My last post was on the cold frame. I have tiny seedlings coming in but unfortunately, the frame got built late in the season and the manure and soil I put in was partially frozen. The cold frame was warmed up during the cold days but I think all was done too late. Now, thanks to our record snowfall on Wednesday, the entire cold frame is under the 24″ of snow we got. I have no doubt that come March, the increased sunlight and warmth will kick start the little radishes, mesclun and romaine seedlings.

Christmas was wonderful. This year, our oldest focused on clothing instead of too many toys. He thoroughly loved and appreciated the homemade flannel pajama bottoms I made him. I also made those for the other two boys. They were equally loved and appreciated by them.

We had my brother, his wife and three of our nephews over on Christmas Eve. We don’t exchange gifts between adults but I always try to do a special something for them as a family. Last year, I made homemade cookie dough, shaped them into rolls and froze them up (then placed them in Foodsaver bags). The gift basket included coffee and other homemade goodies. It was my gift of time to them. My brother and sister-in-law love spending time with the boys but both work full-time and it’s hard. The pre-made cookie dough let them spend time baking with the boys without the time and hassle of making the dough. It was fast and easy but fun.

This year, knowing that they absolutely loved Sunday morning breakfasts together, I made up a breakfast box. I included a big, bulk sized bag of pancake mix and pre-cooked bacon. Then I included special homemade treats of my homemade maple syrup, raspberry syrup, jams and jellies. As I pulled out each special item, I told my nephews about where it came from. For example, the wild blueberry jam was made from wild blueberries we picked on our camping trip to Pennsylvania. The blackberry syrup was made from blackberries we picked while we were biking on a rail trail in Massachusetts (the Nashua rail-trail that took us to the New Hampshire border!). The raspberry syrup was made from our home grown berries along with those of our neighbor (who shared her bounty of berries with us!). I know my brother loves Mexican omelets and I included homemade salsa, so I told the story of us going to the pick-you-own farm and picking all of the tomatoes (see previous blog entry). I talked about how the kids and I picked the peaches and then worked together to can them up and how much fun we had. With each jar, there was a story.

Then I got the most wonderful present back when one of my nephews said, “This is just like the Little House Christmas.” He understood the simple pleasure of receiving the homemade jarred goods and the special story I told with each goody. It was simple yet special and appreciated.

-Mashed potatoes (or other mashed things like sweet potatoes or squash) can be kept warm in a crockpot for several hours!  Make your dish ahead of time, add everything like you normally do and then place it in the crockpot on low or warm setting.  BIG time saver and frees up another burner just before you serve up the meal.

-Set the table(s) the night before if you can.  I won’t be able to set the kitchen table until just before the company arrives as it also serves as a prep area but I can set the dining room table and the other extra table that will be out the night before.  The dishes won’t run away.

-If you have boys like I do and have more than one toilet in the house than do your keep clean of the guest bathroom the night before and ban the boys from it to keep it clean!  Yeah, that’s mom of boy humor but any one of you with boys will know and appreciate this tip!

-Consider purchasing a Nesco roasting oven.  This oven is a God send!!!  I can cook a 20lb turkey in this thing!  It’s like having an extra oven that you can tuck into the bottom of closet any other time.  So many people struggle with having enough oven room because the turkey is in there forever and you can’t bake anything else.  This makes life so much easier and it can really be used year round (hmmm, perhaps that’s another post.  LOL).  Mine is a bit older and honestly, I wish I had the buffet tray that the newer ones have!  Oh the possibilities!

Nesco 4808-2589PR 18-Quart Roaster Oven with Nonstick Cookwell and Buffet Kit

-Don’t try making new things on Thanksgiving day unless you’ve already made them at least once.  Many a Thanksgiving day stresses are over new dishes that a hostess is trying for the first time.  Don’t do this to yourself!  Stick to tried and true and ultimately, less stressful.

-Don’t refuse help!  Oh my gosh, if someone is offering to make something for you, then by all means, let them!  I know, someone may not bake the apple pie just like you but your guests won’t care (unless you were the blue-winner at the county fair ). At the same time, don’t refuse help in the kitchen!  I know, too many cooks in the kitchen can be trouble but so is a host/hostess pulling out his/her hair!

-Along the lines of not refusing help, is knowing what you can prepare ahead of time.  I make all homemade bread and rolls in my home.  My guests have come to expect and love my homemade goodies and I wouldn’t disappoint them BUT I also know that I can prepare the breads the evening prior.  You can also prepare some dishes the evening before BUT not cook them off until Thanksgiving.  Pies can usually be done the night before as well.  Bread stuffing can be made the night before (don’t stuff the turkey until Thanksgiving to prevent too much possible bacterial growth/contamination and if you want to make it easy, put bread stuffing in casserole dish instead), Consider creating menus with a lot of items that can be prepped the night before.  Even if you can’t put something like scalloped potatoes together the night before, you can slice the potatoes and put them in a bowl of water for the night and then pull it all together on Thanksgiving.  Think ahead of what you can dice, slice and chop up the day before.  Every minute counts!

-Write down the menu!  This helps you remember everything AND if you have help in the kitchen, they can look over the list and see what you’re working on and what still needs attention.  Did I mention it helps you remember everything?  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found something in the fridge I forgot to put out.  D’uh  moment!  Writing down the menu also helps you make sure you have everything you need.  Last minute trips to the store on Thanksgiving can get pricey because you often end up at a costly convenience store and they’ll inevitably NOT have what you need, leaving you to scramble for a last minute emergency substitution.  UGH!

-You are not perfect!  You are NOT perfect.  YOU ARE NOT PERFECT!  Do you get the idea?  Don’t panic if you forget something or something isn’t ‘just’ right.  You are not perfect!  If they want perfection than let them ask God to host Thanksgiving next year!  Do you best and it will all be fine.

     I am hoping to find some flowers that are in season for inexpensive in April and arrange them in some vases so the house will look festive.   I also want to get some floating candles for the pool…… I will get a special cake for her (probably with music notes on it since she is plans to be a music major) and we are going to repair her car for her present and get it on the road.  It is a car we have been saving for about a year and a half for her we already know it nees a new battery.  Another friend of mine told me that insurance typically goes up $1000 a year once you put a teenager on……isn’t that a great birthday gift as it is?   My daughter is so excited about her party she knows we will make it special! 

     Keep it simple….other peoples lives are just as busy as yours and they are often just as thankful for a meal so they don’t have to prepare one at someone elses house.  The meal does not have to be the latest recipe you just saw on the food network and you don’t have to serve a meal at all.  My step mother in law is the master at entertaining and she keeps things simple she will place bread in a basket on the table the butter right next to it across from that she will have sliced tomatoes that she melted cheese on and sprinkled oregano.  It all looks so italian and delicious.  I like to put a big crockpot out of brunswick stew and french bread and everyone loves it, no one leaves hungry but I am also not out lots of cash either. 

     Ask for help….it is okay now adays to just say…oh by the way everyone is bringing an appetizer, or a dish.  People love to show off there cooking and be admired!  Or atleast I do!

     Set the mood!  More important than if your house is clean is does it smell good?  Light some candles, make sure the bathroom, kitchen and the main room where people are going to be lingering are clean (NOT SPOTLESS!) and remember when it is dark outside people can’t see as much dust etc…  Also it is okay to shut bedroom doors you don’t want them to peek in.  Put out a bowl of popourri by the front door or some flowers from your garden on the coffee table.  One arrangement I made was with floating azalea blossoms in my big glass bowl it looked very elegant.

      End the meal with something simple yet memorable.  I think people make too much out of desserts these days one choice is enough.  If people don’t find it pleasing they just won’t partake now adays we can have dessert whenever we want.  Some of my favorite choices in the summer is just a simple bowl of sherbert or angelfood cake with strawberries and whip cream.

     Lastly let it go, let your worries about every little thing go or you won’t be able to have a good time.  I remember when my dog smelled up the house and she left her black hair all over it and I would get so upset because I just couldn’t get the dog smell out well now I just miss her and wouldn’t mind the dog smell.  So we have to remember our priorities and try not to get caught up in our worries and enjoy the time we have now with our family and friends.

     So when are you having company?

     Many people still have big family picnics but they often end up indoors with the air conditioning and television and no outdoors time.  That is why I think a picnic simplifies things, it brings back memories of being a child and enjoying the outdoors.  When we treck to the beach we often take sandwiches and fruit to fill up on it always tastes better outdoors and I know it is better for us.  A picnic does not have to be an expensive proposition, if you have a bed spread or quilt and a paper bag and some tupperware and of course food you can have a picnic.  My children surpised me a couple of years ago on Mother’s Day with a fancy picnic basket but it is not necessary to have a fancy picnic basket as a matter of fact a cooler works great to hold all of your food in.  I also like to use a drink container that holds a couple of quarts and make lemonade and we all share it nothing is better on a hot day. 

     If you are environmentally conscious you can certainly bring a reusable bag or holder for your picnic items and reusable cups, plates and utensils.   I myself use reusable plates and silverware but disposable cups.   Sometimes we bring books and stretch out on the blanket afterwards, and other times we are more active and play frisbee or catch.  Either way a picnic is an old fashioned form of entertainment that seems more and more to be going out of style but I say lets try to revive the “Picnic”!   I have family that has been to Sweden and they all pack their food there everywhere they go, fast food is extremely expensive over there so maybe if our fast food was higher in our country we would all stay away from it.  Anyway my goal is to get some picnics in before too many mosquitoes come out and it gets too hot…..okay so I am like everyone else but I am still trying to avoid McDonalds.

    I always pick up items here and there for future events for example the other day their was a pack of Valentines pencils of about 25 so I picked them up for 40cents I can even use them to be my daughters pencils they are cute and they just have hearts on them or I can use them for party favors.  I also got some red and pink tissue paper and last year when my husband, kids and friends all through me a surprise party my neighbor cleverly took some clear tube vases and tucked in tissue paper in them so they flared out at the top they were very colorful and inexpensive.  The sky really is the limit on clever ways to decorate and reuse party items in a new way!

     We are renting a cabin down south on a bass fishing lake for our spring break this year I am thrilled my family all wanted to have a fairly simple vacation without amusement parks and crazy places to stop.  We will be fishing, I promise you I will be reading and we will bring a bunch of games.  Even still I have lots of groceries to stock up on for the big week.  A lot of people wait until they get to the destination to a grocery store they are not even familiar with to buy everything but I prefer to stock up on deals and bring them with me.  I am dieting now but I won’t be on vacation and I have already stocked up on some Dove chocolate hearts after Valentines, some cheese curls I got for free from Food Lion, I got an amazing deal on some pepperidge farm cookies at Target and I used a coupon on top of that.  These are things a month or two before I go someplace for vacation I put into place so I don’t get there and need sodas, munchie food etc…although we do usually buy our milk, eggs and bread once we get there we are famous for crushing bread and eggs on a long trip and I don’t want to worry about those items I may pack some frozen meat as well.  This adds up to huge savings for our trip and that means the vacation on the whole is less of a financial burden and more relaxing over all.  Also I don’t want to spend my vacation grocery shopping I want to go boating and enjoy nature.

     Whether you are going on vacation, throwing a party, or just having a few friends over preparing in advance makes the big difference.  I don’t know about you but I cannot stand paying $4.00 for a grocery item that is not worth that amount because I did not plan well. 

1.  They teach responsibility.

2.  They teach skills.

3.  They allow family members to be needed.

We start when our children are quite small, allowing them to help with chores.  Most often, they start out helping someone else with a job and then as they are older, they are given their own for which to be responsible.   Right now, each child in our home has a daily chore such as unloading the dishwasher, putting clothes away, feeding pets, taking out garbage, bringing dirty laundry downstairs, putting away stray shoes. These are in addition to taking care of their own personal responsibilities such as making beds, getting dressed, etc..  Household chores benefit the family as a whole. Most of these chores are done in the morning before school.  (I personally think this timing also allows them to learn to use their time well since they have a deadline, such as the bus coming, to get things done)  In the past we’ve had chore charts, but right now, we just have assigned each person a specific job that they’ll do daily until the mood strikes me to have them change jobs.  (It’s my prerogative… I’m the Mom. lol)  Chore charts seem to work best with younger children.  Stickers, smiley faces, check marks, are good incentives for the preteen set.  My older children prefer to be assigned a chore and be left to do it.

Through chores, my children are learning to work without reminders and to take pride in their work.  They are learning skills that will be necessary later in life… who takes out the garbage once you move away from home?  Most importantly to me, (and hopefully to them) is that they are learning they are important in helping our home run smoothly.  They are needed as part of our family unit.  Who doesn’t love to feel needed?

We have a large family.  Having the older kids do chores REALLY helps!  I could, however, do the chores for the younger ones in half the time and do a much better job.  But that’s not the point, is it.  LOL  “I” already know about responsibility, “I”, as a MOM, am automatically needed.

Household chores are sort of “membership dues”, if you will.  I propose that every child in a family will benefit from the privilege of doing daily chores.  On the main page of Frugal Families, under “printables” there are some really cute reward coupons you could use when your children complete their chores for a reasonable length of time.  The biggest reward however, is the feeling of belonging.

     Start with what you have it may just be a white tablecloth or nothing.  Placemats can do the job too….even homemade placemats.   Do you have any candlesticks and candle stick holders?  Just about everyone does you can find them at yardsales and thrift stores at a very affordable price.  Now since it is Valentines and it is my special day I don’t want to cook I mean afterall this is my day to be lazy or atleast I justify it that way and hopefully have as few dishes as possible.  I go to our favorite chinese restaurant at lunch time on Valentine’s Day and I order four lunches they usually come with an eggroll, rice and a fortune cookie.  I purchase it at lunch time and bring it home and put it in the fridge because the price basically doubles at dinner time.  Therefore it is still somewhat frugal. 

     We all meaning my husband and I and our two children celebrate Valentines Day together usually we just swap some homemade thoughts or sentiments with each other.  We are not a house where you are going to see a dozen roses or a box of chocolates although my husband knows I would rather have seed packets for the price he could spend on cut flowers anyway.  This evening is very special in our house every year my husband and I know that this time is fleeting and soon we will be eating our chinese takeout by ourselves however we will have our memories of the children pouring sparkling cider and excited over the candles glimmering on one of my gold tablecloths.  I also put on some romantic music I still love Lionel Richie but you may favor someone else.  Sometimes I find some red confetti and sprinkle it all around the candles.  The best times in our life sometime just require a little ingenuity………….maybe at your house it is Italian?