Baby it's cold INSIDE!

My cozy little house has been...well ...not so cozy lately! Our heater has been "offline" for a few days and the weather has been in the teens at night and the 30's in the day time. 

We are relying on our fireplace for heat downstairs and a little space heater in the den during the day and in our bedroom at night.  We are fortunate that we have 2 units, one upstairs and one down.  The kids can use the upstairs heat at night, but we turn it off during the day.  It has been rather fun roughing it this week and keeping the fire going, but I will enjoy the warmth when the heater is fixed.  Our supply of firewood is getting pretty low.  I have had my eye on a ventless propane heater that looks just like a wood stove. I'd love to put it in the den and we already have propane for my stovetop, so it wouldn't take much to install it. I am hoping for a sale on it at Lowe's. Seeing how much wood we are consuming in the living room woodstove has me changing my mind about adding another woodstove in the den.

I am wondering if there will be any significant reduction in our electric bill. Our bill runs about  $450.00.

John and I are trying an experiment.  We have checked the kwh usage for 2009 and 2010 during Feb. and we are challenging the kids to help us use less.  We decided that would be more fair to them than trying to lower the bill because the cost has likely gone up.  If we are successful we will do something fun as a reward.  In other words we will spend the money we saved, but on something fun rather than a bill!

I am also thinking about doing this with the water bill if it works.

We are always looking around for more ways to save money. It seems everyone is these days, but I was frugal when frugal wasn't cool!

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

This recipe is easy and quick; perfect for Sunday night after church!

1 bag of egg noodles
1 large box of chicken broth
1 large cans of chicken drained
1 cream of chicken soup
1 cream of celery
1 pint whipping cream
salt and pepper

Boil noodles in broth and add enough water to cover by an inch or so. When done but not mushy, add other ingredients and stir. Heat until warmed through over low heat. Just a few minutes. Serves about 8 to 10 folks. You could add some type of vegetables.

The $70.00 menu plan.....

This past week, I used the http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/  70.00 menu plan to try and have a very low cost grocery week.  I already had a few items from the shopping list, and I changed 2 meals that I didn't think we'd like.  Also, cormeal mush became grits and hot rice cereal became oatmeal.  We also used 2% milk instead of powdered milk to drink, and I bought a loaf of bread for sandwiches (we don't eat homemade bread with sandwiches as it seems like too much bread). I also bought apples and bananas.  The meals only feed 4 to 6, so I had to increase some things by up to 50%. The plan is a few years old and prices have gone up. It seems that my more expensive substitutions and having some items on hand offset each other.  The total cost for the week was 122.00. One of the meals made alot and so this lasted us 8 days not 7. I shopped at Aldi's and picked up the remaining ingredients at Walmart. Also this price included napkins and dish soap.  We ate very well, I enjoyed the recipes and the family liked everything.
I am planning to use this menu at least once a month for while. Now I'm thinking I want to write up my own menu of very frugal meals and see what I can come up with.

Snow!

 We've had a second snow event here! Not as lovely as the first one but, very exciting for my family.  The house looks so neat with snow and ice everywhere; I wanted to share a few pics.

view from the front door

Frugal Tablescape January

Yay!! I have done my very first tablescape.  One of my New Year's resolutions is to do one frugal tablescape each month this year.

My theme for this one was snow, and we've just had the most wonderful snow here!
The blue dishes were found at Dollar Tree  and I bought 6  for 6.00.
The decorations were from Dollar Tree on sale after Christmas 2 for 1.00.  The white plates, Arby's Christmas glasses, silverware, ribbon, and glass "rocks"  were things I already had. I borrowed the tablecloth. The chargers were from after Christmas sales at Wally world for 1.25 for 4 and they gave me 1 extra.  Originally the chargers were red, but I spray painted them with a hammered silver finish.  So, I may have about 10.00 dollars in this project.
Oh, the napkins were just an old shirt I cut up to cover over white napkins that didn't look quite right! Really it is much prettier than the pictures. Even my teen boys said they wish the table looked like that more often.

I am so excited about my Valentine's Day Table for Two!  If you are trying your hand at frugal tablescaping please let me know in the comments, so I can see what you've come up with!

Reflecting on Winter...

Sylvia over at http://www.christianhomekeeper.org/ has a winter journal that I thought was a great idea. I love seeing what everyone else does to ake winter special for their families. So here's my entry...

In my winter kitchen.. I always make hot cocoa mix and russian tea mix. I like to put them in pretty cannisters on the counter. They make great evening drinks to cosy up to and my kids love the tradition..they remind me in October to put it out!

My favorite wintertime meal is... Spaghetti Carbanara but, my kids all said chili and cornbread. Hearty soup is always good too.

I do/do not tend to be depressed in the winter..I really am different than soe of the other ladies who posted on this. I do not get depressed in the winter. I love it!  I feel so much more alive when the temperature drops.
Of course, I live in the south, so we don't have terrible winters.
A favorite wintertime activity my family enjoys...  we like to watch National Geographic Movies from netflix and eat popcorn.  Some nights we play games at the kitchen table.

To help my home look and feel inviting in winter I... Light candles with winter scents and keep my house CLEAN. Also, I like to decorate with the little white lights and I leave them on all the time, because they make me happy. : )

How I dress to stay warm... tights and longer heavier skirts!

One really important health rule I'd like to pass on... I need a lot of moisturizer in winter or my skin is sooo dry. Also, we have had alot of sickness this year, so I'm making sure we start taking vitamins.

Well that's it. I've done my very first Linky. Why don't you try it?

Mom's Home Manager

I started a home management binder last year and never finished it. Recently, Jessi reminded me about it and I want to finish it and learn to use it daily. Other than the date on the cover, I really like the pictures I found.

In the kitchen section, I have blue colored tabs for menus, grocery lists and pantry stock.

In the household section I have orange tabs for each room and chore charts.

In the academics section there is a red tab for textbooks, field trips, tests, attendance and reading lists.

Personal section includes a purple tab for bible reading.

Farm and garden includes green tabs for garden, chickens and dogs.

Foster care section is yellow with tabs for each child we've kept and other information.

I want to add a gift section for inventory of what I've bought and ideas for gifts. Also, I'd like to keep a list of blessings and great deals we've found to remind us how good God is to us.

A calendar would be nice and a place for quotes ,verses and poems.