Community Sale

Our community has a big sale for just baby/toddler items and I went to the recent annual sale in search of a bouncy seat. We have a bouncy seat, but I found with my daughter it would be super handy to have one on each level of the house - so I wanted to find a nice used one for that purpose! As you can see in the picture above, I found one - it was $10, which is more than I wanted to spend, but it was nice and I figured there would not be too many yard sales in the cold months - since I am due the 7th of March.

Breakdown -

Bouncy Seat - $10

Maternity Shirt - $1

Pair of Children's place jeans for 3yo - $1

Pair of columbia boots for 3yo - $1

Onesies for new baby - .10 ea

Sweater coat for 3yo - $2.00

Sleepers for new baby - .25 ea

Sweatpants for 3yo - .25

I am so glad I decided to buy the bouncy seat used - I not only saved at least $20 on that, I got my daughter a pair of waterproof boots for the winter for $1.00- which are a lot nicer than any boots we would have bought new. Yay for resales!

For more frugal ideas, visit LifeasMom!

Baking Pie Pumkins and Pumpkin Muffins/Bread

I found there pumpkins at the local apple orchard market for way cheap (.50 ea). I decided to bake one of them yesterday following these directions - except I just sprayed the pan with non-stick spray, then added an inch of water and did not brush the pumpkin with the honey.

I then put the flesh into the food processor and got about 3 cups of pumpkin puree. I used 2 cups to make the Muffins/Bread/Mini Muffins pictured above.

Pumpkin Bread

2 C Sugar

1 C Veggie oil (I used 1/2 C oil and 1/2 applesauce)

4 eggs lightly beaten

2 C pumpkin puree (fresh or canned)

3 1/2 C flour (I used 1 C whole wheat)

2 t salt

2 t baking soda

1 t baking powder

1 t nutmeg

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t cloves

2/3 C water

2 apples - peeled and grated

Stir sugar and oil. Stir in eggs and pumpkin. Blend in dry ingredients alternately with the water. Stir in grated apples.

Bake at 350 for 30-40 min in 2 - 9x5 loaf pans, or separate it between loaf pans and muffins tins.

Let stand 10 min and remove from pan. I found the fresh pumpkin to be less "pumpkin-y" than canned pumpkin, but still yummy! Enjoy!

Puppy Chow

I make this for a good friend every year for her October birthday, so it makes me think of fall - she loves it! It reminds her of our high school days when my mom used to make this by the truck load. It is super easy and I am sure anyone would be happy to get a pretty bag full of this good stuff as a gift!

Puppy Chow

1 stick butter
1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup creamy peanut butter

10 cups Rice Chex

3 cups powdered sugar

Find a big paper grocery bag and put the powdered sugar in it. Set aside. Put the first three ingredients in a saucepan and melt slowly over low heat. Pour over the rice chex in a large bowl. Mix to coat and pour cereal into grocery bag with sugar and shake until coated.

Make sure it is completely cooled before being sealed up - if there is any left to put away! :)

$5DollarDinner Giveaway! Mod Mum Baby Sling

Erin, from $5DollarDinners is giving away a Mod Mum Baby Sling! Hop over here to enter! This sling could be very handy to me come mid March!

Good Habit Challenge

LifeAsMom has challenged the blog world to "Get a Good Habit Going." I have listed three habits in the comments to this post that I am going to try really hard to get going!

I have three little steps.

1. I need to spend more time off of my computer and tuned into my family.
2. I have a baby (meaning new and tiny) blog that I would like to post more - 3-4 times a week.
3. Stay on top of the laundry. - There are only three of us (soon to be 4), so it shouldn't take much, but I still get behind - maybe try a load every other day?!

I won, I won!

Thank you Malt-o-Meal. Thank you so much! The Fed-Ex man dropped by my house the other day with a tiny envelope. Inside: A letter stating I was a grand prize winner - FREE Malt-o-Meal cereal for a year in the form of 52 Free bag coupons (up to $5.50) - so its the big bags! This will feed our little family breakfast and snacks with some to share for over a year!

Moral of the story: Entering contests really does pay off. I had been skeptical until now, but I will play on. A few short minutes of my time can really pay off.

For more frugal ideas, visit LifeAsMom!

Easy Oven Potatoes

This recipe is one that my family LOVES and is so simple. I usually make these when I am already baking pork chops or chicken.

Easy Oven Potatoes

6 - 8 large Baking potatoes- peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
1/4 C olive oil
2 tsp garlic salt
dash of pepper

Mix the above in a large ziploc bag (or you could use a bowl) and pour onto cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray.

Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes - stir and bake until desired crispy-ness. We really like ours crispy and they usually take another 15-20 minutes.

The spices could be mixed up to match whatever main dish is being served - it is mainly the method of cooking the potatoes that we really like.

Visit LifeAsMom for more great recipe ideas!