All about the letter P

All things letter P!!!

We had so much fun incorporating PIGS in our letter P fun!

I loved visiting this website to get our three little pigs felt board story. I told this story every day and then put it in our retelling literacy center.  I printed mine in color but she has the option on her website to print in black and white and color 

Pig paper plate activity.

 This multi sensory activity is easy and fun. We also worked on cutting our pig parts out and gluing them on to the dried plate.

Our color for the week was pink so we sorted colored marshmallows.  We tried to pull all the pink one and put them in a separate bowl. We missed a few!!! It was fun to eat all the other colors!

We used the pink marshmallows to make pig cupcakes. This was a big hit. I prepared the cupcakes before school and they decorated them with pink icing. We used the small pink marshmallows for the pig eyes and we cut a large pink marshmallow for the nose.   We used chocolate icing for the nose but m&m’s would work great.

We played pass the pig and turned on music (hot potato)

We watched my favorite letter patrol people about the letter P!

We also did a P search. We played this a couple of ways.  I hid the letters around our room and we found all the “P” hands. We also put the letters inside un popped popcorn for our sensory table.

School Starts and All the money in your account is DRAINED!!!

School starts and BOOM all the money you have goes down the drain! 

Can you relate?

As a mom to one, two, or many, the overwhelming school supply list, school clothes, fees for sports and clubs, and the never ending "I need this for school" can become CRAZY! 

I've been in the school system. I understand that there is a "NEED" for all the things on the school supply list.  As a teacher I spent tons of money from my own pocket to have enough supplies for my classroom.  BUT that doesn't mean I still don't get overwhelmed as a mom getting it all done and paid! 

Starting a home based business is just another added expense! This is what I thought too!  I began my business as a pure NEED based at the end of August. Anyone that is a teacher knows that August is a crazy month to take on MORE! Late nights, parent meetings, and at the time we were even volunteering for the football, scouts and so many more things as a parent during the weeks that I first began my business. 

How did I pick a company? 

There are so many!  If you are still reading this post then you might  not care why I picked It works as my work from home business, you may be like I was and just simply looking for a solution to your problem to make extra money! 

But it is important for you to know why I picked It works as my work from home company! 

1.  The company is debt free
2. The products are legit and change lives. 
3. You can make extra money without spending thousands to get started. 
4. No inventory
5. It only cost $99 to get started. 
6. It can all be worked at home. I was in a kindergarten classroom all day and busy mom at night so NO time to be doing extra events. 
7. I saw the vision of the company and they give CASH for the prize. 
8. I needed cash NOT stuff! 
9. A mom/teacher like me with NO marketing skills could be successful
10. WEIGHT loss is a HUGE seller! 

It's really a decision. The risk is slim and the adventure is WILD!!!

Hamburger Helper! Great INEXPENSIVE YUMMY FREEZER FRIENDLY recipe!

I got this recipe from my mother in law! It is a family favorite and is inexpensive and easy to make.

1 box of shell pasta
1 can of french onion soup
1 can of tomato soup
1 lb of hamburger meat
10 slices of American Cheese

We double this recipe for our family so if you have a big family like us then DOUBLE it up!!!

COOK the meat, the noodles and then mix it all in a casserole dish!
TOP with American Cheese!
Bake for 35 minutes!
OR cool and freeze. If you cook it frozen it will take 2 hours.

This is one of our favorite Once a month recipes!

Sausage Biscuits

I have been pre making our sausage and biscuits on cooking day! I use this biscuit recipe that is here on the blog! I cook them and let them cool. 

I cook up the sausage and let it cool. 

I put the sausage in the biscuits and wrap with Saran Wrap. 

On sausage and biscuit day I just pop them out of the freeze and microwave. My microwave oven is pretty fast so I only cook for one minute in the Saran Wrap. 

If you over cook the biscuits will harden 

ONCE a month cooking but HOW!!!

This is how I do it!

I simply have a piece of construction paper and I write every day on the paper for ONE month! I use the front and back! I mark off days we are going out of town. I write in breakfast every day and I rotate them every week. I have seven breakfast food that I make and freeze. 

Monday: breakfast casserole

Tuesday: breakfast burritos

Wednesday: eggs and biscuits

Thursday: sausage and biscuits

Friday: pancakes or french toast sticks and boiled eggs (not frozen but make once a week)

Saturday: oatmeal

Sunday: muffins, fruit and milk 

I do the same thing for lunch! I have seven lunches and I just rotate them. 

Dinner: I try to pick our favorite recipe and have it twice in the month. I plug it into two spots. Then I go on to pinterest  and find some good looking, filling and frugal looking recipes that we will eat! 

I add veggies every day and some times if we are lucky it is stuff from our new garden. If not I buy frozen veggies

If you look on our pinterest in once a month cooking there are some ideas there. Others ideas we eat for dinner are:

chicken and rice casserole

hamburger helper casserole (our favorite-I'll blog it tomorrow)

baked ziti

lasagna

baked spaghetti

chicken pot pie

Mexican durito chicken casserole

chicken enchiladas

bean burritos

tacos

and I'll be thinking of more and post later!

Breakfast burritos

This is super easy!

Flour tortilla 

Eggs (I plan one egg per burrito) 

Ground up sausage (I plan for 1 lb of sausage for 10 burritos) 

Cheese (I plan for 1/2 slice per burrito) 

I scramble the egg and cook the sausage  in big bulk! 

Put the eggs and sausage in the flour tortilla and add uncooked cheese on top. 

I roll the tortilla up like a burrito and wrap in Saran Wrap! When it's cooled I put it inside of a zip lock bag! 

When we are ready to eat it, throw one in the microwave with Saran Wrap. Cook for approx 1:30 (depending on microwave) 

Eat it up! 

Energy Bites (huge hit)

These turned out to be a big hit at our house! 

I am sure there are tons of ways these could be made but this one worked for us! 

1 cup oatmeal 

1/3 cup honey 

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1 tbsp chia seeds 

1/2 cup ground flax seed 

Mix all ingredients and chill in fridge for 30 minutes then roll into balls on wax paper! 

Store in fridge! 

Yum 

Chicken and Rice On The Go

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast (cooked and shredded) 

1 large carrot 

3 onion stalks 

3 eggs 

3 cups of cooked rice 

1/2 tbsp olive oil 

1 1/3 cups Mozarella cheese (grated)

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Shred cooked chicken 

3. Grate carrot
4. Finely slice onions
5. Lightly beat eggs
6. In a large bowl, add cooked rice, chicken, carrot, onions, eggs and about 3/4 of the cheese and mix well. 

7. Fill muffin cups and top with remaining cheese.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown!

Week ONE...Once a month cooking report!!!

We did it! Here's our ONE week menu! And saving below!!!

I almost caved on Wednesday night...LIKE really almost caved in

 and went to drive through! It was also hard on the last day of 

school not to go out to eat to celebrate. I didn't realize how much I 

was using food to celebrate! 

It is FOR sure taking some adjusting.

I"m happy to report I saved $532.00 this week by planning 

our meals, fixing them ahead of time and not eating out. We 

didn't have any cereals. I am not opposed to cereal but one

 box feeds 1/2 our family so if I am doing this to save money

 and get on track then we are not doing cereal for a time.

We bought buy milk, coconut milk, fresh veggies, someone 

gave us a bunch of bananas they didn't want and caroline 

and I drank protein/greens shakes every morning for 

breakfast instead of what the others ate just because that's

 what we always do.

Steve still ate out for lunch at work and Leah bought herself a

 box of cereal. Leah also went out with friends for one meal.

LAST....I am not a nutritionist at all but even the gravy and 

biscuits have to be better than french fries every day and I 

LOST 2 lbs!!!

SO....here we go to week TWO!!!

Come follow us on our journey and join us by cooking once a 

month too and reporting here to let us know what you 

saved!!! I am actually enjoying this after I got it all cooked

 and organized.

Homemade Whole Wheat Bread

I have to admit that it has been YEARS since making homemade wheat bread. This is for sure a big kid favorite but on my quest to STOP the eating out I decided to pull out the whole wheat bread recipe.

It was a big hit after school for snack instead of pudding pops!

I am still pretty shocked that we are sticking to the menu!!!

Ingredients

In a large bowl add:
• 3 cups really warm water
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. yeast (or 2 yeast packets)
Dissolve and wait until yeast froths then add:
• 1/4 c. shortening or real butter 
• 1/4 c. honey
• 1 Tbsp. salt
• about 6 cups of wheat flour

Instructions

• Add flour a cup at a time until you have a soft dough. Knead for 3 minutes and put into a bowl. Cover with a cloth and let raise about an hour or until it has about doubled in size. It raises on top of a warm oven.
• Punch down and Knead again for 5 minutes. Cut dough into three equal parts and place bread into greased baking tins and raise again for another hour.
• Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes until brown on the top. Butter the top of the bread while still in the oven and let cook another 2 min. Remove and let cool about 10 minutes in the pans, then turn out and cool 10 more minutes before slicing.
• Makes 3 regular or 2 large loaves.

Frozen Bananas!!!

Did you know that you can slice and freeze bananas? 

Every morning Caroline and I drink a protein shake.  I decided in my once a month cooking that having bananas for our shakes was gonna be rough. 

We are getting milk, coconut milk,  salad and a few things weekly but I wanted to try to find a way to still have almost everything prepared to keep us on track. 

We sliced the bananas and put them on wax paper. After they freeze you can throw them in a zip lock back and use as needed. 

We did the same with our strawberries and blueberries. Wash and let air dry then freeze and grab a handful for our daily shakes!!! We get our veggies for our shakes in our greens with two scoops. It is full of EVERYTHING we need!!!  Happy MOM dance!!!

Homemade Pizza lunchables WoW

I can not believe I actually made pizza lunchables. I've been wanting to and to be honest I thought the kids would all freak and NOT like them. I was so shocked that they loved them even one of my teenagers took them in her lunch box today!

Here's my recipe!

• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast                                
• 1 cup warm water                                                  

• 2 tablespoon olive oil                                         

• 1 tablespoon honey                                            

• ¼ teaspoon salt                                                  

• 2  cups of all purpose flour                                     
• 2 cups of whole wheat flour

Dough:

1. Mix the yeast and water in a small bowl, cover and let stand for about 5-10 minutes.
2. Mix the oil, honey, salt and yeast mixture in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the 3 cups of flour, a cup at a time. If the dough seems too wet, start at the fourth cup, ¼ cup at a time. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead until moderately stiff, about six minutes.
3. Get a golf ball size  of the dough and  roll out the dough with a rolling pin on a cookie sheet. 
4. Let the dough rise while you make the sauce.
5. Use a fork and poke holes all over the dough. 
6. Bake for 10 minutes on 350 degrees
7. Let cool on cooling rack until completely cooled!!!
8. Place all the pizza crust in a zip lock bag and freeze for later!

In separate baggies I put mozzarella cheese, a pizza crust, pizza sauce, pepperonis, and a spoon 

It was super easy this morning when I packed lunches. I already had the baggies with cheese, pepperonis, pizza crust, and sauce made up so all I had to do is grab and throw in some carrot sticks, celery and a water!!! It is super cheap too. 

Taco soup

Taco soup! 

Another super easy peasy recipe that our family LOVES💚💚💚 

We get two cans of all of our favorite beans! 

Red beans 

White beans 

Black beans 

Kidney beans 

Pinto beans 

2 cans of corn

2 cans of total tomatoes 

1 pkg of taco seasoning 

1 lb of cooked and crumbled hamburger meat 

1 pkg of powdered ranch dressing 

Dump it all in the crock pot and cook on low for 5-6 hours 

Yum yum 

Serve with cheddar cheese and sour cream (optional) 

Homemade yogurt

Ingredients: and things you need!

1/2 gallon whole milk

1/2 cup Dannon plain yogurt with live active     
cultures

1 or 2 boxes of jello (your flavor of choice)

(optional)

2 cups of pureed fruit of your choice (this is 

optional)

1 crock pot

1 blanket

Turn Crock pot on LOW

Pour into crock pot 1/2 gallon of whole milk

 or coconut milk 

Cook on low for 2 1/2 hours

Turn crock pot off after the 2 1/2 hours and let

sit for 3 hours with the lid on.

After the milk has sat for 3 hours scoop out 2 cups of the

 warm milk into a bowl. Add 1/2 cup of dannon plain yogurt -

this is your yogurt feeder. The next time you make it you will

 have your own feeder.(with live active cultures)

Add one box of jello (some don't use any flavoring or some 

use flavored pudding for creamer yogurt-depends on your 

taste)

whisk and whisk and whisk

Add yogurt, jello and milk mixture back into the crock pot and 

cover with a towel and blanket.

Wait 8 to 9 hours before peaking!

Dip out 1/2 cup and save for your next yogurt feeder so you 

don't have to keep purchasing Dannon plain yogurt with live 

active cultures.

Add strawberries and bananas or fruit puree of your choice. 

My kids don't like any lumps in their yogurt so we pureed our

 fruit all the way up until it was smooth. 

Some people add honey to sweeten!

This is great for morning smoothies! 

We add strawberries, bananas,  and two scoops of greens 

some ice and blend it up and YUM YUM..



UPDATE: WE froze some as popcycles. They were a HUGE

 hit!!!

10 free fun family activities ☀️

One week till school is out! Last summer our kids went to all sorts of summer camps. They attended theater camps, cheer camps, scout camps, volleyball camps, church camps and so much more. This summer we are going to cut back and work together to find free family fun activities and not so much running in the car from place to place!

I'm so excited about our quest to save money and cut back on our budget! 

I just wonder how long my excitement will last when the house starts getting messy and the fussing starts! 

This week I'm working on a summer schedule that will hopefully help with some of the conflict! 

These are our top 10 things to do for free!!! 

Crock Pot Pizza Sauce

Crock Pot Pizza Sauce-I tripled this recipe for the month! 

• 4, 6oz cans tomato paste 
• 1, 15oz can tomato sauce 
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

1. Combine all ingredients except cheese in crock pot.
2. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
3. Stir every 30 minutes to 1 hour so it won’t stick.
4. After four hours, stir in cheese.
5. Cool to room temperature and package for freezing or use in 1-2 days.

HOMEMADE BISCUITS!!!

The thought of myself making homemade biscuits makes me crack up. My quest for saving money and time has made me have the strongest desire to make everything from scratch.  We have chickens so we eat a lot of eggs.  We eat breakfast burritos and Egg and biscuits, boiled eggs, egg sandwiches and more! Once a week for breakfast we eat egg and biscuits. I didn't realize that you could freeze biscuits and eggs already cooked until my recent search! I made some uncooked biscuits and some cooked with eggs already made so on those rushed mornings we could grab, heat and go! 

This is the recipe I tried that seemed to work well for us. 

• 1 1/4  cup All-purpose flour
• 1  cup of bisquick 
• 2 tbsp Baking powder
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Sugar

Dairy

• 6 tbsp Butter, unsalted, COLD and cubed 

• 1 cup Buttermilk
• Mix all the dry ingredients together and then add the buttermilk. 
• Cut up the cold butter and toss it in. Mix it quickly and dump it out on a floured surface.  Only kneed THREE times. Do not over work. (I did this and it makes them dry and hard)
• Cut the biscuits out with a cup or a circle cookie cutter. To freeze place on wax paper and then in a zip lock bag.  To cook after you freeze them Bake on 450 degrees for 20-22 minutes. 
• To cook unfrozen  Bake on 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes. 
• Makes 8-10 biscuits
• 
  

DEBT FREE COMPANY!!!

What exactly does it mean to work for a debt free company?

This was a HUGE point for me when I joined up forces with It works global! I didn't want to win "things" I needed extra income!  

FOUR body wraps come in the start up kit when you begin your business with It work. The kit cost $99.00 and these wraps can be sold for 25 each!  This way YOU are not OUT any money. This really motivated me to sell those four wraps.  I was determined to sell them so I would not LOOSE money! Since my goal was to make money!!!

Your next goal is to sign up four loyal customers. A loyal customer is someone that wants to use our amazing products and not sell them. They get a great wholesale cost and can get into this program just by doing a product for 3 months! It's a great way to get great results. They can be a loyal customer forEVER after just three months of testing out some products.  

As a distributor you will earn commissions on your loyal customers and you can also get wrap rewards!!! Wrap rewards are amazing!!! If you want to learn more about those message me!!!

My favorite part of being a distributor for It works are the Friday 100 bonuses!!! I love that every single Friday I can earn an extra 100 bucks!!!

There are hundreds of direct sales jobs but finding a company that gives CASH bonuses because they are debt free is unusual.  So far in our journey I have gotten many many 100 bonses, a 500 Christmas cash bonus, a 10,000 diamond bonus, a 15,000 double diamond bonus and a $50,000 triple diamond bonus.  AND I am nothing special just a regular mom and before that I was a teacher. Anyone can do this...No magic...simply sharing. 

If you are praying for a change, consider your options. You can join a company where you pay hundreds of dollars for product on hand and take a chance of selling it. OR you can give this one a try...I did both!!!

It works has changed our entire family life but it took the one decision  to get started!!!

Motherhood

I've been a mommy for 21 years! I've learned a lot in those 21 years and apparently I'm still learning every single day! 

A few things I've learned as a result of my own mistakes!

1. Comparison is the joy thief! What works for one family might not for another!

2. Let the children have a voice. Helping them to make their own choices and not worrying about who is judging you. Some times they have to fall to learn and even though it's hard to watch as a mom-letting them have wings to try makes all the difference in the world. 

3. OPEN talk! Talking about EVERYTHING. I promise they will hear it from someone so hearing it from your first keeps the door open!

4. Let go of the perfect....Perfectly cleaned house and car and laundry always done and enjoy your time with your family! 

5. Give yourself grace when you mess up. 

6.  Embrace their differences.

7. Enjoy something they want to talk about!

8. Cuddle on the coach and watch a favorite show!

9. Read the same book at the same time and talk about it. 

10. Take a nap and be ok with it!

Motherhood is my favorite calling and although I LOVE it dearly, I screw up all the time!  

So hats off to all you moms out there that are making it work, potty training, teaching kids to drive, homeworking, sitting on the bleachers watching events for hours, crying over your budget because it's not enough to give your kid something you really wanted to buy them, nursing your sick kid back to health, taxi driving, working around the clock to make ends meet, kissing all the boo boo's better, waking up at night to feed and rock, staying up late when they come home from a date-YOU ARE FAR MORE PRECIOUS THAN JEWELS! Mother's ROCK! 

Our journey...whatever place you may be as you are mothering....we are so much better together!!!