it is closer to 9:00 p.m. or even a little later. After the girls are in bed, we often spend some time working on our computers finishing up work projects and then we try to spend a little time together before going to bed. We try to be in bed by 10:00 at the latest and I usually read a few pages of a book before turning the lights out. On Friday nights, we often watch a movie together before bed so we'll usually stay up later and then sleep in on Saturday morning.
Now remember, that's the basic idea of how our day looks. Every day is a little different - some days are MUCH different.
You can see our detailed family schedule here. But just remember that that detailed schedule is what a perfect day would look like. We've never had one of those yet! There are always the unexpected interruptions and there are many days, like today, where Kaitlynn doesn't sleep any longer than a 10 minute stretch. I try to be flexible and just roll with the punches. It's not about rigidly sticking to my schedule, but using the schedule as a guideline to help us have some semblance of order and structure as opposed to chaos. I have also found it is good once every few weeks to declare an "off day" where we just forget about the schedule and either go somewhere for most of the day or stay home and have a "pajama day" and the girls and I just spend special time together - playing games, baking, reading, snuggling, laughing, talking, watching a movie together.
By the way, because of all the requests, I'm planning to do a more detailed "Day in My Life" post (complete with pictures) later this week, Lord-willing.
Where have you always wanted to travel? Hmm. I'd say England, Ireland, and Scotland.
Assuming you could afford it while still living on one income, would you ever consider hiring a maid? Or do you think cleaning should be "the wife's job"? I know some mothers hire someone to clean so they have more time for homeschooling or just spending time with their kids (which I believe should be the main purpose of staying home). Obviously hiring a maid is not in everyone's budget, but I was just wondering what you would do if you could afford it. Yes, I imagine I would. :) I'd probably hire a Christian young woman who was already an acquaintance of mine and have her come in and help one day a week as a "mother's helper." Actually, I'm pretty sure we'll seriously consider this in the near future, especially as our family expands. I think this is a wonderful ministry for young women.
Join in the fun: I'd love to hear your answers to the above questions. Do you have relatives visit right away after your babies are born? What is a typical day like at your house? Where have you always wanted to travel? And, last but not least, would you hire a maid (or do you do already)? To be continued...
Kitchen Tip Tuesday: Freezing tomatoes
I hesitated to post this tip because I am positive the majority of you already know about it, but I decided to go ahead with it since it's helped me so much.If you have a lot of extra tomatoes - either from your garden or from a good deal you found at the store - you can stick them whole in the freezer (cut the tops off if you prefer). When you are ready to use them (in soups, sauces, etc.), just pull them out of the freezer and run a little warm water on them and the peel comes right off. Then just chop and use!  I did this yesterday with some vine-ripened cherry tomatoes I'd gotten a few weeks ago reduced for $0.29/bag. I had popped the whole bags into the freezer after I bought them and then yesterday I just dumped them in warm water and slipped off all the peels then halved them and used them in tomato soup.
Visit Tammy's Recipes for more kitchen tips!
Tuesday giveaway: Magnetic jean pocket
If you are like me and always misplacing pens, this giveaway is especially for you! Sarah from His Dwelling Place has created all sorts of fun and useful items which you moms will love. One of those items is her magnetic jean pocket.  These handy and cute pockets keep pens and pencils within easy reach. Stick them to a fridge, locker, or any other metal surface where you would like to keep them in a quick and convenient place. They are made with recycled jean pockets and decorated with silk flowers, ribbon, buttons and more. Sarah kindly sent me my own jean pocket and it has a prominent place on our refrigerator. Now, instead of hunting all over the house for my dry erase markers or pens, I finally have a readily-accessible designated place for them! To enter to win the above-pictured jean pocket:-Visit His Dwelling Place and check out the wonderful products Sarah has put together.
-Come back here and leave a comment with your name saying which product or products you'd love to have.
-I'll leave comments open until Saturday, November 17th, 2007. Then I'll use a random number generator to choose a winner.
-I'll post the winner's name on Monday, November 19th, 2007.
-This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. only.
Be sure to check out His Dwelling Place for a variety of different jean pocket colors and designs, as well as other handmade gifts such as barrette organizers, burp cloths, and magnets!
Plus, if you purchase anything from His Dwelling Place through the end of the year, Sarah is offering a 10% discount to readers of this blog. Just mention BiblicalWomanhood10 when you check out for your discount to be applied!
Thanksgiving at our house
Since Kathrynne is finally old enough to understand and enjoy a little bit of what Thanksgiving is about, we decided to devote some time to studying about the first Thanksgiving as part of our homeschooling.  In lieu of our usual missionary story time, we're reading through The Thanksgiving Primer this week and next. And can I just tell you? I can't believe how much I am learning. I've studied about the Pilgrims countless times, but this little book has some fascinating stuff in it. At the end are some authentic recipes, most of which didn't look too appetizing to us (we're just not really into prune tarts around here and such!). But we're going to try making the three most normal-sounding ones as part of our Thanksgiving studies next week. Should be fun! Besides the usual family get-togethers and oh-so-scrumptious family dinners, are you all doing anything special to commemorate Thanksgiving? Tell us about it!
If only I were a better seamstress
 Has anyone else been "eating up" the Handmade Holiday posts on this blog like I have? And I can't really even sew. However, I want to make some of these projects so badly that I think I might just dust off my trusty old sewing machine and give it a whirl. If you are looking for some inexpensive and creative gifts, definitely check it out.Speaking of gifts, be sure to read Meredith's excellent post on Cheerful Frugality Gives. Graphic from Art.com
Q&A Week - Part 4
What cleaning supplies do you use? I want to save money and also use what is safe for my family, but I don't know what to use. In the past year, we've eliminated pretty much all cleaners with harmful chemicals in them and switched almost exclusively over to Basic H for all cleaning. Not only is it safe, organic, and nontoxic, it's also inexpensive ($12 to buy a bottle of concentrate which should last for at least a few years.) Best of all, Kathrynne can help me with cleaning without my worrying about her ingesting or breathing in dangerous chemicals.
You can read more about Basic H here. (And just for the record, I don't have any association with the company that sells this product, but if you order Basic H from the link in that post, you will be supporting a Christian family who does.)
Can you give some advice about wardrobe? I am trying to take evaluate what I need and don't need, and was wondering if you have any "rule of thumbs" for your closet? Do you use basic color schemes and then mix and match, etc.? My advice, keep it simple. As my mom used to always say, “How many outfits can you wear at once?”
Having fewer outfits means it is easy to pick out what you are going to wear and easier to maintain. I usually buy a small quantity of higher-quality clothes that I really like and wear these multiple times.
Only buy what you need, what you really like, what you can really afford, and what you already have shoes, accessories, etc. to match. If you find a really cute shirt on a great sale but have nothing to match it when you get home, it wasn't that great of a deal.
I also highly recommend you figure out what your colors are and what styles of clothing look best on you. This simplifies shopping so much. There are some great books out to help with this - check your library (Color Me Beautiful is one of my favorites).
Read more of my frugal clothing advice here and here.
Also, do you have any advice for (frugally!) using jewelry to complement outfits? My philosophy when it comes to jewelry: Buy a few high quality pieces that can be mixed and matched with a number of different outfits and stick with those. I normally buy a pair of Sterling Silver earrings that can be either for everyday or dressy occasions then I wear them daily for a year and a half or so. That might seem really dull to some, but keeping it simple works well for me.
I have noticed that your sisters have curly hair...is your hair naturally curly or straight? Two of my sisters have incredible curly hair, and myself and my youngest sister have very straight hair.
If you could dine on any meal you chose, without calories or cost being a factor, what would it be? Olive Garden is one of my favorite restaurants and so I’d probably go for my standard fare there: Cheese Ravioli and Tiramisu. Oh and did I mention the endless salad and bread sticks? Yummy!
Do you ever think there is a danger in talking about one's husband's great attributes or all the good things he does? No.
Oh, did you want me to elaborate?! :) As wives, speaking ill of our husbands or even just having a negative attitude towards our husbands is a great way to destroy our marriage and our man in a hurry.
Men need admiration. Just like we women need a listening ear and affection, one of the best things we can do to build up our husbands is to publicly and privately praise him - and do it from our heart. Now, if you were constantly comparing your husband to another woman's and telling her about how much better your husband was than hers or going around flaunting your husband's great attributes in a prideful manner, that would be a different story. But just generally speaking well of your husband and praising him through your words and attitude - you can't go wrong doing that! As Proverbs 31 says, "She will do him good and not evil, all the days of her life." Let's constantly be examining whether our words are building up, encouraging, and "doing good" to our husbands. I still have at least 30 more questions I'm planning to answer so it looks like I'll be doing another week of Q&A's. Hope no one minds! By request, I am also hoping next week to fit in and post detailing a day in my life and pictures of our home.
Frugal Friday: Using what you have
 One thing which greatly stretches our grocery budget is the creative usage of leftovers. I love to come up with new recipes using up those random odds and ends of things. Tonight's dinner was one such creation. We had some leftover black bean chili and some sour cream. I also had some tortillas, cheese, burrito seasoning, and some canned tomatoes on hand. I mixed the seasoning with the canned tomatoes and chili and then layered in a pan: tortillas, beans mixture, cheese, and sour cream and then repeated this layering twice. I heated this through at 350 degrees. And ta-da! Instead of throwing out those few servings of chili or letting them become a "science experiment" in the back of our refrigerator, we had layered enchilada casserole for without it really costing us anything additional for another meal. I'd love to hear some of your favorite leftover creation ideas. I'm always coming up with new ones based upon what we have on hand. And surprisingly, most of the time they are really good! Sometimes even better than the original dish! --------------- To join in Frugal Friday, leave your link to your frugal tip or post on something related to frugality below. Please link directly to your post. No business solicitations allowed. Duplicate posts will be deleted. And, remember the rules: Must be family-friendly. Thanks! I can't wait to read your tips!
Q&A Week - Part 3
It seems like in most of the pictures you post, your whole family always looks so dressed up and "together"...Jesse is often in a suit and the girls in adorable little dresses! Do you ever have days when you are in PJs until noon or don't have time to wear makeup? :-) Probably a silly question, I just wondered. Do I ever have days when I wear my PJs until noon or longer? Um, yes. More than I'd like to admit, in fact. :) I do try to get dressed to my shoes (including makeup and earrings) everyday because I've found that I'm not only more productive when I do so, but I also feel better and am sure my family appreciates me looking presentable. However, there are those days when unintentionally I just never make it out of my PJ's. For more on this, read my article, If Only I Were Perfect. If your husband took your girls for the entire afternoon, what would you do with your day (taking nursing out of the equation, of course!)? What a great question! I guess it would depend upon what mood I was in. I might tackle a big business project from start to finish (like writing an ebook) or I might clean the house from top to bottom. Or, I might curl up with a hot cup of tea, some chocolate, and a good book. How do you and Jesse find time alone with two young children (or do you?)? I hope you don't think I'm being nosy, I just wonder how other couples keep their relationship going with so many daily demands of home and children. We have tried putting our little ones to bed and then having an at home date, like a special meal and a movie rental but by that time we are both so tired that it isn't really romantic. We can't afford a sitter, nor do we know anyone trustworthy. Is this just the reality of this season of life or does anyone have creative ideas for carving out special moments in the midst of busy life with two children under age two? As I often say, good marriages don't just happen; they are something we have to work at. Making time for each other, even when the children are very young and needy, is so important. And it's the best thing you can do for your children, too. We are coming up on our five year anniversary and I have much yet to learn when it comes to being a God-honoring wife but I am so thankful to the Lord for the wonderful marriage He's given to us.
As wives, we often want to have quality time with our husbands in the form of one-on-one time to talk. Husbands, on the other hand (I am learning!), often just enjoy being together. In our marriage, we call these two different types of quality time "face-to-face time" and "shoulder-to-shoulder time" and we try to have a good mix of both. Jesse and I usually get up in the morning before the girls are up and spend time together - sometimes praying together, sometimes having lively discussions, sometimes talking and sharing our hearts, sometimes just being together in the same room. We've found we're more fresh and rested in the mornings, so it works out well for us. We often eat breakfast together and go over the plans for the day.
We also try to set aside time at least a few evenings per week after the girls are in bed to spend time together. Jesse will often sit in the kitchen and work on his laptop while I work on finishing up the dishes or doing some baking. We'll share interesting articles or things from books we've been reading. We'll talk about politics (something fresh on our minds right now!) or current events. We'll tease each other or share stories of things the girls did. (We love to make each other laugh!) Another thing we often do to have time together - especially if things have been busy - is to put the girls in their beds and grab a few moments to reconnect. This isn't the greatest solution ever, but it works on occasion.
We need these dedicated times (however short they often are with two littles!) to help keep the glue in our marriage strong. So find time, take time, make time. Say "no" to other things, stay home more - especially in the evenings. Plan ahead in order to have quality time together. Find times when you are at your freshest. Be involved in each other's lives. Take an interest in each other's interests. Have fun together. Smile at each other. Keep that spark alive! Join in the fun: I'd love to hear your answers to the above questions, too. Do you ever have days when you are in your PJs until noon? If you had an afternoon all to yourself, what would you do? How do you and your husband find time to spend together and what things do you do to keep the spark alive in your marriage (um, keep it G-rated of course!)?
More Q&A to come...
I just have to say...
I have never been more thankful that we've chosen not to do many toys at our house. We thought we were doing it for the sole purpose of keeping things simple but after all these massive toy recalls, I realize it could have just been God's protection on our children. It takes a lot to get me completely disgusted, but I am completely and unashamedly disgusted by all these chemicals and drugs turning up in toys for our precious little children! Anyone else feel as bothered about this as I do?
Q&A Week - Part 2 - Children playin | | |
Since we were out of town until a few days ago and Kaitlynn has been miserably teething and wanting me to hold her almost every minute of the day and night, I've been running in slow motion here. So, instead of coming up with a new post, I'm re-posting something I wrote earlier this year. Hopefully the rest of you will have more original ideas!
