Leftovers

Well, we enjoyed a wonderful Ham dinner on Easter. We are now left with lots and lots of extra ham. I have been trying to be creative in using up all of the leftovers. Here is my list of recipes so far:

Ham, Broccoli, and Pasta
Cook pasta and drain. Add a few tablespoons of butter to pot and let melt. Put pasta back in pot and add 2 beaten eggs. Stir until the eggs have cooked themselves in with the pasta. Add diced ham and cooked broccoli.

Ham and Potato Soup
So good. I wonder if this freezes well?

Ham and Potato Frittata
good but not as good as the soup!

Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwiches

We will have gotten our fill of ham by the time we get through all of leftovers!

It's never too early to shop for Christmas!

Toys R Us are having a nice sale this week on DS games - 2/$40 for certain DS games. My older two boys each got a DS for Christmas this past year. I know they will be thrilled with a new game for Christmas next year. I am planning a trip to Toys R Us this week to pick up 2 games. Planning ahead for Christmas definitely makes it less stressful and hectic. Each month, I set aside a certain amount of money specifically for Christmas. If I see a great deal on something that I know my kids will love, I have the cash to spend. I have always shopped ahead for Christmas but this is the first year I will also be putting money aside each month. Hopefully this will keep me from overspending and overbuying!

Kmart Deal

Kmart currently has a great deal on Kellogg's select cereals, 12oz - 20 oz, for $1.88. Plus, Kellogg's is running a deal where you get a free gallon of milk if you buy a certain number of Kellogg's products. I went there the other day and got 5 boxes of Frosted Flakes for $1.88 plus I got two coupons for a free gallon of milk. Five boxes of cereal and 2 gallons of milk for a total of $10.15? Not bad even if the cereal will only last a week, maybe 10 days, in my house!

Working Mama Monday

Morning Routines

I love having a morning routine! It helps save me time and aggravation. My kids do better with a routine and I think they like knowing what they are expected to be doing or what they have to do next. During the week we have a very strict morning routine given the early hour we all have to be up and out of the house by. Our routine works because both my husband and myself stick to it every morning.

During the weekdays we get up in shifts - my husband, my youngest son and myself are up first and I am out of the house, with my youngest son, by 630. The second shift is my husband and the other two boys. He gets them up, dressed, fed, and on the bus before he leaves for work. Each kids know he has to get dressed before he comes downstairs. Each child chooses between two or three breakfast choices. The older two know they have to eat all of their breakfast before they are allowed to have 10 minutes of Wii or DS. Sometimes they have a bit of homework left over that they have to complete before they can do anything fun. The older two boys have to get their backpacks (put take home folders in it) and lunch on their way out to wait for the bus. My youngest son knows he has to get dressed, eat breakfast, use the bathroom, get his shoes and coat on and then we leave. Being four years old, this set routine keeps him focused and cooperative(usually).

On the weekends we really have no set routine. But I have noticed we have more behavior issues and sibling fighting on weekends compared to weekday mornings. I am going to have to institute a weekend morning routine!

Week in Review

This past week has been the second of two very busy hectic weeks. I am happy it is over and we are that much closer to our Spring Break. I didn't do a lot of cooking or cleaning or organizing or really much of anything these past two weeks. We did have our annual St. Patrick's Day party last weekend and I did obviously cook for that but no extra cooking. We have been eating very simple meals here this week, pasta, pancakes, etc. I even took the kids to McDonalds twice in the last two weeks! I haven't done that in quite a while!
As for shopping, I did get a great deal on cereal at Price Chopper this week - 4boxes of cereal for $6 plus I had 2 $1 off 2 boxes coupons. That brought the price to a dollar a box for the four boxes I bought. Nice but... there is only less than half a box left! Kmart has cereal on sale this week for $1.88 a box so I am going to go stock up again. I am seriously thinking about not buying any more cereal since it is expensive and we go through so much.
I am also planning a Toys R Us run this week. They have DS game on sale - 2/$40. I will buy 2 and put them away for Christmas. It is never too early to start Christmas shopping if you get some good deals!
Have a Happy Week!

Home Improvements

My husband and I have must have gotten struck by Spring Cleaning Fever. We have started or at least purchased a few home improvements this weekend. We are in the process of sealing our living room hardwood floors. Some areas of our living room floor are down to bare wood - all of the sealant has been worn away. We really don't have the extra money to have the floors professionally redone. We decided to just add the sealant in order to improve the look of the floor (it definitely is shiny!) and to protect it until we have money to have them redone.

We also decided to rip up the carpet in our sunroom and lay down wood flooring. Our dog will have accidents every once in awhile in that room and I don't want the dog urine to soak through the the ply wood beneath the carpet. My husband bought the flooring to install and hopefully we will have it done by the end of this coming weekend. We used the money from our House Maintenance envelope to purchase the flooring and it felt great to be able to use cash for it!

I am also itching to paint that room as well as our bedroom. I did spend one day during our winter break cleaning the walls in our bedroom so it is all set to be painted. I still have to decide on a color for our sunroom - I am leaning towards a cream or little green since we have left over paint form other projects. We are planning on painting our bedroom a light brown with an even lighter brown trim. I then need to figure out wall treatments for both rooms. I will definitely post pictures when we finish these projects!

Working Mama Mondays

Craigslist

Maybe of us have many many unwanted, unnecessary items hanging around. I know we have our share and then some of items that are taking up space. I wanted to unload some of these items but don't want to have a garage sale. Garage sales take a lot of time and effort to have and I don't have any extra time or energy to have one. Enter Craigslist. Without leaving the comfort of my home, I sold three items this weekend - a floor length mirror, a wooden train table, and a booster chair. I love Craigslist!

Working Mama Monday

Bulk Cooking

I want my family to eat healthy and nourishing foods. I am trying to cut back on the amount of pre-packaged and processed foods. But...I am a working mama with little time to spend preparing each and every meal from scratch. Enter Bulk Cooking or as other people call it Once A Month Cooking, Freezer Cooking, etc.
The concept is simple, spend one to two days a month cooking meals ahead of time and then freezing them to use throughout the month. Voila, the two 8 hour days spent in the kitchen buys you time throughout the month.

Except... I don't have 1-2 days a month to spend just on cooking. Devoting this amount of time each month to just cooking does not work for me, my family, and our schedule. I have tried modified versions of Bulk Cooking and I do believe it is a great time saver but at this point in my life, I can't pull it off. So, I have have experimented ways to save time in the kitchen and still feed my family healthy foods.

The best variation I found that works for me and my family is what is often referred to as Batch Cooking. Each time you prepare a meal or even a single food item, double, triple the recipe. Freeze the extras for the future. I do this with pancakes all the time. I also have done this with baked goods like cookies, muffins, and breads. If you are making meatballs for dinner, make a ton! Make 2 pans of lasagna, freeze the second pan. Even if you aren't making an extra meal, little steps can save time in the future. If you are chopping onions for one meal, chop a bunch and freeze the extras.

I have found a few extra minutes, here and there, help those days or nights when you are pressed for time.

Rags

I been slowing trying to wean my family off paper towels. We have a stash of old cloth diapers that we use but there are days when we whip through them in no time. I really didn't want to go out and buy new towels just to use as rags. A few weeks back my husband cleaned out his t-shirt drawer and he had a very large pile of t-shirts that either were stained or just didn't fit right. I am donating the ones that aren't stained and I cut up the stained ones to use as rags. I cut off the neck opening and sleeves and then cut each shirt in half. I donated the scraps to an agency that I know recycles rags. I now have a new stash of rags to use and I didn't have to spend a dime.
For more frugal ideas, check out Life As Mom.

Working Mama Mondays

Getting Help

Working and having three boys can can me busy. Add the fact that my husband teaches a college course one night a week, one of my sons' plays soccer in the fall and spring, one son plays t-ball, and both of my older sons are in Cub Scouts. Plus I am the den leader for my younger son's den. Put all of that together makes for a very busy house. Thankfully, my husband and I are both on the same page about a lot of things. We did have a house cleaner come in once a month to do the big cleaning jobs but we stopped that a few months ago in an effort to tighten our finances and start paying down debt. It was a sad day for me! Given that all of the housework, errands, and everyday clutter was still there, I felt a bit overwhelmed. Well, I quickly cheered myself up by telling myself I hadn't had a house cleaner for all that long and I had been able to get it all done before.
Except, now there are three boys instead of one or two AND we have a much bigger house.
It was time for everyone to step up to the plate. My husband and I take on certain jobs, he is in charge of doing the laundry(thank god for that!), I fold the laundry and everyone puts their own laundry away. One of us makes dinner, the other cleans up the kitchen. My husband is great about starting the dishwasher each night before he goes up to bed.
The children have their own responsibilities that are appropriate for their age. They definitely give us trouble when it comes time to do their chores but they are getting better. Each kid is in charge of their rooms, putting laundry away, picking up toys and toys, making beds, etc. They do these on the weekends. Some weekends they fly through this other weekends there are lots of excuses and even tears. But, as I said before, they are getting better.
There is still room to improve for all of us but the biggest lesson I have learned is everyone could use some help. I am lucky that my husband shares half of the housework and child rearing. I really don't think I would be as organized and on top of things if my husband wasn't as good as he is about doing his share. Love that man!

Snow Day Fun

Finally we got some snow here in Upstate NY. We had the day off from school this past week and enjoyed some time playing in the snow. I love that I get snow days too. The three boys and I made a snowman an snow forts. We topped the day off with snowmen pancakes. I had a little trouble getting the pancakes to actually look like snowmen but once I add the marshmallow eyes and chocolate chip nose and mouth, it was clearly a snowman. Now I have make pancakes at least once a week and I know the boys like them but they were so excited to be eating Snowmen Pancakes! Here's our favorite made from scratch recipe:

1 1/4 cup flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 cup milk

1 1/2 tablespoon oil

Sift dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Easy!! Makes about 20 small or 7 large.

Chair

I bought this chair at a garage sale for $1 this past summer. With a little paint, fabric, and time it looks like a new chair! I prefer to use Old Village brand paints on furniture. I had some Philadelphia Brownstone left over from another project. I purchased the fabric and cushion for the seat at Joann's on sale. I used quilt batting, that I had, to pad the back. Total spent on materials: $20. Check out more Frugal Friday ideas at www.lifeasmom.com.

Nagging-To-Do List

Alright - here is an update on my nagging to do list. Anything in bold is recent - I even added another to do. In fact, given enough time, I could probably add quite a few more. I am pleased with the progress I have made so far. But I do wonder, will this list ever end or am I always going to be adding to it?

Everyone has one - the list of things you have to do but keep putting off. My list seems to grow with every day. Amy at Mom Advice has a post about the amount of energy a nagging-to-do list can take. I think about my nagging-to-do list ALL THE TIME but I usually don't actually do anything on the list. Not any more! I have been putting in a concerted effort to get some items checked off my list. Here is what is on it and what I have accomplished so far:

• Finish sunflower craft
• Finish burlap wreath craft - Finished!
• Call for hair appointment - made the appointment!
• Return shirt to Target - returned!
• Paint bedroom(first need to finish getting wallpaper down) All wallpaper down and walls washed - ready to be primed!
• Register son for little league - Registered!
• Email cousin about summer visit - Email sent!
• Get car inspected and oil changed - Done!
• Renew Driver License
• Finish envelop craft - Done
• Finish painting and recovering chair(got for $1 at a garage sale this past summer)

I am sure there are more things I should add to this list, especially since I have finished some of this list. I am trying to accomplish at least 4 of the more easier items on this list each week. I am also trying to tackle at least one larger project on this list each month. Maybe, just maybe I can get my bedroom painted this year!

Working Mama Mondays

Successful Menu Planning
I was never a big menu planner until recently. I would halfheartedly try to think about what we were doing to eat for the upcoming week but I never stuck to any real menu plan. This led to a lot of eating out and wasted food. When my husband and I decided to get a handle on our finances, one area I wanted to focus on was cutting our grocery bill. Enter the menu plan. There are many blogs/sites out there dedicated to menu planning. I love the tips and links on I'm an Organizing Junkie. I try to post our weekly menu here to give myself some sort of accountability but I don't always get to do that. Even when I don't post it, I still am planning! Each Sunday I plan out what we will be eating for each meal for the upcoming week. This is a bit different than what I used to do. When I did try to plan our meals, I only focused on dinners. Now that two of my boys need lunches pack, I include lunch and breakfast in the plan. I take into account all of our evening obligations, whether I or my husband are going to be absent from dinner time or if we need a quick meal. I also account for any school lunches my children want to buy that week. *

*An aside note here: I realize purchasing school lunches may not always be frugal but for some reason, I hate packing lunches. I will be the first to admit I do the happy dance when I realize someone is buying lunch and I don't have to pack them one!

I limit breakfast to a choose of two items and I keep in mind what I know my boys like. Mornings are a bit too hectic to try new food so they stay pretty constant with either toast, cereal, bagel, or pancakes. Lunches usually consist of a main food item, fruit and/or veggie, a yogurt, and a dessert item. I also include a snack for their midmorning break at school. They purchase snack milk each day. My husband is easy to pack for; soup, veggies, granola bar and a fruit. I won't even begin to try and explain my lunches. At this point I am trying to follow a low/no gluten diet for health reasons.

Dinners tend to be very basic in our house. I don't have the time to prepare complicated meals. Each dinner tends to be be a main food, side dish of some sort of carb, fruit and veggies. Nothing too exciting or adventurous but it works for us.

Here is our plan for this week:

Breakfasts: Choice of chocolate muffins, cereal, or toast

Lunches: cheese and crackers, leftovers, salad, or soup

Dinners:

London broil, onions, veggies, Annie's Mac and Cheese for kids

Roasted Chicken, mash potatoes, cut up apples, salad

Leftovers

Pancakes and Sausage

Kielbasa

Marinated Chicken breast, cheddar and onion muffins, veggies

Leftovers

I think that there are a lot of positives in utilizing a menu plan each week. No more waiting until the last minute to realize the meat need for that night's meal is still in the freezer. We don't eat out as much and I feel we are saving money in the long run. There are many people who plan their meals based on what they already have in the cupboards. This way, they can really slash their grocery bill. Check out this post explaining how to do this. I am not there yet but some day I want to be! Happy Planning!

Decluttering Week Wrap up

With the kids and myself off on Winter break this past week, it seemed a good idea to get some decluttering done. Here are a few items that left my house this week:

4 t-shirts(husband)
4 shirts (me)
1 pair of shoes(husband)
7 pairs of shoes (me)
3 stuffed animal toys
Letter magnetic toy
2 books
belt
misc. small toys
Large stuffed superman
plastic floor train playset

All of these things are making their new home at the salvation army! I was able to clean and reorganize my tupperware cupboard(not that it is going to stay organized for long). It is amazing how many tops I have but no matching containers. Do they run off in the night? There are still many rooms, closets, and nooks and crannys that still cry out to be decluttered. I am trying to go slowly with this so I won't get stressed out when I don't have the time to do everything I want to do immediately.

Wrist Warmers

Every winter I curse the glove companies. Why can't they make gloves that cover kids wrist, preferably covering up to their elbows. My kids' gloves always ride up and leave their wrists exposed. They are constantly complaining that the snow gets inside their sleeves. A friend of mine had purchased a pair of gloves that were much longer and seemed to really cover their son's wrists. Unfortunately these gloves are expensive. I already have a ton of gloves for my boys and I really didn't want to buy any more gloves. Recently, another friend of mine mentioned the wrist warmers she made her daughter. The directions for these are so easy, anyone can make them! Take a pair of old socks or you can use socks that have no matches. Cut the toes off and make a small hole on the side so your thumb can fit through. Slip your hand through and that's it. No sewing, no patterns! So easy. I am going to attack our pile of unmatched socks and make some more of these babies! Thanks Jen!

Vacation Week

Our vacation week is flying by! I still haven't had a chance to get a lot of bulk baking or cooking done but I have accomplished a lot. I made chocolate waffles from here as well as chocolate muffins from here. They were both delicious and my children gobbled them right up! I made meatballs for dinner and smoothies for snack today. Man, I am tired! The boys have been taking turns having friends over this week. Today was my youngest son's turn and he was so excited to have his two friends over, one of which was a, gasp, girl. But it was ok as he told his brothers, "she's girl but she is fun". Cute. We made shamrocks using the idea from here and oobleck. I also got a few things checked off my nagging to do list!

Cleaning on a dime and be good to the environment!

I have to admit, I hate cleaning. Well not actually cleaning, I hate picking up. If all I had to do was just clean the house, I would have such a sparkling clean house. It is the clutter and picking up that gets me. Anyways, enough of that rant. I found an awesome book that has helped me make my own environmentally friendly cleaners. Clean house, Clean Planet by Karen Logan has changed my thinking about cleaners. We now only use environmentally friendly, nontoxic house cleaners. At first I was a little concerned that I didn't have my handy Clorox wipes to kill all of the cold and flu germs that float around. But in the last 2 years that I have been making my own cleaners, we haven't had an increase in illnesses. In fact, we really haven't had many contagious illnesses. The recipes for cleaners are easy and quick to make. One of the best tips was using a pumice stone to clean hard water stains in the toilet bowl. You can purchase pumice stone at the hardware store. They don't scratch porcelain and work fabulous, you just have to get past the yuck factor of having to actually put you hand in the toilet bowl! One other thing that I like about the book, is that Karen Logan breaks down the cost of each recipe and compares the cost to ready made cleaners. That is one of the reasons I was able to get my numbers man on board without a lot of convincing! Go purchase a copy yourself and get cleaning!
This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesdays

Lucky

I have always felt I was unlucky. I don't win raffles that often, never got a winning scratch off lotto ticket, never win 50/50 raffles. You get the point. But the other day something happened that made me stop and realize I am lucky!

I was driving to work with my youngest strapped in his car seat. It was dark and rainy. I was on a three lane highway that had the far left lane closed for construction. I was in the middle lane when out of no where there was a car in my lane coming straight at me with no headlights. Since there was a barrier to my left and cars to my right, I really didn't have a lot of options. Thankfully, the car turned into an opening between the barriers and a head on collision was avoided. Wow. That shook me up. Had me rethinking this whole unlucky thing. Really, does it matter if I win lotto scratch offs? Does it matter if I win the 50/50? Yes, the extra money would be nice but I don't need it. So I started to think of all the areas in my life where I am lucky. I have a wonderful husband and three awesome, healthy, and loving boys. My husband and I both have good paying careers. We have a house, we have food, we can pay our bills on time every month. I am so lucky!!

Working Mama Mondays

Weekly Planning
One of the handiest tool a busy mom needs to have in her box of tricks is the ability to plan ahead. I am a big planner and I love to make lists. Some days there is so much information rattling around in my mind that I find I can't relax until I get it all out. I find putting it down on paper helps me clear my mind and I usually find I don't have as much to do or remember as I thought I did.
Enter my weekly planning.
Each Sunday evening, I sit down and figure out what has to get done that week. I look at what activities the children might have, any evening meetings or obligations that my husband and I may have that week. I then make a list of additional things that I have to do that week, whether it is an errand that has to be run or a phone call that needs to be made. After I do that, then my husband and I decide who is going to do what. I usually am the errand runner. The area where I work has many of the stores that I would need to go to and I get out of work earlier than he does. My husband usually takes the phone calls, I don't have a direct phone line, only voicemail. I do make the appointments for me and the children since I usually take them to the appointments. An example of our weekly planning would look something like this:

• Monday: Oldest son's scout meeting(Steve take him)
• Tuesday: Middle son's scout meeting(our house, I am den leader), Steve to take youngest to run a few errands
• Wednesday: Scout committee meeting(me), Grocery shopping, Snack milk money for older two boys
• Thursday: Steve teaches a college course on this night.
• Friday: Movie night

Errands:

• Return some items to Walmart
• Bank
• Grocery Shopping
• Pick up Prescriptions
• Crickets for lizard

Phone calls:

• middle son's homeroom parent (I'll take this call)

To do list
In addition to this list, I also make a menu plan for the week. I certainly keep our evening obligations in mind when I am planning our menu for the week but more on menu planning next week!