Omelet in a bag

We raise chickens. As a result, we have eggs (usually except when the weather changes drastically). I was recently taught a really unique way to make omlets. I love this idea. It's fun and I actually get to sit down with the boys and eat when they do instead of standing cooking one right after another. Here you go:

Omlet in a bag.

You need:

All the things you want in an omlet (ie cheese, peppers, ham, bacon, etc)
eggs 2 to 3 per person depending on the people
Ziploc baggies (Freezer bags are best)
A large pot of boiling water
Perm. Marker

 

• First step is to get your pot of water boiling.
• Next, you have each person but their name on the baggie. This will help out later when all is done.
• Then,  crack and whip your eggs. (I did ours in a big picture to pour them in the bags easier)
• Then, let each person add what they want in their omlet (I love this part because everyone gets what they want and there's no whining about tomatoes touching someones eggs that doesn't like them)
• Shake up the contents. Squeeze out excess air and zip up the baggie.
• Now the fun part. Place the bags in the boiling water for roughly 13 to 15 minutes.
• Open the bags and slip the omelet out of the bag and dig in.

There's no butter, no grease, and no real mess to clean up. My favorite part is everyone can eat at the same time. The kids have really fell in love with this method and at least one of them has ask for an omelet in a bag every night since we first did this. Try it. You'll be hooked. I'm sure of it!

(I'll post pictures next time we do this)

Free books & e readers for PC

I've been out of touch for a while and way out of budget. But aren't we all this year. However, I have found a great site that offers free ebook downloads and I thought I'd share this with you. Suvudu Free Book Library  Offers links to free downloads in a variety formats. If you are on the "I want a Kindle but can't afford one list", Amazon has recently launched the Kindle for PC. You can download it free at this link: KINDLE FOR PC

There are a few other formats that you can download for free as well. These include:

Microsoft Reader

Adobe Digital Editions

Mobipocket ebook Reader

eReader

Barnes & Noble

Adobe PDF reader  (you may already have this)

Each of these sites have links to free downloads for many titles. You can also google free ebooks and get a ton of resourse. Most of the classics can be found online absolutely free. It'll save a trip to the library so enjoy!

FRUGALLY FUN FRIDAY!

YAY! The weekend is here! It has been a very hectic week at work and with the first full week of school coming to a close, I think my family could use some good ol’ fashion fun. This gave me the idea to share a few frugal fun ideas.

Let’s all go to the movies! Let’s all go to the movies!
Movies are always entertaining but even the matinee can cost a small fortune. We’ve found a few alternatives.

Public Library – One of the best kept secrets on the planet. Most public libraries have a great selection of VHS & DVDs that you can check out for several days. You can usually check these out for little to no money. To find a library close to you check out the public library link here.

RedBox - This is the best rental option in the world...at least I think so. You've probably seen them around town. Its a movie vending machine basically. For $ 1 a day you can stop by and check out a movie with no late fees. Simply pay $1 a day for each day you keep it. I think it stops at $25 (max charge) after you've kept it 25 days they stop charging you and you now own a new movie. One of the great things about this program is that you can sign up to receive text message promotional codes and receive a free movie (usually on Mondays) but some holidays they run specials for additional savings. Sign up here to get your SMS text message promo code

You can also create a movie co-op with your friends and family and swap movies to catch all the latest and greatest movies without killing the piggy bank.

There's nothing like having the family around a table with a good old fashion board game. One of my boys favorite moments was this past winter when the electricity went out and we sat in the floor and played Sorry by candle light.

Here's some great games (with links to where to get them):

Another great game that does require some electronic stimulation is Scene it! You play it along with your DVD player and test your knowledge of all those mindless hours of TV or movie watching. There's different versions so there something for everyone. Such as:

Movies, Disney, Seinfeld, Friends, Harry Potter, TV Edition, Nickelodeon, Pirates of the Caribbean, Marvel, Star Trek, Turner Classic Movies, The Simpson's, Music, The 80's, Scene It Jr., and a ton more. Its a lot of fun and lets the kids think they're still "Plugged in"

And my favorite is having a cookie decorating contest with the kids. Bake up a bunch of cookies and gather some decorating things such as frosting, sprinkles, etc. and let the kids decorate up a storm. We've done the best looking, ugliest, funniest, and most unique cookie. The winner, well, the winner gets to eat his cookie!

Whatever you get into the best part of having a frugal Friday night is getting to spend some down time with your family and friends. You really don't have to be that creative. Some of best times involved things like a lamp and a wall to create shadow puppets and even just a box that amazingly teenagers can turn into hours of interesting fun. Just remember not to compare it to the big expensive amusement parks and you'll relax and have fun.

Changing up a bit

I've been reading a lot this summer. Mostly really silly fiction but also some things on the Internet and have really gotten interested in Homesteading. Basically, I've been in the slow lane to homesteading without even realizing it. I started another blog a few days ago but decided that really I didn't need 2 blogs about roughly the same thing...learning to live for less or learning to live with less. So this morning...Eureka! It hit me. I'll combine them both. This blog was really just to keep me on track and let me share my victories and losses - so why not share both here. So I've moved my posts from over there to over here. Hope you all enjoy them and I don't bore you or give you the impression I've lost my mind...that I did when I had kids! ha! ha! So enjoy & let me know what you think!

Me

The Flu has landed

Hello all! Sorry for the absence. The flu has landed at our home...well more like crashed landed in a blaze of glory! Not a very nice couple of weeks around here. I believe I'm on the mend; at least the walls coming in on me makes me feel like I'm on the mend. I haven't been able to get out and do any shopping which really has helped the budget quite a bit. ha! ha! The only thing I've been buying lately is NyQuil and Sprite. But I didn't want to leave you hanging without a tip or two for them. We've gone through a bunch of sprite this past week and I actually sat there and read the "See Details" part of the package. While I was running a bit of fever for most of the week, I did decide to join the Mycokerewards program. I went through the house collecting all the caps I could find. While you can get great coke stuff I also learned that you can donate the rewards to the school of your choice. This is a great idea if you aren't into all the merchandise items or you just want to help out a local school. There are also other great causes you can support with your Coke Rewards as well. During the month of March when you enter a 12-pack you'll earn an additional bonus of 3 points each day for the month of March. It will amaze you how quickly those little cap points will add up. So go grap a Coke/Sprite and a smile for all the good points that will add up to some great things or at least some great opportunity for a worth cause.

19 Survey sites that pay

I'm sure you've been seeing an increase in ads, both online and on TV, for getting paid to take surveys. With times getting tough many people are turning to them for a little extra money. I've been doing a few for a couple of years that are great but along the way I've hit some real lemons as well. For someone just starting out in the paid survey "biz" it can be quit overwhelming. A great place to start is at my favorite site :) Hotcouponworld.com compiled 19 survey sites that are : legit, pay out, little or no spam, good way to earn extra money. I would suggest first and foremost don't expect to get rich fast. That's unrealistic but you can get some really great freebies, gift cards, and even cold hard cash with patience and dedication. Second, before jumping in and joining every site is to set up a separate email address so your inbox isn't bombarded with TONS of mail (trust me you will get some emails from them). Many services online have free email accounts like gmail, hotmail, Yahoo, and AIM. Setting up something like mysurveys@gmail.com to catch all your offers and surveys is a great way to keep them organized and separated from dear Aunt Jane's email with pictures of her baby cockapoo in his new sweater. My third bit of advice, don't go Gung ho...at least, not at first. Take it one site at a time, possibly two, until you get a feel for the process and get the hang of it. Once you feel comfortable and not overwhelmed, by all means hit the net and click away! It's a fun way to earn some extra income and eve learn about products before they come out. Plus, who can pass up on a little freebie popping up in their mailbox. Just be prepared to get your mailman a little something extra next Christmas for all the hard work of stuffing your mailbox with all those freebies! So go check out Hotcouponworld's recommended survey sites to get started!

OSO* Fresh product to save your fruits and veggies

I am a semi-homesteader, well, ok, I'm not much of a homesteader but I'm taking baby steps. One of those steps is I grow many of my veggies in the summer to can and freeze to eat all winter long. However, I still have a weakness for fresh fruits and veggies I can't grow so I turn to the store or market to get them. The only problem is we have to eat them so quickly because the frig turns them to moldy mush in the container, bags, or whatever we store them in. Well, leave to my friend Erin at Jane4Girls$800Annual Budget has found a great product, and of course tested it first hand, that will take away those mushy, moldy fruit blues.

It's called OSO* Fresh Food Containers and they look amazing. I know you're think "I've got to many plastic bowls", these are no ordinary plastic bowls.

Oso* Fresh™ Food Storage Containers are infused with EPA registered and
FDA approved micro-sized silver particles which are proven to reduce bacterial
growth and keep food fresher. While the silver particles keep bacteria out, the
easy-to-open snap on lids keep freshness in. Stackable units nest into one
another for easy storage. Microwave, freezer and dishwasher safe.

At first glance I thought they were pricey, but looking around the site I noticed you could by individual containers and in reality they are comparable to the "T"ware we buy at parties. The only difference is these will SAVE us money and time - time of buying new fruits and veggies and time from throwing out the unidentifiable stuff in the mystery bowl in the back of the fridge.

How to save with a few easy tips

You ever have trouble with bananas? We love bananas in this house and with 3 teen boys in the house they usually go pretty quick but I remember a day when they would get black and mushy. I ran across some helpful kitchen tips that help a little bit with the bananas.

1. Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them nnected at the stem, they ripen faster.

2. Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

3. Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

4. Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking. (I've also heard that you can put a tsp of water on an egg when frying it to retain the yolk)

5. To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

6.For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

7. Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

8. Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!

9. Reheat Pizza Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.

10. Easy Deviled Eggs: Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up. (This is also a great way for the kids to help in the kitchen)

11. Expanding Frosting: When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

12. Reheating refrigerated bread: To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

13. Newspaper weeds away: Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and for- get about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

14. Broken Glass Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.

15. No More Mosquitoes: Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away. Plus, you'll smell oh so fresh!

16. Squirrel Away! To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.

17. Flexible vacuum: To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in nar- row openings.

18. Vacuuming dust away: To remove dust from what-knots without a lot of labor, place an stocking over the end of the vacuum hose and dust away. No damage to the fine parts.

19. Reducing Static Cling: Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and ... ta da! ... static is gone.

20. Measuring Cups: Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

21. Foggy Windshield? Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

22. Reopening envelope: If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

23. Conditioner: Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.

24. Goodbye Fruit Flies: To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2' with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

25. Get Rid of Ants: Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

And finally a word about your clothes dryer:

If you clean out your lint filter you may think its clean but take it out and run hot water over the top of it. What happens? The water won't go through. Why? You use dryer sheets. Dryer sheets cause a film over the mesh that can cause the dryer to burn out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free ... that nice fragrance too. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box .... well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it!

A dryer repairman said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months.. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?! Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I'd share!

Note: I went to my dryer and tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water and a nylon brush and I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it ... the water ran right thru the screen! There wasn't any puddling at all! That repairman knew what he was talking about!

Great giveawy at Jane4Girls Check it out

Erin, at Jane4Girls is at it again with another great giveaway. She's stumbled across a great Body butter and who couldn't use some moisturizing in this wonderful climate and season. The company is called Carol's Daughter and from my little cruise around her site, She offers some wonderful products. I've not tried her products but would love to. I love anything Shea Butter and I have tried other body butters that really seem to help and not leave that oily feeling behind. Erin & Carol's Daughter is giving away 5 of these away this week, so jump over to Jane3Girls for your chance to get some much needed pampering and moisturizing!

Jane4Girls Giveaway