Day after Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with their families. We went to my aunt and uncles house and we had a houseful and alot of food. My mom has 1 sister and 7 brothers, so you can imagine all the food we have.
Ok black friday is not my thing. I would rather be in my bed at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning than standing in line somewhere freezing in the cold. Don't get me wrong I love a good bargain, but not on black friday. I will go find my bargains after black friday is over. I still have quite a bit of shopping to do yet. Hopefully I get it done soon.

Have A Blessed Weekend

Where Has Summer Gone

Hello Friends! I know it has been awhile since I have been here. I can't beleive we are almost at the end of August. Where has the summer gone. Our garden is done, it's been done awhile now. School started back yesterday and finances are cut back. One of my little ones have gone off to kindergarten, so that means my pay has gone down, since I only have 1 child left. Got to find ways to really cut back. We did go to yard sales on Saturday, but did not find much I need except a purse, which I did need one of those. It only cost me $3.00, which is alot better than paying full price in the store. It always seems like there is something you need, or either something breaks down when you least expect it. SHHHHH! I better be quiet, before something does. Will find places to shop where it's alot cheaper, and also not go out an eat much, like we do at times. Until next time. Have A Blessed Weekend.

Not Easy

Who said frugal living was easy. Some days I get so discouraged, because I am not doing as well like I thought I would. Sometimes it seems like we have more bills than money. YUCK! BILLS. I know there are things we can cut back on, but it takes the whole family to do it and not just one person. We are still getting greenbeans, squash and cucumbers out of our garden, but I know we need to do more to save money.
I will be cleaning this week since I don't have my little ones to take care of this week. Will be doing decluttering this week too. It seems like I always have a mountain of laundry to do, and the mountain never disappears. Oh well such is life, I sometimes say. Ok sitting here is not getting anything done. Until next time. Have A Blessed Week.

First Squash

WOW! It's been awhile since I've been here. We finally got our first squash out of our garden. It's so nice to have fresh squash from the garden. Our squash plants have gotten really big, because of all the rain we have got lately. I have also seen some animal tracks too, but have not too much damage. Here is a recipe I use with the squash.

Squash Casserole

1lb. fresh or frozen cooked yellow squash
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 stick butter
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 pkg. Pepperidge Farm Stuffing mix
1/2 Cup grated cheddar cheese

Grease large casserole dish with margarine. Sprinkle half of stuffing mix in bottom of pan. Add squash, salt and pepper. Add chicken soup and margarine. Add remaining stuffing mix. Top with cheddar cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Serves 8

Sometimes I use zucchini squash instead of the yellow, but both are good.

Update on Our Garden

Our garden is doing good so far, even though we lost 2 tomato plants. We still have plenty more tomato plants that are doing good. Our rosemary on the other hand is about to die. We may have to replant those. We have never planted cabbage before and the cabbage plant is doing great. My husbands brother gave us the cabbage plant, so I hope we have a big one. We need some more rain on our garden so it will not get to dry, but David has been watering the plants in the evening when it is cooler. The bean seeds we planted, I have not noticed them coming up yet. I think sometimes I get too inpatient. I just need to leave it to the Good Lord and the garden will grow. He knows what we need.

Planted Our Garden

Today is the last day of April and got most of our garden planted today. We went to the farmers market to purchase our plants and seeds that we wanted to plant. We already had tomatoes planted, so we planted squash, cucumbers, okra and rosemary to keep the deer out, because they do not like that. We also planted a row of sunflowers. David has to be at work at 1:00, so we will be planting our greenbeans this evening after he gets off at 6:00, we will still have plenty of daylight left to plant them. I am looking forward to some fresh veggies, so hopefully our garden will do well this year. Until next time Happy Gardening.

The Cleaning of The Computer Desk

This is something I have been putting off for some time now, cleaning of the computer desk. Actually you could not see the top of the desk, because all the paper on it. I had about everything on it, like notepads receipts, recipes, a little pocket calendar and some other things on it, and yes I found crumbs on it too. I have a little glass jar on the desk I keep pens or pencils, but when you want to write something down there's not one to be found. Oh yes another thing I found on the desk was dust. My how the dust likes my house.
Now I can see my desk again. The only thing I left on the desk, not counting the top shelf is 2 notepads, little sticky notes and a little pocket calendar and the little jar for my pens and pencils. Now we will wait and see how clean it stays this time. Until next time.
Have A Blessed Week.

Organizing

Organizing is something I need to learn more of, because I am the most unorganized person there is. My Pantry is the first thing that needs to be organized. The pantry is so full right now I need to go thru it and see what there is. I did clean it out not long ago and now it is back where i started from "MESSY". My refrigerator is cleaned out. Another area that needs work is the desk in our kitchen and the computer desk too. There is clutter on both of them. I have read books and magazine articles on organizing, but does not seem to help for to long. There is a lack of motivation on my part. There is one tip I can give though. When you start cleaning clutter from your house only work on it 15 to 20 minutes a day, so you don't get burned out.
It is also Spring cleaning time to get rid of those things that you don't need anymore. Have a yard sale or donate them to a good charity. We usually donate ours, because we do not do to well when we have yard sales. maybe that will be another subject to write about. We have already started a box to get rid of some things we don't use anymore, so we keep adding things as we clean out our cabinets.
I am trying also to start an oranizing book to keep different things in. I have a place for business cards and a place for menus to different restaurants. have a place for grocery list, to do list for that day. Have a place for names and addresses and for emergency numbers. You can make up your on things to put in your organizing book. I will try that and see how it works. A lot of times being unorganized gets me stressed out. Hopefully i will update you and tell how the organizing is going.

Snack Mix

This is our favorite snack mix. I like to make this at Christmas time and give as gifts, but it can be made anytime.

Honey Glazed Snack Mix

4 Cups Rice or Corn chex cereal
1-1/2 Cups miniature pretzels
1 Cup pecan halves
1/3 Cup butter or margarine
1/4 Cup honey
In a large mixing bowl, combine cereal, pretzels and pecans; set aside. Melt butter in a small saucepan; stir in honey and blend well. Pour over cereal mixture and stir to coat evenly. Spread in a jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until mixture is lightly glazed, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven and cool slightly. Spread on waxed paper to cool completely. Yeild: about 6-1/2 Cups

This snack mix does not last long around our house.

My Weekness

I have a weekness, well actually 2. I love to read when I have time. Magazines and cookbooks are my 2 weeknesses. They both are expensive. I get a few magazines thru the mail, but had to let some of them go. I also am a collector of cookbooks. I don't like to pay full price for them, but I have a few times. I will look for cookbooks at thrift stores and yard sales. I have alot of cookbooks right now. I especially like the ones from Churches and also Amish cookbooks. I will read a cookbook like a person reads a novel. I just need a place to store my cookbooks, because I have alot of them stored in a box right now. I guess I will continue to look for cookbooks at the thrifts stores.

Cooking from Scratch

Cooking form scratch is something I don't do, like I should. Even though I am a SAHM I usually cook something that's pre-packaged. I babysit for 2 little girls during the day and alot of times don't have time to cook from scratch. I know all that processed food is not all that good for you. Cooking from scratch is another area I am working on. I have mad a few things from scratch. There is one thing I would like to make from scratch is a cake for our daughter's birthday, which is months away right now. Someone told me it's easier to just buy a cake that's already made, because buying all the ingredients would cost me alot. Yes a cake already made may be pretty, but a cake from scratch would taste alot better. I have those store bought cakes and sometimes the frosting would be too sweet. I may not be the best at frosting a cake, but you are going to eat it anyway. Cooking from scratch does not have to be expensive, because you can use coupons on the products you need when you make a list of what you need. OH there's that word again LIST, something I need to learn to do. Using coupons would help even on those items you need especially when they are on sale. Ok I am not an expert here just learning as I go. Here are 2 recipes I have made for my family which they really like.

This one does not have a name, but here's what you need.
1 lb. beef stew meet
1 Can cream of mushroom soup
1 Can onion soup
Put all of that in a crockpot and let it cook on slow about 6 to 8 hours.
Then have it with rice or noodles.


Crustless Bacon Quiche
8 Strips bacon (diced)
1-1/2 Cup milk
1 Cup shredded cheese (cheddar, grated)
3 eggs
1/2 Cup bisquick
Dash pepper
Fry bacon crisp; drain. Combine eggs, milk, bisquick and peppers: blend 15 seconds. Pour mixture in 9-in. glass pie plate. Sprinkle cheese and bacon over top. gently press below surface. Bake 30 minutes in 350 degree oven.

Tuesday is shopping day

Tuesday is my grocery shopping day and sometimes I get discouraged, because of the high prices. Some weeks I have a lot of coupons and others I only have a few. I try to buy the store brand products when I can and also check out the clearance shelf. There will be weeks when I find good items on the clearance shelf and sometimes it's only 1 or 2 things. The thing about the clearance shelf is the cans are bent, which does not bother me as long as the date on the can is still good. Today I found little packets of hot apple cider which was 30 cents a piece which our daughter likes those. There are few things I will not buy much of and that's cereal and chips, because they are really high in price. I like to buy fruit at the farmers market, because it's cheaper there. The one thing I do not do before I go grocery shopping is make a list, ok I know Shame On Me. I need to do better.
Today I went to the thrift store to see if I could find a glass loaf pan to make bread, but they did not have anything like that today. I did though find some cloth napkins to use. I don't like to pay full price for those, since I know how expensive they can be for a set. I believe I have plenty right now. Still will continue on this journey to the frugal life.

Hi! My name is Karen. I am a wife and stay-at-home-mom. I wanted to start a blog about frugality. Actually this is a journey to being frugal. We do a few things now that are frugal, but have a long way to go. I know this day and time we need to save all we can. Also need to reuse and recycle. I also use coupons as much as I can. I know some days I will make mistakes trying new things, but will learn on this journey.

I will start with one thing we have started doing. We have stopped using papertowels and now use cloth napkins when we eat. Also use rags and sponges when we clean.

I will share more as I go along. Hopefully meet others that will give me ideas along the way.
Have a great day.