Great Frugal Decorating Sites

If you find anything on the side of the road, buy something see something you must have and get home and say: "what was I thinking?" go here and see what is possible! She calls it an online idea file and she is right I found while looking for ideas to use my 'vintage' screens & windows. (Yes, by vintage I mean some junk I found on the side of the road!)

I hope you enjoy her site!

Deep thoughts on pies...

Recently, I've been thinking about pies and using foods that are "over ripe". You know the bananas that are brown and perfect for banana bread. Apples that are a little soft. Since we are such a big fruit eating family I have decided to use these fruits for baking. I am sure Martha Stewart is rolling her eyes but honestly if we have fresh fruit I love for the kids to get to eat it but if it's past it's prime it's headed for a pie, bread crisp or buckle. I made my first apple pie with some over ripe fruit and it was a big hit.

So as Mom used to stay "Don't waste your food there are starving Ethiopians!"

Keeping it cheap at RH!

Happy 3rd Birthday Pearson!

For some reason this did not post on the 18th like it was suppose to!!

Miss Pearson Kimberly Hope McVay

Ode to a Naughty Premie!

Pearson is 3, Pearson is 3
I cannot beleive that Pearson is 3
It just seems moments ago she was trying to kill me

Coming to early making mom bleed,
The words from the doctor I must heed
The Doctor said Full previa, I said me?
Does this mean no Wal-MArt? Oh no that's the end of me!!

Off to the hospital for weeks at a time
Hospital Bed rest there went out last dime

And now everyones cooking for my family, but I
We can never thank you enough, my family and I
Finally she comes
8 weeks early, Over 5# but where are her curlies?

What she's not breathing well,
Disobedience so early?

By Chopper she goes to her Texas Children's bed
Mom cannot go anemic in bed

But there will be no transfussion today
The people of Living Hope will pray & pray!

The Maass' move in our house
McVay Ma&Pa are weeks at the Ronnies House(Ronald McDonald House)

Finally we come home, with our quiet little mouse

Now Pearsy is 3 oh how time is so funny
Seems so far away that she was less sunny

Far from yesterday she was choppered to Houston
She was all tubes and one of the smallest of humans

But now she tops the 90th percentile!

A little asthma here and there
but no worse for the wear.

Oh, this little Pearsy so sweet , what flair, a quiet comedian she brightens the air!

So worth... the time, the trouble, the pain, the dollars, the hours, Oh what gain...

For the Lord has returned the time the Locust had stolen
The Lord gave us Hope we have not fallen

We are so thankful for thee
So thankful for thee, especially for thee
Sweet Pearsy made 3!

RH

Pearson is sensitive about her size so if you could refrain from saying "She's enormous!" that would be great!...We much prefer 'gigantanormous' created by her sister Parker.

Why I love the .99 Store & Coupons

Here are some great finds at the .99 and what they mean to our bottom line

Edy's (Dreyer's ice cream's name on the East Coast) .99 for a 1/2 gallon. I got three and would have got every single one excecpt we were going to be in town and I was afraid 10 icecreams might spoil in the cooler. Total Savings (I don't buy unless it's $3.33 or less so I'll do actual & mine) So I spent $2.97 and no-non cheapskate Actual savings $12... cheapskate savings $7.02

John Morrell's Smoked Sausage...at a recent trip to Kroger's I found out the cheapest Kroger brand sausage is $2.79. The Brand name sausages start at over $3.79! So when I saw this puppy at the .99 I bought 3 (this time because I was watching my budget) So I spent $2.97 and saved $5.40 - 8.40

I also received a free tube of crest toothpaste because Krogers was having a 10 for $10 and I had a $1 off coupon. I really try not to buy toothpaste and deodorant unless I have a coupon so when I get a good coupon I may buy 3-4 or this time get some free!

This is why I shop the .99 Cent Store & Coupons and I hope it encourages you to take the plunge too!!!

Menu Madness at Rooster Hill

This is what we've been eating the last couple of weeks!

8/4-8/10
Monday - Chicken Marsala, buttered pasta, brussel sprouts
Tuesday - Chicken pot pie (make an extra for our retrun from the Homeschool Conference)
Wednesday- Pork Dijon, rice, veggie, homemade rolls
Thursday - Out to dinner (Galveston)
Friday- Out to dinner (Galveston)
Saturday - (freezer meal) Chicken Peperoni Pasta

8/11-8/17
Monday- Steak (T-bone or Ribeye depending on sales), Steak fries, salad "Birthday dinner"
Tuesday-Country Style pork ribs
Wednesday- Beans & Rice
Thursday-
Friday -Out to dinner (Texas Homeschool Conference)
Saturday- Out to dinner (Texas Homeschool Conference)
Sunday - (freezer meal) chicken pot pie

I know ya'll don't go into shock we do eat out or "high on the hog " just mostly on birthdays like August 11th and when we are on vacation.

Frugal Eating: Breakfast

Okay, so I have been looking for super cheap meals that taste good. When I ran across this one I was more then skeptical. Because I mean Mush that's what they feed folks in the Orphanage in all of Charles Dickens stories, so it has to be bad! Well, I was pleasantly surprised that it tasted like a corny version of cream of wheat. Everyone in my family really likes it. Yet it costs nearly nothing! I normally serve it with some fruit and we always have OJ & milk with our breakfasts. I got this recipe from http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/:

Corn Mush

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup cold tap water
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups hot tap water

(I (Kyle) always add about 2 Tablespooon to 1/4 cup of molases or syrup!)

In a small bowl, combine the cornmeal and cold tap water. Meanwhile, in a 2 quart pan, combine the salt and hot water. Bring it to a boil over high heat. While the water is heating, add the cornmeal mixed with the cold water. Combining the cornmeal with cool water before adding it to the boiling water keeps the cornmeal from lumping up when it hits the hot water. When the water and cornmeal boil, reduce the heat to low. Allow the mush to simmer for about 10 minutes, or until it is nicely thickened. If your cornmeal is less than fresh, you may add half a tablespoon of sugar to make it taste fresher and sweeter. This is very hearty for breakfast, and also makes a nice snack in the middle of the day. I like it with a little margarine and shredded cheese, but it is equally good with sugar or molasses and milk. This recipe serves 4 to 6 people depending on how hungry they are. Of all the breakfast cereals you can buy, this one is the least expensive. We try to have it at least twice a week, sometimes more often because it is so cheap.

Country Living the Hillbilly Chronicles

What does your family do in the middle of the night? Something crazy like sleep? Nope not when you live in the country and you are at war with the raccoons. If we are awake late at night we are always looking outside to see if they are near the chickens, trash or shed. For the last two weeks they've been getting into the trash & feed. Thus far they have left the chickens alone. When I lived in town I thought raccoons were cute. Now I know that raccoons will pop the heads off of your chickens just for fun. They do not eat them they just want to kill them. I do not like that, I can understand animals killing to eat but not just to kill. So we are not friends with raccoons anymore.



So far we've taken care of 1 and winged another one. Well, at 12:56 the other night we got a 2nd one that was in the trash near the baby chicken nursery. The kids were so excited they were jumping up and down cheering.



Of course Parker wanted to know if "Can we eat the raccoon?"
My answer which is given often to such countrified questions "I don't know ask Mr. Brian."
She is still upset we did not eat the rooster that was pecked to death by the hens recently.



But, I found out later from the Encyclopedia of Country Living that you can eat raccoons. We still didn't (can't guarantee that in the future with the price of food increasing though!), however, I may get a nice raccoon hat or a stoll, now that's hillbilly!

Now, Wayne will be skining and gutting him and the kids will receive the best lesson on animal phisology they can receive. From their dear old Dad! This is a homeschool oppurtunity not to be passed up even by a pair of countrified city slickers like us.

Well, I guess that all from the Cultured city girl who went to Berkeley to become a US Ambassador or at the very least to work in the Foreign Service, who now has a raccoon in a feed bag in her freezer....N-I-C-E!

Fels-Naptha Rocks!

I bought this bar of Fels-Naphtha because I was making homemade laundry soap. Well, I've since stopped making the laundry soap (because I felt like it worked well at first but then my clothes got dingy over time) but I am in love with this bar. I use it like a stain remover and boy oh boy does it work. Recently we went to a wedding and the girls spilled red punch down the front of their light yellow and blue eyelet dresses. Well, I followed the directions on the bar and those dresses are like new. I thought for sure they were headed to the trash or play clothes. I think every homemaker should have a bar of this stuff its Grrrrrrrrrrreaat!

Wilton's Cake Course: Homemaker's Continuing Education

Okay, here is the Wilton's Cake Class follow up... I completed the course and got the certificate that proves I am a Cake Class graduate! So I decided to post a cake that I made for Pearson's First Birthday with my last cake class cake(I did not finish the shell boarder or add the cute polka dots. Still I think there is a vast improvement. I believe it was Jessica B that asked me if the white cake was Fondant! Nope just regular butter cream. I spent a good hour trying to make the chocolate cake smooth and you can see I did not succeed. I can now make butter cream cake frosting (stiff, medium and light) I know which sort of frosting to use for which kind of application. I can make roses and I feel confident that I will be able to make the family birthday cakes from this point forward. So as Parker & Pearson's Birthday party gets closer I will begin to think about the best way to make a tea pot for a tea party cake for Parker and a simple sheet cake for Pearson. They are having a joint birthday party this year. I would encourage all of you to take these courses they are very good and like I said I think it's vital we keep learning and going down the path of continuing education for homemakers.

Here at Rooster Hill we are shouting along with the French Aristocrats: "Let them eat cake!"

RH

Family Time

This is so much fun and it is effective to both teach children new people from the Bible and to see what they know. We hadn't played this game in a while and this time I sat on the couch writing down all of the People of the Bible I thought they should know. We have read through the Vos Child's Story Bible (By far the best Story Bible I've seen including the Golden and especially the Beginning Bible because everyone is so cartoonish) and we are working through it for a second time and of course we read the "Holy Bible" So next time we'll have a small pile and I'll just keep adding to it! During the game I 'ask questions' like "Are you a baby?", "Are you in a boat?" "What is the weather like?" to help the kids get their wheels turning! What fun this sort of family time is as we get to go deeper together into His word, training up our children in the way they should go. I included babies especially for Pearsy and her limited acting skill at 2 and she had a great deal of fun as Baby Jesus & Baby Moses. The pictures are of Jonah who right after this shot falls out of his "Ship" swims around starts to drown and then very dramatically is swallowed by the fish! The other one is Pearsy as a very happy Baby Moses.

4th of July at the Benavides...

We had so much fun at the Benavides' house some of it has to be illegal, Wayne said he felt like we were at the State Fair. We bobbed for apples, had a water balloon fight (I was so wet I had to change my clothes were sticking to me like I jumped into a pool), watermelon eating contest, door prizes, sack races, good food, fine company and fire crackers. I won the cutest basket by quickly knowing Frances Key Scott wrote the Star Spangled Banner (That song was my blog post for the day)! As you look at the pictures please notice Pearson's goal for the night was to eat as much as she could as often as she might! Big baby is serious about her food! I hope everyone had as much good Godly Fun as we did! Thank you Benavides for throwing such a fun party and letting us come!