Easy to make, soul warming soup. When I was little this was my grandmother's go-to recipe to perk us up and give us a little love. This soup makes itself and all ages love it.
Today, with the dreary weather and my dreary mood, I was so uninterested in feeding my family. Luckily inspiration struck as I dug through the bottom drawer of our freezer... potato soup.
Ingredients:
1 bag frozen Southern Style hashbrowns
2 cans chicken broth
1 cup of water
1 small onion
Celery flakes
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons flour
salt/pepper to taste
garlic to taste
grated cheese (I like sharp)
bacon (if you wish)
Place the hashbrown, broth, water, onion, and celery flakes into a crockpot. Let it cook on low for about 3 hours. Mix milk and flour together, add to crockpot. Add garlic, salt and pepper. Let it sit on low (or keep hot) until you are ready to eat. At serving add lots of cheese and bacon. Yummy!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Budget Managed, at least for the past 4 days
Pictures posted for family to share, washing machine spinning, and half un-packed suitcases litering the hallway; we are officially back from vacation. Every year we take a vacation with my side of the family. This year we headed on to the Texas Gulf Coast. It is only about 3.5 hours away and we all love to go. This year, in post-meteor style, I had us on a strict budget. It's much harder to keep to a budget when you travel folks who have deep pockets, but with some pre-emptive strikes and planning it can be done.
One of the biggest money savers was simply to shop early for a rental unit. We traveled with 3 seperate family units. Our family (2 adults, 2 kids), my sister's family (2 adults, one kid) and my parents. Since we were going to split the cost of the unit we were able to book a 3bedroom/3 bath condo in a nicer area, right on the beach for less than it would have cost us all to get hotel rooms. The added benefit is that a condo has a full kitchen. By planning ahead and getting all the families on board, we were able to split the meal responsibilities up. Each family was responsible for cooking one dinner. We all brought breakfast items and stuff for sandwiches. Since we stayed in a nicer complex, we had access to a beautiful pool, an easy boardwalk to the beach, and, ta-da!, a sprinkler park! Oh yeah, big win in the kid department.
So our budget: I set a budget of $200 (minus our part of the condo fees). Since I used coupons and the "meal-deal" at our local grocery store, our food came to about $65. We spent about $100 on gas (oh that hurts) then we spent the other $35 on snacks during the drive.
If you saw the pictures, you would never know we were on a budget. Yay family!!! And thank you God for the wonderful memories we made this past weekend, You are, indeed, awesome!
One of the biggest money savers was simply to shop early for a rental unit. We traveled with 3 seperate family units. Our family (2 adults, 2 kids), my sister's family (2 adults, one kid) and my parents. Since we were going to split the cost of the unit we were able to book a 3bedroom/3 bath condo in a nicer area, right on the beach for less than it would have cost us all to get hotel rooms. The added benefit is that a condo has a full kitchen. By planning ahead and getting all the families on board, we were able to split the meal responsibilities up. Each family was responsible for cooking one dinner. We all brought breakfast items and stuff for sandwiches. Since we stayed in a nicer complex, we had access to a beautiful pool, an easy boardwalk to the beach, and, ta-da!, a sprinkler park! Oh yeah, big win in the kid department.
So our budget: I set a budget of $200 (minus our part of the condo fees). Since I used coupons and the "meal-deal" at our local grocery store, our food came to about $65. We spent about $100 on gas (oh that hurts) then we spent the other $35 on snacks during the drive.
If you saw the pictures, you would never know we were on a budget. Yay family!!! And thank you God for the wonderful memories we made this past weekend, You are, indeed, awesome!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Inexpensive Ways to Make Any Summer Day Special
Summer is just packed with potential. Unfortunately, so many activities cost money that it can be a big drain on your pocketbook. Finding activities that cost little to no money can make those great summer memories we want without blowing our budgets! Here are few ideas my family has... what are yours?
~Pool Time! We have a decent sized pool in the backyard. We actually got it from Craigslist for less that $50. We did invest in a salt water system for it, which has saved us a ton of money in pool chemicals. (I'm sure it has paid for itself by now) So other than a new filter every few weeks and some time spent scooping out leaves, this is a great low-cost hit for our family.
~ Public Library! It's not just for checking out books! Most public libraries run summer activities. They are usually free. Check out the one in your area. My kids saw a fantastic presentation about Dinosaur Bones yesterday at no cost to us! The Public Library also rents movies. A great way to spend a too hot afternoon.
I can't wait to see what your ideas are (goodness knows we have a lot of summer left to celebrate!)
~Pool Time! We have a decent sized pool in the backyard. We actually got it from Craigslist for less that $50. We did invest in a salt water system for it, which has saved us a ton of money in pool chemicals. (I'm sure it has paid for itself by now) So other than a new filter every few weeks and some time spent scooping out leaves, this is a great low-cost hit for our family.
~ Public Library! It's not just for checking out books! Most public libraries run summer activities. They are usually free. Check out the one in your area. My kids saw a fantastic presentation about Dinosaur Bones yesterday at no cost to us! The Public Library also rents movies. A great way to spend a too hot afternoon.
I can't wait to see what your ideas are (goodness knows we have a lot of summer left to celebrate!)
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Weekend Hop
I love reading what other talented bloggers are posting. Thank you so much for sharing with me. If you have never hopped.. jump on see.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Praying with your kids
I did not grow up in Christian household. I often joke that all of my childhood church-learnin came from Little House on the Prairie. Now that my kids are getting bigger we are trying to get them to pray to God at meals and again at bedtime. How does everyone do this?
Bedtime prayers seem to be fairly easy. I started off with a cutesy rhyme but lately my son and I have opted for something less formal. We talk to each other about the day's events then we each talk to God and thank Him for the day and ask for help where we see need. With my daughter, she is only 2, I do most of the talking and she and I ask God to bless certain people in our lives. She likes to repeat the names as we go through the list.
Our meal prayer is where I need the most help. At preschool my son learned a cute little song that they sang before their meals. He is very eager to offer his song as a prayer at meal time, but is it appropriate to sing before dinner every night? I know lots of singing prayers from when I worked at a summer Girl Scout Camp but I do not know other prayers. I would love to hear anyone's ideas on this...
God Bless.. and Happy Friday!
Bedtime prayers seem to be fairly easy. I started off with a cutesy rhyme but lately my son and I have opted for something less formal. We talk to each other about the day's events then we each talk to God and thank Him for the day and ask for help where we see need. With my daughter, she is only 2, I do most of the talking and she and I ask God to bless certain people in our lives. She likes to repeat the names as we go through the list.
Our meal prayer is where I need the most help. At preschool my son learned a cute little song that they sang before their meals. He is very eager to offer his song as a prayer at meal time, but is it appropriate to sing before dinner every night? I know lots of singing prayers from when I worked at a summer Girl Scout Camp but I do not know other prayers. I would love to hear anyone's ideas on this...
God Bless.. and Happy Friday!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Dollar Stores... Why go?
We have all shopped dollar stores at one time or another. I used to go in there to buy little toys or cheap plastic bins. I have now started to really look at dollar stores and how they can help us to stay on budget. As part of my plan, I have been trying to become an educated consumer. I have started to watch pricess for items that we use regularly so I know when I come across a deal. Now I try to go by the dollar store before I go to the grocery store to see if there are any items there that I can cross off my list. For example we drink a lot of Chrystal Light, it has replaced sodas in our house. I can buy the Wyler's brand for a dollar at the Dollar Tree. This is better than half price. On the other hand, we have learned that the big tub of cheese puffs is not a good exchange for Cheetos. When we can save on one thing, it helps make buying the name brand a little easier on the another.
A dollar store is also a great place to offer a treat to your kids. Sure you can pick out anything you want! They are usually fairly seasonal, so in the summer we end up with floaties and bubbles, at Halloween a book or stickers.. you get it.
On the negative.. I do not like Dollar General. I feel like they lure you in with the whole "dollar" thing but stuff in there is expensive! I went this morning to pick up a few sand toys and thought, well I'll take a few minutes to look around. They had Capri Suns (a big win at our house) covered in sale labels priced at 2 for $4. Uhm.. they are $1.73 at WalMart EVERYDAY. So be wary about Dollar General. I prefer the stores that only $1 to find my super deals in. Dollar Tree is usually clean and the people are pleasant.
A dollar store is also a great place to offer a treat to your kids. Sure you can pick out anything you want! They are usually fairly seasonal, so in the summer we end up with floaties and bubbles, at Halloween a book or stickers.. you get it.
On the negative.. I do not like Dollar General. I feel like they lure you in with the whole "dollar" thing but stuff in there is expensive! I went this morning to pick up a few sand toys and thought, well I'll take a few minutes to look around. They had Capri Suns (a big win at our house) covered in sale labels priced at 2 for $4. Uhm.. they are $1.73 at WalMart EVERYDAY. So be wary about Dollar General. I prefer the stores that only $1 to find my super deals in. Dollar Tree is usually clean and the people are pleasant.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Memorial Day....
This weekend I hope you take the time to really think about those who put their lives on the line so that we can live in this country. I have received, as I'm sure you did, several forwards that talk about the number of casualties from all the wars this country has fought. I think this song says it all. Happy Memorial Day and God Bless.
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