Frugal Friday Followup

Fels naptha soap + washing soda + borax + mixing it up in your food processer= homemade laundry soap.

Ever since we visited the embroidery factory, I have been wishing that I could have some laundry soap that smells the same....it was so clean and fresh. Guess what? Washing soda smells the same! We're giving it a shot today.

Canning beans...This is like my long-term food storage and three month short-term storage combined. I use my cannery dried beans and cook up between50-60 pints. Then they are on the shelf and ready to go, the perfect cheap fast food! They taste WAY better than store-bought canned beans, plus they have no extra salt, etc. in them. We eat a lot more beans when I have them this way and beans are very good for you! If you have a can of beans you can open one up and...

Smoosh them up in the blender and make refried beans.
Mix them with hamburger and chili seasoning and have chili and throw it over a baked potato.

Eat them as is with tacos.

Mix them up with shredded beef/pork and make burritos (I have canned beef on my storage shelf)

Use them as a side dish for any Mexican food.

Cook up some brown rice and throw some beans on top with a little cheese and cilantro-yummy!

This year I am going to do some black beans and white beans too.....

And because I had to stay home and listen to the pressure canner whistle, I was able to finally finish up these projects.

Holiday placemats. I haven't been able to find anything I like at the store and so I whipped these up myself.

Now people, don't get crazy on me and think I am a superwoman. I FINISHED these that had been hanging around my office for a couple of weeks.......I had to do something while I was waiting for the beans to cook and my laundry soap took less than 30 minutes to make. I don't have small children running underfoot either. My children can drive themselves places too.

I even had time to eat a bon-bon or two!

Frugal Friday

I'm working on a couple of frugal projects today.....

Hmmm...I wonder what they could be......

Here's hoping I get them done before the State swim meet.

Mommy's Little Brag Book

Guess who qualified to go to the State Finals today?

Guess who won a medal for her 100 m IM freestyle in regionals last weekend?

Guess who won another medal for her team with the 50 m backstroke in regionals?

I wonder who?

Well, Miss Liss of course!

Good luck today and Go Rabbits!

Guess who else is getting a 3.5 gpa in college?

Gasp! Well, I'll be!

summit ward talent show olympics

In times like this-we need some silliness.

The Morning After

Well, It happened. It's over. I'm trying to get my tongue around the words President Barack Obama, Prez Obama.

Does anyone out there feel kinda queasy and uneasy?
Yeah, me too.

But then I started thinking about another President and his recent words, "I begin by mentioning one of the most inevitable aspects of our lives here upon this earth, and that is change. At one time or another we've all heard some form of the familiar adage: "Nothing is as constant as change."

I'm kind of feeling comforted and inspired by his words this morning. And here was his advice just a month ago.......

"Brothers and sisters, my sincere prayer is that we may adapt to the changes in our lives, that we may realize what is most important, that we may express our gratitude always and thus find joy in the journey."

And that my friends, are words that we can follow.

(is he a prophet or what????)

Grandpa UPdate

He's home! He is doing GREAT. It is amazing that he doesn't have any residual effects from the stroke. He made lots of new friends at the hospital with his quirky sense of humor-all the nurses and PT people love him! We are truly blessed.....

We have a Winnah!

Dude-I am SO tired I am falling asleep sitting up at the computer and I realized I must pick a winner of the Blogiversary Contest Deluxe.....(sitting at hospitals nearly all day wears one out)

So....I had the mostly impartial and slightly annoyed Bubba D pick a winner since he chose not to post on my blog and probably never will.....

(drum roll)
And the winnah is...


Mrs H! My beloved baby sister! And it happens to be her birthday this Sunday! So congrats Mrs. H-email me-tell me what lovely gift card you desire in the amount of $25......

Thanks to all who played...thank you for boosting my ego by posting. I hope you entertain/inspire you for the next year or two.....


Grandpa L. update---he is doing good. He kept us highly entertained all day by flirting with the nurses and commanding that he wanted his pants because he was going home every 10 minutes (he had to be drugged for his MRI scan-so some of this was a drug induced silliness) He is very, very strong and yes, he did have a stroke. We visited with the neurologist with the oh-so-terrible bedside manner only....As of 9:59 pm I don't know what his coming home status is yet-probably tomorrow.

P.S. I think my favorite comment was "Feliz Blogeano" by Luscious Stacy in CA who has been fighting mightly for Prop 8. DON'T FORGET TO VOTE TOMORROW PEOPLE!