How to help keep your house warm-Cooking

Everyone is always looking to find ways to keep their homes warmer while not breaking the bank.  One of the simplest ways to help warm the house is to cook from scratch or even semi-homemade. 


You are probably thinking what? cooking? How does that help?

Well if you take a moment to think about it this way. By cooking using your oven and burners you are letting heat into the house without paying extra for it.  Not to mention you are being frugal by cooking your own meals instead of taking the drive thru route.

Easy, Isn't it?  

So some ideas I have for this weekend's cooking is making some breads or muffins for breakfast this week.  We are so busy in the mornings that I am seeing us start to slack when it comes to breakfast. Then I am seeing us going through some drive thru that is taking money out of our pockets that could be better used somewhere else.  So here is my favorite MASTER MUFFIN MIX.  This recipe comes from Home Joys Blog.

Directions:
Mix up a batch of the master muffin mix.

6 cup whole wheat flour
6 cup white flour
2 cup sugar
4 T baking powder
3 tsp salt

Store your master mix in an air tight container.

When you want to make muffins, choose one of the liquid ingredient options.

Option #1
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup applesauce
2 eggs
1 cup milk

Option #2
1/3 cup melted butter
1 egg
1 cup milk or buttermilk

Option #3
1/4 cup melted butter
2 eggs
1 cup yogurt

Option #4
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1 1/4 cup milk or buttermilk

Next choose the additional ingredients you desire. The sky's the limit but here is a few variations to get you started.

Almond Poppy Seed
2 tsp almond flavoring
2 T poppy seed
1/3 cup chopped or sliced almonds (optional)

Cheese Onion
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup chopped chives
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Berry
1 cup blueberry or strawberry, fresh or frozen
2 tsp grated lemon rind, optional

Cinnamon Apple
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup chopped apple

Breakfast
3 slices chopped bacon
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Banana Nut
1 large banana, mashed
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Chocolate
3 T cocoa
1/3 cup additional sugar
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Combine: First mix the liquid ingredients. Then stir in 2 3/4 cup of the dry master mix and the additional ingredients. Combine until just barely moistened.

Bake: Spoon batter into muffin pan. Makes 12 large muffins or 18 smaller muffins. Baking time will vary depending on variation chosen. Bake at 350 or 375 for 15 minutes. Check to see if additional baking time is needed. Muffins are done when a toothpick comes out clean. Allow muffins to sit for a few minutes before removing from muffin pan.


Notes:
These muffins are not very sweet. We prefer our muffins to be more like bread then a cupcake but, if you prefer, you can add more sugar to the master mix.

You may choose to use only whole wheat flour, or only white.

If you want to make one of these muffins but don't have a desire to mix up an entire batch of dry muffin mix, for 2 3/4 cup of mix use 2 cup flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 2 tsp baking powder and 1/3 tsp salt.

I have a container that I mix up all the dry ingredients into then depending on the amount of flour will determine how much of the dry mix I use. It makes it quick and easy to mix up a batch of muffins in no time. It also makes it much easier for my chef-in-training aka Daughter to help bake with me. 

Seed Starting

It is really hard to start thinking about Spring and warm weather when the thermometer outside doesn’t even register zero degrees. Brrr its cold, little too cold for even me.  So I decided to jump right in and start figuring out my exact dates for seed starting and  approximate outdoor planning time.

So first off I had to decide what the hardiness of each plant I wanted to seed was.  So here is my brief chart:

HARDY:
Broccoli
Lettuce
Onions
Spinach

SEMI-HARDY (PLANT 1-2 WEEKS BEFORE AVERAGE LAST FROST)
Cauliflower
Potatoes
Zucchini

TENDER ( PLANT ON OR JUST AFTER AVERAGE LAST FROST DATE)
Beans
Corn
Tomatoes

VERY TENDER ( PLANT 1-2 WEEKS AFTER LAST AVERAGE FROST DATE)
Cucumbers
Peppers
Pumpkins
Squash-Summer

If you are like me I had no clue as to what my zone was.  So trying to find out the Frost Free Date was next to impossible. So guess what I did, Yup I googled.  Actually I used my swagbucks search and found the link that could help me out here.

OK so now I know my Zone and can find out what my Frost Free Dates are.

Here is a chart that gives you an idea of when to start you seeds indoors. This chart is courtesy of North Carolina State University Extension. 

I hope this helps you feel good about starting your seeds at home.

Plant	Approximate Number of Weeks Before Last Frost Date to Start Seeds Indoors	Time Seeds Take to Germinate (Days)	Temp. (oF)	Light/Dark Requirement
Ageratum	8	5 to 10	70	Light
Alyssum	8	5 to 10	70	Either
Aster	6	5 to 10	70	Either
Balsam	6	5 to 10	70	Either
Begonia	12 or more	10 to 15	70	Light
Broccoli	8	5 to 10	70	Either
Browallia	12 or more	15 to 20	70	Light
Cabbage	8	5 to 10	70	Either
Cauliflower	8	5 to 10	70	Either
Celosia	8	5 to 10	70	Either
Centurea	6	5 to 10	65	Dark
Coleus	8	5 to 10	65	Light
Columbine	8	20 - 25	70	Light
Cosmos	4 or less	5 to 10	70	Either
Cucumber	4 or less	5 to 10	85	Either
Dahlia	8	5 to 10	70	Either
Dianthus	10	5 to 10	70	Either
Eggplant	8	5 to 10	70	Either
Geranium	12 or more	10 to 20	70	Light
Impatiens	10	15 to 20	70	Light
Larkspur	12 or more	5 to 10	55	Dark
Lettuce	8	5 to 10	70	Light
Marigold	6	5 to 10	70	Either
Muskmelon	4 or less	5 to 10	85	Either
Nicotiana	8	10 to 15	70	Light
Pansy (Viola)	12 or more	5 to 10	65	Dark
Pepper	8	5 to 10	80	Either
Petunia	10	5 to 10	70	Light
Phlox	8	5 to 10	65	Dark
Portulaca	10	5 to 10	70	Dark
Snapdragon	10	5 to 10	65	Light
Squash	4 or less	5 to 10	85	Either
Stock	10	10 to 15	70	Either
Tomato	6	5 to 10	80	Either
Verbena	10	15 to 20	65	Dark
Vinca	12 or more	10 to 15	70	Either
Watermelon	4 or less	5 to 10	85	Either
Zinnia	6	5 to 10	70	Either

10 Days of Stress Free Meals-Home Independence Challenge

When we started The Home Independence Challenge one of the ideas was meal planning.  In our everyday life this little thing can easily fall to the back of our minds and before we know it, 5pm comes and we hear....

"What's for Dinner?"

That simple little question can stop any Mom or Dad in their tracks.  Panic sets in as you realize you haven't taken anything out for dinner. You quickly rack your brain thinking....

"What can I make quickly?"

photo credits

Well with about 10 minutes worth of work once every 10 days you can avoid this.








In the winter time I love to come home to a hot meal ready to eat. No, I don't have my own cook or housekeeper. Yes both my Husband and I have full time jobs.  So I have a little secret....its my.....Crock Pot.  I can throw things in it when I get up in the morning and turn it on Low. When I get home...presto...nice hot meal.

So I made a list of crock pot meals that my family loves. Under each meal I listed the ingredients that are needed to make such meal.  After that I simply looking into the pantry checking off what I already had, leaving the needed items. I copied it over and there was my grocery list's major parts.  All I had to do after that was add in the usual extra items IE Milk, salad fixings etc.

My list looked like this:


Lasagna:

• noodles
• sauce
• shredded cheese
• meat
• ricotta 

Beef Stew:

• meat
• corn
• carrots
• beans
• potatoes
• seasoning 

Pot Roast:

• Meat
• Potatoes
• Onions
• Seasoning 

Pork Chops:

• Meat
• Cream of Mushroom Sauce
• Rice

Roasted Chicken (Will make 2 meals from this Bird)


Shepard's Pie:

• Cream Corn
• meat
• potatoes
• Cream of Mushroom

 Chicken Stir Fry: (Not a crock pot meal but a 20 min or less meal)

• chicken
• veggies
• seasoning packet
• soy sauce 

Spaghetti with Meat:

• noodles
• sauce
• meat    

Beef Stroganoff:

• beef
• noodles
• sour cream
• seasoning packet
• mushrooms

Meat Ball Grinders: (cook Meat Balls in Crock Pot)

• meat balls
• rolls
• sauce
• cheese

As you can see I just planned my meals for 10 days, with a grocery list and it truly only took me about 10 minutes to do. Even little ole me who never seems to have enough time in the day and come up with a simple, healthy meal plan and grocery list and avoid the dreaded 5pm meltdowns.

Resolutions or Goals? Do the words really matter?

Well here it is 2012. Have you set up your New Years Resolutions yet?  Or do you not do Resolutions but actually make Goals?  What is the difference really?

photo credits

Resolution is a commitment that a person makes to one or more lasting personal goals, projects, or the reforming of a habit.

A goal or objective is a desired result an animal or a system envisions, plans and commits to achieve—a personal or organizational desired end-point in some sort of assumed development. 

In my opinion you don't have one without the other. You may resolve to change something and in order to have that resolution work you need to work on creating goals or stepping stones to complete the end point.

Our Resolution is to become much more self-sufficient and much farther down the road to being debt free.

Money Saving Mom has two great customizable goal setting sheets to really help you get started. You set up your big goal and then can break it down into bite sized pieces to really help you accomplish it. These are free downloads that you can get HERE.

Focused and Determined

I am super excited! Friday January 6, 2012 is the start of our 23 Day Frugal Living Challenge — it’s free, and it’ll help you kick start a frugal 2012.




This is a great way to start the New Year! I declare 2012 the year of frugal living and fiscal responsibility. Determining to live frugally is better than making a resolution, because if you are focused and determined these changes will stick with you much longer than any resolution.



How This Is Going To Work

Here’s how The 23 Day Frugal Living Challenge works:



1.SIGN UP. Join the Challenge, with 1,000+ others, by signing the pledge. Then head over to The 23 Day Frugal Living Challenge forum and sign up…it’s a free forum and very user-friendly. Read the ”PLEASE READ THIS FIRST” post under ”The 23 Day Frugal Living Challenge” category of the forum when you sign up for more info on how to use it.

2.PUBLICLY COMMIT. Once you’ve joined the forum, go to the section that asks you to “Introduce Yourself Here!” Start a new topic, introduce yourself and tell everyone what your goals are for the next 23 days. This is a public commitment that will hold you accountable and motivate you.

3.REPORT your progress each day under the ”Frugal Living Daily Goals” category of the forum. Each day of the Challenge we will be asked to set an attainable goal based on the topic. Reporting your goal is simple and takes just a couple of minutes: log in to the forum, go to the daily progress thread (there’s a new one each day) and give us an update.

That’s it.



Just three simple steps: sign up, publicly commit, and take a couple minutes each day to report your progress. The hope is…in 23 days, you’ll have a kick start (and tons of encouragement) for living frugally in 2012!



Go to The 23 Frugal Living Challenge Forum to get started now!



Want to increase your accountability: Tell your friends and family about this challenge. Post about it on your blog (by grabbing the button above), email the info. to your co-workers, share it on your Facebook page, and Twitter.



We are building a community of like-minded individuals! Best of luck to everyone who has committed to the challenge! Enjoy encouraging and supporting one another as we reach our goals together!



Oh…one last thing (I knew I was forgetting something)! For easy of use, you should subscribe to Frugally Sustainable to get the daily Challenge emails delivered to your inbox:)



Okay! That’s it for now. Here’s to frugal living!