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Shared May 22, 2012 comment

Cash4Books: Make an additional 15% back for selling your used books

Published: by Crystal Paine on May 22, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Have extra books around your home that you no longer need or use? Definitely check Cash4Books.net, MyBookBuyer.com, and Amazon’s Trade-In Program to see how much they would pay you for selling your books to them.

Cash4Books is also offering a 15% bonus on your buyback total through June 8, 2012. All you have to do to get the bonus is use bonus code SecretStash at checkout and they’ll automatically give you the 15% bonus when they send your payment.

If you decide to sell your books to Cash4Books, you can print out a free shipping label so that there is no cost to you to ship the book. After your books are received, inspected and marked as ‘processed’, payment will be made within three business days. You can choose to be paid via Paypal or check.

If your books aren’t worth much, you might also consider listing them on PaperBackSwap so that you can swap them for books you are interested in reading.

Related posts:

Make Money Selling Books With MyBookBuyer.com
Earn Amazon Credit For Used Books Through Amazon’s Trade-In Program

(Note: Some of the links in this post are my referral links. Read our disclosure policy here.)

Shared May 21, 2012 comment

4 Weeks to Fill Your Freezer: Week #4 Freezer-Friendly Snacks & Desserts + Shopping List

Published: by Crystal Paine on May 21, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Can you believe we’ve made it to the last week of freezer cooking? My freezer is getting so stocked and it has been wonderful.

With Memorial Day weekend coming up, I’m spacing out the recipes a bit more this week to give everyone a little bit more time to play along (should you so choose) and to also give myself the flexibility to not blog much on Monday. 🙂

My apologies in advance that all but one of these recipes has chocolate in it. What can I say? “Dessert” and “snack” is pretty much synonymous with “chocolate” at our house. 🙂 And no day is complete without at at least a little bit of chocolate!

Here’s this week’s list of Snack and Dessert Recipes I’ll be making to stick in the freezer along with a grocery list (let me know if you see any mistakes on amounts needed):

Freezer-Friendly Snack and Dessert Recipes

Wednesday — One batch of Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Thursday — Double batch of Easy Morning Glory Muffins {I’ll share my “health-i-fied” version of this recipe on Thursday.}
Friday — Double batch of No Bake Energy Bites
Tuesday — One batch of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Wednesday – Double batch of Chocolate Banana Bread

Grocery List

(I rounded up on the amounts needed, just to be safe. You probably have many of these items already on hand. You’ll want to double-check that you have the correct amounts, though.)

16 eggs
8 cups sugar (or raw sugar)
3/4 cup brown sugar (or raw sugar)
6 cups rolled oats
1 1/3 cups peanut butter (or other nut butter)
1 (16 oz.) can pureed pumpkin
3 1/2 cups oil
12 cups flour
3 packages chocolate chips
2/3 cup honey
3 cup coconut flakes (For No Bake Energy Bites or Easy Morning Glory Muffins — could substitute something else if your family doesn’t like coconut.)
1 cup flaxseed (For No Bake Energy Bites — could substitute wheat germ or something for this.)
4 cups shredded carrots
1 cup raisins
6 bananas
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
2 apples
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 sticks butter

Staple Ingredients:

Vanilla
Salt
Baking Soda
Baking Powder
Cinnamon

Freezer Storage Items Needed

Foil
Plastic Wrap
8-12 large ziptop freezer bags
Something to label packages with (marker to write on bags, labels, and/or tape)

Click on the “Print This” tab at the top of the list to generate a printer-friendly list. (If you’re reading via email or a feed reader, you may need to click through to the post to print the list.)

Shared May 21, 2012 comment

Chicken Broccoli Rice

Published: by Crystal Paine on May 21, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Need another weeknight staple to add to your meal planning rotation? This easy casserole is it. Plus, you can easily double or triple the recipe as it freezes wonderfully!

Why we love Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole is delicious, filling, frugal, and freezer-friendly!

It’s the perfect family-friendly meal for busy weeknights when you just want to defrost something and bake it ASAP.

And thanks to the delicious cheesy sauce, your kids probably won’t even complain about eating their broccoli!

Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole Ingredients

10 cups cooked rice (white or brown)
4 cups cooked chicken, chopped (I bake mine in the oven like this.)
4 cups chopped broccoli, lightly steamed (frozen or fresh)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (or 2 batches of homemade cream of mushroom soup)
2 cans cream of chicken soup (or 2 batches of homemade cream of chicken soup)
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

NOTE: This recipe makes 4 freezer bags worth of casserole — or roughly around 15-20 servings as each freezer bag serves 4-5 people.

Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole substitutions and variations

This casserole is not an exact science by any means — please feel free to mix up the ingredients to fit your family’s taste preferences or whatever you already have in the house.

Here are a few ideas to get you thinking:

substitute turkey for chicken (perfect for post-Thanksgiving leftovers!)
swap HALF the chicken for cubed ham and substitute Swiss cheese for cheddar (a.k.a. chicken cordon bleu)
use cooked quinoa or barley instead of rice
use mixed vegetables, chopped spinach, or even green beans in place of (or in addition to) broccoli
sprinkle the top of the casserole with breadcrumbs for a crunchy topping

How to Make Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.

2. Divide mixture into 4 zip-top freezer bags. Label and seal them tightly.

how to freeze chicken broccoli rice casserole

3. Freeze the bags flat.

4. TO COOK: Thaw one bag overnight (or for 8 hours) in the refrigerator.

5. Dump the contents of the bag into a greased casserole dish (one bag fills an 8×8″ pan; two bags fills a 9×13″ pan).

6. Sprinkle with additional shredded cheese, if desired.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until heated through and bubbly.

Chicken Broccoli Rice Recipe Tips

If you’re planning to make a big batch of this casserole for the freezer, you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of large mixing bowls handy — as well as a variety of freezer containers or bags.

Also, make sure all the ingredients are fully cooked before adding them to the casserole — you don’t want to be surprised by raw chicken or crunchy rice when it’s time for dinner!

Remember to grease whatever baking pan you use to cook the casserole as this recipe can be a bit sticky.

And feel free to let your kids help — this is a great recipe to let them dump and mix!

What to serve with Chicken Broccoli Casserole

This meal technically contains all your food groups, so if you’re short on time, you don’t really need anything extra… however, here are a few serving suggestions our family enjoys.

fresh fruit
applesauce
homemade bread or rolls
more cooked veggies
a lettuce or spinach salad

Recipe

Chicken Rice and Broccoli

Author Crystal Paine

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 30

Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole is delicious, filling, frugal, and freezer-friendly!

It's the perfect family-friendly meal for busy weeknights when you just want to defrost something and bake it ASAP.

Ingredients

10 cups cooked rice
4 cups cooked chicken chopped or shredded
4 cups broccoli lightly steamed and chopped
2 cans cream of mushroom soup 14 oz each
2 cans creams of chicken soup 14 oz each
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.
Divide mixture into 4 ziptop freezer bags. Label and seal them tightly.
Freeze the bags flat.

TO COOK:

Thaw one bag overnight (or for 8 hours) in the refrigerator.
Dump the contents of the bag into a greased casserole dish (one bag fills an 8×8″ pan; two bags fills a 9×13″ pan)
Sprinkle with additional shredded cheese, if desired.
Bake at 350ºF for 25-30 minutes, or until heated through and bubbly.

Nutrition

Love this recipe?

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Did you do any freezer cooking over the past two days? If so, I’d love to see the results of your efforts! Link up your blog posts below or tell us about your success in the comments.

Shared May 21, 2012 comment

10 Goals for This Week

Published: by Crystal Paine on May 21, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

So, I kinda bombed last week… I had this lingering sinus infection most of the week and I was highly unmotivated as a result. I’m trying to dose up on a lot of Vitamin C and other things to boost my immune system — and trying not to get too discouraged that it is hanging on for so long.

The good news is that I did chip away at almost all the goals on the list, but I only completely accomplished three of them. By the way, I really, really tried to get 7.5 hour of sleep every night, but all the congestion made sleeping difficult and uncomfortable. Which, of course, doesn’t exactly lend itself to helping me get better — it’s kind of a vicious cycle!

Here’s to hoping this week is a better week — and that maybe I can find some relief from the sinus infection. {I’m *this* close to breaking down and trying a neti-pot. But it just weirds me out so much that I’ve not worked up the nerve yet! Yes, you can tell me I’m crazy! :)}

Last week’s goals:

Family/Mothering Goals

1. Finish reading Quest for Truth:Taken and Spy for the Night Riders aloud to the children.

~~2. Start our summer schedule.~~

~~3. Write a love note to Jesse.~~

Personal Goals

4. Finish reading Escape from Saddam. Start The Referral Engine.

5. Run at least five times.

6. Listen to 2 hours of The Little Big Things.

7. Sleep for at least 7.5 hours every night.

Home Management

~~8. Follow my Freezer Cooking plan and blog about it.~~

9. Make Homemade English Muffins.

Business Goals

10. Write one article for another site.

This week’s goals {pretty much a repeat!}:

Family/Mothering Goals

1. Finish reading Quest for Truth:Taken and Spy for the Night Riders aloud to the children.

2. Go to a baseball game and musical production as a family.

3. Write a love note to Jesse.

Personal Goals

4. Finish reading Escape from Saddam. Start The Referral Engine.

5. Run at least five times.

6. Listen to 2 hours of The Little Big Things.

7. Sleep for at least 7.5 hours every night.

Home Management

8. Follow my Freezer Cooking plan and blog about it.

9. Make Homemade English Muffins.

Business Goals

10. Write one article for another site.

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.

Shared May 21, 2012 comment

This week’s menu

Published: by Crystal Paine on May 21, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Easy Italian Breadsticks (made in the bread machine!)

Breakfasts

Granola bars
Cereal
Baked Oatmeal (from the freezer)
Scrambled eggs, Cinnamon Roll Biscuits, fruit salad
Banana Split Pancakes
Omelets in a Muffin Tin, Fruit
Homemade English Muffins, scrambled eggs, fruit

Lunches

Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches from the freezer
Lunch with friends
Leftovers x 2
Cheese Quesadillas, carrots, fruit
Salad, Hard-boiled eggs, toast, fruit
Snack-y lunch

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Chocolate Waffle Ice Cream Sandwiches
Better for You Banana Bread

Dinners

Dinner with extended family
Italian Chicken, Bread Machine Buttery Rolls, steamed veggies, fruit
Southwest Rollups from the freezer, steamed veggies, sliced oranges & apples
Homemade Pizza, tossed salad, fruit salad
Dinner out
Ham & Cheese Pockets from the freezer, fruit salad, steamed veggies
Lasagna Casserole, Easy Italian Breadsticks, steamed broccoli, fruit

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

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Shared May 21, 2012 comment

How to Plan a Frugal Camping Trip

Published: by Crystal Paine on May 21, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post from Jackie of Mom on a Mission

Our family loves the great outdoors! Three years ago we bought a pop-up camper through Craigslist to make lasting family memories. My husband bought it off season and got it way below book value.

A year later we began to look for a camper with a bathroom, knowing we were having a little one on the way. Our friend found a used hybrid Jay Feather during the winter — we got a great price and begin to look for ways to save at the campground before the Spring.

Here are just a few of the ways we came up with:

Use membership discounts.

Good Sam RV Club and Passport America both offer discounts through a reasonable membership fee. Passport offers a whopping 50% off nationwide participating campgrounds. KOA offers discounts on special weekends. We camp at KOA when they run buy one get one free nights.

Some campgrounds offer free nights. For instance, Adventure Bound in Gatlinburg, TN offers all military, police, fire, nurses, EMT and teachers free camping for two nights on a designated weekend of the year. KOA offers buy one night, get one free on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day weekends.

Google “free camping”, “discount camping” and “complimentary camping” to see if there are any local campground deals in your area.

Dovetail your camping with local attractions.

We bought season passes at Dollywood in Tennessee this year so we will coincide our camping trips with our trips to Dollywood and Spash Country, use our Passport America discount, and save money on food by eating in our camper.

We live in a gorgeous area where there are plenty of hiking trails, natural water falls, slides, fishing, kayaking, and natural beauty. Different areas offer museums, parks, playgrounds, and more.

Research your camping area and look for discounts to those places as well. Groupon and Living Social sometimes offer half price tickets to different attractions.

Pack your freezer food and plan a menu.

You would think in the great outdoors, you could easily scrounge up something tasty. This is true when you only have one meal to plan, but most mommas would agree a healthy weekend requires some planning ahead to avoid last-minute purchases from the overpriced camp store.

This momma plans a camping menu just like our home menu — complete with breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner. I like to write it down and make as much as possible ahead of time. Salads, snacks, and fresh veggies can easily be stored in ziptop bags to fit inside a compact camper fridge or cooler.

I use a plastic shoe box to store items such as marinated chicken and homemade flatbreads for grilled pizza and/or gyros.

I like to make a healthy homemade trail mix with nuts as a protein snack. I often make freezer breakfast burritos or breakfast bagel bites for easier clean up in the camper. A fresh fruit basket on the table is a perfect way to implement grab-and-go for the kids.

Just like Crystal, I’m an avid freezer cook and I pack a cooler of freezer goodies right before we head out.

Many times camping can be just as costly as a motel visit. However, when you take these money saving ideas into consideration, you may find camping a frugal, family fun adventure like we do!

Jackie Brown is a Mom on a Mission, freezer cooking for her family while serving the poor and needy in her community.

Shared May 19, 2012 comment

4 Ways to Save Money on Moving

Published: by Crystal Paine on May 19, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post by Meg from Saving On The Essentials

Moving can be a stressful time. Between packing your current house, coordinating schedules with those helping you move, and unpacking, things can quickly get stressful.

As if that isn’t enough to take care of, you also have to keep in mind the cost of moving: renting versus borrowing trucks, the cost of boxes, tape, and packaging material for fragile items, and much more.

Here are a few tips I have put into action during our last two moves to help keep our moving costs minimum:

1. Research Prices on Moving Trucks

My husband and I moved twice in a six month period. The first time was only a few blocks so we were able to use my brother in law’s truck and as well as our our vehicles to move our entire house.

However, during our second move, we moved out of state. We knew that we would need to rent a truck in order to move our house in one trip. As we began to research prices, we found a wide range and were shocked at how much it costs to rent a moving truck!

Make sure to compare prices in order to get the best bang for your buck. Read all the fine print to see who charges the most for miles traveled over the set limit, late fees, and any other hidden fees.

We were surprised to be charged a $5 Environmental Fee from our truck rental because the company uses an environmentally friendly soap when washing their vehicles.

2. Find a Great Deal on Moving Boxes

When we reserved our moving van, we had the option of purchasing moving supplies. These came to a whopping total of $100! Needless to say, we opted for a more affordable (free) option.

We were blessed to receive a lot of our moving boxes from my husbands workplace, but we also were able to get them from our local grocery stores, Craigslist, family, friends, and neighbors.

3. Use Items on Hand to Protect Breakables

Use your wash clothes, towels, newspapers, expired coupons, and other items you have on hand to protect your breakable items. Clothes and towels are going to take up space when you box them to move anyway so make sure to put them to good use during your move!

4. Plan Your Moving Day Meal in Advance

When our moving day arrived I was ill prepared to feed those who so generously offered to help us move. Due to the fact that we were moving and all of our pots, pans, plates, silverware, and glasses were loaded into the moving van, we opted to splurge for a pizza lunch as a way to thank our family and friends for their help during our move. Easy prep and clean up is a must!

Using these simple money-saving tips, we were able to keep our moving expenses to a minimum.

What are your best tips for saving money on moving?

Meg Kavanaugh is an Arkansas native married to her best friend, Andrew. When she isn’t bargain hunting she spends her spare time with family, reading, or photographing God’s beautiful creation! She shares her love for frugal living and money saving tips over at Saving On The Essentials.

photo credit

Shared May 18, 2012 comment

We Paid Cash: A New-to-Us Car

Published: by Crystal Paine on May 18, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

We paid cash! A testimony by Kate from San Diego Deals and Steals

In 2011, we completed our second adoption process – this time completely debt free! One of the ways we did this was by praying my husband’s 99 Camry (with over 250,000 miles and a cracked radiator) would last just a bit longer.

Since we were fundraising for our adoption, we didn’t want to spend any extra on anything unless we absolutely had to. However, as soon as we completed our adoption, our next financial move was to save for a slight upgrade to his car.

We put the money we had been putting in our “adoption fund” into the “newish car fund”. Here are some of the ways we saved:

working odd jobs
continuing to cut back our grocery budget and cooking at home from scratch
enjoying free entertainment – playing at the park, renting free movies, street fairs, etc.
the little bit of money I made from my blog
random, unexpected commission checks (hubby is a freelance artist and writer – his commission check was more than we anticipated this year so we got to our goal six months early!)

It all added up and we saved just over $6,000 without touching our emergency fund!

Our goal was to spend less than $6000 and not include the money we would make from our old car sale. We found a 2004 VW Passat with a little over 100,000 miles (that may seem like an old car to some – but it was dreamy for us!) and purchased it for just under $5,500.

Thank goodness he holds none of his self-worth in what he drives! We have lots of friends with much nicer cars, but he doesn’t care. He says, “Ours is paid for!” (Love him for that).

His new car also gets better gas mileage so he will save about $1 each day on his 40+ mile commute. That is going to help as we continue to work on our Baby Steps. We also sold our car (with full disclosure) for $1,700 the very low blue book value – but we wanted to be honest with our sale.

I know many people would have thought nothing of financing a $20,000 car with that $6,000 down. Instead, we just bought a less expensive car and put the money leftover (the extra $500 from our car savings and the $1,700 from the sale of his old car) into our Emergency Fund savings in the bank.

Kate lives in San Diego CA with her husband Harry, and kids, Josie (homemade), Silas (handpicked from Russia), and Charlotte (handpicked domestically). She is passionate about adoption and having fun in San Diego frugally. You can see more at San Diego Deals and Steals where she blogs about both.

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

Shared May 18, 2012 comment

Best Frozen Pizza Dough

Published: by Crystal Paine on May 18, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Homemade pizza is such a family-friendly meal… and extra delicious with a homemade crust. This recipe is super easy (and freezer-friendly!)

You Will Love this Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe

This pizza crust recipe has been my go-to recipe for years. It’s so easy to make — and it’s really hard to ruin. In fact, I’ve made it dozens upon dozens of times and I don’t think I’ve ever messed it up.

That’s saying a lot coming from someone like me, who can even ruin simple recipes like Reese’s Peanut Butter Bars.

Can you freeze pizza dough?

Last year, I experimented with freezing the pizza dough — to make it even quicker to pull off Homemade Pizza for dinner.

While I still think fresh is best, the frozen dough is almost as good — and it’s much less expensive than ordering pizza for dinner! 🙂

Ingredients for Homemade Pizza Dough

2 cups warm water (105º to 115º F)
2 Tablespoons active dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 Tablespoons oil (vegetable, Canola, or olive oil)
5 cups flour (can use all whole-wheat, half white/half whole-wheat, or all white)

How to Make The Best Pizza Dough

1. Pour warm water into a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast over it. Stir to dissolve.

2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix.

3. Dump onto a floured surface and knead dough for 3-5 minutes, or until smooth and no longer sticky.

4. Cut the lump of dough in half and roll out onto 2 greased pizza pans OR, put each half of dough into an airtight freezer bag and freeze for 4-6 weeks.

5. To Bake with Fresh dough: Add pizza toppings of your choice. Bake at 500ºF for around 10 minutes (until the crust looks crispy and lightly browned).

6. To Bake from Frozen dough: Place frozen dough in a greased bowl, cover with a damp towel, and thaw at room temperature for at least 3-4 hours. Roll out and shape onto a greased pizza pan. Add pizza toppings of your choice. Bake at 500ºF for around 10 minutes (until the crust looks crispy and lightly browned).

How to freeze Homemade Pizza Dough

The best way to freeze this homemade pizza dough is to divide the dough ball into 2 portions and place each into a gallon-size zip top freezer bag. Squeeze the air out, label, and freeze for 4-6 weeks.

I’ve found it often works best to let the dough cool in the refrigerator (in the zip top bags) before freezing it. The dough will continue to rise in the fridge, so you may need to squeeze the air out of the bag a couple of times.

How to thaw this Frozen Pizza Dough Recipe

You’ll want to plan ahead about 5 hours when using frozen pizza dough — as that’s about how long it takes to defrost, top, and bake.

1. Place frozen dough in a greased bowl and thaw at room temperature for at least 3-4 hours.

2. Roll out defrosted dough and shape onto a greased pizza pan.

3. Add pizza toppings of your choice.

4. Bake at 500ºF for around 10 minutes (until the crust looks crispy and lightly browned).

Does Frozen Pizza Dough need to rise after thawing?

Nope! Simply defrosted the dough enough so you can roll it out, then top and bake!

Fun recipes to try with the Best Homemade Pizza Dough

Olympic Rings Pizza
Homemade Hawaiian Pizza
Grilled Pizza
Pepperoni Rolls
Stromboli (add the filling to half the dough, fold the other half over the filling)

Recipe