Free Coffee on Me

Blogging Break

I will be taking a blogging break for the next month or so. I have, at this time, nothing to say. I have fallen completely off the frugal wagon, and will be concentrating on climbing back on.

Thanks!

National Library Week 2009 -- Day 4

Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen

National Library Week 2009 -- Day 3

The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians by Carla Morris

National Library Week 2009 -- Day 2

Tomas and the Library Lady by Pat Mora

National Library Week

In honor of National Library Week, I thought I would share some of my favorite library/librarian themed childrens' books (since that is all I seem to read these days).

Bats at the Library by Brian Lies

Happy Easter

Happy Birthday Baby!

From: http://www.sugarliciousonline.com/cakes/birthday/animals/black_labrador.html

Happy Passover

And the Winner Is...

Blue Violet

Her frugal cooking tip,

"I try to plan my meals for the week around the grocery store sales for that week. That really helps cut costs on the expensive items like meat. Also, if I double the recipe and freeze half of it for later in individual portions...it saves on waste and prevents us from having to cook on busy days."

Thanks you to all who entered and Thank you to Gina for the free advertising!

I will be contacting the winner shortly. :)

Dining on a Dime Giveaway!

This will be my first ever giveaway of Cuppa, Cuppa, Cuppa, and I am really excited. I have in my possession one brand new copy of the Dining on a Dime Cookbook. I own this cook book and I LOVE IT. If you need a recipe for taco sauce it is in there. If you need a recipe for sidewalk chalk it is in there. If you need a recipe for a pore-minimizing clay mask... well, I am pretty sure that you can find a recipe for something close in there!

So, if you are interested in having your own copy... leave me a comment and a give me one frugal cooking tip. Winners will be picked on Monday, April 6th!

Mama Drama

My mom watches Nate while I am at work. I work close enough to her house that I go and have lunch with Nate just about every day. Today while I was there Nate tripped over a blow-up Krusty the Klown punching bag (don't ask) and fell face first onto another toy made of hard plastic. He hit right at his orbital bone, it must have hurt like hell. He screamed. I happened to be right there when it happened so I scooped him up, coo-ed and cuddled. Nate wailed harder and try to throw himself out of my arms and into grandma's....

It was devestating. I actually felt my heart break wide open. I cried real tears.

We got some ice of his face, gave him his sippy and a bink and he was fine. He's going to have a shiner, but he will be fine.

Knowing the fragile state of the mama ego, my mom whispered to Nate to "go give mommy a hug and a kiss" and to his credit my little man did just that. Complete with the universal sign for pick me up (both arms straigt up) and he cuddled me and kissed me and mended my broken heart.

It was a lot for a lunch hour.

Hillbilly Housewife

One of the things I have always loved about the Hillbilly Housewife is her emergency $45 and $70 menus. Recently, she updated these to reflect 2009 prices.

What a change... the $45 menu now costs $70 while the former $70 menu now costs $89.

What was interesting to me was the price changes of individual items like the 10lb. bag of flour that went from $1.92 to $3.98. That's more than double the price in 3 years! Wow! Rice was another shocker with a jump from $.99 in 2006 to $3.50 in 2009.

I knew the food prices went up, but seeing it in black and white in a side by side comparison is really eye opening. Yet another good reason to keep a price book....

Easter Basket Fluff

I started to put together Nate's Easter basket this week. There isn't/won't be much too it. He is too little for candy and has a ton of toys, so it will contain a few new things for the spring a summer, like sidewalk chalk (the egg shapes they have out at Easter are easy for little hands to hold), bubbles, and these little felted bunnies and chicks from Beneath the Rowan Tree.

So... Darn... Cute!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

An Open Letter to Trendy Restaurants:

Dear Trendy Restaurants:

I understand that I am no longer your target clientele. I am no longer a twenty-something who hangs out of the rooftop bar drinking insanely overpriced cocktails with cheeky names like "Smarty Pants" and "Champagne-o-rama." I am now a 30-something with a baby and a diaper bag in tow who likes to sit at a table and drink insanely overpriced cocktails with cheeky names like "Smarty Pants" and "Champagne-o-rama" while ordering food.

I did not/do not expect you to make accommodations for my baby. I understand that I will be sat at a table that is out of the way and where my child will not "kill the buzz" of the Gen-Y folks that usually fill your seats. So, you can imagine my surprise when I was asked if I needed a high chair. Fully expecting you not to have them I brought my own, but that you for asking. Perhaps you are more child friendly than I thought.

Imagine my confusion then when I took my son to the Ladies room to change him and found that it was not possible, there being a complete lack of a changing station and all. Knowing that what goes on in your bathrooms has more to do with primping in front of the mirror and less to do with powdering a behind I guess there isn't much call for a diaper changing station.

However, you might want to consider installing something that could be used to change diapers, because nothing is going to "kill the buzz" of your Gen-Y clientele faster than me changing a poopy diaper at the table next to them when they are trying to enjoy their tapas.

Just a thought.

Thank you.

Limeade

Since we had a cold snap and 6-8 inches of snow, I was in the mood for something summery... enter Limeade.

1 Cup Lime Juice
6 Cups Cold Water
1 3/4 Cups Splenda (or Sugar)

Combine and enjoy... pretent there isn't snow on the ground.

My Cloth Diaper Stash in Pictures

(L-R Top Row) mommy's Touch One Size Diaper (almost out of picture) One Size Fuzzi Bunz, 2 One Size Bumwear, 1 Sticky Peas Prefold
(L-R Next Row) OS Blueberry Minky in Blue Camo, 6 Bum Genius OS Diapers
(L-R Next Row) Swaddlebees OS Econappi in cow print, 2 Bum Genius OS Diapers
(L-R Bottom Row) Bum Genius Organis OS All in One Diaper (darker green)

Since I only cloth diaper part time my stash is modest in comparison to some. I don;t know that I would consider this frugal, because this is the expensive way to cloth diaper, but it certainly is green. Although considering that one diaper costs @ $18.00 and will last through potty training and then could be used on another baby, maybe this is frugal. I have 3 Goodmamas (the hottest cloth diaper around at them moment) on the way (I bought them used) and am even going to try my hand at making some embellished prefolds out of organic bamboo velor.

I have also just discovered a cloth diaper store (Diaperware) in my area that I will be visiting next week. The owner also has a web presence, and judging by the website she keeps the store stocked. I can;t wait to see some of these diapers in person. :)

My Frugal Philosophy

I have been trying to figure out my frugal philosophy for a LONG time. I see Meredith with her envelopes and her budget and I think how far off I am from that. I see Stephanie with her garden and her animals and I think of how I am no where NEAR that. I see any number of mamas on the Frugal blog roll and I think that perhaps I should move my little patootie off of it because many of the things I do and much of how hubby and I live is NOT frugal.

But then it occurred to me that frugality is a choice we all make. How we choice to use it or practice it is entirely individual. I will give you an example.

Monday was a day of extravagance. I bought really expensive tea at Teavana. I bought makeup at Sephora. I had lunch with Natey at the Cheesecake Factory. I bought him some new cloths at Baby Gap. Now I did have gift cards for Teavana, Sephora, and Gap but I bought beyond what the gift card covered. And I am ok with that.

To contrast that last night and this morning was an exercise in frugality. I was out of bread and skim milk. Sure I could have run to Wawa and bought bread and milk, but instead I mixed up some powdered milk and made a loaf of bread. This morning I stopped at CVS to get a prescription filled. I had a coupon for a free $25 gift card with a new prescription and I had a coupon for 1 free month of the medicine I had the prescription for. I also picked up a bottle of shampoo using a free coupon. This meant that I walked out of CVS with my meds, and a bottle of shampoo and CVS paid me $25 to do it. I then headed to McDonalds for a free cup of coffee with a coupon.

A contradiction to be sure. Does this make me a hypocrite? Maybe it does... but what I have decided is that for me frugality is a set of tools in a special tool belt. I pull the tool belt out and put it on when I need it... I don't wear it 24/7.

SHHH... Don't Tell Hubby...

But I had a date with my boyfriend yesterday. We had lunch at the Cheesecake factory, just the two of us.

Isn't he dreamy?

My Men part II

Chocolate Chip Bread

Last week, Lisa posted a recipe for chocolate chip bread. I decided to try it with a few minor modifications. I used 2 cups of white whole wheat flour and 1 cups of AP flour and I used heavy cream instead of milk (I had it in the house and wanted to use it up).

Here is the batter waiting to go in the oven:


And here is is cooling after baking:


It is a wonderfully dense and filling bread (one slice for breakfast is MORE than enough) and it is not overwhelmingly chocolaty which I like.

I don;t have a picture of this but, once I cut into the loaf I discovered it had a bubble in the middle. Oh well, I will have to try again.

I wonder... what would like be like if you omitted the chocolate chips and swirled Nutella through the batter before baking? Hummm.... I might have to try that next.

Happy Valentines Day

More Cloth Diapers

People who use cloth diapers will freely admit that it is easy to get addicted. I can understand why... the diapers are just so darn cute! And there is always that whole "better for the environment" thing.

I am certainly not going to try to go to cloth full time, but if Nate and I am going to be on our own for the day and mostly around the house, I think he will be in cloth.

I am very happy with my BumGenius 3.0, but thought that I should try a few other diapers to see if there were any I liked better and to pad my stash a little. The 6 diapers I had were not getting us quite to the end of the day.

So I placed a couple of orders and this is what I got:

1 Bum Genius Organic One Size All in One (in ribbit with velcro)
1 Swaddlebees EcoNappi One Size (in the cow print)
1 Blueberry Minki One Size (in blue camo)
2 Bumwear One Size (1 in white dino and 1 in light blue dino)
1 roll of Kushies Diaper Liners
1 Bag of Charlies Soap Powder

I have to wash everything this weekend before I can put it all into action. The diapers are so CUTE though, I can't wait to see how well they work!

I will post a picture of my stash later... promise.

What I Learned... from breastfeeding for a year

I think it is safe to say that Nate is officially weaned. We had been stepping down gradually, at his pace and following his cues; and last week I stopped offering him to boob at bedtime and he never asked for it again. It has been about a week and nothing, my milk is gone, so I think the deed is done... we have weaned. I am also exceeding proud that Nate has NEVER touched formula. [I don't really want to start a debate, and I am glad that formula exists so that babies who, for whatever reason can't breastfeed don't die... but I really do believe it is second rate nutrition and that is screws up babies' systems (digestive, immune, etc.) in ways we don't even know about yet.]

I realize that all over the world and all over the Internet and the Blogspere women breastfeed their babies, some for years and years and years... look at Milkman in Toni Morrison's the Song of Soloman... but in my world and in my circle of friends, I can think of one... ONE other person who has done this. And I went back to work while doing it. I am not looking for recognition, lots of people do this, I know, but I am saying that it definietly isn't the easiest thing to do and here are a few tips that can make it easier:

1. You can never have too many breast pumps: I started off with one, a Medela Pump in Style which I lugged back and forth to work every day. Then I started to feel like a pack mule on top of a dairy cow hooked up to the milking machine, so I bought a second, less expensive pump to keep in my office. I bought the Lansinoh double select breat pump (which is EXACTLY the same as the Ameda pump only less expensive) and kept it at work. My life was that much easier not having to schlep a pump with me... well worth the money.

2. Buy Good Nursing Bras: Please note that I did not say expenisve nursing bras. Mine were not expensive, I bought them at Motherhood Maternity and Target. Dont be sucked in by the people who say you can cut the nipples out of a tank top (Sorry, Mrs. Fussy Pants, I know it worked for you but with the size of my chest this was NOT going to happen) buy nursing bras that are the same style of bra you wore before your were nursing. If you like the sprots bra style buy that style in a nursing bra. If you like no underwire, buy a no underwire nursing bra. if you like underwire... you get the point.

3. Use Technology to Your Advantage: Nate and I did not have an easy start. His latch was poor, my nipple flat, not to mention my boobs were bigger than his whole body! Enter the Nipple shield. This saved... literally saved us. It allowed him to latch and kept me from getting too sore too soon. There are rumours that the nipple shield is bad and many lacttion consultants and La leche League people will tell you not to use them, but the data they are working off of is old. New data (Chertok, I., Schneider, J., & Blackburn, S. (2006, March). A pilot study of maternal and term infant outcomes associated with ultrathin nipple shield use. JOGNN: Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing, 35(2), 265-272) says they are fine, not detremental, and may actually be beneficial! If it helps... use it! [Had I know about this little doohickey... I would have tried it too].

4. Do Your Research and Ask For Help: No woman is an island and as I have said long before I got pregnant... Just because you have the quipment (breasts) doesn't mean you know how to use it. if you don't want to hire a lactation consultant, ask a friend. If you don't want to go to a LLL meeting, check out their mom-to-mom messag boards. Check out Kellymom.com, the interent if Full of useful info and support.

Nate's First Birthday In Pictures

You can see pics from Nate's first birthday here and here (if you are interested, that is).

Go Red for Women & a Pledge

Today is national Wear Red Day in support of the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women Campaign. Heart disease is the #1 killer of women in America, above breast cancer, above lung cancer and yet for some reason we still think of it as only effecting men.

I am lucky that to this point in my life I am and have been relatively healthy, with the exception of one not so little thing... my weight. I am fat. I can admit that. I have a completely unhealthy and out-of-wack relationship with food. I don't know if anyone else know how truly out-of-wack it is, but I do and the time has come to do something about it.

I was fat before. A few years ago I hit my breaking point. I joined WeightWatchers, I lost 25 pounds, I was happy. Since that last weight in I have gained... 70 pounds. I can't beleieve it when I put it into print... 70 pounds! How did I do this to myself? I was very tempting to write "How did I let this happen?" but I didn't "let it happen" I DID IT TO MYSELF.

Well, the time has come to undo it. Today is a day to honor your heart and that is what I intend to do. I will for the next 30 days committ myself to following my doctor's prescribed eating plan. It is very simple and it is not a diet.

Breakfast -- Eat it!

Lunch -- Eat it!

Dinner -- Eat it only with half the "usual" amount of carbs and no bread

Dessert -- Sundays and your birthday

In between these meals... drink water and don't eat.

What I like about this plan:

-- I can eat what I want for my meals and not restrict myselft to salads and "diet foods."

What will be difficult about this plan:

-- Dessert only on Sunday :( (this is my problem, I am a sugar junkie and it just isn't healthy)

But I have some amazing motivation to stick to this plan and it is right here.

I will be adding a box on my sidebar to track my progress. Any words of encourangement and support would be wonderful and appreciated. And to anyone who wants to join me in the 30 day pledge, I say welcome!

Victory!

I am and always have been an avid reader. Surprise, surprise I know, I am a librarian after all. So it has really weighed on me that since Nate was born a year ago I haven't read anything longer than a magazine article.

That was until Friday night. I started and finished a book. The first book that I have finished in a year... and boy did it feel good. The book in question was Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott.



I had read the review for Living Dead Girl [which is a YA (young adult) books] in Booklist and ordered it for the library's children's collection. I was intrigued by the plot and wanted to read it myself.

Now, YA books are typically aimed at a teen audience and this book is recommended for 16 +, but in actual practice YA books are read by tweens. I will admit that I would think twice before I would let a tween read this book. I couldn't put it down, the (fictional) story of a girl's experiences living with the pedophile who abducted her and who tries to keep her prepubescent with pills and waxes and little girl clothes. But the graphic (but not explicit) descriptions of what the abductor has her do would be a little traumatizing for an adolescent.

I would highly recommend this book to adults, but I don't know about the typical YA audience.

Cloth Diapering

Before Nate was born I amassed a cloth diaper stash. Then hubby and I decided not to cloth diaper and I sold off all of my stash except for a few random items which I sent to a friend who just had her second daughter.

It was on the same day that I dropped the last of my cloth diaper stash in the mail that I went to Target and saw the rack of Bum Genius diaper and I bought one.

Here's the deal. Although hubby and I decided that we were not going to cloth diaper, I really really really wanted to try it. So I bought the diaper, washed it, and used it one day when it was just Nate and I. I was pretty darn impressed. Nate is a soaker, and the Bum Genius did not leak at all! I was hooked. I figured that even if I didn't cloth diaper all the time, just doing it one day a week (like Mondays when I am off) would make a difference. Hey, that is 6-8 less diapers in a landfill.

So here is the system I have worked out.

Nate wears cloth diapers on Mondays. I have the washer filled to the small load level and every time I change a diaper I put all of the pieces (inserts and covers) in the washing machine to soak. If the diaper is just wet it goes right in the washer. If it is poopy, the solids get shaken off into the toilet. Flush. Then the diaper gets dunked and swished in the toilet again (flush before being thrown into the washer to soak. I know there are people out there that say you don't have to dunk and swish. I say that with my kid, you need to. I will stop there.

Once nate is in bed and back in a disposable, I run the washer on a cold prewash with no detergent and then a regular wash on warn with minimal detergent. The diapers are then hung to dry. Two weeks in a row and so far so good.

I bought one of my Bum Genius from Target and the other I bought at Cotton Babies. They have great package deals and even factory seconds (2 of my diapers are seconds and I can't tell the difference, seriously.)

Anyone else dabble in cloth diapers? Thoughts? What about the diaper liners. Do they make poppy diapers more manageable?

To Nathan Elliott on His First Birthday

It is true, no one can really tell you what it is going to be like to bring a child into your life. It is also true that you can’t really prepare. Oh sure, you think you are prepared, but you aren’t. You are not prepared for the chaos. You are not prepared for the fatigue. You are not prepared for all manner of bodily fluids to find their way onto your clothes and into your hair. You are not prepared for how much “free time” you actually had before you had children and how much you will yearn for 1/10th of that time back. But most of all, you are truly NEVER prepared for how much your heart will grow and how much love you will have for this little stranger.


Happy first birthday, Nathan. Mommy has no words to describe what you mean to her or what she would do for you.

I love you, Natey-Bug!

New Camera

Although many of the pics I post on my blog are taken with my iphone, I am making a more concerted effort to use my new camera:

It's a Nikon D200. Hubby upgraded himself to a D something or other and I got his hand me down. :)

"Batter Blaster" in Pictures

This is the product in question:

Squirting some pancake batter into a hot pan: (It is hard to squirt and take a picture with a iphone at the same time)


Bubbling away:


Flip!


Cut into little pancake squares for Natey's breakfast (I use a pizza cutter. Thank you Jon and Kate + 8):



Nate LOVES these pancakes. I tried them and they taste like the pancakes you get at a diner. Not bad at all for coming out of a can! Plus... they are organic.

I Can't Believe I Bought This

but I did.

I was in the supermarket yesterday and saw this in the refrigerated section. it was the "Organic" label that made me pick it up and put it in my cart.

It is completely not frugal but it doesn't have a lot of junk in it and now that Nate is eating real grown up food, it makes work mornings a whole lot easier. After he fruit and yogurt, I can squirt him a pancake before heading out the door.

I made one this morning and they even taste good too!

FYI

Target now sells BumGenius and Babies R Us sells G Diapers. It looks to me like alternative diapering is catching on in the mainstream.

MOLD Update

The cleanup is complete! The demolition and removal of debris was finished yesterday. The guys were back today to finish cleaning up and clean the carpets today. The were finished by noon... we have a semi functional, certainly non-toxic room again... YEAH!

A contractor is coming tonight to look at what needs to be replaced and hopefully he will be working this weekend to get the room put back together. If all goes well we can paint next week and have a brand new room before Nate's birthday.

Two funny things about yesterday: While the guys were ripping the walls out they found a few things stashed behind them. Dead mice (which is to be expected) and library books, OLD library books. I think it is completely ironic that they found library books stashed behind the walls in a librarian's house [NOTE: these were not my library books].

While they were taking their lunch break at the Domino's Pizza up the street from my house, it was robbed and they were witnesses!

I have been taking pictures of the process and will post them when the room is completely finished.

A Day Off...

is never actually a day off. I apparently lack the gene that allows an individual to sit on their butt all day and veg out infront of the TV.

I am off from work today because the mold remediation (AKA family room demolition) is in full swing. I took Nate to my mom's for the day which leaves me all alone in my house... ok, the dogs are here too.

So what am I doing? So far I have made a gingerbread bundt cake with crystalized ginger, turtle bars, and cinnamon scones. As soon as the scones are out of the oven I will be heading upstairs to do a little cleaning and then I will be writing out our birthday cards for the year and perhaps even doing a little card making to boot (Thanks hubby for the idea).

Tonight I will be making sourdough bread with my starter and a tomato cream sauce for my lobster ravioli, yum!

My baking so far:

Turtle Bars

Gingerbread Bundt Cake

Cinnamon Scones (uncut and still baking)

MOLD

So, our little Natey-Bug turns 1 this month and like all good parents we planned a first birthday party for him. We thought it would be small gathering but somehow the guest list ballooned to 57 people. Oh well, right? He only turns one once.

We were starting to get the house ready for this party when we decided that it was time to take down the wallpaper in our family room and repaint. Some of the wallpaper had fallen down over the summer so the room looked a little shoddy. We decided to do it this week. I took a few days off from work, we lined up the painter, we were ready to go.

Sunday night hubby and I were clearing out the family room, moving furniture to the center of the room, putting Nate's toys upstairs when we decided to pull more wall paper off the wall. It is UGLY wall paper and I was so excited to see it go that I grabbed a corner that was peeling and pulled... it should have been a wonderfully cathartic moment, a cleansing moment really, out with the old, in with the new, a rebirth if you want to take it that far. IT WAS NONE OF THAT because under that butt ugly wall paper was... M O L D.

When I took down that section of wall paper I had uncovered a big section of mold on the drywall. Hubby proceeded to take down the rest of the paper on that wall to find the entire 23 feet stained with mold. Oh crap! what now!

First I canceled the painters... well, put them on hold really. Then we called out insurance company (THANK GOD for the mold rider) and started calling mold remediation companies. We also relocated Nate's birthday party to my mother-in-law's house.

So tomorrow the demolition begins. My family room will be turned into a hot zone and the walls taken down to the studs. After the demo and cleaning is finished we have to find someone to put the dry wall/sheet rock (is there a difference?) back up. Only then can we have the room painted.

This is not the planning and preparation I thought I would have to do for a first birthday party but it will make it a memorable one.

So tomorrow

A New Year

So I am back. I had a very restful three weeks off, wonderful holiday celebrations with family and friends, and even got some things accomplished around the house.

I am pleased to announce that I have officially finished my second master's degree which makes me an M.S, M.Ed. Maybe it will even get me more money at work, who knows, but at the moment it just gives me more letters after my name.

I was able to get my ironing finished and 2/3 of the leather furniture conditioned, I cleaned out the closet in question, and moved some things to the shed. I will be tackling the homemade laundry soap tomorrow.

I did try another experiment, making a sourdough starter. As far as I can tell I have a viable starter ready and waiting. I am going to try and make a loaf of sourdough bread with said starter tomorrow. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

A Long Winter's Nap

So today is my last day of work until January 13th, which is awesome, I can't even tell you how much I am looking forward to this. 2 1/2 weeks of nothing but Nate... and visiting... and housework... and...

ok, I am trying to keep this break very low key, but there are a few projects that I would like to see to completion while I am off:

1. Iron... I haven't ironed anything since I went back to work in May... it is time.

2. Condition the Leather Furniture

3. Make Laundry Soap... it is an experiment and it can't hurt to try.

4. Clean/Re-Org the Closet Across from the Washer

5. Move Stuff to the Shed... baby clothes, Exersaucer, Jumperaroo, stuff!

This being said, I don't know how much blogging I will get to do. Bear with me... I will be back in full force after 1/13/09.

:)

An Open Letter to My Breast Pump

Dear Lansinoh Double Electric Breast Pump,

I am growing tired of our relationship. I am beginning to feel like it is very one-sided: I give, you take, I give, you take... over and over and over again.

You are becoming a drain on me, a dead weight that I am lugging around day after day. Quite frankly... you are sucking the life out of me!

For the moment I am willing to stick with you for the sake of the child, but one day in the not so distant future I will get tired of your endless droning and your neediness and we will be through!

Happy Hanukkah!

More Baking

I was officially finished my holiday baking earlier this week when I finished off my peppermint bark. I scaled back my baking this year because I don;t really have the energy or time, but did not do away with it completely because I like to bake and it is a holiday tradition and if Mystic Pizza taught me nothing it is that you "Don't monkey with tradition!"

That was all well and good until I saw Martha Stewart make Candied Ginger Shortbread Wedges. I have a weakness for shortbread and for candied ginger, so I will be making these tonight.

It is 9:28 in the morning...

I am sitting at my desk drinking my coffee and eating chex mix.

Don't look at me that way... it has cereal in it...

That is all.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Holiday Baking

It's official... I began my holiday baking last night with my absolute favorite... Peanut Butter Fudge.

Here is the recipe (It is SUPER easy)

2 cups Sugar
3/4 cup Milk
1 7oz. jar of marshmallow fluff
1 1/3 cups peanut butter (must use a peanut spread like Jiff or Skippy, the recipe doesn't set with natural peanut butter, I tried)

Bring sugar and milk to a boil in medium saucepan.

Boil for 3 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in fluff and peanut butter.

Combine well. Pour into 8x8 or 9x9 pan (line it with foil first for easy removal) and chill.

Cut into square and enjoy!

This year I will also be making peppermint bark, earl grey shortbread, and chex mix.

Gymboree

I have issues with enrolling babies (10 months old) in classes. I personally think it is absolutely ridiculous and ludicrous and that too much of children's lives are scheduled and I flat out won't do it to my kid.

SO... I have a question for all of you out there is bloggy land. Did you pop your little (baby) critters into classes like gymboree? Am I a horrible neglectful mother for not doing so? Is Nate the only 10 month old not in a class?

[I removed this rest of this post so that I don't make anybody mad lest they recognize themselves]

I Knew it Was Going to be a Good Day...

when I pulled into the Wawa to get gas this morning and it took less than $20 to fill the tank of my (small) SUV. $1.69 a gallon... WOO HOO!

Animal Fair

I have been trying to remember the words to this song (so that I could sing it to Nate) for months now with no avail. Google to the rescue!

"I went to the animal fair
The birds and the beasts were there
The old baboon by the light of the moon
Was combing his auburn hair
The monkey he got drunk
And fell on the elephant's trunk
The elephant sneezed and fell on his knees
And what became of the monk, the monk, the monk?"

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday... at 11:57 am I will be 32... sometimes it is hard for me to believe because I don't feel the way 32 sounds (whatever that means). To celebrate Nate, my mom, and I will out shopping the Black Friday sales. I got some very lovely gifts from hubby:

A new wallet (itsn't it yummy):

New PJs:


And from Nate, a new key fob to replace the bottle opener from college:



Anyway, have a cupcake on me...

Happy Turkey Day!

Grocery Game

Has anyone tried this? Know anything about this? Any info would be appreciated good or bad.

http://www.thegrocerygame.com/

Better than Starbucks???

I didn't think that I would utter those words, but here I go... I think I have found coffee better than Starbucks.

Seattle's Best Coffee (their cafes are inside Borders Books & Music) make a Gingerbread Latte that is to die for... especially since it comes with a little tiny gingerbread man stuck in the whipped cream! Team this up with a snickerdoodle (Oh...my...god... are they good!) and you have a wonderful afternoon treat.

And since Borders send me coupons at least once a week and sometimes there are coupons for beverages and pastries (Something Starbucks doesn't do) Seattle's Best Coffee trumps Starbucks in my book.

Click here for a Seattle's Best Coupon (Free Drink!!!)

A Thanksgiving Recipe

I do not cook Thanksgiving dinner, my mother-in-law does. So, I don't get to make all the trappings of your traditional dinner, I bring whatever it is that she needs. In this case, a veggie. So I will be making Paula Dean's Green Bean Bundles... So, easy, so good!

Ingredients

* 1 pound fresh green beans
* Olive oil
* Salt and pepper
* Bacon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Blanch green beans for 3 minutes. Toss them in olive oil and salt and pepper. Bundle about 5 green beans and wrap a piece of bacon around the bundle. Place in a roasting pan and roast for 10 to 15 minutes, until bacon is cooked.

Yum!

Favorite Christmas Movies

I am feeling quite festive today, for no particular reason, so I give to you my top three Christmas Movies:

1. Love Actually

2. The Muppet Christmas Carroll










3. Emmitt Otter's Jug Band Christmas










That is all.

A guest... almost...

I opened the living room curtains this morning to find this guy standing at the bottom of the front steps looking at the door as if he was considering ringing the bell...

I guess he decided not too because he trotted off down the sidewalk, crossed the street, and disappeared.

Weeknight Italian Soup

I created this last night and it was a huge success.

4 Cups Chicken Broth/Stock
2 Cans Zucchini in Tomato Sauce
1 Can White Beans (Drained and Rinsed)
1 Can tomatoes with Italian Seasonings
1 Cup Macaroni (I used organic whole wheat, but use what you have)

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a medium saucepan and heat until just boiling. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add the dried pasta, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until pasta is cooked.

I made this as a side to homemade chicken fingers, but hubby ended up eating only the soup. I just had the left overs for lunch. Yum!

Thanksgiving on the Cheap

On the news this morning there was a segment about how to host a "cheap" Thanksgiving and the best the reporter could come up with was to buy Wegman's Pre-made Thanksgiving dinner for $99.

Well, I don't cook Thanksgiving dinner, my mother-in-law does, so this really isn't a concern of mine, but that got me thinking. $99 does not seem that cheap to me. In fact, I am SURE that I could do better out of the supermarket flyers sitting on my kitchen counter.

So let's try, shall we?

Wegman's Premium Turkey Dinner contains:

1 turkey (12-14 pounds)
Traditional Stuffing
Green Bean Casserole
Turkey gravy
Broccoli and Cauliflower with pine nuts
Mashed potatoes
Candied Sweet Potatoes
Cranberry Relish

Ok, let's break it down (and we'll assume that the person doesn't like to cook since they are looking at buying a pre-made dinner)

Turkey -- for me it would be free, I qualify at my supermarket = $0
Stuffing -- Stove top is $.99 a Walmart x 2 boxes = $2
Green Bean Casserole -- Frozen green beans $1.00 a bag , cream of mushroom soup, $.79, French fried onions, $2.59 (couldn't find a sale) = $3.40
Turkey gravy -- $1 a can x 2 = $2
Broccoli & Cauliflower with pine nut -- $10 (pine nuts are expensive and $3.00 per lb. for fresh veg.)
Mashed potatoes -- $2.50 for 5 pounds = $2.50
Sweet potatoes -- $2.50 for 5 pounds $1.00 for mini marshmallows = $3.50
Cranberries -- $.88 a can at Walmart x 2 (1 jellied, 1 chunky) = $ 1.76

Ingredients you might not have on hand:

Butter -- $2.50 per pound
Heavy Cream -- $2.00 per pint


Total == $29.66

Now, I am assuming you already have spices, onions, milk, kitchen basics, etc. but... I think you see my point.

The "Cheap" dinner being hocked on my local news is $69.34 more expensive than what I could put together from sale circulars (and that isn't even using coupons!)

What will NOT be on My Wish List this Year...

An automatic doughnut maker.

And not because I think it is silly, or useless, or extravagant... it is because I would use it everyday and become one of those people who are so fat they have to have a side of their house cut away to get them out of bed.

All Gave Some, Some Gave All

Thank you, Veterans!

Caramelized Butternut Squash

Last night I cooked a real cold weather dinner. We had roast beef (from the crockpot), steamed broccoli, caramelized butternut squash, and homemade biscuits.

Here is the recipe for the squash. Even my mother, who does not like squash, will eat it when I make it like this.

1 butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded, and chopped.
Salt & Pepper
4 Tbs. Butter
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Put the squash in a 11 x13 baking dish or a jelly roll pan.

Season with Salt and Pepper.

Melt the butter and combine with brown sugar.

Pour butter/sugar mix over seasoned squash and toss to coat.

Roast for 45 - 55 minutes or until nice and brown.

Enjoy!

Wet Bags

Nate is 9 months old now and we are still breastfeeding. I beleive in this... I REALLY believe in this and do not plan on weaning him until he is a year old. Since I work, this means that I do a lot of pumping and transporting of milk.

Every day when I go to work, I pack up pump pieces and containers to collect and store milk in. Everyday I come home from work with said paraphanalia in a plastic bag that needs to be washed. When I pick Nate up from my mom's house I get a plastic ziplock bag full of used spoons, bottles, bowls, milk containers, etc. This is leading to a lot of plastic bags. of course, I wash them and reuse them, but eventually they get holes in them and start to leak and then they have to go in to the trash... and then in to a landfill... and then 50 million years later they are still there. Oh my! There had to be a better way.

It dawned on me the other day that a wet bag (the kind used for cloth diapers) would be perfect. Not only would they keep the wet/dirty bottles, pump pieces, milk containers, spoons, etc contained, they can be machine washed and reused a bazillion times. When Nate is off bottles and I am no longer pumping at work they can be tucked into the diaper bag for soiled clothes. GREAT!

So I looked around a decided to get two medium Planet Wise wet bags because they come in really cute fabrics, they had a zipper not a draw string, and were made in the USA. I bought mine from Cotton Babies because I liked their color selection.

They came yesterday and I put them to use this morning. They are great! No leaks so far, and my office looks that much nicer having a fabric bag sitting on the cradenza next to my pump bag then the ratty plastic bag that was there before.

I am loving them!

A New Beginning

So we have a new president elect... one that I actually voted for this time, which is a nice change of pace. This got me thinking about what I would do if I were elected president...

1. I would want proof, I'm talking DATA here people, that daylight savings time actually saves energy. As far as I can tell all daylight savings time does is screw up an infant's schedule and make me depressed when I leave work in the dark. If someone, somewhere can't provide said data I would get rid of it ASAP. Arizona doesn't participate and they seem to be getting along fine.

2. I would mandate that certain business HAVE to have a drive through. These would include but may not be limited to: all banks (most do, so no big stretch there), all Starbucks, all Dunkin' Donuts, and all dry cleaners. I am up in the air about post offices. This would allow for baby's to nap in cars and parents to get errands run AT THE SAME TIME... novel concept.

3. I would bring etiquette training back to schools. Too many people are rude and ignorant (adults and children alike) and quite frankly I am TIRED of it! (Thanks, Antique Mommy)

I think that would be it. A platform of not screwing up a baby's schedule, drive throughs, and manners. Now all I have to do is find a running mate...

Vote Early, Vote Often!

It is important. It matters. It counts. Just do it!

Clean out your wallet!

No, Not of all the money... although that seems to happen no matter what I try, but of all the superfluous stuff that accumulates there. You will be amazed at what you find.

We had a sudden cold snap last week and that was when it dawned on me that Nate needed a winter coat. So, I trolled the Internet for deals and settled on a puffy jacket from Old Navy. It was $30, but it was the best deal I could find so I ordered it. It came, it fit, I was happy. Then I sat down and cleaned out my wallet. That was when I found my Kid to Kid frequent shopper card which was all filled up entitling me to $10.00 off my next purchase. So I headed to Kid to Kid today and found a a cute little Gap puffy jacket with a price tag of $10.99. Minus my $10.00 discount I had snagged Nate a winter coat for $.99.

The Old Navy Coat will be going back this afternoon and I will be cleaning out my wallet on a regular basis!