The Proverbs 31 Wife - Week Ten

myproverbs31life.com

Question #10: How are your and your husband's personalities different?  The same?  How do they complement each other?

Well, it really goes without saying that the old adage "opposites attract" is pretty true.  I wonder why though?  Are we looking for something in another person that we know or subconsciously are aware that we are lacking?  More likely God programmed that into us to find the soulmate that completes us.

My husband and I are probably like a lot of you out there.  I'm pretty neat, he's not.  I get riled up, and he's laid back.  I tend to like shopping, he'd be happy to never do it.  And the truth is, I need that.  OK, not the slob part....although he really has improved.  But I need the calm person when I'm going crazy and I need the penny pincher when I want to buy something for every person I know.  So that would be the different part, AND the complement part.

The same?  First and foremost, in the most important way, we are both followers of Christ.  Not having that is going to put a huge strain on your marriage.  In other ways: we like mostly the same kind of music, we like some of the same TV shows, he doesn't watch sports (I know! How awesome is that?!) we like to do some of the same activities, and we're both homebodies for the most part.

Without getting too personal, there are a lot of reasons that he and I see why God brought the two of us together.  And isn't it so cool the way HE does that?  My husband and I are both from different cities from where we live now, yet we met here....at church!  We both have the exact same view on children which is an issue I have seen tear couples apart, and a whole lot more.  God is so good.

Is our marriage perfect....of course not, I don't believe there is one perfect marriage out there.  But it's pretty darn close in my opinion!  Would our marriage be a perfect thing to copy for other couples? Nope.....God made this one just for us.

So next time you complain to your mother or girlfriend about your husband's bad habits, think first.  Is this a difference that really helps us if I weren't being selfish?  Or is it something worth discussing.  Sometimes it is....you gotta have communication!  This question (#10 above) is also a great conversation starter with your spouse....give it a shot.  Let me know how it goes!

Until Next Time.....

Franny

Price Comparison Chart

Use a price comparison chart similar to this one to save time and money while grocery shopping.

I keep my coupons in a three ring binder.  If you use something similar it's also best to pair that with using a price comparison chart.  Write down the best deals you see on the things you buy the most at the different stores in which you shop.  Then when you need these items and they are not on sale you'll know where to go for the best deal.  OR, if you are shopping at one store and they are having an unadvertised sale you can see if it would be worth it to you to pick up a few extra if it's cheaper than the best price on your chart.

This will take a little up front work if you have never done anything like this before, and it may take a few weeks to get in place.  It's also important to update it as you shop, so be sure to do it in pencil!

Until Next Time.....
Franny

Laundry Tips

Who likes to do the laundry?  Actually I kind of do, and I don't mind hanging and folding all that much.  But for some reason I really don't like putting it away...weird, I know!

Here are just a few ideas to save time and money while doing the laundry.

• Schedule it! Yep, that's what I said.  I treat taking care of my home as if it were my day job...which it is.  Meaning I get all my work done during the day.  And to do that and not get completely worn out, I schedule in my tasks.  Even if you work outside of the home this would be a good idea.  Do a little everyday so it's not overwhelming.  So Friday's are laundry days.  I do one load right after the other until it's done.  Some people recommend doing one load whenever you have the chance, but unless you have a lot of people or a lot of baby clothes this is actually inefficient BECAUSE what tends to happen?  You try to squeeze in a load then you forget it's there.  If it's left in the washer it now smells mildewy and you have to do it again, and if it's left in the dryer it's all wrinkly and you'll have to run it again or iron...YIKES!! (I do not iron!!!)  Plus it will feel like a never ending job and I've seen people actually get very depressed.  Not good!
• Do the loads in a certain order.  For example, I do colors in cold, then Darks in cold (darks second in case anything really dark like indigo jeans might leave behind a little ink in the wash tub) then comes the sheets in warm, and end with the whites in hot so that the last thing in the washer for the week is bleachy hot water, cleaning it out.
• Have a separate basket for clean and dirty laundry.  I actually have 3 bins for colors, darks, and whites, then 1 basket that I put the clean clothes in when they come out of the dryer.  I know people that use the same basket to take their dirty clothes to the washer that they then put the clean ones in.  Take a look, and a whiff, of your dirty basket.  Do you really want your clean clothes in there?  Some of my husband's clothes smell like gas and have bits of grass and dirt on them that fall into the basket.  I don't want my clean undies touching that!
• Take your clothes out of the dryer immediately.  How do you think I avoid ironing?
• Leave the washer lid open after the last load of clothes.  For me this is the whites, so while they are in the dryer, I leave the washer lid open to air and dry it out.
• YOU CAN PROBABLY USE HALF OF THE AMOUNT OF PRODUCT. Especially for fabric softener, both liquid and sheets.  I use 1/2 to 1/3 of the liquid softener it actually calls for and it's plenty.  I have the kind of machine where I can put it in at the start of the load.  I then put a capful or two of water in with it to dilute.  Some liquid fabric softeners can actually stain your clothes.  If you use dryer sheets, cut them in half.  I can get away with that for most of the year except deep winter.  There is a lot of static electricity in our house and it takes the whole sheet to not get continually zapped while trying to fold.
• Use baking soda.  Add 1/2 to 1 cup of baking soda to the wash to make clothes whiter and brighter.
• Think your bottle of detergent is empty? Probably not.  With the type of spouts they use you can get anywhere from 2-3 more loads out of them.  Turn the bottle upside down to let it drain. Be careful when opening.  This can get you 1-2 loads.  Then the next time, hold it under the water as it comes into the washer.  Put the cap back on and swish hard.  You might need to do this twice.  There's another load.
• I have been told that fabric softener makes towels less absorbent.  If you don't want to use it on your towels throw in 2-3 clean tennis balls.  They will soften the towels without any chemicals.  I have never tried this on clothes....might be worth a shot.
• And, of course, multi task!  Since I do one load right after the other, I use the time they are in the machines to take care of other tasks.  Vacuum, clean the kitchen, do research for the blog, cook, etc.  If you work outside the home, you could break your laundry into two evenings, unless you stay up later than I do and can get it all done while cooking dinner, making ahead lunches, paying bills, etc.  When I worked, Saturday morning was my laundry day.  I got up just as early as I did on a weekday (you should always try to go to bed and get up at the same time every day) and did one load after the other while cleaning and planning for the week ahead, then I had the rest of the weekend available for my family.

These are just a few ideas, and are just my opinion.  Some people think I'm crazy and some people have converted!  I bet you have some pretty good ideas too.  Leave a comment here or on the FB page to share your great idea with us.

Until Next Time.....

Franny

Sicilian Chicken Soup - 2 ways

Stove top and Crock Pot Methods

This is my copy cat version of Carrabba's  chicken soup

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded (or 2-3 C cooked and shredded chicken or turkey)
1 Tblsp olive oil
1 14oz can petite diced tomatoes (Red Gold!)
2 4oz cans chopped green chilies
8 C chicken broth or stock (64 ozs, 2 32 oz cartons)
3 med potatoes peeled and diced (try Yukon Gold)
4 med carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 onion, diced
2 -3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c chopped parsley optional
salt and pepper to taste, try white pepper
small pasta like Ditalini, uncooked

Heat oil over medium heat in stock or soup pot
add onions and saute until clear
add garlic and saute another minute
(I like to add carrots and celery here and sauté for a couple minutes)
pour in 4 cups chicken broth or stock (32 oz)
add carrots, celery (if you haven't already) and potatoes
on high heat bring soup to a boil
reduce heat to medium and continue cooking until vegetables are very tender about 45 minutes
add tomatoes
remove from heat and slightly mash vegetables into broth
soup should stay a little chunky
add chilies, parsley and remaining broth
add seasonings
bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium
add chicken or turkey and cook 15-20 more minutes
if adding pasta, add last 8-10 minutes before serving

Crock Pot:
place all ingredients in 6-7 qt crock pot, except pasta
cover and cook on low 8 hours
remove lid and slightly mash vegetables into soup
add pasta and cook additional 20 minutes or until pasta reaches desired tenderness

Until Next Time.....
Franny

Thanksgiving Leftovers

What a great Turkey!  But now what do I do with all these leftovers so that they don't go to waste, yet I don't get bored with the turkey?  Here are just a few ideas.  Also, if you have any recipes that call for cooked chicken, you can always substitute turkey....unless you smoked it!  Last time I let my husband smoke a turkey then he wanted pot pie.  YUCK!!!!!

*CP* = can be made in the Crock Pot

Turkey Cassoulet *CP*

Sicilian Chicken (turkey) Soup *CP* 

Pot Pie

Chicken Hash (with turkey, obviously)

Chicken (turkey) and Spinach Quesadillas

King Ranch Chicken (turkey) Casserole *CP*

Easy Chicken (turkey) Enchiladas (warm up turkey a little first)

Turkey Hand Pies

Red and White Turkey Chili *CP*

Fajitas in the Crock Pot *CP*

Turkey and Wild Rice Casserole *CP*

$8 or Less Recipe - Turkey Cassoulet 2 ways

1 lb cooked turkey - about 2-3 cups
1 15 oz can great Northern beans, or pinto, drained
1 small onion chopped
3 carrots, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 c chicken broth
1 6oz can tomato paste (Red Gold!)
2 slices bacon
1 c water
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried marjoram

optional: crushed cracker or bread crumb, parmesan, melted butter mixture as topping.


Stove top and oven:
In large saucepan, cook bacon until crisp, drain on paper towels then crumble
in bacon grease, cook onion and garlic until tender, stirring to loosen pan drippings
add everything except beans and turkey
cover and simmer 10 minutes or until all vegetables are tender
stir in beans and turkey
transfer to 3 qt casserole dish
bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly with topping if using

Crock pot:
cook bacon and crumble
place everything in 3-4 qt sprayed or lined crock pot
cover and cook on low 6-7 hours

This recipe comes in around $7.00 or a little more depending on how much you spent on your turkey.  You actually might have spent way less!

Until Next Time.....
Franny

The Proverbs 31 Wife - Week Nine

Myproverbs31life.com

Question #9: Are there areas of your life you find yourself being selfish about? What are they?

Are you kidding me?  Now I really think it's time to call this experiment off!!  Yikes.  Well, a promise is a promise. *deep Breath*  here goes.....

Uh, yeah!  I am very selfish.  I want what I want when I want it.  And I think if we were all to be honest you would all agree.  NOT that we act it out....but it's what we want.  So what am I actually selfish about?  Here are a couple things.....

I have a bag of Chex Mix Muddy Buddies in the cabinet.  I do not let my husband have any!  They were kind of expensive and I shouldn't have bought them in the first place....although I did get them with a doubled coupon!  The bag is pretty small too.  My husband could eat the whole thing in one sitting.  This isn't something I would usually buy and I got it as a treat for myself.  I'm NOT sharing!  Now he loves peanut butter and the gracious thing to do would be to share with him when I get a few bites out.  I did that once.  I gave him a handful.  I get one handful and eat them one piece at a time and enjoy them.  He knocked back the whole fistful in less than a second.  No more for him!

The other area where I tend to be selfish is watching TV.  As you know I have some pain and fatigue issues, so once I'm worn out for the evening, I sit in my recliner with my feet up and scan the DVR.  I want to watch what I want to watch.  I love the channel Investigation Discovery....true crime!  Yeah, I don't know why but I do.  My husband, not so much.  He wants to watch things like Top Shot or anything to do with guns and their making.  He also likes, well, manly kind of shows....not sports so much, but Gold Rush, River Monsters, fishing shows....stuff like that.  I'm stuck in my chair for the evening so I want to pick.  And more often than not, he lets me.  That is starting to get to me.  He works hard all day long and he deserves a treat.  So we have gotten better at "it's your turn to pick a show".  But I still would rather watch my stuff!

I bet I do other things without even thinking about it.  My goal this week will be to be more observant of myself.  Where am I thinking of myself first?  Picking the best piece of pizza first?  Do I take up all the hot water?  Do I leave something for him like food or drink that's almost out, etc. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving....am I giving thanks for my husband or am I taking his good nature for granted?  There's something to think about!  Let's try to do better....who's with me?!?!?!!!!!

Until Next Time.....

Franny

Tool Tuesday - my PC Dough Scoop

Get it now! Click on Penny's Pampered Chef Site to the left.

This one is the medium size...there are two other sizes.

This thing has made my life in the kitchen so much easier.  I can't stand for long periods of time very well, so when it comes to making things like cookies, meatballs or melon balls this saves soooooo much time!  It's the perfect size, in my opinion, for cookies and meatballs.  The melon balls might be a little big with this one.

All you do is scoop and squeeze.  It drops cookie dough right out.  For meatballs, I drop it into my hand and make it a little more packed and round.  But this way is so much easier because it gets them uniformed instead of me guessing then adding or taking away, thus standing a lot longer.

I'm thinking of getting the smaller one to make smaller versions of my recipes.  Not really sure what you would use the bigger one for....mega cookies?

Until Next Time.....
Franny

Baking Soda - Save Time and Money

This 1 lb box of baking soda is only $1.00 at Wal-Mart.  Have you found any cheaper?

The days of having one cleanser for each task in the home is gone!  We've got to save money...and the time of going to get each one for each task....and then who wants to store all of that?  Now, I'll be perfectly honest, I still buy a couple different cleansers, but if you REALLY want to be Frugal, get some baking soda and microfiber cloths and you can do a lot.  Here are just a few ideas, I bet you have even more and I would love to hear about them!  Post here or on the FB page.

1. sprinkle in you garbage can for odor elimination....this goes for litter boxes, the fridge, the freezer, etc
2. sprinkle on carpets, then vacuum...picks up odor and some dirt
3. makes a good scouring powder, just a little water added makes a paste
4. bee and hornet stings! make a little paste with water and put on sting immediately.  you can actually watch the poison being drawn out....I speak from experience here!
5. cleans toilets....just sprinkle some in and use a brush
6. sprinkle on grease spills on stove....it will absorb then you can wipe away
7. in the coffee pot sprinkle some in, add ice cubes and swirl.  it will scrub off the brown stains
8. dry skin? put some in your bath water and soak.
9. 1/2 c baking soda plus 1/2 cup vinegar cleans out a garbage disposal.  when done fizzing pour a pot of boiling water down.  only for metal pipes!
10. sprinkle some on your mattress while you're washing the sheets.  if you sprinkle thin you can leave it, otherwise vacuum up before making the bed
11. baked on residue on pots and pans? sprinkle some in, add a little detergent and hot water.  let sit then wash.
12. for tarnished silver: 3 parts baking soda to 1 part water, rub with clean cloth
13. mop with it for shiny floor.  1/2 c in clean hot water, mop and rinse.
14. make a bathroom scrub: 1/4 c baking soda, 1 T liquid detergent...add a touch of vinegar to give it a creamy texture.
15. wash produce: sprinkle some on a damp sponge and rub
16. soak brushes and combs with sink full of warm water and 1 T baking soda
17. before you store outdoor furniture, sprinkle this under the cushions
18. put some on a damp brush to clean the grill
19. add 1 cup to laundry for cleaner and brighter clothes
20. sprinkle in the bottom of the hamper!

These are just a very few ideas!  You can go to http://www.armandhammer.com/ and there is a little search box at the top where you can put in your problem and they'll tell you how to fix it!  There are a lot of ideas all over their site as well.

Until Next Time.....

Franny

Save Time & Money with Gift Cards

Tis the season....to buy gift cards!

Kroger is doing it again!  From now until December 11, 2011, any gift card you buy will earn you 4 times the amount in gas points.  So today we bought 3 gift cards for gifts, and 1 for PetSmart where we get the "kids" their food, then we went and bought gas.  We saved $13.20 in gas and we were going to spend that amount anyway on the gift cards.....so really, $13.20 free!!  Woo Hooo!!

I will be going back later this week to get more.  I know Someone will be getting their Christmas present from Amazon, so why not buy an Amazon gift card and earn gas points at the same time?!  There are tons of restaurant, stores and movies...even gas cards!  In this area Shell gas stations let you use your Kroger gas points.  Buy a Shell gift card, earn gas points then use the card too!

If you don't have a Kroger, check other stores in your area to see if they have a similar program.  I wonder if stores that match prices would do something for you?  Depends on their policy I guess....like if the store their matching has to be in the area.

Another great way to save with gift cards this time of year is to take advantage of all the restaurant offers.  Most eateries are offering a free gift card when you purchase a certain amount.  If you know you will be going to that restaurant anyway, go ahead and buy yourself some gift cards and pick up the free one as well!  We like to go to Carrabba's for a special treat every now and then.  Their offer is, spend $100 in gift cards and get $20 free.  We got two $50 ones.  We'll use one around Valentine's Day and the other for maybe a birthday.  Then that $20 one we can use after the first of the year as a special treat.  Check with your favorite restaurant to see what deals they have available.

This time of year can get hectic and expensive if you're not careful.  this is one way to make it a little easier on yourself and save some money at the same time!

Until Next Time.....

Franny