This year brings about a concerted effort to rebuild our savings, spend less, earn more, and really make sure every purchase we make is bringing up closer to our goals.  To help support that, we’ve started a new blog at: 

Our Frugal Journey

I’ll still be posting here on more personal topics, but the bulk of the finance related stuff  will go on the new site. 

And I think we’ve found this year’s theme verse:  Hebrews 12:11 ~ No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Discipline is definitely what I need this year in so many areas of life!

This is a great deal that I found at MoneySavingMethods that makes an easy gift or extra savings. We don’t have an Entertainment Book for our small town, but I found a couple ways to make use of this for us.  We often vacation near a larger city, so ordering one from there makes sense.  We also have hard-to-buy for relatives who live in a larger city that might appreciate one of these.

Here’s the scoop:

First, sign up for Cashbaq (a program similar to Ebates, etc.). New registrations get an automatic $5 in their accounts (and payout is just $10)! Cashbaq is offering $10 cash back on each Entertainment Book purchased.

Next, follow the links there to the Entertainment Book site where the prices listed are $10 off the regular price, and free shipping applies.

Depending on the prices in your area, you might be able to get an additional discount by ordering another book (same or different area). There is the option to choose automatic renewal for an extra $5 off (instructions are given for declining shipment of the next book, the $5 may or may not be charged back at that time)

So how did this break down for me?
$15.00 Entertainment Book (after automatic savings & free shipping)
-$10.00 Cashback from Cashbaq on Entertainment Book
-$5.00 Cashbaq signup bonus
FREE!

Between Ebates & Cashbaq, I’m beginning to double check anything that I buy online to see if there’s a discount available (even on the super deals I’ve found through Slickdeals)!  Both programs do offer a referral program as well.

One of my new habits is making a large pan of cornbread whenever we have chili and saving 4-5 small pieces to crumble up for a quiche crust.  Just crumble the cornbread, then press it down into a greased pie plate for an easy crust.  This makes for an extremely quick dish to whip up on a busy night!  Great with a big salad, mashed sweet potatoes, or pumpkin pie pancakes!

Mama’s Easy Quiche with  Cornbread Crust

• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups milk (a can of evaporated milk works fine)
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (can buy this on sale and freeze it, just thaw before using)
• 2 T flour
• diced ham (optional)
• rosemary, salt/pepper or other seasoning (optional)
• 4-5 small pieces cornbread (can use regular pie crust instead)

Crumble cornbread into pie plate and press to make crust.  Sprinkle with rosemary.  (Or place unbaked pie crust into plate.)

Filling:  Add milk to the beaten eggs.  Mix cheese with flour (helps prevent clumping!), then add to the above.  Add diced ham.  Pour into pie crust/shell.  Bake at 350 degrees about 45 minutes.  For a browner & firmer crust, bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then continue baking for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees.   Check to see that knife inserted near center comes out clean.

1. Convenience of having food already in the freezer to help minimize shopping trips (especially nice in snow/ice season!)
2. Variety of meats & sides for a low price
3. Specials like fresh fruit & veggie boxes, chicken strips, and individual quick frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts at sale prices without having to watch the ads or bundle the kids up to several different stores.
4. They accept EBT (food stamps) to help people make the most of their grocery dollars. 
5. Everyone involved from the top down views this as a service ministry and not as a way to make a buck.

While December order deadlines have already passed, January would be a great time to check it out and save a little money toward paying off those holiday bills!

January’s menu can be found at:

http://www.angelfoodministries.com/menu_0901en.asp

To find a location near you, visit:

Angel Food Ministries

I’m trying out a new way to earn some giftcards and other free prizes. Since I do web searches many, many times each day, I’ve added swagbucks to my daily search habit. After doing a few web searches, I’ll usually win a swagbuck or mega swagbuck.  Seems like just a little bit, but with daily searching it will add up. Right now there’s a $5 Amazon gift card for just 45 swagbucks! I’m searching the web anyway, might as well get something from it. You can also earn swagbucks from referrals if you’re interested in spreading the word.  Interesting in signing up ?

This is one of my favorite recipes to use with leftover beef.  You know the extra broth & little smidgeons of meat after you make a pot roast that really aren’t enough even for a lunch, but you hate to see them go to waste?  This is a great way to use them up!

Beef and Barley Soup

• 1 can beef broth (or leftover broth)
• small amount of beef (leftovers are fine!  roast, ribs, you name it!)
• 1/4 c celery
• 1/4 c onion
• 1/4 c carrots
• garlic to taste

Bring these ingredients to a boil, then add:

• 1/3 – 1/2 c. barley
• 1 T apple cider vinegar

Cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.  You can also add in leftover veggies when barley is beginning to cook up.   Before accounting for whatever beef you use, the whole recipe is only 4 WW pts.

I like to keep a bag of chopped celery in the freezer to make it really easy to toss some into soups & stews.  This is a great cold day lunch.  Today’s version is made with leftover ribs.  :)

Today we visited a little Amish country store about 14 miles from here. Amish/Mennonite stores can be great places to stock up on bulk spices, grains, etc. I was about out of yeast, so it was time to make a trip. Ironically enough, right afterwards we had to stop at Walmart to pick up something else, so I compared the prices of what we’d just bought to see what the savings were. Some of the amounts were different, so I converted into equal amounts. The largest yeast for sale at Walmart, for example, is a 4 oz jar for $3.56 – just 1/4^th the size, but almost a dollar more! I also discovered that the tax was less at the Amish store, probably since it isn’t inside city limits.

Even if I add in the cost for my gas ($1.63 per gallon here today), the foods at the Amish store come out nearly $20 less than the equal amounts at Walmart would. I also bought a few items that I didn’t see at Walmart: ABC pasta (like in alphabet soup), couscous, and chicken noodle seasoning (a half pound bag for $1.39). Hopefully over the Thanksgiving weekend I can compare this Amish store to a Mennonite grocery a little further away that has a larger selection.

Nothing gold can stay

This blog is called Life, under construction, after all, so you can expect construction delays!  LOL

It’s funny how priorities change from time to time.  These past few months were about new beginnings, loss, grief, healing, and renewal (in that order). 

But now that we’ve come through that, the itch to begin sharing again is starting.

Financial challenges, new cooking endeavors, neat new discoveries, more insights…..

Stay tuned!  The skies are clearing and construction will be back underway.

There are some times in life when you’re just so busy living it and getting through the day to day that there’s not much time for the extras.  This is one of those for me.  I’m directing Vacation Bible School at our church, so every spare minute that’s not spent with taking care of my own kiddos needs to be devoted to VBS preparations.

But in August I’ll be back.

I’m going to be starting a new series of posts that feature an item from the Angel Food Ministries monthly menu.  In each post, I’ll try to share how I prepared the item and incorporated it into our menu, along with photos and what my family thought about it.  My family consists of:

• The Carnivore (loves meat and potatoes, likes food fairly plain and not too spicy, tolerates just a couple fruits/veggies)
• The Omnivore (will eat just about anything except saurkraut, the more ingredients & spices the better, loves veggies, whole grains, fruits, and tries to eat healthy)
• The Preschooler (has a fairly varied appetite for foods, an unnatural fondness for beans, but is subject to the typical whims of young children regarding foods)
• The Toddler (a one year old who is all about finger food and learning to feed himself, takes after his dad in liking meat)

The other night we tried the frozen meatloaf that was part of the April menu.  I was a little hesitant to have it as a main entree, since the Carnivore isn’t too fond of meatloaf in general, and even less so of ones that have green pepper and onion.  We decided to give it a try and see how it went.

The meatloaf did have cooking instructions for both oven and microwave cooking from frozen or from thawed listed on the packaging. For frozen in the oven, it said to vent the corners of the plastic wrapping and bake with it on, but I took it out of the packaging and placed it into a  meatloaf pan instead.  There was a good layer of sauce to spread over the meat, which helped keep it moist while cooking.  Since I cooked it out of the plastic wrapping, it took a little bit longer than the time listed on the packaging (just over an hour total). This probably would cook up alright in the crockpot as well over a full day.

There wasn’t a lot of grease in the pan after cooking, and it sliced up nicely. Although you could taste the green pepper and onion slightly, it wasn’t enough to bother the Carnivore, who is pretty sensitive about those things. The onions were diced quite small, and the green peppers weren’t too prevalent, and the right size to pick out for picky eaters. The Preschooler had thirds, but the Toddler wasn’t too fond of it. I (the Omnivore) felt that it was very tasty, especially given the ease of cooking. We served it with rice and (leftover) green beans and peas.