Watch this short video on how to make flavored extracts to use in cakes, cookies, frostings, salad dressings, and marinades. They make great and inexpensive Chrsitmas gifts.
Homemade Kettle Corn
Darren: “What are you making?”
Me: “Kettle Corn.”
“Where did you buy it?”
“You don’t buy it, you make it.”
“I’m pretty sure you need a special pan for that, that keeps it from burning.”
“They didn’t say anything about a special pan.”
“Who’s they?”
“You know, the blogland people.”
“Hmm.”
“All the instructions are over there on the blog, and they promise it won’t burn if you do it just like that.”
From the other room, “Eww, mom what’s that smell?” As the kids trickle into the room, “What are you trying to make? Is it supposed to be smoking like that?” “What’s the matter, did you run out of microwave popcorn?”
“Microwave popcorn is expensive and nutritionally inferior.”
“Maybe, but it’s edible.”
Grant is 6 months
It took me awhile to take his pictures this time. I prefer outdoor lighting, but the weather wasn’t very cooperative. I’llhave to get a new plan for the winter months, lol. His 12 months onesie now fits him properly. It will have to streeeeetch to make it to his first birthday.
His mood was ever changing for this photo shoot. His front teeth are trying to make an appearance and disrupt his sleep and his pleasant attitude. It’s things like this that will make us celebrate when they finally break through!
Vote and be Inspired
The Fall Transformation Challenge is over at Fit Yummy Mummy and the finalists are posted. You can pop over there and see the amazing before and after pictures. It’s fantastic what is possible in just 12 weeks! Click here to see the photos, read the essays, and vote for your favorite finalist!
Curtain and Duvets
The duvets and one curtain are finished for the boy’s room. I’m just waiting for matching snaps from Serenity to come in the mail to really finish the ends of the duvets. Right now they are safety pinned shut. The duvets are so soft, espcially on the Minky squares.
The curtain is my favorite. It is made from one white flat sheet and one gray flat sheet ($5 each from Walm-mart) cut into strips and then flat felled back together. It really makes the room look taller and I’m so glad it didn’t end up looking like prison stripes :). I have one more curtain cut out, but for now at least they have some privacy. The curtain rod was $1 from a garage sale (actually $1 for 2 which I used in two different rooms). I spray painted this one chocolate brown with some splatters of black to match their beds.
I invisioned painting the whole room light gray with white trim and then adding fun fabrics on the walls either in applique, name monograms or just fabric covered canvasses. At this rate they will have graduated high school by the time I get it all done, lol. I wish I had a better interior design mind and a wherewithall to finish the project quickly.
Cranberry Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
These delicious cookies are a great way to use fresh frozen cranberries. These would be wondefully festive for your Thanksgiving or Christmas snack table. When I buy fresh cranberries, I immediately put them in the freezer in their original bag. They are easier to chop or grind this way for recipes and keep for over a year.
Cranberry Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
In an electric mixer cream together: 1 cup softened butter 1/2 cup white sugar 1 cup packed dark brown sugar 2 tsp vanilla 1/4 cup milk Add slowly, mixing well after each addition: 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 3 cups wheat flour 2 cups quick oats 2 cups chopped frozen fresh cranberries 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips Drop by teaspoonful onto greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes or until golden around the edges. Cool on a wire rack. Makes 4.5 dozen at 133 calories each.
Replay of the radio show available
Hi friends, if you were busy during the radio show and missed it, you can listen to a replay here. Vickilynn just joined the private Grocery Shrink email group too. If you own a copy of The Grocery Shrink ebook, you are eligible to join and can ask her questions there. Vickilynn is an expert on cooking from whole foods and making it tasty!
Join me on the Get Real–Get Prepared Radio Show
I’ll be a guest this Saturday 6pm Central (7pm Eastern) on Vickilynn Haycraft’s show: Get Real–Get Prepared. I would love to know that you will be a listener. You can click here to listen in on Saturday. You might remember Vickilynn for her books, Wrapping It Up!: Making Sensational, All Occasion Wraps
If you have any questions you’d like me to answer live, you can add them as a comment to this post.
My Personal Fit Yummy Mummy Challenge Results
I just posted this over at Club FYM and wanted to share my joy with my Grocery Shrink friends. I wrote in an earlier post about how I discovered Fit Yummy Mummy and how it’s changed my life. The last 12 weeks was the FYM Fall Transformation Challenge that I participated in. As an exclusively breastfeeding mom, I doubted my ability to make quick changes in my appearance. But I stuck to Holly’s basic program and lost an average of a pound a week. I still have 20 lbs of excess fat to lose and a lot of muscle to build and should reach my final goals in March. What I’ve experienced gives me hope that I will reach those goals if I keep living the FYM lifestyle. Planning and Consistency is the Key to Where I Want to Be.
Here’s my final entry for the challenge:
FINAL STATS
Mom to six ages 11, 10, 8, 6, 4 and 6 months
Height 5’6”
Weight 157.6..145.4 -12.2 lbs
Size 12…8 -2 sizes
Bust 40…38 -2 inches
Waist 34…32.5 -1.5 inches
Mommy Belly 40.5….34.5 -6 inches!!!!!
Hip 40.5….38.5 -2 inches
Thigh 23 7/8…..22 -2 inches
Total 12.2 lbs and 13.5 inches lost
Reflection:
I’m a different person than I was 12 weeks ago. Not just smaller, but stronger inside and out. Emotionally I dealt with being a 7 year veteran homeschooler and putting 2 of my kids in Christian school. The transition was heart wrenching but has been good for our family. We also had the stress of inviting a reality TV crew into our home for 2 days. That 2 days of filming required 4 weeks of prep—cleaning out the spaces that get little attention and no one ever sees. Holly’s program is so perfect, because it only requires 15 extra minutes a day. I can do that even amongst the stress.
The FTC took place over 6 birthdays in our family (including mine) and I learned how to remove sweets from my definition of celebration. Saturday night before the end of the challenge, my oldest daughter scored her first goal in soccer. My dad took us all out to IHOP to celebrate. I was really worried about it, but ordered the spinach omelette with fresh fruit and was able to enjoy the moment with everyone without sacrificing my goals. I had an aha moment:
No matter where I go, there is a positive choice in the options. And when I make that good choice, it FEELS better than anything sweet can taste.
I could enjoy watching the others eat mounds of whipped cream over fluffy white flour pancakes with 6 different syrup choices, and it was okay, because I am reaching for something that is bigger than the moment.
My youngest baby is 6 months old and this is the smallest I have ever been with a 6 month baby. Even though it is my 6th baby! Before FYM I had some thoughts whether it was ever possible to have a trim figure with 6 babies and 35 years old. It is possible!
I feel so strong. When I move, my back is straight and I can feel the muscles in my posture. My legs are strong and powerful. I can run the stairs in my home doing chores and not get winded. I’m so excited because I will only get stronger, yet I will weigh less. It’s like putting a huge engine in a little red sports car. I can MOVE!
Losing weight has always been a battle for me. I had childhood onset obesity and currently weigh 3 pounds less than I did when I was 12 years old. My daughter is almost 12 and when I shared that with her today as she helped me with my photos—her jaw dropped. I’m so thankful she has lived an active healthy childhood and not dealt with the emotions of childhood obesity. Genetics and my past don’t matter as much as my NOW habits. I can have a better body than I did when I was 12—even after 6 babies.
My goals this challenge:
1. To Lose 12 lbs—Met!!!
2. To be able to do real push-ups (I can do 6!)
3. To balance my posture so my shoulders are level—Yes!
4. Consistently Plan My Meals—I would go with spurts on this one. For several days in a row I’d plan it all out, and then for a few days I’d record what I would eat instead. While I prefer planning ahead, both methods worked well for me. I’ve been used to eating 6 small meals a day for several years so the biggest change was upping the produce and decreasing the bread.
5. Do my exercising first thing in the morning for a metabolism boost all day. I did great with this one until the early morning crazies got to me. If I didn’t get it done first thing in the morning, I did it before lunch. Still a huge improvement.
The biggest dare I took, was doing my exercises no matter what. Which meant sometimes I was the only mom jogging around the soccer field at 8am on a Saturday morning. I had to get past the fear that people would look at me and think I was weird.
Guestpost: The Pros and Cons of Layaway
Stacey Makes Cents is back today to talk with us about layaway. (Hey–I’m a poet :).
By now you should know that Barry and I are NOT fans of credit cards. If we don’t have the money for something, we don’t buy it. For some people, this is a problem at Christmas time. I try to combat that problem by buying Christmas gifts all year long – when I can find them on sale, at yard sales, and used. However, I know that most people are not planning freaks like I am. Shocking, huh? If I can’t plan for something, it makes me want to go nuts. I would like to give you a challenge this Christmas. Here it is…..ready? Don’t put any of your gifts on a credit card. I know, I know. Some of you know you have the money to pay for it and just put it on the credit card for points. But, here’s a thought – if you have the money to pay for it, why don’t you? Why use a credit card if you have the money in the bank? Points for pondering. Some of you have good intentions on paying off that card, but you get carried away with the holiday festivities and find yourself in a bind once the bill comes due in January. Then you have to pay interest, making the decision to put the gifts on your card a very bad one. Oops.
For those of you who didn’t plan and don’t have the money to buy all your gifts at once, there is a program out there that can help, without the interest rate of a credit card – layaway. Layaway is a good alternative for those of you who don’t want to use credit cards this Christmas. Several retailers are now offering layaway again and it’s become very popular around the holidays.
How does layaway work? Each store will have their own policy, but basically you pay a small fee (most stores charge around $5-10) and the retailer holds the item for you while you pay it off in installments…..interest free. I’m a fan of this because I don’t like the high fees that credit card companies charge. The only fee for this program is your up-front charge for participating. Even though I am a fan, there are several disadvantages that you also need to keep in mind. Below I’ve listed several pros and cons about layaway so you can make the decision yourself.
-You are able to pay for Christmas gifts, interest free, even if you don’t have all the money immediately.
-You avoid credit card interest fees. The fee is usually lower than interest rates, unless you’re only buying one or two small ticket items. The fee should be less than 10% of the item.
–The store holds your gifts so you don’t have to find a place to hide/store them at home. A big plus if you have inquisitive children…..or spouses.
–You get a better selection. You can put your items on layaway before the holiday rush starts. You won’t have to brave the crowds or pick from what’s left.
-You avoid the January blues when a credit card bills comes due. You can actually ENJOY the New Year.
-If you change your mind about the item(s), you don’t have to return it to the store. You can just give it back to them (some stores MAY charge a cancellation fee).
-If you find a great sale but cannot afford the purchase at the time, you can “lock in” the price and pay for it in installments….interest free, did I mention that?
-If the item goes on sale later for a better price, the store will usually let you take advantage of that sale. Some stores limit this price adjustment to one time.
-If you don’t complete the sale you don’t have to worry about credit card companies calling you in the night threatening to eat the bread off your plate.
Of course, there is the flip side to the coin.
–Limit ONE to the price adjustment (in most stores).
-If you cannot afford it all at one time, should you really buy it?
-If you have NO discipline, layaway could cause you to spend more…..especially if you dream big.
–If you miss a payment, your items will go back on the shelf and you’ll be out of your service fee and perhaps have to pay a cancellation fee. Most stores aren’t so hard core that they keep your money. It will usually be refunded, although sometimes it’s returned in store credit.
–If the store goes out of business, you’re in trouble.
Barry and I will always prefer to shop with cash, but if you don’t have that option then maybe layaway is for you.
Remember, don’t use your credit card this holiday season. Are you with me?
Stacy and husband Barry are debt free bloggers and recently gave their debt free scream on the Dave Ramsey radio show. You can read more about Stacy at her blog: www.Stacymakescents.com