Christmas Smorgasbord

Over the years I have come up with some handy idea's for Christmas idea's.  Take these idea's and get inspired. If this photo doesn't inspire you I don't know what will.  Would I like to be a fly on the wall at their house!

2008

I put together kitchen baskets for each family.  End results were baskets only costing me about $2.50. Woot woot!

I share 5 easy and cheap mixes to make and toss in a mason jar. Most under $1 each. Woot!

25 stocking stuffers for under $1 should help anyone with kids.

Ways to save $ at Christmas is a great list of things you can do in the weeks leading up to the holiday.  This way you have more money for gifts or maybe just for saving.

2009

Love easy mixes in jars?

Chocolate Peanut Popcorn anyone?

What about a Brownie Mix?

Pancake Mix is always a hit! I usually include wooden spoons and vintage aprons with this gift.

Christmas Cappuccino Mix is a hit for co workers. Plus its super cheap to make!

Even Christmas treats for your 4 legged friends!

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Mix will be a hit with anyone.

Almond Rocha anyone? ME ME!!!!

Blondie's to die for.

2010

Christmas on the cheap

Part one-Vanilla Coffee Mix are great for co workers.
Part two-Bavarian Mint Mix is a big hit as well.
Part three-Not into coffee?  Try this Friendship Tea Mix out.
Part four-Herb mix for anyone whose handy in the kitchen.
Part five-Reindeer droppings everyone will gobble up!
Part six-Hot Fudge Pudding Cake for any chocolate lover.
Part seven-Apple Syrup for the pancake lover.


2011

To be determined.....

Garden Gift

This is a repeat for my regular readers.  If your new then here is a cute gift idea for any gardener. 

Look closely and take notes.  Get thrifty and reuse what you can. You will need one glass tile sheet, wax crayon (for writing on after they are made), heavy duty epoxy, rubber gloves, Popsicle sticks and silverware.

You might do this......

And if you do that then you will have this.

Then just look at this! What gardener wouldn't want these for a Christmas gift?

Then you get to keep the left overs.  Whahoo!!!!! Now you may steal my idea and make some lucky gardener happy.

$50 a week

$50 a week

FRED MEYERS

$5.23 12 Cans of Tuna (my husbands request)

WINCO

.46 cents Garlic Salt
$3.88 Deli Pepperoni
TOTAL=$4.34

NEW SEASONS

$2.19 Organic Raisins (sale $1.99 per lb)
$4.22 Organic Unbleached Flour (sale .89 cents per lb)
$2.69 RBST Free Milk
$4.11 Ground Beef All Natural (will be used in 2 meals) Sale $3.99 per lb
$1.99 Turkey Lifters (sale 50% off Metal & no plastic)
TOTAL=$15.15

WHOLE FOODS

$4.99 Organic Sugar 4lbs (not pictured)
$6.58 Tomatoes (will be buying these from now on. Can recycle the container & no BPA!)
$1.49 Sunshine Dairy Half n Half (local company RBST Free)
$1.10 Fair Trade Banana's
$4.11 Ground All Natural Pork (will be used in 2 meals) sale $3.99 per lb
$4.99 Coffee Beans 3 Bean
.90 Organic Fennel
$1.99 Vegetarian Fed Free Range Eggs
TOTAL=$26.15

GRAND TOTAL=$50.87

The bag of bird seed you see was not taken out of my food budget.  Not sure how it ended up in the picture.  I get it from the bulk section for only 44 cents a pound. My poor birds outside have been giving me dirty looks so the feeders must be empty.  I did go over budget but only by less than one dollar so I think I did pretty good. 

I will no longer be buying cans of food so I'm pretty sure my budget will be tight until I can figure out where to buy things for the cheapest.  Today was about tomatoes so I found the paper type containers for only $3.29 which is about fifty cents less than New Seasons for the same exact product.  Only other thing I buy is tuna in a can which my husband requested this week.  I found them on sale for only 44 cents each which is cheap where I live.  This should last him for a couple of weeks.  I will be buying dried beans from now on and cooking them then storing them in the freezer.  Other than that I don't usually buy canned food.  This should be a easy thing to get accustomed to. 

Last but not least I think I have solved my problem when it comes to storage containers to use in my daughters lunches.  I was looking for stainless steel or glass and didn't like any of my options what so ever.  They were either too hard for my girls to open or too expensive.  Instead I will be sending food in small mason jars (which I own a ton).  These are easy to open and made of thick glass so do not brake easily.  This week I'm testing this out. Will get back to you on it. 

Fill In The Blank Friday

I found a blogger called The Little Things We Do and thought I would give this little thing a try. 

1. Waking up at the break of dawn to go shopping is...... stupid if you ask me.  Why get up at the crack of dawn to buy things that we don't need? Exactly.  Nine times out of ten the items are made of plastic anyways. Not my cup of tea.




2. If I were to go shopping today I would be on the hunt for..Stainless Steel containers for my girls lunches, groceries, or a 6 pack of good local dark beer.


3. The best thing I ate yesterday was-Gravy. Nuff said.



4. Something I've been learning lately..Who cares what the hell people think.  Do what makes you happy, avoid/ignore the drama, and lead by example.


5. I cannot start my day without....Coffee, TMZ and Facebook. Yeah I suck.



6. My nighttime attire consists of a...comfy pajama pants, thin long sleeve t shirt, and sometimes socks until I get my feet warm.



7. I am looking forward to...finishing up my Yale online courses, decorate for Christmas, and planning out my garden and improving it from last year.


Fill in the blanks and share!

Grandma the great turkey thief

This year don't be afraid to buy a big turkey.  Left overs are a very good thing and can be used in many ways.  So make sure to save all those left overs or steal as much as you can.  Well don't steal but make it known you want them!

TURKEY

Save any left over meat for later use.  Cut up into cubes and freeze in one pound increments so its easy for you to use later. Turkey meat can be used in any recipe that calls for chicken. (think pasta, cold turkey salads, etc)

Save all turkey juices and freeze for later use.  Turkey juices are liquid gold if you ask me.  Use to make rice, add to potatoes, and they also make wonderful gravy. YUMMO!

Bones bones bones. DO NOT THROW THEM AWAY!! Simply pull off the skin, keep all the meat and put those bones to good use.  Toss them in a big pot of water and boil away.  You can easily freeze or can all that turkey stock for later meals.  This stock will add so much flavor to anything.  My favorite is to cook rice with homemade stock. Yummy!

Note-The first Thanksgiving I hosted for my mothers side of the family was in my very first home.  My grandma Mary came and when she left that night she took my turkey carcass. That thief! Then it didn't make any sense to me and I was happy because I didn't have to throw it away.  Now I can see exactly why she took it.  Living through the depression my grandma knew a good thing when she saw it.  Kudos to you gram.  Miss you more and more.

CRANBERRY SAUCE

This makes a lovely treat for the kids later on after our dinners. 

Many people add it to sandwiches for a zesty touch.  I on the other hand would throw up a zesty touch if I did that. I don't do sweet with my main food.  I know...I'm slightly off.....but in a good way I promise.

Maybe add it to a glass of cold lemonade?

Maybe a mixed drink?

Or just purge the fridge at night  and eat it like you want to.  You know you do!

MASHED POTATOES

Like there are any left overs of those!

But if there is, you have options.  Save them and use them to make Shepard's pie. 

Who doesn't love mashed potatoes with cheese melted on top? Or maybe some sausage with cheese? Or maybe some chives with sour cream? Or maybe just the potatoes because your too lazy to add anything?

Again like there are any left overs of them!


STUFFING

Not even going to talk about this one because there are NEVER any left overs of these. I mean ....come on!

VEGETABLES

These can be added to any soup for up to a week after Thanksgiving. 

You can also put them in freeze safe containers and toss them in the freezer for later use.  Corn in corn chowder, beans in veggie soup, pea's in mac n cheese, etc.  You get the idea.

BREADS

Any left overs of these are crumbled and tossed outside for the wild life.  And I swear I hear them say thank you as they take them and run off.  Well that or they are cursing me because I didn't throw out the good stuff.  I swear a squirrel flipped me off one day.  I swear!

Anyways you get the idea.  Don't throw anything out. Reuse everything you can.  And last but not least have a happy and safe Thanksgiving.  Don't drink and drive! Hopefully you will be stuffing your faces and feel too fat to drive.  Isn't that the point of Thanksgiving? 

Changes

Just a quick note....
You will no longer be able to get to my blog using http://hannaqueen.blogspot.com/

I have changed it to make it easier for people to find me. From now on its
http://survivingandthrivingonpennies.blogspot.com/

Check your feeds and google reader.
Thanks!

My naughty and nice list

This Friday is the last day for my girls to turn in their list to Santa.  "Santa" needs the list to give the elves because it takes a long time to make each gift.  Or Friday is the day we do our Christmas shopping. You can believe which ever option you want. For my girls its do or die time and they have been working very hard at thinking of what they want or need. 

We have been talking to my 7 year old twins about how Santa expects them to be good all year and not just for this month.  As I'm telling them this I started to think about if I had been good.  After a few minutes I started to realize that maybe I should practice my own medicine.  Or mommy would be getting a big fat lump of coal this year.

So today I decided to write myself a good and bad list of things I have done this year.  This way I could see everything and determine whether I would be getting any coal under the tree or not. 

NAUGHTY  LIST

-Stopped making & using my own liquid laundry soap. I really missed the smell of store bought soap so I have been using the Eco friendly kind. I am using half the amount to save money.
I can fix this by using up my store bought and start making my own again.  This will save me a bunch of money.  Just suck it up Nancy sheesh.

-Driving my kids to school when I should be walking & driving more in general.
Since I carpool with neighbors this isn't all that bad.  BUT I now will walk anytime its not raining. I live only 3 blocks away so there's no excuse.  I have been driving my bug more because its mine and I can only drive it by myself when the kids are in school.  But it uses less gas than my euro van and makes me happy.  Wanted a bug since I was little and I finally have one.

-I stopped making my own bread.
Well I get my bread free from the bread store so I'm saving money this way. BUT all the bread items come in plastic. I went from zero plastic waste with making my own to several plastic bags a week.  Ugh.  I will start making my own bread again but still get the free bread when I need it.  I would be making bread non stop otherwise.  4 kids lunches a day is a lot of bread.

-I have been eating out more.
Okay I admit I'm hooked on Starbucks Salted Caramel Mocha. DAMN THEM!!!! I bought a few of them this last month and I should of known better.  Damn liquid happiness! I will stop buying them and cry in the dark by myself.  I sometimes meet my husband for lunch but its never fast food and only once in a while.  This is the first year were able to do this so I won't stop this naughty thing.  Sorry but I love my time with my hubby.

-I purchased beauty products instead of making my own.
I started to notice lines around my eyes and completely freaked out.  Up until now I have been able to make my own products and have good luck with them. Obviously I need more moisturizer and work.  While shopping at my favorite natural store I came across some beauty products for 75% off.  So I snagged myself some goat milk all natural eye cream, moisturizer, and face mask for around $10. That's a screaming deal. So I feel bad for spending that money but don't feel bad about spending it on myself. 

-Spent more money on new clothing
I bought myself a pair of jeans for $24, spent $35 on undies and bought myself a $20 dress.  Until this year I have not allowed myself to buy myself anything new unless it was under garments.  Due to my thin build its hard to find jeans so when I found them that cheap I snagged them.  Undies are always new but this time I bought some "wow factor" ones...I'll just leave it at that.  And the dress ....well it screamed "me" and it was over 50% off.  I buy my children everything so this year I decided to once in a while splurge on myself.  I'll try to only buy if its a really good deal.


NICE LIST

-I expanded my garden & was able to store my produce to use for the whole year. 
We build 2 very large garden beds using untreated wood.  Topped them off with copper to keep the slugs out naturally.  I also purchased and used my greenhouse for many things.  I rotated my crops and planted things all year long. I also expanded my garden to the front yard by adding a few beds up there using left over wood.  End results were plenty of produce which I canned, froze or dehydrated.  This way I can enjoy green beans all year long and make pumpkin baked goods anytime I want.  Also saved me a bundle of $$$$$

-Replaced all our windows in our house. 
Wow is all I can say.  After we replaced them we never had to put our A/C during the summer.  I am truly amazed what new windows can do to your home.  We did all the work ourselves which saved us a bundle of $$.  Total spent for 8 odd shaped window and a sliding glass door was $1,500.  Woot woot!

-Added insulation to our attic.
We just did this last month so I'm not sure exactly how this will help out.  We spent about $700 for materials and the machine was free because we bought over $200 in products.  My husband was up in the attic spreading and I was in the garage stuffing the machine.  Only took about 2 hours so it was pretty fast.  We saved a bundle because we did it ourselves. 

-I ran the Helvatia Half this year and improved my time. 
I have always enjoyed running but it wasn't until 2010 that I actually ran in a race.  I plan on running the Helvatia Half each year and plan to add a new one each year as well.  2012 my new run will be the Hippie Chick Half with my oldest daughter.  Each race I will try to improve my time and enjoy the whole experience.  From improving my health to enjoying my surroundings.

-I volunteer at my daughters school two times a week.
I also volunteer for events when they need me.  Just recently I helped with 3 of my daughters Fall parties.  My children LOVE when I'm at their school and get to see them.  I love helping the teachers out because they need it so much these days.  Instead of planning my volunteer days around my life I decided to plan my life around them.  Its a win win if you ask me.

-We are gathering hats, scarfs, gloves, jackets and blankets to hand out to the needy this winter.
My husband is the one who brought this up this year.  What a great thing to teach to our children.  We are blessed and healthy so why not try to help others? I have been gathering things from friends and family and been buying them when I find good deals.  So far we have a good stash but are in need for more.  So if any of my friends/family have more let me know. For those I don't know I encourage you to give to the needy.  Clothing or food it doesn't matter. Just give!

After making this list I believe that I will be getting no coal for Christmas.  I realize I'm not perfect and I make mistakes just like everyone else.  My mistakes are not the usual ones and may seem silly to some but they are things that I feel bad about.  I have this inner struggle with being as green as possible but I am human and have my cravings and wants.  I can change my mistakes very easily and will learn from them.  I also can better myself each year. 

What about you?

Do you have a inner struggle when it comes to being green?

Try to make a naughty/nice list and see if you learn from it.