I’ve Moved

Hello All-

I just wanted to let you know my site has moved. You can visit the new site The Happy Housewife.com The new site contains all the information on this site as well as lots of new information.

See you at The Happy Housewife.com

My blog has moved…

I have moved to my own hosting. Please check out my new site
http://thehappyhousewife.com

Thanks!
Toni

3 Moms ~ 3 Kitchens ~ 31 Days LIVE!

3 Moms ~ 3 Kitchens ~ 31 Days LIVE!

Please join Toni , The Happy Housewife, Joy, of FiveJs, and Kate, of A simple Walk, on Friday, at 10 pm EST, as we take our 3 Moms ~ 3 Kitchens ~ 31 Days series live on air at TalkShoe. We will be discussing our adventures during the first week of the series, as well as delving even deeper into our kitchen budgets and methods. This will be a perfect opportunity for our readers to ask us questions, get to know all 3 Moms a little better, and maybe even share a tip or two. We have really appreciated all the comments and emails we’ve been getting, but we know we have not been able to answer everyone as thoroughly as we wanted. That is why we decided to do this open-forum, live discussion on Friday.

TalkShoe, is a community call website that will allow you to listen to our discussion, talk with us live (as a call-in participant), and/or chat along with us via your computer. You will be able to access our show directly by clicking here at 10 pm EST, Friday, May 9. The show will run for approximately 30 minutes, so feel free to just drop in anytime between 10:00 and 10:30 pm.

On Friday night, why just read along with our adventures when you could listen to them? We are excited for this opportunity to interact with our readers. Please join us in discussing 3 Moms ~ 3 Kitchens ~ 31 Days as we open, on air, our kitchen doors to you.

If you would like to be emailed an invitation, please leave your email address in the comments section.

3 Moms ~ 3 Kitchens ~ 31 Days LIVE!
Friday, May 9, 10 pm EST
Click here to join the discussion.

Commissary Deals

Erin just emailed me her post on some great Commissary deals. She has even included links to coupons! Check out her site here. Thanks Erin!

I am shopping tonight and hope to pick up some of the $0.39 Goya beans and the $1.69 Muir Glen Organic pasta sauce.

If you see any Commissary Deals email me or leave me a comment and we will get the word out so everyone can save money!

3 Moms • Meals Day 6 plus recipes

Meals for Day 6

Breakfast – French toast on homemade potato bread

Lunch – sandwiches, apples, bananas, Fritos

Dinner- Chicken potpie

We also made some chocolate mini cupcakes for my daughter’s meeting tonight. I was going to take a picture but my frosting turned out really runny so they were not as pretty as I had hoped. I covered them with pink sprinkles, which did a pretty good job of hiding my runny frosting.

Here are the promised recipes.

Whole Wheat Waffles

3 Cups whole-wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 ½ tsp baking powder
½ cup oil
¼ cup honey
4 eggs
3 cups buttermilk

Combine all dry ingredients, combine all liquid ingredients, and then mix them together. For those of you who mill their own wheat, we find that Kamut makes some of the best waffles we have ever tasted.

Pink Pasta (A new twist on spaghetti)
1 box noodles
1 teas minced garlic
½ cup heavy cream
2 cups red pasta sauce
½ cup Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Boil noodles
After the noodles have boiled and are drained, mix together all the other ingredients on low heat. Add noodles and mix. Serve immediately.

Chicken Tetrazzini

1 box noodles
2 cooked and chopped chicken breasts
½ cup shredded zucchini
½ cup shredded carrots
½ cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
1 can cream of chicken soup
½ cup sour cream
½ cup milk or heavy cream
½ cup parm cheese
salt and pepper to taste

While the noodles are boiling, melt butter on a low heat in a frying pan. Add garlic, onion, zucchini and carrots. Sauté for about 3 minutes. Add soup, sour cream, milk, cheese and chicken. Stir over low heat, until noodles are done boiling. Drain noodles and add to the mixture. Toss well and serve immediately.

Ever wonder how larger families manage to feed healthy, delicious meals that don’t break their budget yet you can’t seem to? Then check out 3 Moms ~ 3 Kitchens ~ 31 Days. Joy, Kate and I are running a series of posts of what we do in the kitchen each day. Menu plans, shopping trips, recipes, failures, it is all there.

Credit Cards ~ They Don’t Work For Us!

Credit Cards ~ They Don’t Work for Us

I have hesitated writing this post for many months because I know that people have strong opinions on the subject of using credit cards. I believe that most of us would agree that having a credit card and carrying a high balance that you are unable to pay off is a bad thing. Some people believe that credit cards are okay, as long as you pay them in full every month. Some people, like Dave Ramsey, think they are bad, very bad.

I have to agree with Dave on this one. For several years we had a credit card that we used for all our purchases, and paid the balance in full each month. We thought we were really outsmarting the credit card company because we were earning cash back each year and paying no interest or annual fees. What we didn’t realize was that using that little piece of plastic was allowing us to overspend in almost every category in our budget. We were not in credit card debt, but we didn’t have much in our savings account either.

Last year we stopped using our credit card. At first I was apprehensive because the year before we had earned $400 cash back from using our card. I felt like we were giving up free money. We decide to pay for all our purchases with cash. It only took one trip to the grocery store for me to realize the power of paying with the green stuff. I was almost in a panic walking down those aisles, knowing I only had a certain amount of cash in my wallet. I stuck to my list and didn’t even look at things I did not have written down. When I was using my credit card I wasn’t as concerned with the total amount. Certain months, when our bill was a little high we would tell ourselves that we needed to spend a little less next month, and we did, but we never got ahead.

Studies show that over 70% of people do not pay their credit card balance in full every month. Studies also show that people spend 12 to 18% more when paying with a credit card.

So, what were the results of my ditching the credit card? I didn’t earn $400 cash back this January. I did however pay off $11,000 in student loans last year and we increased our savings account balance by over 500% .

Credit Cards- they don’t work for us!

You can find more Works for me Wednesday here.

Wordless Wednesday

You can view more Wordless Wednesday here, here, and here.

Tires

Replacing tires on your vehicle can be an expensive necessity. Even if you find a deal, you can easily spend a few hundred dollars on replacements. The tires on our suburban are being replaced as I type this post. But we are only paying for 3 new tires. A good friend of ours gave us this very helpful advice. The spare tire on our vehicle was a full sized brand new tire. So instead of buying 4 tires, we purchased 3 and had them put the spare on as our 4th tire. We then took one of our old tires and used that to replace the spare. We also saved money on the tire disposal fee. This will only work if you have a full size spare, but if you have one you have just saved yourself more than a few dollars.

For more tightwad tips head on over to Mary’s blog.

photo courtesy of allposters.com

Gratituesday

Since my anniversary is this week I figured it would be appropriate to have this Gratituesday be 15 reasons why I am thankful for my husband (since it has been 15 years).

1. He has always provided for our family, even if that meant working 2 jobs.

2. When we got serious about getting out of debt he was willing to eat beans and rice, a lot!

3. He is a spontaneous and fun dad.

4. He is generous, with is time and his money.

5. Although he hates to be surprised, he loves surprising others.

6. He doesn’t worry about the little things.

7. He is one of the smartest people I know.

8. He is willing to taste all of my kitchen experiments.

9. He has always changed the dirty diapers and gotten up with the sick kids in the middle of the night.

10. He supports homeschooling 110%.

11. He was willing to serve in Iraq so that our kids will be safe, and yours will be too.

12. He lets me pick the restaurant every time.

13. He is a godly husband and father.

14. He is always thinking of ways to help make my life easier.

15. After 15 years he still can make me laugh harder than I have ever laughed in my life.

For more Gratituesday stop by Laura’s blog.

Does this look bad to you?

Does that statement sound familiar? It is something I say to my husband almost every week when I am cleaning out the fridge before my next shopping trip. I am excited because I found a chart created by Clemson University that takes all the guess work out of spoiled food. What’s Cooking America has taken Clemson’s chart and expanded it to include pantry items and even tells you the best storage method for each item. I have posted Clemson’s chart below.

Ever wonder how larger families manage to feed healthy, delicious meals that don’t break their budget yet you can’t seem to? Then check out 3 Moms ~ 3 Kitchens ~ 31 Days. Joy, Kate and I are running a series of posts of what we do in the kitchen each day. Menu plans, shopping trips, recipes, failures, it is all there.

Check out Tammy’s recipes for more kitchen tips!

RECOMMENDED TIMES FOR REFRIGERATOR AND FREEZER FOOD STORAGE
FOOD	REFRIGERATOR	FREEZER
DAIRY
Fresh milk	5- 7 days	*
Buttermilk	1-2 weeks	*
Canned milk (opened)	3-5 days	*
Cream (unwhipped)	10 days	*
Cream (whipped)	1 day	2 months
Sour cream	4 weeks	*
Yogurt, cottage cheese	7 days (after “sell-by date”)	*
Hard cheese, grated cheese	6-12 weks	6-12 months
Cheese spreads	3-4 weeks	*
Butter/margarine	2 weeks	9 months
Ice cream	*	2 months
EGGS
Fresh in shell	3 weeks	*
Hard cooked	1 week	*
MEATS, FRESH
Beef roasts, steaks	3-5 days	6-12 monhts
Chicken or turkey, pieces	1-2 days	9-12 months
Chicken or turkey, whole	1-2 days	1 year
Duck or goose	1-2 days	6 months
Game birds	1-2 days	6 months
Giblets	1-2 days	3-4 months
Ground meat or stew	1-2 days	3-4 months
Lamb, roasts or chops	3-5 days	6-9 months
Pork, roasts or chops	3-5 days	4-6 months
Pre-stuffed pork and lamb chops or chicken breasts	1 day	*
Sausage	1-2 days	1-2 months
Variety meats: heart, liver, tongue, etc.	1-2 days	3-4 months
Venison, roasts, steaks, chops	3-5 days	6-12 months
MEATS, COOKED
Smoked breakfast sausage	7 days	1-2 months
Whole ham (fully cooked)	7days	1-2 months
Half ham (fully cooked)	3-5 days	1-2 months
Ham slices (fully cooked)	3-4 days	1-2 months
Canned ham (”keep refrigerated” label)	6-9 months	*
Hotdogs, luncheon meats (unopened)	2 weeks	1-2 months
Hotdogs, luncheon meats (opened)	3-7 days	1-2 months
Cooked, leftover meat	3-4 days	2-3 months
Leftover gravy and meat broth	1-2 days	2-3 months
Cooked, leftover poultry	3-4 days	4-6 months
Cooked, leftover chicken nuggets or patties	1-2 days	1-3 months
SEAFOOD, FRESH
Fresh lean fish: cod, flounder, trout, haddock, halibut, pollack, perch	1-2 days	4-6 months
Fresh fatty fish: mullet, smelt, salmon,mackerel, bluefish, tuna and swordfish	1-2 days	2-3 months
Live crabs and lobster	same day purchased	*
Live mussels and clams	2-3 days	*
Live oysters	7-10 days	*
Shucked mussels and clams	1-2 days	3- 4 months
Shucked oysters	5-7 days	3-4 months
Shrimp, crabmeat	2-3 days	4 months
Scallops	2-3 days	3 months
COOKED FISH
Fish sticks	*	18months
Bread shrimp, commercial	*	1 year
Cooked pieces	3-4 days	3 months
FRUITS, FRESH
Apples	1 months	8-12 months
Apricots, grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, plums	3-5 days	8-12 months
Avocados	3-5 days	8-12 months
Bananas, plantains	*	8-12 months
Berries, cherries	2-3 days	8-12 months
Grapefruit, lemons, limes, oranges	2 weeks	4-6 months
Guavas, papayas	1-2 days	8-12 months
Kiwis	3-5 days	4-6 months
Mangoes	*	8-12 months
Melons	1 week	8-12 months
Pineapple	2-3 days	4-6 months
VEGETABLES, FRESH
Artichokes	1 week	*
Asparagus	2-3 days	8-12 months
Beets, carrots	2 weeks	8-12 months
Beans, broccoli, lima beans, peas, summer squash	3-5 days	8-12 months
Cauliflower	1 week	8-12 months
Cilantro, parsley	2-3 days	*
Corn	use immediately for best flavor	8-12 months
Green onions	3-5 days	*
Celery, cabbage, chilies, green beans, peppers, tomatoes	1 week	8-12 months
Greens: colards, kale, mustard, spinach, swiss chard	3-5 days	8-12 months
Lettuce and salad greens	1 week	*
Mushrooms, okra	1-2 days	8-12 months
Radishes	2 weeks	*
Squash, hard	*	8-12 months
BAKED PRODUCTS
BREADS: Store at room temperature. Storing in the refrigerator promotes staling. Use the date as a guide or use within 3 to 7 days.
Bread, yeast	*	6-12 months
Muffins, rolls, quick breads	*	2-4 months
Pancakes and waffles	*	1-2 months
COOKIES
Baked	*	4-6 months
Unbaked dough	2-3 days	6 months
CAKES: Store at room temperature, except for cheesecake. Best used within 3 to 7 days
Angel and sponge	*	4-6 months
Cheese	3-7 days	4-6 months
Fruit	*	1 year
Layer cake (butter cream icing or plain)	*	6 months
PASTRIES: Store at room temperature. Best used within 1 to 3 days
Danish	*	3 months
Doughnuts	*	3 months
PIES
Chiffon pie, pumpkin pie	1-2 days	1 month
Fruit pie	1-2 days	1 year
Unbaked fruit pies	*	8 months
* Storage here not recommended due to safety or quality issue