Garage Sale Finds! For Saturday June 13

Those that know me know that I LOVE garage sales. I mean L-O-V-E them. You never know what you might find there.

Yesterday I headed out, knowing about 3 neighborhood garage sales. Four kids in tow. They now love garage sales also! I have converted them. We spot garage sale signs like most people spot "punch buggys!"

My favorite thing to find are decorations that I can repaint or repurpose and use in my home. So, here is what I found this week.

Globe-$1. Have you priced globes lately? Wow. They are very pricey.

Brand new, with tags still on, craft tote. We are going to use this to gather out crafting supplies and then have something we can simply bring to the kitchen table, rather than hunt for glue, scissors, colored pencils, and markers. This way they are all together. My price? $5.

Almost new pink Lands End crocks for my youngest daughter, $1.

Memory/photo board. My second oldest bought this with her own money to hang above her bed. $3.

White bathrood cabinet. I am going to repaint this to match the kids jungle theme. I have been pricing these out but the ones I really liked were $80-100, how much did I pay for this? $3.

Two pairs of pj's like new for my youngest daughter, $1 each.

Pair of play shorts for my son, 25 cents.

Table trivet that rotates, my mom bought one of these a few years ago at a craft show, she paid $20-30 dollars for hers, what did I pay? $1.

You can't really tell, but my three girls used their own money to buy these bags that zip up to make a small pouch and came with a change purse. They were brand new, the girl had brought them back from China. $5.

6 name brand shirts (Gymboree, Nautica, Cleveland Cavaliers, Gap, etc.) for my son. Ranging from $1 a piece to 20 cents a piece.

1 pair of like new jeans for my son, 25 cents.

Dress $1, purchased by my second oldest daughter.

Nike long sleeve t-shirt for my son, $1.

Adorable picture for my sons room. It is navy blue and has baseball like stitching in red on the frame, the background is green and has 4 magnetic images that can be moved around and 3 hooks on the bottom for jackets and hats. $2.

White sweater for me, brand new with tags, from the Limited, $1.

And our deal of the day, my oldest daughter and I split the cost of these little gems. I have already read them all, but I borrowed them. Now we own our own set. The entire collection of Twilight books, $12. And worth every penny.

For my son, a like new basketball hoop, $5.

I am going back this morning to see if they still have a jogging stoller that I loved but didn't have room in my van for. Yes, I am addicted to garage sales.

So, have I converted anyone yet?

This post is linked to Super Saver Saturday.

Tacos with Turkey and black beans

Around here we love homemade tacos, tostados and burritos. We eat one of them about every other week.

I usually have the usual toppings: lime rice, black beans, refried beans, lettuce, cheese, salsa and tomatoes.

However I kept noticing that we always had the black beans leftover, only 1-2 people would eat them. Even I never put them on my tacos.

So I decided to start adding them to my ground turkey. They take on the taste of the taco seasoning.

This is such a healthy meal. We use ground turkey instead of ground beef. We have eaten it this way for so long that a couple of months ago, I didn't have any and had to use ground beef. My family asked why the taco meat tasted funny!

This is a great way to get more fiber in their diet. Not to mention a wonderful way to stretch your meat, which I didn't think about at the time.

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday, Ultimate Recipe Swap and Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap.

Little Man's Food Allergies

This is him the other day at the beginning of our week of the stomach bug, we were playing with the hats and gloves. He is chewing on a pretent play food steak.

My little man had blood drawn last week for food allergies. You see one of his big sisters has food allergies to eggs, dairy, peanuts and treenuts. His other bigger sister outgrew a peanut allergy. So we just figured he too would have food allergies.

I have been very diligent about not giving him anything that his sister cannot eat, just in case. Not to mention, twice now he has had soy and started to projectile vomit soon after. So I really thought he would have a soy allergy.

Well, the results are in and he is allergice to . . . one thing: egg whites. We will avoid all eggs of course.

I am leary though to start introducing him to the foods they say he isn't allergic to, specically dairy and soy. He has had products that contained soy, but the icecream and the soy formula he couldn't take.

And this is my daughter playing with the gloves and hats. About 2 hours before she started to throw up!

My youngest daughter goes in April for a six month visit for her food allergies. We are hoping that she has outgrown her dairy allergy enough that she can do a food challenge. We are also hoping that her egg allergy has gone down, not up.

She is will have a life long food allergy to peanuts, her results are way too high.

I am so thankful for the many people that have helped pave the way and made huge improvements to how those with food allergies are treated.

It is so nice to have supportive friends and family. That definately works for me.

This post is linke to Works for Me Wednesday.

The Snack Tub

My youngest daugher is in preschool. I was very worried as they have a snack during their time there. This is the first time anyone but a grandma has watched her. I was a nervous wreck about what to do about the snack. Having allergies to eggs, dairy, treenuts and peanuts, there is very little that she can have that is store bought.

My best friend Cindy, who also has a food allergy daughter gave me this tip that she used for her while in school. She took in a tub of safe snacks. So that is what I have done along with a few other things to make sure my daughter is safe at preschool.

I took a tub and put safe snacks in it. Raisins, applesauce, Teddy Grahams, pretzels, Oreos, all of the store bought snacks that she can have. I also sent in individual packs of soy milk for the days the kids have milk to drink instead of juice with their snack. If the mom has already dropped off the snack (we have a rotating schedule) I will check it to see if it is safe or not. If it isn't, or it has not been dropped off, I tell the teacher that she must choose from her box that day.

In addition to that, for birthday parties, I make a cake that is safe for her and ice it. I cut it into serving sizes and wrapped with parchment paper. Then I put those in a container and they keep that in the freezer at school. When one of the kids has a birthday celebration, they simply pull the cake out at the beginning of class and it is ready to eat by snack time. I also keep a box of Tofutti Cuties in the freezer. These are soy icecream bars and they are delicious, for the days the other kids have icecream.

This helps me to know that she is safe and not to worry so much.

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesdays.

Number 2 on My Thursday Thirteen Ways That I Save Money

I bet you thought I would never post this. Well, to be honest, I completely forgot! This is number two on my list of Thirteen Ways that I Save Money - Planning Ahead.

Not only does planning ahead help out with saving money, but it is a must when you have food allergies in your family. And two of my favorite things are saving money and making our life with food allergies manageable.

Some of the ways that I plan ahead are having a "to do" list for every day that I am not working. This will list everything from returning books to the library, baking muffins, dropping off things at Goodwill, to ironing and laundry. Anything that needs to get done, including phone calls that I need to make will  go on my list. I found my lists here. I love this site, there are all kinds of lists that you can print off.

I plan ahead on just about everything. When I grocery shop, I do what I call "offensive shopping". Which means that I buy things at the lowest possible price, knowing that I might not need it now, but will definately in the future. For instance, when green peppers are at their lowest price of the season, I buy a bunch and cut and freeze them for when I need them during the out-of-season times. I do the same things with onions, fruit, meat, I will freeze just about anything for use later.

So by planning ahead with my grocery shopping, I am able to buy things at great prices and have them there when I need them, so that I don't have to  run to  the store because I planned on making something with ground beef. I have 20 pounds, packaged individually in my freezer that I got for $1.25 a pound!

When I have leftovers, which I discuss here. I make sure that I plan ahead and not only label them (with item and date), but make sure that I divide them properly for future use. So for instance, if we have baked chicken one night, I will take the chicken off the bone and freeze it that way. That way it is ready to use, already in bite size pieces.

As for hamburger, I buy whatever is on sale and freeze it. But if I have bought it in a bulk 8 pound package, I will individually wrap one pound sections in wax paper, then put many one pound helpings into a large freezer bag. I do this the day I bring home my meat. I always separate it out into the proper sizings before I freeze them. This way when I need a pound, I simply take a wax paper section out and reseal the bag. This way I am not trying to thaw 8 pounds of meat when I only need one.

When I make a large batch of pasta sauce, I make enough for 4-5 meals. Same thing, I make sure that I package enough for one meal,  label them and put them in the freezer for another night.

I also plan ahead by making a two week meal plan. What I normally do is when I come home from the grocery store, as I am putting my groceries away, I keep a notepad close by. As I come across  my pork shoulder, I write it on the list, same for lasagna noodles, hotdogs, chicken, you get the picture. Then I will sit down with my meal plan papers, printed from SimpleMom.net and go to work. I make sure that I keep in mind what activities we have going on that week and also how many days a week I work.

On the days I am home, I often make not only that days meal, but the meal  for the following day when I work. It is super easy since I have the oven on anyway. If I am baking a chicken, I might also make meatballs for the next days spaghetti. If we are having homemade pizza or bread sticks, I will make the dough the day before when I am home so they are ready on a work day. I night throw in a roast at the same time as my chicken. So that I can make shredded barbeque the next day.

Another way I plan ahead is with baking. When I know that we have 2 birthday parties to attend this month, I make sure that I have cake made. I will make an allergy safe cake, ice it and then cut them into individual servings, wrap in wax paper and freeze in a large container. Then I simply pull out a piece of cake and put it in a container and by the time we get to the party, it is thawed and ready for my daugther to eat.

As for snacks, we go through a ton. The older 2 girls like to pack their lunchs, they can be a bit picky with the school lunches. And since I am home half the time, we just go through a lot it seems. I always have fruit on hand and veggies of course. But I also like to have some sort of crunchy, salty snack. We usually have pretzels and I will buy the generic rice "chex" cereal. So about every other week I will make a big batch of homemade Chex mix.

We cannot buy many store bought snacks due to the food allergies, with the exception of very few. Homemade snack mix is not only healthier, but by making it at home, I make sure that it is safe for my daughter to eat.

I do  the same thing with muffins, granola, oatmeal, cookies, I make all my own at home, from scratch. I usually make a batch or double batch and always freeze some for later. Again, planning ahead for those mornings when we are rushed. Or when the kids are hungry and are not in the mood for fruit!

Dealing with food allergies means that you cannot count on others to make sure that they have safe food for you or your child, you have to do it. By planning ahead, you can do this easily and don't have to be stressed and rushed.

I also do it to make sure that my child doesn't miss out. Sure there will be times that we simply cannot help it, that she will not be able to have certain foods to eat and will have to simply deal with it. But a little planning and work on my part means that she can have cake at the party too, or a snack at a friends, or popcorn at the movies. It is the simply everyday things that are taken for granted. But they can mean a lot to a little 4 year old with food allergies.

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesdays and Frugal Fridays.