Migraine and Research

29 Feb 2012 Leave a comment

by heavensdaughter in Food, Thrift Tags: , ,

Today was a migraine day.  I wake up with migraines which truly stinks.  Thank goodness for FMLA or I would not have a job.  I crawled back into bed at 5:30 this morning and slept til 1:00.  Thankfully my headache is gone.

Last night I did  a little research.  I hate wasting things so I went looking for other uses for used cooking grease.  Now I know what to do with leftover bacon grease, but what about the grease from browning ground meat or frying chicken?  Normally I just pour it into an empty coffee can and throw the can away when it is full.  It just seems like a waste though.  So, off to Google-land I went.

I already knew I could make soap with leftover grease so I skipped those entries as I’m not in a position to be making soap just yet.  And then I hit paydirt!  I found an article on E-How about making candles with tallow.  Well, leftover cooking grease could technically be called tallow so I read on.  The article described how to make a jar candle from leftover tallow.  First you have to clean the tallow (which you would have to do if you are using leftover grease), then you make a wick from a piece of papertowel and pour the melted grease (tallow) into the jar around the wick.  Voila!  A jar candle from stuff you would normally throw away! 

Ok, so I’ve read that tallow candles have a not so pretty smell so maybe I could experiment with scents or something, but just the original idea really stoked me.  I can’t wait til I can try it out for myself and see how it works.  I printed out the directions and put it into my Custom Homestead binder for later reference. This could be something for my prep work too.  Having a source of light ready to go would be a good thing even if it doesn’t smell so nice.

Austerity Measures

27 Feb 2012 Leave a comment

by heavensdaughter in Food, General Tags: ,

Greece isn’t the only place with a mountain of debt to deal with.  We’re up to our eyeballs in it!  Ok, maybe not so much, but we do have a pile of debt that hubby wants gone in 12 months.  Eeeek!  We have a little wiggle room money-wise, but it’s gonna take some serious thought to get this done.  That means I will  have to be even more creative and careful with what we have.  Nothing gets wasted and nothing frivilous gets bought.  Sigh.  No more frappachinos when I go to download books at Barnes and Noble.  Ok, we can do this.  I can work in beans more than once a week and leftovers can become planned-overs.  In that vein I did this last night…..

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I took the carcass from the roasted chicken I had cooked a few days ago and put it in a pan with enough water to cover it and let it simmer away for a couple of hours.  Then I had the above pot of broth, and a plateful of chicken to chop up and put back in.

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Now I have a soup base that I can add rice or pasta to for my lunches.  That will save the lunchmeat for hubby who prefers sandwiches for lunch at work.

Tonight I had to come up with a new idea for porkchops.  Ok, this probably isn’t really a new idea, but it’s one I haven’t done before.  I found the dregs of a box of cornflakes in the cabinet

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and an unopened bottle creamy italian dressing.  I crushed the cornflakes in a baggie before spreading them on a plate and poured some dressing into a bowl.

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Then it was just like doing an egg-wash and flour batter except I dipped the porkchops in the dressing to coat both sides and then into the crushed cornflakes.  Onto a baking sheet and into the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. 

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I’ll be serving them with some cheesy mashed potatoes and probably green beans.  Yum.

Now I’m off to dig out my Tightwad Gazette books and remind myself what can be done.

Busy Hands

27 Feb 2012 Leave a comment

by heavensdaughter in General, Thrift Tags: ,

Over the past eight months I’ve really needed to keep my hands busy.  I  had a lot of television time with my husband while we didn’t have our computers and I could not stand just sitting there.  So, here’s what I did…….

 

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 I used up all my stray skeins of yarn.  Then I made these for the girls……

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Then I just made this one for hubby……

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And these are only a small portion of the dishcloths I made…..

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I didn’t want to have to “think” about any of my crocheting so I just did single crochet and made things as wide and as long as I thought they should be….no counting of stitches at all.  I definately kept my hands occupied.  Next up?  A green afghan for me.

 

I will be linking up to Hearts for Home, Proverbs 31 Thursdays, Simple Living Wednesdays, Titus 2sdays,and Barn Hop.

 

Your Custom Homestead E-book Review

26 Feb 2012 1 Comment

by heavensdaughter in Uncategorized

Yes, I’ve been reading a lot lately.  But then I enjoy reading so very much it’s really not a hardship.  I found the e-book Your Custom Homestead at The Prairie Homestead blog. It’s an inexpensive e-book right up my alley. 

See, I live in the city, but I  have a country heart.  I would love to live on acreage with a huge garden and small livestock.  My dad had acreage in Texas that would have been mine and my sister’s, but it got to be too  much for him and he sold it.  Grrrrr!!!!!  I know it was best for him, but dang it made me mad.

Anyway, this e-book is not a “how-to homestead” book.  Rather, it is a gather-your-thoughts-make-your-plans kind of e-book which is exactly what I need.  I’m not in a position to do everything I want to do and quite honestly don’t have all the skills that I want to have to do everything I want to do.  Somedays it just seems so overwhelming – all the things to learn, all the things to buy, all the ins-and-outs of the rules where I live.  This e-book will help you stop, slow down, and think first.  You really shouldn’t just jump into homesteading without a plan of some sort and this will definately get you started.

The e-book is divided into sections – Brainstorming, A Little Prep Work, Let’s Do It.  A perfect progression for first-time homesteaders and those who are still in the pre-planning stages like me. 

I picked up a new binder on my Friday shopping trip to start putting together my own homesteading binder.  My little city homestead will look quite different from most people’s, but it’s the mindset that counts more than how much acreage I have and how much livestock I own.  I’m excited to put my thoughts and plans on paper and put my references and resources all in one place.

Whether you are already living your dream homestead or you are just beginning to get the mindset, this e-book is well worth looking into.  It is an excellent resource for keeping yourself sane while putting it all together.

I will be linking up to Hearts for Home, Simple Living Wednesday, Barn Hop

The Lazy Couponer Book Review

26 Feb 2012 Leave a comment

by heavensdaughter in Books, Food, Thrift Tags: ,

I’ve had The Lazy Couponer  by Jamie Chase for about a week now and read it in two days.  When I bought it I really wasn’t sure if I would glean any new information out of it or not.  Her couponing method is to not clip any coupons until just before she walks out the door to the store.  She makes use of grocery lists and coupon databases to get her sales and keep her costs down.  She is very much an advocate of stacking.  Stacking is using multiple coupons to bring down the overall price tag of what you are buying.  There are a good number of “scenarios” for stacking in the book which is good for me to get me thinking more along those lines.  However, where I live the grocery stores are not much into the stacking ability.  The drugstores in the area are amenable to doing stacking because they have both store and manufacturer coupon usage so I will definately be paying more attention to them for things other than drugs and health and beauty.  But for me, there’s not much stacking capability at any of the grocery stores. 

One thing I am trying out is her method (and a frequent method of couponers) of not clipping coupons from the inserts until you are ready to shop and then only clipping the ones you know you need and will use.  I purchased an expanding file on my grocery trip friday to facilitate holding on to the inserts each week.  I have filed this weeks insert and my newest All You magazine.  I gotta tell you though, it is just about killing me not to cut out all the coupons. I know her way will be a time savings, but we’ll see if it actually works for me.  I’m willing to spend the money on the accordian file to give it a shot anyway.

One thing I don’t necessarily agree with is her assertion that you don’t need a stockpile.  Although I understand her reasoning, I live in snow country and it is just a good idea to have at least a small  stockpile of things to get you through the few days a blizzard can disrupt. There are other reasons I want a stockpile, but they have nothing to do with couponing.

Overall, I didn’t get a lot of new ideas, but I did get the motivation to try a different method and really look at my sales flyers each week to glean the very best deals I can get.

If you are new to couponing I would definately recommend this book.  It is one of several I would recommend to new couponers.  If you are an old-hat at couponing, you may already know her methods, but it might still be a good book to check out of your library if you can find it there.

I’ll keep you posted on how her method of non-clipping works out for me.

I’ll be linking up to Hearts for Home, Proverbs 31 Thursdays, Simple Living Wednesdays, Titus 2sdays, and Barn Hop.

Worship Intensive Part 1

26 Feb 2012 Leave a comment

by heavensdaughter in Faith Tags: ,

Today was the first session of a Worship Intensive study for the worship team at church.  Sinse hubby plays bass on the worship team he had to be there and spouses were invted too so I went with him.  The intensive was taught by Mary Jean Powers of Get The Word Out ( you can google it and find some awesome info on what she does) and was as usual amazing.  I’ve attended other intensives she’s done and have always come away encouraged and challenged in my walk with God.

Today the mountains looked beautiful.  You’ll have to click on the picture to really see them as my camera does not have a zoom.

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We were at a small church about 20 minutes up the freeway.

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We somehow managed to separate ourselves mostly into a guy side and a mixed side.  Not sure how that happened really.

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We had some amazing corporate worship time.

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And some amazing teaching.

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Did you know that the definition of worship is “to declare the worth”?  I didn’t.  So whatever you “declare the worth” of you worship.  I’d say we need to be aware of what we are valuing and declaring worthy and be sure it is acceptable to God. 

There was so much information shared I can’t possibly put it all into words right now.  Suffice it to say, it was a day well spent.  And we get to do it again next month.  Yay!

Shopping and African Chicken

25 Feb 2012 Leave a comment

by heavensdaughter in Food, General, Thrift Tags: ,

Today was shopping day again and I am pooped.  I hit three stores this evening.  I started at King Sooper where I spent $38 and saved $29 on sales and coupons.  Next up was Wallyworld where I spent the majority of my money.  I spent $179 and saved $9 with coupons.  Last was Sam’s for meat and cigarettes.  Not counting the cigarettes (which is another budget entry) I spent $235 total, $5 less than my budget.  Out of that I also bought printer ink, a 2 inch binder, binder dividers, an accordian file and an All You magazine so my actual food costs were only around $200.  Not bad for two weeks of food for four adults.

Now I’m home and pooped and it’s kind of late so hubby suggested his new favorite dinner – African Chicken.

Ingredients:

1 large can chicken or 2 cups cooked chopped chicken

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1/2 cup peanut butter

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2 cups water

 

3 tbsp chicken gravy mix

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1/2 cup dried onion or 1 whole onion chopped

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Nice sized gurgle of hot sauce to taste

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1 cup uncooked rice

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Cook one cup of rice in two cups of water til done.  Meanwhile, combine chicken, water, peanut butter, onion, gravy mix and hot sauce in pot.  Stir to combine well and simmer til thickened and heated through.  Serve over rice.

 

The original recipe for this came from The 90 Day Pantry, but I’ve tweaked it to our tastes.  Hubby loves it.  DIL-to-be adds soy sauce to make it more Thai than African, but it works.

Nuttin But Comfort Food Tonight

23 Feb 2012 Leave a comment

by heavensdaughter in Uncategorized

Tonight is pure comfort food for dinner.  I was really in the mood for this kind of meal.   So, tonight we had……

Roasted chicken

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Real mashed potatoes

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Real gravy

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and green beans.

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Yum!!!

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And the dogs got the innards for a treat.

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The Sexperiment Book Review

21 Feb 2012 Leave a comment

by heavensdaughter in Books, Faith, Family, Uncategorized Tags: ,

I finished this book in two days.  Yep, it was that good. I’ve challenged my hubby to read it now too.  Here’s my review of the book

The Sexperiment is written by Ed and Lisa Young.  Ed is a Pastor in the Dallas, Tx area.  The book is NOT a sex manual and it is written primarily for people who are already married.  I say primarily because there are sections at the end of each chapter for both singles and the engaged.

The big premise of the book that gets the most attention is the challenge to have sex with your spouse for seven straight days in a row.  Some of you may think..”Yeah?  What’s the big deal about that?”  While others of you might be thinking “Are you kidding me?”  This book deals with both attitudes.

The real premise of the book is building intimacy in a marriage.  Physical, emotional and spiritual intimacy.  These things can get lost by the wayside in  even the best marriages.  God created sex and called it good.  He wants your married sex life to be a good thing, but so many things can get in the way of this.  The book talks about being intentional in the things we do for our marriage both in and out of the bedroom. Each chapter addresses a different issue that can get in the way of God’s best for you in the bedroom and the livingroom as well.  Things like excuses and lust and selfishness.  Each chapter also has Action Steps to be done.  I have to admit, some of the action steps may get hard or even painful depending on where you are in your marriage.  However, I think they are all good things to do.

Overall, I think the book is excellent.  It addresses a need that all marriages have….how to build and keep the intimacy and closeness that we had at first.

If you’re married, I’d recommend this book to you.  When you’re done reading it and working throught it, then take the sexperiment yourself and see if you don’t end up with a better, more fulfilling marriage.

Exercise

21 Feb 2012 1 Comment

by heavensdaughter in Faith, General Tags:

I really don’t like exercise.  I don’t like group sports or going to the gym.  But.  I have 40 lbs to lose.  There, I said it.  It’s in print now.  And even with working on my diet and working with my lapband, it’s just not going to happen without exercise.

I have all the usual excuses not to exercise.  I work all day, I’m tired at night, I get up so early already, I don’t have any place to exercise, it’s snowing outside, I have too much to do.  Blah, Blah, Blah. 

Remember when I said I was working on a lesson on respect for the Women’s Retreat?  Well, for my husband, how I look is a matter of respect.  This weight I have left to lose is not showing him my respect.  I’ll post more on that later, but suffice it to say I need to work on my respect level.  I’ve been reading a lot on marriage lately (upcoming is a post on the Sexperiment) and I’ve just been convicted (again) that I need to work on this weight instead of just ignoring it and resting on my laurels of the weight I’ve already lost. 

Last night when I couldn’t get to sleep, I got up and printed out 10 weeks of exercises that were originally created for the Royal Marine Commandos back in the 50’s.  It’s just five basic exercises that you build on for 10 weeks.  I can do them in the living room with no equipment at all.  I got up this morning (after having NOT slept a wink) and did my first day of 5.  They’re not too hard and they got me going.  It’s not much really and I don’t expect it to magically melt the weight off me in 10 weeks, but it is a place to start and that’s what I needed.  I have committed to God and to myself that I will get up and do these exercises 5 mornings a week.  That means no more hitting the snooze button on the alarm.  I have to get up right then to have time to get everything done in the mornings. 

This along with the weight-loss challenge I’m in at church should propell me forward.  I’ll keep you posted.

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