My First Guest Post

Michelle at Scribbit graciously opened up her blog to guest posters a while back and, given my love of sharing great deals, I jumped at the chance to talk about some of the low-cost, fun options for families in the north Florida area. I know there are tons of places I didn't cover, so feel free to comment here or at her place to give everyone a chance to know about your favorite, cost-effective family-oriented activities!

Website Wednesday: LDSJournal.com

So, a blog is sort of like an online journal, I guess. But there are just certain things I'd rather not publicize to the world. I've seen some of the online journaling sites and always felt like they were too vulnerable. I guess I still think they are. But, I recently attended a Time Out for Women event in central Florida and learned about LDSJournal. I poked around the site tonight to see what all the hype was about. The thing that caught my eye the most was the beautiful bound book on display at the conference. It was gorgeous and seemed very reasonably priced; a great way to preserve memories for future generations.

Now, I know I'm starting to sound like a commercial, but I can promise you that's not the case here. I haven't made the leap into hawking products or making money from ads on this blog. I just think modern technology is pretty neat and sometimes I can't help but tell other people about the cool sites I visit.

While I'm still not sold on the whole journaling online thing (I don't care how secure the site is, I don't think anything is really "private" online), I do like how easy it is to use. I have to admit, though, that some of the neatest things I have in my possession are samples of my deceased grandparents' handwriting from old letters and recipe cards. All of that nostalgia is lost in online journaling. Maybe one day I'll be converted, but not today.

An Article that Sparked My Interest

I came across an article today on Pioneer Thinking that caught my eye. I could have saved the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute a lot of work on their study about how tracking your calories and exercise helps you lose more weight! I had no idea I was letting everyone in on a secret when I posted this the other day. I love SparkPeople! (By the way, this is not a paid advertisement!)

Transportation Tracker

I recently joined SparkPeople at the recommendation of a friend. I mainly used the fitness tracking feature to keep up with my daily exercise, but decided I would get a lot more out of it if I would use the nutrition tracker to keep tabs on my calorie consumption each day. WHAT AN EYE OPENER! I think I cut my consumption by around 1/3 to 1/2 after only a few days of using this feature. No wonder I was gaining weight these last several months! I've lost a few pounds (in conjunction with also starting a regular exercise program that includes two BodyPump classes each week) since I joined.

So, what does this have to do with transportation? My household was recently selected by the federal Department of Transportation to participate in a one day survey of our travel habits. No biggie, I thought. I'm game. (The small monetary incentive certainly didn't hurt.) So, for one day I wrote down every bit of travel for our household for a 20-hour period including bike rides and walks. Let me tell you--it was another eye opener! In one typical Friday I made 17 stops, only one of which included a short walk and there were no bike rides to be had among any of us. The bike riding part wasn't the shocker though, as we live on a fairly busy street. But, the number of stops seemed completely ridiculous! By the end of my 1.5 hour call with the DOT representative where she recorded all of my information such as miles between stops and time it took to drive there (this 1.5 hours didn't even include my husband's or kids interviews), I was completely embarrassed. I was told it typically only takes about 20-30 minutes.

This got me thinking--while I do not consider myself a particularly "earthy-crunchy" person, I am sure I can do better than 17 trips per day where 16 of those involved cranking up my car. I got tired just talking about all of those trips. So, SparkPeople...are you listening? Could you possibly add another feature to your site that helps me track my car mileage? It'd be nice to have it all in one place so I can work on trimming that as well!

I Can Can!

Last year, I learned how to can meat in a pressure cooker. I had some wonderful friends walk me through the process. Tonight, I went solo! I canned 18 lbs of chicken and prepared several jars of hamburger for canning tomorrow. I look at the jars and get all giddy. While I hope we never have to use them in an emergency situation, it's nice to know we have a little something on hand just in case. While there are some really good blogs with canning instructions and tutorials, be sure to also check out the National Center for Home Food Preservation, as it includes gobs of information that is updated with current food safety handling information.

How Many Cups in a Pound of...

Check out this helpful website that lists a variety of goods sold by the pound and approximately how many cups are in a pound of that product. I found it very useful when planning menus and calculating how much I needed of something. It's also good when trying to compare prices.

The Caregivers Marketplace

Are you the caregiver for a child under 5? Are you the caregiver for a parent? If not, perhaps you at least take care of yourself by purchasing vitamins, natural supplements, or a number of other health-related items. If so, head on over to The Caregivers Marketplace and sign up for a FREE account. Once you purchase at least five items from diapers to pain relievers and a bunch of stuff in between, you can submit the receipts for a rebate on your purchases. While I haven't actually participated yet myself (I just recently learned about it), I have read about the program all over the blogosphere. It seems to be legit. So, click the above link, read the FAQs, and start saving. Oh, happy day!

Freebie Friday: Absurdly Cool Edition

Pick your own freebie on this Freebie Friday by checking out the AburdlyCool Freebie Frinder.

Another Woot Off!

I hear there is another Woot Off today (Wednesday, 10/22)! Click here to check out the goods.

Freebie Friday: FREE Holiday Countdown E-Course

I recently learned from the Orgjunkie that Cara from The Household Helper is offering a free e-course that will get us through the holidays with our sanity in tact! Given how organized I will (hopefully) be, I'm guessing it will save me some money, too. No last minute trips to the store or overlooked gifting. And, it's FREE. So, mosey on over to The Household Helper's Holiday Countdown and sign yourself up!

Menu Plan Monday & Mr. Breakfast

School is in full swing. Our 15 year old, "Alpha," has resumed her piano lessons, and the 8 year old, "Beta," has joined the band. The 6 year old, "Charlie," is taking dance, and the 4 year old, "Delta," is also taking dance, though her class takes place at the preschool during the day. Thank goodness! I now find myself taking children to classes every day of the school week except Monday. Now, I LOVE Mondays! This makes menu planning even more critical to my week since hubby's schedule doesn't allow him to take on some of the burden.

Before moving on to the menu, I had to tell you about Mr. Breakfast. I've only just discovered his web site this evening, but I think I'll be visiting often. Check it out. As the name suggests, it's totally devoted to breakfast ideas!

On to this week's menu...

Meatless Monday

Breakfast: Oatmeal

Dinner: Broccoli Cheese Soup

Tried and True Tuesday:

Breakfast: Eggs with salsa

Dinner: Sausage & Rice Casserole (scroll down for the recipe--it's at the bottom of the post)

Work less on Wednesday:

Breakfast: Cereal

Dinner: Pizza, corn on the cob

Thanksgiving Thursday (named after traditional post-Thanksgiving menu planning):

Leftovers!

First Time Friday:

Breakfast: Spinach Quiche

Dinner: Favorite White Chicken Chili

Simple Saturday:

Breakfast: Cereal

Dinner: Tacos, refried beans (do-over from last week)

Slow Cooker Sunday:

Breakfast: Cheese grits

Dinner: Crockpot Chicken BBQ, rolls, slaw, green beans

For more menus, visit Orgjunkie.com!

How Did I Do This Before?

I returned to work last week, though I never really left. Sort of. You may recall that I left a full-time job about four years ago to spend more time with my husband and children and start up a part-time resume writing business. And then, early this year, I stumbled on the perfect-for-me position in my field at one of my favorite places to find legitimate virtual opportunities, Work At Home Mom. With the youngest now in school for several hours each day a few days a week, it was a match made in heaven! But, MAN, am I exhausted! And I only worked for 10 hours last week and about 13 this week! Actually, I worked far more than that trying to get my systems/checks and balances in place. I did a lot of reading, too, learning about the company, the clients, and the policies and procedures. And more procedures. And more policies. On top of that, I shopped for a new computer since my dear Dell is on its last leg. How I'll miss her so. (We just can't stand to part ways permanently yet, so she'll have a special place in the house where the kids can easily access her until she croaks for good. If nothing else, I won't be competing with requests for coloring pages and pbskids.org when I need to get something done. How did we become a two-computer family? I never thought I'd see the day.)

This brings me to my thought that got me writing again this week...HOW DID I DO THIS BEFORE working three times as many hours in one week? I suppose we rise to meet the challenge, whatever it may be, and adjust ourselves accordingly. Lots of people ask me how I did it, working full-time (and then some!) with a hubby who worked nights and four children (three under the age of 5 at the time). Funny, since I look around and see families with 5, 6, or even more children, and some single parents, and ask myself (or their parents), HOW DO YOU DO IT? My burdens seem small compared to what I imagine theirs to be. It's all relative. And It's All the Same to the Clam.*

While I've REALLY missed the blogging this week, I can already see the silver lining in my working-class cloud: a few hours each day to do something I enjoy (I think of it as a hobby and a job since I relish what I'm doing so much) and an excuse for a new computer to boot (literally)!


*Note: I do not know the owner of the Etsy shop associated with the link above, but I do like the clam poem by Shel Silverstein she printed there. And now I don't have to type it for you to read. :)

And the Winner is....

Thanks to those who visited and entered my first giveaway! The winner of the $10 Bath and Body Works gift card is....

CHRISTIAN AND JENNIFER

according to the Math Goodies Custom Random Number Generator. Christian and Jennifer, forward your address and we'll be in business!

Have a great Labor Day everyone. :)

Thrifty Thursday - Make-A-Note

Have you heard of Make-A-Note? It's a great little newsletter that you can subscribe to by sending an email to subscribe-make-a-note@hub.thedollarstretcher.com. While the website doesn't appear up-to-date (when I clicked Current Issue it actually displayed a very old issue), the newsletters are distributed faithfully (once or twice a month) and are chock full of tips: money saving tips, time saving tips, recipes, etc...it's a good mix. This week, however, the one snippet that caught my eye included a link to this article: 10 Cool and Creamy Desserts Under 300 Calories, posted at MyRecipes.com. YUM, YUM!

Woot are you waiting for????

Looks like today will be a Woot-Off Day! Check out Woot.com all day long for stuff you probably don't need but really want. :) If you are new to Wooting, click the first link above for a crash course in all things Woot. Oh, and skim it our you'll miss out on all the great deals. Go. Now. HURRY!

Freebie Friday: Carl Griffith's Sourdough Starter

About a month ago, I decided to begin making ALL of our sandwich bread and rolls from scratch. I have been making our rolls (dinner rolls, hamburger rolls, etc.) for quite some time, so it wasn't a big deal to add in the sandwich bread. Hot dog buns...that poses a different problem. I haven't experimented with those yet. As luck would have it, about three weeks into it my daughter answered an early Saturday morning call and was told, "Congratulations! You've won $20 in free bread!" I remember the day I entered the drawing...it was the day I was buying hot dog buns for our July 4th gathering. And just when we were settling into homemade bread. I suppose I could have used all $20 to buy hot dog buns, but my freezer wasn't ready for that. So, I have taken a hiatus from baking homemade bread until we use up the $20 in free bread. And that's a good thing, because "the funk" (as one of my friend's calls it) has been making it's way around our family and I've not been spared. I will, however, spare you with the details of my icky illness and get on with Friday's Freebie which, luckily, I discovered some time last week. Otherwise, this post probably wouldn't have made it to press.

Without further delay, I bring you a link to obtain your very own FREE 1847 Carl Griffith's Sourdough Starter. They say vintage starter is the best, right? What could be better than 150 year-old FREE starter? Enjoy, and while you're waiting for that starter to arrive, read more about Carl Griffith or visit the site started by his sourdough fans. You can even find recipes and photos such as this yummy-looking Oatmeal Bread and step-by-step instructions for making this artistic Banneton Boule.

Disclaimer...like the website states, the starter is "cultured, dried, and mailed under sanitary, but not sterile, conditions by a volunteer who adheres to the methods used and recorded by Carl Griffith. It is not certified as a foodstuff. If you are allergic or reactive to any of its components, we guarantee that you will be allergic or reactive to it."

Freebie Friday - Redbox.com & Easy Microwave Popcorn

With each and every addition to our family, the chances of hubby and I seeing a moving at the theater have exponentially decreased! I'm not much into television, so I don't watch too many movie rentals either. ENTER THE REDBOX! I must admit, I can be drawn in by a good deal. Am I the last person on the planet to learn about free DVD rentals using Redbox Promo Codes? It's only $1 to rent a DVD if I don't have a code, but there's just something delicious about freebies! In the last week, I've watched around five new releases with either hubby or the kids! I'm not necessarily proud of this flood of TV watching...but it has been fun!

There are a couple of ways to get the codes. If you visit Redbox.com, you can sign up for a promo code to be sent to your mobile phone every Monday that will provide you with a free DVD rental. But, if you happen to enjoy movie nights on a day other than Monday, you'll want to check out InsideRedbox.com and select Redbox Codes. They are organized by code and last date used; further down the page they are organized by state.

So, without further delay, locate your nearest Redbox location by clicking here and enjoy a FREE movie rental on Freebie Friday. And, don't forget the popcorn (recipe below)!

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Easy (and Inexpensive) Microwave Popcorn

1/4 cup popcorn kernels
Butter & salt (or any other seasoning) to taste
1 brown paper bag (lunch size is best)
stapler

Place the popcorn in the brown paper bag, fold it down a couple of times, and staple the top of the bag to keep it securely closed. Place the bag in your microwave and cook on high for two to three minutes. When there is a delay of several seconds between pops, your popcorn is done! Pour it into a bowl and season with butter, salt, etc. (Note: Recipe inspired by Alton Brown's Plain Brown Popper.)

Thrifty Thursday - RefundPlease.com

I first read about RefundPlease.com while searching the archives of Money Saving Mom for something totally unrelated. Since I recently purchased a few items from Amazon.com, the timing could not have been better. The site is pretty self-explanatory--you enter information pertaining to your purchases at Amazon, and you are notified if the price drops during the 30-day period following your transaction. The great thing is that not only are you notified, but the email notification contains a link to the place on the site where you can claim a credit for the difference between the price you paid and the new, lower price! While Amazon is the only retailer for which this service is being provided, they are looking to add more soon. To date, the largest credit found and claimed was for $3,860!

My Finds: Helpful Websites

As I peruse the Internet, I sometimes come across a great find, a website that I know I'll come back to again and again. Here's a sample of my favorites:

• If you have ever gotten elbow-deep into a recipe to discover that you are out of a key ingredient, you might want to bookmark The Cook's Thesaurus. But, the info doesn't stop there--you can also learn which flowers are edible (BEFORE your toddler tries to graze in your flower garden), why you don't really need a salt grinder (near the bottom of the page), and what to do for a substitute when you use your last lotus leaf!
  

• With the kiddos around the house all day long, I entertain more frequent requests for coloring pages. Check out Ivy's Coloring Page Search Engine and break out the crayons. The only down side to this search engine, I have found, is that the best results are from simple searches (like frogs or princess or Star Wars); use more than one or two words and you may not get the results you were looking for.
  

• Spend some time poking around NutritionData.com for all kinds of helpful information about the foods you eat. I really like the Recipe Analyzer since I can input any recipe ingredients and find out how nutritious (or UNnutritious) they are.

Be back Monday with my weekly menu plan!

Thrifty Thursday - Hot Dog Booklet

Finally! Another use for all of the unnecessary paper that comes into the house. I love this hot dog book because you can use a piece of paper with writing on one side already. My kids shudder when I make them use both sides of a piece of paper before getting a new one, but I think they will love this project! Thanks to The Crafty Crow whose blog took me to the World Preschool Mom whose blog took me to the hot dog book at Making Books With Children. Whew. Lucky find!