Loose change for gift cards

I have a confession--I used to be a thief. My husband would come home every day, empty his pockets of his wallet, cell phone, keys and loose change, and I would steal his change. The next day he would look for it, wanting to use it in the snack machine, and it would be gone. This caused no end of small skirmishes in the Finn household. Why was I a thief, you ask? Well, I had this dream of saving all of my spare change and one day being able to take a dream vacation somewhere (I am sure I have heard of this happening!). Yet even though I hoarded the change, and robbed my husband of his mid-afternoon Skittles fix, I never seemed to collect more than thirty or forty dollars! That wouldn't get us far on the dream vacation...plus I was causing some marital strife :-)

Thankfully, my husband and I worked through our differences and I don't steal his change anymore (at least not all the time, and when I do, I ask). AND I have found a way to turn my change into something productive : Coinstar. I had never used a coin counting machine before this time last year, because I knew to get cash back for your coins, the machines would charge a fee. What I didn't know is that you can trade your loose change in for gift cards and e-certificates and Coinstar will not charge a fee. Your loose change can become a gift card to ITunes or Amazon! And, just to make it even better, right now Coinstar is offering an additional $10 gift card when you change $40 or more. I did this promotion last year, and received the extra gift card just as promised. You should definitely check this out--Coinstar and free gift cards Works for Me!

Fall = Apple Cider and Mulling Spices!

I love fall--the crispness in the air, the changing leaves, the need to wear long sleeved shirts and blue jeans! My husband and I call early fall "courtin' time", because we fell in love in the fall, often taking walks during the day, or sitting on front porch rocking chairs as the sun set. Wonderful memories!

One of my favorite parts of fall is the abundance of apples; they are my favorite fruit, and I cannot get enough of them! Fresh from the mountains apples are the best:-) Last Christmas I "concocted" my own recipe for mulling spices to add to apple cider. In fact, it was one of my first posts on this blog. Since apple cider is appearing everyone in stores and coffee shops, I thought I would repost my recipe for mulling spices. It definitely Works for Me (and, as an aside, it worked wonderfully as Christmas gifts last year too!).

4 cups brown sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground orange peel
1 tablespoon cloves
1 tablespoon allspice
1 tablespoon nutmeg

Mix everything together, making sure that you break up the chunks of brown sugar.

Instructions for use: Add 1/2 cup of mix plus 1 cup of water to 2 cups of cider or juice. Bring to a boil and then simmer until ingredients are dissolved and all is well combined. Enjoy!
*Note: For a single serving, use 2-3 Tablespoons to 1 cup of cider*

Fall wardrobe staple

Every fall, I look forward to breaking out my long-sleeve tops, blue jeans, and sweaters. My favorite fall wardrobe staple is the long sleeve t-shirt. I like my long sleeve shirts to be light enough to wear with shorts or capris as the weather starts to cool, but not so light to require a camisole underneath it. They should be light enough to wear under sweaters or jackets (I have a denim jacket I love, and a corduroy jacket I love EVEN MORE!), yet 'sturdy' enough to be worn with a skirt or blue jeans. Truth be told, I am not much of a 'layer-er', as in, I don't often wear multiple layers of clothing, but the perfect long sleeve t-shirt is needed for those occasions when I do layer! Unfortunately, because my long sleeve t-shirts get so much action during the fall/winter, they often don't last more than a year or two. I am excited because this week, Target has their Merona Ultimate Long-Sleeve Tee on sale for just $8.00. I have already purchased one in a lovely shade of green, and will probably pick up one or two more. Can you smell fall the air? For me, today, it smells like a new cotton t-shirt.

By the way, I am not affiliated with Target in any way. Their long-sleeve t-shirt just Works For Me.

Honey Vanilla Granola

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
dash salt
4 cups whole oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In small saucepan, melt the butter and honey together. Stir in cinnamon, vanilla and salt until thoroughly melted and mixed. Pour over oats and mix well. Spread coated oats out in a thin, even layer on greased cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. *Bake for 8-10 minutes, take out of the oven and stir the oats well. Return to the oven and bake for another 8-10 minutes. Remove the oats from the oven when they start to turn golden brown or they will burn! The granola hardened and darkens as it cools.

*You may have to play with this baking temperature and length of time to get the granola the way you want it.

I love this simple, delicious granola sprinkled over vanilla yogurt. It works for me! You can add in all kinds of things like slivered almonds, or coconut, but my family likes to keep it simple with just whole oats. Sometimes I sprinkle a little brown sugar in with the oats for added sweetness and color, but it is not necessary. This granola is great for breakfast. Hope you enjoy! For other Works for Me Wednesday ideas, see here.

Labor and Delivery, pt.2--Packing for the Hospital (what not to pack)

What you DON'T have to pack in your hospital bag:

• diapers
• wipes
• baby clothes other than an outfit to bring the baby home—the hospital will provide tiny little white shirts to dress your little one
• baby blankets—the hospital will provide a receiving blankets
• sanitary pads
• lots of underwear for you—the hospital has disposable underwear that you will, strangely enough, come to love after labor and delivery;-)
• multiple pairs of pants for you
• nursing pillow, unless you just want to have it, the nurses will assist you with helping the
• baby latch on using hospital pillows, etc
• bottles for the baby, unless you plan to bottle feed and want to use a particular bottle
• jewelry—you may have to take it off, and you don’t want to risk losing it
• long distance calling card—everything says no cell phones, but the nurses do not mind you making the occasional call
• pillows—hospital has plenty!

Tomorrow: What TO pack for the hospital

Cheap Baby Food

My little Boy is old enough now to eat baby food--and that can take a lot of our weekly budget if I am not careful! He seems to be eating more than his sister is :-) Thankfully, I learned with Girl how to make my own baby food and save tons of money in the process!

Packaged baby food is expensive--even the generic brand at Target is $0.87 for two containers of 4 ounces of food (considered "Stage 2" baby food), or 10.9 cents per ounce. I recently purchased 1 lb. of organic carrots for $0.99 at Target. After cooking the carrots and pureeing them, I filled an ice cube tray PLUS had enough for three of the small baby food containers. I am not certain of the exact amount in ounces, but let's guess on the small side, and say that each ice cube is 1 oz., and the containers were only 2 ounces. My 16 ounce ice cube tray, plus 3 two ounce containers, totals 22 ounces of baby food. At $0.99 for the carrots, I paid 4.5 cents per ounce. When you realize that the carrots were organic, and that organic baby food costs even more than 'regular' baby food, the savings are enormous!




Of course, there is time involved in the cooking and preparing your own baby food. The savings, however, are worth it! I love knowing exactly what my little boy is eating, and that I am saving money in the process. I would highly recommend Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron--though some of the information is dated, the book is an encyclopedia of information about baby food, with a guide in the back that tells you when you can introduce certain foods as well as how to prepare them. It was out of print, but I found a barely used copy for a great price online. I also love my Oxo Good Grips Ice Cube Tray. It has a lid that keeps the baby food from being contaminated in the freezer. Saving money and providing healthy food for my children Works for Me!

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

I love a simple, easy and yummy dessert. I made 50+ chocolate chip cheesecake bars on Monday, and praise the Lord, they definitely are simple and easy! And oh, are they yummy! Here you go:

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars
1 small roll (16-18 oz) refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
1 8 oz. box cream cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla (opt)

Press half of the cookie dough into a lightly greased 8x8 pan. Beat cream cheese, egg, sugar and vanilla on medium speed until well-mixed and creamy. Spread cream cheese mixture over cookie dough. Crumble remaining cookie dough over the top of the cream cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool, cut into bars, and enjoy!

Notes: 2 cups of cookie dough can be substituted for the refrigerated cookie dough. You can use the large, family size cookie dough with the same amount of cream cheese, but the cookie to cream cheese ratio will be different. I add a little bit of vanilla to give richness to the cream cheese, but if you like a strong cream cheese flavor you can leave it out.

Five ingredients in this easy dessert. It Works for Me!

A one-car family

We recently became a one-car family. It is a temporary situation that has a really long story to go with it, but suffice it to say that we have now had just one vehicle for a week (our second vehicle is temporarily out of commission). It will probably be six to eight weeks before we go back to two vehicles. It is an inconvenience, but not a great one. Here are some things I am learning:

1. I don't need access to a vehicle everyday. I stay at home with the kids. Having to coordinate my schedule with my husband's makes me think twice before just 'running out' to do __________. I cannot just get in the van and go, and that is a good thing!
2. I am planning my week out much better than before. I have to coordinate with my husband when he will take the van, and when we will take him to work (praise the Lord we live very close to his office). I am grouping my errands together, and cutting out many unnecessary trips.
3. I don't spend as much money if I don't have access to a vehicle everyday. I am no longer tempted to just run to Target when I am bored or the kids are driving me crazy. I LOVE my Target store, but I cannot go in there without dropping $20 or more.
4. I am having to be creative around the house. When Girl gets stir crazy, I can't just say "Let's hop in the van and go somewhere". We are reading more books, and playing with more toys and crafts than before we had one vehicle.
5. We are enjoying our yard more. Of course, this coincides with spring really starting for us and the weather being gorgeous, but nothing takes away the stir-crazies (like that word? :-) like taking a walk outside, or running around in the yard.
6. I am inviting people over more. Instead of just saying "hey, let's get together sometime," I am trying to deliberately plan to have people over. I can't always go to them, but they can come to me. I can open my home and share hospitality with my friends more than I have in the past.

Now, there are certainly downsides to this one-car thing. And we don't plan for it to be a permanent change. I do hope that we will save some money through this experience, and that I will learn lessons that I can incorporate once we have two-cars again. So for right now, today, Earth Day, having just one vehicle Works for Me.

Raising money for a good cause

Do you give to ministries and charities?

Later this month I am participating in the 2009 Walk for Life to raise money and awareness for my local Pregnancy Support Services. This wonderful ministry provides support, counseling and material needs for women and families experiencing crisis pregnancies. Each person walking commits to raise a set amount, but I really want to go above and beyond that amount!

Here are some things I am doing to meet my personal goal:
*collecting all of my loose change (and spare dollars when I can) into a jar specifically for Walk for Life
*holding a yard sale with all proceeds to benefit the Walk
*emailing friends and family
*posting about it on my blog :-) and Facebook
*donating proceeds of anything I sell in the month of April to the Walk for Life fund--more coming on that soon!

In this tough economic time, charities and ministries are suffering because charitable giving is down. Though I am participating in this special event at my local favorite charity, my "regular" charitable giving is not as high as I would like. Works for Me Wednesday is in reverse this week--we pose a question that we want people to answer. So here is my question--I don't have a problem trying to raise money for a special cause (like Walk for Life), but how do I find money for regular charitable gifts? When the wallet is tight, where do you find the money to give generously? Are you giving to churches, charities, and ministries? I need ideas for how to budget for charitable giving during budget crunching times--and if you have any great ideas for raising money for the Walk for Life, I would love to hear that as well!

Cleaning your crockpot

I hate cleaning my crockpot. If it gets "gunk" built up on it, I am often tempted to just go out and buy a new one. That really isn't a wise use of my money :-), so I have found a couple of options that help me with the caked on nastiness that is often my crockpot.

1--Reynolds Wrap Slow Cooker Liners. These really are amazing. I think many packaged products are a rip-off, often something you could make yourself, or something that has slightly newer/different packaging that makes it seem better but it is not. However, these Slow Cooker Liners are the real deal. You put the plastic liner in your crockpot, cook away, and when you are done you take the liner out and throw it away. All you have to do is wipe the crockpot down. Easy as pie!

2--But suppose you don't have slow cooker liners? Here is my tip for cleaning out icky, sticky, caked on crockpot stuff. Fill the crockpot with lukewarm water, add a dryer sheet and let it sit for a few hours. Science is not my strong point, but something in the dryer sheet helps the food particles to soften and loosen. After a couple of hours of soaking, it should not take much elbow grease to clean out your crockpot.

And since we are all big crockpot fans, we know we need an easy way to keep it clean. It works for me!

Speaking of bookmarks...

I have mentioned before that I love to read. In fact, yesterday, I made my first fabric bookmark to help out with my love of reading. Friends often recommend good books, or I read a review of a book somewhere that sounds interesting. However, I hesitate to buy a book before I have read it--what if I don't like it? what if I can't finish it? Enter my wonderful local library. We have a large county library system with multiple branches. With my handy library card, I can search for books online, reserve them, and have them held for me at my local branch. This allows me to read a book with no strings attached (like feeling obligated to finish it because I spent money on it). Our particular library system even has a wonderful feature online where I can keep a list of books I want to read--I just search for the book and add it to my list. Then I can request the books whenever I have the time to read. Also, did you know that you can check out more than books? Many libraries also have audiobooks, magazines, videos and CDs. So familiarize yourself with your local library AND their online catalog system--the possibilities are endless! It works for me!

My secret (makeup) weapon

I recently discovered a wonderful secret (makeup) weapon.

Concealer.

Yep, that's it. Concealer--the product I thought I had left behind in my acne-riddled youth (okay, so my acne really wasn't that bad, but it certainly felt terrible when I was 13). I know many makeup artists swear by concealer, and it often makes the list of "things you have to put on even if you aren't doing your whole face". But I didn't use it. My acne has stablized (some, but we won't talk about post-pregnancy hormones), I don't have terrible circles under my eyes, so I didn't worry about it.

Then one day, my lovely CVS offered a 'buy foundation, get concealer free', and I needed foundation. So I bought some concealer just to try. And the makeup artists were right. I LOVE my concealer! I thought my circles under my eyes weren't bad--until I used concealer, and I was amazed at the difference. It was shocking how much more rested I looked! And with a baby, that is a good thing. So now, concealer is almost always in my daily routine, and I really do look better. I currently use L'Oreal Visible Lift Under Eye Concealer, and it is amazing. I also am trying a powder concealer by Everyday Minerals--I didn't think it could work as well as a cream, but I am blown away by the coverage of this powder. Great stuff!

What secret weapons do you have that make you feel (and look) great? Concealer definitely works for me.

Discounts for newspaper subscribers

My husband and I have a Sunday only subscription to our local paper. I used to buy it in the newsstand, but came across an offer to get Sundays only for $1/week (cheaper than the newsstand), so we became subscribers. Confession: I don't read the paper. I skim the headlines, read articles that look interesting, and pull the coupons and sales flyers.

This past week, my skimming lead to a great discovery--as a newspaper subscriber, I am eligible for special discounts and giveaways. The giveaways are usually tickets to concerts and events, and discounts apply to a variety of activities like the zoo, roller skating rinks, pizza buffets and more. I am very excited about a particular discount they offered for the symphony, though. My hubby and I were able to purchase two Orchestra level tickets for Valentine's Day weekend for only $15 each simply because we have a newspaper subscription. I do not know if every newspaper has similar offers for their subscribers, but it can't hurt to look into it. Who knows what kind of deal you will find? Now if only I could find discounts on babysitting as well...

For other Works for Me Wednesday ideas, check out Rocks In My Dryer.

Addendum: A couple people have asked how I found the discounts/coupons section, and it was sheer providence that I was reading a column in the paper on Sunday and came across a contest (a gift card to a grocery store along with shopping advice from our paper's expert couponer!). However, my paper (the Raleigh News-Observer) makes the Subscriber "Zone" very easy to find at the top of their webpage. Other papers may have something similar, or even have a place for you to log-in for special features. Check around your paper's webpage looking for things for subscribers only (perhaps called "My ____[paper's name]). Look in the physical paper at columns written by local reporters/regular contributors for contests and discounts. Check the Arts and Entertainment section to see if the paper is giving away tickets for anything. Search the website for "Subscriber discounts/coupons/contests". I don't know that other papers do similar things, but it can't hurt to check it out. Good luck!

Cookies at any time

I love cookies. Really. I love to bake cookies, and I love to eat cookies! It is better, however, for me to give my cookies away or make them for events, so they don't sit around the house tempting me and my hubbie to overeat. Thankfully, my husband has a great job that lends itself to 'taking cookies to the office'--he is a college professor, and both his students and his coworkers have benefitted from my cookie cooking binges.

But there are times, when I am home in the afternoon, both kids are sleeping, and I just want a cookie. Or when someone comes over at last minute and I want to offer something sweet along with coffee. I don't need 3 dozen cookies--I just need a few. My remedy for this is very simple. I make a batch of cookie dough, roll the dough into balls, place the balls on a cookie sheet and stick the cookie sheet in the freezer. After letting the dough freeze for a couple of hours, I pop the dough balls off the cookie sheet, throw them into a freezer bag and put them in the freezer. Then, on those afternoons that I MUST HAVE cookies, I can pull one or two (or six:-) balls out of the freezer bag and put them in the oven. I find it helpful to separate the balls into smaller freezer bags with a dozen cookies in each bag, and then putting those freezer bags into a larger gallon bag. This works for most types of cookie dough, both homemade and storebought. You could also roll the dough into small logs and freeze the logs. I don't prefer that method, but it would work similarly.

My favorite cookies are Snickerdoodles--in fact, I just made some Snickerdoodle cookie dough today. I will make a couple dozen cookies to take to my husband's work tomorrow, and will freeze the rest. Snickerdoodles are my "trademark" cookie, and one of the few recipes I don't share:-) But in the spirit of generosity, I want to give you the recipe to my second favorite cookie, Molasses Cookies. These delicious cookies also look beautiful, which is a plus:-)

Molasses Cookies
3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg well beaten
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix together the butter, sugar, and molasses until creamy. Add egg and beat well. Sift together dry ingredients. Slowly add dry ingredients to butter mixture until well blended. Chill dough (can be overnight). Form dough into balls and roll in sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 6-10 minutes--6 for softer cookies, 10 for crispier cookies. Enjoy!!

For more Works for Me Wednesday ideas, see Rocks In My Dryer.

Organizing your Christmas card pictures

I love receiving Christmas cards every year, especially the ones with pictures that show us how much the kids have grown or the family has changed. But what do you do with those pictures after Christmas? Like many people, I like to display the pictures on my refrigerator, and I would often spend an unholy amount of time arranging them to be just "so." But the tape on the back would eventually get unsticky, Girl would grab any and every one she could reach, and then there was one particular picture that would fall off every single time I opened the door!

So one day I was struck by great inspiration, and I decided to invest in these handy magnetic photo sleeves. They protect my pictures AND easily adhere to the refrigerator. What's not to like? Now the grubby fingers of Girl won't tear up these photos,and my previously cluttered refrigerator door has a cleaner look. Obviously, this is not an original thought, but it made a great transformation to my refrigerator and my sanity. And that works for me.

Front of sleeve (isn't that cute pic of Boy? don't look at the messy counter!)


Back of sleeve


My slightly less cluttered refrigerator door


For more Works For Me Wednesday tips, check out Rocks In My Dryer.