Weather and Shopping

Well, we experienced our first snowstorm. It actually only amounted to about 6 inches of snow, but the temperatures were COLD! We spent all day inside on Saturday except a brief excursion to play in the snow for a bit. I was a little surprised that my kiddos didn't want to get out there immediately after waking, but I think they had an inkling about how cold it was going to be. It snowed all day and finally let up at about 8pm.

We woke up on Sunday to find that the temperature had dropped to -10 degrees F. I was starting to get a little worried that we would run out of milk; I had originally planned to go shopping on Saturday, but the snowstorm thwarted that plan. So we went on Sunday instead...all the way to Minot (2 hours away). This is the closest city with a Target. It actually is what I would call a "normal-sized" city: they have both a Walmart and a Target, a small mall, two McDonalds...I even saw a Buffalo Wild Wings! This is most likely due to the fact that there is an Air Force base there and a stable and large population that can support those stores. (There is a big joke in the Air Force when Minot comes up as a possible option for a next assignment: "Why not Minot? Freezin's the reason!")

Shopping is interesting. There are two small grocery stores here in town, but some of the prices are pretty high to make up for the cost of transporting the groceries into town. In a pinch I can shop there. If there is a deal that coincides with coupons I might go get just those items. But since I am coming from an area with lots of stores to choose from and lots of great coupons, it is really hard to just pay full price.

As a result I have been planning out two weeks of meals and very strategically shopping for only those items we need to make the meals. I only have a little bit of storage. I have been trying to utilize my crockpot (stews and soups sound much better in 20 degrees than in 80 degrees) and getting a couple prepared meals (frozen lasagna, chicken nuggets and fries) just in case I don't feel like cooking much. Spaghetti, chicken and dumplings (in the crockpot), and Cowboy casserole are a couple of the meals this week. I have been relying on frozen vegetables for side dishes so that I don't have to worry about them going bad before I get to use them.

I also have not finished my Christmas shopping. I hadn't even had a chance to get started until recently since we had to get packed up and then spent Thanksgiving week traveling here (where there are very few stores). As a result, most of my shopping has been done online. I prefer to shop this way anyhow. Target was crazy this weekend and they didn't have the things I wanted! Online shopping lets me comparison shop at my own pace and without having to bundle up or wait in line for an hour. As horrible as this sounds, people are just too crabby and pushy this time of year and it is not fun.

There are some great ways to shop online and get cash back or save money. I get emails every day that offer free shipping or new discounts for the holidays. I also use Ebates.com; they give you cash back if you start with their website first. I should get some money back in January!

I am crossing my fingers that I can get it all done soon - we are coming up on the regular shipping deadlines for most online shopping, so I will be out of luck if I don't!

--Katie

Update this week

Another week of getting settled in our new digs...

DD is getting used to the new school. She has a very small class; she actually started with about 16 in her class, but they lost two kids last week that moved away. That means there are only 14 kids in her class. This is a huge change from the 30 kids she had in her class before we moved.

The elementary school is also remodeling this year. They are actively working on a $8 million expansion to the existing school. They will have a new gym, a new cafeteria, and room for music classes and computer labs. They are constantly hiring new teachers because of the new students coming to the area.

We have planned an excursion: this weekend is a shopping weekend. That means we will most likely be driving two hours to go to a mall (we would like to visit with Santa) and to do our grocery shopping. There are small (3-4,000 square feet) grocery stores in town, but their prices are a little high. I was chatting with someone this week and she said she regularly drives to Bismarck (3 hours away) to do her shopping. This is going to take some getting used to.

I am trying my hardest to plan out lots of meals (there is no fallback...I can't make a last-minute decision to eat out) including some convenience meals. If I don't plan it out, we'll be eating canned, processed food all week! I don't mind. Planning is my thing. I have to plan these things so that if there is a big snowstorm, I have enough to carry us through a couple days if we can't leave the house.

They shut down the roads here when the weather gets bad. Travel advisories are issued and they should NOT be ignored. After living in a place where rain is the worst you have to worry about, I am reluctant to drive after dark here. There are TONS of large trucks on the roads here because there aren't any pipelines to carry the oil yet. I have been hearing about the recent increase in accidents because people try to pass a truck when they shouldn't.

The other thing I have been hearing is that last winter was apparently pretty mild. The forecasts this winter point to "normal," so I think we are in for a snowy first winter here. We'll just drink lots of hot chocolate and make lots of snowmen and spend the rest of our time in our little trailer and off the roads.

--Katie

New Surroundings

Things have been crazy. Our lives have been uprooted. We said goodbye to family and friends. And now we are here...in North Dakota (of all places).

Have you heard about this little oil boom they are having up here? Oil was first discovered here in 1953 and was named the Bakken Oil Field after the man who owned the land where it was discovered. This is a shale oil formation that could contain as much as 167 billion barrels of oil. They've had these oil booms before. The locals are still somewhat skeptical. This has happened and ended as quickly as it started.

But this time it happened during the financial crisis, providing North Dakota with the lowest unemployment rate in the country (about 3%) and a state budget surplus topping $1.6 BILLION with only 684,000 people living in the state (per U.S. Census estimates for 2011). All this during a time when a majority of the country was in dire straits. Many studies are pointing to a 30-40 year life-span for these production wells requiring 9,000 oil rig workers to maintain the rigs, transport the oil, and run the operations in McKenzie County where we are now.

This is still the Western Frontier. The nearest McDonald's is 45 minutes away (thankfully). Big box stores are 1 hour or more away. The nearest mall is one hour away. The base population for this town is 2,500 people. There are probably close to 6,000 people who live here now. Many of those extra people are men who come up to work on the oil drills and rigs and leave their families at home for many months. It is sad to think that some of these guys don't see their families for as many as six months at a time.

There is no housing. They live in RV's. Yes, RV's in -20 degrees. Some of them live in huge complexes of trailers or modular housing that the oil companies build. Rent is outrageous: as much as $1000 per month for just one room in a single-wide trailer.

We don't have a house yet. We are in a single-wide trailer. I consider us very lucky.

We have most of our stuff (what was left after garage sales) in storage up here until we can build ourselves a house. That's why we are here, not for the oil (at least not directly).

We are here to build a new community. We hope to double the size of this little town and give those 9,000 oil workers a place to live with their families. We may get a chance to build a new high school and civic center for the city.

They have so many people, but not enough resources. The woman who runs the day care turns moms and kids away every day. The grocery stores recently had a major crisis on their hands when Hostess went under...there aren't any other bread suppliers!

I thought I might try the the only pizza place in town tonight - they don't deliver right now because they had staff quit and it was going to be an hour and a half before we could get a pizza. The guy I talked to suggested that we put our order in sometime in the morning to make sure we could get our pizza when we wanted it that evening.

This is good. This is a "no-spending LIFE" not just a "no-spending month." It will take careful planning for meals so that I can make sure I have some easy-to-make and healthy meals on those nights when I would have called up the pizza delivery or taken the kids through the drive-through.

I still want to do the couponing and the "green" living, but it is going to be harder and more thoughtfully planned. I don't have a garage to store my stockpile. I can't have 30 cans of cream of mushroom soup; I don't have any extra room for storage. But I will need a couple extras just in case that big storm hits and we can't leave the house.  

This is our new adventure. Come along with us.

--Katie

Minor Lapses

So, I did end up spending some money, but it was mostly just due to timing. It is that time of year: picture day was this week. How can I not get my kids' school pictures done?! And DS turned 4 at the beginning of the month, so it was assumed that I would be getting his yearly pictures made. These things are acceptable, I think. You can't be perfect.

We have also been out to eat 3 times. It was mostly out of necessity one of the times. We were invited to a birthday party and had to drive quite a ways to get there; eating on the road was just part of the schedule. I probably *could* have packed a dinner for us, but we had been soooo good, so we looked at it as a reward. (BTW, no presents were purchased...got them out of my recently replenished stash.)

The other two times were more frivolous, but that's ok too.  Since we have yet to spend even $100 total on going out, and it is already September 21 (only 9 days to go!), I am ok with it. I also was reimbursed for some items that I had bought last month, so I call that "found" money. (Yes I am justifying it.)

I am ok with it. Again, no one is perfect. I still managed to keep all other spending to a minimum or even zero.

The meals have been going ok. I am starting to realize that crockpot cooking can actually save your dinner. There was once this week that I forgot to defrost some meat - so I threw it into the crockpot with a cream of mushroom soup and turned it on high...NO PROBLEM! Easy and pretty tasty too. Throw it over some rice, cook up some carrots, serve with a salad and...voila!

I am starting to get low on some staples, so I may need to visit the store this week for a couple odds and ends (milk, fresh berries, apples). I also have spent too much time on pinterest and found a couple great recipes that I already have the ingredients for, so I may mix up my plan a little bit too. We really only have one more week to get through, and it isn't very busy at this point! No temptations to go through the drive throughs during a moment of stress. Almost there...

I may have to plan for a nice dinner out at the end of this. But I won't go anywhere without coupons.
--Katie

Crockpot Catastrophe!

Well, I had decided that today would be a crockpot day. I had a crockpot freezer meal (my scalloped potatoes with broccoli and ham) which was ready to go...all fully assembled and ready to dump into the crockpot before we walked out the door. I had some time before the kids descended on the kitchen to spend 10 minutes choosing what they wanted for breakfast (!) so I pulled it out and started to put it in the crockpot. And that is where the fun began.

My round crockpot will not fit my oblong frozen crockpot meal! Since I already had destroyed the plastic ziploc bag it was in, I needed to find a way to defrost the meal enough so I could break it into pieces to get it in the crockpot. (I was kicking myself because I could have placed the frozen bag into the sink with some warm water, but there was no way at this point.)

First I tried putting it into a ceramic dish and letting it sit in some warm water, but even my biggest dish didn't really fit the frozen block of potatoes, cheese, and broccoli. Then I decided that the only way it was going to get in there is if I heated the whole thing in my largest pan and busted it up as it warmed up.

So there I was, at 7:45 (kids STILL hadn't picked out their breakfast) over the stove trying to get the stupid crockpot freezer meal broken up into small enough pieces so I could get the thing into the crockpot!

Lesson learned: know the size AND shape of your crockpot so that you don't have this same situation. I turned what should have been an easy meal into the biggest hassle ever. I have a feeling that if I had one of those nicer oblong-shaped crockpots this wouldn't have been an issue. But I will have to wait for October to buy one of those. ;-)

--Katie

**update: NEVER making this one again. At least not including the broccoli in the crockpot. Unfortunately, the smell of the broccoli is making the whole dish seem completely disgusting! Also, the potatoes aren't such a lovely color because they oxidized. So after all that, this one is going down the drain. :-(

Update on the September Plan

Thought I would update you on how our spending plan is going!

This last weekend I was out of town, which meant DH was home with the kids. DH doesn't typically cook. I knew this was going to be an issue. So I suggested to relatives that if they wanted to get DS a birthday present that a gift card to a restaurant would be a big hit. And it was. DS paid with his "credit card" for one meal at McDonald's this weekend. He was very proud to hand the card to the man behind the counter.

And DH actually prepared some macaroni and cheese (from a box) for the kids. Sounds like they may have gone out for a donut treat on Sunday morning, but I kind of already knew that was going to happen. ;-)

This week should be good. Lots of comfort food is on the menu. We had mexican chicken in the crockpot yesterday. Apparently the kids were not jazzed about it (MIL supervised dinner due to an existing appointment I had). However, I thought it was GREAT! Tender chicken with black beans, corn, and salsa over brown rice with cheese and sour cream on top. Yummy!

Tonight I think we will go for a convenience food. We have an activity that runs until 6:30, so we will be eating late. This would also be a good day to do a crockpot meal, but I just couldn't get it together this morning. I have meatball sandwiches and frozen lasagna on the list this week and both of those are super easy to prepare (even easy enough for DH!). I will let him decide.

I continue to be assaulted by marketing techniques and it is going to be harder and harder to stand my ground as we get towards the end of the month. I know I can do it and I will make it to the end of the month without spending. (At least I keep telling myself this.) You can do it too. There are only 19 days left.

--Katie

Crazy week

So this week was just insane. It started on Saturday when my car pooped out. My 5-year-old, completely paid for, nice new-ish car. I already knew it was due for a timing belt and a water pump, but this was completely unexpected. The car had to be towed. DH was going out of town.

Turns out the problem was the fuel pump. It is covered under the 5-year/60,000 mile warranty. I still have a month before I hit the 5 year mark. However, my mileage was at 61,300 miles. I almost literally said "are you kidding me?" to the service guy on the phone. He said something like, "It is just a fluke." And I said, "Some would argue it isn't."

A colleague, though, gave the suggestion to appeal to the service manager and start marching up the chain of command. 1,300 miles? Seems like they could cover something like that for me since I was just over the warranty limit. So one call to the service manager and his email to Kia Parts made it possible for me to save $400. WOOHOO!

I still have that timing belt and water pump to replace, but, like all periodic expenses such as car repair, I save monthly to make sure I have the money available when I need it. I am not going to stress over paying for that maintenance since I have the savings available.

In the meantime, things are going swimmingly with my spending plan! No extraneous purchases so far, our fridge and freezer are still fully stocked, and there is no desperate need to buy anything...yet. I really am starting to realize the amount of marketing and temptation there is out there to be a consumer, though. Now that I have to block it out, it seems even louder than before. No amount of coupons will persuade me to stray! ;-)

An update on our meals: we ended up having pancakes and fruit for dinner last night. Easy, yummy, and we ate up the nectarines that were starting to get overripe. Today is much more relaxed...we only have one activity today instead of 3!!!! Spaghetti and meatballs is on the menu tonight.

--Katie

First day...

So this is our first real day of no spending money...and I had to get the rental car. I am still waiting to hear what the damage will be for repairing my car.

Last night we started with Macaroni and Cheese with Turkey Ham and Broccoli. This is DS's favorite, and since it was his birthday we had to cater to his desires! ;-) I actually had found Annie's Organic Mac and Cheese on sale and just doctored it up by adding turkey ham and fresh broccoli. It is easy to add - you just add those extras to the pot as the noodles are cooking.

Tonight, by DD's request, we are having burritos and nachos. That's fine since we have an activity that runs until about 7pm, so easy is best.

The rest of the meals we chose this week include spaghetti and meatballs, pancakes with fruit, and homemade pizza. All of these are already favorites. I have a sinking feeling that the last week of the month will be filled with new dishes or meals that the kids are not so sure about. I need to sneak one in a week so we can avoid that!

We also got our CSA box yesterday - lots of cucumbers, squash, spring mix, basil, and oranges. And we got an interesting item: passionfruit. I never know what to do with this, so I mixed it in some orange juice for a neat treat this morning. It at least made the orange juice last a little longer! I may have to juice some of the oranges I have to supplement our store-bought orange juice, too.

DS, on my suggestion, received gift cards to go to McDonalds, Burger King, and IHOP. I am pretty sure he will be feeding DH, DD, and himself over the weekend while I am gone. ;-)

Things are going along ok...but it has only been one day. We'll see how we hold up towards the end of the month.

--Katie

Taking stock and preparing for September Savings

I like to do a budget every month. Down to the penny. I know EXACTLY what we have coming in, and try to estimate EXACTLY what will go out each month. Last month was a bust. Preparing for school, taking an end-of-summer birthday trip to the happiest place on earth, and a general lack of discipline attributed to a month that was off-budget. However, I am so anal with my savings (i.e. I have two accounts: one is for saving for periodic expenses and one is for an emergency fund) that it didn't make me go crazy. Well, at least not completely.

I *am* doing this "no-spending" September. (I am sure it is partially because I need to get spending back into control...)

I made my list of meals for the month (see here), I took stock of what I already had in the pantry, and made my list of what I need at the store. I visited Costco, Trader Joe's, and Vons. I still need to get to Walmart this afternoon for a couple minor odds and ends that Vons didn't have. It actually irked me a little bit because Vons didn't have couple things on my list, so I couldn't get all my shopping done in one trip.

At any rate, I ended up spending the following:
Target: $18.99
Costco: $61.81
Sprouts: $59.83
Vons: $161.83***

***Note: Let me qualify this a little bit...at the beginning of the summer I had purchased scrip cards from DD's school (if I am going to spend the money, they may as well get some of it...) and still had $157.06 left on those that had been budgeted for and paid for at the beginning of the summer. So I actually spent only $3.67 this month. :-)

So that's a grand total of $302.46 for all the groceries (actually $145.40 after the gift cards mentioned above).

And let me just say that my refrigerator and pantry are absolutely stuffed to the maximum. I am almost embarrassed to show you, but here are pictures...




















My DH even said to me..."Now you have found the fatal flaw in your plan..." ;-)

The kicker is that I also have to pick up our CSA box today. I currently have no idea where I am going to put those things and wish I had an extra fridge in the garage.

I will update you on this week's menu plan once I am able to sit down with the kids.
--Katie

PS Forgot to mention that this little experiment had perfect timing: my car is headed to the service department on the back of a tow truck today. I am SOOOOO glad I already had this planned out. Of course, I won't save as much, but I will have some extra cash that I can apply to the repairs and the rental car I will need to take me through the week. :-S

September Meal Planning

Well, it looks like we are going to try this "No Spending September" challenge for September 4-30. I went into heavy-duty organization mode because I realized I needed to figure out what I have and what I will need to get us through the month without buying anything and without going out to eat. This is going to be hard. Specifically, we have one day every two weeks that is going to be hairy: school, karate, girl scouts, dance, and finally home at 6:45. This day is going to have to be a well-planned crockpot day.

There are also two nights when I won't be at home. Going to have to set it up for success for DH so that he can slap something together easily (I am thinking pre-packaged by me or store-bought frozen lasagna or something).

At any rate, here is the list of dinners I came up with. Some of these have not been tested on my family yet, so I only planned for making them once. If they are a hit, I will plan to make them again in the future.

• Homemade Pizza (2 nights)
• Spaghetti (3 nights)
• Chili and cornbread
• Mexican Chicken with rice (Slow cooker meal from The Gracious Pantry)
• Burritos/Nachos (2 nights - meatless)
• Cheesy Ham and Potato Casserole (Slow cooker meal from The Crockin' Girls)
• Pork Chops, sweet potatoes, and rice or vegetable (2 nights)
• Breakfast for dinner: Pancakes and fruit or eggs and bacon (2 nights)
• Turkey Legs and Sweet Potatoes (Slow cooker meal from The Crockin' Girls)
• Slow Cooker Beef Curry over Rice (Slow cooker meal from The Skinny Ms.)
• Scalloped Potatoes and Ham (freezer crockpot meal)
• Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli and Turkey Ham
• Cowboy Casserole
• Poppyseed Chicken with Rice and other vegetable
• Chicken Tortilla Soup in Slow Cooker
• Jambalaya in Slow Cooker
• Frozen Lasagna (2 nights - Trader Joe's Roasted Vegetable Lasagna is so good!)
• Chicken Tikka Masala (premade sauce in jar) over brown rice and broccoli; Chicken nuggets and french fries for the kids.
• Meatball Sandwiches

I tried for as much variety as possible while still trying to utilize some similar staple ingredients (i.e. chicken breasts, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, rice, etc). I also tried to do quite a few crockpot meals so that I didn't have to do alot of prep. One of the meals is something I can assemble and put in the freezer, and then I just throw it in the crockpot in the morning and let it cook all day from frozen! Super easy.

Some of these meals are clean eating, and some are most decidedly not. But they are all made at home with all the ingredients I already have, plus some. I will end up with quite an extensive shopping list, but it will last us all month.

I also have quite a list of things for lunches and breakfast too. And don't forget snacks.

I will most likely be making about 3-4 trips to stores to get everything. I will end up at Costco, Vons, and Trader Joe's, and then maybe Walmart. I would like to try to use some coupons, but I am not sure what I will have available for the items I want to purchase.

What I really need to do now is make little strips of paper with the meals written on them. That way I can sit with the kids on Sundays and plan out our meals for the week. If I can make it through this month, I may do monthly meal planning every month!

Hope this helps you...Good luck!
--Katie

September Spending Challenge

I am currently considering a curb on all spending for the month of September. What does that mean, you ask? Well, that means that there will be no spending on anything but bills. That means no grocery spending, no entertainment spending (so only free stuff), no going out to eat, no going to Target...it means eating through the food we already have on hand and being creative about entertainment. If any extra, unexpected money comes in, then we are free to spend it (although the saver in me would probably feel guilty for doing that!).

I have until September 3 to get everything in order and stock up on any staples. So really it is going to be September 4-30, not the entire month.

I am tempted to try just to see if I can do it. But I can't do it myself. So I will first be pondering this notion with input from DH. If we both don't agree to it, then I can't expect DH to not spend. That just isn't reasonable to expect. If we do agree to try it out, then we can hold each other accountable. And then there is convincing the kids.

Is this something you think you could do? I have considered designating one day a week that we don't spend any money...but a whole month? I am not sure. I would need to spend the next week making sure I have everything I need to last the month. I have a feeling I do.

--Katie

Product Review: Pilot Frixion Pens

I don't know about you, but I HATE erasable pens. I think they are silly. I don't like the way they write. So I was skeptical when I saw that Pilot had an erasable gel ink pen.

I LOVE gel ink pens. They are awesome. But erasable gel ink? I had seen the Pilot Frixion pens on quilting websites - they are heat sensitive, so the quilting community has embraced them as another alternative for marking fabric that can be removed with heat (i.e. ironing).

So a couple weeks ago there was a good deal at Staples on these pens and I took advantage. I tried them out and loved the writing! It was nice and smooth, although a little bit light. The "eraser" on the end of the pen worked so nicely.

I was showing the pen to DH and my FIL and explaining how popular the pen seemed to be and how it was being offered in quilting stores online...and DH wondered if the writing would disappear if a paper was left in the car. He had a point: our temps are still hovering around 108 degrees and that means that the inside of the car is even hotter than that. I started to get worried since I had been using the pen for my planner (thought it would be a good use for it in case I needed to change appointment dates or things like that). What would happen if I left my planner, which contains pretty important information and reminders for upcoming appointments and meetings, in the car?!

Well, I got the answer this week. I had made a list for shopping at Target and left it in the car with my coupons so I would be prepared to go whenever I had a chance. After only a couple of hours in the car, the list was completely gone. :-( Needless to say, I spent last night erasing the gel pen writing from my planner and replacing it with good old pencil.

I still love the Gel Frixion pens. But I will be reserving their use for marking fabric. Keep that in mind if you also picked up the pens...I probably would have fainted if I opened my planner to find that all of my meeting times had been erased!!!!

Hope this helps you...
--Katie

"First day of school" Eve...

'Twas the night before school, and everyone was excited. The house had been cleaned and mom was delighted. The backpacks were hung by the front door so neat, with mom hoping that habit might repeat.

Pencils are sharpened, clothes are laid out, soon we'll discover what second grade is all about.

A chore list has been written, with duties for all; a room that is clean will please mom most of all.

Mom hopes that we will begin the year with good habits; but the toys and the clutter seem to multiply like rabbits.

While we know it will be hard work to organize; we are going to remain calm and keep our eye on the prize.

Best wishes for a happy, well-organized, and productive school year!
--Katie

Overnight oatmeal

One of the "fads" that LOTS of people repin on Pinterest is Overnight Oatmeal. This is not a new thing; europeans have been eating this type of breakfast for quite some time. There are plenty of places to find recipes for this american version of the breakfast so I won't bore you with that here. I will, however, give my review! I was interested in this type of oatmeal since it is soooo hot here, but I love to have oatmeal. It is nice and filling and easy to make.

I tried making two "flavors" of this overnight breakfast cereal this week. The basic ingredients are rolled oats, milk, yogurt (regular or greek), and chia seeds. Chia...you know, Chia Pets? That kind of chia. Apparently these seeds are native to Mexico and Guatemala and are in the Mint family. They have long been a staple grain in Central American foods. They are high in omega-3 fatty acids and contain complete proteins. So, you know, typical health food.

You combine these ingredients with sweetener, spice, and fruit in a jar and let it sit overnight. I have noticed several recipes that include storing things in jars in the refrigerator including salads in a jar and overnight oats. It makes sense - the lid makes a nice seal and the glass is reusable. Also, with overnight oats, you put it in the jar, put the lid on, and shake. All mixed up!

I tried the Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal and a variation of Peach Melba. I used regular plain nonfat yogurt because it is what I had in the refrigerator and I need to use what I have. I have also seen recipes that REQUIRE the use of greek yogurt, but I used regular yogurt with no problem. The Apple Cinnamon oatmeal was good, but sour. I, like many of you too I am sure, am so used to the oversweetened flavored yogurt that plain yogurt seems so sour. I did add honey per the recipe, but I definitely need to add a little bit more. As far as I know, the chia seeds didn't make the flavor weird or anything...not sure if I even tasted them!

The Peach Melba flavor (I used strawberry preserves instead of raspberry preserves) was pretty good! Our nectarines were way cheap last week ($1 a pound at Sprouts - I got a bunch and froze some slices for later) so I used those instead of peaches. I added a little more honey to my bowl when I ate the oatmeal. That time it wasn't so sour. ;-)

So my verdict is: YES! Good recipe. Will be moving that recipe from my "Recipes to Try" board to my "Recipes I Love" board.   

Let us know here if you have tried it. Which flavors are your favorite?
--Katie

Update: forgot to tell you costs! You can get bulk bin rolled oats for 99 cents a pound at Sprouts (has to be rolled oats and not quick oats). Get jars at Walmart and use any extra for gifts at Christmas (about $7-9 for 12 jars). Chia was expensive: $5.99 per pound. But you don't need very much. Hope that helps!

Organization!

I don't feel like I am well-organized. I don't have a "central command center" or even a space that could be converted to that. I am envious of anyone who has these. Pinterest makes it seems that EVERYONE IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE is meticulous about keeping their bills in one place, having the kids hang up their backpacks and jackets neatly, having the kids set out their clothes the night before...I would love to see these places when the system falls apart and the kids are running around crazy at 8:15 trying to find their left shoe to match the right one and mom is screaming "Where are my keys?" (Does this only happen to me?!?!?)

So I am trying my hardest to get organized and find places for everything. One thing that needed to be tackled was the kids' schoolwork. I had a couple bags, a box...but I knew there was stuff in there that I didn't really *need* to keep and I didn't want to have things tucked all over the house. So I found this GREAT idea on Pinterest: It is a file box with each child's papers. Each file folder in the box has that year's school picture and a label that says who it is, the year, and the teacher he or she had! I immediately got started. This time of year is actually a good time to do this since lots of school and office supplies are on sale. It also forced me to really pick the best things from their school year papers and put them in the file. So now I have two neat boxes waiting to be filled with their school artwork and papers all the way through 12th grade. You can find all the instructions and templates at http://www.dandee-designs.com/2011/09/organizing-childrens-school-papers.html.

After looking at the new Ikea catalog, I also realized I really am not making good use of space. I could really use more shelves and containers for storage. I have found lots of ways to make your own pretty storage boxes. There are TONS of these on Pinterest. You can turn giant diaper boxes into nice-looking open storage with some pretty fabric. You can make fabric covers to put over those plastic crates that are great for storage but may not fit with your decor. (Disclaimer: I have not yet tried these things...so they may or may not work.) There are also links to directions for tons of do-it-yourself shelving and furniture that isn't too expensive. I would love to have an entry table where I could keep everything instead of depositing my keys in random places, creating the 8:15 conundrum.

But these things will have to wait for now...working on furniture in the garage when it is still 105 degrees outside is just not my (or DH's) cup of tea. ;-)

In the meantime I will make do with what I have and organize what I can...

--Katie

Overnight Bread

Another great thing that Pinterest has: TONS and TONS of recipes. You have to be careful, though: people find recipes online, they pin them, they get passed around Pinterest...all without testing them. I have made some things that just were not popular with my family (see http://cvcoupons.blogspot.com/2012/01/verdict-on-crock-pot-mac-and-cheese.html). So I created two boards on Pinterest: "Recipes to Try" and "Recipes I Love."

I moved two pins to my "Recipes I Love" board this week. One of them is "Overnight Bread" found at http://simplysogood.blogspot.com/2010/03/crusty-bread.html. This actually is super easy and super tasty. Mine have not turned out looking quite as perfect as the pictures on the blog (see right), but they still taste pretty darn good. I haven't even tried the flavors suggested yet, but I would like to try them in anticipation of the holidays...the Cranberry and Orange Zest sounds like a really yummy holiday snack. I have done a combination of white and wheat flours and not changed the water content and it still turns out really great.

I also tried Mini Apple Pies that can be found at http://www.littlebitfunky.com/2011/10/what-i-made-for-monday.html. These little treats are yummy, although I am going to try some further experimentation. I am a big fan of crumble top apple pies (I am one of those weird people who doesn't like pie crust) and I would like to try that on top. Also DH suggested that putting a drizzle of caramel in the bottom of each little pie crust before adding the apples might jazz them up too. I envision serving these at a Christmas open house or on Thanksgiving when you want pie, cookies, AND ice cream. ;-)

I'll let you know how that apple pie experimentation goes...in the meantime, I will be trying Overnight Oats. Stay tuned.

Good luck to you!
--Katie

More details about cleaning supplies

Today I tried making shower cleaner. The recipe is simple: equal parts vinegar and Dawn. Again with the Dawn! This stuff is apparently made of pixie dust and other magical ingredients because I have to say I have never seen my tub so clean with such minimal effort.

I mixed together the ingredients (I didn't make a whole lot because I was skeptical) in a spray bottle, sprayed it on the tub and let it sit for about 10 minutes. As soon as I had sprayed it on the surfaces I kicked myself for not taking a "before" picture. We have one of those tubs that has the built-in anti-slip surface along the entire bottom of the tub. I have always just resigned myself to the fact that I would never be able to get that surface very clean and it would just always be a little bit dirty.

I am happy to say that I was able to get it *almost* completely clean! I have previously used scrubbing bubbles, kaboom, automatic shower cleaner, tilex...I stopped short of applying hydrochloric acid but I was tempted since nothing was working. However, this worked. Dawn and vinegar. No burning noses from caustic fumes. No worrying about what kind of damage it was going to do if I got it on my hands. You have to try this.

I also wanted to mention that if you like to have fresh scents when you clean your house, consider making these cleaning solutions and adding essential oils. Essential oils can be found at natural markets like Sprouts and Whole Foods. I actually wouldn't be surprised to find it in the chain stores since aromatherapy is popular for alternative cold treatments and other conditions.

In fact, when I was cleaning out our bathroom I found an unopened bottle of Tea Tree Oil in DH's drawer! He had purchased it on recommendation of his doctor for treating some dry scalp. Tea Tree Oil is a natural antiseptic and can be used in cleaning products for this purpose.

Lavender oil is also another one that is very nice for cleaning products. Lavender is a natural stress-reducer/relaxing scent. If you are just too stressful, add some of this to your cleaning solutions and relax! :-)

Essential oils can be a little expensive unless you coincidentally find some on clearance. But, they will last you a long time - a little bit goes a long way.

Good luck to you!
--Katie

So many cool things to post, so little time!

 

I am in crazy organization mode! I have become re-addicted to reacquainted with www.Pinterest.com. This awesome website is such a great resource for ideas that I didn't even know I needed! Great organization ideas, great DIY home decor, great crafts for me and the kids, great ideas for recipes, great sewing ideas...I am totally jazzed and MOTIVATED to do all sorts of things.

So I will be posting about some of the things I have done, some ideas I am planning to implement, and some for the future along with links. You have to be "invited" to Pinterest...I think this was an initial attempt to keep enrollment low, but I doubt it has worked. ;-) You can always email me if you are unable to find someone to invite you.

One of the first things I found while spending too much some time browsing Pinterest was oodles and oodles of cleaning solution recipes using basic natural ingredients. I have always felt like vinegar and baking soda did as good a job or a better job than many of the cleaning products I bought in the store. And using these ingredients makes me feel better than exposing my family to unknown chemicals.

So, I will talk about these great websites here!

There are several ingredients that are common to many of these cleaning solutions and that you should seek out if you want to make your own cleaners:

• Baking Soda: I was able to find some at Target on sale, 4 lbs. for $1.83. It shows that the normal price is only $2.16. I usually buy those little boxes and they are in my pantry for a while, but since I knew I would be using it for lots of different things (including cleaning AND baking), I got two of these large boxes.
• Washing Soda: this is a little more difficult to find, but I finally found some (although there was only one box on the shelf) at Walmart. It can also be found on Amazon.com.
• Borax: Again, a little more difficult to find, but I saw it at Target and at Walmart. This is a natural salt that has been used FOREVER as a cleaning agent. LOTS of uses for this.
• Dawn Dishwashing soap: I have discovered that Dawn is AWESOME. Can be used for all sorts of cleaning. Keep an eye out for coupons in the P&G Saver coupon book that comes out every month and you can get a bottle of this soap for $1 or less!
• Vinegar: Easy to find anywhere...buy in bulk and get the store brand to save even more money.
• Ammonia: see "vinegar." ;-)
• Spray bottles: I got great big ones at the 99 Cent Store for...99 cents. :-)

I recently put together a dishwashing machine detergent for my mother-in-law. She had been complaining that she was getting white calcium deposits on her glasses from the hard water we have. So I found a recipe for a detergent at http://simplydesigning.blogspot.com/2011/05/hard-water-stains-dishwasher-detergent.html. My MIL gave it two thumbs up. ;-)

I also just today tried making my own clothes stain remover. I found the recipe for that, along with several others, at http://www.picklee.com/2012/04/13/10-remarkable-diy-cleaning-solutions/#.T4jsfdXnHQI/ . It looks like you could probably click on the graphic and print it out to post it up on your laundry room wall or door. The stain remover definitely worked! (Side note: the stains I was removing were due to store-brand sunscreen...will not be buying that again!)

I will be putting together several other cleaners and some homemade laundry detergent in the coming weeks, too. I unfortunately have forgotten exactly what I paid for everything (except the baking soda since the price is on a clearance tag) but I worked it out and the laundry detergent will cost me about 2 cents per load. About the cheapest I can buy ready-to-use laundry detergent in the store equates to 12 cents per load. A little extra effort on one day to make the detergent ends up saving us a bunch of money! Hope this post helps you save some too.

Good luck to you!
--Katie

Return to regularly scheduled programming...

I have not posted in a while. We have been busy. Vacation, summer activities, laziness...all just excuses. ;-)

We just returned from vacation where I totally abandoned the modified clean eating plan. Our digestive systems are still paying for it. Our meals consisted of fried foods, sugar, fat, and processed foods. It was just too hard to control ourselves! I will say that in the short time we were on vacation, I managed to gain back the weight I had so easily lost by ONLY modifying our eating. So, it is now time for us to jump back on the bandwagon, as they say.

It is also time to start thinking about back to school purchases. (Can you believe it is almost August?!) I don't have the advantage of having a "back to school supply list" yet. Our back to school night isn't until August 23, so we won't really know what we need to get until then. Regardless, I am going to take advantage of whatever sales there are because I can always donate anything we don't need or that the kids can't take with them to school.

Today I was able to get some supplies for free or for very cheap at Target and at Staples. Staples generally runs 1 cent sales this time of year: you buy $5 worth of stuff and then there are items that you can get for 1 penny each. I should have stuck to that $5, but I found some things we needed (I always do) and spent about $25. I expect to receive $12 of that back in rebates, though. So for about $13 I bought 2 reams of printer paper, 2 composition books, 1 package of Pilot Frixion Pens, 4 packs of 20 envelopes, and 4 packages of 5 Bic mechanical pencils. I also picked up 6 travel tissue packages, 2 packages paper clips, and 10 paper pocket folders for 1 cent each.

At Target, there are some great deals this week: there is a 4-pack of Chobani greek yogurt for kids (it is pretty sugary...) on sale for $2.50 and there is a Target coupon for $1 off in addition to a manufacturer coupon for $1 off on the Chobani website. There was also a coupon in the La Times Redplum insert for $1 off 3 Roseart items. Target has Roseart crayons for $0.25, so I picked up four for free! They also have their girls' Cherokee polos for $5 each, so we got some for DD's uniform.

Target also has LOTS of toys marked down 70% right now. I expected to find them all in one area, but they are scattered throughout the toy department. It is great to have a stash of toys that the kids can pick from if there is a birthday party they are attending. It is also nice to get some Christmas shopping done on the cheap. ;-) I may have to go back to spend a little more time in that department since the kids were with me when we went today.

I have also become "re-addicted" to Pinterest, so I have all sorts of good ideas to try. I have declared that August will be our month to get reorganized and decluttered. (Famous last words, right?! I fully expect that when we reach September 1, I will be wondering where the month went and why I didn't do what I had hoped to do...)

I will share some ideas here and keep you updated on any new deals I find. Good luck to you!
--Katie

Homemade Marinara

This week I FINALLY made marinara sauce. Spaghetti and meatballs is a staple in our house and a go-to meal when things get busy. I will prepare this meal about once a week (and I say "prepare" but I mean "microwave" and "empty the jar into the pot").

However, marinara sauce can be very salty and, when checking the label, contains about 2 g of sugar per serving. Sugar in marinara sauce is common; sugar can be one of the ingredients in from-scratch recipes since some people don't like the acidity in the tomatoes.

I used a recipe that you can find at http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/Recipes/Recipe/Everyday-Marinara-Sauce.aspx. I made some minor alterations, though. It calls for carrots and celery and onions (a traditional mirepoix which can be the base flavor for many dishes). However, I was stealthy and was able to include some additional veggies without the kids knowing: I added green peppers and mushrooms. I actually almost doubled the amount of vegetables called for in the recipe. I used the agave nectar instead of honey so that there wouldn't be any strange flavors.

The kids ate it happily and then I broke the news...only when I said they were eating mushrooms did they make a face. Of course. But they still ate it. And I still have some leftover for lunch this week. And I still have some frozen for next week when DH gets to try it. The only thing I might do differently is try to get it a little thicker, either with additional tomato paste or by simmering it a bit longer. I may try some different recipes as well; I would think that it would be fairly easy to turn any marinara recipe into a clean-eating recipe. No sugar, low salt. The rest is all veggies! Sounds clean to me.

You should try it and see how your family likes it. Tonight we get to try Tuscan Soup (Ribbolita). Had to use the kale I got in our CSA box and this is a GREAT way to hide it. Now I just have to forget that it is 105 degrees outside while I eat my soup.

Good luck to you!
--Katie

CSA box #2

Here's our second CSA box...got a picture this time! Got some great summer squash and some kale...an more beets. Still have no idea what to do with them. But I really should do something before they go bad!

Sugar and cleaning up our eating

Things are going well with our "clean eating." Really it is a modified clean eating plan since I haven't completely cut out sugar. It is impossible. We equate certain activities with getting to have a treat like candy (we went to the movies to see Brave and of course had to have popcorn and candy). I know if I wanted to, I could really just change that thinking, but it is a treat that I am willing to keep. Besides, I am not so sure that I could convince my kids that eating berries at the movie theater is a normal practice.

I have been very surprised at what does contain sugar, though. It just speaks to how much food manufacturers cater to our sweet tooth. I decided to try a clean-eating crock pot chicken and dumplings recipe. I didn't follow the directions to the letter and it just didn't turn out very good. I will try it again, but this time was a bust. (In fact, I threw it out without taking more than one bite, so I was pretty disappointed.) I was surprised, though, because I noticed one of the ingredients was sugar-free chicken broth.

Sugar in chicken broth? I had just purchased some containers of organic chicken broth to be ready to make the chicken and dumplings and I hadn't even looked at the ingredient list. Could it be possible that chicken broth contains more than just water, chicken, and salt? I picked up the box and there it was: sugar is the third ingredient on the list. The total sugars in the nutrition facts amounts to 1g, but still; just another source of sugar! Even if you are being careful you can ingest sugar from places you never thought possible. I was shocked by this discovery. I just don't understand why sugar is necessary in broth. Unfortunately, this means I will have to seek out sugar-free broth or make my own.

Last week I picked up some agave nectar at the store. I was interested in the flavor and how it would taste with things like oatmeal. I have been putting a little bit of honey on my oatmeal in the morning, but I tried the agave nectar this morning. There isn't much flavor except sweet. I had these fears that it would have a weird flavor; in fact, I was afraid it would taste like tequila. However, it was perfect for my oatmeal. I also wanted to make an apricot/raspberry pastry (I was able to get raspberries for buy 1 get 2 free at Vons) and so I heated some in a saucepan with the agave nectar to sweeten them and make a sauce. We have yet to try that treat! Why agave nectar? Just to try it. Any sugar is sugar, and you should limit your overall intake of all sugars, but I was interested in this "trendy" sugar. It has been touted as an alternative for diabetics due to its lower glycemic index, but it is sugar nonetheless. Best to stick to fresh fruit and keep sugar at a minimum.

And since I am focusing on fresh foods for eating, I have shifted my couponing efforts to personal care items and cleaning items. This week I was able to get a refillable schick razor for $1.77 at Walmart (always good to stock up on these when they are on sale or cheap with a coupon). I am trying to take stock and figure out our needs as well. I had previously bought quite a bit on sale and with coupons, so we have been using our stockpile and I had taken a break from buying any personal care items. But we are starting to get low on a couple things (toothbrushes, deodorants, razors, shaving cream...) so I will let you know if I find any good deals.

Hope you are finding good deals...Good luck to you!
--Katie

This week's plan.

I am happy that I do not have to spend the next 10 days serving on a jury. I had to sit through the selection process for about 2 days, but at least I didn't get called.

I am starting to feel the effects of eating more frequently and smaller meals: when I went to lunch yesterday, I went to a nearby Panda Express to save time. In the past, I have chosen to get their 2-entree plate. This time I chose the one entree bowl. And I could only eat about half of it before I started to feel full. I felt good that afternoon (even if I did have to resort to eating white rice) and not at all tired.

This week I also tried Bikram Yoga. This practice is a series of 26 poses, done twice each, in a room that is heated to at least 105 with a humidity of around 40%. I had previously done Vinyasa (or, in my mind, "regular" yoga) and was familiar with the concepts of basic yoga, but I was interested in trying the "hot" yoga. A deal popped up on DealChicken that included 5 Bikram Yoga classes at a local studio for only $20 and I jumped on it. (For those not in the area, DealChicken is like Groupon or LivingSocial.) I will say that I consider myself pretty tolerant of heat (I can sit in the sauna or steam room at the spa for quite a while before it gets to me) and since I had previous meditation experience, I think it helped me to calm myself down and "ignore" the heat.

Nevertheless, this was about the toughest workout I have ever completed. There were muscles that were sore that I didn't even think I had used! I went to the class on Sunday and it has taken me a good three days to recover. And now I need to get back. I must be crazy.

I probably would not have EVER gone to Bikram Yoga if I had not found that deal on dealchicken.com. I frequently find deals on these types of sites (groupon.com, livingsocial.com, and many local news stations also have deal websites). In fact, I found a great deal on a B&B up in Idyllwild for half price, $20 of frozen yogurt for $10, and 2 tickets to a new movie release in 3D for only $10. This is a GREAT way to get a really great deal if it is something you are interested in. Recently I found a $50 gift certificate to the local beauty school for only $25. They do massage, facials, nails, hair...and all at a great price! So not only am I getting a good deal by going there in the first place, but now I paid half price.

Now that I am NOT on jury duty, I need to refocus on meal planning. I still have a couple items left from my CSA box, so I need to try to use those before I pick up the new one! I still have not had a chance to make some marinara sauce, so I will do that and have spaghetti and meatballs one night. I also would like to include some fish in our meal plan this week and see how the kids do with it. Pork tenderloins are on sale at Vons, and I need a couple things to fill in the holes. I will let you know how I do with my list and the totals at the store.

Good luck to you!
--Katie

First week...

We picked up our first CSA fruit/veggie box on Monday. I meant to take a picture of it, but in my rush to get it taken out of the box, sorted, and put away, I completely forgot. We received carrots, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, strawberries, beets, zucchini, radishes, green garlic, bunching onions, leeks, and red onions. We also received some purslane. Purslane is actually a weed, but, like dandelion greens, is edible and has the benefit of being highly nutritious. These are dark leaves, so they follow the rule that the darker the leaf, the more nutritious. You usually see this comparison between spinach and iceberg lettuce. I have yet to try the purslane. My anticipation is that it will be pretty spicy/peppery, so I don't think I will try it with the kids yet. ;-)

I also went to Sprouts to pick up some things to fill in the holes...we got some apples, spinach, mushrooms, grape tomatoes, peaches, blueberries, bananas, pork chops, 4 types of chicken sausages to have on Father's Day on the grill, nonfat plain greek yogurt (going to try to use this as a partial substitute for sour cream), eggs, rolled oatmeal, agave nectar (interested about this and wanted to see what it tastes like), feta cheese, broccoli sprouts, two tubs of hummus, a cucumber, some packages of couscous/rice mixes (for convenience), two cans of tomatoes (to make marinara sauce), two cans of pizza sauce, green garlic salad dressing, and some pitas and whole wheat bread. For a treat we got peanut butter cookies. My total was about $80.

Last night we decided to attend a concert in the local park. It actually was pleasant (even if it *was* still 95 degrees). I wanted to bring lots of healthy items instead of the usual fried chicken or hoagies and chips. So I shredded some of our carrots, sliced some cucumbers, rinsed and packed some spinach, and cut up some strawberries and mixed them with blueberries. We brought pita sandwiches and DH and I had hummus, cucumber, sprout, spinach, carrot, and feta cheese in ours. DD and DS had pitas with peanut butter in them. I also made a quinoa, green bean, corn, and tomato salad and tossed it with the green garlic dressing I picked up at Sprouts (super easy: cook quinoa, add in blanched green beans, halved grape tomatoes, and fresh corn kernels; toss with dressing). And of course we brought the peanut butter cookies for dessert. I have to say: everyone was satisfied, we had plenty to eat, we all had healthy food to eat, and it felt great to bring such great food with minimal effort.

This weekend I plan to try making some marinara sauce for spaghetti next week. I ran out of my supply of spaghetti sauce in jars, so I thought I would try this. I expect to get enough out of the recipe that I can freeze some for another night. We'll see how the family likes it. We will also have mushroom-brown rice risotto (may have to make mac and cheese for the kids), make-your-own pizza, chicken sausages on the grill plus salad and veggies, pork chops with zucchini-rice casserole, and maybe some potato-leek soup. Not sure what else to do with those leeks...or the beets for that matter.

Any suggestions?

Good luck to you!
--Katie

Shifting our thinking...

So we have been through just a couple of days of shifting to clean eating. I read the book; it all made sense. No surprises. You put bad things in, you get bad results. You put nice things in, you get good results. I like that nowhere in the book does she say you can't have something, just that you should modify it a bit. One of the major topics is sugar.

You start to really look at labels and then you realize just how much sugar you are ingesting. I thought we were pretty good...didn't let the kids get the "sugary" cereals, but even my so-called "healthy" cereals are LOADED with sugar. And we really eat alot of "white" and refined items (english muffins, rice, potatoes...). So yesterday I began to clear some things out of the pantry and get organized.

I got some containers to keep grains in and labeled them so I would remember what they are. I had bought some grains previously at Sprouts and could NOT remember what they were. Thanks to the internet I was able to re-identify them and put them into their correct containers. Note to self: write the name of the grain on the back of the bulk bin code so I can identify them when I get home.

When I visited Sprouts recently, I picked up some whole wheat couscous and some quinoa. According to the Whole Grains Council (www.wholegrainscouncil.org), 2013 is the International Year of Quinoa. Who knew?! These grains will go into some recipes I found through emeals.com.

I *am* taking it slowly. I have had oatmeal with berries on top for the past two days, but I haven't asked the kids to transition breakfast yet. There is too much open cereal in the pantry. I don't want to shock them and I don't want to waste the food! I will not buy any additional "bad" cereal, though, and we may give some away too. Once it is gone, it is gone for good.

I made pork chops with german noodles last night and tried spinach with the kids. They usually like the pork chops and noodles. The only difference was the spinach. I wilted it in olive oil and garlic. Yum, right?! Nope. No go for the kids. I have to keep telling myself that for some kids it will be 10 tries before they begin to like something. And the bottom line is that I am not a short-order cook. You eat what's on the plate or you don't eat. ;-)

I am proud to say that I picked up apples, strawberries, blueberries, spinach, a red and yellow bell pepper, plain yogurt, some grains from the bulk bin, some white wine for cooking, and a couple other items and kept my bill at around $50. I will be picking up our first CSA box on Monday and will let you know how that goes. I will try to highlight my shopping list and recipe list for each week as we get going. Most of this will require a restocking of my pantry with the replacement of sugary items with the clean-eating varieties of foods and staples.

This weekend is busy, but we are going to try making our own granola. This should be a fun way to get the kids involved with both choosing the ingredients and mixing it up. No better way to get buy-in than getting them involved.

Good luck to you!
--Katie

My return...the beginning.

So, here I am again...have taken too much time off from this blog, was way too busy for my own good, and in just three short days will have way too much time on my hands with both my kids at home from school for the summer. I have begun to make plans for us in my head. We *will* visit the library every week. We *will* contact friends to meet at the local playground to get wet in the water play area. There is no way we will be bored this summer!

I have also been planning and scheming about our meals and eating habits this summer. I will have extra time! I can try new things without having to worry about when DD needs to be at dance!

So, I am getting ready to start a new food adventure: clean eating. This is basically a shift away from processed foods and towards homemade items and simple ingredients. No more sugared yogurts, granola bars, boxed mac and cheese...lots of fruits, veggies, whole grains. This is a no-brainer. DH needs serious food help and the kids and I need to eat more fruits and veggies, and I think this will be the summer to do it.

I found a blog all about clean eating that includes some great recipes: www.thegraciouspantry.com. I will let you know if I find more...but this seems to be a great start. She has ideas for 30 ways to do oatmeal. There is a crock-pot chicken and dumplings recipe. This is great.

Almost immediately you are probably thinking, "But Katie, now you won't be able to use coupons! Your grocery bills will be OUTRAGEOUS!"

I am here to reassure you that I will still attempt to remain within or below my budget. I may not be able to use as many coupons as before, but I can concentrate on saving money on personal care items. And I can buy produce in season to get the best prices.

That is why I am strongly considering purchasing a subscription to a CSA farm. I tried this last summer, too, for a short time. (CSA = Community Supported Agriculture.) A box of fruit and veggies comes from a couple small organic farms in Temecula every other week. Last year the price per pound was about $1.80. That's pretty good for organic produce! This is highly seasonal produce; you can't choose what you get. But that can be good for kids who don't know any vegetables beyond corn and broccoli. It was like Christmas every time we got that box. We learned about passionfruit, Armenian cucumbers, and heirloom tomatoes. We discovered that the kids love cucumbers dipped in ranch because of the CSA box. See? I have already convinced myself to subscribe again. You can check it out: www.inlandempirecsa.com

So I will let you know how my menus go this summer. I will expand the menus listed here to include breakfasts and lunches too. I will show you how much I spend. Do you have more time this summer? Make that budget. I can help. Start making meal plans. Use mine. You've got three months. It takes 66 days to form a habit. GO!

--Katie

Menu Planning

It has been too long since I posted last. I need to get back into a regular schedule. If we can just make it to the end of school without going completely crazy, I will be happy. :-)

I thought I would give more details this time on how to make your plan for the week. I omit some of my steps when I write here, so this week I will *really* let you know about my process.

The foundation of all of this is a budget. I didn't used to have a strict budget. We used to just buy groceries, go out, spend money...we were living within our means, but I think we would have saved SOOOOOO much money if I had done then what I am doing now.

We recently (last year) discovered Dave Ramsey. His advice is just like everyone else's...but in a slightly different order. It really works. His advice about budgeting is to tell EVERY PENNY of your income where to go in your budget. Start with housing, groceries, transportation, then go to the extras like cable, restaurants, entertainment. In order to do that, you will have to gather 6-12 months of bills, credit card statements...all evidence of your spending habits. I know what our average electricity bill is and I budget for that average every month. If we don't spend all of that, it goes into an allocated savings account for the months (usually the summertime) when our bills are higher than average.

When you set your groceries budget (or any of them), be reasonable. If you have been spending $800 a month on groceries, don't set a budget of $200. You won't make it. You will be discouraged. You need a win. This is where Dave Ramsey is different - he talks about how finances are 20% knowledge and 80% emotion. Give yourself a reasonable amount and try to see if you can spend less than that. If you do, set the bar lower until you find the equilibrium. If you don't, try to analyze what you are doing wrong.

So now that you have your budget, Dave Ramsey recommends using a cash system. Emotionally, laying $100 in cash on the counter to pay for those groceries hurts A LOT more than swiping your plastic. Since we are on a tight budget, I like to buy scrip (grocery store gift cards) from my DD's school so that I am making a "donation" to the school to help pay for some of the extra activities at the school, but it isn't any additional money out of our budget. However you choose to do it, the bottom line is that when the cash is gone, you'd better find a way to make some meals out of what you have in your pantry until next month.

Speaking of meals, make a list of the meals that you usually make. I have about 12. I listed all the items I need to make those meals. Stockpile the staples: condensed soup, rice, flour, beans, canned vegetables, pasta, spaghetti sauce...Keep those items on hand so that you can always fill in with fresh ingredients for your meal. Nothing is worse than having lots of food in your pantry, but not having the ability to make any meals because you are missing ingredients.

NOW you are ready to plan your meals. This week, there is LOTS of produce on sale. Blueberries are inexpensive at both Sprouts and Vons, corn is on sale at Sprouts for 25 cents each, watermelon is only 20 cents a pound at Sprouts, zucchini and broccoli are 88 cents per pound at Sprouts, pork chops and flank steak are on sale at Sprouts...I spent $34 on about 3-4 bags of food at Sprouts yesterday!
So our meal plan this week includes flank steak on the grill with corn and salad, pork chops with sweet potatoes and salad, fish (there are some sales at Vons) with couscous and salad, we had burritos/nachos last night, and hot dogs and beans with fruit salad for a quick and easy meal. (Did you notice the salads? Decided my family needed to be eating more fresh veggies. ;-) )

It is an involved process to do this the first time. But once you have done it, you will have more control and more knowledge of your spending habits. And then hopefully more money in your savings account!

Good luck to you!
--Katie

Stockpile Tips in Preparation for Summer

I recently posed a question to a wonderful facebook group and they had some interesting answers. I asked them what each of them had in their stockpile. It led to a great discussion and insight into what everyone uses. There were moms who managed to stockpile enough diapers and wipes to last them until the end of their potty-training, some ladies who clearly need coffee as much as I do, and others who have enough personal care items to take care of their own families and still have plenty to donate to local shelters!
Many of the women have one room that they store things in. Sometimes it is a guest room, sometimes it is the garage. I personally store my items nearby the purpose they serve (i.e. laundry soap is in the garage just outside the laundry room so I can grab some quickly, shampoo and body wash is stored in the bathroom, etc). One of the women had a great suggestion: how about making a list of things that are safe to stockpile in the garage in the desert?

Of course I have this blog specifically to help people in the Coachella Valley to save money and nothing is worse than having to throw out food, so here are some pointers on what to store in the garage and when.

I did a quick search of the web for proper storage of stockpiled items. Most of the websites that popped up were in reference to stockpiling for emergencies, but the pointers they provide could apply to any food that you are planning to store long-term. Also, many of the couponing blogs are written by people who live in areas that have temperatures below freezing. They all have great basements or root cellars where the temperature generally stays the same all year. There's the key!

Most non-perishable and personal items are made to be stored at room temperature. So around 75 degrees is optimal. Unless your garage is air conditioned, move those items out of the garage. Canned items are not made to be frozen or heated before you open them, so keep this in mind when choosing where to store your items. Dry, cool, and dark is best.

Another consideration is plastic: if you have plastic bottles of water, juice, or other beverages that are contained in #7 plastic, do not store these in the garage if the temperature will get above 75-80 degrees. The chemicals in the plastic (specifically Bisphenol-A or BPA) will start to leach into the beverage, exposing you and your family to harmful substances. If your plastic bottles are not #7, you probably are ok except that the manufacturer has formulated the beverage for storage at room temperature and you might end up with something that tastes a little funny when you get around to drinking it.

Also, at the temperatures we experience, personal items could potentially melt...think deodorant, maybe the little lotion strips on razors, etc.

Don't store batteries in the garage! That is one non-food item that does NOT tolerate heat.

So what's left?

Not much. Laundry soap? Cleaning items? I would say these are safe to store in the garage. Soap, toothbrushes, and shampoos are probably safe too. Anything you won't ingest is probably good for the garage.

The rest? Keep it inside until November when it finally cools down again. :-)
 --Katie

May has arrived...

...And our temperatures are starting to feel like summer... no May flowers here! :-)

It seems we are sprinting to the end of the school year. Activities are building up to the final shows and parties, the end of the year parties at school are shaping up, and I am beginning to worry that I won't be able to keep my kids busy once it all ends! In the meantime, I have no extra time to think between now and June 8.

I was able to pick up some "real" work (you know, the kind where you get a paycheck at the end), so that's complicating the matter. In fact, I really shouldn't be blogging right now, but, as they say: "all work and no play..."

I was very excited after giving my couponing presentation to a couple people at the College of the Desert. That was really fun and I hope I get to do it again. I talked about how to get started...I feel like I need a follow-up workshop though to really go through the process and do a whole shopping trip with everyone!

My couponing has been crazy...on again off again. I still managed to save 40% at Vons last week, but it makes me wonder if I couldn't have saved more. I have to let it go and do what I can, though...no one is perfect. The Vons Just 4 U program has been great...there are alot of online coupons, personalized deals, and unadvertised club deals that you can find on that website. Also, they recently released an iPhone app, so I am in hog heaven. When I have an app where I can do all my couponing and list-making in the car, at dance class, or waiting for my DD during pickup at school, that saves me so much time. (If I ever have to downgrade to a regular mobile phone, I think I will go through serious withdrawal!)

I know it is late, but if you can get to Vons before tomorrow, they have a great deal on lots of items...buy 8 and receive a discount. Specifically, I was able to get Rosarita refried beans for 80 cents a can. That's about as cheap as they come. It actually worked out pretty nicely since I was running low! There are some other items included in the sale as well. They generally run this type of sale over a couple weeks, so hopefully it will continue into next week too. In a couple hours I will know for sure...ads will be in my mailbox. :-)

Also, the new P&G coupon insert came in the paper this weekend, so that's an exciting time in the couponing world. (And I swear I am NOT being facetious. It really *is* exciting!)

This month should be very interesting for shopping and meal planning. I am going to crack the whip and really try to stay way under my budget for this month. It will be difficult since it will be very tempting to go out when we are so busy. But this is when it really counts. If I get to the end of the month and we have only gone out a couple times, I will be really proud of the effort I made to save money. And if I get to the end of the month and we went out more than I wanted, it is time to step up the meal planning efforts. I will let you know what my meal plans are and how things go.

Come tell me how you are doing, too.
Good luck to you!
--Katie 

Happy Earth Day!

I have been remiss at posting here lately...last week was crazy. School functions, real work to do, sewing to tackle, cleaning up around the house; I even gave a talk about how to get set up for couponing at the community college for their financial awareness week! It was fun and I hope I get to do it again.

Because we have been so busy, I haven't been cutting my coupons lately. I have been just putting the date on the top and filing them and then just cutting the coupons I need for my shopping trips. It has kept me from doing too much impulse buying, which is the one thing that can undo your entire shopping plan and budget. I never would do it without having the coupon, but I have really focused on just buying the things I really need and not wasting time on scouting out the unadvertised clearance items. :-)

Today is Earth Day, so of course I am trying to restrict my electricity use. I will have to get on the computer later for work, so that is just unavoidable. However, I am in the process of doing laundry - I have successfully avoided using the dryer for more than 15 minutes total so far. I hung out the laundry and then we ran some errands and by the time we got back, it was dry. It is officially summer in the desert - we are into the triple digits. I would love to be able to shut off the a/c today, but it is just not feasible.

We are also going to have a *mostly* organic dinner. I already had pork chops and carrots, but we went to the certified farmer's market and picked up spinach, red leaf lettuce, green beans, a tomato, and a cucumber. It should be a lovely dinner full of veggies.

I also have some sewing to do, but I am going to focus on the hand sewing that I need to get done. I have become a quilter and it amazes me that women were able to hand sew beautiful quilts. It must have taken forever and maybe someday I will make a quilt with that hand-sewing method. I'll have to set that project aside as one without a deadline. ;-)

I would really like to find some time today to clear out the kids' drawers...one of the best ways to be kind to the earth is to reuse your items in some way. In this case, someone else can find a way to reuse the clothes that don't fit my kids anymore. We actually have several other items that can be sold to someone else to treasure. Maybe I will try to list some of those on craig's list today...

Springtime is also a good time to clean. But why use expensive chemical cleaners? Vinegar and water cleaners can do a great job at freshening up your space. If you don't enjoy the vinegar smell, add a couple drops of essential oil (you can find them at crafts or natural foods stores and they last forever). The vinegar smell will dissipate, but the essential oil will last for a while. I use lavender oil for a relaxing scent. Baking soda also makes a great cleaner and deodorizer. There are lots of resources online for making your own cleaners with readily available items. I will try to post some links later today.

I hope you are able to find a way to reduce your impact on the environment today. But I always remind myself on Earth Day each year: it is great to make a special effort on this day, but the best thing you can do is to make it Earth Day EVERYDAY.

--Katie

Crazy schedule...not enough meal planning!

Well, here I sit waiting for DD during dance, DH just found out he is going on a business trip...TOMORROW, and I have to do my meal planning! I have done fairly well at avoiding going out and keeping my refrigerator stocked, but I feel like I am not using it fast enough! And I did break down and took the kids out to eat...more than once.

So here we go with another week of meal planning. Last week was a strange one since the kids had spring break; it gave me a taste of what summer will be like. :-S Not sure if I am looking forward to having more time to cook or if I will be scrambling to find activities!

I got my ads today and Sprouts has some good deals. Their Roma tomatoes are only 49 cents per pound. I think I will try fresh tomatoes, garlic, and basil over pasta. DH does not like this type of tomato sauce, so this will be one to try on the kids. Sprouts also has hamburgers at their meat counter that I have been wanting to try and they are only $3.99 a pound this week. Of course I will pick up some broccoli (49 cents a pound), some baby carrots (99 cents a package), and maybe some potatoes (49 cents a pound). Finally, I may get some chicken drumsticks and thighs for grilling later ($1.49 a pound in a value pack).

This week, I will do the fresh tomato pasta and a salad or broccoli; steak, baked potatoes, and broccoli or salad; hamburgers on the grill with salad and fruit; pork chops with Vons' prepared sides (on sale this week); and poppyseed chicken casserole with carrots and salad.

I did the roasted buttered carrots from Cooking Light and they were a hit. Just put baby carrots or diagonally cut carrots on a cookie sheet, drizzle with a little olive oil and a tablespoon of melted butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake at 425 for 15 minutes! So easy and so yummy.

Hope you have a great week with a well-planned menu...good luck to you!
--Katie

Easter Candy...

Today I was able to leave the kids with DH, so I took the opportunity to get Easter shopping done. I had a general plan, I checked some prices, and I narrowed it down to three stores to get my goodies: World Market, Target, and CVS (had to pick up some prescriptions there, too).

World Market is almost cleared out of the best fstuff! They have great candy...unique and weird candy that is always fun to throw into Easter baskets or stockings at Christmastime. DH loves Abba Zabba (I have no idea why!), and they always have a fresh supply. They also have great Hello Kitty stuff and DD loves Hello Kitty. I am a member of the World Market Explorer program - this is a loyalty program and the benefits include periodic coupons and rewards on food purchases. I always recommend enrolling in loyalty programs and this one is pretty good. I had a 10% off coupon that I was able to print before leaving for the store.

Target has their candy on sale as well. They have Starburst jelly beans on sale for $2 each, then there is a Target coupon for $1 off two bags, and a manufacturer coupon for $1 off two bags. That brings the price down to only $1 each. We needed to stock up on Head and Shoulders and there were buy one get one free coupons in the P&G Saver that came in the newspaper today, so I saved 50% off those, too. I also got some Strawberry Shortcake bandages for only 57 cents with a Target coupon and a manufacturer coupon. The kids are always wanting to put on bandages, so I might as well get them cheap. :-) Just remember to get those Target coupons from their website. They CAN be combined with manufacturer coupons for bigger savings.

Finally, I stopped at CVS. I stopped at the red coupon machine and out spit my quarterly rewards ($9), a $2 off $10 easter purchase, and the reminder that I had a 25% off coupon loaded to my card. I went to the pharmacy and settled that up and then started shopping. Unfortunately, the CVS I chose is incredibly slow at getting their new price tags out; I don't think they had a single tag out. So I grabbed an ad from the front so I could remember which items were included in the extra buck sales. I got 2 M&M bags ($2 ECBs plus a manufacturer coupon), 1 hershey's miniature bag, 1 whoppers robin eggs bag, 1 cadbury mini eggs bag, 1 garnier dark spot corrector ($5 ECB with $15 purchase of garnier and these were marked at $17, but that's wrong; plus $2 manufacturer coupon), 2 revlon mascaras (2 - $2 off coupons and ECB's with $15 purchase, marked at $9.50 each, also wrong), and some new sunglasses for DS. I went to the front, ready for a great trip. However, CVS had a different idea. I tried one credit card and it told her to call. Then we tried another and same thing. For some reason, after using the VERY SAME card in the back, they declined it up front. Who knows. So then I thought (and even said out loud) that at least I was getting ECB's and that would make it all better. FAT CHANCE! April Fool's on me because I had to spend $15 in garnier and that moisturizer was only $14 on sale (!) and the mascaras were ALSO on sale and only totaled $14 (again with a $15 minimum). So I have to figure out if there is anything I need to get to that extra dollar on both. Argh. I was busy loading my items on the counter and didn't watch the little screen to see the prices. :-( I *was* able to save $35 today, though...there is a silver lining I guess.

I hope your experiences today are better than mine ended up! Good luck to you on this April Fool's day...!!!
--Katie

Madison St. Produce

I always drive by the produce stand at Madison Street and 111 and can see the strawberries growing in the field behind the stand. The kids and I always are amazed we can see them from so far away and we know they must be big!

So I finally stopped there to see how the prices were and if there was anything I "needed." I did get some strawberries; I got an overflowing pint for $2.99. I don't mind paying a bit more for local produce that I can see growing. There were no carbon emissions during the transport of the strawberries from field to stand (except the breathing person carrying them there...)!

I also got artichokes at $1 each; not a bad price, but I made sure to pick out the biggest ones I could find. ;-)

They had a couple other items like asparagus and broccoli.

All of it looked good and all of it was VERY local. :-)

Tonight we are hosting the in-laws and having pork chops with squash-rice casserole. This is one of my stand-by recipes, but it is a good one, a cooking light recipe, and one that gets the kids eating zucchini willingly.

I won't be able to post my plan for next week for a bit...for some reason I didn't get the weekly ads today! It is going to throw off my schedule, but oh well. Nothing I can do but check the stores' websites.

Good luck to you!
--Katie

Dinner tonight

I finally made some things from the Cooking Light magazine. I had planned to make steak this weekend, but of course we ended up going out one night and didn't really do dinner the other night (an all-afternoon party with great food and I didn't need to eat).

I had planned to make the flank steak they had in the magazine, but it worked out that the New York Strip was a better price and there wasn't as much in the package. I try to keep our meat portions small and cook more vegetables.

I made garlic mashed potatoes and butter roasted carrots to go along with it. I have to say that this dinner was a winner. The kids gobbled up the carrots AND the mashed potatoes (even WITH the garlic mixed in)! I had it all cooked up and ready in about 20 minutes.

I still have zucchini I need to cook up before it gets too old...sounds like squash-rice casserole and pork chops tomorrow!

Menu/Plan for this week

The ads came yesterday in the mail and Sprouts has some great produce deals that will accomodate some of the new recipes from Cooking Light! I am very excited to try a few. Some of them are really just my regular dishes made more interesting, so hopefully that will go over well with my family.

Here's my list of items that I am planning make next week:
Bacon and broccoli mac and cheese
Spaghetti and meatballs with salad
Pan seared flank steak, garlic mashed potatoes, and butter roasted carrots (weekend meal)
Make-at-home pizza and salad
Pork chops with mushroom gravy, spaetzle, and green beans
Chicken, broccoli, and rice bowl

I may pick up a frozen lasagna just so I can have one brainless night. I also still have the ingredients to make burritos or nachos. ;-)

The vegetables that go with these meals are actually all on sale at Sprouts: green beans and broccoli are 99 cents per pound, mushrooms are 99 cents per package, potatoes are 2 lbs for $1, and I can get a one pound bag of carrots for 99 cents this week. Sprouts also has cucumbers on sale 3 for $1 (remembering that you don't HAVE to buy three) and gala apples for 99 cents per pound. I will also check at Sprouts for the flank steak...they sometimes have ok deals on meat. I have actually done REALLY well this month on grocery spending, so I have a little bit of wiggle room. I can probably splurge a little for a steak dinner this weekend.

That just leaves a little bit more to get at Vons. I still need to check my Just4U savings and see what is on sale this week. I need to get a couple items for lunches (applesauce, yogurt) and then we will be set for next week!

I think that pizza night will be Friday - the kids were looking through the DVD's and saw Princess Bride and asked me about it...sounds like MOVIE NIGHT!

Good luck to you!
--Katie