Cheesy Popcorn

Super easy and not too bad for you!

Cheesy Popcorn
Pop 1/2 cup of popcorn
Pour on a little butter/ margarine so that the cheese will stick
Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese all over it!  Eat up!

This was so good I caught my daughter licking the bowl!

And then it became a hat. Run away!

Old Red Stain on the Carpet.

When my parents found an old red stain on the carpet in my brother's bedroom, I was super excited. I know how insensitive. However, that meant I could try some homemade stain remover ideas and on someone elses carpet.

I have heard of 4 things that can work:

1. Ammonia (Windex has this in it)- spray it on, place a rag over the stain and essentially iron it from the carpet to the rag.
2. Vinegar and water 1:4 ratio spray, sit, blot, spray, sit, blot.  Rubbing can make a stain spread.
3. Rubbing alcohol- same principle as either one above.
4. Hydrogen peroxide- can "bleach" so be careful.

There may be more, however the stain was only so big, therefore, these are the ones we tried.  All except for ammonia, I hate the smell.

The hydrogen peroxide began to take it up immediately, no sitting and waiting needed.  However, my mom, understandably, did not want to risk getting the carpet bleached- there'd be no fixing that.  Because rubbing alcohol is more expensive than vinegar we first soaked it in vinegar and then blotted and then ironed.  It began to come up, but the vinegar (or rag) left a residue on the iron that flaked off once the iron cooled.  The stain also did not come up immediately.  The process probably is going to need to be repeated a few times, but it is looking a lot better.

Overall, all three worked on the old red stain.  I'd probably do hydrogen peroxide for a light carpet and dilute with water afterwards.  However, I'm no stain expert so if you got a stain, you decided.  Personally, Fels-Naptha is my favorite stain remover of all time.

Kids Can (and Should) Work

One of the greatest ways to love our children is to teach them skills they will need in order to succeed as adults. I believe children, even young children, should learn to work.

I am a mom, not a slave to clean up after everyone in my house. Sometimes I feel I spend my whole day cleaning and the house is still a mess. I know it won't always be this way; I have a little helper in training.

My toddler is not even two yet and she helps with laundry- she separates the socks from the rest of the clean load. She also puts her own clothes away. Someday I might have her fold them, for now she does what she can. Toddlers can do a lot more things than we give them credit for. My daughter puts her own dishes away (we put hers in a lower cupboard so she can do this) and she is learning to set and clean off the table. From the time she was walking she was Mommy's Helper.  She helps wipe up spills she makes and when crayon ends up on the wall, you can guess who gets to help me scrub it off.

Children are capable, but we must allow them the time to learn.  Work makes them responsible.

I love this old article on delegating work to children- Delegating Work and Responsibility to Children, LDS Ensign.  I particularly love the section about Our Attitudes and Methods.

Not every child is ready for the same amount of work. I started small to let her experience success. She carried one or two washcloths to the bathroom, now she brings me all of them. While she is still at the age she loves to help I will gladly let her splash in dish water or uncoordinatedly swing a child size broom. Does it take time? Yes.  Will the effort be worth it? Yes.

Someday she will do more than dump dish water all over the counters, push a toy vacuum, or sweep her broom around the kitchen (often sending dirt in the wrong direction).

Does it take work to teach a child to work? Yes. But then again, motherhood isn't about a sparkling clean house, it's more about raising children who are able to take care of themselves.

Double the Rice

We had the opportunity to get brown rice for very cheap.  I hear its healthier than white so I bought it.  Well, here is some things I did not know.  Because it has more moister in it, it has a shorter shelf life, much shorter than white.  You'd think that might make it cook faster, turns out it takes about three times as long. So, now I have this rice that needs eaten and I don't want to have should be quick meals slowed by the eternally slow cooking rice.  That's one reason I cook a lot at once and eat rice twice.

The first night we might do something like Chicken Fajitas with rice and beans and the second night we will eat Ham Fried Rice.

When I buy ham all cubed and nice like that it usually means we had/or will be having homemade pizza in the near future.

Truth be told, I don't really follow a set recipe for either of these meals.

Chicken Fajita
Cook chicken a little bit of oil- cut into strips.
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 medium onion
cut peppers into strips (I have onion pre-chopped in my freezer, but you can cut it into strips too.)
Saute it all together.
Add a can of black beans (rinsed and drained)
Add 2 cups of cooked rice

Add a little soy sauce and heat through beans and rice.

While heating add spices (I add some while cooking chicken)
garlic
onion
ginger
cayenne pepper
season salt

Whatever you'd like- I just throw stuff in. Sometimes I add a can of Campbell's Golden Mushroom Soup.  Sorry, that's not a set recipe. It one of those things that changes every time I make it based on how I feel or what we have at the time.

Once heated I serve in a tortilla.


Fried Rice

This one is a little more organized.

4 cups rice
bag of peas and carrots (thawed)
1/4 cup dehydrated onion (estimated)
ham
soy sauce
onion
garlic
turmeric
any other spice you'd like to throw in
1 beaten egg

Heat rice
Throw in the peas and carrots, stir
Add onion, ham, soy sauce, and spices, stir until heated through.
Once heated slowly add egg in the center of rice while stirring until all egg is cooked.

If you want this to be easier, instead of all the spices and onion you can add a packet of dry onion soup mix.

Heat!

I know the weather is going to be warming up soon. (As is it snowing) However, it's better to post this now than, say, in July...

One cold winter morning in the middle of January, the power in a large area surrounding our house went out. We grabbed our flashlights and began getting ready for the day.  Soon the sun came up and light was no longer an issue.  We did, however, have a bigger problem.  Heat.

We turn our furnace down at night to save on utilities, and we like sleeping when it is a little colder.  Our house had not yet warmed up for the day before the power went out the temperature inside was determined to match the temperature outside.  Within an hour our house was 50 degrees and steadily losing heat.  We took hot showers, and bundled up in warm clothing, and while my husband went off to work, my daughter and I stayed bundled in blankets.  I began to think of all the things we could do to stay warm as the power company was unsure when the power would return and within another hour or so we'd be able to use our apartment as an icebox.

If you find yourself in a cold house, shrink it and lower your ceiling. Not literally, but find a way to trap the heat. Seal off one room and heat just that. Having lower ceilings (even artificial ones like a blanket or tent) also makes a room easier to heat.  I have learned things can get toasty in a blanket fort real quick.  I thought about setting up the tent in our living room. My toddler would have loved that. Then again the most logical solution would have been to go visit my parents who lived about 20 minutes away.

It actually wasn't the fear or freezing to death that caused me to pause at how unprepared we were. It was the fact that it was breakfast time and, living on scratch as we do, we didn't exactly have pop-tarts laying around the house. We probably ate cold cereal to fill our bellies, but what if the power (which came on about an hour and a half later) had been out for days? No stove, toaster, microwave.

We have a mini barbecue; we also only had half of a small bottle of propane left.  This month we decided to focus on heat and means of cooking food as our preparedness goal.

Propane- if we had to barbecue all of our food, at least we'd eat. If it got desperate we'd build a fire with some of the dead trees laying around and cook dutch oven.

I found some interesting ways to heat/cook, although I have not tried them- I'd be very aware of CO2 levels in the house if you were to do these indoors.

Heater with flower pots and tea lights- This is a popular method circulating the internet with plenty of critics to go with it. Who knows how efficient it would be- the youtube video I saw was of a very small room.  I'd think I'd try something else first. Such as...

Toilet Paper and Rubbing Alcohol heater in a can. All it is is this- place a roll of toilet paper (cardboard removed) in a can just large enough for it (some have used a quart size paint can with lid others have used a tomato can).  Fill with alcohol and light.  It will create a flame (duh) so keep away from kids and clumsy adults.  One woman stuck her heater in the sink.  (She also placed a baking rack over the sink to turn it into a stove)  I like this heater because cover it with a #10 can and you have a stove as well.  One man claimed he could bring 2 cups of water to a boil in 3 minutes.  Elevation plays a factor in boiling water so I'd guess it would take us longer.  Once the flame begins to burn the toilet paper use a lid to snuff it out.  You can then refill with rubbing alcohol and burn it again.  The average time I have found this last for was 4-6 hours.
I like the idea of heat and a way to cook at the same time.  That is the reason in a emergency situation I would try this method first...Or just go to Grandma's house.

A few of the Toilet Paper and Alchohol Stove websites I checked out:
http://www.iwillprepare.com/cooking_files/Alcohol_Stove_In_A_Paint_Can.htm
http://theparsimoniousprincess.blogspot.com/2011/02/canned-heat-how-to-make-emergency.html
http://doablesurvival.blogspot.com/2012/11/emergency-heatercooker-there-are-many.html


We also stocked up on some fleece blankets.  They are cheap, lightweight and incredibly warm. One survival expert said when he uses the space blankets (The small emergency foil ones) he wraps up in a fleece blanket as well.  Not only does this add extra warmth, it soaks up all the sweat as well.  Not very breathable those foil blankets.

Costco- A Big Price Tag

It was a warm Saturday afternoon as I pushed my over-sized cart at a snails
pace behind a rather plump woman.  As I tracked up and down the over crowded aisle searching for a hidden item- if it was even there at all- I kept an eye out for a much needed store employee as this endless maze of products was unfamiliar to me.  They must have all been working the cash registers with Disneyland sized lines in front of  them, because all I found were other small vendors within this mass of a store.

My parents were elsewhere in the store shopping. I am an adult, and I needed my parents to come with me so I could get into this store. That is because they have this lovely thing called "a membership". How backwards I always thought.  Yeah, let me pay you so that I can go shop and give you even more money!  Yet, here we were fighting the crowd for "an incredible deal", you'd think it was Santa's workshop.

Now I have a confession, Costco may save you more money than the membership, and since I was there, I must have thought it was worth going. I now have enough garbage bags to last my family for years and I was thrilled at the price of string cheese.  That being said, bulk is not always better and it often comes with a hefty price tag.

With only nine items in my cart, the bill totaled well over a hundred dollars! That was practically our entire food budget for the month. Lucky for us it wasn't all food, therefore we weren't going to be stuck eating string cheese for every meal. I did however learn much from my shopping experience.

• Stores that require a memberships take a certain amount of purchases before the membership has paid for itself and you actually begin saving money. Living on scratch, I buy very little. I'm not even sure a membership would ever pay for itself much less save money.
• As I wandered the store I noticed the bulk items were all name brands (except a few select Kirkland items). A little math, a knowledge of generic prices items at other stores, I discovered buying in bulk, while cheaper than the small name brands in the stores, was not cheaper than the generic brands.
• Impulse buyers beware! I buy things that are not on my list, I admit it. Difference is at a regular store the items are like $1-$3.  At a bulk store like Costco, that impulse buy is going to cost you more like $15.  Ouch, and then you wonder how you grocery bill got to be so high.
• If it will go bad, the price you pay is for wasted food.  I walked by the fresh fruit, but honestly, we don't need 8 pounds of strawberries.  It would be cheaper to buy 2 pounds, that I know we will eat then pay more money for food that will go bad.  In that regard, the "good deal" becomes 3 times more expensive than the smaller package.
• Similarly, will you really eat it? Look at expiration dates.  You have to buy a lot, will you use all of the syrup, mac and cheese, or yogurt before it expires? If you don't eat mac and cheese very often, don't buy it in bulk, you'll end up overpaying for the portion you actually did eat.
• Be prepared for a big price tag. If you really will go through 50 pounds of flour, five dozen eggs, or 60 string cheeses before it expires, be prepared for a big price tag.  You pay a lot up front, so hopefully you will not have to go to the store very often.  
• They also only accept American Express credit cards.  I don't know if you have to get credit card to have a membership, or if you can pay always pay with a check or debit- certainly you don't want to walk around the store with hundreds of dollars in cash.  Be leery of getting another credit card, it invites more opportunity for debt and lowers your credit score- something to keep in mind if you are going to be making a big purchase (like a house) in the near future.
• For those that like to use credit, make sure your don't rack up a bill that you can't pay off. Wasting money though interest is worse than having to buy your way into a store in the first place.

Beware when people advertise "great deals" for the whole store. Remember, they are making money somehow.

Vinegar in the Dishwasher

This was part of an e-mail I received from my mother-in-law awhile back.  Once again, love vinegar.

... she (my sister in law) fills the rinse dispenser in her dishwasher with white vinegar instead of the expensive products made for that purpose. So I decided to try it when it was empty. I have filled it twice now and it lasts as long as the purchased product and I haven't noticed any deterioration in the way the glassware come out. I don't know how that little amount of vinegar could have any effect, but it seems to be okay. I have also carefully poured vinegar in the holes in the sprayer arms when it looks like they might be getting clogged with mineral deposits and let it soak until the next time I run the dishwasher. I guess it helps!

Best Newlywed Financial Advice

Live Off of One Income

It Can Be Done

The best financial advice for newlyweds was not something I was given at my own wedding; it was something I overheard while at a friend's reception years prior.
An old man told the newlywed couple, "While you're both working and before the children come, live off of one income."

I love that advice, not only are you saving a whole lot of cash (assuming you both are working) but if something happens, such as a job loss, it is not a financial strain on the marriage.

MY husband and I place great emphasis on family and believe children thrive best in a traditional family setting.  Before our first child was born we lived off of the one income rule. When our baby was born and I became a stay at home mother, we were already living on one income, therefore, we endured no hardship at the loss of my income.  Then came my husband's last semester in college (the one that prompted the starting of this blog) and the uncertainty of a job after.  We were and still are very grateful for the savings we built up in our first years of marriage.

If you are newly married (or will be soon) avoid excessive debt, you don't need a house, a new car, or whatever else people may tell you, you need to prepare for the uncertainties that certainly will come your way.  Live off of one income and enjoy the savings safety net.

Muffins from Pancake Mix

So, it's not really "from scratch" but a friend of mine gave us some blueberry pancake mix.  To be honest, I'm kind of tired of pancakes.  Then I wondered if I could somehow make muffins from the mix.  Turns out you can.

This recipe comes from tasteofhome.com

Muffins from Pancake Mix

2 1/2 C mix
1/2 C sugar (I used less)
1 egg
2/3 C water (we used more like a cup)
1/4 C oil
1 1/2 C blueberries (unless your pancake mix is blueberry)

Mix and bake in muffin tins at 400 for 14-16 mins.

*I thought they turned out a little too pancake like to be good muffins- but we're not complaining.  We also found another recipe to try sometime we have store bought pancake mix laying around.

Soap Box

Apparently have a lot of rants about budgets, kids, home made living, shopping, etc.  That is the reason I've created my soap box; for all those things I want to say that aren't about making things and that don't really fit as a "money moment" although I love those rants as well.

Soap Box

All those random things I talk about just got their own label. Isn't that exciting?

*Some of my past post have been added here.

Shaving Cream- Kid fun

Most toys will hold my toddler's attention for about two minutes before it's off to explore something else. This is a fun activity that hold her attention for much longer.  Big and little kids alike will enjoy this simple activity.

On a clean table put some cheap shaving cream and let you kids have at it. You can add food coloring but be prepared for stained little hands.  Also, if you have a kid who sticks everything in their mouth, you can put shaving cream in a ziplock bag and tape it closed. They will have fun squishing it. That's when the food coloring is fun.

We cover up with aprons or "Get Messy Shirts" (big t-shirt from $1 store) as shaving cream doesn't always stay just on the table.

Best part is when you are done there is no clean up, simply rub it into the table until it disappears!