Quick, Cheap Present Idea

Shhhh! Don't tell the Zoomlians! They LOVE bookmarks.

You can do this in Word or a photo program. Open a document in landscape format and insert a bunch of pictures across the top (I fit in 11 or 12).

If the bookmarks are for a particular kid, I do mostly pictures of things they like. Text (going perpendicular to the picture) is a fun option. Something like a squirrel holding a nut may say "I'm nuts for this book!". Google Images is my friend.

If they are for an adult, like a grandparent, I do pictures of the kids, maybe with funny things the kid has said.

I print it on photo paper and cut with our rotary cutter.

Yeah, it is cheap and easy, but this is a present that the adults and kids have really used, enjoyed and commented on, even several months later and it's a great gift if you have avid readers in your family.

The Frugal Not Quite Gourmet

I love to cook and the kids love to cook. It's a good thing since we cook for 9 people 4 times a day (snacks and dessert are considered indispensable around here). Our favorite thing, really, is baking and I do it a lot: cookies once a week, bread twice a week, and various muffins, cakes, quick breads, etc a few more times a week.

One real advantage to all this time in the kitchen is being able to stretch the food budget. This is a high priority for us (9 people /1 income = need to eat frugally). Still, this isn't something I would advise for anyone who doesn't like to cook because I can imagine this being sheer misery if it isn't your thing: it's hard to put a price on your sanity!

One thing I do is buy my baking supplies at a baking warehouse. This isn't like Sam's Club or Costco, and they sell very few things in quantities smaller than 50 lbs. Still, I am picking up 50 lbs of "Sir Lancelot" (the King Arthur Bread Flour) for under $10, about as much as I would pay for 5 lbs from the catalog when you count shipping! I buy bread flour, pastry flour, sugar and oatmeal there, but if you have special food needs (like say a wheat allergy) this would be far and away the cheapest place to get specialty flours (soy, rice, powdered whey, etc.) To find a similar deal, check your yellow pages for bakery supplies and just start calling.

Another big money saver is to buy big what is locally cheap. Here in Maryland there are a lot of poultry farms and, once every 6 to 9 months, chicken goes on sale super cheap. I spent an hour yesterday with 50 lbs of leg quarters. They were 47 cents a pound! When I get meat on sale like this, I do all the prep work at one time.

With the chicken, I removed the skin and cut apart the quarters into drumstick and thigh, seasoned them (rosemary garlic, curry, taco seasoning, Italian dressing, whatever you like) and froze them down in labeled bags. They marinate as they freeze and then can be cooked in any way from crockpot to grill. We got 8 meals for us and 7 meals for other families not counting planned leftovers for lunches- as much as 20 individual lunches depending on how often we have guests for dinner (we take our dinner leftovers and package them as mini meals for The Emperor and Angel to take for lunch).

We'll eat from this chicken stash once a week or so, interspersed with other meat frozen down and our meatless meals. We go meatless two days a week and have soup with fresh bread once a week.

I'd love to hear from you how you stretch your food budget!

The Jello Queen Returns!

I always underestimate how much we like jello and I always overestimate how much fuss and time it takes to make it.

This was one of 2 (3 layer) jello molds that we did. They only took 15 minutes to make (all 3 layers) with everyone helping, although they also chilled a few hours until dessert time.

Here's how:
1. We boiled 3 c. water in the electric kettle.
2. We sprayed the molds with cooking spray.
3. We took put 1 c. boiling water in each of 3 large (2 cups or more) measuring cups.
4. We added a packet of jello to each cup and each kid stirred with a whisk until the jello dissolved.
5. We added ice cubes to each cup until the volume reached 2 c. (kids still stirring).
Within 2 or 3 minutes, the jello started to thicken enough that we were trapping bubbles! (We like bubbles! If you don't this method may not be for you. You can control how bubbly the mixture gets by stirring more or less as it gets thicker).
6. We poured the layers one after another since they were thick enough to remain separate.
7. We tucked the molds into the fridge until time for dessert!

Incidentally, the fancy copper molds are only about 80 cents at thrift stores, so I've been gathering a collection of them and using them to "decorate" my kitchen. Cheap thrills!