Guest post

How to Can Meat

02/27/2012 4:02 pm · 25 comments

One of our readers Amber H. sent us this guest post on canning meat. She shows you how each step goes and can help you save money by getting your meat on sale, buying in bulk, and canning it to use later. Doing this can help your stockpile, save on the electric freezer bill because you wont need to put this in the freezer!

How to can meat.
Put your jars, lids and rings in the dishwasher and run them through the rinse cycle.  You want them warm when you put them in your canner.
Roast beef:  Trim the fat.  Cut into chunks.
 Put into jars.  1/2 tsp. salt for pints, 1 tsp. salt for quarts.
Rinse the top of the jar before you put the lid and ring on.
Place jars into your canner.  Fill halfway up the jars with warm water.
Put the lid on your canner and seal it.  Turn burner on high. When you see steam start coming out of the top of the lid put 10 minutes on the clock.
 When timer goes off place your 15 lb. weight on the lid.  Wait until the weight starts “rocking.”  (This takes forever.)  When it starts rocking process your roast 75 minutes for pint jars and 90 minutes for quart jars.  When the timer goes off turn your burner off.
 Wait until the pressure gauge goes down on your canning lid.  Do not open your canner until this valve goes down.  Take your jars out with a canning jar grabber.  (Is that what they are called, it sounds funny :)  Enjoy your canned roast in a pinch.
Ground Beef or Ground Turkey is canned and processed the exact same way.  Two differences:  You must brown it before you put it into your jars and fill your jars with water.  1/2 tsp salt for pints, 1 tsp for quarts.  Just dump it on the top of the beef before you put your lid on.
Chicken is canned exactly like the roast.  It goes in raw and you DO NOT fill it with water.  It will cook in it’s own natural juices.  You can use the chicken in SO many things.  Enchiladas, casseroles, quesadillas, etc.
So pretty and you will feel SO accomplished!

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How to start a preschool routine for your child at home

02/27/2012 8:00 am · 3 comments

Thanks to Shy Babies for this post on how to start a preschool routine for your child at home.  I loved her ideas and tips, some times I tend to over think things, and preschool is one of those things can be so easy.   You just need to make it consistent and fun!

With back to school season in full swing, it is time to decide what you are going to do if you have a preschool aged child at home. Should you put a strong focus on preschool at home or ignore it all together? Maybe find a middle ground.

No matter the skill level or attention span of your child, consider at least working on one learning activity a day. This can be a fun way to spend the day with your child and advance his or her learning.

If you want to start small, identify one type of activity for each day of the week and plan each week with that in mind. Some activity types include but are not limited to:

-art (i.e. edible finger paint)
-cooking
-letters/reading
-science (i.e. effects of freezing and thawing)
-physical education
-music

By staying consistent with what type of activity you will focus on each day, your child will know what to expect each day. When your child knows what to expect, he or she will be more likely to respond positively toward the activities and the structure that comes with it. Also, this will also make it easier for you as a parent to plan ahead. You will know what you need to plan and a little less overwhelming.

Once you are starting to plan your preschool week, pick one theme for the week.  If your child loves dinosaurs, plan a week of dinosaur related fun.  A sample week could be as follows:

Art Monday -Make a dinosaur out of the tube from a roll of toilet paper and construction paper
Reading Tuesday- Read books about dinosaurs and focus on T lettered dinosaurs
Physical Activity Wednesday- Go for a walk an you and your child walk like dinosaurs the whole time
Science Thursday- Compare pictures of reptiles and dinosaurs to see how they are alike and how they are different
Food Friday- Let your child help you make dirt pudding and bury some dinosaur gummies

Finding these fun weekly themes combined with a set activity for each day of the week, makes preschool homeschooling on a busy schedule easy to plan and fun together time.  If you would like to be a little more active in teaching your child you could combine multiple activities per day or find some of the great free online curriculum sites such as Preschool Palace.

Just remember that the most important thing for young kids is to teach them that learning is fun.  This time should be fun!

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Mexican Wedding Cookies Recipe ~ DIY

02/25/2012 6:00 pm · 4 comments

Thanks to A Little Inspiration for passing along this recipe for Wedding Cookies.  If you have not tried these before, then you are missing out.  They are SO Yummy!

Mexican Wedding Cookies are traditionally handed out to guests at weddings and other celebrations.They are also known as pecan butter balls, or snowdrops!

Ingredients:
2 Sticks(1Cup) of Unsalted Butter
*1 Cup of finely crushed Pecans or Almonds
1 1/2 Cup of Powedered Sugar
1 Tsp of Vanilla
1 Tbsp of Ground Cinnamon
2 Cups of Flour (not pictured)

*You can ommit the nuts if you are allergic.

Directions:

1) Cream butter until light and fluffy
2) Add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and vanilla to the butter. Blend well
3) Add flour and mix well.

4) Grind almonds or pecans
5) Add to cookie dough and mix well
6) Place dough on a container and wrap with plastic. Regrigarte for about 15 minutes.
7) On a small bowl combine the remaining cup of powdered sugar with ground cinnamon

8) Preheat oven at 350F. Make small balls and place them on a cookie sheet one inch apart. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden at the bottom.
9) Let cookies rest for about 5 minutes on cookie sheet. Then transfer the warm cookies to the cinnamon sugar and cover completely! Let cool.
10) Enjoy!

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How to Freeze Eggs

02/25/2012 6:00 am · 6 comments

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Did you know that you can  freeze eggs?

Break each egg into an ice cube tray, 1 egg per cube. Mix the yolk & the white together slightly (to prevent texture inconsistencies after thawing). Freeze the eggs and transfer to a ziptop bag and label with the date. Eggs can be stored, frozen for up to a year. Just thaw in the refrigerator over night before use.

This is a great tip for when eggs go SUPER CHEAP around Easter each year!

Thanks Realistic Couponers 

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How much should you tip?

02/24/2012 6:00 pm · 13 comments

Thanks to Super Coupon Lady for this post on tips. I have to agree that yes I am a very “thrifty person” but feel you should NOT skimp  on a tip… but Matt on the other hand likes to go a little over board and normally leaves a 30% or more tip.  We do not eat out often but I just bite my lip as he fills out the receipt. I know that he is just being kind, but  I feel that 20% for standard service is plenty and more if they did an outstanding job…. am I just being cheap?I love to Save Money and, as I’m sure you all know, I am an avid couponer!!  However, I am not cheap when it comes to tipping.  When dining out I always tip from 18-20%.  I was a server throughout college so I know what a tough job this can be and how much you rely on those tips.

I am a little perplexed when it comes to tipping in other situations.  Like, haircuts for the kiddos, carryout orders at restaurants, help to your car with your groceries, etc.  Recently, I went to a New Doughnut shop in town with a friend and my receipt had a place for a tip.  I was really surprised since I went to the counter, ordered and waited there for my doughnut and coffee.  Was I suppose to tip for that?!  I didn’t see how it was any different than ordering food at McDonalds or Panera?!

So, what I’d like to know is this ~  What services do you believe require a tip, how much do you tip, what do you do if the service is horrible? Share your thoughts and comments below.  Thanks so much!!!!

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Cost of Clutter ~ Guest Post

02/24/2012 12:00 pm · 6 comments

Hi everyone! My name is Melissa and I write over at Living A Frugal Life. Come visit me and get some new frugal ideas a long with some deals, coupons and DIY projects. I LOVE frugal things and ideas and I am so excited to be guest posting today to talk a little about a type of living frugal that is a daily part of my life.

 

Photo Credit Qwik Care
I am by far not an expert on all this simple living stuff. But I do know first hand the cost of clutter. I grew up in a home that was clean and taken care of, but my room on the other hand was not. I always had a hard time getting rid of things because I am a saver by nature. I always wondered what I could use that for in the future. The 1/2 used spirals always got the used pages thrown away and the other pages saved. I saved them because it was good paper and I would be wasting if I got rid of them.

This way of thinking flowed into my house after marriage. I was always saving something for later. My house wasn’t dirty, but I had a lot of stuff. As I had kids, I saved EVERYTHING from baby 1 to baby 2 and then to baby 3. The summer before we moved I realized that we just had too much. I LOVE garage sales and decided to go through all our clothes and furniture and get rid of those things we really didn’t need.

My definition of need has changed a lot since that time. We got rid of a few things but not most of it. So 4 garage sales later, we are finally down a bit to more of needs. When we moved down to So Cal we decided to get rid of over 1/2 of our furniture. So we did one last moving sale and sold as much of it as we could. It felt so good to get rid of those less needed items.

When we moved again (6 months later) we found that we don’t 100% fit in our space. We have spent the last month just trying to make it work, but after much thought it is time to simplify yet again. Simplify and be VERY real with myself. I began to look back on all those years where we stored so many things. Starting with the times I stored all my papers and drawings from school to the times we saved our high school memories to the baby stuff and finally to now as we have downsized.

I have discovered what all that clutter did. It was more then just stuff, stuff that took up space, it made our life harder. It made cleaning harder, organizing harder and mostly living harder. It took away much of my enjoyment over the years because I was always wondering if I would get things done if I stopped to spend time with my family. It kept me from inviting people over or having an open house for our friends because I didn’t want them to have to battle with all the stuff.

I now see how much less stress I would have had, how much more fun I could have been and how much I missed out. I have come to terms with my past and I am ok with that, because it has brought me to who I am now. I know now that I value my life, my family and my happiness way more then the clutter and I know now that I can live without anything I need to as long as we are all happy and together. Real needs always come first and the rest of it is just things that make our life a little better.

What do you think is the cost of clutter? please leave a comment and tell me your thoughts!

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No Bake Chocolate Eclair Cake Recipe

02/24/2012 6:00 am · 10 comments

Thanks to Mama Bee Does for sharing this easy but oh so tasty recipe for Eclair Cake, best part is… NO BAKING!

Eclair Cake  a no bake dessert with only 5 ingredients. Easy peasy.

Ingredients:

  • 1 (14.4 oz.) box graham crackers
  • 2 (3.5 oz) small boxes or 1 large box vanilla instant pudding mix
  • 4 cups milk (only 3 cups if you use 1 large box of pudding mix)
  • 1 (8 oz) container whipped topping; thawed
  • 1 (16 oz) can chocolate cake frosting

Directions:
1. Prepare pudding mix with milk as directed on the pudding box. Mix in the whip topping gently so you don’t soften the whip topping to much.

2. In 11×13 baking dish layer the bottom of the dish with graham crackers.
3. Spoon pudding/topping mix over layer of graham crackers.

4. Repeat layering of graham crackers and pudding until you use up the pudding.
5. End with a layer of graham crackers on top.

6. Melt the chocolate icing on the stoptop (I rig up a double boiler for this so I know I won’t burn anything). You can also melt it for 1 minute on half power in the microwave but only do it 15 seconds at a time so you can stir it in between.

7. Pour melted chocolate over top layer of graham crackers.
8. Refrigerate overnight (about 12 hours should do) for best taste (my boys and I only waited 6 on the most recent one I made) Its just that good.

I usually cut this into large squares to serve but when the guys get to it first it just ends up being spooned out. Not as pretty that way but it still tastes the same. Yum yum! Enjoy!

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Chocolate Nutella Peanut Butter Balls Recipe

02/23/2012 4:00 pm · 2 comments

Thanks to Tammilee Tips for passing along this yummy recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls.  She also made a few changes and added Nutella to them as well…. yummy!

Peanut Butter Balls – Original Recipe


Ingredients

  • 2 cups (500 grams) creamy peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 – 2 1/2 cups (230 – 290 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar
  • Chocolate Coating
  • 9 ounces (255 grams) semi sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons (25 grams) shortening

Directions
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place the peanut butter, unsalted butter, and salt in a microwaveable bowl, and heat in the microwave for about one minute or until just soft (check and stir the ingredients every 20 seconds). Stir in the vanilla extract and confectioners sugar and mix until it has the consistency of a dough (add more sugar if necessary).
Roll the dough into 1 inch (2.5 cm) round balls. Place on the cookie sheet and refrigerate for about one hour, or until firm.
Melt the chocolate and shortening in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Dip the balls, one at a time, in the melted chocolate, making sure the entire ball is coated with chocolate. Then, with two spoons or a dippingfork, remove the peanut butter ball from the melted chocolate, allowing any excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl. Place the chocolate covered balls back on the baking sheet. When all the balls have been dipped in the chocolate, place in the refrigerator until the chocolate has set. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks. To serve: place in small fluted candy cups.
Note: If you want to make Buckeyes: place a toothpick into each peanut butter ball and dip, one ball at a time, into the melted chocolate, leaving the top quarter of each ball undipped.
Makes about 40 pieces, depending on size. Preparation time30 minutes.

 Alterations to the recipe
I ended up changing this recipe a little bit. I had a ton of chocolate left over from Halloween and I have a husband who loves Nutella in everything.
The first set I made I used Hersheys Milk Chocolate Halloween Bars. I used the double boil method and melted the chocolate in a bowl. I added a touch of milk to make the chocolate more pliable to dip the peanut butter balls in.
The 2nd set I made with Nutella and Hersheys Dark Chocolate bars. I used the same double boil method. The Dark Chocolate Nutella mixture worked really well. The peanut butter balls have a really nice thick coating of chococlate on them.
I will definately be making these again. I think they will be great holiday gifts and surprises for friends and family.

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Living Without ~ Guest Post

02/23/2012 11:00 am · 3 comments

Hi everyone! My name is Melissa and I write over at Living A Frugal Life. Come visit me and get some new frugal ideas a long with some deals, coupons and DIY projects. I LOVE frugal things and ideas and I am so excited to be guest posting today to talk a little about a type of living frugal that is a daily part of my life.

I have spent a lot of time in my frugal journey of the last 6 years thinking about how much we really NEED. There are many things that are MUSTS in our life that we couldn’t really live without if we tried. I think about people in the 50’s and how they lived. They had much less then us, but they were happy for the most part. I think we tend to forget how much stuff can cost us int he long run, and I am not just talking money. there is a cost mentally and emotionally that this can effect.

We currently live live in a 950 square foot 2 bedroom home. We have 5 people living in the house currently. It was built in the 50’s and still have much of the original layout and set up. The walls are plaster, the kitchen counters are so small and we have NO dishwasher… GASP!

I thought it was going to be hard to fit everything in, to make room for the toys and such. Having 3 kids in 1 room was a challenge, but we have found that things are not as bad as I thought they would be. Things are surprisingly easy to fit in and put up with. The Kitchen is the hardest area to function in, but we have made that work too.

So you get an idea of what I am talking about, the counters are small and they have a tile ledge on them making them even smaller. I have often wondered how did people use to function when they didn’t have any modern things. They had no microwaves, cooked most items from scratch, and had to be in their kitchens most of the day.

The answer is that they just did it. That is what they had to work with and they worked with it. They made bread, rolled it on the table if they had to. They made the choice to do things that way so they could live with what they had.

This has taught me a great lesson in making things work. I think you would be very surprised at what you really could live without. Things you never thought were essential may not work very well for you now. We have many modern small appliances that just wont work in our house. They don’t fit on the counters or under the cabinets. So we are having to figure out ways to do without them. We use our stove a whole lot more then we used to, but it is working and I am not missing the other things we have in the garage sale pile.

Another great way to make things work and do without others is to use a substitution. Sometimes when I use a substitution in recipes things taste a little different and sometimes we don’t like it very much, but I am trying it and not buying something. We learn what we like and what we don’t.

When trying to substitute things in other places in your house you may have to get creative. If you ran out of wipes and they aren’t on sale, use water and pieces of cloth and wash them out until you can get them on sale. Doing dishes by hand when you run out of dish washer soap before the sale comes up is another great way substitute and do without. It may be a little bit more work, but it pays off in the long run with a simple life and saving money!

Living without can sometimes be tricky. You sometimes have to step out of your comfort zone but in the end it helps you to be more simplistic, frugal and happy.

What are somethings you could do without in your life?

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Super easy DIY square scarf

01/30/2012 5:02 pm · 0 comments

Ever wonder how you can make those cute square scarfs that every one is wearing? Why pay the $20 bucks for some store bought one when you can make one for under $5 bucks? Our friend over at Living Life and Loving Every Second figured out a easy way to make your own and she is sharing it with us! It’s so easy!

Make your own square scarf

Photo credit: Living Life and Loving every Second

Materials Needed to make your own square scarf:
1. Iron
2. Light Fabric of your choice but make sure it is double sided
3. Heat n’ Bond hem tape
4. Scissors
5. Pom Pom Trim
6. Fabric Glue

I am not even going to do a picture tutorial on this one because it is so easy a child can do it! First you want to take the fabric lay it on a flat surface then with a yard stick measure a square 40″x 40″. After that get your iron and hem tape and hem all four sides….YOUR ALMOST DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Take your trim and fabric glue and I used my fingers to put the glue then press the trim and YOU ARE DONE.( I put trim on only two sides)

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