Successes/Blessings: I earned two $5 Amazon gift cards through Swagbucks (referral link). I’ll be saving them to use for birthday/Christmas gifts. I have started my weeks of prodromal labor (typical for me…happens with every pregnancy). The other night I was having contractions (not braxton hicks…but real deal contractions) from about 8:00pm until 4:00am, and then everything just died out. So I’ve been exhausted and frustrated. My mother inlaw kept 3 of my older kids overnight the night before last so that I could rest, and when she dropped them off yesterday, she brought a tray of her Spanish rice and chicken (a family favorite). It was so nice to not have to worry about cooking dinner! I’ve traded a few more books on paperbackswap.com and used the credits for books needed for homeschool. I used the rewards points system that my husband’s work offers to order 2 books as well. Through his program, I discovered the Picture Book Biography series and have ordered 3 of them so far. We’re really enjoying them! I normally don’t like most children’s biographies, but these were well done and not at all boring to read aloud. We filed our taxes this year with TurboTax, and that came with an offer to put a certain amount toward an Amazon gift card, and receive a 10% bonus on that amount. We opted to do that and figured out how much we’d like to spend on birthdays and Christmas for the kids this year, plus a little extra to cover some of the cost of birthday gifts for our 12 nieces and nephews, and put that much on an Amazon gift card from […]
Archives for February 2015
Frugal Fridays #16
A pregnancy update for those interested: I’ll be 37 weeks on Monday. Being stuck inside due to extreme winter weather has resulted in me gaining about 12 lbs more than I have in previous pregnancies (4 in the last 2 weeks)…and I still have 3 weeks to go. My midwife informed me today that I can’t go into labor early because she has to go out of town to help her daughter who broke her shoulder and needs help taking care of the kiddos. I won’t begrudge a grandma helping out her daughter and grandkids. And I don’t typically go into labor early anyway. Although the last one did come 9 days early…that’s abnormal for me. I’m having a hospital birth, so in the event that I *do* go into labor early, there will be an on-call OB available. I’ve never delivered with an OB, though. I’m hoping to hold out for my midwife. She’s delivered my last 2 babies and has been amazing. Also hoping that we don’t get too much more snow, because that might make things interesting if I go into labor and can’t get out of the driveway. My last labor was only about 2 hours long…so, yeah. I’ll be going for my pre-labor haircut and pedicure on Monday. Anyone who knows me would probably be surprised to hear me say such a thing. And it really isn’t a very frugal thing of me to do. 😉 I typically get my hair trimmed before labor because it’ll likely be a while before I can get out of the house alone to get it done once baby is born. And the […]
Smokey Lentil and Hominy Soup
I’m really not a huge fan of lentils. I try to like them. I try lentil recipes now and then because they’re so healthy and so darned affordable. But honestly, I’ve never been much of a fan. This is a soup recipe for people like me…who don’t really like lentils, but who WANT to like lentils. It’s also a tastey and filling meatless dish, making it perfect for Lent. Print Smokey Lentil and Hominy Soup Author: Ashley M. Recipe type: Soup Cook time: 45 mins Total time: 45 mins Serves: 6-8 servings Ingredients 1 cup lentils 6 cups water (or chicken stock) 2 bay leaves 2 lg garlic cloves, or 2 tsp garlic powder 1 T chopped cilantro 1 T smoked paprika 1 medium onion, chopped 2 medium carrots, chopped 1 celery stalk, chopped 2 cans diced tomatoes, drained 1 15 oz. can hominy, drained Salt and pepper to taste Optional: Grilled chicken or browned italian sausage is great in this soup if you want to add meat. If using water instead of stock, consider adding 2-3 bouillon cubes while cooking lentils. Garnish with fresh cilantro and/or a squeeze of lime. Instructions Rinse lentils Cook them in water or stock, bay leaves, garlic, and cilantro. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer for 15 minutes. Set aside, DO NOT drain. In a 6-7 quart soup pot or dutch oven, saute onion, carrots and celery in oil until onions are translucent. Add in diced tomatoes, smoked paprika, and hominy. Add lentils and cooking liquid. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer 20-30 minutes. Optionally garnish with lime and a bit more […]
Frugal Fridays #15
I started off this week kind of slow with a pretty bad migraine (I’ve suffered with hemiplegic migraines since I was a teenager, and they increase in frequency during pregnancy for me). Once I recovered from the migraine, though, I actually had a bit of an energy boost. I think maybe the nesting thing is starting to kick in with 5 weeks left (or less. hopefully less). We’re getting slammed with snow, which is typical for New York winters and doesn’t really phase me much…except that I tend to want to hibernate more than usual. I’m a homebody to begin with, but being hugely pregnant leaves me with very little motivation to climb snow drifts. 😉 Anywho, I think it was a pretty good week overall.: Successes: I dehydrated celery to use in soups. My mom brought over some celery a couple of weeks ago for a snack (veggies and dip), and this was the leftovers. I didn’t want them to go bad, so I chopped it up and dehydrated it. I swapped 4 books on paperbackswap.com and used the credits to purchase more books for our homeschool shelf. I got an e-mail from paperbackswap.com a few weeks ago stating that they were going to start charging .50 cents (or so) for book swaps. At first I was really disappointed, but then I read that if you print your shipping labels/wrappers right from their site, then you get to forgo the fee. I’ve always printed my wrappers on their site anyway, so I’ll continue to swap books for free (plus the cost of shipping, which is usually about $2-3 per book…much cheaper than […]
Frugal Fridays #14
Our lives have been a flurry of doctor’s appointments lately. Midwife prenatal visits, annual check-ups for the kids, ENT and orthodontist consults. We’re also a one-vehicle family at the moment, so I’ve been needing to get up early to drive my husband to work on the days when we have appointments. It’s just been one of those crazy months. When I wake up each morning looking at the mountain of cleaning, laundry, meals to be prepared, appointments to shuttle all of my kids to (because none of them are old enough to stay home yet), the garden that has yet to be planned, seeds that have yet to be started, school lessons to be planned and followed through on…and start to feel defeated before my feet have even hit the floor, I remind myself of Philippians 2:13: “For it is God who worketh in you, both to will and to accomplish, according to His good will.” Douay-Rheims Bible I can truly only try my best, and accept my own short comings. I’ll never be able […]
Homemade Cleaner Round Up
Cleaning supplies can be pricey and full of mystery ingredients/chemicals. I wanted to share some of the homemade cleaners that I use on a regular basis in my house. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Dishwasher Detergent: 2 parts Borax and Washing Soda 1 part salt and citric acid (I buy mine here) Use 2 tablespoons per load. I find that using vinegar in the rinse agent compartment helps prevent water spots or cloudiness. Laundry Detergent: (This usually lasts us about 4-5 months for our family of 6, plus we cloth diaper) 3 bars grated soap (I usually use Fels Naptha) 1 Box Borax 1 Box Washing Soda 2 containers of Dollar Tree OxyClean Combine in a large plastic tub and use 2 tablespoons per load (we have a top loader, non-HE washer) Multipurpose Cleaner (I also use this as glass cleaner): Equal parts vinegar and water. Sometimes I will add 20-30 drops of essential oils (lemon, eucalyptus, tea tree, lavender etc.), or infuse the vinegar with citrus peels for added scent and cleaning power. Combine in a spray bottle. Stain Spot Treatment: (Recipe from One Good Thing by Jillee) 2/3 cup dishwashing soap 2/3 cup ammonia 6 Tablespoons Baking Soda 2 Cups warm water Mix all ingredients and combine in a spray bottle. Apply to stains the same way you would any other spot treatment. I have successfully removed these types of stains from our clothing so far: Melted crayon (dryer incident) chocolate tomato sauce a grease stain that had already been washed and dried Underarm sweat stains Dirt Porcelain Sink Cleaner: Baking Soda 2 tablespoons of bleach diluted in 2 cups of water I absolutely […]
