Tag: savemoney

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88 Degrees on October 22!

As my title indicates, we are having a wonderful Fall day in Western NY. To top it off the Buffalo Bills won the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers! Life is good.

In The Kitchen

Today we are celebrating my youngest daughter’s birthday. It was really Friday but as a family we tend to do our parties on Sundays since that day works better for most of the family.

Since Sara’s birthday is in the second half of October her chosen treat usually involves Halloween or Fall. One year when she was little I remember making a grave yard with cookie headstones for her and buttercream frosting ghosts. This year she requested pumpkin cheesecake. I was more than happy to make it because it is a no-bake recipe and I love pumpkin flavor too! The recipe was really easy!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

2 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs

1/2 c. butter

3 – 8 oz. packages of cream chees

1 c. heavy whipping cream

1 c. powdered sugar

1 1/2 c. pumpkin puree

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. vanilla

whipped cream or whipped topping for garnish if desired

Combine the graham crumbs and melted butter in a bowl. Press firmly into the bottom and up 1″ of the sides of a spring-form pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine room temperature cream cheese and cream until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until smooth and fluffy.

Pour the filling into the pan. Cover and refrigerate until set, about 6 to 8 hours.

Garnish with whipped cream or whipped topping if desired.

*I used prepared graham cracker pie crusts to make this dessert. The filling filled two pie shells nicely. The filling is not overpoweringly pumpkin. It is just a nice taste!

On Facebook, a friend of mine shared one of those recipes you see quite often. Thanks, Sue! It was for bean soup and I love bean soup so I made it yesterday. It is delicious.

Crockpot Bean Soup

6 c. chicken broth

1 lb. dried Great Northern beans

1 lb. ham (chunked)

1 med. onion (chopped)

Salt and pepper to taste

Parsley and oregano to taste

Put all ingredients in the crock-pot and cook on low for 8 hours.

*I added about a half pound of baby carrots chopped in half to the ingredients  because I could! LOL! No, really, because I like carrots in my bean soup. I left my crock-pot on while I went to the zoo and shopping and I was gone longer than 8 hours. The soup was fine but now needed a little more broth. So I just added about a cup and a half of chicken broth to it. Perfecto!!

TOH Tips

Last week I gave you a couple of Taste of Home tips from chef Kari Kartch. I want to bestow more knowledge on you this week!

Do you cry when cutting onions? We all do! If you cut each end off an onion and take off the peel you can then place your onion in the microwave for 15 seconds. It isn’t long enough to really do anything to the onion except release the odors that make you cry.  Give it a try!

Don’t salt and pepper your eggs before or when you first start cooking them. They should be at least 70% done before you season them. It gives the eggs a rubbery texture if they are seasoned at the beginning of the cooking process.

If you have any other tips to tackle these problems or others please leave a comment and share! I would love to know and I am sure that your fellow readers would too.

Grab and Go!

I wanted to talk a little about disaster preparedness. We have had some disasters in our country recently and they’ve been scary. People are still dealing with the aftermath and my heart aches for them.

This made me think of when I lived in Germany in the late 70’s to 81. We were told to keep a “Go Bag” ready at all times in case something required our immediate evacuation and we didn’t have enough time to think let alone gather all the needed supplies. We had a small suitcase packed and stored in our closet the whole time we were there.

I have read a couple of articles lately about keeping a “Go Bag” now so we could be prepared to evacuate if needed. Even here in Western New York we live on a fault line and have had minor quakes in the past.  It is my opinion that no one in our country is exempt from some sort of natural or man-made disaster. At the very least it is an insurance policy but at the most, it could be life saving.

What might you include in your “Go Bag”? There are some basics you should have in it and then maybe some other things you might add depending on the demographic you’re packing for.

The Basics

Electronics – an extra phone charge, a portable battery pack in case you have no electric, a long lasting LED flashlight, a small portable radio with extra batteries

Personal needs – travel size of every toiletry you and your family uses in the morning to get ready for the day, backup eyeglasses, first aid kit, baby wipes and a multipurpose tool which would have a knife and a can opener

Clothing – Pack a few days worth of clothes for each person in your household that are easily layered, lightweight rain gear and waterproof boots

Meds – Pack at least 3 days worth of each of your prescriptions for all household members

Paperwork – Use a zip-lock bag to hold copies of your important papers for each person such as your birth certificate, driver’s license, health insurance cards, power of attorney, will, marriage and adoption certificates, medical and immunization records and finally information about your ATM and credit cards

Food and Drink – Bottled water, granola, energy bars, and other small and filling items enough to last at least 3 days

Cash –  enough money for a few days including small bills and a roll of quarters in case you need to purchase something from a vending machine

In my household I have dogs. I would pack copies of their licenses and proof of vaccinations. I would also include food for them and something to put water in for them to drink. You could also make these same adjustments when you pack for any pet.

Pack your “Go Bag” and view it as part of your insurance policy!

Money Saver

In a previous post I have told you about the Plenti card where you accumulate savings when you use your card while making a purchase at participating businesses. Examples of those businesses are Exxon, Rite Aid, Macy’s and Chili’s. If you would like to sign up or learn more please follow this link, https://www.plenti.com/

I am mentioning this now because 2 weeks ago I put gas in my car at a local 7 Eleven store which sells Exxon gas. When I swiped my Plenti card I was informed that I had $9.74 I could use toward my purchase. I don’t really keep a close eye on how much I have accumulated because someone at a business usually tells me and I immediately use it. However, I was unaware that I had that much. What a great surprise!

Have a wonderful week. I hope that you have found some things you could use in this post. Please let me know if you have anything to share with all of us. I am always on the quest to know more (about literally anything!).

 

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Hello world!

I’m glad you stopped by! I’m  going to post a new blog entry once a week with the eventual goal of posting twice each week.

The vision I have for the blog is to share little life hacks that I have found and incorporated into my life that save time, save money, make life easier, more organized and add JOY. A part of my joy is cooking and crafting so that will be included too. Hopefully, there will be something of interest to you in each entry.

I would like to share a little bit about myself so that when you stop here it will be like a conversation you’re having with me over a cup of coffee at the kitchen table. I have 5 adult children who live in the area, 3 dogs (yes, I said, 3!), and 1 cat. We, my “pack” and I, live in a small village in Western New York. For all of you who hear New York and think New York City, I am all the way across the state and live on the shores of Lake Erie. It is a beautiful place to live. We usually have hard winters and more than our share of snow (think near Buffalo here) but the Spring, Summer and Fall are amazing! I am even that kind of person that doesn’t mind the Winter! There are a few of us you know.

Having a large family, a home and a career has led me to look for ideas, strategies, and the like to keep my life manageable and with as little stress as possible. This blog is about that search and the things I have found along the way.

There are those of us who thrive on organization and others who strive to be organized. In either case, organization tips are usually of interest no matter where you fall on the spectrum. I have found that if you want more organization in your kitchen and don’t want to spend a lot of time getting there, the simple answer is to cut back on your stuff. That’s right! Eliminate stuff = less to take care of (think less to put away, less to wash, etc.). If you never use more than one frying pan at a time, cut back to one small and one larger one. If you live by yourself and only have company occasionally, limit yourself to four of everything – four plates, four bowls, four glasses, four coffee mugs, four forks…. Well, you get the idea. Less is better in this case. An extremist might just have two of each item. I was being conservative. This approach encourages you to wash your dishes more often. I mean, if you need a knife and you have used 4, better get the dish soap out! It also allows you to have more space for what you do have and immediately things look less cluttered! WIN!!

 

This idea can be carried throughout your home. Just last year I decided I didn’t need four sets of sheets and pillowcases for my bed and various odds and ends of linens. I could get by with two complete sets! It was an epiphany since linen closet space is at a premium in my home. Now, technically, you could get by with one set. You would just have to wash it and put it back on but that is a little too austere for me. With two sets I can remake my bed and not wait for the weekly wash to be done. As an aside,  I purchased two new sheet sets and made them ones that feel good with designs that make me happy!

Let’s stray from the organizing topic to a new cake technique that is on trend. It is called the “naked cake”.  As a long time baker of cakes for weddings, birthdays, and all that jazz, I was taken in by the thought of a cake with less icing. A cake where you actually could see the cake through the layer of icing. Who would have thought! Anyway, I was asked to make a small cake for a wedding reception and I asked if I could do a “naked cake”. The bride agreed and off I went. The cake was a three layer white cake with vanilla butter cream frosting. Admittedly, I used less of the frosting on the exterior of the cake but I did make sure there was plenty in between the layers for the frosting lovers. I used burlap ribbon and silk flowers to decorate the cake and everyone thought it was beautiful. I will share a picture below. Due to the use of the burlap ribbon you don’t see much of the cake showing through the icing but I think you will still get the idea. It was also so much easier and less stressful when I didn’t have to worry about the cake showing through the frosting!

 

Today I leave you with a little “warm fuzzy” in the form of the leader of the pack, Duffy. If this doesn’t make you smile I will be surprised.

 

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