My digital still camera broke, but I have a video camera! I’ve been having fun playing around with it, and uploaded an introduction to myself on YouTube. Check it out and leave a comment!
Grocery Shrink Giveaway!
Hi Friends! As many of you know, we have a brand new weekly newsletter at the Grocery Shrink. It is fabulous, if I do say so myself. It's crazy to giveaway valuable information like this, but we're doing it every week!
To thank our fabulous subscribers and expand our list, we are giving away an adorable Nautical Apron. It is one of a kind, designed, drafted and sewn completely by me. I hope it inspires you to spend some quality time in your kitchen while you save a ton of money cooking for your family. You will look fabulous in it preparing your family picnic for Memorial Day!
Here's a little description of the apron: Our All American apron is pieced from high quality 100% cotton broadcloth in navy and white. This halter style apron has a cute neck bow. Carefully stitched pleats control fullness and accentuate your curves. Red hand stitching with embroidery floss accents the pleats. An anchor appliqued pocket is at the perfect angle for your hand. While a red grograin ribbon at the hem gives the perfect finishing touch. When you wear it remember that the last 4 letters in American spell I CAN!
To enter our giveaway, simply subscribe to our newsletter at www.groceryshrink.com. If you are already receiving the newsletter–tell a freind to join us. Send a list of the friends (first names only are fine) you've told about the newsletter to angela@groceryshrink.com You will receive an entry for each one!
The lucky winner will be selected April 30th.
Go Shrink your bills and grow your pantry!
Welcome KMBC Channel 9 Viewers
I hope you enjoyed the show today about homemade cleaning products. You can get all the recipes and subscribe to our free weekly newsletter by filling out the form in the sidebar on the bottom right. Armed with that information you can clean for pennies and use the money you save as seed money to make your dreams come true.
If you missed the story you can view it here: http://www.kmbc.com/video/19053472/index.html
Hot Love for Breakfast
Here’s a great recipe, that may convert hot cereal haters to a bit of oatmeal for breakfast:
2 T butter, melted
2 eggs
1 C milk
1 1/4 C rolled oats
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 t salt
1 t baking powder
Mix all and pour into a greast 7 x 11 baking dish. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Scoup into bowls and serve wtih milk, cream or our favorite Egg Nog! (Egg Nog is on sale right now, as an after Christmas clearance. Also Honey spiral cut hams are a geat deal too!)
Basement Makeover
My dear husband is creating my dream basement for me under a strict budget. We have alloted about $500 to complete the project. Here are before pictures:
It wouldn't take much to improve this mess :P, but here's the plan. 1/2 of the 11 x 20 room is to be my Mary Kay spa studio, where I can give personalized beauty consultation in a beautiful environment! The other half is to be my sewing studio, the heart of www.BlessedDesigns.net.
Our color scheme is blue and brown with touches of white, cream, tan and orange.
I chose a beautiful blue paint called Sonata from Behr ($24), synthetic crown molding with an ivy motif ($144), and new door trims that remind me of the trim in the Kirtland Temple ($55). We plan to paint all the doors and trim white (free paint leftover from my parent's remodel), prime and paint the ceiling to hide water stains (free paint–see previous), shampoo the carpets (free since my mom got me an awesome carpet shampooer from a garage sale for my birthday), and hang a cream sheer curtain ($6) from a ceiling mounted curtain rod ($15) to visibly separate the two rooms while still allowing light to pass. We also purchased new ceiling mounted light fixtures ($75 for 2) and a HUGE beautiful mirror with dark brown frame.($100). I bought a ficus tree off craig's list ($12), but I'm not sure I'll keep it.
The crown molding and mirror were splurges, but I love them and think they will make a big difference!
One of my favorite parts of the room makeover is my "new" couch. My neighbor put it out by the side of the road and we rescued it. The cushion fabric was shredded but the frame was solid and very comfy. I bought a luxurious chocolate micro suede upholstery fabric from www.fabric.com ($140) and recovered the cushions, leaving the fabric on the frame as is for a nice contrast. I bought enough to make a cover for my oak futon to match and am trying to decide if I should sew it like a fitted sheet, free motion quilt the top for interest and extra padding, or make a zippered cover with it. Also in the air is whether or not to use piping.
I earned some beautiful wall plaques from Mary Kay's star consultant program that are going to look awesome down there. My goal is to create a spa-like calming atmosphere that is elegant and classy.
Phase 2 of our remodel (separate budget) will include new molded doors, new carpet, and a wall mounted big screen TV and DVD player. I also hope to buy some beautiful iridescent orange silk for accent pillows and great smelling orange pillar candles to place on a long shelf under the huge mirror.
The bathroom is also in deep need of attention. I plan to paint the walls (blue or tan?), paint the thrifted mirror over the sink (the opposite of what I choose for the walls) and to add more mirrors to bounce light. I also want to paint the vanity white and get new hardware. And the flooring needs replaced. Tile would be ideal, but I'm waiting to mention that until Darren has recovered from everything else I've asked him to do ;).
Mock Sausage Patties
We are tightening the belt even more this year and are currently in survival mode. To make things a little more complicated we are also busier than ever. Necessity is the mother of invention however, so this will definitely be the BEST year to be on the Grocery Shrink discussion group. Membership to the group is free to anyone who purchases the e-book at www.groceryshrink.com
Today I spent a good chunk of time getting a new schedule for our homeschool and businesses. To facilitate speed and thrift, I need to have some premade breakfasts that I can throw together in a jiffy. I thought of breakfast sandwiches with an all natural sausage patty, poached egg and cheese on an English muffin. The most time consuming part and potentially expensive part of this meal is the sausage. To save myself time later, I pre-made a pretty stack of mock sausage patties from ground turkey. I plan to freeze them individually on a cookie sheet and store in a freezer bag. Then I can microwave what I need in the moment. They are MSG free and nitrate free, low fat and yummy!
It was a double time saver because I was making waffles at the same time and had to stay close to the stove anyway. I also threw in 3 loaves of bread to rise for good measure. If you are a member of the Grocery Shrink discussion group, you got my favorite bread recipe recently.
Here’s the recipe and it costs about $2 when the turkey is from Aldi for $1 a pound:
2lb ground turkey
1/2 t salt
1 t garlic salt
1 t black pepper
2 t sage
1/8-1/4 t ceyenne pepper
1 egg (optional)
Mix well (I used my kitchen aid) and shape into 20 patties. Brown well on both sides. Yum!
Little Lamb
|
The Lamb |
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life, & bid thee feed
By the stream & o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight;
Softest clothing, wooly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,
Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb.
He is meek, & he is mild;
He became a little child.
I a child, & thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb, God bless thee!
Little Lamb, God bless thee!
Happy 2009
I'm very excited about this year! I think a lot of big things are going to happen for my family and I can't wait to help them unfold.
I had planned to post last week about our annual gingerbread house day at my mom's. But a family crisis got me scrambling in other places than the computer. I hope you don't mind a late Christmas post full of cute and gooey child pictures. Every year my mom bakes scads of gingerbread house parts from an heirloom quality cast iron mold and hosts all her grandchildren for a day of candy eating fun!
cc
Happy Anniversary to Me!
Our 10th anniversary was Friday the 12th. I had hoped to surprise Darren by getting into my wedding dress for the occasion. I was 4lbs away from my goal, which was enough that the dress wouldn't zip. It appears that I'm a completely different shape now too. But with 5 children in my mommy trophy, that's nothing to be surprised about. Finances helped us choose to be creative about our celebration. My parents took our children overnight (except for the baby.) Darren told me to clean up the kitchen and he would come back with something for dinner. I surprised him by slipping into a formal my cousin gave me, setting the table with candles, stem ware and sparkling grape juice. It was a great evening and I hope for many more!
Cooking With Briana
My new Mary Kay friend, Briana, drove an hour through a snow storm to spend the day with us Tuesday. I feel so honored! Bri is a special gal, very cute and fun and on her way to the top with Mary Kay. We made her an apron for her day of domesticity and by the end she was scrubbing my kitchen floor on her hands and knees so I could host a facial there in a few mintues. Bri is a hard worker and a great friend. We thoroughly enjoyed our day with her and hope we didn't shock her too much with the work, mess, and chaos a family like ours can pack into an afternoon :). We made molasses cookie cutouts, and peanut butter reindeer cookies. The kids ran in and out in the snow and we enjoyed homemade hot cocoa together.
Briana and Caleb cutout cookies
Heidi's special Christmas apron. Peppermint stripe godets make the skirt swingy and a flannel lining makes it great for getting messy!