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Shared Dec 16, 2014 comment

How to Stop Being a Grumpy Mom

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 16, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I was feeling frazzled and impatient this morning — ready to throw in the towel and lose my temper. Kind of ironic because I just wrote a post about finding more S-P-A-C-E yesterday, I know.

But I’m just keepin’ it real here. And it was one of those days.

We had a long day yesterday and were gone most of the day.

When we got home last night, we went pretty much straight to bed instead of staying up and going through the all mail and packages that had arrived (it was a pretty massive pile yesterday!), finishing cleaning up the kitchen, working on the laundry, or unloading the car that we’d spent a lot of time in yesterday while driving to various locations all over Nashville for different things.

This meant that I woke up feeling behind. Plus, for some reason, my alarm clock didn’t go off this morning and I overslept, too. Which didn’t help me feel any more calm.

To add to that, there were some attitude issues that flared right off the bat this morning and some little people who didn’t want to help or focus or do what they were asked to do.

This morning, of all mornings, of course. I said to myself in frustration.

By about 11:15 a.m., I had had it. It felt like nothing was going right, my anxiety level was rising, and I knew if I didn’t do something quickly, it was going to go from bad to worse really, really quickly.

I went out into the garage and called Jesse. He listened to me rattle on about how frustrated I was feeling. He encouraged me and by the end of the phone call, I was feeling somewhat better.

But I knew I needed to do something more, something tangible, to help turn the mood around in our home. Well, and mostly, to help turn around my mood. 🙂

So I called the kids into the living room, apologized for how I’d acted stressed this morning, and then told them we were going to pull out the puzzle we’d gotten at a White Elephant gift exchange the night before and we were going to stop what we were doing, set the timer, and work on the puzzle together until the timer went off.

They were all thrilled with this idea — especially because it involved mom working with them on something that they love to do.

And I was amazed, because within 5 minutes, not only did I feel so much calmer, but I was actually really enjoying being down on the floor working on the puzzle with them.

Being a fun mom instead of a grumpy mom always wins! 🙂

Related post: How I Stopped Yelling At My Kids

Shared Dec 16, 2014 comment

Protein-Packed Bacon Omelet Bites

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 16, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Looking for a really hearty breakfast that’s also easy to grab and eat quickly? You’ll want to try these Bacon Omelet Bites. They are filling, packed with great nutrition, and so delicious!

Jesse made these omelet bites for the first time last week and they are a winner recipe. I know we’ll be making them over and over again.

Ingredients for Omelet Bites

4 whole eggs
12 egg whites
2 cups diced cooked chicken
12 slices bacon cooked and diced
1 bell pepper, diced
Salt and pepper to taste
Nonstick cooking spray

Ingredient Substitutions

If you you’re not watching your fat intake, you may use 12 whole eggs in place of the 4 eggs + 12 egg whites.

To save money, you could leave out the chicken or bacon.

Feel free to experiment with different veggies — frozen spinach or some cooked broccoli would work well.

And a little added shredded cheese would be delicious too!

How to Make Omelet Bites

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Grease or spray muffin tins, or fill with cupcake liners.

3. In a medium bowl, use a fork or beaters to thoroughly mix the eggs.

4. Add meat, peppers, salt & pepper and mix well.

5. Use a soup ladle to fill each muffin tins with some of the egg mixture.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until the eggs are fluffy and slightly browned.

Recipe

Protein Packed Bacon Omelet Bites

Author Crystal Paine

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 25

Ingredients

4 whole eggs
12 egg whites
2 cups diced cooked chicken
12 slices bacon cooked and diced
1 bell pepper diced
Salt and pepper to taste
Nonstick cooking spray

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Grease or spray muffin tins, or fill with cupcake liners.
In a medium bowl, use a fork or beaters to thoroughly mix the eggs.
Add meat, peppers, salt & pepper and mix well.
Use a soup ladle to fill each muffin tins with some of the egg mixture.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until the eggs are fluffy and slightly browned.

Notes

If you you’re not watching your fat intake, you may use 12 whole eggs in place of the 4 eggs + 12 egg whites.

To save money, you could leave out the chicken or bacon.

Feel free to experiment with different veggies — frozen spinach or some cooked broccoli would work well.

And a little added shredded cheese would be delicious too!

Recipe adapted from Men’s Health

Nutrition

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What are some of your family’s favorite filling breakfasts?

How to buy all your Christmas gifts on a ZERO dollar budget! These are GREAT ideas to keep in mind all year long!

Shared Dec 15, 2014 comment

How We Bought Christmas Gifts on a $0 Budget

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 15, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post from Ai.

It was 2 years ago. Thanksgiving was fast approaching and after all the feasting and pounds gained, the days following would be filled with lots of shopping and gift wrapping. Or at least, that’s how it was in the past.

When, normally, my husband and I would have a budget set for Christmas gifts, this particular year, we had nothing. My husband had been out of work for a few months, and we had been rapidly depleting our emergency savings.

We were prepared to let our families know that we wouldn’t participate in any gift exchanges that year. We knew they would understand.

Then, it occurred to me. We had money, “hidden” in-store loyalty rewards, and forgotten gift cards.

Store Loyalty Rewards

Much of our reward dollars were from drugstores and office supply stores. Not your typical Black Friday destinations, but we definitely avoided the crowds by shopping at these places. We actually found some nice gifts at these stores.

Gifts that Give Back

Typically on Black Friday, the stores with customer loyalty programs mark even more items that generate reward dollars or gift cards. By focusing on these items, we essentially got them for free … paying for them with our rewards and walking out with more rewards to use for the next trip.

Cash-Back Incentives

Before my husband left his job, he often met with clients outside the office, and his employer reimbursed him for all his expenses: meals, mileage, etc.

We rarely use a credit card, but to keep his business expenses separate from our personal ones, my husband used our credit card whenever he was working. By the time holiday shopping season came around, we realized that all those credit card charges accumulated a nice amount of cash-back for us.

Lost Gift Cards, Found

Don’t you get excited when you empty pockets before doing the laundry, and you find a $10 bill all crumpled up next to the pocket lint? That’s how I felt when I realized there were gift cards in my purse from I-don’t-know-how-long ago.

Being forgetful did pay off that time!

Though this is the busiest shopping season of the year, I know not everyone can afford to buy presents for Christmas.

With no income coming in, we certainly thought we couldn’t. But after digging a little deeper, we realized we still had some resources to be able to give to our loved ones, even during such a lean financial time.

And of course, not every gift can be bought from a store. Sometimes, those made with love are the best kind.

What are some of your frugal gift ideas?

Shared Dec 15, 2014 comment

Being Organized Is About More Than a Clean House

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 15, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Last week, I invested a lot of my time and energy into getting our house more in order and getting our family into a new routine. It was a lot of work and honestly, there were multiple days that I didn’t want to put the effort into it.

But I kept at it and by the end of the week, our house looked so much better, our lives seemed a lot less chaotic, and I felt like I could breathe again. It felt so good.

However, it wasn’t the clean house, calmer days, or less cluttered drawers I was most happy with. It was the space this freed up in our lives… space to exhale, space to love each other better, space to look into a child’s eyes and listen, space to stop and invest time.

It’s easy to get caught up in the busy, busy, rush-rush, go-go pace of life. To constantly feel like you have to hurry through the moment to get to the next thing.

I get it that there are seasons when that’s just what you have to do. It’s finals week at school. Or you just had a baby. Or your grandmother is in the hospital. Or your friend was diagnosed with cancer.

Sometimes, we can’t slow the pace of life and we just have to go with it and power through.

But most of the time, I believe that we can choose to slow down.

We can choose to do less. To say no to the crazy, frantic pace. To put forth the effort to get better routines in place and less clutter in our homes and on our calendars so that instead of a hurried pace, we have a calm S-P-A-C-E.

Space to love that child who needs extra nurturing on a Monday morning.

Space to listen to our friend who is feeling discouraged and overwhelmed today.

Space to text or call our neighbor who is going through a rough patch.

Space to smile at the elderly person in front of us in the checkout lane.

Space to pray for someone who is struggling.

Space to share a kind word of encouragement.

Space to refresh our souls so we can better serve those around us.

S-P-A-C-E. It’s a beautiful thing!

Near the end of last week, as we were working on our morning chores, one of the kids found a copy of Silas’s very favorite books of all time: Goodnight Moon. We hadn’t read the book in months and we’d all sort of forgotten about it.

There were squeals of joy when it was re-discovered. And because I had space in my day, I was able to stop, snuggle with all three kids, and read the book aloud to them.

It was a simple thing — and it didn’t take a lot of time. But it was a beautiful moment in time. One that I will treasure in my heart for a long time.

I don’t want to miss out on these every day moments.

Related: Read this excellent post on why we need to stop being managers of our homes and instead start being nurturers of those in our home.

Shared Dec 15, 2014 comment

6 Goals For This Week

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 15, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

10 Goals For This Week

I can’t believe that I accomplished all of my goals again for the second week in a row. I think that might be the first time ever??!

It’s the last week before Christmas and, since we’ll be out of town all of next week visiting family in Kansas, we’re planning to keep it really simple this week and just focus on spending lots of time being together as a family. Because of this, I’m keeping my goals list very short, too.

Last week’s goals:

Marriage/Mothering/Homemaking Goals

~~1. Continue reading Unwrapping the Greatest Gift with the kids. Finish reading Nobody Loves Me.~~

~~2. Write a love note to Jesse.~~

~~3. Have a movie night with Jesse.~~

~~4. Watch a Christmas movie as a family.~~

~~5. Take the kids to The Gift of Christmas Tour.~~

Personal Goals

~~6. Work on reviewing and memorizing Romans 1 and Romans 2:1-5.~~

~~7. Finish at least two books.~~

~~8. Run or exercise at least 4 times.~~

~~9. Continue on with the Trim Healthy Mama plan.~~

~~10. Clean the house from top to bottom and blog about it.~~

This week’s goals:

Marriage/Mothering/Homemaking Goals

1. Continue reading Unwrapping the Greatest Gift with the kids. Start a new read aloud book.

2. Write a love note to Jesse.

3. Take the kids to the Christmas Ice Skating Show.

Personal Goals

4. Work on reviewing and memorizing Romans 1 and Romans 2:1-5.

5. Finish at least two books.

6. Run or exercise at least 4 times.

How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? I’d love to have you share your progress on last week’s goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Of, if you’ve blogged about it, leave your direct link below. Let’s cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives! You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.

WANT TO SAVE $100 FAST?!Join the FREE 14-Day Savings Challenge!

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Shared Dec 13, 2014 comment

Gretchen’s $32 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan

Published: by Gretchen on December 13, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Homeland

1 Alpha-Bits Cereal – $2.50, used $1/1 printable (doubled) – $0.50 after coupon

2 Flour – $1 each

3 Hershey’s Chocolate Chips – $1.66, used $1/2 coupon from the 11/16 SmartSource insert (doubled) and $0.50/1 printable (doubled) – $0.66 each after coupons

1 Suave Deodorant – $1.39, used $0.50/1 coupon from the 11/16 RedPlum insert (doubled) – $0.39 after coupon

2 Reynolds Cupcake Liners – $0.89 each, used $1/2 printable (doubled) – Free plus overage after coupon

2 Ragu Spaghetti Sauce – $1.25 each, used $0.60/2 coupon from the 11/16 RedPlum insert (doubled) – $0.65 each after coupon

1 Vegetable Oil – $1.99

1 Pert Plus 2 in 1 Shampoo – $1.99, used $1/1 coupon from the 11/23 SmartSource insert (doubled) – Free after coupon

1 Suave Kids 2 in 1 Bodywash – $2.45, used $1/1 coupon from the 1/16 RedPlum insert (doubled) – $0.45 after coupon

1 Carefree Liners – $1.45, used $0.50/1 printable (doubled) – $0.45 after coupon

Total before coupons and sales: $37.51

Total with tax ($1.32) after coupons and sales: $10.37

Dillons

1 Moms Best Mallow Oats Cereal – $1.88 (I haven’t seen this cereal in any of my local stores in several years. My husband and I used to eat this all the time when we were first married and I could get it free with coupons. When I saw it this week I had to buy it just for fun!)

1 qt Kroger Half & Half – $1.99

1 gallon Dillons Milk – $2.77, Received $0.25 back from Ibotta

1 Kroger Laundry Detergent – $4.99, used Free coupon from Dillons mailer – Free after coupon (I couldn’t find the regular laundry detergent anywhere so I bought the baby laundry detergent.)

1 pkg Kroger Drumsticks – $5.19 ($0.99/lb)

1 dozen Dillons Eggs – $1.69

1 Leaf Lettuce – $0.99

2 Brut Deodorant – $1, used $1/1 coupon from the 11/23 SmartSource insert – Free after coupons

0.89 lbs Tomatoes @ $1.99/lb – $1.77

1.97 lbs Bananas @ $0.59/lb – $1.16

1 Kraft BBQ Sauce – $1.99, used Free e-coupon (no longer available) – Free after coupon

1 Cucumber – $0.79

Items a part of the Mega Sale (Buy 4, Get $4 off instantly):

1 Honey Nut Cheerios – $1.49, used $0.50/1 printable – $0.99 after coupon

1 Vidal Salon Styling Gel – Marked down to $1.24, used $2/1 e-coupon – Free plus overage after coupon

1 Listerine Floss – $0.99, used $1/1 printable – Free after coupon

1 pkg Thomas English Muffins – $1.99, used $1/1 printable – $0.99 after coupon

Total before coupons and sales: $49.32

Total with tax ($2.37) after coupons and sales: $21.81

My parents also gave us all these grapefruit this week. We love grapefruit at our house!

Total for all grocery items: $32.18

Menu Plan for This Week

Breakfasts

Cereal x 2, Toasted English Muffins, Scrambled Eggs and Bananas, Homemade Granola

Lunches

Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, Grapefuit/Crackers/Veggies, Tuna Sandwiches, Tossed Salad, Leftovers

Dinners

Baked Chicken Drumsticks, Tossed Salad

Dinner with friends (I’m bringing Chocolate Sheet Cake.)

Chicken & Noodle Casserole, Steamed Broccoli

Spaghetti, Rolls, Tossed Salad

Deer Roast, Potatoes, Carrots, Toasted English Muffins

Breakfast Casserole, Grapefruit

Hawaiian Haystacks, Green Beans

Use these frugal family Christmas traditions as ideas to embrace the Christmas season without breaking your budget!

Shared Dec 13, 2014 comment

7 Frugal Family Holiday Traditions

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 13, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post from Sara:

Christmas Tradition Ideas on a Budget

Being on a budget can be especially discouraging during the holidays. It’s easy to look at what we “can’t afford” or what we “don’t have”, that we lose sight of the beauty of the things and people around us…the lifelong memories we can create with little or no money.

Here are 7 of our family’s favorite frugal Holiday Traditions.

Frugal Holiday Traditions at Home

1. Decorating Christmas Cookies

My husband and I started this tradition when we were first married 10 years ago, and have carried it on with our two children. We start with a simple sugar cookie recipe, cut out shapes using Christmas cookie cutters, and decorate with whatever we have on hand (like sprinkles, chocolate chips, or even marshmallows).

It’s an inexpensive way to get into the holiday mood, (most baking supplies go on sale this time of year), and we look forward to kicking off the Christmas season with some goodies to share with friends and neighbors.

2. Making Homemade Ornaments

I do a homemade ornament with my kids each year to hang on our tree. It’s been as simple as tracing their handprint onto construction paper, cutting it out and sticking a pipe cleaner through it — but it’s a beautiful reminder to cherish the moments since each progressing ornament shows how quickly they’ve grown from year to year!

Christmas Traditions Out & About

3. Looking at Christmas Lights

Our town has many beautiful light displays, and on several evenings before Christmas, we like to take a few sugar cookies, maybe put some apple cider into respective sippy cups, and drive around looking at all the lights while blasting our favorite Christmas music CD.

4. “Adopting” Someone

Helping someone out during the holidays doesn’t have to cost money, but we always try to find a way to bless at least one family during the Christmas season.

Whether it’s giving them some of the gift cards we’ve collected through Swagbucks so they are able to buy a gift for their children, babysitting for a single mom so she can get some shopping done, visiting a nursing home and bringing handmade cards and a listening ear, or inviting someone who has no family over for Christmas dinner, you don’t have to spend a lot to bless someone else.

A small gesture to you may mean to world to someone else.

5. The Sounds of the Season

My two-year-old was born deaf, and last year received cochlear implant surgery that gave him the incredible gift of sound. Our newest tradition (but one of the most meaningful) is listening for specific “sounds of the season” wherever we go (bells, carolers, wrapping paper, even the timer on the oven I use when baking), which our son is now able to hear.

“Junior can hear _____!” we’ll exclaim when we hear a new sound, as a reminder that the best gifts in life have nothing to do with packages and bows.

Holiday Traditions for Christmas Eve / Morning

6. Christmas Eve Pajamas

Following a tradition dating back three generations in my family, our kids get to open one gift on Christmas Eve, and it’s always a pair of pajamas and a book.

I try to find clearance items throughout the year, so the pajamas may have cost less than $5 and the book may have been from the dollar store, but it’s still one of our favorite traditions.

7. Christmas Morning Communion

It’s a simple act, but before opening any stockings or presents, our family takes communion using some toast and apple cider as a reminder that Christmas isn’t about the WHAT, it’s about the WHO, and His perfect gift to us.

These are a few of our family’s favorite frugal family traditions — I’d love to hear about some of your in the comments!

photo source

Shared Dec 12, 2014 comment

I told you I’ve been neglecting deep cleaning & here’s proof (Clean Your House for Christmas: Day 5)

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 12, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Thank you so much for joining me this week for the Clean Your House for Christmas Challenge. It made such a big difference in our home and it inspired me to continue cleaning out other neglected areas in our home in the coming days and weeks.

Today was the first day all week that I’ve finally felt almost completely 100% again — which was such a blessing after days of being sick and then just feeling really tired as a result of being sick. I’m so grateful to be on the mend and back to full steam again!

Silas made scrambled eggs for breakfast — and needed almost zero help from me to make them! I still turn the burner on for him and oversee him carefully, but it’s exciting to see him really picking up on cooking skills this year.

I started the She Reads Truth 1 & 2nd Peter Study today… I can already tell I’m going to benefit greatly from it! Taking time to be quiet and spend time studying God’s Word, reading from a good book, and counting my blessings is such a great start to my day!

I love that this girl has really started to love reading! I keep catching her with her nose stuck in books this week!

While I was working on finishing up my morning cleaning, Silas asked if he could help clean all the windows. He spent an HOUR working on cleaning all the windows on the first floor! I was quite impressed!

The rest of the morning was spent on homeschooling. Right before lunch, I finally had a chance to get in a quick run on the treadmill. And then Jesse got home and made lunch while I hopped in the shower and got dressed and ready.

I came downstairs and we ate lunch and read aloud together. Then Jesse took over homeschooling and I headed out to spend a few hours working at the shared office space we have a membership to. I was grateful to finally feel up to getting out of the house today… while I love being home, I find that I’m much more productive when I leave for the afternoon and working at the office space. Plus, it was just good to get out of the house after being home almost all day every day for the past week because I just haven’t felt well.

When I got home, I tackled the bathroom cupboards. I’m kind of embarrassed to show you this one… because you see that duffle bag stuffed in the cupboard?

That’s a duffle bag we packed for a trip we went on in AUGUST.

Um, yeah.

I wasn’t kidding when I told you I’ve neglected deep cleaning…

It feels SO good to f-i-n-a-l-l-y have that bag unpacked and put away. And to have that bathroom cupboard cleaned out and organized.

Bathroom cupboard #2: Before

And after. Much better.

While I didn’t get all the deep cleaning done that I’d hoped to this week, I tackled a LOT of projects and areas that have been very neglected these past six months of my life and it feels so good to open drawers and closets and cupboards and see such neat and organized spaces again.

Now I’m determined to work on keeping them that way!

~~Leave a Comment & You Could Win This Stack of Books!~~

In my cleaning today, I found some more books that I’d love to pass on to a good home, most all that are ones I’ve loved and just want to share with someone who could be encouraged by them! Plus, I threw in a copy of both my audiobook, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode, and a copy of my new Choose Gratitude Blessings Journal that’s now out of stock in our store (I have a few copies left!), and a copy of my first book, The Money Saving Mom’s Budget.

Who wants to win them? To win, just leave a comment on this post and I’ll choose one winner tomorrow evening and will mail them to you so you’ll have them in time for Christmas. Some of these books are great condition and might even work as gifts for people on your Christmas list!

The winner of yesterday’s stack of books is Jennifer (jjsbarrilleaux@) — I sent you an email tonight to ask for your address.

The winner of this stack of books from today’s giveaway is Kaitlin (literarymademoiselle@) — I sent you an email requesting your address. Congrats!

Shared Dec 12, 2014 comment

Brigette’s $43 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan for 6

Published: by Brigette on December 12, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Aldi

2 9-oz bags Spinach (@$0.99/each) – $1.98

1 3-ct package Romaine Hearts – $1.99

2 Avocados (@$0.59/each) – $1.18

2 16-oz bags Baby Carrots (@$0.69/each) – $1.38

1 3-ct package Green Peppers – $1.19

1 Cucumber – $0.39

Total: $8.11

Harris Teeter

10 8-oz bags Shredded Cheese (B2G3 Free) – $13.00

2 18-ct cartons Eggs (@$1.77/each) – $3.54, receive $0.50 back from Checkout 51 – $3.04 after rebate

2 13-oz packages Land O’ Frost Simply Delicious Lunchmeat – (B1G1) – $5.49, used 2 $0.75/1 printable (doubled) – $2.49/2 after coupons

2 boxes Bigelow Tea (B1G1) – $2.99, used 2 $0.55/1 printable (doubled) – $0.79/2 after coupons

1 package Mariani Craisins – $1.69, used $0.50/1 Mariani Dried Fruit Snack, exp. 1/31/15 (SS 11/23/14) – $0.69 after coupon

used $15 Walgreens Register Rewards (leftover from Black Friday Walgreens deals)

Total after Rebate: $5.01

Azure Standard

(a friend from church coordinates group orders from Azure Standard, and I have been able to get some great deals from this online store)

20lbs “In Season” Organic Apples – $14.00

Total with Tax: $15.14

Flower Foods Bakery

(My husband came home with all of the following – the man has definitely learned how to score a great deal! You should have seen how proud he was of himself. 🙂 And yes, most of this is white and processed, but it went straight to our freezer, and will be interspersed with homemade whole-grain baked goods.)

19 packages of Bread (including Regular and Cinnamon Raisin Bagels, Bagel Thins, English Muffins, Hot Dog Buns and Sandwich Bread) – $6.30

Total: $6.30

Sams

(a friend picked this up for me – a fantastic price for coconut flour!)

5lbs of Organic Coconut Flour – $8.98

Total: $8.98

Weekly Total: $43.64

Weekly Menu Plan

Breakfasts

Oatmeal and Fruit (we have bananas, pears, cranberries and blueberries in the freezer right now, so the children love picking a different fruit each morning to stir into their oatmeal); Eggs and Toasted Bagels, Cereal, Buckwheat Pancakes, Homemade Yogurt and Granola

Lunches

Peanut Butter and Honey Sandwiches, Apples, Green Pepper Slices

Baked Potatoes with Cheese and Broccoli

Tuna Sandwiches, Cucumbers, Apples

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Apples, Carrot Sticks

Scrambled Eggs and Spinach, Buttered Brown Rice

Leftovers x 2

Dinners

Cheesy Hashbrown Potatoes with Ham (someone gave us a ham at Thanksgiving, and we have lots of leftover in the freezer), Green Beans, Toasted Bagels

Christmas Banquet Dinner at our Church

Homemade Cheese Pizza, Tossed Salad, Carrot Sticks

Egg McMuffin Sandwiches (Fried Egg, Cheese, and Lunchmeat on English Muffins), Spinach Salad, Steamed Broccoli

Baked Spaghetti, French Bread, Green Beans with Parmesan Cheese

Baked Chicken Nuggets (using homemade bread crumbs), Roasted Cauliflower, Freezer Biscuits

Leftovers

Snacks

Apples, Popcorn, Smoothies, Granola

Shared Dec 12, 2014 comment

Reader Tip: Save Your Budget with Family Gifts

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 12, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Kalyn Brooke emailed in the following tip:

I love buying gifts and receive so much joy out of choosing the perfect present for that special someone. But year after year, it can be really hard on the finances to buy for each individual — especially when your income doesn’t grow at the same rate as your list.

My solution = Family Gifts.

Buying for a family as opposed to each person person not only cuts down on the amount of gifts you need to purchase, it also means you don’t have to spend as much. For example: If you spend $20 per person for a family of 5, that’s $100. But if you buy a really nice family gift for only $50, you’ve cut your costs in half!

Here are a couple ideas for frugal family gifts:

1. Gift baskets are great family gifts to give, because you can easily create one for any budget. Not sure what to put in your basket? Here are a bunch of creative ideas!

2. Another option is to buy just one gift the whole family can enjoy. Consider what sort of activities each family normally does together, then buy them a gift that complements their interests — board games, outdoor activities, DVD’s, etc.

3. Collaborating with others and go in on a bigger gift. Send your parents on a bed-and-breakfast adventure, buy a theme park pass for the whole family to enjoy, treat your grandparents to an expensive dinner reservation, or pitch in to buy a playground for the kids.

Next time you’re out shopping for Christmas gifts, think about family gifts rather the individuals gifts. You’ll significantly cut costs, and make the season a lot simpler. I’d say that’s a win-win!

Looking for more frugal gift ideas? Check out Kalyn’s Free Frugal Gift Guide!

photo source

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Shared Dec 12, 2014 comment

Clean Your House for Christmas (Day 5)

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 12, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Join Me For the Clean Your House for Christmas Challenge

Welcome to the last day of the 5-Day Clean Your House for Christmas Challenge. Otherwise known as: Crystal really needs to deep clean her house and she needs the public accountability to get it done. Ahem. 🙂

{Thank you for humoring me. If your house is in great shape, please just skip over these posts. I may be the only one who has kind of let my housework and decluttering slide a bit the past few months.}

It’s been SUCH a great week — you all are such great accountability for me! Thank you for tagging along with me in this challenge.

Today I was planning to focus on the main living areas of the house, but those are really clean and clutter-free, so I’m going to finish the rest of the bathroom drawers/cupboards/underneath the sink today.

Here’s my plan for this morning (feel free to follow it somewhat, if you find it helpful… or you can get a laugh out of how detailed I am!):

This Morning’s Plan

1. Read my Bible, eat breakfast, and start laundry.

2. Exercise, shower, get dressed to my shoes. (Thanks, Flylady!)

3. Morning chores with the kids.

4. Get the kids started on their schoolwork. Kindergarten with Silas.

6. Switch the laundry.

7. Finish cleaning the bathrooms:

Surface clean.

Go through the rest of the cupboards, drawers, and closet.

8. Read aloud with the kids.

9. Celebrate a productive morning, er day… because it probably won’t all get done by noon!

So, that’s my morning plan. I’m hopeful to have it all done before dinner time today. I’ll take pictures and will post an update later today to let you know how it goes.

Want To Join Me?

Are you joining me? If so, what room(s) are you planning to tackle today and what’s your morning plan? Let us know in the comments. If you are blogging about it, I’ll have a link-up that you can link your post to in my post later today.

photo credit

Shared Dec 11, 2014 comment

I think I win the Messiest Bathroom Drawer of the Year award (Clean Your House for Christmas: Day 4)

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 11, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I got up later than I’d planned this morning and felt like I was sort of chasing my tail all day long. However, because of the good routine we’re getting into and because of the hard work we’ve done to deep clean the house this week, the whole day didn’t feel derailed and I ended up getting most of the things done that I’d hoped to accomplish.

I’ve been doing a really good job of doing one load of laundry from start to finish every day this week. I’m amazed at how much this is helping our days go smoother — and how happy it makes me to know that all the laundry is done when I go to bed.

One thing that has made this to actually happen is that the kids have been folding and putting away the load of laundry every afternoon. So all I’ve had to do was start and switch the load — and then remind them to fold and put it away in the afternoon.

I may have solved my years-long battle of the laundry pile! And that is HUGE!

Kaitlynn made me breakfast this morning. She loves to serve me and is always looking for little ways to do so. Today, she presented me with a bowl of oatmeal that had chopped bananas on it. Yum!

Yesterday, she brought me a fresh cup of coffee almost first thing in the morning. It was totally her idea and it blessed me so much.

Moms of littles, I just want to encourage you: your hard work will pay off. Keep loving, teaching, and nurturing those babies of yours and someday soon, they’ll be making you breakfast, helping with laundry, and encouraging you throughout the day.

Silas practiced writing out numbers today, as well as working on learning basic clock-reading skills. He also did some Do-a-Dot letter printables.

While I was helping Silas with Kindergarten, Jesse made dinner and popped it in the crock pot. Yes, folks, I am so very blessed. Truly, I am blown away by this man that I married. And I fall more in love with him every day.

Life isn’t always all roses and rainbows and we have our struggles and arguments, but for the most part, we are just loving this lifestyle of us both working together and sharing homeschooling responsibilities, and all working together to keep our home running. I’m beyond grateful for this blog (and you all who read here) and how you help make this possible for our family.

All those years of hard work, sacrifices, and living on little have borne much more fruit than we could have dreamed. We have no idea whether this is just a season or a forever thing, but we’re seeking to embrace the here and now and loving where we’re at and how it allows us to get to spend so much time together.

After Jesse made dinner and we’d finished breakfast and morning chores, he left for a meeting and to run some errands. The rest of our morning was spent cleaning, doing morning chores, homeschooling, and reading aloud together.

When Jesse got home, I finished reading the last two chapters of our current read aloud book while he made lunch — it was bacon and eggs today. Yum!

And then he took over homeschooling and I headed out to finally run on the treadmill, take a shower, and do some blogging and business work.

Later in the afternoon, the kids came outside to help me shoot the pictures for my Apple Pie post. They LOVE to help me set up and take photos for my blog posts.

Kathrynne, especially, has really gotten into giving me ideas and suggestions for how to set things up and angles to take pictures from. When I was finished with taking pictures, she took the camera and snapped some more for me.

When I was finished with the Apple Pie photos, I quickly put on a little make up and headed out the door for a meeting in town with a few of my team members. We had our end-of-year meetings last week and are in the process of making some changes for 2015, so a few of us had to meet to put things in place to move forward with one of the action items.

I so LOVE the team of people I get to work with. Not only are each of them amazing and skilled, but more importantly, they are my friends. We share so much more than business stuff with each other and that’s what makes working together so much fun.

While I was at my manager’s office, I also got to pop in and see all of the boxes and boxes of orders being packaged up and shipped out. There have been a team of people working hard to get all orders out in a timely manner for Christmas. This is our first year to offer products, so it’s been a learning experience and we so appreciate your patience and input as we’re learning the ropes and growing in this way.

By the way, can you believe that we’re now completely SOLD OUT of all the Gratitude Journals? We have enough to send out all the orders that came in through this afternoon, but we had to pull it from our site this evening as we are almost completely out of stock and we just discovered that our publisher doesn’t have any more in stock, either!

The publisher is getting another big order printed and shipped in right now, but that’s going to take at least 6 weeks or so. In the mean time, getting your hands on a Gratitude Journal is going to be bit hard to do. We think a few Christian stores may still have some in stock, as well as possibly a few places online.

Basically, you all BLEW US AWAY with your excitement and orders. And we ended up selling 10 TIMES MORE than I expected we’d be able to sell by Christmas. I don’t know what to say other than thank you for believing in this idea of mine and being excited about it! I’m truly speechless and humbly grateful. You all mean the world to me!

I finally got around to cleaning the bathrooms tonight. Well, let me take that back: I started to clean the bathrooms and then realized that there was no way I could get to every single part of the bathrooms I wanted to and still go to bed by 11:30 p.m. tonight.

So instead, I decided to just focus most of my efforts on the bathroom drawers in the Master Bathroom drawers. Because clearly, these needed some serious help.

Yikes! I cannot believe I’m posting these publicly.

And yet another, really awful drawer.

I pulled everything out — and it was a little overwhelming!

I used a rag to wipe down the insides and then tossed some things, put some items in the shelves in the bathroom cupboard, and re-organized the rest.

I think I need to find some drawer organizers for all the little things. Still thinking on what would be best there — I welcome suggestions of drawer organizers or how you keep your bathroom drawers from looking like a Stuff Bomb exploded inside of them!

Leave a Comment & You Could Win This Stack of Books!

In my cleaning today, I found some more books that I’d love to pass on to a good home, most all that are ones I’ve loved and just want to share with someone who could be encouraged by them! Plus, I threw in a copy of both my audiobook, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode, and a copy of my new Choose Gratitude Blessings Journal that’s now out of stock in our store (I have a few copies left!), and a copy of my first book, The Money Saving Mom’s Budget.

Who wants to win them? To win, just leave a comment on this post and I’ll choose one winner tomorrow evening and will mail them to you so you’ll have them in time for Christmas. Some of these books are great condition and might even work as gifts for people on your Christmas list!

Did you work on cleaning your house today? If you blogged about participating in this Clean Your House For Christmas Challenge, leave the direct link to your post below that is specifically about this challenge. Or, leave a comment telling us how your cleaning went today.
The winner of yesterday’s stack of books is Sara (sara.perrera@) — I sent you an email tonight to ask for your address.

Shared Dec 11, 2014 comment

Apple Pie A La Mode

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 11, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

If you’re looking for a delicious dessert during peak apple season (or any time of year), this Apple Pie a la mode is to die for!

This Apple Pie has been a family favorites for years!

It’s usually always part of our holiday celebrations. In fact, Thanksgiving or Christmas just wouldn’t seem right without this recipe!

It’s not too hard to make and it always gets rave reviews. If you want to dress it up even more, add a scoop of ice cream plus some caramel sauce. It’s ooey-gooey, the perfect combination of sweet and crunchy, and oh-so-delicious!

We’d never tried the Breyers caramel sauce before, so when they asked me if I’d be interested in making an apple pie and they’d send us a gift card to buy the ingredients plus some Breyers ice cream and caramel sauce to top it with, my family happily signed up for that taste test opportunity. 🙂

We thought it was delicious… really sweet, but really good.

Ingredients for Apple Pie

1 pie crust (uncooked)
6 cups thinly sliced, peeled cooking apples (about 2 1/2 pounds or 8-10 apples)
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
butter

Crumb Topping:

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tablespoons butter

How to Make Apple Pie

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.

2. Prepare and roll out pie crust. Line a pie pan with it and flute edges.

3. In a large bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

4. Add sliced apples and gently toss until coated.

5. Transfer apple mixture to the pie crust.

6. Dot apples with butter. Set aside.

7. In the same large bowl, prepare crumb topping ingredients by stirring together 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup brown sugar.

8. Using a pastry blender, cut in 3 Tablespoons butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

9. Sprinkle crumb topping evenly over apples in pie pan.

10. Cover edges of pie with foil and bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.

11. Remove foil and bake 20 minutes more or until fruit is tender and filling is bubbly.

12. Cool on a wire rack.

13. Top with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce!

Recipe

Apple Pie

Author Crystal Paine

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 1

Ingredients

1 pie crust uncooked
6 cups apples peeled and thinly sliced
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
butter

Crumb Topping:

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 Tablespoons butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375ºF.
Prepare and roll out pie crust. Line a pie pan with it and flute edges.
In a large bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Add sliced apples and gently toss until coated.
Transfer apple mixture to the pie crust.
Dot apples with butter. Set aside.
In the same large bowl, prepare crumb topping ingredients by stirring together 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup brown sugar.
Using a pastry blender, cut in 3 Tablespoons butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Sprinkle crumb topping evenly over apples in pie pan.
Cover edges of pie with foil and bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.
Remove foil and bake 20 minutes more or until fruit is tender and filling is bubbly.
Cool on a wire rack.
Top with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce!

Nutrition

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{This post was underwritten by Lunchbox and Breyers. All opinions are my own. Read my disclosure policy here.}

Shared Dec 11, 2014 comment

We Paid Cash: A Month-Long European Family Vacation

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 11, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

We paid cash!
A testimony from Jessica who blogs at Life as MOM and Good Cheap Eats

My husband and I honeymooned in France and assumed we would return every year. Then life happened. Graduate school, unemployment, a baby, a house, miscarriages, more babies, more debt, more stuff got in the way of our newlywed dreams of travel.

After we paid off all our debts, we started dreaming big dreams again — a trip to France for a month with our six children to commemorate our 20th wedding anniversary was one of them.

Folks looked at us like we were crazy!

Not only had we dared to do something big like to travel with kids, we notched up the crazy by saving up the money to do it. It took two years, but we pulled it off.

Here’s what we did to make it happen:

1. We said it out loud.

Part of the success of a goal is to be brave enough to put it out there publicly. We talked about it enough that we would have been really embarrassed if we didn’t pull it off. Sometimes, pride is a good thing.

2. We envisioned our kids.

Just like when we did the really hard work of getting out of debt years earlier, we explained our plans to our children so that they would understand why we were making cuts to our spending or doing extra things to increase our income.

3. We created a budget.

I planned a hypothetical trip and calculated all the price quotes. The total was staggering, particularly when I added extra to allow for inflation and a weak dollar.

4. My husband worked overtime.

Getting up at 4:30 a.m. on a Saturday wasn’t his favorite thing to do, but my husband did it.

5. We opened a separate bank account.

I opened a dedicated account in a different bank from where we do our regular banking. I also chose not to get an ATM card. I wanted that money liquid but as inaccessible as possible.

6. We put all other vacations on hold.

We put off other travel plans, instead banking the money for France. Staycations and family visits were a great way to do family travel while we worked toward a bigger goal.

7. We socked away all extra income.

Even though we have two incomes, we choose to live on one. Any income that came in over our regular expenses went toward the France fund.

8. We deferred lots of “extras”.

There is a lot of excess in our lives, lots of things that are fun, but that we can certainly live without. We cut back so we could divert that money toward our vacation instead.

Now that we’re home and finally unpacked, it’s been so encouraging to look back at what we pulled off and the great memories we created as a family. It was an amazing trip, one we plan to do again in 2016!

Jessica Fisher is a happy wife and a homeschooling mom of six kids under 18. She loves French cheeses, sandy beaches, good books, and Jesus. Not in that order, of course. Catch up with her on her blogs, Life as MOM and Good Cheap Eats.

Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.

Shared Dec 11, 2014 comment

Gretchen’s CVS Shopping Trip: $50+ worth of products for less than $10!

Published: by Gretchen on December 11, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

CVS Shopping Trip

Transaction #1

2 Revlon Eye Shadow – $1.79 each (40% off)
Used $2/1 CVS printable (They would only allow me to use one since they were under $2 each.)

1 Conair Curling Iron – $9.49 (Buy 1, Get $10 ECBs)

Used $6.79 ECBs from last shopping trip

Total with tax ($1.07): $5.35, Received $10 ECBs

Transaction #2

3 Huggies Diapers – $7.99 each (Spend $20, Get $5 ECBs)
Used 3 $2/1 printable
And used 2 $1/1 printable

1 CVS Toddler Wipes – $1.49

Used $5/$25 diapers/wipes CVS coupon from the in-store machine

Used $10 ECBs from Transaction #1

Total with tax ($0.77): $3.23, Received $5 ECBs

Total for both transactions before coupons, sales and ECBS: $56.27

Total with tax for both transactions after coupons, sales and ECBs: $8.58, plus $5 ECBs leftover

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This Apple Pie has been a family favorites for years!

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