These Happy Golden Years Book Giveaway

Just in time for those snuggle on the couch and read a book days, here is our next giveaway!

We will be giving away one copy of Laura Ingalls Wilder's book "These Happy Golden Years."

This is probably Arlene & my favorite book from the Little House series. If you're looking for some other 'Little House' themed gifts, be sure to check out the Laura Ingalls Wilder Documentary DVD we reviewed earlier this year!

We are hosting this giveaway ourselves, no other sponsor, just because we appreciate our readers... and because we know how much fun it is to give gifts. 

Sometimes the budget makes gift giving difficult. Those are the times when we really need to remember our focus should be on investing our time with our children!

But, for one reader, you'll get to give a gift of a book and yourself!

Just enter below, but hurry, this giveaway ends Sunday evening, December 15th, 2013!

**

Oh, Snap! Guest post

My friend Ellen is hosting a 30-day tutorial on how to use your DSLR camera over on her blog, Grace Tells Another Story. Several bloggers are sharing their expertise. There is so much wonderful information to be gleaned!

When Ellen asked if I wanted to participate, I started thinking..."What about people who want to take quality pictures, but they can't afford a DSLR? What should they do?" 

So yes, my post will be about frugal photography, with a class called 'bridge cameras.'

It should be up for you to read tomorrow, but in the meantime, go read some of the first 15 days' excellent posts. Get out your camera and get ready to shoot some superb photos this holiday season!

Keep an eye on our Facebook page, I'll be sure to let you know when our post is ready!

Technically Challenged

Ever feel technically challenged? Ever get frustrated with your computer ... or a program on it because you just can't seem to get it to do something? Me too. I am often technically challenged. I used to get really upset when I couldn't figure out the "How-to's."

After all, I'm usually pretty bright, and I did grow up with computers at school, but sometimes technology just escapes me. 

In the past, I would try to 'search' for the answer on the internet. The main problem with that method is that most of the responses would include other technical jargon I didn't understand. (Which would lead to endless searches.)

Now, I have a new approach. I ask my friends. Especially my blogging friends. They are amazing. Just this morning, I couldn't figure out how to share a particular link. (Put on my thinking cap, try twice,...nothing.) So I went and asked one of my blogging friends who I knew understood ...because I had seen her 'share' the way I had been trying to.

My friend Meg from Adventures with Jude knew just what to do. It worked! Huzzah! 

I may feel technically challenged again tomorrow. That's OK, I'll remember the important key: ask your friends for help. Isn't that usually the answer anyway?!

Frugal Friday- Pizza

Sometimes I am asked about how we feed our family well on such a small amount. It pays to be frugal! 

It also helps if you know how to make some simple yet filling meals often and then buy the key ingredients when they're on sale. Most grocery stores rotate their sales items, so if you get in the habit of paying attention, you can stock up on the things you use most at the lowest prices.

For example: about 2 months ago, our local grocery had an sale on their higher end store-brand items. If you purchased 4 items from the mix-and-match list, you saved $4.  I took a quick walk around the store to see exactly what was on the sale. One of the best 'deals' from the sale was their pasta. It made the packages $0.69 each. So choosing in groups of 4's, I purchased 16LB of pasta, in lots of different shapes, for only $11.04.

One of my other most-watched sales is the price of cheese. We enjoy having pizza often, but it isn't realistic for us to order pizza for delivery. So we make our own. If I can find shredded Mozzarella cheese on sale for $3LB, I can make our family 2 large pizzas for under $5. (By the way, Kroger has cheese on sale this week for $3LB- through next Wednesday in central Indiana.)

The one on the left is just cheese, the one on the right is deluxe...the girls don't like olives -LOL!

So how do we work our Under $5 magic?

First: assemble your ingredients. Many of these are 'parts' of a container that we have for some other meal. (So no, you can't start from scratch and buy it all for $5, but you can come close by buying enough for 4 pizzas for  about $10.)

For Two large pizzas:
Crust ingredients (double the recipe below) $0.45
Cheese for 2 pizzas $3/LB
Sauce (use 10 TBSP of whatever spaghetti sauce you already have in the fridge or pantry) $0.10
Olives ($1/can at ALDI) $0.10
Kroger brand frozen 3 pepper & onion blend (1/3 bag) $0.40
Enough Parmesan cheese to lightly cover the sauce $0.30
      Total cost $4.35

If you want, throw in a little extra ground beef you saved from last night's spaghetti...it makes it right about $5 for 2 pizzas.


Second: learn to make your own crust. This is super simple. You can choose any recipe you like...ours is from the Betty Crocker Cookbook. 

Pizza Crust: (double it if you're making two!)
3/4 cup hot water (tap hot, not boiling)
1/2 teaspoon rapid rise yeast
2 cups (+/-) flour.

Mix the hot water with the yeast, then slowly stir in the flour. If it's a little too sticky, add a TBSP or two more flour. Knead lightly in the bowl, spray the outside of the dough ball with oil (we use olive oil, but make use of whatever is already in your cabinet) then cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm room for 45 minutes. When the pizzas are made, bake for 12-15 minutes in a 425 degree oven. We like our cheese golden brown.

*Note, if you don't want to keep all that shredded mozzarella you just bought on sale in your refrigerator, put it in the freezer until the day before you plan to use it. If you buy the already-shredded cheese (as opposed to blocks) it thaws quickly, and works just as well as if you bought it yesterday.

While it may not be every week, I'll continue throughout the next year to share ideas on frugal living under the tag "Frugal Friday"... even if I post it on a Wednesday! 

Hope you'll come back often!


I did a guest post at my friend Marcy's blog www.benandme.com back in September. It was The 5 P's of Grocery Savings. You can read it here.

Hero Tales From American History - 3 CD pack Giveaway

In the spirit of the season, we would like to bless one of our readers with the 3 CD set "Hero Tales From American History" from Raising Real Men. Hal and Melanie Young offer products designed to encourage and inspire on their website. As the parents of six boys and two girls, Hal and Melanie know the joys and struggles of raising a family (and homeschooling!)

We reviewed this CD set back in July of this year. You can read our review here. Right now the set is selling for $20 in the Raising Real Men bookstore. While you're there, take a look around. Several of the Young's workshops are available as mp3's to download for only $4 each. If you're feeling a little worn down, or even just at loose ends, Hal and Melanie have real-life experience with their boys that just might be the encouragement you need.

This giveaway will end next Tuesday evening (12/10/13), so enter today - and please tell your friends too!

**

Disclaimer: This 3 CD set is the set we received in July in exchange for our honest review, we did not receive any other compensation. They are in like-new condition. We are disclosing this in accordance with FTC regulations.

Thankful Thursday - 12/5/2013 - Today

I am thankful for today! For all the small things that make life go smoothly.

For a husband with a job.
For kids who help with housework.
For a vehicle that runs.
For friends who brighten my life with their smiles and encouraging words.

I am thankful for the season, even though we're supposed to get a winter storm. Because this season is a time when many people at least consider the gift of Jesus. May my words lead them to Him.I pray that hearts are opened to His love and forgiveness. That we would celebrate the gift of a Savior!

I am thankful for sparkly ornaments and yummy cookies. For a turkey that can make 4 days' worth of dinners and when peppers are on sale. 

I am thankful for a warm home, good health, and a Savior who loves me!

The Anonymous

No one cares about the anonymous. I mean, why should they. We only show up rarely, when we make a statement that deserves our anonymity, then we disappear. Hiding in plane sight, disguised as stay-at-home moms, 9-5 dads, and full time students. Blending in by shopping for groceries, driving kids to sports, recitals, and dance, having barbecues  and pool parties, and drinking $7 lattes. 

We show up all through out history, disguised as different people. Dukes, military leaders, monks, poets, singers, inventors, writers, scientist, teachers, the list goes on and on, yet you never notice us. Sure you register that we existed, and you admit that we did something important, and you put us in your textbooks in the tiny footnotes. But then you store us in the back of your mind until you need us to prove a point for you, or give you some profound quote for your thesis. Once in a while though, one of us will scream loud enough to  escape the jaws of time, and you will give us as much respect as to put us in your timelines or to be mentioned in a discussion. 

But we are out there, then and today and forever after, so go look for us. Open up a book and find our names, read a poem, or listen to a song. Go find us at your work, your schools, your communities. Make sure we are still there for the future, and then take a look at yourself to see if you are one of us. The history changers, the earth shakers, the life savers, the Anonymous.

The Anonymous

By E.L. Emmert, 12-2-13

We are there

All around you

Hiding in plain sight

We are behind your 

stories

music

art

movies

architecture

 and your

history

present 

future 

We are between the lines

Caught in your photographs

Heard in your music

Presented in your classrooms

We are there 

to hold up your world