Henry turns SIX!

I have to laugh that I'm writing about Henry's sixth birthday when he's turning seven today. Just slightly behind, a little. We had so much fun for Henry's 6th birthday. On his actual birthday we went to the pumpkin patch and then enjoyed a family part that night. Grammy & Papa and our immediate family were in attendance. The following week we loaded up and went to Great Wolf Lodge for a night to enjoy the water park and all the fun that goes along with GWL. I always keep my eye out for their great deals they run. With such a large family, we need one of their biggest rooms,  so if we were to pay full price it would be a few hundred dollars. We are NOT wealthy people, complete opposite. We do however like to plan ahead and save our pennies so we can do fun things like this as a family every so often. Finding good deals is something of a hobby of mine as well; so we make it happen. And the kids have a BLAST! Enjoy the pictures of my little mister's birthday and our fun visit to GWL.

Pumpkin Spice Instant Oatmeal

I admit it...I buy a big box of instant oatmeal at Costco every month. My kids love it, they can make it themselves..and I get to lay in bed a little bit longer on the mornings it's on the menu. (They even make it for the toddler!) I love my kids. The last couple times I have bought it, ALL of the maple and brown sugar are clumpy and we cannot break it apart. I took the first box back when I realized the problem and got another one. However the second box did the same thing. So this time they ate all the other flavors and I won't be buying more. I found a recipe online for instant oatmeal packets and did a little tweaking..and voila!! I made two big batches of two different flavors that will hopefully last us a couple weeks. (big family problems)

First things first..here is what you need! (You can put these into individual baggies- but that is not necessary and creates a lot of waste.)

10 Cups Quick cooking oats
1t salt
2 Cups brown sugar
1 Cup powdered milk
3t cinnamon
3t pumpkin pie spice

Take 6 cups of the oats and put it in a big bowl. Put the rest of the oats (2 cups at a time) in the blender and blend into a powder, i just pulse it. This is what will thicken your oatmeal and give it the instant texture we are used to. Then mix the two kinds of oats together. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix together thoroughly. Put into a good air tight container.

To make: use 1/2 cup of oatmeal mixture and add hot or boiling water until you reach your desired consistency. My husband likes his oatmeal cooked in the microwave, so you can also add some water then pop it in the microwave for a minute or two until it is cooked that way.


I also made Apple Cinnamon flavor- Keep everything the same except go up to 4t cinnamon and add 3 cups crumbled dehydrated apples and omit the pumpkin pie spice.

I'm not sure of cost comparison with store bought, but I do know homemade is way better because there are less ingredients. Also, I buy everything in bulk- so the only thing I might have to go back to the store for to make more would be pumpkin pie spice.

I put my label maker to good use too ;-)

Chunky Baked Potato Soup

I made this for dinner last night because the outside temps were pretty low for a summer night and because I look for any excuse to pretend autumn is already here!!  I originally got this recipe from Wendy Jeubs cookbook Love in the Kitchen. She is a mom of many and cooks for about fifteen people every night. I have tweaked it a little and made it my own. This recipe is for 6 servings. You can double it if you are cooking for a crowd. It makes enough for our family of 5 and then leftovers twice for my husband to take for lunch at work. 

4 cups of peeled and diced potatoes
1T oil
1 medium onion chopped
1 stick of butter
1/2  C flour
8 cups of milk
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
2 strips of bacon cooked and crumbled
1 C shredded cheddar cheese


Boil your diced and peeled potatoes until they are tender. When those are almost done, in a skillet sauté  your chopped onions in the oil until clear and tender. Now in a heavy saucepan melt your stick of butter and add the flour, stirring until smooth. Cook one minute stirring constantly. Gradually add milk - this is where I decided adding the milk warm instead of cold will speed up the cooking process. So I pop 2 cup servings of the milk in the microwave for 2 minutes then add the 2 cups every 2 minutes until you have added 8 cups. Then add your drained potatoes, the onion, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat stirring frequently, until mixture is thickened. Serve with shredded cheese and bacon bits. ( I didn't use bacon last night but usually do, I just cook a couple pieces on the stovetop and then crumble it up in a bowl)

It is sooooo yummy, but probably does the waistline no favors so we don't cook this super often. I served it with buttered toast last night and it hit the spot!!!

Meal Planning- Part 2- How to shop frugally! and a Giveaway!!!

In my first meal planning post I told you how I meal plan a month in advance and how that helps with our current budget. A reader asked how I shop, so I am going to try to tell you a little about that. We are members of Sam's Club; I like their prices and selection better then Costco. I usually go to Sam's to stock up on things we need there first, then go to a regular grocery store. Here is a run down of the things I buy at Sam's every few months:

Toilet Paper- every other
Dishwasher soap-every 3 months
Frozen orange juice- every other
Trash bags- every 4 or so months
Flour- every 3 months
Yeast- every 6 months
Oatmeal- every other
Canola Oil- every other
Kids gummy vitamins- every other
Vitamin C- every other
Zyrtec- every 3 months
Macaroni Noodles- every 3 months
Sliced cheese- every other
Hot dogs- every other
Random seasonings - as needed, they usually last 6 months or so.
Powdered sugar- every other

*I always buy my milk at Sams because it is usually $2 a gallon. I go there once a week and buy 4 gallons. I am super good about going in and getting what I need and getting out. I know some people cannot do that. I don't really have a choice, I know we don't have the money for extras. 

Each month I buy a lot of the same things because I know we use them, here they are:

5lbs shredded cheddar cheese
String Cheese
Turkey lunchmeat
Smoked Sausage
Butter
3 doz. eggs (hopefully not buying these anymore)
Hot dog buns (I buy 2 packs and divide them up and freeze them)
frozen whole fryer chickens (2 in a pack)
Fruit and cereal bars
Sugar
Graham Crackers (these are $2 a box when you buy 4 and these are a great snack for the kids)
Brown sugar

The rest of our groceries I get at our local Kroger store King Soopers or Albertsons if there is a good sale. I try to stock up on things like cereal, salad dressings, beans, veggies (canned or frozen), crackers, capri suns, ketchup, mayonaise, mustard and stuff like that. When I stock up that means I am usually buying around 10 of one item at once. I have a big pantry in my basement as well as a chest freezer. I try to buy store brand cereal for about $1.50 or less a box, salad dressing for under $1 and veggies for about $.75 or less...the others are just what I deem a good price. Prices fluctuate a lot but things seem to go on good sales about once every 6-8 weeks. I also get things for our dinner meals at KS- things like cr. of mushroom soup, sour cream, pizza sauce, bacon, sausage..stuff like that.


*I buy our sandwich bread at KS because I havent been able to figure out how to make good homemade sandwich bread so I buy the store brand stuff for about $1 a loaf. This is also something I buy once a week...about 3 loaves a week is good for us. Occasionally I get lucky and check the day old section and find loaves for about $.50.  


*I do go to the store once a week and buy milk, bread, produce and eggs if we need them. I try to check the ad's and go where I can get most of those things on sale. Thankfully I don't need much when I go once a week so taking the kids with me is no big deal. And again I stick to my list! 


*Both our girls are allergic to peanuts so I order my non-GMO Soy butter from Canada on amazon.com. These run $25 for 6 jars and last about 6 months. And I buy big jars of honey from the Farmers Market every 6-8 weeks. 


*I buy my ground beef at a butcher called Ranch Foods Direct. I buy 20lb bundles so this lasts us about 5 months. 


*I just bought my own wheat grinder, so hopefully I can buy wheat berries and save more doing it that way as well as eat healthier!

Things I make myself are:


Bread for dinners
Bagels
Biscuits
Jam
Applesauce
Pickles
Apple butter
Yogurt
Laundry soap
I am going to attempt to make re-usable paper towels - right now we just use rags instead of paper towels.



*I take my grocery money out of the bank right after payday and that's all I get for 30 days so I have to make it stretch. It's a little harder to impulse buy this way. And as I said before I stick to my list; sometimes if I see something I meant to put on my list and forgot then I will go ahead and get it. I don't really use coupons anymore- only if it's a really good deal on something I was already planning on getting.

I hope this has helped you or will help you to shop more purposefully and be able to save some money.  Now I have an excellent giveaway for you!!! As you know I reference Money Saving Mom a lot! I get a lot of good ideas from her. I have a brand spanking new copy of her book up for grabs!! Here it is: 

This would make an excellent starting point for some of you just starting to budget more and watch your spending! Crystal has awesome tips for cutting spending and saving money!!




a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Spicey Chicken Spaghetti

This is a great recipe for big families, or if you have a smaller family like ours it can make 2 meals. And you can control the spiciness by what kind of Rotel you buy.

Ingredients:

1 16 oz pkg Spaghetti
1 16 oz bar of Velveeta cubed
1 medium onion chopped
1/4 C. butter
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 can Rotel
3-4 chicken breast already cooked and cubed

First you want to cook your spaghetti according to the package directions.

While doing that go ahead and get a big saucepan and start to melt your butter. After the butter is melted add your onions. (I didn't have an onion, so I used dried minced onions and they worked out fine.)

When the onions are getting clear and pretty soft you can add your can of Rotel and Velveeta  Cheese and cook that until it melts.

When it looks like a cheese sauce you can add your chicken. I didn't use chicken breasts only- I had bought a fryer chicken and cooked it for dinner in the crockpot last week, after dinner I picked the rest of the meat off and had been saving it in the fridge for this casserole. (after all is said and done this 1 chicken will have fed us for 3 dinner meals)

Mix the chicken in good and heat through.

While that is heating its probably about time for your spaghetti to be drained and you can put it all in the bottom of the pan.

After this you can add the chicken and cheese mixture to the top. Then you will bake it at 350* for 25 minutes. If you were making this on a bulk freezer cooking day you would not put it in the oven, you would put some wax paper and foil over the top of the pan(s) and put them in the freezer. Then when you were ready to use it for your dinner you can defrost it in the fridge the night before and bake as above. If you forget to take it out of the freezer till right at dinner time you can cook it at 350* for 1 hr.

I use mild rotel because my kids don't like things that are too spicey. They also sell regular and extra hot I believe- so you can adjust it for your tastes.

Easy Homemade Yogurt!

A couple of years ago I tried to make my own yogurt and it turned out ok. It was a lengthy process of stove-top mess and small mason jars to put it in. I did it once or twice but decided it wasn't worth all the hassle. So when I saw Money Saving Mom's post on Homemade Yogurt in the Crockpot I decided to give it a try- and boy am I glad I did!!! Talk about easy-peasy! And cheap! I did everything she did except I used 1% milk and a small 6 oz container of vanilla yogurt.

             Easy Homemade Yogurt:

• 1/2 gallon milk (Whole milk will make your yogurt thicker, I used 1 %)
• 6 oz plain /vanilla yogurt (anything with live-active cultures will work)
  

Pour the half gallon of milk into your crock pot and turn it on low. Cook it for 2 hours and 45 minutes (I set my timer to remember to turn it off!)

After 2 hours and 45 minutes, turn the crock pot off and let it sit for 3 hours- do not do anything to it.

After 3 hours- spoon a small amount of the milk into a small bowl and add the yogurt to it. Mix together thoroughly. (sorry no pictures of this step!)

Dump this mixture back into the milk in the crock pot and mix it around well.

Put the lid back on your crock pot and wrap the crock pot with a large beach towel or blanket (make sure the crock pot is unplugged and turned off!).

I used one towel to wrap all the way around kinda tight, then placed another one over the whole thing, including the lid.

Let the beach-towel-wrapped crock pot sit for 8-12 hours (or overnight). After 8-12 hours, it should be thickened.

Spoon yogurt into jars or plastic containers and refrigerate a few hours before eating.

This will keep for about one to two weeks in the refrigerator. 

Save a half cup to use as a starter for your next batch of homemade yogurt.

When we go to eat it, the kids cannot eat it plain. I put a small scoop of homemade strawberry jam in the bottom of their bowl then add some yogurt and stir it up. They LOVE it this way!!!

As for me I LOVE the drinkable yogurts which I cannot find many places anymore, so I throw a cup of this yogurt into the blender with a banana and a couple handful's of blueberries and voila a drinkable yogurt!

Yes, we use mason jars as our drinking glasses!!

This was so easy and I will for sure be making this on a weekly basis because that's about how fast we will go through this stuff.

KID APPROVED!!!

I am using big mason jars and some Ziploc re-usable plastic containers to store them in the fridge. 

Here is a cost breakdown on how much money can be saved by making your own:

I was buying the store brand yogurts for the kids to eat at $.40/each. For one snack they would each have 1 so that would be $1.20 per snack for all 3 of them. I made my first batch using a store bought yogurt (wont have to buy more for next time though), and a half gallon of milk. I get milk for $2/gallon. This one batch cost me $1.40. It makes 3 snacks and 2 yogurt drinks for me. The cost of those things retail would be $5.60, so I saved $4.20 by making my own. Next time I make it I wont have to buy the yogurt so it will be $1 a batch. Can't get any better then that!!!! Well maybe if I had my own goat and could use the milk from said goat...

...but well we can't go there...YET! 

My first American made car!!!

We got home on Thursday super late...so took our time getting our act together Friday to get out to do some car shopping. I needed time to re-group. Grammy came over  about lunch time so we could see what we could find. The kids were SUPER concerned that we wouldn't be able to go to church on Sunday without a car..and they do not sell cars here on Sundays- so we knew we wanted to find something on Friday or Saturday. If we didn't no biggie- we would figure things out. Thankfully Jeff is on his last week of summer break. We weren't sure what we were looking for- we knew we didn't want another Honda Odyssey. Of the years we could afford we found out transmission problems are a BIG problem. There was a class action suit against Honda because of them as well as a big article in the New York times about how many problems they have had with the transmissions. Before this all happened I would have sworn up and down that the Odyssey was the way to go when looking for a mini-van. Now...not so much!

So off we went to some dealerships...UGH I HATE CAR SHOPPING...I would rather someone beat me!!! I had a bad attitude the first day...we decided to look at anything with a 3rd row..and I wanted some cargo space. Any vans we looked into either cost more then we wanted to get a loan for or were trashy/smelly! So I was pretty against vans. Jeff wanted a Suburban but I wasn't sure about the size factor. I did tell him if we were going to get one it had to have 2 rows of back seats so that we would have seating for 8- if I was going to drive that big thing around I wanted to cram as many people in as we could!! I test drove a big red one that was very nice- they guy told us it was 14,000 but they may be able to come down to 10,000...I thought it was odd they could come down so low. We told him we would think about it and call him the next day. That night we got online and searched Autotrader.com and found that Suburban listed from that dealership for 9,900...WHAT!?? I HATE CAR SHOPPING!!!!

The next morning we were up and at-em again...we looked at a couple places. I test drove a GMC Envoy- it was very nice but the cargo space was nothing. As someone who would need to use the 3rd row all the time there is a slim to none chance I could ever grocery shop with the kids in tow. Even though I didn't love it, we put it on our short list because there was not much out there. People are just not trading in big cars these days because our pickin's were slim. The next couple places we went were totally honest and said they had nothing that fit what we wanted for the price we wanted...so we moved on.

Jeff had found a couple listing's for Suburbans in Castle Rock and Denver- so we made the decision to head up there. We test drove a very nice one in Castle Rock- the used car dealership was a bit low budget- but they were nice. After about 5 minutes in the car though we could smell it...the failed attempt to cover up the fact that the previous owner was a smoker. UGH- another one bites the dust! And up to Denver we head!! We found a listing on USAA.com for a nice Suburban in our price range. We went, we test drove, we haggled..and we purchased!! Our OTD price was a wee bit higher then we hoped..but they filled up the gas tank and it was everything we wanted!

And here she is!!! (I need to name her!)

We are very happy with our Suburban thus far..and know it will serve us well in the future. We are happy that it does have 8 seatbelts...I babysit a little gal 5 afternoons a week so I usually have 4 kiddos in the car..and we hope to grow our family in the future as well so this leaves us lots of room!!

And this is my very FIRST American made car- my first car was an OLD Toyota Corolla, my second was a Honda Civic hatchback, next was my Honda Civic Sedan, then my Honda Odyssey...I was pretty brand loyal! Hopefully American treats me right!!!

Eggs!!!!! - Chicken Update!!

The white egg was the first we found- and was really small!

One day last week we found an egg in the backyard- it was small and white, so we felt like it was most likely from our Ancona (Oreo) because she is the only chicken we have that will lay white eggs. The next day we found a small brown egg in their run and thought another chicken was now laying. Each day since we have found only a small brown egg. So we are assuming for whatever reason maybe our mystery layer first layed a white egg. Upon research it still seems likely Oreo layed a random egg and none since.

Jeff threw together some nesting boxes to attach to the coop quickly because we didn't expect laying to start until mid-July based on their ages. We finally figured out who our mystery brown egg layer was- Sally our Rhode Island Red. She has given us a small egg every day for a week now. They are so small, but I read they will continue to get bigger. And she uses the nesting box now!!

Jeff cooked up 5 of Sally's eggs this morning for the kids to have for breakfast- Sadie said, "Mommy, Sally's eggs make me thirsty!" We cannot wait to have more eggs and hopefully be able to sell them to friends and family - otherwise we will be drowning in eggs as we are estimating to get 5 per day when all 5 are laying...that's about 150 eggs per month give or take!!! We do go through 60 or so a month- and I may be getting creative with egg based meals!!!

Enjoy some pictures of the kids and the chickens!!

Looking for an egg!! This is the most exciting part- even I run to see !!

There it is!! (we had just got home from church!)

Hallie holding her chicken Sally- our layer!! Sadie just had to be in the pic too!!

Ethel in front, then Lucy and Sally

They all like to be together!

Sally and Oreo in the background. Colby is clapping for Oreo- she comes to him when he does.

This is Kit!