Halloween Photos - A Little Late!

Here the kids are, minus the 7 month old, he just watched and ate Cheerios. (Yes, that is my hallway that is half painted. Sometimes life happens and you have to leave the hall way half painted! I have been banned from painting, but my husband has done a lovely job on the other rooms.) They have so much fun carving the pumpkins.

We clean and roast the seeds with salt, pepper and a little Hot Salt. We all love them, they are so tasty!

Here are the finished pumpkins. Believe it or not, it was dark outside and they were lit, but for the life of me I could not figure out how to take a photo in the dark of the glowing pumpkins. I tried every setting on my camera, so you will just have to imagine how spooky they were!

And here are the kiddos! In my crew we had a witch, monarch butterfly fairy, Belle and Superman. Their cousin was a lady bug, aren't they all adorable!

Hope you all had a fun Halloween!

Homemade Baby Wipes

When my third child was little, she had horrible eczema and would get diaper rash quite often. After trying every brand of wipe I could find and have them all irritate her skin, I finally resorted to making my own. I remember thinking at first that it was going to be so time consuming. It only takes minutes though and even my older 2 kids like making them for me. It is super simple.

Here is what you will need:

1 roll of paper towels
baby wash (I use Target brand)
baby oil (I use Target brand)
water

I have seen this done many ways, with getting the whole thing wet and pulling out the inner tube, or cutting the roll in half with a knife, this is just what works best for me. I don't like all the paper balls I get when I use the knife.

I use whatever paper towels that I have on hand, usually either Bounty select-a-size that I bought with a coupon, on sale of course, which is my favorite. Or Target brand, my second favorite. I like both, but the Target brand you have to cut.

Here is how I make it. I tear the towels off the roll and make a big pile. If you don't have the select-a-size then you will need to use scissors to cut them once you get your pile done. Just cut them in half. Then separate into two equal piles.

I use 2 cups of water with mine, as I like my wipes really wet. Mix about 1 tablespoon of the baby body wash and 1 tablespoon of the baby oil in the water. I pour about 1/3 of the water in the bottom of a diaper container I already had. Add a third of one of the piles of towels to that to soak up the mixture. Then add another third of the towels, pour a third of the mixture over it. Then finish with the last of the towels in that pile and the rest of the mixture. That is it. This makes me two containers and lasts about a week.

I do buy premade baby wipes for when we travel and for grandma's house. Mainly because I know not everyone likes the homemade wipes. But with my son, I have not had any problems using these wipes and he has had almost no diaper rash at all.

I have also used these as a quick type of bath. when I am getting him dressed I will sometimes give him a once over with the wipes and it makes him smell like a baby again! I love that baby smell.

I choose to do this for the health of my kids skin. So as far as cost saving, I don't really know the exact numbers. But I do know they are cheaper than store bought wipes. I get my rolls for less than a dollar a piece and get two containers of wipes from each roll. That is a huge savings in my book.

This links to Works for Me Wednesdays, Super Saving Saturdays and Frugal Fridays.

Thursday Thirteen--13 things I always have in my pantry

In honor of Thursday Thirteen, I thought I would post 13 things that are staples in my pantry. These are things that I keep on hand as the basis of a meal. With these things, I can always prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner in a hurry.

1. pasta (some form at all times)
2. potatos
3. white and brown rice
4. onions
5. oats
6. hamburger (not really a pantry item, but still a staple)
7. flour
8. sugar
9. ground turkey (again, not in the pantry)
10. diced tomatos
11. tomato paste
12. tomato sauce
13. garlic

This links to Thursday Thirteen.

My Favorite Frugal Book

Miserly Moms: Living on One Income in a Two-Income Economy

I can honestly say that this book by Jonni McCoy is my favorite frugal book of all time. I have read many frugal books in the last 4 years. When I was pregnant with my third child, I decided I needed to be a little more proactive about our money and what I spent on things. This was the very first book that I bought, I was actually looking for another book and they were out of that one. So I bought this one instead and started to read it right away in the car. I finished it that night, it was that good. I was like a sponge, just taking in everything she had to say.

I have had many people tell me I am good with money, or that I am cheap, or even frugal. I just like to say that I am being proactive about my money. I try to do the best that I can in areas that are flexible to give us the extra that we need to be able to do the things that are important to us. This allows us to be able to buy the more expensive items that my daughter needs. Or the expensive formula my son needs. She talks alot about cooking from scratch, that everything you find in a store, at one point in time, was actually made at home. It was in this book that I first heard about making your own cleaners.

While there are many things that I buy already made and done for me. Due to my daughters food allergies, most mixes, premaid food and store bought baked goods are out of the question. I have learned over the years how to alter recipes to make them not only safe for my daughter, but I am able to make it frugal as well. And I believe that spark, that interest to try to not only eat healthy meals, but do them while spending the least amount of money has come from this book.

As someone that didn't use coupons, bargain shop, or even make a meal plan, this was like found gold. The ideas were so amazing to me. Not only does she give you a background of why she started her frugal journey, but she tells you how and gives you examples and recipes.

I have read and reread this book many times, so much so that it is almost falling apart. I have pages that are dog-eared, highlighted and have notes on them. I get it out every couple of months and reread it again. And I almost always find a tip that I missed or forgot to put to action. If there was one book that I would recommend, it would be this one.

This frugal book with all its tips and treasures, definately works for me.

This post links to Works for Me Wednesdays.

Allergy Free Chicken and Mashed Potatoes

We love chicken in my house. Our favorite is on the grill that daddy makes, with a pop can, it is delicious. However, that takes devoted time to the grill. So our second favorite chicken meal, is roasted chicken and mashed potatoes. I will show you how I make it allergy free!

First, I take carrots, onions and garlic and make a kind of bed for the chicken in the bottom of my pan. I usually put my chicken in frozen, as I forget to thaw it. But a fresh bird works well too. I put it in breast side down, so the juices help to moisten the breast meat, which is usually drier. Then I salt and pepper the top. If you put it in frozen, as I usually do, I put it in around 1-1:30 in the afternoon on 300 degrees then let it cook until dinner time, around 5:30-6:00 p.m.. You are looking for the inside to be atleast 180 degrees. I always use my meat thermometer when cooking whole chickens, just to be safe. If you are putting the chicken in fresh and not frozen, it will only take about an hour or so on 350 degrees. And that is it, I add no water or anything and I get a ton of juices to make gravy.

Here is the chicken done. Some of the skin fell off, that is why it is not that appealing! But this is so juicy, the meat falls off the bone, which upsets my younger two girls, who like to eat the legs! Once it is done, I take it out of the roasting pan and place on a plate to cool a little.

I didn't take a photo but to make the allergy free gravy I first make a rue, of floor and butter. In our case the only cooking butter I can use to flavor things is the Smart Balance made with flax seed oil. It is vegan, so it is safe for my daughter. Once the butter melts in your saucepan, you add about a tablespoon of flour and mix together to make a paste. Then I simply add the chicken juices from the pan that I took the chicken out of. Heat it to boiling, then turn it to simmer and cook until it thickens. I use a small wisk with mine to break up the rue with the chicken juice. I make enough gravy for our meal that night.

To make allergy safe mashed potatoes I simply peel and dice the potatoes. Then boil like normal. However, when you drain them, do not drain off the water. I keep about 1/2 cup of the water in there. Then add the same butter I mentioned before.

Then I use my mixer to mix them together and fluff them up. They won't look right yet. You then need to take a spoon and mix them together, then they will look as creamy as normal mashed potatoes. These are also a little healthier since we don't add a whole lot to them. My whole family loves them.

Once dinner is over, I take the whole chicken and pull off the remaining meat and put them in a container for another night that week, or freeze it for later.

The chicken carcass and vegies and leftover gravy all go in one big pot along with about a gallon of water. I add no other flavoring. I bring it to a boil and then simmer it for about an hour or an hour and a half. Then I let it cool a little. From there I fill up containers and freeze for later! This is what I use to make rice, soup anything that I need chicken stock for!

My whole family has adjusted to eat what is safe for my youngest daughter and no one complains. This is a delicious, healthy meal that we all enjoy.

This links to Tasty Tuesdays and Ultimate Recipe Swap.

Menu Plan, November 1

Finally a slow week for us and I am so looking forward to it. I really stocked up this weekend on the great deal on pumpkin I found, so I will be making more pumpkin bread and muffins! But since I will be home alot this week, I will be making nicer dinners that take longer to make! I love it when the house smells like home cooked food. This cold weather we are having really makes me want to make comfort food like baked potatoes, stuffing and sweet potatoes.

Sunday, October 25

• Leftovers for most of the day (getting together with my good friend Jeannie to make laundry detergent!)

Breakfast: pumpkin bread, waffles, cinnamon rolls, cold cereal

Lunches: leftovers, baked potatoes, homemade soup

Dinners: lasagna, chicken and stuffing, tostados, baked turkey with sweet potatoe casserol, leftovers, homemade pizza

Visit Orgjunkie for more menu ideas.

Established Family Plaque

I found this really cool family plaque on 320 Sycamore a couple of months ago. And I just happened to have a cabinet door hanging around. So, I went to Say Anything Expressions and ordered my wording with our name on it and the year we were married.

I painted the cabiet door heirloom white. After it dried, I attached the wording. Easy peasy! I also had some clearance ribbon that I attached to it and hung it on the wall!

I love this and get so many compliments on it! Here is my version.