DIY children fun, batch cooking and etc:

Hello everyone,
school is back in session for all our grands that go to school and our grown children that work in education.   We are settling into a new schedule and so far,  everything is going pretty smooth.

I am still helping with childcare for some of the grands but I don't have a single grand that is here for any full weekdays,  this is a big change for me as I've been caring for different combinations of grands for the last 8 years while their parents worked.
Whatever will I do with all my free time?
So far,  I haven't seen that much extra free time but I am sure I will stay busy no matter who is here.

Here a few things our grands had end of summer fun with.

This was homemade chalk paint.  Each muffin cup held 2 T of cornstarch, 2 T water and 5 drops of food coloring.
Stir it up well and then paint.  Please look on Pinterest if you want more instructions but that is truly all we did

The grands had a great time stirring it and painting with it.  

It didn't really show up so well on the driveway but it was still lots of fun.  

It also completely washed away  when it rained.


All the grands like to pour and this 2 year old is having a great time with just water and a plastic tea set on a tray covered with a kitchen towel.
The towel controlled most of the spills and it was just water so it wasn't much a mess.

When the bigger grands wanted to have a tea party,  I got out a tea set my mom found at a yardsale years ago.  It is pottery and looks a lot like Fiesta ware.

My parents were here for this tea party.  They had some lemonade for pouring and some Ninja Turtle cookies the grands baked with a mix from Dollar Tree.
They all had a very sweet time and I know the tea sets will be used often when grands are here.

Children love to cook and help in the kitchen.  This 5 year old was helping me roll out noodles.
It costs nothing to have them help and they enjoy it so much.

Today I did some big batch cooking.  

I made a recipe of Energy Balls.  It is based loosely on a YouTube video by Keep Calm and Clean

I make them a little differently.  I mix up the peanut butter, honey and vanilla and then I add the quick oats and either mini chocolate chips or mini M&Ms.  Once mixed,  I use a little scoop and make balls,  chill until ready to eat.  In the video,  she also adds brown sugar but I think these are plenty sweet like this.
These are a favorite of the grands and they are quite filling and hunger satisfying.

If you look for other Energy balls or protein balls recipes,  most have a lot more ingredients.   We really like this simple recipe just fine.

I made a triple recipe of  Freezer Biscuits I've made this recipe many times and they are always good.  They are freezing and will get bagged up with frozen solid.

I also baked a triple recipe of banana bread/muffins and a double batch of chocolate chip muffins.



When everything was cool,  I put it in plastic containers for the freezer and in sandwich bags for school lunches.  We are having company this weekend and will probably serve some of the banana bread and chocolate chip muffins.
I also packaged up some to take to my parents at their retirement home.

I want to mix up a new recipe for a Cajun seasoning but I was out of onion powder.  I did have a couple quarts of the dried onion flakes.  I tried grinding them up a  little coffee grinder,,,,,

and it worked just fine!  I will be using this homemade onion powder for the Cajun seasoning as well as when I make more Taco Seasoning and Rub for smoked meat.
It always a win when you can use what you have instead of adding things to a shopping list, right?

Keeping it real though....
All that baking and cooking used lots of dishes.  The dishwasher was full and running as well as all the dishes I hand washed and have air drying.  (hmmm,  I'm not sure that is a complete and proper  sentence but you get the picture)

I'm still doing bargain shopping in small amounts  This was last week at Dollar General.  

I used just digital coupons on the Dollar General app and website.  

After deducting all the coupons as well as a $5 off $30 coupon for buying Gain products,  I spent $12.71
Before coupons, it was about $35.

I'm still walking everyday and keeping track of my steps with a Fitbit.
They sent me this badge last week.

Way back in 2009,  we canceled out satellite TV.  We've lived just fine without pay tv all these years and got most of my shows through a rooftop antenna.
But the weather has really been blowing that antenna around, and to adjust it,  someone had to go up on the roof.  My husband has no business being a roof anymore and our sons are helpful but all have busy lives.
So I pretty much insisted we get cable tv.   It is through the same company we have had our internet and landline phone with so the TV gets bundled in and the price was not bad at all.
Also,  there is no contract and we can cancel anytime if needed.

My husband really likes TV but I don't watch it much.  I did finally watch my first episode ever of "Fixer Upper"  It was OK but I haven't watched any more.  I thought I might of been really missing something and the show is nice but it turns out  I wasn't really missing anything.

I have only sewed for 3 days since I last posted about the 100 Day sewing challenge

I did finish a new top and have 2 more garments for me cut out.  Hopefully I will show those to you all soon.  

 That's the homemaking that's been going on here- thank you for visiting.  

BEDA #12-15

Oops!  I thought I missed 2 days of BEDA but it was 3.  

First,  I’m starting Monday with a new to do list for the week.  

Our weekend was both busy and slow.  

My husband smoked a ham and 2 chickens so meals were easy.  

Saturday morning, I tried to do some in store shopping but it was very frustrating.

First I went to Dollar General- I wanted to use their $5/25 Saturday coupon.  It was so busy in there and all the shopping carts were being used by other customers.  It was so crowded,  I just left. 

Then I went to a Walmart.  This store is being remodeled -again!  

Their AC was not working right.  

I live in a college town and the students are retuning so many of them were shopping at Walmart with their parents so many of the aisles there were full with clumps of shoppers.  

After I bought a few things,  I got back in my vehicle.  

Walmart is normally less than a 10 minute drive from home but it took me 30 minutes because so many major streets in my town are closed and/or being redone and because of the all the college traffic.  

I finally got home and told my husband I may never shop in a store again.  Of course at some point, I will.  But Saturday morning was just no fun at all.

And I will NOT be shopping on Saturdays. 

I hadn’t made energy balls in a good while but some the grands asked for them.  

Mix the honey and peanut butter and vanilla.  Then stir in the oats, then the chocolate.

Roll into small balls.  2 of mine probably equal 1 golf ball.  But you can make them any size.  

I have several containers of honey in my pantry but honey has really gone up in price. 

  I think to make these less expensive,  any kind of  maple, pancake syrup would be a perfect substitute for the honey.  I know honey is from a different source than pancake syrup, but they are the same sweetness and consistency so I’m confident it would work. 

 The maple and peanut butter would be a good flavor combination too.  

These energy balls are delicious and much more filling than a store bought granola bar.

They do take a while to roll into balls.  I sat down at the kitchen table and watched a YouTube video while I did them.  

I keep them in the fridge but they would be fine in lunchboxes for a few hours.  

Anyway,  sorry about my absence and for my shopping rant.

I’ve got a list to work on now.

Hope you all have a productive day and no shopping drama 

❤️ Rhonda 

Frugal February 4, 5 and 6

Hello everyone 

First here is my weekly to do list.  As I expected, several undone tasks from last week’s list have been rolled over to this week’s list.

But that’s fine and that is just life. 

I think I need a new black ink pad. My stamping images don’t look as clear as I prefer them to.

On Saturday, I saw a Facebook marketplace ad and I knew the people.  

I got all of this and lots more for $25 

I don’t think I’ll ever need to buy another zipper or button. 

And as long as the elastic is still viable, I won’t need to buy any more elastic for a long, long time either. 

Now my sewing room has stuff spread everyone and I’ll be working on that this week.

  Lots of good stuff but it’s still stuff and I need to find a place for it.  

No photo but my husband smoked a $35 commissary brisket on Saturday.  We‘ve at it 3 days in a row and it is just delicious. 

He doesn’t follow the brisket experts advice, and he trims most of the fat from the brisket. But we like it that way. It is still flavorful and tender, just not fatty or greasy. Tomorrow I’ll put what is left in the freezer in meal size containers.

 We could have gone out to eat and spent $35 on one brisket meal but this way we get many brisket meals for the same money.

Sunday afternoon I made a double batch of energy balls. Most of these will go in lunches for grand children who pack school lunches. In our town, all children can eat breakfast free but I think school lunches cost $3.50  or $4 a day.

This is my basic energy ball recipe. I usually heat the peanut butter in the microwave just to make it easier to stir.

Corn syrup and pancake syrup can be substituted for the honey with very good results.

I usually stir the wet ingredients together, then stir in the oats and then stir in the M&Ms or chocolate chips

I’ve used traditional peanut butter, sugar-free peanut butter, and a low sugar peanut butter. All have worked just fine.

Shape into balls, whatever size you desire, and chill in the refrigerator.

They are very filling, much more filling than a store-bought granola bar

One  morning I had an unusual opportunity to help my daughter shop at Aldi. 

 After that I went by myself to Dollar Tree. 

I needed 2 things and got both of them for our home (tiny trash bags and a particular type of toothpaste) I was also looking for some shampoo and conditioner that I saw on YouTube, that had good reviews, but this dollar tree did not have them.

Then I sent some photos to my daughter to see if she wanted some of these things as I thought she might.  

She picked out a few things. Can you guess which things she asked for?  

  

  

  

  

She wanted things in 4 of these photos.  If anyone gets it exactly right,  I’ll send the first one a little gift.  

Hope you all are having a good Monday 

❤️ Rhonda 

Starting off September

Hello everyone 

It’s getting closer to autumn but it’s still 100% summer in Oklahoma.  The heat is exhausting so I mostly stay inside, in air conditioning and do quiet things in the heat of the day.  

I didn’t make an actual to do list for this week.  I did the big housework over the weekend-floors bathrooms, laundry.  

So I’ll just do housework as needed this week.  

I needed a few groceries so I went to a Walmart- what was I thinking?  If you’ve read my blog, you know I like to do grocery pickup from Walmart and delivery from Kroger.  

Today’s trip convinced me that pickup and delivery suit me best too!  

Cook something

I made a double batch of energy balls - these have mini chocolate chips- and will be eaten in school lunches by some of the grands. 

energy ball recipe here

I took a package of cube steaks from the freezer but it was much too much beef for my husband and I for 1 meal.

So, I cut about half of it into cubes for tonight’s beef stew and cut the other half into strips for a meal later this week- maybe fajitas or pepper steak

The beef stew tonight was delicious !

 

Sew Something

Mrs. Laura Lane said on her blog that September is national sewing month.  

I’ve been decluttering my sewing room over the last week but today,  I started a new project.

Have you heard of the 15 minute or burrito style pillowcase sewing method?  

If you look on YouTube or Pinterest,  you’ll see many tutorials.  

We need new pillowcases for our bed so I got started on a pair.  

2 cut out pillowcases and one of them pinned and ready to start sewing.  

It may only take 15 minutes for an experienced pillow case maker to sew them.  But it took me 30 minutes to iron and cut out my pieces-  

Hopefully I can sew them both up tomorrow 

A few Grandchildren updates

Gavin and Braeden raise dairy cattle.  During our local county fair, they were featured on a morning news show.  They did a great job talking to the host.  

Gavin, 14, is our oldest grandchild.

Braeden is 11

This is our youngest grand.  

She was on a weekend trip.  

Her parents ordered her ice cream for dessert and the restaurant treated her to cotton candy as well.  

Fun photo, right? 😂😂😂

And no, she did not eat all that sugar herself.  




Hope you all have had a good Monday 

❤️Rhonda 

Doing stuff at home all day

Today is a holiday in the USA so all the grands were out of school and with their parents.
My husband and I stayed home all day except he was gone for 10 minutes to fill up our car.  Because of Harvey, gasoline has been in short supply in some places.  So just to be careful,  we've been keeping our tanks full.

Last night our dishwasher was making a funny squeak.  We think it was just two dishes scraping against each other but it made me remember I hadn't cleaned the inside of the dishwasher lately.
All dishwashers are different but for ours, both sets of spray arms come out easily and need cleaned as bits of stuff get caught inside.  I also took out the filter pieces and soaked them in vinegar to remover lime deposits.  Our Oklahoma water has lots of lime.
Then,  I poured that vinegar into the dishwasher and ran a short cycle with hottest water,
After, the interior was sparkly clean and there was no more funny squeak.

While I did this job, my husband worked on our slow draining bathroom sinks.  No photos, but he took the plastic drain pipes under the sinks apart and cleaned out "black gunk" with his fingers and an old toothbrush.  Ewww I know,  but I'm thankful he could and would do it.  

In the kitchen,  I made another batch of energy balls.

I cooked 4 pounds of breakfast sausage and then froze them for easy breakfasts.  Half is regular and half is hot sausage.  I put a label on the outside and a foil divider in keep them separate. 

I made a big salad that we will eat Tuesday and Wednesday, also a box of taco toppings that we had with tonight's tacos.

I talked to my daughter a few weeks ago about what clothes her children needed for winter.  One boy needs jeans and her daughter needs a coat.  I remembered this Columbia jacket I bought last year when my favorite thrift store was having their closing sale.  It's clean and soft, should fit Elizabeth fine and keep her warm.
I used a seam ripper to remove the tag that had the previous owners name on it.   Now it's ready for colder days.

My husband finished up a holster he's been working on.He has a Mares Leg pistol that looks like a short rifle.

He used an eagle belt buckle he has had for years. He kind of looks like Marshall Dillon when he modeled it.

We do live in Oklahoma and guns are very common here. But he doesn't walk around with this strapped on.  It's just something to have.
We are very safe with guns.  They are locked away and my husband had so much artillery training as a Marine, he follows every gun safety procedure.

We both enjoy making things and this was a project for him to work on leather.  

I did all our laundry today.  I use the clothes dryer some but I also hang most tops and pants to air dry on hangers.  

I also did some deep cleaning and a little decluttering in the kitchen.

On the table, are some top patterns and a few lengths of fabric. I plan to cut out 3 tops for me.
I like the other tops I've sewn up this summer so much, I don't like it when they all need laundered and I have to wear a store bought top.

This is my list of things I plan to do this week.

I made some progress but I think it will keep me busy all week.

This was a fairly normal day for us, I don't understand when people are bored.  There is always something that needs doing in our home. We have no time to be bored.

Cooking, bargains, and my husbands big project

This is almost a week and half of what's been going on here.  

I did some baking last week because my in-laws were in town

Pecan pie from my mom's recipe- and the pecans were picked by us in the fall.  Yes, it tastes as good as it looks! 

Lemon pound cake muffins- an old Taste of Home magazine recipe 

Bread baked in our Zojirushi machine- that machine has truly been a work horse. 

My son has been doing meal prep- this is a bunch of chicken breasts and fajita beef he grilled.  He bags and freezes it, then eats it during the month for lunch and supper.  

He has also been making jar salads that he really likes.  

Super Bowl snacks 

I just used food we already had - sliced cheese and smoked sausage with crackers

2 kinds of oranges

A bag of microwave popcorn with a few white chcolate chips sprinkled on while still hot - Yum! 

Cheese dip and tortilla chips 

I used some of my Pyrex collection to serve it in.  

Funny grandchild of the week 

Braeden is watching PBSKids on an iPod.  

I usually sit in this chair but I don't pose like Braeden. 

I don't go to Walmart very often but I went this week needing 3 things I could only get there. 

At the front of the store,  there were 2 buggies full of Star Wars merchandise from the newest movie and EVERYTHING was 25 cents each.  Lots of shoppers were digging in the baskets and I ended up with

9 sets of little boy pajamas - I still can't believe they were a quarter! 

3 water bottles

2 Darth Vader soft balls 

And a bunch of glow stick toys. 

CVS -but this is too late for any of you to do these deals though 

I won't spell it all out but after sales and coupons and ECBs,  this was about $10 and I got back $15 ECB. 

Children's School Valentines 

Our daughter in law did these cute Valentines for Gavin in first grade.  She got the book lights at Dollar Tree.  They say - Valentine You brighten my day.m

These are some the Valentines that JJ got at his church preschool party.  He wanted to eat the dinosaur gummies first and he made dinosaur sounds through the whole bag.  

Can you guess what my husband and father in law are doing?  

They were staining the wood on this giant bookshelf 

Ta-da!  

There is this nook in the hall and after living here for 13 years,  it dawned on me that a floor to ceiling bookcase would be great in that spot.  

So now that husband is retired, he has time and energy to work on things like this. 

It is attached to the walls and holds so many books! 

It's 8 feet tall. 

Children books are on the bottom 3 shelves

Cookbooks are on the 4th

Bibles and adult fiction are on the top 4.  

That's what's been on going at the If You Do Stuff home.  We've been doing lots of stuff and I'll have more pictures for you all soon.  

Happy Valentines Day everyone.