Outdoor Vacation Play

This almost seems ridiculous, but GET CREATIVE when it comes to vacation activities! The country is covered with amazing natural recreation activities. There are creeks, lakes, ponds, rivers and beaches everywhere. We don't spend money taking our kids to amusement parks or water parks, we take them to the rivers and beaches instead and I promise you it does not require any additional planning or effort, but it is free. One of the kids most favorite vacation activities is swimming in a river and catching polliwogs. We hear memories about this activity all year long and the instant we mention a pending trip to Grandma's house they ask if they will get to go catch polliwogs again.

Today, we spent our second day in a row at the nearby river. The kids collected river clams and rocks. They floated in the river and they hunted for polliwogs (giant tadpoles) and crawdads. I'm not exaggerating one bit when I tell you those kids were in the river for 5+ hours without any comments concerning boredom. On other summer outings we take the kids to the beach, where they will play in the waves all day as well.

When planning your next vacation, think about free activities that might be available. Make some sandwiches and fill a cooler with ice and sodas and head out to fill those little minds with so many summertime memories they will be positively delighted! Think outside of the box, consider fishing, swimming, floating and hiking... kids love these things and you will enjoy all of the money you WON'T be spending.

Planning Your Vacation

Vacation time! Every year we plan an annual vacation to my husband's parents house. Yep, that's right... we go over the hills and through the woods to Grandmother's house. We have a few reasons for planning this annual trip. First, the kids love spending time with their grandparents and we believe that these extended family relationships are extremely important. Second, we hope that the repetition and tradition of it will build fantastic lasting childhood memories. And third, it is an inexpensive trip for the family.

When planning a family trip, consider your options of places that you can stay with family or friends. It is a two for the price of one win for us. We get to spend time as a family, with family and it is inexpensive. My in-laws live in an area with wonderful things to do. The kids have favorite activities and things to do while we are here, things they look forward to all year long. We could not ask for a better vacation destination.

Utilize your resources for your trip. Visit family and friends, and while there make sure to be good guests so that you will be welcome to return the following year.

Hair Band Organization

In a home with long-haired girls we have hair accessories... hair accessories of every kind and color. They are coming out of our ears. One of the things we use the most are small, colored hair elastics.These little things could drive me absolutely to distraction. They are a one use product, after a day in the hair they are thrown away, but it is before they make it to the hair that they are difficult. They are so small and they scatter everywhere. When I want 4 yellow bands to match an outfit, I don't want to sort through all of our hair accessories to find them. A couple years ago, I picked up a small craft organizer. It is the perfect solution for the hair elastic craziness. Each little section holds a different color and keeps them organized and within easy reach. I don't know how I ever survived without this for the organization of our colorful hair bands!

For the time and frustration it saves, this little craft organizer is definitely a Favorite Thing!

Homemade Goo

We have great summers at our house. Lots of activities and outings and we try really hard to focus on all things that are kid approved and kid fun. I believe that rules, structure, and activities make for a smooth-"er" experience for all of us while we spend so much together time. However, occasionally, so much together time can cause for some little rough patches where not everyone is everyone else's best friend... My kids really do get along well, but from time to time they get sick of each other and feelings get a little tender. We had one of these moments last week. I mediated the issue and realized that a little more was needed, we needed a happy distraction. Thankfully, I was inspired and my mind immediately went back to a post I had seen on New Nostalgia for Homemade slime. I pulled up the information and THREE minutes later we had some completely distracted and happy children.

My children decided that they prefer to call this "Homemade Goo." It was so easy to make, it was completely ready for them to play with in less than three minutes and they thought it was one of the greatest things we have ever done! I made them two batches and my two girls played with it for a 3 1/2 hour stretch of time and then got it out again and played with it again the next day. It completely saved the day and I will keep the idea at the top of my list for a great distraction activity.

Homemade Goo Recipe
2 mixing bowls
Warm water
White School Glue
4 to 8 drops liquid food coloring
Borax

Mix together 1/3 cup warm water and  1/2 cup of school glue with food coloring. In a separate bowl mix 3/4 cups of warm water with 2 Tbs of Borax. Pour the Borax mixture into the glue mixture stirring rapidly and continuously. Remove the glob of slime and kneed for 2 minutes.

Store in a ziploc bag.

Enjoy the hours of peace and quiet while your children enjoy this simple concoction!

(Because of the Borax in this, I warned my children to keep this completely away from their mouths!)

Baking Soda in the Swimming Pool

Look at those little words there at the bottom of the bag of Baking Soda. Did you know that Baking Soda was helpful for swimming pool maintenance? I didn't realize this until last year. I started adding this to our pool and I've loved the results. Each week I add 2 lbs of Baking Soda to the water in our above ground pool (our pool is 10,000 gallons,) in addition to the normal chemicals. I am impressed by how clear and sparkly the water is after the addition of baking soda! Really, there is a visible difference. Baking Soda also makes the water less irritating to the eyes by balancing the PH level. I love this inexpensive addition to our pool maintenance regimen.

Homemade Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

I make loads of homemade ice cream for my family every year. It is so much cheaper than buying ice cream and it is so much tastier. Since, starting to make homemade yogurt this year, I have been planning that this would be the summer of homemade "fro yo!"

As soon as the weather got warm enough to put me in the mood for running the ice cream maker, I got busy making some homemade strawberry frozen yogurt using my homemade yogurt recipe. It turned out awesome delicious!

Homemade Strawberry Frozen Yogurt Recipe (6 Quarts)
3 Quarts Plain Yogurt
4 1/2 cups sliced and pureed strawberries
2 1/4 cups sugar
3 cups whipping cream

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Mix in ice cream maker according to manufacturers directions. (recipe adapted from Rival cookbook)

This is delicious! It is sweet and tart and tangy. Because I made this with Fat Free yogurt and the recipe calls for very little sugar, this yogurt does freeze up hard. To serve, I've found that if I microwave it on high for 30 seconds, it softens it enough to be servable.

I also love that I don't have to feel incredibly guilty about enjoying this "healthy-er" frozen treat... and it's cheap to make to boot!

(If you have a smaller ice cream freezer, please let me know, I'd be happy to provide the 4 Quart or 5 Quart versions of this recipe)

DIY: Coat and Hat Hook Rails

Our little house doesn't have a coat closet. With six people, I got extremely tired of having coats and sweaters strewn around the house. I started looking for a Coat and Hat Hook Rail to hang on an unused stretch of wall behind the front door. I quickly realized that this was not going to be an easy task. The rails I found that were the size I was seeking were all about $20, and I needed two of them. I also found that the hooks were all really close together, I didn't think that was such a good idea for children hanging large snow jackets.

After looking for a couple months, I began a discussion with my husband about the possibility of him making me two coat and hat hook rails. He decided that this would be an easy project and went about creating them for me. He started with a long piece of wood that was 1/2 " X 2 ". He cut this board into two pieces that were each two feet long. He routered the edges with a very simple bit, painted them white, then drilled holes in them and mounted four evenly spaced double hooks on each board. Each rail is attached to the wall with two sunken anchors.

This Coat and Hat Hook Rail is PERFECT. The total cost of doing the project ourselves was less than $15, a big DIY savings. If you don't have the ability to saw and router your own wood, your local home improvement warehouse store will make simple cuts for you when you purchase a piece of wood. Then you can have a simple unroutered version with just some paint and a drill, and that is a DIY project anyone can do.

And just like that my issue of not having a coat closet has been solved!

Favorite Things Friday- NO!

This CD is our family favorite! The first time my husband and I listened to it we rolled our eyes at the ridiculousness of the song lyrics, but there is no way we could have predicted how much the catchy little songs would grow on us. It is the CD I most enjoy playing with the kids in the car. It is so much fun to watch them sing and dance along to it. This is an album that is not annoying to parents like many others are, even when the kids ask for the songs to be repeated we are able to happily oblige.

Give it a try, you can't go wrong with They Might Be Giants! Adding No! to your collection will provide entertainment and enjoyment for all ages.

Just a bit of warning, these songs are so catchy that you might find yourself singing them at all hours of the day, whether the kids are around or not. I have found myself many times softly singing, "Don't cross the street in the middle, in the middle," and "Here on Fibber Island, we strum rubber guitars, our friends live on Mars, we sew buttons on our cars ". Fun Stuff!

Chicken and Rice

I realize there is nothing innovative or original about chicken and rice, but it is a crowd pleaser, it is easy and it is a one dish meal. It is a go-to meal for those nights when mom doesn't really feel like cooking and when I don't want to have to convince anyone to eat heartily.

So, even though there are a million versions of this dish available in nearly every cookbook, I thought I'd share with you how I make it. It is delicious and I think I make it the cheapest and easiest way possible.

Chicken and Rice
2 chicken breasts cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 tbs Lawry's Season Salt
3 cups uncooked white long grain rice
5 cups water
1 can cream of chicken soup
1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Heat olive oil in a large skillet that has a lid. Add chicken and season salt to oil and cook over medium heat until chicken is thoroughly cooked and brown on the outsides. Stir in rice, water and soup. Bring to boil. Cover and allow to cook over low heat for 20 minutes completely undisturbed. At the end of the 20 minutes turn the burner off and top with cheese, recover and allow to sit an additional 3-5 minutes. Serve immediately.

This meal is easy and delicious, just what a busy mom needs!

Free Office Software

How about saving $280? Doesn't that sound wonderful?

My husband works IT for a Major Company and he told me about this little doosey. If you have need for spreadsheets, word processing or creating slide shows on your computer this is a most excellent choice. There is no longer any need to fork out $280 for the Microsoft Office Suite, when Open Office provides fantastic software for FREE!

Advantages of OpenOffice as listed on their website:
-OpenOffice.org 3 is the result of over twenty years' software engineering. Designed from the start as a single piece of software, it has a consistency other products cannot match. A completely open development process means that anyone can report bugs, request new features, or enhance the software. The result: OpenOffice.org 3 does everything you want your office software to do, the way you want it to.

- OpenOffice.org 3 is easy to learn, and if you're already using another office software package, you'll take to OpenOffice.org 3 straight away. Our world-wide native-language community means that OpenOffice.org 3 is probably available and supported in your own language. And if you already have files from another office package - OpenOffice.org 3 will probably read them with no difficulty.

- Best of all, OpenOffice.org 3 can be downloaded and used entirely free of any licence fees. OpenOffice.org 3 is released under the LGPL licence. This means you may use it for any purpose - domestic, commercial, educational, public administration. You may install it on as many computers as you like. You may make copies and give them away to family, friends, students, employees - anyone you like.

Impressive!  OpenOffice is so adequate that my husbands company (The General... if you catch my drift) has seriously considered switching all of their machines to the OpenOffice Suite. If it's good enough for them, well then I think it'll fit your needs.


To Download the OpenOffice Suite visit http://www.openoffice.org/.

Homemade Trail Mix

I make ginormous amounts of homemade trail mix for about $15 and it is so easy!

The trick to making enormous quantities of trail mix for a relatively low price is shopping at Trader Joe's. They have the cheapest bags of nuts and dried fruits with the best selection. I like to go into the store and buy what strikes my fancy. Most often the cheapest and yummiest sounding items for me are the roasted peanuts, honey roasted peanuts (give the mix some sweetness), cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds and raisins.

I bring them home and mix them all up in my biggest mixing bowl. After they are all well mixed I store the mix in large ziploc bags. It costs less than $15 and is enough to fill two large bags.

This is the cheapest and easiest way I've found to make trail mix. I love that I control exactly what goes into my mix and I can keep it healthier.

We All Scream For Birthdays

It's another birthday party theme! This time it was all about ice cream. The request was simple, "I want an ice cream birthday." My husband and I came up with this decor that put ice cream all over the room and had the distinct feel of an ice cream parlor.

We made giant ice cream cones using recycled brown paper bags that were shaped into a cone shape and taped an inflated pink balloon into the top. We also made small cones to stick on the walls. For the small cones we used a poke-a-dot brown wrapping paper from the dollar store and round wall decals for the ice cream portion.

Table decorations were simple, I bought a couple of sundae glasses at the dollar store and filled them with Baskin Robins ice cream flavored hard candies.

And last but not least, I made ice cream cone cup cakes. These were so easy to make. I have seen several variations, but I chose to make them by filling a standard muffin tin with my cake batter and then gently putting the cones on the top and cooking as normal. The rising batter filled the cones so that they stuck on well and then when inverted the cupcakes in the cones made a nice round shape.

Simple and fun, just the way we like birthday parties!

Favorite Things Friday- Memory Foam Mattress

This is not a picture of me!

I love our mattress, I love our mattress, I love our mattress! Oh, and in case you missed my point there... I LOVE our mattress! 

Two years ago, at our whits end with our traditional mattress, we decided it was time to purchase a new one. We went to several furniture stores and laid on all of their beds. After our trials I knew without a doubt that I wanted a memory foam. The instant I laid on them my back felt so relaxed. So we started the process of narrowing our search down to get the best memory foam for the least amount of money. That is when my husband tracked down the most fantastic deal on Overstock.com. Their deal was at least half as expensive as anything else we could find. At first we were a bit hesitant about the quality, but with a 5 star customer rating and incredible reviews we thought we'd give it a try.

Hands down, the 8-inch Cool Sensations Memory Foam Mattress from Overstock.com is the best mattress I have ever slept on! Two years later, I am still as happy with it as the first day it arrived. The quality is great, the deal is great and I sleep better than great. The best part of memory foam is that I cannot feel the movements of my husband in bed next to me... you know those old commercials with a wine glass sitting on a mattress and they drop the bowling ball and the wine doesn't spill, well that is exactly what you could do with this mattress. 

If you are needing a new mattress, you will not find a better one for under $300. I can't imagine a better night sleep!

Peanut Butter Cups

Here is another recipe from my wonderful college roommate. These easy and delicious peanut butter cups have gotten me through some sickly pregnancies. When my body rejected every other food in the world, these were always delicious. They are a great inexpensive, quick and easy alternative to purchasing peanut butter cups. I think these taste better too!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cup Recipe
1 cup peanut butter
1 stick butter
2-3 cups powdered sugar
1-2 cups chocolate chips

Mix peanut butter and stick of butter in a microwavable bowl and heat until melted and liquidy. Stir in powdered sugar until mixture starts to thicken and takes on a paste like texture. Spread evenly in 13x9 baking dish. Cover top with single layer of chocolate chips. Heat in low temperature oven just until chocolate melts. Spread chocolate with a knife to form an even layer. Allow to cool completely and enjoy the deliciousness.

Summertime Food Budget

Summertime can turn into one giant boredom snack fest. Kids are home all day and in many parts of the country it can be almost unbearably hot for them to play outside. When I was young, I would "chunk" up each summer, eating too much and not exercising enough. School shopping was never a fun experience, and typically had to be postponed until I was back in school, on a normal eating routine and active again. I'm certain that my parents food budget was probably adversely effected each summer by my boredom snacking. I dreaded seeing my kids fall into the same cycle so I decided to have a plan.

With four kids and a tight budget it is important for me to have a summertime plan. The BIGGEST tip that has worked for me in regards to controlling my kids' snacking appetite is planning!

Here's how summer food works in our home:
-The kids eat breakfast between 7:30 and 8, just like they would if they were in school.
-Lunch is served at 12. I make a typical "sack lunch" for them most days even though they will be eating it at our own kitchen table on a plate. They each get a sandwich, a fruit, a granola bar and a miscellaneous extra such as homemade cookies, apple sauce, carrot sticks etc. 
-I serve one afternoon snack, at 3:30, the time they would normally be getting home from school. This snack MUST include a protein and a complex carb (sometimes I get a little lackadaisical about the complexity of the carb) Some afternoon snack examples include apple and peanut butter, cherries and string cheese, watermelon and nuts or a banana and chocolate protein shake. This combination is important because it must tide them over till dinner even though summertime dinners usually are a bit later in our home.
-Dinner is served around 6:30

The kitchen is closed for service at all other times. Most days I will post a menu on the refrigerator so the kids know exactly what to expect and what to look forward to. This simple plan has stopped our summer food budget from soaring and keeps us about even with the rest of the year.

Easy Steps to a Perfectly Clean Kitchen Sink

I spent much of my life in kitchen sink frustration. I would clean and clean and clean and no matter what I did I was never satisfied with the appearance of my stainless steel sink. Abrasive cleaners like Ajax and Comet would leave a white residue that was ugly. More mild cleaners like 409 would leave hard water build up. No combination was ever satisfying. Lots of experimentation caused me to mix methods until I finally came up with a perfect sink cleaning system.

Step one: Clean entire sink with a scrub pad and abrasive cleaner
Step two: Rinse sink completely
Step three: Clean hard water around faucet using vinegar and an old toothbrush
Step four: Rinse sink completely
Step five: Spray entire sink with window cleaner
Step six: Wipe sink down with a lint free towel until sink is dry

Your sink will sparkle and it will make your whole world feel happy again! You can maintain the sparkle by drying your sink after each use.

10 Minute Meal

My fabulous college roommate (who is really exactly like family) taught me this recipe. My roomie had grown up with her mom, who by the way is a genius mother of 4, making these. This is not a culinary delectability, but it is a kid pleaser and it is as easy as any meal could ever be. My children gobble these up with the same enthusiasm that they would eat a McDonald's kid's meal. I like that I can get home from a long busy day and have these on the table in less than 10 minutes, it was a meal sent from heaven during the hectic years that I was a working mom.

Flying Saucer Recipe (for one)
1 piece of bologne
1/4 cup of mashed potatoes (instant or leftover)
grated cheddar cheese

Layer the three ingredients and cook in an ungreased fry pan or on an electric griddle over medium low heat until bottom is toasty brown and cheese is melted.

Because this is obviously not the healthiest meal I have ever made my family, I like to combine it with nutritionally sound side dishes... like carrots and unsweetened applesauce.

Favorite Things Friday- ReStore

I commented about this on The Common Cents Home facebook site, but in case you missed it, I thought it was worth mentioning over here. My husband and I recently discovered the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. If you aren't familiar with it, you really should check it out.

I was surprised to discover that they have locations spread across the country. ReStore sells reusable and surplus building materials to the public. They have fantastic deals on home improvement products. ReStore is a DIYer's paradise.

If you are looking for tile, this is your place. They have tons of tile and it is the lowest prices I have ever seen. We bought an over the range microwave for $45, not bad considering that they sell new for almost $200. We also bought a new light fixture for our laundry room for $6. Other things that you can find at the ReStore are windows, doors, paint, cabinet doors, toilets... everything for your project.

Go to the store with an open mind, it is a lot like thrift store shopping, you just never know exactly what you will find. Check the list of locations, then go check out the store.

My Most Favorite Salad in the Whole World

Are you ready for it? This is my "Tastes so Good it Makes my Heart Flutter With Delight" Salad! I have been making this salad for the last 3 years, since I first had it in a local restaurant and decided that I could copy the recipe at home without any trouble. That first time I tasted it in the restaurant I was in love and I was beyond excited when my home salad turned out equally tasty. I eat this so much, I might just turn into blue cheese myself.

Spinach and Apple Salad
2-3 cups baby spinach
1/2 Granny Smith apple (cut into small pieces)
2 Tbs toasted chopped walnuts
2 Tbs blue cheese crumbles
2 Tbs Poppy Seed Dressing (the most recent one I've been making is from Trainer Momma, it's a good one)

Combine all ingredients and join me in Spinach Salad Heaven!

DIY Over-Sized Ottoman

I desperately wanted an over-sized ottoman for our living room, but because I didn't want to pay for one it required getting creative.

I found this large, square coffee table at a thrift store. It was in very rough condition, but that was alright by me. It only cost me $5. I brought it home and painted the bottom of it white, everything but the table top. I then covered the top of it with two layers of foam egg crate mattress padding. Over the top of the egg crate I placed a cotton material that I was fond of. I secured the cotton under the bottom edge of the table top using a staple gun, pulling it tightly as I went.

Because we use this as an ottoman, I sprayed the entire thing with two coats of Scotchguard. The entire project cost less than $15. That is one excellent deal for an ottoman, especially one that is so cute and functional.

Homemade Granola Recipe

My wonderful mother-in-law created this fantastically easy granola recipe. I've tried others, but have always returned to this one. It is easy, has convenient ingredients and tastes so good. I try to keep some made up at all times. The recipe is versatile so each time I make it, I will add something different.


Originally, she created this recipe to be sugar-free. I have made it both with Splenda and with regular granulated sugar, it tastes equally delicious both ways.

Homemade Granola Recipe
4 cups rolled oats
4 cups Rice Krispies
1 cup coconut (optional)
1 tsp salt
1 cup Splenda or Sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup water
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sliced almonds or walnuts (optional)

Mix all ingredients together until moistened. Spread on large cookie sheet. Bake on low heat (225 degrees) for 2 hours(or longer, mine usually takes about 2.5 hours) turning every 30 minutes. Stir in other ingredients like raisins, or dried bananas, as desired Store in airtight container with tight lid.

*I have tried mixing my raisins in before baking and for some reason the raisins become bitter. It is much better to mix them in after the granola is baked.

**To achieve "clumpier" granola turn it a little more gingerly at the 30 minute marks.

This granola is a fantastic addition to Homemade Yogurt, is nutritious and very simple to make.