Looks Like

She's enjoying her toy.
Maybe a little too much.

Simple and Satisfying

I've enjoyed a good pot of baked beans with bacon and a skillet of cornbread ever since I could remember. It's a very simple meal but also very satisfying. For me it defines "comfort food".

I love my Grandma's cornbread recipe. I had stopped making it for awhile and started using the Jiffy boxed cornbread mix but tried the homemade cornbread again last week and we all raved over it. Maybe it tasted better because I knew it was my Grandma's recipe, or the fact that Joe helped make it with me. Maybe it was the dabs of butter and the dribbles of maple syrup. Whatever it was, I don't think I will be going back to the boxed mix.

Grandma's Cornbread

Combine in bowl: 2 cups cornmeal

2 cups flour

4 T. sugar

8 t. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

Stir in: 2 cups milk

2 eggs

1/2 c. vegetable shortening

Beat until fairly smooth, 1 minute. Pour into a 9x13 pan or two 8x8 pans. Bake at 425 degrees 20 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched with fingertips.

*Note: I half this recipe and bake it in a skillet that was greased with bacon grease, it adds a delicious touch.*

Stocking Up

I've made it my goal to pick up the loss leader items at the grocery store each week and to stock up on them whenever possible (often times when a price is really good there will be a limit on the number of items you can purchase).

Yesterday was the beginning of a two day sale at our local grocery store. After running some errands I stopped in to take advantage of the sale. I was able to get this:

for $34.04. The potatoes were on sale for 68 cents for a 5 lb. bag so I purchased 2 (the limit). The cream of mushroom/chicken was on sale for 50 cents so I purchased 4 (again, the limit). The 93% ground beef was on sale for $1.88 lb. when purchased in a 10 lb. tube. I paid $18.10 for that and divided them up into ziplock bags to go into the freezer. The sugar was on sale for 97 cents for a 5 lb. bag so I got the limit of 1. I also found large specialty salads that are usually marked $4.99 for 99 cents each and bought the last two. Along with some ziplock bags, chips, bologna, and three little treats for the kids.

I will continue to stock up on the loss leaders each week and am trying to keep a fully stocked pantry.

I have to go back to the grocery store as my in-laws are arriving later today from out of state to visit a few days so I need to stock up on groceries. I hope to grab a few more bags of potatoes and another bag of sugar while I am there.

It Pays to Complain

The old adage "the customer is always right" still rings true, for the most part. Companies want to hear feedback from their customers and see in what areas they are doing good and in what areas they need to work on.

Years ago if there was a product or store that I had issues with I stopped frequenting that store whenever possible or halted buying a particular product. Then I bought a computer and had access to the wonderful thing we call the internet. Having the internet at your fingertips makes it so easy, as well as free, to research companies and get their e-mail information. No writing out handwritten complaints or wasting money on a stamp. Just write a few sentences and send it off for free. Or better yet, fill out the simple forms on their own website.

90% of the time that I have had a complaint I have received a message back from the company, and a lot of the time they will even send a refund or free coupons for another of their products. It is a way for a company to know that something wasn't satisfactory as well as a way for them to make it right for the customer.

For example, we had an issue with a box of diapers a few years ago. Half the tabs on the diapers would fall off when we went to put the diaper on. Instead of throwing out the whole package and calling it a loss I contacted the company, who sent a mailer to mail back some of the diapers for product testing. They also sent a coupon for a free package of diapers as well as some high value coupons. Another time I was using some facial cleansing puff pads but several of the pads had a rough, sharp edge that actually cut my face. I wrote the company to let them know and they had me send back some of the pads and sent several free coupons for their products. The list goes on...

This is not to say that one should send false complaints just to get free things or refunds that they do not deserve. In fact, one should not expect anything in return. Complaining about a product that is not up to par does not automatically net you freebies, but is a public service to let those companies know that something isn't right. An apology or explanation of their products is enough, but those free will offerings are an added bonus. Only complain if there is something truly to complain about.

It is better to write a company and get things off your chest than to boycott them without letting them set things right first.

Complaints aren't the only things that pay off...compliments do as well. If something is my all-time favorite product or I found a new product that I absolutely adore, I write the company to let them know that. Often times they are thrilled beyond belief to hear a compliment (I assume that the complaints far outweigh the compliments...who thinks to send a thank you note to a company?!) and will in turn send a coupon or two to their valued customer. One time I received a box of goodies from a company just for telling them how much I liked their stuff! :)

Keep this in mind the next time you have a complaint or a compliment...they truly do want to hear from you!

Following Life As Mom

This

Is what I find
When I download

My pictures from my camera

He is caught redhanded

Free For All

I've written before about Freecycle and about being a trash picker but I thought I would reiterate it again.

I do not think that everything that is free is worth taking, mind you. I pass by about 98% of free things that I run across. A lot of times, another person's junk is really, well, junk. And yet, there really are good things to be found. Why pay for something when it can possibly be found for free?

Take these, for example:

Last week this unopened box of 64 size 4 Pampers diapers was being given away on Freecycle. My son wears size 4 and luckily I was the first to respond so got them! I checked at Walmart and these are $20! I was able to get something that I need (well, I don't need them, my son does), that I would have bought anyway (though we use cloth diapers we also use disposables...it's about a 50/50 with the two), for free! This lady also offered to drop it off at a family business here in town for quicker pickup. This was a shop that we frequent anyway so there wasn't even a hassle of pickup.

There are Freecycle groups all over the country. If our tiny county has one than I'm sure there is one around you. It's free to sign up and use and all you do is receive e-mails when someone in the group lists a free item. If it is something you are interested in you just e-mail them back and then set up a time to pick the item up. I love this group more for giving away than for getting as we have listed numerous things (scrap metal, old washing machines and couches, toys, box of pots and pans, chairs, and more) and just set the items out on the curb and they were all taken. It's a wonderful way to get rid of items that you no longer need and that others could use as well as keep these items from the landfill.

This is not a paid or sponsored review. I just love Freecycle so much and had to share again of my good deals!

Right Now...

...the two oldest are at Tae Kwon Do with daddy and Joe is watching Curious George. I should be cooking supper right now but we had such a late snack today that I'm not hungry and therefore sitting at the computer instead.

...I'm freezing. I keep turning the heat up but still don't feel warm. It's technically been warmer than average the past few days but I have felt colder than average.

...I'm probably feeling cold because I've been feeling sick the past several days. Something has been going around town (and the extended family). The sore throat is a pain (literally!) but it is the extreme tiredness that is hard to deal with. Hence my lack of blog action as of late.

...my house is in one of the worst states it has ever been in and I have just a few days to prepare for a visit from the in-laws. I did get all the clean laundry put away today, isn't that enough?! :)