Lying abed... or it is "laying" abed?

1/3/2011

Well, I stayed in bed till 11 this morning and went to bed by 8 last night. Was SOOO tired last night. I dropped Dilara off with her Dad around 6. Fixed the older kids something and then went to bed. It seems like I read an article lately that mentioned "sleeping in" once a week as being good for the adrenal glands. I don't know if I believe it. I tend to think a regular schedule is healthy. Maybe the article meant it was good if during the week, you don't get enough sleep. I have had one or 2 migraine attacks every day for 4 days. I need to stock up on Coke and Excedrin and take that before the Imitrex. As I am still breastfeeding, I don't want too much Imitrex in my system.

I feel pretty wiped out today, but I need to go buy groceries and take Callie and Noah to their Dad's to put away Christmas decorations. I really need to force myself to walk a little, too. I need to get a exercise habit established.

I am writing down all my expenditures. See how long that lasts... I need to pay my bills today. I really like the Living on a Dime website and I have gotten a lot of good ideas from the ebooks. They are having a sale till Jan. 10 on a collection of books on a variety of topics. Not all of them were of interest to me, but it was a package deal and I think it's worth the $13 http://www.livingonadime.com/go.php?offer=calnodi03&pid=16&tid=calnodi03
and the Penny Pinchin Mama book is good, too: http://www.livingonadime.com/go.php?offer=calnodi03&pid=23&tid=calnodi03

I think one HUGE area I have for improvement is cutting down waste when it comes to food. Waste not, want not. i cringe to think of how much food we throw away. Forget the starving children in China....are WE going to have grocery money left at the end of the month if we don't improve? Noah likes the crust cut off his sandwiches and I usually compost the crusts...why? One of the LOAD ("Living On A Dime) suggestions (in the ''Kid's Cents'' e-book included in the sale collection above) was to save them and of course, I can freeze them and use them for bread crumbs. I was glad Tawra gave "permission" to cut the crusts off. I think it is LESS waste that way.

There are many SAHMs at my church and I hope it can stay that way. I know of other mothers who would LOVE to stay home with their kids. But it can be so hard financially.

I still have to figure this blog thing out. i accidentally deleted my first post. There I had I mentioned how the LOAD mother/daughter team of writers struggled with Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia, just like me. They even have a page on their website about it. www.livingonadime.com The LOAD site and www.hillbillyhousewife.com are both on my favorites as they cover lots of things that apply to me in my work at home, trying to take care of family, good stewardship, etc.

I think I am in the mood for my Tuna Casserole I invented a week or so ago. I hope I can have a page somewhere here to put favorite recipes on.

3 Comments

Marah Amasiah Mullins

1/4/2011 10:58:01 pm

Food waste was a big thing in our home too. I have for the most part lessened the amount of food prepared for meals so that I'm feeding 7 ppl plus packing my husband's lunch the next day. Of course, we have two dogs and if we get left overs, after a few days in the fridge, they get the food. So food never really goes to waste. Staying within a budget for food, is probably the hardest part. We feed our family for approximately $700 a month. I don't use coupons, but I price match and I usually shop once a month with a couple of quick p/u on milk, bread, etc. I have looked at many of the same websites for frugal living, how to use coupons and get money back but I didn't have the discipline to follow through on those projects. What I did do, was keep a notebook with me every time I shopped. I made my shopping list in it, and made 2-4 columns for each store in my area, going down the list I could add any special sale prices from the flyers for each store. Then I'd shop at my favorite store, write down the prices for each item on the list, and the next store I'd go to for flyer deals, I'd look at their everyday prices/ specials and write them down as well. Sometimes, I'd get mad b/c I could have saved 20c some where else if only I knew they were cheaper. In about 3 months of doing this, I could tell you which store carried the best price on any item I regularly bought, so if I walked into another store I would instantly know if they were cheaper, or if I should go to another store to pick it up. Plus, I had 3 months or more of prices to look back on so I could watch the prices and bulk buy on items that were offered at a huge discount.
Re-vamp your menu. I found that changing up what I cooked made a huge difference. ie: Chinese food- I make it several times a week and save by buying rice in bulk 25# bags. I use frozen veggies so I don't have to worry about spoilage and prepping fresh veggies. All the ingredients are interchangeable with other recipes. I use meat or leave it out. My Chinese food never goes to waste, and I make extra for the next day. I even take ramen noodles and convert them into fried Chinese noodles.

I don't make meals I know the family won't eat-soup beans being one of them. We buy bulk hamburger and chicken every month 50+ pounds each when it's on sale.
My kids love pickles so I invest monthly in a huge glass jar of them, they eat the pickles and I keep the jars to store bulk flour, sugar and rice.
A place for recipes would be good, maybe all your blog readers can post theirs too. I'm always willing to try new things.

Lydia

1/5/2011 02:20:40 am

Marah, thanks for sharing your budget-saving ideas. I would love to post recipes. I have a "Kitchen stuff" page I thought I'd post recipes on, but I think readers would have to e-mail them to me and let me put them up. I'm still figuring out how this website works.

Tell me how you do fried noodles from Ramen! Ramen noodles are 18 Cents every day at Wal-mart and occasionally I see them 10 for $1.00. I LOVE lo mein, but don't have a recipe.

Using Frozen veggies as well as fruit is a great idea. Spoilage bothers me more than prep.

Marah Amasiah Mullins

1/5/2011 02:32:32 pm

There are various recipes for frying up Ramen noodles, as a teen I used butter and just soften the noodles in hot water with or without the broth packet. Now I've added to it, I usually don't use the broth packet (unless making a large meal out of it)and save it for other recipes, since it's too strong to use without water. I put the brick of noodles in boiling water un-crushed, pull them out as soon as they soften but remain firm, throw them in a pan of heated olive or sesame oil, add some frz peas n'carrots or frz mixed veggies add a touch of soy sauce or try the flavored sauces like Stir Fry or Szechuan Sauce. Pull it out when evenly mixed and heated through.
The heat needs to be med-high, too high makes your noodles stick, too low won't fry them and they mush. Plus over boiling the noodles will become mushy too.

We get our Ramens at Wally World also, I buy 3-4 boxes that are still saran wrapped so it's easy for the cashiers checking us out, even if they still have to open it to scan it. We only pay 15c a package here, I wonder if it's b/c we live close to the Port of Houston which cuts down on distribution/logistic cost?

Lying abed... or it is "laying" abed?

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