The Mother Load

Ages ago I did a quick post where I basically shared some articles I loved, found helpful, or piqued my interest (or made me laugh too, that is a sure way to get my attention!). I loved it, got a great response, shared a couple favorite blogs with you, and cleaned out a few bloglines - you certainly cannot beat that mulitasking! And then I never did it again. Until now!

One Blog I love is the Mother Load. And not just because she does Freebie Friday, although it is a rare week I miss that! She is a mom just like us trying to take care of her family well without breaking the bank. I get great ideas from her, and wanted to share a few articles that I had marked to save. (Oh, and she is spring cleaning right now, so if you need some help getting going, definitely pop over!)

I LOVED her post on "Ask Frugal Mama: Getting to Know Your Dishwasher" as she shared how it is no longer more expensive to run our dishwasher than do the work ourselves. She also share some tips for caring for your beloved dishwasher (yes, I have a very close relationship with mine, why do you ask?) This article is probably single handedly responsible for our clean kitchen right now as my energy is on the low side - I just load up the dishwasher and put it through. (Naturally I buy my detergent on sale with double coupons and have carefully read the instruction manual for loading for maximum efficiency, but do you want to hear the funny thing - my husband can out do me in loading the dishwasher any day of the week - funny and true!)

As you know I am a big fan of making my freezer work well for me and my family, I particularly enjoyed the articles "Get to Know Your Freezer" and her article "Running and Energy-Efficient Freezer".

I laughed, understood, and took notes when I read Getting Ready for Unexpected Guests.

I found the article "A Few Words About Convenience Foods" very helpful, and it definitely got me focused on this budget drain! It is so much easier to eat healthier cheaper with a little planning! I know that if I follow the tip to package things in one serving portions that the first few months of nursing will go SO much better!

I saved the recipe posted with "When the Pantry is Bare" because it sounded like something we would like, I am pretty sure I could hide frozen veggies in it, or at least beside it, and I always have all those ingredients on hand!

And I will have to try the Apple Pie Muffins!

"Baby Steps Series: The Art of Stockpiling" was very helpful, and I was not new to frugal shopping when I read it! The companion article called "Baby Steps Series: Storing Your Stockpile" is also good, and got me thinking about how I can better store our stockpile of stuff.

These are just a few of the posts and articles that got me thinking and helped me. They are all ones that I will be saving onto my computer file of household articles for future reference and help! I hope you enjoy them too!

If you read the Mother Load too, what articles did I miss? What are your favorites?

Right on target...

...I guess?

Apparently things are progressing right on target, we went to the park this morning to play with friends, and I had my first bout of low blood pressure for this pregnancy. (I am thrilled because last year we did not get this far, and this appears to be very normal for me.)

On the plus side, at least it is not high blood pressure! And I got to freak out my friend just a bit....

Those Plastic Shopping Bags!

Lately it seems that those flimsy plastic grocery bags are garnering lots of attention in the news. If there is not a group trying to save them there is a group trying to have them banned! I read a number of the articles, and now I regret not saving the links.

But one country that banned the plastic grocery bag reported a 400% increase in the purchase of garbage bags. Hmmm - their plastic bags must be a whole lot better than what the stores here give you!

But no mater what side of the argument you fall on, or even if you don't care, can I ask you a question?

Would you bring something home solely for the sake of recycling it or throwing it in the garbage?

Yet this is what we often do with grocery bags. We even nobly opt for paper because it is easier to recycle! Now I do request paper bags when I have a need for them, but no other time.

Actually, where we live we can recycle the grocery bags and the plastic produce bags (which I am still looking for a valid option on) by simply throwing them in our recycling bin. But again, what is the point of bringing them home in the first place if I am only going to throw them out!

At first as I read these articles I got a little bit annoyed by our short sightedness and thought that the stores that charge you for bags have the right idea (okay, so I still think they have a point), but as I think about this whole issue more, I reach a conclusion.

Just because our stores love to waste their money by giving us those useless plastic shopping bags (mine always seem to have holes or ripped handles) does not mean I have to take them. I do not need an act of either the local or national government to tell me that I can make better decisions, I can do that myself.

So I began looking for reusable grocery bags. And when my hunt went south I asked around and ended up being given 8 or 9 as gifts (fortunately they are all the same!) - although I believe these particular ones retail for about $1 a piece. These are normally enough for all my grocery shopping, even on a week when the list is long and numerous stores are included on my shopping run. (Although I have been known to combine partially filled bags myself). And I keep the bags in the car so they are ready even for those last minute stops (honey, can you please pick up milk on the way home?)

And besides the less waste argument, two of the stores I shop at give me a $0.05 credit for every bag of mine they use! It is not a huge amount, but at least it is some kind of recognition that I am saving them money but not taking their bags!

But I am still surprised that at some stores I almost have to be insistent that I would really prefer they use my shopping bags.

Now I will not mislead you and say that our household is perfectly "green", but we are trying to take little steps to make a difference in our own little corner of the world. And would you like to know how this started? When we moved our garbage and recycling bins were overflowing each week, and I began to carefully look at and think about what I was throwing out. In some cases it has saved us money, and in others just saved my happiness (those plastic bags really annoy me for some reason).

Now I am just trying to remember to take them for my non-grocery shopping trips too!

What do you think about this whole plastic bag argument? Do you use your own? If not, what do you do with all those plastic bags?

Tropical Muffins

This morning we made muffins, and they actually ended up being quite frugal. We doubled the recipe so that we were using a whole can of crushed pineapple rather than just half, and we had picked it up on sale. Plus we used bananas from the freezer - in January the bananas looked so good, but would go from green to brown overnight about half the time, so we ended up with quite the stash in the freezer (you didn't think I would throw them out did you?)

Plus I had picked up the vanilla (real stuff), flour, butter, eggs, baking powder and baking soda at Costco for a fraction of the cost at the supermarket! So this was actually all stuff I had on hand! You have to love that!

And to make this even more frugal, I was able to fit two pans of muffins in my oven!

Oh, and they were also delicious! (After all, it is not frugal if they taste horrible and end up moldy because nobody would eat them!)

Tropical Muffins - Makes 24

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups crushed pineapple (drained but do not squeeze out)
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana

Cream sugar and butter together. Add vanilla and egg, beat until light and fluffy. Sift dry ingredients together and add alternately with mixed banana and pineapple. Mix gently until dry ingredients are just moistened.

Place in greased muffin tins and bake at 375 F for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 for another 10-15 minutes.

For more great frugal tips, head on over to Crystal's!

A Better Morning

I must say, today went much better than yesterday - there were no mad dashes to the bathroom, and no unplanned carpet cleaning due to morning sickness. So really today is looking up!

(Yesterday afternoon we had our first trimester ultrasound screening. It was great - the baby wave to us! I love that! Funny, but I was not worried this morning when I was feeling a bit better! It was like I finally had the piece in my heart to be confident in this pregnancy without the ick to confirm all was okay!)

In other news, I am feeling quite accomplished this morning!

We managed to:

1. wash 4 loads of laundry
2. change our bed and remake it
3. make a double batch of Tropical Muffins (pineapple banana)
4. make 2 very important calls regarding our health insurance

Okay, so the kitchen still needs some serious attention, but the list still makes me feel pretty good!

Measuring Accomplishments

There was a time, like right before Christmas, where I measured a successful morning by how much we got done, how much was crossed off the to-do list and cleaning list, and how well Miss Pear did as my helper. Oh sure, we had play time and reading time and stuff like that, but morning was also the time to get things done! A successful morning included polishing off the cleaning list, reading books, having breakfast devotions, and some learning time. Along with play time of course.

Well, this morning I realized that I can pretty much wave good bye to that standard good bye.

I felt accomplished this morning when I managed to:

1. wash our quilt (casualty of morning sickness)
2. empty the dishwasher
3. reload the dishwasher
4. make Italian Meatball Soup in the crock pot
5. wash the dishes

Yup, that's it. Now I need a nap.

Yet Another CA School Issue

Can you please tell me in what context this statement made by a teacher would not be completely unacceptable as the teacher claims it was taken out of context.

"When you pray for divine intervention, you’re hoping that the spaghetti monster will help you get what you want."

This is a quote from an Orange County Register article that recounts yesterdays court battle by the school district to have a case thrown out. The case was brought by a student who is a Christian after sitting through AP History and being taught anti-Christian sentiments rather than history.

Yesterday's court case just ensures that it will be heard before a federal judge, it is not an end. This family has a long haul ahead of them!

Oh, and I will be returning to my usual blogging of home stuff, I promise!

A Fun and Busy Weekend

We had great weekend. We planted half our garden and knocked off some other projects on Saturday. But Sunday was the big day.

I guess we did not think that the time change would be enough excitement for us!

So Sunday morning we went to church and then all went to Sunday School - our church has Sunday School for all ages after church. It was Miss Pear's first day, and she had fun. We enjoyed our class too - it is the new members class.

We came home, had lunch a bit on the late side, and then all napped.

We had to wake up Miss Pear from her nap for the big event Sunday night - her first hockey game. (She will be 3 the end of May). We were able to do this because my husband was given box seats through work, which is a wonderful treat. We had fun at the game even if our team lost. Miss Pear particularly liked the Zambonies!

So we had a late night, and slept in this morning. After a busy weekend today is being spent playing catch up with laundry and getting the kitchen back in line. After nap time we will be baking muffins and supper (Ahh Panic! Chicken Parmesan).

Food and I are slightly better friends so I am hoping to post a couple more food related posts! (Like what to do with bread that is not as fresh as you would like!).

In other news....

....we had our 12 week ob/gyn appointment, and were thrilled to see a heartbeat and baby moving.

So it is no longer a secret, we are telling everyone! We are thrilled, and thankful beyond belief. The Giver of good gifts has been very generous with us!

California Homeschooling a Criminal Offense?

As many of you know, we live in California. As many of you also know, we hope to home school our children rather than use the California public school system which is facing budget cuts of about 10% or so, much of which will be saved by cutting teachers and support stuff.

So when I heard about Justice H. Walter Croskey who basically declared that unless you have a teaching certificate you cannot home school your children I was shocked. The whole article is called "Court Deems Homeschooling a Criminal Offense" and while it is disturbing, the article well written, brief, and worth the read. Also, World Magazine talks about it here.

The Home Schooling Legal Defense Association response can be found here, it includes their action plan. And the latest to date including more specifics on how this fiasco started is available at the HSLDA site here.

I am trying not to panic, I am trying not to get all worked up about it, but I have to confess, when I called my husband to tell him about the article I started the conversation with, "Well, we have to leave California," and my husband basically asked what the newest reason was. Not that we are unhappy with where we live, but the politics and prevailing worldly culture make us a uneasy. Some days it is very hard not to feel like the overwhelming minority as a Christian family in California. However, God put us here and we will remain here until He moves us again, if He does.

However, I would appreciate it if you would take the time to support us California families who either home school now, or hope to in the future by taking a look at the Petition at the Home Schooling Legal Defense Association found here.

Hat Tip to the Servens for highlighting this, not surprisingly it is not exactly being broad casted in California.

Bubble Baths revisited!

I had a question posted about this post, and I thought it would be best to just write a new post to answer it.

The truth of the matter is that we give Miss Pear fake bubble baths. There is no bubble bath solution involved. Sorry to disappoint.

Miss Pear has very sensitive skin that likes to break out in eczema for apparently any reason. Her pediatrician recommended the obvious: washing her face and hands well after every meal, keeping her hands clean in general, cleaning well at diaper changes and potty time, and scrupulous "spot cleaning". Then he said something interesting. He said to only bathe her every 2-3 days, and not to soap her up if her skin was dry or sore. If we were doing the first ones, a water bath and scrub would take care of most baby stuff, and it would be obvious if we needed something more, like a dab of soap!

Now, Miss Pear is getting bigger, and is finding bigger messes, so we don't like to skip soap all together. So when the weather is dry we try to "dilute" the soap by adding it like bubble bath so that we have some soap for good cleaning, but not enough to dry out her skin. Even the soaps made special for babies with sensitive skin and no perfumes can cause problems if her skin is already sore. So she often has "bubble baths" and we just scrub her down!

I hope this makes sense. Believe me when I say we keep our daughter clean, but we also have to work hard to protect her skin as having a little one scratching sore dry skin is not fun.

Hmmmm.....

Is it just me, or does this sound like the Titanic giving the iceberg couple million for sinking it???

To say I am disappointed is an understatement, but unfortunately I cannot say I am shocked, this is the face of business today.

Company and A Wee Break

We are off to the airport this afternoon to pick up company, they are staying for 9 days, so I think I will take a bit of a break. I may pop in to post little things, but for the most part will be gone.

This works great because I seem to have a bit of bloggers block. Kind of like writer's block. Food is not currently my friend, and I am too tired to do a good job of house stuff, and my quiet time has been nice but nothing to share here. So I am out of material! (I could not even bring myself to type the requested recipe for Granola Oatmeal - I have not forgotten, it is coming!)

Be back soon.

In the mean time, please be sure to share any blogging ideas with me! :-)

Sharing what we have

This afternoon I started a much bigger project that I realized it was going to be. A friend of ours was displaced by the San Diego County fires in the fall. Her house was severely smoke damaged. She has moved back into her house, but her entire pantry, freezer of food, fridge of food, and most household items were garbage.

So today we went through our pantry and other assorted stashes pulling out what was extra to share. I had been planning to do this, so was buying extra when I could make it work in the budget, but with morning sickness that lasted a lot longer than the morning I was also mowing through a lot of our stash.

Well, we are taking 2 boxes and 2 Target bags of stuff.

I was really surprised by the amount we had, but was also pleased because it was all part of our grocery budget. I am constantly surprised how much further my grocery budget is going! It not only covers our groceries but also our household needs, paper goods and toiletries (including over the counter medications). And there is an abundance to share! The Lord constantly amazes me!

As for the boxes, we will be in our friend's area tomorrow and will drop them off. I think of it like a housewarming present.....

(Plus she is also near my all time favorite bakery, and I have a little money left in my monthly budget!)

Curling Fun

If you are curling fan like I am, and it is hard to do in Southern California, the Scotties Tournament of Hearts is on this weekend, and the playoffs just started! (For you non curling fans, that is the big Canadian Women's National Curling Championship) If you were sad that you could not watch the games like I was, go to www.tsn.ca - you can watch the playoffs live on your computer!

For you non curling types, and I was shocked to realize that there were many of you, yes, this the game where you throw rocks at a house..... but it is not what it sounds like.

The winner of the tournament will be named Team Canada and will represent Canada in all international competition for the next year, and because Canada is a strong curling country, there is lots of it! Curling is huge internationally, just really minor in the US. Also, if this was the year of the winter olympics, they would be the team going. They also automatically get into the tournament next year and play under the name "Team Canada" rather than the provincial name. So this year Team Canada was from B.C., so B.C. had two teams in the tournament!

Any questions about how I will be spending nap time?