Daily Manna - More Christ in Christmas

 My ABC's of Christmas

B is for bread. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life." (John 6:48-51 KJV)

He went on to say, "Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread."

During the hustle and bustle of this season take time to partake of the the bread of life; study His life, share His love, daily. That's the key to peace, a daily dose of Jesus.

Friday's Frugal Roundup

Long time no see . . .

Happy New Year! I've got some plans that I'll reveal along the way. How about you? I do want to get back to doing a regular post about all my frugal activities. Particularly as I'll be working harder on that this year. I have a goal to reach and I need to be more serious and creative about not spending.

So here's the roundup:

• My husband and I had a little get away for my birthday and stayed two nights at a AirBnB which was much cheaper and way nicer than any hotel we've ever stayed in.
• I used cold water for most of my laundry this week (whites do better for me in warm)
• Cleaned out and organized 2 refrigerators with freezers and 1 chest freezer; inventoried the food for menu planning
• Made bread crumbs from all the collected ends and crusts from the freezer
• Bought navy blue shoe polish so I can maintain my expensive dress pumps
• Made lunches for my husband and son to take to work
• Got out my cloth handkerchiefs to use instead of paper tissues
• Made next week's menu plan using up items from the fridges and freezer
• Returned library books on time to avoid any fines

One of my goals this year is to have a No Spend year--meaning I won't spend on any of my vices such as books, patterns, fabric, movies, music, dishes, pretties, etc. I don't need any clothes either, except the ones I'm going to sew from patterns and fabric I already have. I have a goal to save a specific amount for a specific project (to be revealed later) so I'm motivated to stay disciplined and deliberate in my spending this year.

I also did all my usual things of keeping the thermostat low and wearing a sweater or hoodie; opening the curtains to let the sun in, closing them when the sun isn't shining to hold the heat in; planning errands to minimize gas usage; turning off lights, and water, etc.

What did you do to save money or not spend this week?

Daily Bread

Whole Wheat bread fresh from the oven

This particular bread makes the best toast! It's my favorite food in the morning, or afternoon, or even night time. (I think I'm a breadaholic!)

The boys are saying: Finally!

There's something to eat in the house.

Saturday's Sewing Report (with a little bonus)

My latest sewing creations:

Made from two napkins I had stashed away, and some scraps from a childhood dress of Noble's, plus a couple of vintage buttons.

One is for me and one is to sell or give away as part of a "kitchen set" for a wedding present.

BONUS:

This is the tomato soup I made--just tomatoes, onion, olive oil and basil--so yummy! And a couple of pieces of homemade bread toast and butter. Wonderful comfort food when I was feeling sick.

Friday's Frugal Roundup

I’ve been keeping track of my frugal accomplishments, or the things I’ve done this week (actually the past two weeks) to spend less, not spend at all, or otherwise save money. In no particular order here goes.

Gave TopDad a haircut

Fixed a pair of reading glasses (the arm had fallen off and the hinge was tricky!)

Turned down the heat

Found three future birthday presents at the thrift store (can’t show or tell because the recipients read the blog)

Ground wheat, baked five loaves of bread and made a quadruple batch of cookies.

Froze six bananas that were overripe to use in smoothies

Ate out only once! (TopDad likes to eat out more than I do)

Used up all the leftovers, didn’t waste any food

On sunny days opened all the blinds and curtains to let the sun warm the house

Turned the laundry detergent bottle upside down to drain the last of it, then rinsed it out to get the very last of it for another load; did the same with the dishwashing soap (or detergent)

Some frugal things are so habitual for me that I don’t even think about them, such as measuring dish detergent instead of simply squirting it in the sink; or squeezing the toothpaste tube for a week past when I think it is all gone, then cutting it open and using the very last dregs; drinking tap water instead of bottled; using a silicone spatula to get all the food out of a pan, bowl or container; turning off lights when I leave a room.

I like to read what other people do because there is always some new trick to learn. 

What did you do to save money this week?

Ten Things of Thankful - Brought to you by the Letter H

1. Health - as in good; after last week's bout with the flu I'm thankful for good health and only the normal aches and pains.

2. Humor - Saturday night I said to TopDad, "I missed you last week." He replied, "I didn't know you were aiming." It felt so good to laugh!

3. Heat - We are still in a deep freeze here in Iowa; I wear three or four layers and still shiver. I'm thankful I'm inside and not crossing the plains in a handcart.

4. Hairspray - It's the glue that helps me grow out my hair. I thought today of a way to motivate myself to keep going: I'm growing historic hair. I like to dress up in historic clothes and long hair looks more authentic hence the need for historic hair.

5. Handkerchiefs - My old linen hankies are so much softer on a sore nose than paper tissues. I love my pretty hankies!

6. Harmony - As in the boys getting along and laughing together; as in beautiful music too.

7. Hats - To cover my ears when the wind is blowing; however, I'm not so thankful for hat hair, but one tries not to think of that.

8. Georg Freidrich Handel and Franz Joseph Haydn - two of my favorite composers.

9. Hindsight - which, of course is 20 20; unlike my current sight which is almost legally blind.

10. Homemade - Just smell that fresh baked bread!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a look around and I hope you'll be back.

I'm Busy

December is just going to have to a no blog month if I want to get Christmas under the tree.

But here are some quickies:

• Last night I roasted a bone-in chicken breast for dinner; this morning I chopped up the leftovers, added minced onion and celery, salt and pepper and mixed it all together with mayonnaise for some yummy chicken salad to go in a couple of leftover pita pockets for the boys lunches.
• Yesterday I mailed Noble's Christmas to her in three large priority flat-rate boxes because the rate on those boxes is discounted for shipping to military addresses.
• I used the drippings from the roast chicken to add to our cat's food this morning; they love treats like that and it makes their food go further when I can add leftovers to it. Plus all the fat is good for them being outdoors in the cold weather. (When we moved I insisted that the cats reside on the screened porch with a pet door to come and go as they please.)
• I spent some time over at Second Chances by Susan's blog getting great ideas for modest re-fashioning of clothes. She is so talented!
• I gathered all the Christmas wrapping papers and tags and such together in one place! I won't have to buy anymore this year. (or the next or next either!)

Today is bread baking day and boy's laundry day so I'd better get to it.

I'm Back

That's right, the Practical, Frugal, Clever Mom is back. Over the weekend I read some pages from a "Frugality Journal" I kept for a few years. The entries inspired me to get back to basics and post some of the little things I do to be frugal.

Today I baked bread, five loaves of basic white bread. The kitchen smells lovely and my boys will arrive home to their favorite fragrance!

At the beginning of October I set a goal to bake ALL my bread. I made it all the way to the week of Thanksgiving and events overtook my good intentions. Still I made it through almost two whole months without buying a single loaf of bread, or other baked good. It freed up enough money to bulk buy some other things my pantry was lacking. The practice of making what we use rather than buying, will consistently free up money that can be put to other uses.

There are some caveats. I read on another blog about making her own lip balm for 12 cents a tube. Which sounds fabulous except she had to spend about $60 to make the first dozen tubes and she has enough ingredients left to make dozens more. So, unless she plans to sell the tubes, she's not saving any money, and it's possible that the leftover ingredients will spoil before they can be used up. Perhaps for her there are other uses for the leftovers and it won't be wasted. However, that is not a way I'd look at to save money.

Saving money means (to me) spending less (or nothing) on something I normally and regularly use, including gifts or materials to make gifts. Example: bread making. Last summer, while in Utah, I bought two hundred pounds of unbleached flour in 25 lb. bags for $10.45 each. That saved me a lot of money. It works out to $.418 per pound. When flour goes on sale here it is cheaper than that, but it comes in tiny five pound bags and there is usually a limit of 2 bags. That doesn't help me much as it is 30 miles to the grocery store so I can't go everyday and keep buying. Plus there is all the packaging to deal with. I like big bags!

I've been pondering how I will be able to restock. I can't justify driving a thousand miles to Utah for a couple hundred pounds of flour, although visiting family and friends would be wonderful too. Answers come to those who ponder! I was reading a book called Money Secrets of the Amish in which the author talks about the bulk buying habits of the Amish. Ding! There is an Amish community in south-central Iowa that I could easily drive to twice a year to stock up!

Oh, that bread smells good! I think it's time for a piece with a little butter and honey.

Baking

Day Fifteen of Count Your Blessings 2013

Ummmm, can you smell it? Bread baking in the oven. Heavenly!

I'm so grateful to have an oven! The house smells so good these days, what with bread, muffins, cakes, cookies, and such. It feeds both the body and the soul.

Bread

My two boys, Dr. Hair and Dandylion, informed me today that my bread is awesome, the best, incredible; and they want some!!

Remember, I don't have an oven in this house, it is over in the other house. Totally inconvenient. So I promised them that as soon as we are moved into the other house I will bake bread: whole wheat bread, white bread, muffins, pita bread, granola bars, cookies, cakes and other delights. They both hugged me, in fact Dandylion hugged first and Dr. Hair said "Hey, I want a hug too." Dandy asked him "Are you hungry? Come on, Mom Sandwich!" I got squeezed between the two of them. Do you know how strange it feels to have your "little" boys, the babies of the family, taller than Mom and able to squeeze the stuffing out of her? Oh my goodness! I love them both.

Dr. Hair, realizing that TopDad was gone for the day offered to make macaroni and cheese for lunch (Dad HATES that particular dish). It was delicious! And Dandy heartily thanked me for spoiling them with homemade macaroni and cheese, which at one time we called Pasta y Queso to make it sound exotic.

The weather has warmed up enough to feel more like summer, very late summer, but summer. We've had a dribble of rain when we need lots, still I won't complain, we've been so blessed this year.