A stressing weekend...

I apologize to those of you who entered the giveaway and were waiting for an answer on Friday. Just as I was sitting down to take care of it Friday evening, Steven, my husban, walked into the house in a surprising condition. He was attacked and robbed after leaving WalMart. Needless to say, it has been a bit stressful here. He is better and I will be taking him in for a cat scan in the morning just to be sure all is well.
So, for those of you waiting, April is the winner of the envelope full of coupons! Thanks to those of you who commented. It was nice to read your thank you's. I hope all had a great Thanksgiving and I will do my best to post again soon.

God bless.

Supper under $2.50 total!

I found a recipe that all my kids loved and it has cabbage in it! I was quite surprised to say the least. Here it is:

Copenhagen Cabbage Casserole

1 pd. ground beef (I used ground turkey)
1/4 cup onion
1 can tomato sauce
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground clove
4 cups cabbage
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Brown meat and onion. Blend next 4 ingredients and add meat. Put 2 cups cabbage(I shredded it) in casserole and top with 1/2 meat sauce. Cover with remaining cabbage and meat sauce. Cover and bake in oven for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

The cost:
1.47 for turkey meat
.35 for tomato sauce
.25 for half a head of cabbage(I found this for 50 cents a head)
I already had all the spices.

This was very good. I was surprised how good the meat sauce tasted. When I pulled mine out of the oven(I forgot to cover it as well), the cabbage was mostly soft with some parts still a bit crunchy. I liked it that way.

The funny thing was the looks and groans I got when the kids saw it. They just knew it wouldn't be good. Next thing I know, everyone had eaten it and some had seconds. Even my picky eater liked it!

We had yams (found these for 20 cents a pound) and pinto beans (which I had cooked some days earlier) on the side. So all in all, the meal was around or less than 2.50 for the entire thing. Divide that by 6 people and you've got a really cheap per person meal.

The recipe came out of a small booklet entitled "Good cookin' from the plain people". It is from the Hearts and Tummies cookbook company. The # is 1800-571-BOOK if you would like to order it. (I think I found it on our trip to Fredericksburg.)

God bless.

FREE COUPONS!

Anybody need an envelope full of coupons? I am giving one away on Friday! I know it is Thanksgiving and most will be busy, but I am overloaded with coupons (a blessing from God) and would like to share the wealth!

All coupons expire end of December or after, giving you time to get them in the mail and use them. Here's what you do:
Leave a comment about something you are thankful for this Thanksgiving. Also leave an email or blog address for me to be able to contact you if you win. Good luck!

What am I thankful for? Lots and lots! My husband is doing so much better, my kids are wonderful, we are all healthy and well, the peace I have in God, my parents, my sisters and brothers, my home, a kitchen stocked with food, and a little money in savings! The list could go on forever! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

God bless.

Cookbooks and More Cookbooks...

I decided yesterday that I have too many cookbooks. So, I cleaned out. Over the past ten years, I have become much more conscious of what I eat. I read labels on a regular basis and have tried to cut out a few things all together(like red dye #40 and sodium nitrite). I have undergone another self assessment and decided that I need to cook even more from scratch. I do cook a lot from scratch, but it seems when a busy week comes along and I buy more ready made items, that I have a harder time going back to just from scratch. I am going to try really hard to stick to it this time. I am even going to ignore coupons that are for ready made items as much as possible.

So, I got rid of all my Kraft recipe magazines(the ones that come in the mail very often and are free). Almost every recipe in these magazines calls for ready made items, like pudding mixes, ready-made crusts, and mayonnaise(which I have also just cut out of our diet). There are some dinner recipes that are good and are made from scratch, so I tore some of those pages out and kept them. I also got rid of some of my bigger cookbooks that I just didn't seem to use very often.

I am hoping that by narrowing down my selection, I will actually try some new recipes and not be so overwhelmed.

So, if you have any absolutely to die for recipes from scratch, send them on over!
God bless!

Ms. Frizzle...

Probably most of you know who I'm talking about when I say that name, but for those of you that do not, you are in for a great adventure!

Ms. Frizzle is part of The Magic School Bus series on television. But there is also a line of The Magic School Bus books. Usually, this cartoon is found on PBS stations, but I have noticed it on Disney or Nick once in a while.

Ms. Frizzle is a crazy, red-haired, full-of-fun science teacher. She teaches the students by using field trips. But these are not your ordinary field trips. She has a magical bus that changes the size of the children(and sometimes more than just the size) to whatever is needed for them to learn hands-on. For example, in one episode, she turns the children into bats, so they can go through what a bat has to go through to live. The t.v. episodes are magnificent and my children have always enjoyed watching them. The books are great too.

So if you are looking for a new way to make science a little more interesting, you should try Ms. Frizzle and "The Magic School Bus".

God bless.

A Winter Garden...

Today the kids and I are going to plant our first winter garden! I am a bit excited. If you don't know already, I like gardening, and to see something nourishing grow during winter will be wonderful. We are not going to do much, just turnip greens and mustard greens. Those are the seeds I could get a hold of and honestly, this is a trial period for me since I've never done a winter garden before.

We will see how it goes. The kids are going to do all the work and I am going to supervise. That's the way I like to do things! They enjoy it as well.

Any advice on this would be greatly welcomed!

God bless.
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How did you do with saying "Thank you" last Monday? The kids did very well and to be honest, I am proud of myself in that I say it most all the time without a second thought! A big "congrats" to my parents. They obviously did something right!
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I want to give everyone a heads up. At this point, it looks like I will be taking Steven to work quite often, so my posts are going to be a bit later in the morning(I just can't seem to get them done the night before). This also may cause a few skipped posts. We are hoping in a couple of months things will be changing for the better and get back to normal. Thanks for hanging in with me on this!

Garfield...

I do hope everyone is doing well as we have all been fighting colds here for about four days now. No fun.

My children really enjoy reading the Garfield comics. We don't get a paper. They came across these at the library. There are books that contain pages and pages of the comics. I have noticed that when my kids don't feel like reading a book, they don't mind reading the comics. Also, my second son, who still doesn't like to read a lot, will sit and read these for hours.

Garfield is a bit sarcastic and he is onery, so if you've never read them, check them out for yourself first. I think the comics are funny and they offer my kids a different choice of reading. Everyone could use a good laugh. A sense of humor is a good quality in my book.

God bless.

Say Thank You...

Something I have noticed about the "world" lately is the simple manners that used to be commonplace are just no longer there. I am blessed to live in Texas and near a small town where please, thank you, yes ma'am, no ma'am, and the like are still quite commonplace. Although I will admit that among the younger people, including children, I don't see the manners I would like to.

In the "old" days, if a child did not show manners, they would be smacked upside the head. It seems that in our selfish times here in America, there are many that do not even think twice about manners. So, I want to ask if you say "thank you"? Saying "thank you" shows that you appreciate what someone has done for you. There are even times when I catch myself in such a hurry that I forget to say thank you.

To make this Monday special, I want to challenge you to say "thank you" as many times as possible today. See how you feel at the end of the day. Showing manners is humbling. This world could use more humble people. I am challenging myself and will do my best to keep count. I think I will challenge my kids as well. We'll see how they do.

Philippians 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

God bless.

Oh Happy Day!...

I apologize for not posting yesterday. Between taking my husband to and picking him up from work, as well as a dog to the vet for spaying (who threw up in the car on the way home-but that's a whole other story), home schooling, and just chores, I didn't have time for posting.
But I have been so eager to get on here!

Khristian, my second son, was baptized into Christ on Wednesday evening! The angels have been singing and the Lord is pleased. Of course, so are his mom and dad. There is a little story behind this and I want to share it with you. Last December, my oldest son decided he wanted to be baptized. My being new to the situation, I called a dear friend for some advice. Steven J. was baptized. My friend had a small booklet that she feels is good for young ones thinking on being baptized or newly baptized. So, I got the booklet from her.
My next two children were thinking on it as well, (I felt they may not quite be ready) so I gave them the booklet to read and answer. Khristian only went through about half the booklet and he took many days just to do that. I did not hear anything else from him, so I figured he wasn't ready.

Well, this past Sunday night he informed me he was ready. I talked to him and felt he was. I gave him the booklet Monday morning and told him I would like him to work on it. He could be baptized, but I wanted him to do the book as well. I want you to know that he finished the book in two hours on Monday morning, only taking one short break. Now for Khristian, that is a rare thing. He doesn't enjoy schoolwork much. I knew he was ready. Praise the Lord and now I have another brother in Christ!

Thanks for listening and I hope this is encouraging to someone out there. By the way, the name of the book is "Becoming a Christian" by Wayne Monroe. I have not been able to find it anywhere, that is why I had my friend make a copy and get it to me. If you are interested in it, please comment with contact info and we'll see if I can find a way to get you a copy.

God bless!

The New Age Herbalist...

My son is attached to this book now. Never in a million years would I have guessed that my oldest son would take a liking to herbs. I have tried to teach the kids that doing things the "natural" way is better, but I am very new to the idea myself. I am slowly learning and to be honest I am sure now that my son is going to pass up my knowledge very soon.

If you are interested in herbs or someone you know is, this is a great book. It is written by Richard Mabey. The book contains lots of pictures, which is a great help. It explains many herbs and how to use them. It also tells how and when to plant them. It is a great resource.

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On a side note: My children(as well as their parents) were saddened somewhat this morning. Of course, you know why. Around here, Obama is not considered a great character. So when I got all the statements of negativity this morning, I decided to give a little talk. This is basically what I said. I do not like the thought of Obama being our new president either, but now that he is going to be, we have to trust that God has a plan. We have no idea what that plan is, but we should pray that God uses Obama for His glory. And I am a bit excited to see just how he does that.

Now, I am not saying everything is going to be peaches and cream. On the contrary, I don't believe it is. More likely, sometimes I will be thinking "How in the world is God going to bring good of this". But I do believe He is in control and He has a plan. So, hang on for the ride and don't forget to pray!

God bless you and God bless America!

Go Do Your Part...Vote!

My husband and I will be heading off to the voting booths first thing this morning. We have a job to do. We know of two people that for sure voted for Obama(we still can't understand why), so we're going to cancel out their votes. So all of you out there(my family in particular) better head up there so yours can actually count!

After that, the kids and I will finish up our government study and then walk down to get some updates on the election at my parents house. We don't have cable, so no watching t.v. here.

This is a short post, because I am now going to go say a prayer for this nation. I also ask that you take time to do that as well.

God bless and happy voting!

To study our government...

I have to admit something here... government study is not my forte. I do not know much about our government and I choose not to stay glued to the t.v. with all the stuff going on. So, unfortunately, my children are not very apt on the processes of our government.

My kids do know that voting is very important and that taking time to find out about the candidates is important before you vote. I read about the candidates to find out where they stand on different subjects so that I will know which way I want to vote. I take my kids with me when I vote as well. That way, they at least are familiar with one process.

This year, I decided my kids needed to know a bit more, so I got online and downloaded a few things. We have discusses the three branches of gov't, a few facts about the position of the President, and the difference between minority and majority. We are going to study about the electoral votes and how voting has changed over the past. We also will follow the election.

So, even though they are not government junkies, they will at least be familiar with some of it. And I am hoping to become a bit more involved with more government issues and processes as the kids get older.

God bless and go vote!