Homemade for the Holidays e-book Sale

     Well, our snow has been gradually melting the last day or two, so now we're at the drippy, browning stage where you just see patches of snow on the grass here and there. Oh well. It was nice while it lasted. We've been informed by friends from here we shouldn't expect to see such a nice snow around here again this winter. And being in west Texas, the odds of having the temperature cold enough and enough moisture in the air are not too great, I must admit. 

     I got up this morning not feeling too wonderful and my general mood was not improved by going to the doctor ad being reminded that I need to take the 3 hour glucose test tomorrow. Yuck! I have not been told yet that I have gestational diabetes, but today I've been eating like I have. I had carrot sticks with ranch and deviled eggs for lunch. My appetite has just not been to great since leaving the doctor. Otherwise everything with baby seems to be fine. 

     This week (until next Tuesday, the 13th) Living on a Dime is having a special on their Homemade for the Holidays e-book collection. For just $10, this set includes 3 e-books. Christmas on a Dime has ideas for spending less on gifts and decorations and some Christmas recipes. Country Christmas Recipes and Gifts Cookbook has recipes for edible homemade gifts. Traditional Holiday Meals And Menus includes recipes and menus for traditional holiday meals. 

     In addition to the 3 e-books, the Homemade for Holidays set includes the following bonus downloads: Christmas Card Planner, Christmas Meal Planner, Christmas Cookie/Candy Planner, Christmas Wish List, Christmas Gift Planner and Gift Ideas. All-in-all, a pretty good deal! Remember, this sale only goes on through December 13th, then the price will go back up. 

    

Cleaning for the Holidays

     Hi all. Just wanted to share this article from the ladies at Living on a Dime and to go along with all these great tips, they are also offering their very useful Keepin it Clean e-book series at half off through Monday, Nov. 7, 2011 only! Make sure you take advantage of this great offer!
      Keepin it Clean covers laundry, cleaning products, organization and, most of all, saving money! Check out this, and other money-saving e-books through the links on right of my page. And enjoy this article on cleaning for the holidays.

Holiday Cleaning - Preparing Now For The Holidays
by Jill Cooper
http://www.livingonadime.com/

Halloween is over, which means it is now officially time to kick it into gear to get ready for the holidays and to get your house ready for company. It really helps to get your house in order now because if unexpected company comes you won't get caught off guard. Then you can concentrate on baking, finding gifts and organizing activities without having to worry about deep cleaning your house again until after the New Year.

Hopefully by now you have been inspired to start getting things done a little at a time so this won't be too big of a job. Here are a few things to work on:

• Get your closets in order. Put summer clothes away and take winter clothes out, tossing as you go.
• Don't forget your linen closets. Get your guest towels, sheets and extra blankets aired out and put the linens in a handy spot so they are easy to grab when you need them.
• If you have a guest room, get it cleaned and prepare everything for your first guests.
• Get your holiday linens prepared. Wash them if necessary and make sure they're ready to go.
• Hopefully you have cleaned your pantry. Now you need to make sure it is stocked with everything you need for your holiday recipes, for some quick and easy to fix snacks and dinners for unexpected company or food to take to social events.
• Make sure your fridge and freezer are in order. The refrigerator and freezer are going to work overtime for you over the next couple of months so make sure they're cleaned, organized and prepared.
• I don't worry about cleaning my oven at this time. I use it so much for baking that it's silly for me to clean it right before having a baking fest. I usually wait and give it a good cleaning after the holidays. If it's really bad or you have company coming and it looks awful you may want to go ahead and clean it anyway.
• This week and next week is the time to do any deep cleaning that you don't want to have to mess with again until after the holidays-- things like washing your windows, deep cleaning rugs and carpets and dusting mirrors, picture frames, lampshades or ceiling fans.

If you have been keeping up with your cleaning you may not have to do any of these. Basically just clean your house enough for company. Then you'll know it's done and you will be prepared for the unexpected.

Part of the stress that comes at the holidays is the result of not being prepared, especially for the unexpected things that always seem to come up. Think of it like being prepared for a disaster. If I have a wood burning stove, firewood, lots of candles, blankets and food prepared, I am not too stressed if we lose power from an ice storm. If I wasn't at all prepared, I would be in a total panic if an ice storm hit.

If you are prepared, you have something you can whip up for company in just a few minutes or if the kids need treats for school, you have dough frozen and ready to be baked in the freezer. I'm not saying that I have everything prepared like Martha Stewart but I do try to have everything together enough so that I'm reasonably prepared for the unexpected. My idea of the perfect woman is a cross between Martha Stewart and Erma Bombeck! Some days I am more one than the other and on other days I totally miss the mark, but that's okay, because I tried. :-)

      -Jill

Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam are frugal living experts and the authors of the Dining On A Dime Cookbook. Dining On A Dime will help you save money on groceries and get out of debt by cooking quick and simple homemade meals. For free tips & recipes visit http://www.LivingOnADime.com , sign up for our free Living On A Dime Newsletter and learn to save more!

Living on a Dime: A Great Resource for Frugal Living

     I don't plan to blog too often on "religious" topics, but I am a practicing Christian and God is a part of my life, so it may came out from time to time. 
     That said, I just thought I would share this interesting post from Friday at Living on a Dime about Christians giving to God. Whether you call it "tithing," "contribution" or "offering," it kinda puts things in perspective.

Here are some eye opening facts about tithing:

• The average Christian spends 98% of their money on themselves and 2% on God.
• If all Christians tithed, we could educate the whole world.
• On average, we spend $2,000 a year on interest but can’t tithe.
• We expect 100% from God but what do we give Him?
• Any mom or dad will tell you that something isn’t a sacrifice when the object of our sacrifice is what we love. Read Luke 21 about the widow giving her all.
• Offering – something given as a sign of devotion or sacrifice- most of us aren’t giving our tithe let alone giving a sacrificially offering.
• You can usually tell what a person loves by what he spends his money on.

      -Jill
     You can view the article here. I also recommend you look around the website Living on a Dime, as the authors, Jill and Tawra, have a lot of great advice about frugal living and getting out of debt. It is amazing how little this lady lived one while raising kids as a single mom and getting out of debt. She shares her whole story in her e-book "How I Lived on a Dime," which you can buy in my link on the right if you're interested. I found it very inspiring! The other "Living on a Dime" e-books I have listed are also full of great advice for living on a small income.
     On another note, in case you haven't noticed, I now have an Amazon store on my site. The link is located on the right. So, if you plan on purchasing on Amazon (no pressure to do anything you weren't already planning to), I would be super-grateful if you would use my link so Amazon knows I referred you! The link will take you away from my page unless you have your browser open the link in a new tab or window. I only have certain categories in my store, but they are probably the ones most relevant to my visitors. Baby, kitchen and housewares, books, DVD's, arts and crafts and toys and games are the categories I've included. So feel free to shop around!

The Most Useful Kitchen Appliances

     Well, I am certainly not feeling my best today, having caught a head cold from my 19 month old. Anyway, I thought I would like to share with you all which kitchen appliances I could not live without. Well, I probably could live without them, but it would certainly make things more difficult! 

     1. Kitchenaid Mixer--This is probably my favorite kitchen appliance. Before I got my Kitchenaid I used a hand mixer. I admit that at the time I didn't know what I was missing, but to be able to pour in the ingredients and let the mixer do the work for you instead of having to hold the mixer over the bowl for ten minutes is so much better! One of the features I love the most is the dough hook, which allows the mixer to knead your homemade bread dough. You do have to keep an eye on it, as the dough tends to collect on the hook, but removing the dough from the hook so it can be properly kneaded is much easier than kneading by hand. I also mix up cookie dough, cake batter and lots of other goodies. There are also various attachments you can purchase separately, but these are kind of pricey. The only one we have is the meat grinder and even that we haven't used so much. But the mixer itself is a marvelous thing to have! 

     2. Crock Pot--Crock pots are very useful to have, especially if you have to be gone all day and want to come home to a hot meal! I really need to experiment with my crock pot more, but one my favorites to make is chili, slow cooked all day. Chili is one of those things that tastes better the longer it cooks, as is spaghetti sauce. My hubby likes the pot roast. Just put in the roast, some onions, carrots and potatoes and let it cook all day. Simple as that! 

    3. Rice Cooker--A rice cooker is great if, like me, you just can't get your rice to turn out right! I would always follow the directions carefully, and still my rice would turn out sticky and gummy. I'm not a huge rice fan (except for fried rice!), but my husband likes it, so we finally invested in an inexpensive rice cooker. My rice turns out a lot better now, with a lot less prep and watching. I hear you can also use these to steam veggies, but I have not tried that yet. 

    4. Chopper/Food Processor--We just have a very small, cheap food processor/chopper (I think we got it when we got married) but it is quite handy for chopping up onions and jalapenos or pureeing tomatoes for salsa. It is also a fantastic tool for grinding up your own baby food. Before our little one was eating "real" solid food, we would simply use the food processor to grind up some of whatever we were eating to give to her. 

     Well, these are some of the indispensable appliances you will find in my kitchen.  I hope I have given you a few ideas that may help you in yours.