Launch pad project

Before beginning the Launch pad project

My new Projects

Today I am going to start designing our families launch pad are area by out kitchen door. So far I have come up with an idea using old door knobs as coat hangers and possibly a large frame as a dry erase board and message center. I really don't want to purchase anything for this project, so I am going to go up to my attic area tonight and look for inspiration. If that doesn't work, then I get to go shopping at the area secondhand and antique stores to find some objects I can repurpose. (Don't worry I will be posting pictures as I complete the project)

Today I am also making up my weekly batch of pumpkin bread for our family and I am also going to try to make some pumpkin monkey bread that can be used on Christmas morning. I am hoping that I can freeze the monkey bread until Christmas Eve. Then all I will have to do on Christmas morning is warm it in the oven and pour a glaze over it. If it turns out the way I want it to it will be a perfect tradition for years to come.

Now that we are in our new home another new tradition I am starting is the Shelf Elf. We are going to have the elves show up this Saturday morning. That morning the elves will be surprising our family with a traditional North Pole breakfast. So I will need to go to the store and get some small powdered donuts, large candy canes, mini marshmallows and bottled Starbucks coffee. I plan on using recycled Starbucks coffee bottles to put milk in, then I will place the candy canes in them and thread some donuts over the top of the candy canes. With the marshmallows I am thinking of making a winter wonderland fruit salad.

I will post pictures and more recipes as the projects are completed. So stay tuned.

Winter wonderland Fruit salad (serves 8)

Ingredients

• 1 8-ounce package fat-free cream cheese, softened
• 1 20-oz can crushed pineapple, drained
• 3 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1 small container Cool Whip topping
• 1 jar maraschino cherries, drained and cut in half

• Preparation

  The evening before:
  mix together the cream cheese, pineapple and
  marshmallows. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

  The next morning:
  fold in the thawed Cool Whip and the cherries and serve.
  
  

Frugal paradigm shift

We are now in our new home! And our family has enjoyed getting settled in our new home and getting to know our new community. It is so nice to be together again and I couldn't be happier with the house.

The kids looking looking at our new home.

Now, that the transition is complete we have set some goals. Our first, and most challenging goal, is to become debt free and pay off the house in the next 10 years and the other more near sighted goal is to finish the second floor of our home.

For our first goal, we have decided to make some changes to our spending. I started couponing when our second child was born and I became a stay at home mom. It really does help stretch our money farther. However, I am now experimenting with recipes and trying to recreate some of the things my great grandparents and grandparents did to survive during the depression.

Some of the things my grandparents did, they did out of necessity, because they had no other choice. So I had to create a way to necessitate frugal behavior. I've done this by setting an extremely low food budget for our family, $250 a month.

I am finding that, yes, I am spending more time in the kitchen. However, the food tastes better, and is healthier than what we were eating. I make various breads, rolls and noodles every week. I am figuring out how many meals I can make with what ever is on sale that week and I am freezing left overs to be used in future weeks.

I know this is nothing new, lots of people do this every month. But, for us it has been a paradigm shift. It seems that every month we find new ways to incorporate being frugal to our lifestyle.