Frugal Fridays.

I believe there are so many ways to be frugal it can blow your mind. I think the number one way to stay frugal is to stay home. I notice that when I go out to run errands or maybe window shop just to get out of the house I still spend a ton of money. If the kids are with me then we stop to feed someone before returning home or they want extra stuff at the store, ect. It can really add up. So I stay home as much as my sanity allows it, and we visit relatives or the library instead of the mall. I also notice that I spend less money if I do my grocery shopping alone and at a actual grocery store not a big megastore with everything. Just think about it, do I really need to go out or can you put it off till next time. the answer might suprise you!

Potato Cakes.

I love these things, you can make them with all the leftovers in the fridge and have a great side dish or I even ate the leftover tater cakes the next day with scrambled eggs for breakfast. I started out with leftover mashed potatoes, which are hard to come by at our house. I have n numerous occasions caught my dear midnight snacking husband eating them cold out of the fridge.(yuck) Anyway I'll try to put these ingredients in some sort of order for you so they don't get all lost in my ramblings.

Start with leftover mashed taters I had about 2 cups
Add 2 eggs
1/4 cup seasoned flour or breadcrumbs, flour, crushed crackers, ect.
I added leftover cheese, I had a hunk of Velveeta with green chilies and I just cubed it into tiny pieces and threw it in.
I didn't have any but on occasion I add onions, broccoli, ham, bacon, and little tidbits of stuff left in the fridge. (sausage is great)
Mix it all well, get your frying pan hot with the bottom coated in oil.
I use an ice cream scoop to put big scoops in the hot oil and then flatten.
Fry on each side until golden brown and eat the first few done with a fork while still nice and warm. You know just for quality control. If you don't use the seasoned flour you may have to add salt, and I always add pepper. I hope someone out there tries these and loves em as much as me.

How I loath the Flu Virus!

I have been home for the past week with a sick boy.(who I will refer to as the mechanic) The mechanic(because he must know how things work) ran a high fever from Friday to Tuesday. The doctor put him on an antibiotic because he wanted to prevent pneumonia. Yesterday he was starting to get back to his own old whiny full or salt and vinegar self. It was also the first day he played since being sick, however my little tank(whom I need to rename) has a horrible cough.(like a 50 year old smoker)Also the negotiator(because he thinks he can get whatever he wants by hashing it out) whom I thought was over all the junk, now has the most horrible cough and temperament, which means he is sick as a dawg! I have had no sleep, and my meals are on the fly. No one here is interested in eating, they only want to be held, the tank wants to nurse all day, which literally sucks because she was starting to wean herself. My poor hubby is wondering what happened to dinner and because of the lack of sleep I just don't really care! Please pray for my kids and don't forget to wash your hands. Oh, and your kids hands!

Help for growing families.

Well my tip is for getting kids out the door in the mornings. I have one that goes to school and he is so not a morning person.(takes after his daddy) I pack his lunch the night before so all I have to do is stick it in his lunch bag. I also freeze a little juice in a water bottle and add to it in the morning so he will have a cold drink at lunch. When he gets off the bus and takes his shoes off I insist that they are left near the door. We use to have a shoe box but for some crazy reason I put it in my closet and that's where is still remains. Coats and backpacks are also left near the door so everything is easy to get to and find. We do baths at night so all he has to do is get dressed, brush teeth, and sometimes wet down hair. I also try to always have the coffee maker ready to go so all I have to do is turn it on. It all works out so much better, and less stress. Next year when I have two going we will probable start laying clothes our the night before or buying some of those nifty closet organizer daily things. Hope this helps someone.

Wordless Wednessday.

How to store toys.

This idea was taken from my sister in law J. My mother in law gave us the wardrobe and I couldn't fit it in my room. So I decided to take J's advice, and it is great. Now that the floor is pretty much done and I am slowly weeding my way through our belongings I am feeling more in control about the toy over abundance. Some toys will be relocating to the goodwill drop off point, others will be stored in a tote to be switched out in a couple of months. Now if I can go through the rest of our belongings this way I will have a much neater house and calmer me. I got a boy here with the flu so please send us some prayers. Have a great one.

Thoughtful Thursday.

I am having a great day. I feel good and I'm always pretty happy.(except when I'm miffed about something) Half of my floor is so beautiful and I can't believe we were so lucky to have the family we do. A great big THANK YOU goes out to my in laws for the flooring. We have to buy some but they donated most of what we needed. Well I have a few thoughts for today, and I am sure you all are just waiting on pins and needles to see what the housewife/momma is thinking, right? The first thought of the day is: Have you ever notice how a child's eyes are perfectly spaced so you can give them kisses smack dab in the center of the forehead? If you haven't noticed you need too. Also this morning I opened a kashi cereal bar to eat with my coffee and with the first bite I could have sworn I was eating chapstick. It wasn't, it was the cereal bar, it had hardly no taste and I will buy no more. I guess it'll have to be the ole store brand or nutrigrain on sale. Today I will be making chicken salad and the recipe is as follows.
Buy chicken breasts, preferably on sale. Take home and boil about 45 minutes.
I also add spices like basil, thyme, ect. Whatever floats your boat.
Let cool and remove from broth, pour broth in a jar with lid or freezer bag.
Save the broth! It works great in gravy, soup, mashed potaters, or whatever.
De bone, and deskin chicken, take a fork and tear the chicken or a knife and
cube. Add a chopped celery stalk, then mix with mayo until well coated. This
is my mother in laws recipe and she also adds sweet pickle relish which I
don't always have. You can also add chopped apple, sliced grapes, raisins, or
cranberries, oh and don't forget the nuts. So yummy on a crescent or bagel.
The beauty of this is you can fit it to your taste, and make as little or as
much as you like. Good luck, hope you like it.

Wordless Wednessday.

How is it going?

Well I really don't know where to begin. I guess I'll admit to not getting in my thirty minutes on Sunday or Monday. My husband has been laying wood floor in our livingroom and between all the mess and keeping the kids out of his hair until almost midnight both of those nights I was wore out. I was lifting the tank and doing leg lifts with her but I never timed it. I am back on track now though. Thanks the good Lord for the strenght to carry on because normally I would use something like that as an excuse to quit. My husband is half way through with the floor and we now have our t.v. and computer hooked back up which makes me happy. I am trying hard to be a better person. I have a hard time not getting upset over what others are doing and the truth of it is I need to get over it. If it doesn't affect me or my family I will now let it go. If we all minded our own and tried not to judge imagine how happy and peaceful we would be. I'll blog later on the flooring as soon as I download the pictures and get the correct words from my husband on what exactly he did to fix the huge hump in the center of the floor. Our house is a modular and where it was joined the floor had a big hump which had to be level in order to lay the floor. Well I guess that's enough ranting for 0ne day. Hope everyone has a great one.

Frugal Valetine.

My Valentines day will be spent at home with the ones I love. I don't need flowers or jewelry.(notice I didn't mention candy) I just need my hubby and youngins. Hopefully everyone in a good mood. I don't see the big hype, I mean one day a year people expect to get rewarded for loving someone. B.S. by those initials I refer to Bull Snot. When I was younger I guess I felt the same way but after having kids I realize that it isn't worth it to find a sitter and leave the kids or load everyone up and go to a restaurant where we will have to wait an hour to even be seated in the first place. I do however let my family know I love them. I get each of my kids a card and write something endearing and usually give them a little box of chocolate. My husband usually gets a love note and we cook dinner and have it at home. I love me some salmon by the way. Unless it's on sale we usually only eat it on Valentines and my birthday. I'm not trying to knock the holiday, however I just wish people were less materialistic. So my tip is to stay home with your sweeties and have a pajama party. Watch love movies, eat popcorn, and just enjoy each other. Home is where the heart is.

Thirty days 30 minutes update!

So have you ever felt fat, wore down, and too big for your britches? I have for quite sometime, but with three kids and the weather being so cold all I've done this winter is put on a couple of good blubber pounds.(ya know to keep warm with) No seriously it was so easy to do. The number one reason is I like to eat, I also am a stay at home mom who likes to cook and then I've found myself eating when I get irritated. That one is new for me. So I have been watching myself when I get irritated and making sure not to grab stuff just to put something in my mouth so I won't run it. Instead I have to admit I've been running my mouth to my husband who it normally the cause for the irritation in the first place. I'm working on that too! Anyway I refuse to diet. I want to eat healthier, but I will eat what I want. My goal is after these thirty days are over to start eating a serving on a salad plate but still eat what I want. Right now I am working on not going back for seconds, which is hard when you have a 16 month old mooching off of your plate. It takes alot to fill up a tank ya know. Today is number twelve on my exercise day. At first I had to force myself to get on the gazelle but now not so much. I have to break it up some days and do fifteen now and then an hour from now fifteen more. It's like that when you have kids. If you have kids then you know exactly what I am talking about. Not a full minute to yourself usually. So this past week has been springlike around our area so I have either been walking or breaking the gazelle time in half and walking the other half. Yesterday I used the gazelle and then walked and then came in and did the rest of the time on the gazelle and I had to stop myself from climbing on it again last night. I have energy!!! I haven't lost anything. I honestly don't feel like I've lost a pound but I feel wonderful. I also feel good because at least I know I am doing something for myself and my heart. Every day after completing my thirty minutes of time I have put a sticker on the calendar, it helps me look at what I have done. I have never made it this far with any kind of exercise plan that I've carried on at home or by myself. Usually it lasts for about three days and then I miss a day and then I might make it two more days and then it's kicked to the curb, but this time I am determined to feel better and be able to keep with my kids. There are so many things we want to do this summer and I don't want to feel to fat and frumpy to get out there and do them. Please pray for me and if you feel wore down and tired then get you a timer and just try to do thirty a day. I felt better after the first week. I noticed that I am still on feet going strong at eighth or nine at night when normally I would be sitting on the couch wondering how on earth I am going to get these kids to bed when I just want to go to sleep.lol Anyway I guess now you all know what I'm doing and please wish me luck.

Vacation Plans on a budget.

We love to go to Holden Beach N.C. It is so relaxing to have a whole week of play time with our kids. We love the sand in our toes, the sun on our faces, the ocean breeze, and watching our kids have a blast. We like to be beach bums while on vacation. We spend the whole week on the beach and usually we don't shop. What we don't like is the cost. After having kids we realized how awesome staying oceanfront really is. No crossing the street, or huffing it with chairs, cooler, toys, and don't forget the kids! However it is way more expensive, throw in the fact that I got one in school and another will be this coming year and that puts us vacationing right in the smack middle of prime season. Prime season is when they raise the cost of the houses during the most used time, sometimes by as much as a thousand dollars or more. I, however do not have that kind of money to shell out and ex specially since I quit work to stay home. This is what we do. We rent a house with family. You could also try this with friends. I find out who wants to go and then what everyone's budget is. Then I spend the next two months looking at houses and trying to get everyone what they want. Sometimes that doesn't work out and sometimes it does. Then husband who feels sorry for me and tired of my bellyaching over how to make everyone happy gets on the computer and finds the cutest little house and within every ones budget. So after the house was divided among everyone we our share of the house was eight hundred dollars. That is about three to four hundred more than we've spent in previous years but still cheaper than a motel in Myrtle. We ride down with my mother who fills up before we leave and we pay the gas on the way back, this saves us alot depending on how high gas prices are last year it saved us one hundred dollars! We also eat at the house. When you have a whole house full of people it's nice to take turns and each couple cooks on different nights or we just all pitch in and do what needs to be done. We eat like kings most of the week and if we want to eat out we usually eat lunch out because it's cheaper and we can get the kids in without a long wait. We also eat our fair share from the pier.(best burgers and fries) I hope that helps someone out there! Can you tell I'm daydreaming of summer? Have a great day.

30 minutes daily for 30 days

That is what I am trying to do. I mean what is just thirty minutes out of twenty four hours? I believe I can keep it up for a minimum of thirty days. Then if I still don't like it I can quit. In case you don't have a clue as to what I am referring to it's exercise. No it's not to lose weight. I know I'm overweight, but I am more worried about being wore down to nothing and having no energy to chase youngins.
These boys seem to run laps around me and now the tank is climbing every chair in sight and to be honest she is getting awful heavy to tote around. I've been cleaning out some junk cabinets today and trying to get a little bit more organized so please send up a prayer for me. I hope everyone is doing good and have a great day!

How goes it on a Sunday?

Well the answer to that question it the same as every other day. Some are good and some are not. I offended someone today a church and it was a complete accident. What I was talking about got taken completely out of context and another church goer picked it up and went with it in another direction and one person was left feeling angry. I have written that person a note apologizing and I have now decided to let it go. Normally I would worry myself into the ground but I really don't think God wants us to be miserable. I feel o.k. now. We also took the kids to the local nursing home yesterday to hand out tissues with their Sunday school teacher. I felt like a horrible human being. I cried when I left. I hate that so many people have to spend their last days on earth in a retirement home. I said a prayer thanking the good Lord that my family has pulled together to take care of my Grandmother. It also made me realise that I need to help more. I am so thankful that my husbands grandparents died in the warmth of their own home with someone the loved. I hate death. I think it's horrible that we are all just here to die. I am so trying to read my bible daily and teach my kids the right things but sometimes I have issues and wonder how on this earth can I teach them when I am so lost? Anyway it is a beautiful day and it feels like spring outside. Hubby took the boys fishing and I am trying to clean the horrible mess we call the kitchen. We went in half with my daddy and bought a hog which we then had made into sausage and pork loin.(yummo) Any way I figured it up and we have $1.72 per pound. That ain't bad at all around here. Plus it is being green by buying local and it's in paper. Hope everyone has a great Monday!