Pantry Cooking

Yesterday I mentioned pantry cooking. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the word, it means to make meals from your pantry (and fridge and freezer) instead of going grocery shopping. It's a great way to use up the items that got pushed to the back of the shelf or hidden under other items in the freezer, as well as a way to save money by not shopping that week. If your typical grocery budget is $100 weekly and you are able to not go shopping for a week that is an extra $100 in your pocket.

The past couple weeks I have been doing a lot of pantry cooking and spending way less at the grocery store because of it. Using up pasta from the shelves, chicken from the freezer, frozen vegetables and canned goods has helped me use up items before they went bad and saved us some money which we were able to use in other areas.

I recently ran across two bean recipes at The Path to Frugality which called for ingredients that I already had on hand and usually have on hand. I love recipes like these! My husband is not a big bean fan but even he liked both of these recipes. I thought I would share here but I suggest you visit Martha over at her blog as she will be posting more pantry recipes as well!

Hungry Boys' Casserole
1 lb. hamburger
1 cup celery, sliced
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced (or substitute dried minced garlic)
1 can tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
2 - 1 lb. cans pork n beans, undrained
1 tomato paste can full of water
Brown the hamburger with the celery, onion and garlic til hamburger is cooked and vegetables are tender. Drain. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir together. Pour into a casserole dish (I use an 11 x 7 inch rectangular pan). Top with drop biscuits (recipe follows).
Biscuits:
1 1/2 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup margarine
1/2 cup milk
Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in the margarine. Add the milk and stir into a dough. Drop by tablespoons on top of bean mixture. Bake at 425 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

Chili Beef Casserole
1 lb. ground beef (or less)
1 small onion chopped
1 16 oz. can pork n beans, undrained
1 can corn, undrained
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 cups corn chips OR cornbread batter
1/2 cup (or less) shredded cheese - can be optional
In skillet brown ground beef with onion, rinse or drain the fat. Add the beans, corn, and chili powder. Pour into a casserole dish and top with the corn chips OR make a cornbread batter from 1 box of Jiffy cornbread mix OR do as I do and make your own cornbread batter from scratch. Sprinkle with cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.

What is your favorite pantry meal?

Extra Income

With some added expenses in the past two weeks our budget became a mess and our checking account got awfully low. I transferred a bit out of savings into checking but didn't want to dip into it too much as we will be needing to buy school supplies and tires for both vehicles in the coming months.

We often seem to fall short right around the time the mortgage is due or the high electric bill (our electric bill was close to $100 this month - which is high for us since we keep lights off as often as possible and try not to use the dryer in the summer months but this heat wave means the air conditioners have been used for almost three weeks straight). One thing I often try to do before dipping into savings is see where I can make a quick buck or two.
*We live in a state where our soda and beer cans can be redeemed for a 5 cent deposit. We save all of our cans and are not above picking up cans when out for a walk. We often get $15-$25 when taking a few big bags of cans in to be redeemed...that can put gas in a vehicle or help pay a bill.
*Ben took some scrap metal laying around the garage to the scrap yard and got $25 last week. Many people will pick metal items off the curb (washing machines, bikes, pipes, etc.), it's a way to turn junk into cold hard cash...and it reduces waste in the landfills.
*I had a $27 check from a consignment shop and a $40 BlogHer check to put into the bank. By selling our unwanted/no longer needed items and by writing my thoughts down on a public blog I am able to bring in a little extra income each month.

These little things truly do add up and by being mindful of extra ways to make money you can pay the electric bill or fill your tank with gas when your checkbook is a little low.

This is not to say that we were destitute and about to have our power shut off or weren't able to eat. We have a small savings account to draw off of when an unexpected expense comes along. But because I work hard to live within our income I am hesitant to tap into savings for our everyday living expenses because once you take $50 out here and $75 out there you begin to become dependant on that money in savings and start to live outside of your means...short on cash this week? Take $40 out of savings for groceries instead of cooking from the pantry to get by for the week. It's a slippery slope and often a reason that some people are unable to keep money in a savings account. We try to look at ways to bring in a little extra cash (or save cash...such as the pantry cooking that I'll discuss tomorrow) before going to our savings account. And it typically works!

So the next time an unexpected expense comes along, see if you can make a few dollars here or a few dollars there before dipping into savings. Did you just find out you needed a $150 car repair? Have a garage sale! Did your dog need $50 worth of medicine? Prepare your cheapest meals the next week to put half your grocery money towards the medicine. Did the gas prices just go up, making your commute each day unusually expensive? Start hanging your laundry out and saving close to $1 per load - that could be $5 or more a week you are saving. Little, unexpected, bills in our lives can often be offset without much work on your part.

What are some of your quick money tips or ways to offset an unexpected expense?

End of Week Review

We are home for another weekend! Jacob's platelets were at just 17k yesterday and needed to be at 75k in order to received chemo today - he wasn't close by a long shot. Our overnight stay is postponed for next Friday now, which also happens to be my birthday. I'm not complaining, we've managed to miss almost every 'holiday' at home since Thanksgiving, so why not try to go for a record?!

There is no where that we must be today - no labs appointments, no speech class for the boys, no errands needing to be run. With the sun making an appearance after a day of rain yesterday (three inches here, up to 12 inches of rain in some areas) I have grand plans to get caught up on the laundry and bedding. The children want to turn in their library reading logs so I think we will take a walk there after lunch.

It really is about time that we just had a lazy summer day!

Cleaning Crew

My days this week have been spent cleaning and organizing. It's a bit too warm (HOT) to spend much time outdoors so I've been taking advantage of the time inside. I'm also packing away bags and boxes of items for the garage sale next month and am amazed at all I am finding to get rid of. I'm up to 6 big boxes and two garbage bags of things and know I can easily double that. Yay for simplifying!

All of us mothers have something which is the bane of our existence. Mine may very well be laundry. It is never ending and seems to breed overnight. While I don't mind the actual washing, hanging out, or folding part pf the task, I despise putting it away. I don't know why, I just do. I also despise folding a clean shirt or pants only to notice spots such as these all over them:
Some people call them water marks but I call them what they are; grease spots. My children are messy and like to drop food on themselves, or use their clothing as napkins for their greasy little fingers. The darker the fabric, the easier these spots show up. I've thrown many clothing items away with these spots that I just couldn't get out until I've heard that Dawn dish detergent works wonders on them. Squirt a bit of the Dawn on a toothbrush and scrub the spot, let sit for a bit and wash as usual. This has gotten every single grease stain out for me, even ones that have already gone through the dryer. I've heard of others sprinkling the spots with baby powder and letting it absorb the grease before washing. Hopefully this tip will help another mama from throwing out countless clothing from their messy children!

I've often been tempted to buy a Swiffer Mop as it looks so easy to use and clean with. What stopped me was the waste of disposable pads, along with having to buy the cleanser refill packages. I don't use harmful chemicals while cleaning so did not want to be stuck using something that needed a certain kind of cleanser. A few months ago I ran across the Libman Freedom Spray Mop at Target and was intrigued. I love the Libman products and have touted the Wonder Mop before, as it is the only mop I use! I liked the fact that the Freedom Spray mop has the same concept as the Swiffer Mop (no dirty mop water buckets) but also has a washable, reusable pad and the cleaner chamber can be filled with whatever cleaner you choose - no having to buy refill packs!

It was $20, which was a lot for me to spend on a mop, but it had a $5 rebate attached to it so I was sure to send that in when I arrived home. I fill the cleanser chamber with half water and half white vinegar (which is just as effective as bleach, killing 99.9% of germs, but safe and natural). I use it to take a quick swipe at the kitchen and bathroom floors several times a week and leave the cleanser in the chamber when hanging it back in the laundry room so that I can grab and go whenever needed. It takes less than two minutes to quickly clean the floors with this mop. I do not use it for a deep clean of the floors though, as I find that it just doesn't have the scrubbing power that I want. I go back to my trusty Wonder Mop a few times a month to do a through scrubbing of the floors. All-in-all I find it to be a good investment and friendly to the earth. (I was not paid nor asked to do a review of this product, I am just sharing a product that works for me which I feel should be shared with all of you!)

What are some of your favorite, can't do without, cleaning products and tips?

Can Blogging Make Money?

Ask the Pioneer Woman, who made over 1 million dollars on her blog last year.

Ask your average blogger and the answer will be "maybe".

The number one rule in blogging is 'Do not start a blog in hopes to make money'. Because it just won't work. You need to be passionate about something and love what you write about. You need to blog for fun, for an outlet, for joy...blogging for money won't work out.

It takes years to start to earn money through writing a blog, and unless you love what you are writing about, you won't have the followers nor the backing to be able to start to earn an income - your blog needs to take off before your blog becomes noticed in the big circles. Your blog won't take off if you are posting drivel or posting sporadically.

You need good advertisers. It is difficult to find individual sponsors who will advertise on your blog and the pay is often small. Google AdSense is readily available to post to your blog but the payout is slim. It pays per click, so unless you are getting loads of traffic to your blog with one or two clicks on the ad a day it isn't worth it. I've had Google Adsense for close to 2 years now. They don't pay out until you reach $100, which I've done once. My account is at $50 right now do instead of taking the ads off my blog, I will wait until I reach my next $100 payout and then cut ties with them. I've heard of some blogs getting several visitors and clicks on their Google ads and being told that the activity looks suspicious and Google closing their accounts, with the unpaid funds never being seen. That looks suspicious to me!

Unfortunately, the better paying and more prestigious advertising companies have waiting lists a mile long and it's extremely difficult to get your blog approved. One of the biggest known blog advertising groups is Blogher, which I happen to have on this blog. It took over a year after submitting my application for this blog to be approved. It's an excellent circle to be in and the pay is per impression, not advertisement clicks. Most of the top bloggers make their big bucks through Blogher, but you really need a huge readership to make a nice income off your blog. Some bloggers are lucky to make enough to support their family, or even have their husband become a stay-at-home parent just because of their blogging income.

For the average blogger, such as myself, it's not worth it to blog if you are merely blogging for money. I did not start my blog to earn revenue so anything that comes my way is an extra perk and helps my family out. Some months I'll earn $60 from blogging, and some months I'll earn $15. It depends on how much traffic my blogs has (which relates to how often I post) and also depends on the amount of advertisers that Blogher has each month. It's a perk...it's not an income for us.

The biggest perk of blogging, for the average blogger, are the reviews that are offered up. Many companies know that one of the best advertising is not a blatant advertisement, but rather an honest review put out there on the world wide web. Any google search of their product name will bring up the review and many women reading blogs find the reviews to be helpful when choosing a new product to try. Many blog owners, myself included, are showered with items to test out and keep, all for the sake of writing a review and publishing it. It's a nice perk - to be able to try out products before anyone else and to be able to share the product with my readers. I'm careful to only test items that I would be interested in myself and that would fit the demographic of my readers.

Can the average blogger make a decent income from blogging? No. In a world of mommy blogs you are just another fish in the sea. It's good to branch out from "mommy blog" and find your niche, which can bring a bit more awareness to your blog, but unless you are incredibly lucky, it is doubtful that you will become the next Pioneer Woman.

That is not to say that you can't make money from your blog. It is possible, after years of blogging, having a decent readership, getting connected with the right advertising circles that you could make blogging both fun and profitable. There are many blogs that have an income of $200-$500 a month and that's nothing to laugh at. It just takes time and work - which is why starting a blog with the idea of getting rich won't work. You need to love what you write in order to make others love what you write. Whether it is about your own family, saving money, living green, and so on...you need to love writing about it.

After writing a blog for 2 years...I am just getting started!

Friday Randomness

Wow, this is the first time I have neglected my blog so badly. It just proves how busy the past several weeks have been...in a good way.

Jacob is still doing great. His Hemoglobin was at 9.5 today and platelets at 57. This is the first time that his Hemoglobin has stayed this high after receiving the Carboplation cocktail. His platelets did drop to 17k this week which meant a platelet transfusion on Wednesday morning but besides that Jacob has been doing wonderfully!

I have some fun pictures to share, once I find my memory card reader, that is. I recall placing it on my desk the other day but it has not been seen since. I will work on finding that this weekend so that my posts can get back to being more colorful.

Joe and I just spent awhile outside weeding the garden and flower beds. This is the first chance I've gotten, between the oppressive heat and hoards of mosquitoes to weed without having a heat stroke or being attacked by the blood suckers. It is hot yet, as showcased by the sweat which was running down my face, but not unbearable like it had been the past week. There are piles of weeds throughout the yard which the kids and I will pick up a bit later to stick into the compost bin.

My garden is growing and the waterfall of rain that we received early this morning did wonders for it. We picked our first three cucumbers this week and have gotten one gypsy pepper and two rip tomatoes so far. I'm afraid that we may not get many more tomatoes than that as half of our 12 tomato plants came down with either the blight or wilt. The remaining just are not producing well at all. The only ones that look as though they will wield good amounts are the cherry tomatoes. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Cherokee Purple and Lemon Boy at least give us a few - the kids will be thrilled with purple and yellow tomatoes. My rhubarb, on the other hand, just won't stop. It's a crazy amazing magical producing food machine. No matter how much I pick it just keeps growing and making more. I spent much of my evening yesterday picking and slicing to get some put away in the freezer.

I hope to be back to our regularly schedule programming now. It's been nice to have a break but I feel out of the loop, as some of you may feel as well. With that said, if you want some more up to date posts you can become a fan of "Jacob's Ladder" on Facebook. While my mother does not update it that often she does put the most important info on there.

Where Art Thou?

Often times no news is good news; that stays true in this case. I've been quiet because we have been getting back to our life after Jacob's 4 day hospital chemo stay (our last four day scheduled!). It takes awhile to catch up on things and get back into a groove; though I do arrive home to a fairly clean house thanks to my husband, I also arrive home to loads of things I want/need to do.

Jacob has been rambunctious as ever this week. Partly, I'm sure, due to the fact that his Hemoglobin was at 13 last time we checked. It's been months since it's been that high, it hasn't reached an 11 for the past 8 months so this boy is full of energy. He hasn't reached his low point since this chemo so he is enjoying it to the fullest now as next week it will start dropping and go lower and lower for about a week. He has two weeks off from chemo and then will have an overnight stay. That overnight stay will be the last of the overnights and the last of the heavy hitters. The next and last two chemo treatments will be Vincristine, which does not affect the counts so we really are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Once he is finished with the chemo he will be having his scans and we are praying faithfully that they once again show us good news and no signs of cancer.

We had plans today to set off for the farmer's market but when I awoke in the morning I saw the signs were spitting and the thunder was rumbling so I let the kids sleep in. Ben had to work today, covering the shift of a co-worker, so it has not been like a typical Saturday for us. I've been cleaning closets and we are about to embark on a quick grocery run and a stop at the vegetable/fruit store in town. Hopefully daddy will arrive home in time to help us grill out the steak and the sweet corn for supper...I think that red meat has been helping Jacob's counts too!