Meal Planning

Meal Planning is THE easiest way to save money. And it helps start a routine so that you aren't scrambling at the last minute when everyone's hungry. Being disabled, it's also something that I am trying to get established to that everyone is on the same page. It's ridiculous to waste food, and to buy a ton of junk for 'easy' meals when easy could be just getting out the ingredients you already bought.

The first one I use is this one. It's paid but not very expensive. I like that they set out a month's worth of menus at a time, and they split them up into 4 different kinds. They are Family Friendly, Frugal Vegetarian and Healthy. They even give you a grocery list.And they have a great book on how to save money on groceries.


That said, I love it BUT I also like variety, so I use Plan to Eat from the awesome folks over at Life...your way. I can input my recipes (because I modify everything ) and it will print out the grocery list for what I select. While not quite as simple as the other one, it's better for me because there are a lot of things that my family won't eat, and I find myself not making many of the recipes on the other menu and I have to replace them anyway. It saves me a bit of time and calculates things for me automatically/




I love the internet. It makes being a disabled homemaker a little less stressful.

Cheese Danish

Dough: 1 batch of sweet boule Recipe 2 pound ball (size of a cantaloupe)or plain boule.


Filling:
1 8oz. package of cream cheese (softened to room temperture)
1/4 c. powdered  evaporated cane juice
1/2 tsp. lemon juice

Frosting
1/2 c. powdered  evaporated cane juice
1-2 tsp. milk almond milk (original or vanilla)

Roll flat like for cinnamon rolls, Roll up, and slice off individual rolls using a sharp knife or piece of kitchen twine.

Do not uncoil, place on ungreased cookie sheet. Make an indention into the top of each coil, using either your thumb or a wet spoon. In a bowl, mix cream cheese, ECJ and lemon juice until smooth. Place about 1 tablespoon. of cheese mixture into indentions. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes. Combine ECJ and milk until smooth. Drizzle frosting over the Danish while still warm.

The Importance of Sleep

Source: http://frugaldad.com

What does Organic really mean?

by Loku.

Skin toner transition!

During the winter, we normally use our space heaters and a forced air furnace. While keeping us warm and toasty, it really dries my skin out. So, I discovered that I can transition my toner from astringent to moisturing. What I did was I added 2 tsps of vegetable glycerin and 1 oz of rose water per 3 ozs of toner. I poured out my toner into a bowl, added them and mixed them really well just poured it back into the bottle with a funnel.

Vegetable glycerin is an emollient, a humectant and it's hygroscopic (attracts water from the air). Rosewater nourishes the skin with a plethora of benefits. It tightens pores, reduces fine lines and wrinkles, and balances sebum production. It also is naturally antibacterial! 

Getting stuff done... The percentage/steps correlation.

I have noticed that the amount of steps that a project takes directly correlates to the likelihood that said project will get done.  If a project has 0 Steps that means that it has a 100% chance of being completed. 10 or more steps? Means there is a 1% chance of being accomplished.

Let me give you an example:
Doing dishes? 3 steps. Fill sink, wash dishes and dry/put away = 80%  chance of being done. If you have no dishwashing detergent, that adds 3 more steps = 40% chance of being accomplished. The reason? Get into car, buy detergent, come home, fill sink. wash dishes, dry and put away. 6 steps vs 3 steps. But if you make sure you always have detergent, then you only have 3 steps.

Doing Laundry:
There is a 40% chance that it will be completed. Put clothes in washer, Wash Clothes, transfer to dryer, Dry clothes, Transfer to basket, Put away clothes.  6 steps.  Out of laundry detergent? 9 steps. you have a 10% chance of getting it done. Broken drier? You'll be lucky if you get it done once a week!
Now, some might say that getting them dry and and in a basket is 'done'. Not really. That's just something we tell ourselves so we don't feel like crap when we have clothes all over our bed or in multiple baskets all over the house.

Just imagine how this transfers over to DIY projects! Okay, if you want to build a desk that hangs on the wall. Do you have brackets? Do you have laminated plywood?  There is an 80% chance that will be completed. Do you need to go to the hardware store to get those things? There's a 30% chance to getting it done. Decide to get wood boards and varnish it yourself? Your chance of completing it just went down to 10%. Keep in mind you can't varnish it AFTER you've already set up your desk, plus you need a place to varnish it, and a semi nice day to do it. Your chances went waaaaaaaaaaaay down of completing the project.

OI!

Source: Frugal dad