Just Doing My Best

Exciting News!

2009-05-11T10:38:00.007-04:00

If you are a regular reader of Just Doing My Best, you will begin seeing changes starting this week. In the next day or so, this blog will be moving to its own domain. Many people cannot read the current site at work (while at lunch, right?) so access will be easier when this change occurs. I have many plans for this site and moving to my own domain will allow those plans to continue.

The graphics you will see on both the old site and the new site this week are temporary. New art work and a new layout is also planned. I'm so excited about the new look of the site in the coming weeks!

You may notice some disruption or errors, so please bear with me while changes are being made and I'm learning new programs.

Thanks for reading Just Doing My Best!
Heather

Mother's Day Giveaway Winners

2009-05-10T20:06:00.005-04:00

Congratulations to the winners of Zondervan's Mother's Day Book Giveaway! I'm excited because all three winners will receive their first choice.

#9 Sally at Sallyhanan's blog will receive What Southern Women Know about Faith by Rhonda Rich

#4 Beth at Tea and Thee will receive Spilt Milk by Linda Vujnov

#2 Mindy will receive Eight Little Faces by Kate Gosselin.

The winners will be receiving an email with information on how to claim their prize.

If you are a mom, I hope you had a great Mother's Day. This week, when you begin to feel tired or frustrated from your responsibilities, remember how important you are to your children each and every day. They can't always express it, so this is your reminder that you are.

Trash to Treasure Party, Part 2

2009-05-08T10:00:00.003-04:00

Did you catch Part 1 of the Trash to Treasure Party that I attended? Part 2 is posted at Happy to be at Home and it includes tips on how you can host your own. If you host one, I would love to hear back about your experience.

Have a great day!
Heather

Frugal Family Fun - Toy Swap

2009-05-07T22:04:00.010-04:00

For the past couple of weeks, I have talked about a Trash to Treasure party over at Happy to be at Home. The party entailed a group of ladies bringing unneeded items in good condition from their home to the host's house in which the other ladies could "shop." We were all able to leave the party with new, free treasures that suited our families. I listed several ideas and variations for the Trash to Treasure party in the articles at Happy to be at Home, but it got me thinking about how this party would tie into the Frugal Family Fun series perfectly.

If you know a few families with children about the same age as yours, consider a toy or book swap. You could invite them over for a BBQ or potluck and have them bring their outgrown or unused toys. This would work best with older children who understand the "trade" concept, though the party could be conducted without children present if toddler toys are involved.

A Toy Swap is a great way to spend time with friends and family while decluttering our homes of unneeded items and acquiring new treasures for free.

A Mommy Secret: If you have younger children, place some of the new toys out of sight for a while. When your children are having "one of those" days and just need a distraction or if you want to have a reward on hand for the unexpected accomplishments, you can pull out one of the "new" free toys.

You can find more frugal or family tips at:
Frugal Friday hosted by Life as Mom
Family Friday by Homemaker Barbie

Mother's Day Book Giveaway

2009-05-06T13:34:00.011-04:00

Zondervan has provided a copy of the following books for me to give away to a few of my readers. I recently won the newest Karen Kingsbury book, Take One, from them so I was more than happy to help them out and offer these to you on their behalf.

How to win a copy and other necessary info:

Leave up to one comment per day on this post, including your email address and your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice of books if you are selected.

You can receive an additional entry if you blog about this giveaway. Just leave me a comment with the link so I can visit you too. Don't forget to leave your contact info with your choice of books.

Comments will close 9 pm Saturday, May 9. Winners will be contacted on Mother's Day, May 10 via email and announcement on Just Doing My Best.

If winner cannot be contacted via email, a new winner will be selected.

Winners will be chosen by a random number generator.

Thanks to Zondervan, your choices are:

Spilt Milk by Linda Vujnov is a devotional for moms with young kids. Linda uses her unconventional and edgy writing style to add a dose of laughter into every daily reading for busy moms. She puts her unique spin on everything from trying to feed four children breakfast to her not so secret crush on Dr. Robert Chase (on House). Check out her blog at: http://lindavujnov.blogspot.com/

Eight Little Faces by Kate Gosselin, of TLC’s Jon & Kate Plus 8, features personal family photos from Jon and Kate Gosselin, parents of twins and sextuplets. This gift book includes comments from Kate on various themes including trust, perseverance, joy and encouragement. Any fan of the show can have a glimpse into the Gosselin family.

What Southern Woman Know About Faith by Rhonda Rich is a collection of hilarious stories by former Nascar publicist, current bestselling author and newspaper columnist and permanent southern bell. Come, sip a glass of sweet tea and sit for a spell with Ronda on the porch swing as she tells you stories of happiness and heartache, friends and family, and a faith that’s strong enough to handle anything life throws your way. Dolly Parton endorsed it “it speaks to [her] heart,” so it’s got to be good.

Don't forget to stop back daily for a new entry and to see what is new at Just Doing My Best.

Works for Me Wednesday - Frugal Tips

2009-05-06T08:47:00.005-04:00

This week, Kristen of We Are THAT Family and host of Works for Me Wednesday asked us to provide our best Frugal Tip. I am providing the link to the original post I wrote about saving on newspapers as well as a couple of others you may find helpful.

How to Pay Less for Your Newspaper

5 Ways to Stretch Bread

Frugality is a Lifestyle - Organization

If you enjoyed these tips, you might enjoy subscribing to my feed in the upper right corner so you do not miss any tips. You can also find more frugal tips at Works for Me Wednesday hosted by We Are THAT Family.

100th post - Freebies For You

2009-05-04T07:19:00.007-04:00

In celebration of my 100th post, I have found some 100% free goodies to share with you (less possible shipping or tax.) As always, some of these samples require a sign-up, so if you are concerned about your inbox being flooded by companies, consider setting up a free email account at Google, Yahoo, etc., to use for your online activities. Some of these are dated or may run-out quickly.

Dunkin Donuts Coffee Sample

Aveeno Nourish shampoo and conditioner sample

Zyrtec sample

Free 8x10 photo at Walgreens - Wednesday, May 6 only

Free custom T-shirt: Will require sign-up and shipping.

Free Business and Trade Magazines:

Thanks for being a reader of Just Doing My Best!

How to Shop for Free

2009-05-02T23:52:00.004-04:00

In a previous post, I explained how I shop for free. I recently had an opportunity to shop for free again, though it was quite a bit different than the first post. You can read about it at Happy to be at Home.

Sell or Donate Your Books

2009-04-30T08:57:00.011-04:00

This week I've been talking about what to do with the items after you have done your Spring cleaning and purged your house of the unneeded items. If you are a book lover, you know how these quickly these can accumulate. The book clutter becomes worse when you have children outgrowing their book collection. As part of Happy to be at Home's Thursday Thirteen, I'm going to give you 13 ideas on where you can trade your old books for cash or new books, as well as places to donate.

Amazon.com is a reputable company and features a used section along side the new books.
Barnes & Noble is another reputable merchant who offers a used section.
Ebay is great for vintage books and books in high demand.
Half.com is associated with Ebay. I've bought from them before with great success.
Cash4Books.net sounds like a great program. I have not yet tried it, but this site is first on my list to try out.
Half Price Books These chains are found locally and offer cash for your books, music, videos and magazines while you wait.
Independent used book stores - These will be different in each community and depending on your town, there may be several to choose from.
General consignment shops - Again, these will vary by community, but children's books would do quite well. Even better, look for a children's consignment shop and take the books and games there.
Consider taking some books to your local children's hospital. Not only do the children enjoy reading material, but often the parents are away from home and would probably appreciate a temporary diversion.
There are numerous sites online where you can donate your books. Each program differs and there are options for helping children, low-income families, urban children, and soldiers.
PaperBackSwap.com is a popular place to swap your books for the price of shipping. I have never tried it, but have heard positive comments about it from other bloggers.
If you homeschool, check the groups in your town or in the next town. Many groups gather in the Spring and Summer for book swaps or book sales.
Swap with friends and make a party out of it. Choose a theme, i.e. children's books, DIY books, fiction, inspirational, etc. Invite some friends to your home and trade books while enjoying a snack.

What ideas do you have for unneeded books?

Clean Out the Fridge - Ideas for Leftovers

2009-04-28T23:29:00.003-04:00

This week I have been writing about what to do with all your "stuff" when you are Spring Cleaning. The refrigerator certainly needs our attention when we are cleaning and I'm guessing a fraction of what is in the fridge needs to head straight to the garbage. If you have any edible leftovers remaining, you can stretch them into a new meal with just a little creativity.

First and easiest, rewarm the leftovers, but create a buffet. Let the family choose, as if it were a restaurant. The younger children love this, but don't forget to give your restaurant a name. If you have small children and especially if they do not like leftovers, create a quick menu in which they can select their own dinner. My children loved the menu idea when they were younger, especially when mom sported the folded towel draped over one arm as their server.

If you have eggs, possibly a little meat, some veggies and cheese, you can make a quiche. If you're doubting the men in your life will be receptive to quiche, you can call it "Ham and Egg Dinner Pie" or a "Chicken and Spinach Bake." You get the drift... You can make the quiche with either a homemade or store-bought crust, though the store-bought will be quicker. Provided you have a little creativity and a few necessary ingredients, you should be able to find a quiche recipe that will work.

If you routinely have small amounts of leftover meat (ground beef, ham or sausage are the best) you can start a bag in your freezer to collect pizza toppings. When I have ground beef or chicken, I sometimes turn the pizza into a barbecue or cheeseburger pizza. I mix in a little barbecue sauce with the pizza sauce and top it with shredded cheddar instead of mozzarella.

If you have an assortment of noodles or rice, veggies, and even a little meat, you can turn it into a soup. Just grab some stock, choosing an appropriate one based on the meat you have on hand, and rewarm in a pot. Add a few suitable fresh ingredients to stretch it into a big enough meal for your family. Depending on which foods you have left from a Mexican dinner, you might be able to create a taco soup. A minestrone can be created with leftover pasta and beans. The veggies, rice and noodles can also be good ways to stretch canned soup when your time is limited.

If you have chicken and veggies, you could mix up some dumplings from a baking mix or even from scratch, and allow to cook until done on top of the chicken soup. In addition to stretching the meal, the dumplings will be helpful in thickening the soup.

Betty Crocker has a series of recipes using Bisquick called Impossible Pies that are also great for using miscellaneous leftovers. While the recipes call for specific amounts of the veggies and meat, I'm certain that you could do a little substituting if you are comfortable in the kitchen. However, there are so many recipes for the Impossible Pies that you may not need to substitute.

I hope this helps you find some new ideas to spice up your leftovers. Using food before it goes to waste works for me. You will find more Works for Me Wednesday Tips at We Are THAT Family.

If you enjoyed this post, please check my main page tomorrow or subscribe to the RSS feed (top right) for more "Spring Clean Out" posts.

Derby Day Pie

2009-04-27T21:45:00.017-04:00

I had to deviate from my "Cleaning Out" posts today to pay homage to a Kentucky favorite. (Check back tomorrow and I'll continue the "Cleaning Out" series.) As you may know, I am from Kentucky and this week our state is center stage. The Run for the Roses, a.k.a., The Kentucky Derby runs this Saturday. There are many festivities that lead up to this event and even some locally favorite foods gain extra attention this time of year. Have you ever heard of Burgoo or Mint Julep? One is delicious, the other, not so much.

One of the other Kentucky specialties is Derby Day Pie. (We actually refer to it as something else, but the name we use is trademarked and I want to play it safe.) This pie is delicious, addicting and easy to make.

Derby Day Pie

1 cup sugar
1 cup melted butter
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Mix and pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake 50 minutes at 350 or until set. This makes enough for two regular pie shells or one deep dish.

If you want to read more about the Derby from a local's point of view, Shannon at Up Too Early has written a post that will give you taste of the city during this exciting time.

This recipe has been linked to:
Mouthwatering Mondays by Southern Fairytale
Kitchen Tip Tuesdays by Tammy's Recipes
Tempt My Tummy by Blessed With Grace
Tasty Tuesday by Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
Talk about Tuesday by The Lazy Organizer

Where to Find More Tips

2009-04-27T09:03:00.005-04:00

If you need some organizing solutions while you are Spring Cleaning and purging your house of unneeded items, head over to Organize with Sandy. While you are there, you can read my guest post on how to make a powerful homemade cleaner.

Clean Out and Sell

2009-04-26T15:48:00.014-04:00

Spring is a great time of year to purge your home of the items that have worn out their welcome. While some people prefer to automatically donate the items, which is wonderful and admirable, today I'm going to list the options for selling your items. Come back later this week for donating ideas.

Yard sales (or perhaps people in your area refer to them as tag sales, rummage sales or garage sales) are a tried and true method to cashing in on your unwanted items. As my children have gotten older, they enjoy making crafts or coffee and lemonade to sell. In the past, we have used the proceeds from the sale for a family activity or purchase. By doing that, we do not need to keep track of how much each person earns and the children have incentive to find items to sell.

Craiglist is much like an online yard sale. I have noticed this service works the best if you are in a larger city, but it is well worth trying this free option.

Ebay has changed a lot over the years and seems to be ideal for vintage pieces, collectibles, and boutique items at discounts.

Consignment stores are invaluable to a growing family. I recently wrote about how I shop for free at my local consignment shop. Once or twice a year, there is a huge consignment sale in our town where a large number of families will meet in a gym or meeting hall to buy and sell from each other under one roof. You can check for one in your area at Kids Consignment Sales.

There are numerous online auction and swap sites. I am not familiar with any of these to recommend them specifically, but there are certainly a variety available if this is the type of service you need.

Consider an outdoor flea market. If you have visited the flea market before, gauge whether your items would be a good fit based on the other outdoor vendors. There will be a small fee to set up, but you will have a steady stream of customers.

Do you have other ideas for selling your unneeded items?

This post has been linked to:
Your Life, Your Blog at Real Life
I am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic

Check it out!

2009-04-24T08:48:00.004-04:00

I was featured as New Blog of the Week at Faithful Follower of Christ. She was so sweet to compliment Just Doing My Best in this manner and did a great job reviewing my blog. Check it out and look for her article on how she handled dishonesty when it occurred in her home. She had some great points, one of which I have already started implementing.

How to Introduce the Arts for Free

2009-04-24T07:06:00.010-04:00

Each week I have been providing potential ideas for frugal family fun. I'm talking about Spring this week at Just Doing My Best and Spring is the perfect time to introduce the arts to your children for free.

Spring is recital season and larger schools often publish the recital schedule in newspapers and online in hopes for a large audience. If you live near a university, the options are endless. I live near one and have seen advertisements for free performances by the various music ensembles at the School of Music, all for free! I remember going to one such recital as a child and it was just a small concert on a small stage, but with the same amount of decorum and talent as one might expect from a professional concert. Remember, these are professionals in training so the quality will be fantastic. I've seen advertisements for string orchestras, brass ensembles, small concert ensembles, and even vocal recitals at the schools.

Other ideas that might be a little closer to home:

It may not be free, but many times, the local high schools put on an end of the year play with a title that even small children would even recognize. Wizard of Oz and Annie are popular ones that schools perform and children would love.

In a nearby town, the small city is funding a professional theatre company to come in to the town's amphitheatre and perform a few plays for the city's residents, all for free. This is a good time of year to scour your town's paper and websites to see if anything similar is happening.

Lastly, this is not free either, but if you think your child might be interested in dance or taking music lessons, many places offer summer lessons and day camps. These are wonderful ways for your children to experience their interest without you having to make a commitment for more than a summer. This is especially great if you or your child are unsure of how long the interest will last or to gain some first-hand experience with the studio before committing. We tried out a dance company this way and found it was a perfect fit for our daughter and then signed up for the following fall.

Do you have any ideas for introducing the arts to children inexpensively or for free?

This post is linked to:
Frugal Friday by Life as Mom

5 Ways to Save Money This Spring

2009-04-23T08:31:00.004-04:00

If you are looking for even more money-saving ideas, head on over to my article at Happy to be at Home.

Don't forget to check back here tomorrow for the latest idea in my Frugal Family Fun series, with a special focus on Spring and the Arts.

Coupon Binder

2009-04-22T19:52:00.008-04:00

Have you found a coupon organization method that you like? I love my coupon binder and I've found it to be an easy system to maintain.

I bought some plastic baseball card inserts and use them inside my binder to hold the coupons. I found them at Walmart in the office supply section. I also found, in the same section, some plastic inserts that have roughly 4x6 openings and I use these for the larger coupons.

I like to buy a couple of extra papers each week. (You can learn how to buy them very inexpensively in this post.) I discovered that when I have several of the same insert, if I separate the pages and group them together, then I'm only cutting the coupon once. This is a huge time saver!

How do you organize your coupons? Do you have any time-savers? I'd love to hear any tips you might use for your coupon stash.

This post has been linked to:
Coupon Organization at $5 Dinners
Frugal Friday by Life As Mom

A Few Good Coupons and Deals

2009-04-22T10:13:00.006-04:00

I tried to find a few higher dollar coupons or interesting offers to share with you. Sometimes, you can get coupons by signing up for a company's newsletter. If you are apprehensive about cluttering up your inbox, consider creating a "junk" email account with Yahoo, Google, etc., for the purpose of giving out to companies.

$4 Off Claritin-D, 15 count or larger
$3 off Children's Non-Drowsy Claritin
$5 off selected Hasbro games
$2 off Dry Idea Antiperspirant
$1 off any Simple Green product
$1 off selected sizes V-8

Dinner Conversation - Part 2

2009-04-21T22:48:00.009-04:00

Last week, I shared with you how we learn about the children's day while gathered around the dinner table. I promised you another conversation idea this week. This week's idea will not only make the meal time more fun, but will also give you an interesting glimpse into your children's developing personalities.

A while back I found a book called Kidchat Too! and fell in love with it. This book is intended to spark conversations by offering fun and unusual questions. We have had some enlightening and funny discussions that also taught me things about my children (and husband) that I never knew. Some of the questions are lighthearted while others are a little deeper. One example that we used is, "What do you think will be the hardest part of being an adult one day?" Another question children enjoy is, "If a soda company asked you to come up with a new flavor of soda, what would it be?"

I also found a great printable list of questions at Listplanit.com. At a restaurant recently, I asked one of the questions from the Listplanit.com list and the children had so much fun with it that they asked if I had anymore questions!

Since this week I am discussing Spring, I should mention that this dinner conversation idea can be even better by pulling your patio set out of storage taking dinner outside. Have fun!

Whimsical conversation starters work for our family and you can find more Works for Me Wednesday tips at We Are That Family.

Homemaking by the Season - Home Maintenance

2009-04-21T08:48:00.005-04:00

If you are anything like me, home maintenance is one of the more mundane, albeit necessary tasks of keeping a home. However, for few hours of work, money will be saved for weeks and months to come.

First, there are several good websites that feature checklists of the chores we should focus on this spring. A great place to start is Bob Vila's Home Maintenance Checklist. Among many other suggestions, he mentions changing filters. We will soon be turning on the A/C units and considering they are usually the most expensive drain on our electric bill, having these operating at maximum efficiency will save us money. You may also want to take a peek at the unit outside and make sure it is clear of grass clippings and lawn debris. If the air flow is restricted by leaves and grass clippings, the unit will be less effective. Lastly, check your unit to see if it functions as you expect, before you actually need it. You will get repair service much quicker in the spring than you will on the first hot summer day when many people are turning on their units for the first time.

Second, if you have never planted a garden before, this is the year to start. As you know, food prices have been climbing and the job market is still unsteady. Free food growing in your backyard will make your grocery budget stretch even further. It is not too late to start, though in some parts of the country, it is certainly time to be quick with your garden plans. Phoebe at Cents to Get Debt Free loves gardening and blogs her progress, so if you need some inspiration, be sure to check out her site. Even if you think you do not have room for a garden, square foot gardening provides efficient use of a small space and container gardening requires even less space.

A quick frugal tip if you are wanting to start a garden: The smaller family owned nurseries are going to be much cheaper than the big box garden stores. In our area, we have several that are so small that the business is conducted from a greenhouse on the family's property. I do not even recall seeing advertisements or even large business signs for this type of nursery, but they have more variety and are probably half the price of the larger businesses. These businesses depend mainly on word of mouth suggestions and the locals who just drive by. If you are new to this hobby, consider asking friends and family where they buy their plants.

Lastly, we are probably all familiar with the fact that spring cleaning should be done. Rather than provide a checklist of the necessary chores, I just had to show you how to make it more fun. I found a CD at Amazon called Lifestyles: Music for Spring Cleaning. I had to laugh because it is certainly not the type of music that would get me through a day of tough cleaning, but maybe someone would enjoy it. It's beautiful music though. If this is not your style of music to clean to, pick out a selection of your favorite songs as well as a reward for yourself to enjoy when you are finished, and see if that helps you get through these necessary chores.

Come back tomorrow for a more relaxing and amusing way to enjoy the warm Spring weather.

This post is linked to these great sites:
Talk About Tuesday at The Lazy Organizer
Your Life, Your Blog at Real Life
I am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic

Lemon Cheese Bars

2009-04-20T09:17:00.013-04:00

Lemon Cheese Bars are a great spring dessert. They are a little lighter than the heavier desserts we usually associate with winter and these are not overly lemon flavored, which makes them perfect for those who do not typically like lemon desserts.

Lemon Cheese Bars

1 box yellow cake mix, the ones with pudding in the mix are preferable
1 8 ounce package softened cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 eggs, used separately
1/3 cup oil

Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry cake mix with 1 egg and 1/3 cup oil until crumbly. Reserve 1 cup and pat remaining mixture lightly in an ungreased 13x9 pan. Bake 15 minutes. Beat cheese, sugar, lemon juice, and 1 egg until smooth. Spread over baked layer and sprinkle reserved crumb mixture over the top. Bake 15 minutes. Allow to cool and cut into bars.

You will find other recipes at the following sites:
Mouthwatering Mondays by Southern Fairytale
Kitchen Tip Tuesdays by Tammy's Recipes
Tempt My Tummy at Blessed With Grace
Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap at Grocery Cart Challenge

Friday Deals

2009-04-17T10:53:00.004-04:00

I'm taking a week off from the Frugal Family Fun series, but be sure to join me next week for the next fun idea.

In the meantime, I've found a few deals at the Amazon Friday Sale to share with you:

J.A. Henckels International Everedge 13-Piece Knife Set with Bonus Cheese Knife $34.99, marked down from $122.00

Anne Lewin Women's Reversible Printed Notch Neck PJ Set $11.16, marked down from $66.00

Swiss Legend Men's Eograph Chronograph Watch #50033-33 $89.99, marked down from $795.00 (This could make an excellent Father's Day or Graduation gift)

Deluxe 100% Cotton Damask Stripe Mattress Pad $24.99, marked down from $70.00

Frugality is a Lifestyle - Organization

2009-04-17T09:26:00.009-04:00

This is an adapted excerpt of my article How to be Frugal - The Four Essentials, originally posted at Happy to be at Home.

Those of us who consider ourselves wise with money or even frugal minded, have learned many tips, tricks and know precisely where to find the best deal. Our best money saving efforts, however, can be diminished or even worthless if we are not organized. I consider organization to be on the most important aspects of a frugal and productive lifestyle.

Why is organization so important to frugality? If you found snow boots on clearance for $2 but they never made it to the proper area, chances are you will forget you bought them. Then, when you see another great clearance sale on snow boots, you buy next season's size. Again. I often buy party supplies on clearance, but have to make a point to get them to the correct storage area so that when the holiday comes, I know exactly where to find them. Otherwise, those birthday napkins I just knew I had somewhere, would need to be replaced the day of the party. If you are organized, and only if you are organized, buying ahead and stockpiling makes sense.

I consider myself a couponer, but if the coupons are not organized, there is no way I would be able to take advantage of the deals in the same way as if they were clipped nicely in my coupon organizer. During times I could not prioritize staying organized in this department, I am certain I paid way too much at the grocery.

Whether you work outside the home or work at home without pay, staying organized to the level we want can be tricky. Perhaps we should move our focus from being organized everywhere and feeling bad when we are not, to being organized in the areas that affect us daily, such as schedules, clothing, meal prep, etc.

The second largest place we should be organized are areas that save us money. This will look different to each family. Take a look at the areas where you are feeling disorganized and ask yourself if it is costing you money. This might be either having to re-buy items you already have, (somewhere) or missing out on potential savings, such as with coupons or sales ads. It might also be missed income opportunities, such as the clothing you meant to take to the consignment shop.

None us can be perfect and stay perfect in this area. Decide which problem area in your home makes the biggest impact financially and start with that. This can mean either items being replaced because you didn't know you had them, savings lost due to disorganized coupons, or income lost from not taking clothing to a consignment shop, etc.

Perhaps, starting your organizing efforts at these two main place will get the "ball rolling" for organization in other areas. Off to take my own advice. Have a great day!

This post is linked to:

Frugal Friday at Life as Mom

Finding Freedom Friday at Cents to Get Debt Free

Which is better?

2009-04-15T22:30:00.004-04:00

What is important to you when buying gifts for children? See my article on deciding which is better, spending less money or having less junk at Happy to be at Home.

Dinner Conversation

2009-04-14T22:04:00.008-04:00

Do your children like to talk? Or do you have to drag information out of them? My children love to talk. I mean they really, really love talking. Honestly, I wouldn't change that about them even if I could. I understand some children do not open up much and even when asked about their day, they might shrug and give a one word answer. You will find the other extreme in our home. There is usually so much story-telling about the day that the info I need to hear, may never be shared. However, I can tell you which child in the class had two servings of french fries for lunch, despises cheeseburgers, and most of the words to the latest, most popular tween song.

One of the things I attempt when we are seated around the dinner table is to ask the children about their high and low points of the day. So far, they have been quite receptive to answering these questions. When I ask about the high point of their day, I think that it teaches them to keep things in perspective when times are tough and to look for the things that are worthy of our happiness and gratitude. When I ask about their low point, it often initiates conversations about problems that otherwise may not have been discovered as quickly as they were. This will be a time that I watch their expression and reaction to see if there may be an issue bothering them that they do not want to discuss at the table and I make a mental note to approach the issue at a more private time. Because the "highs and lows" are discussed routinely though, talking about the tough situations seems to be less intimidating.

Asking about the highs and lows of the day works for our family. Do you have a favorite way you touch base each day with your children? I have another dinner conversation idea to share with you next week, so if you are interested, you might want to save Just Doing My Best's home page as a favorite or subscribe to the RSS feed in the upper right corner.

You can find more Works for Me Wednesday tips at We Are THAT Family.

Virtual Great American Bake Sale

2009-04-13T21:11:00.013-04:00

Have you seen the Great American Bake Sale that is taking place across America? Its a wonderful program that endeavours to put an end to child hunger. There is a virtual version of this program taking place across the blogosphere. Just a little info about the Virtual Great American Bake Sale:

100% of the proceeds from the sale of these ebooks will go toward Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale program. Funds raised through Great American Bake Sale are donated to after-school and summer feeding programs--food programs that many kids depend on when school is not in session. Great American Bake Sale is a program of Share Our Strength, a national organization working to make sure no kid in America grows up hungry.The ebooks are a compilation of recipes from submitters across the blogosphere and beyond. The ebooks are available for purchase based on any donation amount of the buyer's choosing.

Here's the recipe I contributed:

White Chip Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups white sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 2/3 cups white chocolate chips

2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time and then stir in vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Once combined, stir into the creamed mixture. Fold in white chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven or until cookies are set. Allow cookies to cool 5 minutes and then move to wire rack to cool completely.

These were delicious, though very rich.

Please visit Cooking During Stolen Moments to find more recipe submissions. If you would like to donate the amount of your choosing and receive the compiled E-book, you may do so below.

The Complete 2009 VGABS Recipes Ebook

Features all 170 of the submitted recipes. Many of the recipes include pictures.

On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Shopping cart courtesy of E-Junkie.

Because we know file size may be an issue for some, the below ebooks have split the 170 recipes into 4 categorized ebooks so that you can choose just 1 or 2 of your favorites, if you'd prefer. Just like for the Complete ebook, many of these recipes include pictures. And again, they are available for purchase based on any donation amount of the buyer's choosing.

Muffins & Breads

Features 24 recipes.
On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Cookies, Candy, Cakes, Bars & Brownies

Features 50 recipes.
On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Desserts
Features 49 recipes.
On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Beyond Baked Goods (Appetizers, Breakfast, Main Dishes, etc.)

Features 47 recipes.
On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Out of the Box Giveaway Winners

2009-04-10T16:46:00.008-04:00

Thanks to all who participated in the Family Game Night Giveaway sponsored by Out of the Box Publications.

The winning numbers were pulled from a Random Number Generator at Research Randomizer. (Please remember, as stated in the rules, if you do not leave an email or I cannot access your profile page, I have no way to contact you and a new number will be chosen, as I had to do today.)

#16 jdrodgers has won My Word.

#12 Allyson www.a-heart4home.blogspot.com has won Easy Come Easy Go.

Congratulations! We thoroughly enjoyed these games and I'm confident you will also.

Frugal Family Fun - More Than Just Coloring Easter Eggs

2009-04-09T22:41:00.015-04:00

This weekend, if you have children, chances are you will be one of many who will have stained fingers from coloring Easter Eggs. As part of the weekly Frugal Family Fun series, I would like to provide you with some ideas to make coloring the eggs even more special and unique than the egg stands and stickers that come in the flat boxes. Having said that, I just purchased the flat-box coloring kit and will be using it with some of the ideas listed here.

Decorating Easter Eggs can be as simple or elaborate as you prefer. Most of the ideas listed will use supplies you probably already have at home. With a quick web search, you will find ideas for the elaborate projects.

Wrap the egg in rubber bands before setting in dye cup. We've tried this one before and it works very well.
Add some vegetable oil to the dye for a shiny effect - This is a new one we will be trying this year.
Use crayons, light or white will look good with darker dyes. You will see the dye will not be absorbed where the crayon was used. This works best when the egg is still warm enough for the wax from the crayon to soften and melt on the egg as you color.
If you are feeling especially creative, pull out some paintbrushes and acrylic paints and let your imagination run wild. (If you will be eating the eggs, please don't forget to ensure that the paints are non-toxic.)
If you are interested in natural methods for dying the eggs, check out Blissfully Domestic's article, Coloring Easter Eggs Naturally.

Does your family dye Easter eggs using another technique?

This post is linked to:

Frugal Friday by Life as Mom.

Guest Post - Does This Clutter Make Me Late? Part 2

2009-04-09T09:42:00.009-04:00

Last week Sandy from Organize With Sandy taught us how to declutter and today, we will pull everything together and learn how to get out the door on time.

I would like to thank Heather for asking me to be her Guest Blogger today. She had this great contest and it sounds like clutter was at the top of your problem areas of your home. She also mentioned that "Time Management" was an issue. Hope this helps! Thanks.

Time Management

Break down your day into 15 minute increments.

For instance, if you have to be at the school by 3:00 to pick up the kids, but you need to go to the bank and grocery store first then plan it this way:

3:00 - Be at School

2:45 - Leave for school. (It takes 10 min. to get there from school - but use 15)

1:45 - Be at grocery to do the shopping.

1:30 - Leave from bank to go to grocery. (It only takes 8 min. to get there, use 15)

1:15 - Leave for bank. (It only takes 10 min. but use 15)

So to get to the school by 3:00, you need to leave the house by 1:15.

You will have an extra 17 minutes to play with if there is traffic, or if the grocery store is crowded. If you end up being early, just keep a book you are reading or a steno pad in your car to make a "to do" list.

Now make sure that 15 minutes before you get ready to leave the house you get your keys, grocery list, banking items ready and have stopped by the bathroom. So if you need to, set your timer on your stove for 1:00. Once you get in the habit of using 15 minute increments to plan things out, it will become easy and natural and you won't have to worry about being late.

Because your clutter is now cleaned up off that kitchen counter, you can find those keys and bank book and grocery list and you can get out the door on time! Time management is more easily accomplished when you do not have clutter blocking your path!

Sandy is a Professional Organizer, blogger, mom, and a wealth of information. You can read more of her tips at Organize with Sandy. Be sure to check back here so you do not miss her Time Management tips. Heather

This post was linked to:
Finding Freedom Friday by Cents to Get Debt-Free

Everything Egg - How to Boil the Perfect Egg

2009-04-07T20:44:00.016-04:00

"Just doing our best" is great for most things in the home, but not for boiling eggs. In my opinion, this is one area where we need to get it right or the results will be unpleasant. There are lots of methods that work and sometimes, you just need to try a few to see which one works best for you. For quite a while, I was inept in the egg arena, but finally found a method that worked for me.

This is how I boil the perfect egg:

Place the eggs into a large pot and salt the water. (Salt will raise the boiling temperature of the water.)

Place on the stove and heat just until they start to boil.

When you see they are beginning to boil, cover and remove from heat.

Let them sit for 20 minutes.

At the end of 20 minutes, drain the water and refill the pot with cold water and ice to stop the cooking process.

I usually peel them immediately, but this is a personal preference.

Refrigerate after the eggs have cooled in the ice water.

Trouble peeling the eggs?

Fresh eggs are the hardest to peel. Use these for cooking and the oldest eggs for boiling.
Eggshells are porous, so you can add a drop or two of vegetable oil to the water as they cook. The oil will soak through the shell which will allow easier peeling. I tried this and it really works. I added too much oil though and it was a mess, so play around with the amount of oil you need as compared to the size pot you are using. I would not recommend this for the eggs you will be decorating since the decorations probably will not stick.

This is what works in my kitchen. Have you found any egg-related tips that work for you?

You will find this post and many other tips at:

Works for Me Wednesday hosted by We Are THAT Family.

*****If you enjoy family game night, head to my main page and scroll down for information on how to you can win one of two games that will be given away this Friday. ****

Everything Egg - Use Them Up

2009-04-06T21:11:00.028-04:00

With Easter quickly approaching, you probably have seen reduced egg prices and will likely be boiling some this weekend. Over the next few days, I will be giving you some egg info, food prep suggestions and decorating ideas, so check back often to see what's new.

If you plan on coloring eggs or even if you are just a frugal shopper, you will want to take advantage of the lower egg prices. Of course, it's not a bargain if you do not use them before they expire. Read on for some ideas on using them up and if you have other ideas, please leave me a comment. I'd love to hear your ideas too.

First and simplest, my kids love them as a filling, protein-laden snack. Just add a little salt and pepper and enjoy.

A classic stand-by, egg salad is quite filling for growing children. Smash the eggs with a fork and add the salt and pepper to taste before adding the other ingredients. Add a little mustard, mayo and pickle relish to taste.

Making meat loaf? Hollow out a cavity once the meat is in the pan, place 2 hard-boiled eggs in the cavity and place the remaining meat on top of the eggs so that they are covered. (Cheese is also great to hide inside the meat loaf.) Then, bake as normal.

**Update. I've received quite a bit of comments and questions about the eggs inside of meatloaf, so I found a recipe to show you what I'm talking about. It's not the same one I use, but the one at Eggland's Best will give you an idea of what it looks like.**

Eggs are perfect in almost any salad - potato salad, macaroni salad, tuna or on top of a tossed salad.

Of course, we can't omit the obligatory Deviled Eggs. I like to use a Crinkle Cutter to slice the eggs in half. (This is the same crinkle cutter that apparently makes carrot sticks taste better. You can read about it in this veggie post.) Prepare your favorite recipe and place into a pastry bag or a zippered plastic bag and snip off the corner. This makes refilling the eggs much neater and prettier than using a spoon. For extra flavor, sometimes I add ranch dressing and a little less mayo.

If you still need unique ideas for Devilled Eggs, check out DevilledEggs.org. I would have never guessed there are more than 50 ways to fix these eggs.

If you need some pointers on boiling the perfect egg or a way to save on them through the year, check back tomorrow.

This post is linked to:

Kitchen Tip Tuesday at Tammy's Recipes

I Am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic

Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays at Blessed With Grace

Frugal Family Fun - Family Games

2009-04-02T15:46:00.022-04:00

Now that my children are in their pre-teen years, games are becoming even more fun to play. I no longer strategically let the children win, but rather fight to win so I can maintain my mom credibility. If you have competitive sons or daughters, you know what I mean.

Games are one of the most frugal activities for the family. We usually have several in our closets that could be dusted off or can sometimes find gently used ones in used bookstores and consignment shops. Even if you buy a new game, games are relatively inexpensive and can be played over and over.

If you are in the market for a new, high quality, low price game, keep reading because two lucky readers will win one from Out of the Box Publications. My children and I played two of their games- My Word and Easy Come Easy Go - over Spring Break. We loved them! In fact, I'm hoping to add a few more of their games to our collection.

Easy Come Easy Go is for intended for ages 8-adult. The concept reminds me of Yahtzee, except easier to play, especially for younger children. The rules were easy to follow and the time needed to play the game was very reasonable. As busy parents, it's sometimes hard to carve out 1-2 hours for longer games, but this one was only 30 minutes. My daughter thought it was a "fun game and liked the pictures on the prize cards." She also liked the pace and strategy. My son enjoyed it, though he did not have any glowing compliments.

I was most impressed with the quality of the game. The best part of Easy Come Easy Go, was the cushioned cup for the dice. The shaking and rolling of the dice was not loud and annoying. The prize cards are made of a thick cardboard that would ensure years of play. I was surprised to see this game is less than $10.

The next one we reviewed was My Word. This game is intended for ages 7-adult and also took about 30 minutes to play. The dealer lays down letter cards one at a time and all of the players search for words from the cards that the dealer is laying down. The player who sees a word first, shouts it out and keeps those cards. The player with the most cards, wins. This was our unanimous favorite and I will let my children's comments on the game give you an idea about our opinion.

"It makes you think."
"It's educational and you have to look really fast and pay attention."
"You have to have quick reflexes and it's good for spelling."
"It was really, really cool and fun."

My Word has easy to follow rules and is suited well to multi-level players. It comes in a compact tin box that makes it perfect for travel. This is the kind of game I would want on a rainy day, if stuck in a hotel room or camper. I noticed that they even have free printable score sheets for this game on their website. This game is also less than $10.

We enjoyed our time playing games together and Out Of the Box Publications would like you to enjoy family game time also.

If you would like to win either, Easy Come Easy Go or My Word, complete any or all of the options below. Each option will gain you a separate entry.

Go to the Out of the Box Publications site and see which game is your favorite. They offer MANY and some of them are great for educators and homeschoolers. Come back here and leave a comment telling me which you liked the best.

Leave a comment telling me how your family enjoys Frugal Family Fun.

Either follow me on the sidebar or subscribe to the RSS feed (top right corner) and leave a comment telling me that you did.

Blog about this giveaway, linking back to Just Doing My Best. Come back here and leave me a comment that you blogged with your URL, so I can visit you too.

Comments will close at 3 pm on Friday, April 10. Two winners will be chosen by a random number generator. Be sure to leave an email so I can contact you or a new winner will be chosen.

Good luck!

Because of the high quality, high educational value, and low prices, games by Out of the Box Publications are the newest addition to Just My Best Picks.

This post is linked to:

Frugal Fridays by Life As Mom.

Freebies 4 Mom

Guest Post - Does This Clutter Make Me Late? Part 1

2009-04-02T09:59:00.008-04:00

I would like to thank Heather for asking me to be her Guest Blogger today. She had this great contest and it sounds like clutter was at the top of your problem areas of your home. She also mentioned that "Time Management" was an issue. Hope this helps! Thanks.

Clutter can make you late! "What, do you mean by that?" you may say. But clutter and time management can go hand in hand as a problem. "Where are my keys? I know I just laid them here, maybe they are under this stack of mail." "I just need to grab that report for the meeting, but where is it?" "Mom, where did my red jacket go? I'm going to be late for school!"Do any of these sound like your house?

When you have extra clutter sitting around choking up the "clean, clear, calm" space then you also have clutter sitting in your head...choking up your "clean, clear and calm" space of your brain. When you do not have a clear brain to think with, you are going to have too many thoughts...too many things jumbled in your head and lose track not only of what needs to be done, but in what time frame it needs to be done in.

Simply put, Too much stuff in your house + Too much stuff in your head = Being Late.Being late out the door, being late to pick up the kids, being late with reports due, being late paying bills, being late to the meeting - sound familiar?

So what do you do? Clearing out the clutter from your home will result in clearing out the clutter from your head which will in turn help you to focus and plan your day more productively which will then lead to being on time.Sounds simple doesn't it....NOT!

How Do I Clear out the Clutter?

Make 4 signs:

Keep
Donate
Move
Toss

Get white trash bags for your donate and black for trash (so you don't mix them out when you take them out of your house. I prefer clear plastic storage bins for long term storage. Give yourself 2 hours of time if you are able. Do not think you will get an entire room done, just start out with a smaller goal.

Pick up each item, look at it fast and think:

Do I use this?
Do I need this?
Do I like this?
What is the worse thing that can happen if I don't have this?

Don't spend more than about 5-10 sec. on each item, otherwise memories start popping in and you "personalize" that item. You want to keep it "depersonalized", otherwise it can be too hard to get rid of.

This is just one aspect of being organized and next week, Sandy will share a great time management tip and will pull everything together.

Sandy is a Professional Organizer, blogger, mom, and a wealth of information. You can read more of her tips at Organize with Sandy. Be sure to check back here so you do not miss her Time Management tips. Heather

Inexpensive Snacks for Growing Children

2009-03-31T23:00:00.001-04:00

This week's Works For Me Wednesday is a Backwards Edition, meaning I ask my readers for solutions to my dilemma.

As soon as I heard it was a Backwards Edition, I knew exactly what I wanted to ask you.

Our grocery bill has been steadily rising lately. My son is almost 13, and as those of you with pre-teen or teen boys know, boys this age cannot get enough to eat. I hear their appetites get even more insatiable when they are in their mid-teens.

So, here are my questions for you:

If you have/ had a pre-teen or teen boy, please share with me your experience with their appetite and food requirements. He is my oldest and this is uncharted territory, so I'm feeling clueless.

What ideas do you have for healthy, but frugal snack ideas to hold him over to the next meal? I'm talking VERY filling here...certain snacks, like cereal bars, don't even make a dent in his bottomless pit of a stomach.

I'm looking forward to reading your experiences and ideas. For the sake of our grocery budget and my son's belly, I hope you have lots of ideas for me. Thanks!!

You can read other blogger's dilemmas and their reader's solutions at Works for Me Wednesday, hosted by We Are THAT Family.

Quick and Easy Vegetable Dip

2009-03-31T15:36:00.009-04:00

This is easily one of the simplest Veggie Dip recipes I have ever seen. Though it is quick to assemble, you do need to allow a few hours for it to chill.

Quick and Easy Veggie Dip

You will need:

1 package Knorrs Vegetable recipe mix, found with dry soup mixes

16 oz. sour cream

Simply mix the two ingredients together and refrigerate for a few hours so the mix can rehydrate and flavors meld together.

This recipe is linked to:

Tasty Tuesday at Forever Wherever

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace

Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap at Grocery Cart Challenge

Timesavers in the Kitchen for a Stress-Free Morning

2009-03-31T10:07:00.017-04:00

Do your mornings flow as well as you wish they would? I think the responsibilities in the kitchen can be the greatest stressor in trying to get everyone out the door on time and without chaos. I am not a morning person, so I work ahead to ensure my mornings require as little mental function and physical activity as possible.

First, I always ensure that I start the week with the basics: bread, milk, veggies, lunch meat, peanut butter, and of course, coffee and creamer. There's nothing worse for a sleepy morning than realizing you don't have an essential part of a meal.

Each week, usually a Sunday night, I wash and slice all the veggies for the coming week. I recently wrote a post about how prepping veggies ahead is a great time-saver. While I am working on the veggies, I put some eggs on to boil. The boiled eggs are great for extra snacks or on salads through the week. If we want tuna or egg salad, the eggs are ready and waiting.

When all the veggies are prepped, I divvy some of them into bags for lunches, leaving the rest for extra snacks and meal ingredients. I also divvy up the chips or pretzels and cookies into smaller bags for lunches. Not buying the prepackaged individual sizes of veggies, chips, and cookies saves us money and I am still enjoying convenience-size bags by spending just a few extra minutes in the kitchen once a week. When the bags are finished, the only thing left for lunch assembly is sandwiches and any extras a growing boy might need to supplement his lunch.

Each night, I fix the sandwiches for the next day and plan breakfast. Then, I set out the children's vitamins and allergy meds in little sauce-size cups. These are set on the table with the napkin and fork or spoon depending on what will be served for breakfast. Most critical to my morning, I prepare the coffee pot and set the automatic timer.

Ideally, the only thing left each morning is to assemble the lunches that I have already prepared and fix the pre-planned breakfast. This gives me the time to deal with any issues the children forgot to tell me about (because it always happens despite our best efforts) and to chat with them before they leave.

How do you make your mornings in the kitchen stress-free?

This post is linked to:
Kitchen Tip Tuesdays at Tammy's Recipes
Talk about Tuesday at The Lazy Organizer
I am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic

Disney's Branching Out

2009-03-29T16:09:00.006-04:00

Did you know Disney is going green? They have acquired a newsletter devoted to green living and have 5 new films featuring our planet.

You can see the trailers at Disney Nature. If this interests you, check out the Disney site and come back here and click to subscribe to the newsletter and for a chance to win tickets to the World Premiere of DisneyNature Earth.

Sunday's Spotlight

2009-03-28T23:32:00.001-04:00

Blogs worth taking a peek at:

Cooking During Stolen Moments - Some great recipes with pics at this site. Be sure to check out the Virtual Great American Bake Sale. You can participate even if you do not have a blog.

I Am a Money Magnet - a fellow Kentucky girl who offers specific info on bargains, deals, and freebies.

Mommy's Idea Book - This blog has a little bit of everything that a mom might want to know to make her home more enjoyable or more manageable.

Thanks to the Canned Food Alliance and TheMotherhood.com

2009-03-27T23:26:00.025-04:00

Look what I found on my front porch!

A few weeks ago, I participated in a Food Pantry Challenge at TheMotherhood.com sponsored by the Canned Food Alliance. The challenge was to not buy any food, other than necessary perishables such as milk and produce, for one week. We were to feed our family with only what was already in our pantry.

The prize went to the first 10 moms who participated and reported back to TheMotherhood.com. We shared daily menus and recipes and I think we even helped one mom use up some coconut milk!

The Canned Food Alliance donated this basket filled with a variety of canned foods and several recipe booklets to each of us and then made a donation in our names to our local food pantry.

Did you know canned food does not spoil? Assuming the can is not dented, the quality will change after about two years, but it will still be safe to eat for years later. You won't believe how old some cans were that were found on a sunken ship and were still microbiologically safe. You can find out how old these cans were, recipes, and time-saving tips at Mealtime.org. I thought the Red-Bean Salsa Grilled Chicken and the Maple Pecan Pumpkin Cheesecake sounded fantastic.

Here's my challenge to you: take a peek in your pantry and see what item you have forgotten existed or have been avoiding. Then, go to a recipe site like Allrecipes.com, and using their ingredient search at the top of the page, type in your item, and find a recipe to get those old products out of your pantry.

I'd love to hear what item you found in your pantry that must be used, and how you prepared it.

Questions to Consider Before the Lay-Off, Part 2

2009-03-27T16:27:00.005-04:00

What will you do if your family loses it's income? Check out my article: Questions to Consider Before the Lay-Off, Part 2 at Happy to be at Home.

Amazon Gift Card Winner

2009-03-27T12:18:00.007-04:00

The winner of Just Doing My Best's first giveaway, which is a $15 gift card to Amazon.com is.....

#12 Angela at Mommy Bytes!
number pulled from a randomizer at Random.org
Congratulations, Angela!

Thanks to all who entered the contest and left comments with their challenges in the home. Check back here often because I will have a special guest and specific posts geared toward conquering your challenges.

Homemade Freezer-Ready Pizza Sauce

2009-03-27T09:01:00.010-04:00

I originally found this recipe at Miserly Moms years ago, before frugal was the new black, and used it often. I recently rediscovered it and pulled it back out of the cookbook as another effort to reduce expenses at home.

If this sauce is made and ready, I will be more likely to make pizza at home rather than order out and I do not have to run to the grocery store when I choose to make one. In addition to convenience, this homemade sauce costs less than half of the jarred sauce.

Some of the ingredients lend well to changing so you can cater to your family's taste, just as I changed it a bit from the original.

Homemade Pizza Sauce

1 large can Tomato Puree (29 oz.)

1 small can Tomato Sauce (8 oz.)

approximately 1/4 cup olive oil (original recipe called for 1/2 cup salad oil but I thought that was too much)

2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 Tablespoon oregano

1 Tablespoon parsley flakes

Mix all of the ingredients together and divide into 4 freezer bags. There's no need to cook this and it freezes very well.

The total cost of 4 portions of pizza sauce is roughly $1.50 or .38 a pizza.

This post is linked to :

Finding Freedom Friday at Cents to Get Debt-Free

Friday Recipe Swap at Grocery Store Challenge

Mouth Watering Mondays at A Southern Fairytale

Frugal Family Fun - Holding Down the Fort

2009-03-26T21:38:00.019-04:00

With part of the country snowed in, another fraction enduring long bouts of non-stop rain, and yet another starting Spring Break, this seems like the perfect week to stay home for the next idea in the Frugal Family Fun series.

I'm going to offer an old but favorite stand-by for kid fun, including ideas on how to make it even more memorable.

You will need:

Lots of blankets

clothes pins (to hold blankets together)

flash lights

an out of the way area of main room, i.e. corner of the family room, dining room, etc.

a movie and snacks

When we are cooped up inside, my children love to build a fort. It does not happen often, so when it does, it's a no-holds barred, all-consuming construction zone.

We have dining room that we do not use daily, so one day last winter, I cleared off the top of the table, and let the kids rule the room. They enclosed all four sides of the table with blankets and used blanket-covered chairs to create rooms and tunnels reaching clear to the perimeter of the room. They had a mansion complete with bedrooms and dual entrances.

When lunch time came, they understandably did not want to leave their mansion, so they opened a couple of "windows" and ate in their new abode. As the day wound down, and after a full day of building and tweaking their hide-out, they were excited to hear that they could leave it up for the next day...and the next day. They have also been known to have a sleep-over in their fort, with the obligatory movies, snacks, and flashlights.

While the children will enjoy the memories, I heard a friendship forming as they worked together as a team. Priceless lessons and memories for free.

Here's a Mommy Secret: If your children are old enough to not need constant supervision and enjoy this type of play, chances are they will be so consumed with this activity that you can tackle that unread book or home improvement project that has gone undone because little ones are underfoot.

This post is linked to:
Frugal Friday by Life as Mom

Report Card Freebies

2009-03-25T00:07:00.011-04:00

My children are excited about their upcoming report cards. Since they are excited and not worried, that means this mom is relieved and excited too.

We do not pay per grade earned, but I did want them to enjoy some benefits of their hard work so I did some research hoping to find companies who are willing to reward hard-working students.

I found these offers and they were verified online:
Chuck E. Cheese - free tokens based on grades earned
IBC Bakery Outlets - a snack cake for the child and loaf of bread for the parents.

These could not be verified at corporate websites, so you will want to check your local store:
Krispy Kreme - free donut
Graeters - free ice cream

Are you familiar with any report card incentives?

Find Free Clipart at School Clip Art

Prize Winning Texas Chili

2009-03-24T11:27:00.016-04:00

As promised in my Ultimate Blog Party post, today I am sharing my favorite, prize winning chili recipe. This recipe comes from my grandpa in Texas, who you may remember from a previous post if you are a regular reader here, is a great cook.

Last weekend, our church had a chili cook-off and of 20+ pots of other chili, his recipe won! I am so excited because I make this for my family several times a year, every year and we love it.

Texas Chili

2 cans jalapeno pinto beans
2 cans diced tomatoes
3 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup parsley
1 Tablespoon salt
1 Tablespoon black pepper
1/3 cup chili powder
2 Tablespoons cumin
2 large onions
2 large bell peppers
2 Tablespoons shortening or oil
1 stick of butter

Saute diced onion and bell pepper in shortening until tender. Set aside. Brown meat in pan and pour off grease. Add butter and dry ingredients to meat; mix well. Add cooked onions, pepper, and parsley to the meat; mix well. Add beans, tomatoes and 1/2 cup of water. Cover and cook slowly 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

As you can see from the pic, sometimes I use a little less meat, onions, and green pepper for weeknight meals, just to keep the cost down. For the cook-off though, the recipe was followed precisely. We like it served with Fritos under the chili. OK, my mouth is watering just typing this out.

Hope you like it!

You can find this recipe linked to:
Kitchen Tip Tuesday at Tammy's Recipes
Tasty Tuesday at Forever Wherever
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace
Talk about Tuesday at The Lazy Organizer

Goodie Bag

2009-03-23T10:15:00.016-04:00

I've been enjoying my time at the Ultimate Blog Party the past few days, but realized that the party goers here at Just Doing My Best need a goodie bag to take home to remember their time at this site.

I usually do not list freebies, but I wanted to try to give back to my readers. I've found a few freebies you can sign up for and hopefully you will remember the party and Just Doing My Best for the next few weeks as the goodies arrive at your home. Enjoy!

Dove Hair Therapy sample
Caress Evenly Gorgeous body wash sample
Cream of Wheat sample
Arm and Hammer Toothpaste sample
Miscellaneous samples from Walmart, options will change often

Lastly, these are not free, but coupons.com (you can get there from my sidebar) has high-dollar coupons, such as:

$2 off deodorant
$5 off children's games, such as Gator Golf, Elefun, Twister Hopscotch, Sorry Sliders
$10 off the Leapfrog Tag Reading system

Coupons are updated regularly, so check it out before they are gone.

I hope you enjoy your goodie bag! I'm offering a giveaway too, so scroll down to read about the Amazon gift card give-away and my Ultimate Blog Party party post.

Is Your Family Ready for a Financial Emergency?

2009-03-23T10:06:00.004-04:00

To help evaluate if your family is ready, check out my article: Questions to Consider Before the Lay-Off at Happy to be at Home.

What's More Important?

2009-03-22T00:00:00.003-04:00

I'd like to introduce you to Malia at Homemaking 911. I've met her IRL (in real life) on numerous occasions and I can tell you that she is an anchor of calm and compassion. The personality that you hear when you read her articles is real and sincere. You can visit her and her many articles, ideas, and e-books at Homemaking911.com.

I Love You More

Last summer, our family was going through a difficult time. My oldest daughter (then 16) just had a very extensive knee surgery, far more difficult than we expected. Our son (2) was going through a lot of behavior changes and having difficulty sleeping, obeying, responding when called, and the like. My other children were just fine, but the weeks were very long and hard. My frustration with my son was growing with each passing day. I would wake up more exhausted when I went to bed because he kept getting up at night. He woke several times each night screaming, crying, fussing, wandering the house, or whatever a two year old mind can think of to do when all the lights are out and everyone else is trying trying to sleep. I am very consistent with the discipline of my children and I was searching and praying or answers, solutions and quick fixes. The Lord had something else in mind for me.

One night at 1:30 AM when he was up crying, rather than just sending him back to his bed, I went to his room and just rocked him and held him. As I looked in his sweet little face, I realized that I was putting my desire for a full night of sleep ahead of my precious son. I looked him in the face and told that little baby, “I will stay here and rock you all night if it helps you feel better. I love you more than I love a full night of sleep.” I rocked him for over an hour. As I sat and prayed about this child and my own selfish behavior, I was reminded of another home school family who just lost their own precious son (18) to cancer. I know his mother would gladly give up her nights of sleep for every night if she had the chance to hold her son again. I had to repent to my son and to the Lord.

The next day, when I called his name he ran the other way. Instead of being frustrated, I did the right thing. I got up and went to him and reminded him that when I call his name, he was to come to mommy right away. As I did it, I said in my mind, “I love you more than I love sitting in my chair,” and I prayed for the Lord to make it so. He did.

That week I was visiting at another mom’s house, he ran from me in the opposite direction, and headed around the house. I had to stop my conversation to go fetch and correct him, but the whole way, I could hear the Lord saying: “You love him more than what these other mom’s think, more than you love standing here and chatting, and more than having your dream of a perfectly well behaved child. ”

Throughout my days I have been examining my own heart and all the little annoyances have faded as I look at each one and remind myself that I love these four children more than I love the dream of perfectly behaved children who never interrupt adults, make messes, argue with siblings, or embarrass me from time to time. Praise God, I really do love them more.

I also realized I love the LORD more than I love a perfect house, a perfect car, all the laundry folded, the perfect hot meal on glass dishes on a table set with starched white linens. I can put those things aside temporarily to pursue my Savior in prayer and Bible reading. While all the normal tasks of homemaking must be done, and done to the best of my ability, I was sometimes forgetting that my loving Savior was there to walk me through it all, if only I took the time to seek Him.

I know some of you struggle with some of the daily tasks of motherhood and home schooling. I know children can be frustrating and tiring, but I pray that my struggle will help you look at your precious children and husband, and instead of comparing them to your ideal vision, the Lord will give you a heart to say….”I love you more than this.”

From her site: Malia Russell is the blessed wife to Duncan, thankful mother to four children, ages 3-18 and an author, conference speaker and director of www.homemaking911.com. Visit her site for inspiration, encouragement and practical help in your roles as a godly wife, mother, homemaker or home educator.

Copied and used with permission.

Amazon Giftcard Giveaway!

2009-03-21T08:00:00.003-04:00

It's time for the first Giveaway at Just Doing My Best! I had planned to wait until next Friday, but I decided to add an extra one. I guess it's the party atmosphere created by the Ultimate Blog Party and that I won a gift card yesterday, so I wanted spread some extra fun.

You can win one $15 gift card to Amazon.com

You will receive one entry for each of the following:

Leave a comment telling me your biggest challenge in the home.

Blog about the giveaway and link back to this site in your post. Leave a comment that you blogged and leave your URL so I can visit you too.

Subscribe to the RSS Feed or click to follow me in the sidebar. Leave a comment letting me know.

Comments will close at Noon (EST) on March 27 with the winner being chosen by a random number generator. Please be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win.

I Won a Prize!

2009-03-21T00:35:00.009-04:00

A huge THANK YOU to 5 Minutes for Mom for a generous Macy's giftcard that I won at the Sitewarming Party for the Ultimate Blog Party. I love shopping at Macy's and need to pick up a few Spring items so this is perfect!

If you have not checked out the Ultimate Blog Party yet, scroll down and read my post about it. When you follow the links in that post, you will find hundreds and hundreds of other blogger's links to their sites. This party is particularly great if you are looking for new blogs to read or blogs in a specific niche, not to mention the hundreds of giveaways.

Frugal Family Fun - A New Twist on Playgrounds

2009-03-20T00:15:00.009-04:00

In celebration of the Ultimate Blog Party, this is the kick-off to my Frugal Family Fun series. You will see posts weekly, probably near the weekends, with ideas for enjoying your family without spending much, if any, of your family's hard-earned money.

My children and I had a fantastic evening at the town's playground a few nights ago. (Stay with me here, it gets better than just a plain ole playground.) They enjoyed it and we stayed about 20 minutes or so. When I asked if they were ready to leave, of course they shouted an emphatic "no," but when I told them we were going to another playground, their eyes lit up and they raced for the vehicle. That night, we covered 4 playgrounds (though some were attempts due to construction) all within 20 minutes of our home.

This completely free idea will be used again this summer when we venture into our closest city to find more playgrounds. We will pack a lunch and make a day of seeing how many playgrounds we can fit into a day. If you try this, don't forget about church and school playgrounds in addition to the city playgrounds.

If you liked this post, be sure to check out Just Doing My Best's homepage for more tips, goodies and a give-away.

This post has been linked to:

Frugal Fridays at Life as Mom
Finer Things Friday at The Finer Things in Life, because isn't playing with our children just about as good as it gets?
Finding Freedom at Cents to Get Debt-Free
Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family

Ultimate Blog Party

2009-03-19T20:28:00.019-04:00

Parties just went high tech! Actually, it is me who is new to the Ultimate Blog Party. (UBP) The party is hosted by the hardworking and generous ladies at 5 Minutes for Mom, who want to promote our blogs. How great is that!?

The party will last from March 20 - 27 and if it's anything like last year's party, it will involve over a thousand bloggers and hundreds of prizes. Visit 5 minutes for Mom to see who linked up and what they are doing on their site.

As any party goer, I want to briefly introduce myself. My name is Heather and I'm from the suburbs of one of the larger cities in Kentucky. I'm a wife and stay at home mom to the best boy and best girl in the world, at least in this mom's opinion. I enjoy cooking, saving money, having fun with the family, and tweaking the decor in my home. Those are some of the topics you will see here at Just Doing My Best.

Just Doing My Best is named with the understanding that all we have is our personal best. We cannot do any more than that, but we can keep learning and trying. The purpose of this blog is to give you ideas and inspiration to do your best in your own home, whether you work at home, outside the home, or not for pay at all and regardless of whether or not you have children.

I hope this site will help make your job at home easier and I'm looking forward to learning from you as well. I already have some fabulous readers who have taught me so much but there is always room for more ideas. If this sounds good to you, I hope you will consider subscribing to my feed (upper right corner) or checking back often.

On to the party....

Here at Just Doing My Best, the week of March 20-27 will include:

On the 20th, I will kick-off a series on Frugal Family Fun.
On the 22nd, you will meet a writer who will help us see past the small emergencies that can consume our day and help us focus on what really matters in our homes. I have personally met her and can tell you she is the real deal and lives what she writes.
On the 24th, watch for my all-time, favorite prize-winning recipe. I am so excited about a cook-off that I won over the weekend using my grandpa's recipe. It is so delicious that the world just must experience the greatness of this dish!
On the 27th, the week will end with the start of my first giveaway and more frugal ideas just for mom.
Each day will include something new, so check back frequently or subscribe to the Reader (upper right corner) to have the updates delivered to you.

**Update** Extra giveaway added! Go to Just Doing My Best's homepage and scroll down for details on how you can win an Amazon.com gift card!

This will be an exciting time! A party isn't a party unless you meet new people and have fun, so take a look around and check out the sidebar for past posts to get an idea of what this site is about. Feel free to leave me a comment and when you are finished, be sure to check out the other bloggers. Have fun!

**************************************************************

I finally finished wading through the massive list of prizes and these are my top three picks:

Lifetime Membership to Mom Masterminds
$50 gift bundle offered by YouCanMakeThis.com
$100 gift card to HomeGoods

and if those are taken, these look fantastic too:

Mom/daughter flip flops by TopItOffAccessories.com
Case of product by Dei Fratelli
or any of the Target, Kohls or Amazon gift cards

Bartering is Back

2009-03-19T14:36:00.003-04:00

Do you barter? Check out my article, Bartering is Back, at Happy to be at Home.

Storing cheese correctly

2009-03-17T10:10:00.001-04:00

Are you shortening the life of the cheese in your fridge? Plastic bags and plastic wrap seem to be the most popular way in America to store cheese. In fact, we bring the cheese home from the store wrapped in plastic, then we replace the original plastic wrapper with a new plastic wrapper. Cheese is a living organism and needs to breathe, so the plastic should not directly touch it.

The best way to store hard to semi-hard cheese is in foil, parchment paper or wax paper. Foil is the only way I store block cheese and it always lasts for a very long time with no signs of mold or drying out. We have used it for semi-hard to hard cheese, from cheddar and Gouda to Parmesan, and it works beautifully.

For more kitchen tips and recipes, visit Kitchen Tip Tuesdays at Tammy's Recipes.

For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, visit We Are THAT Family.

New Season at the Consignment Shops

2009-03-16T07:30:00.009-04:00

If you are a regular reader here, you will know that I think highly of consignment shops. If you would like to try shopping for free or just need to clean out your closets, now is the time to call your favorite consignment shop and set up an account to start selling your clothes. My local shop is now taking appointments for Spring clothing.

Consignments shops can provide a small bit of money in your pocket from the sale of clothes and the prices are a fraction of new clothing. Thrift shops are also good resource and usually even cheaper than consignment shops. You will want to plan an extra few minutes to shop thrift stores since the items are donated and there is a larger quantity of clothing which may not suit your preferences. This is in comparison to the consignments shops where the items are sold for a fee and pre-screened to meet the store's criteria. If you want to read how one mom makes thrift stores work, take a look at Shannon's post from Up Too Early on Thrift Stores.

Fast and Free Homemade Cleaner

2009-03-10T10:10:00.007-04:00

I have white counter tops. I love the crisp and clean appearance, but they can be an absolute pain. I've had gorgeous shades of purple from grape juice and a beautiful pink from something I couldn't identify. Usually a quick spray of a commercial cleaner is enough, but when regular kitchen cleaners don't do the job, I have a quick and powerful cleaner that I can whip up from my pantry.

I do not have exact measurements, but it's easy to eyeball. Just put a little bit of baking soda into a small bowl. A couple of tablespoons will probably be more than enough. Then, add just enough lemon juice to make a paste. This paste is one powerful cleaner. Just rub it onto the stained item and if it's stubborn, let it sit for bit. If the stain still won't budge, cover the stain with the homemade paste and let it sit outside in the sunlight for a while.

Once when an item transferred rust to my white dishes in the dishwasher, I used this paste and it came right off.

Do you have any tips for great homemade cleaners?

For more tips, visit Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.

Money Management for Teens

2009-03-08T13:05:00.009-04:00

The current economy has forced millions of families to reevaluate their spending and financial futures. Now, more than ever our next generation of leaders need a strong financial start. Regardless of how the economy looks when it is time for these teens to finally step out on their own, they will need as many tools for success as possible.

Our family is right at the preteen/teen cusp and we are still learning how to wade through these new waters. If you have found some great ways to teach money management or the economy to your older children or teens, please consider sharing your idea by leaving a comment so that we can learn from each other.

In the meantime, I can direct you to two websites that are geared toward helping teens and their finances.

For teen job ideas, visit CVTips.com.

For teen finance lessons, visit GiveMe20.com.

What are your favorite tips when it comes to teaching your children or teens about money or the economy?

Easiest Ever Avocado Salad

2009-03-08T12:30:00.004-04:00

Being from Kentucky, I am not well-versed in anything avocado. But, thanks to my family in Texas, I'm learning to love them and I even have a clue now how to prepare them.

I recently learned that Spring is avocado season, so you will soon start to see lower prices. When you find these green gems on sale, pick up a few extra. This week Blossoming Skillet had a great post that taught me that you can freeze avocados. Who knew? I didn't and I'm certainly going to try it.

This embarrassingly easy recipe came from my grandpa in Texas, whom I think is one of the best cooks ever.

Easiest Ever Avocado Salad

Coarsely dice 2 avocados and 3 small tomatoes and place in serving bowl. (I've used Roma and they work well because Roma's have less liquid than some of the other varieties.) Then, coat the diced duo with Italian dressing. You will have to eyeball the amount, but you will not want to use too much. Just enough to coat.

It's THAT easy. My kids like to eat avocado salad with tortilla chips, as they would guacamole, but it's also great served by itself. The salad is extremely versatile so you can vary the quantity of fruits used based on the size of your family and personal preferences.

If you want to check out more recipes, be sure to visit Kitchen Tip Tuesday hosted this week at The Finer Things and Share My Recipe Sunday at Organize with Sandy, and Favorite Ingredients Friday at Overwhelmed With Joy!

If you like what you have read, be sure to check out my main page.

Sunday's Spotlight

2009-03-08T00:00:00.002-05:00

Check out these great blogs that I discovered this week.

Up Too Early - a new blog worth watching
Tales from Bloggeritaville - an eclectic site that seems like a lot of fun
Life as Mom - the new home for Frugal Friday

Have a great week and let me know if you find some interesting reads that I should check out.

Frugal Fitness

2009-03-05T11:44:00.006-05:00

The recession is forcing a multitude of people to make cuts in their family's budget and gym memberships are one of the first casualties. Whether you choose to keep your membership or need to try a more frugal approach to fitness, there are several options.

Check out your local churches and community buildings. In our town, the government building where the fire department is housed, offers its basketball court at no cost to its residents. Several local churches have walking tracks and fitness centers, outfitted with free-weights and machines. Often these fitness centers (sometimes referred to as Christian Life Centers or CLC's) are free for members and extremely inexpensive for members of the community. Our church is offering non-members a special of $25 per person for a year, reduced from the regular price of approximately $50 per year.

The YMCA is known for their low prices, but many branches will offer a free membership if you volunteer to work a certain amount of hours in their facility. From what I have heard, this includes working in child care.

Do your children have a Nintendo Wii? If you already have one in the home, you have a fun and inexpensive option. Even if you do not have the Wii Fit, the sports games are a great start. There are groups of moms who have lost a lot of weight with the Wii Fit, including a Wii Mommies blog devoted to the endeavour. Just use what you have and have fun!

If you like to workout with videos or DVDs, consider stopping by places like Half Price Used Books. Exercise DVDs are always at yard sales and you might even be able to trade your old ones with a friend.

If you choose to exercise at home and need equipment, there are several websites that show you how to exercise with household items and there are consignment stores specializing in second-hand sports and fitness equipment.

If you prefer the traditional gym memberships, ask about any specials or programs they might offer to reduce your price. You could also consider asking about volunteer or part time jobs at the facility that might help offset the cost.

Motivation is free, but sometimes hard to find. How do you stay motivated in your fitness routine?

For more frugal tips, visit Thrifty Thursday at Coolmomguide.com and Frugal Friday at Biblical Womanhood.

Coupon Round-Up

2009-03-04T09:24:00.006-05:00

Coupons.com (you can get there by clicking the Coupons.com pic on the sidebar) has new coupons for March. If you are a coupon user, you will want to check them out because they have quite a few. Also, I have listed a few high-dollar coupons I've run across.

Aveeno - $2.00 off any product, excludes trial size

Marie Calendar Signature Sautes - $2.00 off

Theraflu - $2.00 off

As always, please do not copy coupons, even printable ones. Coupons forwarded by email and in PDF form, may not be legit. Be sure you trust the source before you redeem.

Have you seen any great coupons that should be listed here?

The Necessary Items for an Unexpected Sick Child Day

2009-03-03T23:14:00.003-05:00

Tonight as the evening wound down, I realized I may have a sick child tomorrow. You are probably just as familiar with that dreaded in-between phase as I am. You know the one, where you wonder if sleep will produce a happy child ready to face the day with only a couple of sniffles or rather a child who has succumbed to the most popular virus at school.

Tonight is one of those nights, but I feel relieved that regardless of what the morning brings, I am ready. I have the basic items needed for a sick day, or at least the first several hours until my guy gets off work in the evening and can stop by the store.

The items I always have on hand for sick days are:

A good thermometer - In my opinion, this is not the item to chance to generic brands found at the $1 type stores. An investment in a quality thermometer will last years.

Chicken soup - I like to watch for the sales that usually run in the Fall and I will then combine the sale with coupons. I can stock up for the winter/ flu season very inexpensively.

Applesauce - I do not see many coupons for applesauce, so we usually buy the Wal-Mart brand. My family likes it and it seems to be a fair price.

Cans of ginger ale or Sierra Mist - We generally keep cans on hand because the cans allow us to only open what we need, rather than an entire 2-liter, thereby keeping a supply on hand for the next illness .

Saltines or oyster crackers - I love the idea of oyster crackers because when my children are too sick to do much moving around, I can bring a bowl of oyster crackers to them on the couch and there will be alot less crumbs than with saltines.

Medicine for stuffy nose - Several times throughout the year, stores will run a Buy One Get One Free (BOGO) Sale on the store brand medicines and this is when I stock up on the ones I'm certain we will use.

Pain reliever/fever reducer medicine - see above

If you have these items on hand, you will not have major problems from children waking up sick unexpectedly. Being prepared and purchasing the items with frugality in mind, works for me.

Do you do anything differently to prepare for sick children? I'd love to hear what works for your family.

You will find more tips at Works for Me Wednesday hosted by We Are THAT Family.

Why "Just Doing My Best?"

2009-03-03T09:25:00.012-05:00

While I was at Blissdom '09, I met a friendly and helpful blogger named Reba. Her site, Ramblings by Reba is hosting a carnival asking how our blogs got their name. Her help was much needed and appreciated, so I wanted to make it a priority to participate.

As a semi-overachieving child, (don't jokes or bad stories start this way?) I was constantly concerned with grades, especially A's, and having the highest scores and fastest times in competitive events. I worked hard to attain the overall feeling that I had done well. Being an imperfect person, I often did not achieve my goals. Time after time, as persistently as a mantra, my dad would ask if I had done my best. Each time the question forced me to ask myself if there was anything else I could have done. Though I did not like the end result of not excelling, I had to admit that, "Yes, it was my best." This happened time and again.

When it came time for me to name my blog, the answer was obvious. In fact, I had the name before I created the blog. Just Doing My Best places a heavy emphasis on frugal homemaking but also includes tips and ideas to make our jobs easier and more enjoyable. Homemaking has it's own set of unique challenges and even within that small community, each family has a different set of circumstances. It is not uncommon for homemakers, or wives and moms in general, to feel "not good enough" because we can unintentionally compare ourselves to others who seem to have it all together. None of us are perfect but ideally, we are just doing our best and our best is all we have to offer.

If you would like to know the meaning of the name behind one of your favorites sites, perhaps you could invite them to participate at Ramblings by Reba. Be sure to check out her Blog Name carnival for some stories that are sure to be entertaining.

Tiring of Winter?

2009-03-02T06:54:00.004-05:00

If you need a few ideas to help you enjoy what's left of winter, check out my article Enjoy Free Winter Fun Before Its Too Late at Happy to be at Home.

My First Blog Award

2009-02-27T23:01:00.013-05:00

Thanks to Sandy from Organizing with Sandy for presenting Just Doing My Best with its first award. I was so surprised! Be sure to check out her site. She is a professional organizer but blogs about a variety of topics.

The award came with a rule. I am to list seven of the things I love and then present it to seven other bloggers.

So, here it goes. I love:

My God
My family and friends
morning coffee
blogging and writing
Texas chili on a snowy day
playing with my kids outside on a sunny, 70 degree Spring day
good hair days

I think the following blogs deserve the award:

Adventures in Frugal Homemaking
Cents to be Debt Free
Frugal Girls
Wisdom Pursuit
That's just Freaking Lovely - Her felt food crafts are adorable!
Pensieve
Tammy's Recipes

You can grab the button from my site to post on your sidebar, while linking back here to Just Doing My Best. Don't forget to link back to the seven blogs you chose and let them know via email or comment that they won.

Thanks again Sandy!

Want to Read More?

2009-02-26T23:32:00.006-05:00

I'm a contributing writer for Happy to be at Home, so please take a second and check them out. You will find plenty of great articles on a variety of topics. While you are there, you can also learn How to be Frugal:The Four Essentials.

How to Save a Bundle at the Grocery Store

2009-02-26T15:38:00.017-05:00

My favorite grocery tip of all time is, "Buy when it is cheap and not when you need it." I save more money at the grocery store with this tip alone. Let me explain what I mean and how it works. For years, I restocked our pantry at Walmart with generics and carefully planned our menus to make the best use of the food I purchased. I price-matched and even brought a few coupons to use on our favorite foods.

While it was a good attempt, I had it all wrong! Now, I scour the sale ads while comparing them to my coupon collection, looking for where they match. If the matching items are inexpensive and something we will use, I buy several and plan our menu around them. A few months ago, I stocked up on some Lawry's Marinade when I got it free at Meijer. They had it on sale for $1 and I had a 50 cent off coupon that doubled. There ya go, free food. I bought a few bottles, knowing the expiration date was quite a while out. This last grilling season, I bought several bottles of mustard for pennies by combining the sales and coupons. I was able to buy enough to last until this grilling season and it probably cost me less than a dollar for all of it. Had I waited until I needed the mustard, I would have paid over a dollar each time.

Though the savings aren't as great for fresh food as packaged food, you can still get good deals. Each time I am at Kroger, I check their sale and markdown meat (a frugal use for that Lawry's Marinade) and that's usually the only meat I purchase, unless I get a special request. I rarely go into the store planning on what meat I will buy, unless it was in the sale ad. Recently, Kroger had a pound of lean ground turkey on sale for 99 cents, so I bought several and double wrapped them for freezer storage. If I had bought the ground turkey when I needed it, rather than when it was cheap, I would have paid an extra $2.xx per pound.

By combining sales and coupons, buying sale and markdown meat, and watching for in-season produce, I have saved our family a bundle. With a little creativity, our meals are formed from these bargains and the remaining food we need to round out the menu or the pantry is very minimal. While this route may take a little extra time as opposed to one-stop shopping, it works for our family and the money saved has been worth the time spent, in my opinion.

Friday's Frugal Tip of the Day: Buy when the item is cheap, not just when you need it. (BTW, this can be applied to more than just food.)

For more frugal tips visit Frugal Friday at Biblical Womanhood and you can learn more grocery savings tips at Cents to Get Debt-Free.

Need kids clothes on the cheap?

2009-02-26T15:26:00.004-05:00

I was in Kohls the other day and found they have much of their clearance at 80% and 90% off. I picked up a pair of velour Chaps pants for my daughter, regular $34.99 for $3.40. I also found a zippered cardigan for her, regular $32 for $3.20.

If you need some clothes for your family, (think next year) then 80-90% off is a good time to be shopping. Have fun!

How to Pay Less for Your Newspaper

2009-02-24T23:00:00.001-05:00

At one time, when the economy was stronger and the newspaper industry was not cutting jobs, I could occasionally pick up my Sunday newspaper at Walmart or Walgreens for 99 cents, which would be a sale price from the original $1.75. I am an avid coupon fanatic, so I would buy a couple in order to have the extra coupons. For one 99 cent paper, I could break even by redeeming just one 50 cent coupon at a store that doubles.

These 99 cent newspaper bargains have ceased and $1.75 is the new weekly norm, unless I go to the Dollar Tree. They still sell papers for $1.00 so when there is a week that I know I want extra coupons, I head to the Dollar Tree to pick up my $1 newspapers. (I'm not sure if this is available in other newspaper markets or other $1 only type stores. Maybe a few readers could fill us in if you know this is available in your area.)

Paying a discounted price for newspapers work for me. For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, visit our new host at We Are THAT Family.

If you enjoyed this tip, please check out my main page at Just Doing My Best.

Plan Ahead for Some Frugal Summer Fun

2009-02-24T11:38:00.006-05:00

Believe it or not, summer is just around the corner. Now is the time to start saving plastic bowls from butter, yogurt, whipped topping and anything else that you can envision as a fun outdoor tool or toy.

I'm sure your children can find many uses for the plastic dishes, but some ideas are the sand box, at the beach, for mud pies, and chalk paint. OK, so chalk paint might be new to you. My daughter created it and has played with it the last two summers. Watch for a post from her later this spring detailing her creation.

Just stash a small box somewhere out of the way to collect these bowls and old plastic containers. Your children will love it!

Frugal and Time Saving Cornbread

2009-02-24T10:25:00.004-05:00

By its nature, cornbread is one of the most frugal dishes you can make. The trick however, is finding a recipe that your family enjoys. While all families are different, my family thinks it is a treat when I make the following recipe. It is a lighter, cake-like cornbread.

Corn Bread

1 cup corn meal

1 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/4 cup oil

Mix together and pour into a greased pan. 8x8 or 9x9 usually works well, but a larger pan will suffice. If you use the larger pan, the cornbread will be much flatter. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until bread is done in the middle and golden on top.

Now for the time saver, when you are making your batch, dish out extra dry ingredients and put into zippered bags. By adding all the dry ingredients now, you will save time later by having it partially assembled. Next time you are wanting to serve cornbread, just pull out a bag, add the wet ingredients and bake. Be sure to jot down the quantities of the wet ingredients and baking instructions on the outside of the bag.

This cornbread would be delicious with Calico Beans.

For more kitchen tips, check out Tammy's Recipes.

Coupon Round-Up

2009-02-23T09:39:00.007-05:00

There are many printable coupons available, but I have weeded through many to bring you a few of the best and high dollar ones that I could find. Be sure to combine these with store sales for maximum savings.

Bertolli Oven Bake Meals $2.00 off
Peter Pan Peanut Butter $.50 off, some stores will double
Chocolate Mocha Fiber One Chewy Bars $1.35 off
Reynolds Wrap $1.00 off
High School Musical 3 $5.00 off

Sunday's Spotlight

2009-02-22T07:08:00.007-05:00

Wisdom Pursuit - This site is one of my newest discoveries and I already love it. It's a must read especially if you have older children. I especially enjoyed her posts on wisdom, parenting and life lessons.

Cents to Get Debt Free - Check out her carnival on cutting expenses and post your link if you have some ideas you can share.

Happy to be at Home - This is an online magazine founded by 3 moms with a wide range of topics, from cooking, homeschooling, frugality and giveaways, to exercise.

Five ways to stretch bread

2009-02-19T23:19:00.017-05:00

OK, so bread may not be the first thing we think of when we talk about stretching food, but why not? Every little bit adds up to something substantial.

I'm convinced there are two types of people. There are those who routinely discard the heels of the loaf and those who use every scrap in the bread bag. If you fall into the latter category, please leave me a comment so I can learn from you. If you routinely throw the bread away, stop! You are throwing away food that you can use and I will give you ideas how.

Save the heels in the freezer until you accumulate enough and turn them into a big batch of french toast. It may not be gourmet, but it still tastes good and fills hungry bellies.

Make a triple-decker sandwich with the heel being the center slice. The guys in your life will thank you. They say the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach. "They" knew about triple-decker sandwiches.

Croutons - These are just pieces of hardened bread, so why not use the firm bread you already have on hand? There are numerous recipes online, so search a site like Allrecipes.com and look for a recipe you like.

Cut into strips and top with garlic butter (softened butter mixed with crushed garlic.) Then broil for just a few to make homemade bread sticks.

Use your food-processor and turn the ends into bread crumbs for meatloaf or meatballs.

Friday's Frugal Tip of the Day: Before you throw away the ends of the bread loaf, be creative and see what else you can do with it.

What are your ideas? If you use those last bits of bread, what do you do with it? If you still want to save even more on bread, read this post.

For more frugal tips, visit Biblical Womanhood and Cents to Get Debt-Free.

Thanks Lands' End

2009-02-19T10:03:00.010-05:00

A few days ago I attended Blissdom '09. For those who may not be aware, Blissdom is a blogging conference sponsored by Blissfully Domestic and One2One Network. One of the many perks of attending the conference was the sponsor provided swag.

Lands' End was overly generous in providing these great canvas totes. When I returned home, even my young daughter noticed the quality. In her words, "it will last forever because it's so heavy." Maybe not forever, but I am very impressed with it. Inside, you will find pockets surrounding the perimeter and a metal clip on an attached strap to prevent items like keys from disappearing into the bottom of the bag. There is also an outer pocket for the items you need to keep handy. I love the pink straps, but if pink isn't you, there are about 15 other colors to choose from.

While I am a huge bargain hunter and this bag is not what would typically be considered a bargain price, it is definitely a good and reasonable price. I acknowledge there are times to spend a little more for quality that will last and this bag fits that description. Check out their website as they seem to have sales quite often and even have an Overstock and Reduced section.

The Lands' End Canvas Tote is my first pick for the new feature here at Just Doing My Best called Just My Best Picks.

Too pretty to not share

2009-02-19T09:48:00.006-05:00

I love surprises.

Information Board

2009-02-18T00:09:00.002-05:00

I should have titled this: Never Miss the Garbage Pick-up Again.

We missed getting the trash out to the road for pick-up once again. Our disposal company does not seem to have a rhyme or reason to which holidays it observes. I assumed that since Monday was a Federal holiday and they did not come on other Federal holidays, they would observe this one too, making them a day late. I was wrong. My olfactory senses and I are glad it's not summer, which would allow quicker fermentation of the garbage within smelling distance of our home.

This smelly oversight has a solution though. I have an information board on the inside door of a cabinet that we use for miscellaneous household supplies. There is some information we need routinely and looking up the same phone numbers grew old, so I began taping them to the inside of the door. I included the numbers of our doctors, my hair stylist, the dog groomer (guess I need to update since we no longer have a dog), the tax preparer, etc. I will print out the garbage pick-up schedule from their website and tape it to my information board.

Missing the garbage didn't work for me but I found a solution. For some ideas that actually work, visit Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer.

Do you have a handy method of keeping track of important information that needs to be at your fingertips?

Celebrate President's Day with This Edible Craft

2009-02-16T11:16:00.008-05:00

Are your children home from school today or do you homeschool? If so, this is a great edible craft to make in honor of President's Day.

Grab a bag of pretzel rods and peanut butter and summon your inner architect. Your children can build their own log cabins with these two simple supplies. Just use the pretzel rods as logs and use the peanut butter to hold the "logs" together.

There is no right or wrong, so get creative and have fun!

We plan to make one later so there are no pics to show yet, but if you try this, please leave a comment on how it turned out or post a picture of it on your blog and come back and let me know. Have fun!

Calico Beans - a hearty dish that stretches ground beef

2009-02-15T13:12:00.007-05:00

1/2 pound ground beef
1 medium (1/2 cup) chopped onion
1/2 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons vinegar
1 can pork and beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can lima beans

Brown beef and saute onion until tender. Combine beef, onion, ketchup, salt, brown sugar, mustard and vinegar in a 3 quart baking dish. Partially drain beans and add to baking dish, stirring gently.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Great served with cornbread!

For more recipes, visit Organizing With Sandy.

Sunday's Spotlight

2009-02-15T12:54:00.006-05:00

Check out these great blogs today and then come back to Just Doing My Best tomorrow to see what's new.

Adventures in Frugal Homemaking

In the Moment

Organize with Sandy Be sure to check out her Share a Recipe Sunday feature.

Rocks in My Dryer

Smart clothing purchases for children

2009-02-13T07:11:00.014-05:00

One of the best things we can do in our frugal homes is to make wise purchases. (Watch for an exciting product review section coming soon!) We can do this by planning ahead when we are shopping.

When my son was a baby, I loved buying the baseball blue sleepers and the construction themed outfits. When I found out I was expecting my daughter, my blue buying days were over, for a while. I left the fun, boyish outfits for the grandparents. Instead, I began purchasing green, white and yellow onesies and sleepers that the new baby, regardless of gender, could grow into after my son was finished with them.

Now that they are older, I still do this to a degree. Some items do not lend well to this idea but others are perfect. Turtlenecks (which you are buying on clearance for next year, right?), some shorts and some t-shirts are purchased gender neutral. Unless the bargain is too amazing, snow pants and snow boots are never purchased gender specific.

Friday's Frugal Tip of the Day - Think ahead in purchasing items for your oldest child and make sure the gender neutral base pieces are in neutral colors. This gets the longest possible life out of a piece.

When these pieces have been outgrown and assuming they are still in good shape, take them to your local consignment shop for resale. Some clothing items keep giving and giving!

Stop over and read how to shop for free.

You can read more tips at Frugal Friday hosted by Biblical Womanhood.

Frugal and Free Valentine Ideas for the Kids

2009-02-12T10:34:00.006-05:00

Whether you have procrastinated in planning anything fun for your kids this Valentine's Day or if you are too cash-strapped to consider much, let these ideas serve as a spring board to finding something that works for your family. Most of the time, children do not care WHAT you did, but rather that you simply DID.

Serve red food all day. My kids loved this when they were younger. For breakfast you could serve toast with strawberry jelly (cut into a heart shape of course), bacon strips, red grapes, and strawberry (or at least pink colored) milk. For lunch, you could serve tomato soup, red pepper strips (see pic under post title) and apple wedges with peanut butter. For dinner, you could have pasta with marinara sauce, salad with tomatoes and maybe even a red dressing like Catalina. Don't forget the candles; kids like them too. What is in your pantry? One of the keys to frugality is being creative and using what you already have.

Look in your Christmas decor and birthday supply boxes to see if you can come up with any appropriately colored plates, napkins, etc. Anything different from an average day will be great. Don't forget to stock up on the plain colored partyware when it is on clearance after Valentine's Day. Depending on the colors, they can be used for birthdays, 4th of July, and Christmas.

Wear lots of red. This is especially good for the younger children, let them see how much red they can wear. It's ok if they don't match today!

Let them have a lunch date with their "friends." Suggest they bring their most treasured doll or stuffed animal to the table for a meal. When my children were younger, they loved setting a place for one of their dolls or animals and then sharing a meal with them.

Gather lots of white, red and pink paper. Cut out an abundance of hearts and teach them to do the same. Then, rather than instructing them to make the classical butterflies and mice from hearts, let them create creatures on their own. Provide them with white supplies like cotton balls, coffee filters and Q-Tips. You may be surprised at what they create.

Use the library - venture out for some Valentine books and don't forget to look in the video/ DVD section for some Valentine-themed children's movies.

If you try any of these ideas or have any to share with me, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you!

For more frugal Valentine craft ideas, you can visit Money Saving Mom.

For more homemaking tips, visit my main page.

Shopping for Free

2009-02-11T00:20:00.003-05:00

I love going to my local consignment shop because I usually shop for free. Sound to good to be true? It's not and it just takes a little planning. At the beginning of each season, I am faithful to make my appointment to bring in the items I want to sell. I usually make two appointments since I have growing children and she has an item limit.

Then, a few weeks later when I stop in to see if there are any new bargains that my family needs, I do not request the cash or a check for the items that she has sold. I simply let her keep it in my account and whenever I need to buy something, she simply deducts it from what she owes me. I have only had to pay out of pocket a few times.

The deal is even sweeter when I stop by on the sale and clearance days. At the end of the season, she clearances items for $1 and I buy ahead for the next season, all from the account I have built up.

You could shop for free too, just check with your local shop and ask about their policies. If you stop by the store regularly, you will build a rapport with the staff and will be aware of any store policy changes.

For more tips, visit Works for me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer.

Need some free photos?

2009-02-10T17:30:00.002-05:00

Carrie over at MoneySavingMethods.com has a great post on how you can score some free photos.

No more excuses for not eating your veggies

2009-02-10T13:36:00.009-05:00

The biggest time saver in my kitchen is prepping veggies before we need them. Once a week I will wash, de-core, peel, chop and slice the week's purchases and put them into their own containers.

When I prep the vegetables ahead of time, there are always healthy snacks ready for hungry children (and adults.) When we want a salad, we merely have to assemble the pre-cut veggies, or perhaps just cut them into smaller pieces if they are not already salad size. Also, when making pizzas or casseroles, the veggies are already washed, peeled, de-cored, etc., and all I have to do is chop them more finely for the casserole.

Now, there are no more excuses left for us not eating our freshly prepared, readily available vegetables...

You can read more kitchen tips at Tammysrecipes.com.

What do you consider the biggest time-saver in your kitchen?

Coupon Round-Up

2009-02-10T11:44:00.007-05:00

$1.00 off Chex Mix - You can find these on sale often, so be sure to wait for the sale. When you use your coupon with the sale price, you will get a nearly free product.

$2.00 off Kashi Soft-Baked Cereal bar

$1.00 off Kelloggs Special K Crackers

$1.00 off Cascadian Farms product - I've been able to get inexpensive frozen veggies with this coupon. Our Walmart use to have them for about $1.27 so it was .27 after the coupon.

Coupons.com (see right side bar) is said to have new coupons up for the month.

As always, copying of printed coupons is not allowed. Be sure to combine these coupons with store sales for the biggest bang for your buck!

Blissdom '09

2009-02-09T09:41:00.005-05:00

I just got back from the amazingly informative and fun Blissdom '09 conference where I met some great bloggers. I will ask some of these great ladies to guest post occasionally. In addition to meeting new friends, there were fabulous sponsors who made the weekend even more special with some great swag and events.

The weekend inspired many new ideas, introduced new blogs for me to suggest to you, and even provided a giveaway for my readers, so check back often to see what I've got up my sleeve.

Double duty with clean microwaves and clean sponges

2009-02-04T06:00:00.005-05:00

There are very few things that I am fanatical about. First is not ever, ever, EVER allowing noodles in my grandpa's Best Ever Texas chili recipe. If you are from the Ohio Valley area, like me, or can cook a mean pot of Texas chili, you can understand what a big deal and paradox this is. (For those of you who do not understand the problem here....Texas Chili must never be defiled with noodles. But, most people in my neck of the woods think chili is best with noodles. Herein lies the problem.)

The other fanatical obsession I have is my microwave must always, and I do mean always, be spotless. I have one of those plastic, inverted bowl type lids that is constantly being used and washed routinely. This helps keep the microwave clean most of the time and I quickly wipe up any spills before they dry. Sometimes though, a family member tries to be helpful and cook something themselves in the microwave. Since they do not share the same microwave compulsion as me, inevitably, there will be splatters as a result of their electromagnetic culinary skills. Of course, I am quick to clean the mess that they "didn't see" but when I miss one of these events, I have a double duty trick.

I sanitize my dishwashing sponge in the microwave and when it is done, the dried on nastiness will wipe off with no effort. Just grab a papertowel and wipe down the entire microwave as soon as you remove the sponge.If you do this routinely, your microwave will never be dirty either and you can join me in my clean microwave compulsion...Ok, seriously now...A word of caution: it is recommended you sanitize the sponge for 2 minutes, but this makes it dangerously hot. To prevent fire, the sponge must be thoroughly soaked before nuking.

The jury is still out on the best way to sanitize since there are variances in sponge sizes and power levels in the ovens. Because some germs are rather nasty, I would be remiss to say I know the best way, but this is how we do it. The microwave though...that's another story. We've got that one nailed.

For more tips, visit Rocks in My Dryer for Works for Me Wednesday.

Coupon Round-up

2009-02-03T15:50:00.003-05:00

Here are some great coupons I've run across lately.

Progresso Broth - save $1.25
Progresso Soup- save $1.10
Any Biz product - save $2.00, not sure if this one will work for you, but it's worth a try.

Have you run across any great coupons?

Check back soon as I will be adding more.

Croutons in a pinch

2009-02-03T13:13:00.010-05:00

After a crazy week and a couple of not-so-healthy-meals, my guy and I decided a Buffalo Chicken Salad was exactly what we needed. We proceeded to make the best salad ever by incorporating just about every fresh veggie we could find in the fridge. The chicken was just right, seasoned perfectly, (thanks to the aforementioned "my guy") and the aroma filled the kitchen. The bed of veggies was colorful and crisp and awaiting the final assembly.

But, we had a problem. The best salad ever was missing a major ingredient- those little crispies that make a salad special...croutons. There were none in the house and this salad just HAD to have some. So, I reached for our kid's ranch-flavored Goldfish crackers and sprinkled some on top. I was unsure what to expect, but they were fantastic! (And kinda fun too.)

By the way, I could have called this post Making Salads Fun because this might be another handy way to entice kids to eat their salads. I posted some ways that work for our family here.

Saving on organic fruits and veggies

2009-01-30T13:57:00.006-05:00

The other day I stopped by our locally owned grocery store and noticed the beautiful orange stickers that I have come to identify with a quick glance. These orange clearance stickers were on organic produce. The apples were .99/ lb when the conventional ones were $1.19/ lb. They still had lots of shelf life left, so I grabbed enough for the week.

Friday's Frugal Tip of the Day: When you are shopping for your produce, don't assume conventional is cheaper. Walk through the organic section. Many times the marked down or sale prices will be the same or less than conventional foods.

Check back soon for more frugal tips!

Snow paint

2009-01-29T21:41:00.018-05:00

We had a major ice storm but at least we got some snow too. The kids were excited to see the snow but I think they planned to go out and play regardless of what was on the ground. Here are some ice covered trees in our backyard.

We made snow paint and the kids just loved it, especially DD who decorated the railing on the deck. She did a great job decorating her snowman (snow pile) but I couldn't get those pics.

Just add a few drops of one color into a bottle and fill with water. It's that simple! This is sold online for about $20 but we made it for $4.

I posted a Snow Cream recipe a couple of days ago here.

What frugal ideas does your family have for fun in the snow?

Finally...

2009-01-29T21:37:00.002-05:00

Power is restored and internet is up again. We are one of the fortunate ones to be back to normal so quickly.

So, watch for the promised pics tomorrow. Really this time!

Fun in the Snow

2009-01-27T15:39:00.007-05:00

Our part of the country has been slammed by winter weather and we were getting rather excited about the 4-6 inches of predicted snow. See my sidebar for the reasons why we love winter.

So, I was all geared up for some fun in the snow with my kids. I have a new snow activity prepared (stayed tuned for that one) and we were going to make snowcream. Unfortunately, we got only a tad bit of snow, but we can now measure the accumulating ice. In fact, I just watched a tree branch fall under the weight. Freezing rain is expected to continue which does not bode well for our winter recipe, so I'm providing this for those of you lucky enough to get snow rather than ice.

Snow Cream

1 gallon snow

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups milk

Mix together and enjoy.

Enjoy some for us and come back tomorrow to see our other snow activity. The question now, will the freezing rain change to snow? Can we use our other activity or will we ice skate on the driveway?

Free Dr. Pepper

2009-01-27T11:18:00.007-05:00

Here's a freebie for you...go here to sign up for a free Dr. Pepper. You can choose either a 20 ounce bottle or a 2 liter. They will send you a coupon in a few weeks.

Thanks to Freebies 4 Mom for posting this.

Check back here soon for more deals and freebies!

More great clearance deals and Blissdom '09

2009-01-26T15:55:00.010-05:00

Ok, so it isn't quite as practical as the pajamas at Target from a couple of days ago, but my DD is going to love my latest finds. If you need to stock up for some upcoming birthdays, you might want to check out JC Penney.

I was there today looking for a new outfit for Blissdom '09 (I'm so excited!) and stopped by the girls department to see if I could find some clearance jeans for DD. They still had quite a few styles so I bought a size ahead. $5 for Arizona jeans is pretty good, imho. They had Hannah Montana and High School Musical items at crazy discounts. There were a couple of other miscellaneous brands mixed in as well.

I found a Webkinz mouse pad for DD's new computer desk for 48 cents. I also found a HSM camera for $1.48. She has been begging for a camera. Unbelievable. All the clearance was 50% off the lowest price and these were the already cheap green clearance tickets.

A bonus, I picked up a T-shirt for DH for 5.99 and would be about $3 after the 50% came off. It rang up 98 cents. Check those prices at the self scanners and stock up while it's cheap!

Have fun shopping! And yes, I found a couple of great tops for the conference. Anyone else going to Blissdom '09? If so, shoot me a line. I'd love to "meet" you before we get there.

A penny saved...

2009-01-24T14:18:00.011-05:00

I love Target! If you have a Target near you and children in your home, you simply must rush to your nearest one and check out the clearance section in the children's department. Even DH was impressed with the bargains. We saved more than we spent!

We found 3 pair of pajamas for DD, 2 at $3.74 and 1 at $4.24, a pair of gym pants for $3.74, and a hooded shirt for DS for $3.74. I love consignment stores but it would be tough to beat these prices even there.

When I find deals like this, I usually buy ahead for the next year. How does your family save on clothing?

How much do you pay for your bread?

2009-01-23T13:59:00.010-05:00

If your family is anything like my family, you can barrel through a loaf in a matter of a days. Saving money on even a small purchase like bread can add up quickly when you buy a couple of loaves a week, each and every week. Unless your family is loyal to a particular brand, you might even compare the prices and shop the sales with your coupons. While I am a devout couponer, I recently rediscovered an even better way to save, imho.

The bread store! I had totally forgotten this type of store existed until I went a different route on an errand one day and drove by a Sara Lee Outlet. What a discovery! I bought 2 loaves of bread, a package of hot dog buns and a package of large hamburger buns for a grand total of $2.00. Being a frugal minded person, I was on cloud nine. Ok, maybe not cloud nine, but pretty proud of myself anyway.

Friday's Frugal Tip of the Day: Check your area for any undiscovered outlet stores, especially bread stores. These outlets often run daily specials that can be as much as 75% off grocery store prices with the food still several days in date. A fantastic way to stretch that budget.

Do you have any food outlet stores in your area that you like?

Making fruits and veggies more fun for the kids, and grown-ups too

2009-01-21T09:48:00.010-05:00

We all know how important fruits and veggies are and I am blessed to have children who, I understand are a bit out of the ordinary, love fresh produce. To their credit, we do not have a battle of the wills when it comes to them eating their veggies. Cleaning their room, though...that is another story!

If you struggle with a finicky eater or just want to keep veggies interesting, here are some ideas that I have tried:

Let them choose. Next time you are at the store, let your children pick out a new food to try. My children seemed more excited and less fearful of the new foods when we did this. We tried mango, kiwi and star fruit. The kids loved it all! Now, they often make requests in the produce department.

For celery, of course you can try the ol' peanut butter on top stand-by. But, add a few raisins for "ants on a log." This is a treat at my house!

For carrots and cucumbers, try one of the crinkle cutters. I got mine from Pampered Chef, but I'm sure you could find it at any store that sells kitchen gadgets. After you use the Crinkle Cutter, the food looks like the crinkled french fries. I have heard from a reliable source that veggies taste better this way.

Cut them into different shapes. If you normally make apple wedges, try thin apple slices. Or even better, cut the apple horizontally to show the star inside. Sometimes we just need the same favorites to be just a little different. You could make cucumbers different by leaving the peel on but scoring it for a striped effect. This is best with the hothouse variety that have thinner peels.

Try raw. My kids despise cooked squash. Carrots have to be cooked just right, but give it to them raw and it is like a whole other food! Healthier too, go figure.

Use color. Lots of color is always healthy and appealing to most. In addition to the standard party platter type veggies, my kids love purple cabbage cut into bite-sized pieces and red and green pepper slices. Hey, you never know until you try it.

Use variety to elimate boredom. Would you rather have a small bowl of carrot sticks or a bowl with a few carrot sticks, a small piece of celery, a few cucumber slices, a couple slices of pepper? Keep a variety of fresh produce sliced and ready in your fridge so you can easily pull out an assortment for lunches and snacks. I find prepping them all at once saves me time later.

Use trickery. When all else fails, disguise. A dollop of ranch or Thousand Island will make most veggies more palatable to kids, at least in my experience. Chop them finely and you can sneak some into tuna or chicken salad, lasagna, and pizza. The ideas of where to hide them is endless and there are even a few books out now devoted to this. I have never had the need to try trickery, but it seems priceless if you are threatened by mutiny in your home, should you be brave enough to serve another vegetable.

I'm always on the lookout for new ways to serve fruits and veggies so that boredom doesn't set it. What ideas or tips do you have?

First post

2009-01-14T15:30:00.013-05:00

Welcome to my new blog! I have been a reader of many wonderful blogs for a long time and I'm excited to finally come out of the woodwork and start contributing. I'm excited about the possibilities of this venture!

As a stay at home mom to two great kids who keep me on my toes, I will be sharing the various tidbits I learn about making life a little easier and will be soliciting ideas from my readers as well. I love to cook and save money so you can expect many posts about that as well.

I look forward to hearing from you. As a brand new blogger, I can use all the ideas and suggestions I can get! You can leave a comment under the comments section or you can email me at: justdoingmybest(at)gmail(dot)com.

Just Doing My Best

Exciting News!

Mother's Day Giveaway Winners

Trash to Treasure Party, Part 2

Frugal Family Fun - Toy Swap

Mother's Day Book Giveaway

Works for Me Wednesday - Frugal Tips

100th post - Freebies For You

How to Shop for Free

Sell or Donate Your Books

Clean Out the Fridge - Ideas for Leftovers

Derby Day Pie

Where to Find More Tips

Clean Out and Sell

Check it out!

How to Introduce the Arts for Free

5 Ways to Save Money This Spring

Coupon Binder

A Few Good Coupons and Deals

Dinner Conversation - Part 2

Homemaking by the Season - Home Maintenance

Lemon Cheese Bars

Friday Deals

Frugality is a Lifestyle - Organization

Which is better?

Dinner Conversation

Virtual Great American Bake Sale

Muffins & Breads

Cookies, Candy, Cakes, Bars & BrowniesFeatures 50 recipes. On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

DessertsFeatures 49 recipes. On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Beyond Baked Goods (Appetizers, Breakfast, Main Dishes, etc.)

Out of the Box Giveaway Winners

Frugal Family Fun - More Than Just Coloring Easter Eggs

Guest Post - Does This Clutter Make Me Late? Part 2

Everything Egg - How to Boil the Perfect Egg

Everything Egg - Use Them Up

Frugal Family Fun - Family Games

Guest Post - Does This Clutter Make Me Late? Part 1

Inexpensive Snacks for Growing Children

Quick and Easy Vegetable Dip

Timesavers in the Kitchen for a Stress-Free Morning

Disney's Branching Out

Sunday's Spotlight

Thanks to the Canned Food Alliance and TheMotherhood.com

Questions to Consider Before the Lay-Off, Part 2

Amazon Gift Card Winner

Homemade Freezer-Ready Pizza Sauce

Frugal Family Fun - Holding Down the Fort

Report Card Freebies

Prize Winning Texas Chili

Goodie Bag

Is Your Family Ready for a Financial Emergency?

What's More Important?

Amazon Giftcard Giveaway!

I Won a Prize!

Frugal Family Fun - A New Twist on Playgrounds

Ultimate Blog Party

Bartering is Back

Storing cheese correctly

New Season at the Consignment Shops

Fast and Free Homemade Cleaner

Money Management for Teens

Easiest Ever Avocado Salad

Sunday's Spotlight

Frugal Fitness

Coupon Round-Up

The Necessary Items for an Unexpected Sick Child Day

Why "Just Doing My Best?"

Tiring of Winter?

My First Blog Award

Want to Read More?

How to Save a Bundle at the Grocery Store

Need kids clothes on the cheap?

How to Pay Less for Your Newspaper

Plan Ahead for Some Frugal Summer Fun

Frugal and Time Saving Cornbread

Coupon Round-Up

Sunday's Spotlight

Five ways to stretch bread

Thanks Lands' End

Cookies, Candy, Cakes, Bars & Brownies

Features 50 recipes.
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Desserts
Features 49 recipes.
On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.