Definitely not rocket science

So we are still sick, and I still start too many posts with the word So.

And the decongestant we use for Miss Pear has been recalled. So I have a call into her pediatrician, but this reminds me that I have yet to decide on one in our new city.

And now I have to return a platter to a friend, and am loath to return it empty because that is just not polite. So what to do. Brain cells are all sleeping or want to be....then I looked out the window, and saw my lettuce!

My lettuce that needed to be harvested so that it would keep producing! Problem solved! I quickly picked a bag of lettuce and I am set!

Am I the only one who cannot return a platter/dish empty?

What do you usually do?

Katharina Von Bora: A Reformation Life

Before all the chaos of trying to manage Mr. Pear's 80 Mile commute, and then finally moving, and getting settled in our new home I read a book I wanted to tell you about, it was:

Katharina Von Bora: A Reformation Life

I loved reading about a woman of the reformation, how she was such an asset to her husband, how she cared for her family, and how she clearly and cleverly used her brain in each and every thing she did. The way she care for her family inspired me. The way she used everything she had on hand to the maximum potential and did without if they did not have it challenged me. And the way she practiced hospitality is nothing short of phenomenal.

She faced hardship with grace and determination, never forgetting exactly what her purpose was.

If you are looking for an excellent biography of a strong woman who was an integral part of the reformation by being a keeper at home, I cannot recommend this book highly enough! It is an excellent biography and is wonderfully written! It has solid scholarship behind it without the flat writing that usually accompanies scholarly writings, in fact, it is exceptionally easy to read!

From the reviews I have read this is the first comprehensive biography in English available about her, and is roundly praised as excellent.

What other wonderful biographies are out there? I loved reading about Katie Luther, and would love to read about other women of the reformation! Please include the full title so that I can hopefully find it too!

Entertainment for a sick family....

Oh, is it Wednesday? Oops.

I have had no idea what day it is all week, and that is just not like me! But the cold is not helping, and our daughter being sick is not helping either. But is quiet around here - I don't have a voice....

But there are a few children's books that are definitely helping us out right now (I am using the Amazon blocks so that you can see the pictures of the front of the book as that helps!):

Karma Wilson's Bear Series:
She is a Christian who in addition to some sweet Christian books writes a sweet series about Bear and his friends. This series is a favorite, and the new one fits us this week, it is:



Bear is sick, so his friends take care of him, and then they get sick so he takes care of them!

Also in the series is:



Her funny book:

is also helping a lot. We have yet to read a book of hers that we do not love. She has a great Christmas one too!

We are just hanging out and reading, those are at the top of the list as well as some great counting and ABC books that are only available in Canada for some reason, and a few others.

We are also reading lots of Lynley Dodd's Books:



Oddly enough, most of her books are only available in Canada and the U.K. very strange, but we love her anyways.

Of course, fatigue and crankiness has also driven is to the lovable:



Super Secret Super Spy is such a funny James Bond take off!

So while we are having fun, we are not exactly breaking intellectual records over here, hence the show and tell WFMW! Sometimes when we are sick we all need a little mindless entertainment! But I am getting lots of knitting done!

However we have managed to get our morning Bible reading in before we both run out of steam for the day!

What children's books could you read again and again?

(Oh, and I tried to hide the prices as I am not trying to advertise, just show you the covers of the books and DVD's, but Amazon is not letting me! So annoying.)

Passionate Housewives: Desperate for God Giveaway

Did you hear? Crystal is hosting a giveaway that will bless 10 readers with this book:

Head on over here to enter before October 13!

Kitchen Tips for Soup

So it is official, I start way to many posts with the word "So", but often edit it out in the end, and I am not in a rut, I am sick, again. We shared sinus colds before our trip home to visit, and now we are sharing the plugged up nose/chest colds. Sigh.

So today I punted my original meal plan and am making Italian Meatball Soup in the slow cooker using ground turkey for my meatballs.

But this got me thinking about the things I do that make soup making a snap!

Which naturally brings us to:

Soup Pasta

I love all those fancy little shaped pasta you can get now, and they often go on sale! When they do I stock up on alphabets, stars, orzo, and whatever other little shapes grab my fancy! But I hate having all those little open bags roaming around my cupboard! They are so unorganized, they spill, I forget what I have, little bugs can get into the bags, etc. It makes me a little bit nuts!

So I open one of each bag I want to be using, pour them all in a bowl, mix them, and then fill glass jars from things like mayonnaise, pasta sauce, etc. Then, when I make soup I just have to measure out the appropriate amount and I always have a variety!

Stock

When I make a roast chicken I keep all the bones, skin, etc that we would not eat, and use it to make stock. I usually just keep dumping parts into the slow cooker while I am carving the chicken and then let it simmer over night in the slow cooker so that I do not have to worry about finding room in the fridge for it. Then in the morning I cool it and freeze it in 1 cup portions as it usually ends up being very concentrated. Then when I make soup I pull out 1 cup, add about another 2-3 cups of water and I am set!

Soup Veggies

I am sure that I am not the only woman who as found vegetables that are still okay, but not the freshest variety around, and then realized that I cannot use them all up in time! When this happens I just chop them up and freeze them in soup sized portions. That way I am not throwing money away, and when I want to make soup I can just open my freezer and pull out vegetables that are ready to go! Sometimes I freeze a variety in one bag, sometimes I just freeze one thing, it all depends on what is in the fridge. (Plus I always keep diced tomatoes in the pantry and frozen veggies in the freezer for variety!)


I have to confess that I felt so horrible this morning that if it had not been for these tricks I would have been in big trouble today, but now we will have a healthy, hearty meal for supper. I will pair the soup with oatmeal bread!

What tips do you have for making homemade soup easier?

In a Rut...or maybe just tired

I am feeling like I am in a rut.

My household schedules are off kilter but things are still getting done.

Our suppers are still nutritious, but nothing really sounds that great.

Grocery shopping is becoming a chore, costs are discouraging, and this article certainly did not help me muster any encouragement (although it is nice to know it is not me!)

My quiet time is flat, but I keep with it, and do my BSF lesson.

My books don't interest me, Miss Pear's books don't interest me which is depressing because we found some great ones on vacation.

Our vacation was great, but I just cannot get motivated to blog about it.

I was writing the freezer series with plans to make it into an e-book, and as you may have noticed, postings are vague on that.

I am working on the book we had the contest for, and well, don't ask.

The whole redoing of my library list has stalled as those books don't interest me when I pick them up.

I have a list of great books for children that I was going to blog about, and obviously that has not happened.

I think I am in a rut.

Actually I cannot figure out if I am in a rut or just run down from being sick and sharing illnesses for over two weeks, then going on a whirl wind vacation home, getting home tired, then Miss Pear getting sick again, then Mr. Pear getting sick and here we are. Oh, and when we got home I had to do something with the pears we got on sale that were not ripe before our vacation but almost too ripe when we got back - hence 6lbs made into pear butter and 22 canned into 15 pint jars.

Maybe I am just run down, that would be better than being in a rut.

And a rut is not good, I have so much to do! Lack of motivation or interest is not good as I have so much to do!

On the plus side, my sweet neighbor has invited me to Project Wednesday - a two hour thing about every second or third Wednesday where she gets together with another friend to get stuff done. This week is scones and pie crusts.

So we are getting out of the house - an hour Monday morning for play group, BSF Tuesday mornings and the occasional Wednesday. The nice thing about Monday and Wednesday is I still have time to do our household chores before we go!

So any ideas on how I snap out of this???? It is lethal now that we are in the Official Holiday Season (in our house it starts with Canadian Thanksgiving and ends with New Year).

Menu Plan Monday October 6-13

We are Canadians living in the US so we like to celebrate both Thanksgivings. With the cold bug in our house again we are planning on celebrating on Wednesday - two days late, but not bad.

We are also just back from vacation, and HONESTLY! We got home Monday, had BSF Tuesday morning and long naps Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday I had to can the pears I bought before we went on vacation that did not ripe - 6 lbs into pear butter, 22 pears into canned pears, and Thursday Miss Pear woke up sick, which took care of Thursday and Friday. Sunday Mr Pear woke up sick and I woke up tired, again. So the menu plan is to take it very easy on myself and make life easy!

I am also making a concerted effort to keep Saturdays light too. Nice family day is the goal!

Saturday

Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Sandwiches
Supper - Pizza

Sunday

Breakfast - Toast and cereal
Lunch - Pizza Rolls
Supper - Meatballs with Pineapple sauce and rice

Monday

Breakfast** - Toast and cereal
Lunch - Cheesy Noodles
Supper - Italian Skillet (freezer)

Tuesday

Breakfast - Granola and Yogurt
Lunch - Sandwiches
Supper - Asian Beef Kabobs

Wednesday

Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Hopefully Asian Beef Leftovers.....
Supper - Canadian Thanksgiving - Chicken with dressing, mashed sweet potatoes, carrots, rolls, and Mars Bar Square for dessert


Thursday

Breakfast - Granola and Yogurt
Lunch - Chicken salad sandwiches
Supper - Slow cooker French Toast Casserole (Cannot find the link, but have messed with it so much the original poster may not recognize it anyways!) with a side of pears I canned all on my own!

Friday

Breakfast - cereal
Lunch - French Toast leftovers
Supper - Cheesy crock pot macaroni and veg

Saturday

Breakfast - cereal and toast
Lunch - Not sure, I think I have a baby shower to attend in the morning which would mean sandwiches
Supper - Something nice and easy.....

Breads
3 Flour Bread~
Winnipeg Rye Bread (recipe is getting close, just a bit more tweaking!)
Oatmeal Bread ~


Cookies
Mrs. U's gingersnaps
Chocolate Crinkles
Lemon Cookies
Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin
Granola Chips
Fruit Cocktail Cookies

Loaves and Muffins
Tropical Muffins
Banana Berry Muffins
Berry Oat Muffins
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins
Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Other
Mars Bar Square
Granola
Granola Bars

~ from the More with Less Cookbook (can be found on my sidebar if you want to check it out) I am trying to cook through this cookbook a bit, so I am trying to make one thing a week from it but am really not being successful at that with all that is going on.
** During the week it is just Miss Pear and I for lunch, so we eat some strange lunches....

Eddie Bauer Sale

Okay, I know, I never blog on the weekend unless it CANNOT WAIT!

Don't tell Mr. Pear, but I did some Christmas shopping for him that will be from my parents.

Eddie Bauer is having their fall sale, and the jeans are the best price they every offer, and then only once or twice a year!

Jeans are on sale for buy one get one 50% off. These are the only jeans Mr. Pear likes as he is tall enough that finding great fitting pants is not the easiest thing in the world, and they last for ages!

Then if you buy pants, the belts are $5 off. And guess who needs a new black belt.....

So I did great shopping with Mom's money, and she is thrilled, and come Christmas, so will Mr. Pear!

They have a lot of other stuff on sale too, but this was the only part that interested me, and it was such a great deal I had to share.....

Oh, and I am almost done my Christmas shopping too, please excuse me while I do my dance of joy!

Mars Bar Square

One of our favorite desserts that I make for special occasions is Mars Bar Square. In the US you will probably have to substitute Milky Way bars as I have never been able to find the Mars bars with the black and red labels, so we import them when we go back to visit and when company comes down! I plan on making this for Christmas again this year! Oh, and you can double the recipe quite easily so it actually makes it to Christmas!

Mars Bars Squares

4 x Mars candy bars cut up
1/2 cup butter
3 cups Rice Crispies

Topping
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter

To make the cake: Heat candy bars and butter together to melt in a large sauce pan, stirring often, until melted. Remove from heat and mix in Rice Crispies. Stir to coat cereal.

Press into greased 9x9 pan

Melt chocolate chips and butter in a small sauce pan over low heat or in a double boiler until melted and smooth. Spread over cake.

Let cool and cut into small squares as a little goes a long way!


This is recipe is incredibly easy, especially when you taste the results! And it freezes well, should it actually last that long!


Updated to add: If you can get the Mars Bars that do not have almonds in them, that are black labels with red writing, those are the ones you want! If you find them in California please let me know where, I have been looking for over 8 years! If you cannot find them then you can substitute the Milky Ways, or do what I do and beg for your family and friends in Canada to take pity on you! :-)

Cold Supply Savings and Rebate

The topic of cold supplies is currently near and dear to my heart. Before we went on vacation I got a horrible sinus cold, and then Miss Pear got it, and we were very grateful for our stash of cold supplies and kleenex.

Our vacation was wonderful, and we were healthy the whole time! Even flying was not a problem with our recovering sinuses!

However, we got home Monday afternoon, and yesterday Miss Pear woke up with a horrible stuffy nose. She caught the cold the baby sitting next to us on the way home had. And it is all in her nose.

I am so grateful for our stash of cold supplies as I did not have to run out and buy anything full price.

But it did make me want to revisit this post from earlier in the week.

CVS had the special on cold supplies, and I shared that this was my shopping:

2 x Advil cold and sinus ($4 each - $2 coupon Crystal links to)
2 x Robitussin ($6 each - $3 coupon Crystal links to)
2 x Crest Prohealth ($3.29 each - $1 in this past weekend's P&G coupon insert)
1 x Dawn ($0.99 each - $0.50 coupon in this past weekend's P&G coupon insert)
1 pair Save the Day glasses selected by Miss Pear - Children's Binoculars - $3.99 on sale for $0.39, and my girl picked them out all on her own, already she can spot a good deal!

Total before coupons, after sales was $27.96.

After coupons $15.46

Minus ECB of $14.95

Pre tax total of $0.51

Tax was $1.01

So I paid $1.52 for what was originally $44.63 before sales, coupons, and ECB's.

Plus I have $10 in ECB's for the Advil and Robitussin, $6.58 in ECB's from the Crest, and $3 in ECB from my third quarter spending.

(The links I refer to are available in the original post by Crystal)

When I went through the coupons for the two weeks we were gone I found a rebate form from the makers of Robitussin and Advil in the 9/23 coupons. If you buy 3 products you can get a $5 rebate! This just made the deal all that much sweeter! (If you buy 2 products you get $2 back)

So if you took advantage of this offer at CVS this week - check your coupon flier!

If you have not yet taken advantage of it yet, might I suggest you do?

As always, Crystal has some great tips over at her site for Frugal Friday!

Update: I have been searching to find the rebate form online, and I am striking out. I know that it was in the 9/23 paper, and that they are selling them on ebay, and maybe coupon clipper has them, but again, you have to pay. I cannot find a free source. Sorry!

The quick post vacation shop

When we returned from our vacation we needed fruit and milk. I could complete our menu from the pantry and freezer as long as I had those items (the joy of a well stocked pantry and freezer meals!)

So without further ado we headed to Pavilions to shop. And for those of you saying that without CVS it is hard to get the really good savings, let me share my shop with you!

In order of my receipt:

Scott Extra Soft Toilet double roll paper 4 pack - regular $3.69 on for $3.50 minus $0.75 coupon that was doubled. Total $2.00

Milk - not on sale, no coupons $4.59

Minute Maid Frozen Drinks - 4 @ $1.50 each (savings of $1 total) Total $6

Hawaiian Mango Juice $1.50 (savings of $0.49)

Natural Yogurt 4 pack - regular price $2.59 on sale for $1.69 minus $1 coupon, doubled up to maximum value of item, so the yogurt was free.

Lysol Toilet Bowl cleaner - BOGO, so 2 for $3.29, minus first $0.50 coupon which was doubled, minus second $0.50 coupon for a total of $1.79

Plus our apples, bananas, and grapes.

Then there is a promotion where they take 10% off your total order.

Total coupon savings: 4.69
Total sales savings: 11.44

Grocery total: $20.88

This was with a list of milk and fruit in my head, and a quick glance in the flier on my way in. I have been watching for the minute maid to go on sale, and try to buy a 4 pack of toilet paper whenever I can get it at or below $0.50 a roll after coupons (pretty much the best price around here).

This time my savings were 44%. I used to be thrilled with a number like that, now my goal is over 60% savings with nothing less than 50% at the grocery store. By planning my menu with what I have on hand, then shopping the sales to stock my pantry and freezer this is usually achievable. I still shop at Costco for groceries as well, but watch for prices that are better as it does happen once in a while.


If you have an Albertson's in your area, and you live in California (possibly other states too), there are some great sales from 1-9PM today only:

$1.49 per pound if you buy 5 lbs or more of fresh, boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 lbs of bananas for $1
2 x 8 oz blocks of Albertson's cheese for $3.

So you know what i will be doing after supper.....

To Do List Update

On Tuesday, about 24 hours ago I posted this to do list:

To Do list for the week in no particular order:

• Last load of laundry - done
  
• Ironing
  
• BSF lesson daily along with quiet time daily! - so far so good
  
• Sort all clothing into fits now and is too big for Miss Pear
  
• Baking bread, muffins, cookies, granola and granola bars (we are out of stock from being too hot and then sick!)
• Plan Thanksgiving Menu for Canadian Thanksgiving (Monday)
  
• Canning Pears (they were too green before we left but are now just right) - done
  
• Making pear butter (same excuse as above for not being done before) - in process
  
• Find top of desk - it likes to disappear on me.
• Purchase and organize binders for: BSF, BSF for Miss Pear, Gardening, Homeschooling Resources for Future, Homeschooling things to be working on now (Children's Catechism, BSF memory verses and hymns, guess this can be with Miss Pear's BSF binder)
  
• Type up recipes still waiting to be typed
• Sort through Christmas present purchases already made and make shopping lists (we start the official Christmas shopping season with Canadian Thanksgiving, even though much shopping has been done throughout the year, and wrap it up for American Thanksgiving so we do not have to brave the crowds and can focus on enjoying the season! - in process
  
• Write tons of thank-you notes for gifts, hospitality and wonderful kindness from our trip
• Restore general order to house including some extra cleaning - in process
  
• Start new daily schedule
• Update cleaning schedule to include zones
• Finally organize the guest room closet
• Update crafting lists
• Finish the afghan for my parents for Christmas (shh, it's a secret, and will not likely be done this month, but I keep putting it on the list so I work on it!)

Well, here are some of the things I got done yesterday afternoon and this morning:

• Trip to CVS - unplanned but worthwhile yesterday afternoon
• Canned 15 pints of pears, and all of them sealed!
  
• Delivered thank you gift to our neighbors who looked after our house
  
• Pear Butter is simmering in the slow cooker and should be done around supper tonight
• We did that last load of laundry yesterday
• We almost started our new schedule - Miss Pear is really out of sorts and tired after the time changes and too much on the go fun.
• I did my quiet time yesterday and our devotional time today, something I am making a priority so that it gets done in a relaxed fashion and not on the go in a rush!
• I have started thinking about Christmas presents and looking at what I have and still need, no lists though
• Some cleaning to get back on track, but a long ways to go.

Basically I am making this list to make myself realize that I lots has been done, even though I look around and see much more to do!

Thank you to all of you who are answering my WFMW question, you are encouraging me so much!

WFMW - Homeschooling Hopeful

I am thrilled that today is Backwards WFMW! I have a question! Actually I have a couple questions!

We feel the Lord impressing upon us that His plan for us is to home school. This is big because my husband went to private Christian school, and I was in the public schools, and we just assumed we would use one of the same methods, but the Lord is showing us that He wants us to do something different. While my husband's mom is supportive as she sees this as us doing the best we can for our daughter, the rest of our family is either un-supportive or outright resistant. They sight socialization as concerns or view this as us just trying to be rebels and do things differently because we like to do things differently (I think this refers to how we live as Christians, but am not sure, it might just refer to us not doing things precisely as that family member would like).

So how do you handle this lack of family support?

We do not have a good model for home schooling, no one we know does it. So we are just feeling around right now. Our daughter is 28 months, so we read a lot, are doing BSF together which means we are learning hymns together as well as scripture memory. We also have our morning Bible reading time and are working on the Children's Catechism which is a simple version of the Westminster Catechism.

What other ideas do you have for us?

What curriculum companies / publishers would you recommend checking out?

And finally, what would your best advice be to us?

Money Saving Mom

Crystal over at Biblical Womanhood, who is the queen of maximizing your family's grocery and household budget, has started a new blog - Money Saving Mom, and she has some great stuff on there!

One thing she shared before we left for vacation was the CVS for beginners, or as she calls it, CVS 101 which is a tremendous help if you are just getting started there!

I was going to skip CVS this week because today was really the only day I would have the car and be able to go, and did not have time to sort through the flier and two weeks of coupons that have not been clipped yet! But I read this post and Crystal graciously did all the work for me!

So following what is now # 2 and 3 (#1 was added after my shopping trip) I got the following:

2 x Advil cold and sinus ($4 each - $2 coupon Crystal links to, I printed 2)
2 x Robitussin ($6 each - $3 coupon Crystal links to, I printed 2)
2 x Crest Prohealth ($3.29 each - $1 in this past weekend's P&G coupon insert, I had 2)
1 x Dawn ($0.99 each - $0.50 coupon in this past weekend's P&G coupon insert)
1 pair Save the Day glasses selected by Miss Pear - Children's Binoculars - $3.99 on sale for $0.39, and my girl picked them out all on her own, already she can spot a good deal!

Total before coupons, after sales was $27.96.

After coupons $15.46

Minus ECB of $14.95

Pre tax total of $0.51

Tax was $1.01

So I paid $1.52 for what was originally $44.63 before sales, coupons, and ECB's.

Plus I have $10 in ECB's for the Advil and Robitussin, $6.58 in ECB's from the Crest, and $3 in ECB from my third quarter spending.

Nothing so sweet as home

We are home! We had a wonderful time!

Travel was fine with no flight delays of consequence, a happy flying child who would like to request that all planes be blue, pleasant flight attendants, and just enough time in the airports to find our gate and get the wiggles out.

Our visit was a treat, we got to see so many of the special people in our lives, and had a great time. (More details to come)

I realized that aside from people, most of what I miss most about Canada can be fit into the categories of season changes, things I eat, and things I wear. So we stocked up on all of it, and introduced Miss Pear to the joys of jumping in piles of leaves. On the plus side, the leaves were nicely mulched and compacted for raking (a snow shovel skimmed along the grass works great too!).

As much fun as we had, it was a special joy to return home Monday afternoon.

So far we have:

• Finished all but one load of laundry - new red sweatshirt and dress need special handling
• Attended BSF this morning
• Picked up the milk and fruit (along with free yogurt, toilet paper (at my target price of $0.50 a roll) and toilet bowl cleaner (below my target price of $1.50).
• Planned a menu exclusively from the pantry and freezer
• Unpacked all the suitcases - bit of organization still needed

To Do list for the week in no particular order:

• Last load of laundry
• Ironing
  
• BSF lesson daily along with quiet time daily!
  
• Sort all clothing into fits now and is too big for Miss Pear
  
• Baking bread, muffins, cookies, granola and granola bars (we are out of stock from being too hot and then sick!)
• Plan Thanksgiving Menu for Canadian Thanksgiving (Monday)
  
• Canning Pears (they were too green before we left but are now just right)
• Making pear butter (same excuse as above for not being done before)
• Find top of desk - it likes to disappear on me.
• Purchase and organize binders for: BSF, BSF for Miss Pear, Gardening, Homeschooling Resources for Future, Homeschooling things to be working on now (Children's Catechism, BSF memory verses and hymns, guess this can be with Miss Pear's BSF binder)
  
• Type up recipes still waiting to be typed
• Sort through Christmas present purchases already made and make shopping lists (we start the official Christmas shopping season with Canadian Thanksgiving, even though much shopping has been done throughout the year, and wrap it up for American Thanksgiving so we do not have to brave the crowds and can focus on enjoying the season!
• Write tons of thank-you notes for gifts, hospitality and wonderful kindness from our trip
• Restore general order to house including some extra cleaning
  
• Start new daily schedule
• Update cleaning schedule to include zones
• Finally organize the guest room closet
• Update crafting lists
• Finish the afghan for my parents for Christmas (shh, it's a secret, and will not likely be done this month, but I keep putting it on the list so I work on it!)
  

I am not confident that this is a complete list, but it does get me focused on getting moving!

So I am back, but playing vacation catch up.

But oh, it was worth it!