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Shared Oct 1, 2012 comment

This week’s menu

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 1, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Corn Dog Muffins

Breakfasts

Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packets, Cereal, Toast, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

Lunch at church function
Snack-y lunch, fresh carrot/orange juice
Mac & cheese, veggies, fruit
Cheese Quesadillas, oranges, carrot sticks
Corn Dog Muffins, veggies, fruit
Leftovers x 2

Snacks

Fruit/Veggies
Cheese/Crackers
Pumpkin Recipes

Freezer Cooking

Pumpkin Recipes

Dinners

Dinner with extended family
Taco Soup, Bread Machine Buttery Rolls, fruit, veggies
Homemade Chicken Salsa Pockets, fruit, steamed veggies
Steak, Twice-Baked Potatoes, Steamed Veggies, Fruit
Keilbasa/Potatoes/Carrots/Onions in the Crockpot, Soft 100% Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls, fruit salad
Dinner with friends
Dinner with extended family

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

Shared Sep 29, 2012 comment

5 Ways to Save Money by Simplifying Birthdays

Published: by Crystal Paine on September 29, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post from Chelsea of Stay-At-Home{MADE} Mom

Planning a birthday bash every year for every child can be exhausting, hard on the budget, and leave us with cluttered boxes of party supplies and toys. So in order to simplify, my husband and I adopted the birthday tradition he grew up with. We have chosen to throw only four large birthday parties for each of our children – 1st, 5th, 10th, and 16th.

During the years that we don’t throw a large party, we will have a simple cake and ice cream celebration with family. We also plan to implement a couple more traditions (like their favorite dinner or breakfast in bed) to make their day more special.

So whether you choose to throw an extravagant party every year or not, here are five more ways you can save money and simplify.

1. Simplify the Theme:

Instead of buying princess everything, buy one princess product to branch off. For example, you can buy a princess cake, but choose to buy paper products in a solid pink. Or, buy princess plates, but make a simple cake at home and decorate it inexpensively.

2. Simplify the Decorations:

Make a birthday banner by hand with pictures you scored for pennies. Sprinkle color-coordinating confetti on plain table cloths. Blow up balloons that double as décor and a game. Save leftover decorations for future parties or donate them to a family who can’t afford their own.

3. Simplify the Guest List:

While it’s tempting to invite everyone you know, it’s best to have enough space and food for everyone. It’s important to figure out how many people you can realistically afford to host and stick to that number.

4. Simplify the Party Favors:

In my opinion, party favors aren’t even essential, but if you want to provide them, keep it simple! Kiddos don’t need an entire bag filled with trinkets and candy. Some of my favorite ideas are cellophane-wrapped chocolate-dipped Oreos, a boxed cupcake, or some fun pencils tied with a ribbon.

5. Simplify the Gifts:

If family members or close friends come to you for gift ideas, consider suggesting that they “go in” with you on a bigger gift. A new bike, zoo memberships, a telescope, or something else that you know would get a lot of use. I find that most people are very open to this idea since it saves them the hassle of finding and wrapping a gift.

However you decide to celebrate, when it comes down to it, there are only a few things a child truly wants on his or her birthday:

To feel loved.
To know that others are blessed by another year with them.
Something fun — because it is their day.

If you accomplish those three things, whether frugally or elaborately, it will be a memorable day. Find what works best for your family, and enjoy celebrating one another!

Do you have any other ideas to save money on birthdays?

Chelsea is a blessed wife, mommy, and child of God. In her free time, she loves crafting, cooking, and blogging at Stay-At-Home{MADE} Mom about her budget-friendly creations.

photo source

Shared Sep 29, 2012 comment

Reader Tip: Save time and money by making shredded chicken in the crockpot

Published: by Crystal Paine on September 29, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Reader tip from Amanda who blogs at Simple Revelations:

I love my slow-cooker. Soups, casseroles, meats, bread, breakfast — what’s not to love about a contraption that can do it all, and save me time?

One of my favorite money-saving crockpot recipe is Shredded Chicken. It’s a lean, protein-rich basis for meals and it only requires around 10 minutes of active involvement to make.

Plus, depending on where you live, you’ll probably be able to find chicken breasts for around $2 a pound. Compare that to the typical $7 a pound for deli lunch meat, and you’re saving a bundle on sandwiches using chicken salad on your sandwiches instead of deli-bought ham or turkey.

How To Make Shredded Chicken in the Crockpot

Purchase a large package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Put as many as you like (I’d do 10 or so) in your slow-cooker, cover with water (boiling water if they’re frozen, to get them cooking faster) and sprinkle with a few seasonings. I often use a dash each of lemon pepper and Montreal chicken seasoning

Cook on high for 4 hours or so, or low for 6 hours or so, until they are cooked through and literally falling apart at the touch.

Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and put in a large pan.

Shred with 2 forks.

Let cool and store in the refrigerator for use all week long.

Variations: During cooking, substitute the water out for your favorite BBQ sauce or green salsa, and use the meat for BBQ chicken sandwiches/pizza, or a tender and flavorful fajita meat. This is great for dinner guests when you don’t have lots of time to prepare.

Ways to Use Shredded Chicken

Use your supply of shredded chicken for lunches and dinners throughout the week. Some favorite meals ideas are:

Soups (chicken noodle, Matzo ball, coconut chicken, buffalo chicken soup)

Waldorf Chicken Salad (to eat as salad, sandwich, or wrap)

Chili

Avocado-bound Chicken Salad

Fajita/Enchilada/Taco meat

Pizza topping

Buffalo Chicken burgers (just mix the meat with a good dash of Frank’s Red Hot sauce, to taste)

Salad topping

Quesadilla filler

Any other recipe that calls for cooked chicken

What’s your favorite way to use the slow-cooker?

Amanda Dykes is a historical romance author who aches to share God’s grace. She’s a spastic shutterbug, unabashed word nerd, and lover of truthful writing that resonates. She can be found scribbling words on her blog and her online Christian Fiction Book Club.

photo source

Shared Sep 29, 2012 comment

25 Free Fall Activities

Published: by Crystal Paine on September 29, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

The Imperfect Homemaker has a great list of 25 Free Fall Activities.

Shared Sep 28, 2012 comment

Lunchbox Freezer Cooking: Allergen-Free Chocolate Crunch Bars (Day 10)

Published: by Crystal Paine on September 28, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Note from Crystal: Thanks so much for joining me for the Lunchbox Freezer Cooking series. It’s been a fun adventure! For the last post in this series, Michelle from The Willing Cooking is sharing an allergen-free recipe for those of you who have food allergies in your home.

Guest post from Michelle of The Willing Cook

A good friend of mine makes Peanut Butter Scotchies on occasion — a delicious and calorie-loaded recipe. I have had the pleasure of indulging myself in this treat a few times, and let me tell you, there is a reason why she doesn’t make them very often. 🙂

Since we have wheat, dairy, egg, soy, corn, and a few other allergies at house, I would be the only one who could eat Peanut Butter Scotchies if I made them. While I’m sure I can enjoy an entire pan of these bars, I certainly don’t need to. So, I embarked upon a mission to make an allergen-friendly (and a little healthier) version that my family can share with me.

My first attempt at these bars, while delicious, almost sent us on an emergency dentist trip because they were so hard. I couldn’t leave them alone though — the taste was amazing! After a bit more tinkering, I finally got the recipe down and I’m thrilled to share this recipe with you today.

Chocolate Nut Butter Crunch Bars

(makes a 9″x13″ pan of bars)

Ingredients:

1 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup brown rice syrup (I buy mine from Tropical Traditions.)
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups allowed nut butter (you can use peanut/treenut-free Sunbutter, almond/cashew/other treenut butter, or peanut butter)
4 cups rice krispies (Kellogg’s gluten-free variety work great; add more, if needed)
2 cups allowed chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life: dairy, soy & nut-free)
2 Tbsp coconut oil

Directions:

Add raw sugar, brown rice syrup, and water to a 5qt pot; whisk over medium-low heat until it starts to boil. Turn heat down to simmer and continue to whisk for 3-5 minutes, until you notice it start to thicken a little. (We are thinning out the brown rice syrup a little, but also burning most of the water off.)
Remove pot from heat and whisk in nut butter. If it seems too thick, you can place the pot back on the turned off burner. When all is well combined, stir in the rice krispies 1 cup at a time, until completely incorporated. (If it is too runny, add a little extra rice krispies. I added about 1/4 cup more.)
Grease a 9″x13″ glass baking dish (very important step!). Pour rice krispie mixture into the dish and press down evenly. Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or until it hardens somewhat.
When the baking dish has been in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so, start making your chocolate topping. Using the same pot as before, make sure all the rice krispie remnants are removed. Over low heat, whisk together your chocolate chips and coconut oil. (Yes, you want the little bit of the nut butter mixture from earlier to mix in with the chocolate.) Continue to stir the chocolate until it melts and is smooth.
Remove your baking dish from the refrigerator and spread your melted chocolate over the rice krispies evenly. Place the dish into the freezer (or refrigerator for longer time, but I couldn’t wait) for 20-30 minutes.
Once the chocolate is solid, Slide a knife around the edges of the bars to loosen them from the sides of the baking dish. Lay out a piece of wax or parchment paper, roughly cut to a 9×13 size. Carefully flip the baking dish over on top of the paper so that the bars easily come loose and fall out (chocolate will be face side down). You may have to give the underside of the baking dish a few taps to get it out.
Carefully flip the bars back over so the chocolate is on top (it may be easier to cut the rectangle in half first). Using a large, sharp knife, start cutting your bars into the desired size. Serve or freeze in an airtight container for up to 6 weeks.

These bars are so good, you’ll never guess they were allergen-free!
Michelle is blessed to stay home with her three children (ages 10, 7, and 4), while her husband works to provide. When she’s not experimenting with allergy-friendly meals, she’s blogging about it at The Willing Cook. Through the Willing Cook, her hope is that you gain peace of mind in your kitchen (and your pocket book) and are able to serve those you love who suffer with food allergies.

Are you joining us for Lunchbox Freezer Cooking? If you’ve blogged about a lunchbox recipes you’ve made for your freezer, leave a link to your post and recipe below. I can’t wait to see your yummy recipes and ideas!

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Shared Sep 28, 2012 comment

Coming next week… Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Pumpkin!

Published: by Crystal Paine on September 28, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I don’t know about you, but I am so excited that it’s finally fall. It’s my very favorite season of the year for a lot of different reasons, one of which is that pumpkin is in abundance!

In celebration of the beginning of fall, I’m going to be featuring A Week of Pumpkin Recipes starting on Monday. I’ll be trying quite a few new recipes and can’t wait to share photos and details of how they turn out!

Can’t wait until Monday for pumpkin recipes? Check out Andrea’s Pumpkin Recipes round-up post. And you can also get a sneak peek at some of the recipes I’m considering making over on my Pinterest page.

Shared Sep 28, 2012 comment

Frugal Photo Friday: Making Starbucks at Home

Published: by Crystal Paine on September 28, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

As you well know, I tend to be just a little bit frugal. Er, well, maybe more like a lot frugal. My husband says that if I were left on my own, I’d never spend any money on myself. I love to spend money on others, but when it comes to me, I’ll just keep using and re-using whatever I already have.

That’s not always a bad thing… especially considering all of the money it has saved us over the years. Sometimes we lose sight of just how much these simple things we do really benefit our lives. And it’s time that we celebrated the simple savings!

Welcome to Frugal Photo Friday! For the next month I am partnering with Rebekah from SimplyRebekah to bring you a fun series dedicated to inspiring others and celebrating our simple savings. We’ll be sharing photos each Friday of simple ways that we save money. And we’d love for you to join us!

How it will work:

Each Friday in October Rebekah and I will share pictures on our blogs that demonstrate ways that we save money. At the end of our posts we’ll have a link-up where you can share a link to your own blog post. Your Frugal Photo Friday post should include at least one photograph along with a brief caption or story that explains how you saved money.

We will have themes for each Friday. Feel free to share photos that fit either of the themes for that week.

October 5 – Kids, Bath & Beauty
October 12 – Food & Fun
October 19 – Home & Decor
October 26 – Anything Goes!

The Details:

No blog? You can also share your pictures on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #FrugalPhotoFriday.

Frugal Photo Friday posts will go live on Friday mornings and the link-up will stay open until Sunday night at 11:59 PM.

You will only need to share your link on one of our blogs and it will automatically be displayed on both blogs.

Please link directly to your Frugal Photo Friday post and not to your homepage.

Feel free to grab the Frugal Photo Friday button to use in your post.

Please include a link back to Money Saving Mom or Simply Rebekah in your post so others can be encouraged by all the savings.

There is no time limit on your savings. We want to see things that saved you money this week, last month, last year, or beyond!

To kick things off, Rebekah and I are each sharing a photo of a simple way we save. Here’s mine:

Making Starbucks at Home

Wait, you don’t think Starbucks coffee is frugal? Well, let me tell you, it’s a whole lot cheaper to make your own Starbucks at home then to buy it at the coffee shop.

Sure, I’d save even more money if I gave up coffee altogether. But brewing my morning cup puts a smile on my face. I sit and savor it — and it just starts my day off on the right foot.

After lots of practice, I’ve learned how to make coffee at home just exactly how Jesse and I love it. In fact, we both agree that I can brew a better cup of coffee than any coffee shop we’ve visited.

So not only have we saved a lot of money by making coffee at home, we just plain think the coffee we make at home is better. Win-win!

Head over to SimplyRebekah for her photo and tip on how she saves money on gift wrap.

Shared Sep 28, 2012 comment

Turkey and Cheese Pinwheels

Published: by Crystal Paine on September 28, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

These roll-ups are something fun and a little different to include in those school lunches. They also are an attractive, can’t-go-wrong addition to any table of finger foods.

Guest post from Brigette Shevy

You will love these easy Turkey and Cheese Rollups!

This “recipe” is so simple that I don’t think it can even be called a recipe.

This is a great basic idea to be creative with. Sometimes I add chopped olives or flat leaf spinach for more variety and color (just make sure you don’t add anything wet or bulky). You can also make these up several hours (up to a day) in advance and keep them covered in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve them (although I can’t vouch for the make-ahead factor if you’ve added in extra ingredients).

I make these look a little more like “pinwheels” (or flowers, or windmills, or whatever you think they resemble!) for my children’s lunches at home by arranging them with apple/orange slices and a carrot stick (see photo below). They love it! So much so, that I gave up on trying to get a photo I was happy with – it was just too traumatizing for my 19-month old to see “his” lunch and not be allowed to touch it. 🙂

Ingredients for Turkey and Cheese Pinwheels

Cream cheese at room temperature (so you can spread it easily)
10-inch flour tortillas
Very thinly sliced cheese at room temperature
Very thinly sliced turkey deli meat

How to Make Turkey and Cheese Pinwheels

Spread tortilla(s) with a thin layer of cream cheese, going all the way to the edges.
Place a single layer of thin cheese on top, stopping about ½”-1” before you get to the edges.
Place a single layer of meat on top of the cheese, stopping about ½”-1” before you get to the edges.
Starting with the side closest to you, roll the tortilla up tightly. Trim off the ends.
Cut each tortilla into 8 slices (or whatever size you want them).
Serve immediately, or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.

They should stay secure without a toothpick.

Recipe

Turkey and Cheese Pinwheels

Author Brigette

Course Main Course, Snack

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5

Ingredients

Cream cheese at room temperature so you can spread it easily
10-inch flour tortillas
Very thinly sliced cheese at room temperature
Very thinly sliced turkey deli meat

Instructions

Spread tortilla(s) with a thin layer of cream cheese, going all the way to the edges.
Place a single layer of thin cheese on top, stopping about ½”-1” before you get to the edges.
Place a single layer of meat on top of the cheese, stopping about ½”-1” before you get to the edges.
Starting with the side closest to you, roll the tortilla up tightly. Trim off the ends.
Cut each tortilla into 8 slices (or whatever size you want them).
Serve immediately, or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Love this recipe?

Make sure to share and save it on your favorite platform below!

Pin Recipe

Brigette is a full-time wife and mother who is blessed with three amazing bundles of energy (ages 5, 3 and 1). She enjoys music, experimenting in the kitchen, homeschooling her children, finding great deals, long-distance running, and anything chocolate.

Shared Sep 27, 2012 comment

Pinterest Experiment: Homemade Scrubbing Bubbles

Published: by Crystal Paine on September 27, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I find a lot of great ideas on Pinterest… but pinning something doesn’t do anything unless I actually, you know, try the idea. So I thought it’d be fun to challenge myself to do at least one Pinterest experiment every week — and blog my results. You can follow my personal Pinterest account here, if you’re interested.

Update: So it looks like this isn’t really that effective of a cleaning agent after all, according to this post. You’d probably just be better off sticking with vinegar or baking soda.

I saw this recipe for Homemade Toilet Bomb on Pinterest and knew I had to try it. It just looked plain fun — plus, it looked so simple.

Well, apparently I forgot what I had learned back in grade school about the reaction you’ll get when you mix baking soda and vinegar. Um, yup, I ended up getting my toilet and my kitchen table cleaned out of the deal. 😉

Truthfully, the recipe worked great, but I think it would work just as well to scrub the toilet with baking soda and/or spray it with vinegar. But if it makes you feel better to clean with something that looks kind of like Scrubbing Bubbles (versus straight vinegar or baking soda), then this is your recipe.

But learn a lesson from me: either mix it up in a big container, directly in the toilet, or cut the recipe in half. 😉

Homemade Scrubbing Bubbles

1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup white vinegar
5 drops essential oil

Mix together in a large container, dump into the toilet, and scrub away. 🙂

Original recipe from How Does She

Have you tried any ideas or recipes you’ve found on Pinterest recently? If so, I’d love to hear how they worked out for you. Feel free to leave your blog link in the comments if you blogged about your experiment!

Shared Sep 27, 2012 comment

Corn Dog Muffins

Published: by Crystal Paine on September 27, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Looking for a fantastically frugal and delicious lunch or after-school snack for your kids? Try these quick and easy corn dog muffins!

There’s a big debate over whether or not corn bread should be sweet or not… if you’re in the camp that says it should not be sweet, then this recipe probably isn’t for you. 🤣

But if you love a good piece of sweet, moist cornbread, you have got to try my World’s Best Honey Cornbread recipe. Because you know I don’t dub something “world’s best” unless I believe in all sincerity it is.

We Love Corn Dog Muffins!

I took that cornbread recipe and used it to make these easy and delicious “Corn Dog Muffins”, which are basically just a much easier way to make homemade corn dogs.

You don’t get to eat these on a stick like a typical corn dog, but the taste is exactly the same.

Last time I made Corn Dog Muffins, I put in a big chunk of beef hotdogs in the center of each muffin.

I decided I wasn’t completely sure that I loved that idea, so this time, I cut the beef hotdogs into chunks and then put a spoonful of batter on the bottom of the muffin tin, some chunks of beef dog, and topped it with another spoonful of corn bread batter.

The results were delicious and kid-approved!

Ingredients for Corn Dog Muffins

1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
2 eggs
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup milk
1 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup corn meal
1/2 tsp salt
all-beef hotdogs, cut into bite-size chunks

How to Make Corn Dog Muffins

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter.

3. Add in eggs, honey, and milk and mix well.

4. In a smaller bowl, mix flour, baking powder, corn meal and salt.

5. Carefully stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients (Do not overmix — the batter will be lumpy.)

6. Put a large spoonful of batter at the bottom of each muffin cup..

7. Spoon several chunks of hotdogs over the batter.

8. Cover hotdogs with another spoonful (or two) of batter.

9. Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until cooked through.

Recipe

Author Crystal Paine

Course Appetizer, Main Course, Snack

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10