Uncategorized

Saving Money–December 18, 2016

2 Comments

img_3758img_3755

I enjoyed the sunset over the Willamette River while I was with the kids at my sister’s house.

img_3761

The girls and I were treated to lunch with my sister, Rosalie, her friend, Harnet and little Dinuite.  We went to Bob’s Red Mill and little Dinuite loved climbing up and down the stairs.  The big girls took turns reading to her, helping her up and down safely, and we all loved lunch. Then, I did a little shopping since I love their products and I was there.  I especially love using the gluten-free one-to-one flour so got some more of that.  I was able to finish using up a gift card I’ve had for some time, so that was a nice bonus.   Then, we took the little cutie to McDonald’s to play on the toys.

img_3764

We got a drink and one package of french fries because we think it’s only fair that if we are going to use the toys, we buy something, but since we were full from lunch, we didn’t need much. (Didn’t need food at all, really, but we were there to spend time together and for the toys!)  It was so great to visit and that we could let the little girl loose to run and play, with the big girls climbing up and down the play structure when needed.

img_3780

img_3766

We stayed home for several days during the snow storm.  I took one big walk with Patsy, and she played in it for a while the first day.  Rob doesn’t mind driving in it, so he went and got Jake for 1 night, so we were not lonely.  We ran off coloring pages from the internet for him to color.  He also enjoyed working on a Perler bead snowman, but Patsy needed to finish it for him.  He also played with our train set, Legos, Transformers, stories and the Wii.  I was pleased with the fact that he found so many other things to do, since the Wii is so attractive to him.  I actually severely limit his time on it, but I love having it for him to enjoy for short periods of time.

I had a ball and cooked lots of meals, including  2 kinds of soup, spaghetti, chicken, pizza, and more.  I also spent time sewing on Michaela’s Christmas p.j.’s. and took a big nap and went to bed early.  Absolutely free and amazing to get a nap!  I also cleaned the house a bunch and Lovana spent several hours organizing the food storage in the garage/family room.  We saved money by not shopping after the first day when I stopped for milk, bread, etc.   It’s so important that I use up leftovers and make sure food items are not getting overlooked in the storage area.  Both are important kitchen management skills that I try to implement.

We went swimming at the YMCA using our membership.  I hope to use that several times this week.

We are entering a week where we are going to spend quite a bit of time watching the cousins.  We are going to do several kid-friendly activities throughout the week to keep all of the kids busy.  We will see what gets done, but so far I have sugar cookie dough chilling in the fridge to bake cookies tomorrow.  Rob is off for 2 weeks because he works for the school system, so he is taking one of our kids to an appointment in the morning, plus doing some errands.  Then, we will spend time with the kids together.  It will be more fun that way for everyone.

We made some more caramel corn for gifts, and included some in the gifts Rob took to his co-workers.  They loved the gifts and said the caramel corn smelled just like the beach (candy shop) and ate it up before they left for the day, for the most part.  We also made another big batch we will give away soon.  We are mostly finished with our Christmas shopping.  We kept it simple.

weather

More Snow

20 Comments

img_3772

It’s unbelievable!  We got hit with a snow event even bigger than the one last week!  This is very rare in our area, so I don’t think people took the weather people very seriously.  After all, we have been promised snow many times and no snow showed up.  So, all of the children went off to school Wednesday morning, as usual.  People went to work.  Around noon, it began.

img_3777

By nightfall, we had over 4 inches.  Incredible!

I have to say, it was very hard for everyone to get home.  I was doing school with Ja’Ana and Alissa at Alissa’s house, around 20-25 minutes from my house when the flakes started falling at my house.  Lovana called me a couple of times to tell me it was snowing.  So, we finished up what we were doing and J and I started home.  I decided to stop at the store to grab a few things were were out of, such as milk.  I should have kept driving:)

By the time I had pushed my way through the people grabbing items, got the things that were left on the emptying shelves, and stood in a long line, the snow was pelting down, mostly in the form of ice pellets.  But, I had my milk!  I began to drive home.

The roads were clogged with drivers, all of whom were driving deliberately and carefully through the ever-falling snow.  We got to go about 5 miles per hour in quite a few places and got all the way up to 20 in a couple of places.  I spun my tires on a hill, but got up fine once the tires got a grip!  For me, that was more than enough excitement!  I have not left the house since I got safely home, between 45 minutes and an hour later.  Then, we waited for Rob to show up.

He was at school and needed to ride the bus home with a child, as he normally does.  They let out 2 hours early.  He did make it safely, but it was much closer to his regular time–not very early.  He was on that bus for a very long time and there were a few dicey moments, but it was all good for him.  In Portland, Oregon, the story was a bit different.  Some students did not get home until 11 at night, buses were sliding down hills, and traffic was gridlocked for hours and hours, taking some people 4-6 hours to return home.  Glad I didn’t go to Portland that day, as I had planned.

img_3775

I think the lettuce is finally done for:)

img_3782

Each day since, the schools have been cancelled, the snow has melted slightly during the middle of the day, and frozen back up each night, with temperatures down into the 20’s.  For many of you, that is nothing.  For us, here–it’s so very, very rare it is a novelty.  Rob drove to get Jake, my nephew, yesterday, with no problems.  He will go drive around a bit today, just because he likes to.  As for me, I’m content to sit in my warm, cozy house and enjoy the luxury of being able to cook and sew to my heart’s content!  I just may finish Michaels’s pajamas today, and the meals that I have time to cook and pretty yummy, I must say–warm soups, home-made pizza, and more.  All-in-all, it’s been a terrific vacation for me!

 

 

Saving Money

Saving Money–December 12, 2016

6 Comments

img_3752

We enjoyed our brief snow day!  The kids had hours and hours of fun, it was free, and they were very tired for  2 days.  Win-Win-Win!!

img_3751

When I got home, it was pretty much melted there.  I do want you to notice the little garden, though.  Believe it or not, the lettuce made it through!  I think this week will finish it for sure since it’s supposed to get really cold later in the week, but I think it’s Energizer bunny lettuce–just keeps going and going.

Several weeks ago, the glass plate broke in our microwave.  One day, it just cracked in half. This is the microwave that came with the house, so I believe it’s pretty old.  We looked on-line and the replacement was $55-$60.  I’m just stubborn enough that I would not pay that for one.  There were several options that were considered, and my niece, Alissa, got extremely creative in finding ways to cook her food without burning it.  In fact, she may do a guest post soon on “What to Do When the Glass Tray Breaks in Your Microwave.”  Since some of her ideas were pretty entertaining to watch, I may have her share them.

The obvious choice ended up being the one that worked–Rob finally found one at Goodwill for $5.  It had ended up being pretty hard to find the time to shop enough to find the glass, but he did at last.

img_3687

img_3686

We had a family candy making party.  We did a batch of caramels and one batch that turned into toffee–I think that one got boiled a little too long somehow.

img_3683

We went to a ceramics studio and had a few of the girls make a couple of gifts for Christmas.  It was nice to give them a chance to make something useful, while doing some art.  Everything is provided at the store.   For an activity that we do not plan on doing often, it is a great deal to find a place that provides all of the supplies–from paint, glaze, brushes, and firing, included in the price.  To buy one of each would be cost-prohibitive for me.

We’ve been building lots of fires.  It’s been cold.  It’s great we have all of that wood.

Lots of meals have been cooked at home, but I’ve also been gifted with quite a few meals from my sister.  We often share food back and forth when we make big batches of things.  This week, she also gave me some leftover Mexican food from the party she had catered for her business party.  It was so good, I ate it for both breakfast and lunch today.  Yum!

Rob made a lot of caramel corn to give for Christmas presents.  I had some crocheted dish cloths I had made over the last few months (keeps me busy) and we were able to get a great deal on hand soap on Saturday.  So, it’s a small bag of caramel corn, and a hand soap with a hand-made dish cloth wrapped around it.  It’s perfect for his new co-workers.  Although each gift was less than $5 for supplies, they are very nice. In fact, when out shopping, I saw caramel corn for sale for almost $5 for the same amount–pre-packaged.   We will make some more fresh caramel corn closer to Christmas for some others we know will like it.  WE can hardly leave it alone—really tasty.  If you want to make it–it’s a Taste of Home recipe–Courtside Caramel Corn.

Homeschooling

Snow Day

8 Comments

img_3721

Last Thursday, a few lazy flakes began to fall.

img_3716

They turned into a few more.

img_3726

I was so proud of Michaela–she conquered her fears and went outside!  Snow is hard for her, but she went out twice and had a great time swinging on her swing set in the snow.

img_3748

Patsy and Alissa sledded down the driveway as the snow continued to fall and accumulated almost an inch!

img_3745

Jake is the cutest snowflake on the block!  He would have liked to take his entire fleet of vehicles out, but we limited him to just a few toys.

img_3750

Really early in the morning, we all realized that, although not one flake had fallen, school was cancelled due to the expected storm, and my sister and her husband both still had to work.  Thankfully, my aunt was able to take the earliest shift and headed over to the house.  I joined her a little after 8.  Let’s just say–it took both of us.

img_3734

4 of the kids played outside for a few hours.  1 kid sat on the couch for a few hours, not wanting to get cold and wet.  Projects were made, including a batch of fudge, Perler beads, those little kits where you melt the plastic crystals into metal frames, a sewing project cut out, lunch, and some tv.  By mid-afternoon, it was melting, the kids’ Dad was back home (he’s a professor and finals had to be given, but did not last all day), and my aunt and I headed to our respective homes, leaving a huge pile of wet and soggy clothing and coats.   It was a great day with the perfect amount of snow–enough to have fun in, but not enough to be dangerous.  I was glad to get home safely, as it cooked off again and froze to the branches and made icicles on the wires.  Where we live, freezing rain is a very dangerous weather event.  All evening activities were cancelled, so we enjoyed a rare evening at home.  I think everyone had a great snow day!

recipes

Saving Money–Dec. 5, 2016

10 Comments

img_3681

The weather turned colder, and so Rob picked the iris.  It opened right up overnight.  It’s so pretty and unusual to have an iris blooming in December!

img_3668

I also picked a tremendous amount of lettuce from the garden.  I think it’s the last hurrah, but who knows?  I was able to serve taco salad to our family and the friends who visited and still have lots left.

img_3679

We put the tree up in the garage/family room.  It is sitting on top of a table I keep out there.  Rob got a bargain tree for $20 that he cut down on Saturday and chopped it off to fit the small area we have.  We used the branches from the part he chopped off to decorate the railing in front of our house.  He put up a small string of lights as well, outside.

img_3672

I dug through the bins of fabric in the shop and found a Christmas piece.  I used it for a tablecloth to make the kitchen more festive.  I bought a kit for a gingerbread house, plus a little more candy from the bulk section of Winco, and Patsy enjoyed decorating it for quite a while on Saturday.

While shopping, I found chicken drumsticks for 68c/lb.  I bought 3 packages, cooked 1 and froze 2.  We have had spaghetti several times this week, from the batch of sauce I made last Tuesday.  We will finish it today.  It was a large batch and was made from home-canned tomato products, 1 pound of ground beef and various odds and ends of parmesan cheese that were in the fridge, over gluten-free noodles I had on hand.  We also had make-your-own tacos/taco salad with our friends.  There are still quite a few leftovers in the fridge to keep the family eating for the first part of the week.

 

 

recipes, Saving Money

Quick-Cooking Tapioca

4 Comments

img_3666

I’m always looking for appetizing ways to use the food that I have stockpiled.  There’s no point in having lots of food, just so it can get old on the shelves, and  end up cooking with stale, outdated ingredients.  Sometimes, when food is bought in bulk packages, it is much cheaper, but the purchaser ends up with more than they can use.  Last spring, this happened to my mother.  She bought a large package of quick-cooking tapioca and gave me a baggie of the excess.  I did not end up using it all up over the summer, so when I found it again recently, I decided to target it in my meals.

The first thing I did with it was use a couple of Tablespoons to thicken a beef stew.  This was a stew that was made from beef, broth, canned tomatoes, onions, carrots, potatoes, beans and some herbs and spices, plus salt and pepper.  When I finished, it was pretty runny.  I just put in a little tapioca and it thickened up nicely.  I am gluten-intolerant, so this made a nice substitute for wheat flour.

The second thing I made was tapioca pudding.  I got a recipe from the Kraft website.

2-3/4 cups milk (I used 2%)

1/3 cup sugar

3 Tbsp. Minute Tapioca (I have no idea of the brand my mother gave me, but it worked)

1 egg beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

I added:  1/4 teaspoon salt and a teaspoon butter

Mix milk, sugar, tapioca, salt and the beaten egg in a saucepan.  Let sit for 5 minutes.

Cook on medium (I did med-high and watched it very carefully), stirring the entire time, until mixture comes to a full boil.  Remove from heat.  Add vanilla and butter.  Cool 20 minutes; stir.  Serve warm or cold.  Makes 6 servings.  Store leftovers in fridge.

When I got done cooking the mixture, it was so runny I though I had made a mistake and had tapioca soup.  The recipe says it thickens as it cools, but I thought there was no way this would become pudding.  But, it really did.  In fact, it turned out to be very thick once it was cold.  So, I might actually use 3 cups milk next time.

 

 

 

Projects

A Simple Knitted Scarf

12 Comments

img_3664

I’m not much of a knitter.  I don’t know how to follow directions very well, so only go back and forth with no fancy alterations.  That being said, I was very pleased with a scarf I just finished.  I was in the Dollar Store, and they had this Lion Brand Fun Fur yarn for, well, obviously, $1.

I grabbed a couple skeins of the 2 colors they had, and finally found my knitting needles with a little help from Rob.  They were still in a bin in the shop.  I used the really big ones–size 13.  After a few views on U-Tube, I remembered how to cast on, so I put 15 stitches onto my needles, and started knitting.  I just kept knitting back and forth (garter stitch) until I ran out of yarn, then bound off and knotted the yarn.  I wove the ends in with a crochet hook and I was done.

I did not need a super long scarf.  If I had wanted it longer, I would have continued with the second ball of yarn, or made the width skinnier, by casting on only 10 stitches.  What I wanted it for was to add some color to my winter coat, not for warmth or wrapping around a bunch of times.

img_3663

I got this coat after Christmas last year for only $10, on clearance.  Adding my $1 scarf made it much brighter, but still very inexpensive.  I think a scarf like this would be a good gift.  It was quick to make because the needles were so big.  Even for someone who doesn’t knit much, it only took a very few hours.  I don’t know how much yarn would cost if it wasn’t purchased at the Dollar Store, but I’m guessing not very much.  The only thing that was hard was sometimes all the extra fuzzy strands got in my way–smooth yarn would probably be easier, but it sure wouldn’t be a fluffy and soft.  I’m glad I used this yarn.

 

Saving Money

Saving Money–November 27, 2016

6 Comments

img_3552

We had a lovely Thanksgiving.  Then, we had a lot of family fun for the rest of the weekend.

We are still cruising on leftovers from the holiday.  We still have several things left that we will use for lunches tomorrow and dinner tomorrow night.  I also have more than enough groceries left from all the shopping I did before the holiday that I don’t need to buy any for a few days–even milk and eggs.  One of the great things I was able to buy was a big carton of 5 dozen eggs for $4.05.  I made deviled eggs for Thanksgiving

I froze quite a bit of turkey in smaller baggies for use in casseroles, soups, and sandwiches.  I boiled the bones of the turkey and got over 12 pints.  I froze those for later.  I also used some of the home-made broth in stuffing, and made a soup already.  I used the crock pot so we would have a meal last night when we returned from our family outing.

Although we went to several family events over the week, we chose to eat out only once.  Otherwise, we packed food with us or ate before and after the events.

img_3646

My sister treated us all to a train ride.  We had a great week with a visit to a museum, Thanksgiving, the train ride, skating, dinner, and the Singing Christmas Tree.  We are happy, but a bit tired, and I am looking forward to a nice week of my regular schedule.  I do need to put my mind and get working on  Christmas.  We were able to make a good, simple plan and now know what we want to get for people.  It should not be difficult.  Now, if we could find as easy of a solution for the problem of where we should put the Christmas tree!

 

Uncategorized

Black Friday, 2016

4 Comments

img_3643

This year we did not go shopping on Black Friday.  Not even to buy a single pair of socks at the annual Fred Meyer 1/2 price sock sale.  Not even for flannel at JoAnn’s.  Nothing was shopped for.  Instead, we went with family members to a very special outing.

We went to ride a historic holiday train.  My niece, Michaela, adores trains.  Her mother, my sister, decided to treat us all to a train ride.  So, today, we went.

img_20161125_150255

My niece, Rachel, and Lovana took they selfie.  I thought it turned out super good.  I love it!

img_3647

img_3646

Everyone enjoyed the fun experience, but Michaela was in train heaven!  She LOVED the train ride.

The train departed from Oaks Amusement Park in Portland, Oregon, and traveled along the Willamette River almost to the Ross Island bridge, and then returned.  During the ride, we could see the river and some wetlands containing birds.  We also saw great views of Portland itself.

img_3651

After riding the train, we ate lunches out of our car trunks, and then headed for the roller skating rink at Oaks Park.  The rides are closed for the season, but the rink remains open year-round.  Bless Auntie Gail’s heart!  She helped Patsy skate.  I watched.  Although I admire her gumption, I wouldn’t want to be her tomorrow.  I’m sure she’ll be sore!!

img_3650

Alissa enjoyed her first time roller skating!

img_3648

Ja’Ana loved whizzing around with Kim, one of Alissa’s good friends.

img_3654

Even Michaela tried it out with help from her Mama.  It was a LONG trip around the rink, but she was proud and happy that she did it!  The non-skaters had a great time encouraging the skaters, sipping soda, and visiting.

img_3658

Afterwards, we ended the day with dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory.  The kids enjoyed the balloon toys a roving balloon-toymaker crafted for them.  It was a great follow-up to Thanksgiving Day, and gave many of us the chance to keep visiting.  On the way home, we enjoyed seeing many Christmas lights that busy people had hung up while we enjoyed our day.  It was a great start to our Christmas season!

Holidays

Happy Thanksgiving, 2016

6 Comments

img_3613

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving.  It was the first major holiday in our new home, and we were privileged  to host it for the family.  As always, some could make it and some could not, but we had a wonderful time with the ones who could be here and missed the ones who were elsewhere.

We had a few challenges getting ready for the big day.  The first one was that when you do something in a new house, there is a lot to figure out.  The way we’ve done things in the past wouldn’t work in this much smaller house.  So, we tried out more than one way of arranging tables, and finally settled on an arrangement that looked like it would work.  We moved the dining table into the middle of the living room and made it into its larger size.  The table in the garage/family room was made as big as it could be made and, after a couple of tries, settled into a place where there would be enough room for people to get seated comfortable.  A few easy chairs were placed around with tv trays handy, and we were set.  With the table gone from the dining area, we had a nice space for 2 food tables, and some room to maneuver around.

img_3608

img_3610

As you can see, I finally gave in and brought the old lamp in from the shop.  It is still dark in the living room, but the little lamp will do until I get a better one.

Another challenge I faced was the fact that we all needed to work a lot more than usual this week.  My sister needed to work extra, my brother-in-law did too, and my husband got to work 24 hours in 2 days.  All of that meant that I had a lot of quality time with my children, and my nieces and nephew who did not have school all of this week, but had virtually no time to prepare for the holiday.

Here’s how we made it work.  Everyone who came pitched in.  They all brought food and came early and helped finish up.  Rob got Wednesday off, and though exhausted from 2-12 hour days, did a massive amount of cooking and setting things up.  He did the turkey, a cheese ball, pickle-ham rolls, and set things up.  He went shopping, bought whatever he thought we needed (although we did most of it last weekend), and bought me a few bunches of flowers from Trader Joes and put them on the counter.  They were my favorite thing he did–I felt so special when I saw that big clump of plastic-wrapped flowers sitting in a vase.  I got up early and made stuffed mushrooms, stuffing, ham (in the crock pot), gravy, and arranged the flowers.  We used mashed potatoes left over from a youth event my sister cooked for a few days ago, and had several salads, veggie and fruit trays,  and desserts others brought.  I bought paper “platters” and used real silverware.  I borrowed tablecloths from one of my sisters, as I don’t have any that fit this new table.  We all took turns washing dishes and put things away as soon as we could, as the counters are small.

When everyone was done, several people stayed and helped me put it all away and put the tables, chairs, etc. back where they belonged.  Much of it went back out to the shop.  Thanks to everyone, I get to sit here relaxing on my bed tonight, basking in the beautiful day we all had, and glory in the fact that the house is clean, I get to rest a lot tonight, and we all have a wonderful day planned for tomorrow!  It truly has been a happy Thanksgiving!

 

Making My Home A Haven