Can't afford groceries lately? There might be help just around the corner.

We hear about financial hardships all over the place. I used to think that a family of 4 would have to spend $200 a week in order to have all the food, clothing, and other essentials. I found out a couple of years ago that I was way off. There is actually lots of help out there if you are looking for it. Our site is one of many that supports the mom who wants to be financially responsible. The truth is that all three of us are quite frugal, and each of us does the best we know to do to keep our family in a good financial state. This entry is for the mommas out there who feel like they cannot make it from week to week, or for the person who knows somebody who could use a little help financially, in order to make ends meet. Here are just a few resources that are just a click away, or a short drive away:

COUPON help sites:
Moneysavingmom.com is one of many sites out there that is designed to help a mom learn the tricks of using coupons, and the places to use those coupons. Crystal Paine is the author of this site, and she is very inspirational because she shows by example that moms can do something about their financial state. She is very self-disciplined and is a great model of financial discipline and the blessings that follow when you exercise that discipline. Check it out.

WIC (women, infant, children):
Help for moms or moms-to-be. Specifically, "low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five". Offers "checks" that are good for food such as eggs, cheese, produce, juice, milk, and peanut butter, amongst other things. It is very easy to see if you are eligible. Take a peak and see if this can help you. If it can, contact the WIC office close to you.

FOOD STAMPS:
Food stamps aren't really stamps at all. They are actually a card that looks just like any other credit or debit card! Money is put on the card for you to buy your food with. Check out the site for more info, and to see if you qualify.

ANGEL FOOD MINISTRIES:
Once a month you can pick up one weeks worth of food for just $30, and there are many other food packages offered that you can choose from. Check out the site to see if there is a church hosting this ministry near you.
Anybody else know of any other great resources out there for moms who are struggling to feed their sweethearts?

How to cook dried beans

Are you afraid of dried beans because you think you won't cook them right? My how-to for today is how to prepare dried beans. The truth is that beans are incredibly good for you and can be added to a ton of recipes to add some substance, or to up the healthy factor. Dried beans come in a bag and are usually found in the aisle with rice. Dried beans require advance planning, but not much "hands on" time. Here are your preparation tips for dried beans:

Directions for soaking dried beans: In a large pot, add 10 cups of water to 1 pound of beans. Cover and soak 8 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse beans.

Directions for gas-free beans: In a large pot, add 10 cups of water to 1 pound of beans. Boil for 2-3 minutes, cover and set aside overnight. Drain and rinse beans. (Reduces gas by 75-90%)

Directions for cooking dried beans: Put soaked and rinsed beans into a large pot. Cover the beans with 3 times their volume of water-- about 6 cups for one pound of beans. Bring to a boil; reduce the heat and simmer until tender, about 1.5-2 hours. Drain and use in recipes.

Storing beans for later use: Drain and cool beans. Freeze in 1-2 cup packages. One pound of beans will result in 5-6 cups cooked beans.

I also found these directions on cooking dried beans in a slow cooker from "A Year of Slow Cooking":

• Pour the entire bag of dried beans into a colander and rinse under cold water. If you see any beans that have broken in half, or skin that floats to the surface, get rid of it. Also pick out any beans that look shriveled and gross.
• Dump all the beans into your crockpot. Add enough water to cover all the beans and an additional 2 inches.
• Cover. Do not turn on. Let the beans soak for at least 6 hours, or overnight. If you live in a very warm area, and the crockpot won't be in a room that is climate-controlled, put the stoneware in the fridge. You don't want bacteria to have the opportunity to grow.
• In the morning, dump the water, and rinse your beans. The water will be bean-colored.
• Put the beans back into your crockpot and cover with enough fresh water to completely cover the beans with an extra 2-3 inches.
• Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
• The beans are done when they are bite-tender. Don't worry if the water hasn't all absorbed. You're going to dump it, anyway.
• Drain the beans.
• When cool, put 1 2/3 cups of beans into storage containers or freezer bags (you're adding this amount because you aren't adding filler-liquid like the cans have). The beans will store nicely in the refrigerator for 1 week, or in the freezer for 6 months.

Wednesday: Bocadillo Guajolote y Queso

Little spanish for ya...
Bocadillo means sandwich
"Guajolote- pronounced WAH-HO-LO-TE" means the Turkey that says gobble gobble.
Y means and
Queso is cheese.

So, meal of the day, "Turkey and Cheese Sandwich". This is actually a sandwich I pulled together one day in my experimenting, and it is my new favorite sandwich. I decided it would be fun to name it in spanish since I throw in some salsa ranch dressing. Mmmm...

Mmmm...My mouth waters just thinking about this sandwich! To make it a meal, just add carrot chips and a fruit. Strawberries are on sale at my store this week, so we're doing strawberries. We'll also be adding soup from a can to our meal.

Ingredients:
Bread
Sliced Turkey
Salsa Ranch dressing (I found mine at Walmart)
sliced Provolone cheese or pepper jack cheese (pepper jack tastes better in my opinion, but we happened to have provolone on hand)

I'm not going to try to make this more complicated than it is. It's a sandwich, after all. :)
Step One: Pile some turkey and some cheese onto your bread and spread on that delicious dressing. Step Two: Plop your sandwich down onto a heated up George Foreman, a waffle maker, or a pan, that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.
Step Three: Allow to cook until bread is toasted to your liking and the cheese melts into a mess of mouth-watering absolute goodness.
Step Four: Cut and serve with carrot sticks or carrot chips and some fruit.

Your turn. What is your favorite sandwich?

*Note: when I make these I just do ham and cheese or turkey and cheese for my darlings.

Tuesday: How to make pigs in a blanket with tortillas

Time to use up that leftover chili from yesterday! :0)


My kids loved this one. The original idea was stolen from Rachael Ray, who has an even better recipe (in my opinion), but I had chilli to use up and wanted to save money by working with what we already had, so here's my "piggy back" idea that won't break my piggy bank. :0) (I'm so clever, I know) Click on the link to see Rachel's "piggy's in a blanket".

Ingredients:
Flour tortillas
Lil' smokies
cheddar cheese (we had mexican cheese, so that is what I used)
Leftover chili
egg
Step One: Cut your flour tortillas into triangles. Step Two: Dampen a paper towel and wrap around the tortillas. Microwave for a few seconds to soften the tortillas. Keep them wrapped in the toweling as you do the other tortillas.
Step Three: Put one weiner on the big end of each triangle tortilla. Add a little scoop of chili and some shredded cheese.
Step Four: Whisk up your egg with a splash of water. Roll the little sweeties up nice and tight, and spread egg wash over all of them.
Step Five: Bake the little babies in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.
Dinner is served!
Proof of how much my kids like these...They ate them, and they asked for "more please!" My kids are so picky it's ridiculous, so this is a big deal. ;0)

BLOG MAKEOVER

We are so excited to unveil our new blog design to all of our readers! In the next few days we will have a totally new blog look- with a logo, fun fresh colors, a link button that you can put on your blog and lots of great extras!

We hope you love it!


As always, if you find something that is not easily accessible on our blog, or if something is confusing about the layout- please e-mail us so we can make it better!


Here is a hint about our new design... Spring is Here and the Birds are chirping!

Can't wait!

The math on how $1 yields 17 jars of baby food!!!

I used a bag of dried yellow peas to make baby food today, because we happened to have a bag in the pantry and my baby needed some food (although typically I use green peas). I did the whole "baby food making" process: boil in water, blend in a food processor with a tad of water, and then scoop 2 Tbs. into each ice cube tray compartment. The picture below shows how much I ended up with from one bag...34 cubes of baby food.I wanted to see exactly how much I was saving by doing baby food this way. I found that when I use a bag of dried peas (that cost me $1) I can make the equivalent of 17 baby food jars (assuming you are using 1st foods baby food...which I currently am) Here's the math...
Another nice thing is that since my baby is JUST starting baby food, I only have to use one cube for a little while, so I figure this really is a huge money saver! If you figure that 1 jar of baby food can cost you about 50 cents a piece you would be saving $7.50 each time you made a bag. A savings of 88 percent!! Now, granted, you will be using other fruits and vegetables as well, but you can get those when they are on a great sale and save yourself a bundle.

For a blog entry on how to make your own baby food, go here.

Giveaway Winner

WE HAVE OUR Bezales Necklace GIVEAWAY WINNER!

Congratulations to Kelly Polizzi

If you did not win, and still want a necklace, check out their website at bezales.com It is such a unique gift for Mother's Day! Pull out some old photos of your family and make one for your mom, she is SURE to love it! E-mail your husband with a "hint" about what you want for Mother's Day with the link to Bezales.com

They are sure becoming popular necklaces where I live and everyone just raves over them when they see them!


Thanks to all of you who entered, we LOVED hearing your stories of motherhood!

Check back this week for our next giveaway! You will love it!

What to do with that Ham Bone (ham hock)

One of our followers, Erin, had a question on facebook that I would like to attempt at answering real quick. The question was this:

Any suggestions on what to do with the leftover bone from my bone-in ham? Bring on the ideas, ladies!

Out of the Box Mommy's answer:

Great question. There are about a million soup recipes that use "ham bone", also known as "ham hock". Most of them use dried beans or dried peas. I'll give you the easiest I know of, and then a heartier option. Also know that you can use our recipe for split pea soup, and substitute the ham chunks for ham bone, and get great results.

EASIEST HAM BONE RECIPE
16 oz. dried beans (Navy beans, but really any will do)
1 ham bone
6 cups water

Soak beans 6-8 hours overnight in 6-8 cups of water (or follow "quick soak" directions on bean package or use canned/jarred beans). Drain.

Put soaked beans, 6 cups water and ham bone in slow cooker. Cook on low 8 hours or as long as you can stand it.

Serve with corn bread, if desired.

HEARTY BEAN SOUP

1 pkg. Hamm beans or 2 c. mixed dried beans
1 ham bone or ham hock (or 1 lb. ham chunks)
2 1/3 tsp. bouquet garni (can buy in the spice section)
3 qts. water
28 oz. can tomatoes
2 lg. onions, chopped (2 c.)
4 ribs celery, chopped (2 c.)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. smoked kielbasa or Polish sausage (optional)
Salt & pepper
Chopped fresh parsley

Rinse beans under cold running water. Drain. Place in 8 quart Dutch oven with ham bone, bouquet garni and water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered 2 1/2 to 3 hours, adding water as necessary to keep beans covered. Add tomatoes, onions, celery and garlic. Simmer, covered, 1 1/2 hours. If using sausage, cut in 1" chunks and add. Simmer 30 minutes longer. Remove from heat; add salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parsley before serving. 10 (1 cup) servings without sausage.

Hope this helps! Anyone else have any great ideas on how to use that ham bone left over from Easter?

Monday-Part 2: Microwave Baked Potato

There are so many ways you can cook a potato. I am showing you the way we make baked potatoes in our house. (the microwave) These potatoes are going with our crockpot chili recipe. This combo is great for a mom who has to make dinner in a hurry.

Step One: Wash off/scrub potatoes thoroughly and dry off with paper toweling.
Step Two: Pierce many holes all around the potato using a fork. Step Three: Wrap your spud back up into the paper towel.
Step Four: Microwave your spud(s), using these times below (on high heat):
1 spud: 4 min. 30 sec.
2 spuds: 6 min. 30 sec.
3 spuds: 9 min. 30 sec.
4 spuds: 12 min. 30 sec.
Note: Some microwaves have a "potato" button you can push that will actually set your microwave for the correct time for a bake potato.
Potato will come out looking like this:
It will be VERY hot. I suggest you leave it in the microwave a couple of minutes before you try handling the potato(s).
Step Five: Cut into your potato, smash down the inside with your fork until it is nice and soft all throughout.Step Six: Add your toppings. We are using the chili from the previous post, some sour cream, and some shredded cheese.
What toppings do you use on your baked potatoes?

Monday: Crockpot Chilli using jarred salsa

Easy chili mommas! This is my "how to week", apparently, although I did not necessarily intend for it to be that. Here are some of my how-to's this week: how to make chili using a can of salsa, how to bake bacon in your oven, how to make a baked potato in your microwave, and how to make your own Bisquick mix. Hopefully, one or two of these will help somebody somewhere someday. :0)
Ingredients:
1 onion chopped (Go here for directions on how to cut a bag of onions and freeze them)
2 cans of chili beans or kidney beans
1 can of tomato sauce
1 packet of chili seasoning
1 lb (ish) of ground beef cooked, and drained
1 jar of salsa

Step One: Mix the ingredients into the crockpot.
Step Two: Allow to cook for about 4-5 hours on low. Serve on a baked potato. See next post for directions on making the baked potato in a microwave.

That's all. Refrigerate the leftovers for the meal tomorrow, or freeze the rest and use it for another meal later.

Out of the Box Meal Plan: April 5-9

Happy Easter! Here's what's being dished up in the Hughes house this week:

Monday: Crockpot chili using jarred salsa, and baked potatoes
Tuesday: Chili Cheese Pigs in a Blanket
Wednesday: Bocadillo Guajolote y Queso
Thursday: Cheesy Chickeny Ricy Broccoli in a Cresecent Circle
Friday: Guest post: Chicken Salad Sandwich and a how-to post on baking your bacon in the oven.
Saturday BONUS: How to make your own bisquick mix, along with a recipe for a toddler's drink and a breakfast for toddlers. Pictures to come.

Dishin' It up with the Meal Planning Mommies: Family Dinner time Game Idea

I hope you are enjoying our new VLOG series with the Meal Planning Mommies! We are still new at creating videos, so please be patient with us. The video that follows, well besides being pretty hilarious, is a fun game you can play at the table with your kids! Remember that family dinner time, can also be family fun time! Your kids will have so much fun playing this game, AND they will have great memories of seeing their parents "play" too!

This game requires materials you will most likely already have on hand, so check it out!

*You will need to turn your volume on your computer all the way up. This recording is very quiet!*

LAST CHANCE TO ENTER!

The winner for the awesome bezales necklace will be at midnight tomorrow- a little over 24 hours until the winner is chosen!

If you have not entered, you need to!

Trust me- this giveaway is AWESOME!

CLICK HERE TO ENTER

More to do with onions then just eat them

One of our most viewed posts on this site is the post about chopping and freezing your onions for later. Just found an excellent blog that posted "8 things you can do with an onion" and it mentioned things like using it as a mosquito repellent. Quite interesting. You may want to check it out.

Is it still good to eat or not?

Ever find something in your pantry and ask yourself: "Is it too late to use this? Should I toss this, keep this, or hurry up and use this? Found an excellent resource today that answers that question for you. Anytime you need to find out the shelf life of an item you just enter it into a search and the answer is there for you! Check it out here.

Don't Forget to Sign up for our Giveaway!

Imagine your own precious picture, put on a necklace
for you to wear and show off to all your friends and family!

If you have not signed up for our most recent giveaway, you are going to want to!

The giveaway ends this Sunday at midnight. Right now we only have 10 entrants! Your odds of winning are pretty good!

You could win a personalized photo necklace for yourself or someone you love for Mother's day!


Sign up here!

Friday: Whole Grain Waffles with Compote

Here is how we do it!


Waffles
2 cups of milk
1/2 cup of oats
2 eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tsp Vanilla
1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Cinnamon to taste
Salt

Step one:
Mix the milk and oat together in a large bowl. Let this sit for 15 minutes until soft.

Step two: Mix everything else together and stir!


Step three: Place on waffle maker and cook until light brown/crispy


For our fruit compote we simply cut up fruit that we have on hand. Today that fruit was: banana, pear, plums, blueberries. We put it into a pan and let it heat while the waffles cook. Then we layer it on top of the waffles and smother it in honey. We use honey instead of syrup around here!


This is great because depending on how many mouths you have to feed you will most likely have leftover waffles to freeze for a later day.

Enjoy!